When I took English 101 in college (frightening experience for somebody who recently finished ESOL) one of the things I got chided about was how often I used cliches on my assignments. The teacher kindly explained that overused expressions are an easy way out but that they detracted from my work. The only thing I could tell him was that they were not cliches but rather fresh expressions for a foreigner like me.  He understood my position but still kicked my butt and I had to thank him for that.

That brings me to the most hated (by me) derogatory cliche used by media against any gun owner: Pistol Packing or its even more insulting Pistol Packin’. Do notice it is not Pistol Packing but Pistol Packin‘ as if we were missing a front tooth as to enhance the notion that people who carry guns are somehow crossbred retards.

How is it that deciding to be responsible for your own safety became a topic of derision by the “enlightened” ones is beyond me.  Then again this is America and if it is your choice to be an Useless Unarmed Idiot, you do have that right. And I do hope I don’t have to read your sob story on how a gang of miscreants used you as a ATM/Punching Bag/Sex Toy and ask me to feel sorry for you.

From KLFY, Lafayette, LA.

Murder May Be Self Defense

Doucet allegedly made his way into the home armed with a pipe wrench and in search of the homeowner.  He eventually found him, but the homeowner was armed as well, with a four ten shotgun.  Detectives say he then shot Doucet and killed him

Is it me or can you actually hear the disappointment oozing out of the article.

So here in South Florida we are preparing for Tropical Storm Bonnie. The windy babe should start hitting us sometime in the next couple of hours and this is the forecast for tomorrow according to the National Weather Service:

Friday: Tropical storm conditions possible. Rain and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain. High near 88. Heat index values as high as 101. East wind 28 to 33 mph, with gusts as high as 47 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

While nothing to sneeze about, South Florida is pretty much well set up for a small,  medium or large size Tropical Storm.  I don’t think most of us bothers with shutters unless we are guaranteed a Cat 1 Hurricane with winds close to 85 mph and then only because it is too complicated to deal with the damn panels. Flooding will be the issue mostly because we are flat and water has pretty much nowhere to run to once the canals are at full capacity. Since May, everybody from the Mayor to the any of the street vendors between Calle Ocho and Flagler Street, keep remind us about hurricane preparations. Some more than others are prepared for them following the trifecta of beans, bullets and band-aids and have become experts at following storm paths and analyzing radar returns, infra red water vapor satellite images and keeping an eye on the seagulls to see if the show up all of the sudden west of I-75.

The collective of our local Channel 7 is losing their ever loving minds with this storm. If you pay any more than five seconds of attention to their broadcast, you swear that Andrew and Katrina are pissed off and about to pay us a nasty visit. And of course, there is the fringe of idiots that will go nuts and actually believe we are going to have Armageddon Part 2 so they rush out to buy everything off the shelves because they heard the “news.” By Sunday afternoon they will be trying to figure out what they are going to do with 500 hot dogs with corresponding buns, 10 cases of Sams Cola, one metric ton of self starting charcoal and the three cases of Captain Morgan (You can’t have a Florida weather event without rum or at least a decent amount of related spirits and I am not exaggerating about the hot dogs, I saw that once.)

This type of news are counter productive. I am all for preparations and being forewarned, but doing a Chicken Little Live On The Scene only serves for people to ignore future and possibly dangerous events. People get tired of wasting time, money and peace of mind for some heavy rains and a gust of wind. So my dear friends in Channel 7 News, chill out and STFU.

Since losing power for a couple of days might be a possibility, I might be forced to take a little vacation from the blog. I’ll see you guys on the other side!

Update: I was afraid that our Saturday IDPA match might be canceled, but this just got posted in our club’s forum.

The storm should be well past us by Friday night. 

So—- it will be sweet and clean after the rain……

Come on out on Saturday so you can practice for the looters.

DVC 
Roger

My dear local rag never fails to give me material when I need it.

OUR OPINION: High court’s latest gun ruling hurts communities

And the community organize in D.C. is doing such a great work. Just ask Louisiana, Texas and Florida.

Monday was a very good day for the National Rifle Association and a very bad day for the sensible state and local officials in this country who want to curb the level of gun violence in their communities.

The good folks who elated the NRA are the five U.S. Supreme Court justices who ruled that the Second Amendment’s guarantee of a person’s right to bear arms applies to state and local gun-control regulations….

You guys live in Florida, right? Not sending editorials via email from New York or something. Maybe you did not get the memo, but since 1987 no “local Official” is allowed to create gun control laws out of thin air. Only the Legislature is allowed to create or modify gun laws. And the same goes for many states with the terrible consequence that….nothing bad has happened.

This is the first time the high court has found that the U.S. Constitution restricts state and municipal gun-control powers, and it is a hard blow to communities struggling to eradicate gun violence.

Communities like Chicago where His Excellence Daley had absolute control and Law Abiding Citizens were unable to buy a handgun to defend themselves have not been having any luck curbing the gun violence. In fact, the criminals are happy as kids in a three-day pass to DisneyWorld because they have this vast pool of victims to choose, rob and murder. But why let the facts get stubbornly in the way?

Many local and state gun regulations will be fair game to legal challenges because the court majority was vague about how far the Second Amendment should be extended on gun ownership. Just as there are limits on citizens’ free speech there should also be limits on gun ownership — but what those limits can be is now pretty murky.

Please notice the sentence in italics: Limits on Citizens! The Miami Herald has no shame in telling you that it is OK to restrict your right to Free Speech yet there is no mention of them willing to abide by the same “principle.” This is a prime example of the elitism in the Media where you, the common folk is nothing more than an uncultivated common folks.

Can states still require background checks for weapons purchases? Can states outlaw sales of assault weapons while allowing pistols and rifles to be sold? Can cities or states put limits on transactions at gun shows? Where is the line to be drawn between the right to own a gun and the public’s right to feel safe?

At the Chicago City Limits?

… as Justice Steven Breyer pointed out in his dissent. He argued — correctly — that Chicago’s handgun ban had saved many hundreds of lives since its enactment in 1983, which pointed in favor of deferring to local elected officials in deciding how to control guns.

And how does Justice Breyer know this? Did the city of Chicago presented affidavits from potential murderers saying “I wuz gonna kill me some bitches, but since there ain’t no gun stores in Chicago, I decided that was not cool.”? Just plain unadulterated bovine post-digestive by-product.

In his opinion for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that, “individual self-defense is the central component of the Second Amendment right.” That is one view, to be sure. But by tying the hands of state and local governments in regulating firearms, who will be left defend and protect gun-toters’ potential victims?

As usual the Miami Herald mixes criminals with Law Abiding citizens. If we own guns, we are as bad as your local ganbanger. It would be too much of a stretch for the Herald bullshit slingers editors to actually check the darn numbers issued by Florida Division of Licensing Statistical Reports on Concealed Carry individuals and their crimes. The numbers are so damn low they are almost statistically irrelevant. But again, why bother with the facts. Facts make you think, facts make you challenge your standard narrative, facts are scary because they shake your little ivory tower built on the sand of Liberal politics.

It is more comforting having them uncultivated common folks die without the chance to defend themselves.

I don’t need to say much. Actually I can’t say anything that my Mother would approve and use a pressure washer on my mouth.

Not to give Carl Hiaasen any ideas, but this has the makings of a good novel: Frustrated by government that allows rampant overdevelopment, eco-conscious gun-range enthusiasts protest by taking aim at tourists as they sit on their balconies watching Everglades sunsets.

Sun Sentinel columnist Michael Mayo (Don’t get me started) commenting on the development of a hotel (allegedly a Marriot) and office complex half a mile north of the Markham Park Range. For enlightened people, “journalists” sure are easy to repeat bigoted and profiling characterizations.

But we knew this already.

Appearing in Drudge is the following headline from the Sun Sentinel: Life in prison for stealing $4 package of socks. It instantly evokes the mishaps of Jean Valjean and his horrible sentence of 19 year for a loaf of bread, the injustice of a out of control justice system and society’s inability to deal with crime. Of course, after reading the article one must ponder if “reporters” Barbara Hijek and Gary Taylor spent the weekend watching a marathon of Twilight and Glee because the culprit, one Dean Rockmore was found guilty of not stealing $4 worth of goods but brandishing a gun to the Security Officer trying to stop him. Rockmore is a repeat offender with goodies in his record like Arson, Aggravated Assault on a Firefighter/Paramedic, trafficking stolen merchandise, violently resisting arrest with violence & forgery. His incarceration history goes back all the way to 1981so we are not talking about an innocent man driven by circumstances, Bush and the War in Iraq.

The jury seemed to reason along the same lines when they took under an hour to send Mr. Rockmore to spend a vacation in the custody of the State of Florida and Circuit Judge Margaret Hudson decided to make such vacation permanent.

Now why Barbara Hijek and Gary Taylor went with the stupid title? My guess they were fishing for a mix of good old heart tugging and righteous indignation out of the readers.  In the comment sections one reader simply stated: “What a douchebag of a newspaper.”

One must agree.