News Flash! Criminals LIE!

But, but, but, The Authorities tell us we need to just give them what they want and we'll be safe!

Via Howard Nemerov, the Austin Gun Rights Examiner, we hear about a home-invasion victim, Teresa Butz, whose last dying words were as follows:

Before she died, Butz talked to a neighbor, Albert Barrientes, saying of the attacker: "He told us if we did what he asked us to do, he wouldn't hurt us. He lied, he lied."

I take a criminal at face value. He's a criminal, a sociopath, a person who feels he is entitled to take the hard-earned property of others by force. His victims aren't people to him, they are things, they are prey to be harvested.

I don't care why he's chosen a life of crime, because that's what it truly is, his own personal choice. I don't care if his mommy was an addict or his daddy beat him. I can't possibly know that, and I don't care.

Let me repeat.

I. Don't. Care.

I will take at face value that he has already broken many laws when he tries to victimize me. If he has a weapon, I will take at face value that he is willing to use it effectively against me. I will not believe a single word he says.

And I will do everything in my power stop that criminal, because I cannot afford to trust that if I just give him what he wants I will be safe.
Concealed Carry Magazine recently published an article called "Shadow Figures" written by Bill Oliver. Mr. Oliver has been a forensic psychologist for 20 years, working in the California Penal System including the Pelican Bay Supermax prison. He has worked with and evaluated some of the nation's worst criminals, including Charles Manson. From his interview with one convicted violent predator:

He was robbing a convenience store in Texas and the woman teller complied with his orders promptly and offered no resistance of any kind. When asked why he shot her in the head if she was doing everything he told her to do, he replied in a cold, matter of fact way, "I killed her because I could . . . "

No, I will not be an accomplice in my own robbery, rape, or murder.

Sarge Is Home

The health certificate and Coggins finally came, so Sarge is now home.

He's by himself for now with just Milton the EvilPony™ for company, so I can work on his chronic injury and put some basic handling skills on him. My goal is to be able to treat any problem without having to resort to physical restraint before he gets turned out in the big 50-acre pasture. He'll be introduced to the other horses gradually, starting with mine and working the others in a few at a time.

Milton is pretty much the poster child for Being A Bad Influence, though. I should know better than to put him in with an impressionable youngster.

For my entire horse-owning life, I've always had Thoroughbreds. They're kind of like my good 1911's, powerful and graceful, with tight tolerances. They are unforgiving of careless or inexpert handling, and novices should probably look elsewhere.

The only exceptions to date have been two small ponies, intended as company for the Thoroughbreds. Milton is even smaller than his predecessor, Varmint, over thirty years ago. Small ponies remind me of my snubby: strong for their size and difficult to control.

But Sarge, while being by the same Thoroughbred stallion as my younger gray Thoroughbred gelding, Judge, is out of a Quarter Horse mare and has Appendix AQHA papers. Quarter Horses are known as being docile, easy to manage, versatile, and a popular choice for less-experienced owners who want a good registered horse to learn on and show.

I feel like I now have the equine equivalent of a Glock!

New "Megan Magnum" Holster

My custom-made Kellogg Custom Megan Magnum holster arrived today!

I had it shipped to my office instead of home, because I have a perimeter fence and a locked gate. Delivery drivers usually just leave parcels on the ground, where they instantly beacon a "steal me" signal to the local miscreants.

Based on a quick test-fit in the ladies' room (just to see how it fits me, not my gun -- I work in a defenseless-victim zone), this should be the most awesome concealment holster for my Wilson 1911 evah!

I like to carry in the appendix position with a strong muzzle-forward rake. Every holster Kellogg makes is a full-custom hand build, so accommodating uncommon preferences is no problem for them. Pictures of course will follow.

Many, many thanks to Isaiah and Megan Kellogg of Kellogg Custom Leather. You folks rock!

The PSH Is Official

The concealed carry permit system became effective in Nebraska on January 1, 2007. So finally, over two and a half years later, the agency I work for finally noticed they (gasp!) had no sign on the door prohibiting concealed weapons. So of course they put one up.

I wondered how long it would take them.

The e-mail announcing this stated, "For the safety of all staff, we will be adding a 'No weapons permitted' sign on our front door. This applies to all employees (the employee handbook already bans weapons from the workplace) and civilians. It does not apply to law enforcement officers."

We work with/for law enforcement agencies from local through federal levels. Good thing they acknowledged the mysterious Jedi powers of the Only Ones capable of handling weapons competently. The employee handbook actually explicitly bans only "firearms and explosives," since technology folks who actually do useful work -- as opposed to policy wonks who sit around thinking of ways to keep useful work from getting done -- frequently have to employ sharp pointy things in the fulfillment of their duties.

It's "for the safety of all staff." Because we all know how well those "No weapons permitted" signs worked at Westroads.

ETA: Obviously they subscribe to the New Jersey governor's opinion of legally armed citizens.

Chicago Gun Rights Examiner

Don Gwinn is the new Chicago Gun Rights Examiner.

Don has moderated The Firing Line and The High Road forums and serves as a Director of Illinois Carry, the only Illinois gun-rights organization dedicated to winning shall-issue right-to-carry for Illinois. Don also blogs at The Armed School Teacher and answers all email sent to dongwinn@thefiringline.com.

Welcome to the blogroll, Don.

Common Sense Car Control

In New York, a man deliberately ran down fourteen people with his car, killing one.

Some comparisons:

♦ Number of privately owned guns in America: estimated 238-276 million

♦ Number of firearm deaths, all causes, in 2006: 30,896

♦ Number of deaths per firearm (averaging firearm estimate to 257 million): 0.0001202

♦ Number of nonfatal firearm injuries, all causes, in 2006: 71,417

♦ Number of nonfatal firearm injuries per firearm: 0.0002779

♦ Number of all motor vehicles in America: estimated 250,851,833

♦ Number of motor vehicle deaths, all causes, in 2006: 45,509

♦ Number of deaths per motor vehicle: 0.0001814

♦ Number of nonfatal motor vehicle injuries, all causes, in 2006: 4,279,070

♦ Number of nonfatal motor vehicle injuries per vehicle: 0.0170582

Death and injury data from CDC.

This gives us 1.5 car deaths for every gun death and 59.9 car injuries for every gun injury.

Surely anyone can see we need some common sense car control in this country. Maybe full background checks with mental health inquiries before issuing a driver's license. And nobody needs a car that goes faster than 30 miles per hour.

Think of the chilllldrennnn!

Oleg's An Artist

With words as well as photos:

Would a stick be allowed for the defender? A rock? A piece of pipe? A sword? A crossbow? A pistol? So long as the intent is ethical, in this case prevention of harm to an innocent, what does it matter if the attacker is hit with a two-pound rock or a quarter-ounce bullet?

Tools don't matter. Actions with them do.

READ THE WHOLE THING.