Madden 2007 to End Philly Gun Violence!

"Look at all the kids involved in gun violence lately. I'd be willing to bet some hard money that most of them play this game. Maybe the hook is to get them participating in tournaments and then get them into something else positive while we have their attention."

The writer hits the mark with this next line:

Later, Lane is going to end teen pregnancy by doing a really neat trick in Super Mario Bros.

Domestic Enemies: The Reconquista

Matthew Bracken informs me his latest novel has been printed and is now available for purchase.

I haven't read it yet, but I thoroughly enjoyed his first book.

Spend some time over at Matt's website. The guy writes a helluva tale.

We've recently explored some issues here at WarOnGuns regarding what we need to do to reclaim the Second Amendment. Don't discount the power of fiction for introducing ideas into the popular culture.

If we can help create a market demand for such ideas, there will be no shortage of entrepreneurs rushing in to promote and fulfill it.

Another "Child Gun Death"

I guess if you want to build a case for "child gun deaths, it helps to leave out the convenient fact that he was committing an armed robbery and a citizen defended himself...

The Chicago Tribune version [Use BugMeNot to bypass site registration]:

A 15-year-old boy died Thursday after being found with gunshot wounds to the stomach in a field in Hazel Crest, police said.

Daily Southtown version:

Detectives are searching for a teenage gunman after a botched robbery left his accomplice dead and a third man fighting for his life in hospital.

You may speculate that the Tribune story was not intentionally slanted, and merely reflected facts known at the time. If that's the case, one would expect a story update, which a site search reveals has not yet happened at the time of this posting, two days after the Southtown story was printed.

[Thanks to HZ]

Someone Has Daddy Issues

My dad and his friends maintained a ludicrous fantasy that their possession of guns was in some way preventing a foreign invasion or discouraging some sort of internal coup...Guns have no place in an advanced society...

The Los Angeles Times has published three letters in response to Jenny Price's latest hit piece on gun owners.

Try not to point and laugh at the third letter writer, Lee Trumble. Pathetic. What a disappointment he must be to his father.

Is That a Screwdriver in Your Pocket...?

A customer carrying a gun foiled a man who attempted to rob a fast-food restaurant with a screwdriver in his pocket, police said.

Well what do you know?

Another story of an armed citizen where violence is stopped and everybody lives.

The Hero of Seattle

Now, Klein said she is speaking out, in part because telling her story helps her to heal, and in part to help raise awareness about gun control and workplace safety.

Klein said her American Red Cross training helped her instinctively know what to do when she was confronted and shot by the gunman.

No it did not. Yes, you kept your head, but you were extremely lucky. The choice to shoot again or not was entirely your assailant's. Now you're hell-bent on making others victims of another madman's unilateral decision.

That doesn't make you a hero--that makes you an enabler, as is gushing propagandist Jackson Holtz, who actually has the gall to represent himself as a "reporter".

We're the Only Ones "Straw Purchasing" Enough

A New Orleans Police Department employee and a felon have been indicted for illegally obtaining an AK-47 assault rifle, federal prosecutors said Friday.

U.S. Attorney Jim Letten said Nisheka M. Webb, 21, went to a local gun show July 29 with Wayne C. Jones, 28, to buy a gun for him. Jones, a convicted felon, is prohibited from ever owning or possessing a firearm, Letten said.

The indictment charged both with conspiracy to acquire a firearm by providing a false statement to a federally-licensed firearm dealer.

This story makes no sense on a few levels.

First, why didn't Webb simply give her "friend" one of those guns NOPD "Only Ones" stole from citizens during the Katrina confiscations?

But more importantly, what's this "federally-licensed firearm dealer" business? Everyone knows gun shows provide loopholes for supplying felons and terrorists with firearms--no questions asked.

Right, GOP presidential hopeful John McCain?

People With Authority

A woman was detained by the FBI Friday afternoon for hauling a loaded handgun in her carry-on bag or purse...

People with authority to carry a gun sometimes forget it is in their carry-on bag at the airport...It is unclear whether the woman was authorized to carry a gun.

I wonder if she'll get the same treatment as others who have committed the same "offense"...

In any case, she clearly had the authority. It admits that right here.

That's Why We Call You People Subjects

Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation Chief Irvin McIvor received an absolute discharge in court Tuesday after pleading guilty to unsafe storage of a firearm.

A second charge of unauthorized possession of a weapon was stayed by the Crown.

By the "Crown"?

What did Mr. Paine have to say about "nobility"?

Because the idea of hereditary legislators is as inconsistent as that of hereditary judges, or hereditary juries; and as absurd as an hereditary mathematician, or an hereditary wise man; and as ridiculous as an hereditary poet laureate.

But the message is clear: Subjects are ruled.

We're the Only Ones Discharging Enough

Off-duty Killeen Police officer Juneth Steubing was arrested in Copperas Cove late Tuesday for discharging a firearm multiple times in the bedroom of her home...

[S]he was released at 2 p.m. Wednesday on a $200 personal recognizance bond...

She has been placed on administrative leave with pay...

Yeah, I'm sure that's how you and I would be treated--right after surviving the SWAT experience...

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Questions and Answers VI

[Parts I, II, III, IV and V]

This is the last post directly responsive to Mr. Licht's questions, observations and challenges. But it will by no means be the end of this discussion, which I intend to begin addressing next week, with further explorations into what hasn't worked, what has, and what may.

When he originally wrote to me, I knew that to give him thoughtful responses would take much more time than I could spare in a one-on-one, and if I was going to put the time into a reply that was worth the effort, it needed to be done in this open forum. I've actually been meaning to address the questions he raised for a while now, so Mr. Licht's timely email provided both a catalyst and a framework to begin that effort.

Here's the balance of his initial query:

I know you are a fan of "the prisoner". We ARE living in the village. More so all the time and on an accelerating path. But you and I, and a few pockets here and there are "not prisoners, we are free men! Or by our actions, are we?

What do you think?

I am asking your personal opinion for my own interest and direction and I will NOT republish your response.

He touched on an affectation of mine, but an inspiration, nonetheless. If you're unfamiliar with "The Prisoner," it was a TV series from the 60's about a secret agent who quit in anger from his agency. He is kidnapped and awakens in a fantastic locale known as "the Village," a gilded cage where his captors are constantly subjecting him to surveillance and subterfuge in a quest for "information."

The thing is, he doesn't know "whose side" his inquisitors are on--are they the foreign enemy, pumping him for state secrets, or is it his own government, that is, his domestic enemy, trying to determine what he knows and what he may have disclosed?

As in star Patrick McGoohan's previous series, "Secret Agent," they've given him a number and taken away his name, referring to the captive protagonist as "Number Six."

But the thing about Number Six, and what confounds his tormenters, is no matter what they throw at him, he never gives up. Each episode, he defies and rebels and attempts to escape, always seeking creative ways out of his trap, relying on himself, his intellect, his resourcefulness and daring to reclaim his liberty.

And each episode he is thwarted, betrayed, recaptured. But he never allows himself to be broken. When one idea fails him, he comes up with another, commits himself to it, and gives it his all. For the sake of his freedom.

That strikes me as a pretty fine ideal to strive for.

There is a way out of the box. Stick around and we can try to find it.

In the coming weeks we can look at lawsuits and gun groups and militias. We'll look at politics and education. We'll confront apathy and lack of resources and critical mass.

Just as I tied the responses together under "Questions and Answers," I'll come up with a unifying title for the next leg of the series--perhaps "Escaping the Village."

And as they say there on parting, "Be seeing you."

We're the Only Ones Accidentally Going Off Enough

Officers over those years shot themselves or one another nearly as often as they were shot by suspects.

Since 1985, there have been more than 350 accidental discharges by LAPD officers. There also have been more than a dozen so-called friendly fire incidents...

One off-duty officer shot himself in a leg as he sat behind his desk and, according to department records, contemplated "a complex mathematical problem." Another officer inadvertently pulled the trigger when his African gray parrot flew into his face.

One officer accidentally shot his girlfriend in a leg while trying to retrieve a cartridge from his handgun as a "memento" of their date. Yet another officer admitted that he accidentally fired his gun because he was startled by a woman holding a teddy bear. Two officers accidentally discharged their weapons as they handled them at home while watching themselves in mirrors.

Good Lord.

And in LA, these people are "The Only Ones" trusted enough to bear arms. And that's no accident.

Mouse Gun Really a Mouse Gun

There is a new gun in town: a Swiss minigun the size of a key fob that can shoot an eye out, according to an Intelligence Bulletin from the Baltimore, Md. police obtained by ABC News.

Be on the lookout for this suspect:


"Intelligence Bulletin from the Baltimore PD..."

Ha! Good one!

[Thanks to HZ]

The Flowers Aren't the Only Things Dying Here

The city’s such a warzone now
it’s quite a show to see
At least three cops on every block
to tidy up the streets

A word of advice, Odd Rod, and this is coming from someone who's poetic endeavors generally begin "There once was a man from Nantuckett..."

Don't quit your day job.

Oh, you don't have a...?

Never mind.

If you're wondering what this is about, ol' Odd Rod is waxing poetic about a new snitch program offering bounties to turn in people carrying guns.

Heck, even if the person you finger isn't carrying, chances are those approaching him will be inclined to protect themselves first and ask questions later. Either way, what a great opportunity to have the cops get rid of a rival so you can claim that corner for yourself.

I knew he wasn't packin'
But I thought he needed whackin'
So I called in a tip and
Said he keeps it in his waistband...

Hey, Odd Rod--How am I doing...?

OK, I won't quit my day job either.

Who Will Guard the Guards?

A security guard hired to watch for taggers and vandals was found shot to death Monday at an elementary school...The victim was reportedly not armed.

Then how was he supposed to guard anything?

We're the Only Ones Fluid Enough

An inmate's sock containing body fluids has led to the arrest of a prison guard on charges of sexual abuse.

I don't even wanna ask. Just put a sock in it...

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

Credit Where Credit is Due

NRA's Chris Cox:

Today, in a landmark victory for NRA and law-abiding gun owners, Judge Carl J. Barbier of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana denied the City of New Orleans' motion to dismiss NRA's lawsuit against the city and held that the Second Amendment applies to law-abiding residents in the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans. Straining the bounds of credibility and reflecting the true sentiment of anti-gunners, the City of New Orleans contemptuously argued that the Second Amendment does not apply to residents in the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans.

SAF's Alan Gottlieb:

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today won a key battle in an on-going lawsuit against the City of New Orleans, when a federal judge rejected the city's motion to dismiss the case. SAF took New Orleans to court last year to stop illegal confiscation of firearms from private citizens in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Defendants in the case are the city, Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley. SAF was joined in the historic lawsuit by the National Rifle Association. Both organizations have members living in New Orleans.

I note SAF's acknowledgment of NRA contributions is not reciprocated. Again.

Why 

doesn't 

this 

surprise me? 

Here's the AP's version ... 

From CNS... 

 And David Hardy provides insightful analysis, as ususal.

Questions and Answers V

[Parts I, II, III and IV]

Mr. Licht goes on:

Wouldn’t it be more meaningful for us to promote the compact made with US by the Founders when they pledged "Our lives our fortunes and our sacred honor" that your children and mine would live free? With regular pitchfork parties at the "government houses". Are U.S. Citizens sooooo gutless that they will not stand up to a government that works for them? Are we a nation of girls? (Rhetorical questions, I know). Maybe we should be shaming the masses instead of hyping them on the second. What is your view? (Is it time to contemplate the need or the inevitability of having to "water the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots")?

Of course we should be educating ourselves in--and promoting--liberty and the vision of the Founders, as well as new freedom insights that have been developed since that time. And yes, it's perfectly rational to "contemplate" the tripwires where actual resistance to tyranny is morally justified, and how some of those have been triggered already.

You'll recall earlier I used the term "critical mass." I'll get back to that concept in a later posting, along with another belief I hold--it's not so much gutlessness, although that plays a part, as apathy.

Isn’t it long past time for civil disobedience and non cooperation? Isn’t it time to teach your (our / all) children that confiscation is inevitable. It’s a deliberate plot against the populace. That citizens should never cooperate, register or report? Shouldn’t second amendment focused organizations and publications start promoting non registration, parents buying for their children so the children are never "on record", acknowledging that the government has already so far overstepped their authority that they can not be trusted and to act defensively for the future safety of our children and our country? i.e. REALITY.

You bet it is, and some of us have stuck our necks out to promote that message. Comment poster "jomama" hit it when he asked "Why not just do it and tell no one, whatever it is you want to do? I do."

The problem with this is, not getting caught ain't the same as being free. And if and when he does, there will be no shortage of gun forum chat room warriors snorting how "he knew the law, got what he deserved and makes the rest of us look bad."

If the minders won’t mind the borders at the minimum when in excess of 70% of the population is demanding to close the borders - why should any thinking person believe the government, bent on one worldism will ever protect the constitution or the citizens god given inalienable rights to anything?????

I think the problem with this analysis is that the population really isn't "demanding"--because that implies there would be consequences if the demand is not met.

Shouldn’t we be screaming that totalitarianism is coming at light speed? Instead of this constant fund raising subterfuge that the second amendment will someday form the basis of a winning lawsuit that will set the U.S. back on a constitutional course and abolish all gun laws, blah, blah, blah, blah, promote the myth? Isn’t this just delusion and masturbation and mental disorder????

We can scream, but without fundraising, who will hear? And while I've covered the dangers of a lawsuit, and the liklihood that it will cast "intermediate scrutiny" in stone for untold years, I wouldn't throw any tool out of the kit.

If we keep up all this sound and fury promoting an argument that can never move the reality forward and we are just flailing about chanting a mantra that is effectively a political divide and conquer and slight of hand strategy to dilute and pacify / pussify the electorate.........Aren’t we mentally ill? Or DUMB????

I've come to a different conclusion than you about this--we won't be able to truly defend ourselves until we achieve that critical mass I keep cryptically referring to, and you can't do that without education and outreach.

Are we passing the point of no return where in the second amendment (and many of the others, 1st, 4th, 5th, etc..), no, the Constitution will be stolen from our children without a shot being fired by the absolute worthless, embarrassing, self serving, pandering, lowest common denominator dunderheaded "alleged representatives" from top to bottom, petite totalitarians and soccer moms and the lowest common denominator educational / indoctrination system "we" have built?

That could be--or it could be just the opposite. We've seen historical examples of tyrants standing down when the people stood up. Let's keep building that critical mass.

Have we be been completely screwed by the "greatest generation" who having won WWII, sat on their fat assess and voted entitlement and totalitarianism into this country and hope to party till the lights go out and save the bill for their grandchildren and die before they have to see the damage they have delivered their future generations?

We could argue this point and it wouldn't get us closer to a solution. I know my parents didn't sit around--they didn't have time. They were too busy building so their children wouldn't suffer the hardships they had overcome--circumstances that would break many from our generation. In any case, that torch has been passed.

More to come.

That's Capital "G" and that Rhymes with "P"...*

"Didn't we have a program, we were giving them money, they were buying new glocks?" asked Alderman Robert Lee...Boston police offered a $200 Target gift card to anyone who turned in a gun, so the money couldn't be used to buy ammo or new glocks.

Do you think someone ought to tell "authorized journalist" Melissa Bailey and the editors of the New Haven Independent that "Glock" is a proper noun?

[Thanks to Jason M]

*

Like WHAT on a Bull?

Leggett said he hired a security guard who was at the store at the time but guards cannot be armed.

Isn't that kind of like hiring someone to be a victim?

[Thanks to Jason M]