Category: Uncategorized

Gone for a Couple of Days

I’ve got a short business trip, and won’t be able to post from the road. Sorry.

But I’ve got an essay fermenting in the back of my mind on self-defense, concealed-carry, licensing & registration, “need,” etc. Hopefully I’ll have it up by this weekend.

Lileks and the Care and Feeding of Envy

It looks like James is channelling the liberal care and feeding of envy through the conservative filter. In this case, instead of “winning life’s lottery,” Lileks protests the “vapid, genetically-blessed bipeds we have elevated to the status of impotent royalty.”

This one should have been a screed.

I am incapable of caring any less than I did when that horrid symbiotic organism they called Bennifer first appeared on the covers of US and People and WE and Them and Pretty Humanoid Penile / Mucoid-Membrane Interface Update….

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That’s why we need People! Lesser mortals might figure that the usual triplicate enticements of money, fame and smokin’ pokin’ are at play here…

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Cameron would be that goofy Diaz creature who was so lovely in “The Mask” but suffered so many internal tapeworms she will compete with Courtney Cox for a nomination in “The best performance by a prominent sternum bone” in the 04 People’s Choice Award.

Damn, that’s funny. Thank you, James. I needed that.

In England, He’d be in Jail

For that matter, in New York City he would, too. (Registration required to view article. Originally published 9/1/2003)

Shotgun In Hand, Homeowner Waited In Dark For Intruders

Norwich Man Shoots At Pair He Couldn’t See, Hitting One In Stomach

Three times during the past month thieves broke into a home at 154 Salem Turnpike owned by George Blacker. They took books, lamps, clocks and other family possessions.

The 61-year-old Blacker, who says he is legally blind, had seen enough.

So a week ago, after the last burglary, he began spending the night at the usually vacant house instead of his home on Scotland Road. He also removed some items from the house.

On Friday night, Blacker was sitting in a chair listening to a radio just before 10 p.m. He was holding his father’s 12-gauge shotgun. It was dark inside because the house has no electricity.

Blacker said he heard someone breaking in through the back door. He could tell there were two men because they were talking to each other.

“There’s a lot less stuff than the last time we were here,” he heard one man tell the other.

As the men came into the living room where Blacker was sitting, he raised the shotgun. He said he couldn’t see the men, so he fired in the direction of the sounds they made. He estimated they were just a few feet away.

Blacker said the men never saw him and he never said anything to them.

“I was afraid for my life,” he said Sunday. “ I hit one and he ran out with the other one. I can’t get around very fast and by the time I got outside they had disappeared. I looked around and then came in and called 911.”

After he fired the one shot, he said that one man told him, “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”

“I scared them half to death. They didn’t even know I was there,” he said.

Police responded and found the man Blacker shot in the stomach, William R. Derose, 43, of 6 Union St., Apt. 1. He was taken to The William W. Backus Hospital, where he was listed in good condition Sunday. Police are investigating the incident and, as of Sunday night, Derose had not been charged.

Blacker was interested in how the man was doing Sunday and wanted to know whether police were guarding him in the hospital. They were not.

On Friday night, police searched nearby Maplewood Cemetery for the second suspect, who has not been identified, but could not locate him. Police ask anyone with information on the incident to contact the Norwich Police Department’s detective’s division at 886-5561 or leave a message on the anonymous tip-line at ext. 500.

Blacker said he felt justified in shooting Derose.

“I was there to protect my house and my goods. They wouldn’t have got shot if they hadn’t of been in there,” he said. “I didn’t shoot him in the street. I shot him in my house. It’s my house.”

Well, Mr. Blacker, that seems to depend on just where you live, doesn’t it? But I’m on your side.

He was questioned by police early Saturday morning.

Blacker, who is married with a son, said he checks on the house each day. He said his family has praised him for his actions.

“They’re happy it turned out the way it did,” he said.

So am I. But you could have fired a couple more rounds, IMHO.

UPDATE: 9/15/03 – As of this time, Mr. Blacker has still not been charged. Apparently the District Attorney for Norwich is a far more reasonable man than any DA in NYC.

Look in the Dictionary Under “Overreaction” and You’ll Find This:

Seems an off-duty Australian police officer was taking a flight out of Melbourne, Australia and while sitting in his seat he discovered that he had some ammunition in his possession. No gun, mind you, just some ammo. The story is not very helpful, since it refers to his “revolver” but later mentions a “magazine,” so I don’t know if he was wearing a speedloader, had a couple of rounds in his pocket, or actually had a loaded magazine for a pistol in his possession, but no matter.

THEY EVACUATED THE AIRPLANE AND RAN EVERYONE BACK THROUGH A SECURITY SCREENING

Plane evacuated after passenger realised he had bullets

A Christchurch-bound aircraft was evacuated after a passenger realised he was carrying a full magazine of ammunition.

The off-duty policeman got through all security procedures at Melbourne’s Tulamarine Airport and was in his seat on the Qantas 737 preparing for take-off when he discovered that while he had left his revolver at home he still had the bullets.

After telling a stunned attendant of his mistake he and all the other passengers were immediately taken from the plane, returned to the terminal and scanned again before being allowed to reboard.

The incident happened earlier this week.

A Qantas media spokesman said the incident appeared to be an isolated one, but his company was concerned.

“The security screening at Tulamarine lies with the Melbourne airport authorities and the fact that this man was able to get the magazine through unnoticed is a problem they will have to sort out,” Simon Rushton said.

He said the off-duty Victorian policeman was allowed to continue flying on Tuesday after handing over the bullets.

Politicians in Australia are calling for security to be boosted as a result of the incident.

What do they suggest? Full body-cavity searches?

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.