Thanks again to Pirate’s Cove and The Other McCain for the Rule Five linkery!
Programming note; well, really an observation. Posting from Japan is weird. I’m posting today’s Tuesday update on the normal Tuesday morning schedule, but here in Akishima it’s Tuesday evening. I guess that gives me more time for daily news posts, but it feels odd somehow.
Here’s an interesting piece from National Review (who stubbornly insist on using the horrible, horrible Facebook comments plugin): Anti-Gun Hysteria is Hazardous To Your Health. Excerpt:
In July, the Crime Prevention Research Center published a comprehensive report on those Americans who hold concealed-carry permits. Among the findings, the Center notes that while the police are dramatically more law-abiding than the population as a whole (37 times more law-abiding), permit holders in Texas and Florida — two states that keep comprehensive records — were even more law-abiding than cops. Police officers committed crimes at a rate of 103 crimes per 100,000 officers. Permit holders in Texas and Florida committed crimes at a rate of 22.3 per 100,000.
But don’t tell the New York Times. Last week it editorialized against legislation that would require states to recognize lawful concealed carry permits issued in other states. In “support” of its argument, it tried to make the case that permit holders are a threat to public safety. Using research from the anti-gun Violence Policy Center, it ominously claims that “since 2007, concealed-carry permit holders have been responsible for at least 898 deaths not involving self-defense.” Follow the link to the study, called “Concealed Carry Killers,” and you’ll find that almost 300 of those 898 deaths were suicides.
Where does that number fit within the context of all gun deaths in the United States? During the same ten-year span when 898 deaths occurred, there were more than 100,000 homicides and more than 300,000 total gun deaths. Given that approximately 6 percent of the adult population has a concealed-carry permit, legally concealed weapons are involved in remarkably few deaths.
Take note of that first paragraph: In Florida and Texas, at least, you’re safer standing next to a concealed-carry permit holder than you are standing next to a cop.
There’s a lot of angsting right now over mass shooter situations, although those incidents are as rare as they are ballyhooed by the legacy media; you’re more likely to be killed by lightning than by a mass shooter, be it a jihadi or the more a-religious nutcase type. But when the predictables in the media start talking about how to react to a mass shooter – “run, hide, fight” is the current mantra – “shoot back” is never on the menu.
Now, I respect the rights of private property owners. Our Aurora, CO (name ring a bell?) theater owners almost all have anti-CCW signs posted. Until the Aurora theater shootings, I respected the wishes of the theater owners and left my Glock 36 at home.
No longer. Now I carry in the theater, signs be damned; if I’m discovered all the theater personnel can do is ask me to leave, and I will quietly and politely do so.
But if another Joker-styled nutcase bursts in, I’d rather be armed than not. When I mentioned that to a friend some time back, he replied “but then there will be two people shooting. Aren’t you worried that will make things worse?”
“That nutcase (whose name I won’t mention) was walking calmly around shooting helpless people. How the fuck can things get any worse than that?”
My friend had no answer.
