Justice Delayed

At the request of the Texas Department of Public Safety, Republican Justice of the Peace Jim Richards signed an order suspending Thomas Dale DeLay’s license to carry a handgun in the State of Texas...

Okay, let me be honest with you. I’m a Democrat. I believe in the Constitution. I believe that you are innocent until proven guilty. I don’t think there should be any punishment for merely being indicted. An indictment is no proof of guilt.

However, Tom DeLay and “his” Texas Legislature – after all, TRMPAC money elected that bunch of clowns we have in Austin – don’t feel that way. They enacted this law to keep handguns away from suspected felons like Tom DeLay.

You made your bed, Tom, now sleep in it.

No doubt, this is a hit piece by a savvy political operative with an agenda, but that doesn't negate the truth being presented--or the fact that Juanita's even scooped The Smoking Gun on this one (which, at this writing, says nothing about this development).

It does, however, raise questions about who "on the inside" with a political agenda made this document available to this particular website. Is this an intentional leak by an operative in the Texas Department of Public Safety, the office of the Fort Bend County Clerk, or the Precinct 4 Justice Court?

Regardless, this is what you get when you license unalienable rights, something Mr. Delay has been a proponent of.

This is what you get when kneejerk "law and order" trumps liberty.

Hey, enforce existing gun laws, right?

Another Second Amendment Saturday

Stan has his weekly post up...

We're the Only Ones...Yes, I WOULD Like an Apple Pie With That

A Michigan State Police trooper will face disciplinary action after he left his off-duty service weapon in a rest room at the Burger King in Texas Township, authorities said...After leaving the restaurant, the trooper, who was not identified [Naturally--DC], continued his drive home and realized "some distance away" that he did not have his firearm on him...The trooper, who has been with State Police for 10 to 15 years, is still on active duty (Again, naturally--DC]...

Ding, fries are done.

We're the Only Ones Mechanical Enough...

Yet another of the "Only Ones" accidentally shot and killed a fellow officer--or was it an accident?

This week we learned new details about the shooting of Easton officer Jesse Sollman. But serious questions remain -- and some focus on the mechanics of the fatal weapon...

"Single action is a mode of fire for a semiautomatic handgun where pulling the trigger does one action -- and that is release the hammer"...

"Double action" mode on the other hand requires about twice the amount of force to pull the trigger...

This reminds me of nothing so much as Groucho Marx playing shyster Otis B. Driftwood in "A Night at the Opera":

Driftwood: All right. It says the, uh, "The first part of the party of the first part shall be known in this contract as the first part of the party of the first part shall be known in this contract" - Look, why should we quarrel about a thing like this? We'll take it right out, eh?
Fiorello: Yeah, ha, it's-a too long, anyhow. (They both tear off the tops of their contracts.) Now, what do we got left?
Driftwood: Well, I got about a foot and a half. Now, it says, uh, "The party of the second part shall be known in this contract as the party of the second part."
Fiorello: Well, I don't know about that...
Driftwood: Now what's the matter?
Fiorello: I no like-a the second party, either.
Driftwood: Well, you shoulda come to the first party. We didn't get home 'til around four in the morning...I was blind for three days!

Ultimately, here's the important part to remember about this story:

[Easton police officer Matthew Renninger's]been called negligent by the grand jury, but he will not be charged with a crime.

No. No, of course he won't be.

And it goes without saying the same deference would be afforded to you and me.

I'm going back to the first party.

Just So We're Clear on What "Keep and Bear" Means...

Lamont Anderson was walking in Ocean County Park in Lakewood in March last year when he came upon an unusual find — a loaded machine gun.

Instead of notifying police, Anderson picked it up, put it in his waistband and went about his business, authorities said...

"You're lucky you weren't shot on the spot when they (the police) saw it in your waistband," [Superior Court Judge James N.Citta] told Anderson.

"It really is an act of stupidity," [Ocean County prosecutor John Foti] said to the judge, adding that a jail term might "get (Anderson's) attention."

Citta sentenced Anderson to 90 days in the Ocean County Jail and placed him on probation for three years.

The government sure takes its monopoly of power serously, doesn't it? Would that We the People put a fraction of that jealous attention into guarding the public liberty...