Tag: You Can’t Cure Stupid

Always Carry in a Holster

Says Uncle brings us a story where the moral of the story is if you’re carrying make sure your noise maker is in a holster. Mitchum Patterson didn’t follow this precaution and suffered a negligent discharge. Worse yet he was illegally carrying the gun on school grounds which of course should be impossible since it’s a gun free zone. Here is the situation:

A Dallas Independent School District maintenance worker is recovering at Parkland Memorial Hospital after shooting himself with a gun he carried onto an elementary campus.

Here is how it happened:

Mitchum Patterson, 52, shot himself accidentally in his right thigh as he bent over inside a maintenance closet at Umphrey Lee Elementary School. The employee, who has worked at DISD for 14 years, had the loaded gun tucked in his pants.

Here is what he’s facing:

DISD police plan to charge Patterson, who has been suspended from his job, with a third degree felony once he is released from the hospital.

Patterson could face two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted. However, judges have the right to give probation in some cases.

And to think that could be have been voided by a $10.00 Uncle Mike’s holster. But the absolute best quote in this article is:

“It was crazy because our kids are here,” said Laquecia Smith, a parent. “It’s supposed to be a gun-free zone. You see the signs up and down the street.”

Wait you mean those signs can’t actually enforce themselves? OH SHIT! WARNING! People CAN bring guns into gun free zones! How is this possible? THERE ARE SIGNS!

Don’t Blame the Tiahrt Amendment

One of the memes going around the gun control crowd right now is that the Ford Hood killings would have been prevented if the Tiahrt Amendment wasn’t in place. Sebastian over at Snowflakes in Hell tells us why that’s not true. From his post:

What Tiahrt does is prevent ATF from spending any funds to share the entire trace database with third parties not related to a bonafide criminal investigation. It also makes the trace database undiscoverable in a civil action, and inadmissible in a civil suit. Both ATF and the Fraternal Order of Police support this measure, something MAIG won’t tell you. It does not require that NICS records be destroyed. The requirement that NICS records be destroyed is not a funding matter, but is found in the United State Code, Title 18, Section 922(t):

So the reason NICS records for cleared individuals are destroyed is because of the Brady Act not the Tiahrt Amendment. Deal with it and find a new meme.

Not So Great Britain Strikes Again

Man I hate Britain’s government. Seriously if anybody reading this blog is a Brit do yourselves a favor and start a revolt. Days of our Trailers provides another example of the stupidity of Britain’s gun control laws.

This story involves one Paul Clarke. He is a 27 year old former soldier who thought he was doing the right thing. For doing the right thing he was found guilty of a crime and now faces up to five years in prison. What was his crime? Possession of a gun. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? Well it’s not that simple. From the story:

Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year.

Yes he found a shotgun. Believing it was his duty to dispose of it he personally took it to the police. Here is a thumbnail list of events:

he court heard how Mr Clarke was on the balcony of his home in Nailsworth Crescent, Merstham, when he spotted a black bin liner at the bottom of his garden.

In his statement, he said: “I took it indoors and inside found a shorn-off shotgun and two cartridges.

“I didn’t know what to do, so the next morning I rang the Chief Superintendent, Adrian Harper, and asked if I could pop in and see him.

“At the police station, I took the gun out of the bag and placed it on the table so it was pointing towards the wall.”

Mr Clarke was then arrested immediately for possession of a firearm at Reigate police station, and taken to the cells.

So Mr. Clarke found a shotgun. He didn’t try to illegally keep it. Instead he does what he thinks is the responsible thing and turns it in. He didn’t threaten anybody with it, he didn’t use it, he took it and went to straight to the police to turn it in. What the Hell was he supposed to do? Call the police and wait for them to pick it up? Oh wait they would be able to nail him anyways since the shotgun was in a liner and he had to remove it to see what it was. Oh damn catch 22.

If you live in Britain and you find a gun remember you’ll get the same punishment whether you turn it into the police or keep it. The only difference is if you keep you the police may never find it and therefore you won’t face jail time. Man that’s encouraging.

Finally I leave you with this golden quote from the story:

The intention of anybody possessing a firearm is irrelevant.

We don’t need common sense we have laws!

So Much for Being a Cop Killer

We now know the killer in the Fort Hill shooting was using an FN FiveseveN. According to the media this gun is a “cop killer.” Well Massad Ayoob says not so much:

Now, I’m a little more on top of murders of police, and officer survival issues, than the average bear, and I’ve not yet found a case of a police officer being murdered with this particular handgun.

Some cop killer.

Double Double Standards

I mentioned a case of double standards yesterday. Well either there were no approved comments on that link or they weren’t showing up for me but either way I have a continuation of this article now. I just want to point out the slew of stupidity going on:

See Anne, the article author, apparently hates guns and no amount of logic will dissuade her from her apparent goal to ensure money is not given to organizations trying to fight breast cancer. Seriously she thinks the source of the money is important and gun manufacturers are bad. So user LC Scotty posts the following:

Woman shoots violent, home invading ex boyfriend.

http://blog.al.com/live/2009/10/burlgar_shot_and_killed_tuesda.html

I realize that the plural of anecdote is not data, but these sorts of stories crop up all the time.

Seems legitimate enough. A story about a women defending herself with a gun. Here’s Anne’s reply:

Isolated, anecdotal cases can always be found to justify or defend most anything.

Anne Landman

She’s also right. That’s why I present and entire blog soley about people defending themselves with guns. Choke on it! Of course an anonymous poster makes the usual, although very accurate, car argument:

What if a car manufacturer donated money for breast cancer awareness? I bet cars are involved in the deaths of many women. Oh yeah, but you don’t have an irrational fear of cars.

But Anne shows us that she’s consistant:

There’s already a breast cancer awareness Ford Mustang!

Never mind how the pollutants from the exhaust contribute to disease!

Anne Landman

Oh wait never mind:

Guns are designed for that purpose. Vehicle manufacturers have been developing and incorporating features into cars for decades to make them safer: seat belts, air bags, back-up warning alarms, sensors to detect movement behind them, etc.

Anne Landman

Of course user commander makes a good point:

Smith and Wesson has been building pink-accented “Lady Smith” guns for years now. Why is it suddenly a bad thing that they’re donating some money from the sale of those guns to cancer research?

So this isn’t something new for them but Anne is all of the sudden offended because the M&P Smith and Wesson are auctioning off is for breast cancer awareness is all of the sudden bad. Of course Anne tries to shit all over commander’s argument:

… and in this case, about selling guns.

If S&W just wanted to benefit cancer victims, why not just make a donation to a cancer research organization without pinking the product?

Anne Landman

Because the ENTIRE point behind the pink campaign is to raise AWARENESS. It’s a marketing ploy (not all of them are evil) to raise money to help research breast cancer. Anonymous donations don’t raise awareness because nobody fucking hears about them. I’m only going to post one more nugget of stupidity here. User MarshallD makes a very astute point:

Smith and Wesson and Julie Goloski have their hearts in the right place and you all should be ashamed of doubting them.

A woman with a firearm, trained on how to use it, has a greater chance of defending herself against a violent opponent much larger than herself. I feel much better knowing that my wife carries a firearm to defend herself against a criminal.

Of course Anne doesn’t understand what self defense means:

If a woman needs training in self-defense, I suggest martial arts training. That way she has something that can’t be taken away and used against her, nor can it be stolen and used against someone else.

Anne Landman

I’m sorry but in a self defense situation I want every advantage. If my attacker has a gun and is standing any reasonable distance from me what good are martial arts going to do? What if you’re up against some crazy who’s been taking PCP and can’t feel pain? Sure he won’t feel bullets but he’ll eventually bleed out while breaking limbs probably isn’t going to accomplish much.

Anyways I just wanted to point out some of the stupidity being argued there. Anne who is claiming she’s made at Smith and Wesson because they create the best method one can own for self defense, is more or less advocating those women be disarmed.

And why did I make these remarks on my blog instead of posting them on her site? Well I did post on her site but I have more leeway with my blog and I can use whatever language I feel necessary. Also I realize no amount of logical argument is going to change her mind but I want to place a record of this somewhere since I’m worried she may decide to do some comment pruning in the future.

Petty Double Standards

An example of petty double standards is presented for our amusement by Says Uncle. October is breast cancer awareness month and hence companies out there usually release some commemorative product which the profits or proceeded are donated to a cancer research group, usually the American Cancer Society.

Both DPMS and Smith and Wesson help auctions for custom guns with procedes going to a cancer research center. Of course some people aren’t happy when gun manufacturers do it. See it’s only OK for companies who don’t make devices that many women use every day to defend themselves to make donations towards fighting breast cancer.

The VERY Definition of Doing it Wrong

Wow some people just have to prove a point. Thanks to a story found via Walls of the City I’ve learned that some people like to do it wrong in regards to carry permits.

Hit the link for the full story but suffice to say some kids got their carry permits and decided to go “fishing for robber.” Yes they are going out and actively looking for trouble. Fucking morons. The idea of carrying a gun usually revolves around the idea you do it to protect yourself. That’s good everybody should be willing to fight for their life. Of course the biggest thing to remember is if you don’t get into trouble you don’t need to defend yourself. Hence the best way to stay alive it to actively AVOID trying to get into a situation where your life would be in jeopardy.

You can’t always control when you’ll be in a bad situation, but walking around “fishing for robbers” is a great way to get yourself into a bad situation. Should they ever use their firearms in self defense the prosecution is going to have a field day ripping them apart.

Alcohol and Guns, Don’t Use Both at the Same Time

Wow some people are fucking idiots. I present exhibit one here. I’m not going to say anything until you read this:

Timothy William Pollard, 37, and friend Robert Knorr, 28, were playing with the gun Sunday night after a full day of drinking. Pollard had about six beers, a couple shots at a bar and then another beer at home.

I bet you can guess where this is going:

Pollard had taken the handgun and pointed it at Knorr. Pollard told police he thought the safety was on as he pulled the trigger once and it just clicked, the Greeley Tribune reported. So he pulled the trigger again, shooting Knorr.

This should bring a couple points to bear. First booze and guns are not good bed fellows. If you want to drink leave the gun, if you want to carry the gun don’t drink (and before somebody says something this has nothing to do with being able to carry guns in places that serve booze, you should be allowed to do that so long as you don’t drink). The second point is you never, EVER, point a firearm at another individual unless it’s in self defense. The gun is always loaded, plain and simple (somebody is going to quote Gabe Suarez’s remark about two people verifying it’s empty, I don’t care the only safe bet is not to cover another person with your barrel ever).

And to top it all off these clowns are from my state.