Altering the Outcomes

I don't typically update the Gun Rights Examiner column on weekends, but two incidents have happened that ought to be addressed...

A drive-by shooting and a toddler shot himself with his police officer father's gun...as if disarming you and me would have prevented either once...

Black and White and Red All Over

Y'all remember the professor with socialist sympathies who opined we're buying guns because we're scared of melanin?

Armed and Safe started the ball rolling.

Then I got into it here.

At which point, everybody's favorite "3-percenter" Mike Vanderboegh weighed in.

The recipients of Brother Mike' pointed wisdom have responded, and Mindful Musings has posted them, along with Mike's intertwined responses to:

Reporter Howard Witt
and
Professor Ben Agger

Go and read both. I'll still be here.

Thing is, part of the good professor's explanation is his quote has been taken out of context. His complete views have not been explained.

It looks like at least one other paper suffers from the same contextual limitations:

Ben Agger said he’s concerned, though, about what is prompting fear in gun owners.

"What is the underlying motivation . . . to buy assault weapons?" asked Agger, a sociology and humanities professor at the University of Texas at Arlington who wrote There Is a Gunman on Campus: Tragedy and Terror at Virginia Tech. "Part of me worries this is an expression of the need for people who disagree with Obama to arm themselves because they entertain the thought that there could be armed conflict or possibly race war."

Poor guy just can't get fairly represented in the media...

But in fairness, it's not just racism being cited. There's also a "crisis in masculinity" egged on by "a lot of pro-gun sites that present guns as necessary tokens of hypermasculinity and allow people to buy weapons and ammunition." There's bemoaning about "respond[ing] to violence with violence," and "the fact that in many states there are laws being debated about letting students and teachers carry concealed weapons on campus testifies to the power of the NRA and right-wing gun groups. Rather, we need serious discussions of what causes school shootings and how to deal with potential problems, rather than unleashing an army of would-be Rambos and vigilantes."

Guess who the editor of this "academic journal" is? Hint: He said his views on the Second Amendment might surprise me.

Now to be fair, I've posted guest columns on WarOnGuns I don't completely agree with, so I'd invite the good professor to tell us just what those views are, and in detail--except I've been dismissed and ordered never to darken his inbox again.

Pity. I've always so loved surprises.

[Supporting information via Cris C and Scott W]

Just Who Gun Owners Need in the GOP

House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio will face at least one challenger for his leadership position: California Republican Rep. Dan Lungren announced today that he is running for the job.

Yeah, that's just what the GOP needs. I love the way they describe this mutt as a "social conservative."

It's really socially conservative being the guy who initiated confiscation of previously "legal" firearms in California--after he was the guy who said they were legal in the first place. Go ahead and go to that link--make sure you read it all, including supporting internal links, and especially this one.

But hey, that was then and this is now. Apparently, all has been forgiven.

I wonder if Bill Doss got his SKS Sporter back?

[Via Mack H]

We're the Only Ones Unsealed Enough

Warrants naming three officers in a controversial probe of cocaine use by members of a former drug squad have finally been unsealed.

Let me guess: they were a "crack team," the "Only Ones" who knew where to draw the line?

[Via Bruce Mills]

Garden Variety Metaphors

President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is showing its hostility toward lawful firearm owners by “weeding out” job applicants who own firearms themselves, a Second Amendment group says.

I don't know if he's weeding so much as sowing some seeds with that requirement for "complete ownership and registration information." Then I'd expect them to do some pruning and trimming before the all-out weed-whacking.

As long as we're cultivating, and deciding what will grow and what will be uprooted, let's not forget the Tree of Liberty...

[Via SameNoKami and Zachary G]

We're the Only Ones Home on the Range Enough

You would swear this range is owned by the PWPD for all the special restrictions they are placing on everyone but themselves.

Well, uh, yeah.

What's the point of being an "Only One" if you don't get special perks, privileges, immunities...?

Just who d'ya think works for who here, anyway, huh?

[Via Jeffersonian]

Ask a Silly Question...

...get yourself investigated.

Any questions?

[Via Plug Nickel Times]

This Day in History: November 15

November 15, 1775 at Plains of Abraham, Quebec - On November 15, Brig. Gen. Benedict Arnold had finished his famous march to Quebec. He moved his 700-man force into position and tried to bluff the British garrison to surrender. The British did not fall for this and refused Arnold. This left him with no choice but to withdraw his force.