"Of Course, I Carry a Gun. People Want to Kill Me."

It doesn't get more basic than that.

Those arrests are then followed by vigorous prosecution, Green said. His office has adopted a "no plea" policy, in which prosecutors won't accept any plea agreements that don't result in state prison sentences for people who carry guns.

That policy doesn't just apply to violent criminals, of course. It would also be used against those who just want to protect themselves and their property.

Freedom...law and order.

Freedom...law and order.

The statists just don't get that you can have both--assuming the laws are moral and rational.

"A Victory For Home Rule"

Congress approved the District's 2006 budget yesterday, including more than $100 million in federal aid...But what made city leaders happiest was what didn't make it into the measure: a series of proposals that would have weakened or repealed the city's handgun ban.

And based on results, most District residents couldn't be happier.

My chains are a little loose, boss. I might slip out of them. Could you please tighten my shackles a notch?

Victory is Defeat. Orwell couldn't have written it better.

Oh, and thanks, Republicans. You've all made it clear that bike trails are a bigger priority than unalienable, Constitutionally-protected human rights.

What Can Brown Do For You?

Four former UPS workers have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell stolen handguns in what federal officials are calling one of the largest gun-trafficking schemes in the state's history.

The UPS response to its own lack of internal security was to initially ban firearm shipments. They since figured there was a buck to be made, and modified their policy to require that shippers use the more expensive Next Day Air--from one of their shipping centers, not from an "authorized outlet".

American Handgunner did a good synopsis of the rules a few years back.

Here are the current regs for:

UPS
Fed-Ex
DHL
USPS (Sec. 11.1 - 11.4)

Viva Zapatos!

The high-top sneakers cost $215 at a San Diego boutique, but the designer is giving them away to migrants before they cross to this side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The story says Judi Werthein is "an Argentine artist who moved to New York in 1997 _ legally..."

Why? What was so bad about Argentina that she thought the US was better? And don't we have provisions that allow us to deport foreign nationals actively engaged in subverting US law?

But a discussion on national sovereignty and border security is not the purpose of this post. This is actually a public service message for undocumented workers contemplating an illegal border crossing, and concerns the unintended consequences of Ms. Werthein's irresponsible actions. My Spanish skills being extemely limited, and noting the unreliability of online translators, if anyone reading this has the linguistic acumen to translate it, please do. The goal is to distribute it to the target audience.

NOTICE TO MIGRANTS: IMPORTANT SAFETY WARNING ABOUT BRINCO SHOES
You may have heard about the Brinco shoes being given away to border crossers. If you receive a pair of these shoes, do not wear them. You will be putting yourself and your family at risk and missing an opportunity to enrich yourself.

Rich North Americans are paying $215 for a pair of these shoes. If a coyote sees you with them, and he has you alone in the wilderness, what do you think the chances are he will let you keep them? He might kill or injure you to take them so that he can sell them to an American buyer. Even if he does not hurt you, you may be left in the middle of the desert with no shoes.

The designer who created these shoes only made 1,000 pair. That means they will become a collector's item, and their value will increase. Look for the shoes to start turning up on internet trading sites like ebay, and look for the price to increase among rich Americans wishing to appear fashionable.

The smart thing to do if you are fortunate enough to receive a pair of Brincos is to stash them away for a time until you can determine a buyer and a price you are willing to sell them for. How many pair of shoes can you buy for the current price of $215? As the demand increases, how much will the price increase?

If you ignore this advice and wear the shoes anyway, be aware of another option should you be injured or killed by someone trying to take them from you. You or your survivors should seek out a lawyer and sue for damages, because Judi Werthein and her rich backers knew--or should have known--that introducing objects of value amidst impoverished people would create a dangerous situation where property is coveted and protections do not exist. You will have been directly harmed due to their negligence and irresponsibility.

So remember: Sell or sue. Do not wear.

Count the Hysterical Pejoratives

Gee,Tony Aiello , nobody's calling you a spaghetti bender...

We've seen this kind of "reporting" before.

Quick Request for Macintosh Users

A guy sent me a screen shot of a WarOnGuns piece as it appeared on his Macintosh--apostrophes and quotation marks come out as weird symbols.

Does anyone else on a Mac have a problem viewing this site?

I do all composing in blogger and check html and preview before posting--and then check out each page afterward. Only one person has raised this issue, and per my system stats, around 4% of WoG visitors use Macs.

Blogger Support has been useless--it took me two weeks to get a form letter reply. I checked their "known issues" page and nada.

Does anybody else have a problem viewing these pages? If so, please comment, let me know what the issue is and what equipment/ operating system you're using.

Feedback on this will be appreciated.

"I Think They Should Be Armed"

Yeah, no kidding, Sherlock.

And so should the people.

[Thanks to Dan Gifford]

Go, Johnny, Go

Hollywood star JOHNNY DEPP is so shocked by the riots raging through France, he's considering abandoning his home in the country

Heh.

Prof Urges Fragging of U.S. Officers

English professor John Daly replied: "Real freedom will come when soldiers in Iraq turn their guns on their superiors"...Daly's e-mail also claimed that "capitalism has killed many more" people than communism...

Where does academia come up with these creatures?

The university has deleted Prof. Daly's contact information from his web page. They can't delete Google's cache.

Device Invented to Keep Politicians Off Planes

Tested in Russia, the two-stage GK-1 voice analyzer requires that passengers don headphones at a console and answer "yes" or "no" into a microphone to questions about whether they are planning something illicit.

So if a politician wants to board, just find out where he's from and ask him if he really intends to abide by his oath of office.

Maybe we can hook gun owners up to one as part of the background check, and ask 'em if their thoughts are loyal and pure...

When "Professionals" Collide

An off-duty Arlington County police officer wielding a handgun and threatening to commit suicide was shot and wounded by a Prince William County police officer...

House Moves To Stop Gun Loss

The House overwhelmingly passed a resolution Thursday that asks the Legislature to consider a bill that would let people keep their guns during times of civil disorder.

Asks to consider?

HCR39 was approved on a 78-1 vote.

Wonder who the one party pooper was? I haven't been able to find anything else out about this, but will keep my eyes open...

Rally Demands Tighter PA. Gun Laws

"Normalcy in Camden will continue to be threatened as long as illegal guns continue to flow into the city" from Philadelphia, said Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire N.J.

From Philadelphia?

Wait a minute...I distinctly remember NRA promising that Project Exile and enforcing existing gun laws would work the same miracle there as it had in Richmond.

Uh...never mind.

Gun's Role Made Story Much Uglier

When David Ludwig went to speak with the Bordens Sunday morning, he carried a gun. He brought it from home.

In Lancaster County, as in much of the midstate, a kid's as likely to find a gun as a quart of milk.

To me, that's the problem.

Well, we all knew this was bound to happen. It was the gun's fault. And not just one gun--there were 54 of them!

When it comes to being an authority on what's "uglier," I guess I'm just gonna have to defer to Nancy Eshelman.

Alcohol, Guns Shouldn't Mix...

...unless it's at an FBI range and they're partying with pro football players.

Before the players left the barbecue, a fight broke out between Bears center Olin Kreutz and offensive tackle Fred Miller, who broke his jaw. At the same time, Miller allegedly slugged Kreutz with a 5-pound weight, which required Kreutz to get 13 stitches in his head.

Conveniently, another account says the Bureau has opened an "internal investigation," meaning it is in full damage control mode and any information meted out to the press will be carefully crafted and spun.

Far be it for a lowly tax slave to question what benefit We the People receive from barbecues with celebrities--it looks like the cover was giving the team terrorist training--and we all know that can't be done without ribs and beer.

It also looks like the first accounting of the story to the media was a lie. And it looks like the lie was "concocted" to protect the agent who "volunteers" with the team (and just happens to get sideline game access and who knows what other exclusive access privileges?).

The true point of the story: If anyone aside from law enforcement and the connected elite was involved in this, people would be in jail right now.

"No Offence"

The Minister for Defence, Willie O'Dea, has said he did not intend to offend anyone by pointing a gun at a camera and smiling for the media while posing for photographs yesterday.

I'd say this definitely qualifies for Xavier's "Idiots With Guns" series...

[Photo via The Irish Times, used here under Fair Use doctrine]

Build a Man a Fire...

...and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life--Terry Pratchett

A leading Brazilian environmental campaigner has died after setting himself on fire to protest against the construction of an alcohol plant in the fragile Pantanal marsh region.

Didn't he realize all those greenhouse gases would contribute to global warming?

Let's hope the Wisconsin Green Party notes the effectiveness of this protest technique and employs it widely in their quest to amend budgets "to cover capital costs of [the] 'concealed carry' bill."

Stop the Senseless Police Killings

LESS than two weeks after the killing of five civilians, including two school children in Kisumu, our policemen last Friday turned their guns on yet another rally crowd in Mombasa killing four people.

The common thread that runs through these twin tragedies is that those tasked with protection of Kenyans had cynically turned out to be their executioners.

If there's one thing we've learned from New Orleans, it's that our police obey the law and protect us, and this could never happen here.

The Hart-Rudman Militia

I received an email request from a fellow activist seeking to pin down the origins of the Department of Homeland Security. One of the places I suggested looking was the Hart-Rudman Commission (formally, the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century), a bi-partisan 14-member panel established by Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich in 1998.

I was vaguely aware of the commission, but like most Americans, oblivious to many of the specifics. It's not like our "official media" keep us informed of threats to our right to have arms. So the following was, I confess, new for me:

SEEKING A NATIONAL STRATEGY: A CONCERT FOR PRESERVING SECURITY AND PROMOTING FREEDOM
The Phase II Report on a U.S. National Security Strategy for the 21st Century
The United States Commission on National Security/21st Century
April 15, 2000 [p.15--DC]

America must also enhance the civil (that is, non-military) aspects of homeland security. These functions must be adequately funded and organized along appropriate lines of authority, responsibility, and accountability. The National Guard, successor to the militia, and acknowledged in the Second Amendment as the historic defender of the Republic, must be trained and equipped to assume, among its other responsibilities, a significant role in defending the homeland in the 21st century.

You got that nice bit of deception formulated by 7 Democrats and 7 Republicans, right?

It is with chilling irony that I see later on the page they quote Isabella from Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure":

O! it is excellent
To have a giant`s strength; but it is tyrannous
To use it like a giant.

Bush Hails Taiwan As Model of Freedom

Of course he does.

Instead of a Bill of Rights, the Taiwanese constitution lists "Rights and Duties of the People."

No, of course there is no recognized right to keep and bear arms.

My favorite enumeration is Chapter 2, Article 22:

All other freedoms and rights of the people that are not detrimental to social order or public welfare shall be guaranteed under the Constitution.

Gee, that doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room, does it?