I've Got the Vapors

Okay, so if it's against regulations to have a gun in an NBA locker room, then the suspension two players received for bringing a gun in was correct. But does that mean people need to be so sensitive to every bit of language that can be used to describe gun use? Even if guns are not allowed in the locker room, the NBA acted to discourage this particular behavior, but that does not mean guns should not be allowed anywhere, ever. So why should language like "not leaving anything in the chamber" be so upsetting? Oooh, even talk about a gun gives us the vapors. Perhaps, just perhaps, people should receive gun training in high school or something so guns are not so "big and scary."

A Special Craft Project

For those of you who are crafty, *and* fans of the Second Amendment, a gun cozy.

Pics

First of all, here's a shot of Wildchild at the range with her pink rifle. She's very interested in shooting. Maybe it will be a lifelong pastime for her.

Here are the girls at the Indians game we went to on Thursday. Progressive Field is now doing like amusement parks do, and has a photographer going around taking pictures of fans, which are then put online, for printout or for purchase (from their POV, preferably for purchase.) We all had a good time, but were tired that night and the next day, since the game went into the 11th inning. At least we won after all that. Husband happened to get a picture of Asdrubal Cabrera making the game-winning swing in the bottom of the 11th, and I have a picture of our view of the field, but they're still not uploaded. Husband took the disc to work and then didn't have the right attachment to upload them. Hmmm. I should find a name for him besides Husband or Mr. EG.

They Grow Up So Fast

How our family celebrated Buy-A-Gun Day. Wildchild told Daddy she would go shooting with him if he bought her a pink gun.

Update: Welcome, Kim du Toit readers!

I Like

Wildchild has promised Mr. EG she will practice shooting with him if she has a pink gun. She made admiring noises at this one. Too bad it's a specialized paint job. I like it too!

h/t See-Dubya.

It Can Happen Here

So I was just about to post about my own trivial little happenings when I see that yet another school shooting has taken place, this time right in Cleveland. I'm glad to have my kids at home with me right now, and I'm glad there seem to be no fatalities from this, apart from the shooter. Although it was of course wrong to shoot people, I'm sorry the young gunman seems to have taken his own life. I'm wondering when we'll start hearing about how this kid was never in trouble, etc.

I suppose the mayor will now call for stricter gun laws, or security at the school building, or something similar. I would want my children to hide from someone running around with a gun, but I would also want there to be someone similarly armed who could protect my children in a dangerous situation. Here's some great quotes: "Schools are supposed to be a safe place." With all the shootings that have happened in schools, can we really think like that anymore? Also, one parent says about security personnel that used to be in the school: "To take away the only source of protection is just not right." Well, if they allowed teachers who had a concealed carry permit to carry a firearm during the course of their work, there would be another source of protection, and without the cost of extra security. Isn't it time that politicians and school boards learned that simply forbidding guns in school will not keep guns out of schools?

Does That Make Me Crazy?

Via JunkYard Blog, a 31-year-old student at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN was suspended for suggesting, in emails to the vice-president of academic and student affairs and the president of the college, that students might feel safer around the campus if concealed-carry permit holders, such as himself, were permitted to carry their weapons. In order to have his suspension lifted, Troy Scheffler, the student, must undergo a psychological evaluation and also any treatment deemed necessary. Ironically, the powers-that-be at the university also stationed a policeman with a gun outside of Scheffler's classroom to enforce the suspension. Ooooh. Weren't all the students afraid of the big, scary gun?

I am tired of universities cracking down on students' free speech in this manner. After reading the article, I do not see anything that Scheffler said that warrants a psychological evaluation. Colleges and universities have become anti-free-speech zones, where only the currently correct ideas can be spouted. Unless you're a Muslim, in which case you're free to call for the destruction of Israel and goodness only knows what else. I'm going to have to be so careful where I send my daughters to college. Especially my eldest daughter, who wants to be a vet. Is she going to have undergo a psychological evaluation if she says that she doesn't believe she evolved from an amoeba?

I'm Scared

Seriously, I am scared that people as clueless, as dumb, as incomprehensibly stupid, as asinine as this joker even exist. Why am I not surprised that this article is found in the Toledo Blade? That's another thing to be scared about, that Cleveland is so close to Toledo. This pathetic loser seriously asserts that America can and should be disarmed. Uh-huh. Read the article. Then when you're done throwing up, or rolling on the floor laughing, go read the great fisking by Iowahawk.

In the meantime, men with guns have helped save the lives of at least 40,000 babies every year in Afghanistan by ousting the Taliban. Guns don't belong in museums. They belong in the hands of everyone who is fit, able and willing to defend themselves.

h/t to Ace for the links.

My Take on the Virginia Tech Shootings

This is partially in response to my blog friend Jau, since her latest post set off this whole long ramble. She suggested we should limit "tools with which people can express intense anger and misery." I pointed out that now that guns are illegal in the U.K., there's a call to ban kitchen knives, as they are responsible for a large portion of the current violence there, perhaps as much as half. People will turn nasty and violent. It's sad, but it's a fact of life, has been for the thousands of years that humans have been around, and always will be. The first recorded sin in history, after eating the forbidden fruit, was a violent murder.

Secondly, if Clayton Cramer is correct, the two guns that the shooter owned were a Glock 9 mm and a .22 caliber pistol. These are semi-automatic weapons, not automatic weapons. At some point, the shooter probably had to change the magazine on his gun, although he probably could have done it fairly quickly. And many gun owners will argue with you about their right to own automatic weapons just as much as their right to own semi-automatic weapons. The reason we own weapons is not just to protect ourselves from the thief who breaks in at night, but to protect our liberties from a tyrannic government, if need be. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Founding Fathers saw that their system of government might not last and that tyranny might raise its ugly head once more.

Clayton Cramer also implies that since Seung-Hui was a resident alien of the United States, there was no reason why he could not have owned these guns legally, although he was not supposed to have them on campus, but hey, that didn't stop him. I would like to know where Jau got her information that gun shows are exempt from background checks. I purchased my gun at a gun show, and you'd better believe the person from whom I purchased that gun did a background check on me. A federally-licensed firearms dealer must always run a background check before selling a firearm. Any exceptions there may be, such as LEOs and people with a CCW, are just another form of background check. Any hobbyist can set up a table and sell his collection at a gun show, but those people are probably being watched to make sure they are really hobbyists and not firearms dealers. And anyone can sell a firearm to anyone else in a private sale, which I do not believe the government should ever regulate. The government has no business in private sales. In any case, do we know where Seung-Hui purchased his firearms or have any reason to believe he owned them illegally? Let's not bring up situations that may not even fit this story, and are unlikely on top of that. The MSM may love to put out scare stories about gun shows, but a gun show is not someplace to just go anonymously load up on all the guns you want. I've been there; I know.

Lastly, Jau asks, "Why must being an American include the fairly frequent and not very remote possibility of being mowed down by lunatics?" Well, first of all, because Americans have rights and freedoms, guaranteed by our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Do we want to destroy those any more?

Secondly, I really do not believe the possibility is "fairly frequent." According to this page, "The Swiss, New Zealanders and Finns all own guns as frequently as Americans, yet in 1995 Switzerland had a murder rate 40 percent lower than Germany's, and New Zealand had one lower than Australia's. Finland and Sweden have very different gun ownership rates, but very similar murder rates. Israel, with a higher gun ownership rate than the U.S., has a murder rate 40 percent below Canada's. When one studies all countries rather than just a select few as is usually done, there is absolutely no relationship between gun ownership and murder." Yes, shootings like this are spectacular and they make the news, but how often do they really happen? To me, this is like the scare stories on roller coasters every time a roller coaster death or accident occurs. You are more likely to get into an accident on the way to the amusement park in your car, than get hurt on a roller coaster.

Thirdly, these sorts of shootings don't just happen in America. See Montreal, for example. I agree with Clayton Cramer that there was no way to prevent this person from obtaining handguns except a complete ban on handgun ownership, which will never happen. Please also read this link on Clayton Cramer's blog where a Virginia Tech student who has a CCW wishes he had the same right to protect himself on the campus of Virginia Tech as he does elsewhere in the state - and he wrote this last August. Perhaps if someone else on campus was legally carrying a firearm, this tragedy may not have reached such huge proportions. I know I will never, EVER give up my right to carry, nor to own firearms, nor to protect myself and my daughters, if need be, by using a firearm. Call me a whacked-out gun nut if you like, but I believe I have presented facts in a reasonable manner in this post.

Good News for Ohioans Who Carry

Here is everything you need to know about Ohio HB347, which goes into effect tomorrow. Makes the ability to protect ourselves and our loved ones easier.

The Title of This Article Seems to Ring a Bell

Here's the article. Although we'd deal slightly differently with would-be bad guys at my church, I imagine. Still, good to see people fighting back instead of meekly giving in. Article discovered at Lucianne.

Sweet!

Wouldn't this get you some looks at the range? Isn't it a purty, purty Bersa? And I have some acrylic paint right here at home.... Okay, I know Jack Bauer wouldn't carry this. I know the Chaplain wouldn't carry this. I wonder if the Pistol Packin' Presbytera would carry this, if it were more of a purple pistol?? (Say "Pistol Packin' Presbytera's purple pistol" three times fast. Ha!) Anybody else think they could survive a day at the range using this? And although the bullets are no longer functional (the paint means they will no longer chamber), yes, the gun itself is still operational. However, since the proud owner does not want to go to the trouble necessary to carefully clean this work of art after using it, the Bersa and bullets are mounted in a glass case. You can see more pictures if you scroll down through the discussion here.

I Exercised Today

My Second Amendment rights, that is. A very nice gun range just re-opened near our house, and my husband has been eager to go check it out. We went with a friend of my husband's. He recently became a U.S. citizen and is interested in exercising his rights as such. His wife also came along, and shot a gun for the first time today. She and I used my Bersa .380. My husband and his friend mostly used his Bersa 9 mm, and also shot my husband's .30-30 rifle, since rifles can be used at this range. My husband has not been able to shoot this rifle for quite some time.

We all had a good time, and my aim improved, so I was happy about that. I'm glad I know I can defend myself if I have to do so.

Heartbreak and Political Hay

In regards to the recent rash of school shootings, I find it ironic that it is the last one, the one at the Amish school, that has garnered the most attention and discussion. I feel this way because the Amish are the least likely to do anything about such tragedies. They are pacificistic people, who shun modern conveniences and technology. Can you imagine being "buzzed in" to an Amish schoolhouse? Yeah, me neither. On the other hand, I think the Amish will continue to accept the consequences of living by their choices.

But of course the government must step in for the rest of us to "fix" the mess that it created in the first place. Now this is hearsay from the radio, but it seems a government representative from Wisconsin is already calling for school personnel to have access to guns. I was greatly hurt to hear Mark Schwab, filling in for the regular drive-time radio host on WTAM 1100, say that people who support this idea belong on "The Dukes of Hazzard." So much for reasoned discourse. At that point I got disgusted and turned off the radio, but thought better of it and turned it back on to hear what else was said. A caller was trying to explain to Schwab and sidekick Allison, who I don't think was hired for her brains, that there are some teachers who work as park rangers during the summer, and are more than capable of handling guns. After the caller convinced the bright lights at WTAM that teachers can indeed be compatible with other interests and professions, Schwab started on how he can't wrap his brain around the other logistics involved with such an idea. Such as where the gun(s) would be stored, who would have charge of and access to them, etc.

Well, I have one simple answer for some of this problem. Surely there are already some teachers in the public schools who have concealed carry permits. Let them start carrying their guns to school. Then, the gun will be stored: on their hips, and the persons in charge of the gun will be: themselves. Yes, there are big scary laws and scary signs about schools being "gun-free" zones. Well, that didn't scare any of the people who decided an unarmed school was a good place to start shooting their gun, did they? For that matter, most of the school shooting incidents I recall end with the shooter turning the gun on himself. So they really don't care anymore what the penalties are for bringing a gun into a sacred gun-free zone, do they?

Yes, there are other options that might bring the appearance of protection to a school. Already when my children attended parochial school several years ago, the school doors were locked and I had to be "buzzed in." There was also a camera at the school door so the school secretary could see I was an innocuous-looking mom, not a big scary guy with an M-60 slung over my shoulder. However, this will only give the appearance of protection.

For starters, my children's school did get a bomb threat called in. Following safety protocol, the school was evacuated and the children hiked through fields and back pathways to the local public high school to wait for their parents, while police searched the school. Now, I'm not suggesting they should have let the children stay in the building after a bomb threat was called in. However, the result was a long line of children accompanied by a smaller number of adults traipsing across an open field. That screams "target" to anyone sick enough to shoot school children anyway.

And yes, we can lock the children in the school building promptly at the beginning of the day. Will that completely stop anyone from getting in or out? Will the mailman and delivery people need to be issued a special pass to permit them to take their deliveries in? Or will there be a special bullet-proof room something along the lines of an airlock? UPS man gets permission to take the packages into the room. Once he leaves, the door locks again and the school secretary can enter to get the packages. Nifty. Be prepared for your local school fees to get hiked. Again.

In short, I'm disgusted with politicians trying to make a political "score" off of people's natural fear for their children. Stay out of it! I'm also disappointed in the knee-jerk responses of someone that I thought was a little bit smarter than that. Schwabie, I thought I knew ya.