Saturday, July 2, 2011
5-year-old Shoots 4-year-old
If the kid's uncle is telling the truth, the gun was found outside the home. But, it doesn't matter one way or the other. These incidents are so rare the pro-gun crowd says we should stop worrying about them and above all we should stop blaming them.[Prince George’s County police spokesman Cpl. Mike] Rodriguez did not identify either boy, and he said it is unlikely detectives would seek charges against the shooter. He did say, however, that detectives were trying to determine how the child got the gun, and that the gun owner — or those who should have been supervising the boy — might face criminal charges.
But that's where we differ. I do blame them. I blame all who advocate and campaign and vote for lax gun laws and who oppose simple improvements in the gun control system that would have an immediate beneficial effect on the gun violence.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Indiana 6-year-old Dead
You see how it works in gun friendly places like Indiana, they need to determine IF any laws were broken. They're going to interview the 11-year-old brother, and sort-of as an afterthought, try to determine where the parents were.
This is an example of the criminal negligence the gun-rights fanatics keep telling us is so rare that it's just a small price to pay for all the wonderful freedom we have. They mock us with expressions like "it's for the children."
The truth is the pro-gun folks are guilty of unconscionable selfishness. In order to not be inconvenienced themselves by gun control laws that would do some good, they insist that things like this are acceptable and that we're making a big deal out of statistically insignificant incidents.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Cop Acquitted of Murder But Fired for Misconduct
The only probelm is he'll now be an ex-cop who owns guns. It reminds me of the O.J. case, acquitted of murder but guilty in the civil court. This cop was acquitted of murder, but fired from the job anyway.An Everett police officer acquitted on a murder charge in the fatal shooting of a man in a car has been fired. A letter to Troy Meade from Police Chief Jim Scharf cites "unacceptable misconduct."
The Daily Herald says an internal investigation determined that Meade violated department policies when he fatally shot Niles Meservey on June 10, 2009.
Investigators determined that just 21 seconds elapsed from the time Meade alerted dispatchers that the situation was becoming risky to when he finished shooting. During more than half that time, Meade was shocking Meservey with a stun gun.
Meade testified that he fired because he was afraid of being run down.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Friday, July 1, 2011
About the Poplawski Death Sentence
I'll bet Poplawski's fellow gun enthusiasts approved too. For them it's of major importance to disavow any connection with these bad apples. A two-hour deliberation to commit state-sanctioned murder for revenge suits their purposes perfectly.
The truth is he's one of them, he's a product of their extremism which says a gun is the answer. And a frightening aspect of this sick situation is there are others just like him. They're reading the gun blogs right now, drinking in the lies and poison. They make it to the news too, usually not as dramatically as Poplawski, but they're there, day after day in every city. Just look.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
The WikiLeaks Dilemma
via Democratic Underground. I suppose all our pro-rights friends will be faced with a terrible dilemma. What do you think?
Delaware Lack of Wisdom
Will someone please explain to us how such a vote was possible? Who in their right mind would think possessing a gun while drunk or loaded on drugs is acceptable?Senate Bill 29, or more specifically Senate Substitute Bill 1 to Senate Bill 29, which would have made it illegal for individuals to possess loaded, un-stored and active firearms outside of their homes while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, was just defeated in the Senate by a vote of 10 to 7. It takes 11 votes to pass a bill in the Senate. You will notice that there are four missing Senators, because the Senate has 21 members, and only 17 of them did their jobs tonight. Who are the four who decided not to vote on this bill?
Please leave a comment.
Texas Wisdom
The Houston Chronicle reports on the high rate of compliance Texas has provided in keeping the FBI database up to date.
I think it's a great example of the kind of cooperation we need much more of. I loved the rationale about background checks. Background checks are NOT gun control.
Now, in all fairness to the other states, Texas could just have a higher proportion of mental cases among its population and therefore the numbers would have to be higher. I'm only joking.Two years after Texas passed a law to comply with a new federal mandate, the Lone Star State is among those leading the nation in the number of mental health reports submitted to an FBI database that clears individuals to buy firearms.
Texas' cooperation contrasts with 25 states and the District of Columbia that have filed fewer than 100 mental health records, according to FBI statistics obtained and released by Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Thirteen of those states have filed fewer than 10 reports and six states have not filed any reports, its data indicates.
"Texans understand that background checks are not gun control," said Mark Glaze, director of the organization that represents chief executives from more than 600 cities. "Background checks are a common sense, crime-fighting measure that keeps guns away from the most dangerous people in our society while doing nothing to stop the rest of us from exercising our rights."
During the eight-month period that ended April 30, Texas provided 68,769 mental health reports to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Washington state submitted the second-highest total number of reports during that same period, with 42,556.
With its 60,680 reports already in the FBI database, Texas had 129,449 total, ranking sixth behind Virginia, Washington, Michigan, New York and California.
I think it's a great example of the kind of cooperation we need much more of. I loved the rationale about background checks. Background checks are NOT gun control.
"Background checks are a common sense, crime-fighting measure that keeps guns away from the most dangerous people in our society while doing nothing to stop the rest of us from exercising our rights."What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Colorado Needs More Shooting Ranges
The Daily Camera reports on another example of what the poor gun owners have to suffer.
Or is this a biased and slanted article in favor of the gun owners, who often go plinking and shooting too close to houses?
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
It sounds to me like more than a nuisance. Is Colorado that gun-friendly that even the hikers and homeowners who are disturbed by this kind of thing only call it a nuisance?As predictable as rising creek waters and early summer mosquito bites, some of our mountain neighbors are already fed up with the whiz of bullets some of them hear near their homes in the foothills.
It can be unnerving. It can, at times, be unsafe. In 2008, U.S. Forest Service officials closed part of Lefthand Canyon after several agency employees experienced near misses from an ad hoc shooting range near a road. But two legitimate complaints from the marksmen arise: They aren`t breaking the law if they are shooting safely on National Forest Service land, and there isn`t a lot of support for managed shooting ranges where the crack of their guns would be a welcome sound, rather than a nuisance to homeowners and hikers.
Or is this a biased and slanted article in favor of the gun owners, who often go plinking and shooting too close to houses?
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Bat Chain Puller
A bat chain refers to the chain that hangs down from a signal post on a train line. The signal device that was pulled down was called a bat and different bats had different colours to signal the train driver as to the condition of the track ahead, or whether the train could proceed,etc.
The bat chain puller was the person who set the signals for the approaching train according to track status reports recieved by telegraph.
The song BCP probably metaphorically refers to the fact that this job is obsolete in the world of train spotters in this automated world.
Hmmm...
..I'll bet this guy could get a lot more NRA interest if he were black.
If I am trapped and killed you stand to earn the RESPECT of your fellow hunters, a PRIZE HUMAN MOUNT for your wall and ALL INCOME from any organ harvest. For this I ask the reasonable sum of $10,000 US DOLLARS per hunter/per round.
I will be armed only with my wits and the clothes on my back (naked is + $2,000 US/ per hunter per round).
A round is a days (24 hrs) hunt. Now, IF a hunter falls in one of his OWN booby traps or fires at another hunter they are IMMEDIATELY DISQUALIFIED and I WIN the $$.
I seek hearty gents who fancy themselves sportsmen and bored of the usual game. I am a new breed of prey with thick pelt and smooth hide. I’m faster than a wild turkey, smart as any GODDAMN wild boar and willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the monetary health of my family.If I am trapped and killed you stand to earn the RESPECT of your fellow hunters, a PRIZE HUMAN MOUNT for your wall and ALL INCOME from any organ harvest. For this I ask the reasonable sum of $10,000 US DOLLARS per hunter/per round.
I will be armed only with my wits and the clothes on my back (naked is + $2,000 US/ per hunter per round).
A round is a days (24 hrs) hunt. Now, IF a hunter falls in one of his OWN booby traps or fires at another hunter they are IMMEDIATELY DISQUALIFIED and I WIN the $$.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Why Pro-Gun Folks Won't Be Reasonable
This is a comment I left for Sebastian, which I have no doubt he posted, it's just that I liked it so much I wanted to post it here as well.
All right, I was exaggerating. If you guys suddenly cooperated with the common sense gun control laws that we propose and we saw a tremendous decrease in gun violence, we would naturally want stricter laws in order to lower even more the remaining gun violence. Eventually, I and most of the others would conclude that no guns at all in civilian hands is the best way to go.
So, in order to ensure that the three-steps-down-the-line situation never happens, you resist even obvious things like background checks and licensing and registration.
That's why you're in the wrong, not us. You see? If you cooperated and we reneged on our promise, which I admit we probably would, then we would be the wrong ones. But with your never-give-an-inch attitude, you are the wrong ones.
And, due to this fear on your part, a reasonable one I agree, many people are dying each year who needn't.
The right thing for you would be to cooperate on the obvious and immediate things which wouldn't interfere with your lifestyles much, and then take a hard stand. That way everybody wins.
But you can't do it, fearful, paranoid, self-centered, gun nuts that you are, you can't do it.
That's why you're wrong.
Meet Fishgrease
In response to my post called Baltimore Boy Killed Playing with Daddy's Gun, Fishgrease left this comment on my Daily Kos Diary.
Is this guy great, or what?I left the NRA 21 years ago and I'm not going back.I've got own 19 rifles and 2 shotguns. All locked away, with trigger locks as well, and not a single round of ammo on my property. But since I'm not using the goddamned things and don't intend to, I'd like to sell them all and donate the money to some organization that will help prevent this sort of thing.
Educating kids that firearms are deadly doesn't do a lot of good. By twelve years-old, can anyone seriously contend that this kid didn't know guns are deadly? Children can't control their emotions or their impulses. They're not criminal, they just don't have very good judgment.
Loaded firearms DO NOT belong in the home. They do not belong in my home, your home or the homes of police officers. They do not belong in motherfucking John Wayne's home or Roy Rogers' home. Having the right to do something doesn't always mean it's the right thing to do.
The likelihood of a family member or friend getting killed with a gun in your home is an area of magnitude greater than your ever shooting an intruder with it.
I grew up with firearms. Now I'm just sick of the goddamned things. I recognize and respect anyone's right to keep and bear arms. That doesn't mean I have to respect the people who exercise those rights, with little or no reason for doing so. I don't respect anyone not involved with law enforcement who keeps a loaded firearm on their person or in their vehicle. I don't respect ANYONE who keeps a loaded firearm in their home.
Shit. I recognize and respect anyone's right to protest at soldiers' funerals. The God Hates Fags bunch. I respect their rights. I just don't respect THEM.
Same goes for the 2nd Amendment folks. They're almost invariably assholes.
Gun Smuggling US to UK - Why We Need Gun Registration
from Laci
What do you think? Wouldn't that help the problem of gun flow from the lawful gun-owning world into the criminal black market?
Please leave a comment.
Do you see how gun registration would prevent things like this? Let me explain. Let's say every gun legally bought had to be registered to a licensed gun owners. After three months and every year thereafter he'd have to renew the registration by presenting the gun and documents to the local police of a FFL dealer. Punishment for non-compliance would be swift and severe, the first part of which would be permanent loss of gun rights.British police believe Steven Greenoe, 37, a former US Marine who lives in Shrewsbury, bought the weapons including Glock 9mm pistols, legally in gun shops in North Carolina and then put them in his hold luggage.
The alleged smuggling operation was discovered after weapons seized from criminals in the North West of England were traced back to America. One of them was found to have been used in a drive-by shooting in Manchester.
Mr Greenoe was stopped at an airport in Raleigh, North Carolina in July as he attempted to board a flight to Manchester via New York. He had 16 weapons and ammunition magazines in his luggage.
What do you think? Wouldn't that help the problem of gun flow from the lawful gun-owning world into the criminal black market?
Please leave a comment.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
About the Increasingly Militarized Weapons
This is a comment I left on TTAG.
"The nutcase militia men practicing to fight against U.S. troops—a statistically insignificant fraction of a relatively small percentage of the total firearms market"
I don't agree with that. But "statistically insignificant" is like beauty - it's in the eye of the beholder.
You know what the "increasingly “militarized"" aspect of gun sales proves? It proves that owning guns as part of your god-given fundamental human right to self-defense is bullshit. I already saw the leap from "right to life" to "owning a handgun" as bullshit, but now you kind-of make the argument for me. You might have had a point with your insistense on carrying a 9 everywhere you go, but how does one of those tricked-our AR-15's fit into the picture. It doesn't that's the answer.
In a way you've backed youself into the position that I've often allowed, which is your WANTING the gun is enough. You don't need the Constitution or the Natural Human Rights or the Bible to justify anything. You want it and that's enough. It is a free country after all. Of course you must submit to certain restrictions approved by the government. Sorry.
Guns in America
via TS from the site Freakonomics
(photo credit Kyle Cassidy)
It wouldn't be so bad if it were a live-and-let-live kind of thing. But the downside of all this gun ownership is devastating. It's like a non-terminal cancer gnawing away from the inside.
What's your opinion. Please leave a comment.
I hate to say it for fear of offending people, but the more pictures I see of gun owners, the more I think we were right in the very beginning. These are fearful, insecure people who need guns to feel OK.The U.S. reportedly has the highest concentration of private gun ownership in the world. It is estimated that Americans buy more than half of all the guns that are manufactured worldwide each year. We wrote a good bit about guns in Freakonomics — primarily about the lack of efficacy of gun-control laws and gun buybacks on the crime rate — and we’ve also blogged on the subject now and again.
It wouldn't be so bad if it were a live-and-let-live kind of thing. But the downside of all this gun ownership is devastating. It's like a non-terminal cancer gnawing away from the inside.
What's your opinion. Please leave a comment.
Wichita Teen Kills Friend Unintentionally - Just Fooling Around
The Kansas City Star reports on this story which made the news last week. I wanted to mention it again in order to ask one simple question. How exactly did the 16-year-old's grandfather store the gun? Wouldn't he, the grandfather, be responsible for the security of his gun, or the lack thereof?
Now that I'm thinking of it another question comes to mind. Do you think the teenager who committed this act of stupidity, which actually led to the death of his friend, had never been instructed in gun safety? Or do you think no matter what education kids receive about firearms, some kids do stupid things? For those youngsters, easy access to guns is a critical factor. What do you think?
Now that I'm thinking of it another question comes to mind. Do you think the teenager who committed this act of stupidity, which actually led to the death of his friend, had never been instructed in gun safety? Or do you think no matter what education kids receive about firearms, some kids do stupid things? For those youngsters, easy access to guns is a critical factor. What do you think?
A 16-year-old boy was showing off a .357 handgun to a 17-year-old girl when he walked around a corner in his house, and saw the girl's 16-year-old brother, a friend of his, Lt. Ken Landwehr said.
Thinking the gun was unloaded, he pulled the trigger — and shot his friend in the chest.
An investigation revealed the gun had been stolen from the first 16-year-old's grandfather's house, Landwehr said.
Why Concealed Carry is a Bad Idea
I don't think this is the only guy going around with a gun who fancies himself the arbiter of public comportment and the avenger of little old ladies. The problem is some of these guys are too stupid (deciding to shoot someone for "pushing") or too stupid (trying to shoot someone with no bullet in the chamber), or too stupid (almost getting shot by the police themselves) to be of help.An apparent good Samaritan who allegedly pulled a gun in downtown San Mateo after seeing a woman get pushed is facing a felony assault charge.
Twenty-three-year-old Ashley Viola pleaded not guilty on Friday to the charge as well as three misdemeanor gun counts.
Prosecutors say he tried to shoot the man who allegedly pushed the 57-year-old woman Wednesday afternoon, but didn't have a bullet in the chamber. According to police and witnesses, Viola began chasing the man with his gun drawn after witnessing the alleged assault.
Police who responded almost shot Viola before he surrendered.
San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe says there are concerns about Viola's mental health.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
A More Balanced Look at Bachmann
What Do We Really Think about the 2nd Amendment?
I believe it's an antiquated concept that has no relevance in today's society.
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
It's Official - Bachmann for President
Call me a rainbow-seeing, skipping-through-the-grass, liberal optimist, but I say never in a million years will Michelle Bachmann become president. I don't care how many foster-kids she has, all that right-to-life crap is the worst form of misogyny which denies women basic human rights and autonomy over their own lives and bodies. All that nonsense about marriage being between a man and a woman is pure homophobia. The Tea Party Movement is a seething hate-cauldron, and she's one of the founders of it.
Democrats and Republicans Coming Together on Gun Control
via Laci a good article in The Guardian
Please leave a comment.
The author goes on to call for bi-lateral support for gun control. He says the time is now for both Democrats and Republicans to come together in agreement on such things as background checks. Do you see that happening?Every day, 34 Americans are killed by handguns and semi-automatic weapons, many of which are purchased or owned illegally. Weapons like the 9mm Glock pistol used by Jared Loughner to kill six and critically wound US Representative Gabrielle Giffords (as well as wounding 13 other people) this past January in Tucson, Arizona. Loughner's Glock, capable of firing an extended magazine of 30 rounds in 15 seconds, was purchased at a local Tucson sporting goods store and could be lawfully carried throughout the state without a concealed weapon's permit. As those who eventually tackled and subdued Loughner attest, if the shooter had had to take a moment to reload his weapon sooner, they might have been able to spare some of the lives lost that day.The Tucson shooting, like others in recent US history, brought Americans together and reignited the nation's ongoing debate on gun control and the second amendment to the US constitution (which protects the right to bear arms).
Please leave a comment.
Jeebus, Guns and Tennessee
Tennessee's Republican-dominated House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a bill that would protect teachers who want to challenge the theory of human evolution.
Thursday's 70-28 passage of HB 368 was hailed by sponsor Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, who said the proposal was designed to promote "critical thinking" in science classes.
That's one way of seeing it. However, the Tennessee Science Teachers Association is on record describing the bill as "unnecessary, anti-scientific, and very likely unconstitutional." Although the document is worded so as not to promote any particular doctrine, the thrust of the proposed law would elevate creationist theories about human evolution to the same status accorded by most educators to Darwin's research.
Oh, well.
Of course, Mississippi barely edges out Tennessee in this critical metric.
We made a big mistake not lettiing the South secede.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Gary McCarthy on the Racial and Ethnic Implications of Gun Violence
From HuffPo by way of aol, video from youtube:
Garry McCarthy, Chicago Top Cop, Calls Gun Laws 'Government-Sponsored Racism'; Right Responds
Gun rights advocates and other right-wing groups responded harshly on Friday to some strong words on gun control by Chicago's new top cop.
Garry McCarthy, brought in as the superintendent of police by newly elected mayor Rahm Emanuel, made the comments at St. Sabina, a liberal black church in the heart of Chicago's South Side. The Auburn-Gresham neighborhood where the church is located has struggled with gun violence for years, and its pastor, Father Michael Pfleger, is an outspoken supporter of limiting gun rights.
So McCarthy was playing to his audience when he made remarks like these (at around 5:40 in the video):
"So here’s what I want to tell you. See, let’s see if we can make a connection here. Slavery. Segregation. Black codes. Jim Crow. What did they all have in common? Anybody getting’ scared? Government sponsored racism. I told you I wasn't afraid [of race]. I told you I wasn't afraid. "Now I want you to connect one more dot on that chain of the African American history in this country, and tell me if I’m crazy: Federal gun laws that facilitate the flow of illegal firearms into our urban centers across this country, that are killing our black and brown children."Immediately after those remarks, he also insisted, as he has often said since coming over to Chicago from Newark, N.J., that the gun control debate has to move "back to the center."
But conservative commentators overlooked that more moderate position in their response to the recently-surfaced video.
“After several minutes of gratuitous self-promotion, McCarthy launched into a racially charged tirade in which he accused the NRA and law-abiding gun owners of participating in a government-sponsored program to kill black people," Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, wrote on the group's website.
Like most of you, we believe an assertion such as McCarthy’s is too nutty to dignify with a response." Andrew Breitbart's Big Government blog goes for guilt by association: "McCarthy states his comfort speaking to the “right audience” about his views," blogger Rebel Pundit writes. "Could this be because outspoken radical activist Rev. Dr. Michael L. Pfleger is the Pastor of the Faith Community of Saint Sabina? Pfleger is known for his strong anti-gun views, outreach to prostitutes, anti-drug campaigns, and warm relationships with Louis Farrakhan, Al Sharpton and Jeremiah Wright."
And a vitriolic blog post on ChicagoNow pulled no punches. "[W]e have a top cop more interested in appearing at racist churches making race-baiting speeches than doing his job," writes Warner Todd Huston. "Emanuel better watch out because what we obviously have here is just another arrogant jack-booted thug that thinks he should be allowed to make up his own laws instead of enforcing the laws actually on the books.
McCarthy issued a relatively toned-down statement on Friday. "Strong gun laws against illegal firearms are critical in order to maintain public safety and private rights,” McCarthy said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “Gang and drug activity intersect with guns, and all three must be the focus of violence-reduction efforts in our communities.”
Obviously from my previous writing, I agree with Mr. McCarthy that gun violence has a disproportionately large impact on certain demographics of race and economic status. I agree with him completely that preventing - so far as it is humanly possible - the possession of illegal firearms by people who will do violence or commit crimes is essential to public safety. I would point out that doing so makes all of us safer, whether we are legal gun owners, or choose not to own firearms.
In considering the knee-jerk reaction on the right against Mr. McCarthy, I found the following video to be informative in how effective McCarthy has been in pursuing his theories, as they are reflected in crime statistics, including the reduction of gun violence.
This kind of result is what I wish to see, and what I believe my co-bloggers also wish to see happen. I believe this is absolutely possible, without keeping legal and responsible gun owners from possessing firearms. If minor inconveniences like registration and gun purchasers being checked for things like a criminal conviction (including drugs and/or gang activity), or a pattern of domestic violence as evidenced by a restraining order, or a medical history of mental illness that includes violent behavior or threats, then that is a reasonable balancing of individual rights to own firearms for their own enjoyment and the need for public safety where far too many people are injured, killed, or threatened. McCarthy correctly addresses issues which have a disproportionate and devastating impact on largely minority areas of Chicago, issues which parallel those problems in other communities. I would argue that those areas are affected in this way not because of a correlation to race or ethnicity and violence, but because of the correlation to prejudice against minority individuals that tend to result in fewer opportunities, greater obstacles to success, and other problems that are the result of poverty. So long as poverty affects those demographically defined groups more severely than other segments of our population, they will be more strongly affected by crime and gun violence as well; the two go together.
I strongly disagree with the right attempting to discredit McCarthy, and the way in which the right characterizes both the black religious community and sincere, legitimate, effective efforts to reduce crime. Black churches have a long history of being a source of stability and progress in these communities, of making positive and constructive contributions to solving the problems of the areas in which they are located.
There is nothing 'jack booted' or 'thuggish' about McCarthy. Government is in part very much a matter of our laws and law enforcement. McCarthy is perfectly correct when he points out the racism that has been inherent and intended in the old 'Jim Crow' laws. Another example of racism as it intersects with government is the recent indictments of the campaign staff of the former Republican governor of Maryland from the 2010 Maryland state election, where there was attempted voter suppression of exclusively black voters: http://penigma.blogspot.com/2011/06/right-wing-racism-voter-suppression-and.html .
Just one more in a long line of conservative, and recently largely Republican, political and government connected racism. I think the balancing of the right to free speech by the legislation that prohibits this kind of voter suppression very closely parallels the need to balance the right to own guns against the legitimate public safety issue of regulating legal guns to reduce crimes by illegal guns which were initially legally owned and obtained, or illegally transferred to criminals.
In considering the knee-jerk reaction on the right against Mr. McCarthy, I found the following video to be informative in how effective McCarthy has been in pursuing his theories, as they are reflected in crime statistics, including the reduction of gun violence.
This kind of result is what I wish to see, and what I believe my co-bloggers also wish to see happen. I believe this is absolutely possible, without keeping legal and responsible gun owners from possessing firearms. If minor inconveniences like registration and gun purchasers being checked for things like a criminal conviction (including drugs and/or gang activity), or a pattern of domestic violence as evidenced by a restraining order, or a medical history of mental illness that includes violent behavior or threats, then that is a reasonable balancing of individual rights to own firearms for their own enjoyment and the need for public safety where far too many people are injured, killed, or threatened. McCarthy correctly addresses issues which have a disproportionate and devastating impact on largely minority areas of Chicago, issues which parallel those problems in other communities. I would argue that those areas are affected in this way not because of a correlation to race or ethnicity and violence, but because of the correlation to prejudice against minority individuals that tend to result in fewer opportunities, greater obstacles to success, and other problems that are the result of poverty. So long as poverty affects those demographically defined groups more severely than other segments of our population, they will be more strongly affected by crime and gun violence as well; the two go together.
I strongly disagree with the right attempting to discredit McCarthy, and the way in which the right characterizes both the black religious community and sincere, legitimate, effective efforts to reduce crime. Black churches have a long history of being a source of stability and progress in these communities, of making positive and constructive contributions to solving the problems of the areas in which they are located.
There is nothing 'jack booted' or 'thuggish' about McCarthy. Government is in part very much a matter of our laws and law enforcement. McCarthy is perfectly correct when he points out the racism that has been inherent and intended in the old 'Jim Crow' laws. Another example of racism as it intersects with government is the recent indictments of the campaign staff of the former Republican governor of Maryland from the 2010 Maryland state election, where there was attempted voter suppression of exclusively black voters: http://penigma.blogspot.com/2011/06/right-wing-racism-voter-suppression-and.html .
Just one more in a long line of conservative, and recently largely Republican, political and government connected racism. I think the balancing of the right to free speech by the legislation that prohibits this kind of voter suppression very closely parallels the need to balance the right to own guns against the legitimate public safety issue of regulating legal guns to reduce crimes by illegal guns which were initially legally owned and obtained, or illegally transferred to criminals.
Michelle Bachmann for President
Michele Bachmann expressed skepticism of evolution at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, Friday.
"I support intelligent design," Bachmann told reporters following her speech at the conference, CNN reports. "What I support is putting all science on the table and then letting students decide. I don't think it's a good idea for government to come down on one side of scientific issue or another, when there is reasonable doubt on both sides."
"I would prefer that students have the ability to learn all aspects of an issue," Bachmann said. "And that's why I believe the federal government should not be involved in local education to the most minimal possible process."
Baltimore Boy Killed Playing with Daddy's Gun
I think police spokesman Brown got that wrong. This couldn't possibly serve as a reminder about securing your guns since the gun was secured and the kids got to it anyway. What it could serve as a reminder of, though, is the fallacy of thinking a gun in the home makes you safer.A Baltimore boy who was apparently playing with a gun shot and killed a 15-year-old friend Saturday morning in Cherry Hill, Baltimore police said.
Police could not say Saturday how many times the boy was shot or who owned the gun. The gun was secured in the house, but the children had found a key or passcode to unlock it, said police spokesman Kevin Brown. The shooter, who was either 11 or 12 years old, was not being charged at this time because the killing appeared to be an accident, he said.
"We want this to serve as a reminder of the extreme importance of securing weapons in the home," Brown said.
How many times do you think that particular gun was used in a DGU to thwart home invaders and rapists? I'd guess none, just like most of the guns in homes. They generally sit there doing no good whatever until sooner or later someone misuses them either by kids getting ahold of them, like in this case, or a negligent discharge while cleaning them, or the burglars get them.
All the while, the owners of these guns will proclaim their god-given natural human rights. Sick irony or weird paradox, I don't know what you should call it.
Click here for statistics and solution.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Lessons From New York
Civil rights for gays is long overdue and legalization of SSM is just an important milestone on the journey to equal rights.
Gunloons often like to equate their gunloonery to a civil rights struggle. It's a pretty offensive argument since gunloons are almost exclusively fat, white males who have never been turned down for a job, excluded from educational opportunities, denied access to the legal system or other public institutions, etc. solely on the basis of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
Think about it. Blacks were killed for suggesting they be allowed to vote. Gays have lost jobs solely because they are gay. Gunloons believe they are oppressed because they can't own a fully-automatic firearm or have to wait more than 30 minutes for a gun purchase.
Kind of puts things in perspective. A few years ago, 41 states allowed an employer to fire someone for no other reason than being gay. Almost 50 years ago, blacks were denied access to retail stores, schools, jobs because of being black. Today, fat white males have the gall to pretend theirs is a civil rights struggle. Shame.
South Carolina Ex-cop Arrested for Shooting
What we've got here is a failure to communicate. Simple gun control laws should have prevented this guy from owning a gun, fired from the State Troopers, drinking problem, and who knows what else. But in South Carolina they take their gun rights seriously.Justin Grant Gambrell, 25, of 450 Bratcher Road in Belton, was in jail Friday and charged with use of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol and discharging a firearm into a dwelling, according to arrest warrants.
The warrants allege that Gambrell was drinking when he fired four shots from a moving vehicle into the home at 45 Piedmont Highway.
The Highway Patrol fired Gambrell, who had been a trooper in the Upstate division since 2007 and had no previous disciplinary problems, Department of Public Safety spokesman Sid Gaulden said.
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
Extremely Rare Shooting in Gun-Paradise Oregon
The Register Guard reports on what I realize is an extremely rare situation. In fact that's why these stories make the news because they're so extremely rare. practically unheard of. Think of it this way. Let's say lawful gun owners doing something wrong with thier guns make news only a couple hundred times a day. To put that into perspective you have to divide by all the gun owners in the world, of which there are millions, and then by all the planets in that galaxy, of which there are billions.
See what I mean.
See what I mean.
What's your opinion? How much you wanna bet Mr. O'Callaghan was covered by one or more of the Famous 10% criteria?A Eugene man accused of shooting and wounding a coworker Friday morning at his family’s west Eugene repair shop remained at the business until police officers arrived and took him into custody, authorities said.
The suspect, 39-year-old Dale Brandon O’Callaghan, is charged with first-degree assault in connection with the shooting, which was reported at 6:49 a.m., police said.
O’Callaghan has never been charged with a crime in Oregon, according to state court records.
Please leave a comment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)