January 2008 – Page 8 – Shall Not Be Questioned

Shocking Developments

In the Virginia SWAT raid gone wrong which resulted in a homeowner killing an officer. Over at Captain of a Crew of One.

I absolutely believe that Officers have every right to defend themselves and fellow officers, but “suppressive fire?” I don’t suppose any thought of innocent people living next door or walking down the street two blocks over should be any concern to Police officers now should it???

WTFO? Suppressive fire is something you use against an opposing ARMY, not something you use against one guy wh0 may be a criminal…or may just be a guy who thinks you were trying to rob or murder him.

It sounds to me like the cops who think they are an occupying force or invading army are the ones who need to “get their minds right.”

Am I wrong???

No, you’re not. Read the whole thing. I do hope the officer making that comment is unaware of what suppressing fire generally entails, and is merely talking out his ass. If that guy is on a SWAT team, that’s scary indeed.

UPDATE: Radley has more.Â Go read.Â I also agree about his comments about not making this about individual officers, or about the officer killed.Â That an officer was killed because of these poor tactics is a tragedy.Â This is a systemic problem in our society that goes beyond individual departments or people.

Deeper Into the Fever Swamp

The Three Little Pigs is deemed “offensive to Muslims” by a British government agency, and was disqualified from winning the agency’s award.

Airport Security Gaffes

Ahab has another story of a gun owner who forgets he’s carrying and gets through security, then proceeds to “do the right thing” and tell the TSA about it.

If you get past security at an airport with a gun, leave the secured zone immediately and count your blessings.Â There is no get out of jail free card for doing “the right thing.”Â The right thing for you is not to confess to the authorities about the crime you just committed.

Thanks from Paul Helmke

Looks like Paul Helmke doesn’t have any problems with the Bush Administration DOJ filing. Helmke knows a gift horse when he sees it, and isn’t going to look this one in the mouth. The Brady Campaign has everything to gain and nothing to lose by fawning over this brief. They won’t mention that six years ago they were furious about DOJ adopting the individual rights view, which is identical to the one they are now applauding.

When your back is against a wall, you have nothing to lose. Bush has offered Brady two things with his brief. The first is a way out of their nightmare. An individual rights ruling that means nothing is something Brady can work with. Remanding back to District Court will likely preserve most of the DC ban, despite what the DOJ may actually think about it.Â It’s not likely to cause state laws to be threatened in the circuit courts.Â Â Incorporation will be far less likely.

Furthermore, Paul Helmke is aware that gun owners are furious with Bush over the brief, and that this situation puts NRA in a real pickle for 2008. With the gun vote furious at Bush, and with McCain or Romney the likely nominee at this point, NRA is in a very poor position heading into this election. That’s the icing on the cake for the Brady Campaign. Paul Helmke isn’t stupid folks, and what you’re witnessing here is a brilliant political move on the part of the Brady Campaign, compliments of the backstabber in the Oval Office.

DC’s Effective Gun Law

Dave Hardy has the story.

Rendell Endorsement

Rendell has endorsed Hillary Clinton for 2008.Â Â Sorry about the all election coverage.Â Not much going on in the blogosphere gun wise.Â If you have news you think ought to be covered, drop me an e-mail.

NRA Humor

Seen on a forum:

I’ve tossed around the idea of a life membership before but I’m terrified of receiving a notice that my life membership is about to expire and the only way to prevent it is to send more money!

Good Advice

Over at Keyboard and a .45:

We are going to have a choice in the general election. A choice between a far left statist, and a left leaning statist (quiet possibly a left leaning, authoritarian statist). This makes me sick. It also makes me angry, but not angry enough to just say “forget it” and sit the whole process out.

We have legislators to elect. Since we have pretty much lost the White House already, we have to work even harder to get rid of the dead wood and elect quality representatives on Capitol Hill. Look to your local elections, and fight the good fight.

That’s good advice.Â The best thing we can do to advance our cause is work to get politicians elected at the local level who support liberty.Â They’ll eventually work their way up to leadership positions.

Jeff’s Take

Jeff sounds about as depressed as I am.Â I should note that my mind is not yet made up about what to do, but you’ll all be exposed to my thought processes as time wears on, in all it’s horror.Â Jeff says:

Hereâ€™s an unpleasant prediction: Hillary or Barack will be the next president. Watch for â€œsensibleâ€ gun control laws to strip away our remaining rights. Better stock up on incandescent light bulbs â€™cause theyâ€™ll be illegal, too. Kiss trans-fats goodbye.

I think we have to seriously start considering the prospect of what a Obillery presidency will mean for us, and start preparing for it. Â I’m not seeing energized Republicans out there, I’m seeing Republicans who are already acting like the 2008 election is lost now that Fred is out.Â The big question I will be asking myself over the next few months is whether there’s any real difference between McCain and Romney that warrants me not throwing my vote away.Â In the general election I’ll be asking the same thing compared to Obillery.

I am willing to throw my vote away in either a protest vote, or leaving the presidential ballot unchecked.Â But I will have a powerful incentive against doing so considering who the Democrat will be.Â I’m willing to be wooed.

Smells like 1992

1992:

So, people are angry at Bush for not being a real conservative, it’s looking like this Clinton thing has some real momentum, and it’s quite likely we’re likely to have a quirky independent candidate enter the race.

2008:

Will Ron Paul enter the race as an independent?Â I can’t figure out any other reason why he’s sitting on that war chest while pulling single digits in the delegate count.Â I think he will.Â We remember what happened when the GOP vote split in 1992.Â The same thing could happen in 2008.

What I really want to know is where the gun vote is?Â Huckabee hasn’t had much appeal outside of evangelicals, many of whom are concerned about gun rights as well, but Huckabee hasn’t run on that message, other than talking about hunting.Â Fred and Ron Paul were the only real pro-gun candidates in the race, and both of them combined don’t add up to Huckabee’s Delegate count by a long shot.Â Are a lot of gun owners voting for McCain in the primary?Â For Romney? Â I doubt it, but it’s possible.

Want to know why the GOP is such a fair weather friend to gun owners? It looks to me like we’re not voting in the primaries, or are actively supporting candidates in the primaries who have crappy records on the issue compared to other candidates.Â If gun owners were voting their issue, Fred would be doing better than he is, and would still be in the race.Â Gun owners need to be more involved in the primary politics of both parties if we want to stop voting lesser of two evils candidates.Â That’s really the only way to change the direction of the party. Â One can vote third party, but that didn’t work out for the malcontents of 1992.Â I don’t think it will work out too well in 2008 either.

We have blown our chance in the primary, and that’s going to mean getting behind a ho-hum compromise candidate, or handing the keys to the White House to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.Â The choice is ours.