Does This Bother the Heck Out of You?

Do these images bother you?

OK, how about this image?

What do all of these images have in common? Well, depending on how you look at it, you may think there is no connection.

Ahhh, but there is. Each image represents a core value of our Constitution. Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, Freedom of the Press and the Right to Bear Arms. Each of these is a cornerstone of our Bill of Rights.

The first three stir some, if little, debate. The last one can downright get ugly at times.

Well, I'm here to tell ya, that if we argued and debated as much about the other ones as we did the Second Amendment, this country would be a better place.

Recently, at several health care rallies, regular citizens carried their firearms in support of the Second Amendment Right to Bear Arms. They did so in States where "open carry" is LEGAL. Now, none of them were ever near the Chosen One. They were in designated Public Areas well outside the town hall meetings. Even the Secret Service said they were not worried.

But anti-gun proponents say they nut jobs by bringing a firearm. To me, that sounds nothing more than pure anti-Americanism if I've ever heard it. Imagine that, people are mad at me for exercising my CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT. I never see anyone yelling at me for reading the paper, or praying, or having an open debate or speech. If that is the case, no one was yelling about having a health care forum. Oh yes, they were yelling AT the forum about health care, but they were not yelling about the actual contstruct of having a forum. No one ever said, "you can go to the forum, but you cannot speak at all". That's what this country is built on. That would be completely un-American.

Oh, but wait, people are starting to call us nut jobs and Nazis and Brownshirts for talking out against health care. I do not hear that about anyone talking in favor of it. But I digress.

It's also a case of personal responsibility. People are running around screaming "He has a gun!!" Oh my God, the horror!! He could kill someone!!

Puhlleeeze, gimme a break. Nothing ever happened people!! These are responsible citizens carrying their firearms securely in a NON-THREATENING MANNER but for some reason people get the heebee jeebees.

Ahh, but something could happen. Yes, someone with NO personal responsibility could grab the gun. But of course, the gun owner would be blamed for having it, not the idiot who took it.

Personal responsibility is like my beloved 1968 Plymouth GTX.

A classic memory of my youth Out of reach for all but a few who choose to want to relive it again......

Sex, Lies and Videotape (or lack of it)

Ahh, the Liberal media. Ya gotta love them for the things they DON'T tell you.

Case in point: A person with an open-carry semi-automatic rifle (NOT an assault weapon) and an open-carry handgun was at a health care rally in Arizona where the Chosen One was speaking. In Arizona, open-carry is LEGAL. (I'll get into that in another post). The case was that MSNBC anchor Contessa Brewer injected race into the story by saying that: "Here you have a man of color in the presidency and white people showing up with guns strapped to their waists".

OK, here's the rub

The video used by MSNBC was edited in way in which you can't see the whole picture. The truth is the man featured there with the weapons was African-American, not white. No one on air ever pointed that out.

And so goes the Liberal media

My Bad....

In one of my posts, I identified Mr. Doug Pennington with the Violence Policy Center. This was reported to me by an ANONYMOUS post claiming to be from VPC. Mr. Pennington is the spokesperson for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. I ADMIT I made the mistake and have corrected the error. (On a side note, it is nice to see people actually reading this blog).

The anonymous post also stated that the Pa health club shooter was a CCW permittee. As I have stated, if it does turn out to be true (and I am unable to find any reference other than the above mentioned groups as a source), and it may, demonizing an entire group of Concealed Carry Permitees as a threat to society because of the actions of one or a few is downright absurd, even if they commit a non-firearm crime!

I will also point out that a VPC reference to a CCW permittee that STRANGLED his wife is included in a list of people is equally absurd since a firearm was not used in the crime. (ref: http://www.vpc.org/studies/ccw2009.pdf page 13).

I would also read the same document on page 31, concerning Texas CCW holders who have committed crimes. They list over 5,000 arrests of CCW permittees for various crimes. What they DO NOT say is if a firearm was involved or not. No reference in that passage. Further reading states that the same group of people were responsible for weapons related offenses at a higher rate but fail to mention what kind of weapon except to say a deadly weapon. Anything that can cause bodily harm is a deadly weapon, not just a firearm.

Ok, how about listing the NON-CCW permittees that do the same crime? I will admit that some background checks will not catch everything, but catching most is better than catching none, and people who commit the same crimes that do not have permits do not get background checks. Let's list that too and make it a little more balanced. And, how many of those people did or did not commit crimes BEFORE their background checks. At some point, people who decide to commit a crime have to start somewhere, regardless of whether they have a permit or not.

Hey, I've got another idea. List all the CCW holders who DO NOT COMMIT A CRIME!!

How about listing the names of people who use a CCW permitted firearm to SAVE a life. Better yet, save MORE THAN ONE LIFE! I'll bet those are much, much bigger lists.


All I am saying is that not everyone is an angel, permit or no permit. But demonize the person and the act, not that fact they have a permit and committed a crime. If you do, in the same breath, demonize those who commit crimes and DO NOT have a permit

OK, let's ban guns. We'll just use something else instead..

Just like England, which has banned private ownership of guns for the last 10 years. Notice the bold text at the end of the post

A knife attack every 4 minutes; 130,000 per year - but ministers still insist crime rates are falling

By Matthew Hickley at the UK Daily Mail

Blade Britain: Knives were used in 14,000 robberies last year
More than 350 people are the victim of knife assaults every day in England and Wales, the latest crime figures have revealed.
Last night a teenager in Lambeth, London, became the latest victim of the stabbing epidemic, dying in hospital after a frenzied attack.
Almost 130,000 attacks involved knives last year - equivalent to one every four minutes - according to the annual British Crime Survey.
This figure does not include the tens of thousands of assaults against under-16s. However, unlike the police records published yesterday, it does include crimes which are not reported to the authorities.
The police data revealed 22,000 serious knife assaults - including 231 attempted murders - were reported to the police last year.
There were also almost 14,000 reported robberies and more than 8,000 woundings.
As the Daily Mail revealed exclusively yesterday, the forces' data, which was gathered for the first time this year, starkly illustrated how knife crime has spread beyond the major cities into the shires.
The British Crime Survey figure of 130,000 knife attacks is substantially higher than the police's figure. This is thought to be because many victims never report being threatened with a knife - and even assaults needing hospital treatment go unrecorded.
The phenomenon of 'hidden' knife crime has led senior doctors to call for new rules making it compulsory for hospitals to record knife injuries.
The British Crime Survey, based on interviews with thousands of households across the UK, showed overall crime down 10 per cent to 10.1million offences.
Police figures, which typically capture only around half of all crime, showed a similar trend.
Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve pointed out that the police figures showed violent crime up nearly 80 per cent since Labour came to power. The BCS trends were more positive.

More...
STEPHEN POLLARD: Knife attacks: Damned lies and crime figures
He said: 'Our police have been tied up in so much red tape that they can only spend 14 per cent of their time on the beat fighting crime.
'Our porous borders have allowed too many weapons and quantities of hard drugs to simply flow into our country, fuelling violent crime.
'Labour have also failed to address family breakdown which does so much to set young people on to a path of crime.'
Ministers were keen to point out that the Survey showed a 9 per cent drop across all categories of crime last year.
They claimed the recent steady downward trend was the most impressive in modern times - including a 12 per cent fall in violent crime.
But Police Minister Tony McNulty acknowledged public concern over knife crime following a spate of horrific murders in recent months.
Firearms offences recorded by police rose 2 per cent last year to reach a total of 9,803, while murders were up 3 per cent to 784. And this is in a country that bans all private ownership of guns
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1036154/A-knife-attack-4-minutes-130-000-year--ministers-insist-crime-rates-falling.html#ixzz0O1jtkbLW

Concealed Carry Permittees are BAD, BAD People

And that's what the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence would like you to believe. Yup, people with Concealed Carry Permits are the source of a lot of the violence with guns. Last week, I had a chance to participate in the local radio show down here in New Orleans. WWL was doing an early morning story about more people "packing heat" and why the number has increased. To their defense they did allow callers and guests to give both sides of the story. I called in and gave my reasons: I carry because I take it upon myself to protect myself and my family, I cannot rely on the police to be there within seconds. I also told the host that I was a Concealed Carry Instructor and most of my students take the class for the same reason. I also explained what is entailed in the class (mandated by the State of Louisiana I might add): SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY, how to handle a firearm, Deadly Force (how to identify it and when you can and cannot use it), Civil Liability, Louisiana State Laws and where you can AND cannot carry your firearm and, again, SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY. I concluded with saying that some people have a legitimate fear that the Chosen One, who has a POOR record on firearms ownership and gun rights, will try to restrict our rights or take them away. Remember, those who do not read history tend to repeat it. After I was done, the host interviewed Mr. Doug Pennington from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a very anti-Second Amendment and anti- gun rights group. He was discussing the recent shooting in Pennsylvania and how Mr. Sodini had a Concealed Carry permit. Since this show was only 10 hours after the shooting and Pennsylvania records cannot be obtained THAT fast, I took this with a big grain of salt. If it does turn out to be true, and it may, demonizing an entire group of Concealed Carry Permitees as a threat to society because of the actions of one or a few is downright absurd!

What does this all mean?

Pure Bullshit. Just another case of inventing statistics and a "make it up as you go" policy of misleading people with lies. Instill fear and we will come to the rescue!

(Sorry, that's also about health care and that's another show)

Now, are ALL people with Concealed Carry Permits law-abiding. No. BUT, and this is a BIG BUT, the statistics PROVE that the number of CCW violators (as in permit is revoked, denied or suspended) is VERY VERY LOW. How low? Read on..

How about the concealed carry users that PREVENT violence? Such as..

the armed citizen who shot a convenience store robber in Virginia - or - A 39-year-old Ypsilanti man used his concealed weapon and his experience as a soldier to stop an alleged bank robber - or - the incident in early August in Topeka, KS in which a legally-armed store clerk fended off two robbers. They never go on about those people because it clashes with their agenda and defeats their purpose.

Since I was unable to get back on the show due to time restrictions, I emailed the host at WWL with the following rebuttals to Mr. Pennington:

1) - Less than .05% of CCW holders in Louisiana since 1996 are denied / rejected / revoked. Source : http://www.lsp.org/pdf/chAnnualReport07-08.pdf on page 3. There were 1407 permites denied / suspended / revoked out of 27,422 permits.

AND, in 2008 the Department did not have any documented accidents or deaths
involving concealed handgun permittees.

Are we all angels? No, but we're better educated and have a lower rate of using a firearm in the "heat of the moment" BECAUSE we're trained. That average holds true for just about all the other states with Concealed Carry Laws. Some states, such as Florida, are even LOWER. (Florida is about .01%)

2) - Although Louisiana is a "shall-issue" state, ALL Permit applications in Louisiana go through a NCIC criminal and medical background check by the State Police, average turnaround for a permit, IF approved, is 8 weeks. Local police do not have the time and the laws are open to interpretation from one locale to another (as I experienced when I lived in Massachusetts). Mr. Pennington from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence stated that "shall issue" states need background checks done by local law enforcement. As far as I am concerned, Louisiana State Police is as about as local to Louisiana as one can get.

3) I DO RECOMMEND training for all firearm owners, not just concealed carry holders

4) Mr. Pennington was concerned about criminals with concealed carry permits. The thugs with guns are not concealed carry holders and MOST are multiple offenders turned back on the streets by our revolving door criminal justice system. That's why I carry for protection because these thugs are NOT in jail where they belong. Convict them, put them in jail and the violence will go down. I have yet to hear of a criminal getting a CCW permit since he / she would fail a background check. Oh, and it is also a crime for a criminal to attempt to obtain a CCW. So I'm kinda thinking that they'll just skip this step and illegally carry a gun concealed anyways.

5) As far as cities with high crime rates compared to the number of CCW holders, Washington D.C. has a very high firearm crime rate and does NOT allow concealed carry and is still very restrictive even on private, law-abiding ownership.

6) Mr. Pennington refers to our classes as a "minimum". I ask that he sit in on one of our classes and see what we cover. Extensive training on safety, how to handle a firearm, the use of deadly force (when you can and cannot use it), where you can and cannot carry and the firearms laws in the state. My class is about 10 hours long, longer than what the state mandates



All I can say to Mr. Pennington is get your information right and stop lying to the public to scare them. We're pretty smart and we know what we're doing

Shame on you!

US-Wide Concealed Carry?

OK, so the National Concealed Carry legislation did not go through (also known as the Vitter-Thune Legislation). The law would have allowed any state with a concealed carry law to recognize the permitee of any other state with a concealed carry law, and provide that the permittee follow the laws of the state they are in. Seems rational, right?

The liberals came through with another rousing rendition of "people losing their tempers and blood in the streets". But is this loss really as big as they say? Let's take a look.

1) This law does not really create something new, it only expands what is current. Let's take a look at Louisiana. Right now, if you have a Louisiana CCW permit, you are allowed to carry concealed in THIRTY ONE other states. You HAVE to abide by the laws of that state (and I pound this in to the heads of my students every week). The new law, if it had passed, would have kept the same rules. So, when Chuck Schumer complains that people with concealed carry permits would be roaming the streets of New York City, he was WRONG. New York City law does not allow Concealed Carry, not even New York STATE concealed carry! Glad I don't live there! He also complained that criminals would get permits and carry guns across state lines. Last I looked, criminals don't apply for permits because - a) They would get rejected and arrested b) They're CRIMINALS, hello, no permit needed for them, they just break the law anyways!! (Remember New Yorkers, you voted for him - Sorry). I guess he forgot to mention that.
2) A majority of Senators (58) voted in favor of it. The Democrats, since they control the Senate, can "do what they want 'cause we won" insisted on a 60 vote majority through procedural wrangling. This is what they used to ram through the auto bailouts and the TARP - and see what that got us?? Just wait for Obama care! A MAJORITY of Senators favored it. But majority rule is not a Democratic tenet when it is not in their favor.
3) Liberals screamed back in the 90s that when concealed carry permits were issued, there would be blood on the streets. There are currently 48 states that allow concealed carry (that is currently 5 MILLION PEOPLE). Just about every state has a strict background and medical check to get one. Their screams have rung hollow, the mass killings and blood in the streets has not flowed. Some studies, like the ones from The Violence Policy Center (a radical anti-gun group), make big errors in their findings against the so-called "concealed carry crazies". They include arrests (but not convictions) and sometimes report that people have concealed carry permits when they do not. Anyone that uses a handgun, even for self-defense, may end up getting arrested. Law enforcement arrives and can't be sure what happened. But more often than not, they are not convicted because they were justified in using force. When that fact is pointed out to the Violence Policy Center, it is typically ignored
4) The average failure rate for a concealed carry holder (denied, revoked or suspended), US-wide, is about .01 to .05 percent. The most common reason? Had a concealed carry firearm but forgot the permit at home, a MUCH lower rate than auto drivers who forget their license at home (Maybe we should ban cars??).
5) The Concealed Carry Laws have been so SUCCESSFUL that NONE of the states are even thinking about repealing or scaling them back. The reciprocity laws in Louisiana have expanded to 31 states in the last 4 years. 5 states were added, including Nevada which was NOT allowed previously

Postscript to Gov. Jindal

He got this one right. It is illegal to USE a firearm in the commission of a crime within 1000' of a parade. Rep Ernst decided (and obviously intended) to not allow anyone within 1000' of parade to carry a firearm. The only exemption was owner's property. Cars were not even exempted (and in Louisiana a car is an extension of your home) nor were Concealed Carry Permit holders exempted (and bear in mind it is illegal even for a concealed-carry holder to go to a parade with a firearm). If this law passed, I would have been breaking the law, say, If I was in my car 1200' from the parade and walked to my house 900' from the parade. So this was an obvious ploy by Rep. Ernst to prevent anyone from having a firearm within 1000' of a parade. More so, it is an outright ban and as far as I am concerned, a blatant violation of the Second Amendment. Thanks to Gov. Jindal, this was averted. Morseo, he DID sign a bill that provides harsher penalties for using a firearm in the commission of a crime within 1000' of a pre-Lenten (Mardi Gras) parade (like, hard labor for a long time and a huge-ass fine!!)