Perverts With Guns

Xavier has gained recognition for his recurring "Idiots With Guns" series. As stupid as some of his subjects are, he's always quick to disclaim:

The purpose of Idiots with Guns is not to humiliate, but to educate.

Meet Verna Bice. This "artist" knows exactly what she's doing, and she's not above using humiliation to indoctrinate. Sorry for linking to pornographic imagery (not due to graphic sexual nature, but because of contrived ugliness), but this is a telling glimpse into how guns are perceived--or at least portrayed--in the mind of Ms. Bice.

This is some sick stuff.

The Moustache Stays

Rosie O’Donnell’s new mega contract with ABC has one absolute proviso: the former talk show queen cannot cut her hair.

Can she at least trim her hooves?

"Thousands Of Guns Taken Off The Streets"

“We don't have to wait for the government to make a difference,” said the Rev. Michael Pfleger, the pastor of St. Sabina. “We can make a difference by taking guns out of our communities. There's no reason for anybody to have a gun in their house unless they're law enforcement, as far as I'm concerned.”

Yeah, right, you sanctimonious witch doctor, we all know police are the only ones who can be trusted with firearms. It looks like somebody has figured out that letting cops fence stolen weapons--no questions asked-- is a no-risk way to make a profit.

There is a bit of a paradox: If churches are doing this to effect political outcomes, their tax exempt status could be scrutinized. If, on the other hand, they're doing this to advance their religious beliefs, what the hell is the state doing expending public funds/manpower to impose this on the public? Where's that "wall of separation" we're told is needed to protect us from theocracy? You can't have it both ways--or doesn't Chicago Police Supt. Philip Cline gushing like a giddy Million Mom as he actualizes Michael Pfleger's superstitious prejudices count?

Oh, and Rafael Romo--sorry to burst your bubble, but what you're doing is "shilling," not "reporting." You wouldn't recognize a watchdog press if it bit you--and it obviously hasn't, you tool.

It's That Day Again

Stan has some 2A thoughts to share...

It's Not About Freedom, It's About Force

The Senate voted 31-8 for the plan, which was pushed by the National Rifle Association and modeled after a Georgia law dubbed the "Shooter Voter" act. The bill breezed through the House 110-6 last week and heads now to Gov. Jeb Bush's desk...

Under the law, businesses across Florida that sell hunting, fishing and trapping licenses or permits would be required to display voter-registration applications.

"Required"?

And if they don't want to, too bad? They have to?

And if they refuse, they'll presumable be arrested and punished? And if they resist and defy they'll be destroyed?

Where did I hear the line "It's Not About Guns, It's About Freedom"?

Why can't store owners be asked to distribute voter registration materials--and if the refuse, be left the hell alone?

Why the need to impose an agenda--any agenda--under ultimate force of arms?

Evil New Super Gun Undetectable--Except for the Parts That Aren't

Cops in New Jersey have made a frightening news discovery.

It comes in the form of a gun, that when place in an airport x-ray machine, is nearly invisible to the human eye.

Uh, that's why they use x-rays--because contents of luggage are invisible to the human eye...

Fontoura said only the steel barrel was visible. The rest of the weapon, including the trigger and stock, did not appear...Police say the gun found in Newark, fires ammunition so fast it can penetrate a bulletproof vest.

I guess a big pipe in a carry-on wouldn't set off any alarms. So much hysteria. So little information.

Hey, that could be the new ABC 7 Eyewitless News slogan...

A Private Party

A federal judge in Brooklyn ruled that New York can have access to gun tracing information gathered by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, despite a recently-passed measure that forbids such data from being used in civil suits.

The judge said that measure doesn't apply to New York because it was acting as a private plaintiff, not "the public.”

Well, hey, that door swings both ways, then. If New York is a private party, then its gun control laws should be applied to its agents as private individuals. Any public funds used in pursuit of private aims--including city facilities and compensation for city personnel engaged in pursuing this lawsuit during working hours--should be treated as stolen.

Model Behavior

Don't come between Naomi Campbell and her jeans — the hot- tempered supermodel allegedly attacked yet other maid in an angry dustup over her denim, it was revealed yesterday.

The hell-catwalker whacked Gaby Gibson in the back of the head because she couldn't find a pair of black Stella McCartney jeans, the frightened ex-maid told The Post...

[T]wo months before Campbell was arrested on charges she hit housekeeper Ana Scolavino in the back of the head with a cellphone after accusing her of stealing her jeans...

The fiery femme fatale is notorious for losing her cool, and was once accused of hitting her secretary with a telephone and threatening to throw her from a moving car.

So naturally, since she can't control her own violent emotional outbursts, she thinks you can't be trusted either, and joined other privileged airhead celebrities to demand that you be disarmed.

Better Living Through No Chemistry

The feral government wants to ban private ownership of chemicals, just like their enumerated Constitutional powers authorize them to do.

And remember: Our enemies hate us because we're free!

Permission to Defend

No citizen should face prison for standing up to an attacker. With the stroke of a pen, Gov. Lynch can remove the unnecessary flight-or-surrender restriction that curtails our right to defend ourselves. He should do it without hesitation or regret.

True.

But that Gov. Lynch is even a factor in such a decision shows how completely We the People have tolerated the degradation of our Natural Rights.

We're the Only Ones Tribal Enough

A weapon used during the Nov. 7 execution style triple murder in Hogback was allegedly a shotgun that was originally from a Navajo Nation police department...

"Currently, there are weapons missing from our police departments and there is a lot of anxiety over that. We are doing what we can to locate those weapons."

A more cynical person than I am might wonder if Eugenia and Samson are related, and if that has any bearing on this.

A New Gun Argument

The mayors, Menino said, do not want to meddle with the rights of hunters.

That's your "new gun argument"? Sorry pal, "The 2nd Amendment ain't about duck hunting" bumper stickers have been around for years. Clinton and Kerry in camos didn't fool us then, and you're not fooling anyone but the fools now.

The National Rifle Association regularly says that we don't need new laws and should simply enforce the regulations on the books. But if many of the existing laws are unenforceable, that statement is meaningless.

That's because gun control laws don't work. Some of us wish NRA would accept that simple fact, but evidently they think that message resonates with enough voters to advance their agenda, and they're playing a political game.

Basically what you're saying is, if 20,000 laws on the books are ineffective, 20,001 will do the trick. In what other demonstration of cause and effect would that not be considered insane?

Yes, there is a cultural difference between big cities and rural areas, but it's a difference in how guns are used. Rural people treasure their guns mostly for hunting and recreation, and as collectors. In inner cities, guns -- especially handguns -- are used almost entirely to threaten or kill other human beings.

You want a "new gun argument"? You haven't got the guts to explore a "new gun argument."

But it's inarguable that the culture you rail against, where handgun abuse is the highest, resides in areas where the populace overwhelmingly votes in lock-step with the "gun control" slate.

Sorry, E. J. Dionne Jr. You've demonstrated nothing new here. You're just another in a long train of boringly unoriginal hacks trotting out the same old tired arguments as you cheer on the police state. You're just another ignorant socialist who would be useless in a defensive situation, but insistent on imposing your contemptible impotence on all men--as long as other men do the enforcement.

Napolitano Retains Power to (Try) Seizing Weapons

State senators failed by one vote Wednesday to override Gov. Janet Napolitano's veto of legislation to trim gubernatorial powers to seize weapons.

The 19-10 vote — one vote short of the necessary two-thirds margin — came even after Sen. Dean Martin, R-Phoenix, speculated that Napolitano vetoed the measure so she could use her emergency powers to take weapons away from members of the Minuteman Project patrolling the Mexican border.

Why this is even debatable is beyond me. Special contempt goes to Rebecca Rios, who fled like a coward from taking a stand, and Robert Cannell, who's "not willing to override the governor" on the Bill of Rights.

Gun Crime Soars

GUN crime in Islington has soared by more than 80 per cent in the last year.

Maybe Mayor Bloomberg & Co. can achieve the same results in this country--just like they have in their violent crime-infested cities.

Senior Disarmament

THE son of a wealthy retired businessman who died of three shotgun wounds claims the tragedy could have been avoided...

Company director Angus Ashton, 56, said his father, who suffered from dementia, had his driving licence taken off him by the DVLA on advice from a doctor. But he still held a licence for three shotguns.

"The bottom line was that my father could not legally drive a car but he could own and shoot a gun," he said.

So naturally the solution is to disarm the elderly--probably the most law-abiding and least violent demographic on the planet--and leave them vulnerable to physically stronger predators.

"I Think Police Need Total Control"

An Oklahoma legislator said he hopes to make some changes to a new law that makes it illegal for authorities to confiscate weapons during a state of emergency.

State Rep. Mike Shelton said House Bill 2696 has placed the power of the law into the wrong hands.

"During states of emergency, I think police need total control. They don't need to worry who has guns and who doesn't. If the governor calls for Oklahomans to relinquish their guns, the public needs to do so," Shelton said.

Some people are hell-bent on making peaceful coexistence impossible.

Make sure you take the survey.

[Via Jason M]

We're the Only Ones Connected Enough

A gun belonging to an Orange County Sheriff's Department reserve deputy was found at the home of a Swedish businessman accused of crashing a rare Ferrari on a coastal highway, authorities said Tuesday...

Records also show Davis was issued a permit to carry a concealed weapon by the Orange County Sheriff's Department in 2002 for self-protection. The professional services reserve deputies are made up of business executives who have no police powers but receive badges and sheriff's identification cards.

They offer technical advice to Sheriff Mike Carona, whose reserve deputy program came under criticism last year following reports that he deputized dozens of political allies without conducting background checks.

Carona has been better than most at issuing "permissions" (if you consider that "better") but you still need to prove a need to his satisfaction. And we've discussed this business of deputizing cronies before.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

On Knowing One's Place

The trade association representing the firearms industry yesterday asked to be included in the "gun summit" being held today at Gracie Mansion for more than a dozen mayors from around the nation.

"Our industry has developed programs that are working to reduce criminal misuse of firearms," Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, wrote the mayor.

"We would welcome the opportunity to educate mayors about these programs."

He didn't get very far.

"Are they mayors?" asked Stu Loeser, Bloomberg's press secretary, dismissing the request out of hand.

You tell 'em, Stu Loser.

What's the matter, Mr. Keane? Did you think that your fawning (NSSF...applauds your...national summit on illegal guns) and pledging to abet the facists ("I will serve the master of the Precious. Good master, good Smeagol, gollum, gollum!") would make them respect you and treat you like an equal?

Did you actually believe the lie that these tyants were interested in "open lines of communications"?

Consult with you? You've been told your place in no uncertain terms. You're not a mayor. That means they rule, you obey. Got it?

And if you don't like it, just try lifting a finger against their enforcers.

Go ahead. Make their day.

We're the Only Ones Choked Up Enough

A disgraced patrolman convicted in one of the most notorious abuse cases in city history — the 1994 chokehold death of an unarmed Bronx man who was tossing a football in the street — has chosen a new career path: motivational speaker and self-defense trainer.

Per his website:

Francis X. Livoti was a New York City Police Officer for fifteen years and a union official in the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association for the last nine of those years.

The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association? Oh yeah, the guys whose president, Patrick T. Lynch advocates:

"We need to make it clear that if someone lifts even a finger against a police officer, their life could be on the line."

It's so refreshing these days to find people who mean exactly what they say.

And as for Livoti?

"I served my time. I have a right to make a living."

Uh, not quite.

Livoti was first tried in a non-jury trial in the Bronx on a charge of criminally negligent homicide. A judge ruled prosecutors didn't make their case, despite testimony by the medical examiner that Baez died of asphyxia caused by choking...The officer was kicked off the force in 1997 when police officials ruled he used an illegal choke hold. A year later, a federal jury convicted him of violating Baez's civil rights. The city later paid the Baez family $3 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.

What do you think the chances are for a judge to fix criminal charges and the city to pay the civil settlement if a non-LEO had done this to one of NYC's finest?

Oh, that's right--lifting a finger is a death sentence. Never mind.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only Ones Parental Enough

The seven-year-old son of a Leominster police officer accidentally fires his father's gun while inside the city's police station...

The officer was reportedly showing someone a demonstration model of a holster for his semiautomatic gun.

At some point, he put the gun down while reloading an ammunition magazine.

That's when his son picked it up and fired the shot.

And naturally, the chief "would not identify" the officer...

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Open Lines of Communication Focus of Gun Summit

God forbid the right of the people to keep and bear arms should be the focus...but then, we're dealing with people who view themselves as overlords, not public servants.

Here's a nice bit of unsubstantiated propaganda presented by CBS 11 as fact:

It's estimated 20 percent of gun industry profits come from the sales of illegal guns.

Really?

Who did the estimating? What methodology did they use? Have the findings been published? Who reviewed them to make sure that statement isn't pure agenda-driven hysteria? If provable, how many "gun industry" executives have been charged, prosecuted and convicted for selling "illegal guns," which is...umm...illegal?

And, if true, what does that say about GCA 68 and the Brady background check?

Don't look for these questions to be raised--the "open lines of communication" aren't open to dissent.

We're the Only Ones Wasted Enough

A BAG of drugs being used in the training of police sniffer dogs has gone missing.

The bag of drugs has gone missing? All by its own self? Is that anything like the gun went off?

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Something in the Way She Moves...

Dr Dimitrios Makris, computing lecturer at Kingston University, who is part of the development team, said: "The team at Loughborough will identify these patterns and involuntary activity exhibited by people carrying concealed weapons.

"This will be passed to us at Kingston, where we will use it to develop the identification software.

Tell me, Dimitri, does your role in the developing global police state ever bother you?

No, I didn't think so.

Seems to me that, despite the best laid plans of these amoral eggheads, once people learn what the system's looking for, they could have all kinds of fun intentionally triggering off false positives...

We're the Only Ones Avuncular Enough

A 5-year-old boy was recovering Sunday after accidentally shooting himself with a gun he that belonged to his uncle, who is also a San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputy, police said.

Just "the deputy" or "the uncle"?

Why is it that when non-LEOs are involved in such negligence, the papers have no problem telling us their names?

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Suspects Take Off When Homeowner Gets His Gun

Police said the teenagers forced their way into Bob Martin's apartment on Adriel Lane on Sunday and pointed a gun at him. But when the retired Air Force sergeant noticed it was a BB or pellet gun, he got his own real gun out and the teenagers took off.

Yet another violent gun owner exercised his license to murder...

[More from the "License to Murder" files]

"Buyback "Results Pathetic Despite Media Support

The Justice Resource Center bought 18 more guns Saturday in its effort to decrease violence and crime, the Rev. Louis Coleman said yesterday.

Hey, it's not like the Louisville Courier-Journal isn't doing it's part with free advertising...

Operation Tripod Fails To Disarm NY

With a big-city summit set for Tuesday, Mayor Bloomberg's war on traffickers is bringing results, but weapons keep flowing into his city as fast as police can seize them...In the bitter pre-dawn cold of a Sunday morning in February in the borough of Queens, members of New York's Operation Tripod pounced as gun traffickers from Ohio sought to close the type of big-money deal that keeps the so-called Iron Pipeline humming.

Maybe if they can't stop the flow of guns they ought to see what they're doing over in India...?

Never mind.

Here's a bit I found interesting:

Thomas King, president of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, the National Rifle Association affiliate in the state, says legal gun owners are being harassed because of the actions of criminals.

Although he says he backs Bloomberg's plans to clean New York's streets of illegal weapons, he insists the key to accomplishing that is better enforcement of existing laws, not new regulations on the books.

Really, Mr. King?

Assuming the reporter hasn't misquoted you, you're saying enforce the Sullivan Laws? You're saying keep Big Apple citizens disarmed under force of law and punish those who defy such edicts?

I'd love to know what you actually said to the press, Mr. King, and the rationale behind it. Consider this an open invitation to clarify any misunderstanding this report may have created in the minds of gun owners.

We're the Only Ones Judgment-Impaired Enough

"These officers were talking and joking when Capt. McLaughlin for no apparent reason took out his weapon (made sure the magazine was full and seated properly) and put his handgun to the back of officer Fryslin's head. All present were upset and visibly shaken."

Haha. Funny prank. And this after one of their own killed another in an "accident" seven months earlier.

Note how the cops tried to keep a lid on things--with the lame excuse they're not required to volunteer their reports to the media. They were trying to keep it under wraps and hoped no one would notice, plain and simple. And the excuse that the "victim" didn't wish to press charges sounds like bunk. Someone with knowledge of PA law correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is, once a crime has been committed--particularly in front of witnesses--it is prosecuted under the auspices of "People vs..." The affected cop may forego civil charges, but he does not have the authority to suspend state law.

I love the mouthpiece who complains they're damned if they do or don't treat cops like ordinary citizens: like it would be an option for you or me not to be prosecuted for putting a gun to a cop's head--and as if our "punishment" would be to do nothing on the people's dime to the tune of over $40K per year for life.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Indian Government Powerless as Gun Laws Ignored

"Delhi has a total of around 60,000 licensed revolvers, but the number of people keeping illegal revolvers would be at least 10 times more," says former CBI chief Joginder Singh.

He says, "weapon gives a sense of power to a person, much more than his physical power."

You sound like you're speaking from personal experience, Joggy old sport. So what you're saying is, if enough people disobey your stupid laws, you're essentially helpless to stop it?

Citizen noncompliance with disarmament edicts...where have I heard that recommended before...?

I love the way they characterize "the majority of gun criminals" as murderers with conflict resolution issues. Seems to me if that was the case, and based on their own numbers, India would have millions of murders each year. It couldn't be that the vast majority of those violating India's gun edicts just wish to protect themselves...?

Monica Blows Down Under

What?

Homeowner Fires Gun at Invaders

The two men, whose names were not known, and a third man, broke into a house on Cleveland Street around 10 a.m. Saturday and used force on an occupant, Danbury Det. Capt. Mitch Weston said.

The home's occupant managed to grab a hand gun and fired several shots.

Why couldn't the homeowner just dial 911 or run away instead of exercising a license to murder?

Why the Need?

Free Constitution provides graphic answers in yesterday's "Second Amendment Saturday" post...

Standing Her Ground

A gun-toting grandma in Mayes County is the reason two suspected burglars are behind bars. When she interrupted the crime at her son's house, she didn't turn and run, but picked up a rifle.

You mean she exercised her "License to Murder"?

What happened? Where are all the bodies?

One Gun to Rule them All

How a `cute' 9mm pistol purchased by a frightened woman in Florida ended up in Lawrence Heights in the hands of a killer: First in a series on gun culture

I can't wait. I'm sure they'll have plenty of "good" gun stories to balance ones like this, right?

"In the gathering dark, the will of the Ring grows strong. It works hard now to find its way back into the hands of men. Men, who are so easily seduced by its power."

Bush Apologizes to China for 1st Amendment

A heckler from the Falun Gong spiritual movement who disrupted a White House appearance by Chinese President Hu Jintao was charged in federal court on Friday with harassing, intimidating or threatening a foreign official.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington said the misdemeanor charge carries a penalty of up to six months in jail.

Boy, I guess I'd better cover my tracks. I didn't realize free political speech didn't apply if the ones being criticized are foreign tyrants.

So when I wrote to the Chinese ambassador or wished for the day the communist monsters ruling China "draw their last breath--may it be unpleasant and soon," or came right out and advocated "Death to Jingjing and Chacha," I was violating some federal edict?

Thanks, Republican Bush administration! I'll bet everyone is overjoyed they voted "freedom first". Just one question: At what point does the distinction between two evils become negligible?

Believe It or Not!

Mayor Bloomberg is fast becoming one of the nation's most strident foes of illegal guns - so it might come as a surprise that he once owned a rifle.

"Believe this or not, I am a defender of the Second Amendment. I see nothing wrong with people having guns," said Bloomberg on his weekly WABC radio show.

No Questions Asked?

"There are no questions asked," said Mary Haynes, the program's spokesperson. "It's simply how many free gunlocks would you like."

...Nearly 8000 cable-style gunlocks will be available for Cook County residents.

I'd like 8,000 free gun locks, please.

Why do I want that many? Am I a Cook County resident?

I thought this was "no questions asked."

Cheers for Cherokee County

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office will host a firearms safety course for women Saturday.

Two hours of classroom instruction in the safe handling of handguns will be taught...

Participants will then go to a firing range. Guns and equipment will be provided with a $10 fee to cover costs of the ammunition.

I can't think of a better way for police to build trust with the communities they serve.

In a rational world, community police stations would be natural assembly, training and leadership facilities to provide for "a well regulated militia."

"Getting Tougher" Lansing Style

Security in the Lansing School District is getting tougher. Public safety officers will soon be able to make arrests...The criteria for an arrest by the Lansing School District Public Safety officers is very strict, and officers are not allowed to carry a gun.

Maybe if something heinous goes down, they can help the kids hide under desks. And, of course, issue citations if any of them pray.

Doc, It Hurts When I Do This

"Then don't do that."

But it feels so good when I stop...

You Go, Hugo!

Victims reach the emergency room soaked in blood and dazed _ wheeled in on stretchers, carried in people´s arms, some still walking with the last of their strength. An elderly man shot in a robbery, a young man sprayed with gunfire, a woman who took a stray bullet in the head while on her way to church.

So, naturally, aside from fanning the flames of class hatred, madman Hugo Chavez "put up $4.6 million for a gun buyback program that will offer people money to hand in revolvers and pistols."

Why can't we get more bold communist leadership like that here?

"People Like You Are What's Wrong With This Country"

In light of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team's sterling examples at Waco and Ruby Ridge, I just wondered if they've ever actually rescued any hostages--as their name implies their mission to be.

I also wondered--if they had--how much we've spent on their activities since the agency's inception, and if that has been evaluated against the number of successful hostage rescues--not as a means of putting a price on human life, but as a way of determining government effectiveness.

An anonymous commenter maintains HRT are the good guys, and people like me--who "take the word of murderers"--are what's wrong with this country.

And I try so hard to please everybody.

Fewer Gun Dealers is Good

Wal-Mart's policy regarding guns varies, but it has stopped selling them at about 1,000 stores, and that's good news for folks who believe guns are too readily available...

While this was a marketing decision by the world's largest retailer, there is comfort in the knowledge that guns are a little tougher to come by, that cruising off the highway into just any Wal-Mart does not assure that a gun purchase is just moments away...

That's OK, because there are 1,000 fewer outlets nationwide where guns are sold.

Liberal establishment editorialists. Is there anything they don't know?

We're the Only Ones--Or ARE We...?

Police issued an all-points bulletin yesterday after someone broke into a police officer's car in 'Ewa and stole the officer's service handgun, badge and other items.

STOP! POLICE!

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only Ones On Guard Enough...

A RISDON Prison guard appeared in court last night after allegedly being caught taking a gun and drugs to work.

The 28-year-old Brighton man was apprehended on his way to the prison early yesterday morning by police acting on a tip-off.

A .25-calibre semi-automatic pistol and ammunition were allegedly found wrapped in a cloth under his car's passenger seat.

Also allegedly located was a quantity of cannabis wrapped in a balloon and a sachet containing a morphine-based prescription drug, namely MS Contrin.

The "tip-off" may be the tip-off as to what went down here...

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Pistol-Packing Mayor

Melton, a former head of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, has often been seen carrying weapons, presumably for the same political effects. Since Melton was elected on a crime-fighting platform, looking and talking tough is part of the package...

Wearing police garb, and brandishing shotguns during stops and even showing up on a citizen's front porch to confront someone he said threatened him puts him in danger and is a recipe for volatility.

I can't figure out from this if Melton is a victim of all-too-typical media hysteria, or if he's a bully abusing his authority. Guess we'll just have to keep our eyes and ears open and see if anything more transpires down in Jackson...

[Via Jason M]

And a DANGEROUS Crybaby at That...

Correspondent Don C sent me a link with further information about the Big Crybaby.

April 19, 1775

BY the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April's breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood, And fired the shot heard round the world. --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Publicola also reminds us of last year's post.

We're the Only Ones Off Key Enough...

A Hermosa Beach police officer named in two excessive force lawsuits was arrested in Redondo Beach last week after he got into a scuffle with someone who reportedly was heckling him during a karaoke performance.

You like me. You really like me!

Or else.

For my next number: Don't It Make Your Brown Eyes Black and Blue...

Mi-mi-mi-i-i-i....

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only Ones Responsive Enough

POLICE chiefs were today facing demands for an inquiry into how a technical fault left hundreds of non-emergency police calls unanswered...But the most recent April call figures show the centre receives around 80 non-emergency calls an hour from all over Edinburgh and the Lothians meaning that around 360 calls may have gone unanswered...It is ust another hiccup for the £10.4 million call centre, which ran into controversy soon after opening in February 2004, when 300 calls went unanswered in the first three weeks.

"You don't need to have a gun; the police will protect you."

Ri-ight.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Protected Mayors Plot Disarming Everyone Outside Their Jurisdictions

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will host a summit next week for about a dozen of their colleagues to discuss gun violence, a problem that has long frustrated big-city mayors.

Mayors from Dallas, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., and Seattle are among those scheduled to attend the meeting at Gracie Mansion, the historic Upper East Side house where Bloomberg holds official events.

And they'll meet under the finest armed security taxpayer money can buy!

Dare I Speculate?

Siretha Woods, whose daughter was killed last month by stray gunfire, also called on guns to be relinquished. Siretha White, 10, was struck by a stray bullet at her surprise birthday party in an Englewood home. Police have said the intended target was someone standing on the porch.

"I got 11 more kids," Woods said. "Let's let the rest of them grow up."

12 kids in all? Different last names from you? Grammar indicating lack of education? An intended target was on your porch, an invited guest to one of your parties?

Siretha, I don't suppose any of your life choices have contributed to a culture where stuff like this happens...?

Big Crybaby Quits Sierra Club

“It appears to me that the Sierra Club should have better projects to spend $15,700 on than sending some nimrod to Alaska to shoot wildlife.”

He doesn't get his way, so he calls people names, then takes his ball and goes home.

Paul Watson, you're a paragon of maturity.

[Via John Schaefer]

University Professors Shape Laws

All of which, Kleck said, can be boiled-down to a bumper-sticker slogan: "Bad guys have guns, bad effects. Good guys have guns, good effects."

This is a pleasantly surprising balanced report, although I suspect the line about guns and property owners will renew an old debate...

Yet Another Gun "Buyout"

The Rev. Louis Coleman, who directs the center, said volunteers buy guns from people for $20 to $25. Those guns are later destroyed.

The campaign is an effort to keep weapons off the street and out of homes, Coleman said.

And how about away from your kid, Reverend?

I have to wonder if anyone has done a criminal background check on the volunteers handling the firearms?

How to Stop a Potential School Shooter in His Tracks

What we are doing right now is reviewing our discipline plan and our lockdown procedures, and we are making sure the staff on site have a daily schedule for the principal, assistant principal, probation officer, and the student accountability specialist. ... We are also determining if we need more hand-held radios.

Schedules, radios and an accountability specialist. Why the solution is so simple it's elegant. Why didn't we see this before?

What do you think, Wayne?

A Matter of Purpose

Critics rightly point out that some criminals don't bother to register their guns and that criminals may acquire them by illegal means. The fact some people ignore the law does not mean that the registry serves no purpose.

Yes, we're aware of the purpose it serves--and whose.

UN Renovation Needs U.S. OK

The United Nations headquarters is "falling down," but a planned renovation still needs U.S. government approval, the project director said yesterday.

I say let it fall. Maybe we can melt the metal down and make something useful--like arms for free people. Start with this:

We're the Only Ones Lame Enough

A Clayton County Police officer reholstering his gun after a brief foot chase Sunday morning accidentally shot himself in the leg.

At least they don't say he was shot by his gun...

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

More Guns Plague City Streets

Altoona police reported one shooting incident over the weekend and confiscated a gun with its serial numbers filed off.

That's it? You use the word "plague" and I'm expecting something Biblical here, like locusts or pestilence.

Nice use of hyperbole, Altoona Mirror!

"Gun Advocates Ignoring Columbine"

Didn't Benjamin Franklin say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?

I'm not sure who said it, Heidi Yewman, but he had a point. Every public school in America is a "gun free zone" and we can see how well that works.

Or are you expecting different results the next time?

Oh, I know. There woudn't be a "next time' if we only banned guns.

Yeah, we see how well that's worked everywhere it's been tried, too.

Heidi, are you insane?

How to Be a Polite World Citizen

The reputation of the "Ugly American" abroad is not, however, just some cruel stereotype, but - according to the American government itself - worryingly accurate. Now, the State Department in Washington has joined forces with American industry to plan an image make-over by issuing guides for Americans travelling overseas on how to behave.

Under a programme starting next month, several leading US companies will give employees heading abroad a "World Citizens Guide" featuring 16 etiquette tips on how they can help improve America's battered international image.

I wonder if it contains tips such as "Don't sneak over foreign borders and make yourself at home"?

Europe is being taken over by increasingly hostile and violent strains of Islamic fundamentalism and they're worried about us being rude?

Destroying Babylon

Babylon, in reggae and hip-hop slang, is a term for a corrupt place — it is sometimes used to refer to white society. Bascunan and Pearce interviewed more than 100 rappers worldwide for the book, to be published by Random House of Canada, talking about the role guns played in their lives.

"How many rappers have been shot, lost a brother, lost a friend?" asks Bascunan. "How much gun violence have we heard of? It seemed pretty obvious what the problem was. Guns escalate violence."

There you have it. The cause of violence in the gangsta community is white society and guns! It must be so, because more than 100 rappers say it is...(I wonder if they interviewed Proof?)

My favorite line comes from Ms. Dynamite, who started out strong and then blinked:

I want a man that has, if not a job, then is looking for a job.

Yeah, baby, I'm lookin'...

We've talked about crime and violence in "the community" before, and acknowledge this is fraught with the peril of being branded with today's Scarlet Letter, the dreaded "R." I will repeat myself:

[W]e also can't forget to look at race--not as a cause of violent crime, but as an indicator of populations most directly affected by and responsive to a continuing history of destructive government policies.

If we're afraid to even address this, we're never going to be able to make things right. And those hurt the most by this self-imposed blindness will continue to be the least properous and protected among us.

Hristos a Înviat!

Adevarat a Înviat!

"Student Safety Was Not in Jeopardy"

A lockdown at the West Bend High Schools Thursday yielded a gun in a vehicle that led to an arrest. No drugs, however, were found in any locker or vehicle.

The gun, a cased, 22-caliber rifle, was found in a West student’s truck in the parking lot. Ammunition was found in the Ford truck as well.

The driver, a 17-year-old town of Trenton male, said he was an avid hunter and forgot it was in the truck behind his seat, according to the West Bend Police Depart-ment and the school district. He was arrested and taken to the Washington County Jail on charges of possession of a dangerous weapon on school grounds, the police said.

The cased rifle was confiscated.

Students’ safety was not in jeopardy.

Sounds like they've taken the one kid who, in his spare time, pursues activities requiring patience, discipline, intelligence, work, knowledge and skill, and dropped the hammer on him for it.

The compulsory education system requires individuals to attend and report to a specific location for a specified time. To then turn around and require them to submit to warrantless searches and seizures sounds a lot like the state ordering you to surrender your unalienable rights--and assuming the power to punish you if you don't.

It sounds like that because it is like that. Not that you could ever get one of the black robed high priests charged with abiding by "the supreme law of the land" to agree...

We're the Only Ones Following You Enough...

A former police officer has been convicted of stalking a woman with whom he claimed to be romantically involved.

Yep, sure glad this creep spent decades carrying a gun where you and I could not.

We're the Only Ones Immune Enough

A former FBI agent accused of helping a ruthless mobster plot gangland slayings in Brooklyn more than a decade ago wants his case moved to federal court, his lawyers said in court papers.

State prosecutors have charged R. Lindley DeVecchio with four counts of murder in what they billed as one of the worst law enforcement corruption cases in U.S. history. They said on Tuesday that they would fight to keep the case in state court...

Attorneys for DeVecchio claim the case belongs in federal court because there -- unlike in state court -- they would be allowed to argue that he was immune from criminal charges arising from his duties as a federal agent.

It certainly sounds like he was operating by the book...and still is.

Second Amendment Sunday

Free Constitution shares some thoughts on the First and Second Amendments.

Mystery Gun

That gun was Aguilar's companion for the rest of the war. It stayed in his pocket for 21/2 days as he lay in the basement of a rural farmhouse, bleeding from shrapnel wounds to his knees, waiting for the Germans to come and finish him off. The pistol became a token of luck and survival.

He won't sell it.

It's nice to see a counterpoint to this.

We're in the Business of Public Safety

"We're in the business of public safety and our goal with gun amnesty was to reduce the risk of having the firearms stolen from residences and used for criminal purposes," said Deputy Chief Ken Leendertse.

Yeah, good job, Ken. We can all sleep better knowing another Brown Bess--made only for killing, and firing a .71 caliber projectile (much larger than the diameter of a .50 BMG. sniper rifle bullet that shoots through 12-foot armor plated airplanes at 7,000 miles and is the terrorists' weapon of choice for targeting underground bunkers, dams and, Oh God, we're not safe anywhere!)--off the streets.

I love the new law enforcement subterfuge that by removing our property, they're removing criminal temptation.

The idiot owner who didn't know what they had on their hands reminds me of the Eloi in the George Pal version of The Time Machine. They had a library at their disposal, but they weren't even curious enough to know what books were, let alone to learn what that the markings were symbols that could impart knowledge. Volumes still on the shelves crumbled into dust when picked up.

This is what heritage and the sacrifices of the past mean to far too many of our contemporaries. It's a major reason why we're in the mess we find ourselves.

Nagin Regime Forced to Begin Returning Stolen Property

More than seven months have passed since New Orleans residents were forcibly and illegally disarmed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and starting Monday, April 17, the City of New Orleans will be returning seized firearms to their rightful owners, thanks to legal action by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and National Rifle Association (NRA).

You will, of course, be subjected to a background check, that is, the people who stole your property want to make sure you're not a lawbreaker.

On a side note, anybody want to take my bet that if NRA puts out an announcement about this, it won't include mention of SAF?

Any takers?

Anyone?

We're the Only Ones Wrong Enough But We'll Assault Your Kids Anyway

A cop accused a fast food worker of short-changing him. Then he sprayed her in the face with mace. And it turns out she was right all along. [More]

What a big, brave man.

My favorite line:

"Officer McDonald was cleared of any wrongdoing."

Yes.

Of course he was.

[Via SayUncle]

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Night of the Evil Streets

Seven years ago, the streets swallowed up Clifton Montgomery and spat him into an Ohio prison after he was convicted of aggravated robbery and burglary...Money drove Montgomery, who was released from prison more than a month ago. Now he wants to steer youth away from the route he took.

Montgomery is one of many local people featured in Peace by Peace, an anti-gun violence documentary...

Yeah, the streets do that to me all the time, too. It's not like I have free will or anything.

Sorry, Clifton. You've only been out a month. You've got a lot of proving to do before I'll want you anywhere near me. In the meantime, if you don't mind, or especially if you do, I'll keep some firearms handy over here.

Just in case those streets work their mind-consuming magic on you again...

We're the Only Ones Off Duty Enough

A gun stolen from a high ranking San Antonio police officer's car is now in the hands of thieves.

It happened at Tokyo Steakhouse off of San Pedro Wednesday evening, while Deputy Chief Rudy Gonzales was at the restaurant off-duty.

Way to go, Rudy. Now, when some lowlife pops a cap into somebody with your negligently stored gun, maybe the San Antonio SWAT team can raid the wrong house again, and you can be out in front of the microphones swearing "everything was done by procedure."

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're NOT the Only Ones...

A 38-year-old man was kidnapped in front of his house Thursday morning by three men armed with guns and dressed as police, authorities confirmed.

And when you're conditioned to automatically submit to authority...

The 81-Year-Old Woman Could Only Watch Helplessly...

AN ELDERLY woman watched in terror as robbers shoved a gun in her son's mouth.

The 81-year-old woman could only watch helplessly after three men forced their way into her flat demanding cash and threatening her son at gunpoint.

What kind of sick control freak would demand a mother be helpless to protect her child? Or that a man should be helpless to protect his aged mother? And what degeneration of the human spirit must occur for sovereign, free-willed individuals to accept this as their lot in life?

Bloomberg Plots Surprise Suspension of 4th Amendment

As New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg explained it, safety officers will use mobile scanners starting this spring, allowing them to make unannounced visits to city middle and high schools to check for weapons.

Students will be asked to go through detectors similar to those used in airports.

"Our reasons for doing this couldn't be clearer or more compelling," said Bloomberg. "We have zero tolerance for weapons of any kind in city schools."

Plus, our desire to indoctrinate them into the mindset of being inmates instead of citizens couldn't be more clear and compelling, either.

Any bets Mikey's taxpayer-funded bodyguards observe his zero tolerance policy when he visits a stalag...I mean...campus?

Mr. Darwin, the New Nominee Has Arrived...

Police officials said Barcott was visiting friends when he retrieved a gun and suggested they play Russian Roulette. He then loaded one bullet into the cylinder, spun it and closed it.

His friends told him not to fire, but Barcott put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, police officials said.

Maybe if California passed a law making it illegal to "sell a handgun to an individual under 21 years of age..."

What? They already did?

Then how did this happen?

Anti-Gun Film DOA

Guns are bad. They fire bullets. They hurt people.

That's the message "American Gun" hits its audience over the head with, using all the grace and finesse of a pistol whipping.

Boring, overbearing, repetitive and negative: Yep, sounds like the antis to me.

Suspect Restraining Techniques: An Open Inquiry

This is addressed to anyone who has knowledge and training in restraining suspects.

Look at the photo posted at here.

Is this a standard restraining technique for cuffed, prone suspects? Is there a name for this maneuver? Who teaches it?

I know LAPD was banned several years back from employing a chokehold, and there are guidelines specifying approved restraining techniques. Does anyone know of any reviewed and approved guidelines recommending the technique being employed in the photo, and if so, can you tell us the agencies that use it or provide documentation to substantiate it is a common and safe practice?

Proof--Say It Ain't So...

Word is hot all over the Detroit news that slain rapper Proof is actually the one who started the gun battle that ended with his death at an illegal Detroit, Michigan nightclub yesterday...

Who cares who started it? The point is, if it hadn't been for evil guns, we'd still have this role model elevating America's youth with such poetic inspiration as:

Just bring who you gon' bring on, who you gon' swing on?
I'm King Kong, guns blow you to king-dom come
Show you machine gun funk
Sixteen m-16's and one pump [click-clack]
The snub in my paw, shove it in your jaw
Have you runnin out this fuckin club in your drawers
We lovin the broads, there's nothin to applaud
But fuck it it's all good, the hood is up in The Source
It's fight music

Rest, my brother. God, I miss you so much.

No Guns Bank Robbed With No Gun

A man entered the bank and claimed to have a gun but didn't show one...

And it's a good thing he didn't! Fifth Third Bank doesn't allow guns!

Ad Campaign to Deter "Gun Crime"

If you get caught with a gun on a felony charge, you're going to jail -- for a long time.

That's the message of an awareness campaign the Riviera Beach and West Palm Beach police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced Wednesday.

Your tax dollars at work.

Not Right From a Federal Standpoint

Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm agents, on campus Tuesday for Project Safe Neighborhoods training, detained a “suspicious individual” near the Georgia Center, University Police Chief Jimmy Williamson said.

Jeremiah Ransom, a sophomore from Macon, was leaving a Wesley Foundation pirate vs. ninja event when he was detained....

“Seeing someone with something across the face, from a federal standpoint — that’s not right,” McLemore said, explaining why agents believed something to be amiss. [More]

Oh, really? And which federal edict does that violate?


The guy is on the ground cuffed. Why the hell is the BATFU thug putting his weight on a citizen's neck with his knee? If the citizen is a threat, why does the other thug have his hand in his pocket while he talks on the phone?

And why didn't Chief Williamson have them arrested for assault?

These incompetents can't tell the difference between a costume party and a crime, so naturally their first instinct is to react with violence. After all, if they don't understand something, it must be treated like a threat.

What kind of power hungry sociopath would want a career in this sick, unAmerican criminal syndicate?

[Via KABA Newslinks]

Maybe If You Wish Hard Enough...

Community leaders in the city of Dayton will announce on Wednesday morning a new initiative that they hope will help cut down or eliminate gun violence in the city...

Community leaders said the gun violence is a cycle that they believe needs to stop.

It's bold leadership like this that makes America great.

Why the Elite Support "Gun Control"

Heiress Chelsy Davy, 20, was met by two armed officers as she flew in to Heathrow from Cape Town. Three more joined her in arrivals before she was whisked off in a 4x4.

See, there's you, and then there's us...

A Question of Expertise

A nurse had spotted the paddle and thought it was a shotgun. She reported seeing an armed man and prompted a lockdown at the hospital.

So does this mean we shouldn't be addressing "gun violence" as a public health issue?

Kaine's True Colors Showing

Kaine also turned back a bill that would allow gun owners without concealed-weapon permits to store firearms in locked compartments in their vehicles. The legislation, advocated by lawmakers concerned about Second Amendment protections, was passed over the protests of those who champion gun controls.

I don't understand. In the past, he's been so supportive of "gun lobby" programs...

Permitting the Right: Nuts to That

Nelson was sent to a mental-health center for a 96-hour evaluation in September 2003 over fears he would harm himself. He was evaluated and released with no finding of mental illness or need for treatment.

Last year, he applied for a permit to acquire a weapon. The Callaway County sheriff denied the request, citing a section of law barring people who were committed to a mental-health center from obtaining a permit.

My thoughts on the mentally ill and guns has not changed since writing this.

I'm glad Nelson had the will and the resources to fight this beyond the sheriff, the small claims court, and the circuit judge. If he hadn't he'd still be disarmed.

Amy Blame the Gun

Yes, criminals will continue to acquire firearms (legally and otherwise) and commit gun crimes with them. The issue we have yet to address is that of law-abiding citizens purchasing guns that later cause the intentional or unintentional death of the gun owner or someone else.

There it is, folks, in a nutshell.

I'm the Only One Litigious Enough

A Drug Enforcement Administration agent who stars in a popular online video that shows him shooting himself in the foot during a weapons demonstration for Florida children is suing over the tape's release, claiming that his career has been crippled and he's become a laughingstock due to the embarrassing clip's distribution. Lee Paige, 45, blames the video's release on DEA officials in an April 7 federal lawsuit filed against the U.S. government. [More]

Welcome back, Mr. Paige. I consider you the Founding Father of WarOnGuns' ongoing "Only Ones" files... Newsflash, pal. You are a laughingstock. If anyone is going to sue, it ought to be the video's owner. Where does DEA get off confiscating and then erasing the original tape? By virtue of its exposure, including being featured on national television shows, I'd say the owner deserves substantial compensation. [Via The Smallest Minority and Nicki]

Absolutism 301; Felons

[I]f a person cannot be trusted with arms, he cannot be trusted in society. Any law that attempts to make exceptions to that, especially if based upon prior restraint, is not a good law in principle or practice.

If a person walks among us freely, then he should be able to defend his life from unjustified attack. If we deem him unsafe to defend himself then we should not release him into society.

I couldn't agree more.

China Supports Police to Legally Use Guns

Yes.

Of course they do.

The Eloi of the Month Award...

...goes to Bonnie Topa of Hartford, CT.
God, these people are petty and vindictive...

Cops, Cars and Guns

Cars and trucks, not guns, are becoming the No. 1 threat to police officers.

Traffic accidents have killed 429 officers nationwide this decade, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Nearly one in five was hit by a vehicle.

In contrast, guns have killed 351 officers, the memorial fund says...

The number of police killed in traffic -- whether driving their cruisers or standing outside them -- has risen 40 percent in 30 years, while gun deaths have declined 36 percent, Mendelsohn said.

See the journalistic sleight of mind being performed here? When vehicles are involved, the officers are killed by "traffic accidents." When guns are involved, they're killed by...uh..."guns."

Nothing to Fear

Responsible gun owners have nothing to fear from a bill in the General Assembly that would help to close a loophole in state law governing illegal trafficking in guns...The legislation would put the responsibility for a gun's safe-keeping squarely with the owner. Specifically, it would require owners to store guns to avoid "a substantial and unjustifiable risk" they'll be stolen. The bill would also require gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm to police within 72 hours.

Read another way: Responsible gun owners have nothing to fear from a bill that will make them responsible for something they're not responsible for. Honest.

Sniff Dogg in Taser Scare

Authorities used a Taser gun on a dog on Monday who bit his owner and two other people in South Philadelphia.

What?

Snoop Dogg in Gun Scare

Clubbers at Gas, who had waited hours for a glimpse of Snoop Dogg, panicked and hit the floor when shots were heard at around 2.30am - but it turned out the noise came from rocks being thrown at the doors by guests who had been denied entry earlier.

But the editor can't write "Snoop Dogg in Rock Scare." That just wouldn't generate the desired hysteria.

We're the Only Ones Drunk Enough

A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy was arrested in connection with the accidental shooting death of his friend following a night of drinking, authorities said...

"He was carrying his gun in his hand back into the house," Ansara said. "They were just playing around, and somehow the gun ended up pointed toward the victim's head, and the trigger was pulled, and he was struck once."

The gun ended up pointed...the trigger was pulled...he was struck...

Not the drunken cop pointed the gun, the drunken cop pulled the trigger, the drunken cop fired a shot that struck...

See? I knew it was the gun's fault!

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Peace Through Strength?

A SriLankan Airlines flight to New Delhi from Colombo on Thursday night was delayed after an undeclared revolver was found in the possession of the Norwegian peace delegation led by International Development Minister Erik Solheim.

We're the Only Ones Taking It On the Chin Enough

The policeman was sitting with his chin on the barrel of his rifle. The rifle accidentally went off and the bullet hit his chin and pierced his head.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Permitting the Right: From the Mouths of Antis

Yesterday I linked to an article about a minister who claims attempts to mandate "no guns" in churches violates the separation doctrine. The post allows comments, and no shortage of enuretics use them to take the obligatory swipe at gun owners and the concept of bearing arms--invariably offering sweeping and unsubstantiated opinions and characterizing anyone who disagrees with them in a negative light.

I generally avoid these things, but one guy struck me as particularly ignorant and obnoxious, so I asked him:

If someone DOES bring a gun to church, what exactly are you prepared to do about it?

His partial response:

I'd do the same thing you would do if someone brought a gun to school, or anyone of the other places that the concealed carry law will be exempt from.

Thing is, aside from his expectation of what I'd do, he's right.

He'd do nothing. He'd be helpless. Just like Susanna Gratia Hupp was when she left her gun in the car and the madman who invaded the cafeteria did not.

And so would most gun owners with CCWs, I'd wager. After all, if someone goes to the time, effort and trouble to obtain a license, they're probably the type who follows the rules. These people are the very definition of "law abiding," and probably wouldn't want to risk losing their permit or getting into legal trouble by flouting the law.

Now, if you have a CCW and you wouldn't disarm just because you're in a forbidden zone, why get a license in the first place if you intend to break the law whenever you deem it "pragmatic"?

No Safe Harbor

Counterfeit goods. Guns. Humans. If you're trying to slip any of those through local ports, officers have you in their well-trained sights.

Nice cheerleading piece, Josh Grossberg. I like the way it squares with reality:

More than 6 million shipping containers arrive here at...U.S. ports annually. Only 2% are inspected. The rest remain sealed as they are shipped throughout the country. It would be easy, some fear, to take a container, stuff it with explosives, a chemical weapon or a nuclear device and inject it into the nation's economic bloodstream.

Hey, if we can't go back to sleep, can we at least have some more Kool-Aid?

Permitting the Right: D-Day

Sailorcurt likens incrementalism to Allied opposition of Hitler, pointing out that D-Day did not cause the immediate surrender of Nazi Germany. As much as I enjoy reading his opinions, I don't believe this analogy works, and here's why.

The tactics used to achieve the strategy of defeating Germany involved making concessions and decisions due to logistics, resources, manpower, terrain, the weather, battlefield conditions, etc. They did not involve making concessions to Hitler.

And as D-Day was used as an example, we saw there some troop transports going off course and landing on the wrong beachhead.

I'll accept this analogy if someone can show me where Eisenhower sought Nazi permission. Otherwise, it seems the Allied strategy--the unconditional surrender of Axis powers--was pretty much an example of "absolutism."

Concealed Gun Law a Violation of Church/State?

History shows us that when shootings take place in a church, it is by people that come off the street and start shooting. If this law stands, then it will make it illegal for "religious" people to defend themselves.

The state has no right to determine what and who can go into a church; this is a decision of the church. If this law stands, then it will give the government a crack in which they can invade the church.”

So naturally, the Wichita Eagle editor who posted this takes a swipe at both Christians and guns with the Landover Baptist Church graphic.

I guess they realize they can heap all the ridicule they want on Christians with guns and remain safe. I do note the Landover crowd does nothing to offend the Fatwah crowd...

We're the Only Ones Corrupt Enough

Relying on hours of secretly recorded conversations of the officers, federal prosecutors spent almost three weeks presenting evidence that the officers robbed drug addicts in West Baltimore to reward their sources on the street and line their own pockets.

Prosecutors sought to show that King and Murray abused the tools of their trade - department badges, unmarked cars and department-issue guns - by stealing drugs and money, distributing heroin, cocaine and marijuana to their informants and sharing in the proceeds when the drugs were sold.

Hey, you can't make an omelette without breaking some heads...I mean, eggs.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only Ones Drunk and Mean Enough

Reports say the sergeant who lives with his family at his mother-in-law's house came home drunk and beat up his wife and daughter.

After police seized the gun, the sergeant, still drunk went to the Arima police station where he threatened the investigators.

What the hell YOU lookin' at?

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Backup Second Amendment Saturday

Stan is having trouble with Blogger (Really? I wouldn't know...), so he's posted this week's 2A commentary over at his backup site.

We're the Only Ones Goombah Enough...

TWO ex-New York cops were last night facing life behind bars after they were convicted of secretly working as Mafia hitmen.

Louis Eppolito, 57, and Stephen Caracappa, 64, were involved in the assassination of at least eight people for the Mob while serving as detectives.

They also sold drugs, intimidated witnesses, carried out kidnappings and helped Mafia bosses with money laundering scams.

And what do you think would have happened to a regular citizen if he got a piece and popped these two meat eaters?

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only Ones Biting Enough

A GROUP of young boys were bitten by an off-duty police dog as they played football after it escaped from its enclosure...

Fortunately, no private citizen was armed, so the animal was not injured.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only Ones "In the Mood" Enough...

Seven people, including five police officers, were charged yesterday in connection to the alleged rape of a 29-year-old woman on Rhodes, sources said.

Cigarette?

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only...JOHNNY!

Policeman's Gun Accidently Goes off at School

A 13-year-old boy at Saunders Middle School in Manassas, Virginia, accidentally discharged his father's weapon on a school bus, fortunately no one was injured. The weapon was at the school all day without incident up until that point in time.

Oops.

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

A Dynamite Idea

I do not want to take all weapons away from Americans; we have the privilege to hunt. However, Americans do not need assault weapons or even semiautomatics.

So I challenge Mr. Hannick to answer this question: What does he want a semiautomatic or an automatic for?

Perhaps he is going to hunt with it. If so, I would like to suggest the sport of hunting with dynamite.

Jori Byrne-Diakun

Indignant anti-gunners. Is there anything they don't know?*

I also love her childish line: "A life is a life, and is the most precious thing in the world."

I wonder what she'd think if some latter day Gollum broke into her house, and was advancing on her, "My Precioussss..."

[ * Based on a Homer Simpson line about actors]

Permitting the Right: Truth in Advertising

Words have meaning.

Framing the ccw debate around the term "right to carry" is calculated, deliberate and pervasive. Because it requires permissions and licensing, it's also not true.

Just be careful pointing that out to most "pro-gun activists."

Update in re Angel

Dear Friends of Angel,

Angel had his day in court today. His attorney and the prosecutors had worked out an agreement, which the judge accepted. Here are the results.

The judge overseeing the case ordered the police to give Angel's guns back, but he must register the handguns in compliance with Michigan law (euphemistically called a "safety inspection", but it is clearly registration, a law adopted in the 20s to keep guns out of the hands of Blacks). The only charges on the table were four misdemeanor counts of failure to present a handgun for a safety inspection. The theoried charge discussed in the media and on the Net about "menacing" and threats was not advanced by prosecutors, because there was no substance to the theoried charge. Police and prosecutors figured this out after looking at the facts and evidence.

Angel will be on non-reporting probation on the failure to register charges for a year and a half. Angel will have on his record forever four misdemeanor violations of failure to present his handguns for "safety inspection". Angel must perform three days of community service, which will hold him in Michigan for almost a month (because they are court-scheduled days).

I've been saying for too long now that the attorneys have insisted on silence from anyone having inside information about this situation, because release of such information could very well have torpedoed the deal Angel's attorney had worked out with the prosecutors. Frankly, the prosecutors were not anxious to go to trial on this case, and Angel is too clearly a clean and good guy to be able to spin him as some dangerous nut case.

Now is probably time for me to confess a bit of an ulterior motive in all of this. Angel plans to move to Montana where can live under what legal scholar Dave Kopel calls the freest gun laws in the World (see Dave's Foreword to my book, Gun Laws of Montana), where he can go Prairie Dog hunting with my son Ty and myself, and where he will undertake the needful task of recruiting scads of members for MSSA. According to the plan, recruiting membership for MSSA will be Angel's vocation for the indefinite future. I suspect you may be hearing a pitch from Angel (an MSSA Member since 2003) to join MSSA (hey, a lot of our members don't live in Montana).

So, stay tuned for more info about how this all happened to Angel. In the meantime, if you haven't donated to Angel's legal defense, but wish to do so, there is information about this at:

http://www.marbut.com/angel

There IS a deficit of about $10,000 to pay the legal expenses incurred so far.

Thanks loads to all of you for your tolerance of the imposed silence, for your now-justified faith in Angel, for your support letters, and for your donations to Angel's legal defense.

Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org
author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com

Dial 911 and Die

Woman dies after son calls 911; dispatchers think it's a prank...An investigation is underway in Detroit after a six-year-old boy called 911 to get help for his mom, and the operator acted as if it were a joke...Detroit police are investigating and say they are not sure about what, if any, disciplinary will be taken against the 911 operator.

Naturally.

And, as is typical with out Watchdog Press, we know the names of the citizens involved, but not of the outrageously negligent government employee.

[Via Xavier Thoughts]

The Parasite Preservation Act

The mayor of Miramichi, N.B., says there is a way of saving 200 high-paying federal jobs if the government scraps the federal gun registry.

The mayor, John MacKay, said people working there could begin manufacturing identity cards that may soon be required under new security measures imposed by the United States at border crossings.

God forbid anyone lose their seat on the gravy train.

Permitting the Right: Dueling Machiavellis

Since Machiavelli has been introduced as a source to justify asking and paying the government for permission to bear arms, I thought I'd follow up with another of his quotes:

To be disarmed is to be contemptible.

How many of you would petition the government for a license to not be contemptible?

Stu Loser

"This bill has nothing to do with the Second Amendment," said Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser, "and everything to do with the dangers [that] illegal guns pose to our police officers and citizens."

So, Stu, when you were a kid, did you know you wanted to grow up to be an apologist for tyranny, or is that something you found an aptitude for as you grew older?

A Night to Remember

He said that there were reports of riots in Nashville. Then he handed me an M1 carbine rifle and left me and my wife there all alone. We were out in the middle of nowhere, and the only lights you could see were those of the gas station.

Why didn't he just rely on the police to protect him?

Coming Soon: Fabric Control

Just what law enforcement needs: another headache. Yet Thor Shield promises to be a thunderbolt from heaven for those resisting arrest.

The product is a polyester fabric that bonds a conducted material and sends the electricity coming from a stun gun back where it came from. It is now available for sale only to military and law enforcement agencies, but one wonders how long before it is being worn by those on the streets of America...What is intended to be used to protect the police might one day soon be used against them.

It's all about keeping the state safe for police, isn't it, Dave White? What legitimate need could an average citizen possibly have for this?

Excusez-Moi

French police have apologised after one of their officers went shopping at Waterloo station still carrying her gun...Such a sight may be commonplace if the Home Office decides to opt into the so-called "hot pursuit" provisions of the Schengen convention, under which armed officers from one country can continue chasing criminals into another.

Say, why don't we try that here?

N.J. Intends to Crack Down on Gangs, Gun Violence

This time we mean it. Really. We're warning you.

Yep. Call neighborhoods "Cease Fire Zones." Dang, is that all it takes?

And, of course, accept no bail money in a brown paper bag.

Peace is at hand.

Permitting the Right

I started a bit of a debate with my comments regarding the new Nebraska concealed carry law. It has spilled over to The Smallest Minority and Captain of a Crew of One.

I'm going to address this further and in detail, but within the confines of some very real and pressing restrictions on my time--which means I'll post on this when I can.

I stipulate right up front that mine is not the popular view--by far. I don't go into this with any illusions that the vast majority of "gun rights" supporters will agree with me. Still, so far, I haven't seen anyone specifically demonstrate where any claim I made in my post is wrong. All the arguments seem to be that "absolutists" are immature and impatient, and even enemies, and that only by trading rights for privileges can one be considered "pragmatic." Incrementalism is what got us here, and only incrementalism will save us.

I reject these assumptions, and will explore them in more depth in the coming days. Just please be patient. And please post comments with an eye toward generating light, not heat.

Sharon Stoned on Guns

Security:
As needed. To be mutually decided by Producer and Sharon.
--Approved 24 hr armed bodyguard--[adt'l?] bodyguard app'd by SS if she requests

So that explains why Sharon Stone could make such a public spectacle of "surrendering" her guns!

"I choose to surrender my right to bear arms in exchange for the peace of mind of doing the right thing."

Los Angeles police, at Stone's request, confiscated one shotgun and three handguns from her Beverly Hills home on May 14. Authorities described the weapons as "lawfully obtained and legally kept."

Stone said she was moved to disarm by April's Columbine High massacre that left 15 people, including the two teen gunmen, dead. She asked other gun owners to similarly downsize.

"I urge you to trust and believe in your local law enforcement officers and believe in the courage of following your heart and surrendering your fear and anger," she said.

You didn't surrender your right to bear arms, Sharon, you outsourced it. And as for placing trust in the police for protection: You first.

We're the Only Ones...

...Well Adjusted Enough

For the past two weeks, investigators have been looking for a suspect Eaton County Sheriff Sergeant Jeff Lutz says shot him while on duty, but now investigators are looking at Lutz himself.

...Appropriately Forceful Enough

Ronald Robbins, 45, who claimed he acted in self-defense when he shot 22-year-old Jason Starkey in the back during a fistfight with Starkey and another man on Sept. 22, 2002, faces up to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.

...Touchy-Feely Enough

Swatara Police arrested Michael Fernsler, 33, of Orrstown, Pa., on Friday night while he was on the job as a police officer with Shippensburg University. Police said he sexually assaulted two 4-year-old girls in their Swatara Township, Pa. home.

...Dynamic in Our Entries Enough

Bullets peppered the wall, ceiling and refrigerator in an incident late Saturday during which two Muskegon police officers fired shots at each other inside a McLaughlin Avenue home.

How can anyone argue against the position that trained professionals like these are the only ones who should have guns?

[Via KABA Newslinks]

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]