The Wandering Minstrel

I like the Glock T-shirt that I got at the gun show a few weeks ago. Before the wise-asses out there ask what I’m holding in the other hand, I’ll tell you - it’s the other Glock.

Two to the heart and one to the head. Then, empty the rest of the magazine into the cardio-pumonary region. I had a pretty good day at the range - at least with the Glock 30.

Why not punish people who use guns committing crimes instead of the rest of us who own, shoot and hunt within the law? How novel.

From the Nashville City Paper - Police may soon see benefits of new gun crimes law

Beginning on Tuesday, the state’s “Crooks with Guns” law will take effect — one that imposes mandatory minimum sentences without parole for individuals who use firearms to commit felonies, individuals who are in possession of guns while committing felonies or prior felons who are found in possession of illegal weapons.

“We pushed hard with the Legislature last session to try to put some real teeth with laser-like focus on prison sentencing for dangerous, repeat, violent offenders,” said Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas.

“‘Crooks with Guns’ we believe is the fist step toward holding those people who refuse rehabilitation efforts and who choose to make you their victim as their life’s choice, to keep them in prison longer,” he said.

NRA-ILA Reports:

The National Rifle Association has hired private investigators to track down hundreds of gun owners whose firearms were seized by New Orleans police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, according to court papers filed this week. The NRA is trying to locate gun owners for a federal lawsuit the lobbying group filed against Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley over the city’s seizure of firearms after the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane devastated New Orleans.

As you may recall, Nagin, along with Riley, were found in contempt of court in Louisiana for failing to provide disclosures to the discovery phase of legal action for illegal confiscation of firearms from legitimate gun owners after Hurricane Katrina. In a ruling by Judge Carl Barbier, the city attorney was ordered to compensate the National Rifle Association’s attorneys “for wasted time and money.”

What I want to know is why aren’t Nagin, Riley and their attorney paying fines for contempt? Why aren’t they being prosecuted for their illegal actions?

Wishful thinking I suppose.

I get out of town far less than I want to, but when I do, I like to take some of the ‘family jewels’ with me. I also like to keep them under lock and key going between home and the campground or the motor hotel.

Not wishing to attract undue attention to the little safe I carry, I bought a little roll-around beverage cooler that is a convenient size. Now, when I unload the truck, it appears as if I just unloaded ‘normal’ camp gear.

While hunting pheasant in Iowa today, Mike Huckabee bagged a bird with his 12 gauge shotgun. Afterwards, he was asked about the value of hunting:

“The truth is hunters are the ones who preserve the species,” he said, since hunters have an interest in preserving wildlife and their license fees pay for conservation efforts. “In many cases extinction comes from not having some level of hunting. It’s the hunters who actually keep the wildlife alive. A lot of people think that when you hunt you’re destroying the wildlife.”

That’s a good answer and demonstrates that Mike is on the mark for hunters. In addition, he supports concealed-carry and other sane gun positions.

This is a hit through the infield and Mike is safe at first base.

The Club for Growth assesses Mike’s position the economy:

“Governor Huckabee says he is a fiscal conservative,” Club for Growth President Pat Toomey said, “but his ten-year economic-policy record as the governor of Arkansas is mixed, at best. His history includes numerous tax hikes, ballooning government spending, and increased regulation. To be sure, Governor Huckabee’s record displays an occasional deference to a pro-growth philosophy, but that is only a small slice of a much bigger picture. The Club for Growth feels citizens deserve a full picture of where Governor Huckabee stands on the critical economic issues of the day.”

Mike hits a ground ball to the short stop and Mike is tossed out out at first.

Jake Files, a former Arkansas state representative and current chairman of the Sebastian County, Ark., Republican Party says this about Mike’s immigration policies while Governor of Arkansas:

“I would hope he could be trusted to secure the borders, but given his track record in Arkansas, I don’t see the conservative he has portrayed himself to be in Iowa,”

When he was governor, Huckabee held the following positions on illegal immigration: He supported higher education benefits for children of illegal immigrants, opposed a federal roundup of illegals from his state in 2005, opposed a 2001 bill requiring proof of citizenship to vote in the state, and in 2001, a member of his administration pushed for legislation to grant driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

Mike hits a popup to the second baseman who makes the play.

Now, when asked about his views on foreign policy, Huckabee articulates this position:

“You treat others the way you’d like to be treated. That’s to me the fundamental issue that has to be re-established in our dealings with other countries.”

The problem with this is naive position is that Mike misses the real issue - most countries hostile to our American freedom and strength will not treat the U.S. in the same way they would “like to be treated.” This brings to mind Samuel F.B. Morse’s famous quote, “If you pound your swords into plowshares, then you will probably be plowing for someone who kept their swords.”

Strikeout.

The National Christmas Tree arrives in a horse-drawn carriage. (whitehouse.gov)

Each year in the United States guns are used three to five times as often for defensive purposes as for criminal purposes. (Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control, Gary Kleck, Aldine de Gruyter, 1997)

Forty-four states have guarantees of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in their constitutions.

Three out of four violent crimes committed in the U.S. do not involve firearms. Since 1991, the number of privately owned firearms in the U.S. has increased between 65-70 million, and the nation’s murder rate has decreased 43%. (BATFE and FBI)

Two of every three defensive uses of firearms are carried out with handguns. Private citizens benefit from handguns for the same reason that the police do: handguns are easy to carry and they are effective defensive tools. (Targeting Guns: Firearms and Their Control, Gary Kleck, Aldine de Gruyter, 1997)

In 1903, Congress enacted and President Theodore Roosevelt signed a law to provide federal funding for a program intended to increase civilian proficiency with military service firearms for national defense purposes. The law established the Civilian Marksmanship Program.

According to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story (1833): “The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of the republic; since it offers a strong moral check against usurpation and arbitrary power of the rulers.”

The annual number of accidental gun deaths among children has declined 89% since 1975. Today, the odds against a child dying in a gun accident are a million to one. Seventy-eight times as many children die in accidents involving or due to motor vehicles, suffocation, drowning, fire, bicycles and falls. (National Center for Health Statistics)