I am gonna ramble some, so expect stuff that does not make much sense. When I came to live/study in the US years ago, I was introduced to the American Attitude. I call it a combination of “Everything which is not forbidden is allowed” and “If you try to forbid it, fuck you, now I want it more and you can’t stop me.”

For somebody raised and programmed under “everything which is not allowed is forbidden” and “You better ask permission first” this was a gigantic cultural shock but one that I adapted quickly as  Freedom is intoxicating. And this is also why I think I  understand what happened to Gun Culture and why Gun Control, as amazingly prepared and backed, has been taking it in the chin since the Assault Weapons Ban. And come to think about it, even before that with Florida’s Shall Carry Weapons Permit.

I made it know before that I consider Florida’s passage of the Shall Issue carry permits as the beginning of the new era of gun ownership. The second wave in the gun revolution came with the Assault Weapons Ban under the Clinton Regime. Both events did similar things: made regular people aware that there was something the government did not want you to have and pissed them off. Royally.

With the Concealed Weapons Permit, people started to ask to their legislators “How come I can’t get a permit like them Florida (rednecks/Cubans/crackers/Haitians/etc) have?”  And when the Powers told them they had something similar but not quite (May Issue at the whim of the local head LEO) people revolted, got to the legislature and changed the laws. A CWP was no longer a symbol of political status and access for a selected few and became the common achievement of the law-abiding. We went from maybe ten of thousands with some sort of permit maybe only valid in their county to close to 15 million nationwide right now and I am not including the states where a permit is no longer required (I’ve been told 13 now.) And did I forget to mention all 50 states have now some sort of CWP law in its laws? Open Carry is everywhere but in Five states (Four if the Florida Legislature gets its shit together this session) and hopefully we will be heading soon to Nationwide Reciprocity.

By happy coincidence, at the same time that Florida was fighting and getting its CWP, an Austrian widget-maker was starting to make inroads in the gun stores of the US with some weird gun made partially out of plastic. Some hysterical idiot claimed with deadly finality that these guns by a manufacturer named Gaston Glock were invisible to X-Rays and a new era in commercial flight hijackings was upon us. Congress moves swiftly to ban guns that were invisible to X-Rays, Glocks were mentioned over and over and the era of the Plastic Fantastic was born: They could not make enough of the darned things to satisfy the consumer’s demand.  And what is worse, soon other well-respected companies started to come out with their own Rubbermaid Guns and they were sold like Deep Fried Twinkies at the state fair. The Golden Era of the Handgun was upon us and we are still enjoying the heck out of it.

The Gun Control and the Left Wing did not comprehend why people were buying guns in droves and demanding their right to carry them. Very clearly they made the point that GUNS ARE BAD and ONLY BAD PEOPLE WANT THEM. And above all GUNS MUST BE FORBIDDEN TO SAVE THE CHILDREN because we the ELITE KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU AND YOUR KIDS. They never realized that what they did was piss people off and limelight something they were not aware of and made it desirable because Americans are ornery that way.  

“I can’t have a Glock? Gimme two, hell, gimme three plus 2 magazines and a thousand rounds of ammunition just to make you mad.” 

And the Gun Race was off.  same as it seems to have happened in 1934 and 1968, Congress could not screw the pooch for the People on sidearms even if they wanted it bad. In fact, they did just the opposite: They made them more appealing, they imposed a major burden on State legislatures who finally caved to the Evil Gun Lobby and made the guns so popular, stagnant Gun Manufacturers suddenly were starting to make money again and not just surviving. In fact, soon enough gun companies did not depend on government contracts for their survival but the inexorable laws of Supply and Demand told them where their butter was coming and would come from for decades: The People. Those who failed to see that lesson, soon enough paid dearly, just ask  British conglomerate Tomkins plc who bought Smith and Wesson for $122 million, failed to heed the desires of the public going instead with the Clinton administration and ended up losing their knickers by selling S&W for $15 million. 

Hard to imagine that Florida Man and Austrian Guy would create such a disruption in the plans of the Intelligentsia. But it gets better.

More in the next episode.

I guess all the trolling Shia LeBuFoon, his follower and even a Nazi triggered Twitter’s Orwellian Algorithms:

Apparently I broke the feelings of a Neo Nazi. (sniff)

Oh well. I am sorry! (Not really)

I haven’t stolen stuff from Greg in a while and this is a great post by him. I learned a couple (3 to 5) things. Also check the links he provides.

I recently received a very interesting question from a friend and fellow blogger.  He asked the following: “How should an armed citizen best help a police officer if that officer is under violent attack from another individual or group of individuals?”It’s a great question.  I think many folks with CCW licenses would be willing to help a cop in trouble.  As a cop, I welcome all the help I can get if I’m in a bad situation.  Three recent incidents (here and here and here) demonstrate examples where armed citizens saved police officers’ lives. Here are some guidelines for folks who want to help an officer in trouble….

Source: How to Help a Cop During a Life-Threatening Struggle | Active Response Training

Prado played the part of Morales’ 2014 statement to investigators in Broward County, who linked Morales to the death of Colin, 18, of West Palm Beach, after they found Colin’s charred remains inside a burned out rental car in a remote area of Weston…

…His explanations had little impact on Marx, who said Tuesday that it was the first time she’d ever denied a “Stand Your Ground” motion without even allowing prosecutors to present witnesses to refute a defendant’s claims.Marx said she was “not even near convinced” that Morales’ case met the standards for “Stand Your Ground” and also had harsh criticisms of Morales’ claims that he shot Colin in the back of the head while Colin still had his hand on the gun.“The idea that the gun would loop back around and shoot him in the back of the head is preposterous,” Marx said.

Source: Judge rejects “Stand Your Ground” bid in 2014 murder case

Do you mean I was lied to? Well yes, beginning with being a SYG motion when it really was an Immunity From Prosecution motion. And not being Black was also supposed to set him free but did not.

Maybe there is a Narrative afloat not being very truthful about these things, just maybe.

Obama didn’t kill journalism, but he took advantage of it in its weakness, because he knew the press would do anything to feel relevant again. All those 27-year-olds at the Times, the Washington Post and others hired as bloggers—“who literally know nothing,” as Rhodes told the Times Magazine—when the foreign and national bureaus were closed, they didn’t know it wasn’t OK to be a journalist and a political operative at the same time. They thought it made them more valuable, even patriotic, to put themselves in the service of a historic presidency. And they’d replaced for pennies on the dollar all the adults who could have taught them otherwise.

Source: Wayne Barrett and Donald Trump – Tablet Magazine

It is a long article, but worth reading. An autopsy of the American Journalism.

I saw this video in my recommended YouTube feed.

I can think of no better response than:

Seriously, that went from “you voted for Donald Trump?” to pulling out a long gun in 21 seconds.

Some internet sleuthing uncovered that the anti-Trumper in question is named Neal Norles, and is some sort of rapper or DJ in Kansas City, MO.

His Facebook feed is  filled with other pictures of him flashing weapons and saying stupid shit.

This was clearly a threat.  I hope the cops go after this guy for it.

As a CCW permit holder, this sort of thing scares the hell out of me.  I’m not stupid, if that was me and the situation had turned uglier, I know me any my subcompact pistol are completely out gunned by an AR-15.

Just walk away and watch your truck get damaged.  God forbid a loved one is still in the vehicle.

I have not seen a followup to the story yet, but I hope the cops get involved.

The lesson learned here is maintain your situational awareness, anybody who starts cussing you for a Trump/right of center political sticker may be totally unhinged so be polite, and like the great Kenny Rodgers says:

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em, Know when to fold ’em, Know when to walk away, And know when to run.

You may be armed to defend yourself, but you never know if the threat is going to out gun you.