Saturday, April 6, 2013

Fox's Megyn Kelly Interviewing Wayne LaPierre.

Fox New's Megyn Kelly surpises us by grilling the NRA's Wayne LaPierre.  She also notes popular support for gun control.

What has happened with Fox News?

Riverview Guns and Ammo

WFSB 3 Connecticut

More on Chuck's Gun Shop

OpEdNews via democommie

We've talked about Chuck's before.

2,370 crime guns were traced to just one gun shop in suburban Chicago between 1996 and 2000. Over 1,300 were traced since 2008 and 20 percent of all Chicago crime guns used within a year of purchase were traced to the same shop. Yet far from being shut down as a virtual ATM for crime guns, Chuck's Gun Shop, in Riverdale, has actually brought suit against Cook County calling a $25 gun tax that went into effect April 1 unfair. 

I guess Chuck's is an example of gun laws not being enforced, which the gun-rights fanatics fight for and then blame on us.

Some Colorado Sheriffs Object to Obama's Theatrics

From the Trenches

With President Obama’s visit to Colorado to rally support for gun control measures, some of the state’s sheriffs are speaking out against more restrictions.

More than a dozen sheriffs held a press conference Wednesday in a Denver park near where the president met with law enforcement and community leaders to discuss the gun control package recently signed into law by Gov. John Hickenlooper.  


Justin Smith of Larimer County was among sheriffs who gathered in advance of Obama’s visit. He and other sheriffs are slamming new regulations on firearms as unconstitutional.

Smith dismissed Obama’s visit as “a slap in the face to all Coloradans.”

That sounds about right. A dozen or so sheriffs speaking as if they represent all.  That's about the same proportion we have when gun-rights fanatics speak for all gun owners.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Roger Ebert on Gun Violence

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

Roger Ebert After the James Holmes - Aurora Colorado Shooting



Mediaite

Ebert first gave his thoughts on why Holmes did what he did and why he chose to do it at the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises.
“Like many whose misery is reflected in violence, he may simply have been drawn to a highly publicized event with a big crowd. In cynical terms, he was seeking a publicity tie-in…

“I’m not sure there is an easy link between movies and gun violence. I think the link is between the violence and the publicity. Those like James Holmes, who feel the need to arm themselves, may also feel a deep, inchoate insecurity and a need for validation. Whenever a tragedy like this takes place, it is assigned catchphrases and theme music, and the same fragmentary TV footage of the shooter is cycled again and again.

Somewhere in the night, among those watching, will be another angry, aggrieved loner who is uncoiling toward action. The cinematic prototype is Travis Bickle of “Taxi Driver.” I don’t know if James Holmes cared deeply about Batman. I suspect he cared deeply about seeing himself on the news.”
Ebert then questioned how someone like Holmes who was able to acquire “guns, ammunition and explosives.” He said that U.S. gun laws are “insane” and criticized the gun lobby while calling on Washington to use the opportunity to address gun control in a meaningful way.
“[T]he endless gun control debate will begin again, and the lobbyists of the National Rifle Association will go to work, and the op-ed thinkers will have their usual thoughts, and the right wing will issue alarms, and nothing will change. And there will be another mass murder…

“This would be an excellent time for our political parties to join together in calling for restrictions on the sale and possession of deadly weapons. That is unlikely, because the issue has become so closely linked to paranoid fantasies about a federal takeover of personal liberties that many politicians feel they cannot afford to advocate gun control.”
Read the full piece here.

Decades after girl was shot, family unwavering in support of gun rights

 The Orlando Sentinel

Evie Hagan was 4 years old when she was accidentally shot in the neck by her brother, who had found a gun tucked in a kitchen cabinet at their Orlando home.

Today Evie is 28 and remains partially paralyzed on the right side of her body. She needs a ventilator to breathe when she sleeps. 

That June day in 1989, when Betty and David Hagan went to church and left their two youngest children home with a teenage sister, has faded into a haze.

The Hagans, though, are crystal clear about where they stand on gun control.


"We haven't changed our minds in the last 25 years," said David Hagan. "We really stick up for people who have guns. I think we as Americans do not need to give up our guns."

I find it hard to believe that anyone who's been through that would continue to oppose safe storage laws.  I would imagine most families of victims of gun violence lean toward the gun-control side of the argument.  That's why the gun-rights movement is doomed to failure - eventually.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

Jon Stewart on the Fox News Take on the Firing of Rutgers Basketball Coach

Nancy Lanza's Gun Shop Loses License


A truck advertised the Riverview Gun Sales shop in East Windsor, Conn. on December 21, 2012; the shop has lost its federal firearms license. / John Moore/Getty Images 

CBS


A Connecticut shop that sold a gun to Nancy Lanza, the Newtown school shooter's mother, has lost its federal firearms license.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives revoked the license of Riverview Gun Sales in East Windsor in December 2012. The agency didn't say why.

Why do you think?

Friday, April 5, 2013

Say Hello to My Little Friend

'My Friend' in the held in recommended knuckle duster position

From the Trenches

Back in the late 19th century, brass knuckles and small pocket revolvers were popular for personal defense. One Catskills gun maker decided to combine these two concepts in the form of a compact protection tool that could be used as both. His name was James Reid, and his little knuckleduster revolvers were simply referred to as the “My Friend” series.

Notice how the secure and responsible gun nut compulsively chews his nails.  Of course he doesn't show us that in the video, but judging by the difficulty he had in extracting that spent shell, he puts a lot of time into it. Just imagine the gun oil and powder residue he ingests.

Maybe this gives us another insight into what's wrong with these guys. Besides paranoia, inferiority, insecurity and various other mental disorders, perhaps they often suffer from pica.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Accidental Shooting in Missouri - No Arrests

Local news reports

Lieutenant Bryan Ludwig of the St. Louis County Police told Patch the shooting was accidental.

"Two gentlemen in their 20s were playing with a loaded handgun, which they did not believe was loaded, and it went off," Ludwig said. "The victim was shot in the shoulder. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment." 


The case will be referred to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office for review, but Ludwig said the police did not arrest the other man for gun-related charges. 

They were what?  They were "playing with a loaded handgun?"  And no one was arrested?

What makes these twenty-something lawful gun owners any different from their criminal counterparts?  Nothing, that's what.

Megyn Kelly and Wayne La Pierre on the Connecticut Laws



Megyn Kelly was at her schizophrenic best as an actress.  In the early moments of the video I thought she was going to cry over the passage of Connecticut's new gun laws.  Then, a few minutes later she turned Wayne into the stuttering, bumbling, inept con-artist that he is.

Interrupting Wayne, she pointed out that Adam Lanza's mother was not a criminal or a mentally defective person.  She was a law abiding gun owner.  So, why would we think the limitation on magazine capacity would have made no difference?

All Wayne could do with that was stumble around and come back to the nonsensical refrain that criminals won't obey the laws.

What's your opinion? 

Comparing Connecticut, Colorado and New York on their New Gun Control Laws

Fox

BACKGROUND CHECKS

Connecticut would require universal criminal background checks for the sale of all guns as soon as the bill passes, closing a loophole in private sales of rifles and shotguns. Background checks also would be required to buy ammunition and magazines.

Colorado expanded background checks to private and online gun sales but did not require them to buy ammunition. 

New York expanded background checks to private gun sales and became the first state to require background checks to buy bullets.

FIREARMS STORAGE

Connecticut wants to expand the legal duty to securely store a firearm to cover situations where a resident of the premises poses a risk of personal injury to themselves or others.

New York requires locked storage of guns if you live with someone prohibited from them because of a crime, commitment to a mental institution or court protection order and made the unsafe storage of assault weapons a misdemeanor.
I suppose that means you can continue to store your gun under a pillow in Colorado.

Support for Background Checks is Waning - Or Is It?


White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer doesn't understand why Congressional support for universal background checks for gun purchases is waning.

"I've been in politics a long time," he said at Politico's Playbook Breakfast Wednesday. "I very rarely run into a 90-percent issue. … Universal background checks are a 90-percent issue."

Ninety percent of Americans supported background checks for all gun buyers in a February 2013 Quinnipiac University poll. A poll released Thursday by the same group showed that 91 percent of registered American voters support background checks.

 When asked why congressional support for the initiatives has wavered, Pfeiffer told Politico's Mike Allen, "There may be people in Washington who certainly might be getting cold feet here, [who] are looking for a way out of making progress here."

But Pfeiffer predicted the current situation would ultimately hurt lawmakers.

"People feel very strongly about this," Pfeiffer said. "There aren't a lot of cardinal rules in politics, and one is, You don't want to get on the wrong side of a 90-percent issue."
Poor Rand Paul and Lindsey Graham. What a dilemma.  They can please the gun lobby and buck the 90% who will vote for them next time around.  Or they can go with the voters and lose the gun lobby monetary support.

I'ts rough out there.

What do you think ?  Please leave a comment.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Questions:

If the militia part of the Second Amendment is not important why did the founders say it was necessary for the security of the free state? Why even say it in the first place if it isn't important to the Second Amendment?

Why not say something like "
The right of the citizens to bear arms in defence of themselves and the State shall not be questioned" if it is about private arms?

Remember
said that "It cannot be presumed that any clause in the constitution is intended to be without effect"–5 U.S. 137 (1803).  Saying that either clause is unimportant removes from the meaning of the Second Amendment's actual protection.

Want to do something useful with your guns?

Forget the protecting people's rights and fighting the government shit--use them to do this!

Enforcing the gun laws on the books

Gunloons love to repeat the mantra "enforce the gun laws on the books".

Standard response to the chant is that these laws were written to be unenforceable.  Not to mention the forces tasked with enforcement aren't properly supported to do the task.

Anyway, from CNN:

Shootings by Dogs

 Ohh Shoot

Since OhhShoot began on January 1, 2010 there have been a number of stories about dogs causing unintentional shootings.

For example, there were two hunting stories at the end of 2001, one where a dog jumped into a boat, caught his paw in the trigger of a shotgun and unintentionally shot a duck hunter in the buttocks. The other involved a dog who knocked over a high powered rifle, discharging the gun and shooting a hunter in the leg, damaging his femoral artery.
As Baldr mentioned on another thread, even these can be traced to negligence on the part of the gun owner.

What's your opinion?  Pleae leave a comment.

Bradley Turner in Court

WNCT | 9 On Your Side Greenville NC

As I mentioned when we first posted this story, only the most extreme gun-rights fanatics attempt to defend ole Bradley. Everybody else sees him for the dangerous hot-head he is. And given the low standards for gun ownership, we can see he's not an anomaly.

The judge ordered that he can no longer carry a gun outside his home.  Does that mean he has a concealed carry permit?  As usual, no one is checking on this.  The bogus statistics on concealed carry misbehavior continue.


Washington Shooting at Sports Bar - 3 Dead - 1 Seriously Wounded

 Local news reports

"The dispute started between two women when one of them danced with a man," said Auburn Police Cmdr. Mike Hirman in a statement issued late Sunday night. Herman said that some of the victims and suspects knew each other.

"On the dance floor in the building, there was no problem. They were arguing outside about a girlfriend dancing with another guy or something like that. Our security had no problems inside the building, none at all," Mahoney said.

Several witnesses said a woman first fired a warning shot into the air to break up the fight. Hearing that, the witness continued, a man, perhaps believing that shots were being fired in earnest, ran to his car across the lot and grabbed a gun.

An estimated 20-to-30 seconds after the warning shot, multiple individuals pulled out handguns and began firing, according to police.

Duncan, Greer and Lindsay were pronounced dead at the scene. A fourth victim, as yet publicly unidentified, was struck multiple times and transported to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition. His condition was later upgraded to serious but stable.

Later Sunday, police arrested a person of interest on weapons charges unrelated to the incident.
This is what happens with an armed society. Far from being a polite society, petty arguments turn deadly. This story also points out the foolishness of allowning guns in bars.  Alcohol and guns don't mix.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Jon Stewart on the North Korea Threat

Fox Attacks Obama for "Cops as Props" in Colorado

video link

I would imagine, as the sherrif in the video mentioned, cops are like any other group. Most agree with the gun control movement, some don't, and a tiny fringe element is strongly opposed.

This guy offered anecdotal examples which were supposed to represent a very large group.  When asked directly, he fell back on the famous NRA lie that "certainly the chiefs" who are appointed politically might be for gun control.

Then, of course, the most famous straw man argument came out.  It's the violence, it's not the guns.

His biggest lie of all was to say the Colorado governor and legislature has proven they have no interest in getting guns out of the hands of criminals. How could he possibly say such a thing with a straight face?  Are gun-rights fanatics so paranoid and self-centered that they actually think it's all about them and their precious guns?

"These things can't simply be legislated," says the gun nut in uniform that Fox News is portraying as representative of the "front line" cops in Colorado.

This is just another example of the blatant bias that is Fox News.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Obama Speaks in Denver

 U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about tighenting gun regulations during a visit to the Denver Police Academy in Denver, Colorado April 3, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
 Reuters/Reuters - U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about tighenting gun regulations during a visit to the Denver Police Academy in Denver, Colorado April 3, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Yahoo news with video

President Barack Obama sought to rally public support for proposed background checks for all gun buyers, touting new gun control measures enacted in Colorado - the scene of two of the deadliest gun massacres in American history - as "a model of what's possible."

Obama is aiming to revive stalled momentum in Congress for several gun control measures, including universal background checks for gun buyers, that he called for after a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut school in December. The Senate is set to take up gun control next week.

Speaking in a Western state that Obama noted has a strong tradition of gun ownership and hunting, the president said that taking action to reduce gun violence does not have to infringe on Americans' gun rights, enshrined in the Constitution's Second Amendment.

"There doesn't have to be a conflict between protecting our citizens and protecting our Second Amendment rights," Obama told a cheering crowd in Denver.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Accidental Shooting in Pulp Fiction - "I didn't mean to do it, it was an accident"

Accidental Shooting of Ohio High School Football Player - Naturally No Charges

The Blade reports
Tristan Parker, who was shot in both legs, was treated at St Rita's Putnam County Ambulatory Care Center, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office. Mr. Parker, a senior at Ottawa-Glandorf High School, was a running back for the football team, sheriff deputies said.

The sheriff's office received the report of the shooting about 6:50 p.m. after emergency medical personnel attended to the victim at a residence on County Rd. 5 where he and an alleged shooter, a friend who is also 18, had stopped to seek help, sheriff deputies said.

The victim was riding in the back seat of the pickup when his friend apparently showed him his new Glock handgun, at which time it discharged. The bullet struck the victim in his right thigh and then in his left calf, before exiting, according to the sheriff's office.

The incident remained under investigation. There were no charges filed.
How could there possibly be no charges? Are 18-year-olds in Ohio allowed to have guns in their cars? Are they allowed to shoot other 18-year-olds out of gross negligence?

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

The NRA Smoke Screen (Report) On School Safety

The New York Times

The N.R.A. is the last place to turn to for accurate information about school shootings, since it generally tries to pretend they don’t happen or don’t matter. Schools, in fact, don’t really need its advice on bulletproof windows, better locks, or armed security guards. Tens of thousands of American school buildings are in such bad physical shape that expensive security amenities are unimaginable. Those that have the need or the resources do what they deem necessary to keep students safe.

What schools really need is a way to keep guns out of the hands of troubled students. For that, the N.R.A. has a section recommending “coordination with mental health professionals” to identify students who might become threats. Schools should reduce bullying and harassment, it says, so helpfully. Not a word is said, naturally, about how easy it is for students, showing signs of trouble or not, to get their hands on a gun, or the N.R.A.’s role in ensuring that easy access.


One big smoke screen is what the report is.  Its itention is to deflect attention from the fact that access to guns is too easy.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

More Background on Adam Lanza

 
Undated student ID photo of Adam Lanza from Western Connecticut State University. 

NBC

A new photo of Sandy Hook massacre gunman Adam Lanza has emerged: a college ID snapshot that shows him staring wide-eyed into the camera as though scared out of his wits.

The picture, one of just a few that have been made public since the Dec. 14 shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, was part of Lanza's records from Western Connecticut State University, where he took classes in 2008 and 2009.

There is nothing in the documents that would foreshadow the monstrous attack, just a few odd notes.
When he took a placement exam in May 2008, Lanza refused to answer some background questions — including his gender.

I don't think he's trying to look "scared out of his wits" in that  photo.  To me it looks more like he's trying to imitate the Talosians of Star Trek, The Original Series.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

April Fool's Joke Lands Tennessee Woman in Jail

 Local news reports

An April Fool’s joke brought police to a Kingsport home Monday and landed the apparent prankster in police custody for a time.

Susan Tammy Hudson, 52, was not arrested, however, police said about 3.5 hours later.

KPD officers responded to 713 Union Hill Road after a call that a woman allegedly had shot and killed her husband.

When police arrived, contact was made with Susan Hudson, who told police it had been an April Fool’s Day joke.

Hudson’s husband, who was not involved with the joke, showed up shortly thereafter and was uninjured.

U.N. Overwhelmingly Approves Global Arms Trade Treaty

 Yahoo News with video

The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved the first treaty on the global arms trade, which seeks to regulate the $70 billion business in conventional arms and keep weapons out of the hands of human rights abusers.

The official U.N. tally showed 154 votes in favor, 3 against and 23 abstentions, though diplomats and U.N. officials said the actual vote was 155-3-22 due to Angola being recorded as having abstained and not voting yes. Venezuela, which said it had planned to abstain, Zimbabwe and three other countries were not allowed to vote because they were in arrears on their U.N. dues.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the vote, saying the treaty "will make it more difficult for deadly weapons to be diverted into the illicit market and ... will help to keep warlords, pirates, terrorists, criminals and their like from acquiring deadly arms."

Well, I guess we'll see now if all those dire prophesies come true about how bad this will be for gun owners in the US.  Of course, it's quite possible it will have no effect.  When it comes to gun legislation of any kind, gun-rights fanatics are a contrary lot, even when they don't have a dog in the fight.

What do you think?  Please leave a comment.

Nelson, Georgia Approves Mandatory Gun Ownership

 Jahoo News with video

Backers of a newly adopted ordinance requiring gun ownership in a small north Georgia town acknowledge they were largely seeking to make a point about gun rights.

The ordinance in the city of Nelson — population 1,300 — was approved Monday night and goes into effect in 10 days. However, it contains no penalties and exempts anyone who objects, convicted felons and those with certain mental and physical disabilities.

City Councilman Duane Cronic, who sponsored the measure, said he knows the ordinance won't be enforced but he still believes it will make the town safer.

Now, there's some real down-South type thinking. It won't be enforced but it will make the town safer.

I suppose this means we don't have to hear that old pro-gun refrain anymore that they don't require us to own gun so we shouldn't require that they don't. Of course, like most of the pro-gun talking points it doesn't even make any sense. What we require is that people be qualified to own guns and held accountable for their actions.  That's all.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.


Comment Moderation Control

Some of you may have noticed comments missing. I deleted 50 comments yesterday through a negligent click of the mouse. If there were such a thing as the 4 Rules of Mouse Clicking Safety, I would be guilty of breaking all of them. Interestingly, much like your every-day fuck-up on the part of gun owners who shoot their kids or wives "accidentally," there was no way to take it back. It seems Blogger is a bit unforgiving in this matter. As a way of apoligizing I'm removing the comment moderation for a while.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

VoteVets Ad

Kyle Coplen, Liar and Founder of The Armed Citizen Project


It didn't even occur to him that Tucson was the city of the Gabby Giffords' shooting.

Baltimore Man Shot by Police in Mysterious Circumstances

From the Trenches


Ohio Parents Charged in Son's Death

Local news reports with video

Further to our earlier post.

The parents of a Brown County boy killed in an accidental shooting have been charged in the boy's death.
Police said Sebastian Swartz found the gun Feb. 18 in a bedroom and was playing with it, and the gun discharged after his 13-year-old sister tried to take the weapon away from him.

The 9-year-old died Feb. 26 from his injuries.

According to court documents, the weapon was left out in plain view.

The boy's parents, Chris and Shanna Swartz, of Russellville, were charged last week with child endangering.

Pennsylvania Man Shoots Girlfriend by Accident - Charged with Murder


Philly.com


A Kensington man who claimed he accidentally shot his girlfriend Saturday night when he pulled a gun on a neighbor during a fight has been charged with murder.

Kuldio Singh, 28, of East Seltzer Street near A, was arrested after the 7:49 p.m. incident, police spokeswoman Officer Christine O'Brien said. He told police he was arguing with a neighbor and pulled a gun; his girlfriend Sherell Baker, 26, of the same address, intervened to calm the men down, but instead, she caught a bullet in the upper chest, O'Brien said. She died at Episcopal Hospital a half hour later.

The neighbor fled; it was unclear if he was armed.

Court records show Kuldio has one prior arrest for gun offenses in August 2009, but those charges with withdrawn for unspecified reasons.
You see, this guys is like a lot go gun owners. He was technically a lawful gun owner but a hidden criminal through and through.

Could Background Checks Actually Pass?


Don’t look now, but the U.S. Senate might actually pass legislation that has a chance to significantly reduce gun violence.

Some advocates of stronger gun laws were discouraged recently when the Senate dropped provisions to ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines from legislation that will be considered starting next week.

But what remains — a bill that would expand background checks when guns are purchased and stiffen penalties for straw purchases — is perhaps the single measure that could do most to tamp down the shootings in America’s neighborhoods. Mass shootings with assault weapons are awful when they occur, but over the course of a year, as we in Chicago know too well, far more Americans are killed by handguns.

We need universal background checks, because we need to stop making it easy for criminals to buy guns. Virtually all firearms start out as legal, but gaps in our laws allow guns to flow from legal to illegal hands. Under the “gun show loophole,” no record keeping is required in private gun sales, which now account for two out of every five firearms transactions. A “straw purchaser,” someone with valid credentials who buys guns for those who can’t legally purchase them, can easily operate in the nether region where no records exist.
What do you think? I don't mean about why we need background checks, I mean about its chances of passing.

More on the Mental Health of Lanza, Holmes and Loughner

Slate


Connecticut Moving Towards Tougher Gun Laws

Residents protest outside the National Shooting Sports Foundation in Newtown, Connecticut March 28, 2013 after receiving robocalls from the NRA, trying to enlist them in efforts to defeat new statewide gun control proposals. REUTERS/ Michelle McLoughlin 
 Reuters/Reuters - Residents protest outside the National Shooting Sports Foundation in Newtown, Connecticut March 28, 2013 after receiving robocalls from the NRA, trying to enlist them in efforts to defeat new statewide gun control proposals. REUTERS/ Michelle McLoughlin

Yahoo News reports

Legislative leaders in Connecticut, where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in December, said on Monday they had agreed some of the toughest gun regulations in the nation and expected to adopt them this week.

The proposal, which is expected to pass both Democratic-controlled houses of the state legislature this week and become law, includes a ban on sales of high-capacity ammunition magazines, background checks for private gun sales and a registry for existing magazines that carry 10 or more bullets.
 
The proposed legislation creates a state-issued eligibility certificate for the purchase of any rifle, shotgun or ammunition. A buyer would need to be fingerprinted, take a firearms training course and undergo a background check to qualify.

The measure not only bans the sale of high-capacity magazines from January 1, 2014, but such magazines that exist now must be registered with the state by that date, or it will become a felony to own them.


The outrage in Connecticut is naturally greater than in other states.  But only lying, self-serving gun fanatics can deny that high-capacity magazines directly add to the death toll in mass shootings, Lanza and Loughner being the clearest examples.
 
What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Winning Against Gunloons

Sorry, gunloons, you've lost.

Fact is, since Sandy Hook, the public's been paying attention/

It used to be that when LaPierre opened his yap and the crazy came pouring out, about 500 people listened.

Those days are over.

No amount of firearm industry largesse is going to solve that.  Every time, Wayne L. whines about Government tyranny--he's going to face a media barrage that points out what a kook he and his followers are.  The old, hackneyed NRA arguments are now getting challenged everywhere.l

Monday, April 1, 2013

Handing out Shotguns in Arizona

Gun Show
File: June 19, 2010: Assorted shotguns are displayed on a table at a gun and knife show in White Plains, N.Y., (AP)

Fox News reports via Kurt Hofmann who reminded me of it.

A former mayof oral candidate in Tucson, Ariz., is drawing heated criticism from Democrats after he launched a program this week to hand out free shotguns in high-crime neighborhoods.

Shaun McClusky, who kicked off the program Monday, financed it with initial donor commitments of $12,000. He told FoxNews.com that with those private donations alone, he can arm and train 36 people -- and hopes to begin that process in 60 days.

McClusky said he's already received more than a dozen responses from residents, "none of them negative, all of them positive."

But with McClusky launching the gun handout program in the same area where former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in 2011, he's running into stiff resistance from Arizona officials.
State Rep. Victoria Steele, who represents Tucson, called the program "plain lunacy."

"Arizonans in Tucson and across the state are demanding that we reduce gun violence and create safer communities. Handing out shotguns is not a solution," she said in a written statement.

House Minority Leader Chad Campbell called it "ideological extremism at its worst" and "a political gimmick that could have dangerous consequences.

Armed North Texas Prosecutor and his Wife Murdered in their Home


Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland (l.)  and his wife, Cynthia (r.), were found dead Saturday night with gunshot wounds in their Texas home, according to reports.


A North Texas prosecutor packed heat because he knew he was a target — and may have been slain by the same racist thugs who he suggested killed a colleague two months ago.

Investigators in Kaufman County, south of Dallas, are chasing down leads in the death of District Attorney Mike McLelland, including whether he was the latest hit in a white supremacist war on officials.

A friend found the bodies of McLelland, 63, and his wife, Cynthia, inside their home Saturday night. McLelland was shot multiple times with what appeared to be an assault rifle, while his 65-year-old wife was hit only once, according to CBS affiliate KTVT.

Authorities are looking into a link between McLelland’s murder and the assassination of Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse on Jan. 31.
You know why he didn't just protect himself and his wife with a gun of his own?  It's because owning and carrying a gun very rarely helps. That's why.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

The Most Dangerous Cities in the Western Hemisphere

MARCH 8, 2012 PHOTO

A police officer inspects tattoos on a Mara Salvatrucha gang member after his arrest in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. A wave of violence has made Honduras among the most dangerous places on Earth. 

The Daily News

San Pedro Sula might be the most dangerous place on earth.

Around three people are intentionally murdered every day in the northwest Honduran city--that’s around 169 homicides per 100,000 residents. These grim statistics place it at the very top of a list of the 50 most violent cities, making San Pedro Sula the alleged murder capital of the world two years in a row.
 
The first American city on the list is New Orleans, which comes in at number 17 with 56 murders for every 100,000 people. Also on the list are Detroit, Mich. (21), St. Louis, M.O. (40), Baltimore, Md. (41), and Oakland, Calif. (43).

The data was compiled by the Citizen Council for Public Security, Justice, and Peace, a Mexican think tank. The organization used intentional homicide statistics from 2012 to draw comparisons, focusing on cities in North, Central, and South America. Middle Eastern cities were not included.

It seems like this is a list of North and South American cities, so the claim of being the most dangerous places in the world may or may not stand. Nevertheless, thanks to the lax gun laws in the US, we can be proud of our representation on this dubious list.

What fo you think?  Please leave a comment.

Florida is Still the Worst

 The Palm Beach Post

Some of the most ardent supporters of gun rights in Palm Beach County say it’s too easy to get a concealed weapons license in Florida, where gun owners from as far away as Alaska take the course to get the right to carry.

Critics of the Florida system, including members of the National Rifle Association, say state law does not require enough training to prove “competence” with a handgun. That worries them. If sloppy handgun owners shoot first and think later, their mistakes could cause unintended deaths and jeopardize the rights of responsible gun owners.

Even a plastic pellet fired into a bucket of sand has been used to demonstrate handgun proficiency, said Mike Caruso, owner of the Delray Shooting Center and a life member of the NRA.

“It’s insanity,” Caruso said. “It’s like learning to drive a car with a 25-cent coin in a video machine.”

Gun-rights fanatics will of course deny all this.  Let's hear it from Greg and Kurt.  The way I see it, Florida is still the worst.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

Captain Mark Kelly on the Background Check Debate

The Cost of Gun Violence

 Caricom

According to the Johns Hopkins Centre for Gun Policy and Research, “more than 31,000 people a year in the United States die from gunshot wounds. Because victims are disproportionately young, gun violence is one of the leading causes of premature mortality in the U.S.

In addition to these deaths, in 2010, there were an estimated 337,960 non-fatal violent crimes committed with guns, and 73,505 persons treated in hospital emergency departments for non-fatal gunshot wounds.”

The Centre points to the enormous economic cost associated with gun violence in the United States, pointing out that firearm related deaths “firearm related deaths and injuries resulted in medical and lost productivity expenses of about $32 billion in 2005. But the overall cost of gun violence goes well beyond these figures,” the study says.

“When lost quality of life, psychological and emotional trauma, decline in property values, and other legal and societal consequences are included, the cost of gun violence in the U.S. was estimated to be about $100 billion annually in 1998.

A new study has examined the direct and indirect costs of violent crime in eight geographically-diverse U.S. cities, and estimated the average annual cost of violent crime was more than $1,300 for every adult and child.

Because much of these costs are due to lowering residential property values, violent crime greatly reduces tax revenues that local governments need to address a broad array of citizens’ needs. The direct annual cost of violent crime to all levels of government was estimated to be $325 per resident, ” the John Hopkins October 2012 study says.

Arizona 11 -Year-old Girl Dead - No Charges

 Local news reports

Authorities say an 11-year-old girl is dead after an accidental shooting at her family's home in Casa Grande.

Pinal County sheriff's officials say Joan Plumb died late Thursday at Phoenix Children's Hospital after being flown from Casa Grande Medical Center.

They say Joan was at her home with a friend, and the two girls were in the family room doing scrapbooking.

Joan's 15-year-old brother was showing his new rifle to an 11-year-old friend. Authorities say the teen removed the clip from the gun, set it on the table and left the room.

The 11-year-old friend picked up the rifle and was handling it when it accidentally discharged, striking Joan in the head.

Gun-loving dad should be in jail. Any time a kid gets a hold of a gun and someone gets hurt, an adult should be held responsible.

But the gun-rights fanatics don't want that.

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