Carrying / Self-Defense – Page 4 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Podcaster in Trouble

Thanks to John Richardson for letting everyone know about The Polite Society Podcast’sÂ Paul Lathrop’s legal troubles. Go read John’s post about it, but to make a long story short, Paul’s real world profession in trucking. While instructing a student, he seems to have gotten into a confrontation with another driver who went back to his truck, called 911, and accused Paul of threatening him with a gun. Paul denies the charge, and Paul’s student claims he never saw a gun.

I know it’s always been a big fear of mine that someone will get pissed off at me on the road and call in a false report of me threatening them with a gun, then have the police stop me only to find, surprise, a gun. Paul is not the first instance I’ve heard this happening. I seem to recall, though I can’t find a link, of someone beating a brandishing charge because the alleged victim described the gun as being silver, and the gun found on the accused was black. But you can’t always count on being that lucky, or have cops who will arrest first and let a judge sort out the he said, she said.

I’ve always heard lawyers say, “The first person to call 911 is generally presumed to be the victim.”Â Being the first to callÂ and conflict deescalation is something to keep in mind out there. But sometimes trouble manages to find you, even if you did everything right.

License to Carry Holder Saves Cop in Upper Darby

The Upper Darby Police Chief is a rabid anti-gunner. We’ve described his antics before, including this lovely quote:

â€œOur way of addressing the gun issue in America is to destroy them all,â€ said Michael Chitwood, township police superintendent.

Well, Mr. Chitwood, if you had gotten your way somehow, you’d now have a dead officer on your hands. It’s almost like that Wayne LaPierre guy isn’t so nuts after all.

It’s disappointing to hear about this. I grew up in Delaware County, and while parts of Upper Darby were a bit run down when I was growing up, it wasn’t the kind of place whereÂ you had to worry about lawless mobs. Sounds like things there have taken a turn for the worse. Then again, when I was growing up, the Upper Darby cops had a reputation. My Uncle was once on the receiving end of some rough “justice” while in their custody back in the late 60s, early 70s.

Policing works better when it’s a cooperative effort with the community, rather than lording from high. This is an example of that, and because the community (dare I say citizen militia?) stepped up, Superintendent Chitwood isn’t having to console a family and plan a funeral. Hopefully Superintendent Chitwood will have a change of heart about the value of an armed citizenry.

Could The Administration Sic OSHA on Gun Friendly Employers?

Joe Huffman wonders if this is going to be our next fight. I don’t see this as being off the mark, in terms of being something they could do. Recall that his original executive orders asked every agency to have a good hard look at where they could screw us. Joe is right to point out the complications, but they could easily overcome that by allowing business to apply for exemptions, which would of course only be granted to companies in “appropriate industries.”

Of course, there’s a part of me that thinks, “Maybe we shouldn’t give them ideas,” but that conflicts with the part of me that thinks we do ourselves a favor in trying to think of ways they could come after us. That might allow for preemptive measures to remove the topic of firearms in the workplace from the purview of OSHA.

Cleaning Up Illegal LTCF Requirements

In Pennsylvania, there have traditionally been a lot of extralegal requirements for Licenses to Carry Firearms (LTCF) implemented by county Sheriffs, with the City of Philadelphia being the most notorious of the offender. The rest of the ring counties were often pretty non compliant as well. Bucks County had a number of extralegal requirements. I want to say there was a psychological evaluation (or something pretty draconian like that) imposed at one point (this is before I lived here), until a local activist challenged the requirement. Up until pretty recently, the county was overcharging for LTCFs. Bucks County is now following the law. Delaware County used to illegally call references, including employers, until it was pointed out to them that disclosing information about an LTCF application crime, and my understanding is that they no longer do this.Â Montgomery County has continued with extralegal requirement to get local police sign-off, but now it seems that may be at an end too.

We’re slowly getting there.

Denmark Woman Charged After Fending Off Rapist With Spray

There is technicallyÂ self-defense law in Denmark, as long as you don’t use something effective, like pepper spray. I can’t imagine any rationale by which a free society can tell someone they can’t carry and use even a defensive spray. Especially with this rape culture spreading throughout Europe. Denmark isn’t the only country. Even our neighbor to the north, Canada, bans defensive spray. Bastions of freedom, the countries of Saudi Arabia and Russia allow it. You can see the whole list of ridiculousness here.

The right to defend life and limb, and to have access to effective tools for doing so is not an American right, it is a human right. I would argue it is perhaps the most basic human right there is. It is a shame there are so many countries in the world that don’t recognize and protect it.

Looks Like the French Shoot Back Too

I don’t know if this guy is a cop or not, but it looks like he bought some space for innocents to escape. He’s far more restrained with that gun than I would be. I wouldn’t bet I’m quick enough on the draw to pop that dude with the bat if he were to come at me, and I’d have drawnÂ andÂ aimed at batman once he got that close. But if he’s not a cop, he’s probably carrying that piece illegally, and that might be the reason for restraint. I also don’t speak French, so likewise that makes it hard to understand.

Police officer or no, confronting a band that size wielding deadly weapons, badly outnumbered, armed with just a pistol takes some gonads.

Licenses to Carry Up Locally

I’m glad to see my county making itself a harder target, with LTCs up 175%. I just hope the folks getting these LTC a) seek training (a basic course won’t make you a gun ninja, but it’ll give you exposure to how much more there is to know), and b) will actually carry their guns. The Democrats can push gun control in response to terrorism all they want. This congressional district is only R+1 on the Cook Index, and people are still voting through actions against what the Democratic Party wants to promote. Americans are choosing to arm themselves in record numbers. I guess we’ll see how this plays in 2016.

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.

Another Kind of Poll: LTC Applications Surging

After the attacks on Paris, I turned to Bitter and said “I’ll bet this will see another surge in gun sales, and particularly a surge in people applying for concealed carry licenses.” Sure enough, western Pennsylvania sheriffs departments are reporting they are overwhelmed by the number of new applicants:

Requests for licenses to carry concealed handguns jumped sharply in some Western Pennsylvania counties Monday and Tuesday, a reaction some sheriffs’ offices said they have come to expect in the days after mass shootings and terrorist attacks.

And this kind of poll is the only kind that counts. Regardless of what Bloomberg wants to trick people into believing, when Americans become concerned they may come under attack, they arm themselves.

I first got my LTC in 2002, less than a year after 9/11, and it was 9/11 that convinced me to pull the trigger, so to speak. I figured they’d eventually try something here like they did later in Mumbai, Kenya, and now Paris.

Dealing With Attackers Armed with TATP Suicide Bombs

I asked Joe Huffman, who runs Boomershoot and who has more explosive experience than any other gun blogger, if he would have any commentary about suicide bombers who were armed with TATP bombs, and he has responded. He’s certain that if TATP gets hit with a bullet impact it will detonate, so necessitates head shots. He goes into a lot more detail than I will, so read the whole thing.

One weakness in my own shooting is that I’ve spent very little time shooting at moving targets. I’ve done it once, and I did OK, but I’d love to spend more time with targets like this:

Of course, I should offer the standard Internet disclaimer which goes: “That kind of gamer stuff will get you killed on the street,” or something like that, but since you can’t practice shooting terrorists in the gourd, these kinds of moving targets seem like a good idea.