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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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1. Fairfax police officer receives award for VCDL outreach!
2. HELP: Volunteers needed for Richmond gun show on August 22, 23
3. Amherst County looking to ban guns in the Scarborough Fair subdivision
4. VCDL booth at Stafford County National Night Out event tomorrow (Tuesday)
5. Louisa Town Park “no weapons” sign status update
6. DoD considers new policy on arming recruiting centers
7. Anti, who should know better, confuses CHP holders with police
8. Angry anti-gun V.A. psychiatrist tells gun owner to kill himself
9. City Planning Commission advances CW Musket Range proposal
10. Presidential candidate attacked for not being anti-gun enough [VIDEO]
11. The rise of concealed carry
12. "Clip" or "Magazine" - Does it matter?
13. New invention, proven to stop bleeding faster [VIDEO]
14. Study reports gun owners tend to be angry, unstable, impulsive
15. New "Rapid Mass Murder" research from Ron Borsch
16. Gay marriage organizers set their sights on guns
17. Actress shares 'security breach' that inspired her to buy a gun [AUDIO]
18. I was attacked on the train. No one helped me.
19. Gun sale background check 'breakdown' by NRA design
20. [TN] Bystander stops armed robbery with head shot
21. [KS] Armed robbery witness pulls his own weapon on fleeing crook
22. [OH] Intruder fatally shot after toddler informs dad 'a robber's here'
23. Murder proves need for gun control, but not end of sanctuary cities
24. [BRAZIL] Off-duty cop takes out thug during robbery [VIDEO]
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1. Fairfax police officer receives award for VCDL outreach!
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A few years ago Fairfax County police officer Lincoln Keiffer reached out to VCDL, asking us to work with the Fairfax County PD to put together a program to educate their officers on gun laws, open carry, and interacting with law-abiding gun owners. VCDL developed a curriculum and submitted it to the PD, as well as taught the class directly to some of the officers. (I was approached by another Virginia PD representative last week, interested in that curriculum.)
Later, the situation was reversed, with some PD brass addressing a VCDL meeting, where citizen interaction with police officers was discussed and some scenarios shown. It was a meeting that got very high ratings from those attending.
Lincoln serves as our liaison to distribute VCDL’s Carry Cards to Fairfax County’s police officers every year. He also recently did a Question & Answer session at a VCDL meeting in Annandale.
So it should come as no surprise that Lincoln was just honored by Fairfax County with an award for his efforts with VCDL, and also for other outreach programs he has set up, as well as his mentoring of newer, less-experienced officers, and keeping his EMT certification with its associated life-saving capabilities. Lincoln is not someone who just punches a clock. He’s a forward thinker and and is looking for ways to help Fairfax County PD excel.
It was a well-deserved award and I was honored to be invited to see Lincoln receive it and to meet his family afterwards.
Congratulations, Lincoln!
(Sadly, anti-gun Fairfax County Board of Supervisor member Penny Gross wasn’t able to attend. I was hoping to see her face when they announced Lincoln’s award was partly due to reaching out to VCDL. Hmmmm, or perhaps she knew...)
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2. HELP: Volunteers needed for Richmond gun show on August 22, 23
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Volunteers are needed to represent VCDL at the Richmond Gun Show, August 22- 23, held at the Richmond Raceway Complex.
Morning and afternoon shifts are open both days of the show:
Fri 8/22 9am - 1pm, and 1pm - 6pm.
Sat 8/23 9am - 1pm, and 1pm - 5pm.
We will also need people who can be available "on-call" should we have a last minute need for help.
If you haven't worked a gun show before, it is fun, you are doing important work for VCDL, and many of the vendors give discounts to people working at the show.
If you would like to step up and be a part of VCDL's outreach please email Mike Wilburt - gunshows.richmond@vcdl.org
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3. Amherst County looking to ban guns in the Scarborough Fair subdivision
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The Amherst County Planning Commission looked at a ban on shooting in the Scarborough Fair neighborhood on July 21st. First I heard about it was when member Randy Smith sent me an Agenda Item Summary on July 29th. I don’t know the status, but if it was approved by the Planning Commission, it will head to the Board of Supervisors for final approval next.
If anyone has further details on this matter, please contact me.
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4. VCDL booth at Stafford County National Night Out event tomorrow (Tuesday)
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VCDL will have a booth that this year’s Stafford County National Night Out event on Tuesday, August 4th from 6PM to 9 PM. If you are attending, be sure to stop by to say “hello.” We are booth C-38.
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5. Louisa Town Park “no weapons” sign status update
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EM Ed Levine and I have been in touch with the Town of Louisa over their “no weapons” sign in their park. They are currently looking at redoing the sign. I will advise once we know the final status of the sign.
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6. DoD considers new policy on arming recruiting centers
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http://www.captainsjournal.com/2015/07/ ... t-centers/
or
http://tinyurl.com/pbozfaq
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7. Anti, who should know better, confuses CHP holders with police
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Lori Haas bemoans that CHP holders don’t get the level of training that police get.
Two comments:
1. CHP holders are NOT police! We don’t have to make arrests, enforce the law, write tickets, etc.
2. The amount of training police get on shooting and related tactics is not much. Lori seems to think it is hundreds of hours.
She also wants to dictate to churches what their policies should be on guns. Heck, one of our Executive members teaches a gun class in a church!
http://www.chesterfieldobserver.com/new ... _load.html
or
http://tinyurl.com/pcroadz
After Charleston, some churches lock and load | www.chesterfieldobserver.com
By Rich Griset CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Last week, The Celebration Center, a nondenominational storefront church near Chesterfield Towne Center, hosted a concealed carry handgun class. Attendees paid to attend the class, which was open to the public and accompanied by the National Rifle Association’s “Refuse to Be a Victim” seminar earlier in the day.
The classes were taught by David and Dee Dee Van Buren of TAC-Solutions, a company they own together. The husband and wife have belonged to the church for 15 years and have conducted classes at other churches for the past eight years.
“The main thrust of what we do is talk about the civil and criminal consequences of using this type of weapon,” said David Van Buren, a retired Richmond Police Department officer of 26 years. “My personal belief is if you use that weapon and you have done something wrong, whether it is civil or criminal, you will pay a huge price for it. You’re going to go to jail, and you have the opportunity to lose everything.”
Those who attended his concealed carry class were issued a certificate of completion, which can be used to apply for a license through circuit court. Van Buren says it’s the Second Amendment right of churchgoers to carry firearms, but it’s more important for a church to have an emergency plan and a trained security team.
“They need to be trained on what to do and what not to do and let them handle it,” says Van Buren, who has been a firearms instructor for 35 years. “To me, that’s the appropriate response. You don’t want something getting out of hand because someone didn’t understand the law.”
In hosting the class, lead pastor Danny Meads said he wants to ensure that his church, which has between 150 and 175 members, is prepared in the event of an active shooter. Meads says the church has a security team, some members of which already carry concealed weapons.
The class comes at a time when the legality of carrying a weapon into a Virginia church appears to occupy a gray area. State law says that “any person carry [sic] any gun, pistol … or other dangerous weapon, without good and sufficient reason, to a place of worship while a meeting for religious purposes is being held at such place he shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor,” punishable by a fine of up to $250.
Though not legally binding, in 2011 then- Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli stated in an advisory opinion that the right to self-defense and personal protection satisfied the requirement of “good and sufficient reason.” The opinion also states that places of worship can restrict or ban firearms.
Inquiries made to the Virginia attorney general’s office for clarification were not returned by press time. Van Buren advises congregation members to ask their religious leader for permission before bringing a weapon to a place of worship.
Lori Haas, director of the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence’s Virginians for Responsible Gun Laws campaign, says that requirements for a concealed carry permit are too lax, especially compared to the hundreds of hours of training required for police officers.
“We feel that the current regulations regarding concealed handgun permits in Virginia are woefully inadequate in regard to training,” said Haas, referencing online concealed permit classes that count toward a permit. “The notion that someone can sit in front of a computer and learn about firearm safety and be considered able to physically, actively handle an active shooter situation is fantasy.”
Haas got involved with gun violence prevention after her daughter was shot twice during the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. She disagrees with the decision to host a concealed carry class at a church.
“Places of worship should be just that,” Haas said. “The answer to gun violence is not more guns and more people carrying guns. The answer is to keep firearms away from individuals that have demonstrated … dangerous behavior.”
In the wake of Charleston, concern has been strong enough that law enforcement agencies have begun to host seminars for keeping places of worship safe. On Aug. 26, Chesterfield County Police will hold an event titled “Safety Conference for Places of Worship.” The free conference is intended to host up to two individuals per place of worship and to discuss planning for an active shooter, building security and senior safety among other topics.
Chesterfield Police Cpl. Scott Gordon said the event was scheduled after places of worship reached out to the police department in the wake of the Charleston shootings.
“This is kind of just getting them interested and letting them know what’s going on out there, some things to be aware of, some things to think about,” Gordon said, adding that the department will also offer further training at individual places of worship on request. “The main thing is just to be aware of your surroundings, and once you get inside one of those facilities, know where the exits are.”
Lora Beck of Dinwiddie attended the class last Saturday at The Celebration Center.
“I thought it was very informative,” said Beck, who found out about the class via Facebook. “It should be a class that more people know about, especially women.”
While she’s unsure about purchasing a gun, Beck says she’ll probably take private gun lessons and join the NRA.
“I still haven’t decided whether I want the responsibility of having one in my home or having one in my car,” said Beck. “[The shootings are] spreading around now, plus I want to be a voice somehow in keeping guns in the hands of the American people.”
For Meads, the class is about keeping his congregation safe.
“It’s happening all around us; even locally we’ve had incidents,” Meads said. “It’s not a matter of if; it’s a matter of when.”
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8. Angry anti-gun V.A. psychiatrist tells gun owner to kill himself
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Even the anti-gun psychiatrists have a violent temper.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07 ... 15%20FINAL
or
http://tinyurl.com/qxuv3kj
‘Totally Inappropriate’ Facebook Comment Aimed at Gun Owner Could Land VA Psychiatrist in Big Trouble
Jul. 29, 2015 11:55am Jon Street
A Veterans Affairs psychiatrist walked back a comment he made on Facebook Tuesday in which he told a gun rights supporter to “off yourself.”
Gregg Gorton’s Facebook page says he is both a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania and a staff psychiatrist at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where he has worked for 11 years, WCAU-TV reported.
Gorton was responding to another online user who posted a comment in favor of more people owning guns. The original Facebook status was also posted by an apparent gun rights supporter, the Military Times reported.
“This is why I always carry my 45. I am all for gun control,” the user commented. “If there is a gun in the room, I want to be in control of it. I do commend you on your efforts and hope you continue trying to take away our rights. Because of you people more and more Americans are buying guns. Thank you. Hopefully you idiots will get more and more attention so that more and more people will buy guns.”
Gorton responded bluntly: “off yourself, please.”
Then began the fiery backlash.
“All you anti-gun/tolerance liberals are pretty violent huh, Gregg Gorton?” another user commented.
Another said, “Wow, Mr. Gorton, is that what you say to pro gun veterans at the VA? I wonder if your employer knows you are advocating suicide in an online forum.”
Gorton later said the post was supposed to be sarcastic.
“It’s just one of those moments you’d rather take back in your life. I’ve worked 30 years to treat psychiatric patients. I teach about suicide prevention. That’s not me,” Gorton told the Associated Press.
The VA in Philadelphia has called Gorton’s comment “totally inappropriate” and said it does not convey the agency’s commitment to America’s veterans.
“We are taking steps immediately to address the situation,” a VA representative said.
Gorton made the comment at a time when the VA is facing plenty of other criticism, including its highly publicized mishandling of backlog claims, as well as urgent efforts to address the suicide rate among veterans.
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9. City Planning Commission advances CW Musket Range proposal
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America’s proud heritage of gun ownership will hopefully be on display in Colonial Williamsburg in the future!
Member Billy Huckleberry emailed me this:
From wydaily.com: http://tinyurl.com/pp2fozk
http://wydaily.com/2015/07/16/local-new ... -proposal/
City Planning Commission Advances CW Musket Range Proposal
By Ian Brickey
July 16, 2015
WYDaily.com is your source for free news and information in Williamsburg, James City & York Counties.
The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation’s plan to build a musket range near the Historic Area hit the mark with the Williamsburg Planning Commission.
The planners voted 4-0 to recommend approval of the proposal to the Williamsburg City Council. Commission members Andrew Edwards and Jeffrey Klee abstained from the vote due to their employment with Colonial Williamsburg.
The proposal calls for the construction of a live-fire musket range at a 46-acre wooded area at 640 South England Street. The range would allow visitors to Colonial Williamsburg the chance to fire authentic and replica 18th-century firearms, including the brown bess rifle and blunderbuss, under the guidance of licensed instructors.
The plan received a positive response from the Planning Commission.
“I think it’s a terrific idea,” Planning Commission Chairman Demetrios Florakis said. “It’s more out-of-the-box thinking from Colonial Williamsburg.”
The Williamsburg Architectural Review Board, which reviewed the musket range site plan at its meeting Tuesday night, offered similarly warm reviews.
Colonial Williamsburg has presented the musket range plan as a way to create excitement for the living history museum, which has seen declining attendance in recent years. Foundation President Mitchell Reiss laid out the initial idea in a breakfast with community leaders in May. In his remarks, Reiss outlined plans for the musket range and a petting farm to be constructed near Duke of Gloucester Street.
More details about the musket range have been released over the last two months, including a site plan, which the Planning Commission reviewed Wednesday.
The range will be located in a wooded area on the west side of South England Street near the Golden Horseshoe golf club. It will feature a wooden shooting gallery and six targets for guests, a small shed for storage purposes and a small vehicle turning area.
The pole-supported shooting gallery would consist of an existing structure located at the current site of the Market House on Duke of Gloucester Street, and would be transported for use at the new site.
The shed would be used to store range supplies, including gunpowder, during the range’s hours of operations, but would not be used for overnight storage.
The range will be surrounded on either side by a 10-foot tall earthworks known as a berm. A 20-foot tall berm will be located behind the targets.
A chain link fence would surround the site, and a wooden fence would replace the chain link in the areas visible from South Henry Street.
Guests would be transported to the range by a shuttle bus picking up at the Williamsburg Lodge. Guest parking would not be allowed at the range or along South England Street.
Range patrons would learn about the history of the Revolutionary-era firearms from certified professionals who would also be Colonial Williamsburg interpreters, and would be able to fire the weapons under the guidance of the instructors. One instructor would be assigned to every two guests.
Colonial Williamsburg’s interim Vice President of Operations Robert Underwood said the Foundation planned on having the range operate from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. He also said the range could be closed to visitors during the traditionally slow visitations months of January, February and March.
While the proposal met with favorable reviews, one Planning Commission member and one resident voiced concerns over the potential noise produced by the range.
South Henry Street resident Kathy Hornsby said the potential for noise pollution concerned her, but said Colonial Williamsburg had done a good job addressing the concerns of residents on the issue.
Colonial Williamsburg conducted an acoustic test of the range as part of the approval process with the city. Muskets were fired at the proposed range and noise levels were taken at four locations near the firing site. The loudest result — 67 decibels — was recorded at the site nearest the range site, a location on the green course at Golden Horseshoe. A study by Purdue University equated a reading of 60 decibels as a conversation in a restaurant or office.
The shots did not register above 60 decibels at any of the other three test sites, and were completely inaudible at one.
The berms, which can dampen sound as well as increase range safety, were not included in the original site plan submitted by Colonial Williamsburg, and Planning Commission member Elaine McBeth said the city had been right to take a cautious approach to the plan.
The plan requires four ordinance changes to be enacted by the City Council for final approval, including the rezoning of the proposed site and the editing of the city’s comprehensive plan to allow shooting ranges for eighteenth century firearms with a special use permit.
The City Council will likely consider those changes at its August meeting. The Planning Commission must also approve a final draft of the site plan for the range. A date for that consideration has not yet been set.
——
From dailypress.com: http://tinyurl.com/onrgy9t
http://www.dailypress.com/news/va-vg-wb ... story.html
Musket shooting range hits bulls eye for Colonial Williamsburg
By Steve Vaughan
July 15, 2015
Colonial Williamsburg's plan to create a musket shooting range for guests easily passed its first test under fire Wednesday.
The Planning Commission voted enthusiastically to recommend approval of the plan to City Council.
"We'll start your first Planning Commission meeting off with a bang," Planning Director Reed Nester had joked to new member David Julien before the meeting. "No pun intended."
Julien was one of the four votes for the plan - two member abstained because they are Colonial Williamsburg employees.
"I think this is something that I personally, as a guest to Colonial Williamsburg, would be very interested in," he said. "I think this is a great job."
Colonial Williamsburg submitted a slightly changed site plan for the proposed range, at 640 S. England Street, between Golden Horseshoe Golf Club Green Course and the Colonial Parkway, which addressed the concerns of some members of the commission and members of the public.
The new layout includes a 20-foot-high earthen berm behind the target area and 10-foot-high berms wrapping the sides of the site, creating a U shape.
"I think that's addressed some of the safety concerns we have with the first site plan," said commission member Elaine McBeth.
It also addressed, at least partially, noise concerns raised by Kathy Hornsby, who said that the acoustic tests performed on a 97-degree, humid day might not accurately reflect the level of noise in the winter months when there is less foliage.
But, according to Colonial Williamsburg Interim Vice President for Operations Robert Underwood that may not be an issue, because the range may not be in use during the colder winter months. Colonial Williamsburg often scales back operations during the slow season and using it to perform maintenance.
McBeth said she didn't the musket noise would be an issue.
"Having lived here a while, it's always startling when the cannons go off, but I've never been startled by the musket fire from the Historic Area," she said.
Chairman Demtrios Florakis said he was all for the plan, which Colonial Williamsburg hopes will help to rebuild visitations, which has fallen over the past decade.
"I congratulate you on thinking outside the box," he said.
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10. Presidential candidate attacked for not being anti-gun enough [VIDEO]
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It it fascinating and profoundly sad that an avowed COMMUNIST understands gun rights better than any of the Democratic lawmakers in the Virginia House and most of the Democratic lawmakers in the Senate! How far the Democratic Party has fallen since the days of JFK.
From theblaze.com: http://tinyurl.com/nmukmhr
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07 ... un-enough/
Watch as Gun Control Activist Confronts Far-Left Presidential Candidate for Not Being Anti-Gun Enough
by Jon Street
July 10, 2015
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, came under fire for his views on gun control when a gun control advocate confronted him and said he was “using phrases that the gun extremists use.”
While taking questions from an audience in Arlington, Virginia, Thursday, Sanders was asked about his vote to protect gun manufacturers from being sued by Honora Laszlo of the local chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Mediate reported.
Sanders, who announced recently that he is running for president, pointed out that he comes from a very rural state where many people use guns for hunting. He went on to say that there is a “cultural divide” in America in terms of how people view gun control.
“I come from a state that has virtually no gun control and it turns out one of the safest states in the country,” Sanders said.
But he then added that what guns mean to people in Vermont isn’t necessarily what they mean to people in urban areas, such as Chicago or Los Angeles.
“People in urban America have got to appreciate that the overwhelming majority of people who hunt know about guns and respect guns, and are law-abiding people; that’s the truth,” Sanders said.
“People in rural America have got to understand that in an urban area, guns mean something very, very different. There have to be some compromises on both sides, and I don’t apologize for that vote,” Sanders said, referring to his vote on protecting gun manufacturers from being sued.
While Laszlo described herself as a “super Bernie Sanders supporter,” aside from the issue of gun control, she said his response to her question “disappointed” her.
“He’s using phrases that the gun extremists and the NRA use, saying things like it’s about people not liking guns,” Laszlo told Al Jazeera America. “He reinforces the idea in people on the other side of the divide that this is about people hating them and people hating guns, and it’s not. This is about safety.”
Laszlo concluded that Sanders’ position on gun control would be a “deal breaker” for those who are in favor of passing anti-gun measures through Congress.
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11. The rise of concealed carry
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From realclearpolicy.com: http://tinyurl.com/pw26r5x
http://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles ... _1369.html
The Rise of Concealed Carry
By Courtney Such
July 17, 2015
How many people are licensed to carry concealed guns in your state? [PVC: Dr. Lott’s number for Virginia are a little low. He shows 387,054, but the Virginia State Police provided numbers during the General Assembly session show the number to be well over 400,000.] The Crime Prevention Research Center has released a paper with the numbers, finding that the number of permit holders has risen 15.4 percent in the last year alone.
We sat down with the organization's president, More Guns, Less Crime author John Lott, to discuss the findings. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why do you think there has been such a surge in permit holders since Obama's election, and especially over the last year?
There was an increase during his election, but as you said, there's been an accelerated change over the last couple years, and I think if you look at the polls you see one reason for that. Gallup and others have shown that Americans believe owning a gun is important for their safety. By larger percentages, the polls show that people believe having a gun makes them safer as opposed to any other possible assets they may have. And where we've seen the biggest growth in permits is among the groups that have had the biggest changes in their views on guns — blacks and women.
Why do you think that's happening with women and minorities?
The growth in women having permits is twice what it is for men. There are still many more men who have permits, but now 25 percent of permit holders are women, and their growth rate is twice what it is for men. For blacks and other minorities, there is some evidence that they are increasing about twice the rate of whites.
Why? Again, I think the polls tell us a lot, but the deeper question here is, Why is it that their views are changing so much in the polls? My own belief is that, if you look at the evidence, women and blacks, particularly poor blacks who live in high-crime urban areas, are the people who benefit the most from owning guns. I think that message is just starting to get out in the last few years. For blacks, if you look at Police Chief James Craig in Detroit or Sheriff David Clark in Milwaukee, these are just examples of leading black law enforcement saying, "Look, we can't protect you, we're having budget cuts. We're having to cut the police forces that we have, and they've been strongly recommending that people in the heavily black areas that they represent have to be able to depend upon themselves for safety."
My research over the years has convinced me of two things. One is that the people most likely to be victims of violent crime benefit the most from having a gun to protect themselves, and the other is that police are extremely important in reducing crime. I think police are the single most important factor, but if you look at interviews and surveys of police, you find that they understand themselves that they virtually always arrive on the crime scene after the crimes occurred, and that raises the question about what people should do when they have to confront a criminal by themselves. By far, the safest course of action is for people to have a gun
The second group of people who benefit the most from having a gun are people who are relatively weaker physically — women and the elderly. You're usually talking about young males doing the attack. They are the criminals. And when you're talking about a young male attacking a female victim, versus a young male attacking a male, there is a lot bigger strength differential between the man and the woman, and so the presence of a gun represents a much bigger relative change in a woman's ability to go and defend herself. We've seen much greater reductions in crime when additional women carry concealed handguns than we've seen for men.
How does this fit in with other research about how guns affect crime rates?
The appendix we have in the back of the report shows several dozen studies we've done on the relationship between concealed handguns and crime, and this fits in very well. We've seen a huge range in the research that's been done, but this paper simply shows that the states with the biggest increases in the percentage of the population with permits have seen the biggest drop in murder rates and crime.
Other people have found that. But other research has shown the effects very systematically in regards to the type of crime — violent crime, for example, falls relative to property crime for the simple reason that violent crime falls in direct contact between the victim and the criminal, so the presence of a gun represents a change there in people's ability to resist an attack. Whereas it's not going to affect property crime directly, because there's no contact between the victim and the criminal in that case.
You have research that shows mass public shootings fall more than murders do when you allow concealed carry. The reason for that is also pretty simple. When you have 5 percent of the adult population with permits, that represents some deterrence to the criminal who's doing the attack. But let's say you have a restaurant that has 100 adults in it. You have a 5 percent chance that any one adult has a concealed handgun in the room. The probability that at least someone in that room will have one is essentially 100 percent. What you find in all this research is that when the probability of the people who go and defend themselves increases, you see a greater deterrence.
There's other evidence that looks at counties in the states that pass right-to-carry; they see a drop in their violent-crime rates right when the law goes into effect. You see a small increase in violent-crime rates in the adjacent towns across the border where there are no right-to-carry laws.
So, when you allow people to defend themselves, some criminals stop committing crimes. Some criminals switch into other types of crimes to commit. Some move out of the area to other areas where they don't have to worry about being able to defend themselves.
Your paper says that permit holders are less likely to commit crimes than police officers. What was your reaction to that finding?
Well, it was somewhat surprising. Police are rarely convicted of misdemeanors or violent felonies, and so it was surprising to find permit holders were so incredibly law abiding. I don't think there is any group in the U.S. population that's as law-abiding as permit holders are. If somebody is going to go up and commit a crime, they aren't going to bother going through the process of getting a concealed handgun permit. I think that's pretty clear.
Do states keep good records of which permit holders commit crimes?
I think they generally do keep good records. But if you look across the states, the results are very uniform. In all the states you find that permit holders are extremely law abiding. People can go and argue that pretty much all of the states are making big errors in terms of identifying whether or not permit holders are committing crimes, but some states, like Kentucky for example, run a background check on permit holders every month. If somebody did something wrong somewhere in the country and developed a criminal history, that would catch up with them on that.
Should states improve their permitting processes? If so, how?
The big thing to me is the cost of getting a permit. You can look at two neighboring states — Illinois and Indiana. In Indiana if you go to get a permit, it costs $45. In Illinois, if you go through the whole process, you're basically talking about something around $450. The problem with those high fees is that the people who benefit from permits the most are basically poor blacks who live in high-crime urban areas who are victims of crimes. If the fee is $450, plus the training cost, who do you think is going to obtain a permit? This isn't even including the cost of the gun. Plus you have other fees in Illinois; you also have to get the license to own a gun. It's those types of costs that make it so poor people are priced out of the ability to go and defend themselves.
I think one of the big pushes we've seen with gun control over the last few years is additional fees and taxes on gun ownership, and unfortunately, the very people it disarms are people who need guns. It doesn't make much sense to me to go and have a big fee for someone.
I can understand that states wanted to raise revenue in all different sorts of ways, but why is this the way you want to go and raise revenue? You reduce the number of permitted concealed handguns out there, and you also change the mix of people who have permits — and it's the probability that someone's going to be able to defend themselves that deters criminals. If you want it to be white male suburban types that have permits for concealed handguns, that's fine, but that's not where the crime is. I'm not saying there's not some benefits for them carrying, but we're making it so the most vulnerable people in our society are being priced out of the ability to defend themselves.That's the big concern I have in terms of trying to fix the permit system.
The big change you're seeing now is, we have ten states where you don't bear any cost to be able to carry a concealed handgun. Those are the so-called "constitutional carry" states. And you look at Texas, a couple years ago, they reduced the training requirements from ten hours to five hours, and you can see the explosion in concealed-handgun permits in minorities by that point. It was just massive, and I think a lot of that has to do with reduction in cost.
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12. "Clip" or "Magazine" - Does it matter?
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This should be required reading for members of the media, who get this wrong almost every single time.
Member Billy Huckleberry emailed me this:
From usacarry.com: http://tinyurl.com/qgzonrr
http://www.usacarry.com/clip-or-magazin ... it-matter/
“Clip” Or “Magazine”- Does It Matter?
by Ben Findley
July 13, 2015
Can you recognize and differentiate among the magazines and clips on the right? What is the difference between a Stripper Clip and an En-Bloc Clip? Are Clips, Magazines, or both under spring pressure? Are Clips inserted directly into the firearm or into a Magazine? Is there such a thing as a fixed, non-detachable Magazine for a pistol? What is a Bullet Button? Do these things really matter and why? This article will discuss these subjects and help identify the above four pictures. I have found that many students innocently and regularly call a “magazine” a “clip” and vice versa at the range. Most of those that do so are long-gun shooters or those inexperienced with handguns. Does it really matter? It is not such a big deal, no need to call the grammar police, and probably will not have harmful affects, but we should understand the different functions and learn the terminology primarily for safety reasons, as well as to be accurate and not show our ignorance nor fuel the view by a few that gun owners are a bunch of illiterates. Some might even be concerned about negatively affecting their personal firearms reputation or public perception. Why not understand and use precise, technical firearms terminology, if we are to be involved in the shooting sports. We should use the correct, common terminology when referring to parts, equipment, and systems of a firearm, so communications can be effective and safety maintained.
So, generally a “Magazine” is a container of rounds or cartridges that is used to feed the weapon itself, whereas a“Clip” is used to feed the Magazine. Clips make loading of Magazines much easier and faster, and in some cases, a Clip is required in order for the Magazine to work, e.g. M1 Garand Rifle. A key part of the understanding is to recognize that a Magazine holds cartridges under spring pressure in preparation for feeding into the handgun’s chamber. Examples include box, tubular, drum and rotary magazines. Some are fixed to the firearm while others are removable.
A cartridge “Clip” has no spring and does not feed shells directly into the chamber. Rather, Clips hold cartridges in the correct sequence for “charging” a specific firearm’s Magazine. Stripper Clips (on far left in above picture) allow rounds to be “stripped” into the magazine. Other types are fed along with the shells into the magazine. The M1 Garand Rifle classically operates this way with an En-Bloc Clip (on far right in above picture.) Once all rounds have been fired, the “Clip” is ejected or otherwise released from the firearm.
Briefly, the “Clip” loads the (internal) “Magazine” of a rifle or long gun and the (external) “Magazine” loads the firearm (e.g. pistol) itself. The key difference between Clips and Magazines is the presence of a feed mechanism in a Magazine (usually a spring-loaded Follower), which a clip does not have. There is a lot of disagreement about calling a detachable Magazine a Clip.
CLIP
A Clip is a metal device that is used to store multiple rounds of ammunition together as a unit and that entire unit orClip is inserted into the Magazine of a firearm. This speeds up the process of loading the firearm as several rounds can be loaded at once, rather than one round being loaded at a time. Several different types of Clips exist, most of which are made of inexpensive formed metal parts that are designed to be disposable, but they are often re-used.
So a “Clip” is a bent piece of brass or steel, a metal container, that holds rounds to speed load usually a military rifle. For the ’03 Springfield, 30-06 rounds came in 5 round “Stripper Clips” that perched up above the open bolt so that 5 rounds could be quickly pushed down into the receiver of the Springfield. For the M-1 Garand, 30-06 rounds were gripped by a steel Clip and soldiers used them in bandoleers holding a number of Clips of ammo. The Garand is loaded by shoving a full Clip of ammo down into the receiver. The Garand fires the eight rounds and ejects the empty Clip with the last shot, clearing the receiver to accept another loaded Clip of 8 rounds. The Germans and the French also packaged their cartridges in Stripper Clips to speed load their bolt action rifles in WW I & WW II. So, a Clip does NOT have an internal spring forcing the rounds up. While a Magazine HAS an internal spring.
MAGAZINE
A Magazine (also called a “Mag” or incorrectly a Clip, especially when removable) is a spring-loaded ammunition storage AND feeding device inserted in or attached to a firearm. Magazines may be integral to the firearm (fixed) orremovable (detachable). A “Detachable Magazine” is any ammunition feeding device that can be removed readily from the firearm with neither disassembly of the firearm action nor use of a tool being required. Detachable Box Magazine-fed rifles include AK-47s, AR-15s, Mini-14s and Mini-30s for examples.
While some Magazines are removable, and depending on the design of the gun, some can have a fixed Magazine. Most bolt actions, shotguns, and Garands have fixed Magazines. The SKS rifle is generally fed by Stripper Clips into a fixed magazine, though some conversions are available to convert them to use detachable AK-47 magazines.
FIXED Magazine
The standard AR-15 Rifle receiver shown has a “Bullet Button” device installed that allows for a “magazine” to be removed from the rifle with the use of a tool (or by Top Load) to release the magazine lock, but not with your fingers. In essence, “Top Load” means the shooter pulls the rear takedown pin, hinges the upper receiver on the front pivot pin, and then loads the exposed magazine from the inside, because it is a fixed mag with a fixed base plate on the lower receiver. This is not a very convenient way to load a rifle, so some manufacturers offer mag locks called Bullet Buttons. They either replace or cover the mag release button so that the shooter must push an inset pin with a tool to activate the magazine release. Incidentally, a bullet is a tool.
The configuration as a fixed-magazine rifle is made by combining an AR-15 upper receiver with an AR-15 lower receiver, with a non-detachable FIXED magazine. Since it requires a tool every time, it does not meet the definition of a “detachable magazine.” I discovered that the German Broomhandle Mauser C96 pistol in 9mm (used in WWI, WWII, Korean & Vietnam Wars) uses Stripper Clips to load a FIXED Box Magazine in front of the trigger assembly.
With “Stripper Clips” shown above, the rounds are simply “stripped” off of the clip and into the gun’s magazine. In the case of the “En-Bloc”Clip (pictured above & below) used by the M1 Garand, for example, you simply place the “Clip” into the fixed “Magazine” and the Clip stays in the Mag as the weapon fires.
En-Bloc Clips
Some European rifles use the En-Bloc Clip to load, like the French Berthier 1890 and the Italian M1870 Vetterli, as does the American M1 Garand and Pedersen T1E3. With the En-Bloc design, both the cartridges and the Clip are inserted as a unit into a fixed Magazine within the rifle. The Clip is usually ejected upon firing or chambering the last round. Probably, the misuse of the term “Clip” came about over the years when European military troops and American military troops (who mostly used the M1 Garand .30 caliber) started using other firearms and continued to used the term “Clip” when referring to what was actually a Magazine. The M1 Clip holds 8 rounds and you can hear a clank as the spent lip is ejected by the built-in rifle spring. Again, a “magazine” has its own internal spring. Whatever the reason for the incorrect use of the term, it exists and it is often misused by many new shooters.
Stripper Clips
A Stripper Clip or charger clip is really a speedloader that holds several cartridges (usually between 3 to 10 rounds) together in a single unit for easier loading of a gun’s magazine. A stripper clip is used only for loading the magazine and is not necessary for the firearm to function. It is called a “Stripper” Clip because, after the rifle bolt is opened and the Stripper Clip is placed in position (by placing it in a slot on either the receiver or bolt), the shooter presses on the cartridges from above, sliding them down and off the Clip, thus “stripping” them off the Clip and into the magazine.After the magazine is loaded, the Stripper Clip is removed and set aside for reloading again.
Hope this helps clarify some common terminology and differences among ammo storage and feeding devices. As far as the pictures at the beginning, they are as shown left to right are: (1) a Stripper Clip, (2) a Rifle Magazine, (3) a Pistol Magazine, and (4) an En-Bloc Clip.
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13. New invention, proven to stop bleeding faster [VIDEO]
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EM Dave Vann emailed me this:
This would appear to be a great addition to first aid gear for any serious injury not just gun shot wounds. I ordered mine through Amazon.
From ammoland.com: http://tinyurl.com/og62ffj
http://www.ammoland.com/2015/07/bloodstop/
BloodSTOP – New Invention, Proven To Stop Bleeding Faster
Pre-clinical Trial Shows BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix Has 100% Survival Rate in Military Standard Test of Severe Arterial Bleeding
July 15, 2015
PALO ALTO, CA –-(Ammoland.com)- LifeScience Plus, a Silicon Valley-based biotechnology company revolutionizing wound-care, today.
It announced that its military-grade new hemostatic wound-care product, BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix, has achieved a 100% survival rate during pre-clinical trials testing severe femoral artery lacerations mimicking a battlefield gunshot or shrapnel wound.
The study, which was conducted on swine at an accredited research laboratory at at PMI, an accredited research laboratory in Silicon Valley, utilized GLP protocol validated by the US Army Institute of Surgical Research and the US Food and Drug Administration.
Far beyond any of its competitors, BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix was shown to dramatically minimize blood loss, maintain hemostasis without re-bleeding, and continue to allow circulation to the lower leg, preventing any need for amputation. Results of the study indicate that the BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix’s advanced technology could save hundreds of thousands or even millions of lives at disaster sites or in the midst of war-zones such as the multinational battling in the Middle East and other areas of unrest.
BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix ( tiny.cc/kedn0x ) is a biocompatible, non-irritating, woven matrix of fibers made from all-natural plant compounds. When applied to a wound it quickly absorbs blood and exudates. BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix then transforms into a gel to seal the wound with a protective transparent layer, actively aiding in blood coagulation and creating an optimal environment for wound healing.
The pre-clinical study, which was conducted on swine over a two-week period, examined BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix’s effectiveness in stopping the bleeding using a standard military and FDA approved protocol: a 6mm arteriotomy made to the femoral artery using a vascular punch. BloodSTOP iX was the only hemostatic wound-care product in the study to achieve a 100% survival rate – meaning all of the pigs that were treated with BloodSTOP iX survived.
When in contact with blood, BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix rapidly formed a sticky gel that adhered to and helped form a safe and effective “seal membrane” over the site of injury, rapidly and conspicuously halting blood loss. After the completion of the hemostatic assessment, researchers elected to determine the strength and tenacity of the “seal membrane” as an indicator of potential disruption of the coagulant.
This pre-clinical GLP study demonstrated the efficacy of BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix in controlling severe bleeding in several important parameters including time of achieving initial hemostasis and post-treatment blood loss, showcasing its potential usage in the battlefield.
At conclusion of the protocol, lab technicians proceeded to flex and stretch the pig’s right leg five times in order to simulate walking and test hemostasis stability. This test is a crucial part of the process as re-bleeding is particularly dangerous and can be life-threatening, especially in a non-controlled environment such as the battlefield. In pigs treated with BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix, no re-bleeding or oozing was observed. With competitor product Kaolin gauze, re-bleeding visibly occurred upon physical movement near the wound.
Results of the study show that BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix successfully minimized blood loss. A subsequent angiogram showed that blood continued to properly circulate to the pig’s lower leg, providing nutrients and oxygen to surrounding tissue, a critical element in preventing amputation.
Vicky Feng, CEO of Life Science Plus, said, “We are proud to announce that BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix is the only hemostatic technology that has achieved a 100% survival rate in military-standard testing.”
“This development marks a significant achievement for the LifeScience Plus family of wound care products that now encompass a total solution to bleeding injuries, from surgical wounds to minor injury or extremely severe trauma. As we continue to revolutionize wound-care, our number one goal remains to provide life-saving treatment in emergency situations – especially for the brave men and women who risk their lives to protect their nation every day.”
The results of the pre-clinical study show promise in BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix’s capacity to save lives. They demonstrate that the technology minimizes blood loss, allows for circulation to limbs, and prevents re-bleeding. In critical situations like a battlefield or ground zero of a natural disaster or any environment in which controlled medical care is not readily available, BloodSTOP iX Battle Matrix can be counted on to stabilize bleeding until a proper medical facility can be accessed.
BloodSTOP iX products are USFDA cleared for emergency and therapeutic use in the control of bleeding from the skin and other surface wounds where temporary control of bleeding is required. The results of this study have not yet been reviewed by USFDA.
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14. Study reports gun owners tend to be angry, unstable, impulsive
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Filed under “F” for “fiction” is another anti-gun “study.”
Of all the groups of people I’ve met over the years, gun owners are absolutely the opposite of everything the “study” says about us. Now this study does fit most of our opponents perfectly, based on my personal experiences with them.
If you believe the study, a person is merely either angry or impulsive if he buys one to five guns. But when he buys that sixth one, he suddenly becomes impulsive AND angry.
The study’s authors probably sell snake oil to make ends meet when they are not busily creating phony studies.
Member Tim Smith shared this on facebook:
From aattp.org: http://tinyurl.com/p24963g
http://aattp.org/mental-illness-gun-control-study/
Bombshell Study: Gun Owners Tend to Be Angry, Unstable, Impulsive
by L. Lee
July 8, 2015
No big surprise, but a study has found if you have several guns then you are more likely to have anger issues.
The study was conducted by researchers from universities including Duke and Harvard. The findings were published in the journal, Behavioral Sciences and the Law and showed more importance and focus should be placed on individuals with a “history of violent behavior” and “less on diagnosed mental illness” when trying to reduce gun violence.
The study also found that guns are “disproportionately owned” by those who are more likely to have trouble with anger management and impulse control. The LA times reported:
“…people owning six or more guns were more likely to fall into both of these categories than people who owned a single gun.”
The study comes about at a time when lawmakers are fixated on the idea that guns should be kept out of the hands of those with a history of mental illness. However, as the LA times states:
“…the new study implies that doing so would make only a small dent in this tally of morbidity and mortality.”
Jeffrey Swanson, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University shared explained the evidence:
“The traditional legal approach has been to prohibit firearms from involuntarily committed psychiatric patients. But now we have more evidence that current laws don’t necessarily keep firearms out of the hands of a lot of potentially dangerous individuals.”
In other words, yes, we are protected from those with diagnosed mental illness. However, if an angry person with impulse control issues has a clean record and clear medical history, they pose more of a danger to society.
Here’s a secret: I’m diagnosed bipolar. I take four medications to function normally. I can say that out of all the feelings I’ve had, all the mood swings, all the depression, I’ve never wanted or needed a gun.
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15. New "Rapid Mass Murder" research from Ron Borsch
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EM Dave Vann emailed me this:
The entire piece is relevant but of particular note is the very last paragraph which flies in the face of everything the antis and most police are saying.
From activeresponsetraining.net: http://tinyurl.com/a78wbg9
http://www.activeresponsetraining.net/n ... ron-borsch
New “Rapid Mass Murder” Research from Ron Borsch
by Greg Ellifritz
December 12, 2012
Cleveland-area police trainer Ron Borsch has been a friend of mine for many years. Ron has studied the “active killer” phenomena in greater depth than anyone I know. He recently published his latest statistical analysis of such events.
Ron prefers the more descriptive term of “Rapid Mass Murder” over the traditionally-used terms like “active shooter” or “active killer”. Ron defines a “Rapid Mass Murder” (RMM) as “Four or more people being killed in less than 20 minutes in a public location.” That encompasses most active shooter events as well as includes events where the killer used a weapon other than a firearm.
Ron’s statistics through November indicate that 2012 will set a new record in numbers of RMMs. From 1975 through the Columbine massacre, “successful” and attempted RMMs in the US and abroad averaged one per year. Post-Columbine through 2010, the yearly average was four. Last year there were eight, and the total for 2012 through Thanksgiving was 9.
Some additional research you may find interesting (quoted directly from Ron’s newsletter):
WHO HAS BEEN STOPPING THE ACTIVE KILLER, AND HOW?
Before investing in any theory or propaganda, enlightened administrators and trainers should exclusively examine only successful aborts. “Stopping the killing” only occurs in slightly over half of “Rapid Mass Murder” incidents. Significant, documented, verifiable, and repeatable research has identified what strategies and tactics work in stopping the killing. In summary, they are:
1. Citizens, mostly unarmed, perform two thirds of all “Rapid Mass Murder” aborts.
2. In citizen aborts, initiation by a single citizen stops the killing eight out of ten times.
3. Law enforcement performs one third of all “Rapid Mass Murder” aborts.
4. In law enforcement aborts, initiation by a single officer stops the killing seven out of 10 times.
Where do RMMs occur?
38% Schools, (Pre-school and K-12)
17% Colleges and Universities
10% Church/Religious facility
8% Restaurant/Coffee House
6% Mall/Shopping Center
4% Hospital/Nursing Home
3% Military Base/Facility, tied with Bus Stop/Train
Most Dangerous Months for RMMs
“Our Post-Columbine data indicates that March, (23%), and April (16%) have been the most dangerous months, followed by a 3rd place tie, (11%), between September and December. February and June were tied, (7%); July, August, October, and November were also tied, (5%). January was 6th, (3%), and May has been relatively safest in 7th or last place, (2%).”
In looking at Ron’s research, it is clear that time is of the essence in stopping an active shooter. As cops, we need to be training in single officer response tactics. If a single unarmed citizen stops more than half of all rapid mass murders, why are we cops (who have pistols, rifles, and armor) waiting outside until we can get a “team” to confront the shooter? We really need to change our thinking about this type of response.
We also need to be providing armed citizens with “advanced CCW” classes that prepare them to deal with an active killer. There is far more likely to be an armed citizen already on the scene of a rapid mass murder than a uniformed cop. We need to empower those folks with the knowledge they need to neutralize the shooter.
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16. Gay marriage organizers set their sights on guns
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I disagree with the conclusion of this article. There’s not much new under the sun when it comes to gun control. If the same-sex marriage gang thinks that it just takes the right motto to steal away our rights, they are in for a surprise.
It reminds me of the gun-control groups that are constantly changing their names. They keep hoping that with just the right name for their group, they will succeed. They don’t seem to understand that no one likes their messages or their ideas.
They’ve tried rebranding “gun control” to “gun safety,” yet most of them don’t even know which end of a gun the bullets exits from. And “gun safety” isn’t working for them any better than “gun control” did.
We can defeat them, whatever their tactics are, IF WE ALL ARE DILIGENT AND WORK AS A TEAM.
Member Billy Huckleberry emailed me this:
From alloutdoor.com: http://tinyurl.com/oho88lr
http://www.alloutdoor.com/2015/07/11/ga ... ghts-guns/
Gay Marriage Organizers Set their Sights on Guns
by Jon Stokes
July 11, 2015
Fresh off their recent victory in having same-sex marriage legalized, many of the movement’s organizers are now turning to gun control as the next hot social issue, or so reports the New Yorker.
Marriage-equality activists in every state were armed with a talking-points tip sheet from WhyMarriageMatters.org whose logo reads “Love. Commitment. Family.” The one-page memo talks about the protection of religious freedom, the golden rule, family stability, and mutual respect. In the fight for marriage equality, the left borrowed the language of the right, in other words, and used it consistently and explicitly to bring the opposition along. Now similar tacks are being taken on guns…
When Zach Silk thinks about how to articulate the values of the renovated gun movement, he uses the same words that the gun advocates use: “Community. Safety. Responsibility. Protecting my family.” In this redefining, he hopes to make a point. “Protection” isn’t an individual matter (a canard in any case, because having a gun in the house makes you exponentially less safe) in which individual patriarchs safeguard individual offspring. “Protection” is a communitarian thing, in which the safety of one’s own children depends on the safe habits of one’s neighbors.
Gun people underestimate these guys at their own peril. I shudder to think that in the face of savvy, patient, successful operatives like Zach Silk, we’re offering the tone-deaf and thoroughly unlikeable Wayne LaPierre, along with mass mailings filled with fear-mongering fever swamp boilerplate about black helicopters and the NWO.
We need an NRA 2.0 to go with Gun Culture 2.0, and we need it now.
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17. Actress shares 'security breach' that inspired her to buy a gun [AUDIO]
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From theblaze.com: http://tinyurl.com/p64j632
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07 ... to-use-it/
Actress Kelly Carlson Shares Story of Severe ‘Security Breach’ That Inspired Her to Buy Gun, Learn How to Use It
by Mike Opelka
July 13, 2015
Actress Kelly Carlson starred on the FX channel’s hit series “Nip/Tuck” for three years. It was during that show’s very successful run Carlson became the target of a malicious stalker.
The model/actress recently spoke with TheBlaze Radio about the serious “security breach” at her home that inspired her to purchase a gun and spend the time and money to learn how to properly use a firearm.
The frightening stalking episode also became the focus of a new episode of the Outdoor Channel’s, “NRA All Access.” Carlson talks openly about the incident as well as the fact that her uncle was killed, execution style, during a gas station robbery in Minnesota.
It was in 1995, Carlson’s uncle Jimmy was murdered — shot in the back of the head with a revolver. Instead of calling for restrictions on gun ownership, Carlson says her family was in agreement on what should happen, stating ”No one ever had a thought of proposing stricter gun laws in Minnesota because of it.”
Carlson added, “We wanted to know who the criminals were. We weren’t going to put the gun in jail.”
Listen to Kelly talk about her appreciation for firearms and the importance to getting trained on how to use a gun.
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18. I was attacked on the train. No one helped me.
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A good reason that no one helped Mr. Sutherland as he was being stabbed to death or Ms. Seregi as she was being assaulted on a DC Metro is that no one was armed with a handgun. Being unarmed and trying to go up against a person who is in a violent rage stabbing someone else or a gang assaulting someone else is very likely a suicide mission.
A gun would have changed everything in both cases, as it would have allowed the bad guy(s) to be stopped while the defender keeps a safe distance.
Gun control enables these tragedies. But, in an interesting twist, Mr. Sutherland was apparently in favor of gun control, based upon some prior postings on social media. That choice worked out poorly for him.
Everyone else in those Metro cars was darned lucky that the murderer or the gang didn’t turn on them as well.
Ben Rd shared this on facebook:
From slate.com: http://tinyurl.com/o33csgb
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/disp ... ed_me.html
I Was Attacked on the Train. No One Helped Me.
And I’m not sure I would have helped me, either.
By Marianne Seregi
What happened to Kevin Joseph Sutherland was horrific beyond imagining. On July 4, in front of about 10 witnesses on the Washington, D.C., Metro, an assailant punched him, stomped on him, kicked him in the head, and stabbed him at least 30 times. No one attempted to stop Sutherland’s killer.
What happened to me in November was vastly different, and I do not intend to equate the two events. Like Sutherland, I was attacked on a Saturday afternoon on the D.C. Metro. And as in Sutherland’s case, despite my screams and pleas, almost none of my fellow passengers on the crowded train car did anything to help.
I was in a window seat on the Blue Line, en route to meet friends for dinner. One teenage girl sat down next to a man in front of me; another sat beside me. They began by asking what kind of phone I had. The girl next to me patted down my pockets and, finding nothing, grabbed my coffee mug out of my hands. The girl in front put her finger in my face, getting as close as she could without touching me. They grabbed my legs. They threatened to rape me until I bled. One opened the other’s coat jacket, feigning—or not—that she had a weapon.
Trying to get the attention of other passengers, I shouted at the top of my lungs, “Leave me alone!” and “Stop touching me!” I tried to flee when the train stopped, but they boxed me in and shoved me back down into my seat. The man sitting in front of me, next to one of the girls who attacked me, never turned around. He rode the train for a few stops, while the assault was going on, and then departed. The only person to come to my defense was a petite twentysomething woman who told the girls to cut it out. The girls briefly yelled at her—which filled me with both gratitude and, on her behalf, regret—but then turned their attention back to me.
On my second attempt to escape, I took several punches but managed to shove past them. The girls chased me off the train, then back on it, then off again. The chase dragged on across two stops. I was finally able to hit the emergency button and alert the conductor. Later that day, bruised but not otherwise hurt, I identified the girls for the police.
It took a month before I rode the train by myself again. I still feel uncomfortable riding it alone at night. My dad, back in Kansas, sent me what seemed like every pepper sprayer available on Amazon. I bought myself a comically oversized pepper-spray fogger that my boyfriend calls the “criminal extinguisher.” I use earbuds more sparingly now. I rarely sit down on the train—that way I can’t be cornered.
After the incident, I felt angry at all the people on the crowded train car—there must have been 30 adults—who did nothing. When I screamed, no one tried to intervene. They didn’t hit the emergency call button. They didn’t even acknowledge that anything was happening. They just averted their eyes and let it continue.
I remembered this as I read accounts of Sutherland’s death. “[M]y instinct was to stay put and try to become as small as possible,” a 52-year-old female witness to the killing said. “I’m looking, but I don’t want to be noticed by [Sutherland’s assailant].” On Reddit, another eyewitness wrote, “What I don’t wish is that I had somehow tried to attack the assailant.”
I am still angry that no one really helped me. And since reading about Sutherland’s murder, during which his fellow passengers huddled at either end of the train car while he was stabbed and beaten to death, I can’t stop thinking about what I might have done in their shoes. How long did Sutherland’s agony go on for? Did he scream for help? What could the other passengers have done? What are the chances that Sutherland could have survived if someone had done something?
At work, reading the coverage at my desk, I think, “I could have stopped it with my pepper spray.” I would like to think that I’d have sprung into action. That I would have been willing to put myself in harm’s way. So does a writer for the Federalist, declaring that the 10 eyewitnesses displayed “not just cowardice but also a callous and unthinking selfishness.” The title of his piece: “Behold, the Beta Males Who Feel Good About Watching a Man Die.”
But in real life, I don’t want—no one wants—to get hurt. Despite my own experience and my lingering fury at the inaction of those around me, I’m not sure I would have acted any differently from those 10 eyewitnesses. If I’d been in that train car, I might have felt just like the woman who tried to become as small as possible. I might have been paralyzed with fear.
Yes, it’s hypocritical. I wish people would have helped me, and I’m not sure I could have mustered the courage to do the same.
I don’t want to be someone so passive and self-preserving that I allow a stranger to be killed right in front of me. I don’t want to protect myself at all costs. But fear is a powerful emotion. And just because we think we are brave doesn’t mean that we are.
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19. Gun sale background check 'breakdown' by NRA design
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Rather than blame a violent criminal, the antis, as usual, try to blame either the gun or try to take rights away from innocent gun owners.
So that the government can’t indefinitely hold up a gun sale and to give the FBI a strong incentive to keep background checks for firearms as short as possible, federal law says a dealer can release a firearm to a purchaser if the background check doesn’t complete within THREE BUSINESS DAYS. The article below implies that gun owners should feel guilty about that and gladly wait for as long as it might take the FBI to give an “all clear” on a gun purchase that is supposed to have an “instant” background check.
There’s no proof that even if Dylann had to wait a full SEVEN days for his background check to conclude that the ultimate outcome would have been any different.
Member George Overstreet emailed me this:
If you would like to understand twisted, convoluted logic and leaving out facts to prove the point this is a great example.
From huffpost.com: https://tinyurl.com/ovzh6gh
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-rose ... 03078.html
Gun Sale Background Check 'Breakdown' by NRA Design
by John Rosenthal
July 15, 2015
Last Friday, the FBI announced that the Charleston AME shooter, Dylann Roof, failed to pass a background check, but was able to legally purchase the gun under the current law. Under current federal law, a purchase from a federally licensed firearm dealer must be cleared, or denied, by the FBI background check system within three days of the request. If an individual is not cleared to purchase the weapon within the three days, the gun dealer is allowed to sell the weapon to the purchaser.
In Roof's case, he had admitted to unlawful drug use in a police report, which would have prohibited him from passing a criminal background check. However, due to confusing local jurisdiction, a non-responsive prosecutor's office and outdated FBI data on Roof's South Carolina County, the FBI was unable to determine Roof's eligibility to purchase a gun before the three-day period expired. Despite having concerns about Roof's criminal history, and because of restrictions placed on the FBI by Congress, the FBI could not prevent the sale. As a result, Roof returned to the gun dealer on the fourth business day and completed his purchase.
Major media outlets are referring to this situation as a "breakdown" in the background check system, but let's be honest and call this what it is: it's an NRA-designed loophole to undermine law enforcement's ability to restrict gun sales even to dangerous and prohibited people and sell more guns at the expense of public safety.
Under the Brady Background Check Law, as it was first proposed, the FBI would have had seven days to check gun buyers criminal records and make an informed determination for purchasers from federally licensed gun dealers. Although still just an arbitrary and often insufficient timeframe, this would have provided the FBI more than twice as much time to verify each purchaser. However, due to heavy lobbying by the special interest gun industry and NRA, who, more effectively than most, intimidate Congress, the Brady Bill was weakened to allow only a three-day window for the FBI to make a determination.
While a three-day waiting period (or the originally proposed seven-day period) is quite short of "instantaneous" as suggested by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System's title, the reality is that the FBI rarely needs the extra time. For 91 percent of sales this extended time frame is totally irrelevant, the FBI is able to clear these purchasers almost instantaneously, the average call is less than two minutes. However, about 9 percent of checks require further examination and these are the background checks that then start to be subject to the three-day period loophole.
Despite the three-day time frame, the FBI continues to work towards a denial or clearance for up to 90 days after the initial request. Ultimately, the FBI denies less than two percent of would-be purchasers. Even so, in 2014 gun dealers transferred 2,511 weapons to prohibited purchasers because the arbitrary three-day period had expired. It's critical to note that, in addition to loopholes in the licensed dealers gun sale system, the major "private gun sale loophole" allows criminals to legally buy guns from private dealers at gun shows and out of car trunks and backpacks without background checks or even proof of ID.
Next year Dylann Roof will be part of the FBI's statistics. Another prohibited person that could have been easily prevented from accessing a firearm from a licensed dealer, but was able to get one and kill innocent people. Why have we allowed the special interest gun industry and their spineless majority in Congress to dictate a national gun policy that restricts law enforcement versus criminals, when the difference is life or death?
Left to their own devices, the gun lobby has designed our national policy to restrict law enforcement and sell more guns to criminals, thus increasing gun violence, fear and ultimately gun sales. For example, here are some of the federal gun policies that a majority of Congress have gone along with, in exchange for gun industry campaign contributions (the very definition of blood money) and to avoid NRA retaliation:
-- Allow guns to be legally sold by private gun dealers in over 30 states without criminal backgrounds so that anyone who can't pass a background check can buy an unlimited number of guns without detection.
-- Require Federally licensed gun dealers, who must run a background check, to sell guns after three business days even if the buyer's record show a potential prohibition.
-- Restrict the FBI, the ATF and local law enforcement from maintaining a database of gun purchasers even from Federally Licensed gun dealers or regulating private gun sales
-- Cut funding for gun violence studies at every intersection
-- Allow mental health adjudications reporting to be voluntary rather than mandatory
-- Unrestricted sales of firearms online in most states
-- And when all is said and done, blame law enforcement for not enforcing existing gun laws that are designed to fail!
Welcome to America -- you're more likely to die from gun violence here!
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20. [TN] Bystander stops armed robbery with head shot
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Guns save another innocent life.
Member Gil Sanderson emailed me this:
From 2ndamendmentinsider.com: http://tinyurl.com/pnxhjkp
http://2ndamendmentinsider.com/teen-pla ... pid-prize/
Bystander Stops Armed Robbery With Head Shot – Mom Of Now-Dead Teen Says “They Should Have Called 911?
One would think that by the age of 18, one would understand that for each action there is an equal and opposite reaction. One might also grasp that decisions and actions have consequences, be they good or bad. One would also think that parents might be a bit more involved in teaching this.
Events in Knoxville, TN at a Breadbox store there have proved yet again that this is not always the case. An 18 year old made an extremely poor decision to rob the store at 2:30 in the morning, and suffered the consequences of his incredibly bad decision making. He was shot and killed by the friend of the clerk on duty.
18-year-old armed robber Tamon J. Stapleton stormed into the the Breadbox and forced the female employee behind the counter and towards the register at 2:30 AM with a gun to her head. One of the employee’s male friends happened to be in his car in front of the Breadbox. He retrieved his legally-owned pistol from his car and ran into the store, firing a single shot that struck Stapleton in the head, killing him.
Believe it or not, Stapleton’s mother Joy is now demanding homicide charges be filed against the man who defended the clerk from her violent thug of a son.
The robber’s mother is insisting that instead of taking action and killing her poor child, the bystander should have just called 911. Her poor child who had a juvenile record of violent crimes – including being shot previously – and was holding the store clerk at gunpoint, mind you. Apparently, he never did learn that crime doesn’t pay.
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21. [KS] Armed robbery witness pulls his own weapon on fleeing crook
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As a permit holder, should you chase down fleeing robbers and get them to drop their guns? I would strongly caution against it. We have no duty to enforce any laws, we probably aren’t going to be wearing a bullet-proof vest, and we don’t have the special legal protections that a police officer is afforded.
But, in the end, the choice, and the buck, stops with you.
In this case, it worked out, but I’m not sure what was gained. The punks got away, but did drop their stolen guns at the command of the CHP holder. The police caught up with the criminals a little while later and arrested them. Those same guns could have been recovered at that time most likely, and without the risk of the CHP holder getting shot when chasing after the miscreants.
From theblaze.com: http://tinyurl.com/oyonpq6
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/07 ... ing-crook/
‘Drop the Gun…Mine Is Loaded’: Armed Robbery Witness Pulls His Own Weapon on Fleeing Crook
by Dave Urbanski
July 12, 2015
Joey Tapley was buying some bullets with his cousin at the Academy Sports and Outdoors store in Topeka, Kansas, on Friday when he heard some loud bangs.
“I look up and they are just loading up weapons from the counter and then they run off,” the 24-year-old told WIBW-TV. “And my instincts kicked in.”
Tapley ran after three suspects — described as white males between 16 or 17, the station said — who also took an undisclosed amount of cash.
When he was outside the store, Tapley pulled out his concealed gun.
“I told him ‘Drop the gun, man, mine is loaded, just drop the gun,’” he told WIBW. “We made eye contact for a second or two and he dropped two guns and ran.”
Cops arrested the teen suspects and booked them into juvenile detention on assault, burglary and robbery charges. A woman also was arrested and booked on conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery, the station said, adding that all the cash and rifles were recovered by police.
Kansas just added its name to a small number of states — now five — that allow residents to carry concealed firearms without permits. And Tapley, who doesn’t have a permit, said he wouldn’t have been able to step in like he did had the law not gone into effect July 1.
“Thats why Kansas made the law,” he told WIBW, “so citizens can carry and protect themselves and others.”
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22. [OH] Intruder fatally shot after toddler informs dad 'a robber's here'
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Member Walter Jackson emailed me this:
Will people like this one ever learn! [PVC: No. You can’t fix stupid.]
From guns.com: http://tinyurl.com/oy7pnwh
http://www.guns.com/2015/07/17/intruder ... bers-here/
Intruder fatally shot after toddler informs dad ‘a robber’s here’
by Jennifer Cruz
July 17, 205
A 22-year-old man is dead after he barged into a family’s home in the small town of Eldorado, Ohio, last week while armed with a handgun in what appeared to be an attempted robbery.
The homeowner’s children were apparently playing outside around 6:30 p.m. July 10 when their 3-year-old child came running into the house and said, “A robber’s here, daddy,” WHIO reported. Moments later, a man who was armed with a handgun, wearing a hat and had his face covered with a bandanna, came through the front door.
The homeowner’s wife told the 911 dispatcher that after bursting through the front door, the intruder shouted an obscenity before her husband shot him a single time in the chest.
When authorities arrived, they found the suspect just inside the front door suffering from a gunshot wound to the torso. He was transported to a local hospital via medflight and soon thereafter died. The suspect was later identified as 22-year-old Jacob Craft of nearby Eaton.
Authorities recovered two guns from the scene – presumably one belonging to Craft and the other belonging to the homeowner – but failed to reveal their caliber. Authorities also found what appeared to be the suspect’s car parked on the street in front of the home.
The wife said they were not acquainted with Craft, and Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson confirmed that it appeared to be an isolated incident and the community was not in any danger.
The family, which included the parents and two children, were not harmed during the home invasion.
The incident is still under investigation, but Simpson said reviewing the currently known facts, it appears the homeowner acted in self-defense and his actions were likely justified.
“The resident’s decision to fire at our victim was based on the fact that the victim was armed with a pistol,” Simpson said. “So, based on what we know today, we don’t see any issues with [the resident’s] decision to do that.”
Simpson also said the residents are cooperating fully with the investigation.
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23. Murder proves need for gun control, but not end of sanctuary cities
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Member Walter Jackson emailed me this:
From breitbart.com: https://tinyurl.com/qblwfpv
http://www.breitbart.com/california/201 ... ry-cities/
THE LEFT’S HYPOCRISY: MURDER PROVES NEED FOR GUN CONTROL, BUT NOT END OF SANCTUARY CITIES
by AWR HAWKINS
July 12, 2015
On Friday, California Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Kamala Harris continued to defend sanctuary cities after illegal alien Francisco Lopez-Sanchez confessed to murdering Kathryn Steinle in San Francisco. She attempted to justify this stance by suggesting that the admitted crime of one illegal alien should not dictate immigration policy for all illegals.
A better example of the left’s hypocrisy on murder would be hard to find. On the one hand, when one criminal commits a public crime with a gun, the left falls into line to punish all gun owners with new gun laws. On the other hand, when an illegal immigrant admits to gunning down a woman on San Francisco’s Pier 14, they it has nothing to do with their preferred policy.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Harris responded to news of Sanchez’s five previous deportations, seven felony charges, and alleged murder of Steinle by saying, “What needs to be looked at is… comprehensive immigration reform — that’s the bottom line. Let’s not react to one specific case, when we are looking at a national problem.”
She added, “Let’s react to that specific case in prosecuting that specific murder, and making sure he faces very swift consequences and accountability,” she said. “On the issue of immigration policy, let’s be smarter.”
Yet in 2013, when Harris was pushing for better a gun confiscation plan for an outstanding list of prohibited persons who own guns, the Huffington Post reported she had no problem casting a wide net and defending it by saying, “This is not about ideology or politics. It is a false choice to suggest you are either in support of the Second Amendment or in favor of reasonable gun safety rules. We can do both.”
And August 2012 the Davis Guard reported that Harris endorsed an “assault weapons” ban that impacted any Californian who owned a semi-automatic rifle with a detachable magazine. The bill’s sponsor, Democratic state senator Senator Leland Yee, argued that the ban was necessary because “similarly-styled weapons were used in the Aurora, Colorado massacre.”
Harris had no problem supporting that ban, although it was a reaction to the murderous actions of a lone gunman in Colorado.
But ask her now about abolishing sanctuary cities, and she’ll tell you overarching immigration policy should not be set based on the actions of one illegal alien in San Francisco.
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24. [BRAZIL] Off-duty cop takes out thug during robbery [VIDEO]
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The officer observes the bad guy coming into the store, gets rid of a basket he was holding in his hand and raises his hands in surrender. His concealed handgun allows him to get the drop on the criminals when they aren’t paying attention to him.
That is a classic example of the tactical advantage of a concealed handgun. But, to be fair, it also begs the question, if the officer was open carrying and the bad guys saw his gun, would they have, perhaps, not done the robbery in the first place?
Member Walter Jackson emailed me this:
From concealednation.org: http://tinyurl.com/qc87lg7
http://concealednation.org/2015/07/vide ... y-robbery/
[VIDEO] Off-Duty Cop Takes Out Thug With Incredible Shot During Pharmacy Robbery
by James England
July 10, 2015
Two armed robbers picked the wrong pharmacy to knock off in São Paulo. According to a video uploaded to Liveleaks, the man in a leather jacket is a warrant officer in the São Paulo Metropolitan Police. From start of the robbery to the time the second robber beat feet, this off-duty police officer was a smooth operator every step of the way!
He demonstrated proper technique, reaction – the whole nine yards. And after the first armed robber met his fate, he even made sure to secure the thug’s weapon. It was a good day for the good guys in São Paulo and definitely a godsend for the people in that store.
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VA-ALERT: VCDL Update 8/3/15
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OakRidgeStars
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