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)

Sky Showbiz - Val Is Top Gun In Urinals

I always liked him in Real Genius. His stock just went WAY up with me.

Pork

The other white meat.

Baboon crisis keeps children out of school

Bands of marauding baboons in eastern Uganda are forcing parents to keep their children at home to guard crops, causing rampant absenteeism in the region's primary schools, officials said on Wednesday.

I wonder if the baboons ate their homework?

basil's blog

In the unlikely event you don't know about this blog, well, know about it. Basil rocks.

Peterson and Blake

Well, I guess nothing else of import is happening in the world today. After all, the MSM had absolutely nothing to report other than the Peterson and Blake trials were over.

Rest safe America. The news media is out there keeping track of all the important stuff.

FREEZE! I JUST HAD MY NAILS DONE!

I know I've said this before. And I'll likely say it again. I love Ann Coulter.

I've noticed in the extensive coverage of the Nichols case in Atlanta, I can't recall a single time I heard on CNN Fox ABC CBS NBC etc.... that the deputy this thug killed after taking HER gun was a female. Always, it was simply "the deputy". Horrors upon horrors that this happened. But it did. And the reason can clearly be laid at the feet of the ACLU and the feminazis.

Why the ACLU? Thanks to cases that they support, criminals on trial cannot be made to wear handcuffs or shackles because it makes them look guilty. Heaven forbid thugs are made to feel guilty in the courtroom.

Why the feminazis? Thanks to the femanizis, a tiny grandmother is dead before her time. Without the femanizis pushing down our throats that women can do everything a man can, you get to see lovely incidents like this one.

Please, I'm not bashing women. I love women. They are simply wonderful creatures. But, in general, they are not as strong as men, and that's just a simple fact of life. The feminazis pushing this down our throats is going to continue getting women killed, and the civilians they are required to protect are going to get killed as well.

A friend of mine was a Houston cop several years back. When he was going through the Academy, he told me countless stories of how physical requirements for women were overlooked when they couldn't be met. How the gals were passed on, regardless of how weak or slow they were. One of the tests they were required to pass was to pull the double action trigger of their Sig service pistols 100 times. My friend told me that none of the girls could pull the trigger more than about 45 times. And they still passed. Makes you feel safer, doesn't it?

A cousin of mine is a fireman in Florida. He tells many of the same stories about female recruits being unable to carry ladders or heavy tools, or work with all the gear piled on your back like firemen have to carry. But they still passed the class. Makes you feel warm and fuzzy, right?

If women want to serve in an environment where the use of physical force is required, they should be required to pass the exact same physical fitness standards as the boys. And without those standards being 'dumbed down' for the girls. If they make it, they make it -more power to 'em - and we'll all be safer for it.

MSNBC - Serial rapist and killer lashed, hanged in Iran

Well, nobody can say the Iranians aren't tough on crime.

A young man convicted of raping and murdering 16 boys was lashed 100 times, and then hanged Wednesday in front of a large, angry crowd who pelted him with stones and scuffled with police.

Dang.

Let's get assault weapons off our streets

This one's from Catfish. Of course, I will steal it and embellish with my own opinions.

Seems like everything from tsunamis to poverty can be blamed on those darned assault weapons, and it's the latest rallying cry of anti-gunners everywhere. The "assault" weapons ban expired last September, and ever since then, any shooting with a gun that roughly fits the description of a gun that looks like an assault weapon is paraded before the public as an example of why we should ban scary-looking guns.

But here's another view, from a newspaper writer in East Texas. She questions the very existence of semi-automatic weapons.

Are you going to go out and shoot a deer with a semi-automatic? [uh...yes. JR]

I admit that I don't know a lot about hunting, but seems like if you use a semi-automatic there won't be much left of the very animals you're trying to take home for dinner. Plus, animals will hear a multitude of gunfire, not just one shot.

Personally, I'm scared of guns. I will not go near them, whether they're pistols or rifles. I don't care. I have buried too many friends and family members who died from shooting incidents.

A better question to ask is, why are semi-automatic guns even manufactured?

Sounds like foolishness might be a family trait, particularly with respect to firearms. But don't worry, this mindset isn't limited to firearms. Nope, she's also ignorant of history. Here's the coup de grace:

Federal law states that automatic weapons can only be used by the military. [uh...what? JR]

I can understand the military needing automatic weapons. They conduct business in war zones, where the enemy is likely to be equipped with equally powerful and destructive automatic weapons. But on the streets of our cities right here at home? Assault weapons have no place in America or on our streets. [I guess our non-American streets are covered here. JR]

It's not exactly what our founding fathers had in mind when they said we have the right to bear arms and protect ourselves.

That's right, kids. Only your government should be armed. As all founding fathers and millions of oppressed subjects around the world know, you can always trust your government to do the right thing, and you'll NEVER need to protect yourself from your own government. Pay attention, because I'm not making this up: THAT is exactly what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they revolted against their government. It's also why they authored the Second Amendment to the Constitution: to help the people protect themselves from their government. Here's a quote from another really important document:

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

That's you and me, kids, and we ain't using sticks for our security! The document? The Declaration of Independence. Is this starting to come together for you now, Sherry?

Criminy. This woman is so desperately uninformed that it makes my brain hurt. Just goes to show you how educated your MSM journalists really are.

Marines driven out of UAW lot

"We do not think it is unreasonable to expect our guests to practice the simple principle of not insulting their host," the UAW statement said.

It seems the UAW President has shown that he puts his political bigotry above supporting our men and women in uniform. His message is that if you have a bumper sticker supporting the President or drive a car that has a foreign name plate on it, you are no longer welcome to park on his lot.
What a total jack ass this guy is. Here in America we exercise something we call a free market. If somebody wants to drive something other than a Chevy or Ford, they have a right to. If the American car companies had made a car that these people actually wanted, they would probably be driving one. Most large foreign car companies have assembly plants here in the US. They employ many Americans. The dealers that sell and service those cars employ many Americans. The trucks they are delivered on are American's trucks driven by Americans. Just because they were not built in Detroit, does not mean that hard working Americans have not benefited from them being built and sold here.

Once again the Left has demonstrated that they put their political bigotry above all else. This man is undeserving of the freedoms he enjoys, the freedoms that are being fought for by the same people he won't let park on his lot because they oppose him politically.

Lt. Col. Joe Rutledge,commanding officer of the battalion's active duty instructors says,

"You either support the Marines or you don't. I'm telling my Marines that they're no longer parking there."

He added

"We're appreciative of what they've done, but you don't come into my officeand say, 'OK, we're not going to support some of your Marines.' I don't know what a foreign car is today anyway. BMWs are made in South Carolina now."

Dartmouth researchers find where musical memories are stored in the brain

At the Copa,
Copa Cabana,
Hottest spot North of Havana

You're welcome.

NYT - Looting at Weapons Plants Was Systematic, Iraqi Says

Another attempted hit piece by the NYT.

However, I believe this one will backfire just like all the others have. It looks like the Times is admitting, after a coupla years of denial, that Iraq had WMDs??

Boy, I bet that's not what they wanted us to focus on, was it?

People's Daily Online -- "I don't think US should be the leader of the world"

Mr. Bennett - you're a jackass.

"Another source of the resentment is the perception that Bush administration wants to act unilaterally in the world, outside of alliance that traditionally governed the ways Bush made foreign policy decisions. In some ways the core of perception problems is centered on 911 terrorist attacks in 2001 in which the US government and Bush administration reacted by deciding that the country would make decisions in foreign affairs that respond only to US interests. They were not going to consult very widely, and not to compromise in making those decisions. That caused rift even among the US allies. So it is natural to see that the image of America is the lowest in public opinion."

I don't know about ya'll, dear reader, but I remember months and months and months of the United States working with the rest of the world on trying to bring an end to Saddamm's regime. As usual, no one else would cowboy up.

" Yong Tang: In such sense, do you think America should be the leader of the world?

Bennett: No, I don't think US should be the leader of the world. My job is helping my readers trying to understand what is happening now. What is happening now is very difficult to understand. The world is very complex. There are various complex forces occurring in it. I don't think you can imagine a world where one country or one group of people could lead everybody else."

What a total and complete asshole. And he can't figure out why the Post and other liberal standby's are losing popularity daily. I don't need you, Mr. Bennet, to help me *understand* what's happening. I need you and the other members of the media to tell me what's happening. I think I can figure out the complexity of the world on my own. I do have a brain and contrary to what you and the other liberal media pukes believe, I know how to use it.

"Bennett: We have a little bit different roles in newspapers compared with our counterparts in Europe and other countries. We don't have any political point of view that we are trying to advance. We don't represent any political parties. We are not tied to any political movement. On the news side of the paper we try not to give opinions. So I think the role the Washington Post should play is to hold the government accountable for decisions made by it."

Get the waders out!! Now, if you've ever wanted to see bullshit, here's some bullshit. This jackass says they have no political agenda, yet practically every major newspaper in this country leans leftward, and recommended to their readers to vote for John Kerry. And Al Gore. And Bill Clinton. And Mikey Dukakis. And Jimmy Carter. And JFK. And anyone else running as the Democrat standard bearer. But, they're not political and they don't represent any political parties. When's the last time you recommended voting for a Republican for President, jerk off?

There's more, but my blood pressure's high enough already and I've got to get some dry fire practice under my belt. For a good view on the inside working of a liberal media elite, give this a read.

Gunman kills 7 at church

My lovely wife and I attended a church retreat over the weekend. I packed a pistol the entire time. When we married 11 years ago, it was a little hard for her to get used to the idea of me going armed everywhere, especially to church and church functions. During some free time during the retreat, conversation turned to how our preacher's wheels can't be shot off during a sermon. There have been a few instances where people had health issues like passing out and one going into convulsions as well as some odd people being disruptive. He just keeps on preaching and never misses a beat. Then conversation turned to a couple of times when people feared for their safety because of the behavior of people in the church. Back in 1999, a nut walked into a church in Ft. Worth and opened fire on the youth group killing seven and injuring 7 more. The week after this, a man with a back pack came into our church and sat down. It was said that he was acting strange. It turned out to be nothing, but it had a lot of people worried.
My point to all this is that we should take our safety, as well as the safety of our friends and loved ones very serious. Get a good gun, learn how to use it, and go armed. It's like having a fire extinguisher around your house. Chances are you will never need it, but if you do you will be glad you had it.
Big D

MP's joy at gun ban in Labour manifesto

You know, I like Tony Blair. It's too bad he's such an idiot. Britain's Labour party MPs have their collective heads so far up their collective arses that I doubt they know if the sun is shining or not.

Mr Blair revealed Labour would launch a consultation on new laws to prohibit the sale and carrying of replica firearms, if it won a third term in office.

Politically, this is actually pretty clever, but it's short-lived. Here's the ploy: divert attention from the ever-increasing gun crime issue in the UK by passing legislation that will deprive children of toy guns. The subjects of the UK feel good about this, and everyone lavishes praise on the government for being "tough on crime."

Meanwhile, they've done absolutely nothing - not one single thing - to address the issue of gun crime in the UK. Why? Because they're depriving law-abiding people the ability to lawfully own guns, while the criminals simply reap the rich harvest that lies before them. What do the criminals know? That nobody can lawfully defend themselves, and they can now act with impunity.

But David Davis, the shadow Home Secretary, said: "Tony Blair promised to be tough on crime and the causes of crime but as a direct consequence of this Government's policies, violent, anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol related crime have gone up."

In the UK, you have no rights, only privileges. This, my friends, is the primary difference between a citizen and a subject.

Under-18s face knife and replica gun ban

"The sales ban is in Labour's fivepoint 'mini-manifesto' on crime, published today. Mr Blair was set to say it would give Britain the ' toughest anti-gun laws in the world'."

And pundits say there's no "slippery slope?" This is beyond ludicrous.

Next stop: kitchen knives. You think I'm kidding...