We don’t know yet whether the law might apply in the case of Isaiah Deloatch, the 4-year-old who found a gun in his home in Southwest Baltimore and fatally shot himself. Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s office is working with police but has not said whether any charges may be filed in the case. It doesn’t really matter, though; a $1,000 fine is almost certainly irrelevant to a parent who has lost a child in this way

Source: Baltimore accidental gun death – Baltimore Sun

One of the things that amazed me of this editorial is the self-imposed blindness. They admit that the law does not provide for 100% results, that the loss of a child is more painful, that booth the NRA and the NSSF provide with the guidelines for proper firearms storage around children, but they wan more laws. And they even cite Everytown as Gun Safety Advocate even when they still have not produced a coherent guideline to educate gun owners other than tampering with their mechanisms, force the snake-oil solution of Smart Guns and pass more laws to prohibit accidents and negligence…and sell you overpriced trinkets pushed by movie stars.

I do believe at least one of these idiots has taken a fall and thought about repealing the law of gravity to keep it from happening again. Think about how many kids die every year from falls or objects falling on them. If we repeal gravity, these unnecessary deaths will stop. Do it for the Children.

If it saves one life….

In Kolbe v. Hogan (4th Cir. 2016):

We think it is beyond dispute from the record before us, which contains much of the same evidence cited in the aforementioned decisions, that law-abiding citizens commonly possess semi-automatic rifles such as the AR-15. Between 1990 and 2012, more than 8 million AR- and AK-platform semi-automatic rifles alone were manufactured in or imported into the United States.  In 2012, semi-automatic sporting rifles accounted for twenty percent of all retail firearms sales.  For perspective, we note that in 2012, the number of AR and AK-style weapons manufactured and imported into the United States was more than double the number of Ford F-150 trucks sold, the most commonly sold vehicle in the United States. 

BOOM!

The Fourth Circuit Court returned the case to the lower court with the instructions to deal with it “under strict scrutiny.” The common plea by the Gun Control faction that Ugly Black Rifles are not weapons in common use and therefore can be regulated to death gets slapped by this court and it is now in the record.

What is next? We have conflicting court decisions across the nation, it may very well end up with SCOTUS.

Hat Tip to Clayton Cramer.

Heh…

Hat Tip: Rob M.

Getting ready for my first trip to Spain, my dearest mother warned me of the Guardia Civil: “You just don’t mess with them, ever! If you see one of the coming, avoid him or be submissive. Control your tongue.”  That left an impression on me, how bad are these guys compared to the bastards we already had in Venezuela? When we got to Barajas Airport, I met the first batch of them at Customs and they were polite and looked funny in their green uniforms topped by a black tricorne hat. Days later outside the airport, I saw other members of the Guardia Civil and they seemed less cordial than the ones I had seen with the added bonus of all of them were carrying carbine-sized Mauser rifles.

But it wasn’t till years later on another trip that I got to learn more about them: Yup, they were bastards. People were literally scared of them, they would lower their voices and look away when they went by, patrolling on foot. And if you looked at them, they would give you the “What the fuck are you looking at asshole? Do you have the need for a buttstroke?” Stories of they excesses were told and scars were shown so I became a believer in “No jodas con la Guardia.” (Don’t fuck with the Guardia). How hated was the Guardia Civil?  For many years they were the favorite target of the basque separatist group ETA who went after them and their families, paying back for what the Guardia did to the local basques.

After Franco, the Guardia Civil underwent a modernization process, trying to eliminate the “goonish” part while retaining their no-nonsense Law Enforcement attributes.  But it seems nowadays the Guardia has gone to the puppies.

According to the Guardia Civil union website, there was an incident at a training range in Alicante where a group of five Guardias arrived thirty minutes late for firearms training. The range Master officer and instructor, proceeded to chew the late arrivals a new “culo” for their lateness. That must have been some amazing yelling, worth of capturing for eternity because two of the addressees immediately suffered anxiety attacks that required on the spot attention by the Red Cross personnel on stand by. 

But wait, there is more. The chief of psychological services was present at the range and she felt the need to have their sidearms removed for safety and sent all the late-comers to the hospital for further evaluation. The union warns that the behavior of the instructor cannot be tolerated and that legal actions against him and the Guardia will be forthcoming.

Whiskey-Tango-Foxtrot?

If your Law Enforcement Officers officers need a Safe Space and Trigger Warnings, you might as well pack it and go home. But I guess it is the new policing in Europe where you need to be kind to killers and rapists.

Europe is so boned…..

I have been watching a show on Discovery Live, called Shock Trauma: Edge of Life.  It is filmed live inside of the emergency room of the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center.  It is considered the best Level I Trauma Center in the United States, was the first hospital to use helicopters to transport trauma victims from the scene to the ER, and the model by which all trauma centers in the US are based.  Also, my sister works there.

The season only started in the new year, so there have only been five episodes so far.  The fourth was the most interesting since it was filmed during the Baltimore riots.  So far, there has been at least one shooting featured in each episode.  This is not surprising as Baltimore is listed at the No. 19 overall (No. 2 for US cities) in the top 50 cites in the world for homicides at 54.98 per 100,000.  On a side note, there are four US cities on that list, St. Louis (No. 15), Baltimore (No. 19), Detroit (No. 28), and New Orelans (No. 32), and you might notice a trend in which way these cities lean politically.

So far, only one of the shootings what gang-on-gang violence.  What caught me off guard was the number of people who were shot AFTER being mugged or were the victims of random violent crime.  One girl was shot in the belly by a guy in a convenience store, another guy was shot in the arm and his brother killed by some teen with a gun for being on the wrong street.  You watch these people tell their stories and by every account (including that of the police) the did everything “right” according to the school of “just give the criminal what he wants, you won’t get hurt if you resist” thought.  They didn’t resist.  They got shot away.  Their life’s were forever changed because of it.

The lesson to take away from this is: there is no “right” thing to do.  Give the mugger your cash, your watch, everything you have, and he’ll still shoot you if he wants.  This “your money isn’t worth your life” attitude puts you 100% at the mercy of the worst people.  There is no guarantee that capitulation will lead you be being unharmed.  Is your money worth fighting back for?  No, but your life is.

Specially the part that says: Never aim at anything you are not willing to destroy.

Here is a capture of the text related to the pic under the fold:
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Tactical Caulking.

Hat Tip to Chris G.