2015 – Page 4 – Shall Not Be Questioned

And End to the Debate: Of Course They Want Your Guns

Joe Huffman, who tracks instances of people demanding prohibition and confiscation, notes about the New York Times front page editorial (the first since 1920!):

Yesterday Barb and I were at the range with a relatively new shooter and her husband. The check-in counter and gun store was packed with people. I supposedly had the training bay reserved for them but it was packed with a class.

And that will be the end result of all this. Each time the New York Times or Obama opens their mouths, it’s minting tends of thousands of new gun owners.

This New York Times op-ed is a keeper. It should forever refute the accusation that it’s NRA driven right-wing paranoia that there are powerful forces working to disarm you.

Supposedly Barack Obama is going on TV tonight to lecture the nation once again about more gun control. Personally, I think this is all an attempt to try to draw attention away from the fact that we just got hit by ISIS, and that the current occupant of the White House doesn’t have the first clue what he’s doing.

Only Makes Us Stronger

Long time readers may know I’m a fan of Professor Brian Anse Patrick’s books. “Rise of the Anti-Media” is absolutely a must read for People of the Gun. But there is another book of his that today might be more relevant. With the media and the left in full overdrive to demonize the NRA, itÂ is a good time to take a fresh look at Prof. Patrick’s book, “The NRA and the Media”. Here’s the summary:

Were it not for negative media coverage from elite American news organizations, the National Rifle Association and American gun culture would not be in the position of strength they enjoy today. The more negative coverage the elite press have dished out, the more people have been attracted to NRA and gun culture. Brian Anse Patrick, Professor of Communication at University of Toledo, presents the evidence for this startling case. Not only are the elite media biased towards NRA, they have helped mobilize American gun culture, making it one of the most successful social movements of modern times. In this e-edition, with a new foreword from the author, Dr. Patrick makes his case. The evidence is incontrovertible and based on scientific content analysis of ten years of actual coverage.

Over at PJ Media, Roger Simon provides some anecdotal evidence for this theory, writing “How the ‘New York Times’ and Loretta Lynch Made Me Join the NRA.“Â So don’t worry too much about the trolling clickbait from the New York Media. If Prof. Patrick’s theory is right, and I think it is, all this will only make our cause stronger in the end.

Facts Worth Spreading: It Doesn’t Happen in Other Countries Edition

France has suffered more casualties from mass public shootings in 2015 than the US has suffered during Obama’s entire presidencyÂ (508 to 424).

Most of that is because of the Paris attacks, and the previous Charlie Hebdo attacks.

Also the death rate from public mass shootings between the US and Europe puts the US in the middle of those figures.

Remember, the United States has a population nearly the size of Europe, and because the US is a single huge media market (because we all speak the same language) it seems like it happens here more often. Once you run the numbers, it’s just not true that we’re exceptional in this regard.

Results of Senate Gun Control Fight

John Richardson did the hard work so I don’t have to. Good news? Neither gun control amendment even got a bare majority. I’m not sure a supermajority was required here because it was a reconciliation bill, but I could be wrong.

Manchin-Toomey got 6 fewer votes than it did last time in 2013 after Sandy Hook. To Toomey’s credit, he did vote against Feinstein’s amendment, which is the terror watch list prohibition.

The only Democrat to vote against both bills was Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. Four Republicans voted in favor of Manchin-Toomey, the same four that voted for it last time: Toomey, McCain, Collins, and Kirk. This prompted the following tweet:

Hey, @SenatorHeitkamp, would you ever consider moving to #PA and running against @SenToomey?

â€” Sebastian (@SebastianSNBQ) December 4, 2015

Pat Toomey Goes for More Gun Control

CeaseFire PA is bragging that Sen. Pat Toomey called them with promises of pushing more gun control as he goes into his final year of this term.

As you may recall, the gun control legislation that Pat Toomey actually authored is not at all what Pat Toomey tells voters he’s backing. Toomey’s numbers were already anemic at best. I don’t see how telling American gun owners that they need to give up their gun rights in light of a terrorist shooting is good politics.

Quote of the Day: Definition of Mass Shooting

From Tam:

Remember: New definition of “mass shooting” is “four or more people hit by bullets”. Remember that when they trot the totals out. If JJ shoots Pookie, Ice Dog, and Ray-Ray, and one of them manages to wing him back with return fire, that’s a “mass shooting”.
(They’re counting the Virginia News Crew as a mass shooting because white reporters count as two ordinary people.)

Hopefully Tam won’t mind if you borrow that argument for all your lefty friends who are posting this crap on Facebook about 355 mass shootings this year.

Things We Seem to Know About San Bernardino

The following things appear to be facts at this point. I stress appear.

There were two shooters, a man and a woman who were (once?) married. I won’t name them here in honor of my policy not to give these clowns publicity.
This attack was elaborately planned.
They employed IEDs unsuccessfully.
Whether jihad was a motivationÂ won’t matter. This will be another case of workplace violence. That will be the continuing narrative by the left and media no matter what. Count on it. There will be no interfering with the narrative about who’s really at fault for all this.
Some of their guns appear to have been purchased legally. Personally, I’m skeptical of this since I doubt their AR-15s were California Compliant. Maybe they were originally purchased legally, then illegally transferred.
The media has invented a new term “assault clothing.” No really, it’s a thing now.
Praying for the victims is now shameful.
For the left, this is only evidence that California’s gun control laws aren’t nearly strict enough. It’s like that Paris thing never happened.

I feel like I’m way too young to start talking like my grandparents about how this country is going to hell in a hand basket, but it is. We have become an unserious people. We have the left on one hand who can’t name something for what it is, and then on the right you have the clown show that’s the GOP primary.

No Guns for Abortion Protestors

AbortionÂ is one of those issues that doesn’t rise very high on my give-a-shit-o-meter. Bitter is a nominally pro-life person who recognizes the unintended consequences of making all abortion illegal, and I’m a nominally pro-choice person who think maybe there’s a point to be made by people who oppose late-term abortions. It all comes down to where you think the line should be for an unborn child to earn the full rights and protections of a human, and I don’t claim to have any special moral insight into that particular subject.

I’m generally OK with making it a crime to block access to health care facilities, as I would be for any protester who blocks public or private thoroughfares to block access to any private property, including gun stores and libraries.

But one thing I would never advocate is for such a petty, non-violent crime to earn anyone even a temporary ban on a person’s right to keep and bear arms, and that seems to be exactly whatÂ Harry Reid is planning to force a vote on in the Senate.Â This is shameful pandering. Reid should be ashamed of himself.

Carry Your Guns, Folks

This isn’t looking like a lone nutcase. If reports are to be believed there were multiple shooters, they were prepared, and executed a swift getaway. Could we be seeing the start of a Paris-like terror campaign on our shores? Either way, carry your guns folks, it’s going to be your only prayer if you find yourself in an unlucky situation like this.

Mass Shooting in San Bernardino, California

The LA Times says possible multiple shooters, which wouldn’t seem to be a lone crazy, if true. Of course, almost everything you will hear in the first 24 hours will be complete bullshit, so take news reports with a huge grain of salt.

I don’t tend to cover these stories as they unfold. Naturally there will be a lot of people with agendas exploiting this for political purposes. We know the drill by now.