Background Checks in Action

The narrative:

Guy who makes lots of mistakes in his youth turns his life around and goes straight.  Family, honest employment helping people, the works.

But he makes several other mistakes.  Big ones.

He changed his name to make things easier to move on, get a good job, not get labelled.  Fair enough.  But under his new name he is still a prohibited person.... and he went and got a gun. 

How, you ask, can he do this with all of the licensing and background checks in place? 

Easy... The system screwed up.... again and again.

Background check #1: FOID card. Mandatory for any purchase/possession of a firearm or ammo in the state.   30+ days for the state to conduct a background check. Falsifying information on the application is a class 2 Felony.  (question 2)

Background check #2: Firearm purchase.  NICS w/ the form 4473. State mandated 72 hr waiting period for handguns.  Falsifying information on the form is a felony (question 11c) (assuming he purchased the weapon legally that is)

Background check #3: CCW. 90 days for background check w/ fingerprints, 120 days w/o fingerprints.  3-4 months for a simple court records search. 

Him merely having the gun was a felony under any circumstance.

So two or three extended time background checks and waiting periods all failed.

Why?

But lets do it again... only harder.

Big Victories: Compare and Contrast.

From the Brady Campaign to Maintain Relevancy:

And Republican Congressman David Jolly of Florida officially co-sponsored a bill to expand Brady background checks. Once a lapdog doing the bidding of the corporate gun lobby, today Rep. Jolly is in our corner. Now THAT’S progress!

A Co-Sponsor on a bill HR1217 which hasn't moved in 6 months.  I'm sure his constituents will have something to say about it.

Then there's Missouri passing Constitutional Carry.

Senate Bill 656 will allow anyone legally allowed to possess a firearm to carry that firearm, while also maintaining the current permit system. In addition, the bill:

Expands Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground protections

Adds additional permit options to include extended and lifetime permits

Specifies that with the exception of credit card fees, no additional fee beyond $100 may be charged to process concealed carry permits

Allows members of the military extra time to renew their permits

They'll say anything to try and keep the lights on.

George Not Getting It

So George Takei, who spent time in the Internment Camps for Japanese during WWII, starts an anti-gun group (w/ a closed membership), and hires as its 'Director' one Ladd Everitt, who previously stated his endorsement for the gov't rounding up citizens and putting them in internment camps. 

“Commenter: So the Govt rounding up citizens based on Religion or Ethnic ID would not warrant armed resistance if courts bless as constitutional.

CSGV: Correct.

I'm not too worried though.  He ran the failed DC MMM, he was Comm Dir. of a group that operated out a bar loft (and below a fortune teller) for nearly a decade with technology that 80's space guy would have been envious of and who's major accomplishment was paying FB to increase the 'likes' on their page.

Rabbit Stew

So I tried something new in cooking.. Rabbit stew.  It's something I've been interested in and I make a decent stew (not that it takes all that much skill.  The C-in-C butchered one yesterday and I did a little recipe hunting and ingredient shopping. 

Layered 1.5 lb of potatoes followed by about 1lb of carrots in the slow cooker.  Light seasoning of salt/pepper/garlic salt between each layer.

The rabbit I quartered the legs and de-boned the torso.  It ended up being about 2 lbs of meat.  The remainder and offal went to the dogs.  Waste not want not.

A layer of canned mushrooms and half an onion cut in 1/8th pieces. 

 Cooked on 'high' in the pot for about 3 hrs then on 'low' for about 4 hrs.  The meat was falling off the bone.

 On the plate:

The entire family (sans one) enjoyed it and cleared their plates.  A few minor tweaks for next time (more seasoning primarily) will make it even better.

Shootey Fun: Labor Day 2016

Took the herd out to practice w/ the 10/22's.

A Criminal History

So a bit back, there was a murder in a neighboring town. A guy 'accidentally' shot his girlfriend through a closed door, killing her.  Now in standard MDA meme, they would go on about how reckless and irresponsible gun owners are and how X laws would have prevented this from happening.  

Then you look past the headline to the facts of the case. 

POS A  (need the qualifier, there are more involved), the shooter, was a felon in possession that has an adult criminal history (starting when he was 18), progressing from underage drinking to DUI/Reckless driving, to burglary.  Now he had the gun because he was given it by an 18 yr old, POS B,  (also a felon in possession (history of drugs, theft, and traffic violations) in order to commit an armed robbery. Well POS A decided to back out of the deal but kept the gun and shot through the door because he thought POS B and his buddies were coming to get him.   Both were on probation.

Other dispositions:
GF:  Felon. On probation for drugs and resisting arrest. 
POS C: Felon, laundry list going back to when he was 18
POS D: Felon, laundry list going back to when he was 18

Not a single innocent among the bunch,  the norm for most violent crime.  What brought this to my attention was a post by a local running for State Rep.  Here was his commentary:

This shouldn't happen here.
This shouldn't happen. Period.
We need to get serious about gun violence in this country, and we'll begin with Illinois.
Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones. Deepest condolences.

and one of the supporters blames the GOP. 

No matter his other issue positions, this shows a complete and total disconnect from reality and/or just another political hack/poser. 

'Snuffy' Phleger's Anger Management Issues

As he inflames racial tensions in Chicago:

"Go to hell Angelo! How dare you tell police to not do overtime and make our streets less safe with less officers. We're already short of police officers." Pfleger said.

Yep, It's the police's fault that the streets are 'less safe', not the actions of the violent criminals that Snuffy and his ilk have been enabling for years. 

No wonder he's anti-gun. 

Armed Bank Robbery: Charleston, IL

From the Charleston PD:

A pic of the outside:

Lo-res cameras and magic talismans. 

Just sayin'