Saturday, October 12, 2013
Minnesota Couple Dead in Murder-Suicide - Woman Shooter
The shooting that left a Rosemount couple dead this week has been ruled a murder-suicide, police said Thursday.
Police found Steven Vasey Jr., 32, and his wife, Melissa Vasey, 31, dead in their Waterford Commons apartment, at South Robert Trail and 146th Street, about 5:48 p.m. Tuesday. Officers were called there to check on the couple's welfare.
Preliminary results from the Hennepin County medical examiner's office show Melissa Vasey shot her husband "multiple" times before turning the gun on herself, Rosemount Police Chief Eric Werner said.
This is a very unusual case in that the woman was the shooter. But it brings up a point about the previous post on guns and women. The numbers don't include the victims of murder-suicide incidents, which usually are done by men.What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
More Hilarity from Chief Mark Kessler
Photo By Jacqueline Dormer/AP FILE - In this Sept. 19, 2013 file photo, Gilberton Police Chief Mark Kessler, center, talks with the media before a closed disciplinary hearing in the borough building, in Mahanoy Plane, Pa. Kessler, who was suspended after posting online videos of himself shooting automatic weapons while screaming profanities about liberals and the Second Amendment, gets a chance to argue for his job on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013.
A hearing for a Pennsylvania police chief who made profanity-laced Internet videos about liberals and the Second Amendment was halted suddenly Thursday night after a handgun belonging to one of his supporters slid out of its holster and crashed onto the concrete floor.
The loaded semi-automatic handgun landed inches away from Gilberton Chief Mark Kessler and his attorney. It did not go off, but attorney Joseph Nahas said that he and other officials were concerned about the safety of everyone in the tiny, crowded meeting room at borough hall.
Nahas said the hearing will be continued at a nearby courthouse, where weapons are prohibited.
"To have what happened in this particular room made of concrete and steel, I think, could be fatal for many, many people," he told the audience.
The supporter who dropped the weapon declined comment.
"It's alarming," Nahas said afterward. "I can't conduct my job appropriately when handguns are being dropped on concrete."
The gun incident marked an abrupt end to a hearing at which Kessler was fighting to save his job. Town officials have already voted to begin the process of firing him, but under due-process rules the chief is entitled to call witnesses at a public hearing.
It's really quite funny that at a hearing in which the Chief was calling witnesses to support his position, one of them dropped a gun on the ground.
They should fire Kessler and his gun-dropping buddy, too.
Montana Gun Owner Exonerated in Friend's Death - It was Just an Accident
Justin Nelson recounts how his pistol discharged in August and fatally wounded Chad Goodman during a coroner’s inquest on Friday at the Missoula County Courthouse. The coroner’s jury ruled that the shooting was not a criminal act.
A coroner’s inquest Friday found that the fatal shooting of a Missoula man in August was not a criminal act.
Chad Goodman, 23, was shot with a semi-automatic pistol in the early morning of Aug. 18 by a 22-year-old acquaintance, Justin Nelson.
“It’s not uncommon for this type of accident to happen,” Marks said. “Unfortunately in this case, the gun was pointed at somebody when it happened.”
The verdict, which vindicated Nelson of any criminal responsibility, came after 30 minutes of deliberation by jurors and followed the testimony of Nelson, a witness, his roommates, Missoula police officers and experts at the Montana Crime Lab.
The total nonchalance with which they treat gun negligence is a crime, pardon the pun. It should be a crime to point a gun at someone while manipulating the slide. This happens countless times each year but only a handful of them come to our attention, usually when someone is killed or injured.
In those cases, where it is proven that someone did this gravely dangerous action with a gun, they should be held accountable for it.
Mr. Nelson should never be allowed to own guns again. He has proven himself to be unfit to handle the responsibly.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
California Gov. Vetoes Semi-automatic Rifle Ban
Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill Friday that would have imposed the nation's toughest gun ownership restrictions on Californians, saying it was too far-reaching.
The legislation would have banned future sales of most semi-automatic rifles that accept detachable magazines, part of a firearms package approved by state lawmakers in response to mass shootings in other states.
It was lawmakers' latest attempt to close loopholes that have allowed manufacturers to work around previous assault weapon bans. Gun rights groups had threatened to sue if the semi-automatic weapons ban became law.
"I don't believe that this bill's blanket ban on semi-automatic rifles would reduce criminal activity or enhance public safety enough to warrant this infringement on gun owners' rights," the Democratic governor wrote in his veto message.
The bill sought to ban the sale of assault rifles, but Brown objected that it also would have applied to low-capacity weapons commonly used for hunting, firearms training and target shooting, and some historical and collectible firearms. Brown also didn't want thousands of legal gun owners to have to register their existing weapons as assault rifles and be blocked from selling or transferring the weapons.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Natalie Foster, NRA Liar, Compares Guns with Spiders and Dangerous Animals
Where was the lie, I hear you gun-rights fanatics ask?
Well, how about the whole damn thing, the entire premise of the video. Pretending that gun control folks, all or most or even a significant percentage of them, have an irrational fear of the inanimate object called gun, is about as far from the truth as you can get.
This is one of the NRA's foundation lies. And like many of its falsehoods, it has an ironic twist to it. Gun lovers are the ones who anthropomorphize firearms, often naming them. They're the ones who feel safe and secure only when carrying their best friend. They're also the ones who push the use of the passive voice when describing gun misuse.
By removing the blame from the human person who mishandled the gun and claiming "the gun went off," for example, they are placing a power in the gun that just isn't there.
And all the while, NRA con men and women put on that smirking face and pretend their opponents are irrationally afraid of guns.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Republican Approval at an All-Time Low
Only 28% of Americans view the Republican Party favorably, the lowest mark for either party in Gallup polling dating back to 1992, when they started asking that question.
The latest Gallup survey, taken amid an ongoing federal government shutdown for which most have blamed Republicans so far, plunges the GOP's favorability levels 10 points from where they were in September. More than six in 10 Americans (62%) now view the Republican Party unfavorably, also a record-high in Gallup polling.
The previous low for the GOP came in 1999, when only 31% of people viewed the party favorably. That was during the impeachment proceedings of President Clinton.
Democrats have a more measured favorable-to-unfavorable split at 43-49. The 43% favorability level is down four points from last month.
And President Barack Obama's approval rating stands at 44%, compared with 51% who disapprove.
Here's a chart of the historical trend:
Lawful Gun Owner - Ex-Cop - Shoots up the Wheeling West Virginia Court House and Get Killed
Local law enforcement officers secure an area in front of the Federal Buildng in Wheeling, WV, Wedneday, Oct. 9, after shooting outside the courthouse. The US Marshals Services says officers fired at the man after he shot up to two dozen rounds at the courthouse. Scott McCloskey/The Intelligencer/AP
CSM
A retired police officer armed with an assault weapon and a handgun fired up to two dozen shots at a U.S. courthouse in West Virginia on Wednesday before police returned fire and killed him, authorities said.
Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger identified the gunman as Thomas J. Piccard, 55, of Bridgeport, Ohio. He was a retired Wheeling police officer.
Schwertfeger did not say whether Piccard used both weapons during the assault on the Wheeling Federal Building or speculate on a motive. Officials said they had no knowledge of any sort of note left behind by Piccard.
Emily Miller with Joe Scarborough and Friends
In the past I've called her a shill for the gun lobby and a stooge for the NRA. My opinion hasn't changed, although I have to say, of all the pro-gun spokespeople, she's the best talker they've got.
The shill part comes in when she tries to repeatedly convince us that "assault weapons" are just like hunting rifles. This is ridiculous and anyone with half-a-brain can see why. Hunting rifles are not designed to take magazines which hold 30 rounds or more. That's because hunting rifles are made for shooting deer and wild pigs. Assault rifles are designed to shoot as many humans as possible in as efficient a manner as they can.
The other quibble I have is when she falls back on that old nonsense of how few people are prosecuted for failing the backgkround check. We've discussed this at great length, basically it's a diversionary tactic to distract people from the fact that in every case in which someone fails a background check the system worked. That person was prevented from buying a gun. The paper crime of lying on a government form is beside the point.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Absorbed Device Users Oblivious to Danger
Brandon Long (right) is among the many commuters using smartphones on the way to work on a Muni train stopping at San Francisco's Powell Street Station on Friday. Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle
SF Gate
A man standing on a crowded Muni train pulls out a .45-caliber pistol.
He raises the gun, pointing it across the aisle, before tucking it back against his side. He draws it out several more times, once using the hand holding the gun to wipe his nose. Dozens of passengers stand and sit just feet away - but none reacts.
Their eyes, focused on smartphones and tablets, don't lift until the gunman fires a bullet into the back of a San Francisco State student getting off the train.
Investigators say this scene was captured by a Muni camera on Sept. 23, the night Nikhom Thephakaysone, 30, allegedly killed 20-year-old Justin Valdez in an apparently random encounter.
For police and prosecutors, the details of the case were troubling - they believe the suspect had been out "hunting" for a stranger to kill - but so too was the train passengers' collective inattention to imminent danger.
"These weren't concealed movements - the gun is very clear," said District Attorney George Gascón. "These people are in very close proximity with him, and nobody sees this. They're just so engrossed, texting and reading and whatnot. They're completely oblivious of their surroundings."
The story goes on to mention that although cell-phone use can be such a distraction as to make people unsafe, there is another side of the coin. Often crime is detected with the help of photos taken by smart phones and certainly many crimes are reported in a timely manner now that almost everyone has a device in their pocket.
What's your opinion? Does the new technology make us safer or more unsafe by often being oblivious to our surroundings.
How about gun owners? How can they maintain their famous situational awareness while talking or texting on their phones?
Please leave a comment.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Utah Gun Accident Injures Two - No Charges Naturally
A 67-year-old man and his wife were hospitalized early Tuesday after he accidentally fired his gun while cleaning it.
Ogden Police Lt. Steve Zaccardi said police responded just after 2 a.m. to the 1100 block of Maxfield Drive on reports of a shooting. The man had not realized his .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun was loaded and accidentally fired. The bullet struck his left index finger before hitting the upper thigh of his 56-year-old wife.
Both were taken to McKay Dee Hospital and are expected to fully recover, Zaccardi said.
I wonder how many other gun mishaps this guy has been responsible for in his long life. Gross negligence disguised as accidents are the way these idiots continue to own and misuse guns.
They should be disarmed the very first time the do something like this.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Guns Aren't the Answer to Domestic Violence
That year (2011) there were 1,707 females murdered by males in America in single victim/single offender incidents. Ninety-four percent of these women were murdered by a male they knew.
Among the victims who knew their offenders, 61 percent were wives or intimate acquaintances. (This percentage could well be higher, because ex-girlfriends are not included in the statistics.) Nearly all the homicides (87 percent) were not related to the commission of any other felony, such as rape or robbery.
When it comes to guns and women, firearms are being used to take women's lives, not defend them. In the study, we found that more homicides were committed with firearms (51 percent) than any other weapon, and of those, 73 percent were committed with handguns. Nine women are shot to death by their husbands or intimate partners every week.
It's cynically logical that the National Rifle Association, which receives tens of millions of dollars from gun manufacturers, including money for marketing guns to women, would try to persuade women that buying a firearm guarantees personal safety. But having a gun in the home actually increases the chance that a woman will be killed. One study found that females living with a gun in the home were nearly three times more likely to be murdered than those without one.
The FBI data also reveals that guns are rarely used to kill criminals or stop crimes. In 2011, there were only 261 justifiable homicides committed by private citizens. Only 31 of these cases involved women killing men. And of those, only 14 involved a handgun.
Our report shows that lethal attacks by men on women are widespread across America, but it also highlights the states where it occurs at the highest rates. We ranked the top 10 states for the rate of females murdered by males, with South Carolina at the top.
Florida Toddler Recovering After Shooting Himself with Father's Gun
A 2-year-old boy got a gun out of his father's bedroom Tuesday and accidentally shot himself in both legs, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.
Child-welfare workers and Orange County deputies are investigating why the gun was unsecured and the toddler inadequately supervised at his home on West Livingston Street, near North Powers Drive.
The boy suffered a single gunshot wound to both legs, said Sheriff' Offices spokeswoman Ginette Rodriguez. He is being treated at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and is in stable condition.
Rodriguez said criminal charges are forthcoming.
Now that's more like it. Why is it usually so difficult to recognize that whenever a kid is injured with a gun some adult is responsible? In this case it sounds like they're doing it right.
Washington State 250,000 Signatures for Gun Safety Initiative
Ralph Fascitelli, president of Washington CeaseFire, a local advocacy group trying to reduce gun violence, takes the stage at Westlake Park for their "StandUP Washington" rally and march Sunday. The group marched down 4th Avenue to the Mural Amphitheater at the Seattle Center where local civic and religious leaders gave speeches in support of banning semi-automatic weapons and strengthening gun control laws.
Seattlepi
The campaign to close the “gun show loophole” in Washington on Wednesday submitted 250,000 initiative signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office in Olympia.
Sponsors want 75,000 more, but Initiative 594 appears headed for what is likely to be a statewide vote in the 2014 election. It will likely produce a showdown between the gun lobby and a clergy-inspired gun safety movement that arose after the assassination of 20 first graders in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school last December.
“Today was a great day for the religious community of Washington: As I delivered signatures at the Secretary of State’s office with Cheryl Stumbo, a gun-violence survivor, and other advocates, I thought back to the hundreds gathered for our candlelight march from St. Mark’s to St. James in early February,” said the Rev. Sandy Brown, senior minister at the Seattle First United Methodist Church.
Stumbo is a survivor of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle shootings, and has become a public face in the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility campaign.
Initiative 594 would require criminal background checks for online gun purchases and private transactions such as purchases at gun shows. The background checks would be conducted by federally licensed firearms dealers, who now conduct such checks for commercial sales.
Illinois Teen Dead - It Was Just an Accident - No Charges Expected
Local news reports
I suppose this boy never received any training or education of any kind regarding gun safety. That's the simple-minded gun-rights solution to this not-insignificant problem.
The truth is, like all the other idiot gun owners who forget there was one in the chamber, this young man is impervious to education and training. It takes a special kind of stupidity and recklessness to not only overlook the round in the chamber, but to also aim the gun at someone's head and pull the trigger.
The most amazing part of the whole story is the gun-rights fanatics who support the nonchalant attitude towards these incidents, in most cases no charges are even considered. It's disgraceful.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
A Wayne City teen died Sunday evening after being accidentally shot by a friend.
WFIW Radio in Fairfield reported a teen, not identified by police, was handling a semi-automatic handgun when it accidentally discharged, striking Christian Marvel in the head.
Marvel, 18, was pronounced dead at the scene by Wayne County Coroner Jimmy Taylor.
Police said one of the teens removed the ammunition magazine from the pistol and believed it made the firearm safe to handle. The teen pulled the trigger, not realizing the pistol contained one round in the chamber. The firearm discharged, striking Marvel in the head.
An Illinois State Police detective and crime scene specialists were called to the scene to gather evidence in the case and confirm the death was accidental.
I suppose this boy never received any training or education of any kind regarding gun safety. That's the simple-minded gun-rights solution to this not-insignificant problem.
The truth is, like all the other idiot gun owners who forget there was one in the chamber, this young man is impervious to education and training. It takes a special kind of stupidity and recklessness to not only overlook the round in the chamber, but to also aim the gun at someone's head and pull the trigger.
The most amazing part of the whole story is the gun-rights fanatics who support the nonchalant attitude towards these incidents, in most cases no charges are even considered. It's disgraceful.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Michigan Man Shoots Himself by Accident - No Charges
Nicholas Kegley, 32, of Iron River, was cleaning a .22 caliber pistol while waiting in his vehicle for a friend.
Kegley and friends had been camping and hunting together in northern Bates Township. Kegley told the deputies that the slide had been sticking on the pistol and he used the time waiting to clean the gun.
While cleaning the pistol Kegley unintentionally chambered a live cartridge and discharged the firearm. The bullet struck Kegley in the upper left leg then lodged in the driver door of his vehicle.
Kegley was taken by his friend to the Northstar Hospital in Iron River where he was treated for the gunshot wound then released.
Deputies found the incident to be accidental and the investigation has been closed.
A guy who is stupid enough to do something as negligent as that should never be allowed to own a gun for the rest of his life.
This was probably not his very first act of negligence, and thanks to the lax laws and nonchalant attitudes towards gun safety, it probably won't be his last.
By disarming the unfit gun owners when they come to the attention of the authorities, we'd make the world a safer place.
Stu Bykofsky, Daily News Columnist, Has a Gun Control Plan
Philly dot com
After years of writing about gun issues, I developed a plan to reduce the risk of gun violence. Neither side will love it all.
* Mandatory instant background check for everyone, for every gun sold.
* One gun purchase a month. This is aimed at slowing the multiple straw purchaser.
* Increase prison time to 10 years for straw purchasers (who buy a gun to pass along to someone who can't pass a background check).
* Lost or stolen guns must be reported, to thwart straw purchasers who may claim the guns they sold illegally were lost or stolen.
* No "assault weapon" ban. It was tried for a decade to little effect, and the Washington Navy Yard maniac used a shotgun. In 2011, the FBI reports, shotgun homicides (356) outnumbered rifle homicides (323). Both were dwarfed by handguns (6,220), the biggest problem.
* Make carrying a gun in a crime a federal offense, 10-year mandatory, added to the sentence for the original crime.
* No clips with more than 15 rounds. If you can't hit a target with 15 chances, you shouldn't be packing. (Limiting ammo negates a "need" to ban "assault rifles.")
* States must report people with mental illnesses to a federal database, as they are required to do. Most lag behind. * Hollywood should reduce violence - in films, recordings, video games.
* No more "gun-free" zones. They don't stop gunmen; they provide defenseless targets.
Will my plan end all gun crime? Of course not. Will it stop some? You make that call.
After years of writing about gun issues, I developed a plan to reduce the risk of gun violence. Neither side will love it all.
* Mandatory instant background check for everyone, for every gun sold.
* One gun purchase a month. This is aimed at slowing the multiple straw purchaser.
* Increase prison time to 10 years for straw purchasers (who buy a gun to pass along to someone who can't pass a background check).
* Lost or stolen guns must be reported, to thwart straw purchasers who may claim the guns they sold illegally were lost or stolen.
* No "assault weapon" ban. It was tried for a decade to little effect, and the Washington Navy Yard maniac used a shotgun. In 2011, the FBI reports, shotgun homicides (356) outnumbered rifle homicides (323). Both were dwarfed by handguns (6,220), the biggest problem.
* Make carrying a gun in a crime a federal offense, 10-year mandatory, added to the sentence for the original crime.
* No clips with more than 15 rounds. If you can't hit a target with 15 chances, you shouldn't be packing. (Limiting ammo negates a "need" to ban "assault rifles.")
* States must report people with mental illnesses to a federal database, as they are required to do. Most lag behind. * Hollywood should reduce violence - in films, recordings, video games.
* No more "gun-free" zones. They don't stop gunmen; they provide defenseless targets.
Will my plan end all gun crime? Of course not. Will it stop some? You make that call.
Michigan Gun Club Unveils Plans to Prevent Stray Bullets
Get a load of this guy. He's got all the honesty of some of our favorite commenters. First he says, "accidents will happen." That's one of the favorite pro-gun excuses for negligent and unsafe behavior. Then when asked if steps should have been taken earlier to prevent the stray bullets from escaping, he says what any good pro-gun liar would: "no."
The defensive prevarication of the gun-rights fanatics is very telling. If they were really in the "right," they'd be able to play it straight.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Alabama Man Suffers Self-Inflicted Gun Shot Wound from Dropped Gun Incident
Local news reports
Police say a man who was accidentally shot by his own gun at a Winn Dixie in Tuscaloosa will undergo surgery to remove the bullet.
Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit Sgt. Dale Phillips says the man's .25-caliber gun fell from his hip and fired a shot into his leg while he was grocery shopping on Saturday night.
Authorities say the gun was being carried in a holster at the time. Phillips says the bullet traveled up the victim's leg and lodged itself in his hip.
Police say a man who was accidentally shot by his own gun at a Winn Dixie in Tuscaloosa will undergo surgery to remove the bullet.
Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit Sgt. Dale Phillips says the man's .25-caliber gun fell from his hip and fired a shot into his leg while he was grocery shopping on Saturday night.
Authorities say the gun was being carried in a holster at the time. Phillips says the bullet traveled up the victim's leg and lodged itself in his hip.
Gun Violence’s No. 1 Target: Black Children
In the weeks since the Washington Navy Yard shooting, the city of New Orleans reached a tragic milestone.
All told, 108 people have been murdered in the Crescent City so far this year. In September two black girls, one 11 years old and the other age 2, were shot and killed. And earlier this year a national organization advocating for stricter gun control told the story of a black 10-year-old New Orleans boy who has been shot and seriously injured twice in his short life.
Although the national spotlight has remained fixed on mass shootings in Washington; Newtown, Conn.; and Aurora, Colo., as well as the gun violence coming out of Chicago, street crime and “ordinary” shootings that take one or two lives at a time are still disfiguring communities and putting black children and teens in particular peril. For black America the national gun debate is not about the shocking, but still relatively rare, mass shootings or the political gamesmanship that draws attention to the violence consuming President Barack Obama’s adopted hometown. Cities riddled with gun violence, such as New Orleans, are also located in states with some of the nation’s weakest gun laws. Those laws are costing children, particularly black children, their lives, gun control advocates say.
Across the country in 2012, gun violence was the second-leading cause of death for American children ages 7 to 19, according to a July report released by the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF). But it constituted the No. 1 cause of death for black children and teens.
Between 1963 and 2010, nearly 60,000 black children and teenagers have been killed by guns. That means more than 17 times the number of black children have been killed by guns than the total number of black Americans lynched between 1862 and 1968, according to Caroline Fichtenberg, director of research at the CDF.
A growing group of gun control advocates say that in cities and states where gun laws make guns easier to buy, legal to carry and easy to sell without a background check are places where gun violence and homicides happen more frequently. In fact, the 10 states with the weakest gun laws collectively suffer gun violence at a rate twice as high as that of the 10 states with the nation’s strongest gun laws, according to an April analysis by the left-leaning Center for American Progress in Washington.
In 2012 Chicago’s gun violence helped produce a murder rate of 18.7 deaths per 100,000 Windy City residents, according to federal data. But other communities grew far more violent. In New Orleans, for example, the murder rate reached 53.5 per 100,000.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Michael Shermer's gun science
It was a link in the Libertarian changes his mind on gun control post, but he gets into the serious statistics about the gun violence issue in the US:
Anyway, unlike the parrots, he finds (as I do) that the pro-gun arguments just don't withstand scrutiny:
Consider a 1998 study in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery that found that “every time a gun in the home was used in a self-defense or legally justifiable shooting, there were four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides.” Pistol owners’ fantasy of blowing away home-invading bad guys or street toughs holding up liquor stores is a myth debunked by the data showing that a gun is 22 times more likely to be used in a criminal assault, an accidental death or injury, a suicide attempt or a homicide than it is for selfdefense. I harbored this belief for the 20 years I owned a Ruger .357 Magnum with hollow-point bullets designed to shred the body of anyone who dared to break into my home, but when I learned about these statistics, I got rid of the gun.He seems to buy the scientific studies are correct, but isn't that the reason that federal funding has been held back because it might "advocate gun control"?
Anyway, unlike the parrots, he finds (as I do) that the pro-gun arguments just don't withstand scrutiny:
Another myth to fall to the facts is that gun-control laws disarm good people and leave the crooks with weapons. Not so, say the Johns Hopkins authors: “Strong regulation and oversight of licensed gun dealers—defined as having a state law that required state or local licensing of retail firearm sellers, mandatory record keeping by those sellers, law enforcement access to records for inspection, regular inspections of gun dealers, and mandated reporting of theft of loss of firearms—was associated with 64 percent less diversion of guns to criminals by in-state gun dealers.” Finally, before we concede civilization and arm everyone to the teeth pace the NRA, consider the primary cause of the centurieslong decline of violence as documented by Steven Pinker in his 2011 book The Better Angels of Our Nature: the rule of law by states that turned over settlement of disputes to judicial courts and curtailed private self-help justice through legitimate use of force by police and military trained in the proper use of weapons.the article can be found here.
16 Ways Europeans Are Just Better At Life than Americans
Huffington Post
10. MEASUREMENTS
Europeans:
Europe uses the metric system. If you can multiply by 10, you now have the next highest unit. Boom. Done.
Americans:
There are 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon, 16 tablespoons in a cup, 2 cups in a pint, 2 pints in a quart and 4 quarts to a gallon. There are 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard and 1,760 yards in a mile (or 5,280 feet, as is more commonly known). There are 144 square inches in a square foot and 43,560 square feet in an acre. There are 16 ounces in a pound and 2,000 pounds in a ton.
This list excludes such fun units as picas, furlongs, fathoms, nautical miles, survey townships, bushels and hogsheads. Yup. A hogshead is a unit of measurement and not a Harry Potter character. Look it up.
Tennessee is the Most Violent State in the Country
Addicting Info
The rest of those on the most violent state list are NV, AK, NM, SC, DE, LA, FL, MD and OK.
The ‘Most Violent State’ Crown Is Held By…Tennessee
What do you think is the state with the highest violent crime rate? You might be surprised to learn it’s Tennessee. Despite the reputations of states like New York, California and Florida when it comes to violence, Tennessee the most violent state, followed by Nevada and Alaska. Those are in the 2nd and 3rd spots, respectively.
The violent crime statistic comes from the FBI compilation of statistics for rape, robbery, murder and aggravated assault.
Why is Tennessee the most violent state? Well, according to 24 Wall St., who originally reported on the list of most dangerous states,
The state was among the top 10 in the country for murders and robberies and was first for aggravated assaults, with an estimated 479.6 for every 100,000 residents. Tennessee’s 41,550 violent crimes in 2012 were up 6.8% from 2011 but down 10% from 2007, when there were 46,380 violent crimes. There were 388 murders in the state in 2012, up for a second straight year. To be fair, Tennessee’s violent streak is concentrated in some of the major metropolitan areas. Memphis’s violent crime rate was the nation’s fifth worst, while Nashville’s was the 18th worst. Like many states with high violent crime, poverty in Tennessee is acute, and high school and college graduation rates are lower than most of the country.
Who else is on the most violent state list?
The rest of those on the most violent state list are NV, AK, NM, SC, DE, LA, FL, MD and OK.
Most of the top ten are the gun-friendly states we often have occasion to write about. Of course, the gun-rights fanatics will point out the exceptions and claim there's absolutely no connection to gun proliferation, but we know better.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
New Recall Effort in Colorado Targets State Senator Evie Hudak
Sen. Evie Hudak
A renewed and spirited effort is underway to recall Sen. Evie Hudak, a Democrat from Westminster, less than six months after an initial effort faltered.
Organizers from within Senate District 19 were certified by the secretary of state late Friday to begin gathering signatures to have a recall placed on the ballot. The group, "Recall Hudak, too," must gather about 18,900 valid signatures within 60 days, and on its website the group even has a running ticker that counts down to the deadline.
"She has infringed upon our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. She has voted to make all citizens less safe and to drive hundreds of jobs from Colorado," reads an excerpt of the petition language e-mailed by Mike McAlpine, a spokesmanfor the group.
"A small group is seeking to undo the will of voters, who re-elected me to the Senate last November. Unable to defeat me then, they are now attempting a political power grab using a low-voter-turnout, no-mail-ballot recall election strategy," Hudak said in a statement, alluding to a Denver District Court judge's ruling on a constitutional matter that in turn nullified mail ballots in the recalls of Morse and Giron.
You remember the controversy earlier this year when Sen. Hudak spoke the truth at a hearing about gun rights and all the gun nuts freaked out. Here it is from Wikipedia:
In March, 2013, while in a legislative hearing about concealed carry firearms on college campuses, rape survivor Amanda Collins discussed how, when attacked by convicted rapist and murderer James Biela, she wished she had a firearm to defend herself. Hudak responded: "I just want to say, statistics are not on your side, even if you had had a gun. You said that you were a martial arts student, I mean person, experience in tae kwon do, and yet because this individual was so large and was able to overcome you even with your skills, and chances are that if you had had a gun, then he would have been able to get it from you and possibly use it against you..."
California's Tim Donnelly: Assault Weapons Ban Erases the Second Amendment
Donnelly was referencing SB374--a bill which broadens the definition of an "assault weapon" and then bans all such weapons within the state.
Donnelly talked to Breitbart News about the bill on October 7:
SB374 basically erases the Second Amendment. We have California-only fuel, California-only this and California-only that, and with SB374 we are pursuing a California-only version of the Constitution. It's a version that will not have a Second Amendment.This bill takes rifles that are semi-automatic with a detachable magazine--rifles that were lawfully purchased and are lawfully owned--and it bans them, period. If you own a gun that is on the ban list you will have to register it and it becomes non-transferrable. Therefore, although the government will allow you to keep the gun in your possession until you die, once you die it will be confiscated and taken out of circulation.This means if you own the M1 Carbine that helped us win in the Pacific during WWII--a gun that shoots a small .30 caliber bullet--if you own one, you would not be able to pass it on to your children.This is an illegal and egregious confiscation plan.
Donnelly says the bill's straightforward attack on the Second Amendment "deprives Californians of their basic civil rights to self-defense and to defend themselves from tyranny."
SB374 is sitting on Gov. Brown's desk. He has until October 13 to sign it into law.
The most pro-gun Supreme Court of all time even said that no Constitutional right is limitless. But, the gun-rights fanatics conveniently forget that when they get on their soap box.
I can't wait to see what Governor Brown does with this bill, and what happens to Donnelly in his bid to oust the Gov.
I tend to think Californians generally consider this guy a dangerous fanatic who belongs in Arkansas rather than The Land of El Dorado.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Justice Ruth Ginsburg Speaks about the Second Amendment
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg talks with The Takeaway host John Hockenberry. (Photo by Jillian Weinberger.)
In the wake of the fierce, nationwide debate over gun rights and gun control, Justice Ginsburg also explained the historical basis for her view on the Second Amendment.
"The Second Amendment has a preamble about the need for a militia ... Historically, the new government had no money to pay for an army, so they relied on the state militias," she said. "The states required men to have certain weapons and they specified in the law what weapons these people had to keep in their home so that when they were called to do service as militiamen, they would have them. That was the entire purpose of the Second Amendment."
Ginsburg said the disappearance of that purpose eliminates the function of the Second Amednment.
"It's function is to enable the young nation to have people who will fight for it to have weapons that those soldiers will own," she said. "I view the Second Amendment as rooted in the time totally allied to the need to support a militia. So ... the Second Amendment is outdated in the sense that its function has become obsolete."
As for the Heller case, decided by the court in 2008, Ginsburg says the court erred in its decision.
"If the court had properly interpreted the Second Amendment, the Court would have said that amendment was very important when the nation was new," she said. "It gave a qualified right to keep and bear arms, but it was for one purpose only — and that was the purpose of having militiamen who were able to fight to preserve the nation."
Anti-Hillary Campaign Buttons Show the Republicans for the Misogynists They Are
Addicting Info
In 2012, Republicans suffered a 12 point loss among women in the race for the White House. Even with this major defeat, the GOP believes it can still attract female voters while continuing to be anti-women by simply keeping their mouths shut about women’s bodies, rape, and reproductive rights. But that strategy has now been blown completely out of the water with the appearance of extremely sexist and highly offensive anti-Hillary Clinton buttons at the California GOP convention.
The Mother of all Swiss Army Knives
Guns dot com
With over 100 tools, including a .22-caliber revolver, this 19th century multi-tool really is the “mother of all Swiss Army knives.”
Made in Germany in 1880 for JS Holler & Co’s cutlery store in New York City, this 3.5-inch wide and 9-inch long multi-tool was way ahead of its time, predating the Swiss Army knife by 11 years. It also predates the bottle cap by 12 years, meaning if you had one today, you’d have to find another way to crack open a beer.
Owned by the Smithsonian Institution and displayed at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Wyoming, this clever contraption would have made any cowboy the king of the corral. But according to the Smithsonian website, this mega-multi-tool wasn’t actually meant to be carried.
“Knives like this were made exclusively for exhibition to highlight the cutlers’ art,” the website reads. “They were so difficult to make they were only attempted by the most notable firms with the most talented artisans. They could be seen at various fairs and industrial expositions during the 19th century.”
California GOP Candidate Tim Donnelly Warns Jerry Brown with Bizarre and Empty Threats
SF Gate
Conservative Southern California a Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a Tea Party favorite and former Minuteman, kicked off his campaign for governor at the state GOP convention Saturday, warning that Democratic Governor Jerry Brown may be face recall “if he wants to erase the Second Amendment” by signing tougher gun laws.
Referencing recent recalls in Colorado in which the National Rifle Association weighed in on gun rights, Donnelly said, “those winds can cross the Rockies, and recalls can happen here.” And if Brown wants to “deprive” Californians of their rights to carry firearms, “then he will pay the price at the ballot box,” he warned, as conservative backers cheered.
I don't suppose Mr. Donnelly knows what NRA really stands for in California.
Texas No. 1 in Gun Purchase Applications
Mercury News
Texas is leading the nation in the number of people seeking federal permission to buy guns.
Federal statistics reviewed Friday by the Houston Chronicle ( http://bit.ly/17FYwPP) show 1.2 million people in Texas through the end of September filled out applications for background checks.
At that rate, last year's record 1.4 million requests will be surpassed by the end of 2013.
"The gun business is doing well," Rob Elder, head of the Houston division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said.
He said number of requests could increase his agency's workload, but he said most purchasers are law-abiding citizens seeking firearms for legitimate purposes.
The figures don't equate to the number of purchases but represent people who have asked to buy from a federally licensed dealer.
One Houston gun store owner, Jim Pruett, told the newspaper President Barack Obama motivates gun buyers.
"Any time he talks about gun control, it drives people crazy and they go and buy guns," he said.
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