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Category Archives: Freedom

So, how’s that gun control working for ya?

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In London, where gun control is in effect, a gunman shot a bunch of unarmed citizens.

A taxi driver described as quiet but friendly went on a shooting spree across a picturesque rural area of northwestern England on Wednesday, killing at least five people and wounding 25 others before apparently turning the gun on himself, officials said.

The rampage, in a region famed for its tranquil beauty, shocked a country where handguns are banned and multiple shootings rare — it was Britain’s deadliest mass shooting since 1996.

And people wonder why we gun owners in America prefer to stay armed. Being able to shoot back is preferable to being placed in a box.

~TMW~

Another instance of concealed carry for the win!

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An off duty police officer was shopping with his girlfriend when a man opened fire in a cellular phone store.

Moore was off-duty and shopping with his girlfriend in the Commercial Drive store Thursday when 79-year-old Abraham Dickan entered and opened fire on the employees.

Moore used his personal gun to return fire, killing him, police said.

I love how it was his personal firearm that was used and he was out shopping. Only one person was struck by the attacker. After seeing this earlier today I just had to laugh:


Posted by Coran T at 6/1/2010 11:14 a.m.

You know Malichite, 

thats kind of the point. We as a society shouldn’t have to feel the need to carry all the time every where. I don’t begrudge anyone that choses to, but I myself (an avid gun owner) feel that stores are the last place that I need to carry one. You are right, no one knows when and where, but to carry one into Lowes, and then should Thug Joe walk in waving his around, I doubt I or anyone else would have the presence of mind and the requisite training to take him down without endangering others around us. And I can assure I have had extensive training in firearms use, but that was a different setting, not a local store. Lowes is not a controlled gun range, nor is it a competition urban range either. Those are controlled areas where everyone that could be harmed are moved into secure areas up range. This is a live area, with real bullets coming at you as well as yours going at them and anyone near them. So to walk into a store expecting to take the bad guy out in a grand display of heroism, is foolish at best for even the most avid of shooters. Another thing to take into account is that this is not a war zone. There are consequences for collateral damage here. This wasn’t some burned out hovel in the streets of Fallujah. This is an American store populated and operated by Americans, just like you and me. And when a bullet goes astray or off target because you squeezed one off while taking cover has far more dire consequences than taking out a Islamic extremist in Baghdad. So in short I would have to disagree with you on principal here. Disarming idiot thugs in this setting should be left to the professionals and not the weekend warriors with a penchant for Dirty Harry movies.

The whole incident was ended with only one innocent injured because someone was carrying a firearm while shopping. Very few people I spend significant time around do not carry. Those that do carry firearms all state the same reason for carrying everywhere, even for a trip down to the corner store, “It can happen anytime and anywhere and it benefits no one to be disarmed by choice.” Being an unarmed victim is a choice that can easily result in your death. My goal is self preservation of myself and those around me, if you see something wrong with that might I suggest seeking professional help. There are those who truly live by the scout motto, and those that just pay lip service. Guess where I live.

Also the comments regarding proper training are a joke. You have officers that screw up so badly they kill a 7 year old girl. Most officers only have to qualify twice a year and even then it’s a minimal course. I shoot more rounds a year than three average officers in Pullman PD combined. There are also many instances of civilian response with 0 innocent casualties due to civilian responders. If you don’t want to carry a weapon that’s fine. Don’t be bigoted towards those who are willing to do the job because you’re too cowardly to handle the responsibility.

Memorial Day

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Memorial day is tomorrow despite the fact many believe it to be on Monday. Sorry but it’s not, it is not an excuse for a three day weekend. It is a day to stop, pause, and reflect on the men and women who have paid the ultimate price so that we wouldn’t have to.

Photo: TMM (2001)

Many have never been to Arlington or seen the Vietnam Memorial. I have seen both, it is extremely sobering. Many take the gift of freedom for granted. They have no concept of the sacrifice made by so many or the impact it has beyond just those who never return.

Photo: Trey Ratcliff(2010)

Tomorrow at noon, I ask, stop whatever you are doing for one minute. Reflect on all the men and women who never came home, never saw their families again, never saw their children grow up, never got to retire and grow old in peace. One minute towards thanking them, remembering them, and appreciating what they’ve done so you wouldn’t have to.

This is extremely WRONG

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I came across something this morning saying that Census workers can enter your household in your absence with the permission of the landlord.

What many Americans don’t realize, is that census workers — from the head of the Bureau and the Secretary of Commerce (its parent agency) down to the lowliest and newest Census employee — are empowered under federal law to actually demand access to any apartment or any other type of home or room that is rented out, in order to count persons in the abode and for “the collection of statistics.” If the landlord of such apartment or other leased premises refuses to grant the government worker access to your living quarters, whether you are present or not, the landlord can be fined $500.00.

What I find interesting is there’s a couple problems here. In Washington at least the Landlord Tenant act says the landlord may not enter the premises without 48 hours advanced notification. Further the census website says the following:

Note that the census taker will never ask to enter your home

That is straight off the website verbatim. If you have had a landlord allow a census worker into your home I highly suggest you contact an attorney immediately as well as conduct an audit of all valuables and identity information. Census workers are NOT to be allowed in homes to conduct survey information. It is a violation of the 4th amendment as is constitutes a search by a government entity. Many states have similar laws to Washington’s Landlord Tenant Act. If you are a landlord and allowed someone claiming to be from the census into a property, contact your tenant and law enforcement immediately.

The bottom line is that census takers are only allowed to question people. If you fail to respond they can ask your landlord how many people are residing in the residence. No entry is allowed or is necessary. All information can be acquired from neighbors that is necessary for the Census. Again, my suggestion to landlords or tenants that have been affected by this is to contact an attorney immediately. FYI for landlord, come clean and contact law enforcement and an attorney, your tenant can probably put you into oblivion in civil suits. You can probably make a case that is was due to duress of someone pretending to be acting from the government. If you fail to come clean after reading this, it’s on you. Census.gov even states they are not to enter the premises.

Anyone desiring access to a residence should be assumed to NOT be a census worker but someone looking for stuff to steal. Your condition meter should transition to “Orange” immediately upon someone approaching and asking; claims to authority or not. As my dad always said, “Challenge Everything.”

UPDATE:

Had a question come through, landlords must provide access to non-living spaces where privacy is not expected. A prime example of this is a gated community or an apartment building where the front door is locked but there are common hallways. Basically a way to look at it is they are exempt from efforts to keep solicitors out. Access is to be allowed to the entrance of the residence. The full law is as follows:

Whoever, being the owner, proprietor, manager, superintendent, or
agent of any hotel, apartment house, boarding or lodging house,
tenement, or other building, refuses or willfully neglects, when
requested by the Secretary or by any other officer or employee of
the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof, acting
under the instructions of the Secretary, to furnish the names of
the occupants of such premises, or to give free ingress thereto and
egress therefrom to any duly accredited representative of such
Department or bureau or agency thereof, so as to permit the
collection of statistics with respect to any census provided for in
subchapters I and II of chapter 5 of this title, or any survey
authorized by subchapter IV or V of such chapter insofar as such
survey relates to any of the subjects for which censuses are
provided by such subchapters I and II, including, when relevant to
the census or survey being taken or made, the proper and correct
enumeration of all persons having their usual place of abode in
such premises, shall be fined not more than $500.

To surmise it, as I did above for landlords, provide the number of occupants or allow them to go door to door. Do not allow them into private living spaces.

People need to STOP worrying about offending others

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People will be offended no matter what happens. But telling someone they can’t fly the American Flag in their window of their residence is bulls**t!

“This policy was developed to insure that we are fair to everyone as we have many residents from diverse backgrounds,” the statement read. “By having a blanket policy of neutrality we have found that we are less likely to offend anyone and the aesthetic qualities of our apartment communities are maintained.”

That is a national symbol and, honestly, if it offends you pack your bags and leave this country! I’m sure there are plenty of people willing to help with that.

My husband and I feel that being told not to fly the flag is highly offensive.

~TMW~

Since when is it our job to take care of everyone else?

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What happened to self reliance and why in Zeus’s butthole does the current administration want to take care of everyone else and ignore the issues in our own country?

The U.S. must shape a world order relying as much on the persuasiveness of its diplomacy as the might of its military, he said. All hands are required to solve the world’s newest threats: terrorism, the spread of nuclear weapons, climate change and feeding and caring for a growing world population, he added.

As I continue reading Atlas Shrugged I frequently see similarities between the book and present day America.

From each according to his ability to each according to his need. – Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Apparently other countries, who could IMO take care of themselves, are higher on the list of priorities than people right here at home.

The government also seems to think that throwing money at problems will be the solution. For example, programs such as Social Security, food stamps, unemployment, etc. are having money taken from tax payers for funding. This creates a decline for private wages.

The trend is not sustainable, says University of Michigan economist Donald Grimes. Reason: The federal government depends on private wages to generate income taxes to pay for its ever-more-expensive programs. Government-generated income is taxed at lower rates or not at all, he says. “This is really important,” Grimes says.

The Obama administration is pushing the country towards communism:

Economist David Henderson of the conservative Hoover Institution says a shift from private wages to government benefits saps the economy of dynamism. “People are paid for being rather than for producing,” he says.

(Emphasis mine). In this case, the way to make more money would be to have more kids, because then your need is greater.

We don’t have any kids and we are working our butts off to make ends meet, yet we are punished for our hard work just because someone else doesn’t work but needs more because they couldn’t keep it in their pants or their legs closed. Oh yeah, they also need a new big screen TV and an expensive ‘green’ vehicle to cart the kids around in.

Why should my husband and I not shrug?

TMW

Lazy Saturday

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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.

Brown Shirts Anyone?

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They had a police escort for this? If that doesn’t show how corrupt the system is, you are obviously blinder than a bat! Anyone who thinks this is acceptable, proper, or legal behavior, I suggest a serious check of your moral values. The local police refused to help due to fear of inciting a riot, plus they had the backup of out of jurisdiction thugs in uniform. May the organizers start randomly disappearing. This is the definition of terrorism, they are using terror to intimidate and get their way.

My favorite thing though is that the victim was a lifelong democrat. There’s a reason I’m using was, who would want to remain associated or supportive of the liberal thugs after doing that to your 14 year old son?