The Gun Owners’ Case Against Barack Obama

You’ve probably seen or heard media ads calmly reassuring us that Barack Obama will protect and defend gun rights. Don’t be fooled.

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Illinois Nazis Threaten NRA, TV Stations

The Obama campaign is not only trying to silence the National Rifle Assocation’s current ad campaign against their Führer candiate, they’re also threatening to go after the FCC licenses of the TV stations that air them.

I hate Illinois Nazis.

At Last

A partial victory for a gun owner who took the District of Columbia to the Supreme Court:

Dick A. Heller, a security guard whose lawsuit resulted in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling favoring gun-ownership rights, was given his handgun registration certificate at D.C. police headquarters this morning. He applied for it last month, a few weeks after the June 26 court ruling, and had been waiting for police to complete a background check.

Heller recently sued the city again, alleging that the registration rules adopted by the D.C. government after the ban was overturned are too cumbersome and violate the spirit and letter of the Supreme Court decision.

Give ‘em hell, Mr. Heller!

Meet The New Gun Law

Same as the old gun law, more or less:

The [District of Columbia] Council unanimously approved emergency legislation last night that ends the strictest handgun ban in the country and voted 12 to 1 to approve the transfer of almost $125 million to renovate schools by fall — two major issues that showed the council’s complex relationship with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty.

The emergency gun bill establishes regulations for residents to keep handguns in their homes legally, an effort to comply with last month’s historic Supreme Court decision that found the city’s 32-year prohibition of handguns unconstitutional.

City leaders say the legislation goes as far as it can on gun regulations while respecting the high court’s ruling. Weapons must be unloaded, disassembled or trigger-locked, except when there is a “threat of immediate harm to a person” in the home (emphasis added).

The legislation also requires that guns remain inside homes. It mandates eye and written exams for gun owners, and ballistics tests conducted by police.

Hypothetically (if not in actuality), a criminal breaks into a D.C. gun owner’s home.

Gun Owner: “Excuse me, could you wait for just a moment? I need to assemble and load my gun.”

Criminal: “No problem.”

The preceding was a hypothetical scenario under the new D.C. gun legislation. Had the preceding been an actual break-in, the gun owner would be DEAD - thanks to the compliance efforts of Adrian Fenty and the D.C. Council!

Washingtonians, do you feel safer now?

State ACLU Supports 2nd Amendment

While the national ACLU belives in supporting the Constitution (except for the part guaranteeing individuals the right to keep and bear arms), the Nevada chapter chose wisely to buck the trend.

Gary Peck, executive director of the ACLU of Nevada, said the decision was not political, nor a slap at the national organization. He said the ACLU of Nevada often defends both conservative and liberal groups when, in its view, a constitutional right is being violated.

“This was a legal, constitutional decision for us,� he said. “Right now, it’s an issue percolating in the ACLU universe. It should be no surprise that an issue that has sparked a lot of issues and debate outside the ACLU has sparked debate inside the ACLU.�

The national ACLU, in a statement by a spokeswoman, said, “ACLU affiliates are free to take positions that differ from those of the national office.�

The spokeswoman said she was unaware of any other ACLU affiliate that had taken a differing position on the Second Amendment.

Peck said the state has a history of opposing government involvement in people’s lives.

“Nevada has a long, proud tradition of libertarian skepticism of government overreach,� Peck said. “An individual’s right to bear arms, not surprisingly, is in the Nevada constitution.�

While I don’t always agree with the NV ACLU on most of their legal battles, I’m pleased to hear that when they stand up for the Constitution, they stand up for the ENTIRE document.

Well done.

Virginia Tech

As many of you have heard, seen, or read, a tragic, senseless massacre took place on said university campus today.

First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who died, and with those who survived. The faculty, students, and staff of VT have my deepest sympathies.

Secondly, my anger and indignation is waxed hot — and directed toward the Virginia General Assembly, who willfully allowed legislation that would have allowed college students and employees to legally carry handguns on college campuses for self-defense to die in subcommittee. May every Virginia lawmaker who opposed House Bill 1572 hang their heads in shame. Said anger also applies to the Nevada State Legislature, whose inaction also allowed a similar bill applied to public school employees to die as well.

Thirdly, the entire anti-gun movement can go straight to hell. For them to infer that “gun control” — the confiscation of legal arms from citizens, and the eradication of the Constiutional right to carry arms for self-defense — would have prevented this wave of mass-murder, is bullshit. These scumbags might as well have spat in the faces of the dead and their survivors as an ultimate insult.

Finally, word has it that the inbred, hate-filled low-lifes of the Westboro Baptist Church plan to besmirch the funerals of the murdered VT students. Screw them all with their own splintery pickets.

End of discussion.

A Call to Arms — For Teachers

I’ve blogged in the past about allowing school employees to voluntarily carry firearms for self-defense, given the rise of school violence. Finally, local state senator Bob Beers is now proposing new legislation to make the school-carry option a reality for Nevada.

“I would expect enough teachers would be interested (in taking guns to school) so it would serve as a deterrent,” said Beers, a failed gubernatorial candidate.

[Ah, there's the rub. Sadly, the R-J is inferring that Beers is doing this to garner attention to himself, being that he's a 'failed gubernatorial candidate'. Frankly, they wouldn't slap that moniker on Dina Titus (or would they?). Moving on...]

Beers concluded teachers should be allowed to carry weapons after reading about several incidents of gun violence by students this fall in the Clark County School District, he said. More than a dozen guns have been confiscated from district students so far this year, an indication that laws prohibiting guns in schools do not work, he said.

“We have banned guns in schools in Nevada and most of the rest of the nation for the last 20 years,” Beers said. “Part of the problem is a small percentage of the population is brought up without a knowledge of and respect for guns.”

In summary, the collective response from Nevada school officials, the teachers’ union, and the usual anti-gun suspects amounted to “you’ll shoot your eye out!” or “it’ll be the Old West all over again!”.

Meanwhile, unstable kids (and sometimes unstable adults) are bringing guns to school, and using them to endanger the lives of students and staff. School police officers are few and can’t be omnipresent in every classroom. Right now, passive safety procedures only serve to cheapen the lives of innocent students and school personnel who risk being killed or maimed in a possible school shooting.

Will it take another tragedy similar to the Columbine High School massacre to seriously address the problem of school violence? Quite frankly, I’m not willing to wait for another incident to happen; teachers and support staff deserve to have a fighting chance in deterring violence in the classroom.

Beers’ proposal should be given serious and well-reasoned consideration. If Nevadans are serious about taking steps to reduce school violence, they should welcome such a modest proposal to the debate.

Previous:

Related:

Update (12/16): Healthy debate about the issue over at the KLAS-TV News Blog.

Update (12/17): Chuck Muth lists a history of school shooting victims for the past decade. (link via NoisyRoom.net)

In Defense of Gun Rights

In light of the recent death of Metro Police officer Henry Prendes, conversations have sparked concerning whether or not assault rifles (such as the AK-47 used to kill Prendes) should be banned.

In an unusual move for a left-wing columnist, CityLife editor Steve Sebelius delivers a sound defense of the right to keep and bear arms.

I rarely agree with Sebelius, but he deserves kudos for presenting a good, well-reasoned response to those who think that banning guns altogether will make us safe from crime. Read it in its entirety.

Marion Barry Mugged

Proof positive that even elected officials are not safe from crime (from WRC-TV):

Ward 8 D.C. City Councilman Marion Barry said he was robbed at gunpoint Monday night inside his Southeast Washington apartment by some youths.

“For those young men who did this to me, I say to you, ‘I own no animosities. I don’t even want you prosecuted, really. I love you. Give yourself up,’” Barry said.

Barry told News4 that when he returned home to Washington View Apartments at about 10:30 p.m. Monday, two youths — who addressed Barry by his neighborhood nickname, “B” — offered to help him carry his groceries into his house and he agreed. Barry said once the groceries were in his kitchen, he gave the youths a couple of dollars for their help and they left.

But Barry said the youths returned and knocked on the door about 10 minutes later, and when he answered it they pointed a gun at his head and robbed him of his wallet, which contained cash and credit cards.

Police recovered the wallet near his home Tuesday afternoon. His license and credit cards were still in the wallet. The $200 in cash was removed.

In order to get inside Barry’s apartment building, you first have to get through a security door, which Barry said is often broken.”It’s easy to get in my building,” he said. “If you buzz somebody else’s apartment or wait for somebody to come out, you go in.”

Barry said he’s hurt he was chosen as a robbery target.

Maybe if Barry didn’t vote with his fellow councilmembers thirty years ago to ban gun ownership in D.C., he wouldn’t be hurting today. Cam Edwards comments:

This is life in “gun free� Washington, D.C. No one is safe. Marion Barry’s a victim of a home invasion. Supreme Court Justice David Souter was assaulted while jogging last year. Teresa Heinz was mugged outside her Georgetown home. Wanda Alston, the head of the mayor’s Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Affairs was murdered in a home invasion robbery. You are not safe in Washington, D.C. No one is.

It doesn’t have to be this way, of course. Thirty years ago, our nation’s capitol was in the midst of a crime wave. The city council responded by banning handguns and requiring shotguns and rifles to be kept unloaded, dismantled, and locked away. The law abiding residents of Washington, D.C. had been disarmed, and the criminals took notice. Violent crime dipped slightly in the two years following the ban, although the murder rate actually continued to climb. By 1979, however, the violent crime rate was back above 1976 levels, and it has remained so ever since.

Update:  Marion Barry has recently tested positive for cocaine use.  Avery Tooley and Ed Brown smell something rotten near the Potomac, and I agree with them.

Gun Confiscation

This time, from the NOPD.

Related: “We’re from the government, and we’re here to help you!”

911 Is [Still] A Joke

This is what happens when you dial 911 and trust the police to defend your life — especially when you own a gun for self-defense and FAIL to use it.

I hope that I’ll never be put in a position to use a handgun to defend my life. But if somebody breaks into my house at night, I will be ready — and willing — to use one without hesitation. I’d rather be tried by twelve than carried by six.

(link via The Smallest Minority)

Guns for Teachers Redux

Less than two years ago, I threw in my two cents advocating that teachers (and school employees in general) be allowed to carry guns as a security measure. I received a lot of flak over it, but I stood my ground.

In light of recent and very unfortunate events, the NRA is beginning to see the light on the issue (via On the Third Hand):

All options should be considered to prevent rampages like the Minnesota school shooting that took 10 lives - including making guns available to teachers, a top National Rifle Association leader said Friday.

“I’m not saying that that means every teacher should have a gun or not, but what I am saying is we need to look at all the options at what will truly protect the students,� the NRA’s first vice president, Sandra S. Froman, told The Associated Press.

Gun-control restrictions would not have prevented Jeff Weise, 16, from killing nine people and himself Monday at Red Lake High School near Bemidji, Minn., said Froman, an attorney expected next month to be elected president of the NRA, which claims 4 million members.

The presence of an unarmed guard at the school failed to stop the siege, she noted.

Of course, the usual knee-jerk reaction of the anti-gun crowd is already taking place. Let’s hope the NRA and other gun rights advocates continue to stand their ground, even in the midst of unfounded and vilifying hysteria.

Related: Jeff Soyer’s Weekly Check on the Bias

A Shot of Hypocrisy

Just off of the CNS News wire:

The president of the Springfield, Ill., chapter of the Million Mom March faces charges of having drugs and an illegal handgun in her home. Press reports said the gun’s serial number had been scratched off.

Annette Stevens became a gun control activist after her son was shot to death several years ago. She told a newspaper the gun belonged to her late son, and when she found it, she didn’t know what to do with it, so she put it in a drawer.

Police reportedly found the gun and illegal drugs while executing a search warrant at Stevens’ home in connection with a spate of drive-by shootings in the area. Stevens insists the search was illegal.

Second Amendment groups were quick to note the irony of a gun control activist being arrested on gun charges.

The anti-gun crowd never ceases to amaze me. In their mind, it’s bad for everyone else to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights — just as long as they remain the exceptions to their own Draconian rules.

Clinton Gun Ban Expired

City Life readers can sleep well at night knowing that I won’t be in a hurry to buy a TEC-9 anytime soon — but I won’t infringe on anybody else who chooses to buy one.

The expiration Monday of a 10-year federal ban on assault weapons means firearms like AK-47s, Uzis and TEC-9s can now be legally bought - a development that has critics upset and gun owners pleased.

The 1994 ban, signed by President Clinton, outlawed 19 types of military-style assault weapons. A clause directed that the ban expire unless Congress specifically reauthorized it, which it did not.

Studies done by pro- and antigun groups as well as the Justice Department show conflicting results on whether the ban helped reduce crime. Loopholes allowed manufacturers to keep many weapons on the market simply by changing their names or altering some of their features or accessories.

Gun shop owners said the expiration of the ban will have little effect on the types of guns and accessories that are typically sold and traded across their counters every day. [...]

Many states - including California, Massachusetts, New York and Hawaii - have passed their own laws curbing the use of assault weapons. Some of those are more stringent than the federal ban.

U.S. Rep. Butch Otter, R-Idaho, trumpeted the end of the federal law.

“President Clinton’s so-called ‘assault weapons’ ban was nothing more than a sop to antigun liberals,” Otter said Friday in a written statement. “It provided only the illusion of reducing gun violence, but it did real damage to our liberties.”

Related (9/14/04): A R-J editorial.

Get A Grip, Duncan Black.

To you, me, and Glenn Reynolds, this is just a t-shirt.

To the far left, namely The Blogger Formerly Known As Atrios, it is cause for over-the-top alarm:

The caption is “celebrate diversity.” The colors of the caption are commonly used pan-African colors: red, yellow, and green. While, for many, the “joke” (though, I’m not sure why it’s funny) is that here diversity is a diversity of guns. Ha ha. But, look, the clear message here is that the way to celebrate diversity, particularly that pan-African diversity, is to buy a bunch of fucking guns. In other words, celebrate diversity by arming yourself.

Damn right! The Second Amendment isn’t just for whites anymore. Pan-Africans have rights to self-defense, too!

I’m buying that t-shirt. And just to piss off Duncan’s commenters some more, I believe I’ll buy another gun.

And remember, kids…