The Blind Leading the Ignorant

As MikeB didn't ask for his keys back...

Following up on an earlier article about the Dallas-area mayor who killed herself and her daughter, several updates.
First, it appears the mayor had financial and mental health problems.Second, we now learn the mayor got the gun from another mayor:

Cedar Hill Mayor Rob Franke lent a handgun to Coppell Mayor Jayne Peters six days before Peters used the gun to kill her daughter and then herself.
Franke gave the Glock 17 9 mm pistol to Peters after she expressed an interest in getting a concealed handgun license. Peters first expressed interest about a month ago, after a meeting with other city officials in North Texas, Franke said.

Gunloons are often so eager to spread their fetish they make decisions they really have no business making.

Linoge Uncovers a Bogus DGU

Linoge posted an interesting article about a DGU that he found to be suspicious.

...if a criminal already has a gun out and pointed at you, there is absolutely nothing you can do – nothing at all – to change the outcome of the situation, so you might as well give the criminal what he wants. And that is why this particular news story is obviously a complete and utter fabrication.

To give credit where credit is due, at least Linoge isn't one of those Lott/Kleck types who count every possible incident in order to reach their incredible numbers. But the certainty with which Linoge rejects this one seems weird.

Here's my comment, which may not be published over there since he's banned me like so many of the other pro-freedom and pro-rights gun bloggers.

I'm glad you said we don't really know what transpired. Aren't you the one who often points out how stupid some criminals are. Maybe the guy allowed his gun to be pushed to the side while the ATM guy pulled his.

About disarming the populace, we'd be much better off in my opinion. Where do you think the two guns in this story came from? Answer: the same place. They both started out as legally owned firearms. The sloppiness or stupidity or criminality of some gun owner with a clean record accounts for one of them ending up in the hands of a robber.

So, yes the fewer guns, the better.

What's your opinion? Do you think pro-gun folks purposely leave out the inconvenient fact that unlike illegal drugs, guns all start out legally owned? Shouldn't the legal gun owners take some responsibility for this, start doing the right thing, stop denying the obvious connection between themselves and the criminals who are using their guns?

Please leave a comment.

The NRA Spin Doctors and Their Choirboys

FatWhiteMan sent me the link to this wonderful article, which apparently he finds credible.

In 1979, the group, renamed Handgun Control, Inc., updated its prediction, saying, “over 50 million handguns flood the houses and streets of our nation. . . . If we continue at this pace, we will have equipped ourselves with more than 100 million handguns by the turn of the century.” Hoping to provoke the reader to answer “no,” it asked, “Will we be safer then?”

“More guns = more crime” is an article of faith for some politicians too.

In order to answer yes to the question, "Will we be safer," and to refute the idea that more guns = more CRIME, the article produces several Linoge-like charts on murder. Isn't it a bit misleading to leave out the suicides and woundings and criminal threatening that're done with those guns. Don't those things also militate against the concept of "safer."

Even accidents are often criminal due to improper storage and negligent supervision of children.

What's your opinion? Mine is the NRA could learn a few tricks from Linoge. At least he never tried to pass off such a simple and superficial disconnect as this. His are much more complex. I guess the NRA can do this because they're preaching to the choir.

Go ahead, choirboys, tell me how you can disprove decreased safety by citing muder stats and leaving out all the rest.

Please leave a comment.

The SAF Sues NY

The Second Amendment Foundation is challenging the New York State law which requires concealed carry permit applicants to provide a reason.

“American citizens like Alan Kachalsky and Christina Nikolov should not have to demonstrate good cause in order to exercise a constitutionally-protected civil right,” noted SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. “Our civil rights, including the right to keep and bear arms, should not be subject to the whims of a local government or its employees, just because they don’t think someone ‘needs’ a carry permit. Nobody advocates arming criminals or mental defectives, but honest citizens with clean records should not be denied out of hand.

Maybe the gun control side is guilty of this too, but I think Mr. Gottlieb would do better to tone down the rhetoric. Describing these cases as being "subject to the whim of a local government" is an example of exaggerated nonsense. So is the phrase, "should not be denied out of hand."

There's nothing "whimsical" or "out of hand" about these decisions except in the paranoid mind-reading of the gun advocates. Local police are in a particularly advantageous position to know who among their citizenry are fit to carry concealed weapons.

Investing local law enforcement with this power is a perfect example of reasonable restrictions on the 2nd Amendment.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

NRA Supports Serial Killer

Tough on Crime? Yeah, surrre.

DAYTONA BEACH --
Police in one Volusia County city want to find you if you purchased a certain type of gun in a specific year.
Most area gun shops said they continuously cooperate with the State Attorneys Office and police, especially in the hunt for a serial killer.
But when they received a letter from Police Chief Mike Chitwood, they said wait a minute.

I'm Back

I just got in and spent 20 minutes reading some of the posts and comments. Thanks JadeGold for keeping it going. Turning the blog over to you was one of my better ideas lately.

Before the jet lag crushes me, I just wanted to try and describe some of my experiences as they related to the gun discussions. I think writing the blog and focusing on the gun argument has given me a distorted view of America. What I saw in Toms River and Brick and Seaside New Jersey, which were the places I circled around in for two weeks, was a total absence of guns. I'm sure it would have been different in Virginia and Louisiana, but what I witnessed at the homes and neighborhoods of four or five relatives was absolute suburban tranquility, Jersey Shore style.

I asked three different people what the crime's like, do they worry about break-ins and home invasions. Each one said just about the same thing. "Well, no, not really. I lock the front door at night. There's not much crime like that around here." One said that there was some kind of incident down the block last year but they didn't know what really happened.

If you're not familiar with those cities, you can drive 15 minutes and find a black neighborhood where they sell dope on the street corner and where you see what must be crack houses. You can drive an hour in several different directions and find yourself in a full-fledged ghetto.

So, what does it all mean? I'm still pondering it, but I have a strong suspicion that it relates to some discussions we've had before, which may just be at the very heart of the gun control theory.

Unless a person lives in a particularly bad area, or unless his work makes him a target for violence, he does not need a gun. Over the course of his entire lifetime, the chances that the gun will be misused are much greater than the chances that it will be needed defensively.

Dallas-Area Mayor, Daughter Found Shot

Murder-suicide suspected.

Racist Limbaugh on George Steinbrenner

Proof positive Glenn Beck doesn't hold a monopoly on stupid.

"That cracker made a lot of African-American millionaires!"

Cool and Scary

Via LGM, a really neat animated visual of worldwide nuclear tests since 1945.

Why the Brady Campaign Often Fails-and How They Can Achive Success (Part 4)

In Part 3 of this series, I outlined the strategy. Here come the tactics.
1. Deny gunloons what they most desire. Guns? Nope. Acceptance. What gunloons really want more than anything is an acceptance of their gunloonery as 'normal' or mainstream. It's not and it's easy enough to show this. Tactic: go to gun shows and events--show what's going on there. Here's a sample.
In the past, the Brady Campaign, VPC, etc. have been good about posting transcripts of lunatic gunloon craziness--but pictures convey the message that words can't.
2. More stings. Gunloons hate this. And the media loves undercover investigations.
3. Ridicule is your friend. Too often, the BC and VPC get too preachy; gun violence is a serious issue. But you can influence public opinion with facts and ridicule. See tactic 1, gunloons provide an extremely rich environment for ridicule.
4. Target specific audiences. It's all well and good to create an ad that says 30,000 Americans will die from guns this year. It's far better to pinpoint a demographic and pursue it. Example: target soccer moms. How? Note the NRA wants guns on campus. Believe me, mom and dad are nervous enough about little Johnny or little Mary going off to college with its drinking, drugs, sex and all sorts of dangers--do you think they'd want to add guns to that mix?
5. Put the profit(or non-profit)in gun control. Push for legislation requiring gun owners have gun insurance. Do you think the insurance industry might be interested in this market? You bet they would. If you're quesy about insurance company profits--how about legislating insurance company profits, all or some, go to something like scholarships for the kids of police officers killed in the line of duty or the like?
....To Be Continued....

Debunking the DGU

Common DGU myths:

There are 1M to 2.5M DGUs annually in the US.

This has its genesis with criminologist Gary Kleck who has a number of studies as to the frequency of DGUs, ranging from 1M to 2.5M DGUs occurring annually in the US. If we assume Kleck’s methodology is flawless (it's not), there are problems with Kleck’s findings that are readily apparent. For example, Kleck’s own research states that in 8% of all DGUs, the gun is fired–wounding an alleged criminal. Kleck also notes that 15% of gun shot wounds are fatal. If we do the math: 2.5M DGUs x .08 woundings x .15 fatal wounds, we should have 30,000 justifiable gun homicides each year in the US. FBI UCARS routinely place the annual number of justifiable homicides at less than 300 per year--from all causes.

In most DGUs, the gun is merely brandished.

In reality, many DGUs aren't. In "Gun Use in the United States: Results from Two National Surveys." Injury Prevention. 2000; 6:263-267, criminal court judges who read the self-reported accounts of the purported self-defense gun use rated a majority as being illegal, even assuming that the respondent had a permit to own and to carry a gun, and that the respondent had described the event honestly from his own perspective. The same study also found guns were used more frequently to harrass or intimidate rather than to ward off or prevent criminal behavior.
.

Law-Abiding

A post of mine on CCW killers brought out the usual suspects who claimed:

Yet as a whole, they [CCW holders] have fewer brushes with the law than the general population.

and

I'll agree with you in that you really have to be a true gunloon to think that CCW holders never violate any law, but what I was saying was that CCW holders are one of the least problematic.

What seems to be forgotten that in order to qualify for a CCW, in most states, is that the applicant isn't a felon. It essentially means that one can actually have a pretty long and distinguished criminal record but so long as one isn't a convicted felon--you're good to go.

That's a pretty low bar.

Gunloonery Has Nothing To Do With Insecurity

That's right.
You can just about hear the Barry White soundtrack in the background.

Gun-Friendly New Mexico

6,including gunman,dead, 4 wounded in Albuquerque:

(CNN) -- New Mexico authorities said a former employee shot and killed five people at a business Monday in Albuquerque before turning the gun on himself.
.....
"One of the victims -- a current employee at Emcore Corp -- is believed to be the wife or girlfriend of the shooter," Schultz said. Police officials have since corrected earlier reports identifying the shooter as a female

Taking bets the gunman was a CCW holder.

Update: Some news accounts are now saying 3 were killed.

In Which Teabagger Linoge Mentions That Which Shall Not Be Mentioned

My, my. For someone who objects, most strenuously, to the gunloon obsession with guns described as compensation for..er..uh..certain shortcomings, Linoge seems to mention that word an awful lot.

Join the American Rifle Association

Brilliant:

I'm starting a new organization, and I'm inviting all African Americans to join. It will be called the American Rifle Association. Yes, it will be an organization for all blacks who love guns and all those opposed to gun control. (And of course, to avoid any accusations of discrimination, the organization will be open to people of all races who want to hang out with a lot of African Americans who carry guns.)

As they say, read the whole thing. I was particularly struck that the activist and comedian, Dick Gregory recognized the nature of the NRA back in the 1960s:

Now, I remember comedian Dick Gregory suggesting in the 1960s that the only way to get gun control in America was to start forming NRA chapters in the ghetto.

Gun Store Apparently Leaves Doors Open After Hours

Two Burglaries, 27 Guns Stolen:

AMARILLO, TEXAS -- More than two dozen stolen handguns are out on the streets after two break-ins of the same sporting goods store this past weekend.

It's business as usual at Gander Mountain, despite being burglarized twice over the 4th of July weekend. The thieves, got away with 27 handguns that the Potter County Sheriff's Department wants off the streets.

"If you have that many handguns on the streets you need to get them picked up and find out why somebody was wanting to steal that many guns," said Potter County Sheriff Brian Thomas