Just Call the Police...

...You'd probably be dead anyway, says US Rep. Diana DeGette.

Read:  And How Many Bullets Do You Need? by Jim Yardly

Yardly points out that numerous trained police officers fired over 200 rounds at "Suspect #1" before he went down.  Compare that to proposed legislation attempting to limit the legal capacity of magazines (the thing that holds the bullets) of non-police officers to under 10.

Simply put, and this is the part THEY don't get, the terrorists would like that law in effect.

It should be noted that the terrorists car-jacked a citizen (unarmed, I'm sure) to acquire one of their 'get-away' vehicles, and Suspect #2 was on the loose for a day in residential neighborhoods, ultimately being found hiding on somebody's private property - and it was the property owner/citizen that FIRST encountered him.

Why would anybody need more than 10 rounds in a magazine? Ask the trained police officers mentioned above.

Why would anybody need a rifle with a pistol grip, extendable stock or flashlight attached?  Those things only do one thing - make the weapon easier to shoot accurately.

What are the chances that a heavily armed terrorist comes to your house? Ask the citizens of Watertown, MA.

"You'd probably be dead anyway..."

"Just call the police," says US Congresswomen Diana DeGette.


Yardly says in the article that the police officers practice at least weekly.  Sadly, I'll bet most of the police officers involved in the shootout with the terrorists train less than 4 times a year.  Go to your local shooting range.  You will see all types of CITIZENS training.  Some of them need to train more.  Some of them...you want in your neighborhood.

Heavily armed FBI HRT Operators...and one slightly overweight bomb tech from the mountains of Arizona.

Media myth...

Are you following closely the events in Boston?  It is the latest demonstration of our 24/7 News coverage.  It's actually 24/7 x the number of news outlets.  I woke up around midnight the night this all started.  I turned on the News and found out that an MIT Police Officer had been shot.  Then it came out that the police were in pursuit of the suspect(s).  It was not known at the time (by media reports) if the events were related to the Marathon Bombing.  I remember thinking that if it was related - there may be more than the two suspects, and this could be much worse than the 'lone bombers' that I suspected, as in the attacks in London and Spain.

Standard issue raid jackets, 5.11s and haircuts

I was glued to the TV from that point (I did have to pack a little, make travel arrangements, and read dozens of emails, but I mostly just stood-by while I was standing-by).  If you watched TV at all, you could not help but see dozens, if not hundreds, of law enforcement officers and agents tripping all over themselves and the media.

[ If you ever wonder what it looks like inside a "Command Post," or in the local Police Department, or the FBI during an event like this...just turn on your TV, because they are watching the same thing!  The
difference - some of the people on the TV screen are in contact with the "Command Post," so the information comes in a little less filtered. And some are asking, "Do I look fat in my raid jacket?"]

Even with 24/7 coverage, I have questions:

 - Did the brothers rob that convenient store or not?

 - If the older suspect is married - where is she? Why are high school friends on every channel, but not her?

 - How did the younger brother escape the fire fight where his brother was killed?  (As it turns out, he was bloody and injured, likely sweating  - how did a K9 not track him from the vehicle?)

 - Did the suspect open fire from the boat where he was hiding?  Shots were fired, but it was also reported that FBI negotiators received no response from inside the boat?

I would like to see the Federal Death Penalty be used - if ever there was a place for it, this is it - if ever there MAY be deterrence, this is it.

I have these questions because there are conflicting reports in the Media - and because I wouldn't bother anybody closely related to the investigation...say, some of the people in the photos.  I don't know why I am even listening to the media, but my curiosity is piqued.

...some of the big news now is in reference to Miranda Warnings - and whether or not the investigators should have read them.  This is absurd that this is even being talked about.  The suspect has severe injuries, and he is in the hospital.  It would be idiotic to tell him he has the right to remain silent.  There is no issue or conflict here - but I heard NUMEROUS "experts" including Alan Dershowitz, comment that he needs Miranda Warnings, and that investigators are making a mistake.  The mistake is the media and the 'experts' making assumptions, and of law enforcement making ANY COMMENT AT ALL ON THE MATTER.

Worse yet, wayward tardy-gaited canker-blossoms John McCain and Lindsay Graham saying that Miranda Warnings are not necessary, that he could be treated as an Enemy Combatant.  And these are the men we choose to make our laws?  He is a United States citizen committing a crime inside the United States - I think this has happened before.  There is some precedent.

Miranda Warnings must be given when a suspect is *in custody and *being questioned.  Does anybody think they are questioning the suspect now?  If the suspect waves his right to remain silent, *he must do so knowingly (ie he must understand what he is doing - which would never fly after he was SHOT IN THE HEAD AND UNDER MEDICATION).  There is a "public safety" exception - which would only apply here if there was something he could say about further bombs or suspects - and there is no indication (from the media) that applies.

...but wait, lets say they questioned him without giving Miranda Warnings.  What happens? Does he go free?  Do the agents go to jail?  Does John McCain retire?  No.  Those statements are not allowed into court.  Whoa!  Are they allowed in intelligence reports? Yes.  Are they allowed in the tell-all books that will be written? Definitely - with artistic license.

I'm just sayin'....

Shall Not Be Infringed...

Henson Ong:




As the terrorist is currently on the run in suburban Boston...our President and members of his political party want to infringe on the right to bear arms...

A Shameful Day Indeed...

After a HUGE but narrow victory for the Constitution in the US Senate yesterday, President Obama said it was a shameful day.  He then quoted polls that he said showed 90% of Americans and 80% of Republicans supported the legislation that he said would help stop criminals from getting guns.  Nonsense.

What if the question in the poll were posed, "Do you support enforcing gun laws that are already written, or passing more laws?"  I'm pretty sure the numbers would change.

Atlantic City police suspect shooting probed; brother of deceased attacks officer

 A city man is accused of an array of weapons charges following an incident in which another suspect was reportedly shot and killed by police.

A third man - the brother of the deceased - faces charges of assaulting a police officer. And the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the shooting.

An officer on Monday allegedly fired shots, wounding 18-year-old Derreck Mack of Atlantic City, following a report of two armed males in Stanley Holmes Village.

Mack was taken to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center City Campus, where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities said officers responding to the Village came upon Mack and 24-year-old Terry Davis. They ordered the two men to stop and immediately drop their weapons, and Davis obeyed, investigators said.

But Mack ran, they alleged, and officers chased him to the 200 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. There, the officer reportedly fired and hit Mack.

Davis was charged with possession of a weapon, in this case a Kel Tech 9mm Luger handgun. He was also charged with possession of the same for an unlawful purpose, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon (for robbery in his case), and unlawful possession of the Luger ammunition, which authorities said was loaded in the gun he had.

Davis was also charged with obstruction of justice and resisting arrest, for initially trying to flee when encountered by the officers.

Shortly after Mack was shot, his brother, 19-year-old Raymond Mack, allegedly punched a police sergeant in the face. The older brother was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, as well as possession of cocaine and possession with intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of school property.

He and Davis were each committed to Atlantic County Jail in default of $100,000 full cash bail.

 

 Raymond Mack was on parole for weapons violations at the time he assaulted the police officer.  He was released within days.  New Jersey State Parole said he did not violate his parole by punching a police officer, or by being in possession of cocaine.  Within two weeks, a stolen gun was found by police at his residence.  His parole was still not violated, said New Jersey.  On March 26, 2013, Mack was arrested by federal investigators for conspiracy to distribute heroin (during that investigation, it was determined that Mack was in possession of a handgun, and facilitated handguns being transferred among other gang members).  New Jersey State Parole said this was not a violation of his parole either.

This is not the exception, this is the rule, in New Jersey - which the Brady Foundation has ranked as having the 9th as the most strict gun laws in the nation.  Mack is but one example from the federal investigation.  

On October 30, 2012, Shaamel Spencer was arrested during 'anti-looting' patrol in Atlantic City in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  Spencer, a three-time convicted felon on probation for weapons violations at the time, was found in possession of a stolen handgun.  He was released within days.  He was arrested on February 11th, 2013...and found to be in possession of a handgun.

Neither Mack, nor Spencer, nor any of the others involved in these incidents applied for a gun permit.  Convicted felons know they are convicted felons.  Background checks do not stop convicted felons from acquiring handguns.  Prosecuting convicted felons when they are found in possession of a gun with existing laws WILL stop convicted felons from acquiring guns.

The Same People...

...who are trying to limit our right to bear arms are the people who lead to what happened in Benghazi.

The NY SAFE Act and Its Impact on Hunting Regulations in New York State

This is a post from one of my favorite blogs.  Ross is an outdoorsman, and writes on outdoor gear, issues, and ideas in about the fairest, most balanced and objective style I've ever read.

Simply put, our elected leaders are trying to pass laws that have nothing to do with their alleged objectives.  You don't need a collapsable stock to commit murder.  They believe that by passing these laws, limiting innovations in firearms, they will reduce the desirability of firearms, and create a new kind of culture, that I believe includes rainbows and probably a unicorn.


Glen Doherty was the former US Navy SEAL who gave his life trying to protect Americans in a foreign land.  He was left to die by others who have no honor.  Hillary Clinton may have already forgotten about him, but others haven't.  For some, just going to the gym everyday is a reminder of what he did:





...next, they will say we don't even have a right to bare arms! Some of them are DANGEROUS!

America is the Greatest Nation on Earth...

...who is second?

Legalize Tomatos!

Sheriff's Department SWAT Team Raids Indoor Tomato Grow

"A Leawood (Kansas) couple says heavily armed Johnson County deputies barged into their home last year, turning it upside down and detaining them and their children for more than two hours in a fruitless search for marijuana."

"...And all because the couple, Robert and Adlynn Harte, brought indoor gardening equipment to grow a small number of tomato and squash plants in their basement, according to a lawsuit filed this week. The equipment was never used for marijuana, the couple says, and no one in the family has ever used illegal drugs.

Nearly a year after the SWAT-style raid, the Hartes still don't know what evidence deputies used to persuade a judge to grant a warrant to search their home...Their requests for records that could provide such information have been denied by the sheriff's office."

*Not the grow in question...just a cool image

There are not many details in the article, because as it says, the family has not received notice of the probable cause that supported the search warrant.  It does indicate that the Sheriff's Department staked out a local store that sells hydroponic equipment, and possibly matched it with utility records that indicated...the family was using water and electricity in the house!

While this is troubling for the family (until the apology check comes) its probably good in the long run, as the judge, and the Sheriff's Department will go through (hopefully) a little review of the United States Constitution.  I have come across many police officers, sheriff's deputies, etc., who are shocked to hear that the supreme law of the land...is not the local prosecutor's office.

Further - read the article - if there was a pounding on my door early in the morning, I'd likely be coming out of my room heavily (and legally) armed. Things would have went bad for that entry team, as I'm a light sleeper (and there are people out there who may not like me).  It would not be good for anybody involved.  But I live in a 'small town,' and people know who I am...but not smaller than Leawood, Kansas.

This begs several questions - what were the tomatoes and alleged squash used for?  Did the residents have a license to grow non-government food in their basement?  Where is the FDA when we need them?  Did they sell them at market prices?  Are these fruit, or vegetables? One thing's for sure...we're not in Kansas anymore!

What We Have Here...

...is a failure to understand anything.  The woman in the video below is a member of the United States Congress, and she is proud to sponsor legislation that makes her feel good, even if she doesn't understand it.

A member of the audience asked what good a ban on high-capacity magazines would be when there are already millions of such magazines in circulation, and they would not be made illegal by the law.




I'll bet you could have asked her what to do for existing magazine subscriptions...and she would say that they'll just expire, and not be renewed.

Later (I can't find the video) a homeowner from Denver asked a question regarding what to do if he was being attacked in his home, and he had to defend himself, why there would be a law that would require him to have a magazine with limited capacity.  Her answer was that Denver PD would respond...but that he would "probably be dead anyway."

A spokeswoman for the Representative stated that she mis-spoke, that she was referring to "clips."

...so apparently the spokeswoman doesn't understand it either.