Women and Self Defense:

Today I Shot Guns with my Teenager - The Organic Prepper:

Guns are the greatest equalizer. On Friday night, the very night before a man with a gun took lives in a horrific mass shooting, a woman with a gun was safer because of having it. 

 It was after supper when the dogs in the back began barking. A car had come down my long private driveway and pulled to a stop. I live way down a long country road, and my driveway is the last one on the road. Uninvited visitors are extremely rare. We’re too far out there for the usual smattering of Jehovah’s Witness, little girls selling cookies, and neighborly drop-offs of homemade jam. I looked outside and saw that two men had gotten out and approached my daughter while one waited in the driver seat of the car. My daughter, 15, was doing some of the after dinner chores. I had a bad feeling immediately. I knew it, because I was adamantly told by that gut instinct that doesn’t hint something is wrong, but pounds your heart like a drum to get your attention, and screams it inside your head. I stopped for just long enough to grab my loaded Glock 19 and for the first time since purchasing it, I racked the slide and chambered a round for a reason other than target practice. For the first time, I did so because of another human being. I did so because there were 3 men out there with my child and they were bigger than both of us. They were undoubtedly stronger, and we were outnumbered, and I knew that there was the potential for something bad to happen. I stuffed the gun into the side pocket of my hoodie and hurried out. I asked the men brusquely, “Can I help you?” One was the talker. He was bearded, over ,,,

Go read the original.

If YOU ARE THE NRA ... then you ARE a member of a Terrorist Organization!

MoveOn Petitions - Declare the NRA a Terrorist Organization:

To be delivered to The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama The National Rifle Association needs to be listed as a Terrorist organization for their promotion of guns and that gun violence is the only way to solve the nations problems. The NRA has become the problem for their promotion of weapons.

H/T: comment * by DIVEMEDIC at PAGUNBLOG
* (follow this link for reference)

Because it's not English?

DHS Report Calls for Rejecting Terms ‘Jihad,’ Sharia’:

A new Department of Homeland Security report urges rejecting use of Islamic terms such as “jihad” and “sharia” in programs aimed at countering terrorist radicalization among American youth.

Because "Words Hurt"??

  The Homeland Security Advisory Council report recommends that the department focus on American milliennials by allocating up to $100 million in new funding. It also urges greater private sector cooperation, including with Muslim communities, to counter what is described as a “new generation of threats to the Homeland related to the threat of violent extremism.” The funds would be used for hiring experts and new social media programs and technology to influence young people not to join terror groups. “The department’s CVE efforts are an attempt to protect our nation’s young people from extremists who prey upon the Millennial generation,” the report says.

Wasn't it only "So Last Year!" that DHS was warning us about the threat from "disaffected American Veterans" and "Radical Conservative Americans", who then were the focus of their attention?

(So, now we're going to pay $100,000,000.00 to talk young muslims into not killing us?
If I convert, can I get in on that scam?)

We're counting on you, DHS-Boyz, to protect us from all the radicals of every stripe and variety, regardless of Creed, Color or National Origin.

But  not regardless of Religion, because that would be hurtful ...

,,, and Democrats get an automatic pass.  Of course.  Who doesn't love a Liberal?

(Huh?  Whats that you say about that guy in Orlando?  A Democrat?   Black?  Muslim? Oh, no, you must be wrong.)

Well, that explains a lot

Orlando Shooting -- Gun Control as Left-Wing Identity Politics | National Review:

Do you know what kind of crime illegal possession of a firearm is in the state of Illinois? It is a misdemeanor. A 2014 study conducted by the Chicago Sun-Times found that in most cases, Cook County judges handed down the minimum sentence for gun possession, and in most cases, the criminals ended up serving far less than that, doing only a few months. Those charged with simple possession had an average of four prior arrests; those charged with the more serious crime of being a felon in possession of a firearm had an average of ten previous arrests.

It's obscene. Horrifying.

Today, I read Helen Ubinas' screed on how repulsively easy it was for an American citizen to purchase a firearm:

I bought an AR-15 semi-automatic Rifle in 7 minutes

That's how long it took me to buy an AR-15, the type of semiautomatic rifle used in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
Seven minutes.  From the moment I handed the salesperson my driver's license to the moment I passed my background check.
It's likely it will take more time than that during the forthcoming round of vigils to respectfully read the names of the more than 100 people who were killed or injured.
It's obscene.
Horrifying.

I wondered what one could say to her, to help her understand the people who own guns.

Then I read her follow-up article which described the reactions of her readers:

WHILE THE rest of us are mourning the horrific loss of life in Orlando, and trying to come up with actual solutions that might make our nation safer, gun fans are dancing in the streets over the fact that the high-capacity, semiautomatic, military-style rifle wielded by Omar Mateen was not built on the AR-15 platform.

"Hey stupid. You got the wrong gun. It wasn't an AR-15. Get your facts straight you lib-hole," read one email in response to my column describing the seven minutes it took me to acquire an AR-15 rifle.

If I were a hard-core "gun enthusiast" - I don't mean those who occasionally hunt or target-shoot, but someone who truly worships these deadly weapons - it might matter to me that Mateen's rifle used gas-piston technology rather than the direct impingement process traditionally used with AR-style rifles.

... and I realized that there was nothing to be said which would ameliorate her hatred of the "Evil Gun".   Or the "Obscene, horrifying" Second Amendment.

Well. She doesn't support my Second Amendment Right to " ... keep and bear arms ...", but I understand her First Amendment Right to express her opinion.

 She gets her information from the Huffington Post, and she has been radically converted.

IN HER ARTICLE, Ubinas makes a couple of salient points:

FIRST:

If it wasn't so easy to get a gun in this country, the 29-year-old gunman who went on a shooting rampage in a popular gay nightclub in Orlando on Sunday wouldn't have been able to buy the weapon he used to kill 49 people and injure 53.

Well, the shooter WAS a licensed Security Guard, and had passed every test which the Liberal Left wishes to impose on firearms owners.   If the Liberals has been able to define even more restrictive limits on the vetting of Armed security Guards, I'm sure they would have told us.

SECOND:

If it wasn't so easy to get a gun in this country, another gunman who came before him wouldn't have been able to use the same kind of firearm to kill elementary-school children in Newtown, Conn.

The-person-who-shall-not-be-named murdered his mother to gain access to her gun safe (in which all of her firearms were safely stored.  Does the author consider fire-proof safes to be less than adequate receptacles for the safe storage of firearms?)

Back to the story: The author attempts to find a REASON for this creature to kill so many people:
Homophobia?  Not proven, and perhaps just the opposite (shame) was a part of the justification.
Radicalism? Proven, in his call before the murders, to declare his allegiance to Islamic Jehad.
Mental Illness?  Geez, anyone who willingly shoots 100 people is some kind of a nut.

JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE GUN SHOW?

And yes, guns. Insane, nonsensical access to guns. So pick whatever reason or narrative matches your politics or agenda. Have at it, because the truth is that while they all play a part, what's really destroying this country is fear and hate. A festering fear and hate that we better think about when it's time to vote for our next president, because the fear and hate is not all coming from the outside. It's not all from some unnamed foreign bogeyman. Increasingly it's from within, from down the street, the next state over, the next potential leader of this country.

Ms Ubinas has stepped through her logic and proven (with delicate finesse and fine attention to detail) that the Orlando shooter was an aberrant exemplar of firearms owners.

However, she is absolutely correct when she says: "...what's really destroying this country is fear and hate."

BLOGMEAT: Too Many Topics To Itemize

Things I didn't want to explode my head.

(1)

Obama Didn't Like The First Amendment During Last Campaign

By Matt Cover | August 30, 2012 | 2:11 PM EDT

(CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama endorsed a constitutional amendment that would restrict the free-speech rights of political activist groups by overturning the Supreme Court decision in the landmark Citizens United v FEC case that granted First Amendment rights to corporations ...

Yea, like THAT'S  gonna happen!

(2)
Bill O'Reilly ... This Is The Key To solving The Gun Problem

“My solution to the gun problem is this: ...
“So President O’Reilly would be open to the idea that AR-15-like weapons or AK-47s could be limited?” Colbert asked....

Oh, wait ...  this is the unreported side-story to the article I just published.

(3)
From "Shall Not Be Questioned: A modest proposal for a racing car ban ... 
... cleverly phrased to parallel proposed "reasonable gun control laws".

(4)
Say Uncle chronicles Travels With Sulu ....
.. in which George Takai gets all hissy-fitted about Gun Control and Orlando because LSMFT or something.
YOU should go read it, then come back and tell me what it said, because I don't want to go there

(5)
Joel the Hermit  ...   has some good advice for people who think they're safe because their political representatives are Republicans, too.   It's not always good to not remember that Republicans are politicians, too.

(6)
Speaking of Which, JDZ at "Never Yet Melted" reminds us that The Donald is also a Politician.
So, you really thought he was going to be as concerned about your Second Amendment Rights as you are?  Hmmmmm ?

(7) 
The ultra Liberal "DAILY BEAST" has a one/two knock-out punch for you.

           First: Gun Control ISN'T The Answer!

Then: (fair and balanced?): The GOP Just Might Hate Gun Control More Than Terrorists

(8)
Borepatch says that just because NSA is looking at spying on  monitoring implantable medical devices, that doesn't mean they're gearing up to remotely disable your Smart Gun when The Day Comes when that's the only kind of firearms you may legally own..

(9)
Joe Huffman (Mister Boomer-Shoot) quotes the ineffable Michael Z Williamson (one of the premier Military Science Fiction authors of the decade ... and BTW Michael when are you going to publish your next book in the series?  I think Tom Kratman is drawing into the Publishing Lead and John Ringo is kicking his ....)   sorry, I digress when it come to SF;

Anyway, Michael Z haz a couple of thingz to zay about gun lawz:

First, that people with no knowledge of the subject shouldn’t be attempting to create legislation.
Second, that all those laws should be repealed.
Every single one.

(apologies for the cutzy .. "Z" .. thing .. but I find it too hard to rezizt!_

(10)
Finally ... you've all been waiting for this one ... Conan O'Brian sez says that nobody should be allowed to pozzezz an Azzault Rifle!

He described semiautomatic rifles as “weapons of war” that “have no place in civilian life.”

“I simply do not understand why anybody in this country is allowed to purchase and own a semiautomatic assault rifle, it makes no sense to me,” O’Brien said. He added that he tries to keep his “opinions” to himself, but on the matter of banning semiautomatic rifles he chose to speak his mind.

We realize you're a Talk Show Host, Conan, and an illiterate idiot as well.  But you must have known the answers to The Constitution questions to qualify for your Naturalization Test, so surely you have read and memorized the Second Amendment?

Or is it that you don't understand the phrase "... will not be infringed".

"Heavy Weapons"

The only good thing (for various values of 'good') I can say about politicians is that they make News Commentators look good ... by comparison.

In his June 14, 2016,  "Talking Points Memo", Fox News Commentator Bill O'Reilly segues from his original topic to Gun Control.

Acceptable losses | Fox News Video: 

Jun. 14, 2016 - 8:20 - 'The O'Reilly Factor': Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points 6/14

In this eight minute session about half-way through (03:30 minutes) O'Reilly begins to talk about the "Right Wing Responsibility".

From this point on, he should have stopped the "Acceptable Losses" mask and started another 'memo', called "Heavy Weapons".   And no, I din't know what that means.

The following is a portion of the transcript (which was not made available to viewers): note that most of the text was printed on the backdrop, but O'Reilly's signature off-the-cuff comments varied.  His verbal comments are highlighted when they vary from the background text. Words which were listed on the background text but which he did not voice are lined out.   I wrote down his comments as he talked, and I may have missed a few words.

[begin direct quotes]

There is much gun crime in the USA and High Powered weapons are too easy to get.  That's the point! So let's deal with it!

We all have the right too keep and bear arms, but we don't have the right to buy and maintain mortars even if you feel threatened by gangsters or a New World Order.  No bazookas, no Sherman tanks, no hand grenades.
That's because the Second Amendment clearly states that the government has oversight powers ... the right to regulate militias, made up of individuals.  They have that right in the name of Public Safety.
Therefore, Congress should define the kind of weapons for public sales.  And the states should decide what kind of carry laws are good for their people.

(excise a few paragraphs on identifying terrorists, and acknowledging current laws regulating firearms dealers, etc.) Continue quote:

None of the above

Would it be SO BAD if we just didn't elect a president this time around?
Couldn't we do without one?

Not as a permanent solution.  
But everyone who seems to want the job is absolutely, totally unqualified for it.

Both Hillary and Donald (if I may be so familiar) are the sort of people who, if they moved into the house next door, I wouldn't want to be outside while they are feeding the crocodiles in their moats.

And, if that wasn't enough ... ("Here's Don and Hill!") are certifiably frightening people.

Remember LURCH from the Addams family?   And Uncle Festus?

You gotcher presidential presence and you gotcher VP right there, folks.
(I'm thinking LURCH for PRESIDENT and Uncle Festus as his running mate.)

And they are a LOT less scary than The Hillary and The Donald.

Write in candidates?

Politician Uses Massacre to Pursue Political Agenda

It all began with a shoot-out in a gay bar in Orlando.

Now, thanks to Senator Bob Casey, it has expanded to an attack on the Second Amendment by a United States Senator.

People are using "Hate Crimes" to further their personal bigotry against firearms ownership.  Unfortunately, at least one of these people is a U.S. Senator, with powers and influence beyond most of we common citizens:


Sen. Casey unveils new gun legislation in Pittsburgh | WPXI:

“We may not be able to extinguish all hate, but we can take action to limit the damage so we don’t have to have these types of press conferences in the future,” Peduto said.  

The Hate Crimes Prevention Act denies the use of a gun to anyone who has been convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime under federal, state or tribal law who are found to be motivated by hate or bias against a victim's race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

Pittsburgh, PA - Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) announced that he is introducing legislation that would keep guns out of the hands of those who commit criminal acts based on hate. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would prohibit the purchase, possession or shipment of a firearm by anyone convicted of a misdemeanor hate crime or who received a hate crime sentence enhancement, and prohibit the sale of firearms to anyone reasonably suspected to be guilty of a misdemeanor hate crime. Casey also called for other actions to prevent gun violence, including a ban on military-style weapons, limits on clips and magazine sizes, a ban on those on the terrorist watchlist from purchasing firearms and universal background checks

  “That’s going to prevent you from getting a weapon you can use to continue your hate,” Casey said.

For a 'misdemeanor'?

I do not have any objection to penalizing folks who are assertively protecting people who are attacked because of their sexual orientation.

But I DO have a problem with folks who arbitrarily decide that the best way to punish those attackers is to deny their constitutional rights.

Senator Bob Casey deserves credit for protecting his constituent; but when his solution involves abrogation of the Second Amendment Rights of another, I say .. he has gone too far.

As far as I can tell, there are very few legal cases before the Supreme Court which involve one Constitutional Right which may be considered to contradict another.

But Casey's proposal to punish someone by depriving him of his Constitutional Rights is carrying the concept of prejudice much too far.

Can you say: "Never Happened Yet", Brother?"

(I knew you could.)

Orlando

Some thoughts and comments on the massacre in the Orlando nightclub.

Means:  Gun shot
It could have been worse.  See: "Happy Land"

The Happy Land fire was an arson fire that killed 87 people trapped in an unlicensed social club named "Happy Land", at 1959 Southern Boulevard in the West Farms section of the Bronx in New York City on March 25, 1990. Most of the victims were young Hondurans celebrating Carnival,  largely drawn from members of the local Garifuna American community. Unemployed Cuban refugee [other mass murderer], whose former girlfriend was employed at the club, was arrested soon afterward and ultimately convicted of arson and murder.

Motive: Hatred for Homosexuals?

ORLANDO, Florida — Years before he shot up an Orlando gay club in what became the largest mass shooting in American history, [this murderer] regularly picked up lunch from a drag queen at Ruby Tuesday’s. He may have even gone to see a drag show or two, a former high school classmate told The Daily Beast.

(I'm guessing that he was "A nice Guy" .. other than his recent proclivity to murder strangers.)

Opportunity:  Gay Nightclub

This was possibly the most vulnerable target for a man intent on mass murder.  No firearms allowed, presumably, because even legal firearms carriers are usually prohibited from carrying in a bar and the customers may have even been "wanded" before entry. (Has there been any discussion on security precautions at this club?)

 Which would have presented no challenge to the armed murder because he intended to shoot his way in if necessary.   So, there was almost no chance that anyone would be armed and would defend themselves from attack in this "Gun Free Zone".  

Does anyone question that his choice of people to shoot was "a target of opportunity" rather than "a violent statement against homosexuality"?

Commentary: Evil

This has happened before, in variations too numerous to mention.  And it will happen again.

Nothing that our President says or does will stop it.  Not in America, not in any other nation.

Surely, we can pass laws against aberrant behavior .... and we have.
Surely, we can pass laws against access to guns by criminals and insane people; violent behavior; murder ... and we have.

We can pass laws against anything; but the only effect will be on law-abiding people.

Evil people exist, and nothing we can do or say will stop them from wreaking their vengeance on an unsuspecting, vulnerable populace.

In the weeks to come, you'll see people .. and politicians (not necessary the same group) trying to find ways to intercept this sort of thing.

But it will have no effect, will not stop the deaths; because anyone who would do THIS has no respect for life, laws, rules, regulations, "common decency", or the rights of others.

They just want to kill people.  Preferably, a lot of people.

They are carbuncles on the buttocks of humanity, and the only thing that you and I can do is to grit our collective teeth and remove them from society as soon as we can identify them.

That's all I have to say about this.

[NOTE: the names of murderers will not be displayed in 'original content' here, because they are anathema and should not be given the publicity which they so pathetically need.]