More Bunk On Concealed Carry From the Violence Policy Center
Before he was president — even before he was a senator — Barack Obama was active on the board of directors for several organizations. Most people know of the time Obama spent with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers on the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, but fewer people seem to know that Obama was also a director of the left-wing Joyce Foundation.
The Joyce Foundation has always directed considerable monies towards funding gun control groups under the guise of scholarly research and anti-violence efforts. Thanks to the efforts of David T. Hardy, we know that Obama was part of a significant Joyce Foundation effort to subvert Second Amendment scholarship. Though Joyce’s efforts failed to sway the Supreme Court significantly, as evidenced by the Heller decision, Joyce has not given up on efforts to undermine Second Amendment rights and funds several anti-gun organizations.
Among these is the so-called Violence Policy Center (VPC).
The VPC long ago established a reputation for playing fast and loose with the facts and has often been guilty of making accusations that are scurrilous or unsupportable. It has claimed that there are “virtually no differences” between semi-automatic civilian rifles such as AR-15s and fully automatic military machine guns such as the M-16, even though the ability of a military weapon to fire automatically is a very significant difference, both as a practical and legal matter. The organization has also made repeated accusations that .50-caliber rifles are a preferred terrorist and criminal tool, even though the claims have not held up.
Now, the Violence Policy Center has issued a new report, “Law Enforcement and Private Citizens Killed by Concealed Handgun Permit Holders,” that will cement the organization’s reputation for shoddy research and intentionally deceptive reporting.
The report claims to have collected data over a 23-month period (May 2007 to April 2009) that shows concealed handgun permit holders have killed seven law enforcement officers and 44 civilians in 31 incidents. The VPC hopes the media and other gun control organizations will scan the document’s summary and report that concealed weapons permit holders are a danger to society.
The truth, of course, is an entirely different matter, starting with how the VPC conducted its research. The organization did not rely upon hard data, but instead compiled its report by searching media accounts, which are notoriously inaccurate. To compound their poor choice of source material, the organization decided to include concealed carry permit holders even when concealed weapons played no part in the alleged crime. To further cloud the issue, the VPC included carry permit holders that erroneously had permits and who should not have had permits if authorities had not made mistakes.
All weapons should be registered and not allowed outside your home. Self-defense is the only legitimate use of a weapon.
Number of physicians in the US: 700,000.
Accidental deaths caused by physicians per year: 120,000.
Accidental deaths per physician: 0.171 (U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services)
Number of gun owners in the US: 80,000,000.
Number of accidental gun deaths per year (all age groups): 1,500.
Accidental deaths per gun owner: 0.0000188
Statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.
“FACT: Not everyone has a gun, but everyone has at least one Doctor.”
Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets out of hand. As a Public Health Measure, the statistics on Lawyers have been withheld for fear that the shock could cause people to seek medical aid.
“the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Your article is particularly timely given the left’s (over)reaction to several men openly carrying firearms outside recent town hall meetings. I grew up in rural TX so admittedly, I am more used to seeing firearms displayed openly, most often in gun rack’s in the back window of cars and trucks. My favorite “look” ever was a gun rack in the back of a corvette but I digress.
When the Black Panthers were carrying weapons openly last century, what was the left’s view then? It was also legal, right? And it was cool, ya dig?
Sometimes a man with a gun is just that, exercising his right to carry. Sometimes he’s letting you know he won’t be intimidated, he may not start it, but he will defend himself, his family and his way of life. (and yes, my family and I supported families of color in the late 50s and 60s who were being intimidated by the Klan and my TX grandparents before that)
The question now seems where are we going from here? Are we going to do the “armed camps” thing again, we Americans do that well. Americans of all stripes. Or, are we going to try and find a way to solve our big problems together?
The anti-2A folks can try as they might, but the door has been opened. Carry permits are available to responsible people in 48 states. Only Wisconsin and Illinois are lone hold outs. There is currently a movement in Wisconsin to allow carry permits, and with the announcement that Gov. Doyle will not run again, there is a good chance that carry permits may be allowed in the future.
That leaves Illinois. With people getting sick and tired of being under the heel of corrupt Democrats at the state level, I feel there will be a shift in politics within Illinois. This along with the Heller case, may portend a future in Illinois where gun owner will be able to exercise their 2A rights. Illinois IS mostly rural, and people are sick of the big city corruption in the state house.
@ vivo:
So, you’re only allowed to defend yourself inside your own home? You can’t imagine a time when you are out somewhere and you might need to defend yourself?
And, I’m sure that the criminals will keep their weapons at home, and only use them for their self-defense.
It’s good to let everyone know about boobama’s and the joyce foundation’s efforts to deprive us of our rights but, I see a hint of sarcasm in your examples.
#2 Alex says alot more with his statistics.
Then there’s the nuge:“There are hundreds of millions of gun owners in this country, and not one of them will have an accident today. The only misuse of guns comes in environments where there are drugs, alcohol, bad parents, and undisciplined children. Period.” Ted Nugent
I’m from florida and it is now legal to keep a firearm in the cabin of your vehicle if it is secured. I live in suburbia where at the time that the law changed we did have occasional armed robberies of grocery stores, 7 elevens and even banks. You rarely hear of that now, mostly because those that commited those crimes kept getting shot by armed civilians.
1. vivo:
All weapons should be registered and not allowed outside your home. Self-defense is the only legitimate use of a weapon.
Sucks to be you. Must be hell being a shut in.
Who do they think they are, the New York Times?
I suspect, however, that it isn’t just the Joyce Foundation that funds the VPC: I imagine we do, through grants by the DOJ.
The Feds and these “violence centers” of various sorts (all funded by folks like George Soros) can blow all the smoke they wish. This time, the 2A shall not be tampered with at all.
The Feds may destroy the financial health of the nation and bring us to our knees but they will NEVER take away our rights to self defense. The U.S. Constitution does not include the 2A for “hunting” purposes.
Hey Vivo, who kills your food for you?
alex: Your comment gives new meaning to the “Doctors are loaded” assumption. Good post!
I think we can safely assume Mr. Vivo is not an outdoorsy sort of guy. No hunting for Vivo.
This is not shoddy research, it is active lying to manipulate the sentiment of ill-informed voters. Once an organization engages in this kind of thing, they have zero credibility and should be regarded as an enemy of honest Americans of all political persuasions. Even if you are for gun control laws, permitting this type of mendacity is untenable; the VPC needs to come under legal scrutiny.
Even if you include all the incidents as applicable, the rate of problems among CCW holders is .0005% per year. This is about the same as your chances of being hit by lightning.
I am a proud member of the NRA. That said, townhall meetings and the election polls are no place to be seen carrying a gun or any other weapon. I have no other reason than that I think this is stupid and gives the enemies of liberty more cannon fodder to use against us.
Vivo,
Your mother should have been registered as a threat to society and not been allowed outside her home.
Vivo -
So punching holes in paper with a pistol is not an acceptable activity? This makes me a bad person? Better stop driving a car. Traffic accidents kill over 40K per year, making autos far more deadly than guns. In addition, DWI and speeding (both illegal) are responsible for the majority of these deaths. Or maybe killing with a car is acceptable?
vivo,
Were i not able to defend myself legally in my car i would be dead today.
I’m sure to you this would be merely collateral damage, but i and my family have a somewhat different view of it, as would you if you ever found yourself in a similar spot. Which you won’t because the parking lots at Whole Foods are not crime areas.
#3: “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Gee, Brian, I feel there’s something missing here but can’t quite put my finger on it…..
#4: “Your article is particularly timely given the left’s (over)reaction to several men openly carrying firearms outside recent town hall meetings.”
Yeah, I mean, who could object to carrying weapons to a meeting where people are losing their tempers and screaming at one another?
#4: “When the Black Panthers were carrying weapons openly last century, what was the left’s view then? It was also legal, right?”
As I recall, it was legal until the Panthers started carrying weapons. Then the law was changed. Strange….
Vivo, thank you for your opinion although I think it is misguided at best. It is meaningless as the Constitution and the Founders who wrote it guaranteed that Americans would be citizens and not subjects.
People are responsible for their own actions and their own safety. Anyone who takes a moment to actually think about it will realize that police are not going to protect you. They will be there to take the report when one is robbed, assaulted, raped or murdered. They will do their best to put the perpetrator into prison for 5, 10 or 15 years. Myself, I would rather have a chance to stop the attack on myself or my family.
Hmmm. I don’t like radical groups like the VPC since they often play fast & loose with the facts. But the NRA does the same thing. Here in Colorado, NRA has blocked a wilderness proposal that has strong bipartisan support, due to the proposal closing a rough & battered 2 mile off-road vehicle trail. Funny, because there are tens of thousands of acres of federal public land open to ORVs within 50 miles of the location. How a wilderness proposal that would allow hunting in season is somehow dangerous to the NRA is beyond me.
Some recent news from Arizona: some local gun rights advocates are now advocating for concealed carry in taverns and bars. Not surprising that bar owners are unhappy about that one. Michael wrote in #20: “people are responsible for their own actions….” Wonder how that would play out after someone has had a few cold ones?
#1 vivo
What a wonderful observation. And just what,pray tell, should a person do when attacked outside of his or her home – point an index finger at the attacker and yell “BANG”. Sorry pal, your pathetic argument just doesn’t wash.
77/88
S.M.
From #2. Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets out of hand. As a Public Health Measure, the statistics on Lawyers have been withheld for fear that the shock could cause people to seek medical aid.
========================================================
Rest assured, Dear Leader is trying his best to get rid of Doctors.
Vivo, do you ever go to an ATM or carry cash when going somewhere? Do you own a car that you drive anywhere near a major city? Bad people will kill you for those things, be very careful.
I am very careful, but I carry a pistol all the time and at least have a chance. You are just sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
“One of the men cited in the report, Jason Kenneth Hamilton, should not have had a carry permit because of a prior domestic violence conviction. Further, he did not even use a concealed handgun in the commission of his crimes. He instead used two rifles, rendering his inclusion in this list highly questionable.”
Hamilton had told two psychologists evaluating him after a suicide attempt three months earlier, that the next time he was going to use guns or bombs and take a lot of people with him. So he was released, not hospitalized. (I mean, that’s what you would do, right?) Even worse, the domestic violence conviction was in the same county where Hamilton’s permit was issued, a couple of years earlier.
The sheriff also claimed that Hamilton had a federal machine gun permit, and a reporter I spoke to who covered the aftermath indicated that Hamilton used a machine gun in his murder spree. But the sheriff had no idea how that could have happened. (The sheriff would have had to sign off on the federal machine gun permit.)
There’s an awful lot about the Hamilton case that is very, very fishy.
There are some states that are less careful with permit issuance and revocation than they should be (such as Idaho, my state). But it isn’t clear how many of the very tiny number of such incidents would have been prevented by making those permits not available. Jason Hamilton didn’t obey the law against murder. What makes anyone thing that he would the obey law about concealed carry?
“Some recent news from Arizona: some local gun rights advocates are now advocating for concealed carry in taverns and bars. Not surprising that bar owners are unhappy about that one. Michael wrote in #20: “people are responsible for their own actions….” Wonder how that would play out after someone has had a few cold ones?”
I agree that you should not be armed while under the influence–and I would even go so far as to prohibit being armed while drinking. (For me, sniffing the cork out of the wine bottle is enough to impair me.) But there are circumstances where people are in a bar or a tavern and aren’t drinking alcohol. Why should they be disarmed?
In some states, if a business earns more than 50% of its profit from sales of alcohol (which is really obvious when you enter the door, right?), it is illegal to be armed. So if you go into a restaurant–even a nice restaurant–you might be breaking the law, and not know it.
I have no problem with people going to meetings armed, whether elections or townhalls. They are being Citizens. They are excersizing their rights to assemble, to vote, and to bear arms. What’s the problem?
The problem is perception… perception by the opponents of guns. Oh, those evil guns! Me, I just don’t see a threat. I see safety provided by my fellow Citizens. I see one of my own when I see them. There is no negative reaction, only welcome. I don’t view my fellow Citizens with suspicion or fear.
#1:VIVO should be registered, and forbidden sex(hopefully self-administered), outside his home(clinic).Delusional , Terminal, VD patients should not be allowed to contaminate healthy citizens
The sight of armed,well informed,citizens, animated by Jefferson’s notions of the right to overthrow an oppressive govermnent,is a wholesome one. There’s nothing like an armed citizen,to concentrate a corrupt politicians mind wonderfully.
Fine vivo, but I do need to venture out from my home to let’s say go to work and earn a living. Not all crimes are committed in peoples homes they happen at grocery stores and in parking lots, schools (especially those that are gun free zones, it seems criminals do not care about that), on the highway and other places.
A criminal will seek out the most venerable target for whatever crime they are intent on carrying out. I went armed for most of my adult life (legally) and only recently quit that practice but am re evaluating my position. I will own at least a shotgun for the home and a high capacity semi auto for anywhere else.
I owned a 22 when I was 5 years old and then when an adult legally able to own a hand gun have never in 51 years killed or harmed anyone with a firearm, but would if necessary. So you keep your views to yourself and I will keep mine. If you were to meet me on the street you would never know whether I had the means to protect and defend myself or even you and will I do not agree with your opinion on guns you should not expect me to be forced to live with your ideas as it could endanger me or my family’s life.
To bibio:
In District of Columbia v Heller, it was made clear that the ‘well regulated militia’ was not the only reason to uphold our rights to keep and bear arms. Self defense against violence and tyranny were also cited as the valid reasons we keep and bear arms.
Our society is one where people for better or worse, can shout raise their voices, and disagree. This does not mean that we cannot protect ourselves, families, and liberties. I am truly sorry you are frightened by firearms. Improper training, upbringing, and education can lead to misunderstanding your rights regarding firearms and how dangerous firearms are. In the example you cited above, the Secret Service stated they were not concerned by the openly carried firearm (which never came into the event area), so why should you be?
If you are concerned with gun violence, you should be concerned about taking guns from felons, prosecuting those who use guns in the commission of a crime to the fullest, and seeing that those who are prosecuted remain in prison. Go to a local gun range, talk to gun owners, and learn to safely shoot a firearm. You will enjoy yourself and better understand one of our fundamental rights and obligations.
I’m all for protecting the 2nd Amendment, gun rights, and I’m happy to live in a concealed carry state, however these guys showing up at rallies armed are not doing responsible gun owners any favors. Selfish idiots looking for attention at best, sociopathic nutters waiting for their fuse to be lit at worst.
People who are supporting these guys will quickly change their tune when Communist/Anarchist groups and racist organzations like the Black Panthers start showing up armed. I don’t want to see political rallies of any stripe descend into armed standoffs. Leave the gun carassing at home.
BTW, there is a youtube video of the Arizona guys at a location before the rally that has all sorts of craziness about Vaccines=Poison and other conspiracy rubbish on the walls.
Wapitiman,I’m thinking a lawnmower maybe.
Deguello,pertaining to post 28,worms are hermaphrodites and as such,she just procreates with herself.
When seconds count, the police are just minutes away.
Vivo’s comment at the beginning reminded me of South Park – “Oh my god, it’s coming right for us!” Your right to self defense does not end at your property’s edge.
By making it more difficult to buy and own guns the “All join hands ans sing Kumbaya” brigade just make sure only the wrong people have guns, the people we would rather did not possess deadly weapons – bad people.
Vivo, what about self-defense on the streets? I am far more likely to be attacked outside my home than in…..
So the wackos have brought the militia part of the second amendment up. Well lets look at what the law defines our militia as:
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/10/311.html
So if you’re male (or a female in the the National Guard) and between 17 and 45 you’re part of the militia.
Sheep carry no guns.
I don’t think we really need to worry about Communist/Anarchist groups or especially Black Panther members with guns in public, as most concealed carry laws prohibit giving permits to felons. Those groups do have guns, however, but illegally, and no one seems intent on taking them away.
#31: “Go to a local gun range, talk to gun owners, and learn to safely shoot a firearm. You will enjoy yourself and better understand one of our fundamental rights and obligations.”
How about starting with the jerk who brought a gun to the Obama town meeting in NH while carrying a sign saying, “It’s Time To Water The Tree of Liberty” — i.e., it’s time for bloodshed (you could look it up). People are becoming absolutely unhinged by hate. One woman in Maryland – unarmed – was detained at a town meeting when she carried a sign saying “Kill Obama.” Read some of the posts on this very site. It’s not only felons who should be kept away from guns.
If you are not concerned about the level of gun violence in the Unted States, you are hiding your head and the sand are totally irresponsible
vivo, what are the other Constitutional and unalienable rights you have decided that I shouldn’t have?
I know in my city, and I believe it is probably pretty representative for a large city, that more than 90% of gun violence is either gang or drug related. These are the guys who will have guns whether they are legal or illegal. These are the people that law abiding citizens need protection from.
For those who love statistics more than good sense, cars and doctors each kill far more people than guns every year.
People are personally responsible for their actions.
OMG… I have never seen such a bunch of scaredy cat liberals in all my life. The man had a LICENSE to carry his gun (remember, the FBI checked). The woman carrying a sign was using her right to FREE SPEECH. So they used horrid judgment. If that were against the law, Barney Frank would be in shackles right now.
I chuckle every time a liberal whines about gun control and something written on a sign. Liberals are also against a strong military and are trying to get talk radio shut down. So much for that free thought, ACLU BS they tout as having cornered the market on.
Yet again, they want big brother to take over every aspect of their apparently miserable lives. Too bad the Constitution is written in ink and not pencil eh liberals? lol!
@1
Do you feel the same way about the other rights guaranteed in the Constitution?
@42
And SEIU members should not be allowed to congregate in groups larger than 3 as a means of reducing gang violence.
“All weapons should be registered and not allowed outside your home. Self-defense is the only legitimate use of a weapon.”
I think those at Concord, Lexington, Yorktown, Valley Forge and Monmouth would beg to differ.
Hunting, foreign invasion and self-defense were such no-brainers they didn’t need special protection. Owning a gun is not “bearing arms,” forming a militia to defend your community against the tyranny of your own government is, and it is the reason there is a second amendment…it was intended to be the ultimate “check and balance” against the power of the federal government – the absolute foundation of what made our form of government so unique and free.
And if you doubt the veracity of what I’m saying, I invite you to read ANYTHING on the subject from the Framers.
And if you think it’s a quaint notion that belonged to another age, I also invite you to read the Declaration of Independence and see what qualified as “tyranny” enough to justify our revolution and formation of our government in the first place…then pick up the newspaper.
And if you still don’t “get it” and desire to live in a society where only the government has the guns, then I invite you to live under the thumb of any tyrant you’d prefer; the world abounds with them and it is usually one of their first policies to disarm the population…
For those without any knowledge of the facts, this document contains all the government source data you’d ever want or need on the subject, both here and abroad. If you ignore it, it’s your folly’
http://www.gunfacts.info/pdfs/gun-facts/5.1/gun-facts-5.1-screen.pdf
For those with enough knowledge to be dangerous, but who’s hearts are in the right place… read this document and make a better argument. If you ignore it, it’s also your own folly.
For all – It’s agreed we have a violence problem in this country, but i’s global in nature.
Anyone would put the word gun in front of the word violence is just repeating what they heard out of ignorance
You would not say the following, would you?
Baseball bat violence
Knife violence
Vehicular violence
Lead pipe violence
Hand violence
Feet violence
Penile violence
Cinder block violence
etc.
Violence is violence, and we do have a violence problem in this country. Violent criminals are let out with consistent regularity. The government can’t pry your rights away without you signing up for their cause and giving them permission. It’s a big game to them.
The preferred mode of committing violence is irrelevant and always shall be.
Ask yourself “what’s in it for the politicians and who owns the VPC?”
Wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom. Though it cost you all you have, gain understanding.
#46 AThinkingPerson: “Liberals are also against a strong military and are trying to get talk radio shut down…..” Now, that’s a bunch of baloney. I’m a strong conservative and believe equally in a strong military. What I don’t support is defense contractors lining their pockets at taxpayer expense. Do a little research on the GAO’s web site. You’ll find a study from early this year identifying some 66 of 94 weapons procurement programs running a total of about $260 billion over budget. That’s called cost overruns and it isn’t being “liberal” to oppose waste of that kind.
And what exactly is a strong military? It isn’t weapons that don’t work, like missile defense other than the Patriot system, or airplanes that spend more time in the repair shop that in the air (as in the F22).
As for shutting talk radio down, yes, there are some wing nuts on the left calling for that. But the bulk of the “noise” about shutdowns comes from the likes of Rush Limbaugh who is using the non-issue as an attempt to boost his ratings. Bear in mind that any shut down of the right wing voices will invite calls for shut down of the left.
There is no mechanism in our country to force politicians to follow the ideals defined in the Constitution other than the people and their right to keep and BEAR arms.. Our government has overstepped the bounds defined within the Constitution for decades. They were not struck by lightning by God above in doing so. God doesnt protect the Constitution, the people have to. The founders knew this all too well. The Congress was empowered with very specific duties. Social programs, rampant taxation (sometimes know as fees), social controls were not part of these powers.
Congress has set themself down the path of tyranny through the simple act of ignoring the Constitution of the country. I find it sad that citizens are finding it necessary to bear arms at townhalls, but also I hope it sends a message to the politicians in Washington. We the people are the ultimate defenders of the Constitution and that if they should trample on the ideals within that document then they do so at their own peril.
Re SteveB: Here are liberals in “support” of a strong military in their own words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVROC-gsnXA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sj91NH5fvw&feature=related
I don’t even need to comment on your response to the liberal desire to trample on free speech. It’s common knowledge that it was coming out of the liberal left as you pointed out but slamming those that reported on it as making “noise” is once again a liberal trying to shut up the opposition. Funny how it began with talk radio and now has moved into the town halls. Those darned Conservative/Independents just will NOT SHUT UP WILL THEY?
In 2000, the National Center for Policy Analysis released a study, Texas Concealed Handgun Carriers:Law-abiding Public Benefactors.
The following is from this paper:
In an unpublished report, engineering statistician William Sturdevant found that concealed carry licensees had arrest rates far lower than the general population for every category of crime. For instance:
Licensees were 5.7 times less likely to be arrested for violent offenses than the general public – 127 per 100,000 population versus 730 per 100,000.
Licensees were 14 times less likely to be arrested for nonviolent offenses than the general public – 386 per 100,000 population versus 5,212 per 100,000.
Further, the general public is 1.4 times more likely to be arrested for murder than licensees [ see Figure I ], and no licensee had been arrested for negligent manslaughter.
see: http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba324
I confess that I am a recent recipient of a Michigan CCL. My wife and I both took an all day gun safety class, and she convinced me to proceed ahead to the CCL. I am over 50 and have a clean (read: dull) background, so the CCL went through with no hitches. Now the DW and I are discussing whether I should actually carry, and under what circumstances. Our locale is actually quite low crime, but Detroit is only seven miles south.
We really look at carrying, and having self defense weapons at home, as giving us a “last option” that we otherwise would not have. We hope to never need to use any weapon for self defense, but want to be able to do so if needed.
#42BIBIO)(IQ44)First and second amendments are bitches for libtards, aren’t they bibio?If libtards can burn flags,and nation of Islam thugs can parade with rifles,I don’t see why patriots can’t also carry rifles,and quote Jefferson,especially when the country is being oppressed by a Hugo Chavez wannabe,and a poltical party dedicated to reverse racism,corporate bail outs,curbs on the bill of rights,snitching,and other instruments of Stalinism.Get used to it Bibio:like the lady said libtardism haa awakened a sleeping giant!
#43 Robert Hurley: cocerned about the level of gun violence Robert? Why? Do you live near an ACORN youth center in Chicago?
#34 Anonymous :So that’s where the liberal metrosexual phenomenom originates!
Amendment 1: “Congress shall make no law…” but the other levels of legislature are not so bound.
Contrast Amendment 2: “…shall not be infringed,” period, full stop, without exception, end of discussion. Infringement of the right to keep and bear arms is prohibited to all, including States, and so does not fall under those rights “reserved to the States” by Amendment 10.
It’s right there in parchment and white. Read it and weep, you whiny wimps.
(2) Alex, brings up an interesting analogy between medicine and gun ownership.
I am both so I can relate to that right away.
Would you be happy with going through what it takes to obtain and maintain a DEA licence to dispense dangerous drugs in order to own a gun?
Of course not. You dont want this headache, not the years of training, maintaining a spotless record and oversight which a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist must undergo on a regular basis.
Medical professionals do very dangerous things for a reason. The concept of medical mistakes or accidents is a complex one, a personal interest of mine, yet a basic discussion of that would take us too far adrift.
I understand the basic point about the tension between dangerous activities and liberty. I tend to the libertarian side. However a basic understanding must be had about certain things which require not just advanced training and maturity, but a certain ethos.
I think these folks went too far. Using a legal public display to frighten and intimidate. If that is why you own a gun it is for the wrong reasons.
Spindok
#60 spindok – Sorry. It’s not about intimidation at all. It is a statement about freedom. They are declaring their support for the Bill of Rights. Freedom to assemble. Freedom of speech. Right to bear arms. They’re declaring for the 1st and 2nd Amendments. Good for them.
People are only frightened, because they have been indoctrinated by the Left to fear guns. They don’t know that this used to be very normal behavior among most Citizens, to go about armed. It should still be so.
I researched some of the incidents in the report, and came to the same conclusions, namely that VPC was playing very fast and loose with the facts and how they presented them.
Tangential but relevant: The only evidence I could find in media accounts that Poplawski actually had a CCW permit was a statement by a friend of Poplawski’s that Poplawski had showed him one. I could find no official verification of Poplawski actually having a valid CCW permit mentioned in any of the media reports, and subsequent media reports do not mention his having a permit. His background indicates there was sufficient reason to deny him a permit. So I’m left with one of two conclusions: Either he didn’t really have a permit (other than perhaps a home-made one) or the authorities tasked with background checks completely failed to do so competently.