I’ve been away from the blog for a while, been travelling and teaching some common sense to law abiding gun owners.
I found this video today made by my dear friend Colleen Lawson. She lives in Chicago and she was one of the plaintiffs in the McDonald case brought before the Supreme Court. Just watch and listen to her, how can leaving people like her and her family unprotected be called common sense?
I know I have been abandoning this blog for a few days but that was because I was spending some quality time with about 70 other gun owners taking responsibility for their own training and safety.
The event was the 3rd annual Central Florida Tactical Conference and it was a sellout crowd. The event, organized by Jim Clark of High Point Training, was held with all volunteer labor and 100% of the net proceeds will go to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. It was estimated that at least $5,000 was raised for the Wounded Warriors.
The attendees were a mix of new and seasoned shooters all eager to learn new skills; it was great to see a number of new shooters among the familiar faces taking responsibility for their own training. The entire conference was a “hot” range meaning everyone’s gun was loaded at all times and everyone knew the rules for gun handling and everyone was responsible for safety. Nobody got hurt, nobody broke the rules and nobody had to be asked to leave for doing something stupid.
The event was a mixture of Hands-on, lecture and competition. There was a very challenging match which consisted of the “old Federal Air Marshall’s” qualification course which way a very challenging test of shooting speed and accuracy, if you didn’t make the allotted times you weren’t even in the running for the prize.
The other half of the match was a simple course of a seven target array that you had to shoot from the ground, then kneeling, then standing after a simulated fight where you are knocked to the ground. Easy? Not so much. I learned that my pistol may jam when I shoot it almost upside –down.
The shooting instruction was conducted by nationally known trainers.
Andy Stanford taught “Tactical Dynamics” which included 360 degree gun handling and the Wyatt Protocol which is to “fight, see if you need to fight any more, see if you need to fight anyone else, and then prepare to fight again.” He placed a lot of emphasis on avoidance of trouble, quoting John Farnam “don’t go stupid places with stupid people doing stupid things” good advice for all of us.
John Strayer taught “Techniques for the Defensive Revolver” Which included the advantages of the revolver versus the semi-auto as a backup weapon, proper grip, trigger control, reloading and drawing the backup revolver. Many of the participants were surprised to find out how much more difficult it was to shoot those small revolvers (the loaner guns were “J frames”). Quite a few participants were first time revolver shooters and more than one man came up to me later and remarked on how difficult it was and how they could not believe how many gun shop employees recommended this type of gun for women.
Shannon Smith presented “Fast Accurate Shooting Techniques” This included a lecture on the benefits of competition shooting for the armed citizen and a live fire demonstration by Shannon. Then there was instruction and practical exercises on Fast Accurate Shooting Techniques which involved a lot of discussion of grip, stance, sight picture, and trigger squeeze, followed by live fire drills. The interesting thing in my group was he asked how many people carried a “full size” gun on a daily basis and the only hands raises were my own, my female friend and one guy out of about 15 people in the group.
The non-shooting portions of the weekend included Dr. Barry Garcia teaching “Tactical Medicine,” a SWAT medic, who covered emergency first aid for gunshot wounds and other serious injuries that may be encountered on the range or on the street.
Phil Peplinski taught jand-to-hand self-defense, up close and personal, what to do if you are attacked on the street, and how to defend yourself from an attack with a knife, using improvised weapons for defense and how to retain your own weapon in a struggle.
What types of physio-psychological effects one may experience during and after a violent encounter was covered by Massad Ayoob . Some of the topics covered were what types of body alarm reactions and altered perspectives that may occur during a violent encounter as well as what one may experience in the aftermath of such an encounter.
So, in summary, it was two beautiful days in the central Florida sun with armed citizens taking responsibility for their own training, their own safety and the safety of others, raising money for a good cause, now that’s Common Sense!
I have been watching Japete’s Blog lately, all I can do is watch because I have been “banned,” and I noticed that there is a new poster there ( I love peace) that is teetering on the brink of getting “banned” That reminded me of how I got banned by a simple “conversation” that I thought was polite. Before I started this blog I made this little video of the actual conversation the got me voted off the island.
Up until now I only shared it with my circle of friends and my facebook friends, so now I wanted to share it with my new blog friends.
If I was mean or out of line please let me know because I thought I was polite.
Who would expect that a routine visit to your family pediatrician would end up with the good Doctor telling you to go elsewhere for your care? That’s what happened to Tom and Amber Ullman when they brought their third child, a four month old infant in for a routine checkup.
Now the state of Florida has a bill, Senate 432: Privacy of Firearms Owners, introduced by state Senator Greg Evers, scheduled to be heard in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday, February 22 at 9:00 a.m. This bill would stop anti-gun doctors from asking children and parents if they own guns and then telling them to get rid of their guns. It further stops doctors from denying care to children if the parents refuse to answer questions about gun ownership. There have been stories, like the Ullman’s, about office staff entering the answers to the gun ownership questions into the electronic medical record. Now some may argue that medical records are protected under HIPPA but didn’t you sign an authorization to share your information with your insurance company. Your records can also be shared “to protect the public health.”
A quick look at the American Academy of Pediatrics’ website clearly shows their agenda.
On this page “Handguns in the home” They cite a number of statistics with no reference other than their own materials which in turn have no citation. For instance:
“Every two hours, someone’s child is killed with a gun, either in a homicide, a suicide, or as a result of an unintentional injury.” – no citation and no definition of who is a “child” some of these studies have defined “children” up to age 24, and these statistics have also included criminals and gangbangers who were killed by the police or other gangbangers.
“Major urban trauma centers are reporting an increase of 300 percent in the number of children treated for gunshot wounds; in fact, one in every twenty-five admissions to pediatric trauma centers in the United States is due to gunshot wounds.” – again no citations for either figure or real numbers for that “300 percent increase”
“Parents should realize that a gun in the home is forty-three times more likely to be used to kill a friend or family member than a burglar or other criminal.” – no citation but probably came from one flawed study. Source: info http://gunfacts.info/pdfs/gun-facts/5.1/gun-facts-5.1-screen.pdf. pg 26
“ To compound this problem, depressed preteenagers and teenagers commit suicide with guns more frequently than by any other means.” – true if you search for ages 0-19 but more like 1/3 in ages 0-15, depends on how you define “child.” Source: WISQARS
“A Center to Prevent Handgun Violence survey estimated that about 135,000 students carried handguns to school each day, and another 270,000 brought handguns to school at least once; that figure may be even higher today.” – no mention of where, when or how this “study” was conducted. A quick check of how many schools are in the us gives us the number as 124,100, are we to believe that there is at least one gun in every school?
Here are some more quotes from the above mentioned page and two of their other pages:
Where We Stand: Gun Safety and Gun Safety: Keeping Children Safe That clearly show their anti-civil rights agenda, and they want us to give them our gun information. Are we supposed to trust them to keep that information private?
“The best preventive measure against firearm injuries and deaths is not to own a gun.”
“The most effective way to prevent firearm-related injury to children is to keep guns out of homes and communities”
“The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly supports gun-control legislation.”
“We believe that handguns, deadly air guns, and assault weapons should be banned.”
“Until handguns are banned”
So I think I would take medical advice from my doctor and not tell him or her if I do or do not keep guns in my home.
More links:
http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/gun-shots/2011/02/guns-and-doctors
Like the NRA and their Eddie Eagle program. Now the anti-gunners might like sticking their heads in the sand and imagining we live in a perfect gun-free utopia but that isn’t going to cut it. Even if they do not own guns themselves their neighbors do out in that cold cruel world. It seems that it would make sense to educate their children rather than remain in denial, it might really be safer that way.
For those who want to provide home protection with a firearm and have little ones at home there are some excellent resources out there. You can get more solid and realistic advice that you can get on the AAP website here at Safeshot Ltd.
Not all doctors are anti-gun either there’s Dr Timothy Wheeler of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership who co-authored the book “ Keeping your Family Safe: the Responsibilities of Firearm Ownership.”
Then there’s my all time favorite website for women who shoot and especially moms (she raised 5 boys) The Cornered Cat, run by Kathy Jackson. Who offers some really sound advice for keeping kids safe around guns. She too has a great book out called “The Cornered Cat: a Woman’s guide to Concealed Carry.”
If you feel strongly about this invasion of privacy and you live in Florida you can email your State Senators at these addresses:
evers.greg.web@flsenate.gov,
dean.charles.web@flsenate.gov,
dockery.paula.web@flsenate.gov,
margolis.gwen.web@flsenate.gov,
smith.chris.web@flsenate.gov
And ask them to SupportSB 432 and Stop Doctors from Violating Gun Privacy Rights.
Now isn’t that just Common Sense?
This is where all the anti-gun, anti-knife, anti-drug hand-wringing and whining gets us to, silly rules that punish children for just being children. I thought all this was supposed to be “for the children” School staff and administrators, educated people, hiding behind zero- tolerance policies, so they do not have to make a judgment call, you know, an adult decision based on the facts at hand.
In the last few days there have been more of these ridiculous zero-tolerance suspensions / punishments in the news. I dare to say that I bet the stories that we read about are just a small fraction of how often this happens, most of the stories never make it to the media. The kids take their punishment or the parents fight the battle and then hush up for fear of retaliation on their child.
Spitballs. Dangerous weapons? Really? In the picture they look like those little Airsoft BBs, and they’re a lot softer than the dried peas that we use to spit out of the “Pea Shooters” that we used to buy at the corner “school store.” If we got caught with them in class they got taken away. Now it is a criminal charge of assault and expulsion from school. The boy is then sent to “a diversion program – which includes community service and substance abuse and anger management counseling”
So tell me how it is helping this kid to put him in a school of delinquents and give him “substance abuse and anger management counseling” When he has a problem with neither?
“Hammonton Police began an investigation into the ‘suspicious activity’ at the Hammonton Early Childhood Education Center”
“Police charged the 7-year-old with possessing an imitation firearm in or on an education institution – a misdemeanor and a minor juvenile offense in New Jersey.”
The police for a 7 year old, seriously? Suspicious activity, give me a break, he’s 7. They charged a 7 year old for a Nerf-type gun. It boggles the mind.
The even quote another parent about this so called incident
“Deseire Gherard, a parent of one of the students at the school, agrees with the policy.
‘I’d rather it be dealt with more severely than not,” said Gherard. “I would rather them go a little bit too far for the safety of all the children then to say ‘okay, it was probably nothing.’”
I sure hope Deseire’s kid never gets busted with a Tylenol, I wonder if she would feel the same way if that was her kid.
“School officials — without confirming the identity of the boy in question — said a student pointed his finger like a gun repeatedly, even after being told ‘on more than one occasion’ not to do it.”
For crying out loud he’s seven, maybe a time-out or a missed recess might be in order, sheesh I’m surprised they didn’t call the cops on this one too.
Recently there was a study done in New York City about the drastic increase in suspensions since Mayor Bloomberg has been in office. it seem that the New York City schools suspend nearly twice as many students as they did a decade ago and the lengths of suspensions are longer. Check out “Education Interrupted: The Growing Use of Suspension in New York City Schools”
It seems that this school district in Michigan is allowing children of the Sikh religion to carry their ceremonial dagger to school. It looks like some reasoning and logic might have occurred there. Could this finally be the chink in the armor for zero-tolerance?
There’s a lot of misinformation, lies and stuff that’s just plain made up floating around out there and filling up the intertubes with useless junk.
Now we all do know that the plural of anecdote is not data, right?
You cannot take one person’s statement of their opinion and assume that everyone shares that same opinion. For example the Minneapolis Chief of police commented “If law-enforcement professionals believed that guns were the answer to reducing crime, your nation’s police chiefs would be leading the charge for more guns.”
However, he is voicing his own opinion, that’s how he feels. This opinion however, is not in line with the annual survey of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. In their most recent annual survey (2010) they asked the question “Should any law-abiding citizen be able to purchase a firearm for sport or self defense?” A full 95% of them said yes.
I can name several Police Chiefs, right off the top of my head, who are pro private citizen gun ownership for sport or self defense but guess what, it doesn’t matter. That’s their individual opinions. You cannot extrapolate one or two or ten person’s opinions into facts.
The numbers speak for themselves, and 95 % of your nation’s Chiefs of Police Support civilian gun ownership.
More examples of sweeping generalizations I have run across lately:
“The “gun guys” do not like law enforcement.”
“So at the the (sic) gun range in my area one must be an NRA memberr (sic) to belong I assume that is not unusual.”
Remember what they say about assuming?
Our friend Tom Gresham is fond of saying “A lie left unchallenged becomes the truth.”
So, I am going to challenge some of the lies, silliness and just made up stuff I have come across on a blog recently.
”The truth is, we haven’t really tried gun control.”
Really? Never tried it? Have you heard of Chicago? Washington DC? Two places with the most stringent gun control in the country and very high rates of all types violent crime. Things are so bad in those cities that private citizens petitioned the Supreme Court of the USA to regain some of their 2nds amendment rights and guess what, they won. See the Heller and McDonald Decisions.
For lighter reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_of_Columbia_v._Heller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald_v._Chicago
“With a few exceptions, we have very few federal gun laws.”
It’s hard to determine exactly how many federal gun laws that are on the books because how do you count laws? Is the Obama Health Care plan one law or a compilation of many laws under one heading? This book, by Alan Korwin, claims to explain 271 Federal Gun Laws: http://www.gunlaws.com/gloa.htm
Now I can list, off the top of my head, at least 10 examples of Federal Gun Laws right here:
• National Firearms Act
• Gun Control Act of 1968
• Civil Rights Act of 1968
• Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986
• Postal Regulations on the Mailing of Firearms
• Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
• Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990
• Laws concerning Firearms Aboard Aircraft
• Laws delineating the Exportation of Firearms
• Laws outlining the Use and Possession of Firearms in National Parks and Forests
While 10 might not seem like a lot to some people, most of these laws are large and sweeping and do things like: regulate machine guns, list “prohibited persons”, establish the ATF, establish waiting periods and the NICS system and include many laws.
“If you buy a partially assembled gun, open the box in which your gun comes and you will find right on the top of the box is a message from the NRA. You had better join them because, if not, your guns will be confiscated.”
I don’t even know that this means “a partially assembled gun” I know that Taurus offered a free NRA membership last year but I believe that their guns were fully assembled. Nowhere on this flyer does it say or even imply that “You had better join them (the NRA) because, if not, your guns will be confiscated.” It a rather attractive flyer, not menacing in any way at all.
“Most law enforcement offices (sic) carry 10 round magazines.”
“… 10 rounds. Those are the standard magazines and have been for many years.”
I did a little research and came up with the following information about which duty weapons State police carry. It seems that the only ones that are limited to 10 rounds or less are the pistols that were designed that way. (Glock 37 and S&W 4500 series, all limited in their capacity because they carry larger caliber cartridges that take up more space inside the magazine and the gun.)
Glock 17 - 17 rnds of 9mm
Indiana State Police
SIG P228 – 15 rnds of 9mm
New Jersey State Police
Glock 21 – 13 rnds of .45
Arkansas, Idaho, and Kansas
Glock 31 – 15 rnds of .357 SIG
Tennessee Highway Patrol
Smith & Wesson M&P – 15 rnds of .357 SIG
New Mexico and North Carolina
SIG-Sauers P226 or P229– 12 rnds of .357 SIG
Delaware, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, South Dakota, and Virginia
S&W 4006 – 11 rnds of .40
California Highway Patrol
Smith & Wesson M&P – 15 rnds of .40
Colorado, Iowa, and Washington
Beretta (Px4), 14 rnds of .40
Maryland
SIG .40s, either P226 or P229 – 12 rnds of .40
Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio, and Vermont
Idaho troopers have the choice of a Glock 22 15 rnds of .40 , or a Glock 21, 13 rnds of .45 ACP.
Louisiana State Troopers carry the Glock 17 RTF – 17 rnds of 9mm or Glock 22 – 15 rnds of .40
Minneapolis Police are authorized a broad variety of pistols that hold more than 10 rounds.
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/mpdpolicy/3-200/3-200.asp#P21_76
The Glock .40, America’s single most popularly chosen standard issue police handgun, including St.Paul MN. (15 round magazines)
http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJF11/?page=22
http://www.glock.com/english/index_pistols.htm
Oh, and let’s not forget the “Patrol Rifles” that many police depts. use with 20 – 30 round magazines.
(Isn’t it odd that cops use “Patrol Rifles” but civilians use “Assault Rifles”?)
The Minneapolis Police Dept equips theirs with 20 Round magazines.
As for 10 rounds being the standard magazine for many years. Maybe that was true during the “Assault Weapons” ban, that expired in 2004, but that is certainly not how the guns were designed.
So be careful out there on the Intertubes and don’t take anything that anybody says as “fact” without checking it out for yourself. They might just be pulling their “facts” out of their behind.
This was written in response to Joan Peterson over at CommonGunsense.com, however she refused to post my comment on her blog so here it is including the portions that I had second thoughts about and deleted from my post. You would probably need to read her blog post in order to put this in context.
Joan, do you honestly think that law-abiding gun owners condone the actions of that horrible story you linked to about “vigilantism gone totally wrong?” You asked “How is it that anything like this is acceptable in our ‘new normal’ world?” Who said that it was acceptable? Nowhere have I seen any of the “gun guys” say they thought that this was acceptable or normal. Which people with guns justify such murders with some sort of feeling of vigilante justice? You accuse the “gun guys” of jumping to the assumption that you want to ban all their guns but I think that you are jumping to some assumptions here. Do you really think that we are all just on the edge of killing somebody?
Are “these things are happening now so frequently that they are becoming the ‘new normal’?” can you back up that statement?
I also don’t think anyone said that law-abiding gun owners don’t make mistakes or do anything wrong. I have seen more than one poster on this blog who admit that we are not all perfect and accidents do happen. I think at least the posters here are being very realistic and advocate training and education to help reduce accidents. Guns are simply tools and like all tools they require some safety education and precaution.
I don’t think the Latin terms that Heather used were meant to “stop the debate in its tracks.” The terms were not that obscure or particularly difficult to understand. A quick Google search would have given anyone interested the common definition of the terms. Your claim that “it was way too confusing for little old naive me” does not inspire much confidence your research practices
Joan, you said:
“Moreover, why let the military and police have that many rounds if the average citizen can’t? ( their words, not mine)”
No, Joan, your incorrect interpretation of their words. What has been said here many time is if the police needs full capacity magazines, then why would armed citizens need less to protect themselves?
See the difference?
Next you said:
“Because, you know, those citizens so concerned about their liberty and freedom might need a whole lot of ammunition to fight against those pesky police officers (who get shot because they don’t practice enough and don’t follow safety procedures like the rest of the responsible gun owners- their words, not mine). And fighting the military? Why not?”
Again you misinterpret in your paraphrasing. Who said the law abiding armed citizens would get into a gunfight with the police? Who actually said the words cited above? Where? When?
Then there’s this:
“And those semi-automatic assault rifles? Don’t mess with them. They can be turned into automatics easily.” That is simple untrue. Can it be done? Sometimes. Easily? No. Legally? No again. What do you base that statement on?
Could you please explain why you have a problem with Utah commemorating the 1911 pistol, invented by John Moses Browning and adopted by the US military to fight for your freedom in WW I and WWII. It remained in use by U.S. troops in Korea, Vietnam and is still in use by some of the Special Forces and many Police Officers in the U.S. today. I think that is a pretty good record, how many other items can you name that have been in use, virtually unchanged since the 1890’s? Utah is proud that one of their own created this freedom and peacekeeping tool. Why the hate?
I can’t comment on the “Bling… bling… bling..” You didn’t approve the comment and I am not Thomas. So, I started a blog, with a URL similar to yours. I wasn’t even interested in starting a blog but I was inspired by you and how you misinterpret what the “Gun Guys” say and only pick and choose which comments to approve. That is your right; it is your blog. That’s why I started my own, for an open discussion. And yes, so far all the comments are polite but everyone is welcome and I personally invited you. I don’t want everyone to agree.
“So the new normal is that the minority have become more extreme and vocal in their opinions.” It is only your opinion that we are a minority.
History cannot be rewritten to suit your agenda, we cannot deny the Holocaust and we cannot deny the racist roots of gun control schemes.
To say that the African-Americans, who lived through the civil rights movement in the South, did not have or use firearms to protect themselves and their families is simply disingenuous.
In her book, published in 2010, aimed at middle schoolers “Condoleezza Rice: A Memoir of My Extraordinary, Ordinary Family and Me” about her life and growing up in Birmingham, Alabama. She recounts how her father “sat on the porch with his gun in his lap” and how “Daddy and the men of the neighborhood formed a watch” she then goes on tho say “Had my father and his neighbors registered their weapons, Bull Connor surely would have confiscated them or worse.” This, and more, is all on page 94 of her book.
If you haven’t watched the excellent video “No Guns for Negroes” now is the time. What better time than during Black History Month.
One of the blogs that is against firearm owner’s civil right’s discusses a quote made by Hubert Humphrey that was published in a gun magazine, in fact it was in “Guns” Magazine, Feb 1960. With the permission of the current publisher I have posted here the Cover, Masthead and page with the actual quote. Now this blogger is saying that this quote cannot be verified because she cannot find it anywhere in the “national Library of Congress.”
Well why would it be in the Library of Congress? Most likely it was a phone call, an interview or private correspondence between the writer and the Senator. The fact that the quote was never denied by HHH might just mean that he actually said it, you know?.
I hear there are lots of boxes of HHH’s papers stored Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul, Minnesota maybe the proof is there; maybe the proof is lost to history.
Tired of false promises of thoughtful reflection about the issue of guns and gun violence?
Tired of the misperceptions and the culture of gun violence in America?
Tired of misrepresentation of facts and the censuring of posts that don’t support a given agenda?
Then it’s time for some Uncommon Gunsense.
Comments here will be unmoderated, post what you can’t get posted on other blogs
