Category Archives: Gary

On the anniversary of the Navy Yard shooting…Another call for “common sense” from the POTUS

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Statement by the President

One year ago, our dedicated military and civilian personnel at the Washington Navy Yard were targeted in an unspeakable act of violence that took the lives of 12 American patriots. As we remember men and women taken from us so senselessly, we keep close their family and friends, stand with the survivors who continue to heal and pay tribute to the first responders who acted with skill and bravery. At the same time, we continue to improve security at our country’s bases and installations to protect our military and civilian personnel who help keep us safe. One year ago, 12 Americans went to work to protect and strengthen the country they loved. Today, we must do the same – rejecting atrocities like these as the new normal and renewing our call for common-sense reforms that respect our traditions while reducing the gun violence that shatters too many American families every day.

via Statement by the President | The White House.

Hoplophobes ask Texas DPS Trooper to leave because he’s armed

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Trooper Jeff Evans was in a field uniform, not his full uniform, when the manager apparently missed seeing his DPS badge, but clearly saw his gun. Tuesday morning he had set out to get breakfast in Grapevine. He was dressed in his DPS pilot’s polo shirt and tan slacks, with his sidearm and badge on his belt.

via Armed DPS Trooper Asked To Leave North Texas Restaurant « CBS Dallas / Fort Worth.

 

Classic example of hoplophobia overriding good sense. But what I wish the trooper could do and others do as well is give these stores and the people pushing for these policies EXACTLY what they want…No guns. I don’t mean just stop shopping there. I wish it were possible to ignore their calls for help when things go wrong. I mean no 911 service for anything other than a medical or fire emergency. Obviously, no cop worth his salt would stand for it but, it would be interesting to see how the sheep would fair with no sheepdogs.

-GM

NBC’s Jeff Rossen’s home invasion advice might get you killed…

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NBC; not the National Broadcasting Company but, Nothing But Crap. That’s what I’ve decided is the actual meaning behind NBC. There’s just no other explanation for a company that would actually broadcast the sort of stupidity shown as a defense to homes invasions on the “Today” show last week.

Jeff Rossen enlisted retired New York Police Officer, Wallace Zeins, to sell some of the most useless advice I’ve ever heard. Citing 99-cent noise makers and using your car’s panic alarm, not once did they mention hardening your home against a home invasion in the first place by reinforcing doors/doorframes, installing long-throw dead-bolt locks, having an actively monitored perimeter alarm (with a glass break sensor), good exterior lighting, cameras or any of the well known deterrents to home invasions and burglaries. Nothing about leaving “tools” for entry readily accessible outside your home. And the only active defense suggested was, of all things, downplaying oleoresin capsicum (OC) pepper spray in favor of wasp spray…WASP SPRAY!

Zeins also suggests keeping another item in your bedroom: “Buy a can of wasp hornet spray in the hardware store or the supermarket, keep it by your bedside or the floor,” he said. “It’s more powerful than police Mace.

“The great part is, when you spray, it will go 20 to 25 feet,” Zeins added. An intruder hit with the spray will be temporarily blinded. Please check your state and local laws on the legality of using these sprays for self-defense.

via Home invasion: Jeff Rossen shows how to protect your family – News – TODAY.com.

 

raid2Forgive me if it is the wasp spray to which I take the greatest offense. The rest could be chalked up to being an unimaginative, lazy, dolt. But wasp spray?!?!? Really? Never mind the fact it is a violation of FEDERAL LAW to use almost any aerosol, especially paint, cleaners, pesticide or other chemicals in a manner inconsistent with their labeling. Some local and state jurisdictions have additional laws and ordinances specifically stating that it is illegal to use anything other than OC as a chemical agent against another person. And in general, it just doesn’t work. If you’re going to resort to sprays, stick with stuff known to work better than terse language and buy a quality spray from Fox Labs, Sabre, or any number of other vendors.

I’ll refrain from the ubiquitous, “get a gun, gun training,” mantra. You’re an adult. Make your own decision. But, don’t stick your head in the sand. Fully evaluate your choices. Realize that NBC and Jeff Rossen had an agenda to scare the crap out of you by citing how many home invasions there are every year but, they offer little in the way of solutions and they never tell you this one truth…The problems presented by a home invasion or burglary occuring while you are home are yours to deal with until help arrives. That may mean you have the rest of your life to solve the problem. Therefore, how long the rest of your life will be is entirely up to you. Choose wisely.

-Gary

Sometimes, the violence comes to you…At home.

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“I turn, and there was a guy standing in my face. A split second later he smacked me. We went at it. We went at it hard,” said Houck. via Father fights ‘crazed’ intruder in front of kids and wins.

 

Tony Houck survived one of life’s lessons that is often fatal. Stuff happens. Often when you least expect it. And sometimes it happens in “nice” neighborhoods. Sometimes the violence comes to you. Houck was making tacos for his kids at five o’clock in the afternoon when a man kicked in Houck’s door. In the time it took Houch to realize what was happening, he was in a full-fledged fight.

Houck told local CBS affiliate, KHOU, “He almost got me in a chokehold. I thought, this is for real. All of a sudden, this guy was trying to kill me.”

Before we get to the part where we tell you THIS is why we often advise folks to carry at home, let’s look at a basic home security issue. Houck’s first indication that anyone was even at his home was the moment 32-year-old Noah Collier kicked in the door and attacked Houck. That is a problem. And while we all have our priorities about security, the reality one must accept is that the door to your home is nothing more than a social barrier for normal, law-abiding people. Violent criminal actors don’t care and if committed, will get past that door no matter what you do. Still, an early warning system as simple as a dog or even infrared “door chime” to let you know someone has crossed a threshold point before they reach your door is just one step that would go along way in keeping you ahead of the curve. And if you don’t already have a centrally monitored burglar alarm with an “at home” or “stay” mode, get one!

“Chastiti Horne wonders what would have happened had she been the one left at home with the kids.

“Had that been me, you would be doing a completely different story,” said Horne. “I don’t know what he would’ve done to my kids, and that is the scariest thing.” via Father fights ‘crazed’ intruder in front of kids and wins.

And now, here’s where we tell you THIS is why we often advise folks to carry on their person, even at home. Houck was lucky. Very lucky in that he faced a single, emotionally disturbed attacker that he was able to overpower on his own. How easily could this have been multiple attackers? How easily could this have been a woman or just one of the kids who couldn’t overpower a single attacker with brute strength alone? This is where the fact guns are equalizers comes into play.

Arming yourself and seeking training are great. But ideally the whole family should be involved. I am not saying your nine year old needs to be ready to go grab a gun and go to work. That’s a call for you and your family to make but, at the very least, have a plan. That might mean your wife and/or children children are instructed to hide or even lock themselves into a designated space or spaces in your home while they call 911.  At the very least, the issue needs to be discussed. You cannot stick your head in the sand and think that won’t be a time violence comes to you.

“Assault Weapons,” for once, the New York Times tells the truth.

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“OVER the past two decades, the majority of Americans in a country deeply divided over gun control have coalesced behind a single proposition: The sale of assault weapons should be banned.

That idea was one of the pillars of the Obama administration’s plan to curb gun violence, and it remains popular with the public. In a poll last December, 59 percent of likely voters said they favor a ban.

But in the 10 years since the previous ban lapsed, even gun control advocates acknowledge a larger truth: The law that barred the sale of assault weapons from 1994 to 2004 made little difference.

It turns out that big, scary military rifles don’t kill the vast majority of the 11,000 Americans murdered with guns each year. Little handguns do.”

via The Assault Weapon Myth – NYTimes.com.

 

I was a senior in high school when the original Clinton crime bill and “Assault Weapons Ban” was steamrolled through Congress and ultimately signed into law. The fact handguns were used in the vast majority of homicides and that black men (many of them my age at the time) were most likely to be both victims and perpetrators was known then. But the media and liberal politicians made the case that it was “evil assault weapons” that were the problem. That was twenty years ago as of this writing. I even made a presentation on that fact in one of my classes that year.

Then, as is the case now, the issue wasn’t guns or gun control. In play, was a broader range of much bigger social and economic issues having little to do with guns or gun control. But, no one wanted to hear that then. And they sure as heck don’t want to hear it now. Why? Because there are no quick solutions that one can hang their hat on within the confines of a typical presidential or congressional election cycle. There’s no real solution that will please the mob in the short term. And ultimately, because the plan then, as it is now, is to marginalize guns and gun owners, one sub group at a time. If you can do that, it’s easy enough to call for compromise, common sense, and reasonable regulation eliminating the right to bear arms all together through attrition over time. Make no mistake, that has been the end game goal all along. The gang and drug related violence and death that disproportionately impact black males only serve to bolster that goal by fanning the fears of conservatives and liberals alike. Again, these are facts that have been known for over thirty years but rarely reported on by the mainstream media. That is, until now.

I don’t know if the New York Times is under new management/ownership but, call me shocked to have seen a truthful article on guns pubished in their website today. It is anything but a “pro gun” article but, it is remarkably free of the typical anti-gun push the NYTimes and other mainstream media publications have come to be known for. It’s the first time I’ve seen a mainstream media publish recognition of the fact there are bigger societal issues at play.

“More than 20 years of research funded by the Justice Department has found that programs to target high-risk people or places, rather than targeting certain kinds of guns, can reduce gun violence.

David M. Kennedy, the director of the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, argues that the issue of gun violence can seem enormous and intractable without first addressing poverty or drugs. A closer look at the social networks of neighborhoods most afflicted, he says, often shows that only a small number of men drive most of the violence. Identify them and change their behavior, and it’s possible to have an immediate impact.” via The Assault Weapon Myth – NYTimes.com

So, maybe, just maybe, there are people in the media with more than two brain cells to rub together. Maybe, just maybe, the focus will shift to addressing real problems rather than just symptoms. Time will tell. If history is an indication, before sundown, the New York Times will come to its senses and resume printing the typical anti-gun screed for which they have long been known. But, one can always hope.

-GM