Homeland Security document targets most conservatives and libertarians in the country

Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely.  It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

Report warns of rise of right-wing extremists

Further, it says that any possible new restrictions on gun ownership, combined with vets’ trouble reintegrating into their communities during a bad economy, “could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks.”

“The high volume of purchases and stockpiling of weapons and ammunition by right-wing extremists in anticipation of restrictions and bans in some parts of the country continue to be a primary concern to law enforcement,” the report states.

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to remember the 2nd and 10th amendments, continue to dare to speak out against Obama, illegal immigration and abortion-on-demand, and stockpile ammunition.

There, if that didn’t put me on a list nothing will.

Wake up, America! Or this will be us before long.

  Read the rest of this entry »

How awesome is this? Sign her up for the cause asap. God Bless America. I remember firing my first pistol when I was about five or six. I didn’t really want to do it (it was loud and scary and heavy) but my dad basically insisted. I haven’t taken my girls out yet to shoot but I have made them sit down and watch me clean the guns and hold them as well. Part of the whole “that way they aren’t as curious about them and less likely to mess with them later” philosophy of gun safety. It seems to have worked. They don’t think anything of having guns in the house. I don’t keep anything loaded but I do have them and various knives, bayonets etc. hanging on the walls in my office.  I can’t field strip anything worth a darn so I have always have owned an SKS or an AK that with just an amateurish and moderate cleaning resists corrosion and will fire every time. Far easier to maintain than the AR-15. Of course if my eleven year old could field strip like this maybe I would consider a Bushmaster bin Laden killer…..

 We are blessed, not bitter.

Videos: NRA Releases “Bitter, Gun-Clinging” Anti-Obama Ads

Remember when people used to laugh at the thought that armed troops and police would ever go door to door in America confiscating the firearms of law abiding Americans? Well, it has happened, and more than once. What happened in New Orleans must never happen again, and I’m not merely talking about the lackluster and disorganized response, but the draconian gun grabbing that accompanied it. Can you think of a time when you would actually need a gun MORE (LA riots excepted) than during the time of a disaster and the breakdown of law and order?

The Fourth of July is a great day to reaffirm our commitment to freedom, liberty, and the rights that were so bloodily earned 232 years ago today.

Remember, there is a big different between being a serf, subject or slave and a free citizen. It increasingly seems that few know and understand the difference. The right of a man to exercise that whether his antagonist be foreign or domestic, a rogue government or a savage criminal is a fundamental right of being a free man. That right is now less important, and many would argue even more so, than the right to free speech, assembly, press, or the freedom of a man to worship God without government persecution. A man has not just the right, but I believe the obligation, to protect his children, his family, his neighborhood, community and nation.

A Nation of Riflemen First Needs Men

The concept of a “nation of riflemen” was not the product of some unhealthy cultural obsession with weapons, nor did it arise from any remarkable immediate threat to popular safety. The concept was the natural outgrowth of spirit evident in the very founding of the United States, the spirit that made Americans unique and America great. The rifle is, implicitly, the symbol of the self-reliant American.

Why use a rifle as the symbol of self-reliance? Because no other thing, word, or sign is nearly as fitting. In The Prince, Nicolo Machievelli wrote, “[B]etween an armed and an unarmed man, there is no comparison whatsoever . . . .” An unarmed man is, by definition, a dependent. He is incapable of securing his own safety. He must depend on someone else to defend him against attack, whether from a stray dog, a lone criminal, an organized gang, or a foreign army. He rightly fears any separation from society, because solitude separates him from those who can defend him and singles him out as a target for those who might wish to harm him. He is tied by his interest in self-preservation to whoever assumes the burden of defending him. His need to be defended puts him at the mercy of his defender, and over time, he by neccesity becomes their subject.

The SCOTUS ruling restoring common sense to gun ownership in Washington D.C. most certainly has gun grabbers throughout the nation wringing their hands.  In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley is piping hot!

An “outraged” Mayor Daley this morning denounced a U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Washington D.C.’s handgun ban as a “frightening decision” and a “return to the days of the Wild West.”

Frightening indeed!  As safe as Chicago is, one can only ponder the reasons why one would cling to God or guns.  From the A.P.:

But all the talk about greater freedoms for gun owners doesn’t begin to explain what the ruling means in Chicago, which has seen a recent spate of gun violence.

Nine people were killed in 36 shootings during one weekend this spring. The next week, five people were found shot to death inside a South Side home.

Chicago Public Schools officials say 27 students have been killed by gunfire since September.

Pamela Bosley lost her 18-year-old son two years ago, when a bullet struck him as he helped a fellow student unload instruments outside a South Side Church.

“If you didn’t have the guns, we’d still have our children,” she said.

Annette Nance-Holt, whose 16-year-old son was killed on a city bus last spring when someone sprayed bullets inside it, was livid with the court’s decision.

“I’m still trying to figure out who we are more in love with, our children or our guns,” she said. “It’s crazy. I’m safer being a deer knowing people are hunting you.”

I wonder what they put in the water in Chicago that makes the population there so devoid of common sense?  With the toughest gun laws on the books they seem perplexed as to why gun violence continues to be out of control?!  Daley rails about the days of the “wild west” seemingly unaware that wild west towns never had weekends with 36 shootings. 

Oh, and I won’t spend too much time looking for the ACLU or Glenn Greenwalds statements of gratitude that peoples constitutional rights in many big cities are going to be restored.  For them, the Constitutional Amendments begin at one and skip to four and beyond.

The stunning part of today’s SCOTUS ruling was not that the right of individuals to utilize their second amendment rights was upheld, but that gun grabbing liberal judges who love to legislate from the bench voted against today’s ruling. What should have been a no-brainer, unanimous decision instead shows how an Obama presidency and his future Supreme Court nominees would be incredibly dangerous to the rights of the individual. Equally stunning would have been SCOTUS ruling that you have the right to attend church or blog your thoughts on the Internet. The Founders were very clear that the right of the individual to keep and bear arms was not to be questioned and was almost universally exercised at the time. So three cheers for liberty, and a wake up call at the society that “progressives’ desire for us all. I suggest we all celebrate by picking up another gun or two and some ammo and head on out to the range. God Bless America!

High court affirms guns rights in historic decision

President Bush said: “I applaud the Supreme Court’s historic decision today confirming what has always been clear in the Constitution: the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear firearms.”

The full implications of the decision, however, are not sorted out. Still to be seen, for example, is the extent to which the right to have a gun for protection in the home may extend outside the home.

Scalia said the Constitution does not permit “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.” The court also struck down D.C. requirements that firearms be equipped with trigger locks or kept disassembled, but left intact the licensing of guns. The district allows shotguns and rifles to be kept in homes if they are registered, kept unloaded and taken apart or equipped with trigger locks.

See also:

McCain: Obama’s gun position ‘elitist’

McCain hailed the ruling as a “landmark victory” for gun rights. Referring to remarks Obama made during the primary campaign, McCain said Obama is out of touch with Americans on gun rights.

“Unlike the elitist view that believes Americans cling to guns out of bitterness, today’s ruling recognizes that gun ownership is a fundamental right — sacred, just as the right to free speech and assembly,” the Arizona senator said.

That deserves an “atta boy” for the senior senator from Arizona.

“The Constitution shall never be construed… to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” -Samuel Adams

“The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of the republic; since it offers a strong moral check against usurpation and arbitrary power of the rulers; and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them.”

-Justice Joseph Story, appointed to the Supreme Court by the Constitution’s principal author, James Madison, in his Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833),

A friend of a guy who works for me recently applied for a handgun permit and used him as a reference. Just to clarify in New Jersey when one submits an application for a handgun he is asked to give personal references. The local police department then sends the references a little questionaire in an effort to determine if said applicant is insane, a drug addict etc. . These are the questions the town of North Arlington NJ asks of an applicant’s reference. Being the smartass that I am here is how I would have answered.

Has the applicant ever been convicted of a crime or disorderly persons offense?  Isn’t this the sort of thing that should be covered in a background check? or You’re the police. You tell me.

Is the applicant an alcoholic? No There is no alcohol in paint thinner

Is the applicant a habitual drunk? (yes they actually used the term habitual  drunk) Didn’t I answer that in the last question?

Is the applicant a narcotics user?    Is LSD a narcotic?

Has the applicant ever been confined to a mental institution? No he is treated on an outpatient basis.

Does the applicant suffer from any physical defect or illness? Yes. he has an itchy trigger finger

Has the victim ever commited an act of domestic violence? Yeah but his wife burned the meatloaf. So it was justified

Has the applicant ever been a member of any organization which advocated the overthrow of the US or the state of New Jersey? (Overthrowong a state? that’s a new one.) Well he did vote for Lyndon Larouche.

How many years have you known the applicant? We met last week

To your knowledge is there any reason why the above named person should not be issued a firearms permit? No

“Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms each man against his own bosom? Congress shall have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American … The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the People.”

— Tench Coxe, 1788.

Mosin-Nagant rifle

I normally don’t drag my dear children to the local temple of the Second Amendment. And I normally don’t visit the gun shop very often at all (mainly because of economic priorities and it is always very tempting to not leave empty-handed). But I was fed rumors of wonder over a great sale on a worthy and famous WWII battle rifle by my brother-in-law, so I made the trip with my lineage in tow. All three of them. Ages 10, 8 and 4. All sweet and cute little girls. Why, you ask. Because my day off falls in the middle of the week, and it is the only time I can sneak away from the wife to go and play if the mood strikes. It is also the day I am ‘babysitting’ the fruit of my loins.

Now I am fairly positive that the local house of carnage and misogynistic, patriarchal oppression is usually not frequented by a troop of pretty little children. And certainly not in force. But I had to go and see if the rumor of $88.88 battle rifles was true. It was. Big, ginormous crates full of them fresh from our old cold war enemy and, undoubtedly, a few of them responsible for the death of a Hitler henchman or two.

After kindly, but firmly, warning the various sized wee ones to “don’t touch anything” several times we proceeded to wander in to do a bit of window shopping. This particular establishment is named Jensens and is a locally famous gun store. Hundreds of semi-automatic rifles line the walls. It’s a Terminator’s dream come true. Ak’s, Ar-15’s, semi-auto shotguns and guns I don’t even know about line the walls. The staff carry sidearms at all times amid the stacked crates of ammunition and displays of armaments. Testosterone normally drips down the wall and you’ll grow some hair on your back by just hanging around for half an hour or so. You can purchase everything from pistols to knives to binoculars to slings to handcuffs to bi-pods to increasingly antique relics from WWII. The latter item is what I had come to look at.

My two younger ones had scattered like a small Mongol horde to scout out the place while I attempted to keep one eye on them, give an abbreviated history lesson to my (at that time) ten year old on the rifle in question, and engage a helpful, salt and pepper haired, gentleman armed with a 9mm about the length (and stupidity) of the “instant” background check if I actually were to claim a Commie weapon for the cause of the average American patriot.

After our discussion I had moved on to pricing ammunition and a bit of general browsing when I heard an urgent female voice calling out “Sir, Sir, Sir…” I looked up and clear across the room a maternal female clerk, who while attempting to ring someone else up, was frantically pointing at what turned out to be my youngest two girls apparently, and studiously, inventorying a crate of loose ammunition that was sitting on the floor. “They’ll get cosmoline all over them”.  I, rather embarrassingly, managed to mumble a rather lame, I know I should be watching my children but this gun is more interesting, response. “I told them not to touch anything.” She, and her customer, kind of looked at me with that “what kind of father are you teaching small, unsupervised young ladies to play with ammunition” look as I proceeded to tell them to remove their possibly ammo grease covered hands from the cartridges in the crate.

I then proceeded to round up the brood, head out to the van, get everyone in, and sit for ten minutes contemplating whether I really, really, needed to buy a rifle today, and whether I really wished to brave the gaze of the matronly one for thirty minutes while waiting for my “instant” background check to come back approved. While I waited I decided to quiz the children.

Q – “What did I tell you before we went in?”

A – “Not to touch anything.”

Q – “And what did I tell you once we were in the store?”

A – “Not to touch anything.”

And then to the two youngest ones…

Q – “And what were you doing?”

A – “Touching things.”

Q – “And what did I tell you not to do?

A – “Touch anything.”

Q – “Then why were you touching things?”

(big pause)

Eight year old: ” Well… Libby (the four year old) did it first…”

Me: “ Well, that explains it.” (pause) “How are your hands?”

A – “Fine”

(another pause)

The oldest one: “Dad, are you going to buy the gun or not, mom’s going to be home soon and it’s getting late…..”

Me: Sigh… “Not today, you and I will come back again without those two, and then we’ll get it.”

And thus ended our little field trip to the house of firearms. But we’ll be back.

“A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity.”

-SIGMUND FREUD
(1856 – 1939)

Will the government, and our liberal progressive friends, ever get it through their heads that we are neither serfs, slaves nor subjects but free and sovereign citizens?

This was shamelessly lifted from Instapundit…

FROM THE EXAMINER, an editorial on those half-cocked D.C. gun searches:

If the U.S. Supreme Court seemed on the verge of finding the D.C. government guilty of violating its citizens’ First Amendment rights, would the D.C. police be going door to door looking for printing presses to confiscate? Of course not. It would be unthinkable. Civil libertarians would be — to use an apt phrase (figuratively speaking) — up in arms. But when the civil liberty at issue is the right to bear those arms, as protected by the Second Amendment rather than the First, District officials seem determined to leave no gun unturned in. . . .

The program has drawn criticism not just from gun-rights lobbies such as the National Rifle Association but also from the National Black Police Association and the American Civil Liberties Union. No matter how much respect and support police officers deserve, there is still an intimidation factor involved any time an officer is on one’s doorstep, such that the “permission” may not seem as voluntary as police mean it to be. So where does this end? How long before Lanier sends police into selected neighborhoods — selected by whom and on what basis? — asking to search homes for marijuana, terrorist literature, evidence of intent to commit a crime, fireworks or Cuban cigars? Lanier is establishing a precedent that would have horrified the founders of this republic.

The US Supreme Court seemed sympathetic today to arguments that the 2nd Amendment protects a personal right to firearms.

I’ve always believed that this is clearly the correct judgement, but also that the whole controversy could have been avoided had the Founders correctly punctuated the Amendment.

It reads: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

The first and last commas are superfluous. A comma would be necessary in these spots only if it were seperating two independent clauses, which it is not. In the first instance, it is seperating two dependent clauses. In the latter, it is seperating an independent from a dependent clause.

Correctly punctuated, the sentence becomes clearer. The first clause (”A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, …”) is merely explanatory, and thus the weight of the law is entirely on the second clause (”… the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Another interesting take on the concept of the armed, law abiding citizen. This was sent to me by one of the regional coordinator’s for the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners.

Why the gun is civilization

In a truly moral and civilized society, people exclusively interact through persuasion. Force has no place as a valid method of social interaction, and the only thing that removes force from the menu is the personal firearm, as paradoxical as it may sound to some.

When I carry a gun, you cannot deal with me by force. You have to use reason and try to persuade me, because I have a way to negate your threat or employment of force. The gun is the only personal weapon that puts a 100-pound woman on equal footing with a 220-pound mugger, a 75-year old retiree on equal footing with a 19-year old gangbanger, and a single gay guy on equal footing with a carload of drunk guys with baseball bats. The gun removes the disparity in physical strength, size, or numbers between a potential attacker and a defender.

For making such a good point and getting himself instalaunched in the process. We also appreciate his link to our humble little blog.

More Copycat Killings and a Proposal

The shooter who died I’m sure never expected to run into an armed individual in a church. ‘Oh My God; someone had a gun in a church?’ will be the reaction of many. If he hadn’t, how many else would be dead?

But I must humbly disagree with the concept of tightening the requirements for Concealed Weapon Permits. Instead they should be loosened. When I received mine in Colorado (right after 9-11 but I had applied just a couple weeks before) it required little more than having the right Sheriff, taking a Hunters Safety course, filling out a questionnaire, not having a criminal record, and writing a check. They have since tightened the restrictions a bit, but not by much if you know the right NRA instructor. $50 to $100 can get you an afternoon of target practice, “training”, and your ticket to the coveted Concealed Carry permit if you are willing to do your homework.

Recently my brother-in-law and his best friend received theirs and two weeks ago I renewed mine for another five year years (I’m grandfathered in). Think of the growing number of Concealed Handgun permit holders as thousands of walking safety bubbles moving throughout society and undoubtedly crossing your path while potentially protecting you and your family without you even knowing it. You can live as a serf at the whim of criminals and crazies or you can live as a free man and have the potential to protect yourself, your family and your community. I choose the latter.

Art Downs over at Common Sense tells of a current event in Delaware that involved James Cheeseman, arrested for possessing 10.5 grams of cocaine.  To paraphrase Art, the Cheeseman 1) had 10.5 grams of powdered cocaine, 2) was charged with intent to distribute, 3) also owns a gun shop, and 4) had his entire store “jackbooted” by the Feds.

Because I found the topic interesting (and because Art didn’t give the link, an offense of which Dana has admonished us before), I went to find the story from google news.  Here is what I found:

The story of X-Ring’s (Cheeseman’s gun store) crisis and uncertain situation — a topic that’s still freshly painful for the folks involved — began Aug. 5, when police say Cheeseman was caught with 10.5 grams of crack cocaine and charged with possession with intent to distribute.

Soon, agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were in Cheeseman’s store, removing his stock of 700 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

A weapons seizure is fairly routine in cases involving suspected drug felons, but in this instance it raised some questions of fairness and property rights, especially when it was reported that ATF agents used a front-end loader to haul out some of the firearms. “I know the long guns were damaged,” said Bob Henry Jr., X-Ring’s manager. “They kind of just chucked them in one giant box.”

Art seemed to have some sympathy for Cheeseman as evidenced by his post title (Gestapo in action).  He concluded by asking “Was this merely an act of sadism on the part of the goon squad? Do they regret not getting in on the cookout at Waco?” 

And on this I wholeheartedly agree with Art.  The trumped up drug charges and then the confiscation of the mans property is an absolute joke.  As Art said, “perhaps it is seen as good PR and divert attention from the failure to do a better job of shutting down potentially deadly crystal meth labs.”

But poor James gets no symphathy from either Dana or a guy named Bitter Scribe (no relation to our Scribe although he too is bitter).  Dana apparently believes that material not related to the actual crime is fair game for the government to loot.  He states, “If the man was a registered firearms dealer, he had to know what getting caught with a little cocaine would do: he’s lost his inventory, he’ll lose his legal right to possess firearms, and that means he’ll lose his business.  Of course this is pure crap and the fact that the Feds make up reasons to take your stuff doesn’t make it right.  Bitter Scribe concurs by saying, “if only because someone dumb enough to carry several grams of cocaine on his person probably shouldn’t be allowed to possess firearms.” 

Lots of people do dumb things but it shouldn’t mean they lose their property rights in the process.  Especially before they have been convicted of the crime.

 Ok, here is the Blackwater column I’ve been working on. Barring a relatively few minor revisions this should be up fairly soon on a variety of places on the web. It’s already up at Watchblog.

The mere mention of private military companies is enough to panic the OH MY GOD squad of American society and leaves them loudly shrieking fascism and totalitarianism, murder and thuggery.

There have been scores of private military companies and security firms employed by the Department of Defense and the State Department in Iraq since the war began. The most famous of all the “professional military, law enforcement, security, peacekeeping, and stability operations firms” is the North Carolina based Blackwater USA.

Read the rest of this entry »

Blackwater sniper taking on the Mahdi Army

Armed, Half-Naked Putin Excites Gays, Gun-Owners

Photos of a shirtless Vladimir Putin on vacation in Siberia have stirred numerous debates and set hearts aflutter. But some of the photos of him taken on the same trip — topless and with a rifle — were only made available to the Russian media.

I had to smile at this one. What the heck is with that title?

Can’t Putin just have a normal mid-life crisis?

I’m going to have to respectfully disagree that the ex-commie and proto-fascist Putin ‘excites’ American gun owners, though I can’t speak for the American gay community . Who think this stuff up? Or am I just slightly out of touch when it comes to the latest ‘fetish’? I guess I’ll just have to learn to control the  ’urge’ that smote me like a Biblical plague when I viewed the rest of the pics of ‘pinup Putin’.

I kind of suspect a sting operation. Can anybody tell if he’s tapping his foot in these pictures?

Soft core Putin porn. I thought I’d never see the day.

At Ranchos Palos Verdes Elementary in California, 5th graders go through continuation in an unusual but creative way; they decorate mortar boards that reflect their personalities and aspirations.  So naturally, some have to take all of the fun away from the boys:

A fifth-grade promotion ceremony in Rancho Palos Verdes turned into a free-speech battleground Thursday, when students were asked to remove weapons from toys that had been placed on mortarboard caps because of the school’s zero-tolerance policy for weapons on campus. . .

. . .On Thursday, before the ceremony, one boy was told he couldn’t participate unless he agreed to clip off the tips of the plastic guns carried by the minuscule GIs on his cap. Ten others complied with the order before the event.

And in case you were wondering the principal was a first year administrator named Denise Leonard.  She was so confident in her decision that she deferred all questions to district administrators. 

Meanwhile at Kilmer Middle School in Fairfax, VA, students are prohibited from touching each other in any way.  Not even to shake hands.

Hugging is now a punishable offense at one Fairfax County, Virginia, school. Kids at Kilmer Middle School in suburban Washington D-C are under a zero-tolerance touching policy. They’re banned from poking, prodding, hugging even high-fiving.One 13-year-old at the school almost ended up with detention when he put his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulder. He was let off with a warning.

I understand some of the thinking behind the middle school directive but if hugging is the problem, why would you ban handshakes and high-fives?  The inability of administrators to control their own schools leads them to do some interesting things.

One would think that common sense would kick in but then again, I’m not gay.  But if I were I might be inclined to be armed to the teeth to protect myself from those who are not so approving of my lifestyle.  That is the thinking of Utah resident David Nelson.  Armed with an unconcealed firearm, Nelson arrived at the Utah Pride Festival, bought a ticket, and entered.  He details the reaction:

“As a state Concealed Firearm Permit holder, I possessed and carried my firearm unconcealed, but holstered, at the event,” Nelson said.

“I never unholstered it or displayed in a threatening way. In fact, my firearm was unloaded according to state laws (no chambered cartridge). I carefully reviewed the advance published event rules; they didn’t prohibit my possession or unconcealed carrying.

“After I presented my ticket to a main-gate staffer and entered the event, security staffers and organisers met me and asked about my possession and unconcealed carrying,” Nelson said.

“I answered their questions simply and truthfully. As a Utahn with disabilities who uses a cane, my possession and unconcealed carrying is as much a visual deterrent of violence as it is a more responsive and reliable mode of carrying if I need it.”

If officials would have simply taken one look at the mans conceal carry permit (he most certainly showed it to them), they would have to have concluded that this is a responsible (and perhaps gay?) gun owner and not some nut who is there to reap havoc on the sinful masses.  And yet they chose to ignore the rights of one of their own so that they could do the politically expedient thing- kick him out of the club.  So let this be a lesson to all of you gay gun owners; stay in the closet when it comes to your affection for protecting yourselves. 

Alabama Boy That Killed Monster Hog Speaks Out About Slay

This story has yet to die, and like a good fishing story, seems to be growing with every telling. To be a girl and become famous you can just look good in tight clothes and maybe do something athletic. To be a guy and become famous you can just kill or capture something big, ugly or unusual.  And unlike the reluctant blog babe and pole vaulter of the month, this kid wants to capitalize on his new found fame as much as possible.  And remarkably, it was even bigger than the legendary Hogzilla (whose myth is currently being made into a movie in which our young hog slayer will now make an appearance).

Did I mention that Alabama boy is only 11 years old, and had to shoot the monster hog nine times with a .50 caliber pistol to finally kill it? He’s officially a stud.

I guess its the whole testosterone, primitive thing. Using a gun to kill a dangerous beast, the thrill of the hunt, the bragging rights of the kill, a grand trophy to show off to the grandkids when you’re old and grey, getting your fifteen minutes of fame, and a perpetually good story to tell at every boring gathering you ever attend. You just can’t ask for much more than that. This kids not even old enough to shave and he’s already peaked.

For some reason I keep getting flashbacks from Lord of the Flies.  Well, minus the savage children, disturbing imagery, murder and regression to the primeval state, but other than that it’s similar. There was a dead pig in both. See also Boy Bags Wild Hog Bigger Than ‘Hogzilla’

Art Downs over at Common Sense Political Thought launched a firestorm of debate with a post about the ACLU.  The comments on the post went from the purpose of the ACLU to the nature of editing and excluding opposing debate from left or right blogs.  Obviously Conclub holds great interest in those that stifle debate since our own Sage was banned from Pandagon for being conservative. 

So it was with interest when I came across this article on Taranto’s Best of the Web.  It details Troy Scheffler, a 31 year old student at Hamline University in Minnesota.  Following the shootings at Virginia Tech, Scheffler fired off a pair of letters detailing his frustration with the administration at Hamline:

Scheffler had a different opinion of how the university should react. Using the email handle “Tough Guy Scheffler,” Troy fired off his response: Counseling wouldn’t make students feel safer, he argued. They needed protection. And the best way to provide it would be for the university to lift its recently implemented prohibition against concealed weapons.

“Ironically, according to a few VA Tech forums, there are plenty of students complaining that this wouldn’t have happened if the school wouldn’t have banned their permits a few months ago,” Scheffler wrote. “I just don’t understand why leftists don’t understand that criminals don’t care about laws; that is why they’re criminals. Maybe this school will reconsider its repression of law-abiding citizens’ rights.”

Two days later, Scheffler fired off another email expressing his frustration with campus affirmative action policies that give free tuition to three fellow students from Africa.  The Hamline response was to have Scheffler banned:

But after the Virginia Tech massacre, school administrators across the country were ramping up security. Flip to any cable news channel and you’d hear experts talking about warning signs that had been missed. Cho had a history of threatening behavior and stalking. And a psychological evaluation had deemed him a threat to himself.

So Hamline officials took swift action. On April 23, Scheffler received a letter informing him he’d been placed on interim suspension. To be considered for readmittance, he’d have to pay for a psychological evaluation and undergo any treatment deemed necessary, then meet with the dean of students, who would ultimately decide whether Scheffler was fit to return to the university.

The lesson:  conservative views on campus will not be tolerated.  And of course every conservative on a college campus knows that the left would rather ban them from campus than suffer the intolerable inconvenience of having to debate them in the arena of ideas.  What a disgrace Hamline is.  But here is the best part:

Scheffler obeyed the campus ban and didn’t go to class, but his classmate, Kenny Bucholz, told him a police officer was stationed outside the classroom. “He had a gun and everything,” Bucholz says. (emphasis mine)

So I went shooting with my two brothers-in-law and a friend of theirs up on the grasslands in Northern Colorado today after work. There is something very satisfying and almost primal in going out into the wide open spaces far from civilization or any sign of humanity and then shooting a bunch of guns. You can’t beat it. I had two major events happen today.

I  discovered that my SKS is definitely shooting about a foot too high at 100 yards (sights need adjusting, in other words it’s just not my ‘bad aim’ ) and I managed to catch a four and a half foot gopher snake with my bare hands that slithered over the feet of my brother-in-law as he was reloading. The shouts of  ’snake, snake!’ followed by shouts for a ’shotgun, shotgun!’ echoed across the less than fruited plain. (He thought it was a rattlesnake ). After making the judgment call that it was not a rattler I managed to successfully corral, catch and therefore add another interesting critter to my ever expanding invertebrate, insect and amphibian collection. As I do a variety of ‘critter and small animal’ shows for some local non-profit and church charities as well as schools, he will be a nice addition to my exhibit alongside my now three week old Sheltie puppies. We are considering charging a modest admission fee for those seeking to enter our house to help support our own small version of Wild Kingdom.

Needless to say, my wife was less than thrilled and our newest temporary house-guest has been banished to the back covered patio for the moment. My wife’s brothers kept telling me on the way home, “Our sister is going to be mad”, and I had to keep reassuring them that she does allow me to borrow the ‘pants’ in the family once in awhile.

 And in the end, I was much more excited about catching the snake than shooting the SKS. For behold, I am Dave the snake hunter.

Blackwater Down

The Left is in a tizzy over the use of private security companies in New Orleans following the destruction of Hurrican Katrina. And it has less to do with the fact they have been used on US soil than the fact that they exist at all.  I have absolutely no problems using such companies overseas (I wish we could just hand over the entire country of Iraq to such a company), but as a free ‘non-serf’ citizen I am always on guard against strong arm tactics by government on any level that may  endanger the rights of the citizenry. But all I see here is a bunch of well armed men protecting refugees and property from predators, looters, and armed street gangs in a disaster situation. Hardly worthy of hand-wringing and chest beating by the opposition.

The OH MY GOD squad at Pandagon.net is shrieking fascism and totalitarianism, rape and thuggery, but that’s probably to be expected from those who wouldn’t  know a merc from a security consultant.

If the Blackwater types are becoming the American equivalent of the French Foreign Legion fighting ‘unpopular wars’ for national interest, then they have my blessing. The wars that the US will be fighting around the globe need to be fought utilizing special forces, overwhelming air power, proxy armies, native militias, warlords, tribal clans, good intelligence, massive power, and, if need be, private US ‘armies’ of ex-military types willing to risk it all for a good paycheck. Anything to avoid bogging the military down as we have succeeded in doing in Iraq, reduce US military casualties, and ensure victory against Islamo fascists and this countries enemies throughout the world.

In an hourlong conversation I had with four Blackwater men, they characterized their work in New Orleans as “securing neighborhoods” and “confronting criminals.” They all carried automatic assault weapons and had guns strapped to their legs. Their flak jackets were covered with pouches for extra ammunition….

…”This vigilantism demonstrates the utter breakdown of the government,” says Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. “These private security forces have behaved brutally, with impunity, in Iraq. To have them now on the streets of New Orleans is frightening and possibly illegal.”…

…Montgomery told me they came under fire from “black gangbangers” on an overpass near the poor Ninth Ward neighborhood. “At the time, I was on the phone with my business partner,” he recalls. “I dropped the phone and returned fire.”

Montgomery says he and his men were armed with AR-15s and Glocks and that they unleashed a barrage of bullets in the general direction of the alleged shooters on the overpass. “After that, all I heard was moaning and screaming, and the shooting stopped. That was it. Enough said.”

People don’t stop killers. People with guns do . Otherwise you have to throw a desk, a heavy book, make him flinch …or just become another sad statistic. I know which I prefer.

It appears that floating the idea that students on campus should not be subject to ‘enforced victimhood’ by government or campus policy is not only enough to get you banned from Pandagon.net but also fired from your job as an Emmanuel College professor found out the hard way. One has to ask the question why it is so threatening to the Left in general for a few people to be allowed to carry concealed handguns in society. Is the thought of law abiding (many being ex military and police) citizens being allowed to protect themselves and others in the unlikely event of armed violence in their immediate vicinity really that terrorizing to the Progressive mind? What are they afraid of other than factual contradictions to their stated ideology that all guns are always bad in all situations? The real world tells us a different story. The myth of intellectual freedom so famously ‘embraced’ by the Left is just a one way street of ideological conformity. Dare to repeat something outside of the pre-approved talking points and the unbridled wrath of the peddlers of ‘tolerance’ and ‘inclusion’ will always show their true colors.

An adjunct professor was fired after leading a classroom discussion about the Virginia Tech shootings in which he pointed a marker at some students and said “pow.”

The five-minute demonstration at Emmanuel College on Wednesday, two days after a student killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus, included a discussion of gun control, whether to respond to violence with violence, and the public’s “celebration of victimhood,” said the professor, Nicholas Winset.

During the demonstration, Winset pretended to shoot some students. Then one student pretended to shoot Winset to illustrate his point that the gunman might have been stopped had another student or faculty member been armed.

“A classroom is supposed to be a place for academic exploration,” Winset, who taught financial accounting, told the Boston Herald.

He said administrators had asked the faculty to engage students on the issue. But on Friday, he got a letter saying he was fired and ordering him to stay off campus.

Winset, 37, argued that the Catholic liberal arts school was stifling free discussion by firing him, and he said the move would have a “chilling effect” on open debate. He posted an 18-minute video on the online site YouTube defending his action.

5 years ago, shooter subdued by armed students

More and more of these type of stories are starting to find their way into print.  The cause behind these types of crimes are cultural and need to be addressed, but in the meantime the citizenry has the right to be prepared to defend themselves if they so choose. There is neither logic nor proof of any sort whatsoever that a few concealed carry participants scattered here and there present any type of danger whatsoever. They know it, we know it, but they’ve just got to admit it. Every argument I have seen is mere hand-wringing about guns in general not rooted in reality. There are some times when you may not be sure whether you are on the correct side of an issue, but on this there is no doubt whatsoever. Few things could be clearer to those who seek to be guided by logic and common sense.

A deeply troubled and disgruntled foreign student runs afoul of college authorities.

He comes to the Virginia campus armed and starts shooting in one building.

But, unlike the massacre at Virginia Tech last week, the damage was contained in this incident that occurred five years ago, before the state legislature banned guns on college campuses.

Pro-gun lobby strengthened following US campus shooting

“Citizens have an inherent right to be able to defend themselves,” he said, speaking last week to The Washington Times newspaper.

“You can’t always have a policeman on every street corner to take care of you. Whenever you have a bunch of gun-control laws that prohibit people from carrying, the ones with the guns are the criminals.”

From Kentucky: 

Last Friday, she says some people tried to get away with some of her scrap metal. They were caught in the act and police say Curtis Parish was the ringleader.

“And he said if you get out of my way, we’ll leave. And I said oh no you won’t and I shot 2 shots in one of their tires,” Ramey said.

 Mace wants to repeal the Second Amendment and take away this womans gun.

Signs of Intelligence?

I am increasingly attracted to the idea of Fred Thompson as a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination.
Common sense seems to just ooze from the man at times. And it’s not overly politically correct. How refreshing.

One of the things that’s got to be going through a lot of peoples’ minds now is how one man with two handguns, that he had to reload time and time again, could go from classroom to classroom on the Virginia Tech campus without being stopped. Much of the answer can be found in policies put in place by the university itself.Virginia, like 39 other states, allows citizens with training and legal permits to carry concealed weapons. That means that Virginians regularly sit in movie theaters and eat in restaurants among armed citizens. They walk, joke and rub shoulders everyday with people who responsibly carry firearms — and are far safer than they would be in San Francisco, Oakland, Detroit, Chicago, New York City, or Washington, D.C., where such permits are difficult or impossible to obtain.

The statistics are clear. Communities that recognize and grant Second Amendment rights to responsible adults have a significantly lower incidence of violent crime than those that do not. More to the point, incarcerated criminals tell criminologists that they consider local gun laws when they decide what sort of crime they will commit, and where they will do so.

Still, there are a lot of people who are just offended by the notion that people can carry guns around. They view everybody, or at least many of us, as potential murderers prevented only by the lack of a convenient weapon. Virginia Tech administrators overrode Virginia state law and threatened to expel or fire anybody who brings a weapon onto campus.

In recent years, however, armed Americans — not on-duty police officers — have successfully prevented a number of attempted mass murders. Evidence from Israel, where many teachers have weapons and have stopped serious terror attacks, has been documented. Supporting, though contrary, evidence from Great Britain, where strict gun controls have led to violent crime rates far higher than ours, is also common knowledge.

So Virginians asked their legislators to change the university’s “concealed carry” policy to exempt people 21 years of age or older who have passed background checks and taken training classes. The university, however, lobbied against that bill, and a top administrator subsequently praised the legislature for blocking the measure.

The logic behind this attitude baffles me, but I suspect it has to do with a basic difference in worldviews. Some people think that power should exist only at the top, and everybody else should rely on “the authorities” for protection.

Despite such attitudes, average Americans have always made up the front line against crime. Through programs like Neighborhood Watch and Amber Alert, we are stopping and catching criminals daily. Normal people tackled “shoe bomber” Richard Reid as he was trying to blow up an airliner. It was a truck driver who found the D.C. snipers. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that civilians use firearms to prevent at least a half million crimes annually.

When people capable of performing acts of heroism are discouraged or denied the opportunity, our society is all the poorer. And from the selfless examples of the passengers on Flight 93 on 9/11 to Virginia Tech professor Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor who sacrificed himself to save his students earlier this week, we know what extraordinary acts of heroism ordinary citizens are capable of.

Many other universities have been swayed by an anti-gun, anti-self defense ideology. I respect their right to hold those views, but I challenge their decision to deny Americans the right to protect themselves on their campuses — and then proudly advertise that fact to any and all.

Whenever I’ve seen one of those “Gun-free Zone” signs, especially outside of a school filled with our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, I’ve always wondered exactly who these signs are directed at. Obviously, they don’t mean much to the sort of man who murdered 32 people just a few days ago. – Fred Thompson

Today in History: April 19

One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex, village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm.

-from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Paul Revere’s Ride”

“Stand your ground men; don’t fire unless fired upon; but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!”- Captain John Parker on the Village Green at Lexington

                    Concord Hymn

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

-

Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1837
(celebrating the dedication of the Obelisk,
the Concord battle monument)

So let’s see. Derb says that although it’s obvious that no one can know how they would react in such a situation, it would make more logical sense to attack the gunman than flee. He backs up his assertion with arguments.

John Cole’s “great insight” is that “not all individuals are going to react the same way to a threat or perceived threat,” and he then goes on to heap praise on those who …. showed bravery in the face of danger!!

Yeah, that sure is a brilliant takedown by Mr. Cole!

And the latest belch out of the simpleton at Atrios requires no response.

The moment Myrick heard shots, he ran to his truck. He unlocked the door, removed his gun from its case, removed a round of bullets from another case, loaded the gun and went looking for the killer. “I’ve always kept a gun in the truck just in case something like this ever happened,” said Myrick, who has since become Principal of Corinth High School, Corinth, Miss.

The killer was Luke Woodham and he had just shot and killed two students and was on his way to go shoot up a neighboring school. Myrick found the student, pointed the gun at his head, and disarmed him.

Funny thing is, I remembered this event, but when I went to find a link, it was harder than you would think. You see, there are many, many articles that mention that Luke Woodham was “caught,” was “disarmed,” was “nabbed,” or was “stopped,” but none of those mentioned the fact that the guy who was able to do this had a Colt .45 point blank against the guy’s throat.

It’s a clear case of these websites intentionally leaving out vital information in order to distort the truth. But who can blame them? Because the truth is that having a loaded gun on school property saved kids’ lives that day in Mississippi. And it is undeniably the truth that had there been an armed Joel Myrick at Columbine or Platte Canyon or Virginia Tech, many more lives would have been saved.