Denver News has more on the CWP holder that stopped the latest mass shooting. I feel bad that the media light is being shined on this woman and her church. Two parishioners were murdered before she could stop them, and she herself, even if she was in the right, still has to deal with having killed another human being. This is the kind of thing where people ought to have a little privacy.
Month: December 2007
Non-PSH in South Carolina
It’s good to see some police chiefs have some common sense.
Randall Williams, spokesman for the Anderson City Police Department, said all firearms are a concern for law enforcement.
“That rifle is not any different from any other firearm,†he said. “We’re concerned about all firearms being in the wrong hands.â€
They even manage to talk to some gun shop owners who manage not to say anything stupid. The reporter should also be commended for bothering to do research.
Stabbing Firefighters in Boston
It’s not a hazardous pastime when the good people in Boston are told by their betters they don’t have permission to protect themselves.
Too Many Blogs
I’ve gotten to the point where I have so many blogs on my RSS feed, I can’t possibly read all of them every day, and I’ve had to get down to a core list of blogs that I make an effort to read daily. Anyone on my blog roll, I do actually read, but I feel bad that lately I’ve been missing a lot. If anyone has a post they think I might be interested, feel free to e-mail it to get my attention.
Brady Member on Airsoft
I’m going to partly agree with a Brady Campaign person, on the issue of airsoft guns:
You see, Santa, many of these guns are nearly exact replicas of real handguns in both appearance and feel, even if they do fire cute little colored “pellets” instead of real bullets. I know you understand handguns aren’t toys and that they are lethal, hand-held machines made solely to kill another human. So why would you put a pellet-firing replica into the hands of a child as if it were a toy?
There’s a lot of gun hating rhetoric and fear mongering in this article, but I will say that some parents buy airsoft guns for their kids without enough proper instruction as to the safe handling of firearms and air guns, and without proper supervision.
While I wouldn’t support any laws restricting airsoft guns, I do think parents need to use common sense and make sure their kids are educated enough to know that airsoft guns are not toys. They look like real guns, and they can injure if used improperly.
I think playing airsoft is fine for older kids under the proper supervision of adults, using proper safety equipment, and at a facility designated for that purpose. It’s fine to expose children to both firearms and air guns, provided they are properly trained and educated on safe use by a responsible adult. I not only think it’s fine, I think it’s something every parent should think about.
Tim Heyne might think it’s best for parents to never expose kids to guns, but guns are with us now, and always will be in some fashion. It’s best if the kids aren’t ignorant, and know how to be safe.
We Can Do Better
 PETA researched which states are doing the best job meeting their prison inmates’ hunger for meatless meals, and the results are in: Pennsylvania has placed third on PETA’s list of the Top 10 Vegetarian-Friendly State Prison Systems.
Prison food has traditionally gotten a bad rap, but you won’t hear many complaints from vegetarians and vegans who are serving time in Pennsylvania. The soy barbecue, mock Salisbury steak, mock meatballs, tofu cacciatore, and tofu scramble have inmates asking for seconds.
This is one area I can agree with PETA on. Meat is expensive. I say mock meatballs and mock salsbury steak is fine for the prison population if it save the state money and makes live in prison just a little more unbearable.  I say we move to number one on this list!
Castle Doctrine Still Alive – Action Needed!
It seems to have become confirmed that HR 641, the Pennsylvania Castle Doctrine Bill, will indeed not be heard tomorrow. The apparent reason is that the black caucus threatened to walk out again over this bill. From the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Steven Cappelli:
“Due to conflict within the Democratic Party, the majority chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has elected to pull my legislation from consideration by the committee tomorrow. Therefore, I have decided to draft my bill as an amendment to Senate Bill 436, which is currently before the House,†said Cappelli. “I do not appreciate having to go this route in order to have legitimate debate and discussion about my legislation, but I will do what is necessary in order to move legislation forward that is vital to the safety of the people of Pennsylvania.
It’s a good time to write your representative and inform him or her you’d like them to support this bill when it hits the floor for a vote.
Fight in Nebraska
Nebraska is considering a whole host of bills, according to this article that contains a number of inaccurate statements.
Action Three News has obtained a “get tough on guns” plan that was in the works even before last week’s shooting. The plan, that will be fought out in the legislature next month, aims to keep guns out of the hands of minors.
But it stops short of banning assault weapons, the kind of weapon that left 8 innocent people dead. According to investigators the rapid fire inside the Von Maur department store, came from a weapon that was bought legally and did not have to be registered in the State of Nebraska.
Police Chief Thomas Warren says the suspect, Robert Hawkins, stole the weapon, an AK-47 military style assault rifle, from his stepfather.
It was purchased legally, but he stole the weapon. I’m having a difficult time parsing that.
State Senator Brad Ashford tells Action Three News he is now pursuing a new law that would force gun owners to store their weapons securily away from minors, and to report a lost or stolen gun to police within 48 hours of detecting that the weapon is missing. However, Ashford’s new legislation falls far short of a ban on assault weapons.
OK, Hawkins wasn’t a minor, so that wouldn’t have helped anything here. We don’t know the father knew Hawkins had the gun. If he did know, he already committed a felony by allowing a felon possession of his firearm, so again, I fail to see how this would help. You’d almost think they were using a tragedy to push a political agenda that pre-existed.
In 1994 former Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey took on the National Rifle Association, defending his vote to ban assault weapons. In a political ad back then Kerrey said, “During the War in Vietnam, people hunted me. They needed a good weapon like this AK-47, but you don’t need one to hunt birds.”
He’s right about this. Birds are hunted with shotguns, not rifles. Duh. Of course, deer can be hunted with rifles.
The ban ended in 2004, and since that time there have been 118 similar shootings. 88 innocent people have been wounded, 111 murdered.
The gun the killer use wasn’t covered by the federal ban, or under several of the state bans, so I don’t see how that’s relevant.
Finally, since the federal ban on assault weapons ended seven states have enacted thier own bans. But according to Ashford, who sees absolutely no need for an AK-47, trying to ban them in Nebraska even after the Westroads massacre, is a political fight he can’t win.
No states have enacted assault weapons ban since the federal ban expired. Is a little research too much to ask for? All those states had bans that either were in effect before the federal ban, or were passed shortly after the federal ban.
The reporter has an e-mail address at the bottom. Someone might want to try to educate him on what he got wrong.
UPDATE: Mad Rocket Scientist asks whether this reporter drives a lot more car than he might ‘need’Â
Crap From the Hometown Paper
It’s good to see things haven’t changed much in Delaware County since I left. The Delco Times is still a rag, and spewing nonsense:
Cho was once pronounced an imminent danger to himself at a psychiatric hospital. Virginia Tech professors pleaded with him to get counseling, especially after he was evicted from one English class for the violent nature of his writing.
Seegrist had been hospitalized 12 times for schizophrenia in the 10 years before she committed the mall murders and was known to local law enforcement authorities for her violent behavior.
And yet, both shooters were easily able to purchase assault weapons, in part, because there was no waiting period for background checks and because the federal assault weapons ban was no longer in effect.
I haven’t heard the name Sylvia Seegrist for a while, but she was prohibited by federal law from purchasing a firearm. Cho waited to get two handguns because of Virginia’s one-gun-a-month law, and neither of his firearms were assault weapons. Sylvia Seegrist’s firearm?
The ban had not yet been enacted when, for $104 at Best Products in Marple, Seegrist purchased the Ruger .22-caliber semi-automatic rifle she used to mow down her victims at Springfield Mall. If the 1994 federal assault weapons ban had not been allowed by Congress to expire in 2004, the Virginia Tech tragedy, the largest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, may have been averted.
A 10/22 is now an assault rifle? At least they are being clear: any gun they don’t like is one in their view. Neither of Cho’s gun were covered by the ban, and to say that he would have not carried out his little rampage if he couldn’t get a hold of fifteen round magazines is laughable.
Read the whole sad thing. More ignorance from journalists who can’t be bothered to do research.
Quote of the Day
“It is time to stand up and be counted, no more ceremonies, no more resolutions, it’s time to put your rear end on the line on behalf of these men and women who put their rear ends on the lines every single day.”Governor Ed Rendell, Gun Control Rally 12/10/2007
Here’s what a former Police Inspector has to say:
Politicians, government officials and editorial boards have no business using the recent spate of shootings of police officers as grounds for their anti-gun position. They have no right to call for tougher gun laws “for the sake of those officers.” Not unless they talk to them first and find out how they feel about the issue. Police chiefs should also spend more time with their own troops before they join the chorus. Of course, that might mean going against the media who’ve decided they know more about fighting crime than the cops do.
Read the whole thing.
h/t Dave Hardy