Saturday, March 24, 2012

Yet another senseless shooting

Pro-gun blogger, shooting instructor, and commenter on gun forums shoots and kills his girlfriend, http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifher 5-year old daughter, and then himself.
"Jorgensen is a former U.S. Marine and gun enthusiast, according to neighbors and investigators. He had a blog, "Guns, Freedom and Politics: One young man's perspective," in which he said he aspired to own a gun shop and shooting range one day. Jorgensen was also the former president of the Red Cliff rifle group.

Jorgensen taught a tactical pistol class as late as June, a post on the Southern Utah Pistol & Revolverwebsite states. He also offered to teach a class for people to receive their Utah concealed firearms permit."

"On his blog, he wrote, "I am a USMC veteran and was medically discharged for my back issues. When I was discharged I immediately got into being a firearms instructor. My passion is to teach people the correct way to use firearms so that they can be both safe and fun.""

Rachel Maddow and Bob Herbert on the Gun Lobby and Other Things

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

No Guns on Oregon Campuses

The Huffington Post reports

The Oregon Board of Higher Education's decision to prohibit firearms on campus went into effect last Friday immediately after approval. The policy applies to all universities within the Oregon University System; all persons entering campus -- whether students, employees or sporting event attendees -- cannot carry a concealed weapon.
While that thought would seem to be conventional wisdom, it wasn't until late last week that it became official. And it's about time.

Here's as good a rationale as I've heard:

Moreover, an individual with a concealed weapon permit is just as likely to be the offender in a school shooting as someone with no past experience with firearms. We can't ban criminal minds from campus, but we can ban the weapon
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Are the Albuquerque Police Trigger Happy?

Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz




Activists are renewing their request for a federal probe after Albuquerque police shot and killed a second person within three days.

Officer Russell Carter fatally shot Gary Atencio on Wednesday after a chase that began when Atencio pulled his car over and began shooting at his wife, state police said. It was the third fatal shooting by Albuquerque police this year and the 18th since 2010.

Jewel Hall, president of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center Board, said this week’s shootings showed that federal authorities need to investigate the department despite changes to training and hiring practices.

Those changes were instituted last year in response to public outcry over the number of shootings, most of which involved young Hispanic men.

What's your opinion? It sounds like the cops in that town could use better training, like most, but is that the real problem? No, I don't think so. The real problem is the easy access criminals have to guns.

This is what needs to be addressed, of course in addition to the other initiatives.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Pat Bagley 2nd Amendment Cartoon


Become a fan of Bagley on Facebook at www.facebook.com/notrobertkirby

Accidental Shooting of Arizona Man by Himself - No Charges Yet


A Prescott Valley man was in stable condition and in surgery at a Phoenix hospital Thursday afternoon after he accidentally shot himself in the leg at a home., said Prescott Valley Police Sgt. Brandon Bonney.

"A 29-year-old man was reportedly sitting on the couch with his gun when he inadvertently fired the weapon into his leg," Bonney said. "It's unknown if he was cleaning the gun or checking it when the incident happened."

There were young children at the home at the time of the incident, Bonney said, adding that it was unknown at this point if the man will be facing any charges.
One strike you're out, says I. What say you? Please leave a comment.

The Deceptive Use of Background Checks as Indicator of Gun Ownership

Local news in Utah reports on the numbers of background checks and how that might relate to gun ownership.

The report from The Daily Beast places the Beehive State only behind Kentucky among the most armed. The analysis takes into account federal background check applications related to gun sales and permits over the past 18 months. Utah had 46,898 National Instant Criminal Background Check System checks per 100,000 residents. That's well behind the 78,703 checks per 100,000 Kentucky residents, but far ahead of third-ranked Idaho with its 16,888 checks.

The pro gun folks keep using this as an indicator of how many guns are being bought or, even worse, of how many new gun owners there are. This is mendacious claptrap, nothing more.

State officials also take issue with the correlation between concealed weapons permit applications and gun ownership. Baird said applications are not a good indication of who actually has guns.

"It's hard to really look at the numbers and say for certain that's what you're dealing with," Baird said. At Impact Guns in Ogden, workers and shoppers alike were far more welcoming of the lofty ranking.
Of course the numbers of background checks are not a good way to gauge anything about gun ownership. We've covered this already, but wouldn't it just take a little common sense.If half of the population of Utah were buying guns EVERY 18 MONTHS, what would happen over the course of say five or ten years. It's like doubling a penny every day for a month.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

New Jersey's Finest - Bruce Springsteen

I Shit Myself - Poking fun at Tex

Impactbros left this on our post about the famous Tex Grebner's Negligent Discharge.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Why Do Republicans Believe Everything They Hear on Fox News?


Dedicated to Wayne La Pierre and the NRA


Power don't come from a badge or a gun.
Power comes from lyin'.
Lyin' big and gettin' the whole damn world to play along with you.
Once you got everybody agreein' with what they know in their hearts ain't true,
You got 'em by the balls.

 

California Open Carry Folks are Fighting Back



First of all, why are so many of these gun-rights activists fat white men, no offense to FWM?

Secondly, I hope he engages a good lawyer because he's certainly lacking in the gift of gab department. I wouldn't recommend Bruce, but Ralph might do.

The New York Times Version of Gun Control

The Truth About Guns posted about this New York Times article by columnist Gail Collins.  Part of her solution to the gun violence problem is this incredible passage.

. . . a strict national gun-control law that makes it very difficult to get a concealed weapons permit, permits gun dealers to sell only one handgun per individual per year, and makes it illegal for even permit holders to keep handguns anywhere but their home, store or car glove compartment unless they are employed in the security business.
One of the TTAG commenters copied and pasted this comment from the New York Times:

“Dean H Hewitt Sarasota, FL

March 22, 2012 at 7:26 a.m. RECOMMENDED 451

I live in Florida and you should hear the excuses to carry a gun to the local Starbucks. Most of the guys wanting concealed weapons permits are of two main ilk. There is the group who have had minimal exposure to firearms and think after watching Jason Bourne Movies, it would be cool to carry and have an impact (like save the damsel in distress). The other main group is the masculine tribe who have gone to seed. Yeah that group who hasn’t seen their own junk in twenty years with out the help of a mirror. They may have been in the military, maybe once been an avid hunter but I believe worried they no longer have it to protect themselves or project the proper image. They want the gun to feel like a man. Both groups are scary because we may get shot in the crossfire. Just to frame these comments, I served in the military during Vietnam. I also carried in 5 different states while working for Brinks as a manager. It is not fun to carry, at least for me. It is a responsibility to properly act when you have such power. I never though it was worth the risk to me or others.”

I haven't had such a good laugh all morning. Between Gail's one-gun-a-year suggestion and Dean's "two main ilk," I don't know what's funnier. Of course, I loved it all.

What do you think?

Stand Your Ground Laws



The National Rifle Association continues to press more states to adopt Florida-style "stand your ground" laws like the one that's made it difficult to prosecute George Zimmerman, the self-appointed neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, in late February. Zimmerman has claimed self-defense despite the fact that Martin was unarmed. Since "stand your ground" laws allow people who feel threatened to use deadly force—even if they have an opportunity, as Zimmerman did, to safely avoid a confrontation—Zimmerman has not been arrested or charged. (If you haven't heard about the Martin case, get the full rundown in our explainer.)
Has the entire country gone crazy? No, not the entire country, but a good part of it. What reasonable person could possibly condone such horrendous nonsense? This is a bunch of grown-up men with guns acting like adolescent bullies in the schoolyard, and backed up by the law.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Mayor Bloomberg Makes a Mockery of the Law - Or Not

James King wrote a scathing attack of Mayor Bloomberg for The Village Voice.  He accused the mayor of making a mockery of the law for sending Plaxico to jail but not the Marine from Indiana.

To me it sounds like a thinly veiled Bloomberg-hate piece. The two cases demonstrate a fair application of the law.  The author himself pointed out the major reason why.
What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Armed Robbery of Oxycontin in Pennsylvania






Armed robberies end best when there's no resistance. Shooting it out with armed robbers is not the best strategy for dealing with this problem. A preventative approach is best. Proper gun control which would reduce the amount of gun flow into the criminal world, that's the answer.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Texas Man - Self-Inflicted - No Charges


The unidentified man was assisting with an estate sale on Tuesday afternoon in the 3-thousand block of Goodwin Lane when he came across a 9-millimeter pistol that he thought was unloaded. Somehow the man ended up with the muzzle of the gun in one hand when he squeezed the trigger and the gun fired, sending a bullet through the palm of his hand and out the back, then into a bookcase and the drywall of the home.

The man was quickly taken to the hospital where he was treated for that gunshot wound. No charges will be filed, since the shooting was accidental and self-inflicted.
This one really shouldn't be called an accident. It sounds like he purposely pulled the trigger thinking the gun was empty.

Shouldn't a guy who is capable of something like that be prohibited from owning guns? Do you think that was the very first stupid thing he ever did with a gun? Will it be the last?

Since he'll continue to enjoy his gun rights, like responsible and safe people do, I wouldn't want to be his neighbor or the guy next to him at the shooting range, would you?

Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of 18-Year-Old Arizona Man by Uncle - Possible Charges Pending

He said he was playing "shoot me" or "I bet you won't" with Cabrera and placed his right hand around the butt of the gun. He then pointed the gun at Cabrera's head and cocked the hammer with his left hand, according to his statements to deputies. He said the gun was about six inches from Cabrera's head when the hammer suddenly released and caused the gun to discharge.
When reporting on negligent discharges of a gun, why do they often leave out the part where the shooter pulled the trigger? I don't find the media biased against gun owners in this regard. It seems like they're trying to spin it in order to make the them less responsible.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of 15-Year-Old Arkansas Boy - No Charges


A 14-year-old Stuttgart minor was accidentally shot in the buttocks at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and transported Baptist Health Medical Center-Stuttgart.

Stuttgart Police Department said there would be no charges filed against the 15-year-old male, who was playing with the gun.
The boys found a gun and were playing around. Nothing unusual about that. It makes me wonder what kind of gun safety training they'd had. Arkansas is a gun friendly state, I think you could say.  Greg could tell us. Wouldn't it be likely that these boys, like most of their counterparts had been educated by their elders in the proper use and precautions to take with guns?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

States with the Most Guns (Most Background Checks)



The shooting of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, has sparked a fierce debate about Florida’s self-defense and gun laws—but is Florida among the most-armed states in America? The Daily Beast runs the numbers to find out where guns are most prevalent.
1. Kentucky
NICS background checks per 100,000 residents (Sept. 2010 – Feb. 2012): 78,703
Previous rank: 1st

2. Utah
NICS background checks per 100,000 residents: 46,898
Previous rank: 2nd

3. Montana
NICS background checks per 100,000 residents: 16,888
Previous rank: 3rd

4. West Virginia
NICS background checks per 100,000 residents: 15,718
Previous rank: 6th

5. Alaska
NICS background checks per 100,000 residents: 14,616
Previous rank: 5th

Keeping in mind that NICS background checks do not equal gun sales, as we discussed before, this list does give us some indication of where the action is in eht gun business these days.

The numbers must be skewed however by the fact that some states have Constitutional Carry laws and do not require additional background checks to obtain the concealed carry permit.  Alaska would be much higher, I suppose.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Filthy, Lousy, Rotten Abuse of the Castle Doctrine

via Democurmudgeon

Barry Goldwater on the Christian Right

with the following trenchant remark.

Once upon a time, Mr. Goldwater was the definition of right-wing nutsery. Those were the days.

Holder: Brainwash the People



The pro-gun crowd is all over this one, but isn't this exactly what they want to do with open-carry, for example?

Wisconsin Woman Robs Gas Station with Toy Gun







A 27-year-old Belgium woman was charged Tuesday in connection with an armed robbery of a Random Lake gas station on March 16, in which she allegedly used a toy gun to hold up a clerk and take $1,550.



What do you think? Are women really getting more involved in these areas formerly dominated by men? That's what the gun-rights folks keep telling us.

Please leave a comment.

Stabbing Attack and Gun Suicide in Farago's Neighborhood


Authorities said 32-year-old Jennifer Allen of Tiverton arrived at Franklin & Co. Interiors in Newport on Tuesday morning and confronted a 28-year-old woman with a handgun and large knife. The woman told officers that Allen asked her "How do you want to die... pick one."

Allen stabbed the woman twice in the torso and once in the head. The woman was treated and released at Newport Hospital.

Authorities believe Allen targeted the woman because she believed she was having an affair with her husband, Capt. Russell Hayes told The Newport Daily News.

Allen also threatened other employees of the store and forced them to lie on the floor, police said.

Police Lt. William Fitzgerald said Allen apparently fatally shot herself in the head as officers entered the building owned by the International Tennis Hall of Fame & Museum.
Too bad the famous gun blogger wasn't nearby, he could have shot the knife out of her hand and made her put the gun down.

I don't suppose anyone checked to see if the disturbed woman had a concealed carry permit. You see, many crimes like this take place and that little fact goes unexplored. Then the gun-rights advocates tell us how law-abiding the concealed carry people are.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Andrew Rosenthal on Bad Gun Laws


Florida earned an abysmal three out of 100 points on the Brady Campaign’s 2011 scorecard. The state places no limit on bulk purchases of handguns, does not require firearm owners to report lost or stolen guns, has not closed the notorious gun-show loophole, does not require safety training or fingerprinting prior to purchase and does not ban large capacity magazines. The list goes on. Florida also received a special demerit for passing a gag rule, which forbids health care practitioners from inquiring about the presence of firearms in the home. (A Miami judge ruled it unconstitutional.)

At the federal level, we have the charming Tiahrt Amendments, which require the Justice Department to destroy approved background checks within 24 hours (this makes it harder to catch dealers who falsify their records, and harder to track straw purchasers). These amendments also prohibit state and local law enforcement from using gun trace data in civil proceedings, to revoke the license of a dealer who was caught breaking the law.
These are wonderful points. Who in their right mind could support such nonsense. Gun-rights activists must be laughing all the way to the shooting range because of these laws.

As the article mentioned, most of these laws have nothing to do with preserving the 2nd Amendment. They go far beyond any question of rights.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Memphis Woman by Uncle in the Next Room - No Charges Filed

The Commercial Appeal reports

A gunshot apparently accidentally fired by a relative in bed today went through a wall and struck a woman sleeping with her two-month-old daughter in South Memphis, according to police.

After a preliminary investigation, no charges are anticipated in the shooting that took place about 6 a.m. at a house in the 1800 block of Meadowhill, said Sgt. Karen Rudolph, a spokeswoman for the police department.

A 20-year-old woman was sleeping with her infant daughter in her parents' home when she was shot in her left arm, police reported.

Her 46-year-old uncle apparently accidentally fired a gun kept under his pillow. The bullet struck his hand, passed through a wall and hit his niece, according to the initial police investigation.

The niece and the uncle were listed in good condition at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, hospital officials said.
Like many true gun lovers, he kept a gun under his pillow while sleeping. And like many of his fellows, he made a little mistake. Luckily the neice or her baby in the next room weren't killed. But since it was an "accident," he probably wouldn't have been charged even if someon had died. That's Tennessee.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Oppressive Government


Josh Horwitz on the Zimmerman Case

Huffington Post

"Justifiable homicides" in Florida have increased from 43 the year the law was enacted to 105 in 2009. The law has been invoked in at least 93 cases in Florida involving 65 deaths, a 2010 St. Petersburg Times review found. Trayvon Martin is not even the first unarmed black teenager to be killed by a shooter using the "Stand Your Ground" defense. To read more stories about concealed handgun permit holders who shot unarmed Florida residents after the law was enacted, see the following articles by the Tampa Bay Times, New York Times, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, blogger J. David Goodman and Florida defense attorney Zachary Weaver.

The bottom line is that prior to the "Stand Your Ground" law, if you were out in public in Florida and could avoid spilling blood by safely retreating from a conflict, you were required to do so by law. Now, hundreds of years of common law have been thrown out the window and the Seminole County grand jury will have to evaluate Zimmerman's actions through the lens of the NRA's new (and dangerous) statutes.
Now that's one stupid law, don't you think? Please leave a comment.

No Jail for Tennessee Gal Who Brought her Gun to NYC




The New York Post reports on what we predicted. When the story hit, the rabid Bloomberg-haters among the pro-gun crowd said this poor gun owner would be made an example of.  They were prepared to elevate Meredith Graves to the status of martyr.

The end result proves that the laws in New York are in place to stop gun trafficking and not punish ordinary gun owners regardless of how stupid or ignorant they might be.

Sometimes you just forget the handgun is in your bag.

A registered nurse and fourth-year med student from Knoxville took a no-jail time deal yesterday for the Tennessee-registered gun she had absentmindedly carried to the 9/11 Memorial last December.

Pretty, hazel-eyed Meredith Graves admitted through her lawyer that she had merely forgotten that the little .22-caliber handgun was in her purse. 

She was busted when she tried to check the weapon with memorial security personnel.
“It was completely inadvertent,” Graves’ lawyer, Daniel Horwitz, said after his client took her plea.

No Jail for Indiana ex-Marine Who Took Gun to NYC




The New York Post reports on what we predicted. When the story hit, the rabid Bloomberg-haters among the pro-gun crowd said this poor gun owner would be made an example of.  They were prepared to elevate Ryan Jerome to the status of martyr.

The end result proves that the laws in New York are in place to stop gun trafficking and not punish ordinary gun owners regardless of how stupid or ignorant they might be.

The ex-Marine busted for trying to check his Indiana-registered gun at the Empire State Building got a no-jail, misdemeanor deal today.

"I definitely did not know it was illegal to bring a gun into New York City," Ryan Jerome, 29, of West Bend, said after pleading guilty in Manhattan Criminal Court.

Jerome insists he'd checked a gun law reciprocity site on his smart phone, but a formatting error made it look like Indiana-registered guns are ok in New York, rather than the other way around.

"As far as Indiana goes, everybody's grandma's got a gun," he joked.

Cowboy Action Shooting



Shortly after a mandatory safety meeting and the pledge of allegiance, shots ring out in heart-quickening succession. Not just a few. For nearly half a minute, a shooter armed with a rifle, shotgun and two pistols, fires at every target in a "stage."

He is being timed and observed for misses and miscues of procedure, all affecting his score.

Gun smoke blends with a few curls of cigar smoke where a dozen cowboys and cowgirls watch and wait for a turn to find out how they stack up against the fastest shooters in the West -- at least in west Marysville on this particular Sunday at the Marysville Rifle Range. The range is home to the Smokey Point Desperados, an affiliate of the Single Action Shooting Society (SASS).

The sport is called Cowboy Action Shooting, and even cowgirl action shooters, for the most part, are happy with the cowboy name. As implied, it involves a lot of shooting, but it is also an Old West social gathering. Every member of SASS has a unique registered alias of his or her own creation, and they wear authentic-as-possible western attire, right down to the fibers used to make them.
What do you think? Does this "sport" accentuate the fantasy aspect of gun ownership and use? Don't you find it a little weird?

Please leave a comment?

Accidental Shooting of Florida Brothers, 3 and 5 Years Old - Mom Not Charged


Local news reports


Two Walton County boys are in the hospital after suffering gunshot wounds in an accidental shooting outside DeFuniak Springs.

Authorities say the boys, three years old and five years old, were struck by buckshot from a .410 shotgun mid-morning Tuesday.


Early reports indicate the boys were with their mother when she used the shotgun to kill a snake next to a shed. The boys reportedly were on the other side of the shed and some of the shot went struck them.

The boys suffered wounds to the chest, head and arm and were life-flighted to a hospital, although their wounds were not originally thought to be life-threatening.


Accidental Shooting of Arizona 12-Year-Old by her 10-Year-old Brother - Policeman Dad Not Charged



video link

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Congressman Jim Moran on Afghanistan


More on the "Don't Re-Nig" Bumper Sticker


“According to the dictionary, ‘nigger’ does not mean black. It means a low down, lazy, sorry, low down person. That’s what the N word means.” —Paula Smith of Hinesville, Georgia, explaining why she’s cool selling “Don’t Re-Nig 2012” bumper stickers. [Forbes, via ThinkProgress]

Murder Suicide in Missouri - Woman Shooter





Accidental Shooting of Florida Granddad - He's Dead


A Lake Hamilton grandfather who turned 69 Friday was killed early Sunday near Wauchula in a hunting accident involving a 9-year-old boy, according to Hardee County Sheriff's Office reports.

Sheriff's officials said Kenneth Lindsey Beach was shot in the head near his hunting camp on land he leased 10 miles southeast of Zolfo Springs in rural Hardee County. The boy, who hasn't been identified because of his age, ran about a mile to get help, but deputies said Beach died instantly.

"There was just nothing anybody could do," said Lee Witt, caretaker for the ranch where Beach leased a hunting cabin. "The boy came and got me, but it was too late. It's just so sad.
A perfect summation, there's "nothing anybody could do."

In these stories I've published today, an interesting twist has become apparent. Many times the victim of a child shooting is an adult. These cases are every bit as devastating as the ones in which other kids are killed or injured, but when the pro-gun apologists talk about the "vanishingly small" percentages, they leave these out.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Washington Mom - She's Dead

Washington local news reports

It was at a home on South Wenas Road that a young mother was shot and killed by her own son. But, it wasn't on purpose. The Sheriff's office says he fired accidentally.

The 17-year-old Selah boy got the nine-millimeter handgun as a gift. It fired while he was handling the weapon. After passing through a wall, the bullet hit his mom, Vonda Willis-Jean, in the head. She died shortly after in the hospital.
In Washington State, where they have so few gun problems according to the lying pro-gun voices, this is the 4th "accidental death" in as many weeks.

What do you think?

Accidental Shooting of Oklahoma 12-Year-Old - No One Charged

I don't know who that woman in the video is or what her expertise might be, but she perfectly represents the nonchalance that gun owners have towards these incidents. It was clearly an accident, she said, as if that makes it OK.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting of Alabama 15-Year-old - No One Charged



Monday, March 19, 2012

From Israel home of gun freedom...

Or so some people would have you believe.

It seems that there has been a rash of domestic shootings

It seems that Israel's a booming private security industry allows for a loophole in the law allows guards to take their weapon's home. That's led to an alarming incidence of domestic gun-related crime against women. Israel's only disarmament lobby group has launched a campaign to tigthen Israel's gun laws before more women are killed.

Somebody say something about guns around the house being bad news for women?

Is gun ownership normal?

One of the goal of the gun rights crowd is to try and persuade the rest of the public that such behaviour is not only beneficial, but normal. We can argue whether that is truly successful in the United States.

On the other hand, other cultures with a similar background show a decided dislike for firearms use and ownership. For example, an English friend said to me that she saw no reason for firearms ownership.

One doesn't need to cross the ocean to see a similar attitude. Just head north to Canada where a recent National Post Article is entitled:

Public stigma drives Toronto gun hobbyists underground


We find that people such as Ellen, a Toronto grandmother of two in her mid-sixties with a love of guns.

Ellen also won’t share her real name. The request for anonymity reflects a reluctance to disclose personal information in a city in which even legal gun ownership comes with a stigma attached. Ellen says:
“You have to be careful who you talk to,” she says. “It’s like religion and politics.”

People have called her “gun happy” or a potential threat, she says; still, she says their attitudes change once they find out about her recreational gun activities. Though she owns approximately 20 handguns and rifles, the majority of them inherited from her late husband, she has no expectation of using them for anything other than sport.

“I don’t even think I can fire a gun at a human being.”

Canadian gun fans are much more reticent to share their opinions, unlike US Gun loons who believe that forcing their opinions upon others will change their minds.

Maybe that works for a ferw moments.

Anyway, gun owners in Toronto realise they are far outnumbered by people who don't share their feelings about firearms ownership. Not to mention they don't have an eaasily misinterpreted Second Amendment out there to hinder dialogue.

Also, the argument that having guns around make for a safer society falls apart since they can have a more realisitc discussion of how many stolen firearms are out there.

At the end of 2011, Toronto counted 99,400 registered firearms, about three guns for every licenced person in the city. In 2010, 109 guns were reported stolen to Toronto Police; the year before that, 37.

A thief stole more than 10 guns, plus ammunition, from Ron, another club member, about 12 years ago. About half a dozen were recovered. He had kept them locked in a room at home. He was robbed again about two to three years later, but although the burglars took his ammunition, they couldn’t get his firearms, thanks to a new vault. He recognizes, therefore, the dangers of publicizing his hobby.

“You don’t put a sign outside of your house saying there are guns here,” he says. “You’re careful about you who tell. I believe somebody knew there was guns there.”

Unfortunately, the gun lobby wants to make sure that lost or stolen guns go unrepoerted in the US for some odd reason. Maybe people might think twice if the gun they bought for protection was far more likely to be used against them.

Anyway...
“Obviously there is a stigma,” acknowledges Mariana Valverde, Director of the Centre for Criminology and Socialegal Studies at the University of Toronto.

“In the countryside, obviously in rural areas, a lot of people have guns for hunting purposes. But in the city, I think most people would not see any legitimate use for guns.”

Nor does she understand the appeal.

“I know some people like sport shooting, but it doesn’t seem to me like much of a sport, personally. I think a lot of people would also think of it as quite peculiar as a sport, especially because where are those guns stored and how safely? A lot of people would share the view that you should get yourself a proper sport and go play hockey or something.”

To Carry, or Not To Carry, The Dilemma

MArooned: To Carry, or Not To Carry, That is the Question...: The NRA's 2012 Annual Meeting is less than a month away. In a little over three weeks, I'll be getting on a plane {shudder} and winging my way to St. Louis for the meeting, arriving Thursday and heading home Monday.

The question arises, then: Is it worth the hassle of flying with a firearm (remember, I'm flying out of Logan Airport and changing planes in Chicago, so I hit two of the major GFW states on this trip)?

Ordinarily, I'd brave the hassle of flying with a firearm out of Logan and through Chicago, except that this year, the venue is specifically prohibited from concealed carry. Additionally, MO prohibits carrying in bars and restaurants, so this means that I'd be able to carry legally when I'm... um... in my hotel room. I just can't reconcile the hassle with the very limited opportunity to carry.

It's not like Pittsburgh, where the venue was okay with open or concealed carry and bars/restaurants were okay (but could post). That's all kinds of worth it, and if it were Phoenix, I'd deal with flying with guns. I just don't see putting up with the TSA, transfers, worrying about everything, only to lock the gun up in the hotel room for all but the 8 hours I'm sleeping there.

The commenters expressed agreement with this terrible quandary.  Here's my comment:

Aren't you guys concerned that all this talk of not taking your guns will attract the bad guys like catnip to cats.

That is one of your major arguments isn't it, bad guys seek out the sitting ducks? 
What's your opinion? Wouldn't the decision to not carry a gun be tantamount to irresponsibility, according to their definition of it? Aren't these the same guys who continually talk about sheep and sheep dogs, the latter being the armed ones? Yet, now, after a bit of discussion they'll all travel to a city like St. Louis, no stranger to violence, unarmed? What gives?

Please leave a comment.

South Dakota Governor Vetoes Gun Rights Bill

South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard



via Ralph writing for TTAG

South Dakota’s hope to joint Vermont, Alaska, Arizona and Wyoming as a Constitutional Carry state was squashed when its Governor, Republican Dennis Daugaard, vetoed legislation passed by large majorities in the state’s legislature. The measure was opposed by South Dakota’s Sheriffs Association. As reported by USA Today, Sheriff Mike Milstead claims that he was just trying to help out the poor folks who would be denied permits under the current system . . .
Sometimes Ralph's sense of humor and sarcasm are hard to follow. In this case when he says the governor did this "to help out the poor folks who would be denied permits under the current system," I believe he's referring to the number of folks each year who apply for concealed carry permits and are found to be disqualified. Under the new law, which the gov had the good sense to veto, those disqualified people would have been carrying concealed guns legally.

Of course Ralph and his friends on The Truth About Guns find this worthy of ridicule. And they wonder why I often find it difficult to delineate between lawful gun owners and criminal gun owners.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Indianapolis Shooting - 5 Victims

USA Today reports



You know what the pro-gun argument is whenever we say this kind of incident cries out for stricter gun control? They say, criminals will get guns anyway.

That's probably their number one lie. The simplest consideration would indicate it doesn't make sense, but they persist. You know why? Because acquiescence to the obvious truth would be tantamount to admitting we're right and they're wrong.

Gun availability plays a major part in crime and violence. Something could be done about it. And you know what the irony is? The most vociferous voices against gun control belong to guys who would be little affected. This brings us to their number 2 lie. Gun control laws only affect the law abiding. The truth is, the ones who would be chiefly affected by strict gun control laws are the criminals who depend on a continual gun flow from the legitimate to the criminal.

Honest and responsible people would be little affected.

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Won't Get Fooled Again - The Who

What Every Gun Lover Needs


"This is performance." Abomination is more like it. What do you think?

Another Iraq Vet Goes Berserk

Local news reports

An Iraq veteran who is believed to have killed his 11-year-old sister and himself in Gilroy this week had been upsetting his family with his talk of suicide and brandishing of guns. When they called police to their apartment two weeks ago, they told the officer the war had left their loved one a changed man.

Zillmer [psychologist Eric Zillmer, a Drexel University professor and co-editor of the book "Military Psychology] said record keeping on suicides and murders by veterans suffering from PTSD is a modern phenomenon, so it is impossible to know if the problem is any worse now than during previous wars.
I've wondered about that. After Vietnam, for example, I don't recall so many incidents involving guns even though PTSD was very widespread. Vietnam vets often got into drugs or drank heavily, there were fights and lots of maladjustment. But these incidents of murder/suicide were fewer, at least as I recall.

Gun availability is one obvious difference.

Faustino Gutierrez, 46, Martha Gutierrez's brother, said the young veteran would sit on a sofa twirling a handgun and also brandished a rifle inside the family's apartment. He had recently returned from Iraq.

"He said he killed a lot of people in Iraq," Faustino Gutierrez said. "It was in his conscience, and he didn't want to live anymore."
What's your opinion? For sure the family made a tragic mistake in not taking proactive steps to prevent this. Do you think the pro-gun talk of rights and freedom, as they define it, contributes to the difficulty of disarming an obviously dangerous person before they go off the deep end?

I think so. The combination of gun availability and the misguided importance many folks place on the "right" to own guns is a deadly combination in many cases.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.