Friday, October 30, 2009

Increasingly Commonplace

Via War on Guns come two stories of the Brady/IANSA paradise that is Merry Ol' England.

Culture of violence: Gun crime goes up by 89% in a decade


The most telling line in the story is this:
The statistic will fuel fears that the police are struggling to contain gang-related violence, in which the carrying of a firearm has become increasingly common place.
That's right. An island nation with a near complete ban on private ownership of firearms has seen an INCREASE in the criminal use of them (not just arresting citizens for having them) since their strictest measures went into place.

So what are the responses by the authorities?

Well I mentioned one last week where a judge granted a universal warrant to search and confiscate the property of thousands of citizens, suspected of a crime or not.

Bobbies are now carrying fully automatic firearms. AFTER the civilian gun ban mind you when for decades they went unarmed.

While a third response is to continue to prosecute people DEFENDING themselves from the gangs and violence that has spread uncontrollably across their country:
A council official's son who allegedly stabbed two burglars breaking into his mother's home has been charged with murder.
Well that makes perfect sense. They didn't stab him first so he had no right to try and stop them from vandalizing or stealing his property.

And these are the same conditions groups like the Brady Campaign, Violence Policy Center, IANSA and all their endorsed politicians want for the US when they state that only the authorities should have firearms and that we should rely on them for protection instead of being 'vigilantes' by protecting ourselves and our families. Just like Chicago. They can't even keep guns from being smuggled onto an island, nevermind a nation with thousands of miles of borders and coastlines.

That's certainly not the kind of country that I want to live in. Do you?

Tactics of Desperation

As the Rose colored glasses are being removed from people across the nation who hoped for 'Hope and Change' and all they're seeing is politics as usual, it appears the Dems may be feeling the sting from that. And they're responding with , you guessed it, smear campaigns and politics as usual.

In the VA Attorney General race, the Democrat contender is down by 16 points IIRC. His response is to send out campaign literature w/ the usual "Republicans are trying to arm felons and children" meme's.

With just days to go before the election, Virginia Democrats are getting desperate. In the race to become the commonwealth's next attorney general, state Delegate Stephen Shannon is trying to tar his opponent, state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, for purportedly giving guns to convicted felons. Mr. Shannon is sending around literature with a scary picture of a violent criminal claiming: "FACT: Ken Cuccinelli, candidate for attorney general, voted to allow violent felons to purchase guns in Virginia."


So how many seats/offices are the Dems going to lose through 2010 if this trend continues?

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Thanks to all.

I'm but a lowly guest blogger on an already established site. This provides me the opportunity to share my thoughts without the constant pressure of coming up with new content on a regular basis.

Ya, I’m a parasite. But as long as I don’t kill my host, I’ll continue to reproduce posts at a very irregular frequency.

I wanted to take some space and thank all of the “new media” for the collection, the research and the insight of this new medium concerning Al Gore’s interweb tubes.

They specialize in reporting stuff you won’t see in the evening news. I can’t compete with that nor do I see my contribution in this arena as a competition. There are plenty of pro-2A bloggers out there who can not only scoop a gun-rights story for all to enjoy; they are the ONLY ones alerting the masses of the particular issue to begin with.

I enjoy reading them all. I should clarify that last remark by stating that I don’t actually have the time to read them all but I am very heartened by the fact that every thread I expose to my eyeballs, the pro-freedom crowd dominates in the only criteria that matters; the truth.

I’m not good at finding stories about other people.

I’m good at telling stories about myself and people I know directly.

All the power in the world to those who take the time to do the research, link to sources, and do the math.

That’s not my bag.

I won’t alert you to the latest legislation introduced by Senator Douche-bag. I only know what’s on the Supreme Courts plate do to the hard work of others. I have a hard enough time internalizing all the gun laws for my own state now that I’ve got my Concealed Handgun License; thinking about the more repressive laws in other states makes my head hurt and makes me drink vodka.

OK, I’d still be drinking vodka if machine guns were sold like candy; ya got me there.

My main point is that you should look to others for documentation.

I offer only my own story.

Illinois Factoids 2008

With the release of the Illinois UCR, a clearer picture of crime in the state can now be seen even though the state still remains in non-compliance w/ the FBI .

Nationally, the murder numbers/rate dropped from 16928/5.6 to 16272/5.4 from '07 to '08.

Illinois had a population of 12.85 million w/ a increased murder rate of 6.1/100K (790) in comparison to 5.9/100K last year.

Chicago had 22% of the population of Illinois yet accounted for 64.5% of murders w/ a per capita rate of 18/100K. an increase in murders both raw and per capita.

Cook County had 41% of the population of Illinois yet accounted for 73.9% of murders(584) w/ a per capita rate of 11.1/100K. It had a population drop yet an increase in murders due exclusively to Chicago.

The Cook County murders in raw number/per capita increased 11.9 and 11/1% respectively while arrest numbers and rates decreased compared to '07.

If Chicago were to fall into Lake Michigan, the Illinois murder rate would drop to 2.8 .

Were the rest of Cook County to follow suit, the rate would drop to 2.72 .

Yet instead we saw that increase. Now it's appearing that, in order to artificially reduce the murder rate from the disaster they saw in '08, they're increasingly classifying deaths as 'suicides'. All to continue to justify their ineffective gun ban.

Then there's the % of murders by types of weapons used, 2008:

Nationally: 66.9

Chicago: 80.8

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Choke on it Helmke...

Number Of Women Buying Handguns Increasing
CHICAGO (CBS) ―Local gun shop owners say they're seeing an increase in the number of women shoppers right now. The reasons, they say, are many, including the downturn in the economy and violence on the street.

According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, about 48 percent of people taking their first handgun seminars this year happen to be women. CBS 2's Pamela Jones reports on the growing trend.
Combine that with the continued increase in firearm purchases clearly indicates the death knell of firearm ownership in the US. Right?

MAIG Mayor Guilty

Birmingham, AL mayor Larry Langford was found guilty of charges that included bribery, money laundering, criminal conspiracy, mail and wire fraud. He faces possible life in prison as well as disbarment from office.

He is still proudly listed as one of Mayor Bloomburg's (somewhat less than) 450.


My apologies to Kurt who notified me of this for initially forgetting to properly attribute it.

Regarding HR 45

Get Over It!!!

The bill is DEAD. No cosponsors. Sitting in committee for nearly a year. Even gun ban fanatics are making fun of people who think it's going anywhere even though it's one of their dream legislations. From a CSGV e-mail:
Never mind that H.R. 45 has no co-sponsors and has received no hearing in a House committee—meaning you're more likely to see a pig fly than this bill passing Congress...
So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop sending me e-mails about it or posting it on FB and how we're going to have to register all of our guns on next years tax forms.

All you're doing is crying wolf and ensuring that less people will pay attention when a REAL threat comes up at either the national or state level.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Chicago Crime Numbers

We can trust them. Right?
October 21, 2009 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A Chicago pastor was found in his Southwest Side home, stabbed more than twenty times and it was ruled a suicide.

Firearms in no danger in North Carolina.

Ten months after the original posting and 4 months after her original comment, Laura Eshelman of the gun ban organization North Carolinians Against Gun Violence Ownership responds with the traditional SOP ad hominem attacks and insults.

First she says this:
Excuse me- would it matter if I had replied to your "cited and sourced critisms"? I didn't see a single source for your information.
Is she unfamiliar w/ the organizations her group claims connection with? Let's take a look at one. The Joyce Foundation funded Illinois Council Against Handgun Ownership and who they hold up as an example of quality leadership:
ICHV also honored three Illinois leaders with the 2009 Legislative Advocacy Award. Congressman Bobby Rush (1st district), also a survivor of gun violence, his son Huey was shot and killed in 1999 continues to advocate for comprehensive solutions to gun violence. Rush is a sponsor of the of the “Blair Holt Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009,”
Ah Yes. Bobby Rush's HR 45 with its dozens of supporters. Not to mention this:
Finally, Oak Park Village President David Pope has been a stalwart defender of his community's life-saving handgun ban along with Chicago and has pledged that regardless of the looming Supreme Court decision next summer, Oak Park is committed to enacting sensible and effective policies to reduce access to guns.
I could continue for Ms. Eshelman but I don't think she really cares how many quotes or sources I present since I'm sure she's well aware of the policies of these organizations. Why do I think this? Because of her high quality reply:
presenting further information is really just pointless as hardcore gun lobbyists seem to have cotton permanently stuffed in their ears anyway. I often wonder whether it would be a little different if every "responsible gun owner" with that mentality had a child commit suicide with a gun someday- sadly, if you did bother to research the consistent statistics about how frequently that happens, you probably wouldn't care.
I should thank you for reminding me why I refuse to hang out with conservatives.

Isn't Ms. Eshelman cute w/ the personal attacks, stereotypes and bigotry? Nevermind the levels of projection she exhibits. And she just can't help to throw in the classic insult of the gun banners:
I tend to be proactive in my line of work, and thus have better things to do than sit around my computer waiting for people to argue with and stroking my rifle (especially since I don't have anything to compensate for...)
She really did work hard to make my point for me, didn't she? They are their own worst enemy.

So don't worry citizens of North Carolina (F rated, 20/100 by the Brady Campaign), you're in good shape.

How Effective is 'Gun Control' in the UK?

You tell me.



This photo is from a DailyMail article detailing a fishing expedition by UK authorities that resulted in the confiscation of thousands of people's personal property. The people had to prove they legally obtained whatever was taken.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Thanksgiving approaches.

So I'm sitting here paying bills; one of my most favorite activities. Companies that send me electricity are cool. The people who take away my garbage and recycle bins are cool. My phone company sucks some serious ass, but I just send them some cash every month and pray for their violent deaths every night.

It's all good.

Last friday, the latest round of "work force reduction" was completed at my work place. Had to say goodbye to the manager who hired me into my current position.

I've spent a good deal of time thinking about "disposable income" lately and my job security.

As I sift through the stack of mail, there's always the obligatory mass of donation requests from the NRA, GOA, JPFO, SAS, OFF, CCRKBA, National Geograpic and the Oregon State Sheriff's Association. Each time I contribute, I get put onto another mailing list.

I'm not a rich man nor am I poor. I live fairly comfortably by American standards and down right well by world standards. Most of my money I've spent on guns, ammo and firearms accessories, the rest of it I've foolishly wasted.

I figure that I donate about $1000 every year for various causes and have been doing this for about 10 years. Approx. $350-$400 goes to the NRA each year since they are the 800 lb. primate in the room.

I support everything from public radio(OPB) to the cops who give me speeding tickets.

When I was young, I asked my mother why she shopped at Farmer's Markets and small mom and pop grocery stores instead of the big box stores where she could save some money.

She told me that the quality was better and that if these quality venues were to survive, they needed the communities' support. Paying a little bit more for quality fresh delicious locally grown/butchered food was seen as a good decision. All boils down to, Ya get what ya pay for. Something gunnies can relate to.

After thinking about this concept for three decades, now I understand.

The pro-2A community supports pro-freedom orgs out of a sad neccesity. When all of our elected officials, military troops and LEO's take an OATH to Preserve, Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foriegn and domestic, the NRA should not be needed. Goa should not be needed. JPFO should not be needed. Blah blah blah.

The fact that we do have pro-Freedom grass-roots orgs in existence TO support should give us all great pause.

When the establishment strays from the Founders, it is the Right and the Duty of every citizen to remind our "masters" where the true power resides.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go buy some sweet corn and write a few checks.

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