This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Guns

  • GOP strengthens gun rights platform

    The Washington Times reports that the Republicans’ platform just approved this week in Tampa pledges to strengthen their gun rights advocacy by supporting large-capacity magazines, supporting “stand your ground” laws, and allowing citizens with concealed weapons permits carry in every state that allows their own citizens to carry concealed weapons.

    Of course, there are detractors;

    Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said that, by making these changes, Republican leaders have “put themselves farther out of touch with their constituents.”

    His group supports bans on large-capacity weapons, which it says are “designed to shoot a lot of people quickly and efficiently.”

    Yup, I have lots of large capacity magazines, and I bought them for just that purpose; to shoot a lot of people quickly and efficiently, if I ever need to do that. in fact, almost none of my guns can be used for hunting at all, they’re all for killing people. I don’t intend to kill anyone, but I want that capability if me or my family are faced with the possibility.

    David Keene, president of the National Rifle Association, told the NRA News that the 2008 GOP platform “was perhaps the most gun-friendly platform that any party had ever adopted,” and “this year’s Republican platform is even stronger in terms of dedicating a major party to the protection of the Second Amendment.”

    And it’s about time they got their heads out of the sand in regards to guns and made a bold statement. I want to see what the Democrat party will put in their platform referring to guns. Maybe they’ll have the guts to say what they think. If they don’t, then the Brady campaign will see what the voters are really thinking.

  • Finally a vet connection to the Empire State shooting

    Biermann sends us a link to CNN who finally was able to connect the gunman outside of the Empire State Building to the military. Yup, he was in the Coast Guard in the 1970s. I know there were Coast Guard in Vietnam, but Jeffrey Johnson, 58 turned 18 in 1972 after all US combat troops were withdrawn, so it’s not likely that Johnson served in combat, so it may be difficult for them to blame his actions on PTSD or other war-time trauma.

    The shooting might dissuade the New York police Department from continuing their use of the 9mm, though;

    Johnson died from nine gunshot wounds in his chest, the medical examiner’s office said. Three bullets were recovered from his body, while another four bullets exited his body, the medical examiner said. No explanation was given for two apparently unaccounted for bullets.

    When it takes nine hits to kill someone who is shooting at you, time to change guns. However, if they’re going to be such poor marksmen, maybe the public is safer with the cops using 9mm;

    Nine pedestrians suffered bullet or fragment wounds in the hail of gunfire, all from shots fired by police, Kelly said. Three passers-by sustained direct gunshot wounds, while the remaining six were hit by fragments, Kelly said.

    I erroneously, in my original post, linking to Fox, said Johnson had been fired the day before from his job where the shooting took place. I seems he’d been stewing in his apartment over the firing for a year. And, oh, yeah the CNN article mentioned that the victim, Steven Ercolino, 41, had filed a complaint with the local courts about Johnson in which he said he anticipated his fate. So, not only did government fail to protect bystanders in the incident, by training their officers to look beyond the target when firing in a crowd, they also failed to protect the intended victim by disregarding his complaint.

    So let’s write some more gun laws, shall we?

  • 19 shot overnight in Chicago

    To demonstrate how well gun control works, 19 folks were shot within a short period last night in Chicago, according to the Tribune. Chicago’s gun laws are as strict as the city of New York, where a gunman and police shot several bystanders today.

    Thirteen people were shot in separate incidences in the space of a half hour in Chi-town.

    General Allen called to tell us that those shootings happened because of Ramadan and the resulting Eid al-Fitr celebration, despite the fact that probably none of the victims or shooters are Muslims. Allen went on to say that folks in Chicago need to drink more water to prevent further shootings. Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III could be heard in the background blaming tattoos for the shootings.

    Afghan President Hamad Karzai emailed to tell us that it was probably because of Canadian intelligence officers who have been infiltrating Chicago. Or something.

    Thanks to Old Trooper for the link.

  • And don’t get between a mama bear and her cub, either

    ROS sends this feel good story about a 25-year-old mother who used an evil gun to plug an eviler criminal went he intruded upon her home after she warned him several times to leave;

    Lewis says she gave the intruder several warnings before shooting, but he wouldn’t listen.

    Police say Lewis will not be charged, since she was defending herself.

    “It wasn’t like, oh can I pull the trigger? It was like when should I shoot? When will he be close enough that I know I won’t miss him? That’s one of the things that was going through my mind,” said Lewis.

    Unfortunately, the evil doer, 25-year-old Michael Jacobs, is in stable condition, but facing charges of burglary, criminal mischief, as well as possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, because what’s a burglary without some weed.

  • Protest in DC for gun rights

    The Washington Times reports that about 40 young residents of the Metro DC area protested in front of city hall this weekend for the right to carry concealed weapons in the wake of the media non-frenzy over Floyd Corkins raid on the Family research Council’s offices this past week.

    Mayor Vincent C. Gray has pledged to preserve the city’s strict gun laws after the incident renewed debate about firearm safety in the city.

    Which makes perfect sense since Corkins brought the gun on the subway from Virginia. DC’s strict gun laws didn’t prevent Corkins from bringing the gun into the District while the law abiding citizens of DC are the proverbial fish in a barrel.

    “I really do believe we should be allowed to have our Second Amendment rights,” protester Amanda Haas, 21, said.

    Ms. Haas said she is “a single girl who’s living in the city” and should have the right to protect herself with a firearm if, for instance, she is accosted while walking at night from the Metro to her home near Eastern Market.

    She has good reason to worry, since crime has been on the rise in the Eastern Market area of the city, a scant few blocks from Capitol Hill. Like the other night when a 29-year-old man was beaten near Eastern Market. Fish in a barrel.

  • Family Research Council gun play

    Old Trooper sent us a link earlier, but I wasn’t able to get it open in time, but apparently there was a gunman at the Family Research Council in downtown Washington, DC today. The Washington Examiner reports;

    A man walked into the lobby at about 10:45 a.m. and was confronted by the security guard as per the organization’s policy, D.C. police Chief Cathy Lanier said. The man opened fire, and the guard was hit in the arm before he and other security guards tackled the shooter,” Lanier said.

    “As far as I’m concerned, the security officer here is a hero,” Lanier said. “The persona never made it past him.”

    A suspect was taken into custody, and the man was uninjured, Lanier said.

    I really don’t see how this could happen, I mean DC has the most stringent laws for having a handgun in one’s possession in the country and yet – viola – someone had a gun. And it’s doubtful that it was one of those right wing gun nuts on a rampage clinging to God;

    The Family Research Council is a Christian advocacy group that advocates against abortion and same-sex marriage, among other issues.

    Andthis is probably the last time you’ll see the Leftist press not speculating on the reasons for the attack;

    There’s still no information indicating the shooting had anything to do with FRC or its politics.

    But if had been Planned Parenthood or Speak Out, there’d be speculation from here to New England. I guess no one can believe that one of their Leftists would start shooting up some offices somewhere. And carrying a gun illegally in the bastion of gun control.

    But CNN says differently;

    A law enforcement official said the gunman, described as a man in his late 20s, made some remarks about the Family Research Council before opening fire.

    I guess “remarks” aren’t indicative to his motive.

    ADDED: OK, I’m going to stir the pot a little; Did the Southern Poverty Law Center influence the gunman at the Family Research Council;

    Certainly, if Rush Limbaugh influenced Tim McVeigh, SPLC can be held culpable for for this douche. Has the Peace Corps checked their records to see if this guy was trained by them?

    By the way, I’m watching the local news, which are the only people who are mentioning his name, and I think I’m hearing “Floyd Corkin” with these infantry ears.

    Added again: Yup Floyd Corkin, 28, from Virginia.

  • NOAA needs 46,000 rounds of .40 cal. ammo

    Business Insider reports that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Service is in the market for 46k rounds of .40 caliber bullets for some reason. Maybe it’s their new method for scaring hurricanes away or something.

    The National Weather Service stations in Ellsworth, Maine, and New Bedford, Mass., are slated to receive 16,000 rounds of .40 S&W jacketed hollow point (JHP) bullets.

    […]

    6,000 rounds of S&W JHP will be sent to Wall, New Jersey and another 24,000 rounds of the same bullets will be handed over to the station in St. Petersburg, Florida.

    This comes on the heels of the Department of Homeland Security buying 450 million rounds a few months back.

    Right after DHS placed their order, I ordered some green tip 5.56mm and I just got my ammo can full yesterday from 5 months on backorder. Of course, I was holding out for stripper clips, because I don’t load my magazines a bullet at a time. But it seems to me that the government is buying up all of this ammo to make it harder for us private citizens to get it. Cheaper Than Dirt jacked their prices up $20/400 rounds of 5.56mm right after that government order in March.

    I guess if they can’t get our guns, they’ll price ammo out of our reach. I don’t have any .40 cal. Short & Weak weapons, though. I opted for the 10mm instead, and the 10mm is too manly for government agents.

  • 3 dead in Brazos County shootout

    ROS and one of my ninjas sent links to the story of a shootout near Texas A&M in Austin, TX. Apparently, an officer was serving an eviction notice when the resident opened fire killing an officer and a passerby before he was killed.

    Officers performed CPR on Brazos County Constable Precinct 1 Brian Bachman on scene, but he was pronounced dead after being transported to an area hospital. Officers say the shooting occurred while the constable attempted to serve an eviction notice.

    A 65-year-old male civilian was also fatally shot.

    A 55-year-old female civilian was shot, and was in surgery Monday afternoon. Her condition is unknown. A College Station police officer was also shot in the leg, and is in stable condition. Two other police officers suffered non-life threatening injuries.

    The shooter was apprehended but also died. Every death is tragic, but I also noticed that three other people died in Brazos County today. Two in a car accident and a woman was killed when debris fell off of a truck in front of her. But the only one of those deaths making the national news is the one involving guns.