A good reason to carry a gun in a national park.

From HuffPo:

TORONTO — Two coyotes attacked a promising young musician as she was hiking alone in a national park in eastern Canada, and authorities said she died Wednesday of her injuries.

First mistake: Hiking alone.

Second mistake: Hiking unarmed.

English police are re-arming themselves...

Motorcycle police with machine guns to patrol violent gang hot spots.

Motorcycle police armed with semi automatic pistols are to patrol the streets for the first time in a bid to combat shootings

Shootings in Sarah Brady paradise? What about all their common sense gun control? Handgun ban? Semi-auto ban? Licensing and registration? Are none of those things working?

They will be armed with Heckler & Koch MP5 single-fire carbine guns and Glock semi-automatic pistols.

It seems the English press has the same problem as the American press. A single-fire carbine is not a machine gun as stated in the title.

Gun crime in London has risen year on year with the number of offences in the month of September alone up by 30 per cent from 230 last year to 300 this year.

Over the past year, gun crime in the capital has soared by 17 per cent with 1,736 incidents reported in London between April and September this year - 252 more than the same period last year.

That seems about right. For the past decade the English have been reducing the number of guns in the hands of the law-abiding. If more guns equals less crime, then it's safe to say fewer guns equals more crime.

And I love the last line in the article:

'Are we heading down a slippery slope towards armed rather than community policing? I hope the Met will rethink this terrible decision immediately and think of a genuinely proactive way to prevent gun crime.'

Whether you're a cop or civilian, being unarmed is anything but proactive.

Saudi Arabia: More common sense than Chicago.

In order to curb the black market for guns, Saudi Arabia is doing the logical thing: Lifting the ban on personal gun ownership.

JEDDAH: A recent Ministry of Interior decision allowing Saudis to openly buy handguns and other personal firearms was applauded by some locals and denounced by others.

Ending Prohibition destroyed the bootlegging industry. Now, crime related to alcohol trafficking is nonexistent because the bootleggers could not afford to stay in business. Legalizing alcohol destroyed their profit margin.

And the same can apply to firearms. Restrictions and prohibitions on firearms and ammunition only create a thriving black market, where criminals prosper and become more powerful. We see this everywhere guns are restricted or prohibited.

Whether it's alcohol or firearms, nothing kills a black market faster than legalizing it. While there are still restrictions on alcohol, they are minimum. In most places in the US, all you have to do is show an ID. Guns are no different. Our gun laws, should be reduced to the bare minimum: background check when you buy from an FFL, keep private sales legal. With each additional restriction, you only put more money in the pockets of the criminals who run the black market.

Of course there are naysayers:

Amani Saleh, a 28-year-old assistant director, said she was horrid when local newspapers reported the news. “The society is already suffering from terrorist attacks and now we give them access to weapons?” said Saleh.

If you already have a terrorism problem, guns are the least of your worry. Anyone who can build a bomb can get a gun through illegal means. If anything, armed civilians can help fight terrorism.

New bill proposes fine for citizens who don't own guns.

While California is making gun ownership more burdensome and expensive, a Vermont legislator seeks to do the opposite: Make not owning a gun, more burdensome and expensive.

...a Vermont state legislator recently introduced a bill requiring all unarmed Vermont citizens to pay $500 for the privilege of not owning a gun.
Under the bill, adults who choose not to own a weapon would be required to register their name, address, Social Security number, and driver's license number with the state. Those of military age, with the exception of police and members of the armed forces, would be required to pay the $500 fine...

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, right? If you can burden people for making the choice of owning firearms, isn't only "fair" that you can burden people for not making the choice?

I think it's a good idea. Those people who don't own guns are essentially making the state solely responsible for their safety, requiring more protection than gun owners. Naturally, they should pay the state for the extra protection. I do wish that he had worked fingerprinting in there.

This legislation will probably never pass (nearly everyone in VT owns a gun anyway), but it's a good discussion starter.

Must be something in the water.

Another gang beating in another gun control haven.

PHILADELPHIA - The mother of a teenager attacked and beaten by a pack of 30 other teens is speaking out, and she's talking exclusively to Fox 29 about her son's ordeal.

I wonder if the gun-controllers will use this as another opportunity to call for more gun control.

Guns in a bar? Oh my.

A good old fashioned drug deal gone bad.



So what law would have prevented this?

Banning guns from bars? Considering all of the shooters were already criminals engaged in a criminal act, who were prohibited from not only carrying a firearm, but possessing one as well, I doubt they would respect a law respect a law banning on guns in bars anymore than they would respect the law that prohibits them from owning or carrying a gun.

Banning private sales aka closing the gun show "loophole"? Considering these guys can find illegal drugs to buy and sell, I seriously doubt they'd have much trouble finding guns at some place other than a gun show or the classified ads. The same goes for licensing and gun registration.

Assault weapons ban? It might have reduced the number of shots fired between the two of them, but it wouldn't have prevented the shooting.

Safe storage law? Only if their guns were stolen.

What would work? How about keeping criminals off the street? The shooters were previous "guests of the state", so why not make them very long term "guests"? The best solution for criminal recidivism is to not let them out so soon and so often.

Cops, not guns are bad news for women. Bad for dogs too.

Officer Shoots Woman, Pit Bull Playing

"The young lady started hollering and just at that time a police officer was coming down and thought the dog was attacking the lady," witness Dennis Wallace said. "I can't say that I would do anything different. The (officer) drew down and started shooting. I couldn't say I wouldn't have done that."

The woman's parents said one of the bullets hit the ground and fragments ricocheted, wounding her in the upper body. She was taken by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital, treated and released.

Sugar was also wounded. The dog's owner took Sugar to a vet and it is expected to recover.

I wish Sugar and the lady a speedy recovery.

Lie #19: Buy as many guns as you want. No questions asked?

"Right now in almost every state in the country, someone can go into a gun store and if they pass the background check, they can buy a hundred, a thousand, all the handguns they want... No questions asked as to why they need so many guns..."


Actually, dealers have to report multiple handgun sales to the ATF (ATF Form 3310.4) and if the number is unusually high (for example "a hundred"), then you will get a visit from the ATF. Even selling 2 handguns to the same person within 5 consecutive business days requires reporting to the ATF.

Someone gets it.

Milwaukee understands that the best way to handle criminals is to lock them up for the rest of their lives.

Least Competent Criminals

Kevin Ollie, 17, and Damien Cole, 19, completely failed in their attempted street robbery in Milwaukee, Wis., in August, when they accosted a young man and woman. The male "victim" drew his own gun, shot Ollie fatally and held Cole for the police. Later, Cole, though not the shooter, was charged with Ollie's death under the state's "felony murder" rule, which makes felons responsible if anyone at the scene should die as a result of the crime. Cole could get 55 years in prison. [WTMJ-TV (Milwaukee), 8-18-09]

By the time Cole gets out of prison, he will (hopefully) be too old to recede back into a life of crime like Donald Rice or Dustin Edelen. And most important of all, keeping him locked up will keep him from ending up like is accomplice: Dead at the hands of an armed citizen.

More Christians with guns.

Piece be with you: Detroit pastors pack heat - Faith- msnbc.com

DETROIT - The Rev. Lawrence Adams teaches his flock at the Westside Bible Church to turn the other cheek. Just in case, though, the 54-year-old retired police lieutenant also wears a handgun under his robe.Adams is one of several Detroit clergymen who have taken to packing heat in the pulpit.

I loved this quote:

"As a pastor, I'm referred to as a shepherd," Adams said. "Shepherds have the responsibility of watching over their flock. Do I want to hurt somebody? Absolutely not!"

I couldn't have said it better myself.

My favorite Ghandi quote.

It's not the one about guns, but this one:

"...that where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence."