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July 2012
DHS video on dealing with active shooters
Its style is that of the 1950s, and it gives priority to running away, but at least it acknowledges that you might be forced to fight. Although I'd favor a pistol over trying to conk someone with a folding chair or a fire extinguisher.
While working for the Feds, I was actually in a situation where we tended to get telephonic threats. The security guards for the building were unarmed. I and another attorney were not. Of course this was in the days before every government building, including the officers of the dog catcher and sewer inspector, had metal detectors.
A nice welcoming sign
Arms trade treaty talks end without result
Excellent news, via Dave Kopel.
Interesting question....
Does Obama think U.S. soldiers use AK-47s?
A good point
From a psychiatrist--"Colorado shooting a reminder that psychiatry, not gun laws, needs fixing"
Clayton Cramer has long been making this point. Historically, there wasn't really much that could be done for serious mental illness, so a person who was in that state was committed and simply "warehoused," often for a lifetime. Then in the late 1960s and into the 1970s, there was a movement to de-institutionalize the mentally ill. The downside was that a large part of the people thus freed wound up either on the streets or in jail. The requirements for commitment became so strict that people rarely heard of it happening, and most people forgot that it existed. With the Tucson shooter, his behavior was so strange and dangerous that his college banned him from campus -- but no one thought to ask the police to take him in for a mental evaluation and commitment. The biggest anomaly is that today many forms of mental illness can be medicated and fixed
Bloomberg put foot in mouth
Mayor Bloomberg suggests police should go on strike to support restrictions on private ownership of guns. Now, that makes sense. You should give up your arms because the police might, for political reasons, refuse to protect you.
Aurora shootings
Via Instapundit, an article in Slate: "In the Aurora Theater the Men Protected the Women. What Does that Mean?":
It means what Robert Heinlein said, in his 1973 address to the Naval Academy.
"Men who go down to the sea in ships have long had another way of expressing the same moral behavior tagged by the abstract expression “patriotism.” Spelled out in simple Anglo-Saxon words “Patriotism” means “Women and children first!”
And that is the moral result of realizing a simple biological fact: Men are expendable; women and children are not. A tribe or a nation can lose a high percentage of its men and still pick up the pieces and go on – as long as the women and children are saved. But if you fail to save the women and children, you’re THROUGH! You join Tyrannosaurus Rex, one more breed that bilged its final test."
As Glenn says, read the whole thing.
Bill O'Reilly blithers on about guns
See the video. He wants to register "heavy weapons." He starts to define that as mortars and howitzers, and upon being told those were already regulated, switches to semi-auto. Then he wants to deal with "heavy duty rounds." I couldn't stand to watch past that point.
District Court lifts stay in Wollard
The Woollard case involves Alan Gura's challenge to Maryland's basing carry permits on applicants showing a "good and substantial reason" for needing to carry, and the fact that this is an arbitrary restriction on exercise of a fundamental right. The US District Court struck down the restriction, and Maryland appealed. It sought a stay of judgment pending appeal, so it wouldn't be forced to issue permits without that requirement while the appeal was underway, and the Court ordered briefing. This morning the District Court ruled against the stay: "Having given due weight to the four Hilton factors, the Court determines that a stay pending appeal is not warranted. The Court will, by separate Order, lift the temporary stay now in effect."
Permalink · Chicago aftermath · Comments (2)
David Theroux on the Aurora shootings
He makes some excellent points, at the Independent Institute.
While driving today, I hear a radio discussion on what would be the shooter's chances with an insanity defense, if it could be shown that he was delusional and believed he was Joker. I thought it might have one big problem, assuming Colorado follows M'Naughton, so that the person must be delusional to the point of not realizing that he was committing a crime.
Joker is the villain, the arch-criminal. So if he thought was Joker, then he believes what he is doing is evil and illegal. He's insane, but doesn't believe what he's doing is legal.
(I once knew of a case where there was true M'Naughton insanity, but it ended on a plea bargain. The defendant started a fire in his hotel room, went off to eat breakfast, and upon returning asked the firemen "how did you like my fire?" Clearly, he thought that what he had done would earn the firemen's praise, or perhaps they would advise him on how to improve his form and make the next one better.
Alan Korwin to be on CNN
Alan tells me he'll be on CNN today at noon local and Pacific, 3 PM EDT.
Amusing bit of gun law favoritism
Story here. Wisconsin has a statute allowing prosecutors (but no one else) to carry in a courtroom, if they have a CCW license. But several counties' courts have adopted court rules allowing judges and LEOs (but not prosecutors) to carry in courtrooms.
Amusing bit of gun law favoritism
Story here. Wisconsin has a statute allowing prosecutors (but no one else) to carry in a courtroom, if they have a CCW license. But several counties' courts have adopted court rules allowing judges and LEOs (but not prosecutors) to carry in courtrooms. Just to make it richer, a prosecutor sued, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court basically ducked the issue.
Thoughts on the Colorado shootings
Truth About Guns shows a sign the theater posted, "NO FIREARMS ALLOWED". For some reason, the shooter didn't follow that. The Washington Times notes that there was an early attempted mass shooting in the city, which ended when someone shot back.
And Don Kates sends an email: "it turns out that Century 16 Theaters no-gun policy also applies to its own security personnel, including the off-duty policy officer on the premises.
UPDATE: link fixed, thanks!
Hence, the reality here is that CO concealed carry laws were irrelevant since there was zero firearms-backed security in the theaters, no one could have a gun on the premises, and the area, like Columbine, was a completely open and non-defended free-fire zone for any assailant. The law-abiding followed the rules."
Fast & Furious bloggers discussed in Italian newspaper
Right here.
"A scoprirlo saranno due oscuri blogger dell’America profonda esperti di armi: Mike Vanderboegh di Pinson, in Alabama, e David Codrea di Hudson, in Ohio."
"Sipsey Street Irregulars – e assieme al collega di Examiner.com inizia a investigare su quanto accaduto."
Observations on the media and the Colorado shooting
Matt Welch hits pretty hard.
ABC News is apologizing for its error.
Permalink · media · Comments (1)
1994: Jody Powell on gun control
Clinton and others should have listened to him.
"As much as I hate to say it, the NRA is effective primarily because it is largely right when it claims that most gun control laws inconvenience and threaten the law-abiding while have little or no impact on violent crime or criminals. (If you doubt this, call the DC government, say you just moved to town with a couple of shotguns for hunting, and ask what you need to do to reply with the law)"
"If the answer is 'no' in both cases, consider whether the benefits are worth making Bob Dole majority leader."
"Your problem and the national problem does not come from people who love guns and hunting and other shooting sports."
Meet the new director, same as the old director
ATF's new Acting Director distributes video "changecasts," to discuss how he intends to change things. A recent one warns agents of "consequences" if they take their complaints outside the chain of command. Then an ATF spokesman claims that he "simply wanted to address concerns raised to him by employees around the country about why agents who previously went outside the chain of command hadn’t been punished."
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (1)
Bonnie & Clyde's guns to be auctioned
Story here.... although it says they "went down with guns blazing," and my memory is that Frank Hamer drilled them both before they could fire.
Thugs rob cafe, get drilled by customer
Video here. It happened in Orlando.
Hat tip to Sixgun Sarah...
Permalink · Self defense · Comments (4)
Fastest growing demographic of Texas CCW permittees...
Is black women.
"Why do you need it?” I don’t remember how many times I was asked this question by a multicultural cast of women whenever I talked about getting a gun.
“I live alone,” was usually my immediate response.
“You could get a baseball bat,” some said. “That’s what the police are for,” others would say.
“I also want to travel and camp by myself and have extra protection to do those things alone,” I would say. This usually provoked a longer silence or a change of subject.
White Southern men, on the other hand, were the most likely to congratulate me on this life decision and follow up with advice on the best kind of firearm to buy."
Hat tip to Instapundit....
Novel use of the Hobbs Act
There is a federal statute known as the Hobbs Act, which prohibits use of violence to interfere with interstate or international commerce.
In the prosecution of the killers of Agent Terry, the government charges the defendants with violating this statute .....
That is, charges them with unlawfully interfering with the smuggling of drugs!
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (4)
New 4473 form
Ev Nappen has a take on it.
Pretty funny
A spokesman for Soros-funded "Citizens for Resposibility and Ethics in Washington writes three letter to the House asking that Rep. Issa be sanctioned for inserting parts of wiretap requests in the Congressional Record, and admits she hasn't bothered to read those segments.
Fast and Furious: DoJ leadership getting pretty obvious
They put two whistleblower agents under the supervision of a supervisor who had said "we need to get whatever dirt we can on these guys and take them down," and "ATF needs to f__k these guys."
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (0)
FBI unseals fast and furious indictment
Five more defendants are sought, and if anyone knows their whereabouts, it's an easy million dollars a head.
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (4)
What a balancing test might mean for CCW laws
John Lott has thoughts, in the Maryland Law Review.
Fast and Furious -- a smoking gun?
Grassley gets hold of an an internal ATF memo. Last para, page five of pdf:ATF agent is ordered to trace Fast and Furious guns that have NOT been recovered at crime scenes ... i.e., ATF has a list of those being sold, even before they turn up at crime scenes, and wants those fed into the trace counts. The agent assigned disagrees, but does the traces. His supervisors asked his opinion, and he gives it ... nobody gives a hoot, and he goes back to working real cases.
I would eat dirt to vote for this guy for president
Even though I much prefer a Browning 1911 in .45. Out here in sun-parched Arizona, the dirt is generally sterile, so I would eat a lot of it for the privilege of casting a ballot for this fellow. That would be REAL hope and change.
Bar ethics complaint filed against Eric Holder
By the bloggers who broke the story, no less.
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (1)
The Obama Zombie Apocalypse
It's them!!!!
Permalink · BATFE · Comments (1)