A trial ended yesterday. The case involved a shooting on a female by a male resulting in the grievous injury of the female. She sustained damage to her arm both muscular and neural. Her arm will never again be 100% functional and she has, no joke, developed a mongo aversion to guns. The male was a childhood friend of hers and one silly night and because one silly stupid argument, two lives have been changed forever.

The fight was about a truly irrelevant object but it escalated to the point where the male produced his firearm and a shot rang out. Was there intention to kill? I don’t think so and he was not charged with that  but a much lesser count. Still the jury found him guilty and he will probably be sentenced to 8 years in prison. The male had a Concealed Weapons permit and there is no other way to put it: he fucked up. According to what I was told, during trial he initially tried to say that it was an accidental shooting, that the gun went off, but with modern firearms (read: basically anything built in the last 50 years) that is near impossible and he got shredded by the expert witness. His lawyer tried to pull a mid trial switch for Self Defense but a male facing a 5’4″ female armed with a car key and a cellphone does not rise to the necessary standard for self defense. Basically BOTH sides suffered from runaway mouths with almost deadly consequences. The cause of the incident was plain old ego on both sides. She caught the bullet, he caught the prison time.

I tell my students and anybody considering having a gun for self protection that they are about to embark in a life-changing trip. This trip will have “casualties” and the first one must be ego. No longer will you feel the need to right perceived wrongs by verbally or physically counter an insult, wave off or even a direct taunt. You have with you the power of creating immense harm and that is something that you cannot take lightly. I don’t care if they call your Mom names, accuse your wife of being a $10 whore or dirty comments about naked pictures of your favorite aunt in the Internet, your first duty is to disengage and step away from the person trying to incite you. Allow your manhood or womanhood to be dragged in the mud, let them call you coward, faggot, chickeshit, whatever: Words don’t hurt, prison time does.

So remember the this phrase:

Your number one option for personal security is a lifelong commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de–escalation.

A bit of disclosure is in order. The female is a dear friend of mine, almost like an adopted crazy niece. We worked together and I still remember the night I was told she was shot and the Gordian knot that my stomach became. She was out for six months recovering from her wound and with a new dose of maturity. It was radical but instructive for the both of us. Although she is still the same vibrant spirit, the innocence is gone and there will be a dark cloud following her for a long time. I don’t know the guy and I really don’t hold any particular personal grudge against him (I know, I should but I think I matured after all) but as a Gun Owner and CWP holder I will cut him no mercy: He misused a gun, hurt an innocent person and rightly he should serve his punishment. Most Gun Owners agree with me on this. We don’t give freebies to our fellow members that break the faith and eschew responsibility. We are not forgiving just because you  are a fdellow gun owner, say you are sorry sorry and fly to the nearest detox clinic. We come down on you hard and you better get used to it. We hold ourselves to a higher standard.

I will try to get a transcript of the trial and I plan to use it in future classes and in this blog. I think there is much to be learned by everybody.

Again people: Words don’t hurt, prison time does. Dump the Ego.

Well, really she didn’t that I know of, but I found out the new Venezuelan Gun Control Law proposal and I’ve been reading it. To say that it is every gun banner’s wet dream would be an understatement of biblical proportions.

First, a little background. Venezuela is a “democracy” under the authoritarian rule of Hugo Chavez and an absolute meek pliable legislature. Laws are ordered by Hugo, usually while he rants on his weekly Sunday TV show (which every TV and radio station must carry under penalty of law) and on Monday the “Assembly” gets together to bang the “proposed” articles of the new law, puts it for vote no later than Wednesday and presents it to His Majesty on Thursday for his reading between blows of cocaine. By Friday is signed into law and published. Some laws make take some more time so they make no announcement till it is ready for publication and Hugo can claim it was his idea.

Now that the “legislative” process is covered, let’s go to the why they came out with a third gun control law during the jubilant period of eternal government by His Grace the Almighty Hugo: Crime is totally out of control. The official number of murders every year is above 15,000 for a country of under 27 million people.  To make it a tad clearer: Venezuela is roughly the size and population of Texas but it has a bit over ten times the number of murders.  98% of murders are never solved by the police and every poll in Venezuela says that the number one preoccupation for the average citizen is crime. Two other gun controls were previously adopted which included a one month grace period where every subject had to register any and all weapons with Venezuela’s Defense Department under penalty of heavy prison time. Of course criminals did not do such thing and crime kept crawling up. Have No Fear! Hugo is Here! So we have another Gun Control Law in the cauldron which promises without a doubt the elimination of crime as we know it.

Here are some of the highlights:

• You buy the gun but it does not belong to you. It is government’s property that can be confiscated for any reason and without compensation.
• You are allowed only ONE gun. That’s it! If you need (not want) more than one, you must make your case to the Government and go through a process which will not guarantee you anything.
• You are allowed to own ONE reload (One spare mag or speedloader) and the reload is limited to 14 rounds.
• You are allowed to buy only 50 rounds a year for self defense. If you use it and need it replenished, you must go through a crapload of paperwork similar to why you need another gun.
• No hollow point ammunition. Full metal Jackets or FMJ expanding ammo only and only the ones provided by the government at their stores or the stores licensed by the Government.
• Ammo for sporting purposes can be obtained but only at authorized ranges and under scrutiny and keeping track of every round spent. Unused ammo must be returned. Private ranges must account for every round of ammunition and keep strict tabs.
• All ammo belongs to the state.
• Reloading your own ammunition carries a penalty of 8 to 10 years in prison.
• No gun modifications are allowed at all. This covers replacing any part of the gun like grips or sights.
• Nobody but the Government is allowed to stock spare parts. You must buy the parts from them.
• Illegal weapons carry a 10-18 year sentence
• Illegal trafficking gets 16 years
• Illegal bows, crossbows, air rifles or even airsofts gets you 8 years.
• The Media MUST (under penalty of law) produce Public Service Ads explaining why guns are bad and you must be disarmed.

There is more, but I thought this was enough to make anybody sick. And if you do not think Anti Gunners wouldn’t dare to pass something like this, think again: They would kill to get that law here.

If you happen to read Spanish, you can download the proposed law here.

UPDATE: I just found out that the law has been approved as it stands by the Legislature. It is on its way to Hugo’s desk. Careful do not disturb the coke lines.

The award goes to Indiana’s State Rep. Vernon Smith (D-Gary) by attempting to express his opposition to a bill that would allow the Citizens of Indiana to keep their guns locked in the car while at work and eliminates the possibility that Law Enforcement will take guns away (read confiscate/steal) from citizens during emergencies (A.K.A. The Katrina Bill.)

His “reason” for dressing up as a gansta and pop away a toy gun?

Smith said he once became so angry at a man who was picking on him at a dance that if he had a gun, he might have used it.
“It shows you that when you have a gun, how many times you don’t think,” Smith said.

Whoa there Nelly! The only thing you have demonstrated here is that you are a frigging bigot insulting the people of your own race by dressing like a misguided rapper, you are an idiot that cannot control his emotions and that you hold your fellow citizens in contempt by thinking they are as stupid as you.

The Guns in Cars is another Pro Second Amendment issue that has been settled in many other states already. No massacres have occurred, no employees got pissed off with their bosses, went to their cars, got their guns and killed anybody. None of those doomsday scenarios have played anywhere the law is up and running.

I am so sick of these fear mongering idiots.

Hat Tip and thanks to Tamara. At least I now feel better knowing that Stupid Minority Politicians abound in other regions but Miami-Dade.

-Isn’t the IPad is just like a really really big IPhone? It is going to be a bitch to find a comfortable belt pouch for that thing.

-Dear FBI: Isn’t stupid to dismiss terrorism in the case of Lloyd Woodson? You find a guy with illegal weapons, maps of the local army base and “Middle Eastern red and white traditional headdress” (maybe a kaffiyeh, maybe a shemag or maybe it was the tablecloth of the local Italian restaurant) chances are he was not doing a presentation for the next CBS show, Usama’s Funniest Videos. But that is just me.

-Some bag boy needs a basic vision test after confusing an umbrella with a rifle and scaring patrons to death. It is unknown if the umbrella had a bayonet lug and a high capacity ” banana clip’.

You know? I have to go to Texas and locate this mythical Bugscuffle County, intercept LawDog and share a drink or two. In the meantime, do enjoy his take on Mechanized Chariot Racing and its applications in Law Enforcement.

Mi IPod is a life saver, no doubt about it. The poor thing must be suffering from an identity problem because the owner is not quite stable music wise. When the bands cover the range of Premiata Forneria Marconi, Dean Martin, Johan Sebastian Bach and Parliament Funkadelik, you can imagine the psychological trauma it has to shuffle. Yet the most abused playlist is the Podcast. Night shift would be unbearable without having somebody’s voice to keep me awake in this awful boring time. One of my favorites is Pastor Kenn Blanchard’s Black Man with a Gun.

I admit the first time I heard the Pastor about 2 years ago, we didn’t click. Maybe it was a bad episode, maybe I was in the wrong mood for his podcast (same thing happened with the TV series “Homicide: Life in the Streets” which now is my favorite Cop Show ever) but I found him boring and overbearing.  Last year I somehow downloaded another episode and I got hooked on his “preaching” (more in a second),  his view on guns and his view of life.

I placed preaching in quotes ’cause he does preach in my opinion but in the best way possible. Instead of sounding like that know-it-all from atop of the pulpit stuffed shirt, Pastor Kenn is more like a good wise friend offering his point of view and advice on a subject while having a cup of coffee sitting with you in the back porch. He doesn’t take himself too seriously or even you too seriously, yet his advice, (if you wish to accept it) is serious.

He is sneaky and smooth. He makes you think and re-evaluate things in the softest of voices yet not weak. Maybe your beliefs are right, but held only by a simplistic structure of thought. May it be your responsibilities as a parent or as a gun owner, you will be forced to re-evaluate them and make the roots either grow deeper or just tear the whole thing out and start all over knowing that it will be much stronger and better.  He is like a Marvin Gaye of the Cloth and with Gun: when you least expect it,  you are swinging, smiling and feeling better.

Preach On Pastor.

PS: I almost forgot! He has a segment serialized about Zombies on every podcast called Zombie Strike and he has his own Zombie Target. How damn cool is that?

Our club just celebrated our annual Picnic Match which tends to be a working affair for the busy bees and fun more most everybody else. The highlight is the side Kid’s match where the parents are encouraged to bring the little ones to shoot a variety of .22 caliber weapons against targets that provide immediate feedback like spinners and such. It is grueling work for whomever gets stuck with running it, but it is satisfactory at the same tome to see youngins just rip round after round of ammunition and beat the lights out of those spinners.

My personal highlight was to see the face of absolute joy of a girl who had never fired a gun before, connecting with her target for the first time. The combination of surprise, joy and pride was just perfect. In fact the girls were scary in their their dedication and accomplishment. They took the “task” seriously spinning targets with an almost boring regularity but they never got bored themselves, they just had that fierce determination to bet the heck out of brothers, cousins, friends and acquaintances.

The club is not a “serious” club by any means. But the Picnic Match gives it a more relaxed tone once a year. With range space a premium in South Florida, to be able to just take it easy, shoot a couple of IDPA stages, have lunch, take a raffle, BS a while and then get back to shooting.

A Rainbow coalition (whites, blacks, hispanic, orientals and some undetermined breeds were present) of armed citizens enjoyed a day of shooting with family and friends. No crimes were committed, no fistfights, no stabbings, no rapes, no crimes even though 75% of those present had a gun affixed to their waist. Intelligentsia says this was not supposed to happen, that a concentration of guns like this mixed with kids is a recipe for disaster, that bodies must fall bleeding profusely by bullet holes specially since there was an <gasp> “assault rifle” in the mix.

I am guessing Intelligentsia is wrong and has been wrong for a long long time.