We are going through this incredible, hourly, “guns are evil” business on the news and in the legislatures, and so I’ve dedicated this commentary pretty much to self-defense and other uses of guns, and those who hate and fear them.
Self Defense
Wisconsin: Grandmother halts robbery with her gun
(WISN) Ernestine Aldana owns a grocery store near the corner of Muskego Avenue and Becher Street in Milwaukee. On Dec. 14, Aldana was working in the store when a man entered the store and pulled a knife on her. “I was really scared,” she said. But as the man reached for cash from the drawer, Aldana pulled a gun from underneath the counter.
Nathan: Reported by Townhall and the WISN television station, with video! This sort of thing very seldom hits any major news media. She didn’t have to fire a shot – so no record will be maintained of this by any official agency: one of hundreds of times a day people use (but don’t “use”) weapons to defend themselves, their property, their families and friends and communities. Even while DC and, no doubt, much of the Wisconsin legislature works feverishly to steal away her tools to defend herself.
Self-defense:
Casper, Wyoming: Gun Carrying Employee Thwarts Attempted Hotel Robbery
(K2, Casper) A hotel clerk with a gun may have thwarted a robbery Friday morning (January 4th). Investigators say just before 1:00 AM, two African American males entered the Quality Inn at the corner of North Poplar and F Streets in Casper, with their faces concealed. One of the suspects told the clerk it was a hold-up, making a gun gesture with his hand. The clerk then pulled a gun from her lunchbox and pointed it at the suspects, who then fled.
Nathan: Folks, this is CASPER, not some shot-up suburb of Detroit or some drug-ridden neighborhood of Chicago or Denver. I ASSUME that there were one or two Casper cops and maybe a sheriff’s deputy or two on duty at that time of night and NOT out trolling for drunk drivers heading home from a bar. But they could not have responded quickly enough to keep the hold-up from taking place and probably not to keep her from getting raped and/or killed as well. But this mealy-mouthed language of the TV station, even in Wyoming, turns my stomach: “may have thwarted” and “suspects.” And why she should have to keep her handgun in her lunchbox and NOT on her person is beyond me. (I know this is an old story, but worth commenting on with the others today.)
Mama’s Note: Casper has joined Cheyenne in trying to match Jackson Hole for liberal BS… and isn’t it a funny coincidence that these are the three largest cities? Not to mention that most of the “media” in Wyoming is controlled by people who don’t live here, so it’s pretty much like all the rest of the mainstream “news” garbage.
But yes, I was shocked at the mention of the lunch box. No idea in the world why she would carry like that, but my first thought was that someone needs to do some serious self defense training down there. No reason in the world why she can’t carry on her body as she should.
Self-defense
Casper, Wyoming: Customer Turns the Tables on Nail Salon Robber
Nathan: At least this K2 story is worded better! Guy’s got to be pretty stupid and pretty desperate to rob a nail salon. Especially with credit cards. (Or maybe that is what he was wanting – their credit cards. Compare this to the nail salon in Seal Beach, California, where only the killer was armed. And then consider how our beloved rulers in DC are going to protect us and the children…
Mama’s Note: This is an even older one, but it tickled me pink. And yes, it takes a special brand of stupid to even think of trying to rob anyone here in Wyoming. Hard to believe they wouldn’t quickly figure out how well armed we are, even if they have just come from Chicago.
Hoplophobes and Hoploclasts
Lawyer: Banning Assault Weapons A Feel-Good Gesture ‘Unless You’re Prepared to Confiscate’
(CNSNews.com)
Nathan: How many dead Americans will we put up with to “stop gun violence?” Ten thousand? Fifty thousand? A hundred thousand? A million? Of course, a lot of those will be cops and bureaucrats: wonderful people like code inspectors and firefighters and emergency medical personnel and utilities workers. And a lot will be the children who live in the homes where the cops and their support personnel are entering to “protect the children” by stealing their parents’ and grandparents’ weapons.
Mama’s Note: Not to mention all of those police, sheriff’s deputies and other officials who might have been protected or assisted by armed individuals… who now will not be willing to risk doing so in the future. That’s already happening, I’m sure, since that’s clearly being discussed on a number of gun owners websites I visit. And that is without any “ban” or “confiscation.”
Hoplophobes and Hoploclasts – The “messiah’s” chief minion
Biden Compares Gun Control to Car Air Bags: ‘We’re Saving Lives’
(CNSNews.com)
Nathan: Seems to me that guns save a LOT more lives than they take – it is the gun itself that should be compared to air bags, and NOT “gun control.” Indeed, why don’t the GOP and NRA types (who are statists) lobby for hard points in all new automobiles and trucks to allow the operator to put a holstered handgun convenient to reach for, as another “safety device” for cars? Maybe the patrol and cops should just assume that the driver and passengers are armed, rather than asking if they are (a violation of privacy, no?).
Mama’s Note: Let’s not use their distorted language, please. The guns neither save nor take any lives at all. The tool is a lifeless chunk of metal and plastic. Only a person can use a tool, either for good or ill.
Well, that works for most things, but “air bags” don’t depend on a person to use them… they can attack at any time all by themselves! And they can kill as easily as they can save. Statistically relevant… if the one in my car were to deploy, it would most likely kill me because I am five feet tall and must sit quite close to the steering wheel. The bag would go off right into my face, break my glasses and quite easily break my neck.
Our right to self defense
Wyoming legislators propose gun protection legislation
(K2 Radio) Several Wyoming lawmakers are proposing legislation designed to protect gun-owners from any potential federal firearm ban. The “Firearms Protection Act” bill, introduced this week, would make any federal law banning semi-automatic firearms or limiting the size of gun magazines unenforceable within the state’s boundaries. Anyone trying to enforce a federal gun ban could face felony charges under the proposal. It also includes a provision allowing the Wyoming Attorney General’s office to defend any state resident against any federal firearm ban.
Nathan: Assuming that they don’t mess it up, this is a good sign for people of Wyoming and nearby states. Of course, it might trigger an invasion by Colorado, fearful that Cheyenne and Laramie and Carpenter and Baggs might become centers of infection and smuggling, as the General Assembly and Hickenlooper apparently intend to outlaw “assault weapons” and Swiss Army knives (unless they are used ONLY to cut cured MJ leaves).
Mama’s Note: It’s been interesting just how many people have written to me about this, and are so excited. But as I’ve been explaining, it’s not really likely to pass – and would not likely be enforced if it passed. The state legislature last time almost had a nervous breakdown passing the new law repealing the necessity for CC “permits,” and it still might be reversed.
These are still politicians, mind you, and they do have their own agenda – and our rights are there at the very bottom of the list. Just 10 of the bills being considered:
HB0042: Land use planning: Abolishes state land use commission. Doesn’t abolish government meddling with land use, however.
HB0045: Fireman pension plan A: Limits taxpayers’ growing pension liability. Good, but will probably be defeated.
HB0069: Highway funding: The gas tax grab — need we say more. Very bad.
HB0077: Wyoming lottery: Creates a new lotto bureaucracy in the state. Very bad and super stupid.
HB0078: Budget review process: Would bring the entire Game and Fish and WYDOT budgets under the scope of the governor and legislature. Very bad.
HB0125: Interstate purchase of health insurance: authorizes insurers to offer individual and small employer health insurance policies in Wyoming. Jury is still out on this one. It’s a lame attempt to deal with the Obamacare insanity.
SF0023: Challenge loans for natural gas fueling infrastructure: Gives subsidized loans to businesses. Just what we need, more subsidies.
SF0031: Wyoming Veterinary Medical Practice Act: Require licensing euthanize animals. Stupid and bad.
SF0032: Game and fish license fees: Hikes license fees. Very bad. An almost doubling of the “license” and tag fees.
SF0052: Natural gas state vehicles: Forces state to purchase natural gas vehicles. Really stupid, and very expensive.
Our right to self-defense
Rep. Duncan on U.S. Gun Rights: ‘We Live In a Republic, Not a Dictatorship’(CNSNews.com)
Nathan: Sorry, Representative Duncan, but it was a republic a century ago (before the Federal Reserve and Direct Election of Senators) but we’ve been a dictatorship with growing power for the last ten decades. It could be said to have ended before that: talk to LDS families whose relatives escaped to Mexico, to CSA veteran families in Mexico and Brazil, and to Cuban and Filipino families about 1898-1914. And then talk to German-American families in the Dakotas about 1917-1918, to Japanese-American families on the West Coast 1941-45, to people who don’t want pasteurized or homogenized milk, to midwives, to the veterans of Athens, TN in 1946, and a lot more people since then. There is no true republic here, and democracy is just one step in the direction of more tyranny.
Against our right of self-defense
Anti-Gun Groups At White House: Question Isn’t Whether New Gun Laws Would Have Prevented Newtown
(CNSNews.com)
Nathan: Of course not, the question is whether or not they can use Newtown (Sandy Hook) and the latest school shootings (no killings, at least) in California to come up with more laws to disarm more people and blacken anyone who isn’t in a uniform (or plainclothes) from having a gun (and only when actually on duty). It isn’t about “guns” it is about “control.”
Commentary
The Real Root of School Violence – by Tom DeWeese
(FREEDOM’S PHOENIX)
Thanks to MamaLiberty for this: Some of her thoughts: [DeWeese was a gung ho supporter of Bush and the various “wars on terror” then and I just didn’t want any. No idea if he’s changed much. Don’t see his stuff published often. Anyway, he pretty well hits this one out of the ballpark.
Nathan: DeWeese has put together some very interesting data and history and come up with 2+2+4 here. This is certainly in line with a lot of the questions about drug prescriptions for various “syndromes” raised in the past few weeks. But I think it is MORE than just this: a whole lot of different factors have led to this current situation, including declining responsibility, morality, and increasing government control in far more than just psychology and ADHD. Keep in mind, we are on the THIRD GENERATION of children educated by the system DeWeese describes.
Mama’s Note: Oh, absolutely! There is much more than the drugs involved here, but they all sort of feed into and require each other. And one of the most terrible things to come out of it, regardless of whether or not these kids ever “go postal,” is the fact that the men come out of the “schools” seriously emasculated as well. The people of this country will have a terrible price to pay for this – or at least the survivors.
Self Defense?
CA: Teacher talks student out of high school shooting
(BBC News) “A teacher at a high school in California has been praised by police for averting a serious shooting incident. The teacher and a campus supervisor talked a gunman into putting down his weapon after he had shot and injured one pupil at Taft Union High School. Police said the gunman had enough ammunition to kill many people. The injured student was taken to hospital in an air ambulance and is in a critical condition.” (01/10/13)
Mama’s Note: I can hear it now… Oh, we can just talk these people into not shooting… This teacher is very, very lucky to be alive.
Nathan: That actually is already being said: that teachers should be trained in this and NOT in self-defense using a weapon. This would-be killer used a shotgun, how convenient to add it to the list of forbidden weapons for the Chief Minion’s committee.
The Price of Liberty 
Libertarian Commentary on the News #12-03E: guns and government – Disarming America has begun in NY State
Hoplophobes and hoploclasts – Stupid government – Our right to self defense
NY: Cuomo signs victim disarmament bill
(New York Daily News) “New York on Tuesday took the lead in the national fight against gun violence [sic] when Gov. Cuomo signed into law a sweeping package of gun-control measures — including a major expansion of the state’s assault weapons [sic] ban. The governor signed the bill just before dinner time, minutes after the Assembly sent it to his desk on a 104-43 vote.” (01/15/13)
Nathan: Reports are this was rammed through the Assembly in the dark of night, and outlaws “assault weapons” (apparently any semi-automatic long-arm), magazines able to hold more than 7 rounds (more about that later), and a whole host of other requirements. Of course, long lines of felons and other, unindicted criminals formed in front of every police station in New York State immediately (or by the next morning) to surrender their now-illegal weapons; New Yorkers are well-known for their obeying the law. And in the last forty-eight hours, there has not been a SINGLE HOMICIDE in the whole state! Amazing.
Mama’s Note: Amazing indeed. The criminals all must have laughed so hard their ribs hurt too bad to do anything but sleep for a while.
Congress in action – Theft by government
Portman: Obama ‘Misleading’ Americans by Saying We Ought to Pay Our Bills
(CNSNews.com)
Nathan: The headline comes across a bit weird: Portman is saying that the “messiah” is hypocritical: claiming we ought to pay our bills, while he can’t and won’t pay his own and makes sure that the nation doesn’t and can’t either. Unfortunately, even the opposition in Congress still doesn’t understand what is happening.
Home front
L.A. Mayor: Keep ‘Non-Serious Criminal’ Aliens in U.S.–It Will Make Us Safer
(CNSNews.com)
Nathan: Oh, sure. Set a thief to catch a thief? Really? So the taxpayers can continue to support them? And what constitutes “non-serious?” Violent crime that doesn’t include killing? Traffic tickets? Identify theft? Why do governments from the FedGov down to local cities and towns give border jumpers a pass when legitimate residents are hit with the full force of the law?
Mama’s Note: A lot of politicians are “non-serious criminals.” They laugh all the way to the bank.
Stupid government – Our northern neighbor|
Canada: Prime Minister Harper, Launches First Nations ‘Termination Plan’ Friday
(RumorMill News)…the Harper government clearly signaled its intention to:1) Focus all its efforts to assimilate First Nations, into the existing federal and provincial orders of government of Canada; 2) Terminate the constitutionally protected and internationally recognized, Inherent, Aboriginal and Treaty rights, of First Nations. Termination in this context means the ending of First Nations pre-existing sovereign status, through federal coercion of First Nations into Land Claims and Self-Government Final Agreements, that convert First Nations into municipalities, their reserves into fee simple lands, and extinguishment of their Inherent, Aboriginal and Treaty Rights.’ …
Nathan: Sent by a friend who asked to remain totally anonymous. This is fresh news because the legislation has apparently been brought up in committee in Commons. This is particularly interesting because a lot of folks I know wax eloquent about how much better it is for AmerInd up in “Grandmother’s Land” (Canada) with no BIA hassles. Folks, it doesn’t matter whether they claim allegiance to Her Majesty or the Constitution, government is bad for you, your family, friends and neighbors, small children and furry animals.
Should AmerInd (First Nations) nations/tribes be sovereign? Of course! As should ANY community which wishes to remain or become independent of any existing human government, right down to those Canadian municipalities and townships, and right down to local neighborhoods and communities in American cities and towns and townships and counties. What should NOT be is that OTHER people: on a national, state/provincial, or local basis, should be forced to subsidize or pay for these independent (sovereign) communities – nations. Treaty provisions, even those signed centuries ago, should be honored as much as possible, including purchases (cash or in-kind) of land and travel rights of way and hunting rights and all the rest. Just because you signed a really stupid contract doesn’t mean you should be able to wiggle out of it. You can try to renegotiate, but both sides must agree. But it is wrong to turn treaty rights into welfare, and wrong to expect a free lunch forever. And wrong, dead wrong, for a trumped-up Parliament OR Congress to ram unilateral and mandatory changes down anyone’s throat: whether your skin is red or white or black or yellow or brown.
Stupid government – theft by government
NASA beams Mona Lisa to Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter at the moon
(Eureka Alert) Your Tax Dollars At Work. After 54 years of technology and communications advances, NASA has reached a remarkable milestone: transmitting a 152×200 pixel grayscale low resolution “Mona Lisa” at the blindingly fast rate of 300 bit/sec. NASA scientists achieved unprecedented image quality by developing a bleeding edge error correction algorithm (quite coincidentally known as Reed-Solomon error correction when deployed in common CDs and DVDs) to clean up transmission errors.
When asked if this wasn’t the same data rate produced by the Hayes Smartmodem 300 more than 30 years ago, NASA researcher Sun said, “Sure. But this is _light_; that’s green, you know. We plan to improve the process by inventing something called a Bell Photophone and using completely renewable solar resources to communicate with our space probes. But it’s possible we simply won’t be able to support the bandwidth, so one of our teams is trying to invent a 50 word per minute teletype.”
Officials did not not have figures available regarding the cost of the project, but assured reporters that the expense was unlikely to adversely impact Mrs. Obama’s 2013 vacation plans.
Nathan: Thanks to Bear for this one – Take all of the above with a grain of salt, but it is clear that NASA is desperate to prove their relevance in today’s world.
Africa’s Collapse – Stupid government – Islamic wars
Mali War: Algeria ends desert hostage situation by killing many hostages
(News 24)
Nathan: What is worse than being held hostage by a bunch of crazed Islamist rebels? Being “freed” from captivity by a bunch of crazed Islamist government troops. Of course, the reason for being taken captive was in revenge for French military forces coming to the aid of its satellite dictatorship fighting against crazed Islamist rebels (even though the government itself is considered by many to be “tame” Islamists). For more details, see this story.
And on Friday, we have this: Europe’s invisible hand
(La Tribune) A week after launching operations against the Islamists who are in control of the north of Mali, the French are still the only Western forces with boots on the ground. But the bloc, which has renounced a joint military capability, is there on other fronts – just more discreetly.
Nathan: So we have secret Euro operations to support the French Empire, probably with the knowledge, agreement, and support of DC. What could possibly go wrong?
The “messiah’s” minions-to-be
Obama’s ATF Nominee Criticized for Seeming to Discourage Whistleblowers
(CNSNews.com)
Nathan: Sounds like a match made in heaven. Just the kind of person to preside over the disarming of the American people.