Sometimes the writing is on the wall...

And as clear as day:

...and by making me purchase hunting ammunition for target practice, it'll cost me $1 or $2/round every time I goto the range... eventually I'll stop going. Eventually the next generation will lose interest in such an expensive hobby. Its essentially putting a "poll tax" on exercising a right, and eliminating the next generation of shooters and hunters...and its not acceptable.

Not acceptable to you, but perfectly acceptable to the gun control lobby. I'd even go so far as to say that's their goal. To legislate shooting into nonexistence or at least make into a wealthy man's hobby, like yachting or private aircraft.

Or if you prefer it from the horse's mouth:

And as to expense, since guns and ammunition are lethal and kill people, I think they should be expensive. Cigarettes and alcohol are expensive. Maybe it will discourage some folks from buying them.

Those folks who horde guns and ammo? Maybe they aren't so crazy. Buy it cheap, stack it deep.

The numbers don't lie.

Taken from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report (Table 2):

Murder is down across the board. Murder is down in every region... Except the Northeast. The same Northeast where you have the Brady Campaign's top ranked states like New Jersey and New York. And where is murder down the most? In the South where you have the Brady Campaign's lowest ranked states.

This is just further proof that gun control is not crime control.

It's contagious.

Not to be outdone by his portly peer to the south, Governor Paterson has commuted the prison sentence of John White.

Who is John White?

The fatal confrontation was set in motion after a Sound Beach party where police say alcohol was present. Daniel Cicciaro Jr. and his friends piled into cars to confront White's son, Aaron, over an Internet message they mistakenly thought he had sent, threatening to rape a girl at the party. John White, alerted by his son, emerged from his house with a loaded gun and ordered the teens to leave. Within three minutes, Cicciaro had been shot in his face. It surfaced much later that another youth, pretending to be Aaron White, had written the Internet message.

Of note is Rev. Roderick Pearon's comment:

"The right to defend one's home, family and ultimately one's self is at the heart of our history and law," said the Rev. Roderick Pearson, who was chairman of Suffolk's African-American advisory board at the time of the shooting.

Well said, Reverend.

Free Brian Aitken.

It's no secret that New Jersey is hostile to gun owners. It's a state where all gun owners are presumed guilty until proven innocent. This is also the same state that the Brady Campaign ranks as #2 for it's "strong gun laws"... And they want more. As if being imprisoned for doing nothing wasn't enough. So keep Brian Aitken in mind when you hear gun-controllers speak of "compromise". Arbitrary imprisonment is their "compromise".

Help Brian Aitken, an innocent man, be a free man by Christmas. Click here for instructions on how.


UPDATE 12/20/10:
Looks like it worked. Brian will soon be a free man. Will he get his guns back? Will he get his rights to buy a gun back? Will he stay in New Jersey?

UPDATE 12/22/10:
Looks like he is getting out of New Jersey.

This is why you lock them up. Part V

Known violent criminal brings gun into a Gun Free Zone; Commits more violence. Luckily someone with a gun was there to stop him:

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – A gunman calmly walked up to a podium, spray painted a red "V" with a circle around it on a wall and opened fire at school board members Tuesday, sending people scrambling and diving for cover. A security guard soon ran in, exchanged shots with and wounded the man who then killed himself, police said.

Here is the non-shocker:

State prison records show Duke was charged in October 1999 with aggravated stalking, shooting or throwing a missile into a building or vehicle and obstructing justice. He was convicted and sentenced in January 2000 to five years in prison but was released in January 2004.

My opinion is that if you can't be trusted to own a gun, you can't be trusted to live in free society. To some, that may sound extreme. But if the price of letting violent people walk free is further erosion my 2nd Amendment Rights, then by all means keep violent people locked up. And if were not going to keep violent criminals locked up for our safety, let's do it for their safety. Because more often than not, violent criminals have their lives violently ended.

More examples of people who should have stayed locked up:
This is why you lock them up. Part IV
This is why you lock them up. Part III
This is why you lock them up. Part II
This is why you lock them up.

Justice Breyer on your rights.

"Are you a sportsman? Do you like to shoot pistols at targets? Well, get on the subway* and go to Maryland. There is no problem, I don't think, for anyone who really wants to have a gun."

Let's forget for the moment that the 2nd Amendment has nothing to do with "sports".

Imagine if Martin Luther King Jr. had Breyer's attitude? Would he have avoided all those whoopings by the police and moved to Canada?

Imagine if America had Breyer's attitude during WWII? Would we have told the Jews to just pack their stuff and leave.

What would Breyer tell victims of gay bashing? "Don't like getting your face kicked in? Then hop on the bus and go to San Francisco."

Would Breyer tell Muslims, "Want to practice your religion? Then go to Mecca."?

It should be painfully obvious that Breyer's way is the way of the coward. His message to the American people is to run away from any fight for your rights. It's a good thing we don't depend on him for any important, life-changing decisions... Oh wait.

* ADDENDUM: Can you even legally take a gun on the subway in DC? It's worth finding out.

Complex Arguments.

“Unlike the gun enthusiasts, who’s simplistic slogans make for great bumper stickers, our arguments are complex.”

Let's look at the Brady Campaign's complex arguments:

Q. Is Brady a "gun ban" organization?

A. No. Brady believes that a safer America can be achieved without banning guns.

We believe that law-abiding citizens should be able to buy and keep firearms. And we believe there are sensible gun laws that we can and should insist upon when it comes to gun ownership.

Assuming that's the Brady Campaign's complex argument, it must be said that a complex argument isn't always a truthful one.

When Chicago closed their handgun registry (effectively banning the purchase of a handgun), the Brady Campaign was in favor of it. When Washington DC law mandated that a firearm in the home be kept disassembled and inaccessible (effectively banning the keeping of a firearm), the Brady Campaign was in favor it. The Brady Campaign also supports banning law abiding citizens from buying and keeping firearms through the use of horribly erroneus, secret government watch lists. And that's not even getting into the Brady Campaign's thoroughly debunked nonsense about "assault weapons", concealed carry, open carry, etc.

It seems the Brady Campaign's complex arguments are just complex lies. So how about these slogans for Brady Campaign bumper stickers:

"We believe that law-abiding citizens should be able to buy and keep firearms... But we really don't."

OR

"Brady believes that a safer America can be achieved without banning guns... But we really don't"

Quote Ghostbusters? Lose your rights. Go on an anti-Israel rant? Win an award!

If you quote movies or dress up for Halloween, you are obviously a dangerous person who should never have a gun. But if you're a crazy old bat who goes on an anti-Israel rant, then the Brady Campaign will give you an award:


That's the Commonsense® of gun control.

Let's not let reality get in the way of a good emotional argument.

Bill Holda, president of Kilgore College:

"…where you have multiple shooters and innocent people were killed by other people who had concealed licensed handguns because they weren’t sure who was the shooter and who was the defender,"

Of course that completely false. There was only one shooter and no one with a concealed, licensed handgun. But let's not let reality get in the way of a good emotional argument.

And the scariest isn't that this man is responsible for the shaping of young minds, but that he qcites the VPC as an explanation for his "gaffe":

"You are correct re: my inaccuracy re: the Killeen shooting. However, I invite you to look at the information on the Violence Policy Center website; you will see a list of innocent individuals who have been killed by the licensed carriers of handguns. http://www.vpc.org/ We often do not hear about this side of the story – that concealed handguns are not only used for protection, but have been used inappropriately on occasion to kill innocent individuals."

Of course the fatal flaw of the VPC's data is that none of their concealed carry killers needed a concealed carry permit to commit their crime and some of the killers didn't even use a concealed firearm to kill. But let's not let reality get in the way of a good emotional argument.

This reminds me of a comment I just left at 3 Boxes:

"With the internet being as available as it is, there is no excuse for the ignorance among the gun control crowd. Thus the only conclusion is that they are being dishonest or intentionally remaining ignorant out of dedication to their ideology."

It's pretty obvious that the VPC falls under the former and it's beginning to look like Bill Holda falls under the latter.