The Parasite Preservation Act

The mayor of Miramichi, N.B., says there is a way of saving 200 high-paying federal jobs if the government scraps the federal gun registry.

The mayor, John MacKay, said people working there could begin manufacturing identity cards that may soon be required under new security measures imposed by the United States at border crossings.

God forbid anyone lose their seat on the gravy train.

Permitting the Right: Dueling Machiavellis

Since Machiavelli has been introduced as a source to justify asking and paying the government for permission to bear arms, I thought I'd follow up with another of his quotes:

To be disarmed is to be contemptible.

How many of you would petition the government for a license to not be contemptible?

Stu Loser

"This bill has nothing to do with the Second Amendment," said Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser, "and everything to do with the dangers [that] illegal guns pose to our police officers and citizens."

So, Stu, when you were a kid, did you know you wanted to grow up to be an apologist for tyranny, or is that something you found an aptitude for as you grew older?

A Night to Remember

He said that there were reports of riots in Nashville. Then he handed me an M1 carbine rifle and left me and my wife there all alone. We were out in the middle of nowhere, and the only lights you could see were those of the gas station.

Why didn't he just rely on the police to protect him?

Coming Soon: Fabric Control

Just what law enforcement needs: another headache. Yet Thor Shield promises to be a thunderbolt from heaven for those resisting arrest.

The product is a polyester fabric that bonds a conducted material and sends the electricity coming from a stun gun back where it came from. It is now available for sale only to military and law enforcement agencies, but one wonders how long before it is being worn by those on the streets of America...What is intended to be used to protect the police might one day soon be used against them.

It's all about keeping the state safe for police, isn't it, Dave White? What legitimate need could an average citizen possibly have for this?

Excusez-Moi

French police have apologised after one of their officers went shopping at Waterloo station still carrying her gun...Such a sight may be commonplace if the Home Office decides to opt into the so-called "hot pursuit" provisions of the Schengen convention, under which armed officers from one country can continue chasing criminals into another.

Say, why don't we try that here?

N.J. Intends to Crack Down on Gangs, Gun Violence

This time we mean it. Really. We're warning you.

Yep. Call neighborhoods "Cease Fire Zones." Dang, is that all it takes?

And, of course, accept no bail money in a brown paper bag.

Peace is at hand.

Permitting the Right

I started a bit of a debate with my comments regarding the new Nebraska concealed carry law. It has spilled over to The Smallest Minority and Captain of a Crew of One.

I'm going to address this further and in detail, but within the confines of some very real and pressing restrictions on my time--which means I'll post on this when I can.

I stipulate right up front that mine is not the popular view--by far. I don't go into this with any illusions that the vast majority of "gun rights" supporters will agree with me. Still, so far, I haven't seen anyone specifically demonstrate where any claim I made in my post is wrong. All the arguments seem to be that "absolutists" are immature and impatient, and even enemies, and that only by trading rights for privileges can one be considered "pragmatic." Incrementalism is what got us here, and only incrementalism will save us.

I reject these assumptions, and will explore them in more depth in the coming days. Just please be patient. And please post comments with an eye toward generating light, not heat.

Sharon Stoned on Guns

Security:
As needed. To be mutually decided by Producer and Sharon.
--Approved 24 hr armed bodyguard--[adt'l?] bodyguard app'd by SS if she requests

So that explains why Sharon Stone could make such a public spectacle of "surrendering" her guns!

"I choose to surrender my right to bear arms in exchange for the peace of mind of doing the right thing."

Los Angeles police, at Stone's request, confiscated one shotgun and three handguns from her Beverly Hills home on May 14. Authorities described the weapons as "lawfully obtained and legally kept."

Stone said she was moved to disarm by April's Columbine High massacre that left 15 people, including the two teen gunmen, dead. She asked other gun owners to similarly downsize.

"I urge you to trust and believe in your local law enforcement officers and believe in the courage of following your heart and surrendering your fear and anger," she said.

You didn't surrender your right to bear arms, Sharon, you outsourced it. And as for placing trust in the police for protection: You first.

We're the Only Ones...

...Well Adjusted Enough

For the past two weeks, investigators have been looking for a suspect Eaton County Sheriff Sergeant Jeff Lutz says shot him while on duty, but now investigators are looking at Lutz himself.

...Appropriately Forceful Enough

Ronald Robbins, 45, who claimed he acted in self-defense when he shot 22-year-old Jason Starkey in the back during a fistfight with Starkey and another man on Sept. 22, 2002, faces up to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.

...Touchy-Feely Enough

Swatara Police arrested Michael Fernsler, 33, of Orrstown, Pa., on Friday night while he was on the job as a police officer with Shippensburg University. Police said he sexually assaulted two 4-year-old girls in their Swatara Township, Pa. home.

...Dynamic in Our Entries Enough

Bullets peppered the wall, ceiling and refrigerator in an incident late Saturday during which two Muskegon police officers fired shots at each other inside a McLaughlin Avenue home.

How can anyone argue against the position that trained professionals like these are the only ones who should have guns?

[Via KABA Newslinks]

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

No Borders No Guns

Jennifer Freeman of The Liberty Belles sounds a warning...

We're the Only Ones Retired Enough

Even though Illinois has among the nation's most restrictive firearms laws, hundreds of retired police officers, now private citizens, are quietly being licensed to carry concealed weapons...

Still, most former officers have no desire for a concealed weapon...That is the case with Capt. Mel Weith, of the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department, who said he didn't think he'd want to carry a gun when he retired from law enforcement.

"I just don't see a need for it," he said.

"I don't know what is more pathetic," correspondent HZ wrote when he emailed me this link, "that some people believe retired police officers should be the only ones allowed to carry concealed weapons or that some retired police officers abhor the idea of carrying concealed...."

I wouldn't want to learn the hard way the difference between retiring and being terminated.

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

We're the Only Ones Guilty Enou...Wait, That Doesn't Sound Right...

Two U.S. air marshals pleaded guilty Monday to accepting money to smuggle cocaine on a flight to Las Vegas and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

We've talked about these two stalwarts before...

[Via Jason M]

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

"Anti-Gun Activist" Awash in Excuses

"If there weren't guns on the street, there wouldn't be guns in my home," she says. "The system failed me and it failed my son. I'm angry at everybody who has the authority to stop gun violence and the proliferation of guns."

Anything but accepting responsibility for her own failure to raise her kid and control what goes on in her home...

My favorite whine:

(The police) are doing their job, but do they have to do their job like this?"

What, they messed up the place doing a search to enforce edicts she promotes?

I don't think I've ever seen so many self-serving pity-poor-me deflections of responsibility crammed into such a compressed space.

BREAKING NEWS: IRAQ AWASH IN GUNS!!!

[M]ore Iraqis than ever have been buying, carrying and stockpiling weapons, adding an unnerving level of firepower to Baghdad's streets.

You can actually buy guns over there?

But I thought they had to come over here and attend a gun show...

Boom Times on Underworld Gun Market

ILLEGAL guns can be bought "as easily as a pack of cigarettes" through a booming weapons black market in Queensland.

Despite official denials, The Sunday Mail has been told that weapons are freely available through underworld dealers.

Fair dinkum, mate?

Maybe we've been going about things the wrong way.

Maybe, if we really want to create a free market for gun buyers without government permits, fees, registrations, etc., we ought to join the gun ban movement.

Gun in One Hand, Rosary in the Other

AN 18-year-old boy was found dead inside his room in Taguig City before dawn yesterday. In his left hand, he held a rosary and crucifix. In the right, he held a gun.

Let me guess--despite this being an incident precipitated by a troubled state of spirit and mind, no one is going to call for religion control...

VICTORY IS OURS!!!

If you are going to church, leave your gun in the car.

Going to the bank to cash a check? Leave your gun in the car....

[T]he law has a litany of places where weapons are not allowed. Schools, churches, hospitals, county commissioner meetings, bars, and jails are among some of the places where guns are not allowed...

Gov. Dave Heineman has announced he would sign LB 454 into law at a ceremony next week.

But don't bring your gun. Political events are gun-free, under the law.

Unalienable rights?

"Shall not be infringed"?

That's the problem with you absolutist troublemakers. You just don't recognize incremental victories when you see them--along with the many examples from history where compromising essential rights and giving the state claim over them has produced enduring liberty.

Just stay out of our way and we'll make licensing and fees and prior restraints and limitations and restrictions and conditions and denials and revocations the benchmark for the trumpeting of gun lobby success. Infringements have become customary, expected, codified into existing gun laws, and you know who cries the loudest for enforcing those .

Good luck unraveling that Gordian knot. And woe unto you who just decide to bear arms on your own authority.

Yep, smells like victory to me. The only question is, whose?

We're the Only Ones Rampaging Enough

Former Lehi policeman Art Henderson - accused of trying to kill former police colleagues, his estranged wife and her boyfriend - waived his right to a preliminary hearing Friday, advancing the case toward trial...

Prosecutor Mariane O'Bryant had wanted bail set at $1 million. She called Henderson's alleged January shooting rampage "extremely serious," and said that in addition to the alleged intended victims, Henderson had "almost killed a 7-year-old boy" with a stray bullet.

The bullet smashed through the rear window of the car in which the boy was sitting and struck a headrest just inches from his head.

Wow. And this happened to a trained professional. Good thing Sarah & Co. don't want amateurs like you and me armed.

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

We're the Only Ones Elevated Enough...

A Thurston County jail inmate being escorted by a female corrections officer jammed a courthouse elevator and attacked her Friday, struggling with the officer for 20 minutes and finally grabbing her gun just before other officers pried open the elevator doors.

It's not like pairing a larger, stronger male prisoner with a lone female officer has ever been a cause for concern before...

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