The Truth About Guns

I wonder if the Senator has a post-shooting pro-assault weapons ban script pre-loaded on her Google glasses. “The weapon [used in Friday's LAX shooting] is clearly designed not for general consumption,” California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said on CBS’ Face the Nation. “Would I do a bill? Sure, I would do a bill. I mean, I believe this down deep in my soul.” Soul food for thought: Senator Feinstein doesn’t think an assault weapon ban would pass. On the opposing side, I think, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee told CNN’s State of the Union “TSA officers are not armed. It’s the local police that provide perimeter security, and there’s little more of a soft target outside the checkpoint,” Texas Republican Rep. Mike McCaul pronounced. ”I want to work with the director of TSA . . . to see if there’s something we can do better or differently.” No mention of allowing open carry in airports and on planes.

Arkansas passed ACT 746, which went into effect on August 16th of this year, (2013). The act effectively legalizes constitutional carry in Arkansas because it changes the definition of what constitutes the illegal carry of weapons. The old law didn’t require any intent; the new law makes carry of weapons illegal only if the carrier has the intent to use it illegally . . .

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, a Democrat, promptly issued an opinion that the new law does not allow open carry. The opinion is nicely dissected by Steve Jones

At the end of this Fox News chinwag Juan Williams repeats the oft-repeated shibboleth that owning a gun puts you in more danger of getting shot rather than less. The Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex uses this assumed “fact” to ward off the suggestion that a firearm is an extremely useful method of personal self-defense. The best scientific study on the subject concludes that the people who own guns and are shot by guns are either suicidal or living in violent households. Not to mention living in households where there’s criminal activity. But neither science nor common sense will cut it. How do you convince a fence straddler that they won’t get killed by their own gun?

“A federal law enforcement official said that the Smith & Wesson assault rifle used in the attack is believed to have been purchased legally from a Los Angeles-area arms dealer,” usatoday.com reports. So . . . how’s that background check thing working out for you? Of course you know what this means: California legislators will redouble their efforts to pass an assault weapons ban. Because you can’t stop crazy people from buying the guns legally. (Go figure.) If Paul Ciancia modified the AR-15′s bullet button (ya think?) boom! Bullet button ban bill full speed ahead. Meanwhile, here at Bergstrom Airport there’s not a gun in sight at the security checkpoint. Sadly, not one concealed either (i.e. mi

“(The LAX gunman had enough ammunition to) have literally killed everyone in that terminal.” – Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, quoted in Deadly LAX shooting: Why did he do it? [via cnn.com]

The owner of this one-of-a-kind S&W 629 .44 Magnum is putting the gun up for sale. Asking price: $100,000. Scott Hoffman, owner of Hoffman’s Gun Center and Indoor Range in Newington, Connecticut, is selling the gun in support of gun rights. He says that the money from the sale will go to support candidates for political office who are committed to overturning the gun legislation passed in the wake of the school shooting in Newtown. “I’m giving up something I love to fight those laws,” Hoffman said. If you’re interested, the gun is listed on Gunbroker

Violence Policy Center press release below:

Washington, DC — Private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns have committed at least 26 mass shootings over the past six years — including the recent mass murder at the Washington Navy Yard that left 12 dead and a July shooting in Hialeah, Florida that ended the lives of six innocent victims. These and other criminal killings can be found in the Violence Policy Center’s (VPC) latest update to Concealed Carry Killers, an online resource that offers examples of non-self defense killings by private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns in public. Overall, concealed carry killers were involved in at least 386 fatal incidents since May 2007, leading to at least 540 deaths including the killing of 14 law enforcement officers . . .

Unfortunately, I think Tyler bagged the bigger animal in this case. But both of us were using lead free Barnes copper bullets, and even managed to recover one. Stay tuned for the whole rundown tomorrow.

“The 23-year-old man who allegedly killed a TSA official at Los Angeles International Airport yesterday was carrying a one-page ‘manifesto’ that included references to the ‘New World Order,’ the Federal Reserve and ‘fiat currency,’ according to a knowledgeable source with ranking law enforcement contacts.” That’s the 411 from the “Hatewatch Exclusive” from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that has a particular fondness for focusing on far-right causes, and never misses an opportunity to bash gun clingers . . .

“Paul Anthony Ciancia, who allegedly wounde