I can’t begin to tell you how often I read something on The Huffington Post that has me shaking my head in amazement. In the aftermath of the shooting at the Holocaust Museum today, I was making the rounds to get a sense of what everyone (yes, everyone) was saying and I found this. Astonishing.
While GOProud, the only national gay conservative group, doesn’t take a position on the current hate crimes legislation, we do strongly support empowering individuals to protect themselves – which is why GOProud urges the Senate to amend the current hate crimes legislation to include a provision dealing with concealed carry reciprocity.
A bill in the Senate, S. 845, co-sponsored by Senator John Thune (R-SD) and Senator David Vitter (R-LA), allows for reciprocity among all the states that currently allow citizens to lawfully carry a concealed firearm.
I’m astonished to see an article advocating such a thing at HuffPo. That they’ve permitted it speaks well of them and raises their status with me, at least. Don’t hold your breath about it staying there, but I’m not writing them off, either. The bill referenced would allow an individual who is licensed to carry a concealed firearm in his home state to also carry it in another state so long as 1) that state also permits concealed carry and 2) the individual complies with the concealed carry law of that state while so carrying. The author of the article is up front about the reasons for his support:
No matter what the left wants you to believe, the truth is that law-abiding gun use saves lives. Guns are used 2.5 million times a year in self defense – that’s 6,850 times a day in this country. Furthermore, concealed carry laws have reduced murder and crime rates in states that have enacted them.
According to a comprehensive study which reviewed crime statistics in every county in the United States from 1977 to 1992, states that passed concealed carry law reduced their rate of murder by 8.5%, rape by 5%, aggravated assault by 7%, and robbery by 3%.
More recent statistics compiled in those states and others that have since enacted concealed carry laws bear this trend out. States and localities that have enacted gun bans, refused to issue carry licenses to ordinary citizens, or enacted procedures designed to make adherence to carry requirements onerous – such as Chicago, New York, and DC – have all seen those statistics rise over the same period. This is a good move to make and I agree with GOProud’s stance on the matter.
June 10th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
2nd Amendment, Crime & Punishment, Human Interest, Politics |
no comments
Uh-oh.
Two names on doomed Air France Flight 447′s passenger list also appear on a list of radical Muslims considered a threat to France, according to French investigators.
French secret servicemen established the connection while working through the list of those who boarded the doomed Airbus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 31.
Agents are now trying to establish dates of birth for the two dead passengers, and family connections.
There is a possibility that the name similarities are simply a “macabre coincidence,” the source added, but the revelation is still being “taken very seriously.”
As I mentioned in my last post on the matter, the thought that a bomb might have been involved brought a new dimension to the investigation. Add that now to this purported datapoint and it starts to sound serious. Some have said that the lack of a terror group claiming responsibility for the crash makes this less likely but there are terrorists out there who don’t, as a rule, make such claims. One very well-known example of this is Al Qaeda.
We might also be seeing an accidental bombing when something being carried aboard by the terrorists in question went off prematurely. Every piece of the plane recovered will assist in making that determination. Patience, as always, is key.
June 10th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Aviation, GWOT |
one comment
Over at Hot Air, Ed Morrissey has a post titled, “Video: Ziegler gets him mike cut off by MS-NBC.” Invited to appear on MS-NBC to be interviewed by Norah O’Donnell, they pulled a bait-and-switch on Ziegler by not only changing the interviewer but by refusing to discuss the subject he was called to talk about. Read the post for the details.
Here’s my question: why would anyone that doesn’t drink the MS-NBC “Tingle Up My Leg”-brand kool-aid ever agree to appear on that slimepit of a network? My advice to people who get a call about it would be to tell them to take a hike. If enough people refused to talk with that cesspool they’d either change their ways and return to being actual journalists or they’d die on the vine. Either way, we’re better off.
June 10th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Politics, The Media |
no comments
News flash to all of you political telemarketers: I don’t care who you’re working for or what you’re calling about. If you don’t display your caller ID information you’re not talking to me, period, ever.
June 10th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Human Interest, Politics, Technology, Virginia Politics |
no comments
The latest Rasmussen polling asked respondents whether the remaining spending laid out in the $787 billion “stimulus” package rushed into law by the Obama administration and the Democrat-controlled Congress should be canceled. A full 45% said yes, it should. Only 36% disagreed with 20% being unsure. A solid plurality of Americans want that remaining spending cut.
Given the obvious and now-well-documented fact that the so-called “stimulus” package has done nothing of the sort and the jobs situation is now worse than what was predicted would happen even without the package it should be an equally obvious decision to not enter into the massive debt this package represents. We have an opportunity to take corrective action, here, and avoid at least this much of the debt this administration has signed us up for. We should take it.
June 10th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Economy, Politics |
no comments
It has, at least, by my daughter’s measure since today marked the last day of the school year. She’s officially out as of about 15 minutes ago and already she’s asking me where’s the party? Man, I remember the days….
June 10th, 2009
Posted by
ricjames |
Academia, Human Interest |
no comments
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