Second Amendment Carnival V

Free Constitution links us to "the best 2nd Amendment coverage the blogosphere has to offer."

U of Florida: Because Passive Resistance Worked So Well at Columbine and Dachau

The goal of passive resistance is to think and talk your way out of the situation. With passive resistance you can:

Try to calm the attacker. Try to persuade him not to carry out the attack.

Try to discourage the attacker. Pretend to faint, cry hysterically, and act mentally incapacitated or insane.

If you are at your residence, tell the attacker a friend is coming over or that your spouse or roommate will be back soon.

Not to be contrary, but they forgot to tell you to vomit.

Some people carry weapons to ward off attackers. Unless you are trained and not afraid to use these weapons, they can be very dangerous. The attacker might be able to turn them against you. Also weapons are prohibited on the University of Florida campus.

And the campus police are here to make sure you obey the law. Besides, you don't want to end up like Josephine.

Oh, wait...

Josephine Confounds the "Experts"

Eighty-two-year-old Josephine Slater never even flinched when she was confronted by a masked bandit with a sawed-off shotgun inside her Midland bar and restaurant.

The owner of Josephine's Bar and Restaurant calmly threw $1 bills at the man and then pulled out a loaded handgun that she keeps under the counter.

"If you don't get out of here, I'll shoot you right now," the octogenarian told the would-be robber. "I'm not about to put up with any crap right off the street."

Josephine, Josephine...

Don't you know you should have just given him what he wanted?

After all, "We don't encourage people to take that kind of risk. [You] could have been hurt."

What if he'd taken your gun away from you?

Remember, "Use of a firearm to protect yourself or property is not recommended."

A. Spineless Maroon

This comment entry is too good not to highlight.

Mad Hatter Seeking Madder Mortarboarders

[A]fter reading a couple of campus Op-Ed articles relating to gun rights issues, I thought I'd take some time this weekend to hunt several of them up and tell everyone what sort of opinions are being generated in higher academia.

If anyone is interested in pointing me to some articles they've found (via email or posting replies to my blog), I'll be happy to include them in this little project.

Here's the post I have on my blog announcing the project.

If you could get word around, I'd appreciate it.

The Mad Hatter is looking for some people in need of schooling on RKBA!

Here's my contribution. If you can help him out with more articles, please do.

This Day in History: September 30

In a letter to his nephew, Lund Washington, plantation manager of Mount Vernon, General George Washington writes on this day in 1776 of his displeasure with the undisciplined conduct and poor battlefield performance of the American militia. Washington blamed the Patriot reliance on the militia as the chief root of his problems in the devastating loss of Long Island and Manhattan to the British.

He ought to see the sorry state of the militia, Long Island and Manhattan today.

REMINDER: 2A CARNIVAL TOMORROW

Just in case you didn't act on my first announcement. Go over to Free Constitution and get your submission in tonight.

Remembering the Colonel

Guns and Ammo looks back on the life of Jeff Cooper.

They also compiled a wonderful collection of memorable Cooperisms (I'm being redundant here) in "Quotations from Chariman Jeff," and present an archive for the "Gunner's Guru" series.

Good stuff. I'm saving these links because I'm sure I'll want to consult and enjoy them again and again.

Related: "Jeff Cooper, Rest in Peace"

Bradys Choose Moonbeams Over Substance

Democratic nominee Jerry Brown today received the endorsement of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the nation's leading gun violence prevention organization.

Yeah, he'll do for the state what he's done for Oakland:

The city has now had 106 homicides in 2006 and is on pace to almost double last year's toll of 94.

"Gun violence assurance" is more like it.

This proves beyond doubt the Bradys and their supporters are irrational and primitive fanatics, focused on removing symbols and totems instead of addressing causes and effects. This type of quasi-religious superstition has no place in public policy debate, and certainly should have no bearing on the rights of free and rational sovereign individuals.

Special contempt goes to "Republican" Paul Helmke. If it notices you at all, history will record you as a base subversive, you worm.

We're the Only Ones Vandalic Enough

The Torrance City Attorney's Office on Wednesday filed one charge of misdemeanor vandalism against a Hermosa Beach police sergeant accused of defacing a car while off duty.

And they can't tell us if he's still on duty. Only "The Only Ones" have a need to know.

We're the Only Ones Who Should Get a Break Enough

Raymond Gregson Jr., a retired IRS agent who helped coordinate the highly publicized 2004 raid on the home of Jacques Morial, was indicted Thursday in federal court on four counts of carrying a concealed handgun at Louis Armstrong International Airport and trying to board a plane with it...

"If anybody should get a break, I would think it would be somebody who's had an outstanding career with the government for so many years," Ellis said. "I was just a little bit surprised to see that they wanted to throw the book at him. . . . I think it's a tragic mistake."

Give me a break!

Oh, I forgot, I don't qualify.

I'm not an "Only One."

Dear Darias

I usually ignore the vast amounts of stupid you find on the net, but occassionally something comes along that is so special, it just demands special treatment.

Gun Law News finds someone as thick-headed as Morton Marcus. The antis seem to be throwing every idiot they have at us these days.

Muscling in on the Second Amendment

Rep. Howard Coble, R-N.C., who sponsored the House bill, said it would give the ATF greater flexibility to deal appropriately with minor violations while going after gun dealers who are breaking the law. "Despite what the critics said," Coble said in a statement, "our bill puts additional muscle in the arm of the ATF."

And we would want to do that why...?

Moron Marcus

To reduce gun-related murders, get the guns out of the hands of private citizens...

Indiana economist Morton Marcus has studied and written about the Indiana economy for more than 30 years...

You'd think in that time the fool would have learned something. This is the most addlepated hit piece I've yet read, and I've been reading them for decades.

[Thanks to Jason M]

This Day in History: September 29

British spy John André is court-martialed, found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging on this day in 1780. André, an accomplice of Benedict Arnold, had been captured by Patriots John Paulding, David Williams and Isaac Van Wart six days earlier on September 23, after they found incriminating papers stashed in his boot.

Schwarzenegger Signs Another Gun Confiscation Bill

Governor Schwarzenegger yesterday signed legislation by Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) that will provide additional protection for people seeking court protective orders under the Family Code...

Specifically, Senate Bill 585:

1. Adds additional provisions to the Family Code to allow law enforcement to consider seeking the immediate surrender of a firearm from a person served with a protective order.

2. Reduces from 72 hours to 48 hours the time frame by which a person served with a protective order must show proof to a court that they either sold or surrendered their firearms.

3. Requires that application forms for protective orders ask what types of firearms are in the possession of the respondent.

All without being convicted of a thing. And we all know vengeful "partners" would never make anything up. Besides, "presumption of innocence" is a quaint concept, but, like the Second Amendment, was obviously written for a different time.

Thanks, Arnold!

First the .50's and now this. I knew we could count on you!

And thanks again, major gun groups! How big were those "good size chunks" of money again?

The Silver Lining

The state House, dominated by members from rural areas where hunting is a way of life and the Second Amendment is sacrosanct, resoundingly rejected a series of gun-control measures yesterday, including one that would have allowed Philadelphia to enact its own firearms laws...

Rep. Dwight Evans (D., Phila.) said that despite the defeats of several controversial proposals - and the expected failure of one-handgun-a-month - he was pleased that so many anticrime measures were at long last debated on the House floor.

Yeah, it was kinda like holding a "gun buyback"--it didn't really do anything, but it made you feel good and got you some ink in the local press. And, of course, helped solidify your hold over sheep ignorant enough to give an opportunistic thug like you political power over them.

"It's Time for a Revolution"

The Constitution of the United States and the State of Illinois both guarantees our citizens the right to keep and BEAR arms. The ability to “bear” arms has nothing to do with hunting, but has everything to do with the protection of our freedoms “also” guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

Randy Stufflebeam appears to get it. I don't know what his plans are "for making sure the criminal element does not have easy access to arms," short of incarceration, though...

[Thanks to HZ]

A Green Supports the Right to Bear Arms...?

"I don't think the government should have a monopoly on weapons," Whitney said. "And if you meet certain objective criteria--completing a gun-training safety class, if you're a law-abiding citizen, if you haven't committed a felony--you should have the right to carry a firearm.

"Of course, we'll have to carefully draw the law so that no one can carry a gun to church or to school or to a bar.

Not really. But he had us going there for a second.

[Thanks to HZ]

Y'See, There's US and Then There's YOU...

Ordinary citizens will have to check their guns at the Statehouse's entrances when metal detectors are installed in the building next year.

Lawmakers, however, will be allowed to take their guns with them inside.

Yeah, Sen. Tom Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, I really believe you wanted to do it to everybody but settled for "half a loaf."

Otherwise, I might come to an unkind judgment about you.


[Thanks to Eric]

This Day in History: September 28

On this day in 1781, General George Washington, commanding a force of 17,000 French and Continental troops, begins the siege known as the Battle of Yorktown against British General Lord Charles Cornwallis and a contingent of 9,000 British troops at Yorktown, Virginia, in the most important battle of the Revolutionary War.

Shameless Plug: Guns in Schools

Ultimately, “a school is no place for a gun,” he concluded.

The author was Columbine killer Eric Harris, who chose “Guns in Schools” for his report topic. It’s not hard to see why he would favor “gun free school zones.”

"Guns in Schools" is my Rights Watch column for the November 2006 issue of GUNS Magazine, available now at scholarly newsstands throughout the Republic.

BONUS: See page 98 to find out how you can win a Custom North American Arms Mini Revolver, Katz Bowie and "Riverboat Gambler Snake Eyes" poker set.

Are You With Us? An Open Letter to Chuck Poochigian

Dear Mr. Poochigian,

As a candidate for California Attorney General, I note you have received fairly good grades from both Gun Owners of California and the National Rifle Association over the course of your political career.

You are no doubt aware that the current AG, Bill Lockyer's official position on the Second Amendment is that:

"[It] limits only the powers of the federal government, not those of the states; and the 'right to keep and bear arms' under the Second Amendment is not an individual right to possess firearms, but a collective right of the States to keep and maintain a 'well-regulated militia.'"

You also no doubt are aware that this is in direct contradiction to the position taken by former US Attorney General John Ashcroft, who wrote:

"The text and the original intent of the Second Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms."

Following Mr. Ashcroft's pronouncement, then Alabama AG Bill Pryor wrote a letter agreeing with the individual rights position, and received signatures of support from 18 other state attorneys general. Furthermore, Dick Ackerman, the candidate for California AG at the time, agreed to also sign the Pryor letter if elected.

If you are elected, per the CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 20, you will take the following oath (or affirmation) of office, which says in part:

I, ______, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.

You are also aware that the Constitution of the United States, Article VI, states:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

So my questions for you, Mr. Poochigian:

If gun owners support your candidacy and you are elected California Attorney General, will you issue an official declaration of position that the Second Amendment recognizes an individual right to keep and bear arms?

And if so, what will you do as the chief law officer in the state to ensure that "the supreme Law of the Land," which you will have taken an oath to support and defend, is enforced, and that the rights of California gun owners are legally protected from infringement?

Mr. Poochigian, California gun owners are having essential freedoms abridged and live in danger of having their lives destroyed by edicts that we believe violate the clear proscription articulated in the Second Amendment. Attempts at obtaining peaceful redress through court actions and petitioning have been in vain. We are watching the upcoming election with desperate interest, as so much is at stake for us. I am therefore making this letter public, and am requesting an answer for public disclosure.

Sincerely,
David Codrea
California gun owner
---------------------

Special note to WarOnGuns visitors: I'm sending Mr. Poochigian a link to this post, and will report his reply or lack of one. The success of getting an answer is really out of my hands, though. If California gun owners don't take the under-1-minute needed to express their expectation that he answer these questions, he'll really have no reason to pay any attention to this. If you don't live in California, please direct your friends who do to this post. If you do live in California, please contact the Poochigian campaign. Here's a link to his contact form.

Comrade Tom: Let's Bring Chicom Gun Control to Philly!

I ran into Jin Huo Chen on the steps of the state Capitol yesterday, holding up a sign that said... well, I can't tell you what it said because it was written in Chinese.

He was one of the 2,000-plus folks who came from Philadelphia to lobby the legislature to pass gun-control laws.

I pointed to the sign and asked him: What does that say in English?

Chen stared at me.

I tried again: Can you tell me what the sign says in English?

Chen shook his head and said, in so many words: I speak no English.

And we all know what a bastion of freedom China has proven to be, right Comrade Tom Ferrick, Jr.?

It amazes me how refugees from tyranny come to this country--wholly ignorant of what it is that made our nation a refuge in the first place--and do their best to install the familiar here, including the familiar restraints on freedom. And we're expected to assimilate to them.

I've got a sign for you, Mr. Chen:


And for you, Comrade Tom, I have a few words in Mandarin (link not work-safe):

Ni shi bai chi. Qin wode pigu, gan ni niang.

This Day in History: September 27

On this day in 1779, the former president of the Continental Congress, John Jay, is appointed minister to Spain and tasked with winning Spanish support for the American Revolution and Spain’s recognition of America’s independence.

Disarm Us! Disarm Us!

Mayor John Street announced Friday he would lead thousands of Philadelphians to Harrisburg tomorrow to rally for gun control in Harrisburg tomorrow.

Shameless manipulation and exploitation of the stupid, the dependent, the ignorant.

A man would be ashamed of himself.

Never mind the facts.

Democracy in action.

New Yorkers Rally for 'Illegal' Guns

Protesters carried giant-size cutouts of guns as they rallied yesterday in New York City in support of the constitutional right to bear arms, which, they say, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is trying to destroy.

Good for them. I wonder how many people showed up.

We need more gun owners willing to organize and attend demonstrations.

And an "authorized journalist" or two outside of WorldNetDaily and the blogosphere to give them coverage.

We're the Only Ones Falsely Accused Enough

After gun kills child, cop charged

I mean, it says it right there in the Detroit Free Press headline. The gun killed the child, not The Only One...

Jeff Cooper, Rest in Peace

World-renowned firearms expert Jeff Cooper, founder of the Gunsite firearms training center in Paulden, died Monday afternoon at his home near the training center.

We have lost a gallant champion and patriot.

I will always be humbly grateful for this:

We are endorsing an effort to circulate petitions addressed to Attorney General John Ashcroft, asking him to enforce the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. While the petition document specifically lists the grievances noted by the citizens of California, all Americans are encouraged to sign the petitions to take action against all infringements of Second Amendment rights. California gun owners have been increasingly oppressed by the executive and judicial authorities in their state, and the situation seems unsolvable by the usual procedures. Therefore a group of peaceable Californians has turned to the federal government - and Attorney General John Ashcroft in particular - for help. Contact David Codrea, PO Box 4152, Redondo Beach, CA 90277...for more information.

More: "Gunner's Guru" Supports "Ashcroft Petition"

[Thanks to Whose Paranoid. Photo via Eric Chin.]

PMS Miami

Dave Licht advises me:

I wanted to bring to your attention a particularly offensive ad that has been running all day 9-26- on KNEW radio which is an ABC affiliate in the SF Bay area.

What I keep hearing is: Some gang has "a gun that shoots around corners"....... "CSI Miami......because you never know how much damage a gun can do".......

Apparently more than head full of fluff agenda driven copywriters.

This Day in History: September 26

On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress elects Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee as agents of the diplomatic commission that will be sent to secure a formal alliance and negotiate a treaty between the United States and France.

It's Good. Real Good.

I just finished it last night. My editor at GUNS Magazine has OK'd a review, which I'll work on this week.

I'll tell you this much: It exceeded my expectations.

Police Ethics: Capt. David A. Kozicki Style

Watch the video. Oakland Police Capt. David A. Kozicki thinks he and his fellow badge-wearers are "The Only Ones" who should have .50 cal rifles, and they're willing to do just about anything to keep it that way--including giving that cretin Jerry Brown another shot at statewide political power--this time as attorney general.

What's that?

Dave's not wearing a badge?

That's funny--his shoulder patch is taped over, too.

Why do you suppose that is?

Oh, here's why:

The police department's manual of rules prohibits officers from using their names, photographs and positions in a campaign for elected office.

However, a department spokesman said the ad does not appear to violate the "letter" of the rule because Kozicki is identified as a "police captain," not an Oakland police captain.

Although Kozicki's captain bars are pinned to the collar of his department-issued blue uniform, he is not wearing his badge and his Oakland Police Department shoulder patch is taped over. No Oakland insignia can be seen.

Ha ha. Great way to stick with the "'letter' of the rule," Dave. You Only Ones know all the tricks!

But say, those cars behind you on the video? What "insignia" is on them? A seven-pointed inverted star around a circle with a graphic in the middle...It wouldn't be this one, would it, Dave?

Campus Mourns Professor Preston Covey’s Death

Associate professor of philosophy Preston Covey, esteemed scholar and husband of library faculty member Denise Troll Covey, died at home last Monday. He was 64.

Related Posts:
Memorial Tribute to Preston Covey
"CMU Professor Didn't Let Polio Sideline Him"
"Preston Covey, Rest in Peace"
"Philosophy and Firearms"
"Can Gun Control Reduce Violence?"

LA Gun Task Force Serves Another Search Warrant

The LA County Gun Task Force has served another search warrant on the home of another member of the fifty caliber community. On Monday September 18th, eighteen police cars swarmed the neighborhood where the FCSA member lives and served a search warrant signed by Judge Steven Kleifield of the LA County Superior Court. The officers were at the residence for several hours and confiscated all semi-automatic firearms belonging to the victim...

It should be noted the LA Gun Task Force used "High Risk" entry tactics by sending a SWAT Entry team to make the initial entry into the victim's residence. Gun owners in LA County need to be prepared to expect these kinds of entry tactics and respond to commands from any officers if you are contacted.

FCI wants everyone to be aware that the LA County Gun Task Force is lead by agents from BATFE; LAPD and LASO. They appear to have focused their attention on members of the fifty caliber community and are aggressively trying to arrest law abiding citizens for just being "Gun Owners"...

John Burtt, Chmn
FCI

I'm sorry, Mr. Burtt. But I could be a lot sorrier.

Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the .50 BMG ban into law. He told us he would before he was elected. He also endorsed banning "assault weapons."

So why were you silent during the gubernatorial campaign, when a clear choice to support a solid pro-gun candidate was offered? (And before any naysayers offer unsubstantiated pronouncements that Tom McClintock couldn't have won, you'd better be prepared to offer superior evidence over the Gallup poll showing he could have--and dramatically--had the GOP establishment not done everything in its power to jettison principle and go for the populist power grab--regardless of the consequences.)

As for your member having semiautos confiscated, well, some of us have been beating that drum for years, and using the intent of the Founders--and the potential disasterous consequences if tyranny continues to grow--to back up our convictions. That includes exploring potential consequences of the insurrectionary theory should the pressure increase.

Yet when you got a chance to have your views heard by a mass audience, you couldn't distance yourself far enough, and publicly dismissed us. You declared "I would not consider those people mainstream Americans," eschewing the citizen militia in favor of your sport.

In the face of massive public propaganda by those in power (and their useful idiot supporters), who would ban all guns in private hands, you can't rely on public support for your "sport." And you certainly can't rely on trying to appear reasonable to The Los Angeles Times.

I note in another alert, you refer your members to a law firm. Fine and good, but just keep this in mind: This is the same firm that acted as the agent of surrender for a firearm that had previously been declared legal by the attorney general.

One final note on the dynamic entry tactics being used to intimidate us. I asked the CA DoJ rep a direct question, in front of over a hundred gun owners, at the NRA-brokered gun registration meeting where the state came to explain its position on its new semiauto ban. This is the exchange I had with their rep on SWAT raids:

I then asked the DOJ overlords, “If we defy your terms of dictated surrender, how many SWAT raids do you estimate it will take to crush and destroy us? And how many patriots, including military and police personnel and their family members, are you and your masters in Sacramento willing to imprison or murder enforcing this treasonous edict?"

...The DOJ flack standing at the microphone said, "None," which is a transparent lie, as the California Attorney General has pledged to vigorously enforce both Roberti-Roos and SB-23, and they spent much of the evening telling us how they intended to do so. In essence, this liar, acting in his official capacity as a law enforcement official, told a crowd of citizens at a public meeting, in direct response to a specific question, that they have no plans to enforce the law and prosecute resisters. As the Members’ Council had a camcorder running during the meeting, I hope they save the tape as evidence should some hapless citizen be prosecuted because he took this agent at his word.

You can't play nice with these people. You can't rely on "authorized journalists" to stir up community support by printing the truth. And you certainly can't preserve the Second Amendment by retaining a lawyer to arrange confiscation of your firearms--that is unless you believe surrender is the way gun owners should respond to The War on Guns.

This Day in History: September 25

After aborting a poorly planned and ill-timed attack on the British-controlled city of Montreal, Continental Army Colonel Ethan Allen is captured by the British on this day in 1775. After being identified as an officer of the Continental Amy, Allen was taken prisoner and sent to England to be executed.

A Political Truism

..."To Serve Man"...it's...it's a COOKBOOK!

4th Amendment Suspension Bill Passes House

[T]he House of Representatives has approved a tough new anti-drug and anti-weapon law that would require local districts to develop search policies – including strip searches – with immunity against prosecution for teachers and staff...

The bill was the brainchild of Rep. Geoff Davis, R-Kentucky...

Congressman, I don't care if you are "A"-rated on guns by GOA. Unless you can point to where you're delegated specific authority to do this in this document, you're a usurper.

And so is every member of the House that supports this expansion of police state tyranny.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Reporter Misfires, Leaves Readers Ignorant

He said an m-16 assault rifle, which he kept for protection, discharged accidentally.

The "authorized journalists" evidently don't see a thing wrong with that statement.

Who better to have strong opinions on guns than people who obviously don't know the first thing about them?

And is there any doubt they got their misinformation from "The Only Ones"?

Dawnicia and the Prayer Patrol

Anti-gun campaigners are due to meet in Bristol on Saturday evening to discuss the city's "gun culture"...

The Reverend Dawnicia Palmer and Bristol's Prayer Patrol have organised the event.

I'm sure these mental giants will solve everything.

"No Bargain," Indeed

There's no good reason why Utah taxpayers should subsidize permits for people to carry concealed weapons. That goes double for Utah taxpayers subsidizing Utah permits for non-Utahns.

Who could argue with that?

So stop requiring permits to exercise rights. Problem solved.

Next...?

2nd Amendment Saturday: Classic Clip on Despotism

Stan presents a lesson in despotism, and reminds us he's looking for submissions for next week's Second Amendment Carnival.

Handling the Truth

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed that the realism that appeared in his character in the film ‘The Departed’ was because of the fear co-star Jack Nicolson had instilled in him by pulling a gun on him...

"So I sat down at the table not knowing what to expect, and he set the table on fire after pouring whisky all over the place and stuck a gun in my face,” he added.

Great method acting, or further out of control antics by a deranged anti-gun hypocrite who deserves to have his punk ass kicked?

This Day in History: September 24

On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress prepares instructions and guidance for the agents appointed to negotiate a treaty between the United States and France. The agents were also instructed to request immediate assistance in securing arms.

The Incredible Shrinking March

Fatigued but undeterred, community activist Bilal Qayyum and six members of Men United for a Better Philadelphia stopped in Reading yesterday en route to Harrisburg for a rally against gun violence.

Six?

Yesterday it was "less then 10."

So what the "authorized journalists" appear to be saying is, all we need to do is get six pro-gunners together and we can get equal time in:

The Reading Eagle (Whoa! They call it "a trio"!)
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News again--just in case you missed it the first time...
WFMZ-TV --Somehow, showing all those news anchors smiling under the banner "69 News" struck me as kinda funny, but none of the pretty talking heads look bright enough to get the joke...
The Philadelphia Daily News--just in case you missed the first two...
The Philadelphia Daily News--LOOK! OVER HERE! BOY, YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS OUR GROUNDBREAKING SERIES!
CBS 3, "Brandy Bell, Reporting." Hey, what's the deal with reporterettes named "Brandy" covering this scoop? Oh, wait, the first one spelled her name with an "ie" at the end, but still, small world.

Not as small as this "march" receiving blanket coverage from an hysterical lapdog media, though. The thought strikes: there appear to be more news outlets bellowing about this non-event than there are marchers.

Why do you suppose that is?

"Public Safety"--Brady Style

The ATF veterans, including former ATF Directors Stephen Higgins and Rex Davis, wrote that the bill would "protect lawbreakers, at the expense of public safety"...

"Public safety"?

You mean like the kind you provided at Waco, Director Higgins, including saying you were prepared to call off the raid if the element of surprise was lost, carefully not repeating that when called to testify under oath, and resigning 3 days before Lloyd Bentsen was going to axe you and the rest of ATF top management because you got the inside scoop that it was going to happen?

That kind of "public safety"?

By the way, Director Higgins--you wouldn't have happened to have seen a BIG METAL DOOR lying around anywhere...? You know, the kind that couldn't have melted in the fire and could have proven whether shots were fired through it from the outside, but somehow mysteriously disappeared and has never been found? The kind that could cause sworn testimony to be looked at again and raise the specter of perjury and conspiracy...?

Yep, listen to the Brady's and their BATFU allies, everybody. After all, they're promoting "public safety."

Disturbing the Peace of Gun-Free Parks

Our position: Only subservience to the gun lobby could explain the extension of gun rights to state parks.

Truly?

I'm subservient to the gun lobby?

Who'da thunk?

At least I'm not subservient to socialist thralldom--or the concept that unalienable rights can be extended, which presupposes legitimate authority for the thugs du jour to also retract them.

And hey, we all know how undisturbed the peace around Indianapolis is...

What better environment to paint non-criminals as the threat, and demand they be defenseless under force of state arms?

The Drudge 2

Told ya.

This Day in History: September 23

During the American Revolution, the U.S. ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, wins a hard-fought engagement against the British ships of war Serapis and Countess of Scarborough, off the eastern coast of England.

Memorial Tribute to Preston Covey

By Harry Schneider, Chairman
Pennsylvania Sportsmen's Association
(Posted here with permission of author)

It is with the deepest regret that I announce the passing of a friend and patriot: Dr. Preston Covey Jr.

Pres Covey was a brilliant academic who taught applied ethics at Carnegie Mellon University. I recall one year it had fallen to Professor Covey to select the speaker for Carnegie Mellon University's Presidents Distinguished Lecture. It was customary to bring in the likes of Henry Kissinger, but Pres treated the students and faculty of CMU to Massad Ayoob. Dr. Covey told the audience that Ayoob, a practical firearms instructor, teaches the best short course in applied ethics that he had ever seen.

When the Allegheny County Sportsmen's League sued the City of Pittsburgh over their illegal assault weapons ban, Dr. Covey lent his name as plaintiff. A local hoplophobic weekly newspaper ran a cover article attacking Preston for his ethical views . The paper admitted that they really tried to get other academics at CMU to criticize him, but while most disagreed with Preston 's views on gun rights, none could fault the man, except that he swore lot. (no wonder).

Dr. Covey recently testified before the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee - and laid bare the prevarications and misstatements of Philadelphia officials who demand that the state demonize law abiding gun owners, in effect making scapegoats of them to conceal and avoid addressing the real reasons why Philadelphia has a serious crime problem.

Pres was well aware that his positions were unpopular in academic circles. A man of his extraordinary intellect could have gone much farther in academia if he acquiesced to the hoplophobic biases and prejudices that dominate most universities. Pres had struggled with numerous polio related disabilities his entire life . He understood prejudice and discrimination and would not tolerate either. He knew that accommodating discrimination is not only unethical, but that it leads to greater disability.

Dr. Preston Covey Jr. distinguished himself as a friend and warrior-academic of the finest caliber. His work survives and will give us guidance and intellectual ammunition far into the future.

Pres, rest in peace my brother.

Related:
"CMU Professor Didn't Let Polio Sideline Him"
"Preston Covey, Rest in Peace"
"Philosophy and Firearms"
"Can Gun Control Reduce Violence?"

C'mon, Drudge

No it does not either:
The operative word is "asks." Nothing is required.

I know Matt Drudge is characterized (and sometimes dismissed) by the left for being "right wing," but I've never been impressed with his practically nonexistent coverage of gun rights.

Branding Brandie

The group of less than 10 men making the trip represent two groups: Men United for a Better Philadelphia and Mantua Against Drugs. They have the common goal to replace guns and drugs with opportunity in the form of jobs...

"They say ‘Guns don’t kill people; People kill people.’ However, if people didn’t have access to the guns, it wouldn’t happen," Canada said.

"Less than 10 men" and that's news?

Congratulations, Brandie Kessler, you "authorized journalist," you. Not only did you find and give ink to a non-story that fits the leftist agenda, but you also managed neatly to avoid giving your readers any hint of opposing views.

Brandie, your worldview reflects that of a child. Grow up.

Here--read this if you want to understand the "gun" issues before the PA Senate Judiciary Committee that you so cavalierly and incompetently trivialize. Let's see if you're still capable of learning and redeeming yourself.

It All Depends on the Meaning of the Word "Compartment"

When his case went to court, a judge dismissed the charges, saying the center console fell under a provision in Kentucky law allowing guns to be carried in a glove compartment.

But the Kentucky Supreme Court reinstated both charges yesterday in a split decision issued in Frankfort, saying a center console is not a glove compartment.

"A glove compartment is a small storage cabinet in the dashboard of an automobile," Justice Donald C. Wintersheimer wrote in the opinion.

For their next trick, Judge Wintersheimer and the other three black-robed boobs in the majority will either split hairs or determine exactly how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

If I were a Kentuckian, I'd be finding out which politicians still in office nominated and confirmed this quartet of dunces and let them know I'd be taking my revenge at the polls.

"Even if it Saves Just One Life"

The most exploitive and ridiculous question of the day was asked by Liberal Lucienne Robillard -- "Why does the minority government not recognize that this registry is valuable, even if it saves just one life?"...

No law will ever prevent the type of tragedy that occurred in Montreal last week. The harping on about the gun registry immediately upon the resumption of Parliament and in less than a week after the Dawson College shootings was nothing more than a disgusting use of the death of Anastasia DeSousa and the serious injuries of several others to score cheap political points.

Right on, Arthur Weinreb!

CMU Professor Didn't Let Polio Sideline Him

Preston K. Covey Jr., of Squirrel Hill, an associate professor of philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, died of post-polio syndrome Monday, Sept. 18, 2006, at home. He was 64...

"Preston was concerned about the ethics and moral dilemma of using firearms," his wife said.

"He purchased a gun after his house was robbed twice. He taught that under certain circumstances, the use of firearms could be justified," she said. "But he added that they should only be used as a last resort, when you can no longer talk it out with someone aiming to harm you."

More:
"Preston Covey, Rest in Peace"
"Philosophy and Firearms"
"Can Gun Control Reduce Violence?"

We're the Only Ones Rested and Stopped Enough

For Garry F. McCarthy, the nominee for Newark police director, the trouble began last year with a parking infraction at a rest stop on the Palisades Interstate Parkway. It spiraled into a wrangle — part wrestling match and part shouting match — that led to his arrest and handcuffing.

The whole family sounds like they're suffering from an advanced case of "Only One-itis."

Now there's a man who deserves career advancement, which it sounds like he's still on track for.

[Thanks to K-Romulus]

This Day in History: September 22

In New York City on this day in 1776, Nathan Hale, a Connecticut schoolteacher and captain in the Continental Army, is executed by the British for spying.

If you can read this, thank a teacher.

Thank you, Captain Hale. Thanks to the sacrifices of courageous patriot martyrs like yourself, we are free to read dissenting sentiment without overt reprisals by government.

Not that we deserve it through our own efforts and willingness to risk all for liberty...

Preston Covey, Rest in Peace

Preston K. Covey Jr.
COVEY
PRESTON K., JR.
On Monday, September 18, 2006. Beloved husband of Denise K. Troll; father of Adam Covey; stepfather of Ryan Troll, Bronwyn Korchnak and Isaac Troll; grandfather of Alexander Troll; brother of Susan Covey, Judith Carson, Barbara Covey and David Covey; also survived by nieces and nephews. Friends will be received at JOHN A. FREYVOGEL SONS, INC., 4900 Centre Ave. at Devonshire St. Thursday, 2-4 & 6-8 P.M. A Memorial Service to be held at Carnegie Mellon University will be announced at a later date.

Farewell, Professor. Thank you for your contributions to liberty.

He let me know he was tickled that his testimony was getting covered on numerous blogs. He'd intended to set up a web page, but lamented a "perpetual bizziness problem...Maybe next summer, after the academic year's marathons."

We are richer for having had the benefit of his keen mind, and his devotion to logic and ethics. We are poorer from his passing.

My deepest sympathies and condolences go to his family.

Also see: "Philosophy and Firearms"

Off By Just a Bit, But Still...

"Let me give you a concrete example of what I mean: the anti-gun Joyce Foundation has donated $650-million to the Freedom States Alliance (parent organization of the GunGuys' Web site), who, in turn, funded the .50 Caliber Terrorism and License To Murder web sites, as well as others.

That number can't possibly be right. It's either misspeaking or a misquote.

Here we go: It's $650 THOUSAND, and that was in 2005. You can also see a yearly breakdown of other subversive cells being funded with Joyce grants.

Where the hell is the pro-Second Amendment counterpart, spreading seed money among many different ventures--so that the most promising ones can be cultivated, nurtured and grown?

At the time of the Revolution, men of power, wealth and influence supported liberty with their lives, fortunes and sacred honor. Today, we are on our own. The interests of the elites do not coincide with a Bill of Rights culture.

We're the Only Ones Cocked Up Enough

ARMED police were left red-faced after they stormed a house to net a rogue gunman - only to find they had the wrong address.

Oh my. How...awkward.

Thank Heavens this sort of "cock-up" by "The Only Ones" isn't common.

Oh, wait.

Never mind.

Co...I mean, hands up, everyone!

The Latest Lockyer Power Grab

The state attorney general's office has ordered Jimenez Arms, the maker of inexpensive semiautomatic handguns, to stop making guns after several models repeatedly failed safety tests...

After the first cease-and-desist order, Jimenez said he would move his operation to Henderson, Nev., in part, because of California's safety regulations.

This is the same tyrant who says we have no right to keep and bear arms--all the while surrounded by a phalanx of taxcow-funded armed escorts wherever he goes.

In other news, he's suing automakers over "greenhouse gases". You can bet the California DoJ only drives a fleet of hybrids--that is, when they're not taking public transportation.

The hell with lost jobs--his side has the guns and the power to tax. They'll always have theirs--regardless of what it does to everyone else.

And Californians--for the most part--have done this to themselves.

Li'l Squirt Escapes Justice

The Kansas City, Mo., School District overturned a 10-day suspension for a boy who brought a plastic squirt gun to school.

If there's any silver lining behind this, it's that the brouhahah cost his mother her job.

Racist Pricks!

[T]he only reason there's so much going on nowadays is b/c we have people like Floyd and straightarrow complaining about the tiniest things!

Anybody have experience with this troll Kim Spencer before?

If so, please tell the moron he (or she?) will have a better chance of getting read and responded to if he (or she) comments on current, as opposed to year-old posts.

I call attention to this stuff because it's just so damned funny listening to indignant airheads get all indignant and airheady.

This Day in History: September 21

On this day in 1779, the Louisiana governor and Spanish military officer Bernardo de Galvez, with the aide of American troops and militia volunteers, captures the British post and garrison at Baton Rouge, located in what was then British-controlled West Florida.

Vigilante Logger Takes Law Into Own Hands

A Rhinelander logger told authorities he may have wounded attackers who repeatedly fired shots at him while on a job site west of Tomahawk last Wednesday.

I dunno, Mr. Van Meter.

Did you clear it with Terry Hastings first?

This isn't the Old West, you know.

UPDATE: See "Comments" to this post--it appears this is an old story, that for some reason appeared on my news search--and now questions have been raised as to whether or not the account given was credible, including allegations that wounds may have been self-inflicted. I'll try to track this down when I get more time--meanwhile, if anyone has further relevant information, please feel free to add a comment.

We're the Only Ones Gunfighting Enough

A shooting Wednesday night raises new interest and concerns over concealed weapons permits.

Little Rock Police say 56 year old Samuel Mitchell shot and killed a man who was pointing a gun at him and demanding his truck...

But Lt. Terry Hastings with the Little Rock Police Department warns not all incidents turn out like the one Wednesday night, “This is not the Old West where we have quick draws...”

Since we're obviously too incompetent to know when it's appropriate to defend ourselves, we can count on you or some other "Only One" to be on scene to make that judgment for us, right, Terry?

[Thanks to HZ]

There Oughtta Be a Law...

Two parolees are in custody and police recovered suspected drugs and stolen driver's licenses from their vehicle after they led officers on a short chase...

Inside the vehicle, officers found a loaded handgun, a large amount of suspected methamphetamines and property from a recent burglary in Pittsburg. Police also found stolen checks, driver's licenses and identification cards belonging to residents from Antioch, Bay Point, Moraga, Lafayette and Pittsburg.

How can we keep stuff like this from happening again?

I know--let's disarm you and me!

The Negotiator

As long as the demands are reasonable, State Senator Michael Waddoups says he's willing to negotiate with the University of Utah over it's temporarily-suspended ban on guns. University officials say prohibiting students and faculty from carrying concealed weapons is crucial to safety and free expression on campus.

And since when are sovereign individual rights bargaining chips for you to negotiate with, Senator?

Promises, Promises...

In the end, "both men have our interests or agendas at heart," stated Bruce Knodel, a federation member who served as program moderator. Whoever wins the right to occupy the governor's office, he added, "sportsmen ... of the state of Ohio have scored a victory."

Yeah, right.

Gamebird hunting and sporting clays. And if growing up near where Roy Rogers did doesn't prove having voter interests at heart, I don't know what does.

Somehow, whenever I hear gun rights equated with "sporting purposes," my flesh crawls a little.

I know GOA supports Blackwell, and I tend to give their opinion weight when formulating my own, but I'm still waiting for candidates for a major public office to fill out a little questionnaire I developed some years ago...

Philosophy and Firearms

Preston Covey wheeled himself into his office, then made his way to his desk chair. The office had high shelves full of books, mostly concerning guns. On one shelf devoid of reading material he had perhaps as many as 40 pipes, one of which he lit a few minutes after he entered the room.

I found this article written last year about our friend in academia from Carnegie Mellon University.

An interesting man. I wish I'd had a professor or two like him when I was in college.

This Day in History: September 20

On the evening of September 20, 1777, near Paoli, Pennsylvania, General Charles Grey and nearly 5,000 British soldiers launch a surprise attack on a small regiment of Patriot troops commanded by General Anthony Wayne in what becomes known as the Paoli Massacre. Not wanting to lose the element of surprise, Grey ordered his troops to empty their muskets and to use only bayonets or swords to attack the sleeping Americans under the cover of darkness.

Yes, Let the Rationalization Begin

At a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee on an NRA-backed bill to restrict the release of crime gun trace data (H.R. 5005), [Debbie] Wasserman Schultz offered an amendment to the pro-gun bill to outlaw gun possession by individuals convicted of misdemeanor sex crimes against minors. What constitutes such a crime varies from state to state, but includes enticing a minor over the Internet, sexual exploitation of a minor, and criminal sexual abuse. Not to mention more serious sex crimes against children that are pleaded down to misdemeanors. Her amendment was quickly accepted by H.R. 5005's sponsor, Lamar Smith (R-TX), with no debate. So for those who ask, "Where do even pro-gun legislators draw the line?," the answer, apparently, is child sex offenders.

This is just a clever little bomb thrown under the bus by a committed subversive. But it's guaranteed to embarrass, and is therefore a formidable publicity ploy--after all, how could anyone be for armed sex offenders?

Also caught in this net could be a teenager one year older than their under-the-age-of-consent boyfriend or girlfriend, and their behavior wouldn't even need to include sex. For that, the antis rationalize a lifetime ban.

This is the problem when we allow anyone not institutionalized to be classified a "prohibited person," and it's where NRA management's logic of compromise proves paradoxical.

If you can't be trusted with a gun, you can't be trusted without a custodian.

If you're unfit to live in a free society, you're unfit to live free.

Making Hay from Random Gun Crime

The other day, on a quiet suburban Toronto street, someone hacked a man to death with a machete. It's possible you missed the story, because it got barely a mention in the local media.

Machetes are not top of mind with the public. Nobody is demanding stricter controls on machete sales. On the other side, nobody is defending responsible machete owners from meddlesome bureaucrats.

Margaret Wente admits she personally hates guns, but she is at least intellectually honest enough to admit "tougher gun laws don't seem to make a difference," and that the arguments of the antis are not founded in logic.

Talk About Your Oxymoron

Police hold gun buyback in Liberty Square

Zombies Attack Switzerland!

A women's magazine has collected 17,400 signatures in a bid to rid Swiss households of more than two million weapons.

The petition comes amid discussions in parliament over whether to scrap the country's militia army tradition requiring guns and ammunition to be kept at home.

Staff at Annabelle handed over the signatures to a parliamentary committee in Bern on Tuesday.

The petition, "No weapons at home", is calling for a ban on shotguns at home, for army rifles to be kept in military storage instead of at home and for people not to be able to hold on to army guns after their period of service expires. It is also campaigning for a national weapons register to be created as soon as possible.

If I would suggest banning anything, it would be this subversive rag for pampered, self-indulgent cows from your home.

Their home page says all you need to know about them:

We Are What Obsesses Us

We Are What We Read

We Are What We Say

We Are What We Listen To

We Are What We Rent

We Are Actually Zombies

All this under the graphic banner of "Zeitgeist".

Crocodile Tears Dundee

Zoning permits were approved for the store, which also sells firearms, because it was classified as a sporting goods store, which is permitted by the East Dundee zoning codes. Firearm regulations are not specifically listed in the village's zoning codes...

Village Trustee Michael Ruffulo says he was caught by surprise that the sporting goods store was selling firearms. He said after permits were issued for the store, a picture of a gun was placed in the store's window, causing many residents to call the village hall to complain.

"It was a bit unsettling for everyone. It is along the bike path, where you have families that shouldn't have to see that," Ruffulo said.

Hide your eyes!

Oh my GOD, it was horrible!

This Day in History: September 19

In the early morning hours of this day in 1777, British General John Burgoyne launches a three-column attack against General Horatio Gates and his American forces in the First Battle of Saratoga, also known as the Battle of Freeman’s Farm.

Escaping the Village III: An Indictment on All of Us

The following is a guest editorial by Fight islam Now:

When one of your site visitors wrote that as an attorney he saw no modern basis for the second amendment it drew no agrument. The subsequest testimony you printed last week brought up the second amendment and dismissed the argument...and this does not produce strident comment???

You posted a letter positing that the second amendment had been rendered meaningless, that it had become a mere cynical fund raising ploy. That drew comments from 6 distinct individuals on a site that draws thousands a day? On the RKBA site when I log on for my daily news I am "one of 87 - 450 persons logged on at that time" - This translates to NO INTEREST IN THE TOPIC.

A million people may begin to have some voice but a hundred...a hundred is just a few more than the dead and forgotten at the Branch Davidian "compound" in Waco. You often bring up the possibility that people in numbers may have some effect and just this week in one of your postings you mentioned the 81 million gun owners and 400 showed up type thing. Our "side" shows no numbers.

Our "side" has enough persons with the willingness, interest, guts and foresight to stand up despite their comfort and not kiss the Pharaoh'’s ring to make us an easy and obvious scapegoat for totalitarian government and a super photo op for the coming "one world" infrastructure that is being built by the day.

Based on the numbers (81 million gun owners that can'’t / won'’t coalesce) against an apparent continental or international plan to open or erase our borders, average our laws with the countries of the continent and the world, create ever increasing webs of laws that can not be understood or abided by - can it be long before gun owners are out of favor and marginalized as a group?

Friends of mine who are police officers have been telling me for some time that there is a trend in law enforcement that the criminals are the "customers" and then there is everybody else. The theory being that the criminals drive the system and employment not the law abiding. The converse of this thinking is that a) check every citizen to see if they are a customer and b) Law abiding citizens are not customers and possible enemies. It'’s just good marketing to convert "citizens" to "customers".

Among the comments of posters on the topic (and we can admit it is a widely held sentiment) was that "when the time comes, I won'’t register my guns" or "I'’ll bury my guns" or "If they come for my guns we'’ll all be dead" ad nauseum and that is fine and I hold that sentiment myself in principal. HOWEVER, it is easy to hide your guns and be under the radar if you have 3 or 10 but if you have 500 or a thousand you won't be viewed as a collector you will be viewed as an enemy of the state and you will not hide or be hidden when they start compiling 4473's. Didn't the FBI kill Vicky Weaver and Sammy Weaver over one machine gun transfer?

But will you take to the hills? Hell, the Weavers were in the hills!

The second amendment has seemingly been rendered entirely symbolic. If you look at McCain-Feingold (limits on the most fundamental first amendment protected speech), Kelo (eminent domain expansion) and increasing narrowing of the fourth amendment, a reasonable person can conclude that the constitution as a whole is on a path toward meaninglessness.

Those us of that believe (romantically) in the constitution and that the second amendment secures all other rights are being sold out and screwed by absolute lowest common denominator traitors at every level of government installed by a comfortable and illiterate population of easily manipulated TV watchers. MY CHILDREN ARE BEING SCREWED!

"We" have built a welfare mommy state and we vote our own entitlement. I am losing faith that the government is acting in the best interest of the US and not the un. I am starting to fall to the one worlders' conspiratorial views because I can not see freedom or sovereignty as the basis for anything going on legislatively or in the courts. AND TO GET THERE THEY WILL HAVE TO TAKE OUR GUNS. If not from you and me then from our children. Let's call a spade a spade now and not wait to be told.

I am not ordinarily a pessimist.

Our children need guts. We have to actively counter the indoctrination they get at school and on TV (we don't allow TV). We need Paul Revere again...but that is just...the rest of the story...

I refuse to be a party to raising "villagers". Let's fight and stop embarrassing ourselves.

I am not a prisoner, I'm a free man. Period.

---------------------

A few clarifying notes:

I wish this site drew "thousands a day." Hundreds is more like it. Sorry, but most gun sites/blogs don't ( or won't) link to me, and I won't beg anyone for links. If WarOnGuns readers think this site has merit, I'll let them be the ones to spread the word on their own initiative--if I have to ask them to do this, it apparently does not.

In re the testimony that specifically excluded talk about 2A, that did not trouble me as it apparently has some--we need to be able to attack the problem from various angles and with various strategies. Prof. Covey wasn't dissing 2A--in fact, he specifically stated it was an individual right. He was simply applying an original approach that may produce results on its own merit, and certainly bolsters all other arguments. Think of it as one more tool in the kit, and a pretty useful one at that.

--David Codrea

[More "Escaping the Village"]

Gun Violence Kills Again

Two more men lost their lives in Philadelphia early Sunday morning, victims of gun violence.

I guess you can do more politically with that than just saying they were victims of killers. I mean, if these acts are the responsibility of individuals, then politicians will have a harder time exploiting them with public policy proposals.

Maybe Philly should try "Project Exile."

You know, "Make my day"...

Man Arrested After Fatal Limerick Shooting

There once was a man from a gang...

Sorry.

Canada's Gun Laws Must Be Tougher

One intriguing proposal worthy of serious discussion is for Ottawa to allow each community across Canada to hold a referendum on becoming gun-free zones, much as they once could declare themselves alcohol-free zones. Big cities, such as Toronto, where gun crime is a major concern, might want to go this route, while rural communities might not.

Firearms in gun-free communities could possibly be stored at secure depots that would double as firing ranges. Collectors could visit their guns there. Handgun owners could practise target and competitive shooting. And hunters could check out rifles and shotguns in season.

What an idiot.

This Day in History: September 18

On this day in 1776, General George Washington writes to the president of the Continental Congress, John Hancock, reporting on the Battle at Harlem Heights and relaying the unfortunate news of the death of Captain Thomas Knowlton.

Global Gun Rights?

Then the Brazilian gun lobby, which previously had emphasized the desirability of gun ownership, began running advertisements that instead suggested that if the government could take away the right to own a weapon (though Brazilians have no constitutional right to bear arms), it could steal other civil liberties. This argument took gun-control advocates by surprise, and on voting day, 64 percent of Brazilians voted against the gun ban. “We gun-control groups failed to anticipate this idea of focusing on rights,” admits Denis Mizne of Sou da Paz, a Brazilian public-policy institute.

The demand for sovereign individual rights generally does take socialists by surprise--they're just not conditioned to give that any credence, other than to decry it when they're out of power, and crush it when they're in. But writer Joshua Kurlantzick missed one other critical determinant: fear of the police, which I explored, along with other factors, in "Brazil Nuts."

I'm a Gun Owner BUT...

But next week, with a change in state law, that course will no longer be required and that bothers Tucson resident Millie Layton.

Layton says, "I definitely don't agree with that at all."

Layton has a gun. It's at home, and that's where she says it stays.

"We've got enough protection." I don't feel guns are necessary, I really don't," the gun-owner says.

Aside from stupidly broadcasting your publicly disarmed status to every reptile in the Tucson area, I think Mr. Adams would like a word with you, Millie...

Sweet Home Alabama

Six of seven U.S. House members from Alabama support legislation to block the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from publicly releasing information that traces guns back to where they originally were sold.

Good for them. They rightly know the only reason this is being promoted in the first damn place is to help traitors like Bloomberg inflict lawsuits on gun dealers:

Back to the original article:

Six of Alabama's seven congressmen are supporting it. The seventh, Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, is undecided.

The link I put on Rep. Davis' name goes to his contact page. If you know any Alabama gun owners, you might want to send them this post. If you are an Alabama gun owner, why aren't you burning up this guy's phone lines and making his mailbox overflow? And while you're at it, don't forget to send a "thank you" to the 6 who did the right thing.

The Gun Registry is Irrelevant

When Parliament returns from its summer recess tomorrow, we expect the first item of business will be another hysterical debate about “saving” Canada’s discredited gun registry.

Another Canadian editorial that speaks the truth...

Gun Control Won't Protect Us From the Losers

Anyone who objected to the content of the legislation -- citing practicality, lack of efficacy, civil rights -- was written off as some kind of psychopathic redneck whose idea of formal wear was to try to iron a crease in his army surplus fatigue pants before plunking himself down in front of Ted Nugent's hunting show on the Outdoor network while chowing down on a big ol' bag of deep-fried pork rinds with his arm around his sister.

That was a lie, too.

There is but a single lesson to be learned from this event.

The people who told you government regulation would protect you against monster losers with grudges were lying.

Ian Robinson tells it like it is. From Canada.

This is a great piece and the link to it deserves wide dissemination.

This Day in History: September 17

Constitution Day

On September 17, 1787, the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention held their final meeting. Only one item of business occupied the agenda that day, to sign the Constitution of the United States of America.

"You Have Our Assurance"

A bystander broke up a Northwest Albany armed robbery he witnessed by firing two gunshots in the air. He then followed the armed robbers as they fled, and alerted police who arrested the three gunmen...

Marcus said the Police took his .357 Magnum as evidence after the robbery, but they assured him he would get it back soon.

Good luck.

He'll be lucky if charges don't follow.

Strike Two...

Women in one of Colombia's most dangerous cities have taken the rampant violence on with the only weapon that may defeat guns and ammunition: the power to deny their men any sexual relations.

Dozens of women in Pereira have joined the so called "crossed legs strike," hoping to help the local government's disarmament effort.

One gang member's girlfriend said withholding sex was proving a powerful incentive. "The boys listen to us. When we close ourselves off a bit they listen to us. If they don't give up their weapons, then we won't be with them," Margarita told AP Television.

Yeah, that'll work.

We all know how much gang culture respects women, especially the classy prizes who avail their bodies to violent street thugs.

Tell me this strike won't be over by the second or third strike...

We're the Only Ones Discharged Enough

A Berkeley police officer has been charged with criminally discharging his firearm outside his San Francisco home last month, the third member of the department this year to be investigated for alleged misconduct, authorities said today.

Sean Derry, 30, fired several shots with his department-issued weapon on Aug. 12, according to San Francisco prosecutors who lodged a felony charge against him of discharging a firearm at an inhabited dwelling.

But Derry's attorney, Harry Stern of Pleasant Hill, disputed the charge, saying his client thought a homeless man was burglarizing his home. Derry went outside and fired his weapon into the air, not at a building, Stern said, adding that no one was injured.

Yeah, I totally sympathize. I fire my gun in the air when I see homeless people near my house all the time--particularly on recycling day, where the law requires homeowners create an attractive nuisance in front of their houses. Talk about justified! And talk about a good belly-laugh when they scatter!

Good Lord, his excuse just about reflects more poorly on his judgment and training than what he's being charged with. Instead of going after a specific target, this moron endangers everyone in proximity.

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

The "Gun Offender" Registry

Two powerful aldermen are proposing a gun offender registry that would allow police to track people convicted of weapons violations...

Todd Vandermyde, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association, criticized the proposed registry, especially if it includes people convicted of misdemeanors.

"If they're talking about hard-core offenders, that's one thing," he said. "If they're trying to nail gun owners who make honest mistakes, that's another..."

What if it's not an "honest mistake," Todd?

What if it's intentional defiance of unconstitutional disarmament edicts?

How about this instead (?):

If you can't be trusted with a gun, you can't be trusted without a custodian.

If you're unfit to live in a free society, you're unfit to live free.

The rest of us, leave the hell alone. What part of "shall not be infringed" is that difficult, and when is NRA management going to admit that all "gun control," even the brand they endorse, is, at best, counterproductive, at worst, monstrously evil?

[Via HZ]

A Witness Protection Program

Witnesses back state gang, gun legislation

And who are these "witnesses"?

Just the usual gang of democrats.

But you have to dig into the details to find that out. For someone just scanning the paper, inferring a different impression is not unexpected.

And the "authorized journalists" wouldn't have it any other way.

Just look at the coverage they provided for competent, rather than agenda-driven testimony from a real expert witness on the effectiveness of proposed "gun control" edicts.

They didn't.

Not a word.

An Open Door Policy

The Club de Tir Ville St. Pierre is the place where notorious Montreal mass murderer, Valery Fabrikant, took a course in handguns before killing four people at Concordia University in 1992 with a Smith and Wesson .38 special. He took the course in the fall of 1991.

And now it is the place where media reports suggest Dawson College killer Kimveer Gill went to train to get the firearms permit that allowed him to buy the weapons he used this week to kill one person and injure others.

Yesterday, when a reporter walked into the basement club asking questions, owner Marco Pendenza was firm.

"Put your pad away, we have no comment," Pendenza said before asking a reporter to leave. "What part of no comment do you not understand?"

There are nine such clubs in the Greater Montreal region, all offering a variety of gun related services including the training courses that are obligatory under Canadian law before an individual can get a licence to buy a gun.

Continue to hold firm, Mr. Pendenza.

That Canadian law requires preconditions is no doing of yours. And that you should be villified and tarred with the brush of culpability by those wishing to establish guilt by association is further proof that, for "authorized journalists," agenda is more important than truth.

This Day in History: September 16

On this day in 1776, General George Washington arrives at Harlem Heights, on the northern end of Manhattan, and takes command of a group of retreating Continental troops. The day before, 4,000 British soldiers had landed at Kip’s Bay in Manhattan (near present-day 34th Street) and taken control of the island, driving the Continentals north, where they appeared to be in disarray prior to Washington’s arrival.

War on Guns Exclusives

I'll be leaving this at the top of the heap for a while, to help give the following posts the exposure I think they deserve.

Can Gun Control Reduce Violence?

"Domestic Enemies"--An Interview With Matthew Bracken

Look for new posts below this one for the next week.