This Day in History: October 19--VICTORY DAY

On this day in 1781, British General Charles Cornwallis formally surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a French and American force at Yorktown, Virginia, bringing the American Revolution to a close.

I wonder how many Americans will know this, and will celebrate it as one of the most important dates in our history? I wonder how many schools will teach this, as opposed to anti-American subversion?

If you have children, ask them when they get home from school today. If no one said anything, a note to the history teacher might be in order.

I'm almost through with 1776. If I believed in things like required reading, it would be high on my list. The sacrifices made on behalf of liberty and the near-impossible odds overcome should fill us all with awe, and should fill most of us with shame.

How evil are those those monsters who would rob us of our heritage. How contemptible are those cowards and fools who would let them.

NRA's "A-Rated" Citizen Disarmament Enforcer

Per Larry Rankin:

I just sent the short e-mail to the NRA, see below. Hope some of you will also e-mail them. Bill Brown says he wants a new direction...the question is which direction. Bill Brown told me that anyone in the city should not carry and that he has only given one permit to carry. That person was a federal trapper. I told him there were more wild animals in the city that were far more dangerous. The interview with him went down hill after that. Anyone in Santa Barbara County please forward this to someone you know...that believes in the right for a citizen to protect themselves and their family or friends. Thanks in advance,
www.NRAPVF.org lrr

NRA-PVF,

I received your election alert this evening in the mail and see you are endorsing Bill Brown for Sheriff...and you gave him an "A". I called Bill Brown and talked to him for some time a few weeks ago. He does not believe in citizen having the right to carry with a permit/CCW. I have seen in the past too many "A" given out by the NRA that are not deserved! I know hundreds of gun owners and NRA members in the county and I will let them know your outstanding bad judgment. You really need to talk to local people that are involved and that can ask tuff question to the folks running for office or change the questionnaire or have the simple understanding that there are other letters besides "F" and "A".
Regards, Larry R. Rankin
Past S.B.NRA President the grass roots group for two years...many years ago

Bill Brown said to me when I interviewed him on the phone, that he does not believe any citizen living in the city should have the right to carry a gun. He does believe that people out in the rural areas that really need one should have one...if they can REALLY prove to him it is needed. He has only allowed one and that was a federal trapper that could not carry a loaded weapon while traveling in is vehicle.

So he sees owning a gun not as self protection, but for hunting sports. That is the way I see it.

Bill Brown's contact number 805 757 3960

------------------------

I was ready to post this story yesterday, but felt obligated to hold on to it and do my own fact-checking. Not that I don't trust Larry Rankin--I do, completely. I've been corresponding with him for years, and have found him to be a most trustworthy and reliable colleague. But I was also curious as to why NRA would do this.

I left a voice mail on candidate Brown's campaign answering machine, explaining who I was and that I wanted to ask him some questions about his NRA endorsement. At this posting, my call has not been returned.

I called NRA ILA at their "800" number. I explained who I was (also that I'm a Life Member) and that I was calling to speak to the people responsible for giving Mr. Brown an "A rating" and endorsement. The associate gave me the number for California grasssroots. I spoke to the associate there, repeated everything, and he told me all statements to the media needed to go through their office back in Fairfax, and gave me a direct number (I left my number with him anyway, and asked him to pass everything on to NRA state lobbyist Ed Worley, and asked for him to call me back). I called and spoke to a lady at the media office, explained everything a third time, and told her about Mr. Rankin's conversation with Mr. Brown and the fact that he is against private citizens bearing arms. I also told her the results of my scouting around the internet--and finding that Bill Brown supports Jerry Brown for attorney general:

Showing considerable political chops, Brown, a conservative Republican, garnered the endorsement of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Steve Westly and many key Santa Barbara progressives while managing to convince a majority of California police chiefs to endorse former Democratic governor Jerry Brown --now mayor of Oakland --in his race for Attorney General.

and that Jerry Brown is basing a large part of his campaign on attacking NRA's endorsed candidate, Chuck Poochigian, for his opposition to gun control laws.

She said she'd pass my request on to the people who could answer me, and I let her know I was holding up posting on this, and would be willing to delay it another day if someone would be willing to talk to me. No one returned my call, so here we are.

If anyone authorized to speak for NRA wishes to post a response, I will be happy to post it in its entirety. The same offer goes for the Bill Brown campaign.

In the mean time, we gun owners are presented with yet another example of NRA rating credibility erosion. I won't presume to be able to read the unstated intentions of others, but it's my opinion that silence from ILA-PVF is unacceptable--particularly if they expect us to donate to support their endorsed candidates.

If you agree with me, please pass a link to this post far and wide, and contact NRA yourself to request an explanation.

Larry Rankin just emailed me, and said "I will be surprised if I get a response. If I did or do I had already planned on forwarding it to you."

If so, you'll see it here.

Gegen Waffengewalt Versprechen

More than 2,100 Bibb County eighth-graders are scheduled to sign pledges against gun violence at Macon's City Auditorium today, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office...

Five million other youths across the country also will sign the pledge, the release stated.

Let's hope the brainwashed little droolers are wearing their bibs.

Ain't it grand, how oathbreakers are coercing kids into taking oaths? Government oathbreakers--with an interest in conditiong the populace into tamely accepting disarmament?

In the interest of being a good (and obedient!) bürger, I've taken the liberty of designing an armband the kinder can wear to these jugend rallies:

There is no "Try"

They lost their daughter to an enraged gunman five weeks ago. Now Louise and Nelson De Sousa want to try to prevent a similar tragedy from striking another family.

"No, try not. Do or do not. There is no 'try'..."

That's another way of saying the only way to stop a rampaging madman is to "use the force." And the most effective force to use when lives are at stake is the armed kind.

Either that, or you could stand up in the midst of a massacre, point at the shooter and declare that he's going to be recorded in a centralized registry...

Well, He Got it Half Right

Lieutenant Governor Kerry M . Healey yesterday called for stripping local police chiefs of the power to issue gun licenses and transferring the responsibility to a specially appointed state public safety official, a proposal that puts in her line with the agenda of the Massachusetts gun owners' lobby.

Yeah, I know, preemption, patchwork quilt, yada yada yada...

License is not liberty. There are enough gun owners to make that point clear if they wanted to badly enough.

Which they don't.

This Day in History: October 18

On this day in 1767, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon complete their survey of the boundary between the colonies of Pennsylvania and Maryland as well as areas that would eventually become the states of Delaware and West Virginia. The Penn and Calvert families had hired Mason and Dixon, English surveyors, to settle their dispute over the boundary between their two proprietary colonies, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Dundee Herbivores Claim Partial Victory

The village board decided at its meeting Monday night that no more guns can be sold in the historic downtown business district -- almost.

Because, as we've already established, guns and American history just don't mix.

Guns: The Great Domestic Abuse Enabler

Wives were threats. Girlfriends were threats. Women who talked too much were threats. And women who held public office and wouldn't shut up were the scourge of the land.

Joan Burbick is so impressed with her own ignorance, she's positively authoritative about it.

To believe her, you must believe that men who wish to see you armed and trained think it will make you easier to beat. And as for rock salt being a superior home defense weapon than maneuverable military pattern firearms, I guess the foremost experts in the world--the guys who defend the world's most famous house*--need to reassess their choices.

There's no recognition that sometimes false charges are vindictively filed, no indignation over denial of rights without establishment of guilt, no admission that, sometimes, it is the women who find themselves legally restrained and disabled for life--over incidents as trivial as tearing a pocket, or throwing down some keys.

And for the record, Ashcroft's Justice Department, through Solicitor General Ted Olson, filed a brief defending the disarmament statute:

ROBERT COTTROL: Well, the Justice Department is charged with enforcing the law, which includes defending the constitutionality of federal statutes. You have the Emerson case in the 5th circuit where the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that although the second amount is an individual right, that it is nonetheless reasonable regulation to prevent individuals who are under a restraining order because of domestic violence issues from owning guns. Dr. Emerson, who was the defendant in the case, is appealing that to the Supreme Court and it is, of course, up to the federal government to defend the statute.

The position of this Administration is that of the 5th Circuit, namely that the law is constitutional, because although this Administration supports the individual rights view of the Second Amendment, that there is an individual right to keep and bear arms, it sees the statute as reasonable regulation. So this is within the normal processes of the Justice Department defending a federal statute.

UPDATE: Oh lookee--gun ownership is also "a white male political power play."

BuzzFlash said it, I believe it, that settles it.

I think Joan the Authority has some hostility issues.

-------------------

[*I got the White House example from Ed Monk]

This Day in History: October 17

British general and playwright John Burgoyne surrenders 5,000 British and Hessian troops to American General Horatio Gates at Saratoga, New York, on this day in 1777.

East Dundee Sheep Bleat in Protest

East Dundee trustees will vote Monday on two ordinances drafted following public outcry over the sale of firearms at a downtown business.

Trustees asked staff to draft the ordinances last month after residents complained about a sign with a photo of a handgun displayed in the window of owner Mike Catinella's M-M Sporting Goods, 215 Barrington Ave., in the historic area of downtown. The sign has been removed, but talk continues about what kind of image village leaders want for the historic downtown business district.

And Lord knows firearms have no place in our nation's history!

One can only wonder what other expressions of free speech the sheep will ask the wolves to outlaw. For their own peace of [mind?], of course.

Looks like their first attempt to quash this guy's business didn't work, so they're just continuing the harassment.

Doesn't the East Dundee municipal code have anything to say about farm animals wandering untended in a business zone?

"Enforce Existing Gun Laws"

Why don't we enforce the 20,000 gun laws currently on the books across the nation?

Just like "we" did here?

I have a better idea.

Why don't we just enforce this?

You Just Might Be a Gun Felon

Federal and local law enforcement officials are once again working together to imprison gun felons for a long time.

Of course, if you believe in your unalienable rights to keep and bear arms, and don't surrender that right in defiance of edicts you consider tyrannical and unconstitutional, you just might be a gun felon.

Thanks, Wayne! Good job teaming up with the Brady Bunch on "Project Exile"! But you never did get back to me on exactly where in the Constitution the fedgov has been delegated the authority to involve itself in this...

And here's the thing:

If you refused to register your previously lawfully purchased semiautomatic firearm in California, you just might be a gun felon.

If you believe your children's lives are worth protecting--even in "gun free school zones," you just might be a gun felon.

Reads like a Jeff Foxworthy routine, don't it?

Feel free to leave your own in the "Comments".

Killer Guns

"It doesn't seem like Congress or the Senate recognize we've got 30,000 people a year being killed by handguns," Commissioner Johnson said. "As long as they don't take it seriously, it's never going to be resolved.

Boy, those "authorized journalists" over at the AP--they've really got the Brady Playbook down pat, don't they?

This Day in History: October 16

1775 - Portland, Maine burned by British
1781 - Washington takes Yorktown

The History Channel site I usually reference is down for maintenance.

Fishing for a Sunday Morning Rant

In this day and age, any moron should know that all living creatures with a brain and a central nervous system feel pain. And, yes, they experience many emotions similar to those of humans...

I look forward to the day when more humans recognize that we are animals just like every other animal on this planet, and we do not corner the market on suffering...

People who say fish don't feel pain are either mentally disemboweled or morally dishonest.

Perhaps the fish would prefer being ripped apart and eaten alive by another fish, a swooping pelican, a bear...?

It seems the grievance is with Nature's God? Oh, wait, that's just a fiction, an opiate to keep the masses in check. Besides, when you're a feel-gooder, you can rationalize the food chain by visualizing anthropomorphic Disney cartoon animals and humming a few bars from "The Circle of Life"...

It's only when humans do it that it's bad.

These folks would ban fishing if it were in their power to do so. They'd also ban hunting (all you "sportsman" types take note).

Not meaning to start an off-guns-topic debate here, but how many of the letter writers worried about fish pain do you suppose would get equally worked up about the agony suffered by unborn humans as they're torn apart in the womb...?

Oh, wait, that's just a fiction too, the experts tell us. You know, the same experts who tell us guns are bad... mmkay?

Expel Phil Amicone From NRA

Unlike Congress, we mayors recognize that illegal guns are a national problem that requires a national solution because the gun laws of one state can have a drastic effect on other states.

Translation: Our government addiction promulgation policies have been so successful that our own debased constituents are wholly unsuited to the liberties and responsibilities of free men. But the resultant dependency has enhanced our power and control, so we're going to force ourselves on people who have so far escaped our grasp and aren't in the market for our "services." At gunpoint.

Mayor Amicone, a member of the National Rifle Association, spoke about his commitment to protecting his city from illegal guns while also protecting the Constitution’s Second Amendment.

Yeah--"enforce existing gun laws." Heard that one a few times before--where was it?--Waco, Ruby Ridge...

If the association had any sand, they'd expel Amicone for violation of the bylaws, specifically Article II, Purposes and Objectives, section 1:

"To protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, especially with reference to the inalienable right of the individual American citizen guaranteed by such Constitution to acquire, possess, collect, exhibit, transport, carry, transfer ownership of, and enjoy the right to use arms, in order that the people may always be in a position to exercise their legitimate individual rights of self-preservation and defense of family, person, and property, as well as to serve effectively in the appropriate militia for the common defense of the Republic and the individual liberty of its citizens;"

But they didn't even have the integrity to expel Michael Moore--and that inaction itself is a violation of their bylaws.

Come to think of it, maybe they should also expel "no guns in schools" Wayne...

"Maybe That's Just Me"

Yesterday...I saw that the billboard across from the Bayou Shadows apartment entrance was being changed to a bright orange message announcing the opening of a gun show this weekend...Seems disturbing, but maybe that's just me.

Stuart Burgess

So you want to be protected not just from guns themselves, but from the very thought of guns?

Yes, Stuart. I'd say it's definitely you.

Lady Liberty Interviews Matthew Bracken

In 2003, author Matthew Bracken published Enemies Foreign and Domestic, the first novel of a planned trilogy. With its focus on a government set-up that resulted in draconian gun control measures, it gained good reviews and much appreciation from readers. As gun control advocates have continued in their efforts to disarm the law abiding, it also seemed to offer some chilling warnings.

This year, Bracken released the second novel in the trilogy. Domestic Enemies held onto the background established in the first novel, but added to it the probable result of continued unfettered illegal immigration into the country. Once again, the reality is striking even as the story holds the reader's interest.

After reading Domestic Enemies and finding myself genuinely fearful of some of the near future it outlines, I determined to speak with Matthew Bracken and discuss just how real his fiction might - unfortunately - prove to be. Mr. Bracken kindly agreed to answer some questions, and here is the result of our recent conversation.

Related Reading:

Lady Liberty's Review of Enemies Foreign and Domestic

Lady Liberty's Review of Domestic Enemies: The Reconquista

WarOnGuns Interview with Matthew Bracken

My GUNS Magazine review of Enemies Foreign and Domestic

My review of Domestic Enemies has been submitted to the magazine, and will be on the shelves in a few months--I'm told it's the issue they'll be promoting at the SHOT Show, so that ought to help with exposure.

[Thanks to Stieger]

This Day in History: October 15

A combined force of 1,000 British regulars, Hessians, Loyalists and Indians, led by Loyalist Sir John Johnson and Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant, attempts an unsuccessful attack upon Middleburgh (or Middle Fort), New York, on this day in 1780.

Methinks Bob Ricker Doth Protest Too Much

I'm the Executive Director of the American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA)and AHSA has neither fequested [sic] nor received funding from the Joyce Foundation. You need to check your facts and not just regurgitate NRA lies!
Posted by: Bob Ricker at October 13, 2006 03:26 PM

Yeah, Bob, I'm sure you're an expert at detecting regurgitated lies.

Also see: "Beware of Moles"

[Via SayUncle]

We're the Only Ones Exempt Enough

Mayor Miron wouldn't tell us if he had his gun with him during the interview today, but he says it shouldn't matter. He's experienced, he's licensed, and he says carrying his gun around town hall is perfectly legal...

[B]ecause town hall is across the street from the high school it's technically in a school zone, which could be a problem. But the town charter makes the mayor the chief law enforcement officer, so he says he would be exempt.

Talking about protecting himself and others notwithstanding, the guy lost me the minute he started waving licenses around, and judging by the comments from some of the citizens, I have no sympathy for them. But I'm exempt because I'm the Only One? I guess we'd better start calling the mayor "Your Lordship."

NOTE: I had problems viewing the story's accompanying video using Firefox, but was able to watch it using IE.

We're the Only Ones Combating Crime Enough

Police in Cape Town have opened a murder docket after a police inspector allegedly shot and killed his girlfriend at her flat in Worcester in the Boland.

[A] police spokesperson, says the on-duty policeman who works for the crime combating unit, then drove two kilometres away from the scene, and shot himself with his service pistol.

Just think how much worse things would have been had non-Only Ones been armed.

Physicians Heal Thyselves

Dr. Bruce Barker, a 50-year-old physician for Kaiser Permanente, was the key witness in the trial of Marvin Washington, who was accused of illegally possessing a gun outside the Holly Courts public housing project, where he lived, in San Francisco.

Barker testified that he had been at the housing project on the afternoon that Washington was arrested, and had seen a cellular phone -- not a gun -- in his right hand. But prosecutors said the story was impossible...

Prosecutors said a housing project security officer had reported hearing gunshots at about 5 p.m. and had seen Washington running with a gun toward the office...

A doctor working for Kaiser Permanente helping to cover up a "gun crime"? Not the same Kaiser Permanente that gets awards from Women Against Gun Violence?

It's Those "Other Purposes"

On Sept. 28, key rights guaranteed by our Constitution, plus the central tenet of the Magna Carta, were nullified by an act of Congress – specifically, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, "to authorize trial by military commission for violations of the law of war, and for other purposes." It's those "other purposes" you have to watch out for.

Theoretical question: If guns are banned and confiscation begins, and some Americans engage in coordinated defiance and resistance, will they be classified "unlawful enemy combatants"...?

[Via Stieger]

Campus RKBA Roundup #3

With all the furor going on in America's Dairyland over a proposed measure to make their schools less of a target for the disaffected and disturbed, I bring to you this week's Campus RKBA Roundup...

The Mad Hatter presents "The Cheesehead Edition."

This Day in History: October 14

In the early morning hours of October 14, 1780, a contingent of approximately 350 Patriot troops from the North Carolina and Virginia militias engages a group of British Loyalists, numbering between 400 and 900, at the Shallow Ford crossing of the Yadkin River in North Carolina.

We're the Only Ones All Fueled Up Enough

A man charged with the murder of 15-month-old Khensani Mitileni during this week's wild shootout in the Joburg CBD has killed himself.

He snatched a policeman's gun while in custody and shot himself in the chest...

At a petrol station in Greytown, while two policemen were apparently refuelling the car at 6.30am, the suspect managed to steal the firearm from the officer guarding him, police said.

Sure he did...

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

"There is No Need to Store a Firearm in Your Home"

The Motion to be tabled in the House of Commons calls for the establishment of Firearms Repositories in urban centres of more than 40,000 people. The Repositories will be secure installations where all firearms will be kept. Licenced firearms owners will have ready access to their weapons from the Repository.

“There is no need to store a firearm in your home if you live in an urban centre. ” Mr. Karygiannis further stated. “Those who live in rural areas need their firearms to protect their crops and livestock. This Motion will not stop all tragedies but if it prevents even one, it will have been effective.”

Jim Karygiannis said it, I believe it, that settles it.

Good news, though: Looks like the Canadians aren't falling for it.

Because the Law is What We Say it is

The state Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a city's restrictions on a gun show, but dissenters said the majority decision manages to circumvent state law that forbids cities from regulating gun shows on city property.

And we all know police chiefs would never abuse their authority and impose their political will in the name of public safety.

We're the Only Ones in Illinois

On Wednesday, we visited the Tammy Duckworth campaign to see what new political treachery is afoot in Illinois. Because I focused on only one aspect of the linked story, I've decided to revisit it to cover another important part:

Duckworth, surrounded by Illinois Fraternal Order of Police President Ted Street and Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said at a Lombard news conference that Roskam is "not looking out for the best interests of the 6th District."

The FOP standing hand-in-hand with gungrabbers--certainly no new development to those of us who have watched these things over the years, and their Illinois political endorsements offer no surprises in that regard.

So with their commitment to a disarmed citizenry well established, it's telling to find this on the front page of their official state newsletter:


Yep, we all know they've proven time and again how they're "The Only Ones" qualified to keep and bear arms. And they'll support the subversives, stump for the edicts and enforce the disarmament of their employers to prove it.

And if they have all the guns and no one else does, what's to stop them?

[Thanks to HZ]

Guess What I Am?

I know, you don't have to guess, you already know.

It's always nice to confirm that the antis really have no arguments outside of their indignant and ignorant anger--they certainly have no rational excuse for being such wretches.

I'm actually surprised this doesn't happen more, and a bit disappointed, because it's generally pretty entertaining.

This Day in History: October 13

On this day in 1775, the Continental Congress authorizes construction and administration of the first American naval force--the precursor to the United States Navy.

Oxymoron of the Day: BATFU Ethics

The man who recently departed as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ordered his staff to help with his nephew's high school homework, wasting the agency's time and violating ethics rules, an inquiry found Wednesday...

Fine received another anonymous letter Sept. 22 from a group that described itself as concerned ATF employees. The group argued that three ATF assistant directors also were mismanaging agency funds by commuting to work in government-owned cars, promoting relatives and arranging weeklong conferences for employees at resorts like the Hard Rock Casino in Los Vegas.

Looks like that kid'll make a fine BATFU agent, what with the ethics they're teaching him.

We actually ought to encourage this--every minute they waste is a minute they're leaving us alone.

Big Richard is Watching You

"By the time 2016 [rolls around], we'll have more cameras than Washington, D.C. ... Our technology is more advanced than any other city in the world -- even compared to London -- dealing with our cameras and the sophistication of cameras and retro-fitting all the cameras downtown in new buildings, doing the CTA cameras," Daley said.

And we all know how well they work in DC.

UK: Chips to Help Reel in Fish

Some customers are willing to have microchip implants as a means of paying in stores, a report out today says...Around 8 per cent of 13 to 19-year-olds were open to the idea of microchip implants...This compared to just 5 per cent and 12 per cent respectively for adults asked the same questions.

Any guesses on what per cent of these slave wannabes are open to the idea of sovereign individuals having an unalienable right to keep and bear arms?

This Day in History: October 12

On this day in 1776, British Generals Henry Clinton and William Howe lead a force of 4,000 troops aboard some 90 flat-boats up New York’s East River toward Throg's Neck, a peninsula in Westchester County, in an effort to encircle General George Washington and the Patriot force stationed at Harlem Heights.

Technical Difficulties

Been trying to post all morning--can't access Blogger--not just this site but all Blogspot sites.

Just got through after over an hour of trying. Will attempt a few quick posts, but am running out of time this morning and will attempt to post again this evening.

Ridicule No Substitute for Reality

Monday night on his show, [Stephen] Colbert aired a clip of Bellevue Republican Rep. Frank Lasee saying that Wisconsin should arm teachers in schools. Colbert concurred and took it a step further, arguing that teachers could also deal quality illegal drugs to students from their desks to make sure dealers don't sell on playgrounds. All with a straight face. Best of all, Colbert helped out Lasee by coming up with a winning name for his armed teacher plan: Chalk and Awe.

Ha ha. Armed adults protecting their young charges is a joke. Ha ha.

Or how about this:

The concept is almost as dumb as one coming from a Wisconsin state legislator over the weekend who suggested -- in the wake of the Amish school tragedy, no less -- that public school teachers and administrators be armed.

Belittle the idea. Tell people it's "dumb."

Stephen Colbert--now there's a guy who looks like he'd know what to do when the shooting starts. And I'll bet the anonymous York Dispatch editorialist would be equally competent. They offer nothing other than sanctimonious prejudice and smug, emotion-based opinion. They disregard the established fact that everywhere it's been tried, it's worked.

Thing is, with most Americans, the strategy of opinion shaping via emotionally-charged sound bites is effective. And elections are won by majorities.

Tammy Ducks Truth for All She's Worth

After a series of school shootings nationwide, Democratic congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth called Tuesday for "sensible" gun laws while accusing her Republican opponent, state Sen. Peter Roskam, of being a "rubber stamp" for the National Rifle Association...

"I have seen the effect of those weapons in military combat, and I can tell you there's no place for them in our communities or on our streets," Duckworth said, citing her experience in Iraq as a member of the Illinois Army National Guard.

Actually, Tammy, you never saw "those weapons" included in the expired federal ban, because it only pertained to select semiautomatic firearms. You've taken a page right out of the VPC playbook--intentionally confusing a public ignorant of the difference--one of the most effective PR lies the antis have dreamed up, but a lie nonetheless.

But everybody's supposed to roll over because Duckworth is a war hero. Today's "This Day in History" post should provide all the historical example we need that those who serve their country valiantly on the battlefield don't necessarily serve the cause of liberty with equal valor.

The Heirs of Liberty

Each morning, the 16,000 students in the Spring Independent School District in suburban Houston swipe their ID tags as they climb onto the school bus. A radio frequency tag tracks them, as it does when they arrive at school and as they leave the building.

Nearly 1,000 cameras watch them all day. Every visitor — parents, volunteers, the guy who fills the Coke machine — must surrender his or her driver's license to a secretary who checks it against a national database of sex offenders. This fall, nearly one in three schools literally trap visitors inside a "secure vestibule," a bulletproof glass room, until they're checked out.

From the people who bring us "gun free schools" come conditioning camps designed to produce inmates, not sovereigns.

And remember: Our enemies hate us because we’re free.

This Day in History: October 11

On this day in 1776, a British fleet under Sir Guy Carleton defeats 15 American gunboats under the command of Brigadier General Benedict Arnold at the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain, in what is now Clinton County, New York.

And ANOTHER "Senseless Child Gun Death"

A 3-year-old girl gunned down in her driveway after a trip to McDonald's was targeted in a callous attack by gang members, authorities said...

"He intended to kill her. This was a callous killing. It is beyond even what gangsters consider usual."

That does it. I'm getting rid of my guns right now. It's the only way.

Dan Rodricks' Nutty, Cheesy Blog

What comes from Wisconsin, full of cheese, and a little nutty on the outside?

No, it's not one of those nutty cheese logs you see at football parties.

It's the proposal to train and arm teachers to defend schools against violent wackos loaded with firearms.

What comes from Baltimore and is full of...well, we've already established that...

Another Senseless "Child Gun Death"

A 19-year-old man died early Monday in an apparent game of russian roulette, police said.

Police said that Juan Garcia, who had been drinking heavily...put the gun to his right temple and fired, but nothing happened...Witnesses told police that Garcia then put another bullet in the chamber and spun it and fired again...

If only they had disarmed you and me with some "common sense gun laws"...

When Babies Are Outlawed…

A woman used her 4-week-old baby as a weapon in a domestic dispute, swinging the infant through the air and striking her boyfriend with the child, authorities said.

…only outlaws will have babies.

This Day in History: October 10

General William Howe is named the interim commander in chief of the British army in America on this day in 1775, replacing Lieutenant General Thomas Gage. He was permanently appointed to the post in April 1776.

Because Just Being a Citizen Isn't Important Enough

Go ahead and check a box, any box, to tell these elitists what you think of servants who would rule.

UPDATE: Just to show I never ask anyone to do anything I'm not willing to do myself:


[Via Grandmaster Boom in KABA Comments]

"I've Heard ALL the Arguments..."

I've heard all the arguments over and over again for not only the right to bear arms but the unfettered manufacture and sales of all kinds of firearms -- even in the wake of tragedies such as Nickel Mines.

But my Sun mailbox is crammed with letters from the gun-obsessed with all the old arguments, including the one about how the Second Amendment guarantees us all the right to own guns, guns and more guns...

Your gun ownership makes you part of a well-regulated militia, that is, the National Guard. You must show up for training and exercises on a regular basis and, at the moment, be eligible for service in Iraq. That's what the amendment says: A well regulated militia, being necessary for the security of a free state, the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. What do you say? Are you ready to march on Tehran? [More]

Well, Dan, like most of your kind, you’re quick to offer an unfounded opinion, but are wrong on so many counts that pointing them out becomes an exercise in tedium. Good Lord, you represent yourself to be an informed professional, but you come off like a stupid, shallow child.

That’s because none of the stuff I am going to repeat here is new. It’s been around and available and used to expose your facile assertions as bunk for, in some cases decades, in others, centuries. But we continually point them out to your side ad nauseam, only to find you either haven’t been paying attention because you’re too fanatically locked into your subversive mindset, or you’re just too ignorant and lazy to look beyond your own self-imposed insulation.

Yet you say you’ve heard all the arguments. If that’s true, Dan, that makes you an intentional deceiver, because the documented truth is quite the opposite of what you represent it to be.

As for the militia of the Second Amendment being the National Guard, here’s what the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the United States Senate Ninety-Seventh Congress had to say:

Congress has established the present National Guard under its own power to raise armies, expressly stating that it was not doing so under its power to organize and arm the militia.

This understanding is codified under US Code, TITLE 10 - ARMED FORCES, Subtitle A - General Military Law, PART I - ORGANIZATION AND GENERAL MILITARY POWERS, CHAPTER 13 - THE MILITIA, Sec. 311. Militia: composition and classes:

(b) The classes of the militia are -
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.

Then we have the assertion that in order to claim the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, citizens must be members of a “well regulated militia.” No less an authority than Alexander Hamilton disagreed with you, writing in The Federalist No. 29:

To oblige the great body of the yeomanry, and of the other classes of the citizens, to be under arms for the purpose of going through military exercises and evolutions, as often as might be necessary to acquire the degree of perfection which would entitle them to the character of a well-regulated militia, would be a real grievance to the people, and a serious public inconvenience and loss...Little more can reasonably be aimed at, with respect to the people at large, than to have them properly armed and equipped…

I don’t expect you to pay any attention to this, Dan. I merely wanted to point out the obvious, and to put you on notice that an excuse has been taken from you. Now you really have heard some of the arguments, or at least had them made available to you. You do this again and we’ll all know you’re just a liar.

[Thanks to Mark P]

Un-American University

"What's depressing is how little people are pushing for gun control today. The public has grown numb about this kind of gun violence, and there is a sickening predictability to these shocking outbursts," said Jamin Raskin, a law professor at American University here.

What's depressing, Jamin, is how the legal profession, academia and the lapdog media recognize and reward an undisguised fifth columnist like you as a Constitutional authority.

I can almost forgive "authorized journalist" Virginie Montet. After all, she does write for a French news agency.

But you, Jamin. You're twisted, man. You're Orwellian--right down to operating out of "American University" in our nation's Capitol.

[Via Dan Gifford]

Well, It's Official

Monica Yant Kinney is ineducable.

This Day in History: October 9

On this day in 1775, just a few short months after commanding British soldiers during the Battle of Bunker Hill, General Sir William Howe writes to the British-appointed secretary of state for the American colonies, Lord Dartmouth, to inform him of his belief that the British army should be evacuated from Boston to Rhode Island. From there, British forces could move expeditiously to the southern colonies, without having to go around Cape Cod. As Lord Dartmouth had previously received reports that men were needed in the southern colonies from the likes of Josiah Martin, the royal governor of North Carolina, and John Murray, the royal governor of South Carolina, he ordered General Howe to send officers stationed in Boston to North Carolina to assist Martin in the southern campaign.

Rand Eggheads: "Gun Control" a Failure--We Must Fail Harder

Convicted felons and other people with criminal records have bought thousands of rounds of ammunition from gun stores in Los Angeles, even though such sales are illegal, according to a study released Thursday.

The Rand press release is here.

Here's what it boils down to: Gun control doesn't work. We need ammunition control.

It's not enough to keep a watchful eye on the 80 million or so gun owners and quarter billion or so guns in this country.

We need databases for every ammunition purchase. We need to be able to track the untold billions of rounds out there.

But we can't stop there.

We need to serialize and register primers and casings, and then track their purchasers. We need taggants in the powder so we know who bought which from which lot. The bullets themselves need to have some sort of identifier. And what can we do to make sure lead is traceable--no matter how many times it's remelted? Maybe something at the atomic level...?

Forget the failure in Canada, where bureaucrats wasted billions when they had promised only millions. By the time we're done, we're talking tracking trillions of individual components, which is a milieu the eggheads should find quite insulating as they promulgate their arcane machinations on the taxpayers' seemingly infinite supply of dimes.

And when they're all done figuring out their system and capitalizing the equipment and writing the software and generating the reports and staffing the agency and lobbying to fund it all--especially since the cost of this level of obsessiveness likely dwarfs the potential gross national product for the next few decades--and when they've multiplied everything by the square root of pi to once and for all determine out how many angels really can dance on the head of a pin, some troglodyte who couldn't pass 4th grade math will outwit the system, throw a wrench in their works and kill somebody with a gun that he stole using black market ammunition.

And the eggheads, undeterred, will pull out their slide rules, murmur amongst themselves in their grant-built ivory tower, and propose God only knows what as their next solution...

UPDATE: JR tells us a Los Angeles councilman wants to be on the leading edge of this foolishness. Figures.

[Thanks to Mike S.]

We're Ahead

But participation's pretty pathetic...

Educating Monica

Andrew Frechtling gives a wayward journalist a dose of truth. Will she be able to handle it?

Dear Ms Kinney –

You are correct about one thing in your column of 5 Oct (Tough gun laws can make a difference).

Tough gun laws increase violent crime by disarming the law-abiding and making criminals’ work safer and easier.

This table tells the tale.
In the first column, we list Pennsylvania and all its immediate neighbors. The second column lists the violent crime rate in each state per 100,000 persons, taken from the 2004 FBI Uniform Crime Report, which is the latest complete UCR available as I write.

The third column is the 2005 “grade” for each state from the Brady Campaign, formerly known as Handgun Control Incorporated. This represents an aggregate grade of several sub areas rated by the Brady Campaign. As might be expected, restrictive gun control practices, like arbitrary denial of concealed handgun permits, are rated “best” by the Brady Campaign. You’ll see that New Jersey ranks high because of just the sort of restrictive procedures you had to go through to buy a gun.

We see that the two least violent of Pennsylvania’s neighbors, West Virginia and Ohio, are rated as having the least restrictive gun control laws by the Brady Campaign. And the most violent of Pennsylvania’s neighbors - Maryland – ties with New Jersey as having the most restrictive gun laws in the region.

So there is little reason to believe that gun control laws have any positive effect on violent crime rates.

However, it is indisputable that armed citizens are able to fight back against criminals more effectively than unarmed citizens.

And to the extent that gun control laws work to discourage citizens from arming themselves, such laws make us less safe, not more.

Andrew Frechtling
Major, USAF (retired

Great letter, Major Frechtling. Thanks for letting me post it here. Please let me know if you get a reply that we can share.

Campus RKBA Roundup #2

I've been taking some time in the evenings to find some RKBA-related articles originating from our nation's campuses...

The Mad Hatter tells us what's on young minds and in young skulls.

This Day in History: October 8

A group of Continental Army soldiers under the command of Colonel William Butler launch an evening attack on Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant’s home village of Unadilla on the Susquehanna River in what is now Otsego County, New York, on this day in 1778. The assault was retaliation for Brant’s September 17 raid on the town of German Flats, New York.

You've Got Mail!

Letters are in the mail to more than 25-thousand gun permit holders in Berks County who may have had their personal information accessed.

Government. Is there anything it doesn't do well?

Damned Foraners Ruining it for Everybody

The Foran student approached another student in the hallway about 11:20 a.m. Friday and allegedly opened his backpack to reveal a pellet gun resembling a .45-caliber pistol...

What's with all these damned foraners either committing crimes with guns or demanding more "gun control"?

What?

Foreigners...?

Uh...never mind.

Demand to be a Victim

An 18-year old who was among the shooting victims at Dawson College last month is crusading for better gun control in Canada.

The Star's headline: "Shooting victim wants better gun control"

A more appropriate headline: "Man who won't defend himself demands all others be rendered just as contemptible"

Yeah, it's a tad long. Feel free to use the "Comments" to share the headline you would use.

Wyoming Sues BATFU

A federal agency is balking at a Wyoming law that allows people convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence to regain their right to own guns simply because the agency wants to take guns away from as many people as possible, a state lawyer told a federal judge Friday.

You can read about what some victims did to "earn" a lifetime federal ban here (along with a tale about an anti-gun celebrity who has inexplicably managed to avoid becoming firearms-disabled).

I've said it before, and I'll keep repeating myself:

If you can't be trusted with a gun, you can't be trusted without a custodian.

An Incomplete Question

Well, yeah, of course they should. But so should the rest of us.

Right now, amazingly, "our" side is losing, albeit less than 300 people have voted thus far. If you're into these kinds of things, follow the title link and add your opinion to the mix.

No, it won't change anything, but if we don't overwhelm them, the antis will bray about public support being on their side, so what the hell...why not take 30 seconds?

I'll check back on the results tomorrow morning when I post.

[Via Skip]

This Day in History: October 7

Patriot militia under Colonel William Campbell defeat Loyalist militia under Major Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of King's Mountain in North Carolina near the border with Blacksburg, South Carolina, on this day in 1780.

The Sting

Bloomberg had private eyes buy guns for felons? Isn’t that illegal, particularly since the mayor of New York and his private surrogates have no jurisdiction in other states? Isn’t that a criminal conspiracy? And doesn’t it violate federal as well as state gun laws?

“Investigators in New York City made illegal gun purchases in five states as part of an undercover investigation,” the Chicago Defender asserted. “Fifteen gun dealers made illegal sales during the two-month long sting.”

"The Sting," my Rights Watch column for the September issue of GUNS Magazine, is now online.

GUNS Magazine, October 1956

• Hunter safety is paramount in "Will You Kill a Man This Fall?"
• They said it couldn't be done, but the self-taught young man didn't know that. Learn about "The Impossible Shotgun of Carbine Williams" (including fascinating biographical information on a legend who almost spent his life in prison for the death of a deputy who raided his still).
• Enjoy classic ads of the period.
• And there's much more...

The October 1956 issue of GUNS Magazine is now online.

The Best Laid Plans...

Recognizing that "it can happen here," school systems in Southwest Louisiana are reviewing their safety plans in light of recent cases of school violence around the country.

"You and I know that if someone wants to walk onto a school campus with a gun, even with law officers at the schools, they can find a way to do it," Jeff Davis Assistant Superintendent David Clayton said.

No, duh.

And I don't suppose all those plans of yours include the only proven deterrent?

"Swelled"? You Sure You Don't Mean "Metastasized" ?

Mayor Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino announced yesterday that their coalition of mayors fighting for stricter gun-control laws has swelled to 109 from 15 since April.

Nice...uh...reporting,"authorized journalist" Greg Wilson! No one can ever accuse you of being a cheerleading shill for the police state who masquerades editorial support as straight news!

And "gun-ho"! How witty! Oh, my sides, they ache!

You professionals!

This Day in History: October 6

Sailing up the Hudson River to come to the aid of General Charles Cornwallis and the besieged British army at the Battle of Saratoga, General Henry Clinton and 3,000 British troops stop to launch an attack on Forts Clinton and Montgomery, in what is now Orange County, New York, in the early morning hours of October 6, 1777.

We're the Only Ones Overpowered Enough

Authorities were still searching for a man arrested on kidnapping charges who overpowered a female sheriff's deputy at a hospital yesterday and stole her gun.

How could this have happened?

I mean, the guy didn't even have Monica Yant Kinney's husband's permission...

Maybe he'll kill someone with the stolen gun and we can then:
A. Demand more citizen disarmament laws, and
B. Sue the dealer, distributor and manufacturer.

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

Monica Makes a Difference

In New Jersey, I faced a rigorous, intensely personal process with my local police department. I got to know my detective inquisitor by name, and he learned everything from my actual weight to the location of my tattoo.

He quizzed two friends about my state of mind and drinking habits. Even my husband got a say in my quest to arm myself.

Had I ever sought mental-health treatment - for anything from postpartum depression to anxiety - the detective had the right to ask my doctors whether they thought I was emotionally stable enough to own a gun.

I know it's wrong to make such superficial judgments, but is anyone really surprised that someone named "Monica Yant Kinney" is anti-choice when it comes to guns? What a perfect example of contradiction in what's passed off to the masses as "feminist thought." Following such "logic" to a generalized conclusion, the fragile dears are apparently incapable of making an important decision for themselves without permission from males and other authority figures.

So a woman needs her husband's permission to arm herself? What if he's the one she's arming herself against? Or let someone suggest that permission should be required from her husband to get an abortion and listen to the howls of outrage.

Be back in a minute...

Sorry--had to go purge the thought of the location of Ms. Yant Kinney's tatoo. Now where was I?

Oh, yeah, tell ya what Monica--you figure out a way to get the predatory reptiles to get your husband and your doctor's and the police's permission to get their guns, and then we'll talk.

We're the Only Ones "Sorry, Wrong Number" Enough

[D]eputies dumped out drawers, went through his wallet and checkbook, seized computers, CDs, floppy disks, VHS tapes and other material and refused to clean up the mess in the raid Sept. 27.

Half a dozen sheriff's vehicles converged on the house, and after taking photographs outside Hines told officers within hearing of the neighbors, "Now let's go inside and get some porn," the owner said...

Among the confiscated items were copies of "The Lion King" and "Snow White," found in a bedroom where the couple's granddaughter stays when she comes to visit, the man said.

Old boy's lucky he didn't "go for his waistband."

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

[Thanks to joe_2r25]

Is It Time to Arm Our Rural Schools?

One suggestion would be to follow the lead set by North Carolina, which since 1993 has had the state-based Center for Prevention of School Violence working to place armed School Resource Officers (SROs) inside its schools.

No, it's time for free sovereign individuals to keep and bear arms in all public places, including all schools, not just rural ones. Remember, Columbine had a trained "Resource Officer," and while he protected himself marvelously, when Harris retreated for easier prey, the officer did not pursue.

[Thanks to HZ]

This Day in History: October 5

On this day in 1775, General George Washington writes to the president of the Continental Congress, John Jay, to inform him that a letter from Dr. Benjamin Church, surgeon general of the Continental Army, to Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Gage, British commander in chief for North America, had been intercepted. Washington wrote, "I have now a painful tho' a Necessary Duty to perform respecting Doctor Church, Director General of the Hospital."

The TRUE Solution to End School Shootings

Ban Harry Potter.

Good Lord.

Cat Got Your Tongue, Wayne?

The recent school shootings have prompted the predictable tsunami of demands for further citizen disarmament.

Gun Owners of America has long condemned so-called "gun-free school zones," as has Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, and now the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

Why, at this posting, is their no official statement on any of the NRA websites in response to this turmoil? After all, they tell us they're the leaders in the Second Amendment movement, and they have the membership and resources to prove it.

The only statements we have on the Association's official position include the one Wayne LaPierre issued at the annual meeting in 1999:

First, we 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.

and president Sandra Froman's recent backpedaling:

The only people that ought to have firearms in the schools are law enforcement and trained security personnel.

It's past time for NRA members to repudiate LaPierre and Froman's positions and demand they change them to conform to the clear "shall not be infringed" intent of the Framers. That means there's an "or else" if they don't.

Big Brother Flops in DC

Many D.C. police said they had hoped that installing dozens of new surveillance cameras across the city would assist them in cracking down on crime, but the system does not appear to be working as planned.

But that doesn't mean the program will be discontinued--that just means there aren't enough cameras.

Maybe they need to start moving them into private spaces as well.

Good Lord, look at what dependency-conditioned humans are willing to subject themselves to in order to avoid personal responsibility for protecting themselves and their society.

[Via Jason M]

The Future of Gun Rights

The mid-term election will be held Tuesday, November 7, 2006, the results of which will determine the future of our gun rights. Will we return to the days of Rosie O'Donnell and the The Brady Campaign to Prevent "Gun Violence" demonizing gun owners and embarking on a national campaign to ban guns? Those were the days when lawmakers were passing anti-gun bills almost faster than they could write them up. Americans were fighting for their gun rights at the national, state, county, and city levels -- consecutively. It felt like a losing battle.

Jennifer Freeman warns us of peril in the upcoming election.

Problem is, who is really out there championing the Second Amendment? So many of our supposed friends refuse to take a leadership stand by proudly proclaiming support of the right to keep and bear arms and then educating their constituents as to why.

This Day in History: October 4

On this day in 1777, 11,000 Patriots under General George Washington attempt an early morning attack on British General William Howe's 9,000 British troops at Germantown, Pennsylvania, five miles north of the British-occupied capital city of Philadelphia.

How many think the Americans were fighting so that one day, Pennsylvania could enact stricter gun control laws?

Bush Organizing School Violence Summit

The Bush administration plans to bring education and law enforcement experts together for a conference on coming to grips with the problem and discuss federal action that can help communities prevent violence and deal with its aftermath, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters...

Perino said participants on the education side would include groups like the National Parent Teacher Association, school principals and teachers' unions. The Federal Bureau of Investigations would be among those representing law enforcement, she said.

Any bets they don't agree with the Harris/LaPierre solution?

[Hat tip to Free Constitution]

Point, Set and Match

"I think we should all understand, no proposed law, none that I would think of or none that I've seen, could have ruled out this situation," Rendell said.

What more is there to say?

Rest in Peace, Helen Chenoweth-Hage

Helen Chenoweth-Hage, an outspoken conservative who served three terms as Idaho'’s 1st Congressional District representative, died Monday after being thrown from a vehicle that overturned on an isolated central Nevada highway.

She was that rarest of political beings--one who kept her word, giving up power after promising to serve only three terms--not because she had to, but because she had said she would.

And she was a faithful champion for the Second Amendment.

First Prof. Covey, then Col. Cooper and now Rep. Chenoweth-Hage. We have lost three great leaders and friends in the last few weeks. I only wish more gun owners truly understood that, but, alas, most won't even be aware that anyone is missing.

Evil IS

And we can either let it devour us, or send it howling back into the darkness.

The Tennessee Waltz

Tennessee's Haynesworth suspended 5 games for stomping on lineman's head

Yeah, I know, this isn't gun-related, but a recurring theme on this site involves the elites getting special treatment not afforded us ordinary folk.

I expect if I stomped on a co-worker's face, I'd not only be immediately fired, but also arrested for assault and battery (if not attempted murder), plus sued for every cent I have. And deservedly so.

And this isn't the first time this time bomb has apparently gone off.

I guess the almighty dollar trumps doing the right thing and ostracizing this animal from civilized people.

Come to think of it, there is a gun tie-in. I want one if this beast is ever anywhere near me.

It's Not That Big a Deal

If people keep guns for self-defence, all that means is that burglars and so on carry guns as well. So someone who just wants to knock your house off for a heroin fix suddenly gets in a position where they might have to kill you, or be killed themselves. No-one who invades your home is going to want to add a murder rap unless they have to. I've been burgled, and really, it's not that big a deal. You just buy new stuff on insurance.

I wasn't going to post this initially because I didn't want to drive traffic to this unctuous fool's site, but you really do need to see what passes for a man in some Australian circles these days.

And judging by the comments, his readers agree with him.

[Thanks to Jason M]

This Day in History: October 3

On this day in 1781, British Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Dundas of the 80th Foot, leading 1,000 British troops, encounters French Brigadier General Marquis de Choisy, leading French troops and a battalion of the Virginia militia totaling 800 men. The action takes place in Gloucester, Virginia, across the York River from British-occupied Yorktown, which was under Patriot siege.

A False Attribution

Prof. Joe Olson has a request--if anyone comes across a "quotation" from him regarding a Scottish 18th century writer, please inform those you can that it's bogus...

Hope this helps in tracking down the spread...

Something like this could damage a man's reputation. Why do you suppose someone would want to do that?

I Won't Stick it in All the Way Part II

The gun laws being proposed are not intended to overturn the Second Amendment rights of citizens to own and carry guns, and we find it hard to fathom that many of the restrictions being proposed would cause undue harm to hunters or gun collectors.

I find it hard to fathom how anyone can be so intentionally stupid.

I Won't Stick it in All the Way...

But I don't get why people think all liberals want to take guns away.

Oh, gee. I wonder too.

"Gun control, not elimination?"

Is that anything like "We only want to rape you a little bit"?

Ignorant uninformed morons with opinions. Is there anything they don't know?

Campus Watch

OK, I'll admit...I was expecting to find anti-gun op-ed's all over the board when it came to discussions over gun rights. Surprisingly enough, I found a fairly good balance, which encourages me about our universities being places where a diversity of ideas can thrive.

The Mad Hatter finds reason for hope at our institutions of higher education. If enough people can help him locate college gun-related editorials, he's thinking of making this a regular feature, which is a wonderful idea.

This Day in History: October 2

Thirty-one-year-old British Major John Andre is hanged as a spy by U.S. military forces in Tappan, New York, on this day in 1780.

They didn't mess around in those days, did they?

Punked

It seems celebrity couple Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, who tied the knot a year ago, demand fidelity from each other at gun point.

The Hollywood actor has revealed that he and Moore purchased shooters just after they got married, and that now he's convinced neither one of them will ever stray.

"We got guns and that helps... She was working on a movie in Louisiana and so we went out and both got (guns). She got a Glock and I got a Springfield"...

"I actually took this boy that Scout was dating out at our place in Idaho and I would, like, carry the gun around in my side at all times just so he knew... Subtle hints," he said.

I'm delighted to see some high profile celebrity gun owners. But implying lethal force against people who aren't an immediate physical threat really doesn't help with a reputation for responsible gun ownership most of us have earned.

It would be nice to see an "A-list" movie star or two explain why they believe in the right to keep and bear arms, and to do so in a way that shows they're more than ankle-deep into the pool. As opposed to the socialist nonsense most of them spew whenever they have a camera and no script in front of them.

Monumentally Important Correction: I guess the title of Ashton's MTV show is "Punk'd", with an apostrophe instead of an "e." S'cuse me for not keeping up with the latest modern, now, au go go trends, especially since I've always considered myself kind of cutting-edge swell...I mean, groovy. Guess I've been owned--or is that pwned?

We're the Only Ones Contaminating Enough

GUNSHOT residue found on the hand of a woman wrongly accused of a shooting came from the weapons of officers involved in her arrest.

The gunshot traces are believed to have been transferred by police who had handled guns before arresting Bundaberg woman Debbie Drews for attempted murder in 2004.

Which makes me wonder how many convictions have been obtained when DNA has been similarly transferred...

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

We're the Only Ones Blowing Out Our Br...Candles Enough

A sheriff’s deputy showing a handgun to friends at his birthday party accidentally shot himself in the face, killing himself, authorities said Saturday...

The sheriff’s office said alcohol was believed to have been involved.

No, duh. That probably explains it.

Hold on, wait a minute...

"Sometime during the evening, he picked up the handgun and was showing it around when it accidentally discharged, killing him.”

Not again!

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

[Thanks to Alphecca]

An Open Letter to Morton Marcus

This may surprise you, but the original intent of the 2nd Amendment was to protect the people (you can fall into arguing the false dichotomy of whether it's an "individual" right or a "state" right--for our purposes here it doesn't matter) from their government. That's right; it's not about shooting ducks. (Can you imagine if the right were "interpreted" to mean that you could pick tomatoes? That's how stupid the "hunters' rights" argument is.) It's about shooting soldiers and policemen. Now, you may be uncomfortable with this. But my copy of the U.S. Constitution is silent on the subject of Mr. Marcus's comfort level. Maybe it's missing a page.

Here's another great take on Moron Marcus. My only point of contention: "Well regulated" meant a bit more than "equipped".

Hey Terence--nice to hear from you again. Great template you picked for your new blog :)

This Day in History: October 1

On this day in 1776, Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris receive information that the French are going to purchase arms and ammunition in Holland and send them to the West Indies for use by the American Patriots. Meanwhile, Silas Deane, the secret congressional agent in France, wrote to Congress pleading for information, "...For Heaven's sake, if you mean to have any connection with this kingdom (France), be more assiduous in getting your letters here."

Second Amendment Carnival V

Free Constitution links us to "the best 2nd Amendment coverage the blogosphere has to offer."

U of Florida: Because Passive Resistance Worked So Well at Columbine and Dachau

The goal of passive resistance is to think and talk your way out of the situation. With passive resistance you can:

Try to calm the attacker. Try to persuade him not to carry out the attack.

Try to discourage the attacker. Pretend to faint, cry hysterically, and act mentally incapacitated or insane.

If you are at your residence, tell the attacker a friend is coming over or that your spouse or roommate will be back soon.

Not to be contrary, but they forgot to tell you to vomit.

Some people carry weapons to ward off attackers. Unless you are trained and not afraid to use these weapons, they can be very dangerous. The attacker might be able to turn them against you. Also weapons are prohibited on the University of Florida campus.

And the campus police are here to make sure you obey the law. Besides, you don't want to end up like Josephine.

Oh, wait...

Josephine Confounds the "Experts"

Eighty-two-year-old Josephine Slater never even flinched when she was confronted by a masked bandit with a sawed-off shotgun inside her Midland bar and restaurant.

The owner of Josephine's Bar and Restaurant calmly threw $1 bills at the man and then pulled out a loaded handgun that she keeps under the counter.

"If you don't get out of here, I'll shoot you right now," the octogenarian told the would-be robber. "I'm not about to put up with any crap right off the street."

Josephine, Josephine...

Don't you know you should have just given him what he wanted?

After all, "We don't encourage people to take that kind of risk. [You] could have been hurt."

What if he'd taken your gun away from you?

Remember, "Use of a firearm to protect yourself or property is not recommended."

A. Spineless Maroon

This comment entry is too good not to highlight.

Mad Hatter Seeking Madder Mortarboarders

[A]fter reading a couple of campus Op-Ed articles relating to gun rights issues, I thought I'd take some time this weekend to hunt several of them up and tell everyone what sort of opinions are being generated in higher academia.

If anyone is interested in pointing me to some articles they've found (via email or posting replies to my blog), I'll be happy to include them in this little project.

Here's the post I have on my blog announcing the project.

If you could get word around, I'd appreciate it.

The Mad Hatter is looking for some people in need of schooling on RKBA!

Here's my contribution. If you can help him out with more articles, please do.

This Day in History: September 30

In a letter to his nephew, Lund Washington, plantation manager of Mount Vernon, General George Washington writes on this day in 1776 of his displeasure with the undisciplined conduct and poor battlefield performance of the American militia. Washington blamed the Patriot reliance on the militia as the chief root of his problems in the devastating loss of Long Island and Manhattan to the British.

He ought to see the sorry state of the militia, Long Island and Manhattan today.