Back In The Saddle Again

For the benefit of my Constant Readers (both of you) .. yes, I am still here and the reason that I have not been blogging recently is because I have endeavored to accept a kinder, gentler attitude towards the world at large.

I thought that would make it a better place to live.  Unfortunately, nobody else noticed the movement and it's still a crappy place to live, so I will now resume my normal schedule of broadcasting the news that sucks:

In Oregon:

Portland Statue University (a community college at best) demands that Campus Cops patrol without firearms because it "makes the students feel safer".

Apparently, a Campus Cop drew down on a student, mistaking him for a nefarious individual who had been threatening other students.  This student freaked out and so the entire campus freaked out .. never mind that the cops are trained and experienced, and the unidentified wanna-be terrorist is now "The Only One" on the campus with a gun.

Well, if it makes you teen-age students feel safer knowing that a freak with a gun will NOT be countered by a "good guy with a gun", that's your choice.

I wish you well, and hope that the memorials which your co-students will build in your honor are glorious.   They will probably be in place until the expensive floral arrangements die, and the the flowers will hit the same dustbin in which your remains will be consecrated.

AS LONG AS YOU "FEEL SAFE", that's all that's important.

Me?  I'd rather know that I was safe.  But I'm old, so what do I know?

Parenthetically, as far as I know, PSU (Portland State University) is part of OUS (Oregon University System), which has decided that students and faculty are allowed to possess weapons on campus.

I was an employee of the "system", and I carried a firearm for over 20 years on campus.  Never needed it; never worried about it.   Everybody in my office knew I carried, and nobody ever mentioned it as a concern for their safety.

Guns Stolen (?)

Somebody got into my house while I was asleep a couple of days ago.

They found a couple of handguns (a .38 snubby & a 9mm carry gun) out in the open on a bookshelf, and waltzed away with them.

 I had brought the guns out while I reviewing my firearms inventory, intending to make sure I had the recorded serial numbers. Started with the long guns, then got sleepy and just went to bed.

I didn't notice for a day that the handguns were not where I put them. I thought I had put them back in the safe (which was the reasonable thing to do) until I checked; they weren't there. And the front door was unlocked.

I checked with my landlord and he said only he and I had keys to my house.

My guess it that it was a target of opportunity ... but is someone checking my front door every night to see if I left it unlocked? (I "always" lock my doors, even when I'm awake and in the house. Maybe this time I forgot the check? I can't believe that.)   And as far ask I know,  my neighbors don't know that I own firearms.   How could they?  I never talk to them ... they move in and out of the neighborhood (all rental townhouse duplexes in a college term) every three to nine months as they enter and exit the local college.

Since nobody else had keys, and my landlord was out of town (has been for a week), I have to conclude that I left it unlocked. It was closed and latched, I'm certain of that.

 And I keep my porch light on 24/7/365 ... that light has been burning for seven years on the same 60 watt bulb.   It was intended to make burglars think twice before attempting entry.

 Well that didn't work and locks didn't work. What's next, booby traps?

Now I have to go to the police and report the stolen guns. That will prove awkward, as I don't have serial numbers for both handguns. I have the original box for the automatic, but I don't have any record for the revolver. I missed it by THAT MUCH! (Actually, I did write down a number but I'm not certain that the tall vertical marks are "slashes" or "ones".)

They also took my money clip, with about $80 in cash and ALL my identification (drivers license, CHL) and two or three credit cards plus my bank card.

Monday I'll go around to my bank (haven't seen any withdrawals) and the police to report the robbery. I'll get with my credit company ... I have old cards, so I have my account numbers and I can also contact them online.

I don't mind the money, and the cards and drivers license are an inconvenience. Identity theft is an issue, although all the cards are password protected so they could not be used. 

But I'm concerned about a couple of loaded handguns in the possession of burglars.

I'm thinking it was kids. Teens. There were two rifles in plain sight ... I was checking their serial numbers, too ... and they weren't touched. There were guns in a nearby *temporarily unlocked* closet that I planned to record next but hadn't got around to, and they weren't touched.

There's a moral lesson out there for someone, or for everyone.  Maybe a couple of them.

(1) Make sure you have ALL your serial numbers, plus take photos of the firearms (including close-ups of the serial numbers to confirm ... which I was in the process of doing when I went to bed without properly storing my firearms).

(2) check all your doors before you go to sleep.  I do this religiously (I think) and someone still got into my house.

There's another issue:

Oregon is playing with a law which requires that all firearms be under lock and key, when they are not on your person.  There may be a civil liability ... I could go to jail ... if I report stolen guns where were not locked in an "adequate" container.  I've always said my apartment was always locked, and so my firearms were secured.  I'm in a quandary whether I should report the guns as stolen.

I WANT to report the theft *(or maybe I just "mislaid" them)* but can I ... WILL I? ... be prosecuted because I considered my locked doors adequate security.

The problem with new gun control laws is that it makes felons of innocents. However, in spite of my good intentions, I still lost guns which I considered to be secure.

All of my handguns are now in the safe, except for the one which I keep by my bedside.   And a few long guns, in my bedroom closet.  Obviously, I need the immediate availability of at least one firearm ... even in a neighborhood which for over 20 years I have considered to be "safe".

I guess I need to start wearing a gun on my person 24/7 ... which is certain to frighten my neighbors.

I don't like being  'The Bad Guy".

Portland has become the Canker Sore of Oregon

I use to live in Portland (the largest city in the state), back about 40 years ago.

I sold my house for "$2000, and you take over the payments" on my GI Bill loan. 

Ten years earlier, $30,000 for a cottage on the East Side of Portland was (in the words of our real estate agent when my wife and I bought it) a "steal".

But I got divorced, and gave my ex-wife the proceeds from selling the house.   At the time, I regretted having give up a 2-story house with a front and (fenced) back yard, detached garage, and a basement with an extra bedroom.

Now ... I realize that I could not have foreseen what a Liberal Hell-hole Portland would become.   And I'm glad I got out while "the getting was good".

What happened to Portland is what's happening to America.  Our elected officials are allowing violence by people who call themselves "anti-fascists", but who are in fact becoming the most violent fascists in America.

What happened in Portland is fanatics who wear masks and hoodies and assault total strangers on the mean streets of our most "Progressive" city.   

It's difficult to understand what these Rebels Without A Cause want, but they are more than willing to engage in anonymous violence to achieve their bizarre purpose.

It's just a guess, but I think what they want is anarchy.   So I'll call them Anarchists; people who have no clearly defined goal but mob rule .... and they do it because they can.

The state of Oregon, the city of Portland, have made no effort to curb these Anarchists even while they commit crimes of assault against innocent passers-by.

...

I remember, back in the day, driving 'home' to Portland and being greeted by a huge neon sign of a prancing White Stag (the emblem of a well-known outdoor clothing company)

That sign was ... well, it felt like coming home to me.   It was a comfortable welcome to the Portland of my era, and I loved it.

I don't know if that sign is still up; I have passed through Portland a few times on my way up the I5 Interstate highway, but I no longer look for the White Stag sign.  In fact, I try not to look at anything but the road; it's all too gruesome and disgusting to drive through this "Major City".

Portland, Oregon: The canary in a coal mine for the violent Left:

The last time I passed through Portland, Oregon, I was treated to the sight of a bum squatting with his trousers around his ankles, dumping a huge load of poop on the pedestrian walkway of the Morrison Street bridge. 

This was not the Portland of my memories. It was a Third World hell-hole, which I had become accustomed to in Viet Nam ... but not in My America!

This was a consequence of the progressive permissiveness which seems, to me, endemic to extend "Liberality" to the point where laws are not enforced,  anarchy is tacitly permitted, and basic rules of respectable human behavior are ignored.

Forget the riots, forget the protests, and forget the concept of human dignity.

If anyone wonders why I am a convicted Conservative, it's because I think that in an America which is becoming increasingly populated by people who have no concept of "Correct Behavior" ...

I don't want to be known as a part of that America.

This is not the America which drafted me, which sent me to war, or which expected me to act like a responsible human being in a country that I didn't care whether it went communist or was free.

Because I was, and I remain, an American.   I have my standards ... and I insist that those standards are respected and accepted by every American.

Don't shit on the bridge.
Don't shit on the Constitution.

Is that too much to ask?

All they know is what they read in the papers

The Trace references an independent study which purports to prove ... statistically ... that private individuals who legally carry guns do not reduce crime. (see below the fold for detail)

The thing is, crimes which do not occur because of legally carried guns are rarely reported.

Woman Waiting For Her Commute:
During the bitter winter of the year in which Oregon permitted concealed carry, a lady friend of mine was waiting in the transit station to catch her ride into Portland.  She was approached by a trio of young men who threatened her and demanded her purse.  She slipped her hand into the pocket of her overcoat ... and the thugs backed off.   

They said (words to the effect) "Oh no, you don't gotta pull a gun on us, lady.   We're out of here!"

And they left. 
A few minutes later, her bus arrived and she went to her job.

Did she report the attempted mugging?   No, she did not.   She was cold, worried more about getting to work on time, and the crime (of "Threatening", if nothing else) was never reported.

Man Leaving The Office:
Another friend was threatened in the parking lot of the Corporate Headquarters building where he and I both worked ... this was just after he got off work.    He had stayed late to finish a product, and he was the only employee in the parking lot. 

Again, multiple assailants ... but this time he had a pistol in a concealed carry holster; he pulled the gun just far enough to display it, and the gang ran.

He unlocked his car and went home to dinner.  No report was filed with the police, the incident never appeared in the newspapers. 

Just life in The City.

I worked for several years in an educational institution.  I carried every day.  Even though I had a Concealed Handgun License (CHL) it was not legal for me to bring a firearm into the buildings, although it was legal for me to (concealed) carry on campus.  (NOTE: Oregon does not recognize any other state's handgun license; we are that weird.)

Nobody knew I was armed, and I kept the pistol in a locked desk drawer during the day; I only carried it between the parking lot and my office.   And I was never assaulted during that most dangerous time of the day ... on the way to and from work.

If I HAD been approached by someone who threatened me, I would have lost my job by defending myself with a gun; it was obviously a violation of my "Terms of Employment" for me to possess a firearm in any building on campus.     I wouldn't have reported it, either.

In Oregon, CHL folks are the Red-Headed Stepchild; nobody recognizes us, nobody likes us, so we just keep a low profile ... at least, in our professional life.

I suspect many CHL folks around the country are much the same way.  We don't advertise.
And i wouldn't even be writing this, if I wasn't retired.  Now Oregon laws on CHL have been updated just a little bit, but I still can't carry inside of any building on any campus in Oregon.


BELOW THE FOLD: CHL does not reduce crime

How Many Locks Are "Enough"?

Oregon's Initiative Petition 44  demands that all firearms must be kept locked, or locked up.   If your firearms are stolen, you are liable for all injuries (etc).

All of my firearms are locked up.  The locks are on the doors and windows of my home.   I never go farther than the corner mailbox without locking up.   Any more stringent lock-up measures would inhibit my ability to defend myself in my home

Yes, some firearms are locked in safes; others remain available (although not in "plain sight").   Ammunition is typically stored out of plain sight, but not locked up.

Now, the new Oregon Firearms Initiative suggests that if someone breaks into my home and steals my firearm(s), I'm criminally liable for any harm that criminal causes using my stolen firearm.

Where's the justice when the victim becomes the criminal, and the criminal's subsequent crimes are shared by the victim?

SECTION 2. (1) A person who transfers a firearm must transfer the firearm with a trigger or cable lock engaged or in a locked container equipped with a tamper-resistant lock.

Continuing the Bizarre ... a firearms "transferer" can't "transfer" firearm gun without a trigger lock?
How goofy is that?  When you sell a gun, you're not responsible for the actions of the buyer (except that you can't sell a gun to a felon, madman, etc.)   If HE needs a trigger lock, let him buy his own damn trigger lock!

I live alone; I don't need no stinking Trigger Lock!

COULD a minor gain access to a firearm I sell?  (There are no minors in my home; but that doesn't seem to matter.)  Who knows the age of the burglar who breaks into his home during his absence?  There are many flaws in this bill;  there is no allowance for "Reasonable Precautions", because it's purpose is not to provide safety but to intimidate legal firearms owners.

Requiring me to hobble my guns because a minor MIGHT invade my home?   That's madness!


There ought to be a law saying that an intruder is singularly responsible for his own actions.

There use to be; where did it go?

Minnesota HF3022: The Face of the Future?

Funny thing; I always thought the law was intended to protect the innocent and our Human Rights.
Today, we see states deliberately formulating laws to make criminals of law-abiding citizens, and undermining Constitutional Rights. 

It's a funny world we live in, isn't it?  But not humorous; no, not at all.


Incredible Anti-Gun Bill Introduced in MN - AllOutdoor.com

I couldn't do a better job than All Outdoor dot Com describing this egregious (and unconstitutional) Minnesota bill, other than to note the subtitle on the original article:

HF 3022 could make California seem "gun-friendly."

... and the subtitle:

If you live in Minnesota, be afraid. Be very afraid. Then get busy.

A very quick summary of the "Features" of this bill:  Universal reporting, State has total control over every firearms transfer, restrictions on "gun features" which have no bearing on either safety or lethality, mandatory confiscation,  and for a grand finale ....

Universal Registration of all firearms owners, and the personal details (including name, address, etc.) of firearms owners are entered  in a database which is available to General Public Search.

I don't know if this bill will ever be enacted in Minnesota; it's enough that their elected representatives have the unmitigated gall to propose a bill which provides no safety or other benefits to their voters, and still manages to increase their vulnerability to violent crime.


This is a Great Benefit to burglars in Minnesota; they know where, when and why to strike any private residence in the state; one of the most sought-after items of "loot" from a burglary is a firearm.  God only knows how many times it will change hands in the criminal community until it's finally found discarded at the scene of a murder, and with so many fingerprints on it that it can only perchance be traced to the original owner (who might not even yet realize that it has been stolen.)

I've often suggested that many politicians were crooks at heart, but this is the first time we have had confirmation that they are enablers of Home Invasions.

Of course, there are no practical measures which an individual may use to protect himself against his on state Legislature ... except the vote.   Oh, and Minnesota is a Democratic state ... you don't even have to be an American Citizen to vote.   So ... forget that; there are probably more illegal aliens that natural born citizens in your state (and mine) already.

In case my friends and neighbors are feeling comfortable saying "It Could Never Happen Here"?

I live in Oregon.  Oregon is a Democratic State.

Democrats are like rats in the woodwork; they pop up without warning, they defile their environment and eat the wiring until it shorts out and the house burns down.   Then it's not fit to live in for anyone but more rats.

Okay, maybe I've taken the analogy too far.

But what if I'm not wrong?

Society's Child in ToonTown

We didn't have enough Psychopaths in America, so we decided to import them.

20-Time Deportee Moves to Sanctuary City, Allegedly Rapes 65-Year-Old Woman: Police officers in the sanctuary city of Portland [Oregon] arrested Sergio Jose Martinez, 31, after he allegedly broke into the home of a 65-year-old woman, tied her up, held her at knifepoint and raped her, KOIN CBS6 reported. Court records revealed Martinez has a long criminal history that includes burglary, battery, and multiple deportations.

It's not "Sanctuary", it's a Hunting Ground

Following his alleged attack on the 65-year-old woman in her home where she gave him her Prius to get him to leave, police responded to a call about a man attacking a woman in the basement of a parking garage below a building. There, police discovered Martinez allegedly sexually assaulting another woman and holding her at knifepoint. Martinez fled on foot and officers chased him through a neighborhood, capturing him in a nearby apartment, KOINS reported.

Sanctuary Cities need to take responsibility for encouraging these maniacs, who migrate to places like Portland which encourage rapine and murder by their permissive social policies.

Martinez had been deported at least TWENTY TIMES, and he kept coming back because he (like all of his perverted kind) knew that the worst he could expect was a slap on the wrist, and a plethora of Social Justice Warriors who will weep for his poor degenerate self.

What kind of community allows encourages feral creatures to predate its citizens?

Oregon, Oh Oregon ...

The Senate of my favorite state (Oregon) has  been very busy lately:  two actions prove that they're "doing their job and earning their pay!"

First ...Oregon To Decriminalize Meth, Cocaine | The Daily Caller:

The Oregon legislature passed two bills Thursday decriminalizing small amounts of six hard drugs, including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and ecstasy. The first of the two bills now headed to the governor’s desk, HB 2355, decriminalizes possession of the drugs so long as the offender has neither a felony nor more than two prior drug convictions on record, according to the Lund Report. The second, HB 3078, reduces drug-related property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors.

Isn't that special?   Now we can't keep druggies off the streets long enough for them to get past their addiction.

SECOND ... Oregon Passes GOP Senator's Bill Allowing Gun Seizure Order Without Gun Owner's Knowledge:

Oregon lawmakers passed legislation co-sponsored by Sen. Brian Boquist (R-Dallas) that allows a judge to issue an ex parte ruling for the confiscation of an individual’s firearms. The bill is SB 719, and it has now passed Oregon’s House and Senate. It creates an Extreme Risk Protection Order, which forces the subject of the order to hand over all firearms, as well as his concealed carry permit if he possesses one.

Personally, I didn't understand what "ex parte" meant until I read this article:

The ex parte aspect of the law means the bill does not require the gun owner to be present for part of the hearing in which the judge decides whether guns should be taken from him.

(Can you say: "Kangaroo Court", Captain?)

I had ranted against discussed this bill a few times in the past ... once night I raved before I went to bed, and raved the same subject the next morning.  (I deleted one; one overkill is a week is enough.)

I'm not sure which of the Oregon Senate's two actions offended me the most:  more rights for drug users who break the law (they can't work, so they steal to support their habit) ... or less rights for the hard-working law-abiding firearms owner.  (We don't have to break the law for the state to confiscate our property; we only need to know someone who holds a grudge.)

Well, we all make our choices.   It seems clear to me now that I have made a wrong choice of which vice to pursue ... it's safer in Oregon to be a heroin addict than a firearms owner.

Welcome to Oregon!   Bring Drugs and Money!

There Ought To Be A Law which bans Ron Wyden from public office.

Jeff Sessions HEATED response to Ron Wyden on the firing of james comey, trump russia investigation - 

Ron Weyden, the Democratic Senator from the (formerly) Great State of Oregon, chooses to grill Jeff Sessions on ... whatever.

This isn't about Sessions; it's about Weyden.

Decades ago I lived in Portland, Oregon, where Weyden held a relatively minor civil position in city government.

He was ambitious, and one day he knocked on my door to ask me if I would please vote for him in a somewhat more important political position.

I told him that I considered him to be nothing more than a political hack, that I had no respect for him, I would not vote for him as dogcatcher as that would be a disservice to homeless dogs, and that I wished he would leave before the neighbors spotted me talking to him.*

*(Okay, words to that effect; probably not a direct quote but close!)

A moment of silence.

Then Ron said: "Does this mean that I don't have your vote?"

I quietly closed the door.

And Ron got elected, all the way up to U.S. Senate, representing the state of Oregon.  And he did it without my help.  I KNEW I should have campaigned against him, but who knew so many Welfare Moms in Portland would sell their vote to him?

That was when I changed my registration from Democrat to Republican.



So as you watch this video *, please understand that the people in Oregon who do NOT live in Portland and are NOT on the Public Dole do NOT consider Ron Wyden to be the very best possible representative of our people.

And as I watch this video, I am once again embarrassed that this arrogant lame-brained IDIOT is my political representative in the Senate of the United Stages of America.

*(Note the moment, at about 4:20 minutes, when Sessions realized that he was talking to an idiot.)

There ought to be a law.

I wonder if he plays base ball?

No .. never mind.  He's far too effete.

Heroes: Ricky John Best, Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, and Micah Fletcher

While I'm no fan of HuffPost, I'm grateful that they identified the three brave heroes who stopped the insane murderer on the Portland, Oregon "train".

And those three fine men are all heroes.

2 Men Stabbed To Death Standing Up To Muslim Hate In Portland | HuffPost:

 Portland police identified the deceased as Ricky John Best, 53, of Happy Valley, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche of Portland. Best died on the train, while Namkai-Meche was pronounced dead later at the hospital, police said. The third victim was identified as 21-year-old Micah Fletcher of Portland.

These men suffered grievous knife wounds .. two died in their effort to protect innocents while the third (Fletcher) was fortunate to survive the attack.

These are the heroes.

The pitiful loser who initiated the attacks  ,.. he obviously was someone who sought notoriety by hateful acts when he could not acquire fame by contributing a benefit to society .... should never be named.  I hope he burns in hell knowing that he has not achieved his goal of notoriety.

I won't attempt to profile the heroes here ... HuffPost did a fine job of identifying them.  I'm sure we will learn more about Best, Namkai-Meche and Fletcher.

If they do not receive (at least!) a medal from the hands of the President ... it will be a travesty of justice.

We would hope that any of us would have had the courage to intervene as these three fine men did, but I suspect that most of us would have been, in similar circumstances, frozen by terror and unable to act.  I cannot say that I would  have as well defended the innocent girl were I disarmed.

I doubt that most of us can aver, with certainty, that we would have had the courage and the sense of civic responsibility which was demonstrated by  Ricky John Best,  Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche  and Micah Fletcher!

In passing:   While it may seem that I'm beating the drum for my personal bias, it cannot go without commenting that if just ONE person on that urban train had been a CHL person, that entire tragedy could have been stopped with one accurate shot.

Two fine men would have lived; the third would not be grievously injured.

The evil man would have died .. as he obviously had hoped.

And the young woman ... the subject of the original assault ... might have been traumatized, but not as badly as she obviously was when she was forced to watch the gruesome death of two fine men, and the mutilation of another, for her protection,

Portland is suffering under the unfortunate appellation of "Berkeley North" because of its Liberal politics.  I cannot help but wonder if that might have contributed to this tragedy; the attacker might have assumed that he could attack without any effective resistance, if only because this might be an area where nobody would be armed with a gun (A "Gun-Free Zone" City?)

He was correct, to a point.

But he obviously never envisioned that three unarmed men would throw themselves bodily against an armed man (armed with a knife, which he had already demonstrated that HE had no hesitation to use) in defense of a young woman whom he deemed ... 'different'.

People Sometimes Ask:

"Why do you  carry a gun.  Are you so fearful?  Do you think that somebody will just walk up to you and assault you for no reason at all?   What... do you think you live in The Wild West or something?"

Well .. you never know.

Do you?

Oregon Bills May Prove Expensive: Especially SB1065

A couple of Oregon firearm bills are up for votes immediately .. including

SB1065:

SB 1065 includes language from several previous anti-gun bills that died due to a procedural error made by Floyd Prozanski, a sponsor of this bill.The bill is a 26 page monstrosity, but here are the lowlights.  Among many other things this bill does, it nearly quintuples the length of time the State Police can deny you a firearms transfer with no cause.  It also drastically complicates the process for getting a concealed handgun license.

Also:

. Online classes will be prohibited unless the class is provided by the NRA or an “Oregon law enforcement agency or association. “

I'm sure there are several professionals who provide this training locally, but I don't know if they are NRA Approved or if they need to be; the law isn't clear about that.  They are usually expensive, running into multiple hundreds of dollars.  I know of at least one Oregon provider, and I'm sure his training is worth the money.

The problem is that not everyone can afford it.

This bill may prove burdensome for some law-abiding Oregonians,

Fortunately, I acquired my first CHL fifty years ago .. which lapsed, but I re-applied some years later.

Here's a hint:  If you have a CHL in Oregon, do NOT let it expire.  Mine did, last month (they're only good for 4 or 5 years, which is enough time to forget you need to renew it) and now I have to go around collecting signatures from friends and neighbors signifying that they think I'm an honest responsible gun owner.

It's a LOT easier if you renew before your CHL expires.  In my state, at least, and probably in most states.

Oregon gun nuts ... another gun bill.

They Never Give Up | Oregon Firearms Federation:

After the failure of their last bill that sought to force gun dealers into the mental health business,House Rep (and gubernatorial hopeful) Knute Buehler and anti-gun extremist Senator Elizabeth Hayward are back with a watered down version. HB 3460, introduced today, would require the Oregon Health Authority to create “a firearm safety and suicide prevention program.”

Go read the whole thing

Washington State Background Check Failure

New Washington State Background Check Failure Reporting Law Raises Questions:

So much for Michael Bloomberg’s I-594 living up to its promises. Not that anyone expected it to have any effect whatsoever on predators. What it did do, aside from forcing “law-abiding” gun owners to give up private transfers, was create and put a new class of “criminal” at risk for life-destroying consequences —the previously “law-abiding” who chose “I will not comply” civil disobedience over submission to new Intolerable Acts.

- David Codrea

Yep.   Look for the same results here in Oregon.   We always tread on Washington's coat tails.

Einstein's Definition of Insanity:  Trying the same thing over again, expecting different results

NOTE:   Also posted by IRONS

Oregon, and the Right to Keep and Bear Knobkerries

Oregon bans weapons in state workplaces:

Oregon officials have banned state employees from carrying weapons in the workplace unless they're needed for their jobs. The move caused consternation Thursday among Republican leaders in the Legislature. The Oregon Department of Administrative Services said it imposed the ban, which became effective on Jan. 6, in hopes of "providing a safe and secure environment for employees and visitors." Banned are firearms, daggers, slingshots, and a host of other specified weapons. Oddly, even knobkerries were mentioned. Knobkerries are clubs used by indigenous people like the Zulus in southern Africa, and are probably unknown to most Oregonians.

You realize that this would not make for a "safe and secure environment", right?

But if I was still working for The State, I would be a criminal.   Because what I did legally last month, would be illegal today.

For almost 20 years I carried a concealed Knobkerry at work, in a State Office, every day.  Nobody knew because it was ... well ... concealed.  
And I certainly wasn't going to mention it.

It was legal, because of state laws in effect in Oregon at the time, and I had a "CKL" (Concealed Knobkerry License".  But the place where I worked had an administrative rule disallowing the possession of knobkerries ... either open or concealed carry.    They could have fired me for wanting to exercise my God Given Right to Keep and Bear Knobkerries  (RKBK).  

But I would not have been subject to legal action;   I was not breaking any laws.

My thinking was that Knobkerry Free Zones (such as schools) were a prime target of 'mischief makers', and if  'mischief' were to occur at my work place,  I wanted to have options.  

I always felt much more "safe and secure" knowing that I could pull out my trusty knobkerry and pound the living crap out of anyone who decided to use an illegal knobkerry to attack my workplace.

Well, that has all changed now.   Because we are defenseless ... by legal fiat.

I am disgusted ... California Politics are creeping into Oregon.

Can Trump Rob Peter To Pay Paul?

 Is our new president making promises he can't keep?

Oh, HELL yes!

Can Trump Deliver More Water to California's Farmers? - Breitbart:

President-elect Donald Trump has stated his commitment to helping California’s farmers attain more water, as the Golden State prepares to enter its historic sixth year of a crippling drought, with a federal water policy in place that favors fish over agriculture.

Where is he planning to get more water for California?

A large  (YUGE!) part of the water that soothes California Drinkin' comes from the Pacific North West ... parts of which have their own irrigation problem.

What's more important?  Salmon or Lettuce?

One of those problems is that the Pacific Salmon fishing industry (not so much the fish, as the people) depends on Salmon returning to spawn in their 'home waters.   Most of those waters are not located in California, but in Oregon and Washington.  And small farmers in Southern Oregon could produce bigger crops, if they could get more water.

When California draws irrigation water from other states, Pacific Salmon mortality rate soars.
The facts are, Oregon/Washington/Idaho/Colorado are already suffering from threats to harvests because they are sharing their water with California.

Not only are the Northern California farmers "part of the problem", but mega-cities such as San Francisco and Las Angeles are unable to provide sufficient water to service their rapidly growing population without "stolen water":

Colorado River Supply

A California Plumbing Supply industry (link at paragraph heading) provides the answer:
The Colorado River provides water usage to seven states, parts of Mexico, and several Native American tribes. Naturally, all parties are looking out for their own interests first. Many people in other states upriver resent having to let water they want to use flow by them and go to California.The Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct provides more than three-quarters of the water for urban San Francisco. It draws primarily from the area encompassing Yosemite National Park. The East Bay also gets most of its water from the high Sierra, via the Mokelumne Aqueduct. 

We're All "JOADS" Now:

These problems were not created by Donald Trump.  They were created by the mass immigration into California since the Dust Bowl brought failed farmers from Oklahoma to California back in the 1930's.

(See: Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck)

No American president has been able to find a better solution to California droughts than "Redistribution" ... which was Obama's solution to the flow of money; and we all know how well that worked out.

We will be treated to the drama of a billionaire who cannot buy himself out of a problem.  This is the immovable object being faced by the unstoppable force.

I can't wait to see how the Trump Administration handles itself.

Let us give Hillary our vote ... and all of our firearms

In the immortal words of Father Francis John Patrick Mulcahy (*M*A*S*H*) ....

Jocularity, Jocularity, Jocularity!

The Hillarity has spoken, and plans to decree gun control by ... well .. decree.

Wikileaks Release: Hillary Clinton Press Sec Says Gun Control to Be Implemented by Executive Order - Breitbart:

Breitbart News has previously reported that Clinton pledged gun control by executive order. She began pushing executive gun control right after the shooting in the Umpqua Community College gun free zone. That incident occurred on October 1, 2015, three days before Fallon’s email that Clinton “would support…closing the gun show loophole by executive order.” This is in line with a Washington Post report that Clinton wants to use executive orders “to go further than Obama” went  on gun control.

Incidentally, the "Gun Show Loophole" played no part in the Oregon massacre (UMPQUA Community College is two hours drive from my home).   The murderer passed all the bells and whistles of the Background Check which had been recently and universally imposed in Oregon.

Good to know that with new restrictions on firearms purchases, nobody in Oregon need fear a massacre.  Other than the one in Roseburg, of course.  But it's not the fault of Oregon Voters ... they already made that a crime!

But I digress.

Hillarity's proposal (we have this only by quotes from by the members of her personal staff) is to require back ground checks on all firearms transfers, both public (dealers) and personal (private citizens who don't sell firearms for a living .... like me giving my .30-30 to my son, etc).

That will surely stop all these nasty massacres which are upsetting the people.

Did I mention that the Umpqua shooter passed a background check?

Is it possible that politicians (Hillary) know that background checks don't constrain mass murderers, but they put us honest firearms owners through massive impositions on the 2nd Amendment just because it makes the politicians look really good on video?

Oh, and the background checks require that the firearms involved be identified by make, model and serial number.   Nobody knows how that affects the verification of the buyer and the seller, but it DOES provide data to a Universal Data Base on who own why firearm.

I suppose it would be petty for us to assume that this is part of the greater plan to populate a registration database.

And ... oh, apropos of absolutely nothing at all:

Nobody Wants To Take Away Your Guns! (Except for the dangerous ones)

We've been hearing a lot about the media-inspired (and vaguely defined) "Assault Rifles".

In an attempt to accelerate the daily "Two Minutes Hate", gun-grabbers and the media have introduced a new term:
"High-powered rifles".

... gun control advocates from the West Coast are banding together to call for a 10-bullet magazine restriction and a ban on all high-powered rifles they call assault weapons. 

[emphasis added, click on the link]
OOoooooo ... scary!

But while the term "High-powered rifles" may scare little girls, it's suggestive of "Another Gun Ban Movement" ... which might be scarifying to little old men.

In truth, the Left, the 'Anti-Gunners' and other media whores are becoming more adept at inventing new political platforms from which they can attack The Embarassing Second Amendment.

As usual, there is no definition to the term.  In my home state, it was illegal illegal to hunt deer with a caliber less than .25* (which has since been changed in the game laws).

Now that the .223 and the .22-250, etc. are legal to hunt 'big game', does that mean that every deer rifle in America will be confiscated by the Gun Haters?

Well, that does seem to be the trend.

But remember: "Nobody Wants To Take Away Your GUNS!"

Just the dangerous ones.

Oh, and if you have a moment, see the under-the bar parts: 310

Just Another Gun-Grabber

Gov. Brown Announces Plan To Curb Gun Violence . News | OPB:

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced an executive order Friday, ordering Oregon State Police to maintain a database of firearms transactions for five years after the sale. She also ordered state police to notify local law enforcement agencies if a person who is prohibited from buying a gun tries to do so.

When Kate Brown was appointed in February of 2015 to replace former governor Kitzenhaber, I commented here that I was relieved:  "She can't be worse than Kitzenhaber!" I proclaimed.

My friends warned me that she was a Democrat, and an appointee, and she was worse.
I should have listened to them, but it took this announcement today for the warnings to finally sink in.

It was bad enough last year when new laws in Oregon required that all firearms transactions, even private sales, be transacted through the firearms database (a clear violation of the Second Amendment), but I planned to either ignore the trash-law or avoid it.  I have no need for another firearm, I thought.

I was wrong.  It's not about me, it's about Oregon.

Background Check on Private Firearms Sales:

I was not happy when new Oregon laws required a background check on private transfers/sales of firearms.  I was especially disappointed to learn that it included the description (including make, model and serial number) of the firearm.  But I was (naively) reassured that the information was not permanently recorded.

As we all know, a registry of firearms transfers is the first step towards confiscation.  California learned that hard lesson several years ago.  (And it was reinforced last year!)

Gun control in Oregon; Ginny Burdick

Gun control: Stymied in 2016, Oregon Democrats vow to try again in 2017 | OregonLive.com:

... And Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, at a forum hosted by the Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety, reiterated her support Wednesday for enacting gun-violence restraining orders. That idea, already in place in California, would create a court-sanctioned mechanism for removing guns from people believed to be at risk of harming themselves or others.

In case I didn't make myself clear in an earlier post ....

... any Oregon measure which Ginny Burdick supports is certain to be a measure which undermines the constitutional freedoms of Oregonians.  Or, in other words, a lie.

Just Saying.

And I'm not the only one.

Lib Dems LIKE CDC bias, want to resurrect it!

Senate Democrats: End ban on CDC gun violence research | News - Home:
Oregon's Ron Wyden joins mrore [sic] than a dozen colleagues in plea
 From KTVZ.COM news sources (March 23, 2016)

WASHINGTON -Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and 16 fellow Democratic senators are urging Senate appropriators to dedicate funds for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct research into the causes and prevention of gun violence..

 (Warning: Ron Wyden is a POLITICIAN who never knew a cause which couldn't advance his political career.  He came to my front door once, decades ago when I lived in Portland, asking for my vote.  I told him I didn't want him to represent me, because his values were not mine.  He thanked me for my honest opinion and walked away ... across my front-yard grass instead of using the sidewalk.  That's the kind of mustard he's made of.   But that's just my political, and personal, opinion.)

“We must take this important step because only the United States government is in a position to establish an integrated public-health research agenda to understand the causes of gun violence and identify the most effective strategies for prevention,” the senators wrote in the letter last week.

Decoded, that means that the Liberal Gun-Grabber Contingent of the U.S. Senate has identified the CDC as a Federal entity which is eager to advance the anti-gun agenda, and DEMS love the things the CDC had to say about guns .... until the Senate ceased funding their political bias.

Read the article for a full list of the "Fellow Travellers".  I'm sure you'll recognize most of the names.

Their names all begin with ("D-****").

For example:

Last year, Wyden, along with Markey, introduced bicameral legislation with Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., to fund research at the CDC on gun violence prevention and firearms safety. The legislation calls for $10 million each year for six years.

You can see that they're all of the same political bent, determined to rewrite America to fit their personal politics, even if a significant percentage of their 'constituents' despise them and their politics.