Tag: You’re Doing it Right

Sheriff Chuck Wright Seems Like a Smart Man

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright seems like a pretty levelheaded man and honestly I wish more police officers adopted his way of thinking. Instead of being a self-righteous authoritarian who believes only himself and his selected employees are competent enough to protect the populace Sheriff Write is discussing self-defense with those who don’t carry badges:

Hundreds of people packed a meeting room Monday night to listen to Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright, teachers and officials discuss protection tips, including everything from cutting back bushes around homes to carrying guns.

When Brenda Thornton walked up to a meeting room at the Spartanburg County government office building Monday night, she had to stand outside of the door.

“When I got in here, we couldn’t get in,” she said.

She and others stood outside, but they listened closely to tips about protecting themselves.

“I have always really wanted to have a gun in my car because I travel a lot by myself,” she said.

And when Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright walked in, the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

“I still believe women get your CWP, if that’s what you choose to do, but train yourselves with it,” Wright said.

I’m giving him points not just for recommending people get carry permits but also emphasizing the necessity to train with a the firearm you plan to carry. While carrying a firearm is smart it won’t serve much use if you don’t know how to properly utilize the weapon. Propert utilization requires a great deal of training so that all operations with the firearm are muscle memory. Being in a high-stress situation where your life is on the line is not the time to wonder how to reload the firearm or disengage the manual safety.

More police officers need to follow Sheriff Wright’s lead and properly education people on self-defense. Too many officers seem to believe only trained cops have the ability to defend a life and that attitude needs to be extinguished.

The Free Market in Action

People often ask how can a free market work. The answer is very simple, if enough people do not like a product they will not buy it and the producer will either have to improve the product, release something new, or face bankruptcy. In a free market the consumers are the ultimate discion makers while the producers are entirely at the consumers’ whim. Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and J.P. Morgan recently received a wakeup call from consumers when they attempted to start charing for the use of debit cards:

The bank announced it was abandoning its fee plan amid growing anger around the move and consumer calls to take banking business elsewhere.

A company spokeswoman declined to comment on account closure figures.

JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo cancelled tests of similar debit card fees over the past week.

[…]

Public anger over the Bank of America plans coalesced around an online petition that eventually garnered more than 300,000 signatures.

“When I heard about the fee, it was the last straw for me,” Molly Katchpole, a 22-year-old who started the petition, told the Associated Press news agency.

In a free market when consumers speak producers and service providers have no choice other than to listen. Sadly we don’t have an entirely free market here in the United States but it is still free enough where consumers can often exact change by voting with their wallets.

Rioters are Severely Allergic to Shotgun Pellets

Don’t you hate it when roving marauders try to bust up your property and steal your stuff? Luckily there is a way to prevent this from happening by exploiting a well known rioter allergy, shotgun pellets:

“We had people who attempted to break into our building,” the landmark Rotunda Building on Frank Ogawa Plaza outside City Hall, Tagami said Thursday. He grabbed a shotgun that he usually keeps at home, went down to the ground floor and “discouraged them,” he said.

“I was standing there and they saw me there, and I lifted it – I didn’t point it – I just held it in my hands,” Tagami said. “And I just racked it, and they ran.”

Rioters are so severely allergic to shotgun pellets just the sight of a shotgun will often send them running in fear. Trying to be ballsy the rioters did do some graffiti work on the outside of the building:

Although they didn’t get inside the building – Tagami, 46, oversaw its $50 million renovation and has an office there – vandals did scrawl graffiti on the outside walls during the post-midnight riot that broke out after Occupy Oakland’s daylong general strike.

I’m sure this could have been solved by placing a few people with shotguns around the outside of the build though.

While I make light of the situation the story does bring up a example of why having a means of self-defense is a good thing. Although I don’t advocate the possession of firearms as a mere deterrent the fact of the matter is an assailant is less likely to attack you or yours if they know you’re in possession of a firearm. As the economy continues to crumble the rate of crime, both violent and property, is likely to increase. Knowing this I think it’s a good idea to obtain a means of self-defense less things turn to total shit in your area and you remain completely unarmed as rioters decide your home or business is a good target for looting.

Seattle Gun Ban Ruled Illegal

Seattle’s ban of guns in parks has been struck down for a second time. The Second Amendment Foundation’s (SAF) case against the city’s government went to the Washington State Cout of Appeals where it was struck down for a second time:

The Washington State Court of Appeals for Division 1 today unanimously upheld a 2010 King County Superior Court ruling against the City of Seattle’s ban on firearms in city parks in a lawsuit originally brought by the Second Amendment Foundation, other gun rights groups and five individual plaintiffs.

SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb said he had always been confident that the Appeals Court would rule “in favor of the law and against the attempt by Seattle to dance around it.”

“We told former Mayor Greg Nickels he was wrong,” Gottlieb said, “and we have reminded the city under Mayor Mike McGinn that it was wrong, and now the Appeals Court has confirmed our position.”

Strike another victory for SAF. Those guys are on one hell of a roll. It’s good to see Washington state refusing to allow cities to ignore the law by preventing citizens from legally carrying a means of self-defense in arbitrarily selected city properties.

I still don’t understand the thought process of some city governments. What is the point in banning the legal carry of firearms in parks? All you do is setup a section of the city where criminals can be reasonably assured unarmed victims are plenty.

State Censorship

Uncle let us know that members of law enforcement in the United State have amped up the frequency in which they ask Google to remove videos of police brutality from YouTube:

The technology giant’s biannual transparency report shows that Google refused the demands from the unnamed authority in the first half of this year.

According to the report, Google separately declined orders by other police authorities to remove videos that allegedly defamed law enforcement officials.

The demands formed part of a 70% rise in takedown requests from the US government or police, and were revealed as part of an effort to highlight online censorship around the world.

Figures revealed for the first time show that the US demanded private information about more than 11,000 Google users between January and June this year, almost equal to the number of requests made by 25 other developed countries, including the UK and Russia.

First of all that’s one hell of an increase in takedown requests by the government. Second let us all take a second to thank Google for refusing to remove the videos. The rate of attempted government censorship and demands of customer personal information isn’t surprising but it is still depressing for those of us who would rather not live under a police state.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Lying About Membership

You know you’ve become a true anti-gun organization when you start lying about anything and everything. Miguel points out that Mayors Against All Illegal Guns (MAIG) is lying about their membership, probably in an attempt to make themselves look larger than they really are. While Mayor Perry Knight of Bowling Green, Florida is listed as a member of MAIG he wasn’t aware of that fact:

There seems to someone outthere who just decided my name should be added to this list. I do not support anything these folks are trying to do. I have asked repeatedly to have my name removed yet they ignore me. If I could ask you for your help by clearly an plainly stating that I DO NOT SUPPORT THIS . I am a gun owner an avid hunter. thanks for your inquiry an wish you well. Perry Knight

Good on you Mayor Knight for explicitly stating you do not support this organization. Those of us in the gun community will do our best to help you clear this blatantly undeserved blemish from your record by getting the word out.

House Judiciary Passes HR 822

Snowflakes in Hell Shall Not Be Questioned informs us that HR 822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011, passed the House Judiciary Committee. That’s good news for those of us who carry and hate having to diarm because some random state government doesn’t recognize our right of self-defense. It’s not like the states have any grounds to prohibit an individual from carrying to start with.

Wisconsin Releases List of Recognized Out-of-State Carry Permits

Starting November 1st those who live in Wisconsin will be allowed to obtain carry permits and exercise their right to self-defense. In addition to that, those holding carry permits from many other states will be able to exercise legal armed defense. Wisconsin’s Attorney General released their reciprocity list and I’m glad to say Minnesota made the cut:

  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maryland
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Nebraska
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Pennsylvania
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Washington
  • Wyoming
  • Puerto Rico
  • U.S. Virgin Islands

That’s a fairly inclusive list, which is good to see. I’m also glad this law came into play before the Christmas season as that is when I end up entering Wisconsin with some frequency.

Californians Push Back

The California legislature recent passed a law that prohibits denizens of the state from openly carry unloaded handguns. It’s nice to see some people with spines still exist in California and are pushing back:

Fremont, CA – October 22, 2011 – In response to the governor’s recent signing of AB 144, a bill to ban the Open Carry of handguns, the Responsible Citizens of California (RCC) is organizing twin meet-up events from Noon-1PM on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at the corner of Hesperian Blvd. & Bayfair Drive in San Leandro and the corner of Felspar and Ocean Front Walk on Pacific Beach in San Diego. These will be the first kick-off events of Unloaded Open Carry of Long Guns (rifles and shotguns) held simultaneously in both Northern and Southern California.

Let me just say from the bottom of my heart that those participating in this event are awesome. When the government pushes us we need to push back. Nothing like a little friendly protest to keep those bureaucrats aware that we are actually paying attention to what they’re doing.

A tip of the old hat goes to Uncle for this story.

Ron Paul, Our Only Hope of Defeating the Threat of the Federal Deficit

While other presidential candidates talk about spending cuts Ron Paul actually puts forth a comprehensive plant to reduce the federal budget but a notable amount:

GOP presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul will unveil his economic plan Monday afternoon, calling for a lower corporate tax rate, cutting spending by $1 trillion during his first year in office and eliminating five cabinet-level agencies, including the Education Department, according to excerpts released to Washington Wire.

A candidate that actually has a plan to reduce the size of government and thus knock down our deficit by an amount that matters? Count me in, hell give this man a raise when he gets into the White House. Wait? He’s willing to take a massive salary cut as well?

But Mr. Paul does get specific when he calls for a 10% reduction in the federal work force, while pledging to limit his presidential salary to $39,336, which his campaign says is “approximately equal to the median personal income of the American worker.” The current pay rate for commander in chief is $400,000 a year.

So Ron Paul has a real plan to reduce the size and cost of government for less money than the other candidates? It appears as though Ron Paul is the embodiment of the free market in action. Regardless of your view on Dr. Paul’s foreign policy you need to understand that the primary threat our country is facing isn’t Iran, Al-Qaeda, or communism; it’s the massive federal deficit. Unless we real in the government’s exorbitant spending we will find the “full faith and credit of the United States” to be a worthless world “commodity” and our economy will collapse fully leaving us in a situation far worse than the Great Depression.