Minnesota – Page 11 – A Geek With Guns

St. Paul City Council Finally Bans a Deadly Scourge in Our Society

It’s not very often that I can actually compliment government employees but I believe in giving credit where credit is due. For far too long now a dangerous scourge has plagued the denizens of St. Paul. This scourge has killed many, left children orphaned, and filled the hospitals with maimed shells that once were men. As you’ve probably figured out I’m talking about backyard archery. After waiting far too long to address this issue the city council of St. Paul finally made it illegal for practice archery in your backyard:

After more than a year of debate and postponement, St. Paul finally banned backyard archery yesterday.

The movement was started when Council Member Russ Stark got a complaint from one of his constituents about a neighbor who lets his kids practice archery in the backyard.

Watching the kids next door zipping deadly arrows all over the place is an unsettling experience, writes Kimberly Koempel.

And by scourge that has killed many I meant a harmless activity that has killed exactly zero people and injured about as many. This is a perfect example of some nosy no-fun zone neighbor taking offense to something entirely unoffensive, sucking the dick of a government official, and laughing manically as the activity is banned. Every second spend debating this issue and banning it was time entirely wasted. That time could have been more productively used by having members of the city council dig holes with a spoon and fill them back in again.

Personally if I had a backyard in St. Paul I’d be practicing archery every evening.

Fellow Minnesotans, Please Take a Moment to Thank Your Representatives for Protecting Bad Officers from Accountability

I have some glorious news comrades! As you know there has been a conspiracy by the proles to hold bad police officers accountable for their actions. Part of this conspiracy involves making officers wear body cameras. They want to use evidence recorded by these cameras to review the actions of our brave enforcers. Thankfully our enforcers have loyal allies willing to stand up against the proles. Tony Cornish, Brian Johnson, and Dan Schoen presented a bill yesterday that would classify and quickly destroy all evidence collected by body cameras that isn’t being used to prosecute a prole in court:

A proposal by a trio of cops-turned-legislators would shield almost all footage shot by police body cameras from public eyes, in what they say is an effort to protect citizens’ privacy.

But advocates of open government say keeping the footage under lock and key undermines attempts to keep police accountable.

The measure filed Thursday is the first legislative effort to regulate the use of the video recording devices worn by police. Footage shot by body cameras would not be available to the public, although individuals captured in the videos would be allowed access. Agencies would be required to keep meticulous records and to destroy any video that is not part of an investigation.

As loyal citizens of this great state of Minnesota we should thanks these three brave representatives. As former police officers themselves Tony Cornish and Brian Johnson have demonstrated that they are still loyal to their fellow enforcers. Dan Schoen is showing he has the right stuff to continue his career in law enforcement. If you would like to read their wonderful work it can be found here.

We can only hope that this bill passes because these traitorous attempts by the proles to hold enforcers accountable cannot be allowed to stand. Our society would collapse overnight if enforcers were no longer allowed to steal, assault, murder, and rape proles without consequence. Tony Cornish, Brian Johnson, and Dan Schoen know this and we can only pray that they are able to convince their fellows of this truth before the proles have a chance to organize a counteroffensive.

The Law of Eristic Escalation in Action

Yesterday, around 14:00, a bunch of people went and got themselves in a tizzy over something that wasn’t directly impacting them. That thing was a protest of the killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Why were people complaining about the protests? Because it shutdown 35W, which is something that hasn’t happened since the Vietnam War:

With her 10-month-old daughter wrapped snugly at her chest, Mari Fitch marched three miles through Minneapolis on Thursday, most of it up the center of an empty Interstate 35W shut down by protest for the first time since the Vietnam War.

Along with about 150 other demonstrators, some carrying signs that read “Black lives matter,” she chanted the names of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, two men killed in fatal confrontations with police officers. The protesters pumped their fists and shouted messages about justice, referencing two grand juries’ decisions not to indict the officers involved in Brown’s and Garner’s deaths.

The high-profile rally had echoes of protests that have sprouted up in other cities around the country, often fueled by crowds enraged by what they say is unfair and often lethal treatment of minorities.

Apparently having a major highway shutdown while you’re sitting at work is very rage inducing for some people. But this protest was an event made inevitable by the pathetic attempts of authority figures trying to impose order on us. Us Discordians know the Law of Eristic Escalation, which states the imposition of order equals the escalation of chaos. And it was that law that we saw in action yesterday.

For ages now the media has been doing its part to help those assholes in marble buildings impose their order. Besides lying for their benefit the media has also done a great job of avoiding covering protests of things that may be politically inconvenient. Protests against police brutality and war may get coverage on the back pages of the newspaper or a quick quip on the nightly news but rarely do they receive more. This has rendered convenient protests, those protests that fail to negatively impact our lives, worthless. Those who make convenient protest impossible will make inconvenient protest inevitable.

Sick of not having their voices heard yesterday’s protests decided to do something the media couldn’t ignore: block a major highway. And it worked. Not only was the news covering it but people were talking about it. In the end chaos sprang forth and got everybody attention, which was the entire point of the protest.

Posted with the greatest sense of irony.

And if you didn’t like this protest you’re probably not going to enjoy almost certain protests that will be springing up as police militarization continues to spiral out of control.

Too Much Democracy

In a few days people will be rushing, OK trickling, to their polling places to vote for the master whose boot they wish to be under. But selecting masters isn’t the only thing on the ballots. Denizens of Minneapolis will get to decide how much democracy is too much democracy:

It costs just $20 to put your name on the ballot for city races. The proposed charter amendment would raise that fee to $500 for mayoral candidates.

Other offices would see smaller increases, although candidates could avoid paying the fee altogether by collecting at least 500 signatures.

The change is designed to keep candidates like Jeff Wagner off the ballot. His quixotic run for mayor last year was built around a series of web videos showing him in varying states of undress. The videos were a hit. Blogs all over the country linked to them. But Wagner ended up with fewer than 200 votes.

Everybody loves democracy so long as there isn’t too much of it.

If you’re one of those people telling all of your friends to get out and vote and also supports measures like this please kindly shut the fuck up. What you’re telling people is that voting is important but only if the list of potential masters is carefully curated. In other words you don’t want people to use the voting process to express their opinions but to acknowledge the opinions of those who get to decide who can and cannot run.

As an aside the fact that the curation process is based on money, which puts a nice barrier between poor people and political office, is telling. I guess people want to be under the boot of a master but not the boot of a poor master.

Wet Willies Now Felony Assault

Wet willies are a schoolyard prank that are likely older than schools themselves. As far as I know nobody has actually been injured, killed, or made ill as a result of a wet willy. But none of that matters because the rules in this country are made up and the punishments never match the crime. A Mankato man gave an officer a wet willy and is now facing felony assault charges:

A wet-willy has landed a man in trouble with police.

Police told our sister station in Mankato that 24-year-old Riley Swearingen put his pointer finger in an officer’s ear while waiting in line for a bus early Saturday morning.

Since it involved bodily fluids, police say it rises to the level of felony assault.

I’m surprised the officer didn’t simply stream “Office safety!” and gun the man down. I guess arresting him and charging him with felony assault does count as restraint in this wonderful police state of a country.

Upcoming Minnesota Carry Day Events

This year the Twin Cities Gun Owners and Carry Forum is host two Minnesota Carry Day events. The first event, which takes place on October 11^th, will be held at Zylstra Harley Davidson in Elk River, Minnesota:

The second event takes place on October 18^th and will be held at St. Paul Harley Davidson in, as the name implies, St. Paul, Minnesota:

Both events are free to attend and will have information sessions scheduled throughout each day. The information sessions will cover more than gun-related stuff. For example, both events will have a self-defense session aimed at kids and sessions on non-lethal self-defense.

Jeff Johnson is a Dick

I’ve been doing my best to avoid wasting your time with the current off season election. While politics really isn’t my thing these days I do feel the need to chime in from time to time. This post is dedicated to Jeff Johnson, the Republican nominee for the Minnesota governor’s race. As this is a gun blog I will point out that Johnson has been enjoying decent support for local gun owners because he pays lip service to the Second Amendment and he’s not Mark Dayton (probably more the latter than the former).

Here’s the problem with Jeff Johnson, he’s a dick. As evidence to support my accusation I present the following:

Johnson, who first proposed reinstating capital punishment for some violent crimes during his unsuccessful bid for attorney general in 2006, said he still supports it.

Admittedly I don’t have much support to give but the second a politician says he supports having the overt power of life and death over his subjects he loses all of my support. Consider the position Johnson is running for. A governor traditionally has the power to exempt people from the death penalty after being sentenced to it. Additionally the death penalty gives the courts an option to outright execute people. This is a major problem when you consider the number of death row inmates who were later acquitted or had the charges otherwise dismissed.

While locking people in a cage is pretty nasty, death is final. Improvement in forensic technology is responsible for many acquittals. As the technology continues to improve it’s likely more people will be found wrongfully convicted. If those people are in a cage they can at least be let out and allowed to live some kind of life. On the other hand if those people are executed there’s not a damn thing that can be done if they’re later found innocent.

Guilty verdicts don’t necessarily mean the convicted is guilty. Knowing this the fact that Johnson supports reinstating the death penalty in Minnesota makes him wholly unworthy of being in a position where he can potentially make it happen. It’s none of my business what master you pick but I discourage you from picking one that wants the organization he is trying to lead, the State of Minnesota, to have the power to overtly murder its subjects.

Amazon to Start Extorting Tax Money from Minnesotans

Bad new fellow Minnesotans. Starting on October 1^st Amazon is going to begin extorting tax money from us:

Minnesotans don’t have much longer to get orders from Amazon.com tax-free.

Starting Oct. 1, the online retailer says it will start collecting sales taxes from Minnesota residents. Online-only retailers don’t have to collect state sales taxes if they do not have a physical location in a state.

I’m a big fan of Amazon. Hell, I’m a Prime subscriber. The free shipping I received from Prime from the amount of merchandise I purchase from Amazon more than covers the subscription cost. Part of the reason I prefer Amazon is because it doesn’t collect taxes that are used to fund militarized police, drug prohibitions, and stadiums for whiny rich bitch sports teams. Now that that’s changing I’m going to start doing less business with Amazon and more business with retailers that don’t extort money from me to fund my oppression.

Thankfully there are a massive number of online retailers who haven’t caved to the pressure of state governments. I recently ordered an item from Newegg and didn’t pay a dime of taxes on it. Many online firearm parts and accessories retailers only collect taxes from people living in the state they have a physical presence in. This announcement from Amazon is good news for them because it means they will get more of my money and since I do most of my shopping online that’s not an insignificant chunk of change.

Your Daily Fear My Fellow Minnesotans

Are you afraid? If you’re not you should be. Why? Because ~~the anarchists~~ ~~the communists~~ ~~the drug cartels~~ ~~the illegal immigrants~~ ~~al-Qaeda~~ ~~al-Shabaab~~ the Islamic State (IS) is coming to get you!

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) – Bob Fletcher once held the title of Ramsey County sheriff, and he’s reaching out to his law enforcement contacts again because he believes America should be on guard for a new kind of terror attack. This week, Fletcher sent out a bulletin to police agencies to warn them about a new kind of car bomb that has its own brochure.

Al Qaeda published the document, titled “Car Bombs Inside America,” as a step-by-step guide. The detail is amazing, but aside from instructing people to use propane tanks and an oxygen cylinder to create the destructive device, the publication also gives recommendations for targets — including Times Square, casinos in Las Vegas, and oil trains.

Oops, my mistake. It was al-Qaeda this time, not the IS (seriously, Bob Fletcher really missed an opportunity to cash in on the current fear). But they’re supposedly going to come to Minnesota and pull a Time Square bomb here. Which means that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) will have to find some schmuck with lukewarm intelligence, radicalize him, claim he joined al-Qaeda, and and give him a fake bomb so it can arrest him when he presses the detonator and make itself look like a hero.

Mr. Fletcher, if you’re reading this (which you may very well be since I’m sure I’m the kind of guy you try to make people afraid of), please note that nobody is afraid of an FBI created bomb plot anymore. Nor is anybody going to take the threat of al-Qaeda with car bombs seriously because, let’s fact it, that scenario is pretty ridiculous. And next time make sure your boogeyman is up to day. It’s embarrassing to see law enforcement agents mention al-Qaeda when the IS is the new hotness in fear.

Betsy Hodges Puts Forward a Stupid Proposition

Betsy Hodges is the current mayor of Minneapolis. Those familiar with her probably read the title and said “No duh.” She’s a statist, which means she frequently makes stupid propositions. But her budget proposal really takes the cake. Specifically:

The most significant new spending is in the area of public safety. Hodges wants to spend nearly $2 million to hire 20 community service officers and an 18-person police cadet class, two of the most reliable feeders for the city’s police force. To drive down crime, she wants to boost the number of officers to 860, which is above last year’s budget but equal to the figure Chief Janeé Harteau has said she hopes to reach by the end of the year.

In the name of public safety she wants to add more people to the ranks of Minneapolis’s most violent gang. Talk about failing to understand the problem. The Minneapolis Police Department has a colorful history but even if you put that aside it still performs a lot of crime. For example, it guns down family pets. When it’s not performing raids on suspected drug users so it can confiscate their property (thankfully that’s slightly harder in Minnesota now). Minneapolis’s finest also find time to write a massive number of parking and traffic citations. And the department has a lot of connections with local business, which it helps drum up business for (my friend recently had his motorcycle stolen and Minneapolis Police Department made him pay to get it out of the impound yard after finding it).

What’s especially ironic about her proposal is that she knows that the city’s police officers are trouble:

Hodges wants to spend $1.1 million for police to wear body cameras, a program she trumpeted during her campaign that she hopes will reduce use-of-force complaints.

I’m all for making police departments wear cameras so long as the footage is always available to the public and cannot be tossed down the memory hole by government officials. But her proposal to make Minneapolis’s most violent gang members wear cameras is also an admittance to the fact that the department has a lot of use-of-force complaints against it. She knows the department has a history of unnecessary violence yet she still wants to provide it more funding to hire more thugs.

If Hodges really wanted to reduce crime she would either reduce the number of criminals in city’s officially sanctioned gang or, preferable, disband the department entirely and allow the market to fill the demand for protective services (something the Minneapolis Police Department doesn’t seem to focus on at all).