My normal means of carry is inside the waistband in a Milt Sparks Versa Max 2. That is a very comfortable, and well hidden, means of carry. It is just nice to change it up every once in awhile. The cold weather gives me that opportunity.
LAUREL, Md. -- Some criminals have a gun and a badge that belong to an officer who is assigned to protect the Capitol.A couple of goblins now have an officers gun and badge, that is double trouble. So how did they steal his firearm and his badge? Did they break into his home, or his vehicle?
Police said two robbers stole the badge and handgun during a liquor store robbery at the Roundabout Fine Wine and Spirits in Laurel, Md., Friday night.This is the part that just befuddles me:
The armed criminals walked in, held up the cashier and then noticed a U.S. Capitol police captain who happened to be there.The goblins held up the cashier, then noticed the officer? What the heck was he doing?
Investigators said they took his badge and gun and then ran away.
Police described the gunman as a black man in his 20s, 6-foot-3 inches to 6-foot-5 inches tall, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and dark pants.This later article includes a photo of Mr. Nathan, but not much more information: Police ask for help in finding gunman
PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico - Three U.S. citizens from Texas and two Mexican men were kidnapped at a hunting ranch near the U.S. border over the weekend, authorities reported Tuesday.This is the story that first caught my eye. It was not on the main page of the paper's website, it was just a single line in an "other news" column.
Witnesses told investigators that 30 to 40 armed men entered the La Barranca ranch late Sunday and took the five men away. The ranch is about 40 miles northwest of Nuevo Laredo.
LAREDO, Texas - Two of the five men kidnapped in Mexico were released Wednesday, but a prominent Laredo businessman and his son remain hostages, U.S. and Mexican authorities said.
The guests of the ranch were released. That is a good thing and I am hoping that the owner, his son and the ranch cook are also released very soon.
Now comes the interesting part of the story:
The men were abducted Sunday when 30 to 40 armed men stormed the La Barranca hunting ranch in Mexico near the border south of Laredo, authorities said. It's the latest incident in a violence-plagued region where there are at least 20 unresolved cases in the last two years involving kidnapped U.S. citizens.20 unresolved cases? There are twenty open kidnapping cases in this one area of Mexico that borders the United States, and the news media is not jumping all over the administration to get this resolved and bring those people home safely? If one person gets kidnapped in Iraq, it is all over the evening news. We have pleas from the family and televised candle light vigils at local churches. We have to listen to folks blaming the administration and demanding that something be done right now to get them released. Have we heard anything about the folks that have been kidnapped in Mexico? Why is it that an evil in Iraq is more newsworthy than a similar evil in Mexico?
In September, U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza warned Americans to stay vigilant when traveling to Mexico and singled out Nuevo Laredo, across the river from Laredo, Texas, as being particularly dangerous. Garza said there were at least 20 unresolved kidnapping cases involving Americans.How about this news story?
The week Garza issued his warning, armed men went into a Nuevo Laredo hotel and held up 25 people who were going to work for a Texas-based company, assaulting and threatening to kill them.The fact that border towns in Mexico are dangerous places to visit is nothing new to folks that live near the border. Just as is the fact that fighting or working in Iraq is dangerous. The difference is that every person that is in Iraq knows of the danger involved prior to going there. The same can not be said for the tourist that cross into Mexico on a daily basis. It would seem that a kidnapping of an American citizen in Mexico would be at least as newsworthy as a kidnapping in Iraq.
The second local event happened Sunday morning on the “Inside Tennessee” political talk show on WBIR. You can see a clip from the program on Say Uncle. Panelist and local Knoxville attorney Don Bosch made a statement to Lumpy Lambert that defies common sense. Bosch said to Mr. Lambert, “You increased your chances many fold over of being shot by pulling that gun.” So what is attorney Don Bosch saying? He is saying trust the criminal.Mr. Bosch, is there no situation where you would condone drawing a firearm to protect yourself or your family? Even if the commissioner had not been as well trained as he was, even if he was slower than the goblin and was injured, at least he was injured defending himself from a goblin who had already killed and would not have hesitated to kill again if given the chance.
There were six shootings in the same 24 hour period with two fatalities. The only firearm event that had a good outcome was the one where an armed citizen protected himself. The idea that armed citizens present a hazard to other citizens has not be proven, in fact in areas where carry permits are allowed violent crime has decreased.Those statistics just do not seem to make it to the 10:00 news.
ARLINGTON—Police are seeking help in identifying a suspect wanted in the killing of a 26-year-old man.Personally, I prefer the outcome of the commissioners confrontation over the outcome of Mr. Nathan's. Self protection is not just a choice, or even a right, it is a responsibility.
Sanal Nathan, a former University of Texas at Arlington student, tried to stop a robber from taking his fiancé’s purse when he was shot outside his apartment complex Monday night.
Officials said he tried to reason with the suspect but was shot in the chest and the suspect fled without the purse. He died at 3:18 a.m. Tuesday at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.
ALLEN, Texas - A pregnant woman in this Dallas suburb came home to a frightening sight and even more frightening news, police said: A strange man was in her bedroom and told her he had been hired by her husband to kill her.A news story straight out of a Hollywood movie, a murder plot with a happy ending.
"Your husband wants you murdered," the man told Roxane Sterling, according to police reports. He then told the woman, who is eight months pregnant, to call police.
Some years ago the anti-gun movement shifted its focus from the legislative process to the courts. They recruited big city mayors to finance kamikaze legal attacks on gun manufacturers. Their goal was gun control by destroying the ability of citizens to buy guns. The fact that putting the manufacturers out of business would also hurt the ability of cities to arm their police departments was ignored.In their misguided zeal to put American firearm manufacturers out of business, the anti-gunners attempted to generate case law that would have been disastrous for all American manufacturing. It is a very good thing that they were defeated. American manufacturing is already being litigated and legislated out of business, and case law holding a manufacturer of a product liable for it's illegal end use would have made it even harder to do business in the United States.
One theme of the suits was that manufacturers should be held liable for the actions of third parties over whom they had no control (intervening cause). The manufacturers argued on the basis of the common law that there was no proximate cause between their conducting a lawful business and the injury. Further, they did not fail to perform any duty required of them by law in the manufacturing and sale of their product.
The anti-gun groups wanted to change the standards of negligence to financially destroy the firearms industry. If they change the standard, however, the new standard of saying industry is responsible for the misuse of its products, would be disastrous. Such a standard would make some lawyers wealthy but would destroy much of our remaining industry and put thousands of common people out of work. This possibility did not deter the anti-gun movement but it did inspire Congress to pass legislation to protect industry. As of this writing, most, but not all, of the suits against manufacturers have been dismissed.
That has not deterred the anti-gun movement. They devised sting operations to entice dealers into sales that they then argued are illegal "straw man" sales. The fact these "sting" operations may compromise legitimate law enforcement investigations is lost on the anti-gun movement. Based on their own vigilante actions, they then file civil actions against the dealer. Most dealers are small businesses. Defending against a civil suit is very expensive and destructive of the business.Here is proof that the anti-gunners are not concerned with ending violent crime at all. They want to disarm America. You never see the anti's promoting stiffer penalties for violent criminals. They do not provide any for self and home defence for low income families, other than call 911 and pray.
Dealers have settled suits they thought were groundless because the expense of defending themselves was prohibitive. That is, the anti-gun movement has taken to violating the law, entrapping (or sometimes lying to) dealers, to use the legal system to extort something of value from the dealers. There is a name for that in the law. It is called racketeering. Their actions are not directed at criminals, but they want to shift the responsibility for crime onto the average citizens trying to comply with the law.
The thrust of the Brady Legal Program is to focus responsibility away from the criminal or person directly responsible for an injury. It goes after private individuals whose only "crime" is that they own guns. In many cases, the gun owners are the same people who are the victims of the very perpetrators the Brady Legal Program chooses to release from responsibility. The fact that a city might not adequately man, train or fund its police department is of no interest to the Brady Center. Nor is it concerned with the types of heavy handed civil rights violations that drive a wedge between the community and law enforcement.The article goes on to discuss private property rights and the rights of landlords. Yes, the anti's are fighting against those also. You can read the rest of it here.
They are trying to develop a line of cases that will alter the common law to establish liability against persons other than the individual who directly causes a harm. They want some court to rule that an owner of a gun, or other people that might have some relationship to the owner of a gun, are liable for injuries caused by those who might misuse the gun.
Three general types of firearms have been identified in what was once Plymouth colony: matchlock, wheelocks, and flint arms. Within these general categories there are several smaller subdivision pertaining to specific types of pieces...The paper goes into good detail in describing each of the firearms listed above, another nice history lesson for those who are interested.
...Seven general types of firearms have been identified as being used in Plymouth Colony through a comparison of the archaeological and historical records, these are the musket, harquebus, caliver or cavalier, fowler, carbine, pistol, and the blunderbus.
Pistols always appeared relatively popular weapons in the colony, averaging between 15 and 18 % with only a slight drop in occurrences in the 1650s to 1660s. These light weapons appear to have been popular with both Natives and colonist alike due to their ability to add extra firepower with little additional weight.The paper also mentions the earliest record of a negligent discharge that I have found:
The first recorded mention of firearms in the writing and records of Plymouth Colony was in 1620 while the Mayflower was at anchor in Provincetown harbor. At this time one Francis, son of passenger John Billington, took his fathers fowling piece that was stored charged in their cabin, and shot it off. This subsequently set fire to the cabin and there were many "flints and iron things about the cabin" but the fire was extinguished (Mourts Relations). The fact that Francis was able to shoot his fathers fowling piece indicated the possibility that this piece was equipped with a flint and steel ignition system as opposed to a matchlock. This suspicion was confirmed by the report that there were many flints in the cabin, presumably for the piece. The type of lock that Billington probably had was a snaphaunce, as this incident occurred in 1620 and the English dog locks were not invented yet. From this report we know that at least one snaphaunce fowler was among the pieces carried to Plymouth Colony.The snaphaunce was the height of innovation in 1620, the colonial version of an assault rifle.
A second incident in 1620 also illustrated the types of pieces that were present. This incident occurred on Cape Cod early one morning when an exploring party searching for a place to settle was beset by a group of Nauset Natives. At about five o'clock in the morning the party began to stir, and two or three who doubted whether their pieces would go off or not, fired them. Soon after a group of Natives attacked the group. As they did the men ran to recover their arms that they had brought down to the boat. In the meantime, Captain Miles Standish, had his snaphance ready and made a shot, which was afterwards followed by another who presumably also had a snaphaunce. The others who were recovering their arms heard three of the pieces go off, possibly indicating that there were three snaphaunces, and then they heard someone call for a firebrand to light the matches for the rest of the pieces. This incidence indicates that there were at least two and possibly three snaphaunces carried by the group of eight with the remainder being matchlocks.It appears that the colonist at Plymouth had amongst their arsenal the most modern and effective firearms of the time.
A 1633 order that every household be furnished with firearms was further clarified in 1643 when the court ordered that "It is agreed upon that all householders within the Township shall forthwith pvide sufficient armes according to the act of the court for themselves and their servants able to beare arms within month after the 5th June next on wch day they are to trayne viz Muskett either wth snaphaunce or matchlocks with match callivers and carbines wch are allowed and also fowling peeces not above foure foote and a half long and reasonable bore."Now that is what I call common sense firearms laws.
This fabulous consecutive numbered pair of pistols was made for Timoor Daghistani, a Colonel in Jordanian Army Tank Corps & brother-in-law of His Majesty, King Hussein of Jordan. These pistols were sent “in the white” to renowned historian & author, R.L. Wilson with the request that they be embellished by Alvin White for then Major Daghistani. Maj. Daghistani sent pictures of two tanks that he wished to have commemorated on his pistols, one being the M60A1 Abrams on #1 and the other, the venerable M48, on #2. These pistols were then embellished nearly identically with Mr. White’s readily identifiable style of extensive coverage foliate arabesque patterns with a flower blossom at back of each ejection port and another flower blossom on left side of the slide of #1. Both tanks are on left side of their respective slides in deep relief gold in fantastic detail. Towards rear of slide, on same side, are Col. Daghistani initials in flush gold script, “TDG”. Right side of slides have “COLT’S COMBAT COMMANDER MODEL” in flush gold and the serial number on frames are also in flush gold. They have identical checkered ivory grips with the Rampant Colt in deep relief in center on each side.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Tom Milliron figures Juneau school children are going to encounter guns one way or another, whether venturing armed into nearby wilderness or visiting the home of a friend.I have long been an advocate of bringing firearms training into our public school systems. As we have the right to keep and bear arms, we have the responsibility to teach our children proper firearm safety. Along with firearm safety, comes marksmanship. I would very much like to see competitive shooting re-introduced as a high school sport.
Better they learn how to handle a firearm safely than to hurt themselves through ignorance, he says.
Milliron is principal of one of Juneau's two middle schools. Sixth-graders under his care last month completed an outdoor education course that included instruction in safe handling of guns and firing rounds from .22-caliber rifles. For some children, it was the first time they'd touched a gun.
In gun-happy Alaska, teaching children how to safely handle firearms is just common sense, Milliron said.
"Kids ought to be approached from a solid educational perspective and not discover guns on their own," Milliron said.
Milliron used to teach in Cube Cove, a logging camp on Admiralty Island. Outdoor education was crucial in such a wild setting, he said. He took the job at Juneau's Floyd Dryden Middle School eight years ago and found volunteers who wanted firearm education in public schools, including Tom Coate.This sounds similar to a program we had in my elementary school. We went to sixth-grade camp. It was a week of cabin camping in the mountains that included crafts along with outdoorsmanship activities. This included archery and .22's. This camping trip was held during the regular school year and was a part of sixth-grade. I'll bet that you would never guess what state this was in...
More than two decades ago, Coate had taught his 10-year-old son, Tobin, how to safely handle guns before they went waterfowl hunting. Then his son's friends wanted to go too. They were "dumber than a brick" about gun safety, Coate said.
He helped promote hunter safety programs in a 4-H club, then at rural village schools, and starting in 2000, at the Juneau middle school. About 1,200 students have taken the course.
The program has provided a counterbalance to the portrayal of guns on "the idiot tube," Coate said.
"What we're trying to do is mitigate the onslaught of very bad habits that cause needless deaths and needless accidents," Coate said.
Guns are simply a way of life in Southeast Alaska, Milliron and Coate said...
...As part of their outdoors education, students take the standard state of Alaska hunter safety education course. After safety lessons, they take a "shoot-don't shoot" field course, deciding whether it would have been safe to discharge a weapon at an animal simulated by a silhouette.
They also must demonstrate proficiency in firing a weapon, shooting 20 rounds from .22-caliber rifles at Juneau's indoor firing range.
"A military rifle, capable of controlled, fully-automatic fire from the shoulder, with an effective range of at least 300 metres".This is well worth the read, if only for the pictures of historical and experimental ammunition.
Knox County Commissioner Greg “Lumpy” Lambert, the used car dealer who once offered a firearm with each vehicle purchased from his North Knoxville car lot, is still employing guns in his latest bit of showboating.
In the process, he has shown himself to be a danger to himself and others.
His confrontation with a young man last Saturday at his dealership is an example of Lambert’s lack of judgment.
There were some others, but the worst site is not up at the moment. So, did Commissioner do the county a service by being a responsible citizen and carrying a firearm? Or was he showing a lack of judgement?
Say Uncle caught todays breaking news that answers that question.
But Hutchison told commissioners that a grand jury is expected to hear evidence Tuesday linking the man to the slaying of David Lindsey, 53, of Knoxville.Yes, commissioner Lambert not only saved his own life, but also the lives of others that this goblin would have came into contact with later in the day.
Lindsey was found lying in the parking lot of Walgreen's, 5320 Clinton Highway, just after 3 a.m. Nov. 11 by a fellow truck driver, according to the Sheriff's Office. He had been shot in the head and leg, and he died later at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
"We're charging this person with murder -- a murder he committed 10 hours earlier (than his encounter with Lambert)," Hutchison said while praising Lambert's actions.
"What (Lambert) did, probably saved his life."
As I mentioned in an earlier post, it was slim pickings at Academy. I pretty much purchase ammunition by the case any more. Either locally at Military Gun Supply, or mail order from Ammunition To Go. So I figured that I would pick up a couple boxes of Hydra Shok for my carry pistol, and a few boxes of the new Hornady LeverEvolution Ammo for my Grand Dad's model '94. I have been meaning to give that a try since it came out, and National Ammo Day was the perfect excuse to pick some up.
Well, I got the very last box of the Hornady they had. The Hydra Shok's seemed to be in good supply, so I was set there. .223? They had the high end stuff, a bit too rich for my blood. They were sold out what I would use at the range. I am well set in everything else so I picked up a box of my normal Remington 30-30 and a brick of round nose .22 for my grandson's Erma Werke MI.
Another National Ammo Day is in the books.
When I was younger, I had a notion that the house I lived in when I grew up would have a room in it that was just for me. Darkly panelled, richly carpeted, filled with overstuffed furniture, a cozy writing desk, and with a cheerfully crackling fireplace, the walls would be lined with bookshelves. Hanging here and there on the walls between the shelves would be various historic arms: A Roman gladius, a Brown Bess musket, a Garand. Scattered on the shelves, there were other knick-knacks: an old British pith helmet, a bronze sword, a shadowbox with various old bits of military regalia. There was a suit of armor standing in the corner. It would be my own personal little museum and library.If you enjoy firearms (umm.. why else would you be on this site?) and history, then The Arms Room is for you.
This space on the web will serve much that same purpose for me. Over at my main blog, View From The Porch, I get a fair number of Google hits on "Mannlicher-Schoenauer", "Gew. 88" and the like as a result of my "From The Vault" and "Ask Auntie Gun Nut" posts. I'll be using this space as a repository for those in the future, and seeing where it grows from there. I hope it makes it easier for those trying to do research, being able to access the data without having to wade through my bad jokes, sarcastic political commentary, and day-to-day bloggery.
The District is among the major U.S. cities with the highest percentage of people being killed by firearms, despite having one of the strictest gun-control laws in the country.Chief Ramsey, master of the understatement. (Note: Chief Ramsey is the one person in Washington D.C. that has the authority to issue gun permits)
A recent Metropolitan Police Department report on homicides from 2001 to 2005 states that 901 of 1,126 homicide victims, or about 80 percent, were fatally shot. "It's a problem," Chief Charles H. Ramsey said. "It may be something that's with us for a while."
The District did have a lower percentage of gun homicides than New Orleans at 92 percent, Los Angeles at 80.9 percent and Detroit at 80.5 percent.See any correlation between these cities?
Michael Campbell, a spokesman for the Washington field office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said that part of the problem is the District being surrounded by jurisdictions with less-restrictive regulations.I often wonder if these people actually believe the B.S. they spew forth for public consumption. Blame D.C.'s violent crime problem on Virginia and Maryland? Yes they have less restrictive gun laws, they also have less violent crime. And guess what you liars, a good percentage of the violent crime they do have comes from Washington D.C. You are both Quislings and traitors to the constitution.
"You can't seal the borders," he said. "There's always going to be a market for guns."
Chief Ramsey agreed.
"We have tough gun laws, but most of our guns are coming from Virginia and Maryland," he said
Felons convicted of firearms possession can get up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Felons who use a firearm during the commission of a violent crime can receive a maximum 15-year prison sentence.A felon is a person who has already committed at least one major crime. So, if a career criminal commits a violent crime with a firearm, the maximum sentence he could get is 15 years? That is before plea bargains and liberal judges feeling sorry for him because his daddy was a jerk? 15 years with the possibility of parole? Oh yeah, blame the guns.
The District's firearms restrictions, which were passed in 1976, include a maximum one-year penalty or $1,000 fine for first-time offenders and a maximum five-year penalty or $5,000 fine for second offenders...
...Carrying a pistol without a license in the District can be either a felony or a misdemeanor charge, depending on whether the offender was carrying the pistol someplace other than in his or her home or business.
Some things are so obviously not right, that it hurts to have to point them out. Washington D.C. is a free fire zone where the goblins have all the advantage, and the law abiding citizens are treated like subjects by the powers that be.
Four decades ago, a gunman accosted my mother, who was on her way home after attending the 6 a.m. Mass at St. Lucy's in Spanish Harlem. When he demanded all her money, she looked him in the eye and said, "What would your mother think of you doing this?" The gunman turned around and fled, saying nothing.Read that last sentence again. "But while guns have always been a part of the American landscape, it's the criminal element that has absolutely no respect for innocent life that is a relatively recent phenomenon." Guns, and law abiding firearm owners have not changed, the criminals have.
These days, she likely would have been shot dead. Even as the latest school shootings fade from the public's consciousness, the battle against guns wages forth on all cylinders. But while guns have always been a part of the American landscape, it's the criminal element that has absolutely no respect for innocent life that is a relatively recent phenomenon.
After the Amish school slayings in Lancaster, Pa., numerous posters to Internet forums recalled their childhood days in rural parts of the country when they would go hunting before school and leave their rifles in the principal's office for the day. It wasn't long ago that there were no school shootings. I once wrote a column defending the NRA, noting that the 1963 film "Flipper" had a scene showing the young star reaching for his rifle that was hung on the wall in his living room as he went to investigate strange noises. I don't recall any outcry over what was then a natural American response to danger.There were quite a few times when my friends and I would head out to the desert on dirt bikes for some target shooting. Each of us would have at least two long guns, and those that had them would bring along hand guns. We never had the urge to rob anyone, no one ever got shot by "accident". Firearms were a part of growing up. This was not all that long ago.
Like many native New Yorkers, I have an aversion to lethal weapons. At one time, I too wondered why there wasn't some kind of national gun control law in place. Living in a dangerous neighborhood where criminals plied their trade using handmade zip guns was largely responsible for this paranoia. The Second Amendment somehow was not applicable to my life in New York City. Getting guns out of the hands of criminals seemed the logical thing, and anyone who could not recognize this need must be an extremist, I thought.
That perspective changed once I moved to Miami, where my husband grew up. I learned that guns seemed to prevent more crimes, because law-abiding citizens could protect their homes, property, and lives from the criminal element. My mother-in-law bought her shotgun at Kmart. She and her family lived near the Everglades, where snakes and alligators are unfriendly neighbors. My uncle-in-law owned a gas station in a rough neighborhood, and had been beaten severely by robbers. He started carrying a .45 wherever he went, and was never beaten or robbed again.
Ya know, you got me to thinking, and hell, you're right. Sort of like those big ass gas tanks the SUV's have. No law abiding citizen should need more than 10 gallons of gasoline at a time, so what's up with those 25 gallon behemoths? And please now, don't expect me to fall for the...more miles can be driven...nonsense. Stop being lazy and just fill the tank every 9 gallons or so, and we'd save hundreds of lives a year when fires erupt from those high-capacity tanks exploding after an accident.Some folks might see sarcasm in his answer to that "reasonable" question. Others see it as it is intended, a tongue in cheek attempt to point out just how idiotic the issue of magazine capacity really is.
And why stop there? If the aircraft that flew into the World Trade Center had 1/10 of the fuel onboard there'd have been far less damage, so let's extend that hi-cap ban to airplanes as well. Since when did we NEED to fly nonstop from NY to LA? Layovers along the way would stimulate the economy, as well as allowing the occupants to get out for some fresh air and stretch for a time. Think of the HEALTHCARE costs we'd be saving if people weren't being turned to suet from all of that sitting.
Why GALLONS of milk...?
LONG BEACH - Several suspects including at least three men who savagely beat three young women in a horrific hate crime attack Halloween night remained at large Friday.I'll leave the gruesome details of the attack for you to read at your own discretion. The injuries these women suffered will give you an idea of the violence they encountered:
The three victims - two of whom are 19 and the third 21 - agreed to sit down with a Press-Telegram reporter and discuss the painful attack in the hope that someone who knows the culprits will turn them in to police.
The young women asked to be identified by only their first names of Laura, Michelle and Lauren because they and their families fear for their safety. The assault, they said, was so savage they thank God they are alive.
Lauren suffered 12 fractures in her face, including four to her eye socket, three to her nose and three to her cheek.Michelle...
Doctors don't yet know if she will regain all of her eyesight. Until the swelling goes down, they won't know if she'll require surgery to repair the many broken bones.
Her face, like Lauren's and Laura's, is bruised and swollen. The lining that surrounds her lungs is also bruised.And Laura...
She, like Lauren, suffered a concussion as well as multiple contusions. The lumps and marks on the back of her head and her back show where she was stomped, kicked and punched as she lay on the ground.What saved these girls? One good Samaritan who came upon the scene and took action. He was unarmed, and was very lucky that the pack of animals did not turn on him. But he saw the need, and did what was necessary with what he had on hand.
In all, the attack lasted about 10 minutes, and it ended only when a Good Samaritan driving by the melee stopped and physically blocked the battered girls bodies while yanking the assailants off the victims.Violence can come upon you at any time, at any place. In California the legislature has decided that you do not have the right to adequately protect yourself while out in public, you are supposed to rely upon the police.
She was trying to call 911 on her cell phone when the taunts began, but kept getting busy signals. She tried three times to call, she said, but never got through to an operator.And later..
At one point, when they got her cell phone away from her, Lauren said she knelt down to try and retrieve the phone.How about the folks in the neighborhood who witnessed the attack?
"Once I knelt down, there was too much of a force on top of me to get back up,"
She said she called 911, along with several of her neighbors, and screamed frantically for help as a dispatcher tried to calm her down.The people in the neighborhood were too scared to help, the police were nowhere to be seen. The only thing that saved these young ladies lives was the courageous act of a good Samaritan. Unarmed, he was successful at breaking up the pack because he was very large. What chance would an unarmed woman have had?
Marjory Fagan stood motionless, slowed her breathing, stared ahead intently and then moved her index finger almost imperceptibly. Bang! Wincing slightly from the .22-caliber rifle’s recoil and piercing boom, she steadied herself, leveled the rifle and pulled the trigger again.Okay, so the author of the article has never fired an actual firearm, and adds a bit of drama about the recoil and piercing boom. We will let that slide as she does a pretty good job of portraying this program in the remainder of her article.
For Fagan, who is in her 60s, carries a designer handbag and lives on Manhattan’s fashionable Upper West Side, spending a Saturday at the shooting range was something different. The free women’s instructional clinic she was attending at the West Side Rifle Range offered women, many of whom had never handled a gun before, an opportunity to learn how to shoot.Free range time, in NYC, that is too cool. This course normally costs $50.00 at this range.
Across the country, more women are taking up hunting and target shooting thanks to the National Rifle Association’s Women on Target program, which offers instructional clinics on firearms, shooting and hunting. According to the 2004 National Sporting Goods Association survey, 4.3 million women in the United States participate in target shooting and 2 million in hunting. The NRA sees the Women on Target program as a way to add to those numbers.This is how we help to ensure our RKBA. Introducing folks to firearms in a safe and comfortable manner. Teaching them firearm safety, and watching the smiles on their faces as they put holes in the center of a paper target.
The NRA started the program to meet a demand, said John Robbins, an NRA spokesman. “Women wanted a women-friendly environment and shooting instruction,” Robbins said. “Women found it nice to find other women who were interested in shooting.”
According to Robbins, 500 women attended clinics in 2000, the program’s first year, and in 2005, the number climbed to 5,600. Over all, about 23,000 women have participated in the program.
At a Manhattan gun range recently, Margit Sawdey carefully examined her target so she could improve her aim on each round of practice with her .22-caliber rifle.The final sentence is the kicker:
“I wouldn't have come here if it weren't for the women's shooting sports league,” said Sawdey, 50, a public health administrator who started shooting with the league about two and a half years ago.
“I was looking for a hobby, and flower arranging didn’t work,” she said over popping gunfire.
Heath hopes that Women on Target offers a positive view of firearms. “It’s a very fun, therapeutic, safe, rewarding sport,” she said. “I always try to get that across to women.”Read the entire article here.
POWELL (WATE) -- A Knox County commissioner did not let a gunman rob his business. Instead he pulled out his own gun.Another goblin makes a bad decision. I really do not understand what makes a person decide that they can just take from someone else. I have been down on my luck, life has gone sideways on me a time or two, but I have never even thought about robbing someone or trying my hand at burglary. This may be why I can not empathise with the goblin in cases like this, I see things from the view of this county commissioner.
Kane Stackhouse walked into Lambert's office saying he was interested in buying a car and had been saving for one for months.The Albany Times Union reports that the goblins firearm was a .25 caliber handgun. Commissioner Lambert carried a .380.
Lambert showed Stackhouse around, even let him test drive one.
When the two got back into the office, Lambert says Stackhouse started to get nervous. Lambert says Stackhouse did not seem like the type who could afford an expensive car, and he seemed fidgety.
Lambert printed out a "bill of sale" while Stackhouse went outside to smoke a cigarette.
When he came back inside, things got ugly. That's when, Lambert says, Stackhouse pulled out his gun and started waving it around.
Lambert, who is a strong gun rights activist and member of the National Rifle Association, reached into his pocket and pulled out his gun.I read somewhere today (sorry, I do not remember where) that Lambert shoots IDPA, and does very well.
"I did a more proper draw out and up, and of course at that point I said, 'Drop it,' Lambert said. "He said he didn't want any trouble. He just wanted to leave. I said, 'You're not leaving with that gun.' Of course, I was using some profanities. I have to confess in a tense situation I can have a potty mouth."Often times the anti gunners will portray those of us who choose to accept the responsibility of defending ourselves as trigger happy gunslingers. Facts and statistics prove them wrong. Commissioner Lambert's attitude about the goblin is a good example of how the vast majority of folks who carry a firearm feel:
Lambert says Stackhouse dropped his gun on the floor and fled. He left his driver's licence at the business.
Knox County authorities arrested him several hours later.
According to Stackhouse's license, he is 19-years-old. Lambert says he wants to know what events took place in Stackhouse's life to lead him to a life of crime at such a young age.The goblin has been given a second chance at life, it is up to him what he does with it.
"He's a young man, only 19-years-old," Lambert said. "He has a full life ahead of him. He can recover from this and go on to become a productive citizen."
Lambert says he's forgiven the man, but wants him to seek help. "I also want to thank him. I want to thank him for putting down that gun and not forcing me take action."
A 22-year-old Fort Worth man died early Saturday in Tyler after he kicked in a door and was shot multiple times by the homeowner, police said.Another home invasion stopped by the judicious, legal use of deadly force. Another homeowner that would have been robbed, harmed, raped or killed by a violent criminal if it not were for the fact that the homeowner was armed. As it turns out, the homeowner was very well armed:
The homeowner was 63, the goblin 22. What do you think the end result of the confrontation would have been had Mr. Delk not been armed?Robert Delk, 63, told police that he and his wife were awakened about 4:30 a.m. by banging on their door, said Don Martin, a Tyler police spokesman. As a precaution, Delk grabbed his .44-caliber Magnum, and as Delk approached the door, Herrera kicked it in.
"We don't know if he was mistaken about whose house he was at or what," Martin said. "The circumstances are still unclear."Yes officer Martin, the goblin was mistaken about whose house he was at. He thought he was kicking in the door of a defenseless elderly couple that owned a business and may have some money on hand. Definitely mistaken about the "defenseless" part.
According to public records, Herrera has been involved in criminal activity before and has served time in prison. His most recent sentence was three months on a criminal mischief charge. He had also been in prison for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary of a vehicle and two misdemeanor charges of driving while intoxicated.Here we have a young career predator in training, stopped in his tracks by a citizen who believed in and used his Second Amendment rights to preserve his freedom and liberty. Good job Mr. Delk. You did what was necessary to protect yourself, you wife and your home.
"I am proud of my place among you, you men and women who simply did their duty. Who didn't run. Who came when asked. I am among giants. But my thoughts will be with the newest wave of veterans."This "newest wave of veterans" is awesome, and I am proud to share the title "veteran" with them. My war was different, it was a "cold war". And my duty was different, I was on submarines playing tag with the Russians below the oceans surface. But our goals and objectives are the same, to stand at the front lines, defending liberty and protecting these United States.
This is an important development in the renewed wars on guns and on We the People by our government. As such, every gun rights activist should be informed as to the particulars of the case, and, importantly, to its history.Go visit The War on Guns and read David's article. The go to the blog United States vs. Fincher for updates this important case.
I was not born in this country. My mother tongue was Nazi. Yet I am, body and soul, American and if there were more parts to me, these would be American too. But for you to understand what it means to me to be American and how the Second Amendment has governed my life, I need to visit with you some of the more poignant moments of America’s history.This is an essay on what it is to be American, and on dangers to the American ideal.
Why, then, is ownership by governmental permission so horrid? To understand the full impact of this terror, look, for example, at your favorite single action frontier colt and realize that it is yours not by a decision you have made, but by permission of your government and that only until it decides that you should not be allowed to keep it any longer. Ownership by permission rather than personal volition is the most horrifying, the most debilitating, the most demeaning form of ownership. Realize this also that the most precious property you can own is not life, is not freedom, it is arms when derived from the unalienable right to keep and bear them. In proscribing arms, the most, government can proscribe the least. Your toilet paper, your forks and knives, your candlesticks, and your matchbooks. All these are now subject to censure.And on the decay of government, and our means to prevent that decay:
Government may never intrude this deeply into your privacy. No National Socialist ever saw the need for such intrusion. But not because of benevolence, no, only because it is too costly and too cumbersome. Government, when unconstrained will, in time, naturally gravitate to total brutality and unmitigated tyranny. The combination of power lust and crusader lust leaves it no other choice. For no politician, including Stalin and Hitler of the past, thinks of himself as evil. In a bizarre, twisted sort of way he sees himself as a savior, providing and procuring goodness for those he defines to be unable to fend for themselves. The founders of this nation knew this. That is why they encoded the Second Amendment into our Bill of Rights. For they knew that the RIGHT alone, provided it would remain revered, would always be enough to prevent conflict with a predacious and disobedient government by expunging, long before it would ever begin, any compulsion to dominate.Go read this essay that is posted on the "Armed Females of America" website.
Back in full force, you regulars! Neither snow, cold, disappointing elections, nor crappy internet connections will prevent me from delivering to you:
Candidates supporting a common sense approach to gun violence prevention did very well. In races where the Brady Campaign endorsed candidates went head-to-head with competing candidates endorsed by the NRA, Brady won 5 of 5 Governorships (Patrick in MA, O’Malley in MD, Rendell in PA, Doyle in WI, and Blagojevich in IL) and 4 of 4 U.S. Senate seats (Cardin in MD, Cantwell in WA, Stabenow in MI, and Nelson in FL). Candidates endorsed by the Brady Campaign won over 95% of their races.4. If an Assault Weapons Ban slides through easily, and they close the “gun show” loophole, expect the idea of taxing ammunition out of existence to re-emerge. I really doubt that this will happen while Bush is President, but it will be on the back burner waiting for an opportune moment to raise its ugly head once again.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A 54-year-old Orange Park man credits two small Bibles in his shirt pocket for saving his life when they stopped a bullet.Who needs Dragon Skin when you are protected by the Word of God?
The man, whose name was withheld because his attackers are still at large, told police that two men who he didn't recognize ambushed him with a rifle as he carried bags of garbage to a trash bin. The two men fled in opposite directions and have not been arrested.
Other than a red mark and a pain in his chest, he was not injured, The Florida Times-Union reported Tuesday.
The man said he was carrying two New Testament Bibles in his shirt pocket to give to friends. Police took the Bibles as evidence.
First, let's take the word "accidentally" out of this article. This was not an accident, this was negligence. This officer negligently shot himself while driving and fooling around with his firearm at the same time. What the heck was he doing? Practicing one handed reloading drills in the car?LAFAYETTE, Ind.- A Kentucky police officer trying to unload his gun accidentally shot himself while driving on an Indiana highway, police said.
Sullivan McCurdy, 41, an officer with the Radcliff Police Department, was driving south on Interstate 65 near Lafayette Sunday when the weapon discharged, Indiana State Police said. A bullet struck the 10-year police veteran in the right leg, police said.
McCurdy was listed Monday in satisfactory condition at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Lafayette, said hospital spokesman Matthew Oates.
Welcome to The Gun Blogs. This site is intended to be open to all and welcomes posting by all. If you've ever thought about starting your own gun blog but didn't want the trouble of setting up your own site or didn't think you'd stick with it, now is your chance to try it out. And it's free.There are some simple rules, not the least of which is that all content is gun related. There is always something new to read.
In my experience there are three basic types of 'antis' (anti-gun people).Steve continues with ideas on interacting with each of the types of "Anti's" he identified.
Type 1 Antis are the most common. Their dislike of guns is based primarily on ignorance. Most of their information on guns has come to them from movies and television. They're reflexively anti-gun, having never given the matter much thought.
Type 2 Antis are driven by emotion. Many of them have deep personal reasons for their stance, often involving the loss of a loved one.
Type 3 Antis are driven by ideology. This is a subtle difference from the Type 2's but a crucial one. Type 3's know what the Second Amendment says, and what it means and that's why they hate it. They want to be the privileged elite it guards against.
So, how should you deal with these three types?
Let us start with the law. The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits the sale of a shotgun or rifle by a Federal Firearm License holder to a person under the age of 18. This law also prohibits that license holder from selling a handgun to a person under the age of 21.
b) It shall be unlawful for any licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, licensed dealer, or licensed collector to sell or deliver --
(1) any firearm or ammunition to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than eighteen years of age, and, if the firearm, or ammunition is other than a shotgun or rifle, or ammunition for a shotgun or rifle, to any individual who the licensee knows or has reasonable cause to believe is less than twenty-one years of age;
The Texas Penal Code makes it an offense for anyone to sell a firearm to a person that is less than 18 years old:
§ 46.06. UNLAWFUL TRANSFER OF CERTAIN WEAPONS.
(a) A person commits an offense if the person:...
2) intentionally or knowingly sells, rents, leases, or gives or offers to sell, rent, lease, or give to any child younger than 18 years any firearm, club, or illegal knife;
Texas also has restrictions on giving a minor, 17 years old or younger, unsupervised access to a firearm.
As you can see, teens are already very well regulated when it comes to firearms. There are laws, and more laws concerning children and firearms. Each state has enacted it's own laws, most are more restrictive than the federal.
That was the law, now for the personal views. Do I think there should be gun regulations for teens?
I believe that the State has the right to regulate the sale of firearms to individuals prior to their reaching the age of majority. Note that I said "sale" of firearms. The use of firearms by teens or children should be regulated by their parents. Parents have the responsibility to raise their children, they have the obligation to instruct and teach their children many of life's lessons, including the safe handling of firearms. The parents know their children the best, and they know when their children are ready to accept different responsibilities. There are folks who will not like that answer. This is the age of relieving parents of their responsibilities towards their children, about making excuses for poor behavior and bad choices. But that is a topic for another day.
MudKitty, I hope that answered your question about my thoughts about firearm regulations for teens. I believe you live in California, if you would like I can point you to the California regulations concerning youth and firearms.
If you have received the NRA/ILA candidate recommendations, you may notice some differences between them and GOA. A case in point is Ron Paul of Texas. Dr. Paul is rated A+ by GOA for his active support of the Second Amendment while the NRA rates him a B. The NRA basis it's B rating on the fact that Dr. Paul voted against the bill to exempt gun manufacturers from lawsuits. Dr. Paul had doubts about the constitutionality of such a bill. As for Ron Paul's opponent? The NRA rates him an A, above Ron Paul, while GOA rates him a resounding D. The NRA's A rating is due to Shane Sklar being a sportsman and support of current anti gun laws. GOA basis the D rating on Shane Sklar's history and his support of current anti gun laws.A+ Pro-Gun Leader: introduces pro-gun legislation.
A & A- Pro-Gun Voter: philosophically sound.
B & B- Pro-Gun Compromiser: generally leans our way.
C & C- Leans Our Way: occasionally.
D & D- Leans Anti-Gun: usually against us.
F Anti-Gun Voter: a philosophically committed anti-gunner.
F- Anti-Gun Leader: outspoken anti-gun advocate who carries anti-gun legislation.
NR Not rated: refused to answer his or her questionnaire; no track record.
Candidates were warned in writing that failure to answer survey questions would be treated as anti-gun.
What if, on just one day of the year, every gun owner in the United States went out and bought a hundred rounds of ammunition?
Given that there are as many as seventy-five million gun owners in the United States, the net result would be that 7.5 billion rounds of ammunition would go into public circulation, in one day.
Now not every gun owner is going to do this. Heck, of the 75 million gun owners, only about 6% (4 million-odd) belong to a Second Amendment-supporting organization like Gun Owners of America, the Second Amendment Sisters, RKBA, and of course the NRA. Not everyone is going to get the word, either, especially as you will hear not a peep about this in the established gun media, let alone in the so-called “mainstream” media.
But what if just 15% of all gun owners bought themselves a hundred rounds of ammo on the same day? That would be over a billion rounds of ammunition going into circulation—and that’s what I’m aiming for.
Heck, gun owners have to buy ammo all the time—we’re just asking that they all buy it on the same day.
Most importantly, however, is what a billion rounds of ammo does for gun ownership in the United States: It sends a message to the local and international gun-grabbers that gun owners have considerable muscle.
If the country is awash in ammunition, it makes the prospect of punitive sales taxes a moot issue—no point in hoping that people will run out of ammunition when everyone has a huge supply of it.
So I’m making a personal appeal to all gun owners and Second Amendment supporters in the United States:
Please buy 100 rounds of your favorite ammunition on week of November 11-19, 2006.
