Category Archives: Gary

Predictably, the liberals make demands rather than seeking solutions

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Texas Republicans offer prayers, Sheila Jackson Lee demands action after Lone Star shootings | Texas on the Potomac | a Chron.com blog.

Woody Allen’s ex is jaw jacking and I truly wish Pierce Morgan would follow through on his threat to deport himself. Seeking her usual 15 seconds in the spot light, Sheila Jackson Lee has staked her claim.

““Today is yet another sad day in our country because of a senseless shooting at the Lone Star College North Campus in Houston, Texas. I am deeply saddened to learn about those who have been wounded because of this incident. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of the Lone Star College campus community and those who have been injured and anyone else personally impacted by this senseless act of violence. I am sure that everyone in the community of the Lone Star College campus will do whatever they can in the coming days to ease the pain, tensions and concerns of all affected.

“I have introduced common sense legislation that would focus on protecting our nation from gun violence and accidents. H.R. 65 will raise the handgun eligibility age from 18 to 21, and will prohibit persons under the age of 21 from possessing semiautomatic assault weapons or large capacity magazines. Moreover, H.R. 65 increases penalties on individuals who knowingly transfer a handgun, ammunition, semiautomatic assault weapon, or large capacity ammunition feeding device to a person under age 21. We must also work to ensure that Gun Free Zones are enforced.

“My prayers and condolences go first to the families of those wounded and I share the grief of everyone affected by this event. I applaud the swift work by the First Responders. Americans have a remarkable ability to support one another in times of crisis. This is one of those times.””

Does she not know the minimum age for purchasing a handgun is already 21?  And how exactly are you going to “enforce” a gun free zone without turning these places into the armed check points and establishing the police state you claim you don’t want? Having said all this, I find it interesting that she’s not calling for an outright ban in this statement.  Is this a ray of hope for us?!  I have to wonder if it isn’t a sign that she and other liberals recognize they don’t have votes for an outright ban on modern firearms and standard capacity magazines. Don’t relax just yet heroes…I’m just thinking out loud here.  The fact is, these people salivate at the news of each new incident as an opportunity to point a finger at us.  But, here’s a newsflash, yesterday, 100,000,000 gun owners used their guns responsibly and no one was shot or injured as a result.

– Gary

Zero personal injury, zero property damage, no shots fired…Happy wife, happy life.

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Around 9:30 pm tonight, my wife and I were leaving a celebratory gathering at popular bowling alley on Houston’s west side when I spotted a male subject moving between my car and another vehicle on the south end of the property. As we walked toward the car, the subject began moving in a direct line toward us.  Within a few yards, the subject intercepted another male patron from the bowling alley.  Their conversation seemed to be starting with “…hey, let me talk with you for a minute…” Not that anyone has a reason to know this but, for me, those words coming from anyone, make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.  Why? Because never in my life has anything good come from someone saying, “…hey, let me talk with you for a minute.”  It seemed like the wife saw this too as she didn’t resist when I grabbed her hand, told her we needed to return to the building. Once inside, I told my wife I thought I was seeing a setup for a robbery and suggested she take a quick restroom break while I looked for a manager.

The subject, we’ll call him Goofy, was a black male in his late twenties or early thirties, dark complexion and about six-feet tall.  Goofy had short dreadlocks and was unshaven with an uneven beard.  While Goofy was wearing baggy clothes, nothing about his build or movements suggested that he’d missed any meals or had any reason to be begging for food or money.  In fact, I’d say Goofy appeared to have a fairly athletic build (broad shoulders, thin waist) that suggested he’d be able to put up a fight.

With the wife headed to the restroom and no manager in sight, I poked my head outside the building again to look for Goofy.  When I looked toward the last place I’d seen him, I saw Goofy had disappeared.  I continued scanning and spotted what appeared to be Goofy and the other male patron moving south, beyond the south end of the property, toward a Valero on the next block.  There was no lighting between the Valero and the end of the property so it was hard be positive about what I was seeing but, there was a marked Houston Police unit at the Valero and I figured if Goofy was really going to be a problem and headed in that direction, it would be that officer’s problem and not mine.

Rather than waiting for the wife to return, I decided it would be best to go get the car without her and get the heck out of Dodge sooner, rather than later.  So, I “texted” her instructions to wait for me inside the entrance while I retrieved the car and brought it to the door. Not knowing if Goofy had really vacated the parking lot, I decided it was better to be ready for a fight that never comes than get caught behind the curve.  So as I walked along the side of the building, as surreptitiously as possible, I retrieved my pistol from my pocket holster and held it under my sweater as if my hand was simply in my pocket.  Fortunately, it became apparent as I approached the car that Goofy really had moved off with the other patron toward the Valero by the time I reached my car.  So, I re-holstered the gun, started the car, moved it to the building entrance where my wife was waiting and we departed the area immediately.

Now, some will ask why I didn’t notify someone (i.e. tell a manager or a security guard).  Quite honestly, I hadn’t seen anyone I could clearly identify as a manager or security guard for the facility all night.  It’s Friday night at 9:30 pm and were standing in a crowded bowling alley that is part club, part restaurant, and serving lots of alcohol.  No good could come from staying there any longer than we absolutely had too.  I wanted to get us out of the building and on our way as soon as humanly possible.  Goofy was off property when I looked for him the second time so there didn’t seem to be anything to tell even if I did wait to find a manager.  I am sure I could have handled it differently but, it ended with zero personal injury, zero property damage, no shots fired…Happy wife, happy life.

Lessons learned/reiterated: 1) Shit happens when you least expect it.  Coming out of a graduation party, walking into what looked like a potential robbery was not what I was expecting for the night.  2) What looks suspicious, probably looks that way for good reason.  Don’t continue walking into trouble when you can see it coming.  3) Have a plan.  Every situation is different but, if I’m out with my wife/family, my first plan is always to immediately move her and/or others to a safer location immediately if it can be done without engaging a threat.  4) Don’t dither! You can choose to always wait for more information and suffer paralysis of analysis or act on the information you have in hand.  That’s not suggesting you shoot first and ask questions later but, if a situation looks like it has the potential to get ugly, don’t stand there waiting for the shit to hit the fan.

– Gary

Sensible Words falling on Deaf Ears…

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Newtown Gun Group Pres: ‘We Are Not the Evildoers’ – Yahoo! News.

“Who among us has not been moved by the unspeakable tragedy that was inflicted by a deranged man upon the children of Newtown, Connecticut, our very home at the NSSF?…” “…What can possibly heal the wounds, silence the anguished outcries, and make rational discourse on such a heartfelt topic occur?” – Steve Sanetti

I think all gun owners feel the same way. We are all revolted by the actions of those who visit evil on our families, especially the most innocent among us.  It is unfortunate that we are attacked out of the actions of people we do not count among our own.  We and the tools we own/use are vilified while those responsible are made into celebrities, setting the stage for the next monster to grab his 15 minutes of fame/infamy.  What is sickening is to hear a President who has, through his roll as Commander in Chief, killed more children with drone strikes than have ever been killed in these attacks, ask US to examine our conscience as if to suggest we are the ones lacking in moral fiber.

-Gary

Obama’s 23 Executive Actions

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So here’s the bottom line.  There will be some forms of new gun control coming.  Some of it through executive action and some of it rammed through Congress. Here are the 23 (not 19) actions planned through executive action.  Do I think any of these might have prevented Sandy Hook? Not really.  At the end of the day, stopping another Sandy Hook from happening isn’t a gun control issue.

1. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system.

2. Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the background check system.

3. Improve incentives for states to share information with the background check system.

4. Direct the Attorney General to review categories of individuals prohibited from having a gun to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.

5. Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before returning a seized gun.

6. Publish a letter from ATF to federally licensed gun dealers providing guidance on how to run background checks for private sellers.

7. Launch a national safe and responsible gun ownership campaign.

8. Review safety standards for gun locks and gun safes (Consumer Product Safety Commission).

9. Issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.

10. Release a DOJ report analyzing information on lost and stolen guns and make it widely available to law enforcement.

11. Nominate an ATF director.

12. Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for active shooter situations.

13. Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime.

14. Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence.

15. Direct the Attorney General to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new gun safety technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.

16. Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.

17. Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of violence to law enforcement authorities.

18. Provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.

19. Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.

20. Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.

21. Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.

22. Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.

23. Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.

Liberals claim to want freedom, so long as your beliefs are the same as theirs…

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Glamour Magazine Editor Says Woman’s Desire for Self Defense “Strange” – Katie Pavlich.

I don’t read Glamour.  My wife doesn’t either, thankfully.  But, I imagine there are a lot of women who do and who also happen to be members of the Independent Women’s Forum.  Well, it seems Glamour magazine only want’s ladies to be concerned with abortion, pop-culture, and fashion.

What am I talking about?  Well it seems that the communications director for the Independent Women’s Forum sent Senior Fellow Anna Rittgets’ following statement to the editor of Glamour Magazine:

I am passionate about the 2nd Amendment, particularly because I’m a mother. I’m a thirty-something year old woman with a 3 year old and a nursing newborn. Without my concealed weapon, I wouldn’t be able to protect myself against an assailant that seeks to do me or my family harm.

Five bullets fired from a .38 revolver weren’t enough for a Georgia mother of two to stop one intruder last week in an unexpected home invasion–what if there had been more intruders?

It often takes several shots to stop one attacker. If the maximum magazine capacity is 10 (or if all semiautomatic handguns are banned, but 6 shot revolvers remain), and a woman in danger has to stop and reload her weapon while trying to protect her children (who are likely hysterical at this point), it gives the bad guy an opportunity to react–potentially fatally.

Laws limiting magazine capacity and availability of semiautomatic handguns will directly impact women, who use these weapons for self-defense inside and outside the home. Any executive action by President Obama to restrict guns will limit a women’s capability to fight back against attackers and protect herself and her family.

The bottom line is that guns are used for lawful self-defense every day. Sadly, they also used for illegal violence every day. But enacting laws that further restrict or ban law-abiding citizens’ access to firearms does nothing to address violent crime. It merely disarms the good guys.

To which, the editor, Lauren Lannotii responded, “Please unsubscribe me to your strange, sensationalizing polemics. Thank you.” It seems that Glamour magazine, which claims to want to “empower” women, would rather they simply sit back and try to enjoy whatever harm befalls them.
-Gary