Those Who Would Would Give Up Essential Liberty...

...etc.

Meanwhile, Over in Sarah Brady Paradise...

London square sealed off after police gun battle...

I can't help but feel American gun shows are at fault...

We're the Ony Ones Touché Turtle* Enough

Body Floats in N.J. Canal, Gnawed by Turtles, for Nearly 24 Hours After Police Got Call

So much for Jersey's "Only One" heroes in a half shell...

Dial 911 and decompose?

*-For you youngsters

Bloomberg's Finest Want YOU

BENEFITS
NYPD Police Officers will earn $75,000, on average, after 5 1/2 years of service (See our Web site for further details.)

Excellent promotional opportunities

A choice of paid medical and dental programs

20 Paid vacation days your first year

27 Paid vacation days after 5 years of service

Unlimited sick leave with full pay

Optional retirement at one half salary after 20 years of service

Annuity fund
Earnings include base salary, average overtime and night shift differential, holiday pay, and uniform allowance.

As we've asked before, "Is this what NYPD's low pay is leading to?"

Right. Try getting this deal in the private sector. Particularly with the education level required.

Plus you can't lift a finger to them.

Otherwise it Would be Eight Bells (Beaus?)

"What we really want to know, did he feel anything along the way?" PETA spokeswoman Kathy Guillermo said. "If he didn't then we can probably blame the fact that they're allowed to whip the horses mercilessly."

Uh...a filly's a she, Kathy.

Glad to see the people with expertise on horses weighing in.

We're the Only Ones Jumpin' Jack Flash* Enough

Minden Police Officer Arrested For Stealing Gas From City

"Only Ones"--The trusted leaders in gas relief!**

[Via Shermlock Shomes]

* I really don't need to explain this, do I?

**Or this?

Conclusive?

Linked before to the cop who had the magazine in her AR backwards. There was some disagreement about whether or not it was. Well, I found a better pic and am now almost 100% certain that magazine is in backwards.

Here’s the pic.

I'm not ready to reach the conclusion that it's even real...yet.

Some of you will recognize this story as one you've sent me in the past, and I've always begged off because I can find no reference to the story on the Internet or on the River Cities Daily Tribune website.

A while back I tried to get an answer from the bylined reporter, and sent him an email:

Mr. Porter, I have not been able to verify if the attached picture is real or Photo-Shopped. I imagine I'm not the first one to call to your attention that the officer in the photo has the magazine inserted backwards in her rifle.

Could you please verify if the photo is as appeared in your paper or doctored, the date of the story, and if it appears anywhere online (I've looked but can't find it)?

Thank you,
David Codrea

He never replied. I just left him a voice mail, so we shall see...

Too Bad The Inquirer's Not "Idiot Proof"

It's called the "poor man's deer rifle."

Inexpensive, deadly, and fairly common, the gun that killed a Philadelphia police officer Saturday was originally designed for the Soviet Army in the mid 1940s.

All by its own self, no doubt. And they're cheap! And "idiot proof"!! And "poor men" own them!!! And you can find out how to clean them on YouTube!!!!

Think "Authorized Journalist" Sam Wood of "The Poor Man's Newspaper" could have packed any more PSH into his "straight" (no editorializing or bias here, honest!) "news" story?

I would like to address the "idiot proof" slander though, or at least the motivation behind it, as if reliability and simplicity of tool use is a bad thing.

It's a squeeze play. Because while Sam and his fellow travelers are working one side of the street decrying "idiot proof" guns, their cohorts in citizen disarmament are working the other demanding them:

There you have it, their true goal, laid out in black and white. The only acceptable guns are those which can be handled in complete safety by fools. Forget responsibility and accountability. Forget training and judgment. Forget the fact that life is fraught with risks and benefits and trade offs. Forget individual freedom and inalienable rights. Unless a drooling moron can hold the gun in his toes and gnaw on the barrel and yank back on the trigger with his (presumably opposable) thumbs in utter and oblivious tranquillity, it must be banned.

But it seems I read somewhere that anyone who thinks he's come up with a fool-proof device has underestimated the ingenuity of fools.

[Via John R]

Fear and Loathing in Boise?

The training involved a worst-case scenario, an active shooter with multiple injuries to citizens. Boise police, fire and EMS responded as if the situation was real, including practicing tactical maneuvers designed to quickly locate the suspect and stop the threat. Officers then worked with Fire and EMS to get medical attention quickly to the injured.

I'm probably being unfair here--after all, we want emergency services to be able to respond to all contingencies in a "well regulated" fashion.

Forgive me if I'm jaded, and don't perceive the motive of authorities to be one of encouraging the true first responders to be able to...uh...respond, but rather, to increase dependence and reliance on them.

Me, I think it should be a team effort, and include citizens likely to be on scene if and when danger first appears. Without that, the response truly can't be considered comprehensive, and all the king's horses here will probably end up being a really well-equipped, world class clean-up crew.

Speaking of which, I have preliminary information the mall does not prohibit concealed carry. I called mall security and the person I needed to speak to was out so I left a voice mail. Any independent verification/sign photograph will be appreciated.

[Via AvgJoe]

We're the Only Ones Practicing What We Preach Enough

Cedric Benson fully intends to fight misdemeanor charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest stemming from a Saturday night incident near Austin, Texas, during which police used pepper spray to detain him.

It's nice to see "The Only Ones" adopt their own recommendations for a change.

I guess I was wrong. You really can use pepper spray on Bears.

[Via HZ]

Chi-Town Sanity

Gun control hasn't worked as a remedy for crime. So what makes anyone think the answer is more gun control?

Rational thoughts from a member of The Trib's editorial board!

This is the kind of editorial that ought to prompt positive feedback from gun owners--so they know that similar future offerings will be well received.

[Via HZ]

Proud to be a Shooting Family

I received the following email from Sean Young, along with his permission to post it:

I would like to thank you for bringing the Appleseed Project to my attention. This program will make for a wonderful father-son weekend.

My wife, Kami, and I have also instituted a new discipline program in our household.

Our son, Payton, turned eight years old on April 7. Kami and I decided to give him his first firearm, a Cricket single shot .22 (Does this qualify as a straw purchase?). Instead of the typical punishments for misbehavior, Payton now has some incentive to behave. Payton starts each day with ten .22 rounds. Each time he misbehaves, we take one round away. In the event that he goes the entire day without misbehaving, he receives a five round bonus. This makes Payton's total potential weekly haul 105 rounds.

The net result is an increase in our family shooting time. Just try explaining to an eight year old that you would rather sit on the couch and watch TV than go shooting.

What a cool story. When I asked for permission to post it, and if whether would prefer not to have his full name used, this was this response:

Feel free to share our story. You can leave the names if you want. We are proud to be a shooting family.

Like the saying goes, "Perception is reality."

The more normalized gun ownership and use becomes, the fewer people will be frightened by it and the more will be drawn to it, more willing to protect it and less receptive to the lies.

Well done, Mr. Young. Thank you for your leadership by example.

Guns in Nat'l Parks

Liberty Belles joins the call to send in comments on the National Parks gun bill.

Of course, all WarOnGuns readers have already done so.

Haven't you?

This Day in History: May 6

From the safety of his Palace, Lord Dunmore vented his anger in a proclamation against "a certain Patrick Henry, of the County of Hanover, and a Number of his deluded Followers." Issued in Williamsburg on Saturday, May 6, 1775, Dunmore's proclamation called on Virginians to "vindicate the constitutional Authority of Government." Five weeks later, on June 8, Dunmore himself took refuge aboard the warship H.M.S. Fowey anchored off Yorktown. Royal government in Virginia was over.

Isn't it curious how many proclamations and edicts are still issued from the safety of palaces...