Not yet a VCDL member? Join VCDL at: http://www.vcdl.org/join
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VCDL's meeting schedule: http://www.vcdl.org/meetings
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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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This update was compiled by EM Brandy Polanowski.
1. A look at the Virginia Senate race
2. Ben Carson is really weak on support for semi-automatic firearms
3. Chicago crime rates dropping as CHPs are being issued in large numbers
4. MDA’s hapless leader, Shannon Watts, making up stuff as she goes along
5. Tip when applying for your CHP
6. Anytime Fitness is a gun-free zone
7. Microsoft officers giving big bucks to push gun control
8. Alexandria arts and crafts fare correction
9. Gun debate? What gun debate?
10. Glass-equipped rifles offer 'mind-blowing' fire superiority
11. 'Guns made the Civil Rights Movement possible'
12. [MO] Dad watched as 2 men held a gun to his daughter's head
13. [TX] MDA protest draws 12 people
14. [WA] State near top for concealed weapons permits
15. Elliot Rodger was taking psychiatric drugs
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1. A look at the Virginia Senate race
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This article hammers Ed Gillespie for not having returned his VCDL candidate survey. (Mark Warner has not returned his survey, either.)
From examiner.com: http://tinyurl.com/nr2c3dq
Moderation in Va. Senate race will advance special interests, not principles
David Codrea, Gun Rights Examiner
August 26, 2014
“Will NRA ads in Virginia’s U.S. Senate race help or hurt Ed Gillespie?” an “analysis” in The Washington Post presented as straight news, rather than manipulation, asks.
“In addition to airing TV ads in several states, the NRA blanketed its home state — the group’s headquarters is in Fairfax County — with direct-mail material touting Republican Ed Gillespie, the former lobbyist who is running against Sen. Mark R. Warner (D),” the “report” explains. “Gillespie, the mailer says, is the antidote to the ‘Obama/Bloomberg gun control agenda.’ And more are expected.”
The problem, per The Post, is that running on something as mundane as principles will turn off “moderate” voters, so a Republican who hopes to gain office will need instead to run to the left. So why wouldn’t we accept that they’re promulgating such “common knowledge” beliefs in the spirit of what’s best for all? Aside from maybe their Obama endorsement...? And it couldn’t be that results cited from their own poll have been influenced in any way by WaPo’s “progressive reporting” and editorializing on guns?
Thing is, if the object is to appear “moderate” on guns, Warner already has that market cornered. Time was, and not that long ago, NRA gave him an “A” rating. How it would benefit Gillespie to challenge him on who can undermine former supporters the most is unclear, although Warner’s actions do corroborate arguments this column has long made about the sustained reliability of so-called “pro-gun Democrats” that Fairfax seems so enamored with, despite their members continually getting betrayed.
The thing is, Republican Gillespie isn’t exactly a shoo-in with hard core gun rights advocates, either, no matter what the mailer says. We’ve been burned badly on those before, and the adage “Fool me twice, shame on me” comes to mind. In this case, there’s reason to proceed with caution.
“I know Gillespie and I will not support him or vote for him,” a frequent correspondent active in Virginia Second Amendment promotion and support told me. Part of that may be due to Gillespie’s refusal to personally commit to the issue, as illustrated by his failure to return a Virginia Citizens Defense League Candidate Survey. Part of it may be due to his consummate insider loyalties to the GOP establishment as a former Bush White House staffer and head of the RNC. Part of it may be that he established a “bipartisan” lobbying firm with a Democrat partner, and a former White House Counsel to Bill Clinton at that. And the big part is that there was a better candidate that the establishment did not want..
Another survey Gillespie failed to answer is the one on immigration put out by Numbers USA, where he rates “indecisive” on the question of amnesty for illegal aliens, an issue only Gun Owners of America has taken the lead on, taking no small amount of “progressive” flak and false conservative denial for their warning. Transmute them into millions more Democrat voters, a right Obama’s Homeland Security Secretary insists they have “earned,” and all those reasons NRA gives for supporting Gillespie will be moot points in a decade or two anyway, no matter how much “legitimate news media” would try to convince you otherwise.
One need only look to California to see the political shape of things to come, and according to those doing the shaping, we need to “get prepared,” because fundamental transformation will be coming to a neighborhood near you sooner rather than later.
NRA’s refusal to acknowledge the issue, using a hollow “single issue” excuse, is fairly obvious. They value the connections from the Grover Norquist wing of their board more than the rantings of a handful of online activists their apologists can dismiss as disgruntled “NRA bashers.” It’s still shameful, and history will bear that out, not that it will bring much satisfaction to claim “We told you so.”
Still, the perfect is the enemy of the good, some will insist, as if staying in the pot while it heats slowly is preferable to jumping out due to sudden, perilous alarm. Politics is the art of the possible, others will counsel, never pushing the boundaries of possibilities themselves.
I don’t suppose espousing principles and showing leadership to an electorate and educating them on what they’re being defrauded on is an option among the politically pragmatic, who prefer noncommittal platitude sound bites over substance. That may be so, but the “safe” approach does not give the inspiration a team needs to win a championship game. It’s not enough to hold noses and vote for the perceived lesser of two evils. Supporters need to be not just willing, but enthusiastic about giving it their all for a campaign, working, spreading the word, and importantly, donating.
Especially when it’s a close race.
With Gillespie, the best answer to Hillary Clinton’s notorious “What difference does it make?” query is probably to confirm judicial nominees, particularly for the Supreme Court, but at best that’s a crapshoot when “moderate” Republicans are involved.
The Virginia campaign is hardly fire-in-the-belly stuff, particularly if Gillespie allows “progressive” manipulators to steer him toward what they would have everyone believe is “the center.” Perhaps that’s why, as Politico notes, “In every single one of the ... toss-up states ... the Republican Senate candidate has not yet opened up a real polling lead in any of them. Democratic nominees have been running hard and staying slightly ahead, or close to, their Republican foes.”
With the way establishment Republicans -- the ones Gillespie owes his real loyalties to -- wage harder and more vicious war on conservatives than they do on Democrats, and with the way they continually offer us non-choices like Dole, McCain and Romney in the past, or Graham, Cochran and Sullivan in the present, it’s tough to argue with Carroll Quigley’s cynical admission about the perpetual con game Americans in general and gun owners in particular keep falling for.
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2. Ben Carson is really weak on support for semi-automatic firearms
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Dr. Ben Carson has gotten some attention lately as a potential candidate for Presidential run in 2016. While he says he is pro-gun, and he might be somewhat, his comments on semi-automatic firearms are troubling. He believes they are OK in the country, but not in cities. Huh?
http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Ben_Car ... ontrol.htm
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3. Chicago crime rates dropping as CHPs are being issued in large numbers
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Gee, I’m surprised, how about you? Antis, as always, predicted blood in the streets and, as always, were wrong.
From washingtontimes.com: http://tinyurl.com/pnmz7kn
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4. MDA’s hapless leader, Shannon Watts, making up stuff as she goes along
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Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, is trying to outdo Vice President Joe Biden for saying the stupidest things. She really is giving Joe a run for his money, and that’s not easy to do.
Recently Shannon provided this gem: “A good guy with a gun has never stopped a bad guy with a gun."
That was hilarious, but now Shannon is saying the NRA has a long history of sexism!
Please make me stop laughing! Oh, my side is hurting - ouch!
Surely the NRA being a sexist organization came as a shock to Marion Hammer, Susan Howard, Lee Purcell, Sue King, Maria Heil, Edie P. Fleeman, M. Carol Bambery, Alice Bull, Diana Dunigan, Cynthia Julien, and many others. How about the NRA’s Women on Target program and the NRA’s Women’s Network?
From examiner.com: http://tinyurl.com/p3jtqjh
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5. Tip when applying for your CHP
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Because sometimes a Circuit Court Clerk will “lose” a CHP application, forcing a person to start all over again and reapply, EM and attorney Dan Hawes suggests that CHP applicants do the following:
1. Make two complete copies of the application form but DON’T SIGN EITHER ONE.
2. Take both copies to a notary (don't rely on the clerk's office to take your acknowledgement); most banks have someone who will notarize documents for free for customers. Sign both copies in front of the notary and explain that you want both copies notarized as "duplicate originals”.
3. Hand-carry both copies, along with copies of the proof of competency certificate attached to each (make sure you keep the original of that certificate) and your filing fee, to the circuit court clerk's office in the city or county where you live. File your application at the desk or window that accepts new case filings. Demand that they "file-stamp" one of the duplicates for your records. Tell them your attorney told you to have them do that and don't take "no" for an answer. If they tell you "we don't do that," demand to speak to a supervisor - go to the Clerk if necessary. Get that extra copy stamped with the date and time of filing - a deputy clerk should initial the file-stamp.
If they decide to sit on your application and then claim to have lost it, you can produce a copy (keep the original safe) showing the file-stamp in order to confirm that forty-five days have elapsed and that you're entitled to an interim permit. If you end up having to litigate the matter, you need to have evidence that you filed when you did. That file-stamped duplicate application is your evidence.
If you're applying for a first-time permit, you have to go to Clerk’s office anyhow. If you are renewing, it is a little more trouble than mailing in the application, but if things go wrong, well worth the effort.
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6. Anytime Fitness is a gun-free zone
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The new owner of Anytime Fitness has decided to make the business a “gun-free zone.” That's exactly what the owner's new shiny new sign says, no joke. As such, we will be adding Anytime Fitness to VCDL’s High-Risk Business list that we keep on our web site, along with a photo of their new sign. Oh, and Anytime Fitness won’t refund a person’s money if they don’t want to be a member anymore due to the new policy.
Thanks to Adrian Mungiu for reporting this business to us.
Here’s a link to the business on Facebook in case you want to rate them:
From Facebook.com: http://tinyurl.com/mq7975u
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7. Microsoft officers giving big bucks to push gun control
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Bill Gates and some other uber-rich Microsoft executives are now pushing gun control by making massive donations to a gun control initiative in Washington state to create a universal background check system, among other things. Dumb idea, as people who like computers and software also tend to like guns.
I certainly hope Gates loses big when the proposed law comes up for a referendum in November.
From examiner.com: http://tinyurl.com/meewehp
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8. Alexandria arts and crafts fare correction
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Member Paul Burgener, who had told me that the Arts and Crafts Fair in Alexandria (Gum Springs) bans guns based on the rules for the event, contacted me again and said that after rereading the rules, it appears that vendors many not sell guns, but guns do not appear to be banned for carry purposes per se.
Event is at this link:
http://tinyurl.com/lgu3gb9
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9. Gun debate? What gun debate?
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Another anti calling for “reasonable restrictions” on guns, which is right up there with the Tooth Fairy. We have 20,000 gun laws in the U.S. and we STILL haven’t hit “reasonable?” We may as well scrap all the current gun laws in that case.
Member Bill Hine (recently deceased) emailed me this:
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From cnn.com: http://tinyurl.com/mxt9uk4
Gun debate? What gun debate?
By Mark O'Mara
June 11, 2014
(CNN) -- Gun debate? What gun debate? Americans seem to have this settled.
Yes, we witnessed on our TV screens this week yet another parade of children being evacuated from their school — this time in Oregon -- their arms held high to show they were not armed as they fled a 15-year-old shooter who police said took the life of their 14-year-old classmate.
But Americans, ever more desensitized to the school/mall/navy yard attacks that come, weekly, into their lives, don't seem to want to talk about a gun problem. Americans remain pleased for the general population -- even 15-year-old kids -- to have nearly unfettered access to all manner of firearms, including assault rifles. Even the President seems to have acquiesced. A tweet from @WhiteHouse: "'If public opinion does not demand change in Congress, it will not change.' -- President Obama on legislation to prevent gun violence."
What this means is that we've accepted school shootings and other random mass shootings as a normal part of life in America, no matter how they affect the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness that was first announced in the Declaration of Independence, some 13 years before our oft-quoted Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
I guess that's not surprising: We accept collateral damage for other privileges we enjoy. We tolerate a certain number of drunk driving deaths, more than 10,000 in 2012, and there's little public outcry for greater restrictions. We've been willing to sacrifice nearly 7,000 soldiers (and tens of thousands wounded) in two wars to maintain our political influence in the Middle East. About 400 children drown each year in pools and spas, but we're not scrambling to outlaw summer fun.
Why should guns be any different? In the United States only about 10 people out of every 100,000 are killed by guns, or a little more than 30,000 per year (As a reference, we lost about 60,000 soldiers in the Vietnam War).
This is clearly an acceptable sacrifice to make to maintain our sacred, un-infringed right to bear arms, no?
After all, I've been told by some gun-rights advocates that reasonable restrictions on gun ownership will undoubtedly send us down a slippery slope to the abolition of all guns in America. And if we didn't have unfettered access to guns, think about what would happen: We would be overrun by a foreign power; our government would assume totalitarian control and burn the Constitution; and criminal gangs, the only people left with guns, would run roughshod over all law-abiding citizens.
If you suggest, as I have, that we should place reasonable restrictions on guns, then you are clearly a delusional or ignorant pacifist who has been dropped on his head. What part of "shall not be infringed" don't you understand? they ask. (For the record, I'm a responsible gun owner.)
I'm confident that in the next few weeks there will be another school shooting. I'm confident because there have been 74 shootings on or around schools or colleges in the year and a half since the Sandy Hook massacre. That's averaging one a week.
I'll repeat: We have a gun problem in this country.
Reasonable restrictions on guns will not lead to totalitarianism and anarchy. Suffering 30,000 gun deaths annually is not a reasonable sacrifice to make in order to blindly maintain our unrestricted gun culture, particularly when the rallying cry is an outdated reference concerning infringement which, known to anyone who has actually studied the Constitution and our founding fathers who drafted it, was a reference to the then-existing reality that young men, when called upon to defend the state and the laws of the state, were expected to provide their own arms.
Listen, reasonable restrictions are necessary to assure the continued viability of our Second Amendment rights [PVC: Sounds like the Nazi banner above concentration camps which read, "Arbeit macht frei" (work makes you free). Neither restricting the Second Amendment or working in a concentration camp guarantees anything good], and to curb the unnecessary bloodshed caused by the proliferation of guns into hands of irresponsible people who care little about constitutional rights, and less about the sanctity of life. Like that of a boy in Oregon, who was shot dead.
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10. Glass-equipped rifles offer 'mind-blowing' fire superiority
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Member James Durso emailed me this:
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From washingtontimes.com: http://tinyurl.com/kaylqu6
Google Glass-equipped rifles offer ‘mind-blowing’ fire superiority
By Douglas Ernst, The Washington Times
June 4, 2014
TrackingPoint Inc., the Texas company that specializes in creating precision guided firearms, has harnessed Google Glass technology to create a firearm that can hit targets that are behind corners. It’s called the the first precision-guided firearm (PGF).
“When paired with wearable technology, PGFs can provide unprecedented benefits to shooters, such as the ability to shoot around corners, from behind low walls, and from other positions that provide exceptional cover,” TrackingPoint claimed in a press release. “Without PGF technology, such positions would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to fire from.”
The new device works much like a fight jets head’s up display (HUD), Vice’s technology website Motherboard reported Wednesday. “TrackingPoint’s wearable PGF app gives users the visual aids needed to take their aiming and shooting chops to previously impossible levels,” the website said.
“Being able to shoot around corners and over hills is a little mind-blowing when you actually do it. Things keep on rolling,” TrackingPoint’s Oren Schauble told Motherboard in April.
A promotional video for the new technology posted on YouTube by TrackingPoint states: “Combined with the tracking point precision guided firearm, wearable technology allows for accurate shots around corners, from supported positions, behind-the-back, to the side and over barricades. TrackingPoint Shotview App streams video from the heads up display in the person-guided firearms networks tracking scope to WiFi devices. This enables direct device streaming for phones, tablets and many wearables. For additional networking, phones can connect via bluetooth and the Internet to share the apps data with additional devices.”
The company ends its promotional video by saying that TrackingPoint’s research and testing facilities are making “science fiction a reality.”
TrackingPoint Inc. is also the maker of a new rifle that essentially turns novice marksmen into super snipers.
In January, Chief Executive Officer Jason Schaubie told the defense website military.com that military users have a fire-shot success rate from 1,000 meters of between 20 percent to 30 percent (which jumps to 70 percent on their second attempt). Demonstrations were made at the nation’s largest gun show in Las Vegas, Nev., the SHOT Show, and the U.S. military was convinced — it purchased “several units for testing and evaluation purposes,” Mr. Schaubie said at the time.
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11. 'Guns made the Civil Rights Movement possible'
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Member Monty Oakes emailed me this:
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From newsbusters.org: http://tinyurl.com/manvllz
A Shocker From NPR: ‘Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible’
By Tim Graham
June 7, 2014
The liberals at National Public Radio can’t really imagine guns being necessary for anything...unless perhaps it’s to keep Southern segregationists at bay.
On Thursday afternoon’s Tell Me More talk show, host Michel Martin brought on Charles Cobb, who wrote the book This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made The Civil Rights Movement Possible. She called it a “hiding in plain sight story” and asked why he wrote the book:
COBB: I'm very conscious of the gaps in the history, and one important gap in the history and the portrayal of the movement is the role of guns in the movement. I worked in the South. I lived with families in the South. There was never a family I stayed with that didn't have a gun. I know from personal experience and the experiences of others that guns kept people alive, kept communities safe. And all you have to do to understand this is simply think of black people as human beings, and they're going to respond to terrorism the way anybody else would....
MARTIN: Why do you think we don't know more stories like this?
COBB: Well, I think because the story of black people in general and the civil rights movement in the United States is incompletely told. So there's a lot we don't know, and the movement, meaning the southern freedom movement, has become so defined. The narrative of the movement has become so defined by nonviolence that anything presented outside of that narrative framework really isn't paid much attention to. I like the quip that Julian Bond made when I was talking to him about this book. He told me that really, the way the public understands the civil rights movement can be boiled down to one sentence. Rosa sat down, Martin stood up, then the white folks saw the light and saved the day.
Tell Me More has been canceled, since NPR can't get enough stations to pick up its show devoted to minorities, so maybe that would explain the usual liberal caution being thrown to the wind here.
In this 12-and-a-half-minute segment, Martin called Cobb an "author, professor, and activist," but didn't explain more about his biography, that he worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or that in 1976, he joined NPR as a reporter, focusing on coverage of Africa.
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12. [MO] Dad watched as 2 men held a gun to his daughter's head
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Member Patrick Veltman emailed me this:
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From theblaze.com: http://tinyurl.com/khu3syf
Dad Watched in Horror as Two Armed Men Held a Gun to His Teen Daughter’s Head — Then He Did Something About It
by Jason Howerton
June 10, 2014
Two armed criminals reportedly put a gun to a 17-year-old girl’s head on Monday night as she was outside retrieving something from a car. The man, whose intentions still aren’t entirely clear, then ordered the teenager to take them into her house — a decision that would prove to have deadly consequences.
Peering out the window of the St. Louis home were the girl’s mother and father, each prepared to protect their daughter with deadly force. There was also a 5-year-old boy in the house, though his relationship to the family wasn’t known on Tuesday.
The girl’s father, a 34-year-old man, reportedly observed the men walking towards his home while holding a gun to his daughter’s head, a sight that no father ever wants to see. He quickly retrieved his firearm and his wife did the same.
The brave dad then confronted the two criminals and opened fire, hitting both suspects with accurate shots. The girl’s mother also fired off some rounds, but failed to hit either suspect.
One of the men was reportedly pronounced dead at the scene while the second suspect escaped only to later be arrested after calling his brother to take him to the hospital because he had been shot.
“Police identify the suspect who was killed as 31-year-old Terrell Johnson from north St. Louis,” KTVI-TV reports. “The second suspect- a 33-year-old man- is hospitalized in critical but stable condition with gunshot wounds to his chest and both thighs. Police say he will face charges.”
No one other than the suspected criminals were injured in the incident.
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13. [TX] MDA protest draws 12 people
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ROFLMAO!
Mom’s Demand Action - A “stroller jam” at Target’s headquarters in DALLAS - 12 people, ONE stroller. What a show of support for Bloomberg’s agenda!
I’m not exactly sure what they were going to “jam" with that paltry showing. Put a stroller by the driver's side of the CEO’s car and pray he doesn’t exit through the passenger’s side?Member Montford Oakes emailed me this:
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From truthrevolt.org: http://tinyurl.com/kcn8ft7
Moms Demand Action Protest Draws 12 People, One stroller
by Yehuda Remer
June 12, 2014
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America called on their troops to join the “stroller jam” outside of Targets Shareholders meeting in Dallas to protest open carry in their stores. Unfortunately for them, a group of 12 showed up.
The dozen women were holding signs that stated, "Texas moms expect more” which is a play on Target’s motto of “Expect More. Pay Less.”
“We’re asking them, like we did successfully with Starbucks and Chipotle, to put a national policy into place that covers states like Texas where open carry of guns is allowed,” said Stephanie Lundy, Texas spokeswoman for Moms Demand Action.
According to Dallas News, Lundy also said “I’m a Texas mom. I love me some Target, where I can get a gallon of milk and anything else. This skirt I put on this morning is actually from Target. But I won’t be going there for a while.”
Although it was called the “stroller jam,” Dallas News reported only one woman showed up with a stroller and her granddaughter.
Moms Demand Action currently has a petition urging Target to ban open carry in their stores. According to the organization, they have more than 200,000 signatures.
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14. [WA] State near top for concealed weapons permits
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From yakimaherald.com: http://tinyurl.com/kvmpgs4
State near top for concealed weapons permits
by Brian M. Rosenthal, Justin Mayo and Erika Schultz
June 1, 2014
SEATTLE, Wash. — For Katie Oittinen, a turning point was an afternoon two summers ago when a stranger walked into her living room. When he encountered Oittinen and her dog, a Great Dane mix, the man fled.
But what really scared Oittinen, who was pregnant, was what happened next: She called the police. They said they would come to her Portland home. And they never did.
So after her son was born and she and her husband moved to Granite Falls in Snohomish County, the 29-year-old new mom decided to get a license to carry a concealed handgun.
“That was a wake-up call,” she said. “It’s things like that that make you wonder: ‘Who can you really rely on to protect you and your family?’ Pretty much yourself.”
Oittinen is part of a rush of Washington state residents — and especially women — who have obtained concealed-carry permits in record numbers.
Between 2005 and 2012, the number of state residents receiving new concealed-carry permits tripled to 62,939. Now some 451,000 Washington residents are allowed to carry a hidden handgun almost anywhere they go, more than 100,000 of them women.
Notably, the growth rate for women getting new permits is twice as fast as that of men.
What is going on?
Washington’s recent boom in concealed weapons mirrors a national trend, according to a Seattle Times analysis. State and national experts, law enforcement officials and others, including permit holders themselves, offered different explanations for the concealed-carry explosion here.
But a common concern emerged from interviews with women who carry: the importance of self-defense.
That concern found an echo last month after a misogynistic gunman committed mass murder near the University of California, Santa Barbara, sparking a national conversation about women’s concerns about their safety.
Arkadi Gerney, senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress think tank, said concealed permits have ballooned nationwide because they are easier to get, thanks to new technologies and fewer pre-requirements such as training.
“That drives more adoption,” Gerney said.
Washington is one of about 40 “shall-issue” states, meaning that law enforcement agencies must issue the state’s “concealed-pistol license” (CPL) if minimum requirements are met. To get a license, an applicant must be 21 or older, undergo a criminal check and be fingerprinted. You are disqualified if you have a felony conviction, commitment for mental illness, dishonorable discharge from the armed services or illegal drug use within the past year, among other reasons. No firearms training is required.
Mitch Barker, executive director of the Washington Sheriffs and Police Chiefs Association, said that tragedies such as the mass slaying of schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., have left people feeling helpless and in search of a way to protect themselves.
“They think that if they have a CPL and they have a firearm ... maybe they can do something,” he said.
After Newtown, gun owners in Seattle, King County and statewide did flood in with applications for concealed-weapon licenses. There were 3,439 permits issued by the King County Sheriff’s Office and Seattle Police Department in the three months after the tragedy. For the same period a year earlier, there were about half as many, 1,791.
Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation, said recent statements by President Barack Obama about the importance of gun safety have triggered a run on permits out of fear of a looming crackdown.
“Obama has been the gun salesman of the year,” he said.
In fact, gun rights have expanded since Obama took office while crime has gone down, said the Rev. Sandy Brown of First United Methodist Church in Seattle, a member of a large coalition of faith leaders and public health officials that supports background checks for all gun sales. He said the demand for permits is rising because Second Amendment groups have stirred fear in gun owners.
Washington’s rate for concealed weapons is now higher than almost any state. Of the 36 states that responded to Seattle Times records requests, Washington ranked fifth in permits per capita — above Texas, Florida and Montana.
The sport of shooting
For Michelle Locke Hemby, the question was not why get a permit. It was why not?
Hemby, 48, of Queen Anne, said she loves the sport of shooting and is well aware of the practical benefits of a permit, such as being able to avoid the waiting period to buy a handgun.
A facilities and corporate services manager, Hemby said she applied for a license in March after hearing rumors that the government might try to restrict permits.
“I think it’s one of those things that because I can and because I enjoy the sport, it’s something I should take advantage of,” she said.
Hemby said women are probably getting permits more because they are becoming empowered to take control of their own safety.
She is something of an anomaly in her neighborhood. Her Queen Anne ZIP code has one of the lowest rates in Washington for concealed permits, 2.7 percent. The ZIP code for Seattle’s International District has the lowest rate, 1.9 percent.
By contrast, the ZIP code for tiny Wilbur in Eastern Washington has the highest rate, 22 percent.
Gracie McKee, 26, is a concealed license holder who came from a small town, in her case Brush Prairie, about 13 miles northeast of Vancouver, Wash.
“The reason I carry is out of a deep-seated love for myself, my family and the innocents,” said McKee, now director of training and a range manager at West Coast Armory in Bellevue.
McKee knew by age 19 she wanted a concealed-weapon permit and after turning 21, she obtained one. She has since become an NRA training counselor, a certified instructor and a range-safety officer.
“I’d like to encourage women to explore any avenues, whether it be carrying concealed or something else, that will empower them to take on the survivor mindset and refuse to be a victim.”
Safety responsibility
Anette Wachter, a member of the U.S. National Rifle Team and a Belltown resident, secured her CPL three years ago. “I carry because I feel I am responsible for my own safety,” she said.
“The women I know who are getting their CPLs are women excited about shooting recreationally and the self-defense side comes second, as an added bonus,” she said. “Women are realizing they can do more to protect themselves. It’s a fun, interesting, daring and empowering thing to do. ... Knowing you may be able to protect yourself gives you a bit more confidence that you don’t have to be a victim.
“I do feel everyone should have safe gun-handling training,” Wachter said. “But I don’t believe it should be a requirement to have training in order to buy a gun or have a CPL because of the fact that some women really may be in a dangerous situation and may need that protection.”
Phyllis Buckridge, 84, of Marysville is among the oldest women in the state with a license to carry a concealed weapon.
She considers it a tool, one she used, beginning as a young adult, when hunting, hiking and “traipsing through the woods as a signaling device. I can’t yell very loud.” Today she doesn’t carry the weapon much.
“At my stage in life, I’m not out rousting around,” Buckridge said. “I do know where it is in the house.”
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15. Elliot Rodger was taking psychiatric drugs
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Member Jim Dinger emailed me this:
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Good luck trying to get the mainstream news media to print this list. Some people (anti-gunners) can't handle the truth. [PVC: That’s for sure!]
From naturalnews.com: http://tinyurl.com/mlsfmoe
Elliot Rodger, like nearly all young killers, was taking psychiatric drugs (Xanax)
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
June 03, 2014
(NaturalNews) Like nearly all mass murderers and psycho killers, Elliot Rodger is now confirmed to have been taking massive doses of psychiatric drugs. Law enforcement authorities have now confirmed Elliot Rodger, the "sorority girl" killer of Isla Vista, California, was taking massive doses of Xanax, a psychiatric drug belonging to a class of chemicals called benzodiazepines.
"Elliot had been taking Xanax for awhile, according to his parents ... there were fears he might have been addicted to it, or taking more than was prescribed," a law enforcement source told RadarOnline (1), which first broke the story.
"The Xanax had been prescribed to Elliot by a family doctor," the story continues.
A second story on RadarOnline (2) explores, "disturbing details about the community college student's dependence on Xanax."
That story goes on to report:
Based on interviews with Elliot's parents, Peter and Li Chen, the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department "is being told that he was likely addicted to Xanax ... Peter and Li have been doing basic research on addiction to Xanax, and based on what they have read, they believe the tranquilizer made him more withdrawn, lonely, isolated, and anxious," a source told Radar. "It's their understanding that when Xanax is taken in large amounts, or more than the prescribed dosage, these are some of the side effects."
Time after time, mass murderers are found to have been taking psychiatric drugs
Elliot Rodger now joins a long and ever-expanding list of other killers who were either taking psychiatric drugs or withdrawing from them at the time they committed mass murder.
While the mainstream media predictably blames guns for all mass shootings, it rarely looks at the chemical drugging of the person who pulled the trigger on those guns. After all, guns don't operate by themselves. They require a person to make a decision to commit murder.
In case after case, mass murderers on psychotropic drugs describe themselves as feeling withdrawn, isolated, distant and almost living out a "video game" that isn't real. This is what psychiatric drugs to do you: they make you feel detached from reality.
Here's just some of the true history of psychiatric drugs and mass murder:
* Eric Harris age 17 (first on Zoloft then Luvox) and Dylan Klebold aged 18 (Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colorado), killed 12 students and 1 teacher, and wounded 23 others, before killing themselves. Klebold's medical records have never been made available to the public.
* Jeff Weise, age 16, had been prescribed 60 mg/day of Prozac (three times the average starting dose for adults!) when he shot his grandfather, his grandfather's girlfriend and many fellow students at Red Lake, Minnesota. He then shot himself. 10 dead, 12 wounded.
* Cory Baadsgaard, age 16, Wahluke (Washington state) High School, was on Paxil (which caused him to have hallucinations) when he took a rifle to his high school and held 23 classmates hostage. He has no memory of the event.
* Chris Fetters, age 13, killed his favorite aunt while taking Prozac.
* Christopher Pittman, age 12, murdered both his grandparents while taking Zoloft.
* Mathew Miller, age 13, hung himself in his bedroom closet after taking Zoloft for 6 days.
* Kip Kinkel, age 15, (on Prozac and Ritalin) shot his parents while they slept then went to school and opened fire killing 2 classmates and injuring 22 shortly after beginning Prozac treatment.
* Luke Woodham, age 16 (Prozac) killed his mother and then killed two students, wounding six others.
* A boy in Pocatello, ID (Zoloft) in 1998 had a Zoloft-induced seizure that caused an armed stand off at his school.
* Michael Carneal (Ritalin), age 14, opened fire on students at a high school prayer meeting in West Paducah, Kentucky. Three teenagers were killed, five others were wounded.
* A young man in Huntsville, Alabama (Ritalin) went psychotic chopping up his parents with an ax and also killing one sibling and almost murdering another.
* Andrew Golden, age 11, (Ritalin) and Mitchell Johnson, aged 14, (Ritalin) shot 15 people, killing four students, one teacher, and wounding 10 others.
* TJ Solomon, age 15, (Ritalin) high school student in Conyers, Georgia opened fire on and wounded six of his class mates.
* Rod Mathews, age 14, (Ritalin) beat a classmate to death with a bat.
* James Wilson, age 19, (various psychiatric drugs) from Breenwood, South Carolina, took a .22 caliber revolver into an elementary school killing two young girls, and wounding seven other children and two teachers.
* Elizabeth Bush, age 13, (Paxil) was responsible for a school shooting in Pennsylvania
* Jason Hoffman (Effexor and Celexa) – school shooting in El Cajon, California
* Jarred Viktor, age 15, (Paxil), after five days on Paxil he stabbed his grandmother 61 times.
* Chris Shanahan, age 15 (Paxil) in Rigby, ID who out of the blue killed a woman.
* Jeff Franklin (Prozac and Ritalin), Huntsville, AL, killed his parents as they came home from work using a sledge hammer, hatchet, butcher knife and mechanic's file, then attacked his younger brothers and sister.
* Neal Furrow (Prozac) in LA Jewish school shooting reported to have been court-ordered to be on Prozac along with several other medications.
* Kevin Rider, age 14, was withdrawing from Prozac when he died from a gunshot wound to his head. Initially it was ruled a suicide, but two years later, the investigation into his death was opened as a possible homicide. The prime suspect, also age 14, had been taking Zoloft and other SSRI antidepressants.
* Alex Kim, age 13, hung himself shortly after his Lexapro prescription had been doubled.
* Diane Routhier was prescribed Welbutrin for gallstone problems. Six days later, after suffering many adverse effects of the drug, she shot herself.
* Billy Willkomm, an accomplished wrestler and a University of Florida student, was prescribed Prozac at the age of 17. His family found him dead of suicide – hanging from a tall ladder at the family's Gulf Shore Boulevard home in July 2002.
* Kara Jaye Anne Fuller-Otter, age 12, was on Paxil when she hung herself from a hook in her closet. Kara's parents said ".... the damn doctor wouldn't take her off it and I asked him to when we went in on the second visit. I told him I thought she was having some sort of reaction to Paxil...")
* Gareth Christian, Vancouver, age 18, was on Paxil when he committed suicide in 2002, (Gareth's father could not accept his son's death and killed himself.)
* Julie Woodward, age 17, was on Zoloft when she hung herself in her family's detached garage.
* Matthew Miller was 13 when he saw a psychiatrist because he was having difficulty at school. The psychiatrist gave him samples of Zoloft. Seven days later his mother found him dead, hanging by a belt from a laundry hook in his closet.
* Kurt Danysh, age 18, and on Prozac, killed his father with a shotgun. He is now behind prison bars, and writes letters, trying to warn the world that SSRI drugs can kill.
* Woody, age 37, committed suicide while in his 5th week of taking Zoloft. Shortly before his death his physician suggested doubling the dose of the drug. He had seen his physician only for insomnia. He had never been depressed, nor did he have any history of any mental illness symptoms.
* A boy from Houston, age 10, shot and killed his father after his Prozac dosage was increased.
* Hammad Memon, age 15, shot and killed a fellow middle school student. He had been diagnosed with ADHD and depression and was taking Zoloft and "other drugs for the conditions."
* Matti Saari, a 22-year-old culinary student, shot and killed 9 students and a teacher, and wounded another student, before killing himself. Saari was taking an SSRI and a benzodiazapine.
* Steven Kazmierczak, age 27, shot and killed five people and wounded 21 others before killing himself in a Northern Illinois University auditorium. According to his girlfriend, he had recently been taking Prozac, Xanax and Ambien. Toxicology results showed that he still had trace amounts of Xanax in his system.
* Finnish gunman Pekka-Eric Auvinen, age 18, had been taking antidepressants before he killed eight people and wounded a dozen more at Jokela High School – then he committed suicide.
* Asa Coon from Cleveland, age 14, shot and wounded four before taking his own life. Court records show Coon was on Trazodone.
* Jon Romano, age 16, on medication for depression, fired a shotgun at a teacher in his New York high school.
Missing from list... 3 of 4 known to have taken these same meds....
* What drugs was Jared Lee Loughner on, age 21... killed 6 people and injuring 14 others in Tuscon, Az?
* What drugs was James Eagan Holmes on, age 24... killed 12 people and injuring 59 others in Aurora Colorado?
* What drugs was Jacob Tyler Roberts on, age 22, killed 2 injured 1, Clackamas Or?
* What drugs was Adam Peter Lanza on, age 20, Killed 26 and wounded 2 in Newtown Ct?
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