Thank Set Thulsa* is Safe!

Authorities seized 104 potential weapons from people who came to the rally Wednesday for presidential candidate Barack Obama at the St. Pete Times Forum, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

And let's all thank the fine men and women of the Secret Service and TSA for showing stupid democrat supporters what they really think of them.

Or as Nelson Muntz would say:

[Via Brian F]

UPDATE: Oh, now I see. You can't be too careful when there's a credible threat.

*-Thulsa

Olofson Parts EMails

From David R. Olofson:

While I’m waiting on the last few affidavits to get done I thought I would work on that infamous Email the government keeps referring to. After a whole lot of fighting (feds don’t want it publicly disclosed, go figure(just like the video)) I finally got my hands on that email the government keeps claiming proves I bought a set of M16 FCG parts. Here it is, all four emails over a few week period wrapped up in one. See if you can find the deal for that M16 FCG parts set they claim I bought from him.

While some, generally anonymous chatroom warriors, would rather attack Mr. Olofson, some viciously, those of us with our eye on the ball know we need to focus on supporting this case and bringing information to light the government would rather you not see. You know, stuff the watchdog press "Authorized Journalists" are either oblivious, apathetic or hostile to sharing.

Let's see if this dang new-fangled widget thingy works...

Olofson EMails.pdf

Hosted by eSnips

Maybe We Could Draw One

OL: The Assault Weapons Ban-- you voted against it. But you also said you might be open to voting for an assault weapons ban, depending on the details. Do you know any details that would support that argument?

McCain: No, because a lot of these are weapons that people use for sport, for practice and for enjoyment- outdoor enjoyment. So no, I don't see a scenario where that would be the case. I'm sure maybe we could draw one. But the danger of an assault weapons ban spilling into weapons that people would use for everyday hunting is, I think, the challenge.

"Maybe we could draw one"? And you're "sure"?

Go ahead, Senator, flesh this out for us, including why your fallback is it might present "sporting purposes" complications.

And while you're at it, maybe you could draw a scenario and give us details that would support the argument for "outlawing cheaply made handguns called Saturday night specials."

"Customer Service"

Here's my exchange with Marathon/SuperAmerica/Speedway over their firing an employee who dared to fight back against a robber:

From: David Codrea
Sent: Wed 5/21/08 5:03 PM
To: custrelations@marathonpetroleum.com

I can't in good conscience do business with a company that would rather see its employees dead than defending themselves. Whose the genius in risk management who figured out you should just give a monster what he wants? What if what he wants isn't money?

Corporate bureaucrats--is there anything they don't know?

http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2008/05/marathon-man.html

David Codrea

Here is their unedited and complete reply:

Dear David,

Thank you for contacting us regarding your concerns about actions we have taken in response to the robbery that occurred at our SuperAmerica store located in Roseville, Minnesota.

The primary concern of Speedway SuperAmerica is the safety of our more than 19,000 employees, and the millions of customers who frequent our stores each day.

Unfortunately recent news reports did not accurately reflect the full facts surrounding this robbery and our decision to terminate an employee who violated company policy by intervening during the robbery.

Our policy is that employees are never to do anything to endanger themselves, co-workers or customers in the event of a robbery. In fact, the first principle in the policy is, “Cooperate! Don’t argue, resist or attack the robber.” Law enforcement officials support our position to avoid any confrontation during a robbery. According to our surveillance video, our female employee present during the robbery was not assaulted.

The employee who was dismissed signed documents acknowledging he had read and understood the policy. He was given a copy of procedures to use if involved in a robbery. In addition, he also completed a computer-based training program, followed by a test that indicated he understood the policy. In written statements to local police, neither employee present during the robbery indicated any physical attack.

While it is regrettable this situation occurred, it is important that we have and enforce policies to ensure the safety of all our employees and customers during a potentially dangerous situation. There is nothing in the store that is as valuable as our employees and our customers.

We appreciate your concern and the opportunity to share these important facts with you.

Sincerely,

Anthony Kenney

President, Speedway SuperAmerica

Well, if "The Only Ones" support their position, who am I to argue?

Shocking Memories

He doesn’t remember the epileptic seizure he suffered July 18, 2007, when he was 16...

His brother, Travis Baker, 17, remembers all of it. He recalls screaming at Corinth police to stop shocking Blake with a Taser. His mother, Deana, remembers hearing Travis crying on the telephone.

He'll remember this. He'll never forget it.

[Via Andre]

An Unusual Day...Or a New Trend?

I received the following observations and inquiry from Phillip C:

I took some guns in to get a verbal appraisal done, just an idea of what they were worth, for a friend whose husband died and left behind a few.

I've been going into the gunshops around here off and on for a few years, but a little more regularly lately. I fell off a 40 foot cliff last July, breaking my hip and fracturing my skull, and during my recovery realized how much like an easy target I looked, and decided to renew my expired CCW license and purchase a newer handgun than the old one I had in my twenties. Naturally, going to gun shops is kind of addictive, and I've been to several in the area.

Anyway... the point is: I was in two different gun shops today, and noticed a larger than average number of people browsing, and some buying. I watched as one old fella had a pistol that he had in a closet appraised, and then ended up going to look at shotguns for home defense. I don't know if it's the current political situation or some other cause, but it seems more and more people are getting into guns than the past few years.

Just something I noted during my trips to the shops today. Might be interesting to find out if other people are noticing the same thing, or if I just happened to land on an unusual day.

"One way to find out," I wrote him back, "at least anecdotally--let me post your email and ask the readers."

He said "yes" and I'm asking. Are you noticing an increase in activity, and if so, why do you think that might be?

Pardon Me?

Gov. David Paterson just announced his first gubernatorial pardon for Ricky "Slick Rick" Walters, a hip-hop artist convicted in 1991 on attempted murder and weapons charges who now faces deportation to the United Kingdom.

Yeah, why would you fight violent crime by holding thugs accountable for their actions when you can do photo ops with "Only Ones" and other anti-defense loons and call for even more citizen disarmament?


Let's see--Slick Rick shoots two people and serves six years. What did Wayne Fincher do again...?

[Via Declan]

Another Unexpected Resource

We talked yesterday about how GunPolicy.org was a surprising resource for gun-related articles we could use to our benefit. Here's another.

I'd say The New York Times has put together just about the most comprehensive one-stop page out there--it certainly merits regular consulting for people who want to keep up on current "gun control" events.

You'll also note some familiar gun blogs listed. Lest anyone dismiss this as just a robot key word match up, note "The publications tracked by Blogrunner are chosen by New York Times editors."

So congratulations to those of you who were selected. We are making inroads, and my belief is--at least from the Internet side--NYT is starting to realize that presenting our side is good for business, and probably, based on my interactions with them, may even be starting to resonate with some insiders. Anyway, it's progress.

I'm going to put a link to this page in my blogroll sidebar so we can access it whenever we want.

My prediction: As our recent adventures with the Brady/Huffpo folks demonstrated, I think they're going to see a respectable number of hits coming from the "pro-gun" side, and only a trickle out of the antis, whose sites evidently are mostly visited by us anyway.

We're the Only Ones "Bratz" Enough

A Starr County grand jury has indicted the police chief of the small South Texas town of La Grulla on a charge of soliciting sex from a minor.

And again with the age-old question: On the date, would you buy her a Big Kids Meal or a Happy Meal?

If you were an "Only One," which would you choose?

No Good News

When I was compiling the "Academic" post, below, I also happened across an excellent analysis of our choices in the presidential race.

Go and take in the whole thing. I'll still be here when you're done.

Hey...nice button!

Oregon Citizen Disarmament: It's Academic

The Oregon School Boards Association has filed an amicus brief in an effort to prevent trained, licensed, school employees from having self defense firearms on school property.

This is no surprise as the OSBA has a long history of opposing self defense in schools. But now the Oregon Department of Justice has joined the battle against self defense with their own amicus brief.

So what's the problem? Pragmatic gun lobby organizations agree:

[W]e believe in absolutely gun-free, zero-tolerance, totally safe schools. That means no guns in America's schools, period ... with the rare exception of law enforcement officers or trained security personnel.

So the Oregon Firearms Federation is just being divisive. Besides, it's a political non-winner. If you talk about guns in school, it will just scare the general public into thinking all gun owners are extremist maniacs, and it will make us all look bad.

No?

If you disagree with that, you could argue your case in "Comments," below. But I would suggest if you really disagree, it wouldn't hurt to show how much, by sending a contribution to help fight this battle in court.

[Via Jeffersonian]

This Day in History: May 24

May 24, 1775 - United Committees meeting of Palatine, Conajohary (sic- hereafter spelled Canajoharie) King'sland and Germanflatts districts at the house of William Seeber in Canajoharie District

This probably looks like one of the more dull entries for the "History" feature, something I usually post without much comment. If you just read the above date selection, you'd never know what an interesting page this is. It shows us the structure of local self-government, and how, when an active citizenry is involved in charting its own political destiny, things like a wayward sheriff or delegate representing the best interests of the community are kept under control.

We could do worse than to emulate such a system--and we have.

But hey, who has time? Besides, tonight is "Dancing With the Stars."