John Stossel get its right on gun control

Gun control makes people defenseless

South Africa has some of the strictest gun control in the world.......

South African men are 'raping women to cure them of being lesbians'

Lesbians living in South Africa are being raped by men who believe it will 'cure' them of their sexual orientation, a report has revealed.

Women are reporting a rising tide of brutal homophobic attacks and murders and the widespread use of 'corrective' rape as a form of punishment.

The extent of the brutality became clear when Eudy Simelane, former star of South Africa's national female football squad, became one of the victims last April.

Simelane, one of the first women to live openly as a lesbian and an equality rights campaigner, was gang-raped and beaten before being stabbed to death 25 times in the face, chest and legs.

...now imagine if these women could defend themselves with a firearm.

Here's a group that would likely agree: Pink Pistols

More bad logic for gun control

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has come down in favor of Washington D.C.'s gun ban in the D.C. vs. Heller case.

The ADL then had this to say: according to a recent ADL press release: "This case is about allowing states to protect their citizens' lives, liberty and property by regulating the purchase and possession of firearms. Gun violence and the caching of dangerous weapons are commonplace among extremists. If states lose the right to regulate firearm ownership, it would help violent bigots in their efforts to create an America based on hate and intolerance. We urge the Supreme Court to ensure that states have the tools to counter these agents of hate. We are also deeply concerned about the possession and use of firearms by children. The Court must permit states to keep guns out of the hands of those who would bring violence to our schools. The regulation of firearms is a rational response to these twin evils and is consistent with the Second Amendment's call for a well-regulated militia."

While the ADL does a lot of good things, on this particular issue I must call "bullshit!"

Whatever happened to citizens being able to protect themselves?? Why does everyone want to rely on the government to take care of them?? People who are bent on killing due to bigotry (or any other reason) are not going to worry about breaking an additional law that regulates firearms. I thought that it was already illegal to use a firearm to commit a crime. We ARE NOT going to legislate the removal of firearms from these psychos who want to kill to "cleanse" our society of people like myself. Gun control DOES NOT DISARM THESE PEOPLE!!!!

All gun control does is disarm law-abiding responsible citizens like myself. When my family and I encounter these racist scum, or any other people who want to do harm, I'd prefer to be able to fight fire with fire by being armed.

China, The Olympics and Gun Control

The Chinese government has been selected as the site for the 2008 Olympics. However, unrest in China and Tibet, which is controlled by China, is embarrassing the Chinese government. China News Agency: Death Toll From Riots Rises to at Least 19: "Numbers for injuries and death tolls have been varied and hard to confirm because China keeps a tight control over information. Tibetan exile groups say 99 people were killed — 80 in Lhasa and 19 in Gansu — while Beijing maintains that 16 died and more than 300 were injured in Lhasa." I think there may be some bias here, an altering of the actual numbers for political gain. Sort of like the "Jenin massacre."

Many are calling for the Olympics to be pulled from China to punish the Chinese government for murdering its citizens and I agree (with how oppressive the communist Chinese government is, I don't know how they were even in the running for hosting the Olympics in the first place). The Chinese populace has been relieved of their basic human rights of free speech and personal protection by their oppressive communist government. And its beginning to look as if the Chinese government is exploiting the vulnerability of their people.

In the US, the second amendment was partially written to prevent government oppression; you cannot oppress an armed populace. Even the Japanese thought twice about invading the US mainland in WW II when Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto of the Japanese Navy said, "You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass." However, just like most gun control advocates, the Chinese government claims that its total gun ban is to prevent crime. However, I think that its really to control its population (and the Tibetan population).

China established gun control in 1935; from 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents were exterminated.

With a terribly oppressive government and a population unable to defend itself, I fear that history may be repeating itself.

DC vs. Heller update

The Supreme Court of the United States is scheduled to begin hearing the District of Columbia v. Heller case on Tuesday, March 18, 2008. This case could be pivotal in the continuing battle over the second amendment which has pitted freedom loving gun owners (the good guys) against anti-gun commie pinkos (the bad guys).

Here is a current NRA link which list the good guys and bad guys with .pdf's of their respective amicus briefs regarding the case. From the NRA page here is an extensive list of the good guys who are supporting the individual right to own firearms:

• National Rifle Association
• Academics
  
• Academics for the Second Amendment
  
• Alaska Outdoor Council
  
• American Center for Law and Justice
  
• American Civil Rights Union
• American Legislative Exchange Council
  
• Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
• Buckeye Firearms Foundation, et al.
  
• Cato Institute and Professor Joyce Lee Malcolm
  
• Center for Individual Freedom
  
• Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
  
• Congress of Racial Equality
  
• Criminologists
  
• Disabled Veterans for Self-Defense
  
• Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund
• Former Justice Department officials
  
• Foundation for Free Expression
  
• Foundation for Moral Law
  
• GeorgiaCarry.org
  
• Goldwater Institute
  
• Grass Roots of South Carolina
  
• Gun Owners of America
  
• Heartland Institute
  
• Institute for Justice
  
• International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association
  
• International Scholars
  
• Jeanette Moll
  
• Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
  
• Joseph B. Scarnati, III, President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate
  
• Libertarian National Committee
  
• Liberty Legal Institute
  
• Major General John D. Altenburg, et al.
  
• Maricopa County (Ariz.) Attorney's office
  
• Members of Congress and Vice-President Cheney
  
• Mountain States Legal Foundation
  
• National Shooting Sports Foundation
  
• Paragon Foundation
  
• Pink Pistols
  
• Retired military officers
  
• Rutherford Institute
  
• Second Amendment Foundation
  
• Southeastern Legal Foundation
  
• State Firearms Associations
  
• Texas and other states
  
• Virginia1774.org
  
• Women state legislators and academics

Kenyan Chaos

In addition to my watching the upcoming Florida primary, I've been keeping an eye on what has been going on in Kenya. After a heavily disputed presidential election, Kenya has descended into chaos reminiscent of Rwanda in the early 1990's.

Gunfire Rings Out in West Kenyan Streets; At Least 25 Bodies Taken to Mortuary

There are many reports of defenseless people having their homes burned down and family members being killed solely based on which ethnic group to which they belong (and thus assumed presidential choice). Whole towns have been torched and places of refuge have been attacked and burned. All the reports say the Kenyan military and police are trying to restore order. The police and military may be trying very hard to maintain order however, it is apparent that the peace can't be kept everywhere. There are also a few reports of the military being complicit in some of the violence.

I am often accused of having a one track mind (guns, guns, guns and complaining about excessive government control over our daily lives), so, not surprisingly, I decided to look into the gun laws in Kenya because it seems that many of these poor people are defenseless. If I had a mob of anyone threatening my family its pretty obvious I would stand my ground as long as possible and do everything imaginable to protect my wife and 2 children.

I can't seem to find much regarding Kenyan gun control but I did find articles that stated that in Kenya, "All guns are banned, including toys guns that look like guns" and "In both countries (Kenya and Uganda) gun possession is illegal except for a politically favored elite."

There are many instances of where I believe that Africans could (have) better defend(ed) themselves and their families were it not for government bans on civilian gun ownership. Rwanda, Uganda and Darfur often come to mind.

Just to be clear, I am in support of average law-abiding citizens having the right to own firearms. I am in favor of some of the current laws where felons cannot own guns and where the commission of certain crimes with guns provide for greater penalties (as for murder, murder is murder whether it be by machete, vehicular or firearm, no need for "gun control" there). But I see no reason why law-abiding citizens cannot own weapons for target shooting or self-defense. And in my one track mind's opinion, most gun control only disarms law-abiding citizens.

Where does your candidate stand on the second amendment?

Two things to mention in this post:

1) As amazing as this may seem, our blog may have a couple of regular readers!!!!

2) One of these regulars, Capt. capsize, has informed us of a website that has information about where all of our favorite presidential candidates stand on the second amendment: http://www.nravalues.org/. Thanks for the link capt!

Why gun control is "BAD!"

Lately, I've REALLY tried to understand the reasoning behind those who want to further restrict gun ownership in the US. But I just don't get it. To me, gun control only disarms those who already respect the law. After all, its already a felony to use a gun during a crime and as its also illegal for felons to own or possess weapons. I'm fairly confident that criminals who are preparing to commit crimes don't think to themselves, "damn, I'm going to commit a crime and its against the law for me to use or possess a firearm while committing this crime. I'll have to find some other way." So I ask, what's the sense of more gun control? Many of our gun control laws are already overly strict.

Let's be honest, more gun control (and most existing gun control) only disarms law-abiding citizens and does nothing to get guns out of the hands of criminals. It just makes the rest of us unable to defend ourselves with deadly force when necessary.

An interesting story about gun control: http://www.jdl.org/misc/up_close/alive.shtml

Ken