Saturday, January 22, 2011

Interesting E-mail from Dog Gone

Dog Gone, one of our newer commenters, honored me with a private e-mail which she said I could use as a post.  It offers us a fascinating glimpse into one person's decision to own guns. Tell us what you think.

A friend had taught me to use a handgun many years ago; he was a former Army gunsmith, and himself a gun collector - and the owner of my all-time favorite 9mm to shoot.  He also taught me about hand-loading ammunition.  It was all 'his thing'.  (My thing, other than blogs is dogs-look! that rhymes).

While taking on the power of attorney for a cousin of mine during his divorce from a crazy woman, because he went to China on a very long consulting job (when they were building their dam /hydroelectric system) I had to contend with her as a stalker.   First the civil restraining order, then eventually a criminal restraining order - the difference being with the second one, so long as she was close enough to shoot, I had legal probable cause to do so.  That was when I got a gun of my own, for very specific protection when I was advised that my life was under a real and legitimate threat - not some vague hypothetical protection paranoia.  Otherwise I wouldn't be a gun owner, but I would enjoy rare occasional target or skeet shooting with friends.  I took a combat pistol class, a more rigorous class than needed for the permit to carry, because I was advised it would be more useful to someone who might actually need to shoot another human being.  I also felt that firearms would be generically less frightening if I knew how to use them, clean them, take them apart, etc.  If I ever needed to use one in an emergency, I damn well wanted to know how to take the safety off.

Fortunately I never needed to shoot anyone - but I would have, if the occasion occurred to do so.

Unfotunately, my gun expert friend died a few years ago of cancer, so I no longer find enjoyment in target shooting for fun or to stay in practice.
 
A mutual acquaintance of all of ours represented himself to be a member of the Minnesota Highway Patrol - had the outfit and everything, routinely carried a gun, would even stop people.  Turned out he had a psychiatric discharge from the navy, was not what anyone would call sane, and was kind of scary....yet he legally had bought a gun, due to the failure of background checks.  I reported him to the police but it was my gunsmith friend who somehow persuaded him to leave me alone.  I don't know what he did or how he did it; I just know this person stopped being a problem for me.  But it did make me feel more safe to know that I already had the gun, the training to use it safely and accurately, and the permit.
   
So....this is pretty ballsy of me, on such short acquaintance, but would you like to post something of mine about my gun experiences  on your blog? How-I-came-to-own-a-gun?
 
I think it might add an interesting dimension, because while there are female gun owners, my experiences were that I was the only woman in my combat pistol class, and usually the only woman at the shooting range most of the time.  It kind of ties in to Congresswoman Giffords being a gun owner, having been in legitimate fear of violence, and a recent gun violence victim.

Timothy Egan on the More-Guns Myth

This wonderful op-ed is written by a gun owner with common sense. Maybe these aren't as rare as we thought.

It defies logic, as this case shows once again, that an average citizen with a gun is going to disarm a crazed killer. For one thing, these kinds of shootings happen far too suddenly for even the quickest marksman to get a draw. For another, your typical gun hobbyist lacks training in how to react in a violent scrum.

I don’t think these are reasons to disarm the citizenry. That’s never going to happen, nor should it. But the Tucson shootings should discredit the canard that we need more guns at school, in the workplace, even in Congress. Yes, Congress. The Texas Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert has proposed a bill to allow fellow members to carry firearms into the Capitol Building.

Gohmert has enough trouble carrying a coherent thought onto the House floor. God forbid he would try to bring a Glock to work. By his reasoning, the Middle East would be better off if every nation in the region had nuclear weapons.
That's pretty funny about Gohmert but I think it applies to most gun owners. They wouldn't be able to help in a critical situation anyway.  And they certainly could hurt.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Gary, Indiana - 3 Dead, 2 Wounded -- Another Lesson in Responsibility

As soon as the report indicates that it was "drug related" the pro-gun extremists breathe a sigh of relief, exonerating themselves of all involvement.

That's where I come in.

You see, the guns used in this terrible incident, which by the way involved humans not some sub-species of expendable beings often referred to as "goblins" or "scumbags," was carried out with weapons that started out in the custody of legitimate gun owners. The ease with which lawfully-owned guns flow into the criminal world is a big problem, it's called "gun flow" or "gun availability."

All those who resist reasonable restrictions which would improve this critical situation are partly responsible.  Along with the perpetrators of these gun crimes, lawful gun owners who fight against background checks on all transfers and safe storage laws and one-gun-a-month laws and proper licensing and registration schemes, are guilty.

What's your opinion?  Is that too severe?  Please leave a comment.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Anachronisms in the U.S. Constitution

1. The Three-fifths Compromise.

Following the Civil War and the abolition of slavery by the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1865), the three-fifths clause was rendered moot.

2. The Second Amendment.
No explanation needed.

3. The Third Amendment.

The "con" is it isn't truly necessary anymore as we are a nation with a standing military and have bases, barracks, and a military that is field deploy-able. It is an anachronism.
What's your opinion? Did I miss any?

Please leave a comment.

NRA vs. Florida Medical Association

Florida must be jealous of all the attention Arizona is getting. I honestly find it hard to decide which one wins.

The story is that a bill has been proposed that would make it illegal, in fact extremely illegal, like "$5 million or face up to five years in jail" illegal, for a doctor to ask his patient about guns in the home.

Sponsored by Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, the bill would make it a felony for a physician or staff member to ask patients or family members of patients if they own guns or store guns at home.

If found guilty, the medical provider could be fined up to $5 million or face up to five years in jail. 

Marion Hammer, executive director of United Sportsmen of Florida and a former national NRA president, said the gun rights groups have no opposition to a physician's office handing out brochures on gun safety, but the direct questioning on whether there are guns in the home of a patient and how they store them goes too far.

"Simply, it's none of their business," Hammer said.
Now I ask you, is that about the craziest thing you've ever heard, or what?

Please leave a comment.

Michael Moore on Guns and Racism

No wonder gun owners hate him so much.  I happen to think what he says is boldly true. 

More Stupidity in Virginia

Guns are to be allowed in parks and state forests.

Joshua Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, argued that with Virginia's so-called "gun show loophole" that allows gun purchases without background checks, dangerous people could end up open-carrying in parks frequented by families and children.

"You have no idea whether they're qualified to own a gun or to use a gun," he said. "So on a public safety level, that's my concern."
It's ironic that pro-gun folks call this "freedom," but for everybody else it's anything but. Who would want to bring their kids to a park or hiking in the forest where you'd have to wonder if the people carrying guns are responsible and qualified?

This is a bad step coming from an agenda-driven governor who's a biased and close-minded gun owner himself.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

More on the Gardena H.S. Shooting

We talked about this "accidental" shooting the other day. A high school kid had a gun in his backpack which went off when the back pack hit the ground. You know, that thing that never happens with modern weapons. That's what our pro-gun friends keep saying isn't it?

The news today says he "stole" the gun from his step-father, whatever that means.

The 17-year-old student who took a loaded gun to Gardena High School in his backpack and then ran when it accidentally discharged, reportedly stole the weapon from his stepfather, according to a source.
Every time this happens, the gun apologists are insistent that you can't blame the victim of a theft for what the thief does. And, in this case the thief was old enough to know better. But, I've always found all that insistence a bit odd, odd in a self-serving kinda way.

My contention is that most guns that are stolen, are not properly stored and secured. We're not talking about international jewel thieves torching the gun safe. We're talking about taking a gun out of the nightstand drawer.

The gun owner, in this case the step-father, has to be held responsible for his part of this. For people who talk about individual responsibility so much, you'd think gun owners would be the first to agree everyone is responsible for his own actions or lack thereof.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Word

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Bill Maher on the Founding Fathers

via Rants from the Rookery.

Midway's NRA Roundup

Midway's Roundup. via TS.

These champions of social responsibility should better set that money aside for innocent victims of gun misuse.

But, I suppose that might be seen as some kind of admission.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

South Carolina Tragedy

He was a good boy.  He received a rifle for his 14th birthday.

A South Carolina boy told police he killed his father with the rifle he received for his birthday in September, investigators said Tuesday.

The 14-year-old allegedly killed his great-aunt and critically wounded his grandmother Monday night, CNN reported. Police in Spartanburg said the teen reported the shootings to a 911 dispatcher.
I find it hard to believe that he was such a good boy that there was no indication whatever of instability. Too bad the dad thought giving his son a birthday present like that was a good idea.

What's your opinion? First allow me. What gun control law could have prevented this? Well, for starters, how about the one that says 14-year-olds may not have access to guns?  Or the other one that says guns must be kept under lock and key unless under the direct control of an adult?

I know, in South Carolina they don't have laws like that. All the worse for them, don't you think?

Please leave a comment.

Alice Cooper said, "You're something that never should have happened. You even make your grandma sick."

Museum Piece Returned

Here's the story. A gun owner dies, his daughter finds this interesting gun among his stuff. It turns out to have been stolen from a museum in 1975.

It makes you wonder how many gun-rights extremists are hiding little secrets among their collections. Of course they always maintain plausible deniability.
Officials still don't know how her father acquired the gun - maybe unknowingly at a relics show.
Yeah, I'm sure that's it.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

81% of Gun Owners Agree

Reuters reports on a poll, which obvioulsy excluded the internet gun bloggers, but which perhaps gives a more accurate picture of what people really think.

Eighty-one percent of gun owners, and 86 percent of all Americans, back requiring personal background checks for all firearms sales, regardless of whether the weapon is bought from a licensed dealer or from a private seller at a gun show, the poll said.
I guess that settles that, huh?. What do you think?

Given these percentages, why is it still not law? Is the NRA and the gun lobby unfairly influencing things?

Would it be possible to have background checks on all transfers without requiring licensing and registration? Or could the background check do it all, kill three birds with one stone, so to speak?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Offensive Gunloon Comment of the Day


Over at New Trajectory, commenter sofa equates gun control with slavery:
Gun Control Laws only make law abiding citizens less able to defend themselves.
Interestingly, none of the gunloons, like Sean D. Sorrentino or Bob S., disagreed with Sofa.  Must mean they concur.
 The details of how much gun regulation you support, misses the point entirely. Like arguing how much slavery is ok, and under what conditions, and how many generations, and what percent blood. Such discussion is offensive.
There shall not be slavery. And the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Unjustifiable Homicide



UT Police Shooting
Officers entered Blair’s home Sept. 16 during a drug raid when he stepped into the hall, wielding a golf club, police video shows. Ogden police Sgt. Troy Burnett shot Blair, 45, in the head and chest.


The shooting was deemed legally justified.

Don't think so.

Democrats vs. Republicans

via The Liberal Viewer

California's Death Penalty

via The Liberal Viewer.

Camden Lays Off Cops

And there not just laying off a few, it's nearly half.

I've got an idea, why don't the relax the gun laws too?

What do you think?  Please leave a comment,

Tennessee Gun Attitude

via Southern Beale. The newscaster said it was important to note that it was "only an accident." And the cop kinda, sorta recommended that gun owners lock up their guns.

I say the gun owners go right to jail and when they come out they forfeit their gun rights for life.

A Proper Texas Gun Attitude

This is a fascinating story

A Texas City is accused of pulling a gun on a group of children after school and locking them inside the business following a shoplifting incident.

An 8-year-old girl later told her mother that she was held at gunpoint.

Several children were in the store Friday when the clerk spotted two of them stealing candy, officials said. They ran outside, dropping some of the stolen items on the ground.

The girl was not among the children suspected of shoplifting. She told her mother a clerk pointed the pistol at her.

The pistol was not fired and there were no reported injuries, officials said.

The girl's mother called Texas City police later that evening.

On Monday, police said they will consult with county child advocates before interviewing the girl.
Texas City police recovered a Glock semiautomatic pistol from the store that resembled the handgun described by the girl. They also want to review any possible store security tapes.

The clerk has not yet been questioned. Police also want to question the other children and an adult customer who reportedly was in the store as well.

"We are not filing criminal charges based just on what she (the 8-year-old) said," Goetschius said.
You certainly can't take an 8-year-old's word that a man pulled a gun on her, she's not responsible enough for that. Yet, if she takes her daddy's gun and gets caught, she'd definitely have to answer for that one.

Doesn't it sometimes seem that in places like Texas, they bend over backwards to excuse the misuse of guns, at least when it's done by one of their own. If it's a kid or a drug addict, there's zero tolerance, but if it's one of the so-called legitimate gun owners, they get plenty of slack.

Why is that?  Please leave a comment.

Miami Domestic Shooting

Another one of those cases in which an man, angry at a woman decided to use gun violence on her. The gun defenders will tell you it's rare and that, for the most part, gun owners are responsible and law abiding, which I guess is true depending on what you mean by those terms.

I say domestic violence is far too prevalent in America and gun availability makes it much, much worse.

And, I'm not the only one who believes guns are bad news for women.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Unintentional School Shooting

AOL News reports, via Penigma.
A gun in a student's backpack went off by accident this morning, wounding two teenagers in a classroom at Gardena High School in the Los Angeles metro area, according to reports.

A sophomore had brought the gun to school in his backpack, and it discharged when he dropped the bag during health class.

A 15-year-old girl was shot in the head and a 15-year-old boy was hit in the shoulder, the news reports said.
I'm sure the individual-responsibility crowd is happy with blaming 15-year-olds for their actions. I have a bit of a problem with that, I'm afraid. I'd want to know if the gun belonged to dad. If so, I'd want to know why the teenager had access to it. For curiosity's sake I'd like to know what training and instructions the boy had received from his dad.

Simply put, although I agree a 15-year-old is usually mature enough to answer for his actions, I'd insist on holding the dad responsible for his.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Explaining Gunloonery (Part Uno)

Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge
--Charles Darwin

Whenever one encounters a gunloon, one is struck by their confidence in their knowledge of all things firearm-related.  Not only do they fully understand the most technical minutiae of firearms but they are expert in the maintenance, repair, operation, and handling of same.  Gun policy, history, and science are their fortes. More amazingly, they can comment authoritatively on scenarios they've never experienced, even claiming a better understanding than those who have encountered such situations.

Ever wonder why this is?

Follow the Money


Just doing what the NRA says:

These wares include high-capacity magazines similar to those used in the Arizona shooting spree that enabled the accused assailant to kill six people and wound 14 others — including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — by rapidly firing a fusillade of shots without pausing to reload.



Over the last two decades, MidwayUSA has done just about everything to help the National Rifle Association flourish financially

In News That Isn't News

Conservatives make bogus arguments against gun control:
But some arguments are so foolish they should be beneath the public discourse. For example, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) told The Washington Post: "Gun laws were not the reason that a socially isolated individual, an anarchist, chose to open fire on an elected official, her constituents and a federal judge." That is attacking a straw man. No one has argued that gun laws were the reason Loughner carried out his attack. What they suggest is that someone who wants to carry out an attack might be less able to do so without legal access to automatic weapons. You can debate that notion, but you ought not to pervert your opponent's argument into a self-evidently nonsensical one as Ensign does.

Poll: Americans Favor Stricter Gun Control

USA Today:
Americans favor stricter gun control laws and better mental health screening and support to prevent mass shootings, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll found.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Utah Negligence

From The Denver Post via Outta the Cornfield.

Police in Centerville say a woman and a 2-year-old boy were accidentally shot and wounded by the boy's father, who was giving a gun demonstration at home.

Police Lt. Paul Child says the man was sitting with his mother-in-law and son Monday evening and demonstrating how to handle a pistol when he pulled the trigger.

Child says the 32-year-old man thought the gun was unloaded at the time.

Police say a bullet struck the 54-year-old woman's calf, then hit the boy in the foot.
The real tragedy in cases like this in gun friendly states is the stupid gun owner gets a slap on the wrist. Without missing a beat, he's back in business. I dismiss the pro-gun argument that these guys learn from their mistakes and are the most careful afterwards. I'm sure that happens in some cases, but by and large, if you're stupid enough to do this once, the chances are you'll do it again, or something worse.

One strike you're out is the only answer for guys like this. How the hell else are we going to clean up the mess we have now, not only with criminals acting up, but with law abiding gun owners doing it as well. One strike you're out.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Incredible Bob S.

Over on japete's blog, Bob S. wrote one of those terribly tedious diatribes using quote after quote from the Bible to justify gun ownership. I responded by saying anyone can play that game, so here's mine.

I'd like to play too. Jesus said turn the other cheek. He said forgive your ememies. He gave an example of it by allowing himself to be crucified.

To that Bob, never one to be outdone, responded:

MikeB302000,

We covered "turning the other cheek" over on my blog.

At the time, it was socially, morally and legally acceptable for a superior rank to strike an inferior rank (lord/vassal or master/slave).

Note that it was LEGAL. For an inferior to strike back it would be breaking the law. Jesus' parable would and was fully understood at the time.

By turning the other cheek, the inferior was non-verbally stating that (s)he considered himself/herself to be equal with the person who struck them.

A corollary for today would be a law enforcement officer, while performing his job, striking a person. It is illegal to physically resist.

The understood message was to non-violently resist lawful but morally wrong violence.

Criminals raping, robbing or trying to murder people do not fall into this category.

Or are you trying to tell me you wouldn't fight a criminal trying to rape your wife, to murder your children?
I don't think so.
Now, I don't know about you, but that's just too bizarre for words in my opinion. And, consider this, for Biblical interpretation, we must take the meaning within the context of the times, according to Bob, but when interpreting the 2nd Amendment, we disregard that thinking altogether. That, Bob says, must be taken literally, with all the focus on the "shall not be infringed part," of course.

What's your opinion? Is using the Bible to justify gun ownership about the silliest thing you ever heard of?

I think so.  What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Kevin Whiteman on Catholic Gun Policy

Recently we discussed the US Catholic Bishop's position on gun ownership, namely that it's not for civilians. This article clarifies what the position of the Catholic Church is and one man's understanding of it.

Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:

If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful.... Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's.
Mr. Whiteman's understanding is this.

In the name of Christian Charity, if an individual or individuals break into my home with the thought of committing unspeakable acts of violence on my family, God knows I have the right to deal the lethal blow to the aggressor(s).

After all, I'm the one who has the primary responsibility to protect hearth and home, not the police.
Do you see the problem with that? He said if they break in "with the thought of committing unspeakable acts of violence on my family."

He can't know that. You see. That's the same old macho gun-owner talk we hear all the time from the protect-the-family guys. 

Mr. Whiteman, or any other gun owner faced with that frightening situation would have to make a determination of how great the threat really is and what would be the appropriate response.  Dealing a "lethal blow," as cool as that sounds, would have to be the last resort used only in the worst case.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

The Best of the Gun Culture

The gun-rights extremists wonder why we feel there's something wrong with the gun culture.  It's not bad enough that they're into B-B guns and paint-ball and air-soft, all of which cause infuries and further the myth that "guns are good" and "guns are the answer," but they're also into a lesser-known phenomenom called potato guns.
Adolescent boys who enjoy playing with firecrackers but who never grow and mature are a problem in our society. That's what I think.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Jon Stewart on the Memorial Service

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Veiled Criticism
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire Blog</a>The Daily Show on Facebook

Monday, January 17, 2011

Require Gunloons to be Insured

Commenter Microdot has a great idea:
For the sake of argument, here's an interesting proposal and maybe you can figure out how you can get in on the bottom floor, because the equation is Guns and Greed divided by The Insurance Industry with a nice lobbyist payoff to the Republicans which might just = bypassing gun control legislation and making the NRA redundant.
John Gear:

Rather than trying to limit access to or take guns away from law-abiding adults, we must instead insist that the adult responsible for a gun at anyinstant (maker, seller, or buyer) have enough liability insurance to coverthe harm that could result if that adult misuses it or lets it reach the wrong hands.

USA: Global Embarrassment

Sean Sorrentino Defends Ammurrica
Australia:
One is their militancy. At some of their rallies, Tea Party members pump fists and yell ''USA, USA''. When the struggle is viewed as being between patriots and non-patriots, it is a short step to picturing opponents as enemies
Canada:
"I think the conclusion I draw from these terrible events in Tucson, which have just seared us all, is the simple importance of gun control," Ignatieff said Wednesday
Canada:
We are a different breed in Canada – not necessarily a better one, just different. Most of us understand that the claim that more guns in society means less crime is silly. When someone decides to kill as many people as possible at close range with a mini-weapon of mass destruction, no armed citizen on Earth has the time to stop the mayhem cold.

Ralph Nader on the New Alliance

He says it'll be Tea Partiers and Liberal Progressives. Fascinating stuff via TYWKIWDBI.

80-Year-Old Shoots Himself

via Ohh Shoot.

An 80-year-old Long Beach, California man unintentionally shot himself while cleaning one of his gun. He was transported to the local hospital and is expected to survive. Police removed several other firearms from the man's home as a precaution. However, they did not say what type of gun the man was cleaning when it discharged or how many other weapons were taken by police.

I've heard all that nonsense about the older gun owners being in the greatest need of protection and all that, but maybe what they really need is protection from themselves.  Their younger supporters are so worried about restrictions on their own rights that they don't even want to hear about any way of protecting the elderly gun owners from these kinds of "accidents."

What's your opinion?  Wouldn't it be possible to implement some kind of screening to remove guns from the incompetent and senile at least?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Jon Meacham on the Assault Weapons Ban

via The Huffington Post.

This is the type of gun that the shooter in Arizona is charged with using — a Glock 9 mm with an expanded clip that holds 33 rounds. What on earth could such a thing be good for except for rapidly ending as many human lives in as short a space of time as possible?

Congress banned such clips in 1994 under President Clinton; in 2004, under the second President Bush, they were allowed back on the legal U.S. market. So were other assault weapons banned for the previous decade. Of course the alleged murderer in Tucson was by all accounts mentally ill and susceptible to substance abuse. Could he have put his hands on this kind of Glock and this kind of clip illegally? Sure he could have. But he didn’t have to.
What do you think? Please leave a comment.

CCW Guys at the Safeway Shooting

Now, all of a sudden, there were two.  One was across the street and the other arrived just as the shooting ended.  I wonder how many more there really were? 
At least two of the people who helped tend to the wounded and subdue the gunman at the massacre were carrying concealed handguns, and people wearing pistols on their belts or carrying rifles in gun racks always has been a common sight here.
It's funny that Loughner was allowed to shoot till all his bullets were gone. Reading the gun blogs you would have thought he'd have been gunned down sooner than that.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Los Angeles Police Murder Naked Unarmed Man

This is why the police need more and better training.  That goes for civilian gun owners too.

Whats your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Edward Fleury Found Not Guilty


I wasn't going to post about this particular travesty of justice, but the picture of the former police chief convinced me.

Gun rights people like Zorro are happy because individual responsibility has been maintained. The boy was 8, for crying out loud.

I say everyone involved should go to jail, not for 10 or 20 years, that would be excessive, but for long enough to get their attention. After that they should never be allowed near guns.

Do you think the adult participants in this sick incident demonstrated the kind of responsibility necessary for exercising the right of gun ownership safely?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

We're Not Anti-Gun

via Robert Farago.

Prof. Gary Kleck in the WSJ

The famous criminologist wrote a very interesting article for the Wall Street Journal in which he basically said we should focus more on the common gun violence than the occasional mass killing when trying to shape common sense gun control laws.

I was particularly interested in this part.
And extending background checks to cover private gun transfers might also block gun acquisition by ordinary criminals, even if they are ineffective against deranged and powerfully motivated mass killers.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Marko Kloos on Responsible Home Defense

This is becoming quite common, rabid gun owners who claim to be ever-vigilant in the family protecting business, who often share tips on weaponry and tactical advice necessary to ward off that imminent home invasion by a marauding band of ex-con rapists, who share recipes for cool drinks.

I say again, there's no place for drinking gin, or a half-dozen beers for that matter, in the life of the responsible gun owner. Either stop pushing the drinks or stop telling us how responsible you are.  Or keep doing both, it's a free country.

In The Famous 10%, I accounted for this type of behaviour but I'm afraid I was too conservative in my estimates.

Alcoholics and drug addicts. 3%

It is estimated that 8.5% of the population is alcoholic. What percentage do you suppose has problems with other substances, anything from prescription medication to illicit drugs, another 10%?. Let's say 5%. That's 13.5% of our population at large and consequently of the 80 million gun owners. In all fairness, most of them, although I don't personally feel comfortable with their having weapons, won't cause any problems. But what of the worst 3%, say? These are the guys who become anti-social when they drink or party with drugs. You know the type. 3%.

"Problem drinker" might be a more acceptable way to describe these folks. It certainly works better for me since I believe very strongly that guns and alcohol don't mix, and you don't have to be an alcoholic to violate that.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The NRA Terrorists Among Us

When I saw this comment come across for moderation, I held off on approving it.  I was seriously considering tossing it law enforcement's way.  MikeB came along and approved it.  Here's the comment:



Sometimes, sunlight is the best disinfectant.  Zorro's comment really reflects the mindset of the gunloon.  It isn't about self-defense or sport.  It's about terrorism.