4/21/2007
Molon Labe, Congressman Moonbeam
From Rep. Dennis "Moonbeam" Kucinich's website (h/t Alphecca)
Washington, Apr 18 - WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 18) — In the aftermath of Monday’s deadly shooting in Blacksburg, Virginia, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) is proposing a comprehensive, three-point plan to deal with the violence plaguing America, including a ban on handguns. […] Kucinich is currently drafting legislation that would ban the purchase, sale, transfer, or possession of handguns by civilians. A gun buy-back provision will be included in the bill.
I'm still trying to figure out what part of the Constitution gives the .fedgov the power to ban possession of anything, but that's not really the point.
I say we blow out the Congressional mail server with messages of two Greek words (or the closest approximation possible).
MOLON LABE.
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4/17/2007
Thoughts on VT Shootings
Just a few things, since most of what can be said has already been said by someone else. I'll get to a few of those links at the end. Just thoughts that I'm not gong to bother putting in paragraph form.
-For all those who are looking to blame this on the sunset of the Ban on New Cosmetically Incorrect Weapons and Standard Capacity Detachable Feeding Devices, remember that Columbine happened smack in the middle of the same ban.
-Virginia has a purchase limit of one handgun every 30 days. The shooter bought his first pistol, the 9mm, on March 13, 2007. The first day he could buy a second pistol was Saturday, April 14, 2007. Yesterday was the first day of class after that day.
-Reports say he'd been referred to counselling services on campus, and some say he was on anti-depressants, which would mean he was under the care of a psychiatrist, and thus not legally allowed to buy firearms. So he lied on his 4473.
-The shooter removed (or attempted to) the serial numbers of his pistols, which is also a violation of federal law, and the laws of most states as well.
-For those counting, that makes two federal and one state firearms laws that he broke, even before he got to "unlawful discharge," and murder.
-I will also note that in Israel, where universal conscription means all the teachers have military training, if not actual combat experience, and all the teachers are armed (after the PLO shot up a classroom or two), they don't have school shootings, even though they are surrounded by violent lunatics whose greatest desire is to die while killing Jews.
-Some are blaming guns, some violent video games. Me, if I have to blame anyone or anything other than the shooter, I'd blame the modern entitlement mindset. The one that says we all are entitled to a shiny, happy, life, and if we're not happy, it must be someone else's fault. Read the Declaration, assholes. It says "Pursuit of Happiness," not it's attainment. If you don't find it, well, tough. Life sucks, get a helmet. Welcome to the real world.
As has been noted elsewhere, the shooter planned this for a while-at least a month, judging from his gun purchases. Not to mention the chains and locks he used to keep the police out and the victims in. It's the very lucky thing he lacked the , patience, or will, to make nastier things such as explosives or poison gas. And the internet is free to college students, and very nasty things can be made from commonly available substances. But either way, it's damn near impossible to stop that kind of evil and malice, especially if the person is willing to die themselves in the process.
Now, being a soldier, the folks I work with are a bit different that the folks most people work with. And where I work, the universal reaction was "Why didn't somebody grab their sack and do something?" After the first couple of classrooms, they had to have known what has happening. There had to have been rooms with more than one male-I won't say man-in them. Why didn't they gang up and go after him. He might have gotten one or two, but not all of them. And personally, I'd rather go out shot in the face reaching for my killer's throat than shot in the back running away. Or with my own bullet in my brain because I could have done something and didn't.
Oh, and dry chemical and/or CO2 fire extinguishers make very useful improvised weapons against lone gunmen. Spray 'em, then bash 'em with the heavy metal container.
Now, some links, courtesy of Instapundit
-A book on self-defense, plus Col. Jeff Cooper's book on the same subject.
-a student with a CCW who vows not to be helpless anymore
-Lefty bloggers not screaming for more gun control here and here. Apparently the big Lefty blogs are also steering away from calls for more gun control. This is good for gun rights, but it means the Socialists have gotten smart enough to know a losing issue and stay away.
ADDENDUM: I saw something about "are the poor children at that school being taken care of?" For fuck's sake. "Children" the same age as those students at VT are patrolling the streets of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan every day. And they see death and destruction on a regular basis, including things far more horrible than what happened at VT yesterday. Maybe I'm just an asshole, but yes, I think seeing a bunch of school kids blown to pieces by a SVBIED is worse than a bunch of adult college students who didn't fight back getting shot. So can it with the "what about those children?" BS, OK?
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