I recently told Marilyn that "I walk softly, and carry a big stick". When she asked if I was referring to a handgun, I said no, I do not carry any weapon on me.
My "big stick" is my ability, and obvious willingness to resist. Obvious, as anybody who crosses me will quickly catch on that I will not let anybody walk over me. I do not seek conflict, I do not like violence, and try to avoid it. But if trouble seeks me out, I will fight back!
Foolish? Well, *my* ability to fight off your garden variety punk has unfortanately been tried and tested, and it passed. Not a pleasant experience, nothing I would ever want to go through again, or put somebody through. On the bright side, aforementioned thugs will be less likely to be picking on other people now, being confronted with fact that some might fight back.
Criminals, and other attackers often rely on scaring their victims. They hope to scare their target into compliance, not expecting resistance. Being willing to stand up for yourself is very important, and showing the willingness to do so may scare off aggressors far beyond your ability to actually fight, as illustrated in this story where six month old kittens chased a bear up a tree! That's a six foot, 200 pound bear chased up in a tree by a little puss.
Rob Allen posted a tale of a cornered mouse willing to go toe to toe with a fullsized human, just to show an even more extreme picture.
I dislike violence, and believe we must work to build a peaceful society, but laying down your arms and giving aggressors what they want will not accomplish this! Preventing violence by showing the will to resist is better than getting mugged. Fighting of an attacker is violence in itself, but beats further cultivation of a thug who believes that his victims are easy pickings.
Suppose so many people start to carry concealed weapons that criminals become afraid to mug people, what then? Will they suddenly turn into law abiding citizens? No, they'll probably turn to shoplifting and burglary, but at least they won't be threathening people at knifepoint anymore.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Semantics?
On the blog: "Gun Ownership: A Right or Privilege?", I read about an interesting study today. More intiguing than what was actually being said, is the way the author of mentioned blog presents the information to his readers:
The study:
Is this a matter of semantics, or is the blogger deceiving his readers? Does he hold the people who sell guns responsible for the actions of those who abuse them? Would he hold car manufacturers responsible for hit and run incidents?
I'm off to ask him, feel free to follow suit.
The study:
- 1 percent of gun stores sell the weapons traced to 57 percent of gun crimes.
- 1% of gun dealers are responsible for about 57% of all gun crimes
Is this a matter of semantics, or is the blogger deceiving his readers? Does he hold the people who sell guns responsible for the actions of those who abuse them? Would he hold car manufacturers responsible for hit and run incidents?
I'm off to ask him, feel free to follow suit.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Current events in the UK
Hello, welcome to the gun debate critic on sunday, keeping an eye on the United kingdom, the beatiful and gun-free nation that is to serve as an example for all industrialised countries that still allow their subjects to be armed. Let's review the sunday edition of the BBC website.
A man was found assaulted and remains in critical condition with injuries to the head and neck sustained during a soccer realated brawl. He is luckier than the man found in the street, or the kid who was stabbed, as those both died. The evening standard wrote a piece on how two kids were stabbed to death seven hours apart. The London mayor, Ken Livingstone has made it known that he doesn't feel responsible for these events ... don't think I would either I guess.
When a handgun was found in Belfast, both law enforcement officers, soldiers and explosives/ordenance disposal responded, the gun was taken in for investigation, no arrests have been made so far.
There was a spate of break-in attemps, some of which succesful, some amounted to othing more but vandalism. I suppose it's better to fall victim to a burglar than to an arsonist, like the one who burned down a shelter for the homeless.
A man was found assaulted and remains in critical condition with injuries to the head and neck sustained during a soccer realated brawl. He is luckier than the man found in the street, or the kid who was stabbed, as those both died. The evening standard wrote a piece on how two kids were stabbed to death seven hours apart. The London mayor, Ken Livingstone has made it known that he doesn't feel responsible for these events ... don't think I would either I guess.
When a handgun was found in Belfast, both law enforcement officers, soldiers and explosives/ordenance disposal responded, the gun was taken in for investigation, no arrests have been made so far.
There was a spate of break-in attemps, some of which succesful, some amounted to othing more but vandalism. I suppose it's better to fall victim to a burglar than to an arsonist, like the one who burned down a shelter for the homeless.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
About the black market
The black market ... an amazing phenomenon to say the least. Spawned forth by the entreprising element of society, criminal capitalism at its best and before anything: oppertunism. Given a chance to make bank on a demand artificially generated by government mandate, there are plenty of people willing to risk trouble with mentioned government.
The demand can be for anything. In the Netherlands, smuggling butter was once a very profitable enterprise, much like smuggling cigarettes into the UK these days. Take any commodity, pass a law prohibiting it, and a black market will arise to supply the demand. It was the case when the US prohibited alcohol, it is the case now that many countries around the world have banned certain drugs.
And the black merket, what does it look like? Many may initially imagine a warehouse or similar building with people selling their wares, but quickly realize that is a cartoon image. The black market, it is everywhere. It is the dealer on the corner selling drugs to passers by, it is the appartment out of which a pair of crooks are selling their wares, it are the couriers of a fast-food-style drug delivery service.
The black market is a spontaneously generated organism, whose spores are everywhere and when conditions are met, they settle and grow. An inexterminable lifeform that has no home or ancorage, that has little ties in between, and can remain undetected indefinitely.
In nature, that which grows spontaneously is usually a simple lifeform, but not the black market, and especially not the suppliers to the black market. Recently, we read of semi-submarines used to smuggle drugs, before that, there was the Tennesee pot-cave, there have been many others. With no natural cave, some Britons went as far as to bury eight large cargo units to house an underground (litt&fig) Drug "factory".
The salesmen of the black market and the criminals supplying it are some of the most enterprising people to be found in this world. We will not be able to stop them, even the most opressive regimes have had to deal with smuggling, and often failed at it (underground railroad, the hiding of Jews during WWII) , the black market is eternal.
How can anyone say that we can effectively ban an object? We've spent so much money and effort, shed so much blood to stop drugs, and what do we get? Pot grown in underground shipping containers delivered to your door by what essentially amounts to a pizza delivery service for narcotics.
Do we really want to go through the same mess with guns? I'm not saying we mustn't seek to reduce the damage that gun abuse is causing, I'm saying that a head on prohibition simply will not work.
Didn't work for christianity in ancient Rome, didn't work for alcohol in the twenties, it's not working for drugs, it will not work for guns.
The demand can be for anything. In the Netherlands, smuggling butter was once a very profitable enterprise, much like smuggling cigarettes into the UK these days. Take any commodity, pass a law prohibiting it, and a black market will arise to supply the demand. It was the case when the US prohibited alcohol, it is the case now that many countries around the world have banned certain drugs.
And the black merket, what does it look like? Many may initially imagine a warehouse or similar building with people selling their wares, but quickly realize that is a cartoon image. The black market, it is everywhere. It is the dealer on the corner selling drugs to passers by, it is the appartment out of which a pair of crooks are selling their wares, it are the couriers of a fast-food-style drug delivery service.
The black market is a spontaneously generated organism, whose spores are everywhere and when conditions are met, they settle and grow. An inexterminable lifeform that has no home or ancorage, that has little ties in between, and can remain undetected indefinitely.
In nature, that which grows spontaneously is usually a simple lifeform, but not the black market, and especially not the suppliers to the black market. Recently, we read of semi-submarines used to smuggle drugs, before that, there was the Tennesee pot-cave, there have been many others. With no natural cave, some Britons went as far as to bury eight large cargo units to house an underground (litt&fig) Drug "factory".
The salesmen of the black market and the criminals supplying it are some of the most enterprising people to be found in this world. We will not be able to stop them, even the most opressive regimes have had to deal with smuggling, and often failed at it (underground railroad, the hiding of Jews during WWII) , the black market is eternal.
How can anyone say that we can effectively ban an object? We've spent so much money and effort, shed so much blood to stop drugs, and what do we get? Pot grown in underground shipping containers delivered to your door by what essentially amounts to a pizza delivery service for narcotics.
Do we really want to go through the same mess with guns? I'm not saying we mustn't seek to reduce the damage that gun abuse is causing, I'm saying that a head on prohibition simply will not work.
Didn't work for christianity in ancient Rome, didn't work for alcohol in the twenties, it's not working for drugs, it will not work for guns.
If only the government could have guns ...
... then plenty of other people would have them too.
DEA agents are losing their guns faster than ever.
On another note, missing gun cases are to be investigated by ... the DEA. Figures.
DEA agents are losing their guns faster than ever.
"Special agent left weapon on roof of car and drove off,"
"May have fallen into trash basket at work,"
"Left weapon in supermarket."
"Left weapon on airplane."
"Left weapon in airport restroom."
On another note, missing gun cases are to be investigated by ... the DEA. Figures.
Friday, March 28, 2008
The tale of a child mugger and his caring victim.
Truely heartwarming:
A man who gets held up at knifepoint teaches his attack a few important lessons in life.
A man who gets held up at knifepoint teaches his attack a few important lessons in life.
"The polls have me in the lead, but your pole's the only one I need"
Okay, this is just plain funny!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
16 y/o beats man to death ...
Well, it wasn't just one 16 year old, there were four kids skipping school who ganged up and beat a man in a subway station, the man died.
... oh dear ...
what the fµcking hell!?
Where on earth did this come from? Kids skipping school, going out, having fun, beating a man to death and possibly catching a movie afterwards maybe? Seriously, what the hell!
Now I'm not gonna point any fingers at the education system, parents or law enforcement, I'm just going to ask a question in line with the priinal spirit of this blog:
How much worse could this have been if that man would have had a gun?
... oh dear ...
what the fµcking hell!?
Where on earth did this come from? Kids skipping school, going out, having fun, beating a man to death and possibly catching a movie afterwards maybe? Seriously, what the hell!
Now I'm not gonna point any fingers at the education system, parents or law enforcement, I'm just going to ask a question in line with the priinal spirit of this blog:
How much worse could this have been if that man would have had a gun?
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
"This is what we use to defend ourselves"
The words of a Mexican policeman, who feels that even his M16 rifle which he is referring to, isn't adequte to take on the drug-gangs.
Some other prieces of his interview can be found in this CNN article, which deals with how Mexican criminals are importing firearms from the US into Mexico to kill police officials.
I find it odd that he believes to be outgunned with "only" an M16, maybe it's th scare of the 50 caliber rifles that are seeping into mexico that are being used to assasinate policemen. Maybe it's the "Fabrique National pistols" that have him scared.
Seriously, what?
Yes, a .50 bullet fired from a rifle will penetrate both car doors and a bulet resistant vest, so will most other rifle rounds. Then there's the "pistols by FN" bit. What is it about these pistols that scares people so badly? Yes, the 5.7x28 was designed to defeat body armor ... when tipped with a high desity round and fired from a P90 carbine.
Such armor piercing rounds are not available to the general public, and neiter are P90's. There's the civillian PS90, but the article mentions pistols, not rifles. A soft or jacketed round from a Five-seveN handgun will do barely any better than an olympic target pistol will do at penetrating a police issue bullet-resistant vest.
Stop yacking about guns, and deal with corruption will ya?
Some other prieces of his interview can be found in this CNN article, which deals with how Mexican criminals are importing firearms from the US into Mexico to kill police officials.
I find it odd that he believes to be outgunned with "only" an M16, maybe it's th scare of the 50 caliber rifles that are seeping into mexico that are being used to assasinate policemen. Maybe it's the "Fabrique National pistols" that have him scared.
Seriously, what?
Yes, a .50 bullet fired from a rifle will penetrate both car doors and a bulet resistant vest, so will most other rifle rounds. Then there's the "pistols by FN" bit. What is it about these pistols that scares people so badly? Yes, the 5.7x28 was designed to defeat body armor ... when tipped with a high desity round and fired from a P90 carbine.
Such armor piercing rounds are not available to the general public, and neiter are P90's. There's the civillian PS90, but the article mentions pistols, not rifles. A soft or jacketed round from a Five-seveN handgun will do barely any better than an olympic target pistol will do at penetrating a police issue bullet-resistant vest.
Stop yacking about guns, and deal with corruption will ya?
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Hillaries honesty
ABC puts it as a "misstatement", Sear and hammer has posted a slightly more stingy video:
The story and explaination why it was alot of BS made its rounds around a lot of blogs, send it around and spread the word.
"The woman is a snake, believe nothing she sais"
(Deus ex, Warren Spector)
The story and explaination why it was alot of BS made its rounds around a lot of blogs, send it around and spread the word.
"The woman is a snake, believe nothing she sais"
(Deus ex, Warren Spector)
Straight of a movie?
This four barreled shotgun was turned into anamnesty program in Manchester, 2006.The obvious product of a home-workshop gunsmith, this weapon is a clear reminder that we will never be able to get rid off guns as long as there's people willing to break the law.
Brittish police cry for judges to enforce the law.
In the UK, they've got issues.
And now, much like in the USA, the flaw in handling this situation lies not in the lack of strong anti-gun laws, but in the failure toact on them. The illegal posessio of a firearm carries a mandatory 5 year sentence. Though it's not really mandatory, because a lot of judges are refusing to hand them out, to the great dismay of certain law enforement officials.
I personally dislike mandatory sentences, as I believe in a case-by-case review of individual crimes, and before anything I believe in rehabilitation. So here's the problem I'm concerned with: the cops and courts aren't on the same wavelength! This is a much bigger issue, a far more important and dangerous one, than the sentencing of individual criminals.
Unless you can get all bodies and branches of the government to move in the same direction, you're in for a lot of trouble.
Don't say I didn't warn you!
- "... our porous borders allow weapons to simply flow into the country while the Government's failure to combat the scourge of drugs also fuels so much violent crime."
- There will always be gangs and criminals but today it is the fact that they carry guns which makes them truly intimidating.
And now, much like in the USA, the flaw in handling this situation lies not in the lack of strong anti-gun laws, but in the failure toact on them. The illegal posessio of a firearm carries a mandatory 5 year sentence. Though it's not really mandatory, because a lot of judges are refusing to hand them out, to the great dismay of certain law enforement officials.
I personally dislike mandatory sentences, as I believe in a case-by-case review of individual crimes, and before anything I believe in rehabilitation. So here's the problem I'm concerned with: the cops and courts aren't on the same wavelength! This is a much bigger issue, a far more important and dangerous one, than the sentencing of individual criminals.
Unless you can get all bodies and branches of the government to move in the same direction, you're in for a lot of trouble.
Don't say I didn't warn you!
Monday, March 24, 2008
this is what I call video game violence.
A seven year old kid got beaten by his drunk dad with a video game controller. Not game-beaten, he was hit and poked (?), said father is currently being held for second-degree assault and resisting arrest.
I don't know if the video game can be held responsible for this outburst of violence, the drink, or the human element. Sure enough, you'll find people blaming any of them, or all of them.
I don't know if the video game can be held responsible for this outburst of violence, the drink, or the human element. Sure enough, you'll find people blaming any of them, or all of them.
Arson homicide.
A woman died in a housefire on Easter sunday in Nocross. It has now been ruled that the death was a homicide.
I've always maintained that arson is a viable method of murder, wether the victim is one person, or a school full of them. If we want to be safe, we must seek to change the way people deal with their violent inclinations, and not just the tools available to them, because someone bent on murder will always find a way.
I've always maintained that arson is a viable method of murder, wether the victim is one person, or a school full of them. If we want to be safe, we must seek to change the way people deal with their violent inclinations, and not just the tools available to them, because someone bent on murder will always find a way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)