The War on Guns: 02/16/08

Saturday, February 16, 2008

How a Top Student Turned Into Mass Killer

But it is the cold dead hands of all those college students that motivate the gun-control lobby.

Boy, you can sure read that two ways.

Still, the headline is false advertising. I read the entire thing and didn't find one word about how laws disarming everyone who obeyed them allowed the student to turn into a mass killer.

And leave it to Brady spokeswuss Douglas Pennington to bleat that licenses are the answer, when the shooter had a state-required FOID.

I do have to wonder though--if "Authorized Journalists" Caryn Rousseau and Chris Stephen ever encountered a violent attacker and they only had one of these, which one would get to use it?

Question Seven

Question Seven: This one was a surprise. "How would you protect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners?" McMurrey said, The Second Amendment is a fundamental part of the Bill of Rights. Noriega said he was a lifetime member of the Texas State Rifle Association. He is concerned about assault weapons, worried that police are outgunned by narcotraffickers.

No surprise there that Noriega's an "Only One" and McMurrey isn't, is it?

I wonder if TSRA is going to issue a statement repudiating their errant life member?

[Via Amendment II Democrats]

We're the Only Ones Father Knows Best Enough

Prosecutors say he killed, in part, because of the unwanted expense of a new baby.

Good Lord.

But I guess if monsters like this can emerge even from the exalted ranks of "The Only Ones," why on earth should lowly citizens like us be trusted?

[Via Hairy Hobbit]

Obama's Bright Idea

Got that? US Foreign Aid will be spent not how Congress wants, but how the UN wants. Your future President...?

And there's more:

"In addition to seeking to eradicate poverty, that declaration commits nations to banning 'small arms and light weapons' and ratifying a series of treaties, including the International Criminal Court Treaty, the Kyoto Protocol (global warming treaty), the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child."

Cryptic Subterranean gives us a glimpse into what the Cult of Set intends to visit on the land.

pH Factor Redux

In a post yesterday on "Educational Priorities," I referenced an earlier observation on cultural degeneracy, "The pH Factor."

Paul W. Davis writes:

The original ratio (Patrick Henry : Paris Hilton) was not quite 1:7 (1:6.84).

The new ratio is 1:24 (1:24.31).

And all in less than 3 years.

It is very much an indicator of where people are focused.

Very much.

We Are Saddened (Tee-Hee)

Yeah, they look sad, but not too overwhelmed by grief to neglect the "Donate" link in their email.

And their ostensible purpose for this official reaction to the NIU Gun-Free Zone massacre?

Now, we need to close the gun show loophole.

Because, y'see, the shooter (who illegally killed people) bought his firearms through all the Brady-recommended channels, through a store, with a record and background check and an FOID card, in a state where concealed carry is illegal, on a campus that prohibits guns...

What, you think the "gun show loophole" seems like a non sequitur?

That's nothin'. Later in the day I got another email, this one ecstatically proclaiming:

Well, hey, we're havin' a good time now!

And what are they rolling in?

That "loophole" again, microstamping with Teddy Kennedy, and "this is not to be believed. The gun lobby and its allies in the Senate are pressing to pass a guns in parks bill that would loosen gun restrictions in national parks and refuges and allow in unloaded, hidden handguns."

Oh, and "Please make a gift today."

Vultures.

What were those crocodile tears about again?

Local Color on Marietta Gun Charges

I got an email with some "local color" about this story, where guns were found in a car at Marietta College. My correspondent has requested anonymity.

I was one of the first (then) Campus Public Safety officers sworn in as a police officer, in 1993. Prior to that, CPS was a security-only operation. Ohio laws changed in 92 (thanks in part to Chief Korn) to allow private colleges to establish police departments. Previously, if they wanted law-enforcement capability, they had to go through a court process to create constables.

In 93, when the police operation was created, the Board of Trustees would not allow us to carry firearms on duty at all. We had guns stored in a safe at our office, but in the time I was there, we never had occasion to carry them except for range time. As recently as two years ago, the CPS page at MC.edu had a FAQ about campus police officers and firearms; it basically said "they're allowed to carry, but they don't always carry." That question is now gone from the web page, and in light of VT, I suspect Howard convinced the BoT to let them carry all the time.

Howard Korn is a former Washington County deputy sheriff, and had been at MC since about 1988. He's done a lot for the CPS operation, but make no mistake: he's a stereotypical liberal, bureaucratic police chief. He's also worked with all of the people named in the stories. Winstanley was a Marietta cop for a while, and his cousin (I think) was one of my co-workers at MC (and that co-worker is now a lieutenant at MC Police. Minks was a deputy before he was Sheriff. At least 2 of the MC cops are ex-Marietta cops or Washington CO deputies.

As far as the CCW charge, that was SOP for the Highway Patrol if they ever found a gun during a traffic stop, instead of the more appropriate Improper Transport of a Firearm. I was never clear why they did it that way, but it was extremely common. ORC 2923 is the weapons section. I think I recall that the ITF charge may have gone away during the concealed carry reform.

A Worse Day Than Usual

And so, out of respect for the dead and injured, who were killed by a handgun and a shotgun, the Interior Department has —what? Changed its mind? Thought better of its plans? No. It has merely postponed its announcement until next week.

I repeat: How is mandating people be disarmed, what Machiavelli called "contemptible," respectful?

And note the assumption--if it's worse than usual, per The (dwindling) Times there will never be a good day.

Some of the comments are incredibly ignorant--all the more obnoxious because they are written with such unmerited certainty. If you have a moment, you may want to go over there and inject some sense into things.

UPDATE: Well, my comment, put in at the time of this post, still isn't there. No obscenities or personal attacks. Guess they don't want their worldview challenged too strongly.

It's Off

I rec'd word this afternoon, that the McHenry County Board has pulled the 2A Res. from the agenda on Tues. out of respect for the mourning families.

So how is not doing everything they can to ensure there won't be more mourning families "respectful"?

[Via 45superman]

This Day in History: February 16

1776: Col. Lachlan McIntosh, commander of Amercan forces in Georgia, informs General Washington of of five British warships in Tybee Inlet. (Syren, Scarborough, Raven, Tamer, and Cherokee)