Category: Guns
VCDL Response
VCDL responds to my earlier criticism about their open carry dinner. As I said in the comments, if you can go out in public openly armed, and people just don’t pay attention, shouldn’t that be considered mission accomplished? If the goal is to get concealed carry in restaurants, that will happen eventually, it just means waiting out Kaine. It seems to me that potentially rubbing restaurant goers the wrong way by making a public announcement in a place where public announcements generally aren’t socially acceptable does more to undermine that cause than to promote it.
UPDATE: Countertop in the comments:
First, I understand that the owner pressured him to stand up and say something. I wasn’t there, so I don’t know for sure – thats just what I heard.
Also, this was the culminating dinner – with full press attention (though really, I was hoping for the Washington Times or Post or something substantial) – with a whole crowd gathered.
Knowing these two fact, it strikes me that there might be more to this story and that, while certainly within the attention whore column, perhaps not as bad as if it was just another one of the VCDL dinners.
This would certainly be a mitigating circumstance.
Quote of the Day
Ninth Stage commenting on my earlier post about interrupting dinner:
“I’m armed and so are dozens more here.â€Â Sounds like the opening line in a takeover robbery.  I’d be checking for a clear backstop in preparation for shooting the assclown before I heard another word.
Heh
A Self-Defense No No
Canadian authorities insist on pursuing charges against a man for defending his son from a grizzly bear attack.
“He was 16 yards away, actually, when I shot him. It’s not fun being attacked by a grizzly bear, that’s for sure.”
Lucas said he has fully co-operated with the investigation. He even rode by horseback three hours to his truck to charge his cellphone and call authorities about the death.
“They’re wanting me to become accountable for killing that bear,” he said. “I wonder who would be accountable if my son was dead or I was dead?”
You think the life of your kid means anything to government bureaucrats? You’re dirt to them. There’s a dead bear on their hands, and someone is going to pay.
Open Carry Activism
I support open carry, and support using it as a form of activism, as long as people follow the “don’t be an assclown” rule, which I think most activist tend to follow.  But I do have to say, that if a bunch of people got up an announced to the whole restaurant that they, and everyone at the whole table were all gay, I’d be pretty pissy to have my dinner interrupted over someone’s desire to attract my attention with a big steaming plate of “Don’t give a shit”.  Same goes for gun people:
The patrons at Champps, an upscale restaurant and bar chain, were eating ribs and drinking beer on a recent Saturday when customer Bruce Jackson stood up and made an announcement: He was armed, and so were dozens of other patrons.
The armed customers stood up in unison, showing off holstered pistols and revolvers. Jackson said a word or two about the rights of gun owners to carry firearms in Virginia, then thanked everyone for their attention and sat down.
To me, this violates the “Don’t be an assclown” rule, and we shouldn’t do it. Just sayin’. This just makes people think gun carriers are kooks.
Reading Eagle Jumping on Bandwagon
Calling for assault weapons to be banned. Of course, the fact that the SKS was never an assault weapon and was never covered by the ban will never enter into the debate.  Neither will the criminal records of the scumbags who were responsible. The Reading Eagle doesn’t seem ot want to talk about that.
Weekend Posting
Sorry for the light posting this weekend. Bitter and I were busy making preperation for Louisville. I spent most of the weekend running through and refining my presentation for the “In Their Own Words” special session to be held on Saturday May 17th at 2PM. My presentation will be an introduction to blogging and gun blogging, and how it applies to second amendment activism. We leave for Louisville on Wednesday, so things will be busy until then.
Pat Murphy Jumps on Gun Banning Bandwagon
He has signed onto HR1022, the McCarthy Gun Ban, which bans a number of common sporting and target rifles, in addition to many common shotguns:
Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8, a co-sponsor of a bill to reinstitute the assault weapons ban and son of a former Philadelphia police officer, said the government needs to be “proactive†to quell gun violence.
“While I support the right of gun ownership and I believe in the Second Amendment, I strongly believe that if someone wants to fire an assault rifle they should join the military,†Murphy said.
The congressman’s opponents in this year’s House race, however, said reinstating the assault weapons ban would do little, if anything, to stop gun violence.
Tom Manion, a Republican from Doylestown Township, said the focus should be on stricter law enforcement, not on enacting more gun laws.
“I really don’t think a ban on assault weapons is going to do anything to keep the criminals from getting their hands on guns,†Manion said.
Concealed weapons permit or not, Congressman Murphy, I can promise you that Mr. Manion will be getting my vote this fall, and I will do everything in my power to make sure the 1200 person club I belong to, and my many thousands of readers know why.
The Bill Congressman Murphy has signed on to, does not merely ban “assault weapons” , whatever they are, it bans two of the most common target rifles being sold today, including the AR-15, and many models of the Ruger 10/22. It is so badly worded, that it would, in effect, ban all semi-automatic shotguns, and many common semi-automatic rifles like the M1A, and the M1 Garand. The Ruger Ranch Rifle would also be banned under this bill. It give the attorney general authority to ban any firearm, so long as the attorney general makes a judgement that they are not sufficiently “sporting” guns, by whatever definition the attorney general chooses to use.
This is a bad law for hunters and shooters, and voters in Pennsylvania’s 8th district should be aware their congressman has signed onto it.
Should Doctors Have Guns?
A comment asks for my thoughs on this. I don’t see why Doctors should be different than any other business owner. The primary objection, I would imagine, is that it violates their hippocratic oath to “do no harm.” But to me, that doesn’t require being taken to suicidal conclusions. The “do no harm” directive applies to the practice of medicine, it doesn’t apply to a doctor’s right to defend himself, and the employees and patients in his practice.
To me, it’s a matter of personal choice for the doctors. If a doctor chooses to have a gun in his office, fine by me. If he chooses not to, that’s fine by me too.
Violent Crimes and Concealed Carry
Pretty conclusive that states with right-to-carry laws have lower crime rates than those that don’t.