The Truth About Guns

TTAG gets dozens of emails a day directing us to news stories about guns. (Thank you.) In most cases, we get links to anti-gun diatribes and heavily slanted news reports. Sometimes the polemics and “new stories” are so contemptuous of gun rights you can here distant echoes of the Nazis’ pre-war propaganda. Sometimes the bias is subtle; such as a willful reluctance to examine the antis’ stats with anything approaching scientific rigo

I meandered through the mall the other night. I was checking for changes in shoppers’ situational awareness or security, post-Kenya mall massacre. Needless to say, no. Shoppers’ heads were most definitely not on a swivel (as we armchair ninjas are wont to say). The mall cops were out and about, but in nor greater number or higher state of alert. It occurred to me that the mall offered plenty of cover and concealment and lots of points of egress. The Westgate Mall in Nairobi had only two ways in and out (a third was closed). Security check points. So . . . what if the Kenyan mall shooting happened here?

Now that the Kenya mall massacre has caught the attention of the world, the “other” attacks by Islamist terrorists have begun to rise further up the Google News food chain. “Islamic terrorists dressed in Nigerian military uniforms assaulted a college inside the country Sunday, gunning down dozens of students as they slept in their dorms and shot those trying to flee,” foxnews.com reports. ”‘They started gathering students into groups outside, then they opened fire and killed one group and then moved on

Hi Robert-

I’m just wondering-

When someone gets shot in this country- does it bother you-

How about if someone you love got shot-

How about in the face-

What if they they were so disfigured you weren’t allowed to view them-

You silly bastards make me ill and so help me God, one day

we will have controls again- mark my word!!!

Geo

“They’re trying to kill me, Mama! I’m going to die tonight! I’m going to die tonight!” - Jestin Anthony Joseph in Gun misfires, prevents possible mass shooting at Fort Worth McDonald’s [at star-telegram.com]

A electrician running cable as part of a renovation at JFK Airport’s Terminal One found a MAC-11 machine pistol hidden above the ceiling of a maintenance closet on Thursday. The gun, which WABC news 7online breathlessly reports is well known for its ability to discharge its 32 round magazine in “less than two seconds,” was found in a case outside the terminal’s secure area. There was no ammo found in or near the gun . . .

nor was there any indication of who secreted the gun there or when. Port Authority police were immediately called into investigate but are “not even slightly” concerned that this is part of some plot.

Another suburban daytime break-in, another would-be burglar stopping lead. The criminal class expect members of the middle class to be away from their homes and at work during the day. Sometimes they get a surprise. Today’s tale of pistol-powered preemption comes from the south central Kansas burgh of Wichita. When officers rolled up after a report of shots fired, “The resident of the home, a 30 year old son of the (un-named) homeowner, told officers he shot at someone trying to break in, but was unsure if he hit him.” When 5-0 later stopped a vehicle matching the resident’s description, “There were three people inside the car, including someone suffering from a gunshot wound.” It probably didn’t take Holmes and Watson to make the connection . . .

And despite the flying bullets, 

The Methuen, Massachusetts police department posted about a multi-agency gun bust on their Facebook page. Judging from his reaction to commentators (in the space provided), Chief Solomon doesn’t seem to have read the Constitution very carefully. Not that it needs much reading. Anyway, one wonders if the peeps busted on the gun charges were involved in something more nefarious than simply keeping and bearing. Here’s the PD’s post . . .

On Friday September 27, 2013 detectives from the Methuen Police Department working in conjunction with members of the FBI, ATF and Dept. of Homeland Security working on a tip, seized the following firearms after an investigation.

1 – AK-47 rifle va

A Rhode Island seventh grader has been suspended for bringing a tiny toy gun to school. Meanwhile, here in Texas, your humble scribe serves as a lunch monitor at a local elementary school. The kids are playing a new game called “guns.” Two kids face each other, seated. They tap their thighs, then bring their hands up. If their guns are cocked (if they’d tapped their thighs previously and pointed their gun fingers at the sky), they can shoot the other player. Unless the other player has his or her hands across their chest (“shield”). Shoot a shield? Tap thighs, try again. Don’t forget to cock your guns. It’s fast. And yes girls and boys play. And no, the teachers and administrators don’t say a word. Two Americas.

At the overwhelming majority of shooting competitions, you will never see a truly slung rifle. Slings are commonly used for precision long-range shooting competitions, but seeing a 3-gun stage where the start position is with a slung rifle and your hands elsewhere is exceptionally rare. Still, at the 2013 FNH USA 3-Gun Championship there were a couple stages that had that exact start position, and it was just my luck that I was the one holding the timer when things went all pear shaped . . .

FNH USA is the title sponsor of the match, so all of the Team FNH USA members (including scribes shoehorned onto the team) work the match and help out wherever they’re needed. We float from stage to stage, filling in for tired range officers when they need a rest or helping reset the stage for longer courses of fire. I was giving the RO a break on stage nine and running the next squad through when the incident happened.