Archive for the ‘Crime’ Category
Oh, hell.
Address Gun Violence in Cities: As president, Barack Obama would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade. Obama and Biden also favor commonsense measures that respect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners, while keeping guns away from children and from criminals who shouldn’t have them. They support closing the gun show loophole and making guns in this country childproof. They also support making the expired federal Assault Weapons Ban permanent, as such weapons belong on foreign battlefields and not on our streets.
From here. As an aside, does it disturb anyone else that there’s already a “change.gov” website for the president-elect?
Hmm, let me see if I can sum things up:
- Open up gun trace data for political purposes (read: lies), as police already have access to trace data for bona fide law enforcement purposes.
- Ban on private sale of firearms. (There is no “gun show loophole”.)
- Mandating “smart guns” that don’t exist and probably won’t work.
- Banning scary-looking guns, permanently.
That sounds remarkably like the list of talking points at the Brady Campaign.
It looks like all my friends who claimed Obama was a friend of the Second Amendment were wrong. I hate to say “I told you so”, but…well, I told you so.
Look, I agree that violent crime is reprehensible. I agree that violent criminals should have no business owning a gun. I agree that we, as a society need to work to reduce violent crime…but putting these restrictions on law-abiding citizens has no effect on crime. California’s banned the private sale of firearms, and it’s done nothing. There was a ban on scary-looking guns for ten years, and it did nothing.
Rather than pushing for these stupid feel-good measures which have been tried over and over and over (and have inevitably resulted in no change in violent crime rates) and which only affect law-abiding citizens, why not actually try to address the root causes of violent crime?
Update: Hat tip to Sebastian. It was bad form of me to not credit him first.
UA Student Shoots Two Home Invaders
A little after midnight this morning, two men apparently chose to invade the home of a University of Arizona student.
They chose…poorly.
The 23-year-old student was not expecting anyone at that hour, and so armed himself in response to a knock at his door. The guy knocking asked for a person who didn’t live there. The student looked past the guy who was knocking and saw a masked man holding a gun. The student attempted to close the door and retreat into his house, but the men forced their way in, at which point both were shot.
[waits for thunderous applause to die down]
The student has been cooperating with the police, and did not appear to be involved in any sort of criminal activity. Pending any evidence to the contrary, I’m calling this one a “good shoot”. More details as I get them.
Some choice quotes from the article:
Ali Adelmann, a UA sophomore, just moved into the neighborhood this semester and was concerned about what happened.
“It really worries me,” the Phoenix resident said. “All we can do is keep our doors and windows locked.”
Ali, you are aware that windows are just thin sheets of glass, right? They’re trivial to break. And you need to open your doors and windows at some point. It’s better to have an effective means of protection, like a gun, than simply relying upon a lock.
Jenny Wise also moved into the neighborhood in August. The 19-year-old sophomore said she wasn’t home at the time.
She had gone to a party and upon arriving home around 2 a.m. found her street taped off and flooded with police.
“It’s really the scariest thing,” Wise said. “I’ve lived a sheltered life. This seems like a nice little neighborhood. I don’t know what I would’ve done if two guys tried to get into my house.”
Do you have the means to protect yourself? No? Then things would probably go badly for you.
Tucson is a nice town, but that doesn’t mean that crime doesn’t exist. Maybe you should realize that not all life is like your sheltered upbringing, and that there’s a nasty underbelly to the world. You don’t need to live in fear of it, but recognize that it exists. Being prepared can save your life.
Online comments on the article at the Tucson Citizen were even more naïve, some implying that because the student owned a gun, that he was somehow involved with criminal acts. Other comments suggested that society is going downhill because more people are choosing to arm themselves.
The moral of the story is this:
- Having ready access to guns in your house can be a good thing.
- Having a gun on your person when checking the door can also be a good thing — if you need it, you need it now.
- Consider getting an intercom or speak through the door rather than opening the door at a late hour.
- No matter how many police officers were on the beat at the time, they would be unable to help the resident. He had no time to call the police, let alone explain the situation and his location, let alone wait for the police to arrive. The responsibility for his defense was his alone.
Quote of the Day
If you don’t care what’s illegal, you can do all kinds of things.
-Fark user Son Of Thunder, when asked where kids acquire guns for their acts of crime.
Weapons-Grade Stupidity
- Steal magnetic roof signs from Pizza Hut delivery vehicles.
- Call Pizza Hut manager, demand $500 for the return of the signs.
- Send photograph of signs, including the license plates of two of your own cars in the background.
- Profit! Get busted by the cops.
There really needs to be “felony stupid” charge for some criminals.