Saturday, March 31, 2012

Update on the Vigilante on Vigilante shooting in Utah

Cross posted from Penigma at Dog Gone's request (I'd make a further comment, bnt I've been told to be polite...)

It's funny what you find when you do an update check on a previous story, as I sometimes do. I found this little news story by accident, but it is worth sharing here.
For those of you who are curious, here is the original vigilante on vigilante shooting post I wrote, from earlier this month. It is worth noting that unlike Florida, Utah while too pro-gun in many respects, was sane enough as a state to limit castle doctrine and shoot first laws to a person's home. They still give more permission to shoot people to less regulated, less accountable, less trained civilians than they do to police but at least they restrict it to a person's own property. But this is after all still Utah, which has an interesting history when it comes to gun loving conservative older men and much younger or underage women, not unlike the conservative culture of perversion I wrote about here in Grand Marais, Minnesota. It appears Utah is not so different from rural Minnesota.
This conviction does not justify the man who went to jail for taking his gun and leaving his home to go looking for this self-appointed neighborhood watch captain and then shooting him. It does argue for his belief that this gun violence victim and his buddy weren't following the car full of girls because they were behaving illegally, as they claimed, but rather that he had a fetish for young teenage girls.
That the gun shot victim tried to blame HIS victim for his conduct is characteristic of a certain mentality that blames the victim instead of the legally and morally responsible adult bad guy taking the responsibility for his actions. What the following AP story fails to mention is the gun violence victim now in a wheelchair had LEFT his neighborhood where he claimed he was fulfilling his neighborhood watch duties, to follow aggressively the car full of young teenage girls.

You can read the story here, from the AP:
Utah man paralyzed in neighborhood watch shooting convicted of sex with neighbor girl, 17

SALT LAKE CITY — A 39-year-old man paralyzed in a Bluffdale neighborhood watch shooting faces up to 15 years in prison after he was convicted of having sex with a 17-year-old neighbor girl.
A jury found David Serbeck guilty on Thursday of three felony counts of unlawful sex with a minor. Sentencing is May 25.
Serbeck denied the accusations, saying the teen, who is now 22, had a crush on him and wanted to impress her friends.
The alleged victim testified she was 17 when she and Serbeck had sex three times in his Magna home in 2007.
Serbeck denied the accusations, saying the teen, who is now 22, had a crush on him and wanted to impress her friends.
Serbeck was shot and paralyzed in July 2009 by Reginald Campos, who suspected Serbeck of aggressively following his teen daughter in an SUV while patrolling the neighborhood. Campos was sentenced to up to life in prison. ****************** I wonder if Campos and Serbeck will be serving their time in the same prison. That could be awkward.

Accidental Shooting of Newark Ohio Man by Himself - No Charges


A Newark man accidentally shot himself in the hand while cleaning his gun Thursday night.

Ryan Healy, 33, had arrived early to play guitar and decided to clean his handgun in his vehicle in the parking lot of Tony's Bar, 293 W. Main St., Newark police Sgt. Scott Snow said.

Healy removed the magazine and was taking the gun apart when Healy accidentally shot himself in the hand at 8:57 p.m. Thursday, Snow said.
He must have forgotten there was one in the chamber. Can anyone tell me how such a thing is possible? It seems to me that even with no training and no experience you should be able to figure that out and avoid it 100%. Yet, we read these stories almost daily. How? Why?

I have a theory. The large group of people roughly defined as law-abiding gun owners contains a fairly high percentage of unfit characters. These forget-the-one-in-the-chamber guys are not the worst. They're not malicious, they're only reckless and stupid. But, when you combine the reckless and stupid ones with the malicious and dangerous ones and then you add on the ones with alcohol and drug problems, you've got a frightening situation. That's what we have in the US today and all the bluffing and boasting on the part of gun-rights fanatics is not going to change that.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

New Jersey Man Gets 8 Years for Accidental Shooting Death


A 32-year-old Paterson man was sentenced Friday to eight years in state prison for accidentally killing a close friend as he played with a gun while high on marijuana.

Luis Alvarez, who pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter, wept as relatives of 20-year-old victim Storm Brown stood before state Superior Court Judge Raymond A. Reddin in Paterson and mourned what was clearly a mutual loss.

“You don’t play with guns,” said Helen Melton, Brown’s aunt. “You were older than Storm. You should have known better.”

Attorneys characterized the relationship between defendant and victim as almost like uncle and nephew.

“It was a tragic accident,” Alvarez said. “It’s something that hurts me every day.”

Authorities said the incident occurred at Alvarez’s home at 42 Highland St., where a party was winding down on the night of Oct. 24, 2010. Alavarez was smoking marijuana while playing with a 357 Magnum. The gun accidentally fired, striking Brown in the chest at about 1:10 a.m.. He was dead on arrival at St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson.
That sentence sounds quite excessive to me. I don't think people should go to jail for accidents, especially for longer sentences like 8 years. Of course if there are extenuating circumstances, it could be right. This was probably not a legally owned gun, for one thing, and perhaps Alvarez had a long record of criminal convictions already. But generally speaking, I say one-strike-you're-out with regards to the right to own guns, and no jail for accidents.

What's your opinion?

Harlon Carter and George Zimmerman




The story involves former NRA leader Harlon Carter, who in 1977 took control of the National Rifle Association (NRA) during the "Cincinnati Revolution" and turned the organization into a no-compromise, highly partisan entity that embraces extreme positions on the Second Amendment and gun policy.
Four years after he took power, the press uncovered a disturbing fact about Carter. On March 3, 1931, a 17-year-old Carter shot and killed 15-year-old Ramón Casiano in Laredo, Texas. After returning home from school that day, Carter was told by his mother that there were three Latino youths loitering near the family's property. Carter left his house, shotgun in tow, to confront them. After finding Casiano and his two companions at a nearby swimming hole, Carter pointed his shotgun at them and ordered them to come with him. Casiano refused, pulled out a knife, and asked Carter if he would like to fight. Carter then pointed the shotgun at Casiano. Casiano laughed and brushed the gun aside while taking a step back. Carter asked Casiano, "You don't think I'd use it?" and then fatally shot him in the chest. After initialy being convicted of murder, Carter was able to successfully appeal and get the case thrown out.


The similarities to the murder of Trayvon Martin are obvious and the NRA again stands at the center of controversy because of their authorship of the "Stand Your Ground" law that has allowed George Zimmerman to remain a free—and armed—man.
The sick connection between the former NRA leader and George Zimmerman is another good example of the fanaticism of the NRA leadership. Is it any wonder that they're membership often disagrees with the party line, not to mention how small it is compared to the number gun owners at large.

La Pierre, who probably learned a great deal from Harlon Carter, employs rhetoric that couldn't possibly appeal to normal people. His ranting about the possible problem they'll face during Obama's second term is so full of lies and distortions that no rational, thinking member could possible accept it.

But apparently some do.  Even around here, how many times do our antagonists claim that we want to take ALL the guns away?  How often to they liken my version of gun control to Prohibition?

Unfortunately these convenient misconceptions run deep.  They make the  pro-gun argument sound better that it really is.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Friday, March 30, 2012

"In God We Trust" or "E Pluribus Unum"





Time to get back to our roots and to me that starts with dropping “In God We Trust“ and returning to  “e pluribus unum” (Out of Many, One) as our official motto.

 It was adopted by an Act of Congress in 1782, although not as an official motto but what came to be considered, de facto, the basic statement of the USA. It is on the official Seal of the United States.

“In God We Trust,” in this era of the Religious Right separating itself from any compromise position with the center or the left, is meaningless.  What do we trust in God for? That He would allow one side to corrupt the country in His name? If we don’t get back to unifying the many, we will no longer have control of the basics of daily life.

Jon Stewart on Obama and the Russians


I wonder what else Obama will take care of in 2013.

Accidental Shooting of Kentucky Man by Self - He's Dead, His Friend is Seriously Wounded


Kevin McElrath, 25, was found dead of gunshot wound to the head in the kitchen of his home. He was pronounced dead by Laurel County Coroner Doug Bowling.

Eric Partain, 22, of Williamsburg was critically injured from a head wound. He was taken by ambulance to the London airport and then airlifted to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital.

According to witness statements, the shooting happened after McElrath removed the clip from a .45-caliber pistol and it accidentally discharged, hitting him in the head, the release said.

Partain was struck in the head with the same bullet.
Sounds like he forgot there was one in the chamber. How can this happen so often? Please don't tell me to divide the number of these incidents by the 80 million gun owners in the country. The fact that it EVER happens is unbelievable, as is the fact that people would ever point the gun at themselves. Who are these people?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

No Jail Time for Dad Found Guilty of Child Endangerment


Edward O’Rourke, whose son used a gun he found in his father’s bedroom to accidentally kill his 12-year-old friend in December 2010, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor Thursday and will serve no jail time.

Edward O’Rourke, 58, pleaded guilty in Saratoga Springs City Court to child endangerment. To the dismay of Naumkin’s parents, Judge Jeffrey Wait sentenced O’Rourke to no jail time or probation, but banned him from owning firearms and required him to submit a DNA sample to the state’s database.

A misdemeanor conviction can carry up to a year in jail or up to 3 years of probation.

O’Rourke’s son, then 12, killed Nicholas Naumkin on Dec. 22, 2010, while the boys were alone in the O’Rourke family’s home on Birchwood Drive. Edward O’Rourke kept the 9mm pistol in an unlocked drawer, according to prosecutors.
Disarming guys like this is the most important thing. Jail time serves no purpose other than to satisfy the revenge fantasies of the victim's family.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Atlanta 3-Year-Old by Young Man - Manslaughter Charged



An 18-year-old Atlanta man was arrested Thursday in the accidental shooting death of a three-year-old girl, MyFoxAtlanta.com reported.

Larenzo Montgomery shot Takira Garlington in the stomach Wednesday, and faces involuntary manslaughter charges, police said, according to the report. He was denied bond at a court appearence.
The disgraceful ease with which anybody can get a gun plays a part in these daily tragedies. Gun availability could be diminsihed.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Elliot Fineman on the State of Gun Control


Last week we posted the video from Al Jazeera's Inside Story, in which Elliot Fineman of the National Gun Victims' Council made several very good points.

1. Reminiscent of my continual harping on the fact that all the guns used in crime were once owned by law-abiding gun owners, Elliot said, "every criminal was once a law abiding citizen."

The connection between law-abiding gun owners and criminal gun owners is blurred, it's a gray area. I call the inhabitants of that gray area, "hidden criminals," but what Mr. Fineman reminds us is that some of the solid law-abiding types also flow over to the other side. This happens through all the social ills which I outlined in my Famous 10%.

2. The element of surprise is what makes concealed carry an exercise in futility.  The example given was when President Reagan was shot by John Hinkley Jr., the disturbed young man was able to get all six shots off before he was stopped by the secret service. Even surrounded by professional body guards, an untrained person like that could get away with an attempted assassination.

Jared Loughner was another more recent example and one with better marksmanship.

Gun owners are fooling themselves that carrying a gun will save the day.  It's far more likely that the gun they carry will one day be misused in some way than that it will save a life.

3. Elliot Fineman mentioned a study which uncovered the fact that 25% of guns manufactured go to criminals. I've said this for years, now I learn that there is evidence for what seems to be simple common sense.  Criminals get their guns through unregulated private sales, theft and straw purchasing, all of which could be either eradicated or severely diminished through proper gun control.  But the NRA and the gun manufacturers don't want that because it would cut into their business by a whopping 25%.

4. In the UK, lawfully owned handguns are a thing of the past.  Civilians for the most part cannot own them.  The criminals, however can and do acquire them on the black market. The result is an extremely low gun murder rate compared to the US. The few murders they do have are obviously being committed by criminal gun owners.

Mr. Fineman drew an interesting conclusion from this.  In the United States, if we could somehow remove all the guns from the civilian population, like England did, we too would have the low gun murder rate, with that lower number of murders being committed by criminals.  The rest are being done by so-called lawful gun owners.

This obviously gets back to the gray area and the concept of "hidden criminals." Truly law-abiding citizens obviously do not go around killing people, but the gun owning public is not limited to just these types of responsible people. That's why we need strict gun control.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

A Good Clean DGU If Ever There Were Such a Thing

from Capn Crunch via Channel 7 local news

Bill Maher at his Most Eloquent on Gun Control

Colbert on Gun Sales

The Few, The Proud, The Marines

Who's this remind you of?

Marine Reprimanded for Obama Hate on Facebook


Before It's News reports

On Wednesday Marine Sgt. Gary Stein was notified by the Marine Corps that he was in violation of the Pentagon’s policy for blatantly condemning President Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Stein’s actions could now lead to his dismissal and a possible downgrade in ranking.

The Marine who is based in Camp Pendleton, California, created a Facebook page called “Armed Forces Tea Party,” which currently has approximately 19,000 likes and has photos showcasing slogans such as “NObama” and “One Nation, under Obama, with poverty and unemployment for all,” has been under the microscope since 2010.
What do you think? Are military guys wrong for openly criticizing the Commander-in-Chief.

Isn't it criminal for marines to commit acts of disrespect and disobedience?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Influence and Motivation of Wayne La Pierre



The National Rifle Association is an extremely wealthy political organization, taking in $228 million annually in revenue, according to its 2010 federal tax return. Executive VP Wayne LaPierre earned $960,000 in 2010, while the NRA executive director of general operations, Kayne B. Robinson, pocketed more than $1 million.

I'm sure they wouldn't be in these positions if they weren't genuine gun lovers (and, yes, "lovers" rather than the dispassionate "owners" is the right word). But I'm also sure they very much like being part of an organization with the cash resources to influence national elections, terrify lawmakers and its top-ranked people investment banker salaries.

Don't you think the dean of Florida gun rights lobbyists, Marion Hammer, occasionally scrambles to justify the $300,000 she received in 2010 from the NRA and the Unified Sportsmen of Florida? Take a guess.

Absolutely, said Josh Horwitz, executive director of the national Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (the total budget of which, by the way, is less than LaPierre's annual salary).

The Creepy and Mercenary NRA is Selling Concealed Carry Hoodies


via Think Progress

Rifle Association has a new item in its online store: hoodies, with a special pocket designed to conceal a handgun. Hooded sweatshirts have taken on new meaning in the last week as a symbol for Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed while wearing one last month. Last week, Geraldo Rivera speculated that it was Trayvon’s hoodie that was to blame for his death, sparking widespread criticism. “We want concealed carry to fit around your lifestyle — not the other way around. That’s why we developed the NRAstore exclusive Concealed Carry Hooded Sweatshirt,” reads the product description. If enough people buy them, Rivera may be right to assume some hoodies can be dangerous.

Pennsylvania Mayors Want Support for Local Gun Laws


Philly.com reports

That, the mayors fear, would be the consequence of bills pending in the state House and Senate that would penalize municipalities for enacting gun-control ordinances that go further than existing state law.

Nutter, along with the mayors of Chester, Lancaster, and Allentown - all cities which, like Philadelphia, now require gun owners to report lost or stolen weapons - spoke against the legislation at a news conference and met privately with legislators to urge them to reject the bills.
The pro-gun crowd often ridicules the suggestion of reporting stolen guns as something useless. I completely agree with that. What's needed to make it effective are sanctions. If gun owners had to pay, say a thousand-dollar fine, for each stolen gun, they'd be more careful about safe storage.

Safe storage laws are problematical because it's all about what happens inside a man's home. But, making them pay for abetting the thieves, would have a positive impact.

Well then, in that case, no one would report the stolen gun, you say?  There's an obvious solution for that. Registration of guns. If guns were registered to specific licensed owners, those owners would be responsible for them in a way they aren't today.

In this way, one of the major supply chains of guns flowing from the legal world to the illegal world would be severely diminished.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Jon Stewart on the Candidates

Accidental Shooting of Texas Man by Himself - He's Dead

Houston Chronicle reports

A 40-year-old man accidentally fatally shot himself as he was putting his gun on safety early Wednesday morning in Dickinson.

Duane Johnson died after accidentally shooting himself about 2:25 a.m. Wednesday at his business in the 3700 block of Medical Park drive, according to the Dickinson Police Department.

Police said Johnson went to check on his business after he received a call from an alarm company about the building. The building had not been broken into. Johnson accidentally shot himself in the chest as he tired to put the gun's safety on.
How is such a thing even possible? Could this Texas man have been so unfamiliar with firearms that he aimed it at his chest while trying to engage the safety? How did anyone know that's what he was doing anyway?

For me, there are some questions about this one, but the bottom line seems clear, man, gun, dead.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Commenting Policy

I've put the comment moderation back on because I've decided to clean up the dialogue on the blog a little bit. No more name-calling or personal attacks are allowed. Opinions, theories, unsupported assertions, all manner of nonsense, as well as statistics and surveys are all welcome.

I'll enforce that like I used to, which is to say not strictly, but as a general guideline, and of course I'm the judge.

I thank everyone who participates here and I hope you don't feel too inconvenienced.

Accidental Shooting of South Carolina Man at Gun Range by Himself - He's Dead


The man who accidentally shot himself at Trader World Gun Shop has died of his injuries.

Around 5 p.m. on Monday North Charleston police responded to the gun shop's range located on Cross County Road.

The victim has been identified by the Charleston County Coroner's Office as 60-year-old Benny Patterson of North Charleston. He died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Witnesses told police that the Patterson was shooting on a lane when he stopped to inspect the weapon. He turned the handgun toward himself and then it discharged, striking him.
What do you think? Lawful gun owners are supposed to be responsible, that's what they keep telling us. The problem is many of them are not.

Please leave a comment.

Gun Shot Victim Gets a New Face





A 37-year-old man injured in a 1997 gun accident has been given a new face, teeth, tongue and jaw in what doctors say is the most extensive face transplant ever performed.

Officials at the University of Maryland Medical Center announced today that Richard Lee Norris is recovering well after last week's 36-hour surgery.

He is beginning to feel his face and already brushing his teeth and shaving. He's also regained his sense of smell, which he had lost after the accident.
As we've noted a number of times, gun shot victims are not only counted in deaths. Some serioulsy damaged people suffer terribly from gun shot wounds.

Please leave a comment.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Al Jazerra on Why Americans Love Their Guns

The Amazing Geraldo Rivera on Trayvon Martin







Another Lawful Gun Owner and Possible Concealed Carry Permit Holder Does His Thing


A local man is in jail after police say he pulled a gun on his mother and another woman.

Reports state that Justin R. Deel, of 301 Greenway Drive, reportedly pulled a handgun and pointed it at his mother and another woman at the home.

Deel was arrested for one count of domestic aggravated assault, one count of aggravated assault and public intoxication.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Rick Santorum at the Shooting Range with a Fat White Guy

This was good for a few votes in Louisiana.

Another Mississippi Student Killed with a Gun




Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Sunday expressed his sorrow at the shooting deaths of two college students in the state over the weekend.

Late Saturday, 21-year-old John Sanderson of Madison, Miss., was shot to death in a Mississippi State University dormitory, though the killing appears to be isolated, according to university officials.

Early Sunday, a 19-year-old freshman at Jackson State University died from being shot in the face and killed at an off-campus apartment pool party in Jackson. Police identified the victim as Nolan Ryan Henderson III of Atlanta.
What do you think? Is it an epidemic yet, gun violence?

Please leave a comment.

Owner of Mattress Gun Arrested



A Southwest Side man was ordered held on $100,000 bond Monday for allegedly storing a gun between two mattresses that accidentally went off and wounded a 4-year-old girl jumping on the bed.

Jarquise Upton, 21, of the 6400 block of South Artesian Avenue, was charged Sunday with one count of felony unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, misdemeanor possession of ammunition and theft of lost or mislaid property, police said.

As commenter Greg predicted, the owner of this gun was indeed a disqualified person. I don't think I ever doubted that in cases like this justice is usually done. Black guys who have criminal records and do something wrong with a gun do pay the price. It's the others I'm concerned with. The "lawful" gun owners who have "accidents" and get away scott free, those fat white men.

In this case, it looks like justice will be served and thank goodness the little girl was not seriously hurt.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Monday, March 26, 2012

The Direction We're Heading In

via Under the Lobsterscope

The Florida “Stand Your Ground”/License to murder law is just lynching with a bullet – along with a get out of jail free card.
 
At a gun range courting the NRA vote in Louisiana, Rick Santorum took a couple of shots as a supporter shouted “pretend it [the target] is Obama.”

“Shoot to Kill” may soon be replacing “In God We Trust” as the official motto of the United States.
#
-Mark Karlin, Editor for BUZZFLASH

Norfolk Man Shot Holding Toy Gun for the 2nd Time - This Time He's Dead



A man who was shot to death in a standoff with Virginia Beach police over the weekend was pointing a toy machine gun at the officers who shot him, according to an investigation by police.



Daniel Guy Newcomb, a 33-year-old Norfolk resident, was a suspect in an armed robbery when he was confronted by officers on Saturday afternoon. He was shot during the standoff in the 300 block of South Witchduck Road and later pronounced dead at the hospital.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that this was the second time that Newcomb had been shot by police officers while threatening them with a replica gun. The newspaper reports that in 2009, he was shot during a standoff with Norfolk police officers while wielding a starter's pistol.
What's your opinion? Can the police be faulted for mistaking that toy gun for the real thing? If not, then here's my solution.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of 5-Year-Old Girl Jumping on Mattress - No Charges

A 5-year-old girl was injured early Saturday morning when a gun hidden between mattresses in a Marquette Park neighborhood home discharged as she was jumping on the bed, police said.
Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of JSU Student Near Campus - No Charges



Residents of an apartment complex within walking distance from the Jackson State University campus say they’re in shock after the shooting death of a JSU freshman at a pool party there early Sunday.

The complex is primarily populated by college students.
What's your opinion? Is this a good illustration why guns should not be allowed on campuses? Yes, it is.

Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Wisconsin Man by Friend - No Charges

A 67-year-old rural Oshkosh man accidentally shot a 55-year-old Oshkosh man in his right foot Saturday night while showing him a handgun at his Town of Algoma residence.

The shooting occurred shortly after 9:15 p.m. at 3966 Highland Shores Lane, where the homeowner was showing the victim and the victim’s 70-year-old brother his firearms.
What do you think? Was he a legal gun owner? The article didn't specifically say. Was he a concealed carry permit holder? The article didn't say anything about that either.

It doesn't matter. Too many gun owners and too many concealed carry guys are just not fit to own guns safely.

Please leave a comment.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Cars vs. Guns

Inspired by Farago's recent post pushing the famous false nonsense of how much more dangerous cars are than guns, I wrote the following summary of the situation.

All right here's the deal with car comparisons.  Cars kill 40,000 a year even though they have licensing of drivers, registration of cars and insurance requirements.  Without those restrictions the death toll would be 100,000.

Guns kill 30,000 a year and do not have licensing of gun owners, registration of guns and insurance requirements.  If guns and gun owners enjoyed the same restriction as cars, the death toll would be 5,000 a year.

100,000 for cars, 5,000 for guns. That's more or less what we're looking at.

What do you think, make sense?

Cenk's Take on the "Stand Your Ground" Law


Indiana's Cop-Killing Law


The new law reverses a state Supreme Court ruling that homeowners do not have the right to use force against law enforcement officials who they believe are illegally entering their homes. According to the Evansville Courier Press, an Evansville resident fought a police officer who followed him into his house during a domestic dispute call. “The state Supreme Court found that officers sometimes enter homes without warrants for reasons protected by the law, such as pursuing suspects or preventing the destruction of evidence. In these situations, we find it unwise to allow a homeowner to adjudge the legality of police conduct in the heat of the moment,” the court said. “As we decline to recognize a right to resist unlawful police entry into a home, we decline to recognize a right to batter a police officer as a part of that resistance.”

But Governor Daniels is merely attempting to put political spin on a bad bill. Indeed, Daniels admits that he nearly vetoed it precisely because the bill could be grossly misinterpreted and could lead to killings of police and citizens. This law is basically a loophole for citizens to kill police officers and claim self-defense. There are many people out there who think no police officers have the right to enter homes or property, even if there is a warrant.
What do you think? Should the governor have gone with his first instinct and vetoed it? Do you think the instances of police entering one's home with the intention of committing murder are sufficient to warrant this nonsense? Do you think this law will lead to the kinds of things we've had with the "stand your ground" laws, unnecessary killings and people getting away with murder?

Please leave a comment.

Gun Control - Alien Style

from the classic film, The Day The Earth Stood Still.

Montana Gun Owner Arrested at Airport with Several Guns




Harold Waller, 45, was arrested Thursday afternoon after Transportation Security Administration officials found a gun in one of his carry-on bags, said Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Jason Ramos.

When TSA screeners conducted a more thorough check, they found Waller was carrying a loaded gun, and had two other semi-automatic weapons packed in his carry-on bags, Ramos said.

After Waller was arrested, deputies searched his car and said they found eight more guns, some of which were loaded.

Waller, from Circle, Mont., was trying to board a US Airways flight to Phoenix.
Now, what could the pro-gun crowd possibly use to excuse this guy? Did he just forget? No, that doesn't seem likely. Was he worried about his safety in the Phoenix area and simply wanted to exercise his 2nd Amendment rights? Did he think the TSA was so busy frisking little kids and disabled old ladies that he'd get through?

No, nothing seems to explain why this lawful gun owner did what he did. I wonder if he had a concealed carry permit. I guess he could have, so many gun owners do these days.

I suppose some of the real gun-rights extremists long for the day when no checks were made and if a guy like Waller got on a plane armed to the teeth, at least they'd have a gun or two to protect themselves and others. Does that attitude make sense to you?

I'll go out on a limb here and tell you what I think, in spite of my inability to read the guy's mind. He had bad intentions and the TSA did a splendid job disarming and arresting him.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Idaho Man - No Charges


One man is in the hospital after a shooting Saturday afternoon.

The victim, a 27-old-male, was taken to St. Luke's Magic Valley Regional Medical Center where he was stabilized. He was then flown to St. Alphonsus Medical Center in Boise.
Practically no details, no information released by the police, and especially, no charges expected.

In Idaho, that's just the way things go.

Gun Flow Explained


But it is the incredibly permissive gun laws in this country that put those guns there. It is the incredibly permissive gun laws in this country that allow millions of new guns to be purchased in the United States each year. And it is the incredibly permissive gun laws in this country that abet the illegal flow of many of those guns into American cities that do not want them, that are trying to keep them out.

It is the legal gun trade that supplies the illegal gun trade. Until we place some sensible limits on the first, ones in keeping with the spirit of a "well regulated militia," we will never begin to get a handle on the second. And law-abiding citizens' best defense against bullets flying into their homes and into their bodies will continue to be sheer luck.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.