This Judge shoots blanks..

To show how 'impartial' our judicial system is, we have a former NJ judge who respects hunting but other than that is full of the usual Brady talking points. NRA is bad. BAD ASSAULT WEAPON!!! BAD!!! To many guns. "Guns in every pocket". More guns=More crime. 'Reasonable gun laws', etc.

You know. The same kind of bumper sticker proselytizing that Dennis Henigan hates. Not really surprising though looking at his bio:

H. Lee Sarokin served on the United States District Court (N.J.) appointed by President Carter, and the United States Court of Appeals (3rd Cir.) appointed by President Clinton.

Apparently banning Marlin 60's and JC Higgins 29's as 'Assault Weapons' are more of those 'reasonable restrictions' we keep hearing are needed.

Nice weather we're having, eh?

Via WOG comes the latest missive on the Brady Paradise of Chicago.

Shootings wound at least 15 overnight

And that's not including the murders.

Dennis Henigan puts up a post proclaiming that criminals are more likely to commit crimes.

Shock, I know.

How is this different from what the ebil, nasty NRA (and countless firearm owners) has been saying?

His response is to make more laws that (according to US v Haynes and numerous other cases) criminals don't have to bother following since doing so would incriminate themselves.

So lets analyze Chicago.

Handgun ban? Check.
'Assault Weapon' Ban? Check
Annual registration of all allowed guns? Check
Licensing of all firearm owners (FOID)? Check
Universal Background Checks? Check
5 Times the murder rate of the rest of the state? Check

Like David says. Forget it Jake, it's Chi-town.

Guns from the Government

In a study relating primarily to guns coming from the US, some interesting numbers and claims come out regarding to exactly where the international criminals get their armaments from:

"'insiders' illegally sold over 3000 firearms recovered in crime or surrendered in amnesties to the Metropolitan Toronto Police Service."

"Still less is known about the third source of weapons, the Mexican security forces themselves. The Small Arms Survey 2008 showed that weapons diverted from police and armed forces are a major and sometimes the main source of illicit weapons in many countries."

"Some weapons used in Mexican crimes such as grenades, RPGs and fully automatic weapons are less easy to acquire in the US, and have probably arrived from elsewhere."

Basically admitting that the US isn't really the main problem but their own governments and authority figures.

"The authors speculate US authorities would not only have to stem the supply of smuggled weapons from the US, but also other potential sources to successfully block the flow of deadly arms to criminals and criminal organizations."

Which would entail taking over the gov'ts of Canada, Mexico and numerous other countries. I'm sure that would fly.

Yet, even with millions more firearms being made every year in the US and the claims that "gun crime is reaching 'epidemic' levels"( according to those who don't bother looking at actual crime numbers) we read:

The rate of gun homicide in Canada is statistically low and falling

Another interesting statistic is this:

Toronto, a city with 2.8 million people hit 52 gun homicides in 2005

Chicago, a city w/ a population of 2.7 million, had 449 homicides (total) in 2005. Handguns and most long guns are banned there w/ full licensing and registration of what is allowed.

The rest of the state, where firearms are common, has murder rates only slightly higher than Canada (IL: ~3.0, CA: ~2.0).

Authorized Ignorance

Did you know that CCW Reciprocity is equatable to handing out guns to kindergartners? That's the opinion of one "Authorized Journalist" in PA.

" , it isn't a good idea to allow citizens with concealed-carry permits in their home states to travel to other states while armed."

He should be especially upset since PA licenses are recognized in over 2 dozen other states, recognizes those from 2 dozen states, and even issues non-resident permits. Nevermind the hundreds of other reciprocity agreements across the nation.

Not that we expect much accuracy from the media anymore.

Doing my duty.

Today a friend of mine bought a handgun at a local gunshow.

What's remarkable about this? It was his very first firearm purchase. A Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm.

A year ago he would have never contemplated buying a gun. What he knew was what he saw on TV and read in the papers. He thought an 'assault weapon' was something more than just a tricked out semi-auto. Shotguns and 'hunting rifles' were OK but.... etc. You all know the routine.

Then I started educating him.

I didn't feed him 'NRA talking points'. I asked him questions and encouraged him to find the answers on his own. I provided resources for both sides of the debate and made myself available for any questions he had.

After doing some research, he came back from reading the Brady Campaign site with "You've got to be kidding me. What a bunch of crap."

And another gun nut was born.