Is the “Stimulus Bill” the Patriot Act of the Obama Administration?
Politics
Gun Free Kids
Via SayUncle I learn about Gun Free Kids. They are, of course, against concealed carry on campus.
America’s colleges and universities are under attack from the gun lobby.
We’ll ignore the fact they’re under attack by crazy people bent on hurting innocent students.
The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus is writing to colleges and universities across the country to alert them of the threat and to urge them to band together to oppose the gun lobby’s agenda to push guns into college campuses.
The is no agenda to push guns into college campuses. All there is is a movement to break down artificial legal barriers that keep law-abiding citizens from engaging in law-abiding activities, such as self-defense. Look, Virginia Tech already had policies prohibiting guns on campus, but that didn’t stop Cho Seung-Hui from going crazy. I dare say the only thing that could have stopped crazy would have been an armed student willing to shoot back. But instead all we have are sheep and wolves, and if there are any sheepdogs on campus the law forced them to leave their teeth elsewhere.
The case against guns on campus is strong. There are many reasons why it would be dangerous to introduce guns into colleges and universities.
- Arming students would make campuses more dangerous every hour of every day
- Armed students would be accountable to no one
- Arming students would not deter the rare campus shooting
- Academic debate cannot flourish in a room full of guns
- There are better ways to make college campuses safer
Ok….
- And how is that? Proof please? Just about every state has concealed and/or open carry. There’s no “OK Corral” shootouts going on. The Good Guys are still Good Guys, obeying the law, solving their disagreements by peaceful means. Statistics and data show that after a State implements a concealed carry law, crime rates fall (or at least don’t rise). Concealed carry holders are also statistically less likely to commit crimes than the general populace.
- Really? Wow… I didn’t know having a concealed carry license suddenly put you above the law.
- Concealed carry on campus will not stop someone from going crazy. However, if someone is going crazy, having lots of armed Good Guys around could certainly minimize the damage crazy inflicts. Furthermore, let’s not just focus on big, rare shooting events. What about college girls walking across campus to their dorm rooms and being sexually assaulted? Let’s not focus on the rare event, let’s look at common campus crime and try to prevent that too.
- Why not? Are you saying that just because someone has a gun that they’re crazy? That if there’s disagreement over how to interpret a poem in English class that suddenly a gun owner is going to get all bloodthirsty and blow you away? Who’s calling who irrational here?
- Such as?
You’re not going to stop violence and evil by banning guns; in fact, gun bans tend to lead to increases in crime (why? because Joe Citizen is now too weak to adequately fight back). Guns are merely a tool, and guess what? That tool works great in the hands of The Good Guys against Bad Guys! The Good Guys obey the law, so pass a law to ban guns, now the Good Guys won’t have guns — but The Bad Guys still will.
This group’s tag line is “protecting families from gun violence”. But as I look around their website, I fail to see how they’re doing anything to protect me and my family from gun violence, or even just plain old violence. I’d like them to explain that better. All I see right now are a lot of emotional appeals, no facts, and no real substance as to how they’re protecting anyone from anything.
I don’t deny there are stupid people out there, that there are dangerous people out there, that there are evil people out there. That these people are out to cause harm to innocent lives. And many times these people choose guns as the tool by which they inflict their harm. And when they go to inflict their harm, they have demonstrated they don’t care about social norms, standards, laws, ordinances, agreements, boundaries, signs, or you and your well-being. If you wish to abridge these people, I’m all for it. But until you can present me (y’know, one of The Good Guys) with some failsafe and foolproof way to keep them from injuring me, my family, my friends, and other good people in this world, please don’t cripple me and rob me of my choice of tools.
Cornyn on Holder
It might take a little while, but if you contact your elected public servants eventually you should get a reply.
I just received a reply from one of my Senator’s, John Cornyn on the topic of Eric Holder for AG. Here’s the full text of his reply email.
Thank you for contacting me regarding the confirmation of Eric Holder as Attorney General of the United States. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this issue.
After carefully studying Mr. Holder’s record as Deputy Attorney General, I remain doubtful regarding his judgment and ability to operate independent from political influence. Additionally, I have concerns that Mr. Holder’s record demonstrated a failure to understand the profound threat posed by radical Islamic terrorism. And I remain troubled by his apparent hostility to the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
During Senate Confirmation, Mr. Holder’s answers to the questions posed by the Senate Judiciary Committee failed to alleviate my concerns. During his testimony, Mr. Holder avoided giving a full and candid account of his actions regarding former-President Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich, the clemency offered to 16 terrorists, and other matters that gave rise to my concerns about his judgment and independence.
My utmost concern, however, is that Mr. Holder fails to fully understand the unique challenges and threats posed to our country by radical Islamic terrorism. I fear that Mr. Holder is not prepared to lead the Justice Department at a moment when this nation is waging an asymmetric war whose battlefield extends across the globe and onto U.S. soil. While I was pleased that Mr. Holder testified that protecting America from attack would be his most important job as Attorney General, his public statements regarding the War on Terror often betray a willingness to advance ideological rhetoric without fully appreciating the sensitivity and complexity of a particular issue.
For these reasons I opposed the confirmation of Eric Holder as Attorney General by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Although I am disappointed that on February 2, 2009, Eric Holder was confirmed by the full Senate to be Attorney General of the United States, I hope that he will study the important issues facing his Department carefully and independently, and will use power responsibly—and not simply cater to the extreme voices on the left.I appreciate the opportunity to represent Texans in the United States Senate. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2934
Fax: (202) 228-2856
http://www.cornyn.senate.gov
While Cornyn isn’t batting 1000 in my book and I shouldn’t expect him to mesh 100% with me, overall he’s not too bad and I’ve been pleased with his stances and voting record.
You Can’t Bring Me Down
Suicidal Tendencies, California skater punk turned metal edged fury. A band that, on the surface seems like something to be afraid of (the sound, the anger, the name of the band), but when you get into the music, it’s got a lot more to offer.
I love the lyrics of the entire song, but I especially the rant at the end of this song:
Just ‘cuz you don’t understand what’s goin’ on don’t mean it don’t make no sense.
And just ‘cuz you don’t like it don’t mean it ain’t no good.
And let me tell you somethin’:
Before you go takin’ a walk in my world, you better take a look at the real world, ‘cuz this ain’t no Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.
Can you say “feel like shit”?
Yeah maybe sometimes I do feel like shit.
I ain’t happy about it, but I’d rather feel like shit than be full of shit.
And if I offended you? Oh I’m sorry but maybe you need to be offended.
Well here’s my apology, and one more thing: Fuck you!Because you can’t bring me down.
Suicidal!
Government’s good for something
Government is good at only one thing: it breaks your legs, hands you a pair of crutches, and says, “See, without us you wouldn’t be able to walk.”
from Harry Browne
Today’s 2A News Roundup
Here’s the Second Amendment News Roundup for February 12, 2009.
Meta-blogging I guess.
Tax cuts are bad
Stimulus: President Obama, a smart man, says that tax cuts for the wealthy are the main reason we’re now in such economic trouble. Someone needs to tell him how utterly — and dangerously — wrong that is.
Economic analogies
I just love Tam’s analogies for the stimulus plan.
Cutbacks
So until we’ve all been fully stimulated and the rainbow-farting unicorns appear, we’ve got to cut back. It’s happening around my household, and I’m sure it’s happening around yours.
It’s happening in your cities too. Massad Ayoob writes about how various municipalities are cutting back on law enforcement because they just can’t afford it. Even here in Austin. APD Top Cop Art Acevedo cut $3.7 million from the police department budget by reducing overtime and delaying a cadet class until September.
What does this all mean? Simple. Less cops on the street.
For those of you that put your safety and security into the hands of others, there weren’t many of those others before, and now there will be even less. That means there’s less to protect you… fewer hands into which to put your safety and security. The corollary is the bad guys will be aware of this reduced police presence, and you better believe they’ll take advantage of it.
It’s your life. It’s your liberty. It’s your property. It’s your happiness. How much do you value it? How much responsibility for it are you willing to take?
Gun Rights Week @ JMU
Just read about Gun Rights Week at James Madison University.
I attended JMU for my undergrad. If it’s anything now like it was back then this probably won’t go over well with the general student populace. But that’s to be expected with a bunch of 18-21 year olds at a liberal arts college in the United States, likely on their own for the first time in their lives, experiencing freedom (i.e. no mom & dad looming over them) like never before. Given how I thought at the time, if this had happened when I was there I too probably would have wondered what the point was and thought concealed carry on a college campus was more dangerous and inviting bloodshed in the classroom if there was a minor disagreements over how to interpret some poem in English class, shootouts on The Quad over hackey sacks, or poor food choices in D-Hall.
But as I’ve documented here, I’ve since changed. I’ve improved my education on and understanding of the matter. And the stark reality is creating “gun free zones” in reality creates a “victim-full zones”. Virginia Tech is just a short drive from JMU. If creating a “gun free zone”, like a school or university, also erected a magical force-field that kept the bad guys and the crazies out and allowed a blissful sheep-like existence within, I’d be all for it. But alas, such things don’t exist, and the wolves roam without regard for artificial boundaries. All “gun free zones” do is keep out the sheepdogs, and the sheep keep grazing on The Quad.
Ignorance is only bliss until your rose-colored glasses are violently shattered (VaTech, various other school-based shooting tragedies). There’s movement within Texas for this year’s state legislative session to improve things in this very manner, and I support those efforts and will do what I can to help them succeed. I’m all for removing barriers that abridge sheepdogs.
Stuff From Hsoi 