CC On Campus: Laws Are Bullshit!

Push for concealed guns on campuses is gaining steam @insidehighered:

In all, seven states have laws that allow concealed guns on campus, though the details vary on who can carry where. Twenty states still ban carrying a concealed weapon on a college campus, and 23 states leave the decision up to individual colleges.

This is all touchy-feelie, but in the actual event ... you still can't carry guns on campus in Oregon .. even though State Law allows it.

WARNING:  I know I've posted this information before; more than once.  I'll post it again, just in case someobody hasn't yet heard how Univiersities (at least in Oregon, and probably in other states), unilaterally and arbitrarily abridge the law.

I worked at Oregon State University (one of those "20 states") and the laws have no effect, because college and universities are a law unto themselves.

They will NOT allow anyone to carry on campus, regardless of the status of the CHL holder.

Lee Paige Rides Again! (Senior Moment?)

MILLER: If people kill people, why do we still need more guns? - Odessa American: Editorial:
(March 26, 2015 - Odessa, TX)

Last week, it was reported that a police officer with the Ector County Independent School District accidently discharged his service weapon while trying to clean it.

 Normally, a gun going off is not news. The bullet supposedly ricocheted off a wall and into a ceiling. No one was reportedly injured and the officer was alright.

 This, however, is news because it happened while he was on duty at Crockett Junior High. The district’s explanation was the gun got wet in the rain, and while the officer was cleaning it, it discharged.

The similarity to the Lee Paige incident is ... troubling.


Because so many people seem to think that "only the police and the military should have guns, because they are trained and skilled and not scarey and, like, you know, not scarey!"

The fact is, police and military are human.  Which is to say .. fallible.

And as Fallible Human Beings, they screw up from time to time.

There's only one way to ingrain safe gunhandling practices until the good habits become second nature, and that's experience.

Well, training is important as well, but safe gunhandling is one of those skills which deteriorate if not practiced; often, under supervision, and strictly enforced by that supervision.   Obviously, none of these elements were present here.

Close Air Support and the "Flying Bathtub"

A-10 Warthog Is Out, F-15 and F-16 Are In, Says the Air Force:
(March 22, 2015)

The U.S. Air Force wants to kill the A-10 Warthog. Really, really wants to kill it. But some of the Air Force's ideas for replacing the A-10 are starting to strain credibility.

This is an 'economic' opinion, not a 'tactical' opinion.

The A-10 may be a fabulous CAS platform, but right now, it doesn't have a corporate backer with a truly vital interest in its survival. Northrop Grumman serves as prime contractor to maintain the plane, and Boeing has a contract to upgrade wings on some of the older A-10s, both of which bring in a few tens of millions of dollars annually for the respective companies. But without an actual A-10 Warthog replacement program in place, no one's making billions of dollars off of the Warthog.

Some suplementary commentary  here.