Gun Control: A new method courtesy of the Syrian government.

Assad's brutally oppressive government has come up with a new strategy to disarm at least some portion of the opposition. 

TIH: Massacre at Wounded Knee: Disarming the Lakota: 1890

According to Wikipedia,The incident started when troops" went into the camp to disarm the Lakota"  More specifically:

"At daybreak on December 29, 1890, Col. Forsyth ordered the surrender of weapons and the immediate removal and transportation of the Indians from the "zone of military operations" to awaiting trains. "A search of the camp confiscated 38 rifles and more rifles were taken as the soldiers searched the Indians. None of the old men were found to be armed. "On the morning of December 29, the troops went into the camp to disarm the Lakota. One version of events claims that during the process of disarming the Lakota, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his rifle, claiming he had paid a lot for it.^[6] A scuffle over Black Coyote's rifle escalated and a shot was fired which resulted in the 7th Cavalry's opening fire indiscriminately from all sides, killing men, women, and children, as well as some of their own fellow soldiers. Those few Lakota warriors who still had weapons began shooting back at the attacking soldiers, who quickly suppressed the Lakota fire. The surviving Lakota fled, but U.S. cavalrymen pursued and killed many who were unarmed."

Later, "Former Pine Ridge Indian agent Valentine T. McGillycuddy was asked his opinion of the 'hostilities' surrounding the Ghost Dance movement by General Leonard W. Colby commander of the Nebraska National Guard (portion of letter dated Jan. 15, 1891):^[14]
"As for the "Ghost Dance" too much attention has been paid to it. It was only the symptom or surface indication of a deep rooted, long existing difficulty; as well treat the eruption of small pox as the disease and ignore the constitutional disease."
"As regards disarming the Sioux, however desirable it may appear, I consider it neither advisable, nor practicable. I fear it will result as the theoretical enforcement of prohibition in Kansas, Iowa and Dakota; you will succeed in disarming and keeping disarmed the friendly Indians because you can, and you will not succeed with the mob element because you cannot."

Setting aside the massarcre, is there some insight to be gained regarding today's obsessive gun controllers and gun control efforts aimed at law-abiding citizens?  What's your take?

Common sense and school shootings

School shootings have tended to dominate the news in recent years. Here’s one man’s view based on some of the incidents and the research.  First, over the long haul, school shootings, like violent crime in general, has been going down (in spite of more guns and more licensed gun carriers).  More young people die in swimming pools than in schools.  Roughly 50 times as many young people are murdered AWAY from school than are murdered in school.  This is not to downplay the tragedy of school shootings, but to provide some perspective.  Secondly it’s time to get serious about target-hardening and becoming proactive.  These young people tend to send out hints of their plan.  A planned school shooting in Trinidad, CO was arguably thwarted by a tip to a school resource officer.  Everyone has got to pitch in and start sharing information.   Given young folks’ obsession with social media, that should be an obvious place to start watching.  In the Arapahoe High School shooting the killer approached the school with his shotgun in open sight.  How/why did he get into the school? The presence of an armed deputy who intervened relatively quickly arguably  saved lives. Security cameras, door locking systems, metal detectors and armed police or trained security guards and/or armed, trained staff seem like a good investment.  Hasn’t anyone heard of the concept of “target-hardening?”    The la-la-landers will whine that such actions will harm the “learning atmosphere.” It seems to me that a feeling of security would help that atmosphere.  Young people are flexible and will adjust.   How long does it take to restore that atmosphere AFTER a shooting?  After a while, no one at the school will notice the changes anymore. The wackos and pathological gun haters and fearers will continue to argue against  armed, trained protective  people in school. Get over it and get real about solutions!  It would seem that security needs to be priority one.  Perhaps schools need more counselling and more cracking down on bullying to help the potential shooters before they let loose.  Perhaps parents need more awareness and need to check on their kids more.  Schools and others have got to get proactive.  Parent are required by law to send their children to school.  School boards and administrators have a responsibility to these students.  When obvious safety mechanisms are not in place, boards and administrators should be held accountable.  Let’s top wasting time arguing about gun control, guns and get some things done that might actually work.

Bipartisan deception in the Syria debate, Obama floundering.

According to FactCheck.org.,  both sides have used deception in the Syria debate. The highest profile ones are all Dems:  Obama, Pelosi and Kerry.
I could be wrong, but perhaps the biggest deception is the belief that you can trust the Soviets and Assad.  They will stall the chemical disarmament as long as possible while they work in getting around it. (e.g. ship weapons to Iran)  Obama has been conned.  When he has a slam dunk (Dem. control of both Houses of Congress) he wins, without it, he flounders (e.g. gun control, immigration reform).  He just doesn't know how to deal with tough cookies like Putin and Assad.

Gallup Poll shows deline in support for gun control, public links mental illness and gun violence

Interesting results from Gallup.  Perhaps the public is increasingly rising above the constant anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment and pro-control propaganda of the Obama administration and left-dominated media.

Colo Voters oust 2 anti-gun legislators

"Colorado voters ousted two state lawmakers Tuesday in first-ever recall elections that came in reaction to the Democrats' support for tougher gun laws in the aftermath of last year's mass shootings in Aurora and Newtown, Conn.
Senate President John Morse of Colorado Springs and Sen. Angela Giron of Pueblo lost their jobs as lawmakers in an election seen as a national measure of popular support for gun legislation. They were replaced by two gun-rights Republicans."

It's so heartening to see people taking action and standing up for their Second Amendment  rights. Eternal vigilance and voting are the price of liberty.  All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. (Attributed to Edmund Burke)

Left leaning Media Distort Gun Debate

I've been saying all along that the left-dominated or left-leaning media have distorted the debate about guns, crime control and the Second Amendment.  Here's a concurring opinion.

Joe Biden on Gun Control

Joe is really out of touch with reality.  He is the "no-brainer." Joe is one of millions who are looking for simple answers to very complex questions.

Attempt to disarm residents of public housing

Historically, people who live in public housing have been seen as easy targets for gun controllers.  This recent example is from Castle Rock, CO.  Fortunately, public leaders stepped in and protected 2nd Amend rights. Good job!

Gun Facts, Gun Rhetoric.

Good discussion of data relevant to the gun control debate at the generally balanced and objective FactCheck.org.  Unfortunately, the authors do not generally evaluate the reliability of the data or research.  Many of the sources obviously have a motive to fudge.  For instance, the folks who do the Small Arms Survey are clearly anti-gun.
Bottom line:  the Second Amendment puts the burden of proof on the gun banners to demonstrate effectiveness, without significantly impairing the right to self-defense.  They aren't even close.  Thanks to Dale Christopherson for the link.

Ending the Debate on Gun Control?

very good and thought-provoking article  from the UK.  I esp. like the call to get serious about the real casues and get organized to deal with those.  However, finding and getting after the "real causes," is not any easy task.  Further, designing reasonably effective programs to deal with these that we can afford and that respect constitutional rights is not easy. The divisiveness and distraction of the debate over gun control only gets in the way of doing what really needs to be done.  In countries that already have millions of guns and a respect for constitutional rights, gun control cannot possible work.  There is no credible evidence to support the gun control case.  Of course, at bottom, the gun control crusade in the U.S.  is not really about crime.  Perhaps if we addressed that issue, it might be anoter way to end the debate.

Obama & Biden Want More Gun Control

As most everyone is well aware, the elementary school killings have spawned numerous calls for more gun control. Here's a short piece on what we can expect from the Obama adminstration.  It will be interesting to see what Obama will attempt to do by executive order and thus bypass Congress.  Stay tuned!

Interesting new study on gun control

Best wishes for the New Year!  Lots of bad news and more gun control and crime control controversy.  Let's start off with this.
FWIW:  Not a very sophisitcated study, but makes some good points.

Gun control failing in Britain

Gun control doesn't work on an island with strict gun control laws, weaker search and seizure protections, and a relatively small gun stock among the population (as compared to the U.S.).  Only an idiot could think it would work in the U.S. without abandoning the 4th Amendment.  Thanks to Prof. Joseph E.Olson for the link.

Why do people support gun control?

For many years, many have thought (this poster included) that controversy over banni ng handguns or firearms is really not about gun control. There are many reasons for this conclusion. Some are listed below.
1. There is no credible empirical support for the basic assumptions of gun control.
2. There is no credible empirical support for the effectiveness of gun control in reducing violent crime.
3. It is ludicrous to think that criminals will obey gun control laws give up their weapons.
4. Given the millions of handguns and firearms in American society, it is ludicrous to think that gun prohibitions will work. See the National Research Council's 2004 Report entitled "Firarms and Violence," for their evaluation of the research. (You may want to download the free executive summary)

Florida State Criminologist Gary Kleck's research suggest that bans aren't really about crime control.

Great quote re police and the police state

Came across this great quote which says so much: "A policeman's job is only easy in a police state." This is from Orson Welles'1958 movie, "A Touch of Evil." Unfortunately too many police chiefs trample on people's rights (e.g. Second Amendment) to try to make their job easier. They are not sophisticated enough to figure out that gun control does not reduce crime.

Chicago's post-McDonald Gun law exposed

It is always disgraceful when public officials deliberately attempt to defeat the Constitution (which they have sworn to uphold) and Supreme Court decisions. I am reminded of southern resistance to public school desegregation. After Chicago lost before the U.S. Supreme Court in McDonald v. Chicago, it tried the scheme challenged in this court case. This case is not over yet as the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals approved only a preliminary injunction against the city. There is more to come in this case, but it appears that the Constitution will prevail. You really need to read this case to see how little respect the Constitution gets in Chicago. As the concurring opinion notes, this was a "thumbing of the municipal nose at the Supreme Court." If you think the fight for individual Second Amendment rights is over, you'd better think again. Another scary thing to remember in the upcoming Presidential elections is that the Second Amendment hangs by one vote in the Supreme Court. Our current President appointed two Justices who are clearly anti-Second Amendment. Fortunately, they only replaced two older Justices who were also anti-Second Amendment. To paraphrase a famous saying: "Eternal vigilance [and voting are] the price of liberty"

Guns, Gun control and Drug Trafficking

Common sense has long dictated that the only people likely to comply with gun control laws are law-abiding citizens who are not the problem. This linked article confirms that drug dealers are likely to carry guns because of the dangers in their trade. Many have felony convictions already and cannot lawfully buy or carry handguns. These folks are not going to be deterred by gun laws from acquiring or carrying guns. Because of the dangers involved, they will go to great lengths to get guns. Many also have lots of money to spend on guns. For these folks, the demand for guns is very inelastic. This is not rocket science!

Voice of Reason after the Tucson Tragedy

FSU Prof. Gary Kleck is the nation's foremost authority on gun control, gun crime, etc. Here's his reasoned approach to gun control and the Tucson tragedy.

Spinning a tragedy: Propaganda from the Left.

Ideologues and propagandists on both the Left and Right never miss a tragedy that they can't try to spin. The Tucson tragedy has spawned attacks on Sarah Palin, guns, gun ownership, Arizona's "lax" gun laws, First Amendment and Second Amendment freedoms, etc., etc., etc. Gun control authoritarians are having a field day. The headline is misleading, but here is an example. A good response to this kind of sloppy thinking is this one.