In which crazy comes out… (Get off my side)

Initially I was writing up a post and just ran out of time on it but that is melding into this one. You see there was a group of people who engaged in attention seeking behavior during the January 15th rally and legislative meet that has quite honestly created a serious rift. Not only has it created a rift but there is a bit more of a history involved than just, “the crazies showed up.” It should be noted that the following is my observations only and is not in any way to be attributed to any group I may volunteer for or work with.

Brief Background:

Before the tally was even fully complete an individual started organizing a rally December 13th. There were numerous other individuals who were attempting to help ensure:

  1. The event went off without any serious problems and remained a positive event.
  2. That people would stay engaged and continue to be supportive come the opening of the legislature.

The group support route was heavily rejected. So much so that it actually made the Seattle Times as the organizer made decisions that were not exactly positive. Free permit, oh my god it’s the end of the world because they’re wanting a logistical heads up. But I digress. The permit thing became a very serious craw and caused many to just walk away to leave that organizer on his own. We didn’t detract from his protest but we weren’t supplying effort to support him, he was on his own.

At the same time, actually starting in September, conversation was started regarding an event at the capital in the event 594 passed. We directed the effort of all the groups trying to help with the December 13th rally to one where input, help, and unification actually came in to play. This however didn’t stop claims from the other group of how we were undermining or attacking them. How no one really knows.

As we closed in on January 15th, it became more and more common. Attacking people who were working to support what they felt were going to be effective methods instead of what many felt of the December 13th rally where it would be a giant circle jerk where nothing was really accomplished.

Well nothing happened at the December 13th rally, there was no actual outcome or changes because of the rally. Not saying that people shouldn’t have gone, but I have limited amounts of time and I have absolutely no interest in wasting my time on symbolic gestures. My goal is to be effective and actually achieve what I set out to do. I am also strategic about it and am willing to play the chess game to make it happen.

Some of people also tried to claim the rally was the work of SAF, CCRKBA, POGR, etc. Nope, sorry, hate to break it to you, it was 100% grass-roots. Know how I know? Because I was sitting at the tables helping plan the damn thing.

What Happened:

The morning of the 15th the rally was set up and all was well and good. At the start of the rally everyone was gathered on the steps and the speakers began. There were a couple outbursts yelling at speakers from a group of about 15-20 in the back who eventually moved all the way to the top of the Capitol steps. They had banners from the December 13 rally and were waving them. They yelled a couple of times to garner attention with one-off statements. Everyone for the most part ignored them. They started becoming more disruptive during Paige Biron’s speech. I just ignored it, that is until we heard the familiar sound of charging handles and bolts. I was mortified when I looked back to see loaded magazines being pulled and inserted and charging handles struck. This happened about midway through Joe Huffman’s speech. Who they kept trying to talk over as well. Joe did a fantastic job refusing to engage the misbehaving and distracting children in the back.

After the children started playing with their firearms there was a rapid influx of Washington State Patrol officers. One officer immediately approached the MC to find out how we would like to deal with the situation. I at the time was searching for another organizer so we could effectively talk to State Patrol. Everyone around me in the crowd, many of who were long time gunnies were noticeably alarmed and uncomfortable with what was going on. At least 3 people made comments about why WSP was not arresting them under R.C.W. 9.41.270.

Source, The News Tribune

I need to buy that WSP officer a coffee.

After chatting with the M.C. the WSP officer immediately went up the stairs and shortly after the group dispersed into the Capitol. One lone individual came out yelling, “Patriots come help us storm our capitol.” After 3 times he gave up and moved on. It should also be noted they did this just before Matt Shea spoke about HB-1245 and other pro-gun bills were discussed. I suppose not being at the center of attention was too much for them.

From there they entered the Capitol, I wasn’t present for it but the news media was.

988-SqfHe.AuSt.55

 Here’s a copy of the video of what happened in the gallery.

As much time as I spent in the legislative office buildings I didn’t see any of these individuals there. I only ever saw them in the capitol building so I don’t think they were there to actually engage and talk with their legislators.

Stop coon fingering your weapon, leave it alone unless you actually need it, you narcissistic attention whore.

From there we move into more WTFery.

10356329_10155058810195405_2362466223343182067_n

This does not help engender relations or confidence with those on the other side, much less the fence. I found out that calls were coming into Olympia dispatch about an active shooter at the Capitol. It appears there were some Legislative Aids who were unaware of the rally, and the presence of masked men and long arms raised their concern.

Boy wonder himself makes an appearance in this thread, though I’m not sure it’s publicly accessible. Watching him get roasted by our side was quite entertaining.

Fallout…

Press coverage did exactly what you expected. Focus on the crazy, ignore the every day individual.

Anette Wachter is interviewed by Q13 fox.

Anette Wachter is interviewed by Q13 fox.

Thankfully Q-13 did air part of their interview with Adina, however most of the actual photo coverage is the individuals above. As usual our buddies at the CSGV used the stupidity to their advantage.

CSGV-Jan-15-Rally

The worst part though is there is now a threat to open carry in the Capitol. The initial shot came this morning:

Lt. Gov. Brad Owen announced Friday that the public will no longer be able to openly carry firearms in the state Senate chamber’s public viewing area.

Owen said a notice of the change will be posted outside the gallery at the Capitol, likely before Monday’s floor session.

“We’re just noting that open carry is a form of demonstration and it’s no different than carrying a placard or something else of that nature,” he said.

I suspect this is going to backfire as anyone who can legally own a firearm but does not have a CPL must open carry. I don’t concealed carry or open carry, I just freaking carry. The problem is we have people like the above who carry at people and that is the problem. I suspect a bar on long guns could probably stand, doubly so as this particular group was trying to use the long guns in a form of protest which is expressly forbidden in the gallery.

Dave Workman had this to say:

UPDATE (Friday, 5:45 p.m.) The Associated Press is now reporting that the State Senate is banning the open carry of firearms in the Senate gallery. This announcement underscores the backlash being expressed by many rights activists, including people who were at Thursday’s rally, who were not favorably impressed by the open carry demonstration. There were several people in the crowd who were openly carrying sidearms, and who have been critical of the long gun exhibition.

Honestly I wish that WSP had nailed them under 270 or the violation of the gallery rules regarding protest and use of props. If you want to carry, then carry. But don’t carry and then try to break the rules thinking your special. All you do is look like an ass and make the rest of us look bad, and in the end sabotage the efforts of the people you claim to support. Not only that but you may run rights backwards by being retarded.

Additional side notes:

The organizer for the December 13th rally was arrested on the 15th. It appears yelling at a judge while approaching the bench is not acceptable courtroom behavior.

In addition, he allegedly took exception to a ruling by Judge Judith L. McCauley because she did not want spectators live-streaming video from the courtroom.

“Seim began yelling at the judge and walking toward her bench,” Gjesdal said. McCauley “ordered him removed from the courtroom.”

When deputies tried to escort him out, he allegedly began to pull away and resist. He was placed under arrest and later booked into jail for interfering with a court, disorderly conduct and contempt of court, Gjesdal said.

Most entertainingly the stupidity appeared to be genetic as his father decided to get arrested in a show of solidarity with him.

How I feel…

Honestly I feel a bit betrayed by my own. Get the hell off my side. As someone reminded me tonight:

“Politics is the art of the possible.”

We are quite literally trying to accomplish the impossible in a not totally friendly environment. We need 2/3s majority to touch anything and that isn’t possible without fence sitters. Further when people on our own side are shaking their heads you can turn what was a level battle into an uphill one. We most likely won’t actually get a full repeal this round, after yesterday it most likely will be DOA as it won’t even make it through committee since that’s not full of friendlies. My goal is to be effective and get shit done. Acting like a child and throwing a tantrum doesn’t help anyone. All it does is make you look like an ass. Tell me, is anyone other than the child excited when throwing a tantrum in a store?

SSCC #357 – Portland PD

Good on this young man for telling that officer in polite way to foxtrot oscar mike.  Now while the supervisor sent him on his way after he showed up, there will be no punishment or reprimand given to this over zealous officer for his transgressions.

His assumption was that oh you have a gun so all your rights are hereby surrendered.  Listen here sparky, that’s not the way it works, nor should it work that way.

Since I know you won’t be punished for your decisions that day, you make the count.  Lack of being held accountable is like quietly stating, “it’s OK unless you come across one who knows his rights.”

Get a different job there officer McDonald, because you suck at this one.

State Sponsored Criminal #357: J. McDonald

Because carrying a gun means that an officer can do what ever he wants, including sweeping your legs with your own weapon and confiscating your property.

h/t SayUncle

Why I carry a gun…

I have had many people ask why I carry a gun, especially living out here where many actually leave their doors unlocked.  The thing is where I live isn’t special.  Carrying a cop around just isn’t an option.  And when things go down the whole event happens in seconds, not minutes or hours.

Why would I bring this up?


Pullman police responded twice Wednesday evening to reports of armed robbery.

The first call came in at 10:44
p.m. in the 400 block of South Grand Avenue, where one victim reported
that he and his co-worker had been robbed at gunpoint in a parking lot.

The attacker only made off with 37 dollars however it appears that he has probably escaped, especially if he’s from outside the area.  The second incident also serves as an extra reminder that your vehicle presents a method of defense, even if the attacker is more suitably armed.

The second incident occurred at about 12:34 a.m. Thursday in the 1200
block of Southeast Johnson Avenue. Tennant said the 35-year-old victim
from Oregon was driving in the area completing work on a cell phone
tower when he was confronted by a man with a crowbar who reportedly
tried to steal his vehicle.

Always attempt to drive off.  It is the reaction the criminal isn’t expecting and even then shooting at you isn’t going to accomplish anything.  In my case it may get me to go into reverse and run you over since you have proven your intent.  You vehicle though provides more protection than nothing, use it to your advantage.

Most of all though, be alert, stay calm, and carry your damn guns.  Bad things happen even to good people, I carry a gun because I know that fact and I prefer to be prepared for the unexpected.  Don’t expect for someone to be able to magically save  you either if the goblin shows up either.  You are the help. You are the rescue. You are the extraction team.

Open Carry Weekend…

As usual, nothing happened!  The wife and I went out to lunch after the USPSA match specifically because it was “open carry weekend”.  TMW did it last year as well, for us though it’s really just more of the same.  I normally either open carry or concealed carry, the difference is whether or not I’m wearing a coat.  What was different for today was that laziness won out and I just continued wearing my whole rig after the match.

I snugged down the the holster to increase the retention but didn’t bother changing for a different holster and left the stack of 4 magazines on my left hip.  I know you can barely see the gun, black shirt plus black gun equals find Waldo.

IMAG0268

I will say, yes that shirt was picked on purpose… You shoot the paper bastards twice, other wise they call out Charlie Mike, and I don’t know why they call his name so much when I shoot.

The wife was open carrying as well:

IMAG0269

I don’t know if Erin has her shirt or not.  If she doesn’t, she should go get one.  No one said anything, I think a couple people noticed and I just smiled as I walked by.  I think for the most part the 4 spare magazines drew more attention that the gun itself.

Lazy Saturday

So the goal was to help some people this morning, then hit up VJs and meet up with Laurel to help her with an issue that she apparently has resolved.

When I showed up to help this morning it appears that there were enough people to show up early that it was already done when I showed up on time. So I decided that with so much time to kill it was time to have an impromptu appreciation day for Starbucks.

No I didn’t take this picture at Starbucks.

I was extremely glad I decided to say thank you by paying into the coffers of a local business that didn’t discriminate against gun owners. The reason I was glad was I stopped off to talk to Charles at Sure Shot in Moscow to tell him how TMW’s new holster is working. Upon arrival I hear the following:

Customer: “What the hell is up with the Moscow Co-Op? Have you seen their sign?”

Charles: “Yeah, I’m not sure why they put that up there.”

Me: “Okay, what the hell did I just miss?”

So to provide a little bit of background, for the past three years the following has been visible on the sign at Sure Shot traveling from Pullman to Moscow.

Sorry for the tree, it was raining and I didn’t want to run across the street for a better picture. Lazy I know but you can still read it!

So it ends up that the Moscow Co-Op at some point recently decided that was not proper and posted this as a reply.

WTF!?

The Co-Op sells natural foods etc, WTF does their business have to with firearms? Why are they knocking another small business in Moscow they are not even in direct competition with? TMW and I both upon seeing the sign said, “So much for the Co-Op.” Upon arriving at VJ’s I asked Corina and Dan about it, they were both pissed along with Laurel and Mike, were going to be writing a letter, and we then got into a long discussion where we were going to find items that other places just don’t carry. For those out of the area, we can actually get locally raised meat including buffalo and elk. This really angered us because while one might view the Co-Op as mainly the domain of those that have “Make Love Not War” stickers, none of us have ever been hassled for carrying in the store and have always been treated with a high level of courtesy. This though seems like a low ball shot that was unnecessary and just plain rude. Especially since a lot of us used the Co-Op on a regular basis.

I did learn from Charles he got about 10-15 calls today and numerous locals coming in to ask about the Co-Op sign. He does have a response which will be going on the outbound side coming from Moscow to Pullman. Numerous locals came in asking about it, so on the upside it has generated more traffic for Sure Shot. No such thing as bad publicity right? I would also like to point out I made sure to idle my Ford Earthfucker in the parking lot while TMW took a picture of the sign. I needed to offset the SMUG emissions.

After that though the subject turned much lighter, spent a lot of time chatting and took some other pictures as well as helping with some other miscellaneous problems. The pictures will be posted tomorrow after we all get together for dinner and give Abigail her gift. I don’t normally do artsy photos but Corina gave an idea while I was playing with my new camera. Below is the result, the only processing I did was cropping it.

Now to clean the house since people are coming over tomorrow.

That’s a California politician for ya!

Instead of fixing the issue that has caused people to open carry as a public statement, Lori Saldaña just wants to stop them from making their statement.

To some lawmakers, carrying around an empty gun seems threatening. In a quick response to this perceived but non-threat, AB1934 was drafted to make it a crime to carry an empty firearm in plain view. The bill’s author, Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, D-San Diego, is quoted as saying, “What I’m concerned about is people, who have no training, can carry a gun for no other purpose than to make a public statement.”

California is a may-issue state. Translation for the uninitiated; do you like kissing ass? Because if you want a license, start kissing your local sheriffs ass. People to protest this have been doing protests legally by carrying unloaded firearms openly. Instead of looking at the flaws in the process, she intends to further restrict and punish law abiding citizens. I find it interesting that some law makers are uncomfortable by firearms being in possession of their constituents, is it because they’re afraid that one day they may be held accountable for their actions?

Damn your civil rights, and your little dog too!

Just stumbled across this on Snarky Bytes. The core statement via federal court judge is below for your immediate viewing pleasure.

“No reasonable person would dispute that walking into a retail store openly carrying a firearm is highly disruptive conduct which is virtually certain to create a disturbance. This is so because when employees and shoppers in retail stores see a person carrying a lethal weapon, they are likely to be frightened and possibly even panicky. many employees and shoppers are likely to think that the person with the gun is either deranged or about to commit a felony or both. Further, it is almost certain that someone will call the police. And when police respond to a “man with a gun” call, they have no idea what the armed individual’s intentions are. The volatility in such a situation could easily lead to someone being seriously injured or killed.”

A couple thoughts immediately come to mind, one being, “Sir your stupidity is showing.” Thankfully Hsoi in the comments on Snarky’s blog did the bigoted translation.

Of course, we can just have some fun with some slight edits:

>>>>>>>>>>
“No reasonable person would dispute that a black man walking into a retail store is highly disruptive conduct which is virtually certain to create a disturbance. This is so because when employees and shoppers in retail stores see a black person, they are likely to be frightened and possibly even panicky. many employees and shoppers are likely to think that the black person is either deranged or about to commit a felony or both. Further, it is almost certain that someone will call the police. And when police respond to a “black man” call, they have no idea what the black individual’s intentions are. The volatility in such a situation could easily lead to someone being seriously injured or killed.”
<<<<<<<<<<

But you know, that sort of bigotry is different.

Thanks to Snarky for posting the info. Just because it is something you can visibly see makes it no less of a right. After hearing the story from Laurel at PGB about The Inconvenience at Rosaures I’m sure the judge and Moscow PD would get along great.