We're the Only Ones Auxiliary Enough

An off-duty NYPD auxiliary cop took his mission to "patrol, observe and report" too far when he pulled over a driver for talking on cellphone and displayed a gun, authorities said yesterday.

Yong Jeon, 33, assigned to the 115th Precinct auxiliary squad, got out of his own car to pull the driver over, pressing his badge up against the window, saying "Get the f- off the phone, I'm a cop," then pulled up his shirt to show the gun in his waist, officials said.

This thuglet reminds me of Jay Santos from The Phil Hendrie Show.

I wonder, since he's half an "Only One," could you lift half a finger against him?

[Via Declan]

CA: Ammunition Control

How do you pass a gun registry law without attracting too much attention? Bury it in an ammunition bill. At least that's what the State of California is trying to do.

Jennifer Freeman of Liberty Belles outlines the latest assault on freedom in "the Golden State."

This is Not Gun Control

The NRA insisted that it was not a "gun control" bill because it does not disqualify anyone currently able to legally purchase a firearm.

Yeah. Besides, when have we ever seen the antis try to renege on previous deals?

It's not like once the beachhead is gained and secured it would be used as a launching point for further attacks. It's not like this won't be expanded to include demands to go after gun s already in "the system"--or that demands would then be made to remove guns from the homes where such people reside belonging to other family members or roommates.

Nah, don't think of it as gun control. Think of it as public relations--and a foundation for future fundraising.

Hey, Wayne--as long as we're on the subject of responses to Virginia Tech, would it still be "exploiting tragedy" to broach the subject citizens not having their right to keep and bear arms infringed on campus, or is that concept still verboten?

Oh, look: He's "beginning a dialog."

Are we getting ready to change our tune, or is the lead-in lauding "armed guards" an indicator of more of the same?

Are there solutions to this problem? Is there anything we can all do to help protect our kids at school?

And they say there are no stupid questions.

God forbid NRA would have anything to say about this:

H.R. 2424: To repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and amendments to that Act

Maybe I shouldn't have said anything about that. I'd hate to think I was partly responsible for getting Ron Paul's rating knocked down another grade.


[Via Dave Licht and JH]

A Lesser Charge

An 18-year-old from Pennsylvania is facing a felony charge after he was caught videotaping a police officer handing out a traffic ticket on a public street...

Carlisle Police Chief Stephen Margeson suggested a guilty plea to a lesser charge might be appropriate.

I agree, Chief. What would you like to plea to?

[Via M. Terry]

Dial 911 and Die

A woman who lay bleeding on the emergency room floor of a troubled inner-city hospital died after 911 dispatchers refused to contact paramedics or an ambulance to take her to another facility, newly released tapes of the emergency calls reveal.

Gosh, I can't wait for HillaryCare to become the norm.

Kind of renews your faith in the whole 911 concept, doesn't it?

[Via M. Terry]

We're the Only Ones Implementing Safety Precautions Enough

Nearly six months have passed since a Gilbert SWAT team raided the house of an elderly Phoenix couple and started a fire that destroyed the family's home and killed their dog...

Gilbert police said that Salvador's decision to arm himself with a gun forced them to implement safety precautions that prevented them from putting the fire out.

It sounds like the Gilbert police having guns may result in forcing the citizens to implement safety precautions.

Equally as outrageous and disturbing as this story are the disgusting comments offered by some of our police state-worshipping countrymen.

[Via M. Terry]

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

We're the Only Ones Virtually Trippy Enough

Being crazy is hard, but it's worth the effort. Especially if you're a cop, paramedic, or social worker who may someday need to deal with a person having a psychotic episode. At those times, empathy can be crucial.

That's where Virtual Hallucinations comes in. The training device, created by Janssen L.P., is a rig with earphones and goggles that plunges the wearer into the mind of a serious schizophrenic. The system offers two interactive scenarios. In one, you're riding a bus in which other riders appear and disappear, birds of prey claw at the windows, and voices hiss, "He's taking you back to the FBI!"

Well this certainly looks like another ingenious way to blow taxpayer plunder--I could have done this training for them at a fraction of the cost with a couple hits of windowpane and some latex demon masks.

For some reason, making "The Only Ones" feel at one with schizophrenics strikes me as an idea that could somehow backfire. I wonder if they're going to make sure no one is wearing their gun belt during these induced psychosis sessions, and if they have credible data proving no lasting effects--plus a reliable methodology for ensuring their scenario subjects aren't already on the edge.

Truth is, if someone is having a psychotic episode where they are endangering themselves and others, there's very little you can do at that moment beyond restraining or otherwise stopping him. I'm all for more humane ways to do that. But that seems more a matter of appropriate use of force training than staggering a mile in a virtual lunatic's shoes.

Still, if they're going to have this danged contraption, why not employ it in a way that could benefit a much larger section of society? Why not devise a scenario to develop empathy for citizens having their rights violated?

[Via 45superman]

This Day in History: June 14

Resolved, That six companies of expert riflemen, be immediately raised in Pen[n]sylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia; that each company consist of a captain, three lieutenants, four serjeants, four corporals, a drummer or trumpeter, and sixty-eight privates.

That each company, as soon as compleated, shall march and join the army near Boston, to be there employed as light infantry, under the command of the chief Officer in that army.

Bracing for Revocation

Ryan Horsley has some rules for gun dealers that they would do well to learn and heed.

Americans United for What Again...?

I just sent a follow-up email to our pals at Americans United for Separation of Church and State:

I didn't realize the name of your organization was Americans United for Separation of Non-Left Wing Churches and State. You've had ample time to "look into" the Mike Pfleger issue and it's evident from your lack of response that you intend to ignore it.

So would it be fair to tell people your whole mission is just to go after churches from the right--leaving churches on the left free to use their 501(c)(3) tax exemptions to effect their (and presumably your?) political agenda?

http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2007/06/nothing-new-about-pfleger-pflouting-tax.html

We're the Only Ones at "A Place for Friends" Enough

Police charged a 24-year-old city man with illegal weapons possession after he posted photos of himself with the gun on his myspace.com Web page and detectives determined he had no permit for the weapon...

I haven't been able to locate the page and picture in question, but I'm curious--if the picture was taken inside, how would the police be able to determine it was taken in New York?

Fire Dept. Firearms Under Fire

"I don't know how appropriate I feel it is for a department that is out for our safety," said Donna Rauch of Girdletree.

Donna--you remember that line about opening your mouth and removing all doubt?

We're the Only Ones White Enough

A former police officer from Henderson is in police custody. The man, who may have ties to the KKK, allegedly chased a black couple while brandishing a gun.

And Jesse Jackson, who has bodyguards, shares the assailant's sentiment in wanting to make sure that black couple stays unarmed.

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

Why They Hate the Second Amendment

2A from a Christian perspective, submitted by Paul W. Davis who says "I know the liberals and gun grabbers won't like this. But I also know many gun owners will get angry as well. However, it is true."

We're the Only Ones Wakey Wakey Eggs and Bacy Enough

A police officer was shot in the wrist when the service weapon that she kept under her pillow went off. Albany police Sgt. Kinshishi Adams, 34, was lying in bed Sunday when a .40 caliber pistol she kept under her pillow discharged and struck her in her left wrist...She apparently sleeps with a weapon under her pillow, and somehow it discharged.

Since she has one of those special "Only Ones" guns that goes off all by its own self, too bad it didn't have a snooze button she could hit so it would go off again in 10 minutes.

Kinshishi?

[Via KU]

PS: In my morning scans I saw Shooting the Messenger had a very similar post--looks like great minds think alike :)

This Day in History: June 13

I am further directed to inform your Excellencies, that Congress are inclined to peace, notwithstanding the unjust claims from which this war originated, and the savage manner in which it hath been conducted; they will therefore be contented to enter upon a consideration of a treaty of peace and commerce, not inconsistent with treaties already subsisting, when the King of Great Britain shall demonstrate a sincere disposition for that purpose. The only solid proof of this disposition will be an explicit acknowledgement of the independence of these states, or the withdrawing his fleets and armies.

The Hero of Medicine

Special foreword posted on Dec. 20, 2012: Visitors coming over from the Slate Thacker/Wintemute interview: You've been lied to. Look this post over and then see my rebuttal here.

UPDATE 2: Visitors from The Atlantic Wire-- it looks like Adam Clark Estes has no more integrity than the other two --he repeated the lie in his column even though he had the link and knows better.

My original blog post from 2007 follows.

-----

Wintemute’s first challenge was to find some way to eavesdrop on gun transactions without attracting notice. At first he tried recording his observations by speaking into a hidden tape recorder that he carried with him, but the quality of the recordings were poor.

“Then I realized that everybody (at the gun shows) was using cell phones,” he recalled in a recent interview.

Wintemute decided to do likewise. He recorded his observations by calling up his voice mail, the capacity of which he had expanded for the study. The voice mail messages were then transcribed by members of Wintemute’s staff. He made visual recordings of the gun shows by taking pictures with a hidden camera. [More]

I won't go here into why I think this study is crap, aside from the fact that Wintemute is one of the more notorious agenda-driven anti-defense propagandists out there. Going to gun shows is hardly equivalent to doing "shoe-leather epidemiology" in South Central or East LA amongst these guys. And I'll only note in passing what a disappointment I find this PhysOrg.com site to be--is this what purported scientific "news" has been reduced to: blatant rah-rah press releases for anti-defense fanatics?

What stands out most for me was this character snooping in on private transactions without the knowledge of the people involved--and many gun shows I've seen have a "No Cameras/Recording Devices" policy. I've also seen some case law involving "news gathering" and hidden cameras/microphones, but "research"--particularly for propaganda purposes--is arguably a different beast altogether. If the shows were posted to keep cameras out, dealers and patrons may well have had some sort of expectation of privacy. I invite anyone with knowledge of California law in this regard to weigh in via "Comments," below.

At the very least, it ought to tell us something about the ethics of this character who has to sneak around like a cheap, bumbling East German spy. And here's the clincher:

Eventually, he hopes to train others to become observers at gun shows — and possibly to go one step further than he did and notify local police when they witness an illegal transaction.

This isn't science. This is a police state informant developing his own private snitch patrol--and I would hope any evidence he gathered would be inadmissible, since he's made it clear his real purpose is to effect criminal prosecutions.

Actually, I would hope he's done something for which he can be prosecuted and sued. And I wouldn't mind if he was forcibly ejected from the next gun show he attends.

In the mean time, as a public service, WarOnGuns would like to assist promoters, dealers and customers in detecting an enemy in their midst--feel free to adapt this into a flier to post and distribute at gun shows:

WARNING!
IF YOU SEE THIS MAN, NOTIFY SECURITY IMMEDIATELY.
HE IS GAREN J. WINTEMUTE,
AN ANTI-GUN "RESEARCHER" KNOWN TO STALK GUN SHOWS WITH HIDDEN CAMERAS AND RECORDERS. HE IS REPORTEDLY TRAINING HIS FOLLOWERS TO MONITOR YOUR TRANSACTIONS AND CALL THE POLICE!

I guess it's easier going after citizens at gun shows than it is stalking and reporting on criminals. It's sure a hell of a lot safer for "The Hero of Medicine"--because we know what the folks who are truly causing the problems do when they find snitches in their midst.

"The Hero of Medicine." That sounds like a title Stalin would hand out, doesn't it?

Letter to Judge Lodge

I wanted to share a letter to Judge Lodge I was sent a copy of, because the writer has some first-hand knowledge of the forms and the audits.

June 11, 2007-06-11

Hon. Edward J. Lodge
Federal Building &U.S. Courthouse, MSC 039
550 W. Fort St., Room 400
Boise, ID 83724-0039

In re: RED'S TRADING POST, INC. v. RICHARD VAN LOAN

Dear Judge Lodge,

I am a FFL dealer in West Texas and I have been trying to follow this mess with Red's Trading Post. I have felt free to contact the local BATF office for questions and felt that I could trust their word. If there was something the BATF inspector wasn't sure about he would contact the BATF legal council in Dallas.

About a year ago I became uneasy because of BATF behavior in other parts of the country and started asking the inspectors to send me written verification. The inspectors have never been wishy washy and promptly complied with my requests with their name on the document.

Today I called the BATF office to make sure & clarify that the way I was keeping firearm transaction records was legal & approved. The BATF inspector directed me to the white 2005 FEDERAL FIREARMS REGULATIONS REFERENCE GUIDE,PAGE 64,"CODE 478.124 Firearms transaction record. ", paragraph (b) A licensed manufacturer, licensed importer, or licensed dealer shall retain in alphabetical (by name of purchaser), chronological (by date of disposition), OR numerical (by transaction serial number) order, and as a part of the required records, each Form 4473 obtained in the transferring custody of the firearms.

I use the numerical system of keeping records and the inspector said that was perfectly legal according to the regulation.

Judge Lodge, notice the key word "or"in the method of keeping records. The word "or" is an exclusive term and means that anyone of the methods named in the regulation can be implemented and that the use of more than one of the named methods is not required.

Judge Lodge, notice that no where in that paragraph does it say that there must be a "front to back"or a "back to front" method of arrangement.

Sir, I cannot say for sure if BATF DIO Richard Van Loan and the Government's attorney do not understand the English language or they are abusing their authority under color of law. There is no greater offense to our fragile Democracy than a sworn officer that commits perjury or abuses their authority. If DIO Richard Van Loan, agent Caleb Rushing, and the Government's attorney get by with what they are trying to do,then they will become a law all in their own and can make up the laws as they go. AND that, Judge Lodge, is a tyrannical dictatorship.

Judge Lodge, I pray that you will do the right thing and relieve Red's Trading Post of this travesty, hold the authorities accountable, and grant Red's Trading Post compensation for the way they have been wronged.

What it Would Take

Pfleger has had limited success urging adults to search their own homes for weapons they may not know their children have, but spoke with CBS 2 late last month, he worried about what it would take to stop the killing.

What, like snuffing out John R-i-g-g-i-o?

A Variety of Perspectives

In putting together the panel, we sought input from a variety of perspectives so that we could have a frank, unscripted discussion of the many issues and complex web of problems that have led to the tragic deaths of these young people. We had representation from the faith community, the public schools, the police, family members of those killed and those accused of killing and community leaders and we met directly with students from some of the most affected schools.

Ah, the Queen of the Authorized Journalists weighs in. ABC 7 President & General Manager Emily Barr sounds like she actually believes her own line of ...

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