Saturday, June 11, 2011

Do Libertarians Support the NRA?

Ted Knighton on United Liberty described why he, as a Libertarian, would not join the NRA. Basically he feels they're not extreme enough. He mentioned the fact that, "Their compromises gave us background checks for firearm purchases, among other things."

So, do I think libertarians should join the NRA? I can’t speak for everyone, but I sure as hell won’t. While I think a single issue group should focus on that one issue, I can’t believe that the NRA is truly interested in defending my right to keep and bear arms. Instead, I believe they’re interested in nothing more than playing the Washington game.

In other words, I personally recommend that libertarians looking to join an organization to defend our right to keep and bear arms not join the NRA. There are many other groups that do quality work in that arena as well, and are less compromising with our beloved Second Amendment rights than the NRA. Gun Owners of America is one such group.

So what do I saw to those who argue that the NRA is the largest gun rights group in the nation? I simply tell them that all things change in time, and it’s way past time for that fact to change.
What does all this mean? Are real Libertarians too extreme for the NRA? Do they really consider background checks which prevent some bad people from getting guns, an infringement of rights?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

PA Cop Shoots and Kills his Son

 Philly.com reports on another perfect family which everyone agrees

Around 3 p.m., authorities say, Eric Schmitz shot and killed his youngest child in the two-story Towamencin house where Stephen had lived all his life.
 
Stephen, who struggled with mental-health issues, apparently had attacked his father with a fixed-blade hunting knife soon after getting home from school, authorities said.
I find it hard to believe there was no other way than to shoot the kid to death. What do you think?

Please leave a comment.

Gray Seal Shooting on Cape Cod

The Boston Globe has an interesting story about the latest rash of five dead seals found with gunshot wounds to the head.

One possible reason mentioned for the slaughter was that some people fear the increase in gray seals near the beaches could attract great white sharks. Another reason is that the seals deplete the fish population commercial fisherman depend upon.

It's interesting that the Boston Globe, not a big supporter of gun rights, didn't suggest any other less-noble explanations. I could think of one.

What do you think is the reason?  Please leave a comment.

NRA Certified

Meet an NRA certified Safety Instructor:
Police say a two-year-old found a loaded .45 caliber pistol under a bed. He accidentally shot his six-year-old stepsister Emily Lavender in the chest and killed her, authorities said.
Investigators found 53 guns after searching the home.
People who know the homeowner say he was an NRA certified firearms instructor and a trainer for a Valley Sea Cadet program.

Do you realize it's harder to become a barber or a driving instructor than to become an NRA certified instructor?  It's true.

Plus, barbers and driving instructors are routinely monitored and have to periodically renew their licenses.  An NRA certified instructor isn't monitored and doesn't have to renew anything.

Nobody ever fails any NRA course and course content and conduct isn't standardized.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Shooting Video Games - What's the Attraction?

Via The Average Bro who asks what is the allure of these shooting video games.

My guess is it's part of the deeply pervasive fascination we have with violence and fantasy. What do you think?

Please leave a comment.

Rachel on Santorum on Weiner



I had another explanation for the disproportionate attention paid to the Weiner scandal.  The folks who are reading and writing about it so much are people who generally follow the news closely enough to be traumatized by it. They've found a brief respite from the daily bombardment of news about the economy, jobs, wars, terrorism, new e-coli strains and all the rest.

"If you don't resign, it goes away."

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

California Gun Laws at Work

Mercury News reports on another example of how the California gun laws, in this case the waiting period, work to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.

The amazing thing is our gun-rights friends would have a guy like this buying a gun and taking it home immediately.  The only reason for wanting that is so they themselves would not have to accept the inconvenience of waiting.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

Trigger-happy Miami Cops at it Again

The Miami Herald reports

The shooting happened shortly after noon Wednesday in the 12900 block of Northwest 13th Street. The events leading up to it began in the area, with police doing surveillance of a crime suspect, Baez said. 

Officers spotted Santana driving a white 1993 Toyota but when they tried to stop the car, the man drove away into a wooded area, according to police. A female passenger, 57, was in the car with him, Baez said.

Near the 12900 block of Northwest 13th Street, the car reached a dead end street and stopped. According to police, the man got out, a confrontation followed, and officers fired.

Santana died at the scene. Police did not know if the suspect was armed. They also did not know how many officers fired.

The passenger wasn’t hurt. She was in police custody Wednesday and being questioned by officers, Baez said.
I'll bet the cops will get commendations and the female passanger will be charged with felony murder. What do you think?

Please leave a comment.

Playing For Change

She Has a CCW

squeakywheelseeksgrease

It's a long read and pretty tough slogging.  The bottomline is this is a person who has a smorgasbord of troubles--financial, employment, personal, health (physical and mental), etc.

Frankly, this is not a person who should be around firearms.  Not just for her own safety, but for others'.

She seems to be buddys with many gunbloggers; why aren't they suggesting she give up the guns?

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Obviously, An NRA-Certified Trainer...


U. of Maine:
Ryan Ouimet is charged with manslaughter in the death of Andrew Holland in a friend's apartment in Farmington May 31st.
According to court papers Ouimet, Holland and their friend Caroline Halloran smoked marijuana and then Ouimet took out a hand gun. He was dancing to music on the radio while tossing the gun between his hands when it went off.
The shot hit and killed Andrew Holland.

Why Does The NRA Support Terrorism?

Al Arabiya:

Hence there are wrinkles of America’s permissive gun laws so bizarre they beggar belief. To wit: “Membership in a terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from possessing firearms or explosives under current federal law.” Neither does inclusion on the government’s ever-growing terrorist watch list.

That is what the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the research arm of Congress, found after looking into the background checks of prospective buyers gun dealers are required to file to the FBI. According to a GAO report read at a congressional hearing last year, sales of guns and explosives to people on terrorist watch lists totaled 1,119 in a period of six years.

2nd Amendment-STYLE Remedies?

When I read stories like this, I can't help but think of right wing fringies, like Sharron Angle, who like to boast about how they just maybe might start shooting up the government if they don't get their way.  They remind me of the Taliban, the Christian conservative / Religious right version.

Gunmen attack wedding party in eastern Afghanistan, killing 9, including groom

  • Article by: AMIR SHAH , Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan - Gunmen opened fire on a wedding party in eastern Afghanistan, killing nine people, including the groom, officials said Thursday.
The assailants entered a field where the groom and his family had gathered Wednesday night in the remote Dur Baba district and started shooting, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, the provincial government spokesman. The attackers also set fire to a nearby house and a car.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred on the eve of a NATO meeting in Brussels to discuss the alliance's mission in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama is expected to announce soon how many troops he will cut from the 100,000-strong U.S. force in Afghanistan in July, leading to fears that other NATO allies involved in the fight against Taliban insurgents may follow suit.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday in Brussels that there will be no "rush for the exits" by the United States. Germany has warned that pulling too many Americans out of the 10-year war could risk NATO's strategy.
The cousin of the groom killed in Wednesday's attack is the chief administrator for Dur Baba district, suggesting the shooting may have been an insurgent strike against the family for being allied with the government. Officials are investigating, Abdulzai said.
The Taliban and other allied groups have regularly targeted both government officials and those seen as in league with the Afghan administration or international forces. The insurgents have said they do not consider these people civilians. (emphasis mine - DG)

Criminal Possession of Weapon Charges

So, what made this a criminal possession (or attempted possession, since he clearly HAD the gun with him at the time?  Anyone want to guess where the gun came from, and if it was originally a LEGAL weapon?

Rapper Ja Rule set to get prison sentence in NYC gun case; he also faces tax rap in NJ 

Article by: JENNIFER PELTZ , Associated Press

NEW YORK - Multiplatinum-selling rapper Ja Rule is set to go to prison, but he's leaving fans with an album on the way.
The rapper-actor — whose gravelly voice, thuggish tough talk and duets with R&B divas made him one of rap's stars in the early 2000s — is set to be sentenced Wednesday to two years in a New York prison.
"My last day out," he Tweeted Tuesday afternoon, adding that he was spending it at the movies with his family.
Ja Rule, 35, pleaded guilty in December to attempted criminal possession of a weapon, resolving a nearly four-year-old case.
Police said they found a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic gun in a rear door of his $250,000-plus Maybach sports car, which they'd said they'd stopped for speeding as he left a star-laden concert at Manhattan's Beacon Theatre on July 22, 2007. Rap superstar Lil Wayne was arrested separately after headlining the same show. He later pleaded guilty to the same charge, spending about eight months in a city jail last year.
"Laws are laws," Ja Rule said Monday on "Good Day New York," which airs on New York's Fox 5 TV station. "There's nothing I could really do but own up to the situation."
"You know, I try not to regret anything I do in life, because you go through life and you do things, and you man up to them. You own them," he added.
read more here

Fargo - Gun Paradise

I saw the movie Fargo and knew it was fiction. The Coen Brothers took a lot of liberties in depicting some of the local people as criminals and irresponsible gun owners. The real Fargo has always been a veritable gun paradise, at least until the foreigners started arriving. Just look at this guy.


Correct me if I'm wrong, but untill all these immigrants got here, you just didn't hear stories like this one.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Galveston Texas

The scene was well described as a "melee." The things that DON'T go with guns are several.

1. trailer parks in Texas
2. pot smoking in trailer parks
3. macho guys who like to fight in trailer parks
4. guys who shoot people, drop the gun and run into a trailer to hide

One odd thing is the police were not able to make an arrest. Maybe they have the Don Zaluchi theory. "They're animals anyway, so let them lose their souls."

What's your opinion?

Why? It's in Our DNA.

You Never Know Until You Ask...

Stranger Than Fiction: Gunloon Edition

80 years old, unlicensed dentist, gunloon.

You know something bad will come of this:
A Russian-speaking immigrant accused of practicing dentistry without a license in Oregon claims he was defending himself in the shooting death of a man believed to be a patient.
The Oregonian reports that 80-year-old Viktor Gregorevich Gebauer’s attorney said at his murder trial that the man did not have an appointment and threatened Gebauer last year.
Gebauer is accused of shooting 47-year-old Viktor Merezhnikov (muh-REZH-nee-KOFF), who had a crown pulled eight days earlier and had returned seeking relief for his tooth pain.
Prosecutors say the state will present physical evidence that will counter the self-defense claim.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Larry Bell on the U.N. Small Arms Treaty

Forbes Magazine published an alarmist op-ed about the United Nations' plan to destroy our Cunstitution.

It may not come as surprising news to many of you that the United Nations doesn’t approve of our Second Amendment. Not one bit. And they very much hope to do something about it with help from some powerful American friends. Under the guise of a proposed global “Small Arms Treaty” premised to fight “terrorism”, “insurgency” and “international crime syndicates” you can be quite certain that an even more insidious threat is being targeted – our Constitutional right for law-abiding citizens to own and bear arms.
Larry goes on to list the eventual consequenses, including things such as "Confiscate and destroy all “unauthorized” civilian firearms (exempting those owned by our government of course)." He then goes on to reference the famous 2.5 million DGUs which take place EACH YEAR, you know in order to prove how much good guns actually do. It's a truly bizarre article, well worth the time to read.

I realize it's hard for gun-rights advocates to be objective, impossible really, but how about this for consideration. In recent years, under the last two very-different-from-one-another presidents, we've invaded Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan, without asking the U.N. for their permission and in some cases against their express wishes. Is it reasonable to believe that the United States will suddenly become internationally compliant and allow its gun policy to be determined by the policies of the United Nations?

No, it's not. What this is, is more paranoia and fantasy.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Ann Coulter - The Incredible Liberal Hater


Road Rage and Rolls Royces in PA



A 62-year-old man driving a Rolls-Royce held a handgun to the head of another man in an elementary school parking lot Sunday in a road-rage incident, according to Northern York County Regional Police.

William Ray Gore, of the 100 block of Chestnut Grove Road, Carroll Township, is facing charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats, possession of weapon on school property and harassment, according to a news release.
Stories like this one make you wonder. Is it reasonable to think that guys who are lawful gun owners up until the moment they do something stupid are really acting out of character? Or is it more likely that guys like William Ray Gore have been dangerous raging maniacs all along and only now are coming to the attention of the law?

This was all very well covered in The Famous 10%, the only problem is it needs reworking, that figure is obvioulsy too low.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Truth About 2nd Amendment Remedies

The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence has suggestions about how to respond to filks who say things like Sharron Angle did last year.

You know, our Founding Fathers, they put that Second Amendment in there for a good reason and that was for the people to protect themselves against a tyrannical government. And in fact Thomas Jefferson said it's good for a country to have a revolution every 20 years.

I hope that's not where we're going, but, you know, if this Congress keeps going the way it is, people are really looking toward those Second Amendment remedies and saying my goodness what can we do to turn this country around? I'll tell you the first thing we need to do is take Harry Reid out.
I have difficulty taking people seriously who talk like that. In fact I think some of the most vocal among them are the least sincere and genuine. The problem is their less-than-intelligent listeners. Those are the guys who go out and shoot up the joint.

What do you think? Surely Sharron Angle wasn't suggesting someone kill harry Reid, was she?

Please leave a comment.

Beautiful Boy

It's Good To Be Winning

Florida:

A group of Florida physicians filed a federal lawsuit on Monday seeking to overturn a new state law that limits doctors' ability to ask patients about guns in the home.
The lawsuit, filed in Miami federal court, says the new law is an unconstitutional ban on physicians' free speech and prevents them from counseling patients on firearm safety.

The statute, titled "Privacy of Firearm Owners" and signed into law by Florida's governor last week, prohibits healthcare professionals from asking patients about gun ownership unless the information is relevant to the patient's medical care, safety or the safety of others. The law also bars practitioners from entering the information into a patient's medical record.

"By severely restricting such speech and the ability of physicians to practice such preventative medicine, the Florida statute could result in grievous harm to children, adolescents, adults and the elderly," the lawsuit said.

Another win for the our side.

Hawaii Shooter Had Previous Gun Charge

Remember Hawaii NRA member Toby Stangel?

Just another law-abiding citizen:

AN OAHU GRAND JURY charged Stangel in May 2004 with carrying a firearm without a permit in November 2003. Stangel pleaded no contest to the charge in July 2004 and asked the judge for an opportunity to clear the charge from his criminal record if he stayed out of trouble. Carrying a firearm without a permit is a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Pretty interesting that Pastor Stengel and wife seem to be in no hurry to get home to help out Junior.

Speaking of 'ProCriminal'...

Let's try a thought experiment here.

Suppose a wealthy white man has a son who is arrested in a road rage incident.  Suppose this man's kid shot a gun at another motorist as they drove on a parkway.  And suppose this kid came within inches of killing the other motorist.

Pretty criminal behavior, right?

Patrick Butts and Being "ProCriminal"

"Turn to the left."
Often, gunloon bloggers will try mightily to come up with a catchy term or phrase describing those of us who want to see reasonable gun laws. Like "hoplophobe" or "gungrabber" or something.

Jonathan Clark Sullivan (Linoge) tried esoteric terms from Firefly  but since he and about 20 others ever watched the show, his bon mots never caught on.

Patrick Butts thinks he's got one: "procriminal."

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Should Those Who Have a History of Domestic Abuse Lose Rights to Own Guns?

Something to consider while reading this story, how would the fatalities and injuries that result from domestic violence be different, if the abusers didn't have access to a gun or guns?  Could we do more to prevent tragedies like this, and why don't we?

from MSNBC:
Sheriff's deputy shot dead, wife goes into labor
Deputy Wyman, who served in Iraq as a U.S. Marine, was responding to domestic dispute


A sheriff's deputy in upstate New York died overnight Tuesday after being shot at the end of a six-hour standoff, and his wife went into labor with their second child upon hearing the news, local media reported.
Deputy Kurt Wyman, 24, died after being rushed to a Utica hospital following the shootout around 2 a.m. Tuesday inside a garage in the rural hamlet of Knoxboro, Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol said eight hours after the incident.
Sheriff's spokesman Lt. James McCarthy told the Observer-Dispatch the couple has one child together, and that the deputy's wife, named in the report as Lauren, went into labor with the couple's second child upon hearing her husband had been shot.
WKTV reported that members of Wyman's church received a text message Tuesday morning with the news of Wyman's death and his wife's labor.
The station said family and many law enforcement members had gathered at St. Elizabeth Medical Center, the hospital where Wyman died in surgery, the Dispatch reported, citing McCarthy.
Maciol said Wyman joined the sheriff's department in October 2007 and spent a year deployed in Iraq with a Marine Corps Reserve unit before returning to the police agency in 2009.
'Family was certainly No. 1' "Deputy Wyman was an exceptional public servant who served his country and who served his county with pride, and he will be greatly missed," Maciol said, according to the Dispatch. "Family was certainly No. 1 with him."
A Facebook profile apparently belonging to Lauren Wyman showed a pregnant woman smiling as she took a self-portrait photo; a page under Kurt Wyman's name showed a picture of a toddler — The Dispatch reported the couple also has an 18-month-old son — whose face was smudged with the evidence of a messy meal.
Survivors also include Wyman's parents and a sister.
As for the suspect in the case, Maciol alleged 40-year-old Christian Patterson shot Wyman once with a shotgun as officers tried to take him into custody around 2 a.m. ET.
The sheriff said three other officers returned fire and hit Patterson several times. He was in critical condition at the same hospital where Wyman died.
Six-hour standoff Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara said at a press conference that he intends to charge Patterson with aggravated murder, WKTV reported.
"The only punishment for it is life imprisonment without parole," he said, according to the station, adding that the office would file charges at an appropriate time pending Patterson's release from the hospital. Officials said Patterson had surgery Tuesday morning.
Maciol said Wyman and Deputy Mark Chrysler arrived at Patterson's home around 8 p.m. Monday after his live-in girlfriend called 911 and reported he was threatening to kill her and himself. The sheriff said Shannon Secor fled to a neighbor's home and was unharmed.
Patterson held the deputies at bay while other law enforcement officers arrived and tried to get him to surrender. Maciol says the officers rushed Patterson six hours later when he indicated he was going to harm himself. The sheriff refused to release any other details about the circumstances of the shootings.
Knoxboro is a tiny rural crossroads in the town of Augusta, a farming community of 2,000 residents about 30 miles southeast of Syracuse.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

An Idiot Can Operate It. And Indeed Many Do


My Kinda Pistols - No Background Check Required

via Criminal Wisdom

Cenk on the Patriot Act


Just like I've said to the gun-rights activists, "The reality is you don't give a damn about the Constitution."

Longview Texas DGU




I like this guy. Imagine a gun owner in Texas who doesn't think the burglar is a scumbag who deserves death. Maybe there's hope for the Lone Star State after all, or do you think this is an anomaly?

Please leave a comment.

Jealous Ex-husband Kills Daughter, Wife's Boyfriend and Shoots Wife Several Times

(Jose Antonio Negron)

The Ledger reports on the action which took place in sunny Florida.

A father shot and killed his 15-year-old daughter and his estranged wife's boyfriend at a North Lakeland home Saturday night, according to Lakeland police.

The girl's mother, Olga Gonzales, 46, was shot multiple times and was stable at Lakeland Regional Medical Center on Sunday night, police said.

The suspect, Jose Antonio Negron, 54, of 2303 Harris Street in Lakeland, turned himself in to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Sunday morning, according to jail records.

He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm.

The shooting left 15-year-old Marta Negron and Gonzales' boyfriend, Luis Fernandez, 46, dead, LPD spokeswoman Sgt. Terri Smith said.
First of all, a charge of first-degree murder is ridiculous. His beef was over custody of the kid he killed. Isn't that enough to show that he was out of his mind? In Florida though, they'll probably try to give this lunatic the death penalty. Along with being the Oxycontin capital of the world and one of the most lax gun states, they are tough on crime.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Patrick Butts: NRA-Certified Cheeto Slayer

.

Patrick Butts-Defender of Cheetos
Soooo, yesterday, we discovered Patrick Butts likes to have a couple of drinkypoos while he's carrying his manhood firearm around.

Basically, Buttsy boils it down to a choice of being either sober or safe.   This implies that safety can only be had by carrying a gun.  And if one chooses to drink or drug, the safety benefit of carrying a firearm far outweighs being impaired.  Let's work with that premise for a bit.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Why They Oppose Background Checks?

The background check requirement only applies to Federal Firearms License holders. Private sellers are not required to screen their buyers in any way.

Usually the question of background checks comes up in reference to gun shows. So common is this association that "The Gun Show Loophole" has become synonymous with requiring background checks on all gun sales. This is obviously not the case for the simple reason that not all private gun sales take place at gun shows.

So, legislation requiring background checks at all sales that take place at gun shows is only a partial solution to a very wide-spread problem. I would imagine proponents of this type of legislation expect to expand it eventually to include all private sales, otherwise it wouldn't accomplish what it's supposed to.

The opposition is fierce, primarily by the NRA and by the more extreme gun-rights advocates. Some surveys have shown that they are in the minority, but they are extremely vocal and well financed. Most people feel they're winning.

My question is why, why such powerful and costly opposition? I've identified two reasons which should cover those making up this unreasonable group.

1. Some people actually believe the bizarre suggestion that gun control steps like these would lead to a tyrannical government which will eventually ban all gun ownership and confiscate the ones already owned. Part of this fantasy is that civilian gun ownership is what keeps the government in check. They actually say "the 2nd Amendment preserves the 1st Amendment," and other such nonsense. This is a type of grandiosity mixed with paranoia. To these folks there's no discussing the obvious benefits of proper gun control; they cannot see beyond the glorious struggle for "rights" and "freedom" they fancy themselves involved in.

2. Some people recognize the foolishness of the first group, but they'll never admit it because they both want the same thing. These folks realize very well that making it more difficult for criminals and mentally ill people to get guns is a moral imperative, one which would save many lives, but they don't care. A self-centered, me-first philosophy drives them to resist anything that would result in increased inconvenience and expense. The claims that the inconvenience and increased expense would be minimal, doesn't phase them. They are as stubborn as the first group and are happy to support them in their mutual cause.

To sum up, you've got paranoid lunatics and self-centered people who together make up the background-check resistance. Becuase of their successful opposition, at least so far, I blame them for the baleful results.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

The Mystery of Hitler's Gun


The New York Post published a fascinating article about Hitler's favorite pistol.

Among these many treasures was a case containing a gold-plated semiautomatic pistol. Hitler’s initials were inlaid with gold on the ivory grips. This was the gift of Carl Walther, whose family made hundreds of thousands of weapons sold worldwide. Of all his gifts, Hitler, who had a fondness for firearms, particularly prized the pistol and, after the day’s festivities, had the pistol shipped to Munich, where he kept it in a desk drawer in his apartment.
Sounds like some of the guys I know, "prized pistol," and "fondness for firearms."

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Connecticut Gun Control Group Working Against Gun Violence

The Waterford Patch reports on a gun control group,  Connecticut Against Gun Violence, with some good ideas.

Pinciaro cited a recent New England Journal of Medicine study that said guns in the home are 47 times more likely to be used against a member of the household. He also said U.S. gun-related deaths average 30,000 a year, compared with 15 in Japan, which has half of our population. Connecticut, he said, has the fourth-lowest rate of gun deaths in the country at 4.7 per 100,000 population, while Alaska ranks first with 24.9 per 100,000.
Now, that's a helluva comparison, 30,000 to 15. Even taking cultural differences into account, those incredible numbers sure seem to support the gun-availability argument.

And, what do you think about that gun-death rate in Alaska. Is that part of the "freedom" they associate with living in the 49th State?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

More on the Yuma Shooting

The Daily Herald reports on the details behind the terrible murder-suicide.When the story first broke there were very few details.

A shooting spree in southwestern Arizona followed 73-year-old gunman Carey Hal Dyess' bitter divorce and claimed the lives of his ex-wife and four people who supported her during the 2007 case, according to investigators and court records.

The six-hour rampage, which started around dawn Thursday in the small town of Wellton and extended west to Yuma, ended when Dyess pulled his car over and shot himself to death.
Both husband and wife had accused the other of domestic abuse and had gotten restraining orders. Yet, true to form, the woman was the murder victim and the man was the suicide.

Honolulu Shooting


CBS Affiliate KGMB in Honolulu reports that Stangel, whose father heads the North Shore Christian Fellowship church, was raised in a loving church family but that those who knew him call him troubled and a loner, who rebelled at being a pastor's son.

One friend told KGMB that Stangel abused drugs and was violent.

Stangel has five prior misdemeanor convictions, including two DUIs and a criminal property damage case.

The suspect's parents, Mike and Karen Stangel, issued a statement saying, "We are broken and sick with grief. Our hearts and prayers go out to the innocent families who have been affected by this tragic act. We wish we had an explanation, but there simply is none. Those who know us, know we have always loved our son with an unconditional love. We thank all of you who have sent us your love, prayers & support. We are looking to the Lord Jesus for guidance, strength & comfort."
It's funny that the parents' statement includes prayers and love for everybody but the troubled son, who's now in big-time trouble. Maybe they should think about that when they consider what went wrong.

Their attitude reminds me of how the gun owners react when one of their own does something stupid. In the blink of an eye these folks are banished to the ranks of the criminally insane, when a moment before they were part of the group.

Odd that.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

What If They Gave a Boycott and Nobody Came?

Apparently, we're being boycotted.

And we've been boycotted for over two months now.

Wow. This explains the decrease in our multi-million dollar sales of anti-gun products.

The Unfiltered Stupidity of Patrick Butts

Per usual, Patrick Butts (aka Faitmaker) is ranting about Joan Peterson and what a horrible, awful woman she is and how she should defer to the most manly, masculine and macho Mr. Butts and his cohorts like Andrew Johnston  (Weerd Beard) and Jonathan Clark Sullivan (Linoge).

Anyhoo, Mister Butts attempts to take Baldir to task for the suggestion that maybe, perhaps dopers ought not carry guns.  The Butts-meister then launches into a stream-of-consciousness litany of non sequiturs and other logical fallacies.  But this caught my eye:
For the record, I drank Saturday while car­ry­ing my firearm on pri­vate prop­erty and while I was shoot­ing a bow and not once did my hol­ster leave my side or did I endan­ger any­one with my bow. Had I done any­thing dan­ger­ous or hurt any­one, I would have been charged and con­victed I am sure, as it should be. If we are going to start cre­at­ing laws so that nobody can poten­tially hurt any­one, as they seem to want to do, we need to take cars off the road as well. Because if I did some­thing that caused an acci­dent, and some­one died, I would feel just as badly as I would have if I acci­den­tally shot some­one with firearm or bow. There is no difference.

Such is the mouthbreathing ignorance of gunloons like Mister Butts.  His logic is simple: he did something and nobody got hurt so it's 100% safe but if he did something and someone got maimed or killed--well, he'd feel pretty bad about it.

Actually, Butts hasn't thought this out very well.  Let's suppose his kids' bus driver wants down a couple cold ones while driving the kids (and geez, who wouldn't want a few brews if you had to deal with a busload of kids)  to and from school.  If the kids make it unscathed, are we to suppose Patrick Butts is ok with this?  When Butts goes in for liposuction, I suppose it's fine and dandy with him if his doctor does a doobie or two before the procedure--y'know, just to get his mind off of sucking fat out of Buttsie's midsection.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

How are those Gun Laws working, Florida?

Gunloons often cite Florida as a place were lax gun laws have led to a safe, crime-free utopia.

But, as always, gunloons have their facts wrong.

When Florida lawmakers in 2005 made their state one of the first to significantly expand its citizens' self-defense rights, they hoped doing so would deter criminals and ultimately reduce violent crime.

What they got instead was two years worth of increasing gun violence. By mid-2007, the incidence of murders, armed robberies and assaults had increased statewide by 42 percent, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement website.

June 4th 2011 Shooting in Minneapolis, MN

Minnesota is one of the safer states, with supposedly less easy gun access than other states, which have even higher levels of gun violence.  The amount of gun violence that takes place in Minnesota is still shockingly high.

I can only wonder if the weapon used in this violence was legal, or if it started out as a legal weapon that changed hands to a person illegally.

Whatever the details, this is one more instance where more guns does not equate to greater safety, or greater freedom.

from WCCO news:

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) –- Police responded to a shooting in downtown Minneapolis early Saturday morning in which a 23-year-old man was shot in the stomach while waiting outside a car near a strip club.
Police said the shooting happened near 2nd Avenue North and 3rd Street North close to Sex World and the Choice Gentleman’s Club at around 3:30 a.m.
The victim suffered non-life-threatening wounds and was taken to the Hennepin County Medical Center for treatment, police said.
No arrests have been made, but police will continue to investigate.

Newest Macho Man Pseudo-Hero - Eddie Peoples


The Daily News, and just about everybody else in the world is reporting on this story - all in agreement. Eddie Peoples is a hero. Over at The Truth About Guns they went wild with adulation.

"When he threatened my son, I could not let that pass," Peoples said.

Peoples said he followed the thief out of the bank, hopped in his rental van and pulled in front of the man's green Honda, blocking his escape.

After ramming the van several times, the thief got out of his car and stuck the gun in Peoples' face.

But the soldier quickly snatched the weapon and slammed the thug on the ground, holding him down until deputies arrived.

Cops identified the robber as Matthew Rogers, 34, a local bum with a history of burglary, thefts and reckless driving. The gun turned out to be a toy.
You see, the problem is, we are so enamoured of the macho hero image, I suppose from Hollywood films, that we easily lose sight of the facts. In this case the facts are that if the bank robber had had a real gun and not a toy, Eddie would be dead and his two little boys that he left behind to pursue his tough-guy activity would be fatherless.

If it had gone that way, I suppose the hero-worshiping media would be regaling him as a dead hero, but you know what the gun rights crowd would be saying? They'd be saying he was stupid to pursue the bank robber. Many concealed carry guys believe it's wrong to chase after people like this even if you have a gun. To do so unarmed is just plain foolish.

So why are the gun-rights crowd so into Eddie's "heroism?"  Well, it's simple.  They love, above all, that tough-guy righteousness.  Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood started it.  Today there are too many examples to name. Gun rights folks live in a fantasy world in which one day they too will be able to be the hero. Real-life guys like Eddie are their inspiration.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

I tried to make that point on

Sad Alabama Trailer Park Story - Boys Shot - Mom Arrested



The Clanton Advertiser reports on this sick hillbilly, gun-loving tragedy.

An 11-year-old boy died and his 15-year-old brother was injured Friday following a shooting at a mobile home outside Clanton.

The boys’ mother, Ann Campbell, 34, of Clanton has been arrested and will face charges of murder and attempted murder. As of Friday afternoon, she was being held in the Chilton County Jail.

A Hot Time, with Guns; Minnesota Firearm Violence Strikes Again

As I continue to post these, just to raise awareness of firearms and violence, the number surprises me, and changes my awareness of how often in our communities someone misuses or abuses firearms, including those sometimes legally acquired.  I am posting these because I hope the frequency of this gun violence, in a state reputed to be safer and more peaceful than most other states, will be a quiet epiphany. I hope it will sensitize readers to the same thing in your communities, your home state.

From the STrib on June 4, 2011:

An apartment building on St. Paul's north side was the site of two crises on Saturday, one of them fatal.
A 34-year-old man died early in the day after he was found in his fire-engulfed apartment in the complex in the 1500 block of Woodbridge Street, said St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard....

(further down in the same article)


Later Saturday, police spokesman Andy Skoogman said it appears that the victim set the fire.
In an unrelated incident in the afternoon, police chased another man to the same building and cordoned it off until he surrendered to police at about 5 p.m., said police Cmdr. Kevin Casper.
Casper said the 25-year-old man's family called police about 2 p.m. and said he was suicidal and had a shotgun. While enroute, police were told that family members wrestled the gun away from the man, who threatened to kill them as he fled.
The man ran south on Rice Street. Police spotted him near Hoyt Avenue and chased him on foot to Woodbridge, where he ran inside the apartment building. He was spotted on the roof and a SWAT team was called to the scene.
The man was booked on possible terroristic threats charges, Casper said. No one was injured and the man's name hasn't been released, he said.
jadams@startribune.com