You live in fear. This is the goal of terrorism.

I show my concealed-carry permit to a cashier asking for a photo id to confirm my credit card.  She panics.  She assumes because I have the weapons permit, I must be armed.  I’m now labeled a terrorist.  I’m questioned by the authorities, as are my friends.  I’m unable to fly because I’m on the TSA watch list.  Every purchase is scrutinized.  My travels outside the US are suddenly suspicious, regardless of the data trail.  Why did I purchase diesel fuel in Canada?  Didn’t I buy fertilizer in the US once?  Am I making a bomb?  What are these pictures on my camera?

The definition of terrorism from Merriam-Webster:

“Main Entry:

ter·ror·ism

Pronunciation:

\ˈter-ər-ˌi-zəm\

Function:

noun

Date:

1795

: the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion”

Imagine if I had a name typically found in the Middle East, like Ramak Fazel. All of his problems were caused by one busy-body on an airplane.

Report your neighbors, random acquaintances.  Fuck up life for all of those bullies in school by reporting them as well.  Live in fear.  Obey your government.  After all, they know best.

When the pandemic comes, prepare your guns.

Will the Bush administration lock you up in a pandemic?  I have a paper somewhere about the 1918 Flu pandemic and what the successful towns (where success is measured in least deaths) did in response to the pandemic.  I recall it didn’t involve martial law.  You either have to shoot all the sick, and potential sick, or let modern medicine take care of them the best they can to contain the infestation.

Second Guessing in CT

I was reading an article by one person who’s apparently changed their mind on the 2nd amendment.  Glad to see some people think for themselves.

Domestic Violence & Protection

I volunteer for a battered womens shelter.  These women come in scared, and generally leave empowered.  During their transformation, they invariably want two things; self-defense lessons and a handgun.  They all say they can be overpowered by their partners; the gun is the equalizer.  I’ve heard over and over again, “I had a restraining order against him, but it didn’t stop him.”  Of course not, it’s a piece of paper reliant on a timely response from an overworked police force.  The self-defense lessons and handgun will even the odds, and possibly hold the partner until the police do wind up arriving.

It’s not that these women want to kill.  They want to protect themselves and their kids.  They feel far safer knowing I have a concealed permit, although very, very few every ask if I’m actually carrying.  They don’t want pepper spray, they don’t want to continue to have the crap beat out of them waiting for the police, they want a hand gun.  In MA, they seriously consider if they want to get one legally or not.  Legally, means their records are public and given the invasive requirements for a concealed carry license, someone always knows exactly where they are living.  Abusive partners will find this info and use it to their advantage.  Some have gone ‘downtown’ and picked up a few handguns from the street corner.  Some have been concealed carry holders for over 20 years without a license.  The risks of going to jail are less than exposing themselves to the public records for their abusers to find.

It’s also funny that the local NRA membership grows from these shelters.  These women starting over with nothing, somehow find the money to become an NRA member.  It crosses all walks of life.

Optional Search Warrants in my own backyard

“Boston police are launching a program that will call upon parents in high-crime neighborhoods to allow detectives into their homes, without a warrant, to search for guns in their children’s bedrooms.The program, which is already raising questions about civil liberties, is based on the premise that parents are so fearful of gun violence and the possibility that their own teenagers will be caught up in it that they will turn to police for help, even in their own households.”

I don’t even know where to begin.  Initial thoughts are summed by “those that would trade liberty for security deserve neither”; in the words of Benjamin Franklin.   Full story at boston.com.

Ted Nugent Strikes Again

From ZombieSquad forums:

Today on Glenn Becks national radio show, he interviewed Ted Nugent. I don’t really want to get into a debate on the merits of either man, but I wanted to share an excerpt from the beginning of the interview. As a little back story, there was some crazed guy in New York City that stole some knives from a deli or something and started stabbing people in the street. He stabbed this lady multiple times to the chest and face until an off duty cop saw it and shot him down. No one helped until the cop got there because in NYC, there are only 200 valid CFP in the city of 18 million people and he had a knife and everyone else had nothing. Glenn is for more guns and people carrying them and had Ted on the show to talk about it and other things.

-start-
GLENN: Ted Nugent is on phone with us. Ted.

NUGENT: Hey, happy October to you, Glenn.

GLENN: They tell me you like guns.

NUGENT: I’m fondling guns as we speak. I’m calling you from a beautiful Texas campfire at a hunting camp here in Albany, Texas, campfires, cops, heroes, military, plumbers, welders and teachers and ranchers and guitar players and we all carry guns and we can’t imagine how a human being of consciousness, a human being of goodwill and decency and certainly independence and knowledge and an understanding of good over evil would ever go forth in this world in a known and intentional unarmed helplessness. In the scenario you just talked about, Glenn, horrifically, this unfolds on an hourly basis around the world and certainly right here in the United States of America. And for people to dismiss the horror and tragedy with which you are conveying on this radio show and then still shake their heads, purse their lips and walk out of their houses knowingly unarmed and helpless, it boggles my mind. I can’t imagine such a wimpy, helpless accepted condition, and I would like people to man up, to freedom up, to good over evil up and people should do what we’ve done around the country, get their concealed weapons permit, train, get a modicum of tactical understanding of weapon retention, weapon utility and stop evil and not wait for the multiple stab wounds. Stop the person now. And Glenn, in every instance, like this cop, this off-duty cop who stopped evil and deadliness, we the people can do that. We’re not stupid. I know who the bad guy is and I’m just a guitar player.
-end-

2nd Amendment Appeals

It would appear the City of Washington, DC isn’t going to take the overturned gun ban lying down.  I wouldn’t have expected them too either.  The SCOTUSblog has the updates.

Felons for Chemical Control

“Hank Fox has brought a significant problem to my attention, one that I’ve addressed before: one of the consequences of growing American cowardice and these trumped-up Wars on Terror and Drugs (let’s call them what they are: a War on Civil Liberties) is that science and science education are collateral damage.”  Read the rest of the post.  There’s also a good debate about gun vs. chemical control in the comments.

Economics & Gun Control

I re-read Freakonomics the other day, just to refresh my memory on a few questions I had written in the page margins.  There’s a chapter on crime reduction in the 1990s.  One of the obvious topics brought up is gun control.  There’s a salient sentence to remember, which in summary says “If there exists an easy to access black market in guns, gun control is only punishing the law abiding citizen.”

Why would a criminal bother buying a gun legally?  It’s expensive and invasive.  I can literally drive one town over and pick up a number of weapons off the street very cheaply.  It would be an anonymous transaction and cheaper for me in the short term.  Why didn’t I?  The long term probability of getting caught and running afoul of the stupid gun laws in my state aren’t worth the short term gain.  If I was going to rob a store or kill someone, for the one time event, the illegal gun is a far better choice.  The probability of being caught is lower, the probability of having the weapon traced back to me is very small, and I can dispose of the weapon just as easily as I acquired it.

Kennesaw, GA

Would you like to own a weapon and live in a murder free town?  Welcome to Kennesaw, GA.

Would you like to live a town with a complete weapon ban?  Welcome to Morton Grove, IL.  Also, 15% crime rate increase since the ban was enacted.