Month: September 2003

New Member of the Blogroll

Anybody who owns as many weapons as John and Beth Donovan is OK in my book. And John has served with, and dislikes, Gen. Wesley Clark (whom he refers to as the Prince of Darkness.)

What higher recommendation do they need?

Go visit argghhh!!

Thanks to Kim du Toit for the pointer(s).

I Wish I’d Found This Yesterday

But, But Assault Rifles Are Only Good for “killing and wounding as many people as possible at relatively short range as quickly as possible, without the need for carefully aimed fire“!

However, the police officers of Calexico California aren’t willing to give up theirs.

Calexico police fight assault rifle order

It’d be a “Mexican standoff” except, well, this is Calexico.

Openly defying a request from the interim city manager and police chief, Calexico police Officer Erik Hackett, representing 15 members of the Calexico Police Officers Association, told the City Council here Tuesday that his colleagues will not relinquish assault rifles they purchased almost two years ago.

Members of the POA bought the rifles under the assumption they would be allowed to use them during their shifts.

You know, guns that the mere peons citizens can’t be trusted with.

Members of the POA supported Police Chief Mario Sanchez’s ascension to the department’s top post because he supported the purchase of the rifles.

A Police Chief approved of the purchase of these “bullet hoses?” What was he thinking?!?

The rifles — 15 bought by the POA and 10 paid for by the department — have never been employed in the field, however, due to alleged insurance liability issues.

Hackett has said those issues aren’t the real issues keeping the rifles on a shelf.

According to a department source, one of the POA members who bought a rifle and stored it at his home was recently placed on administrative leave for biting a person and discharging the rifle without authority from the department.

I appreciate police officers and the job they do, but why some people believe that they are somehow all more responsible and law-abiding that the general public is beyond me.

Assault rifles such as those purchased by the department and the POA are banned in the state unless they are registered to a police department, as the POA rifles are.

The department source thinks the chief might be punishing the POA for one of its members’ actions, which, if that’s the case, the source thinks is unfair.

Sanchez has not spoken about the internal affairs matter publicly and did not speak about the matter Tuesday. Interim City Manager Luis Estrada also wouldn’t answer questions on the record.

Government officials dodging questions from the press? Whoodathunkit?

And if all these guns are good for is “killing and wounding as many people as possible at relatively short range as quickly as possible, without the need for carefully aimed fire” why do so many police departments have them?

The story was originally published in the Imperial Valley Press Online on Sept. 3 by staff Writer Aaron Claverie. He can be reached at [email protected].

Missouri Becomes the 34th “Shall Issue” CCW State

In opposition to the fiasco going on in Canada, the right priviledge of Americans to carry weapons for self defense continues to widen, as the Missouri legislature overturned the Governor’s veto and passed “shall issue” CCW legislation. Two states, Vermont and – just recently – Alaska do not require permits for concealed-carry. In those states, it’s a RIGHT. Nine states, California, Iowa, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Hawaii are “May Issue” states – which means: “If you’ve got some pull with a government official or are a celebrity, you might get a permit. Pizza delivery drivers need not apply.”

The states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Nebraska and Kansas do not allow concealed carry, though Wisconsin and Ohio are now considering it.

The folks at JoinTogether, The Brady Campaign, VPC et al. must have heartburn.

Canada’s Gun Registration Scheme Continues to Fall Apart

According to this Toronto Globe and Mail article, the province of Newfoundland becomes the latest to refuse to prosecute gun owners who do not register their firearms. Newfoundland follows New Brunswick, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. That’s six of the 13 provences, plus the provence of Nunavut which has a large population of Inuit not legally required to comply with the registry.

When C-68, the law passed requiring registration of all gun owners and all long guns (handguns having been registered since 1934), it was sold on the idea that it would cost C$119 million, but revenues from the registration fees would offset all but C$2 million. When the actual costs were investigated by Canada’s Auditor General in 2002, she found that the projected cost would be in excess of C$1 billion – and she couldn’t be sure of the actual amount because there was a lot of accounting done in an apparent effort to conceal the actual costs. On top of that, the data in the registry is highly suspect, they’ve had severe computer problems, and at a minimum at least 1.6 million shotguns and rifles (of the government estimated 7.9 million) and 200,000 gun owners (of a government estimated 2.3 million) were not registered by the deadline.

But none of this keeps the American gun control groups from proposing that we implement a registration scheme here, where we have an estimated 80,000,000 gun owners and 270,000,000 firearms.

And a Second Amendment.

THIS is Why You Train

Cop prepared ‘my entire life’; Shootout ended with empty gun

It was his final bullet. If this one missed its mark, New Mexico State Police Lt. Don Day would have to reload while still under fire.

Day aimed for the gunman’s head and fired the fifth and last shot from his gun. The man dropped to the pavement. The shooting stopped. The stress in Day’s body “flushed away.” The gunfight was done.

As other officers and medical personnel arrived at the scene, Day was, well, being a police officer – making sure officers were preserving the scene for investigation and sending emergency medical technicians to tend to the downed gunman before allowing medics to treat the two bullet wounds to his own legs.

“In law enforcement, you’ve got to change from an adversarial position to a savior,” according to Day. “You have a duty to serve him (the gunman) even though he just tried to kill you.”

That, friends, is a COP. A man who knows and intimately understands his duties and responsibilities. But there’s more:

The gun that Day carries when working looks a bit different than the service weapons most police officers use these days. Day’s model – an “old-style six-shooter” as he describes it – is from a day gone by, a time from years ago when such guns were the modern weaponry.

Day still uses the model because he likes the look. He likes the nostalgia of it.

This week, though, the old six-shooter – loaded with only five bullets, as it happened – proved to be worth much more than bringing back memories.

The gun – and Day’s skill in shooting it – proved to be a lifesaver for the 18-year New Mexico State Police veteran and perhaps other people who may have been targeted by the gunman that Day shot down Monday morning in the parking lot outside the Raton office of the state Motor Vehicle Division.

“I’ve prepared for this my entire life,” Day said Thursday morning, less than a day after returning home to Raton from an Albuquerque hospital to recover. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about (what to do if someone pulls a gun and shoots).”

You can bet your ass that he practices with that gun more often than his once- or twice-annual qualifications. He has the mindset, too, as he explains:

On Monday morning, in the Dona Ana shopping plaza on South Second Street, the scenario suddenly became real. Day found himself under fire by a fugitive wanted in three other states. In the gun battle, Day was hit once in each leg. A third bullet headed for his lower stomach but was stopped by Day’s bulletproof vest, leaving a bloody and bruised mark where the skin was ripped by the impact.

“You’ve got to know,” Day said about a police officer’s mindset, “I will not surrender. I will not give up. I will fight.”

The bullets that struck his legs felt only like bugs hitting him, Day said. He was focused on the man who was shooting at him. The fact that he was shot “just didn’t concern me,” Day said.

State police on Wednesday identified the man who engaged Day in Monday’s gun battle as 28-year-old Shane Holmes of Frederickstown, Mo. Holmes had at least 10 aliases and was wanted on criminal felony warrants for fraud and forgery in Texas, Indiana and Missouri. Investigators found equipment in the Jeep that Holmes brought to the Raton MVD office that officials believe he may have used to produce counterfeit bank checks.

Holmes died en route to an Albuquerque hospital about five hours after the shootout.

Day had gone to the MVD office in response to a call from the office after employees there did routine checks and discovered Holmes was sought on the felony warrants. Holmes was trying to register a Jeep.

Although he is the top-ranking officer and commander in the Raton state police office, Day handled the call because the closest other officer was miles away south of Springer.

Day entered the MVD office and went to a back office while Holmes was still at the front counter with an MVD employee. When Holmes and the employee, William Allemand, went out to the parking lot to look at the Jeep, Day took the opportunity to pursue Holmes’ arrest while he was outside the building.

As Day approached Holmes by the Jeep, Holmes was turned sideways to Day. Day told Holmes he was placing him under arrest and Day reached for Holmes’ wrist in order to handcuff him.

From the side of his body facing away from Day, Holmes pulled a 9-mm handgun from his belt area and pointed it at Day at point-blank range.

In an attempt to distract Holmes, Day yelled “No!” and shoved Holmes away from him, then turned and ran in order to put some distance between them. Holmes began firing, and missing, and – much to Day’s surprise – started chasing Day rather than getting into the Jeep to try to make an escape.

“That’s when I knew I was really in danger,” Day said, adding that Holmes was yelling something that ended in “kill you.”

Day drew his six-shooter and fired two shots as he turned toward Holmes. The shots, although missing Holmes, stopped Holmes from coming closer and sent Holmes moving laterally in front of Day. Ten to 15 feet apart, now face to face with no cover between them, the two exchanged a flurry of gunfire.

Among the 13 shots fired by Holmes – who has a gun that holds 15 bullets at a time – one bullet went through Day’s left thigh and another lodged in his right knee. Day didn’t even feel the one that struck his vest above his belt.

After being hit, Day said he felt “calm” as he fired his five shots. He knew from the start, however, that he only had five bullets in his gun.

“You have five rounds,” Day said he thought to himself as Holmes began firing at him. “You’re going to have to make them count.”

One shot hit Holmes in the hand. Day’s final shot struck Holmes near the left temple. Holmes fell.

Day, a husband of 13 years and father of three, said the first thought in his head when Holmes pulled a gun on him was his children. “I didn’t want them to be orphans,” he said. He also feared that his wife, Brenda, who supervises the MVD office, might also become a target if Holmes was given the chance to take revenge on those who had called the police.

“I knew I had to win,” Day said.

Before joining the New Mexico State Police, Day was shot at during an undercover assignment with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. As a member of the Nebraska State Patrol, Day had to shoot a suspect during a traffic stop that went bad. Unlike Holmes this week, the Nebraska suspect lived.

Day admits that next time he is called to handle a felony warrant situation – even if the crimes are white-collar offenses like Holmes’ – he will use even more caution.

“There is no such thing as a nice felon,” Day said. “This guy was ready to kill.”

And on Monday, Day was forced to be ready to do the same.

My heartfelt thanks to Trooper Day, and my best wishes for his recovery. And I recommend that if he still wishes to carry a revolver, he might consider the eight-shot S&W Model 27. With all eight chambers filled.

But keep the mentality: You MUST WIN and you MUST MAKE YOUR SHOTS COUNT.

“Spray and pray” doesn’t do the job.

How Does a Government Official Say “Fvck You?” – “Trust me.”

The local leftie rag The Tucson Citizen does, I must admit, an excellent job of watchdogging the state and local governments. In last weeks edition they had this article on the state’s underhanded effort to start selling off property currently belonging to the finest shooting range in the state, and some say in the entire Southwest – Ben Avery. Here’s a taste of the article:

You’ve heard the one about Arizona having two kinds of people: real estate speculators and those in government who want to be.

In Arizona, it’s all about dirt. Who has it. Who wants it. Who can peddle it.

On 1,650 acres in north Phoenix is the Ben Avery Shooting Facility, a well-planned, clean, efficient and well-used collection of 35 gun and archery ranges. To some, it is a shooter’s mecca, one of the finest shooting facilities in the country and a paradise that is insulated on a chunk of remaining Sonoran Desert.

To others, it is money that can be mined with new houses and an auto mall.

State taxpayers own Ben Avery, which attracts 150,000 shooters a year. The range’s fate is in the hands of the five members of the Arizona Game & Fish Commission, who are appointed by the governor.

And despite recent protestations, the commission has dangled the multi-range facility to developers who would build houses to add more Phoenicians and pour cement and asphalt for new car emporiums.

—

A Game & Fish committee was seeking solid direction that day from the appointed, yet powerful, members of the commission. And it was another classic ingredient of Arizona real estate: What should the study tell us?

“The committee wanted direction from the commission as to whether (Game & Fish) should be at Ben Avery as long as possible and develop accordingly or should the perspective be opened to work with developers to see what long-range opportunities were in selling the property as a large chunk,” the minutes note. “In the next 5-10 years, the Ben Avery property could be worth $100,000 an acre.”

In the world of money talks, $165 million did more than scream. It grabbed the Game & Fish commissioners.

Go read. Try not to have anything breakable nearby.

Of Course, Some are More Equal Than Others…

Instapundit points to this story (Yes, I know everybody reads him, but I want to archive this one myself) about Florida State Attorney John Tanner attempting to board a commercial flight with a handgun in his luggage – undeclared.

Airport Security Finds Gun In State Attorney’s Suitcase

Tanner Skips Flight To Buy Lock Box

Security officials at Daytona Beach International Airport found a handgun in State Attorney John Tanner’s suitcase Tuesday.

A spokesman said it was an honest mistake, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported.

Tanner was traveling on his first hunting trip since security was increased at airports. The gun was not loaded.

Tanner had to skip the flight to buy a lock box to put the gun on board.

So, Mr. Tanner is a handgun hunter? And he, a State Attorney, was not aware of the law? It was only an honest mistake? And he was not arrested and charged, merely delayed so he could buy a proper box to transport the weapon in?

Had Mr. Tanner been John Q. Public, John Q. would be charged.

I fucking hate the “we’re from the government” double-standard.

Justice Louis Brandeis had something to say about this:

Decency, security and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subject to the rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a government of laws, existence of government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, omnipresent teacher. For good or ill, it teaches the whole people by example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for the law. It invites every man to become a law unto himself. It invites anarchy. —U.S. v. Olmstead, 277 U.S. 438 (1928), Justice Brandeis, dissenting

Instead, they’ve done what government has always done – set up one group as a “priviledged class” against the common proles.

New Blog Announcement

Thanks to Publicola and Say Uncle, we now have a multi-contributor blog dedicated to guns and shooting. It is not a political blog, rather an informational one. It’s called The Shooter’s Carnival.

Contributors currently signed up are:

Me (though I’ve yet to contribute my first piece)

Alphecca

Boone Country

Hell in a Hand Basket

LayLines

Publicola

SayUncle

Stop the Bleating

The site will accept contributions from anyone, just e-mail Say Uncle with your piece.

Give it a look. Make a suggestion. Hell, ask a question and I’ll attempt to answer it in a piece there (and here too.)