South Florida Hand Wringers are not happy. The expansion of the Castle Doctrine that allows citizens of this state to defend themselves outside their home appears to be an affront to their sensitivities and, in the case of lawyers I am sure it is hurting them in the pocket. Earlier this week, Patrick Lavoie got enraged when he felt that one Cleveland Murdock was tailgating him and his lady friend. At a stop, Mr. Lavoie got out of his vehicle and charged Mr. Murdock reaching inside his vehicle. Mr. Murdock used his legally carried firearm and defended himself causing the early demise of Mr. Lavoie. Broward Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene to investigate, detained Mr. Murdock for several hours, interrogated him, interviewed plenty witnesses that gave the same account and eventually said it was a case of self defense when the investigation and witnesses’ accounts matched Mr. Murdock’s statement. They passed the info to the district attorney’s office who in turn might take it to a grand jury which tells me they are pretty sure they do not have a case if they are not willing to do the dirty deed themselves.

Of course, the Sun Sentinel (Broward County’s bird poop catcher) is not happy one bit.

Prosecutors everywhere have rallied against the “Stand Your Ground” law, saying it might be misinterpreted by citizens who think they have the right to use deadly force, and that it could be manipulated by those with itchy trigger fingers.

That such thing has not happened yet in the years since the expansion of the Castle Doctrine does not seem to face them. But it gets better:

William Cervone, president of Florida’s Prosecuting Attorneys Association, said the law often leaves people settling cases on the streets instead of in a courtroom. Also, he said, it provides a shooter the opportunity to make up a story without the victim’s side of what happened.

This is a gorgeous double whammy. Not only Mr. Cervone is saying that Homicide investigators are too stupid to figure out if the statement of a suspect does not match the events, but somehow the law does not allow him to contact the dead victim and have him tell his version of the events. I did not know that the phone company have such service available. Maybe Mr. Cervone uses some sort of medium to speak with those in the after life. Then again, if we use translators in court cases for those who do not speak English, I imagine Mr. Cervone may find acceptable to use a gypsy tarot reader to speak for the victim. There is money to be made with this concept, gimme me a bandanna and a big golden ring and I am there.

Bouncing off Everyday, No Days Off post about Bob Barker’s passing out at a gun range and into the original story at TMZ, I made the mistake of reading the comments. One was particularly bizarre and this is Hollywood people, mind you.

I know dumb people blame guns for lots of things, but I have to admit this is the first time I have seen that guns induce labor. And WTF was this lady doing at a gun range so close to delivery anyway?

Time to get the Excedrin for Migraines… again.

I admit it, I become a grouchy SOB when the phone rings and I do not recognize the number displayed in the caller ID. Friends and Family are OK (those who are actually have my phone number) but I consider any other call as an intrusion to my privacy and my peace. I do become a full fledged bastard when the caller ID displays an 800 and related numbers with special rabid performance for telemarketers and collection agencies fishing for information.

A while ago I get a call from what I later found out to be a collection agency. The young idiot on the phone had an attitude that I equate with New Yorkers or Jets Fans (The agency turned out to be from Buffalo) and the conversation went something like this:

<RING>

Me (using my Mangalore voice): Hello?
Collection Agency Idjit (and with an attitude): Good Afternoon. I need to speak with Mrs. Me
Me (regular voice with hispanic accent): You have to speak with Mrs. Me regarding exactly what?
CAI (still with the ‘tude): I am with SumCapitalAgency and I have to talk to Mrs. Me about some financial information.

(Now, the blessed Domestic Six does not use her married name for any financial stuff so I know this guy is fishy. I go for the kill)

Me (switching to Tennessee Accent): And may I ask who the hell are you to order me to to let you talk to my wife?
CAI: Sir as I said….
Me: I asked you young fella. Who the hell are you to order me anything about my wife? I know damn well you ain’t no kin, so I would love an explanation just about now.
CAI (losing his cool): Sir, I have to talk about her …..
Me (switching to Drum Eatenton accent): Listen here young whippersnapper. I don’t take kindly to your attitude and unless you are paying the bills around here, you have a flea’s chance in Saturn to talk to the Missus. Now Bubba, be a good boy and get me a supervisor.
CAI (totally lost it and raising his voice): Sir all I wanted…
Me: You deaf or something boy? Git me a supervisor.
CAI (screaming now): Sir…
Me: I said git me a supervisor. You don’t hear good, do you Bubba? (Don’t ask me why some northerners don’t like being called Bubba for some reason)
CAI (screaming): Sir….
Me: Git me a supervisor.
CAI (screaming): Sir….
Me: Git me a supervisor.
CAI (screaming): Sir….
Me: Git me a supervisor.
CAI (foaming at the moth by the gurgling sounds): Fine!!!! Transferring you!

So I get put on silent hold, yep! Not even Muzak’s version of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. I wait some 45 seconds and I get connected to the  Manager On Duty of SumCapitalAgency.

Manager: Good Afternoon Mr. Me, How can I help you?
Me (using a generic Southern Accent I picked up in a movie): Well sir, I am mighty upset about the young feller that called. It seems that he thought he had some sort of ownership rights on my wife ’cause he was ornery and demanding, I say again, demanding to talk to her.  I don’t know where you folks are from, but in these parts down here them are fighting words.
Manager: I am sorry Mr. Me. I was unaware of what happened.
Me: You mean to tell me your boy transferred me to you and didn’t tell you what he did? I think he threw you a sandbag there sir. Quite unfortunate choice of employees your company seem to have.
Manager: Er…ahem. I am sorry for his behavior. We were calling to confirm the address of one Mrs. Urusla Me born in 1907 with an address in Drunken Flamingos Road, Miami Hills.
Me: I am sorry to say you have not only the wrong person but you ain’t even close to the county.
Manager: I do truly apologize sir. We did not mean to upset you.
Me:(back to regular voice with hispanic accent): Well sir, I am disappointed at the way that young man addressed me on the phone. And speaking of phone, Do you know this number is registered with the DoNotCall list and you are right now in violation of Federal Law? Since I am not the person you intended to reach, I must presume you are fishing for numbers out of the phone book and that is a no-no.
Manager (Confused and apologetic): Mr. Me, I see your number is (555) 555-5555 and i guarantee you I’ll have it removed from our list.
Me: I appreciate that sir and (switching back to Tennessee accent) you have a wonderful afternoon, You hear?

<click>

I reckon they won’t be calling any time soon 😉

Q: You believe that guns prevent rape. But what if the rapist has a gun, too?

A: Then you better be the first to shoot.

Paxton Quigley responding to Abigail Pesta in a Marie Claire on line article.

Hat Tip to Say Uncle

Found the site urldogg.com in my report and I saw what are reported to be my stats.

Gunfreezone.net is the 981,330th most visited site on the internet. The homepage of gunfreezone.net links out to 21 other websites. The website’s IP address is 64.8.101.132, and there is 1 other website hosted at the same IP address. Gunfreezone.net gets about 1,115 pageviews per day, and earns an estimated $3.35 daily. The server location of gunfreezone.net is Houston, TX, United States (US ).

Making boatloads of money apparently. I wanna know who’s been keeping my three bucks and change!

And I can see the rank of other bloggers in my links:

Strange that not all linked bloggers made it in the list. Don’t ask me why. It appears it won’t take Blogger URLs.

Will It Hurt Me in Court? Weapons Issues and the Fears of the Legally Armed Citizen by Glenn Meyer is a no-nonsense, must read article for anybody who takes self-defense seriously.

We found the overall effect of gun type was significant. AR-15 shooters were given longer sentences. The most telling finding was that female mock jurors gave female AR-15 shooters the harshest sentences – a mean of approximately eight years as compared to a male average of five and a half years. In comparison, the lowest average recommended sentence was for a male shooting a Ruger Mini – about two and a half years.

This is an amazing article and out of the top of my head I can say we need two things: 1) Increase the fight against the Media’s portrayal of the “assault Weapons” and 2) We need to get women more into rifle shooting.

Hat Tip to Gail Pepin for the link.