Let the Character Assassination Begin

The man who killed four people at a church and missionary training center shot himself in the head and died after being hit by shots from a church security officer, police said Tuesday.

Perhaps. But there can be no doubt she stopped him and hastened his choice to pull the trigger before he bled to death--or worse, in his mind--was saved by paramedics.

But here's where it really gets good:

Also Tuesday, Minneapolis police Sgt. Jesse Garcia said Assam was fired from the Minneapolis force in 1997 for lying during an internal investigation. Sgt. John Delmonico, president of the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, said police were investigating a complaint that [Jeanne] Assam swore at a bus driver while she was handling an incident on a city bus.

I wonder if they're in the habit of releasing past employee personnel records like this, and wonder if that shouldn't prompt an investigation. What Assam represents, and therefore, she herself, must be discredited at all costs. They can't let us have her as an example: it's just too dangerous and damaging to their agenda.

She once swore at a bus driver? They are desperately digging for any mud they can throw that might stick, aren't they?

I'm waiting for God-only-knows-what to come slithering out from under the woodwork. I hope this lady has a fine support network, and a way of getting feedback about how many people are grateful for her inspiring bravery.

Jerry Seinfeld is On the List

He can afford to be.

GUNS Magazine: December 1957

IT IS DIFFICULT, at least for anyone having more than a passing interest in guns, to witness one of Hollywood's standard slam-bang Western movies without raising a skeptical eyebrow now and again during the smokey flow of film. Admiration often gives way to a snicker when a single bullet, fired from the hero's hip, neatly disarms a distant badman. The snicker evolves into a sneer when later the same hero bags his seventh, eighth, or ninth (depending upon the casting director's budget) outlaw with his trusty but unreloaded six-gun.

Questions arise. "Who the hell does Hollywood think it's kidding?" is one of the most frequent. [More]

True, but if it's Anne Francis doing the kidding...

What were we talking about? Oh, yeah, the December 1957 issue of GUNS Magazine is now online. I think they talk about some other stuff, too.

Meet Jeanne Assam, Armed Citizen

Jeanne Assam appeared before the news media for the first time Monday and said she "did not think for a minute to run away" when a gunman entered the New Life Church in Colorado Springs and started shooting.

Mike Vanderboegh provides the following thoughts:

OK, my first comment is that Pastor Boyd had it right: "The security guards are members of the church who are screened and not 'mercenaries that we hire to walk around our campus to provide security.'" "Mercenaries that we hire" is an accurate description of the security guards who froze at the mall shooting. If you are a security guard and are offended, I am sorry.

Second, there is an old cavalry dictum which states, "When in doubt, ride to the sound of the guns." Jeanne Assam did not call for backup and wait. She did not set up a perimeter. She had no need of an "incident command post." She moved to the sound of the guns, although she says "There was chaos . . .I will never forget the gunshots. They were so loud." Through crowds of panicked people, SHE WENT FORWARD. She moved, in best cavalry fashion, toward the sound of the guns.

Third, Jeanne Assam's actions were informed by, indeed they were a logical extension of, her faith in God. She had to be scared. Anyone who's ever been shot at in circumstances that require you to do your job in spite of the fact that someone's trying to kill you knows what I mean. So yeah, she was scared. But she doesn't comment upon that. What does she say? "God was with me." "I didn't think for a minute to run away." She believed that "God gave her the strength to confront Murray, keeping her calm and focused even though he appeared to be twice her size and was more heavily armed." "It seemed" she said, " like it was me, the gunman and God." As indeed it was.

Fourth, Jeanne Assam was a volunteer. It wasn't her job, in the strictest sense of that word, to confront the gunman, it was her responsibility. It was a responsibility freely accepted and faithfully executed. It is the responsibility that all of us who are citizens and not serfs embrace along with the liberty that such a burden secures. Jeanne Assam and the other volunteers at the church were acting as a citizen's militia, in the classic American definition of that term. They were volunteer sheepdogs, watching over the flock. And they did their duty.

Finally, there is this: "Boyd said Assam was the one who suggested the church beef up its security Sunday following the Arvada shooting, which it did. The pastor credited the security plan and the extra security for preventing further bloodshed." Jeanne Assam, armed citizen and Christian sheepdog, apprehended the threat before it appeared. She planned for it, organized for it, and executed the plan when the danger did arrive, at the risk of her own life. That she gives all credit to God is correct, fitting and proper. But let us also give credit where credit is due to Jeanne Assam for living and acting in the finest traditions of the American armed citizenry. May we all measure up to the standard she has set.

Mike Vanderboegh
PO Box 926
Pinson, AL 35126
GeorgeMason1776 AT AOL DOT com

Today's Red's Update

All We Are Saying Is Give Mike a Chance

Obama's Big "But"

[Via Ryan Horsley]

Dial 911 and...

OK, Bradys--now what?

[Via Paul W. Davis]

UPDATE: The link has been deactivated because the weather advisory is no longer in effect. Here is the text that had appeared there:

Civil Emergency Message
OKC037-113-143-111500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE
RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
247 PM CST MON DEC 10 2007

THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE TULSA
AREA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY.

SOME INTERSECTIONS MAY NOT YET HAVE TEMPORARY FOUR WAY STOP SIGNS.

CALL 911 FOR LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCIES ONLY. PLEASE DO NOT HANG
UP IF YOU CALL, YOUR CALL WILL BE ANSWERED.

THE TULSA POLICE DEPARTMENT IS ON OPERATION SLICK STREETS. IF YOU
HAVE A NON INJURY ACCIDENT, DO NOT CALL 911. THE POLICE WILL NOT RESPOND.

ALL HOSPITALS EXCEPT THE OSU MEDICAL CENTER AND HILLCREST MEDICAL
CENTER ARE OPERATING ON BACK UP POWER. AEP-PSO HAS PRIORITIZED
RESTORING POWER TO HOSPITALS FIRST.

IT COULD TAKE SEVERAL DAYS FOR THE POWER TO BE RESTORED TO ALL
HOMES.

DO NOT SEEK SHELTER FROM THE COLD AT AREA HOSPITALS.

SEEK SHELTER AT THE SALVATION ARMY DAY CENTER...102 NORTH
DENVER...THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH...403 SOUTH CINCINNATI...THE
COLLINSVILLE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH...1301 WEST MAIN...THE OLIVETTE
BAPTIST CHURCH IN SAND SPRINGS...155 NORTH 65TH WEST AVENUE...THE
NEW BEGINNINGS BAPTIST CHURCH IN BIXBY...4101 EAST 151ST STREET...THE
FREEDOM BAPTIST CHURCH IN OWASSO...96TH STREET NORTH AND 177TH EAST
AVENUE...AND THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN SAPULPA...200 SOUTH ELM.

CITIZENS CAN CALL THE MAYORS ACTION LINE AT 596-2100. TO REPORT
DOWNED POWER LINES CALL 888-218-3919.

TO REQUEST TULSA TRANSIT LIFT SERVICE, CALL 625-5722.

Fair Dinkum Friends

Australians overwhelmingly like American culture, arts and freedoms,but have growing concerns about the country's lack of gun control and social
equality, a survey released on Monday said.

So if we were more Marxist they'd like us better?

Freedom...popularity...

Freedom...popularity...

That's a tough one, mate. I need to crack open a Foster's and ponder this one.

[Via Bruce Mills]

Windy City Smackdown

Rev. Al Sharpton has a message for the city of Chicago: Do something about police brutality, or he will work to ensure that the 2016 Olympics don't come to Chicago.

Well, gee, Al, maybe if you'd stop working toward the creation of a police state...

What are you--cause and effect impaired?

I love watching the left turn on each other--it's more entertaining than an evening at Michael Vick's.

[Via Chris Horton]

The Road to Hell...

Chuck Michel, an attorney for the California Rifle and Pistol Association, said gun rights groups originally supported the creation of the program because it was designed to get guns out of the hands of violent criminals and felons.

"The CAPP program is good in theory," Michel said. "In practice, however, there are now so many complicated ways to lose your gun rights over paperwork and minor violations that many lawyers don't understand the system and many people don't even realize they're prohibited.

"Regrettably, CAPP is frequently being misused against these minor offenders who have often been misadvised about their legal status."

...is paved with what kind of intentions again? They really couldn't see this one coming?

And what "minor offenders"? The "Authorized Journalists" told us right up front this was designed to round up "California's most violent gun-toting felons"...

I'd like to know all the "gun rights groups" that threw their support behind this--as well as the ones that didn't.

[Via Bruce Mills]

This Day in History: December 11

The Wallace House was completed in 1776 as Hope Farm for John Wallace, a successful Philadelphia merchant. General Washington leased the house for use as his headquarters during the Middlebrook Winter Encampment, December 11, 1778, to June 3, 1779.