Saturday, May 21, 2016

Wisconsin AG: "Lock Them Up!"

Morning Minute: AG Schimel on Solving Gun Violence | | wiscnews.com:
"We are not going to give in to those demands to make it harder for law abiding gun owners to exercise their second amendment rights...we're gonna find the people that are using guns to commit crimes and lock them up. That's how you solve the gun violence problem," 
(Attorney General Brad Schimel said last weekend at the Republican Party of Wisconsin state convention.)

Funny, I knew that Wisconsin had men, but I didn't realize they clanged when they walked.

California Metros Re-envision State

California Senate approves sweeping gun-control measures | Fox News: SACRAMENTO, Calif. –

Democrats in the California Senate approved a wide-ranging series of gun control bills Thursday, reviving an effort to significantly tighten California's already strict gun laws in the wake of last year's terrorist attack in San Bernardino. Lawmakers voted to outlaw the sale of assault weapons with easily detachable magazines and to require that people turn in magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. They also backed a variety of other measures aimed at restricting access to guns and ammunition or limiting the carnage they can inflict.
OLD California State Flag:




NEW California State Flag:



Friday, May 20, 2016

Doubleplus Ungood Badspeak

US Attorney General: 'We May Prosecute Climate Change Deniers'.:
(March 10, 2016)
The US Department of Justice has been considering whether people should be prosecuted for the offense of climate change denial. “This matter has been discussed. We have received information about it and have referred it to the FBI to consider whether or not it meets the criteria for which we could take action on,” said Attorney General Loretta Lynch, responding to a question from green activist Sen Sheldon Whitehouse at a Senate Judiciary Hearing.
 [emphasis added]

In George Orwell's tortured masterpiece "1984", citizens of Oceania could be prosecuted for thinking 'wrong thoughts'.  T

Today, in the era and the country where the First Amendment is first among our most treasured freedoms,, our government has been considering whether there are certain opinions which cannot be expressed.  It's not a matter of grammar; it's a matter of Thought Crime.

It appears that Orwell's premonition is now verified. It just took a little longer (32 years) for it to come about in America.

Let's call the crime  "BadSpeak", and make it a law.  Which will require a Constitutional Amendment .. eventually.
(But no hurry, as long as another Democrat is elected to hold the highest office in the land.)

Judging by the words and threats of the Attorney General of the United States of America ... we have finally caught up with George Orwell.

Aren't we so proud of ourselves today?

(H/T: Correa)

(PS: Yes, I did steal the title from a current internet blog.  It was too rich to resist.)

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

It's an "AMERICAN" thing; you wouldn't understand

The BBC article of October 4, 2015 *see below*, wonders why President Obama cannot, with a stroke of the pen and the support of Liberal congress-critters, impose "Common-Sense Gun Laws" to curb what they (the Brits and the American Liberals) assume would resolve all of the "Gun Violence" issues in America.

There are two reasons:

First: America is not a "Democracy"; it's a Republic

Second: The Constitution of the United States acknowledges (and guarantees) the right of Americans to "Keep and Bear Arms".

Why Obama is powerless to reform gun laws - BBC News:
 October 04, 2015: Can't the states do their own thing? In the Senate - which currently has 54 Republicans and 46 Democrats (or Democratic-supporting independents) - the individual state populations are the key. The votes of Senators John Barrasso and Mike Enzi in pro-gun Wyoming (population 584,153) have the same weight as gun-control-backing Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer in California (population 38.8 million).
Yeah, that's the "Republic" thingie.

As Thomas Jefferson said, "Democracy is nothing more than Rule By Mob"; and today Liberals Americans are 'the mob'.

Our "Democratic" president would dearly love to impose his bias upon free Americans.  It's a source of irritation to our Dear Leader that he cannot arbitrarily impose draconian restrictions on our freedoms.

Don't think that a lot of Congressmen wouldn't back him in this raid on Constitutional Rights, but the folks who started this experiment in liberty were smarter than the Brits, and Obama combined.  Which wasn't much of a challenge, as it turns out.

(Curious, that the "Constitutional Law Professor" who rules America today doesn't seem to 'get it'.)

(Go here for a discussion about the Electoral College)
If you're not confused, you were not paying attention.  The "Electoral College" concept is confusing to 99.9% of Americans (including me).  But one would be surprised if an American President who is also self-identifying himself as a "Constitutional Professor" didn't understand it.
Obama cannot impose arbitrary restrictions on Firearms Ownership (or in other words " .. is powerless to reform gun laws ...") because he's not a King.  He cannot rule by fiat.  He needs the support of BOTH houses of legislature, and he can't get it because those senators and representatives are dependent upon the good will of their electorate to get themselves re-elected next year.  Without the firm support of the Electorate (you and I),

And as Al Gore learned a few years ago, one of the EASIEST ways to lose an election is to infringe on the Constitutional Rights of the American Citizen.

Even if you're a Rabid Anti-gun Liberal, you don't want to seriously propose a Constitutional Amendment unless there is first a Constitutional Convention to support your ever-so-popular view.  And even then, it's still not a good idea because then there are "other issues" which might come arise, and you are likely to lose more than you might have gained.

ONE OTHER QUESTION:

We understand why Americans would want to ask this question.

But why is the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) involving themselves in this "purely American" issue?

It may be a matter of Schadenfreude;
They're so gleeful about their firearms-ban that they cannot bear to let American Freedoms demonstrate that their 'Violence" issues haven't been resolved by their draconian Gun Control measures (which are, by the way, not working!).

So they are violently (excuse the expression, NSFW in Britain) opposed to any other country which might be willing to accept a degree of 'gun violence' in protection of "Personal Freedoms" ..  thus allowing private citizens to defend themselves in their homes and in their persons.  Because if they let THAT example go without criticism, they might find themselves defending the logic in exposing their citizens to violence without allowing' them the means to defend themselves, their property, and their family.

That would be embarrassing.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

People Still Being Shot In The People's Republic of Canada?

Toronto gun violence must be addressed by entire city, Rexdale pastor says - CBC.ca | Metro Morning:
A Toronto-area pastor says there's a feeling of hopelessness and helplessness in the city's Rexdale neighbourhood and it's a problem for the entire city to fix. On Sunday, a 35-year-old pregnant woman was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting while riding in the back seat of a vehicle in the area. 
What's this?   People are still being shot in Canada?
That's impossible!   Canada has many of the gun laws which American anti-gun groups have been trying to establish for years, and for the specific purpose of eliminating exactly the kind of tragedies described above!
Canada  (see link here)
(Cliff Notes Version: strict compared to U.S. laws. Ottawa sets gun control laws that may be supplemented locally.)

  • 18 years or older to own a gun, licensed only, background check and public safety course
  • 1995 Firearms Act: owner licensing
  • Licensing of all long guns (since abandoned due to billions of dollars expense to enforce)


UK STOPPED GUN VIOLENCE:
The online newsletter BUSINESS INSIDER announced the success of the same Gun Control Safety measures that Canada (and other United Kingdom countries, for example) in an article titled:
"How Australia and Other Developed Countries Have Put A Stop To Gun Violence" by Walter Hinkley (January 15, 2013)

Perhaps this announcement was premature.   Gun Violence continues in Canada. Non-gun violence has peaked in countries where private citizens are not allowed to defend themselves with firearms against thug.  See "yobs", below.

HOW AMERICAN GUN DEATHS AND GUN LAWS COMPARE TO CANADA'S

The National Observer, in a December 04, 2015 article, observed that:
According to a StatsCan report from 2012 – the most recent year available – the U.S. suffered a total of 8,813 murders involving the use of firearms that year. Canada, in the same year, recorded just 172 firearms-related homicides.“When looking at firearm-related homicide rates in comparable countries, Canada’s rate is about seven times lower than that of the United States (3.5 per 100,000 population), although it is higher than several other peer countries. While Canada’s firearm-related homicide rate is similar to those in Ireland and Switzerland, it is significantly higher than the rates in Japan (0.01 per 100,000 population) and the United Kingdom (0.06 per 100,000 population),” states StatsCan’s findings, which do not include Quebec figures.
Note that Japan has the highest suicide rate in the world, even though guns are absolutely forbidden there.  UK has even more draconian firearms-ownership regulations ... but the rate of non-gun violence is higher there than both Canada and America combined, because Brits are not allowed to arm themselves in protection against assault by YOBS.

SUMMARY:

Yes, it's possible to dramatically decrease the number of gun-related murders by highly restricting or even eliminating the private ownership of firearms.

That just means that the criminals do not fear lethal resistance from their victims.
The odd thing is, when anti-gun folks laud the 'improvements' in a society where guns are highly restricted, or totally banned, they see higher rates of robberies and burgularies (including 'occupied dwelling' incidents, muggings, other assaults and murders by knives, bludgeons, and fist-and-feet.

The quality of life dramatically decreases when the public is not allowed the tools to defend themselves against even casual assault and robbery.

Ask any Brit, for example, or Australian who feels defenseless against young hoodlums who feel confident that they will not be met with an effective defense in a home invasion.

(1)
(2) The Failure of Canadian Gun Control (Dave Kopel)

(3)
Published on May 15, 2013
The Gun Ban In Australia Caused Increase In Crime And Home Invasions
Two thousand angry Australians gather to demand their gun rights and justice. Ginny Simone reports that the people of Australia gathered at the feet of Parliament with signs and outraged chanting in protest of the country's gun bans. Interviewees from the crowd discuss the gun buyback that required citizens to surrender their weapons with the threat of jail, an event that resulted in the confiscation of over 6,000 guns. With millions of dollars spent and no reduction in crime and actual increases in crime including home invasions, from the gun bans, Australians demand the right to defend themselves and to feel safe in their homes.




You Get The Police Force You Deserve

British police reluctant to carry guns because of prosecution fears: Home News
 Police chiefs are struggling to recruit enough officers willing to carry a gun to tackle a Paris-style terror attack, because they fear they will be treated as criminal suspects if they use their weapon in the line of duty ... potential recruits were being deterred because of fears they could spend years under investigation after a decision to fire on a suspect ...
THIS is what you get when your "litigious society" is more focused on criticizing the cops than stopping the bad guys.

Curiously, the Brits are quick to criticize America for being a "Litigious Society":   and if you read both the lead article, and the article linked to in the preceding line ...  ^  ...

... then you have just learned the meaning of 'IRONY'.

Monday, May 16, 2016

You Can't Have It Both Ways

The usual Mantra of the "Leftist Liberal Gun-Grabbers" (but I repeat myself!) is that the NRA is the tool of the firearms manufacturers.

That would suggest that anything which widens the market for newly manufactured firearms would be a primary effort which the National Rifle Association would eagerly espouse to advance the fiscal well-being of their supposed "masters" .. the gun makers.

But what's this?

The NRA is backing laws to require LEOs to keep and resell confiscated firearms, rather than to destroy them?   Even if it means that the market for new firearms may be undermined?

NRA Keeps Killer Guns on the Market - POLITICO Magazine:
In the past eight years, 11 states have passed NRA-backed laws encouraging or requiring police to resell confiscated guns. The legislation is consistent with the guns-everywhere strategy the lobbying arm of the NRA has advanced at every level of government since the late 1990s—more guns in the hands of more people in more places. Dealers buy them in bulk from police departments and sell them to the public with no disclosure that such weapons were once used in robberies, assaults or homicides. In some notable cases, these guns are used to commit new crimes. Even so, efforts to expand these laws to other states are underway.

Either the NRA is the toady for the gun makers, or it's an advocate for the American Citizens who own (or want to own) guns.  As this article illustrates, you can't have it both ways.

Chuck Behind The Curve: Brady Kicks Politico Arse

Is Chuck Schumer developing a conscience?
Why else would he be dragging his feet on introducing another means-nothing anti-gun bull?

Gun-control group pushes Schumer, he obliges - POLITICO:

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence had organized a conference call for Monday afternoon designed to call out Schumer — normally a reliable ally of gun-control groups — for not yet introducing the bill. In a statement announcing the call, the organization proclaimed: “Senator Schumer falls through on promise to Brady Campaign.”
Chuck was a little bit slow dancing to the Brady tune this week, so they called him to account for his intransigence.   It required only a mild threat to get Chuck back on the gun-grabber bandwagon.

Under heavy pressure from an influential gun-control group, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday that he would introduce legislation expanding universal background checks — following through on a months-long pledge to bring forward the bill.

One wonders: is he beginning to feel just a little bit used and abused?


One hopes so.

That's the usual fate of "Useful Idiots" when they exceed their "Sell-By Date".

H/T: Sipsy 

Sunday, May 15, 2016

USPSA In The News

Alternative summer camp: where children learn to shoot assault rifles | US news | The Guardian:

A 15-year-old boy fires an assault rifle at human-shaped targets while walking through a desert shooting range. Whipping a pistol from a holster, another teen shoots rapidly at man-shaped targets that pop from behind barrels.

Oh, darn.

I don't know anybody who shoots at man-shaped targets.   Do you?




check it out here.