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Why do you carry a gun?

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Recently an individual asked me why I carried a firearm in little old Pullman.  He was an elderly gentleman and I went through the standard statements:

  • No where is safe, I probably wont need it but it’s better to have it.
  • It’s like a fire extinguisher or first aid kid.
  • It’s a lighter burden than regret.

He made a comment that a fire extinguisher was safer than a firearm.  At which point I chuckled and said, CO2 in a confined space in a basement can easily kill you.  It’s just that the fire can kill you just the same.  My firearm has never jumped from its holster or magically discharged without my somehow being involved.  Though fire extinguishers if not properly maintained can burst on their own.

I bring this up because I saw this come across my news reader:

Police Chief David Duke said employees inside the restaurant were confronted by a man with a handgun wearing a mask and dark hoodie after responding to a knock at the door around 10 a.m. The man forced the four employees into the walk-in freezer and locked them in without saying anything, said Duke. One employee used their cellphone to contact law enforcement while another notified the manager of the Pullman restaurant.

Now why would an individual rob Pizza Hut?

Pizza Hut made the most money in its history Monday night when it hosted the The Sonia Todd FUNdraiser Day. Todd is a mother of two who was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer.

So here’s the deal folks.  There is evil in the world.  There are those who would hurt others merely for the thrill of doing so.  These people don’t just exist in particular geographic or social areas, they can be found anywhere.  This incident occurred earlier this year in Pullman.

The bottom line is the real world isn’t wrapped in bubble wrap.  Sometimes evil shows up not just in your neighborhood but on your very doorstep.  Some would rather not worry about self-defense and consider the probability of evil finding them so small it is not worth the effort.  That is their choice and their choice alone.

My issue with that choice is that the effort to prepare for a fight against evil isn’t that difficult a task, recovering and becoming whole again after encountering evil is a mountain.  That mountain is even more treacherous if you were un-prepared to begin with.

As Sean said,

When I reach the Pearly Gates, I want the first thing I will hear to be “Unload and show clear.” I don’t ever want to hear, “Why weren’t you carrying your gun?” Or worse “Because you weren’t carrying, your wife will be along as soon as her killer finishes up.”

So why do I need to carry a gun?  Because I want to stack the deck in my favor as much as I possibly can.  I will do this so I can fight every last step of the way against anyone that would bring violence to my door.

Why?  Because I am worth it.

In Which I Demonstrate It’s Commonality

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Last week I posted an incident from Moscow at the University of Idaho.  It was a classic game of fill in the blank, but all the answers were known in advance.  I know some of you probably though I was exaggerating how common this type of event is.  Well wonder no longer.

Police in Pullman say a Washington State University student fell three stories from a fraternity house window and was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital with undisclosed injuries.

Note how the Greek system was involve yet again.  No word on alcohol yet, but it’s hard to think it wasn’t involved.

Now many would wonder why things like this are becoming increasingly common.  The answer though is quite simple, kids now days live in a bubble wrapped world.  Instead of slowly being acclimated to the realities of the real world and personal responsibility they are shielded and sheltered from it.

This quote from Caleb puts it quite well:

People wonder why there seem to be an increasing number of kids filming themselves performing dangerous stunts for youtube – well gosh, if I was raised in a padded bubble of safety by helicopter parents, I’d probably try to ride my bike off the roof too just to see what danger felt like.

Not only are kids sheltered from danger, but adults who attempt to give their kids that taste of personal responsibility are reported to the police and arrested.

“I went out there to see what he was here for and he said, ‘Ma’am, we’re here for you.’ I said, ‘Oh really? Why?’ He proceeded to tell me he had received a call from one of my neighbors that my kids were riding their scooters unsupervised. 

Cooper said she was handcuffed, put in the back of a police car and forced to spend the night in jail. 

“Orange jumpsuit, in a cell, slammed the door, for 18 hours,” Cooper said.

The ages of the children involved were 9 and 6.  I remember at 6 regularly going with my sister different places without our parents.  Including down to the local park, and through the woods as well.

By 8 I was heading off doing things entirely on my own.  My rules were just the same as Robb’s.

What happens when you shield kids from everything in the world?  They simply don’t know how to deal with life when it actually shows up.  They always figure that life is safe and nothing can possibly go wrong.  For them they live in a world without consequences because they’ve never experienced any.

How nice is it though that the state is now trying to force everyone to live in the same bubble wrapped world.  There is one saving grace about this woman’s experience.

The charges against her were eventually dropped but she still describes the ordeal as humiliating and said her children were even questioned by police  and terrified.

(Emphasis mine).  Yeah, you think either of those two children will ever trust the police again?  They got to experience first hand exactly what government is.

SSCC #411 – Seattle

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That’s right folks, the Seattle PD had decided to return to the land of the criminal count.  This one is juicy…

In a complaint filed in Seattle Municipal Court, Donnie R. Lowe, 45, was accused of knowingly violating a no-contact order issued after his arrest in June for allegedly assaulting his wife.

Lowe’s wife was believed to be a passenger in a car when Seattle police stopped him Aug. 14 for allegedly talking on his cellphone while driving, according to sources familiar with the case. But Lowe was not immediately arrested because police were not able to verify the court order as a result of a computer problem, the sources said.

Now initially it doesn’t sound that bad, especially since the judge issued the no-contact order without a request to do so from the wife.  So a judge did something against the will of both the defendant and plaintiff and they possibly violated it, but here’s the real reason this sucker is juicy.

The new charge further clouded Lowe’s career in the Police Department, in which his bachelor’s degree in business and master’s in public administration helped him land a position on the police-reform effort but whose troubling history of bad judgment and misconduct raised questions about his selection.

That’s right folks, the Seattle Police departments first choice to aid  in their reform behaves like this.  It is worth noting that he has since been removed as the team leader and the situation has changed due to this incident.

Since then, the city and Justice Department reached a comprehensive settlement agreement in July in which a court-appointed monitor will oversee broad reforms in police practices.

The most entertaining part though is this isn’t the first time he has behaved in a questionable nature.

He previously was disciplined after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in 2008. He pleaded guilty to an amended charge of reckless driving, later dismissed when he met court conditions. The department then suspended him for four days without pay after an internal investigation.

…

Lowe also received internal reprimands for inappropriate physical treatment of his handcuffed son while he was in police custody in a holding cell in 2006, and over an improper effort to retrieve from a man nude photographs of a female acquaintance in 2002.

Have no fear though, I’m sure he’s on paid administrative leave, pulling down his $148,000 salary.  Seriously you can’t make this stuff up!

State Sponsored Criminal #411: Donnie R. Lowe

Because what better man to help aid the department in reform than a man who is obviously in need of some reform himself.

 

Today’s Lesson

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My dad drilled something into my head growing up and the following reminded me of it:

One of the more depressing things in the life of being an activist for rights is that more often than not, rights are lost because people didn’t want to defend the bad guy. It’s easy to look the other way when Scummy McScumbag has his rights violated because… well because scumbag!

To which another person stated the following which further rung the bell:

But his legal rights were violated in the name of Justice. And as Robb points out, the violation of this man’s legal rights is a loss of rights for everyone. It gets easier to break the rules once you’ve done it once, and in this case, when you’ve been officially blessed by the Powers That Be.

Here is today’s lesson folks, it is simple and only a single sentence:

There is no correlation between the law and justice.

Did everyone get that?  Please read it out loud and repeat it to yourself a few times because it is very critical you remember and understand it.

It is important to understand because that line succinctly describes both the positive and negative in the justice system.  On the one hand you have the issue as Robb pointed out with Mr. Scumbag.

Mr. Scumbag gets a pass because his rights were violated, this boils back to the principal of protecting the innocent.  This principal is important and is one that as a free people we should never lose sight of.

The second side of this is that the law can just as easily screw someone who doesn’t actually need screwing.  It’s pretty darn unjust to annihilate someone’s rights and make them a felon over what really amounts to something that isn’t an actual danger to society.

We must remain vigilant for that exact reason.  As our “elected betters” create laws, there is nothing actually guaranteeing that those laws are just.  This especially holds true  when the phrase above is tied in conjunction with the following:

The purpose of the law is to keep those who have money and power with the money and the power.

Lets also not forget about prosecutors and how they also fit into this entire mess.  They provide yet another prong in the long illustration how there isn’t a correlation between the law and justice.

Yeah, at times it sucks when you think about the fact you have to defend some dude who truly should go to jail.  The thing is, he would have if law enforcement played by the rules and the prosecutor did his job correctly, making sure to charge him with the applicable crime.

h/t Uncle

Quote of the Day – NGAC (9/16/2012)

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Criminals are interested in getting money and goods, not in killing people.  2/3 of U.S. gun homicides are due to arguments not criminals.

National Gun Victims Action Council – Gun Fact #2: If Only The Criminals Had Guns, U.S. Gun Homicides Would Plummet.

September 14, 2012

[First off, criminals are only interested in money and goods unless they aren’t.

Secondly NGAC is saying is it is better to be a victim than to defend yourself.  Because if you defend yourself effectively you will be committing a gun homicide.  Because in their world, there is no such thing as justifiable homicide.

They’re right, criminals don’t like having armed victims, it makes their chosen profession dangerous.  Our opponents can only argue that it’s better to be a victim, raped, beaten, and broke in an alley than standing over their cooling dead body.

Why is it our opponents are so desperate in seeing honest people criminalized, victimized, and otherwise abused by the criminal elements?

As I have said before our opponents are not working to better the safety of the law-abiding but are actively working to protect the criminal element.  They are the equivalent of OSHA for violent criminals.

Who bothers to listen to these fools anymore? -B]

h/t Uncle.

SSCC #410 – Moulton

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A Moulton police officer charged Thursday with torture and willful abuse of a child had resigned from the Decatur police force in 2010 after his estranged wife accused him of assaulting her and threatening her with a gun.

He should have been fired especially in light of the following that has recently occurred.

Breland, of 3050 Byler Road, Moulton, is charged with two counts of torture, willful abuse of a child, authorities said. The charge is a Class C felony punishable by 1-10 years in prison if convicted.

Breland, who has been with the Moulton Police Department for more than a year, has been on administrative leave with pay since Aug. 29.

Moulton Police Chief Lyndon McWhorter said he placed Breland on leave after the Morgan County Department of Human Resources reported allegations involving an 8-year-old girl and that an investigation had been launched.

That’s right folks, he screwed up, was able to resign instead of being fired.  As a FYI though this isn’t just a case of someone disliking the way he disciplined his children either.

Reports indicate the child was beaten so severely she had to be taken to the hospital. Medical personnel there contacted DHR.

Why he hasn’t been fired who knows.  I find it interesting though most private companies will fire you if you step in something this bad.  Those charged with enforcing the law though get a free pass for violating the law.

Most disturbing was there was a history that certainly should have put him in the no longer eligible for law enforcement pool.

Imagine that, a monster that has a history.  Is it really that hard to spot these monsters or is it that we just wont do what we need to stop them?

State Sponsored Criminal #410: Mitchell Harris Breland

Because when you have a case of domestic abuse, let him go to another department and become someone else’s problem.

In which I take advice and set the bar higher

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So as Joe mentioned while we were in Reno we ran the LAPD qualification stage.  I passed, not as comfortably as I would have liked but was no slouch either.

I followed through on my word since I knew when these stages would be coming and practiced less and less as the day approached.  Prior to this shoot the last time I had shot was the beginning of August at that USPSA match.  I hadn’t shot any steel either since March and hadn’t done any extra practice either.

So for all intents and purposes I went into this thing pretty damn cold since I only really shoot about 150 rounds at a USPSA match at most.  Overall my opinion of the stages was that it wasn’t hard or difficult.  Doubly so since we made the stages harder than what actually required by the LAPD.

Ry suggested I try using Adobe Premiere and step up my game in production quality for the video.  I happen to think on this it’s probably a good idea.  So I spent this morning playing with Premiere and could actually cut a raw video that looks decent of Joe and I both shooting the qualifier from multiple angles.  That however isn’t the type of video I’m looking for.

I started writing up a script tonight and am intending to spend a decent amount of time editing to provide the maximum punch possible from this video.  There are some serious notes that and things that need to be emphasized regarding many of the stages and that needs to be done correctly.  Further, as I am evidently a beer swilling redneck, I figure I might as well act like one and start surpassing the CSGV’s and Brady Campaign’s production values for their videos.

The end goal is to get down to a short 3 to 4 minute video to educate people on the truth behind these “standards”.  Some have said we were self-selecting and I could see that if this was a National or Area level match, but not for a local match.  Local matches give you a wide variety of shooters, including multiple new shooters, with new and unfamiliar equipment.  The details on how and why that matters will be clearly illustrated in the video.

In the mean time enjoy this instead: