No Joy

Instead of spending today at gun school, I got to spend it at work.

Just to make it even more delightful, I don't even get overtime. And the class fee isn't refundable and can't be applied to another class.

Yippy-skippy.

If I try real hard, I can almost imagine I would have been miserable spending hours on an outdoor range at fifteen degrees and windy.

Almost.

Because It Worked SO WELL The First Time

NOT.

Nobody should be surprised that Eric "I Hate Guns And Pardon Terrorists" Holder wants a new, non-expiring "assault weapons" ban.

Never mind the original one accomplished absolutely nothing.

Oh wait, this is supposed to reduce crime in Mexico?

Because the automatic weapons, grenades, and other military ordnance used by drug gangs couldn't possibly be obtained any other way than at American gun stores and gun shows. Never mind they already are rigorously restricted or outright illegal in this country. Millionaire drug cartels would never be able to supply themselves any other way.

And just ignore the penetration these gangs have into the Mexican government and military.

An interesting wrinkle is apparent dissent in the Democratic ranks. Nancy Pelosi claims Holder never talked to her about reinstating an "assault weapons" ban, says enforcing current law is sufficient, and the DOJ has declined comment.

Definitely time to keep paying attention.

ETA: John Lott has an op-ed up on Fox that says it all: "If Holder thinks that it is so easy to control drug gangs’ access to guns, one way to show it is by proving that he can stop drug gangs’ access to drugs."

Seattle Gun Rights Examiner

Dave Workman, the new Seattle Gun Rights Examiner, is an author and senior editor of Gun Week. He's also communications director for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, an award-winning outdoor writer, and a former member of the NRA Board of Directors.

Welcome to the blogroll, Dave.

Told You They Were Yaks

Yucky, muddy yaks.

Judge's winter coat is actually almost white when if it's clean.

Farrah's too much of a lady to wallow in slop.

No, the Prince Valiant-look manes are not intentional. I let everything grow out over the winter and then fake-pull their manes to jumper length and bang their tails when the weather warms up.

Milton the EvilPony™ wanted to help.

It's supposed to rain today, followed by up to four or five inches of snow, followed by another warmup some time next week. Not seeing an end to Swamp Season any time soon.

Oh yeah. And I have a close-quarters gunfighting class this weekend. On an outdoor range.

"Democratic Socialism"

Too bad we have to go to the Canada Free Press for an open-eyed look at the current mess in this country.

Some salient points:

According to the IRS, as of the 2006 federal tax reports, 97.01% of all federal taxes collected are paid by the top 50% of income earners in the nation. The bottom 50% of income earners pay only 2.99% of the federal tax haul, most paying nothing at all or getting “tax refunds” for taxes they never paid to begin with.

Until 2006, the majority of voters were taxpayers. As of 2006, and for the foreseeable future, the majority of voters are thieves in search of access to other people’s money and property. That is what decided the 2006 and 2008 elections and what will keep leftist progressives in national power for the next generation or two.

46% of Americans voted against the new “progressive” rush into unbridled secular socialism in the 2008 election. Had Republicans not governed like Democrats since 2004, and had they put forth a serious presidential candidate in 2008, this number would have been much larger.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi immediately rewrote House debate rules that had provided proper legislative checks and balances for more than a hundred years. The first piece of House legislation passed without a single Republican vote, opposed by even a dozen moderate Democrats.

They will pursue and pass some version of gun control, which will only take weapons out of the hands of honest citizens, who are only a threat to those who threaten them.

". . . who are only a threat to those who threaten them." Think about that one, real good.

Continuing:

If you remove all of the voting blocs that are attempting to vote themselves gifts from the public trough, Democrats couldn’t garner more than 20% public support in any national election today. But add all of those groups together and offer to buy their loyalty with the property of others and you have yourself a political juggernaut that will win political power for the next generation or two.

Read the whole thing.

Live To Tell

I watched a CBS 48 Hours Mystery program last night called "Live To Tell." It's a new series they have about people who survive terrible experiences. The episode I saw was called "River's Edge." It told of a teenage couple's abduction at gunpoint and what happened after.

As I watched the program, I felt more and more disgusted and angry.

At least one of the victims was 18 years old. The age of majority in Pennsylvania. Old enough to get married and old enough to vote. Old enough to enlist in the military and receive training with weapons. Old enough under Pennsylvania law to possess a defensive firearm.

But not old enough under Pennsylvania law to obtain a permit to carry.

Too bad there's no age limit on violent crime.

And what did we do after this terrible ordeal? Ooh, we held a "Take Back The Night" rally where we lit candles and sang songs and talked about rape.

Well, that was real useful.

If you check out Take Back The Night's website, they say they want to "shatter the silence" about rape. I guarantee my .45 would shatter the silence real good, and repeatedly, if anyone was stupid enough to try to rape me again.

Last time I looked, violent criminals aren't too impressed by songs and candles. "Stop or I'll sing Kumbaya." Yeah, that'll have them quaking in their boots.

Don't get me wrong. Danielle Keener and Dan Zapp showed great courage in surviving a terrible experience against all odds. But it was all so unnecessary. That awful crime never had to happen. The most effective response to "Get in the f-ing truck" isn't "Please don't hurt me." It's BANGBANG, BANG.

I agree that rape survivors hiding their history solves nothing. I'll be more than happy to stand up and tell about mine. But the audience better be ready to hear the whole thing. Yes, I was raped, but now I'm not a soft target any more. You try to rape me and I will shoot you to the ground.

Now that has deterrent value.

The Objectively Reasonable Standard

LawOfficer.com is a website with a lot of excellent information. An article entitled "Understanding the Objectively Reasonable Standard - Self Defense" describes an incident where an emotionally disturbed woman was fatally shot by a police officer. She ran at him with a large knife in close quarters. The author says the following about self defense:

Then there is the well-settled issue of self defense . Every person has an absolute right to self-defense. In the case at hand, the two police officers had not surrendered their individual right to self defense as a consequence of their professional occupation. The rules of self defense are clear:

1. One need not be harmed before acting.
2. One need not calculate and prioritize a hierarchy of alternatives.
3. One need not determine the underlying intent, apparent motivation or potential impairment of the attacker.
4. And if you are a law enforcement officer engaged in legitimate police activities, you need not retreat from your duty or endure unreasonable risks to your safety.

Sounds absolutely reasonable, doesn't it? Dare we hope the same standards will be applied to us if we have to use deadly force to defend our lives?

Why Obama Wants To Take Over The Census

Makes perfect sense to this Chicago native. Click to enlarge.

Thanks to Kevin Baker at Smallest Minority.

Dude, Where's My Blog??

Blogger nearly gave me heart failure today. No posts appeared on my main page at all.

Seems like the setting for the number of posts to show somehow spontaneously set itself to zero.

I know I always say if computers and networks didn't screw up I'd be out of a job, but dayum.

So Close

And yet so far.

In the two most recent top dog shows, a Scottish Deerhound has won the Hound Group . . . but alas, not Best in Show.

At the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship, Ray and Jana Brinlee's and Steve & Eileen Biles's CH Jaraluv Ouija took Group I. Gayle Bontecou's CH Gayleward's Tiger Woods got it done at Westminster.

CH Jaraluv Ouija
CH Jaraluv Michael - CH Jaraluv Keep The Faith

CH Gayleward's Tiger Woods
CH Chartwell Silver Run Vale Vu SC - CH Gayleward's Sullivan

Most folks have never heard of the Scottish Deerhound. Ranked 131st out of 156 in registrations in 2008, very few are born every year. Breeders tend to be very particular about who can have one of their precious puppies or adults.

I fell in love with the breed as a child, seeing them in the International Kennel Club of Chicago's benched show at the old McCormick Place. As an adult, I first started seriously looking for a Deerhound of my own in 1978, but it was twenty-five years before I finally had the pleasure of sharing my life with a member of the breed Sir Walter Scott called "the most perfect creature of heaven."

Ian Viktor Of Gladstone
CH Lyonhil Viktor - Dierscot Kilmore Kite

ETA -- Ian's sire was from Lyonhil, the oldest Scottish Deerhound kennel currently in operation in America. Kate Lyons has been well-respected in the breed for over fifty years. And if I'm not mistaken, a Lyonhil was the first American-bred BIS winning Deerhound.

One Year

One year ago today I started this blog. And what a year it's been.

In trying to figure out a name for it, I chose "Hecate's Crossroad." In my Craft, I am consecrated to Hecate, the Goddess of the Crossroads, of the Three Paths, because at every crossroad in life you have only three choices. Going back the way you came is not an option.

My first real post was a tribute to Gable Godiva, a wonderful and infuriating Greyhound who was gone far too soon. Other companions have left me this year, some about whom I'm not yet ready to speak. There is no life without death, there is no love without loss.

In this one short year, I have seen endings and beginnings, positives and negatives, made progress and felt like I was trying to go up a down escalator. This blog has been a great way to blow off steam, express incredible frustration, and share a little joy now and then.

Thanks for reading.

When Seconds Count II

The police being even ONE MINUTE away can be too long.

Courtesy of a comment by W. Richards on Wasted Electrons, we have a timeline for the Lane Bryant massacre on February 2, 2008. From the Southtown Star article:

"Feb. 10 - Police reveal a Tinley Park police officer came within seconds of catching the shooter. The officer was stopped in the parking lot of an adjacent Super Target, about 200 yards from the Lane Bryant store when five women were killed and a sixth was left for dead, authorities say. Unaware of the nearby carnage, he was dispatched to Lane Bryant about one minute after store manager Rhoda McFarland dialed 911, sparking the killing spree. He arrived at the store within a minute of being dispatched, but the gunman was gone."

Pay attention, nanny-staters, gun-haters, and all other idiots who feel that citizens should not be able to defend themselves with firearms. Police were on site in ONE MINUTE, but the carnage was already over and the criminal was already long gone.

Oh yeah, and a year later police still don't know who the murderer is, no arrest has been made, and a violent criminal who killed five unarmed women in cold blood in order to steal $200 is still running around loose.

Better hope he's not hanging out in your neighborhood.

Valentine's Day Reminder

With due credit to Gunblast.com, may I remind you that what women really like on Valentine's Day is shiny things that come in small boxes.

Like these.


Of course, these days diamonds may be cheaper, but nothing says "I love you" like a few boxes of premium defensive ammo.

Hint, hint.

Public Records

In Nebraska, the list of carry permit holders is only available to law enforcement when needed for an investigation. Not all states see it that way.

In Tennessee, a local newspaper in Memphis put up a searchable database of all the permit holders in the state. Squeaky Wheel sets them straight on why doing that was a BAD IDEA.

My rapist was also never arrested or charged. Years later, I found out he did his own daughter as well. Only 6% of rapists will ever spend a day in jail. There is legislation pending in Tennessee right now to close the permit records, but you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.

To add insult to injury, they put the permit holder database up on the same page as the sex offender database.

WE ARE NOT CRIMINALS. If you want to tell the Memphis Commercial Appeal what you think of their stupidity and arrogance, you can do it here.

ETA -- Xspectre8 wrote another outstanding letter to the editor of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

The Tell-Tale . . . Hands?

While scrubbing gun-cleaning schmutz off my hands, I noticed something. A person who knew what to look for could tell I shoot just by examining them.

There's a trigger callus on the medial side of my right index finger. A hammer-bite scar from my Hi-Powers in the web of my right thumb. And calluses on the palm of my right hand and the heel of my left from the aggressive G10 grips on my 1911's.

Weird.

P.S. -- Eventually a hammer-bite scar doesn't even hurt any more when it gets bit again, but I do advise wiping blood off a blued gun promptly, lest it damage the finish. And when I hear the guys complain about grips or checkering hurting their poor wittle hands, well, they're obviously not shooting enough.

The Second Amendment Doesn't Apply To The STATES??

So says the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT??

Reason and Say Uncle have more.

You Bet Your Life?

"My neighbors will hear or see something and call for help."

"I don't have anything worth stealing anyway."

"I'm not a cute young teenager any more, so nobody would want to rape me."

"I don't drive a fancy car, so nobody would want to carjack me."

"I live in a safe area, so nothing bad will happen to me."

These are all real statements I've heard recently from women who don't want to take any responsibility for their personal safety.

Maybe that's an unfair assumption. Maybe they're genuinely afraid of self defense and its tools. But how can self defense be any scarier than the alternative?

Our overlords police and elected officials tell us we shouldn't defend ourselves. We should let them take care of everything.

What they don't tell us is that they wrote the rules so they have no obligation to protect us from violence. And even if somebody does call for help, odds are it won't arrive in time to prevent anything.

Isn't that what we really want? To prevent a violent crime from being committed against us? I know I'd rather avoid becoming a victim/ crime statistic. If I can do that while conforming to the ADEE (Avoid, Disengage, Evade, Escape) model, so much the better. But if avoidance and evasion fail, I will transition into ACDC: Avoid, Close, Destroy, Cover.

Avoid the initial attack.
Close the distance.
Destroy the assailant's willingness to fight.
Cover the downed criminal, Cover any injuries, move to Cover if possible.

And the most effective method I have to destroy a violent criminal's willingness to fight is my gun. In an estimated 76% of defensive gun uses (some estimates go as high as 98%), no shot is ever even fired. The mere presence of the gun held by a determined defender is enough to stop the crime.

I tried it their way. When I lived in Chicago, I relied on other people to believe me/protect me/defend me. I ended up raped. I now know better than to bet my life that somebody, anybody else will save me from violence.

Sure wish I hadn't had to learn it the hard way.

Guns aren't for everyone. Not getting a gun is a perfectly valid choice in life. But what bothers me is the prevalence of denial that Bad Things Happen In The World. They do. Just watch the news.

They happen when the neighbors aren't there to hear or see, or when they are and choose to do nothing.

They happen regardless of how much the criminal can get for your stolen property.

They happen to people of all ages and appearances.

They happen no matter what kind of car you drive.

And they happen no matter where you live.

I fervently hope no more Bad Things happen to me. I've had my fill already, thank you very much. But if I'm unlucky enough to face violence again, I'll be ready.

No more betting my life on others for me.

I Feel Your Pain

From Massad Ayoob's blog on the Backwoods Home website, writing about participating in an IDPA match:

Me: "Damn, Jon, I dismounted that truck like a sixty-year-old man!"
Jon: "Uh, Mas, you are a, uh, you know –"
Me: "Oh, yeah…right…"

I won't be sixty for a while yet, and I firmly believe you're only as old as you think you are. I don't buy society's expectation at all that you automatically and inevitably turn into a pile of caca at a certain age.

But there are times I wish I'd thought about the arthritic consequences down the road before doing things like exercising racehorses when I was young and stupid.

Ten THOUSAND??

This humble little blog scored its ten thousandth hit today.

And in the finest international tradition of the Internet, it was a visitor from Russia running Safari on a Macintosh.

I know for a lot of bloggers, ten thousand hits is nothing. That's what they pull in a week, or even a day. But I find it humbling that anyone at all would find something worth reading in a blog I started just for the opportunity to vent.

So I just want to say thanks to everyone out there who stops by to see what's going on at Hecate's Crossroad.

Minneapolis Gun Rights Examiner

John Pierce is a life-long gun rights advocate, an NRA certified instructor and co-founder of the nationwide gun rights group OpenCarry.org. John has an MBA from George Mason University and is a first-year law student at Hamline University.

Welcome to the blogroll, John.

Denver Gun Rights Examiner

It's getting hard to keep up with all the new ones. But that's a good thing.

Dan Bidstrup's Denver roots go back two generations. He has enjoyed target shooting for decades. He carries a gun along with a pen and pocketknife because it’s another tool he might need.

Welcome to the blogroll, Dan.

TWO New Gun Rights Examiners

From Washington D.C. we have Mike Stollenwerk, who retired from the U.S. Army after over twenty years of service to attend law school at Georgetown University. Mike lives in Virginia, works at a small law firm in Washington, D.C., and manages OpenCarry.org with John Pierce. Mike@OpenCarry.org

From Milwaukee, we have Candace Dainty. Candace is a mother of five, the Wisconsin State Coordinator for Second Amendment Sisters and concerned about the state of her state's attitude on Second Amendent Rights. Contact: cedainty@yahoo.com

Welcome to the blogroll, Candace and Mike.

Remind Me Again Why I Have Dogs

This morning I scrubbed out and filled the dogs' four-gallon stainless steel water bucket like I always do and was carrying it over to the bucket holder when . . .

BOOM!

The house shakes, the earth moves. Okay, they must be blasting at the limestone quarry down the road, although they don't usually do it this early in the morning.

And Harriet, the dumbest dog I've ever had in my entire life, freaks out, blasts right through the dog gate, and runs headlong into me spilling four gallons of water on the rug.

Harriet (L) and Lizzie (R)

Insert naughty words here.

At least it was clean water. The rug has seen worse, believe me.

Hmmm, about three cop cars just went screaming down the highway. Maybe it wasn't blasting at the quarry after all . . .