Americans becoming more realistic about gun control

"It's become clear over the years that most of these spectacular episodes are so freakish that they are not amenable to regulatory solutions. It's also become clear that any imaginable gun-control laws are not likely to have much effect on crime in America."

Wow. An op-ed piece about the recent school shooting in Red Lake that's NOT a foaming-at-the-mouth, ban-all-guns, hysterical, spit-blowing rant about how guns are the root of all evil in America.

Records of gun sales? The killer, 16-year-old Jeff Weise, wasn't old enough to buy a gun legally in Minnesota. At least two of his guns were stolen from his grandfather, a police officer whom he killed.

Assault weapons ban? His arsenal included no such weapons -- only a .22-caliber pistol, plus a police-issued .40-caliber handgun and 12-gauge shotgun. Limiting lawsuits against dealers? A bill that hasn't been enacted couldn't have caused a mass shooting yet.

The Violence Policy Center charged that the problem lies in "America's love affair with guns," and held up the example of countries that, it says, have prevented mass shootings through "severe restrictions on the availability of specific classes of firearms, such as handguns and assault weapons."

This statement only confirmed the National Rifle Association's suspicion that gun-control advocates are bent on banning entire categories of common firearms -- even though most owners use them in a responsible and law-abiding manner.

Looks like the message is starting to make it's way out - it's not the guns, stupid.

50 CENT DISAPPOINTED HIS BULLETPROOF CARS HAVENT BEEN SHOT AT

Dear Mr. 50 (or is it Mr. Cent?),
This is an open letter that you could consider as an offer for me and my friends to help you out. Personally, I've never shot up an armored vehicle, but I've shot plenty of regular ones. Between the 6 of us on this blog, I daresay we've put a few hundred rounds through various cars and trucks, both on purpose and accidentally (oops).

Please drop us a line at tattlers@gmail.com, and we'd be happy to get you fixed up.

Sincerely,
The Texican Tattlers

Underground Extra-terrestrial UFO bases all around the world - a mind boggling theory

This is what's wrong with America's mainstream media. How could they have missed this story?

spiked-risk | Red Lake: a tragedy, not a lesson

"There is a new industry of school violence 'experts', with a journal entitled Journal of School Violence appearing in 2002, which recommended restricting access to schools, increasing the number of school police officers, developing emergency plans and adding telephones and radios around schools. An unarmed security guard patrolled the corridors of the high school in Red Lake, and was the first person to be killed by Weise. Rather than spending money on books, security seems to be taking over."

So much for unarmed "guards" as protection, much less as even a deterrent. I'm sure the poor guy's uniform made him prime target #1.

What's really interesting about this article is that it actually talks about the root issues of what motivates a child mass murderer. Not the video games, the guns, the goth clothing, but what sent these kids over the edge. It's interesting to note that people don't just wake up one morning with an innate desire to massacre. It festers and grows, and manifests itself in a number of ways. Sometimes, albeit rarely, it explodes into mind-numbing violence.

However, as this article points out, these events are rare.

In spite of the rarity of these events, the feel-gooders are quick to make sure we put measures in place that will presumably keep this from happening again. In fact, what happens is that rights are eroded for everyone, and the real issues continue to be ignored. But the politicians can rest easy, because many mommies now feel better.

What's is also interesting is how our society seeks and desires the quick-fix, and in doing so, typically overreacts with futile, feel-good policies that do nothing to stop the problem. Point in case: zero-tolerance policies. There's a great list of "common sense" or "zero tolerance" stupidity. For example:

A six-year-old in Colorado was suspended for violating the school's anti-drug policy after a teacher saw him share a lemon drop sweet with a friend. The school also called an ambulance for the lemon-drop-eating friend.

Nope, you can't make this stuff up. People really are that stupid.

Shooting With Friends

This is us at the Double Tap Ranch Championship. Front row, l-r: Andrew, Steve, and Dan. Back row, l-r: Catfish, Pimp Daddy, Big D, The Girl, Bruce, and JR. We got trophies, and Andrew and Dan won GUNS! It was an awesome USPSA match, with 12 stages, and a round count of 309.

We had fun.

Update: I liked the pic above a little better. Maybe Big D will share the story...

Also, here's QuickTime movie of our very own Dan tearing up a stage on his way to winning Production Overall. What a stud.

Dan in Action! (6.11MB QuickTime - not dial-up friendly)