Repeal of the Second Amendment would not Abolish any Right

Posted on 2012-12-27 by MamaLiberty

By Robert Greenslade
© Nitwit Press

Following the recent school shooting in Connecticut, American citizens have once again displayed their total ignorance concerning the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Second Amendment. Facebook postings, comments to so-called news articles and letters to the editor are calling for repeal of the Second Amendment. These individuals believe the right to own a firearm is based on the Second Amendment and the right will vanish if the Amendment can be repealed. Unless the Second Amendment created the right, then repeal of the Amendment cannot constitutionally abolish the right.

Following the Federal [Constitutional] Convention of 1787 and the subsequent ratification of the Constitution in 1788, the several States began submitting amendments to Congress for consideration. By September of 1789, Congress had reduced approximately 210 separate amendments to 12. The amendments were inserted into a congressional resolution and submitted to the several States for consideration. Of these, numbers 2-12 were ratified by the States in 1791 and became the so-called Bill of Rights.

A little known fact about this resolution is that it contained a preamble declaring the purpose of the proposed amendments. Most modern editions of the Bill of Rights either do not contain the preamble or only include the last paragraph. The most important paragraph is the first one because it discloses the intent of the proposed amendments.

A review of this paragraph shows that the sole purpose of the proposed amendments was to prevent the federal government from “misconstruing or abusing its powers.” To accomplish this, “further declaratory and restrictive clauses” were being proposed. The amendments, if adopted, would place additional restraints or limitations on the powers of the federal government to prevent that government from usurping its constitutional powers. Every clause of the Bill of Rights, without exception, is either a declaratory statement or a restrictive provision.

If the Bill of Rights had granted rights, then the word “granted” would have to appear each and every time a right was being established. A review of the Bill of Rights shows that the word “granted” does not appear in any Amendment.

In reality, the Bill of Rights placed additional or secondary restraints on the powers of the federal government concerning the rights of the people and powers reserved to the States. That is why the words “no,” “not” and “nor” appear throughout the Amendments instead of the word “granted.”

Since the Second Amendment did not create or grant any right concerning firearms, the right enumerated in the Amendment has to be an existing right separate from the Amendment. Thus, repealing the Second Amendment would not eliminate any right because the right enumerated in the Amendment was not created by the Amendment. The right to keep and bear arms exists independent of the Constitution or the Second Amendment.

In order to help explain this constitutional principle, I reluctantly decided to reference a United States Supreme Court case from 1875. Normally, I would not cite a court case to support a constitutional principle because too many opinions do not reflect the true intent of the Framers. However, I decided to make an exception because this decision states this constitutional principle clearly and concisely and has never been overturned.

In the case of United States v Cruikshank, the United States Supreme Court held that the rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights were not granted by the Amendments and are not dependent upon the Constitution for their existence. The Court also ruled that the Amendments were restraints on the powers of the federal government and it is the duty of States to secure the individual rights of the American people.

One of the most definitive and succinct interpretations of the Second Amendment is found in the Court’s second holding:

“The right there specified is that of ‘bearing arms for a lawful purpose.’ This is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence. The Second Amendment declares that it shall not be infringed: but this, as has been seen, means no more than that it shall not be infringed by Congress. This is one of the amendments that has no other effect than to restrict the powers of the National [Federal] Government…”

The Second Amendment did not create or grant any right to keep and bear arms. It placed an additional restraint on the powers of the federal government concerning the existing right to keep and bear arms. Thus, all a repeal could do, from a federal standpoint, is remove the secondary restraint imposed on federal power by the Amendment. And since many States have a right to keep and bear arms clause in their constitution, separate and apart from the Federal Constitution or the Second Amendment, the existence or non-existence of the Second Amendment would not affect the right because the federal government was not granted and does not have the general power to abolish a natural or individual right secured by a State Constitution.

Note: There is a school of thought that the Fourteenth Amendment made, through a doctrine known as incorporation, the Second Amendment applicable to the individual States. Since the Second Amendment did not create a right, then repeal of the Amendment could not abolish the right in the individual States through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Posted in Friends of Liberty | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Safety For Whom?

Posted on 2012-12-26 by MamaLiberty

How does making me helpless keep anyone else safe?

Unless you plan to attack me, of course. You weren’t planning to attack me, were you?

Posted in Mama's Rants | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Libertarian Commentary on the News #12-52C: Home front

Posted on 2012-12-22 by TPOL Nathan

Do we all see the effects of laws and government trying to do what is impossible, given our collapsing society, increased immorality, and other failings?  Sadly, too many people are blinded to the truth, and scream for what is not possible.

Men and women can be and often are evil.  Laws do not stop crime, they often do not even punish crime.  And all too often attempts by “society” (that is, government pretending to be God) backfire.  We have seen this in Connecticut, and probably in Utah, Oregon, South Dakota and other places in the last two weeks. This is worth pondering:

Blame the Drugs, not the Guns
(Godfather Politics) Dr, David Healy, founder of RISK.org, spends much of his time researching and reporting on prescription drugs.  In his research, Healy has found that nearly 90% of the school and other mass shootings in the past couple decades, were carried out by someone who was taking some form of psychotic drugs or anti-depressant.  These drugs are known to alter a person’s personality and can make them become violent.

It has been reported that Lanza was taking prescription drugs for a personality disorder, but what drugs he was taking has not been released yet.  If shown that he was taking drugs that fit into the category Healy is referring to, then it is very possible that they may be partially to blame for his actions.  Healy also says that we should not be comfortable with knowing that 90% of school shootings involved these personality altering drugs.

Nathan: Debby first pointed this out, last weekend, noting that this “coincidence” dates back to at least Columbine (a bad event in our family’s history, unrelated to the school killings and suicides: her mother died that day just a few miles away).  We have been aware of the dangerous nature of many “antipsychotic” and mind-altering drugs, such as Ritalin (in essence just a prescription and somewhat purer form of meth).  We have been involved in fights on that and the impact on children, even those who do NOT go truly off the deep end and kill or suicide or both.  Many people have now noted this.

Perhaps this is the actual way that we have to deal with a “Zombie Invasion.”  Is that the reason that DHS is also going off the deep end – or are they just too drugged-up?

DHS: Ammo and more ammo, for what?
(Freedom Outpost) Click here for a list of ALL the ammunition purchases since 2009. For a grand total now of 1,140,618,530 or 1.1 BILLION rounds… for 50,000 employees of DHS.

Nathan: Hmmm.  That is a LOT of fun range time.  What next?  Maybe we all ought to be buying more ammo.  Freedom Outpost thinks it is gearing up for a civil war, but if that is the case, ain’t nearly enough: if one in ten Americans each buys 2 boxes of 9-mm (100 rounds), that is 3,000,000,000 rounds: 3 billion.  Those of us who like Cheaper Than Dirt or Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops and buy 1,000 at a time are outliers; still it adds up.  Throw in a few billion .22-cal rounds and a couple of hundred million 7.62/.30-cal and 5.56/.223-cal and keep in mind that people who buy their own ammo (instead of having their employer – even Uncle Sam do it) are generally better shots than the “public forces” like the 137 rounds 13 cops fired to kill a couple in Ohio (under suspect circumstances) a few days ago.  But even if it takes 100 rounds per DHS employee, that only requires 5,000,000 rounds.  So maybe they SHOULD be worried that they don’t have enough.  After all, they can’t all be as good at killing as the next story relates:

Home front – Stupid people
South Dakota: Pierre teen dead in shotgun shooting

We can’t and don’t know the details, but given recent events and the analysis, I will not be surprised if the guy was on a drug regime to keep him “sane.”  Was that also the problem with Helleson (or is “Hell’s Daughter” a more appropriate name?) in the next story?

Texas – Stupid cop tricks
Texas Cops sued over on-highway body cavity search
(Freedom Outpost/Dallas Morning News) According to Dallas Morning News and Texas Trooper Dash Cam, Texas trooper Kelley Helleson is suspended with pay pending an investigation into a roadside cavity search on two women. Using the same glove, trooper Helleson allegedly entered first the anus, and then the vagina (a HUGE no-no for any woman trained in health care or personal hygiene) of two women after a routine traffic stop.

Nathan: Gross and disgusting, and nothing less than rape – public rape.  Texas can do some good things, and it allows people to do some very STUPID things.  A necktie party should have taken place the next day, starting with the two jack-booted thugs (yes, ESPECIALLY the woman) and continuing up the chain of command to the Director of Public Safety.  And the Rangers should have led the party.

Perhaps it is a lack of trust in cops due to nasty things like this one that caused the results of this national poll in the next story:

National Poll:  Weapons ban not most effective in preventing school shootings
A recent poll conducted by Gallup shows that more Americans believe that several things would be more effective at preventing mass shootings at schools than a weapons ban, including having at least one school official carrying a firearm.

Nathan:  Blinded as people are in their belief in laws and government, this is quite a surprise.  And must anger the hoploclasts and other Tranzis, as they are seizing this opportunity to strike down liberty and self-defense once and for all.  The media is FILLED with screams of how people are changing their mind.  This poll shows that ain’t necessarily so.

The entire situation vis-a-vis guns and the hoploclasts (gun-haters) and hoplophobes (gun-fearers) is going to remain in transition for a long, long time.  If you are still searching for that last minute gift, let me suggest a few:

(a) More ammo – ammo prices are actually down right now from highs the past several years.

(b)  A new weapon – especially battle rifles and “assault” rifles.

(c)  New magazines for existing weapons, especially larger-capacity.

(d)  Training – new or refresher, on every weapon they have, especially defensive handgun use.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Libertarian Commentary on the News #12-52B: Funny-stupid and more guns

Posted on 2012-12-21 by TPOL Nathan

Nathan: This week has not been a good one, nationally.  The nation, here a few days before Christmas, has found another issue to tear itself apart.  The Congress and White House continue to play stupid PR games about “fiscal cliffs” and Europe continues to mess around and crumble.  Japan and China are squaring off, North Korea is undoubtedly getting another nuke ready, Muslims are killing Muslims at a rate which should make us all realize that recent events here in the US are “not unexpected” if not “normal” (or what we wish was normal), and…

So I thank Bear for sending this one:  He said:

Hey, Nathan,
What with all the bad stuff in the news recently, I thought maybe you’d like a little comedy for your news commentary.

New Hampshire: Naughton may run to replace herself for Nashua’s Ward 4 House seat
“NASHUA – A special election to fill a House seat in Nashua’s Ward 4 vacated by State Rep.-elect Stacie Laughton could have a familiar ring to it. Laughton said Thursday that she plans to run in the District 31 race to replace her.”

Bear: A little background to make this…. “clear”. Sort of.
Barry Charles Laughton, Jr. was convicted of several felonies a few years ago. He then underwent “gender reassignment therapy” and changed his/her name to Stacie Laughton. Ms. Laughton then ran for the New Hampster state legislature, and, in a demonstration of exactly why the rest of the state would be happy to cede Nashua to Massachusetts, won.
Sadly, for the Democrats (you just _knew_ Laughton was a Democrat, right?), NH has a state law that bars convicted felons from running for or holding a state House seat. Apparently someone saw a news mention of Laughton previously being male and connected her to her former criminal identity.

Laughton then announced she would resign. Then she announced that she wouldn’t resign. Then she resigned. Now… She’s going to run to replace herself.

No word on how she expects to get around the state law barring her from running or holding the seat. Possibly another sex-change operation; I know our state Attorney General has a penis he isn’t using.

Popcorn sales in southern New Hampshire are up 127%.

Nathan: This plot would NEVER sell as a B-grade comedy (at least not before 1960 or so).  As a novel?  Self-published, maybe, but any decent vanity press operator would slit his wrists first.  But I expect it will win; voters are so vile.

On to other news: This next story has its funny elements, as well.  Anyone who has been to a standard Little Caesar’s can just picture this fight!

Self defense?
Man shot at Florida pizza shop for complaining about slow service
(Digital Journal) The Tampa Bay Times reports that the alleged incident occurred around 4 p.m. on Sunday at the Little Caesar’s pizzeria on Fourth Street North in St. Petersburg. Customer Randall White, 49, was growing tired of waiting for his thin-crust veggie pizza to be prepared. White complained about the slow service, much to the annoyance of customer Michael Jock, who was behind him in line. Jock, 52, told White to quit whining. The latter allegedly took offense, “prompting them to exchange words, and it became a shoving match,” according to police spokesman Mike Puetz. When White raised his fist, Jock allegedly pulled out a .38 Taurus Ultralight Special revolver and fired one round, which struck White in his lower torso. The two men struggled and Jock allegedly fired again, striking White in the same area.

Mama’s Note: NOT self-defense. Makes me wonder, really. What better way to discredit CC “permit” holders and self defense?

Nathan: If the story is correct, the headline is wrong, and maybe this guy DID shoot in self-defense. White (a vegetarian) was complaining about the slow service, and Jock, the guy behind him in line told him to stop whinging, but they started arguing, shoving, and then when White escalated things to fisticuffs, Jock pulled out a gun and shot him. Jock may have been the reason that the fighting escalated to a raised fist, but we know very little about the two of them.  The police claimed that he didn’t have reason to escalate to deadly force, but that is the police – and who can believe them?  Seems like this is why we have courts: hear the witnesses (at least three, counting the clerk), the two plaintiffs, and let the jury decide. Jock certainly should have (IMO) shut up after he made the one comment (if indeed, that was the time and place).  In a rational society, the clerk would have been armed and ordered BOTH customers to go outside and fight it out; and there would have been someplace safe (perhaps via a Boy Scout project) if they felt a resort to arms was necessary (and probably, it being Florida, a retired person or two to act as referee/umpire).

Mama’s Note: Well, all that is certainly true enough. I was just thinking about the fact that all who carry now are under a microscope and that any such situations will be used against us.

Nathan: Right, of course – EVERYTHING, even legitimate self-defense with no question about initiating aggression is suspect.

Which of course brings us to the news dominating the week, and the latest reason for the nation to continue to tear itself apart:

This one in particular is worth commenting on:

Newtown slaughter: End prohibition of self-defense in schools, say Libertarians
(Conservative Action Alerts) On Sunday, families throughout the nation mourned the horrific deaths of 26 people, including 20 young children, killed Friday during a Newtown, Conn., mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, said a political leader, who believes that government is not the solution to a problem, but government is the problem. “It’s impossible to imagine the depths of despair and grief that the victims’ families are experiencing right now,” said the chairman of the Libertarian National Committee, Geoffrey J. Neale.

Nathan: Interesting connections here: does this mean that the November 2012 loss is making at least SOME conservatives consider closer ties to Libertarians?  Also, this IS a good statement that Geoff Neale put together.  Hitting hard (for an LP national press release, that is) but NOT going to name-calling or esoteric discussions.

Mama’s Note: Some really hard hitting questions about all this here:
Sandy Hook massacre: Official story spins out of control
(Sott.net) The traumatised Newtown community deserves the facts without the spin. Everyone touched by this brutal event deserves to know what really happened, so let’s fix our eyes on what remains unseen…

A 20-year-old ‘tech geek’ named Adam Lanza is supposed to have snapped early last Friday, December 14th, shot dead his mother Nancy Lanza, loaded her car up with her guns and ammo, then driven it across town to his former school, the Sandy Hook Elementary School, shot dead 27 people in two classrooms and an adjoining hallway, then turned one of his guns on himself.

That’s how most will now remember the shooting, but is that actually what happened?

Of course, the mainstream news is playing its spin-game even more this week: you never heard about this one, did you?

Texas: Two wounded in theater shooting
(My San Antonio) A recent breakup set off a shooting spree that ended with the suspect wounding a man at the Santikos Mayan Palace 14 movie theater Sunday night before being shot by an off-duty deputy, authorities said. Police are shown questioning men outside the theater Sunday night.. Jesus Manuel Garcia, 19, an employee at a nearby China Garden restaurant, apparently became upset Sunday night after his girlfriend broke up with him.

Nathan: Thanks to Jeffrey for this: you were right: no MSM reporting at all.  The problem is, “if it bleeds, it leads.”  NOT getting a bunch of folks killed is viewed as dull and boring – it don’t sell the advertisements!

But then again, look at the coverage and the screams.  When it is WESTERNERS getting shot up, the hubbub seems to quickly die down.  Columbine, the Chuck-E-Cheese and the Aurora theatre killings got MUCH less coverage over a shorter period than the Virginia Tech killings or now the Sandy Hook murders.  Easterners are, of course, the elite (Californians and other Left-Coasters being honorary Easterners and not “flyover country.”  We wild barbarian uncouth dirt-daubers and animal herders are not worth as much to really civilized people, whether we are talking New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, London or Paris.  As an example of us hick, stupid Westerners, consider this from Texas, THAT evil place.

(Dallas Libertarian Examiner) Hollist, a Dallas resident and 2012 LibertarianParty candidate for US Congress, launched “Teachers protection of children in schools!” on the activist website,causes.com…. Texas Teachers To Carry Guns – Reality vs. Political Correctness …His “Cause” features a poster of Israeli children being watched over by their teacher with a rifle slung over her shoulder.

Nathan: Actually, that is disinformation, as the following motivation poster (provided by pro-Palestinian supporters who obviously can be trusted to tell the truth) proves:

Note that the two teachers are blond, white “Aryan” types (who are claiming to be “Jews” – no doubt Ashkenazim) while all the children are “people of color” – surely, enough said.

Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Libertarian Commentary on the News #12-52A: Shootings and guns

Posted on 2012-12-18 by TPOL Nathan

Here are a series of stories related to the attack in Connecticut:

Once more, the evil found in people is exposed to the world, but sadly, most of the evil is not challenged: that is the evil of people who think that “one more law” or “one more ban” will stop this sort of thing.  And that we have to just let children die instead of protecting them.

Since the killer supposedly also killed himself, and the news stories and “authorities” are contradicting themselves hourly, it is worth noting the overall theme, taken from various websites and e-zines:

Nathan: Why not just introduce it right now?  I’m sure they’ve had it written and with the stuff ready to print for months waiting for this “perfect storm” to blow up.

Nathan: This idiot, Donne Warwick, is trying to replace Jesse Jackson Jr., (a failed liberal) and is liberal himself:  do as I say, not as I do version.  Was he afraid that Sandy Hook was part of a conspiracy and he was on the list? But he works for a security company (which is itself hypocritical, is it not, for an anti-gun State Senator) and says he “forgot.”

Nathan: Of course: they have no understanding of cause and effect, believe in aggression and revenge, and since they do not believe in a real God, no understanding of justice or anything else: they are liberals, in the modern sense.  They are what the old Law of Moses “eye-for-an-eye” was all about, because they are the kind of the people who kill someone for stealing something. They are the reason that Jesus advised His disciples to go out to preach and teach armed.  They are the ones that caused the Founding Fathers to include the Second Amendment.

Nathan: For the answer to that, I cannot do better than quote JPFO:

“Let’s get something straight — no amount of legislation can ever prevent bad people from committing bad deeds and no amount of “gun control” can ever prevent bad people from acquiring firearms. It must be accepted that in this current age defense is the answer and not deprivation of that means for the majority law abiding citizen, which should include suitably trained school staff members. When will people wake up to the fact?”

    Nathan: This is the same idiot who also said that only the United States has these mass shootings because we have the Second Amendment.  How convenient it is to have a memory like his:  he can’t remember Norway (what was it, 52 dead?), nor Mesopotamia, nor Afghanistan, nor Pakistan, India, Syria, Egypt?  Nor Breslan (Russia)?  But worst, he can’t remember Mexico, where this is about average in the drug-cartel killing fields?  The point about almost ALL of these places: especially Norway and Mexico, is that gun ownership by private citizens is ILLEGAL and has been for years in those places.

    Nathan: Seems to be doing a pretty good job of it so far.  Of course, it lets him be in full campaign mode, which seems to be his default setting.

    Nathan: This sort of comment or news story totally disgusts me.  To paraphrase Patton, you aren’t a hero to die for your students.  These people: the principal and the psychologist weren’t heroes, they were ENABLERS together with the administrators, faculty, staff, and school boards of EVERY public school district in the nation: too cowardly to stand up for what is right and necessary to protect the children in their care.  As for the teacher who hid with her children: she is beyond disgusting:  she did nothing but die foolishly and as a result cause more children to die.

    Nathan: Even lunatics can be evil.  Especially when they are drugged to “help them,” as so many of the killers seem to be these days.  But the evil resides in the hearts and minds of congressmen and other government officials, right down to school boards and superintendents who will not stand up for what is right.

    From my correspondents:

    (1) My first instinct on hearing about the Connecticut shooter being “disturbed” was to ask – what medications was he on.  This video, reported as being released in July 2012 is very chilling, very disturbing and underlines some concerns I have had for years about the overuse of psychotropic prescription medicines for all ages.  There are some interesting correlations between INCREASE in overall Violence and Psychotropic Prescription Medications…

    (2)  To the gun banners: Barbaric acts of murder will always take place and were not invented with the advent of gun powder.  Ceding all gun ownership to the State is a dangerous move that can result in MORE death in the future.  If you’re truly in a mood to ban things that cause harm, then be consistent and start with abortions, alcohol and all pornography.  You might even go so far as to ban the private ownership of automobiles and motorcycles.  Do you really want to trust every facet of your life to the government?  When two thugs break into your home with knives, why not meet them with a gun.  We love our law enforcement, but remember what has been stated in the past, “When seconds count, the police are just minutes away.”  We must take responsibility for some of our own defense.  If you want something done right, do it yourself.

    Darryl Treat, Arkansas

    Monday news related to the Sandy Hook killings
    Colorado: Massive spike in gun purchases after Sandy Hook killings
    (Vision to America) The Colorado Bureau of Investigation says it received 4,154 requests for background checks from potential buyers on Saturday. That was so many the CBI couldn’t process them all and the backlog grew to nearly 18 hours. The Unit could only process 3,001 checks on Saturday. Extra staff was brought in over the weekend and workers are still trying to clear the backlog.

    Oregon: Gun owner stops shooting spree
    (PolicyMic.com) On Tuesday night, a complete idiot walked into a Portland, Oregon mall and began firing. Obviously the shooter, Jacob Roberts, was an imbecile to start with, since he managed to kill only two people before turning a gun on himself, but that’s not the whole story. As it turns out, 22-year-old Nick Meli was at the mall, and walking with his friend and their friend’s son. Nick said: “I heard three shots and turned and looked at Casey and said, ‘are you serious?'” Nick then directed his friend to a safe location and took up a position behind a pillar away from the shooter. Being a legal Concealed Carry permit holder in the State of Oregon, Nick determined that he should try to prevent more deaths. He said: “[The shooter] was working on his rifle, he kept pulling the charging handle and hitting the side,” as the shooter dealt with a jammed gun. Nick drew down on the shooter as they made eye contact, and Nick prepared to fire. However, he determined (like any conscious firearms owner should) that there were other people behind Roberts, and his shot was not safe. The only shot fired after this point was Roberts taking his own life.

    Oregon mall shooter had sold belongings, acted ‘weird’
    (CNN International)     The gunman in last week’s Oregon mall shooting acted “weird” and had talked about moving and selling his possessions, his roommate said.

    Nathan:  Nothing in the mainstream news about Nick Meli, of course.  Am I surprised?

    Congress in action – Stupid hoploclasts and hoplophobes
    Feinstein Introducing Gun Ban; Durbin Holding Hearings
    (CNSNews)

    Nathan: As mentioned elsewhere, I’m sure she had this written before the Sandy Hook murders  Durbin holds hearings on whatever his staffers find in the daily newspapers.  I am sure that these will try and use this to ban ALL guns (in private ownership, of course).  But I think we’ve come to the point where even law-abiding gun owners will NOT obey any such law, no matter if the SCOTUS finds it legit or not.

    Michael Moore: Killing Is ‘Who We Are’ As Americans
    (CNSNews)

    Nathan: If this were the case, it is something that American “civilization” shares with a good many civilizations in the past, around the world:  Hittite, Akkadian, several of the Canaanite cultures, Roman, Carthagian, Hunnish, Islamic Arabian, Celtic (Irish and Scots), Prussian, Aztec, Iberian (Reconquista), most Plains AmerInd nations, and more.  But Moore is ignoring the better parts of American society because he hates the idea of individual liberty and freedom in all but a very few select areas, and because he supports a transnational agenda which common American values dooms.

    Iran: ‘No Difference’ Between Conn. Shooting Victims and Those in Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan
    (CNSNews)

    Nathan: To a degree, they are right: most of the dead in those countries are killed directly and indirectly as the result of government actions – as were the 26 dead of the 28 total at Sandy Hook.  In those countries, many killings are by government agencies; the rest are caused by those fighting against government.  Here, the situation is different: we warehouse children in “gun-free” zones where any evil madman high on prescribed drugs for their mental condition, such disarming demanded and enforced by government.

    Gohmert, Bennett: Ban Guns or Arm School Officials?
    (CNSNews)

    Nathan: Well, it is nice to see that SOME politicians are willing to recommend the obvious.  Several people sent me photos of an Israeli teacher carrying an assault rifle standing behind her students on a field trip.  Good for her!  Of course, getting RID of public schools would also greatly improve the situation.

    Obama: ‘Can We Honestly Say We Are Doing Enough to Keep Our Children, All of Them, Safe from Harm?
    (CNSNews)

    Nathan: Of course we are NOT, as long as we do not allow teachers, staff, administrators, and parents to be armed in order to protect their children.

    Posted in Commentary on the News | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

    I carry a gun – Get over it

    Posted on 2012-12-16 by MamaLiberty

    republished from July 30, 2012

    I carry a gun. All the time, just about everywhere I go except to bed and the shower. Even then, a gun is within a foot or so of my hand all the time. An occasional trip into the disarmed victim zone of the post office, and my last (and I do mean last) trip to California to visit family are the extreme and very temporary exceptions.

    So, why do I carry it? I’m asked frequently, so much that I printed up cards to hand out to the curious. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to explain the most important reason:

    I own my life and am the only one responsible for that life and my safety. I can, and do, work with others – including the local sheriff’s dept. – for mutual defense, but in the end it is the responsibility of each person to guard their own safety and that of their legitimate dependents.

    No, I’m not paranoid or afraid.

    The fact that there is little crime where I live is not relevant because there is no place where the risk of attack is zero. So a gun is simply insurance. But, unlike an auto policy, it can’t do me any good in an emergency if it is locked up and unloaded. It has to be instantly available, in my hand to be effective. And, just as with my auto insurance, I sincerely hope I never have to use it.

    Of course, free lance criminals and maniacs are not the only, or even the most dangerous threats. The entire history of the world demonstrates clearly that those who desire to own other people and control their lives never cease their efforts to render them weak, helpless and unarmed in every way.

    Innocents Betrayed

    Genocide examples from all over the world: Russia, China, Germany, Cambodia, Guatemala, Uganda, Rwanda and more. Examples showing how disarmed people in America have suffered persecution, mass murder, slavery, and terrorist attacks.

    A fast-moving, modern production, Innocents Betrayed presents the entirely true accounts of how civilian disarmament made possible the killing of millions. The point is made sharply, clearly, unforgettably. It’s the factual counterpoint to the lies in Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine.”

    Then there is the endless mantra of those who think they should decide who, where and how a person prepares to defend themselves, if at all. They can’t seem to get past the rather obvious fact that anyone who actually cannot be trusted with the ordinary tools of life should not be loose in the first place. Anyone who can’t or won’t use a gun (or a knife, matches, a car, etc.) without deliberately harming others needs to be in a cage or a padded room – or dead at the hands of their intended victim.

    Unfortunately, often it’s impossible to know who those people are before they hurt others, and most of the time they are left free to harm others again and again even when they are apprehended. The insanity of passing preemptive “laws,” attempting to restrain the vast majority of peaceful people in a vain hope of preventing these crimes, is obvious to anyone who gives it any rational thought.

    Politicians and “authorized journalists,” among others, don’t seem to be capable of much rational thought, of course.

    But, in the end, I live and therefore I am. I don’t need any other person’s permission to live or defend myself. I don’t need anyone’s vetting of my intentions or sanity, nor approval for the self defense tool I choose or how I carry it.

    I don’t NEED to explain myself. I don’t NEED any reasons at all.

    Posted in Mama's Rants | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

    School shooting – Most complete story so far

    Posted on 2012-12-16 by TPOL Nathan

    The most complete and balanced story so far I’ve found is in Business Insider.

    In going through it, I see some points of interest:
    (1) Who/what was the mysterious second suspect/shooter: shadow or smoke? Why was someone seen and arrested and then the story changed?
    (2) The heroism of some of the teachers: obvious – too bad they were not armed. By the way, I do not consider it “heroism” to hide in a bathroom with your students: it is just that your cowardice was not so total that you didn’t remember at least SOME of your responsibilities.
    (3) The possible heroism of the school principal and the school – too bad they were not armed: if the psychologist is not stable and responsible enough to be armed, then why is he or she allowed to be in contact with students? Maybe the same could be said for the principal.
    (4) What were the possible causes and influences on the killer’s actions – what is “developmentally disabled” (the story says “autistic” but that is pretty broad) and why was he supposedly not allowed to buy a weapon because of his condition, when he was underage? And what were the impacts of living in a broken family? Obviously his mother, as the first victim, was part of his problem.
    (5) Why was there a “welfare check” at the killer’s father’s house? Why not just call? Did the cops expect to find him dead also?
    (6) How did he steal the weapon from his mother – who was his first victim, apparently? Is this an excuse to demand ALL weapons be given up either by (a) any relations of a “developmentally disabled” person, or – anyone?
    (7) The media goes gaga over an assault rifle that wasn’t even used. Unless it was talking to the killer…
    (8) Why did he bother with a “bullet-proof” vest? Did he intend to kill himself, and DID he really kill himself?
    (9) Why isn’t there any outrage over the failure of the school to keep a 20-year-0ld, autistic person (even if the son of one of the teachers, who obviously had NOT shown up for work that day) OUT of the school? Where was their security?
    (10) The failure of the laws to “prevent” this is obvious: all the mandatory signs were posted but the killer didn’t obey them – was it because he was “developmentally disabled”? Or because lawbreakers break the law?
    (11) Does the “something” that must be done, according to Obama, mean adopting the Israeli model and arming teachers and staff and getting rid of the “gun-free zones” that obviously are not? I am pretty certain it does not.
    (12) Or does it mean ending the mass incarceration of students – putting children in large numbers (700, 1000, whatever) in well-marked and unprotected targets together with “responsible adults” who are not responsible enough to protect and defend themselves. let alone the children they are in charge of?
    (13) What kind of coincidences are we expected to hear about as far as this timing? Elections, new calls for gun control, UN treaties, approaching holidays, sudden upsurges in gun purchases?? All these things can be (and will be) rolled into the analysis by all sides.

    I am sure that there are many more questions to ask than this baker’s dozen- and that most of them will NOT be answered. I suspect that other than the killer himself, the person most responsible for this was the very first victim. Well, except that Congress, a series of presidents, the Connecticut legislature and a series of governors, a school board and administration are all responsible for the fact that the precious lives of children (foolishly placed in their hands by parents who refuse to understand the dangers) were unprotected in multiple ways.

    We have created a nation of sociopaths and psychopaths, of which this 20-year-old is the latest to show his colors. There are tens of thousands more wandering around out there. And then there are tens or hundreds of thousands of murderous people of other types, from Islamic terrorists hoping for the next Bloody Tuesday to “rogue” cops who want to kill and eat young women or just gun down a jaywalker or taser a woman complaining about a store’s selling policy – to people who want to gun down abortionists or the abortionists themselves!

    As society falls apart, the need for people to be able to defend themselves, their families, their friends and neighbors, their students, their employees, their employers, grows daily. As in the case of Columbine, the Aurora theatre, Virginia Tech, Casper College, and now Sandy Hook, the immorality of their actions is the major reason: these people WANTED to kill. Society and their own families may be part of the reason that they committed these immoral acts (including those who killed themselves), but they – even if “developmentally disabled” – are responsible for their actions.

    Government, on the other hand, is responsible for creating the conditions (primarily the No-Gun Zones and the prevention of self-defense) that allowed these people to kill and kill and kill. Yet, as usual, government and too much of society refuses to see that, and instead blames the weapons. As the attack on a Chinese school shows, and as the worst attack on American schools shows, guns are not the only tools that can be and ARE used to kill and wound people.

    Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

    Baker’s Dozen™ Signs of American Collapse

    Posted on 2012-12-16 by TPOL Nathan
    1. Increasingly military-style law enforcement at all levels: arrests and search warrants executed with violent, intimidating assaults, use of combat weapons, equipment, and tactics, and abandoning the idea of “peace officers.”
    2. The conversion of our military defense forces into a world occupation force which is also increasingly used as a method of reengineering society and as a testbed for domestic control, meaning that morality and fundamental principles of liberty are increasingly rejected as the military is increasingly politicized.
    3. Increasing gang-initiated attacks on homes, businesses and community facilities in urban areas.
    4. The continued failure of the housing industry to recover, while foreclosures and other actions continue at record levels or even increase.
    5. More and more lies about actual unemployment and underemployment levels, coupled with more and more laws, regulations, and taxes which encourage less employment and more underemployment.
    6. The ever-increasing promotion, love for, glorification, and importance of sporting and athletic events, including professional and college sports, the Olympics, and even high school sports, and similarly, the ever-greater idolization of “celebrities” including media stars, sports stars, and even politicians and their family members, filling the airwaves and internet with mindless retellings of their doings.
    7. The replacement of basic education: reading, writing, mathematics, science, reasoning, and history with propaganda; and further elimination of all moral teaching, even the most basic, in primary and secondary education, even in private and home schooling.
    8. The “anything goes” attitude towards sex and related matters found in both public and private universities, in which anything, however demeaning or degrading or even harmful, is permitted provided it is “consensual.”
    9. The ever-changing definition of “marriage” by government as something other than a man and a women: itself a product of the widespread promotion and practice of divorce and remarriage (serial polygamy) and homosexual behavior: destroying family ties and eroding the very foundation of society.
    10. The growing incidents of racial-motivated violence and attacks (mostly black on other races), even while overall crime rates are declining, increasing distrust and furthering “group” politics.
    11. The increasing surveillance and micromanagement of government at all levels of business, education (even non-“public”), and our daily lives, from black boxes in automobiles and trucks, to light bulbs and flush toilets and deodorants and prohibited ingredients in food, infantilizing more of the population.
    12. The ever-growing tens of thousands of pages of laws and regulations, costing businesses and consumers trillions of dollars (compliance costs, fees, and taxes), draining the economy dry, and preventing establishment of new businesses, creation of new jobs, and investment.
    13. The fact that millions of acres of productive land is idle and unavailable for most productive uses, thanks to government ownership, legal restrictions, and welfare programs, limiting economic development across the board while increasing government costs.
    Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

    Baker’s Dozen™ Signs of American Financial Collapse

    Posted on 2012-12-16 by TPOL Nathan
    1. Food stamp (SNAP) rolls hit 47,710,324 in September 2012, averaging $134.29 per month and totaling $77 billion per year. (Up from 27 million enrolled in 2006.)
    2. Medicaid enrollment hit 59,100,000 in October 2012[1], up from 49 million in 2008 (and an estimated 16 million more under ObummerCare, by 2019): $240 billion per year.
    3. Extended unemployment rolls of 2,000,000, $44 billion per year.
    4. SSI (Social Security disability): 10.8 million in August 2012, up from 4.9 million in 2009: $190 billion per year.
    5. Cost of expiring Bush tax cuts on families making over $250,000: $42 billion/year. (8 cents/dollar of the above spending.)
    6. “Price of gold” morning of Friday, 14th of December 2012:  $1,713.  (The dollar, defined as $20/ounce until 1933 and $35/ounce from 1933-1972, is now worth    0.01168 of what it was in 1933, or just a bit more than 1 US cent in 1933, in gold.)
    7. “Price of silver” morning of Friday, 14th of December 2012:  $33.26. (The dollar, defined at 0.9 ounces of pure silver until 1965, is now worth    0.0331 of what it was in 1964, or about 3 US cents in 1964, in silver.)
    8. Forty billion ($40,000,000,000) of ‘quantitative easing’ each month by the Federal Reserve (i.e., printing money).
    9. The fact that trillions of dollars has been spent on conquering and occupying vast lands and populations, and will continue to be so spent, instead of investing in a reasonable defense of our nation and allowing Americans traveling overseas (including merchant ships and aircraft) to arm themselves to protect against threats: further sucking life out of the economy: our “official” national debt is now at $16,369,984,159,473.81.[2]
    10. Dozens of states deep in debt, with the total at $4,190,000,000 (4.2 trillion).[3]
    11. Hundreds of cities deep in debt, with a total around $2 trillion; at least a dozen large cities are going bankrupt.
    12. Consumer credit card debt hitting 2,754,000,000 (2.7 trillion).[4] And get this: TOTAL private-sector borrowing is 40.2 trillion!
    13. Student loan debt hitting $1,054,000,000 (1.5 trillion).[5]

    The surprise is that the economy has NOT crashed on the scale of Weimar Germany or the last couple of Argentine collapses; save that with the rapid and accelerating decay of the society, economic system, and government, the American collapse threatens to be spectacularly messy – and probably very bloody.  The likelihood of a “peaceful collapse” like that of the Soviet Union is low: and the potential for something far, far worse than the collapse of Yugoslavia is great.  Indeed, the Yugoslavian collapse is the more likely model:  fifty states not only fighting with the remnants of the Federal Government, but each other and gangs ranging from neighborhood street thugs to corporate bully-boys and expanding Mexican drug cartel enforcers and local police forces gone “rogue” or “feral.”

    (c) 2012 by Nathan A. Barton, all rights reserved.

    Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

    Tranzis and Reservations

    Posted on 2012-12-14 by TPOL Nathan

    Send Illegal Aliens to the Reservation? ‘Maybe That’s a Good Plan B,’ Immigrant Activist Says
    (CNSNews.comO An advocate for immigrant rights says Indian reservations might offer “a good Plan B” for accommodating the estimated 11- to 14-million people illegally residing in the United States….said Chris Newman, director of legal programs with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network.  Newman made the remarks on Tuesday at  the liberal Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C., in response to an audience member, who proposed that if Indian tribes granted reservation citizenship to illegal aliens, then they, too, would be protected through treaties from deportation.

    Nathan:  I was dumbfounded by this, and immediately asked some family and friends what THEY thought of it.

    Matthias:  This guy (and the idiot with the question) has obviously never been on a reservation.

    Debby:  Does this mean putting those folks on the reservation, putting up fencing and making them Coventry?  Interesting.

    Nathan:  I have had to go to my thesaurus to find adequate words for this man: imbecile MIGHT be accurate.  It appears that he wishes to finish the genocide he and his kind claim was done by Americans (many of them the exact kind of liberal-socialist-tranzi Republicans and Democrats HE is), by dumping 11-14 million people on top of less than 5 million (estimated who still live on the reservation).  They obviously know NOTHING about the reservations, the treaties, or the people of the 500+ AmerInd tribes.

    And shall we add insult to injury?  He did.  Apparently they MUST be AmerInd because they cannot speak good English or Spanish.  No doubt, he figures the border jumpers must all wear big feather headdresses and take scalps and promote going back to nature and living at one with the land.  This  berk, bungler, coot, cretin, dipstick,  divvy, dolt, dork, dotard, dweeb, gonzo, halfwit, idiot, moron, nurd, numpty, numbskull, plonker,  prat, schmuck, thickhead, tosser, twit needs his own Coventry: what he has must be catching.

    Mama’s Note: I do hope these people will take up smoking cannabis soon. It can’t possibly make them any crazier than whatever they’re using now, and it might actually mellow them out so they are not quite so freaking stupid. sigh

    This is more like curing a broken arm with amputation.

    Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , | 1 Comment