I Finally Get a Running Debate
in my comments, and the comments go down.
Anybody else having problems with Haloscan?
I’ve already changed comment services once.
(*Sigh* – whaddaya want for free?)
Category: Uncategorized
Now THIS is Interesting
Lopez, Affleck Seek Gun Permit in Ga.
HINESVILLE, Ga. – Just because Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez aren’t doing much of anything doesn’t mean they’re not making news.
Hollywood’s most overexposed couple set gossip pages aflame anew on Tuesday after they popped into a south Georgia courthouse near Affleck’s Hampton Island home.
But apparently it was a gun license, not a marriage license, that the on-again, off-again super couple was seeking Monday.
“Affleck wanted to know where he could apply for a gun permit,” said Liberty County Sheriff Don Martin, who mugged for a photo before sending the couple down the hall to the probate court.
The appearance has unleashed a horde of paparazzi and celebrity reporters onto the small town of Hinesville, where a court clerk verified Tuesday morning _ apparently not for the first time _ that the couple did not apply for a marriage license.
And normally I couldn’t care less about Bennifer.
Media Doublespeak?
I found this report of suicide-by-cop interesting:
A Frankfort man was fatally shot by police Tuesday after he pointed a rifle at an officer during a standoff.
The shooting ended a nearly five-hour-long standoff between Mark Bustamante, 28, 1205 Milroy St., and members of the Clinton County Emergency Response Team. Bustamante was fatally shot in the upper left chest at 1:20 a.m. today. He was pronounced dead shortly after at St. Vincent Frankfort Hospital.
A member of Kirklin Police Department fired a single shot from his .223-caliber rifle after Bustamante pointed an assault rifle at the officer. The policeman is now on administrative leave pending review by the firearms review board.
Now, there’s a chance that the “.223-caliber rifle” used by the officer was a bolt-action “sniper-gun,” but the overwhelming probability is that it was an AR-15 – an assault rifle itself. In fact, it’s even possible that it was an M-16, the real select-fire assault rifle, rather than the semi-auto AR-15. The article isn’t clear. Many departments are now issuing AR-15 rifles to their patrol officers rather than the traditional riot shotgun, and AR-15’s are common for SWAT teams these days. Fully-automatic M-16’s are available to police departments through the Federal government. I would be interested in knowing whether the officers on the scene were armed with “assault rifles.”
You know, guns that 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.”
Toys for Iraqi Tots
The Rev. Sensing at One Hand Clapping tells us about Chief Wiggles’ impromptu toy drive. Go read. And donate.
“There comes a point where you have to suspect sabotage, or a conspiracy.”
If you’ve read much of this blog, you know that I have a few recurring themes, one of which is “Our Collapsing Schools.”
Well, Friday Connie du Toit posted about that particular subject – and I am in full agreement with her. Money quote:
The other day our Carpenter’s helper heard me say something along the lines of, “it is difficult to conclude that incompetence is the reason why our public schools have deteriorated. There comes a point where you have to suspect sabotage, or a conspiracy.”
Go read. She’s right.
#@$K!
My internet service was down – again – when I got up Saturday morning, and it was down all day with the exception of about a 1 minute window Saturday afternoon. (You can tell by watching the blinking lights on the cable modem.) Called Comcast – next service tech available FRIDAY THE 26th!
When I got up this morning, again, no-go. Went to the range with my wife and spent a pleasant morning plinking, stopped at a restaraunt and had a nice lunch, got home and still no ISP. Sat down to watch a video tape. WTF? VCR is buggered. Run the video feed off the VCR, all I get is snow.
A little bell rings in the back of my head.
I disconnect the cable from the VCR and tie it directly to the TV. Good picture. (Quality had been not quite up to snuff recently.)
Bingo! I’ve got internet service again.
Guess I need to get a new VCR.
And I need to cancel that service call.
And Some People Believe that Only Cops Should Have Guns
Via Say Uncle comes this heartwarming story of Thomas Martin McGouey and his attempt to commit suicide-by-cop. He does everything right. He leaves a suicide note telling the cops where he is. He has a gun. He paints a bullseye on his chest and adds the words “Let me die.” The cops are called with a report that there is a man shooting a gun, threatening to kill people and himself. They arrive – at least six of them – and find the man in a field. (Mr. McGouey apparently ensured that any stray rounds would not endanger others – and a good thing, too.) He approaches while the officers tell him to show his hands. When he gets to within 30 yards of the officers, he brings his hands out from behind his back, and points a gun (a pellet gun, but they couldn’t know that) at the cops.
The results?
Twenty eight (28!) rounds fired by the officers.
Mr. McGouey was later treated for one superficial gunshot wound to the shoulder.
I think that was just bad luck.
Oh yeah, only police officers receive the hours of training necessary to use firearms effectively.
Thank Jebus there wasn’t a crowd in the background.
More Guns, Less Crime
Via Instapundit comes the latest on the John Lott saga. Professor Reynolds says:
As I wrote a while back, Lott has been the subject of so many bogus attacks that I’ve been skeptical of this one. But I trust Jim Lindgren as a neutral arbiter with expertise in the area, and it seems to me that this time Lott’s critics have him dead to rights, and he’s failed to mount a convincing response.
For me it was the “Mary Rosh” bit that discredited Lott in my eyes. Defending yourself through a pseudonymous alter-ego was, IMHO, dishonest. If he was willing to be mendacious about that, then why should I trust his word on other matters?
I would also say that I never was accepting of the 2.5 million annual defensive gun use estimate. I certainly don’t accept the National Crime Victimization Survey estimate of 108,000 as accurate, but I’d be amazed if the actual number much exceeded 250,000. Then again, how many does there need (Get it, “need?”) to be? 108,000 DGUs a year is 295 a day.
Lott gives the appearance of being the gun-rights Michael Bellesiles, and James Lindgren, who Eugene Volokh notes seems pretty neutral on the entire gun-rights issue, was instrumental in showing Bellesiles’ flaws. That he is doing so with Lott makes his criticism more believable, not less.
One fact remains, though: There are more guns. There isn’t more crime. Correlation does not mean causation, but spin this however they wish the gun control forces cannot point to Dodge-City shootouts and blood running in the streets. Crime levels haven’t been this low since the 1960’s. Guns do NOT CAUSE crime.
Some Views on Dean Clark, and One More Recall Cartoon
Chuck Asay of the Colorado Springs Gazette has this take on Wesley’s entry into the fray:
Choreography by Hillary Clinton.
Somehow, I don’t think that John Deering of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette thinks very highly of the Democratic candidates, including Clark:
Mike Thompson of the Detroit Free Press isn’t gushing enthusiastic either:
Nor is Henry Payne of the Detroit News:
Finally, Larry Wright, also of the Detroit News, has this warning to the Dems:
And one more on the 9th Circus recall decision, Mike Ramirez of the LA Times weighs in:
OUCH! Touché, Mike!
Still Being Railroaded
Publicola has the latest in the Roderick Pritchett saga. This has been commented on by several gun-bloggers, not the least of whom are Spoons and Kim du Toit, but Publicola has stayed on top of the story.
Here is what Mr. Pritchett has to say.
It certainly appears that the powers-that-be in Chigago are making absolutely sure that Mr. Pritchett will be severely punished for having the temerity to carry a firearm when said powers-that-be have proclaimed that the masses shall be dependent on government for their protection. The latest move: A change of venue with the apparent intent of ensuring that the jury box will be filled with unsympathetic whites rather than sympathetic blacks.
You know, a jury of his peers.