"The King" Goes Berserk

I mean really. Tell me you don't see it.

We're the Only Ones Loopholing Enough

A Dallas County sheriff's deputy had his gun, uniform and handcuffs stolen Sunday morning at his home in Rochester Park.

Here's an idea: Why not require "Only Ones" to turn in their weapons at the end of the shift? If we can keep one gun off the street, it's worth it!

The War on Sporting Purposes

"Do we as a society value safety or do we value a hobby that creates danger?" Mr. Miller said, endorsing the recommended crackdown. "That hobby directly results in people being shot and killed on the streets of our city."

Take note, "sportsmen"--see what happens when you trivialize a right?

All you IQFs who think Polyphemus will eat you last and are willing to toss non-Fuddites under the bus, think again. Like other predators, government finds the weak are the easiest pickings.

But you all go right ahead and listen to editorial make-up artists like "'pro gun' Kentuckian" Tom Eblen, trying to put lipstick on the AHSA pig.

Don't ask me whether its ignorance or intent that makes him willingly and enthusiastically lead you to the slaughter. Ask him.

History

We tend to think today, those of us who reflect back on it at all, that the War Between the States was simply a war of big battlefields and stirring changes, banners held on high, et cetera, ad nauseum. This reading of the war tends to convince us that it could never come again. But a closer reading of history reveals that this was not simply a war between the states but a war within the states, a true civil war of former friends and neighbors, made all the more ghastly by the nature of the personal associations of the combatants. Understand that, and then the spectre of its recurrence seems much more possible. Read, and learn.

Yes, do so.

Mike Vanderboegh gives us a history lesson over at Mindful Musings.

C'mon, Everybody, Do the BATFU Shake

Word is circulating that a number of ATF supervisors, from field up to high HQ levels, Assistant Directors and such, are being effectively suspended (effectively, but without using that term) while higher powers look into their competence and allegations of abuse and/or fraud. The Inspector General is said to be taking a role, and some of those involved in matters like Red's Trading Post are under the microscope.

Good. Somebody's figuring out that over-the-top arrogance results in a spotlight, and as we've noted before on occasion, the floorboard dwellers hate that. Let's keep it shining and focused, at each and every opportunity. To paraphrase Rhett Butler, they need to be illuminated, and often, and by someone who knows how.

There's a lot of good agents out there, who're perfectly reasonable toward firearm owners and honest in their work.

Sorry, Mr. Hardy. I've always held you in high regard, and still do, but that's a point I will not cede. The very existence of the agency is an affront to the Bill of Rights. One can not be part of the institution and claim fidelity to the vision of the Founders. It just can't be done.

This Day in History: May 27

I am of the opinion that when once these rebels have felt a smart blow, they will submit...

No doubt there are some who still feel that way.

Do you think they're right?

Speaking of Pirates...

I wonder if Bloomberg is going to sue the sword manufacturers.

When Monkey Puzzle Trees are Outlawed...

Good grief.

In Grateful Memory...

...to my grandfather and three uncles who served and are no longer with us, and to all their now-resting brothers in arms who loved the idea that is America.

Better men than me left us a great treasure. I pledge to do what I can to honor their memory and their sacrifice, and to keep it from being compromised, squandered or stolen.

SOP 9

...interesting statistics and information relating to police shootouts.

Indeed.

[Via Carl S]

We...are About to Have Our Fuse Lit

Mike Vanderboegh has a "Premonition."

A Pirate's Life For Me Redux

Mariners are being warned of a growing threat from pirates around the world after attacks on shipping rose by 20 per cent over the last year.

And unsurprisingly:

Four of the six Somali pirates arrested for kidnapping a French luxury yacht are related to Somali President Abdullah Yusuf Ahmed, the French weekly Le Point reported Monday on its website.

We're dealing with Barbary pirates--aided, abetted, harbored, and in many cases directed by corrupt thugocracies. Commodore Decatur showed us how to deal with that, but I guess the lesson has been forgotten.

Somalia is particularly interesting because of the pervasive and longstanding UN effort there. So what do the globalists at the International Maritime Organization suggest doing about piracy in international waters?

The following is from "A Pirate's Life for Me!," one of my GUNS & AMMO columns from 2002:

Hoses against weapons. Trembling behind hatches. Everything but standing up on your sea-legs and fighting. How about just opening fire on them?

The IMO's Captain Hartmut Hesse says armed guards on ships "will only increase violence, it will not deter the pirates."

The IMO guide Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships, cautions "The carrying and use of firearms ... is strongly discouraged. [It] may encourage attackers to carry firearms thereby escalating an already dangerous situation, and any firearms on board may themselves become an attractive target for an attacker. The use of firearms requires special training and aptitudes and the risk of accidents... is great."

...Agreeing with Captain Hesse, and chastising Lloyd's List for editorially suggesting otherwise, is Captain John Dalby of Marine Risk Management, a "maritime asset recovery and protection" company. While admitting "It is the sailors... who are being kidnaped, beached, set adrift ... or summarily killed," he warns that "only tragedy will result from inexperienced people trying to fight fire with fire. Leave intervention and reaction to those who are best equipped and trained for it."

It seems to me we're missing a lemons-out-of-lemonade opportunity here, to not only take care of the problem, but to turn it into a profitable bounty-hunting/ship capturing venture. Perhaps if privateers operated under Letters of Marque and Reprisal when American interests are involved...

This Day in History: May 26

A British Navel surgeon visits an American encampment and notes that the Americans are "a drunken, canting, lying, praying, hypocritical rabble without order."

Which really ought to give us hope, if you think about it.

Anticipation

I touched on something here that I believe deserves much wider consideration:

[T]he scenario he teaches does not include what a cop should do when encountering an armed citizen defending himself and others around him. The short-sighted chief I addressed earlier had the primary worry that seeing an armed citizen might prompt his men to shoot the wrong person. Now that we have 48 states with some form of "legal" carry provisions, to not be anticipating this, and preparing and training for it, amounts to nothing less than criminal negligence.

With concealed and in some cases open carry becoming more widespread, what are police departments doing to provide for the eventual scenario where officers arrive at a shooting scene involving an armed citizen defending himself?

Right now, the prevailing noises coming from "The Only Ones" brass is they'll have no way of knowing, and somebody's going to get killed.

That's not good enough. It's their job to figure out the dynamics of the society they're paid and expected to operate in, and to just throw out predictions so they can come back with an "I told you so" when they self-fulfill is unacceptable.

What training are police and sheriffs' departments doing to prepare officers for such an encounter? How many simulator programs anticipate an armed citizen with a shoot/don't shoot decision point in their scenarios? What instructions are officers given, and what opportunities do they have to practice for such eventualities?

And importantly, if there is anything out there along these lines, how effective has it proven to be? Who's got the best developed methodology and what mechanism exists to impart lessons learned across the policing community?

That's why this really ought to be a top-down effort. National police groups and major departments ought to be developing such training in coordination with national groups representing armed citizens. Are they? Who? And what?

If there is such a national effort already in existence, and I don't know about it, I submit many others probably don't either--and some public education is in order.

If there isn't, why not? What are we waiting for--a prophecy to come true?

Confronting Reality With Mr. X

Our policy is that employees are never to do anything to endanger themselves, co-workers or customers in the event of a robbery. In fact, the first principle in the policy is, “Cooperate! Don’t argue, resist or attack the robber.” Law enforcement officials support our position to avoid any confrontation during a robbery.--Anthony Kenney, President, Speedway SuperAmerica

Dear Mr. Kenney,

Let me see if I've got this straight. That's a universal "zero tolerance" policy, right? Your position is that only law enforcement is trained and equipped enough to confront an assailant on your premises? And any employee resisting an assailant will be terminated because they have endangered themselves and others?

And yeah, I know you qualified your position to state "robbery," but really--how do you know what an attacker truly wants? And what if he wants no surviving witnesses?

So, hypothetically now, if an assailant, for convenience let's call him "Mr. X," enters Speedway SuperAmerica corporate headquarters and ignores the receptionist's request to sign in at the front desk, s/he and any on-site employed security should cooperate? Even if that includes Mr. X ordering them to accompany him to your office suite?

And if Mr. X decides he wants to tie you all up, you'll let him? You really won't fight back? Under any circumstances? What was the word you used? "Never"?

Really?

Would you act the same way if Mr. X forced his way into your home? Assuming no fundamental principles have changed and that "law enforcement officials" are still "the Only Ones" who know what's best, would you cooperate and not resist with your family in immediate danger?

Really?

A Single Entry

Based on his on-going research of active-shooter realities, he’s convinced that single-officer entries can potentially lessen the toll of casualties while exposing the responders involved to little additional risk.

This is a refreshing change in attitude , and he backs it up by making sense and assuming the attitude of what a man should be.

Still, here's the most telling part for me:

"They choose unarmed, defenseless innocents for a reason: They have no wish to encounter someone who can hurt them. They are personally risk- and pain-avoidant. The tracking history of these murderers has proved them to be unlikely to be aggressive with police. If pressed, they are more likely to kill themselves."

Exactly. Which is why, even though this article is geared toward police training and responses, it is incomplete without acknowledgment of an armed citizen effect.

First I don't need a hero. I don't expect another man to assume such risks on my behalf. That's my job. And while I may someday be grateful to another for saving me, that's not what I plan and prepare for. What I want from the cops is to leave me the hell alone and to not treat me like the criminal.

Second, the scenario he teaches does not include what a cop should do when encountering an armed citizen defending himself and others around him. The short-sighted chief I addressed earlier had the primary worry that seeing an armed citizen might prompt his men to shoot the wrong person. Now that we have 48 states with some form of "legal" carry provisions, to not be anticipating this, and preparing and training for it, amounts to nothing less than criminal negligence.

Comments are mixed, with one I read even calling for arming teachers, but I find the naysaying from the hide-behind-trees-and-cars-crowd to be the most enlightening. Some are so slick at it, you almost don't realize what they're doing is excusing themselves for not upholding principles.

[Via Carl S]

Calling it Quits

And so, in the interest of Party unity, and his own health, I am calling on Senator Obama to gracefully accept defeat.

Pretty darn funny.

[Via Michael G]

This Day in History: May 25

The 1st New York Regiment in the Revolutionary War...

Authorized on May 25, 1775 in the Continental Army as the 2nd New York Regiment. They were assigned to the New York (subsequently the Northern) Department.

Thank Set Thulsa* is Safe!

Authorities seized 104 potential weapons from people who came to the rally Wednesday for presidential candidate Barack Obama at the St. Pete Times Forum, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

And let's all thank the fine men and women of the Secret Service and TSA for showing stupid democrat supporters what they really think of them.

Or as Nelson Muntz would say:

[Via Brian F]

UPDATE: Oh, now I see. You can't be too careful when there's a credible threat.

*-Thulsa

Olofson Parts EMails

From David R. Olofson:

While I’m waiting on the last few affidavits to get done I thought I would work on that infamous Email the government keeps referring to. After a whole lot of fighting (feds don’t want it publicly disclosed, go figure(just like the video)) I finally got my hands on that email the government keeps claiming proves I bought a set of M16 FCG parts. Here it is, all four emails over a few week period wrapped up in one. See if you can find the deal for that M16 FCG parts set they claim I bought from him.

While some, generally anonymous chatroom warriors, would rather attack Mr. Olofson, some viciously, those of us with our eye on the ball know we need to focus on supporting this case and bringing information to light the government would rather you not see. You know, stuff the watchdog press "Authorized Journalists" are either oblivious, apathetic or hostile to sharing.

Let's see if this dang new-fangled widget thingy works...

Olofson EMails.pdf

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