Police Magazine Poll on Gun Ownership

This partial page is from the March 2007 issue of Police Magazine (posted under the "Fair Use" doctrine because I could find no online link). Just so we're clear--even though most admit "gun control" won't make them safer or stop violent crime, and even though most admit to owning multiple guns themselves, almost two-thirds of "The Only Ones" surveyed think your right should be licensed by the state, and over a third said they would assist in confiscating them if ordered.

Bear in mind if they admit to this anonymously for a magazine survey, how many more would be likely to resist the awesome pressure of direct orders under the threat that their careers will be over with no pension if they disobey?

The next time someone says that only politically opportunistic police chiefs and administrators support "gun control" while the "rank and file" support the Second Amendment, you might want to point them to these results.

[Via Bounty Hunter]

What Limits on "the Militia" (That Would Be You and Me)?

Self-defense is a self-evident human right. Thankfully, a court finally has reaffirmed that the Constitution and common sense are in alignment on your right to defend yourself, using reasonable force (i.e. a handgun, but not a bazooka) within your own home.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to be forced to use a bazooka inside my home--it would not only make one hell of a mess of things, but to need one would indicate a dire situation indeed.

And not meaning to open the door on the right of Al Qaeda to carry live anthrax strains and suitcase nukes on board commercial airliners, but Dennis, it seems you're penning us in a bit tighter than the Framers intended. For instance, there was Tench Coxe, who said:

Congress has no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier...

That leads to the question of who has authority to declare such limits, and importantly, where do they derive it?

And then we have the Constitutional authority for Congress to enlist private individuals with Letters of Marque and Reprisal, which would make for very difficult operations if small arms are all we are "authorized" to keep.

It makes for an intriguing discussion--the dividing line between slippery slope and the Constitution not being "a suicide pact," a term I've often found that discourages thinking things through. I'd be interested in hearing your comments.

I have my own ideas and I'll weigh in tonight.

[Via HZ]

When Wayne Isn't There

It's a simple fact that the police can't be everywhere at all times, and in some small towns that may mean they're not even at the station 24 hours a day.

But it's a sobering reminder that ultimately we're responsible for our own safety and protection. The police can't be our 'round-the-clock bodyguards, but they can be the first to find us dead.

How true, Wayne.

But you advocate being defenseless on school campuses.

When are you going to apologize for that and work to repeal such citizen disarmament edicts instead of endorsing them?

[Via John Schaefer]

This Day in History: March 20

Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee present themselves to France’s King Louis XVI as official representatives of the United States on this day in 1778. Louis XVI was skeptical of the fledgling republic, but his dislike of the British eventually overcame these concerns and France officially recognized the United States in February 1778.

Carnival X

Over at Stan's.

I had to find out from SayUncle.

An Obvious Solution

Two weeks ago, residents received a [letter? notice?] from their homeowners' association indicating that guns are not allowed on the property.

So defy this stupid rule, fire the board and elect new officers. These people are supposed to work for you.

Oh, wait...

Here's Looking at YOU, Kids

New research suggests playing action video games that involve firing guns such as "Gears of War," Lost Planet," and "Halo" can improve your eyesight.

I wouldn't be surprised if the same phenomenon occurs from shooting real guns. Tell me as a kid you wouldn't have rather heard "Let's go to the range" than "Eat your carrots--they're good for your eyes."

Plus it'll have the side benefit of sticking it to anti-gun pediatricians.

Sick People

"These are sick people," he said in January when questioned about the giveaway at the Mayors Against Illegal Guns summit in the District. "And if they think that this is funny, I don't think that the parents or the spouses or the children of those that get killed with illegal guns would find that very entertaining."

How about the relatives of those killed with "legal guns," Bloomberg, you loathsome traitor?

BATFU: Puerto Rico Going to the Dogs Because of US Freedom

Authorities complain that airline regulations make it tougher to transport a dog to Puerto Rico than a suitcase full of guns and ammunition.

Yeah, and Teddy Bears are more highly regulated than guns--at least when it comes to flammability of stuffing and plastic eyes that can't be pulled off and swallowed.

Good grief.

It's true here, too. There is no requirement to certify your firearm has had current shots. You don't need to put it in an approved pet handling cage. And you don't have to pay extra for the container it is in as long as you haven't exceeded your luggage allotment.

Heavens!

Oh, and by all means never transport firearms less than 8 weeks old, and you may want to place an old blanket in their container for comfort.

Looks like the creepy BATFUers have found themselves another apples and oranges sound bite to exploit. And "fair and balanced" FOX News is either too dumb or complicit to dig just a tiny bit deeper.

Alistair's Glass House

The black kids got on the bus and the driver shut the door. Riley ran across the front of our car and tried to get onto the bus. You could hear screams. Riley was smiling and tried to pry open the door. He swung the pipe at the door and busted the glass. Then he swung at the nearest window and caved it in. He kept busting windows until the bus pulled away. Up until that point it was the most terrible thing I’d ever witnessed, I think, and I think about it all the time. The look on his face. The kids in the bus.

Meanwhile, Alistair Highet was helpless to do anything against a rampaging adolescent animal threatening lethal violence except be horrified. Tell me that the driver simply revealing a holstered pistol wouldn't have sent young "Riley" scurrying.

And Alistair has the gall to refer to others who do not share his despicable helplessness as "cowards." Sounds like resentment to me.

Is it really a surprise Riley targeted him at the dance, as opposed to boys who could handle themselves?

[Via Dan Gifford]

This Day in History: March 19

On this day in 1734, Patriot politician Thomas McKean is born to Scots-Irish Presbyterian parents in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He will eventually serve as president of the state of Delaware, president of the U.S. Congress under the Articles of Confederation and chief justice of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court.

New WarOnGuns Poll: Have You Bought a Copy of "In Search of the Second Amendment"?

Take the new poll in the left margin. This week I'm trying to gauge the effectiveness of my efforts here at WarOnGuns to persuade you to procure a copy of David Hardy's documentary. Here are links if you haven't already read my GUNS Magazine review or my interview with Hardy.

Here are the results of last week's poll (click on image to enlarge):



Most of you think SCOTUS will once more duck the critical issue of our time. I hope you're wrong.

Where Credit is Due

See, this is where so-called “conservative” news outlets are either ignorant of the particulars or flat out BS’ing us—either one being inexcusable when presenting themselves as "authorities" on the matter. Plain and simple, NRA tried to kill this case— first, they advised the lawyers representing Parker and the others not to pursue it. When that didn’t work, they filed a copycat complaint that added complications and tried to get the courts to merge their case with Parker—over the objections of its attorneys. Then, when that was not approved, their political allies began working on a bill where congress would overrule the DC gun control, which would have made a court ruling on Parker unnecessary.

I take on some Kool-Aid vendors.

A Cryptic Subterranean "Only Ones" Twofer

From Jay.Mac:

These just keep coming- I see what you mean about not deliberately looking for them too.

Remember the police officer in the UK who was caught doing 159mph? He was acquitted, then found guilty and has now been let off again. All because of his “skills”.

http://crypticsubterranean.blogspot.com/2007/03/job-benefits.html

and:

Another for your files- Baltimore police sprang into action to arrest a 7 year old for sitting on a bike on the sidewalk. Not only did they forcibly drag him off the bike and yell at him, they arrested him, handcuffed him to a bench in the station and interrogated him.

http://crypticsubterranean.blogspot.com/2007/03/only-ones-catch-master-criminal.html

I think I may be beginning to see why Baltimore has a crime problem…

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

Red's Under Fire

Red's Trading Post is currently under fire from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). On March 5th our license to acquire firearms was revoked and is pending appeal in federal court. In the meantime we are still able to continue selling as we always have.

A 2004 audit by the ATF claims to have uncovered several minor clerical errors. Out of nearly10,000 firearms transferred between 1996 and 2004, the alleged error rate found was not even a full percentage point. There were no missing firearms, and no willful illegal acts.

This is not just happening to us though and is becoming a common trend throughout the United States...

Also see the Times-News article.

This link was sent to me by "ChareltonHest," who makes some important observations:

It appears to be the usual purging of gun dealers, but the thing that really bothers me is the "patriot" response to the incident as seen on several forum boards. I think "we" have really lost our way. Everyone jumps on the victim, because today being a "good gun-owner" is taking pride in your ability to jump through all the master's hoops and survive all the "laws". We think we are somehow good because we are "law-abiding"(not necessarily a term to be proud of), while the victim in not. Not realizing that when it is our turn, the enemy will have a way of making us "law-un-abiding".

We will wish we came to the aid of such people that came under fire, instead of abandoning them. We do not hang together for this reason, and then we wonder why it gets worse. I think the MSGM (Mainstream Gun Movement) is politically-correct and over-concerned about their image in the face of criticism. We worry about how we will be viewed when targeted by the dishonest accusations of the enemy, and make the mistake of capitulating to their ridiculous arguments, instead of refuting them. We have adopted the NICS, whimpered about how we are "law-abiding" while the enemy uses the color of the law to deprive us of our rights, and turn our backs on people like Ryan(the dealer) because he tripped on the bureaucratic red-tape trip-wires that were put there for the very purpose of driving dealers out of business.

If you really want to grind my gears, let me read some chatroom warrior criticizing a gun owner for getting busted with a complaint along the lines of "He knew better and chose to break the law. He deserves what's coming. He makes us all look bad."

We're the Only Ones Getting Our Butts Kicked Enough

John Coffin won't spend any more time in jail for beating up two sheriff's deputies inside his house, striking one in the head with a Taser gun he took from the other...

But Coffin, 56, had a right to defend his family and property because the deputies had no right to be in Coffin's house in the first place...

This is the kind of stare decisis I culd live with.

[Via Vinnie]

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

This Day in History: March 18

After four months of widespread protest in America, the British Parliament repeals the Stamp Act, a taxation measure enacted to raise revenues for a standing British army in America.

The Parker Decision – Should Knife Owners Celebrate?

While the decision concerned Washington, D.C.’s ban on handguns, the majority opinion did provide some discussion of the nature of the “arms” protected by the Second Amendment, which potentially include edged weapons.

Attorney David Wong examines an area of RKBA overlooked when we focus exclusively on guns.

[Via Doug Ritter]

Unintended Consequences

From "TF":

I recently finished reading "Unintended Consequences" by John Ross, and it really lit the fire of revolution (hypothetically, of course :) in my belly. I want to get others to read this, but was kind of surprised that the book was kind of hard to find, and thusly not read by a portion of the gun owner population. I've been trying to get people to read the book, but they're turned off by the size. While I was also turned off by the size, when I heard that the F troop tried to stop its publishing, and threatened sellers (documented) my interest was piqued. Once I started, I couldn't put it down and hundreds of pages flew by.

...I think much of the gunny population would benefit by a reminder of the incredibly important piece of literature some of them are missing.

Right you are, TF. I read it when it first came out, before I'd started this blog or began writing for magazines. So now is as good a time as any to remind everyone of this important book, one that I believe will still be relevant and timely for many years to come.

And if you haven't seen it, Mr. Ross has an FAQ page that will benefit both those who have and have not yet read his book.

We're the Only...What Was That Address Again...?

[Use BugMeNot to bypass site registration]

Four days after more than a dozen heavily armed police officers raided her Elgin home, Betty Granger got the news she was waiting for early Thursday: The city would repair the damage—pronto.

The Granger's are damned lucky the damage can be repaired. I couldn't help but focus on Betty's statement:

"I asked the officers why they did this, and they said they got a tip that there were guns in the house," said Betty Granger, 60. "I told them that if they had just asked us, if they had just knocked on the door and asked, I would have let them search the house."

Without a warrant, Betty?

And like "The Only Ones" need to ask.

[Via HZ]

Arm the Herbivores

Nevada lawmakers introduced a bill during Wednesday's session that, if passed, would allow teachers to pack heat. Senate Bill 286 would authorize teachers to carry concealed weapons on school grounds, during school hours.

The "authorized journalist" just couldn't resist creating an emotional reflex, could he? "Pack heat." What is this, a Cagney movie? And if NBC declares the idea of being able to protect oneself and others a "throwback," then, by golly, it must be. After all, this is straight news, not an opinion piece.

I guess this bill could be considered an incremental step in the right direction if you go for that sort of thing. On the other hand, here we go creating another special class of "Only Ones." And it's not like unionized public school teachers have a reputation for being RKBA activists, and the cud chewer they milked a comment from seems to bear me out on this. Essentially, he's admitting he's not man enough to defend himself, but he expects another man to risk his life protecting him.

Me, I'm wondering who the hell's business it is if any responsible citizen is armed, and what kind of total a****** would want to punish those who are.

[Via Larry Rankin]

We're the Only Ones Blasting from the Past Enough

Jeffersonian points to an "Only Ones" story in the March 1957 issue of GUNS Magazine (p. 10, under "Guns in the News):

Police Chief W. E. Traylor of Petersburg, Va., ordered daily target practice for his men after they fired 21 times at a restaurant burglar they were set for and failed to even score a scratch wound.

We're the Only Ones...Well, Not Exactly, But There ARE Fewer than 10 of Us...

New Haven's narcotics unit will be shut down after its head and a detective were charged with theft in an FBI sting, and the probe likely will result in more arrests, the city's police chief said Wednesday...

“I think what you're seeing here today is just a sampling of what's to come,” Ortiz said outside U.S. District Court in Hartford. He did not elaborate, except to predict there would be fewer than 10 arrests.

I like the head perp's mouthpiece in another article telling us he "has received numerous awards and honors."

Yeah, he sounds like a real honorable guy, the kind only a corrupt "Only One" can be.

[Via Anonymous and Mopar]

A Relative Explanation

Six weeks before his deadly rampage at Trolley Square mall, Sulejman Talovic proudly showed three young relatives the 12-gauge shotgun, .38-caliber revolver and black backpack of ammunition he had collected...

Faced with disbelief, Talovic offered "proof." He took the teens into his basement bedroom and opened a small closet.

I've highlighted comments on a couple occasions now by Talovic's father, a man understandably in a hell I pray I'll never know, but who, in his desperate grasping to find something other than soul-rending agony, is looking in the wrong places for answers.

Let me just offer this: There is no way there will be guns stored in my house that I am unaware of. It's becoming pretty obvious there was a dynamic going on in that house and in that family that wasn't being addressed.

[Via HKL]

This Day in History: March 17

On this day in 1776, British forces are forced to evacuate Boston following General George Washington's successful placement of fortifications and cannons on Dorchester Heights, which overlooks the city from the south.

Too bad we can't force Thomas Menino and his forces to evacuate, but based on results, the majority of the herd likes things the way they are.

We're the Only Ones with Editorial Discretion Enough

Under the law, only journalists -- not the general public -- can obtain the information but they cannot copy it. The requests highlight the increasingly murky definition of journalists in the age of the Internet...

Ohio law says a journalist is a person who works for a newspaper, magazine, radio or television station "or a similar medium."

So basically, under Ohio law, a free citizen who carries on the tradition of the early pamphleteers of the Republic is not an "authorized journalist," but a propagandist for, say Al-Jazeera or People's Weekly World (or something really subversive, like The Los Angeles Times) is...

Isn't it great, that "The Only Ones" get to decide who the government watchdogs are? And we've seen how responsible and devoted to liberty their "appointees" have turned out to be...

I could help out, but have mixed feelings--yes, I am one of those dreaded "AJs" I'm constantly railing against--I fit the definition of Ohio's law, right alongside my Pravda colleagues: I work for a magazine and have a press card (which I've never used), so technically, I could requisition the names on their behalf. But I'm so dead set against the idea of lists that--even if the Ohio gun activists intend to use the information to promote a greater good, I'd struggle with the ends justifying the means. It boils down to it's really none of my damn business if you or anyone else carries concealed, and just because I could get access doesn't mean I should--not that anybody has asked me to stick my big, fat nose in this, mind you.

I'd be interested in feedback on this. If you had "press credentials," would you volunteer to help get this information? Why or why not?

[Via Buckeye Firearms Association]

We're the Only Ones Filching and Firing Enough

A policeman who said he was shot by an unknown assailant actually shot himself with a gun he stole from the police department's property room, Dayton police Chief Julian Davis said Wednesday.

So the Fink is now on paid sick leave. And Awwwww..."he didn't reach out to anybody to tell us what was going on."

How very "Oprah" of you, Chief. Do you invest yourself emotionally with all common thieves, or just the lying, authority-abusing ones who need a throwaway piece for use on citizens?

But there I go being cynical. I'm sure the same treatment and concern would be extended to the rest of us non-"Only Ones" as well.

What? We'd be cuffed to the bed railing in the jail infirmary? No way...

The New Mantra

If the Supreme Court gets this case and clearly upholds gun ownership as a right, it should at least deflate the political battle by ruling that courts should use only the most limited scrutiny in challenging gun laws. Firearms ownership must be treated as much as a privilege as a right.

This is the same bulls*** argument our buddy Erwin tried to pull the other day, so it appears the talking points have been distributed. "Limited scrutiny," or a variant thereof, is the new mantra we can expect to see more of.

And no, you arrogant fools at The Monitor--my rights are not privileges dependent on your or anyone's approval, and to imply there is any Constitutional basis to make this so is quite simply a damnable lie.

The outrageous travesty that property rights have been eroded through treasonous precedents is more a benchmark for how far we have allowed the ideals of liberty to be degraded by collectivism; it's certainly no justification for spreading the cancerous erosion to other foundational supports of the Republic.

Wayne Fincher Update: March 16

Per Paul W. Davis, the docket has been updated.

[More about Wayne Fincher via WarOnGuns]

This Day in History: March 16

On this day in 1751, James Madison, drafter of the Constitution, recorder of the Constitutional Convention, author of the “Federalist Papers” and fourth president of the United States, is born on a plantation in Virginia.

Late Start

Didn't sleep well last night, plus fighting an oncoming cold. Got up later than normal, still expected at work to keep some commitments, so that's it for this morning's blogging. I know this is less content than usual--I'll be happy to give everybody their money back. I may have something more this evening. Until then...

The Wise Guy

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit interpreted the Second Amendment as bestowing on individuals a right to have guns.

No it did not either, Erwin. You've been spinning your subversive interpretation of the Second Amendment for more years than I can remember, but I'm not going to let you get away with a damned lie that anyone who can read can disprove.

While acknowledging that the district court "held that the Second Amendment...does not bestow any rights on individuals except, perhaps, when an individual serves in an organized militia" (the only use of the word "bestow" in the entire document), the panel majority specifically noted:

The wording of the operative clause also indicates that the right to keep and bear arms was not created by government, but rather preserved by it...Hence, the Amendment acknowledges “the right...to keep and bear Arms,” a right that pre-existed the Constitution like “the freedom of speech.” Because the right to arms existed prior to the formation of the new government...the Second Amendment only guarantees that the right “shall not be infringed.”

So try that spin on someone who ain't watchin', Prof.

As for the rest of your subversive screed, you and yours keep claiming you have equal weight of scholarship on your side as far as founding intent goes, but you always seem to come up short on documentation from the time the Constitution was written and ratified to back your claim that the Founders intended the government, and particularly the federal government, to be able to disarm the people.

That's so stupid it's laughable.

And as far as your proposal to apply less than strict scrutiny to an article in the Bill of Rights, how convenient that you believe this ought only apply to the Second--but I guess in order for that to happen, we need to drop this individual rights nonsense and just take you at your demonstrably worm-tongued word for things, right Erwin?

Tell me something--have you ever had a really sharp kid, one who's mind hasn't been clouded by the Stalinist nonsense that passes for public education these days--stand up in one of your lectures and proceed to demonstrate how utterly and irremediably pompous and full of crap you are?

Not impressed, bub. Especially with this latest clumsy bit of whining subversion.

I know GOP apologist Hugh Hewitt considers you one of "The Smart Guys." From where I sit, I just can't see it. You look like just another bloviating pinko to me.

Wayne Fincher Update: March 15

In unrelated proceedings, Stilley was dismissed last week as the defense attorney for Hollis Wayne Fincher, a Washington County resident convicted in January of possessing illegal, unregistered weapons. According to a report in The Morning News, Fincher cited irreconcilable differences with the attorney and requested another defender for the sentencing phase of his trial.

Stilley, who was privately retained, said he was permitted to go to the federal courthouse in Fayetteville to be formally dismissed. Fincher awaits a court-appointed defender.

Please note the new address for Wayne's defense fund, per his daughter:
The Wayne Fincher Defense Fund
PO BOX 215
Elkins Arkansas 72727

[More about Wayne Fincher via WarOnGuns]

This Day in History: March 15

On the morning of March 15, 1783, General George Washington makes a surprise appearance at an assembly of army officers at Newburgh, New York, to calm the growing frustration and distrust they had been openly expressing towards Congress in the previous few weeks. Angry with Congress for failing to honor its promise to pay them and for its failure to settle accounts for repayment of food and clothing, officers began circulating an anonymous letter condemning Congress and calling for a revolt.

We're the Only Ones Telephonic Enough

Two female Sacramento County sheriff's deputies have resigned over allegations that they had phone sex with jail inmates while on duty.

Mmmmm....oh, yeah, baby, you're "The Only One" who makes me feel this way...

A CARE Package for Christian

Extra police patrols were ordered Tuesday at the home of a newspaper editorial writer after a suspicious package was delivered there following a storm of criticism of a column he wrote about concealed weapons permits...

Trejbal's column Sunday was accompanied by an online database that listed the names and addresses of more than 135,000 Virginians who are licensed to carry concealed weapons...

Sisson said police will make extra patrols around Trejbal's house "until we feel there's no threat."

Ol' Christian seems a mite jumpy. There's no indication the package was intended as a threat. Think he might be having second thoughts on endangering his countrymen to get some cheap attention? And "extra patrols"? Why waste police resources defending someone who obviously considers himself too...French to defend himself? Does he really expect another man to endanger himself doing what he will not?

Great Firewall of China to be Fortified

China will tighten controls on Internet blogs and webcasts in a response to new technologies that have allowed cyber citizens to avoid government censorship efforts, state press reported Tuesday.

Evil bastards always try to find a way to snuff out the embers of freedom, don't they?

Chinese patriots--come here while you still can.*



And remember: DEATH to Jingjing and Chacha!

*Test your site at greatfirewallofchina.org

Crime in Gun-Free UK

There seems to be a direct correlation between the lack of gun ownership and the lack of personal responsibility.

Jennifer Freeman of Liberty Belles nails it.

We're the Only Ones Judging Enough

In addition to domestic abuse, he is charged with not having a firearms identification card because a weapon was found in his home.

Welcome to the world of the non-"Only Ones," your Honor.

[Via 45superman]

A Daughter's Plea

Yes, please send letters more the better. Any information that you or anyone could give my dad at this time would be helpful. Support is still needed and wanted. All help is wanted, anyone that can give some advice please feel free to write dad. Any help that can be provided will be greatly appreciated. Keep his Second Amendment right issue alive because it is the true issue. The cards were stacked against our dad before the court even began. All efforts will be exhausted on our end to "FREE WAYNE". Sincere thanks for past present and future efforts.

Wayne Fincher's daughter doesn't want us to forget about her dad.

We've covered everything out there about this case since it began. You know the situation and you know the need.

Won't you please join me and help out? It doesn't have to be much--write a brief letter of encouragement and support. If you can spare it, send a few bucks to help the man defend himself. Anything.

Oh, and if you have a blog? How about joining "The Ring"?

Send letters to:

Hollis Wayne Fincher
c/o Sebastian County Jail
801 South A Street
Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901

Donations by check can be made to:

The Wayne Fincher Defense Fund
PO BOX 215
Elkins Arkansas 72727

[More about Wayne Fincher via WarOnGuns]

"Not on this Planet"

"All I can say is, imagine a 10-year-old girl asleep in bed and two grown men standing over her and pulling the covers off her, and she is having a lucid conversation with them," Grimes said. "I don't think that 10-year-old girl exists. Not on this planet, anyway."

Cryptic Subterranean doesn't think things add up in this home invasion update.

This Day in History: March 14

On this day in 1776, Alexander Hamilton receives his commission as captain of a New York artillery company. Throughout the rest of 1776, Captain Hamilton established himself as a great military leader as he directed his artillery company in several battles in and around New York City. In March 1777, Hamilton’s performance came to the attention of General George Washington and he was commissioned lieutenant colonel and personal aide to General Washington in the Continental Army.

Lie of the Day

College students can now opt for a gun-free environment

No they can't. If someone brings a gun into their environment, they will be utterly powerless to do anything about it.

No law enacted by any politician will change that basic truth.

They may as well have established "Gravity Free Zones".

Muster Call: Chicago ISRA Rally Tomorrow

Gun owners from across Illinois will be descending on the state capitol on Wednesday to express their opposition to slew of gun control bills being pushed by Chicago mayor, Richard Daley.

Let's hope so.

I know "our side" works, but if Illinois gun owners really don't care enough to take a day to do this, then I'm afraid we can't expect anything from them when really serious sacrifices are required.

If you live in or near the "Land of Lincoln," go. Get your gun owning friends, press them if they make excuses, and go.

Shedding Light on Christian Trejbal

I can hear the shocked indignation of gun-toters already: It's nobody's business but mine if I want to pack heat.

Au contraire. Because the government handles the permitting, it is everyone's business.

"Au contraire." Figures he'd use French.

Readers are beating this odious punk up pretty good over in the article's comments section. Hopefully it'll result in some canceled subscriptions.

[Via KABA Newslinks]

De Facto Carry Ban in Santa Barbara County

By Larry R. Rankin, Santa Barbara, California

Life member NRA, Life member GOA, Life member JPFO, Life member California Rifle and Pistol Association, Life member Law Enforcement Alliance of America, Past President of the Grassroots, NRA members’ council, Chairman of the First Friends of NRA dinner in Santa Barbara, Current Chairman of the California American Pistol and Rifle Association for the County of Santa Barbara.

I am to this day licensed to carry a loaded weapon in all of the states below:

1) Alabama, 2) Alaska, 3) Arizona, 4) Arkansas, 5) Colorado, 6) Delaware, 7) Florida, 8) Georgia, 9) Idaho, 10) Indiana, 11) Kentucky, 12) Louisiana, 13) Michigan, 14) Minnesota, 15) Mississippi, 16) Missouri, 17) Montana, 18) Nevada, 19) New Hampshire, 20) New Mexico, 21) North Carolina, 22) North Dakota, 23) Ohio, 24) Oklahoma, 25) Pennsylvania, 26) South Dakota, 27) Tennessee, 28) Texas, 29) Utah, 30) Vermont, 31) Virginia, 32) Washington and 33) Wyoming

You might not like what Sheriff Bill Brown of Santa Barbara County has to say, but he is honest and direct about it. Which makes you wonder why the NRA gave a “A” rating to a man who makes it clear he's proud that he has given out only three concealed carry permits in his many years of service. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that Sheriff Brown claims to be a life member of the NRA. Perhaps it is because Sheriff Brown is bright, well spoken and endowed with a certain measure of conceit that so often seems to be the inevitable attribute of a successful politician. It seems that there is something about a successful politician that the NRA finds hard to resist.

When I met with Sheriff Brown this March the 9th, to appeal my denial of my application of my active gun permit that I have had for over ten years (unsuccessfully) he was diplomatic enough to hear me out. He then very clearly and unambiguously laid out a policy of a de facto concealed carry ban in Santa Barbara County. A policy that does not recognize the right of self defense. A policy based on the model of a sovereign who knows what is best for his subjects, not a public servant elected to protect the rights of the citizens who elected him. A policy reminiscent of King George's government that was rejected by our founding fathers, not the constitutional model of government they bequeathed to us. A policy that supports the continued efforts to redefine the Second Amendment in sporting terms rather than in terms of a right of defense of self and property. And finally, if the NRA lawyers are listening, a policy that violates California law on concealed carry, which at least acknowledges that there might be someone qualified to receive a concealed carry permit other than persons associated with law enforcement. While California was careful enough not to craft an outright de jure ban on concealed carry, Sheriff Brown's policy is a ban as a matter of fact, if not of law.

Twenty years ago I might have understood how Sheriff Brown can state "I am a Life member of the NRA, a hunter, a gun collector and we have enough laws, without creating new ones" and yet prohibit concealed carry. But many years of data are available today from states that have allowed widespread concealed carry. Data that show a reduction of crime. Data that show that concealed carry holders are overwhelmingly safe and law abiding. These are facts especially important to the discharge of his duties as Sheriff. Facts that he should have made an effort to investigate before adopting a concealed carry policy. Facts that any NRA member knows. To continue a policy that he has followed for many years with no consideration of contemporary evidence is to demonstrate an arbitrary and capricious exercise of his power as Sheriff.

If enough sheriffs abuse California's concealed carry law in an arbitrary and capricious manner, the argument can be made that California's concealed carry law violates either the California of Federal constitutions. Is the NRA counting?

There is, additionally, another legal reform that the NRA should champion. One concern Sheriff Brown identified, and I have heard this from other sheriffs, is fear of personal legal liability if someone with a concealed carry permit commits a crime with the permitted weapon. Law enforcement is second only to the teachers' unions in political influence in the California legislature. Would not California law enforcement almost unanimously support the NRA were it to lobby for a law protecting sheriffs and police chiefs from liability for issuing concealed carry permits? Would you issue CCWs if it meant you might lose your job, your house, your kids' college money, and a lifetime of savings? If it meant declaring bankruptcy to avoid having a multi million dollar verdict haunting you for the rest of your life?

Sheriff Brown is no Patrick Henry ("Give me liberty or give me death"). But then how many of us are? We have to work with the men and women we have as law enforcement leaders. If the NRA were to lobby for the legal protection California police and sheriffs' needs, perhaps they might not be afraid to take an honest look at success other states have had with concealed carry.

Apportioning the Blame

Suljo Talovic doesn't know where his son got the guns or how he learned how to use them.

Suljo Talovic, Father of Shooter: "Somebody got (the guns)…and maybe (they were) training him and tell(ing) him (to), ‘go shoot somebody.'"

I don't suppose there's any way to console a man who has suffered such a loss. I think the agony and guilt a father would feel over a son doing this could drive the strongest among us over the edge.

But pointing to US gun laws and now at unknown manipulators goes to the crux of the "gun control" argument: freedom doesn't just mean doing what you want. It means being personally accountable for your actions.

It sounds hard, unsympathetic and cruel, but your son did this murderous act. If others influenced him, he chose to heed that influence.

This business of apportioning blame to guns, to the law, to others, has been bought into by a significant number of voters who hold a misguided faith that human evil will end by mandating social change. That they're enablers for further and more monstrous evil does not occur to them because the ones not in on the scam actually believe they're doing good.

[Via Larry Rankin]

This Day in History: March 13

On this day in 1733, Joseph Priestley, supporter of the American Revolution and leader of the Unitarian Church in Britain and America, is born in Birstall, Yorkshire, England.

Joseph Priestley shared the liberal religious and political philosophy of many of America’s revolutionary leaders, including Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, all of whom became his friends and correspondents.

So does that mean modern UNitarian leaders have hijacked the organization, bastardized its principles and deliberately led their flock away from that philosophy?

A Consuming Darkness

[Use BugMeNot to bypass site registration]

Late one afternoon in January, Peter Hartzel stood in the basement firing range of the PSMG Gun Shop with a 9-millimeter Beretta in hand and a consuming darkness welling within.

Hartzel, a 29-year-old newspaper reporter with a history of mental illness, had nearly completed a three-day firearm safety course, required for a state license to carry or possess a gun. In his final hour of training, he was consistently hitting his target. Then he lifted the gun to his right temple and pulled the trigger, killing himself...

More fundamentally, the suicides highlight what some say is a flawed sequence in the process of obtaining a firearm license in Massachusetts.

Right. Create more hoops for We the People to jump through because an "authorized journalist" misused a gun. Yet somehow, in the entire Boston Globe article, they couldn't even give fleeting mention to one segment of the populace much more likely to commit suicide...

We're the Only Ones Medical Enough

A diabetic woman and her family called for better training for police after a Portland officer used a stun gun to subdue her during a medical emergency.

She should thank her lucky stars she's not an epileptic.

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

The Iron River

“There’s an iron river of guns flowing to Mexico,” said special agent Thomas Mangan, spokesman for the Phoenix Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"Iron river." How pseudo-Churchillian.

Leave it to BATFU to give the "authorized journalists" a new propaganda term. Somebody thought that one up and decided it would be useful. Useful for what? should be the very next question.

Maybe if the fedgov would do its damn job, one of its branches wouldn't be able to complain about the consequences of a porous border.

This, of course, is simply a bureaucracy trying to justify its appropriations and expand its influence by throwing We the People under the bus, and the media is more than eager to help. It is also individuals within an agency promoting their advancement at the expense of their countrymen. The fact that the actions being described are already illegal seems not to be an issue here--we need to make them more illegal!

We're seeing more and more stories about U.S. guns smuggled into Mexico. We ignore at our peril this increasingly important front in the war on guns.

We're the Only Ones Berserk Enough

A Sikkim Police constable guarding the Dena Bank treasury at Daryaganj in central Delhi went berserk early Sunday morning, killing five of his mates after they allegedly tried to sodomise him while on night duty.

OK then.

[Via Cryptic Subterranean]

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

This Day in History: March 12

On this day in 1776, in Baltimore, Maryland, a public notice appears in local papers recognizing the sacrifice of women to the cause of the revolution. The notice urged others to recognize women’s contributions and announced, "The necessity of taking all imaginable care of those who may happen to be wounded in the country's cause, urges us to address our humane ladies, to lend us their kind assistance in furnishing us with linen rags and old sheeting, for bandages…." On and off the battlefield, women were known to support the revolutionary cause by providing nursing assistance. But donating bandages and sometimes applying them was only one form of aid provided by the women of the new United States. From the earliest protests against British taxation, women’s assent and labor was critical to the success of the cause. The boycotts that united the colonies against British taxation required female participation far more than male—in fact, the men designing the non-importation agreements generally chose to boycott products used mostly by women.

Wayne Fincher Fires Lawyer

A Black Oak man can fire his lawyer, but will have to take whatever defense attorney the court appoints, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Hollis Wayne Fincher, 60, was convicted in January of possessing illegal, unregistered weapons, including machine guns and a sawed-off shotgun. A sentencing date has not been set.

Fincher asked U.S. District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren to appoint David Dunagin of Fort Smith as his attorney. Fincher fired Oscar Stilley of Fort Smith, who defended Fincher during his trial, citing irreconcilable differences between the two.

At this point, the only information I have is from the paper. If I can get some inside information that I'm free to share, I'll pass it on.

[More about Wayne Fincher via WarOnGuns]

The Great Global Warming Swindle

Yeah, I know it's not gun rights-related, but this is really all about truth and freedom anyway. The parallels between the collectivists and the lies they use to embed themselves into the culture to promote an anti-human agenda are things we expose every day on the RKBA front, so this is useful if for no other reason than to show us the methods employed by our enemies--and there's really no other word for them--on another issue with significant impact on individual and economic freedom.

This video takes an hour and a quarter--if you can't watch it today, bookmark the link and get back to it when you can. It really is well done, and will help focus our understanding on how control agendas are started, politicized and infused into the public consciousness.

And make sure you show it to your kids.

[Via Stieger]

UPDATE: It didn't take the Marxist thugs long to start threatening people rather than tolerating dissent.

Battle of the Gun Ban

Here's the untold story behind the Hatch bill: It was concocted by the NRA to head off a pending lawsuit, Parker vs. District of Columbia, which challenges the D.C. gun ban on Second Amendment grounds.

Yep, between that and the Seegars lawsuit, there's no denying the record.

[Via Blogonomicon]

New WarOnGuns Poll: What Will Happen if the DC Gun Ban Case Goes to the Supreme Court?

See the left margin and pick the outcome you think most likely.

Here are the results of last week's poll (click on image to enlarge):

The Filipino "Only Ones" Loophole

And it's one you could drive a truck through:

The breakdown of approved applications is as follows:

PNP -- 9,953; Armed Forces of the Philippines ­- 4,539; government employees/Bureau of Jail Management and Penology ­- 4,773; high-risk persons -­ 2,172; security agency -­ 727; transport -­ 383; cashier/disbursing officers -­ 722; security escort/bodyguards -­ 2,031.

A few government officials are automatically exempted from the ban and without applying for an exemption certificate. Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos and Commissioners Resurreccion Borra, Florentino Tuason Jr., Romeo Brawner, Rene Sarmiento and Ferrer are in this category.

Naturally. If there's one thing we "Only Ones" take care of, it's our own.

Oh, and as for the rest of you...citizens:

Violators of the gun ban may be arrested by the chief of police if prosecutors are not around to conduct preliminary investigations and make apprehensions.

No Debate

Brian Williams: "Good evening. As long as there have been firearms and for as long as there's been a Constitution of the United States, there's been a debate in this country over the definition of the right to bear arms. [More]

That's simply not true, Brian.

From my March 2007 GUNS Magazine review of "In Search of the Second Amendment":

The historical evidence is conclusive. The Second Amendment was intended to express an individual right, and any alternate “collective rights” theories are modern fictions developed by those with an agenda to control guns. In the words of Sanford Levinson from the University of Texas, this “view was virtually unknown before the 1960s.”

Look, it's nice that NBC apparently gave this story more coverage than rivals ABC and CBS (which according to the title-linked article pulled an LA Times evasion), but it's important that that coverage be accurate.

[Via 45superman]

This Day in History: March 11

On this day in 1779, Congress establishes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help plan, design and prepare environmental and structural facilities for the U.S. Army. Made up of civilian workers, members of the Continental Army and French officers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played an essential role in the critical Revolutionary War battles at Bunker Hill, Saratoga and Yorktown.

For Love or Money

A drug rehabilitation center has sued Courtney Love, claiming the singer has repeatedly refused to pay her $181,000 bill for her stay there 1 1/2 years ago.

This lack of character and personal accountability is hardly surprising. Love was another anti-defense media icon I profiled in "A Judgment Call," my March 2005 Rights Watch column for GUNS Magazine:

Where do we begin with grunge diva Courtney Love? Multiple arrests for drug abuse, reportedly shooting heroin while pregnant? Assault with a deadly weapon, attacking a woman at her ex-boyfriend's home? Hitting a man at a nightclub in the head with a microphone stand? Getting arrested for disrupting a transatlantic flight? Being assigned a guardian, losing custody of her daughter and being institutionalized?

How about if we just focus on her statement to the Million Moms that US gun laws are "nihilistic and barbaric"?

Who Bravely Breaks the Most

Yon roaring boys, who rave and fight
On t'other side the Atlantic,
I always held them in the right,
But most so when most frantic.

When lawless mobs insult the court,
That man shall be my toast,
If breaking windows be the sport,
Who bravely breaks the most.

But oh! for him my fancy culls
The choicest flowers she bears,
Who constitutionally pulls
Your house about your ears.

William Cowper's words reflected a sentiment at the time of the Rebellion that, while brutal, was inevitable, and even cruelly utilitarian. So much so that:

In 1776 General Putnam, meeting a procession of the Sons of Liberty who were parading a number of Tories on rails up and down the street's of New York, attempted to put a stop to the barbarous proceeding. Washington, on hearing of this, administered a reprimand to Putnam, declaring 'that to discourage such proceedings was to injure the cause of liberty in which they were engaged, and that nobody would attempt it but an enemy to his country.'

I really don't want to see this happen again. Like the man said, can't we all get along? Can't you collectivists, busybodies, do-gooders, Marxists, statists, fascists, democrats, RINOs and idiot celebrities just leave Americans who believe unyieldingly in their rights the hell alone? Won't you let us live unmolested, and in peace?

We're the Only Ones Expert Enough

Reaction was mixed in the legal community over allegations that Joseph Kopera, the state police firearms expert who committed suicide last week, may have falsified his academic qualifications.

For those who would use suicide prevention as a rationale for disarming you, show 'em the statistics for "The Only Ones."

Workers Protest "Job Control"...

...or would that be "citizen disemployment"?

Workers from some area gun manufacturers are taking a bus to Springfield next week to plead their case for jobs they may lose if Illinois Senate Bill 16 passes and is signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

I wonder how many of these workers voted for Blagojevich?

As for the manufacturers, they're going to need to strap 'em on and adopt the Ronnie Barrett approach. The heavy lifting can't all be done by activists, fellas...

"Leave My Family Out of It"

Selected quotes:

...Democrats and Republicans clashed again Friday over a mailer attacking several Democratic lawmakers for their vote last month against a gun-rights bill...

“This is the first time that these politics of hate are going to go out while we sit in this body,” he said...

The mailer, sent to households in five lawmakers' districts, blasted each individual lawmaker for voting against House Bill 340, which broadens the definition of self-defense when using a firearm.

The two-page mailer pictured each respective lawmaker, described them as “anti-gun,” said they believe “using deadly force to defend yourself against a criminal makes you the criminal,” and listed a phone number where constituents could call and tell them their “anti-gun stance is dead wrong.”

It also had a picture of a corpse in a body bag, with the words “Is this your neighbor?” superimposed across the top of the picture...

“It was blatantly callous; it was unnecessary,” he said. “It was unprincipled. Take me on; I can deal with it. I've got thick skin. But leave my family out of it.”

Why? Your presuming authority to vote against our unalienable right to defend ourselves doesn't leave our families out of it--talk about "politics of hate."

Your betrayals are personal to us. You're the ones oppressing--and when people protest, you paint yourselves the victims.

Here is what these creatures voted against. And now they're all upset because someone unequivocally explained what their vote meant to the people who will be affected by it.

This Day in History: March 10

On this day in 1792, John Stuart, 3rd earl of Bute and advisor to the British king, George III, dies in London.

Better Late Than Never

Although it's buried "under the fold" in the fine print:



"6:00 PM PST":



What took you guys so long, Mr. Savage and "Staff"? The rest of the world was spreading the news over eight hours ago...

Your absence was kinda conspicuous...

Statement of Brady President Paul Helmke on DC Circuit's Ruling

Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, issued the following statement:

"The 2-1 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Parker v. District of Columbia striking down the District of Columbia's handgun law is judicial activism at its worst...

Pathetic.

All the News that's Fit to Suppress

Google news search for "DC gun ban" at 3:36 pm PST:



Front page posted on The Los Angeles Times' website at 3:32 pm PST:



At the time of this posting, which is about two hours after I captured these screenshots, the Google news hits have gone up considerably, but there is still no mention of the DC Second Amendment ruling on either The Times' website or on their "National News" page as of 5:33 pm PST:



This is lying by omission, leaving one of the world's major metropolitan area in the dark about a significant legal development that conflicts with The Times' political agenda.

The editor deserves to be fired for this, and I'm sending the publisher and editor a link to this post, not because I think it will do any good, but just to register my utter contempt for these transparent propagandists masquerading as a news provider.

This is why one of my recurring themes here at WarOnGuns has always been to decry the concept of "authorized journalists." I consider the rankest blogger as credible and reliable a source for information as the shallow manipulators at The Times. Here's hoping their circulation continues to plummet, and they're relegated to the oblivion they have earned.

DRUDGE: DC Gun Ban Struck Down by Federal Appeals Court

SILBERMAN, Senior Circuit Judge: Appellants contest the district court’s dismissal of their complaint alleging that the District of Columbia’s gun control laws violate their Second Amendment rights. The court held that the Second Amendment (“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”) does not bestow any rights on individuals except, perhaps, when an individual serves in an organized militia such as today’s National Guard. We reverse.

Particularly gratifying to see because of some of the attacks some of us have been subjected to:

We note that the Ninth Circuit has recently dealt with a Second Amendment claim by first extensively analyzing that provision, determining that it does not provide an individual right, and then, and only then, concluding that the plaintiff lacked standing to challenge a California statute restricting the possession, use, and transfer of assault weapons. See Silveira v. Lockyer, 312 F.3d 1052, 1066-67 & n.18 (9th Cir. 2003). We think such an approach is doctrinally quite unsound.

MORE:

• Washington, D.C. Circuit Court Strikes Down 30-Year Old D.C. Gun Ban
• Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down D.C. Handgun Ban (Update1)

We're the Only Ones with a Ticket to Ride Enough

A federal civil rights lawsuit says that a Saugerties cop gave traffic tickets to a teenage girl, then threatened to "make her life miserable" unless she had sex with him.

Wouldn't that be considered a moving violation?

[Via Declan]

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

A Temporary Shelter

Information supplied by a firearms licensee as mandated by the National Firearms Act may not be used to obtain a warrant to search the dealer’s home and business premises, the Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled yesterday...

Briseno ruled that the evidence was illegally seized because 26 U.S.C. Sec. 5848 provides that information provided to the federal government in compliance with the NFA “may not be used, directly or indirectly, as evidence against [the person providing the information] in a criminal proceeding.”

But that's OK--treasonous fanatics who hate free human beings are working hard to change that--maybe they'll even use the word "loophole". Meanwhile, our supposed leaders tell us we need to "improve" the monster, instead of mustering with pitchforks, chasing it into a windmill and burning the damned thing down.

[Via 45superman]

Driving Down the Road to Tyranny

Gary May introduced himself as a special agent. The other man, John Egan, was introduced as his colleague. May gave the Wetzels his card, stating that he is the senior agent in the bureau of criminal investigations...

Wetzel uses recycled vegetable oil, which he picks up weekly from an organization that uses it for frying food at its dining facility.

"They told me I am required to have a license and am obligated to pay a motor fuel tax," David Wetzel recalled. "Mr. May also told me the tax would be retroactive."

Just great, isn't it? Nice old people try to do "the right thing" and do their part for their local environment, as well as innovatively find a way to live within their means, bothering no one and simply taking care of themselves. So naturally the state sends two badge-heavy goons to their door to threaten them, and continues to extort them under the threat of strong arm tactics that will ultimately result in their kidnapping (under felony charges!) if they don't obey, and worse if they actively defy and resist.

And the thing is, as long as enforcers May and Egan are using "the law" to justify their sick bullying, here's what it says about being a "special fuel supplier":

Any person other than a licensed distributor who transports special fuel into this state or receives special fuel transported to him from outside the state, and a person engaged in Illinois in the distribution of special fuel primarily by tank car or tank truck, or both, and who operates an Illinois bulk plant where he has active bulk storage capacity of not less than 30,000 gallons for special fuel.

Yeah, that sure sounds like the Wetzels and their '86 Volkswagen Golf, doesn't it?

This is a level of control over people's lives that Caesar could not have imagined in his wildest dreams. History rightfully remembers him as a dictator and tyrant.

What is wrong with us as a people, that we accept this subjugation in all things great and small as our lot in life? How can we accept this as the natural state of things, and deserve to survive?

[Via The Claire Files]

We're the Only Ones Defining Who's a Journalist Enough

But U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan says in a court filing that Wolf's resistance "is apparently fueled by his anointment as a journalistic martyr" and that he needs "to come to grips with the fact that he was simply a person with a video camera who happened to record some public events."

See, U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan thinks he and other government enforcers like him are "The Only Ones" with the authoritah to decide who gets to be an "authorized journalist," and he also thinks it's appropriate to publicly ridicule and menace those foolish souls who might challenge that assumption.

What's Ryan even doing there in the first place?

[F]ederal prosecutors took over the arson case from state authorities on grounds that San Francisco's police department receives funding from Washington.

Oh. Well OK then. Just so we know how the yoke got there.

Government sanctioned journalists--and the federal government at that. Yep, that pretty much dovetails with my understanding of what the Founding Fathers meant by a "free press." And let's not even get into what they must have meant by "federalism"...

They'll Figure Out a Way to Make it Our Fault

Violence along the U.S.-Mexico border is undergoing what U.S. law-enforcement authorities call "an unprecedented surge," some of it fueled by weapons and ammunition purchased or stolen in the United States.

They probably get them at the same gun shows all those terrorists get theirs at.

This Day in History: March 9

After successfully capturing British positions in Louisiana and Mississippi, Spanish General Bernardo de Galvez, commander of the Spanish forces in North America, turns his attention to the British-occupied city of Pensacola, Florida, on this day in 1781. General Galvez and a Spanish naval force of more than 40 ships and 3,500 men landed at Santa Rosa Island and begin a two-month siege of British occupying forces that becomes known as the Battle of Pensacola.

More Proof that Celebrities are Special

Gwen Stefani carries a gun to keep other women away from her husband...

Good Grief.

Manic Depressives for Gun Control

Rosie O'Donnell says she began being treated for depression after the Columbine school shootings and hangs upside down for up to a half-hour a day to improve her mental state. [More]

And this head case thinks the rest of us are too unstable to be trusted with guns. Hers was another profile in "A Judgment Call," my Rights Watch column in the March 2005 issue of GUNS Magazine:

Who can forget Rosie O'Donnell ambushing actor Tom Selleck on her talk show, because he lent his likeness and support to the NRA? A Million Mom emcee, her most notorious proclamation came after the Columbine shootings, where she raged "Outlaw all guns, and put all gun owners in jail!" "I am one of the haunted," Rosie admits. "I think I have been depressed for years. It runs in my family, along with alcoholism and an absurd ability to deny the obvious."

Obviously.

We're the Only Ones Who Have Absolutely No Idea What We're Doing Enough

At least 30 states let some newly hired local law enforcement officers hit the streets with a gun, a badge and little or no training...

No one seems to know how many untrained recruits are on the streets. But the practice appears to be most common among small-town police forces and sheriff's departments.

So if they're untrained and unqualified, what does that say about those who advocate that police are "The Only Ones" who should be armed...?

[Via Paul G]

Hanging Separately

Regular WarOnGuns correspondent HZ sent me an email regarding the proposed Illinois gun ban:

I don't even live in the stupid state and I get so incredibly mad.

Sent this out immediately to 6 gun owners / shooters and this was the response ....

1 Hunter/Skeet shooter said it's not going to affect him.

1 SWAT-medic said he would be exempted

1 Air Force reservist mocked me to my face by saying, "Oh no! The G is coming to take my guns way! Oh no! Not my machine gun! ha ha" ..... etc. We then settled down to a lengthy discussion in which I was unable to convince him of anything. He said I am not educated enough to decide/comment on legal issues. Lawyers, judges and legislators do that for me ..... blah, blah, blah .....

1 Co-Worker is too busy getting a house built to call anyone

1 Co-Worker .... no response

1 Co-Worker called and emailed his state senator

These were all people that I thought were friendly enough towards gun rights. I've either shot with them or know that they own firearms. Living in the state of Illinois must be poisonous to the mind and to reason.

I fear we will be unable to keep this republic.

We are constantly admonished that criticizing those in the gun community can be divisive, that we must hang together...

Aside from the one guy who did the right thing, why would we want to have anything to do with the rest of these intentionally ignorant parasites?

This Day in History: March 8

On this day in 1782, 160 Pennsylvania militiamen murder 96 Christian Indians--39 children, 29 women and 28 men--by hammering their skulls with mallets from behind as they kneel unarmed, praying and singing, in their Moravian Mission at Gnadenhuetten in the Ohio Country. The Patriots then piled their victims’ bodies in mission buildings before burning the entire community to the ground. Two boys managed to survive, although one had lost his scalp to his attackers. Although the militiamen claimed they were seeking revenge for Indian raids on their frontier settlements, the Indians they murdered had played no role in any attack.