Leftist throws up his hands on gun control

It's an extended effort at saying just about nothing below.  He does however admit the failure of do-gooder solutions to gangbanger shootings. He has no idea how to stop gang-bangers with guns but criticizes conservative comments on the matter. 

But conservatives DO have a solution: Get more people carrying so the bad guys get taken down when they draw.  And it's a proven solution. As gun restrictions have eased and ownership has increased, innocent deaths have fallen.  The solution is exactly the opposite of what Leftists want.  They are part of the problem, as usual


By NESTOR RAMOS

A semiautomatic handgun concealed under his winter clothes, Josiah Zachery made his way to Jamaica Plain one snowy morning in 2015, prosecutors say. He spent an hour on the bus, then took the Orange Line from Jackson Square to Forest Hills, almost as if he were making a long, cold commute to work.

But Zachery wasn’t going to work. That morning, Zachery had allegedly received a text message from Donte Henley, a fellow member of Boston’s Franklin Hill gang. Henley had discovered that he and someone affiliated with a rival gang were working on the same snow shoveling crew for Roca, a nonprofit that tries to change the lives of at-risk young people.

He texted Zachery for help. When Zachery found the crew, he allegedly walked up to the man Henley had described, drew the large-caliber handgun, and shot 21-year-old Kenny Lamour in the head. Lamour, who was trying to turn his life around, died in the snowy street.

Almost three years later, Henley and Zachery are both on trial for Lamour’s murder — a crime that represents a type of gun violence that is even harder to solve than the mass shootings that are all too prevalent.

Now, you may have heard that nobody really cares about the kind of violence that killed Kenny Lamour. At least that’s the talking point that emerges from some conservative quarters pretty often these days.

Raise the issue of gun control in the wake of another mass shooting, or suggest criminal justice reform after a police officer shoots another black man, and someone will invariably ride in on his tired stalking horse, asking you why you’re not talking about “black on black crime” or “murders in Chicago.” Their point? That discussing something like an assault weapons ban means you’re ignoring all the young men like Lamour who are gunned down every day with handguns.

It’s a disingenuous argument, of course, intended only to derail the national conversations about gun control or other reforms. But listen to these sad, angry voices long enough, and you might even begin to believe that decent, empathetic people can’t care about more than one thing at once: like, say, mass shootings and gang violence.

So it’s worth pointing out that on every level, that’s nonsense. Searching for a solution is the only humane response to massive, senseless death at a concert in Las Vegas or a church in Texas. But doing so doesn’t preclude anyone from also wondering what could’ve saved Kenny Lamour.

In fact, the cumulative toll of the kind of gang violence that killed Lamour is far greater than from mass shootings. What makes it harder to talk about isn’t a lack of concern — it’s that this violence is even more confounding and intractable, rooted in poverty and centuries of discrimination.

It’s fairly easy to design regulations that would make large-scale mass shootings less common. A federal ban on semiautomatic, military-style rifles and large-capacity magazines wouldn’t stop every one, but it would prevent at least some — and the country not long ago had just such a ban, albeit one with .50 caliber loopholes in it.

In the wake of the church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, Democrats in Congress introduced just such a bill. It won’t go anywhere, of course — which is frustrating to the point of being intolerable — but we fundamentally understand the political factors involved.

But violence in our streets? It’s harder to see a way forward. Lamour’s death is particularly galling in this regard, because it came as he was actively participating in one of the potential solutions.

This week, during the trial of the two men accused of murdering Lamour, a prosecutor described a Roca crew chief getting assurances from Henley that he could work alongside Lamour without incident.

But within five minutes, Henley was allegedly texting Zachery, plotting Lamour’s death.

A couple of hours later, Lamour was standing behind the Roca van on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, smoking a cigarette, when a bullet entered his head above his right ear, ripped through his brain, and lodged inside his left cheek.

In Massachusetts and many other states, handguns like the large-caliber weapon Zachery allegedly used to end Lamour’s life are already subject to far greater restrictions than rifles. The weapons used in street crimes are typically already being carried illegally. And keeping them out of the wrong hands has proven incredibly difficult.

So we rely on public programs and nonprofit organizations like Roca, which helps over 700 young men, ages 17 to 24 all over Massachusetts. Most of them have been arrested before, many have been incarcerated or involved in gangs and dropped out of high school. Roca workers knock on doors again and again, offering work and help and the kind of trusting relationship that can begin to convince someone to follow a different path.

In that sense, Lamour’s life, if not his death, is evidence that people do indeed care deeply. All over the country, smart and dedicated people are searching for solutions.

And they’re grieving the loss of people like Kenny Lamour.

SOURCE

FL: Barbershop Owner Shoots Man who Stabbed Him

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The co-owner of a Miami barbershop was forced to shoot a man inside his business Thursday morning because he had been stabbed in the stomach by an intruder and was defending himself, according to his daughter.

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TX: Gun Beats Crowbar at Car Wash

He told police the suspected intruder threatened him with a crowbar, causing him to shoot him.

The suspect is currently at University Hospital awaiting surgery for multiple gunshot wounds.
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MN: Armed Victim Shoots Armed Robbery Suspect

A man was shot Tuesday night in downtown St. Paul when he tried to rob a man who was carrying a gun, police say.

“It appears the would-be robbery victim shot the would-be robber,” Steve Linders, a St. Paul Police Department spokesman, said of the incident near Mears Park in the Lowertown area.


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Folllowup UT: Charges Filed Against Derek Palmer, Aggressive Drunk with Knife

RIVERTON — An intoxicated man who was shot by a homeowner in June was charged Tuesday with burglarizing the home, threatening the man's family and refusing to back down.

Derek Palmer, 36, of Salt Lake City, is charged in 3rd District Court with burglary, a second-degree felony; aggravated assault, a third-degree felony; two counts of lewdness, a class B misdemeanor; plus intoxication and disorderly conduct, class C misdemeanors.
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Followup MT: Dennis Sandy Shooting Ruled Justified

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — The Cascade County Sheriff's Office identified a woman killed last week after breaking into a house as 42-year-old Sandy Dennis of Vaughn, Montana.

Law enforcement officials said the resident who shot and killed Dennis was justified in doing so, but that one or more other people involved in the incident could face charges.
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Looking for Christmas Song, Santa with a .45, or Santa Mugged

Image from Youtube at  tnoutdoors9

About 36 or 37 years ago, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, I recall hearing a Christmas song over the radio. I would like to find it again.

It was a rendition of Santa Clause is Coming to Town, but with a significant twist.  In the story line, Santa is mugged, and when he comes back, he comes prepared.

As I recall, Santa comes to town armed with a .45.

There are plays on "He knows who has been naughty and nice".

I recall a memorable line about the reindeer.  Something like trample, trample, trample.

I do not know if the song had much of a shelf life. I only heard it the one year, around 1981.

Someone out there knows of it, and has a copy, or knows where to get one.

I would appreciate finding a copy online, or failing that, some way to make an audio file and post it online.


©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

Bad Math for Gun Control

The latest weird failure of fact by proponents of a disarmed public is offset somewhat by a refreshing honesty of stated desire. The opinion piece is in a university paper, written by a student, so they deserve a gentler treatment than a professional journalist.  Right or wrong, the differentiation between editorials and factual articles has been mostly destroyed in the last 20 years. The article is from the University Press at Lamar University. Lamar University is located near Houston, in Texas. From lamauniversitypress.com:

Unfortunately, the conversation about gun control only arises after an incident where several people are killed at one time. But what about the 90 people who the Center for Disease Control states are killed on average each day in the U.S. (excluding suicides)? Even if we take mass shootings out of the equation, Everytown Research found more than 10,000 people still die each year from gun deaths in this country.

In the immediate aftermath of such events, talk about banning assault rifles is also sensationalized, but most gun deaths in the U.S. actually occur by handguns.

The writer got basic facts wrong, claiming that "The CDC reports 90 people each day are killed by guns (excluding suicides)". Simple math shows that 90 x 365 = 32,850 deaths a year.  For 2015, there were 36,252 deaths associated with firearms, a bit more than the figure claimed. But of those deaths, 22,018 of them were suicides, leaving 14,234 deaths for homicides, accidents, and unknown intentions.  Perhaps due to a simple math error, the number of non-suicidal deaths inflicted with a gun were increased from 39 a day (in 2015) to 90 a day.



The writer commits the grammatical and logical error of giving volition to guns, by claiming that most gun deaths "occur by handguns". People are not killed by a gun. They are killed with a gun. Changing with to by is an Orwellian word substitution. It attempts to resurrect the pre-western civilization superstition of attributing motive and volition to inanimate objects. It is common on the left to try to define personal responsibility out of existence.

I am thankful to the writer for stating one of the primary purposes of gun registration: to transfer responsibility and liability from criminals to gun owners.
From lamaruniversitypress.com: 

A national gun registry is a great place to start. If original record holders of guns were held accountable for the crimes committed with that gun, people would be more vigilant in keeping track of their guns.

The writer is unconcerned that the above policy violates the Constitution, and the rule of law. We should not be surprised. People pushing for an unarmed population have been attempting to transfer responsibility for crimes committed with guns to legal gun manufacturers for decades. It is a small step to transfer the responsibility for criminal acts to gun owners.

Gun owners have understandably resisted gun registration for fear of gun confiscation. It has already happened in incremental and small scale ways in New York and California. The transfer of criminal responsibility adds an intermediate step, designed to motivate people to give up their guns, or to never become gun owners. Add intimidation to confiscation as one of the goals of gun registration.  This is not a new idea sprung by a college student.  Justin Wolfers, Professor at the University of Michigan, wrote that it should be considered in 2013. From npr.org:

Another even more powerful approach is to recognize that the problem isn't guns per se, but gun violence. Thus, instead of taxing guns, we should tax gun violence. Basically, this is the same as saying that we should make gun owners liable for any damage their guns do. Not only would this discourage some people from buying guns, it would lead those who do keep guns to be more careful with how they're stored. Indeed, greater care would surely have kept Adam Lanza out of his mother's cache.

Lanza murdered his mother in order to obtain her guns. It is hard to see how "more care" in storage could keep guns from the hands of someone who is willing to murder their own mother to obtain them.

It is unlikely that "gun insurance" will pass the legislature soon. But when it inevitably is brought up, recognize it for what it is. Transferring responsibility and liability for criminal acts from the criminals to legal gun owners.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

Semi-Auto Rifles: Common for 100 Years: Mass Shooters, Not

Opponents of an armed population often claim that semi-automatic rifles are a new phenomena in the United States. That is false. One of the first successful semi-automatic or self loading rifles was the Remington Model 8 above. It was patented in 1900 by John Moses Browning. Commercial production started in 1906. It was a successful design, used in the hunting fields, in law enforcement, and had limited usage in the U.S. military. The model 8 was modified a bit in 1936 and become the model 81, which was produced until 1950.

You can see that some of the design features were copied in later designs such as the AK-47. The AK features full automatic capability, which was not part of the Model 8, or its improved brother, the model 81.  Many have remarked on the eerie resemblance of the safety lever on both rifles. The models 8 and 81 had rotary locking lugs, as does the AK-47.

The power of the cartridges used in the AK and the model 8 are similar.  The Model 8 and 81 cartridges tend to be a little more powerful than the 7.62x39 cartridge of the AK-47. The Model 81 was chambered in the .300 Savage cartridge, which is considerably more powerful, while the .25 Remington, the .30 Remington, the .32 Remington and the .35 Remington bracket the power of the 7.62x39 cartridge, from a bit less to a bit more.

The .300 Savage and .35 Remington cartridges are still available commercially, and would be my choice for a Model 8 or 81. Brass is available for the other calibers.  They can be handloaded. There is no reason not to use one of these fine rifles if you have one.

After the Model 8, semi-automatic designs proliferated. As usual, the military establishment was conservative. The U.S. Army adopted the semi-automatic Garand in 1936, but the first production models were not manufactured until 1937. The Army had been experimenting with semi-auto designs since 1901, with design of the Garand starting in 1922. The M1 carbine was fielded in in 1942.

After WWII, millions were sold surplus, some to allies, some to private citizens. We do not have the exact numbers. The last large batch was 240,000 sold to citizens in 1963. There were 6.1 million produced in WWII.

Mass killing of unrelated people in public, rampage killers, is a rare phenomena. Rampage shooters are a subset of that group.

I used the amok.wiki.com list of rampage killers, to find the first use of a semi-auto rifle in a rampage shooting. It occurred 60 years after the initial production of the Model 8 Remington, 21 years after the end of WWII.

The first recorded rampage shooting with a semi-auto rifle appears to be the Texas Tower mass murder in 1966. The shooter had an MI carbine among his three rifles, a shotgun and two pistols.  How much he relied on the carbine vs the scoped bolt action rifle is unknown.

Rampage shootings and Rampage shootings with semi-automatic rifles have increased in the last couple of decades. The rifles have been available for over a hundred and ten years. What caused the increase? It isn't the availability of the rifles. Before 1968, the rifles were available by mail order. Before 1968, semi-automatic anti-tank cannon were available by mail order, as were anti-aircraft guns. A rampage shooter before 1968 could obtain semi-auto rifles (or cannon) much more easily than today. Background checks were not required. Rampage shooters were far less common before 1968.  There was only one rampage shooter with a semi-automatic rifle before 1968, in 1966.

There are numerous candidates for the increase in rampage shooters. It is probably a combination of factors.

A movement away from a Christian society toward the new paganism, atheism, and agnosticism, where there are no absolute right or wrong actions, is often postulated.  Christians are sparsely represented among rampage killers, if at all, while 70% of people in the U.S. are self proclaimed Christians.  Several of the shooters have attacked churches or been explicitly anti-Christian.  While this is hard to quantify or prove, it is likely a contributory factor.

Video games - There are mixed data on this. Video games are ubiquitous. While most rampage killers have played them, so have most people. Most rampage killers also drank water.

Psychoactive drugs - More psychoactive drugs are prescribed and used than ever before. Many rampage killers have taken or were taking psychoactive drugs. What is cause, and what is effect?  Most rampage killers have mental problems. People with mental problems are prescribed and take psychoactive drugs.

The media - The clearest contributor to the increase in rampage killers that are shooters is the media and the media's attitude toward them. The copycat effect is well documented.  The copycat effect is where the media's obsession with rampage shooters, for ratings, for money, to further the media's gun control agenda, creates more rampage shooters.  This helps explain the increasing numbers of people killed.

Rampage shooters who are looking for immortality in the media are often looking to "break the record". As "the record" ratchets up, rampage shooters work harder at finding ways to kill more people. The rampage shooter who was used to implement the highly restrictive Australian gun control scheme repeatedly said "did I break the record"?  Many rampage shooters were obsessed with media accounts of other rampage shooters. Rampage shooters are given far more coverage by the media than other rampage killers.

There have been rampage shooters for a long time in the United States, at least since 1889. There have been semi-automatic rifles since 1906.

Access to common arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution. Semi-automatic rifles are common, even ubiquitous, in the United States. Repealing the Second Amendment would be required to make a significant reduction in the availability of semi-automatic rifles. Most rampage shooters have used other types of firearms, and multiple firearms.

A simpler, more effective solution to reduce rampage shooters is available: Stop motivating more rampage shooters with the copycat effect. The media has adopted many standards without legislation being necessary.  There are easily adopted standards the media could use to reduce the numbers of rampage shooters, if they chose to do so. The "Don't Inspire Evil"  initiative highlights them. No Notoriety lists several examples.

Those voluntary measures are far more likely to be effective than attempting to repeal the Second Amendment.
 

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

TX: Homeowner Shoots, Kills, Suspect who Stabbed Him

The suspect broke down the family’s front door and got into a scuffle with the homeowner, according to a story from WFAA. The homeowner, a father, got a gun and shot him, the WFAA story said.


During the scuffle, the suspect stabbed the homeowner, according to a story from Fox 4 News.

The father was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, according to emergency medical personnel.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article183351461.html#storylink=cpy

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CA: Gunfight, Store Clerk Shoots, Kills, 1 of 2 Suspects

An employee of a Whittier liquor store fatally shot a man suspected of trying to rob the business Monday night.

A second man suspected in what police said was an attempted robbery fled the scene.

Coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter said the dead man has not been identified but described him as a black man between 25 and 35 years old.
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Followup VA: Wounded Home Invaders Charged with Felonies

NORFOLK — Two men who were shot during a Norfolk home invasion on Sunday have been charged with felonies in connection to the alleged burglary.


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IL: Legally Armed Customer Shoots Robber

Surveillance video shows how a customer in a south suburban auto parts store gunned down an armed robber and kept him from escaping.

Police say the shooting is an example of a legal gun owner using his weapon to protect himself.
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Followup OH: Earl M. Lindsey Case, Justified Self Defense

Earl M. Lindsey testified that he feared for his life when an unarmed man threw a punch at him and a large group of people, some with guns, surrounded him in a South Side intersection.

So, Lindsey said, he pulled a handgun and fired a single shot into Rashawn M. Wilson’s chest. Wilson, 18, died six days later.

“I didn’t have any other option,” Lindsey told a Franklin County jury last week.

On Monday, the jury acquitted him of murder, determining that he acted in self-defense.
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Lies by Omission: America's Morning News on Sutherland Church Shooting Heroics

Stephen Wilford, Hero with AR15 at Texas Church Shooting

This morning, I was listening to KBLU 560, in Yuma, Arizona. America's Morning News came on at 0943. It was a short segment. I did not have a recorder going. but I heard this report near the end of the segment.  I believe it  is fairly accurate, certainly the sense of it. I could not find a transcript of it on the Internet.

After a report on heroics at the Sutherland First Baptist Church, in Texas, the scene of a horrific mass murder, this was the report:

The gunman died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound after being chased by bystanders, after he crashed his car.

Notice that everything stated is true, such as it is. This is a case of lying by omission.  It is particularly egregious because the report was about heroics at the church. The mass murderer may have died of a self inflicted gun shot wound after crashing his car, and being chased by "bystanders"; what is left out is important, vital, to the story.

What is left out is one of the men in the chase vehicle was involved in a gunfight with the murderer, where he wounded the murderer at least twice. One of the survivors of the massacre credits the intervention of the neighbor with saving her life. From the washingtonpost.com:

“Then she thought that it was her turn,” David Brown told The Post. “She just started praying.”

-Name of murderer removed -

At that moment, she heard a shot fired from a different man, at the front door.

The other man was Stephen Willeford, who lives near the church. Willeford, a certified shooting instructor, grabbed his own rifle and raced out of his house barefoot.

If you are going to do a report on the heroics at the church, doesn't it seem odd to leave out one of the most heroic of the figures in the situation? Leave out that an NRA instructor armed himself with a version of the AR15 rifle, did not even take the time to put on shoes before entering combat?

Isn't it irresponsible to say that the murderer died of a self inflicted gunshot wound without mentioning that he had already been wounded by the hero who got into a gunfight with him?  This from CNN, hardly a conservative outlet:

After Kelley left the church, he was confronted and shot by an armed resident, Stephen Willeford. After Kelley was shot, he called his father, telling him he didn't think he was going to make it, Martin said. That's when Kelley shot himself.

It was not immediately clear whether Kelley died from the self-inflicted gunshot wound or from being shot by the resident. "However, investigators found evidence at the scene that indicates the subject may have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound," Martin said.

After being wounded in a gunfight with an armed neighbor, the murderer says he does not think he will make it. Then, after a high speed chase involving the private defender and another volunteer, he lowers his speed a considerable amount, and comes to a stop off the road. At that point, it is believed he shot himself.

The establishment media wonders why the public no longer trusts them. They can look at this example as just one of many where they have earned every bit of that distrust.

If anyone can find a transcript of this broadcast, or on online recording, it would be appreciated. If we can  find an online source a link will be added.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

SC: Armed Pharmacy Owner Drives off Robbery Suspects

Officers on scene said one of the suspects pulled a gun on the business owner.

Hoffmann said the business owner then pulled a gun and fired at the suspects. The suspects then fled the scene.
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KY: Elderly Homeowner Shoots, Kills 1 of 3 Home Invaders

GRAVES COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – An elderly homeowner shot and killed one of three suspects after he was robbed and assaulted, according to the Kentucky State Police.
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MI: Mistaken Identity, Girlfriend wounded in Wrist

Police said the woman forgot her keys and tried to enter the house through a bedroom window. Her boyfriend thought she was an intruder and fired a shot, authorities said.

The woman was shot in the wrist.
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KY: Newlywed Died in Gunfight Protecting Wife, Wounded Assailant

The 30-year-old man shot dead in front of his wife in Cherokee Triangle was armed and shot back at the suspect, Louisville Metro Police said, prompting a discussion on gun violence among neighbors in the area.

Jason Spencer, a Humana employee and creator of the Louisville Humor Twitter account, died right off Everette Avenue in the Highlands neighborhood on Sunday evening while visiting his wife's family. He was married just 10 days before his death.
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Video on the Media Lies and Misinformation on Sutherland Springs Shooting

Steven Crowder does a good job in dissecting the media's  willful ignorance about the Sutherland Springs mass killing and citizen intervention.

Link to video

Dean Weingaren 

Followup TN: Wounded Carreer Criminal Gave Fake Name

Police said a man who was shot by the business/home owner on E. Main Street on Oct. 22 gave a false name at first, but it was learned through fingerprints that he is a local man with an extensive criminal record.

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IL: Armed Victim Calls Robber's Bluff, Shoots Same

A 23-year-old man was walking into his home about 1:20 a.m. when a 20-year-old walked up behind him in the 500 block of East 38th and pulled out what appeared to be a gun while he announced a robbery, according to Chicago Police.

The older man took out his own legally-owned handgun and fired at the robber, police said. The younger man was shot in the abdomen and both legs.
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IL: Domestic Defense, Armed Woman Shoots Ex

CHICAGO (CBS) — A man has been ordered held without bond after he was shot during an exchange of gunfire while breaking into his ex-girlfriend’s home Thursday afternoon in south suburban Park Forest, authorities said.
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SC: Homeowner Holds Thief at Gunpoint for Police

Kershaw County, SC (WLTX) - Kershaw County deputies say a homeowner held a suspect who broke into his truck at gunpoint until officers could arrive.
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FL: Homeowner Shoots at Intruder

BERLIN, Wis (WMTV)--- According to the Berlin Police Department, at 7:16pm on Saturday, a homeowner shot at an intruder who entered his home.
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Trump Era NICS and Gun Sales Trend toward Second Highest Year on Record

The Trump era NICS checks are continuing the trend to become the second highest year for NICS checks on record. 2016 is the current record holder, with 27,538,673 NICS checks for the year. The next highest year was in 2015, with 23,141,970.  2,030,391 NICS checks were done in October, 2017.

Through the end of October, the NICS checks for 2017 have reached 20,266,289. November and December have traditionally been the highest months for NICS checks, correlating with hunting seasons and Christmas.  2016 only needs to accumulate 2,875,681 NICS checks in the last two months of the year to become the second highest year on record. Every year since 2010 has exceeded that number for November and December.

It is more likely that the totals for November and December in will be over four million checks.  They have been over four million for four of the last five years.

Four million more NICS checks would be over 24 million checks for the year.

2017 NICS checks have been at 91% of the level of the all time record in 2016.

NICS checks are being used for both new and used firearms sales.  They are being used for other purposes as well. Firearms carry permits are rapidly expanding across the United States, with over 16 million carry permits currently in use. NICS checks are used for both initial issue of a permit and for the renewal of permits.  Some NICS checks are used for background checks for employment.

Because of the expanding use of NICS checks, the number of firearms added to private stock in the United States is a fraction of the NICS checks. Past calculations based on ATF records indicate that about .56 firearms are added to the private stock in the United States for each NICS check done by the FBI.

If that ratio holds, about 1.1 million firearms will have been added to the private stock in October, or about 11.3 million firearms added in 2017 so far.

It was thought that firearms sales would fall off drastically if President Trump were elected. That has not happened. President Obama may have been the greatest firearms salesman of all time, but President Trump's first year is likely to beat all of President Obama's eight years in office, except for the last one.

It appears the demand for firearms has grown and the number of firearms owners has grown. Polls are a poor way to determine firearms ownership. Many people are reluctant to admit to firearms ownership when there is serious talk of restricting the ability to own or buy firearms.  A recent NBC/Wall Street Journal survey shows gun ownership jumping from 41 to 48 percent of households. That increase includes a component of gun owners who are willing to admit ownership during a Trump administration.

It also indicates an increase in the base level of firearm ownership.  Once a new owner buys a gun, they are likely to buy more guns, with different guns for different purposes.

In two months we will know if 2017 becomes the second highest year on record for NICS checks. We do not know at present, but that is the way to bet.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

SC: Domestic Defense, Nephew Shoots Uncle

SPARTANBURG COUNTY – A man from Landrum was shot and killed in Wellford, S.C. on Halloween night by his nephew, and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office says there will be no charges at this point as the killing has been ruled in self-defense.

Bryan Paul Blackwell, 44, of 113 Walker Rd., Landrum, was shot and killed by his nephew, Cody Lawrence, 29, of Wellford, on Tuesday night, Oct. 31.
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OR: Homeowner fires at Suspect

Hours later, he was awakened around 3 a.m. Friday after hearing noises coming from the back of the house. He walked toward the kitchen, where he found an intruder using a knife to cut through the plastic sheet. Police say the homeowner then fired a warning shot at the burglar, who fled the scene.
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MO: Gunfight Armed Victim and two Robbery Suspects Wounded

The victim went up to the gas station window to buy something. He had a gun in his waistband, police said. He has a CCW permit.

A suspect then tried to grab the gun, but the victim pulls out another gun before the suspect fired shots. The victim then returned fire wounding the suspect.

Police said another suspect got out of a car and he was also hit. One suspect was shot in the leg and the other was shot in the stomach.
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WV: Armed Homeowner Shoots 2 of 3 Home Invaders

Logan Police tell WSAZ three people tried to break into a home and two of them were shot by the homeowner.

The two injured suffered non life-threatening injuries and were released from the hospital to the Southwestern Regional Jail, according to investigators.

The alleged break-in and shooting happened in the early hours of Saturday morning on Pine Street, according to police.
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AK: Armed Alaskans Capture Burglary Suspect

At that point, they were able to restrain him, taping his limbs together so he could not move. In a Facebook post made by Rod Weaver Jr., displaying a photo of the accused, he wrote, "[APD] liked my gorilla tape hog tie!"

When police arrived, they found the suspect on the ground, held at gunpoint by the home owners. After conducting an investigation at the scene, APD determined that the story was legitimate, and arrested Parsons for first degree burglary.
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MT: Pheasant Hunter Kills Charging Grizzly with 12 Gauge

11 year old Elliot Clark killed this charging grizzly with a shotgun in Alaska in July of 2017.  He used a 12 gauge shotgun. The first shot was ineffective, with bird shot. The second shot was a perfectly placed slug in middle of the nose. The third shot was to the shoulder. It is likely both would have been fatal. There were powder burns on the bears mouth from the third shot. The fourth shot was an insurance shot after the bear was down.

In Montana, a few days ago, in early November, 2017, a 60-year-old pheasant hunter shot and killed a charging grizzly bear, mortally wounding it. He used a 12 gauge shotgun. While details of the story are a little muddy, one account says  he shot in air, then shot the bear in the chest, as it ran at him. The final shot was said to be in the bear's face.  From ktvq.com:

PENDROY - A bird hunter shot and killed a grizzly bear five miles east of Pendroy Saturday. Pendroy is about 80 miles northwest of Great Falls.

According to Mike Madel of Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, the hunter shot the adult female grizzly in the face with a 12-gauge shotgun.

The bear ran off. Then next day, the bear was found, dead.

Shotguns are powerful firearms. A 12 gauge bird load is commonly 1 to 1 1/4 of an ounce of shot at close to 1300 feet per second. Some bird loads have  up to 1 3/4 ounces.  1 1/4 ounces is a standard 12 gauge pheasant load.

It seems a unlikely that a pheasant hunter would have slugs in his bird gun. To be effective on big game, bird shot has to be fired from very close range. The pellets have to be close enough together to reinforce each other and act like a single, pre-fragmented projectile.

My father taught me this when I was about 11. I suggested that bird shot was useless for larger game. He said it didn't matter when you were very close. He then recounted killing a doe with a 20 gauge as she came up to him on a trail, within a few feet. He said at five feet, the shot pulverized the deer's skull.

Even at those ranges, choke matters. A cylinder bore gun's pattern will disperse faster than a full choke.  A full choke keeps a tighter pattern. Here is a test I did with a full choke 12 gauge and 1 1/8 ounce of #8 shot.

The top hole is a pattern five feet from the muzzle. The very top hole is from the wad. The hole below that is from the shot charge. Almost all of the shot is in one hole about 1 inch in diameter. This will act as a pre-fragmented projectile and penetrate about six inches into flesh. It will smash through skulls unless the shot is at a very oblique angle.

As a pellet in the front of the shot string encounters the target, it starts to penetrate and slow down. Then the pellet behind it hits it and pushes it ahead, then the pellet behind that one hits it, and so on.  The mechanics can get pretty complicated, but you get the idea. That is why a closely packed shot string will penetrate much further than individual pellets.

The middle hole is from 10 feet from the muzzle.  While the pattern has increased to about 1.5 inches with a few fliers, it will still penetrate about five inches into flesh and smash into a bear skull if the angle is not too oblique.

The bottom hole is patterned 15 feet from the muzzle with a full choke. Over half of the shot is still in a 1 inch circle in the center of the pattern.  Penetration in flesh will still be about 5 inches. Beyond five yards, the pellets are starting to penetrate as individual projectiles, instead of reinforcing each other. Pellet size and density become very important after five yards.

Shotguns with bird shot inflict incredibly destructive wounds at very close range.

The grizzly ran off and died. If the face shot missed smashing into the brain case, it could have cause massive damage to arteries, or enough damage inside the brain, from the concussion, to cause a delayed death. Not all brain shots are instant killers. There is also the possibility of secondary projectiles from bone fragments.

If the investigation determines that bird shot was used, a conclusion of justifiable self defense is likely.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

FL: Homeowner Shoots at Intruder

"I shot threw my back window. He ran out my porch door," Friedman told the 911 operator.

Police caught Alexender Yanguas, 17, nearby and said he has been involved in four car burglaries in the neighborhood, as well as having ties to a stolen car from Longwood.
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LA: Armed Homewoner Shoots, Kills, Intruder

BATON ROUGE - Police say a man is dead after he allegedly broke into a duplex on Kleinert Avenue Tuesday night.

According to authorities, the shooting took place in the 2000 block of Kleinert Ave. near Perkins Road sometime before 10:50 p.m. Police say 33-year-old Micah West smashed the front window of one of the units, reached around and unlocked the front door from the inside.
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FL: Craigslist Phone sale ends with Self Defense Shooting

"Surveillance video also shows Smith pursuing Barry around different displays at the front of the store," Engle said. "Mr. Barry is able to separate himself and push Smith away from him, physically push him away, and he’s able to retrieve a gun that he has on him and he fires several rounds striking Smith."

Smith was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died. Records show the Pembroke Pines resident had a criminal history including charges for domestic violence and misdemeanors.
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Amazing Interview with Stephen Willeford, who Stopped Texas Mass Killer in Sutherland Springs

This is an incredible, step by step interview with Stephen Wileford.  He tells you just what happened as he confronted the mass murderer in Sutherland at the First Baptist Church.

Link to Louder with Crowder interview with Stephen Willeford.

I was riveted, listening to his account.

He talks about discovering it was a shooting, his daughter's important part in that, getting his AR-15, the shootout, police response, and much, much, more.

It is not surprising that the murderer and the defender both had AR15 clones. They are the most popular rifle in the United States.

Dean Weingarten 

TX: Attorney General Ken Paxton: Guns in Churches Part of Solution

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has stated the obvious about the mass murder at the First Baptist church in Sutherland, Texas. People who gather together will have to consider polices to defend against these mass killers. Paxton suggested that Texas consider carrying weapons to protect themselves. From foxnews.com:

Paxton added that churches, places of business and schools should have policies addressing the possibility of a shooter so they can protect their communities.

"I wish some law would fix all of this," he said.

"All I can say is in Texas at least we have the opportunity to have conceal carry," he explained. "And so ... there's always the opportunity that gunman will be taken out before he has the opportunity to kill very many people."

Attorney General Paxton was not the first public official to mention the obvious: Armed citizens are a defense against mass murder.  After the Nairobi Westgate massacre in September of 2013, the Interpol Secretary General, Ronald Noble, said that we had a choice: either create intense levels of fortress like security for public places, or consider having an armed citizenry. From abcnews.go.com:

Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said today the U.S. and the rest of the democratic world is at a security crossroads in the wake of last month’s deadly al-Shabab attack at a shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya – and suggested an answer could be in arming civilians.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Noble said there are really only two choices for protecting open societies from attacks like the one on Westgate mall where so-called “soft targets” are hit: either create secure perimeters around the locations or allow civilians to carry their own guns to protect themselves.

“Societies have to think about how they’re going to approach the problem,” Noble said. “One is to say we want an armed citizenry; you can see the reason for that. Another is to say the enclaves are so secure that in order to get into the soft target you’re going to have to pass through extraordinary security.”

Attorney General Ken Paxton has "skin in the game". He attends a Baptist Church. He has four daughters. He has been in Texas for many years. From texasattorneygeneral.gov:

Attorney General Paxton graduated from Baylor University, where he served as student body president, earning a B.A. in psychology and an M.B.A. After receiving a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, he worked as an attorney at Strasburger & Price, LLP, in-house counsel for J.C. Penney Company, and headed up his own law firm for 14 years in McKinney.

First elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 2002, Attorney General Paxton represented House District 70 for 10 years, one of the fastest-growing regions in the state. In 2012, he was elected to the Texas state Senate, representing Senate District 8 in Collin and Dallas counties.

He met his wife Angela, a guidance counselor at Legacy Christian Academy in Frisco, while they were students at Baylor. The Paxtons have four children: Tucker, Abby, Mattie, and Katie. They are members of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano.

Arming church attendees is not a new solution, but a well used tactic. Church attendees were required by law to come armed in colonial America. From Colonial Firearm Regulation(pdf):

A. Guns in Church

The statute that most clearly states the intent of “bring your guns to church” laws is a 1643 Connecticut order, “To prevent or withstand such sudden assaults as may be made by Indeans upon the Sabboth or lecture dayes, It is Ordered, that one person in every several howse wherein is any souldear or souldears, shall bring a musket, pystoll or some peece, with powder and shott to e[a]ch meeting....”Connecticut found within a month that, “Whereas it is obsearved that the late Order for on[e] in a Family to bring his Arms to the meeting house every Sabboth and lecture day, hath not bine attended by divers persons” there was now a fine for failing to do so.

The legal requirement to come to church armed varied with the threat level. The reference cites statutes from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Plymouth, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Several Church attacks have been cut short by armed defenders. The best known cases are the New Life Church case in Colorado Springs in 2007, the Destiny Christian Center shooting in 2012, and the Antioch, Tennessee shooting earlier this year.

I was at church, part of our security detail, with a Glock on my hip, when the Texas baptist church shooting occurred. I did not hear of it until hours later. We do not know if anyone in the church in Sutherland, Texas, was armed.

It was another Christian, Stephen Wileford, 55,  from another church, that engaged in a gunfight with the mass killer and stopped the killing. Wileford enlisted another citizen, Johnnie Langendorff as a driver. They chased the mass killer on the freeway, informed the police, and kept the killer under gunpoint until the police arrived, minutes later.

An eyewitness says Wileford stopped the killing. From wcnc.com:

Jordan said his neighbor, who he described as a man who would do anything for anyone, came out with a gun then shot the suspect while taking cover behind a car.

"If it wasn't for him, the guy wouldn't have stopped," Jordan explained to KENS 5. He explained that his neighbor also shot through the suspect's window as he drove off.

It may be weeks before we obtain detailed evidence as to what happened inside the church, whether anyone resisted, or was armed. There are survivors, so the stories will come out in time.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

Video of Witness to Church Shooting and Pursuit by Citizens

Johnnie Langendorff recounts capture of church shooter in Sutherland, Texas.

Link to video

There was a gunfight. Johnnie saw the last of it. The defender asked Johnnie for help in following the shooter.  Johnnie and the defender chased the shooter, the shooter eventually ran off the road. The community rifleman kept the shooter covered with his rifle. The church shooter did not move after that. The police showed up a few minutes later.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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The State of Concealed and Open Carry in Churches

According to concealedcarry.com, there are two states that ban concealed carry in churches, Nebraska and Louisiana. Nebraska allows a church to authorize an armed security team if the team members have carry permits and if written notice is given to church members.  Louisiana law is similar, but requires an extra eight hours of training every year. Seven states and D.C. that require the permission of a church leader to conceal carry firearms in church, and 41 states where carry in churches is treated the same as any other private property.

Of the 41 states that treat churches the same as other private property, eight are "may issue" states, where the permit issuing authority can deny the exercise of the Second Amendment for almost any reason. Those states are California, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Within these states, the issuance of permits ranges from almost none in Hawaii and New Jersey, to fairly large numbers, as in upstate New York and Massachusetts.

There are 13 states that do not require a permit to carry concealed. They are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, Wyoming, and West Virginia.

Open carry is legal in most states. Only five states prohibit the open carry of holstered handguns in most public places. Those states are California, Florida, Illinois, New York and South Carolina. 26 States do not infringe on the right to openly carry firearms.  Six states infringe on open carry in a few specific areas. Pennsylvania requires a permit for Philadelphia, Colorado requires a permit for Denver,  and Iowa  requires a permit inside city limits. The other three states allow localities to pass restrictions on open carry without a permit. 13 states require a permit for open carry.

In my experience, most people who carry in church carry concealed. There are churches where open carry is common and acceptable. In my church, The Vertical Church, in Yuma, Arizona, open carry is common and seen every Sunday. Many of the open carriers are on the church security detail. There are concealed carriers as well, but they are harder to count. People switch between open and concealed carry as is convenient.

In the early colonies, people were sometimes required to be armed at church. In "Origins and Development of the Second Amendment", I found a reference to colonial requirements to carry guns in church from the Virginia laws of arms bearing.

All men that are fitting to bear arms, shall bring their pieces to the church...

The law dated to 1631.  David Hardy found it in the 1823 work by William Henning, "The Statutes at large, being a collection of all the laws of Virginia, Vol. 1 at 127, 173-174."

Those were perilous time in Virginia.

Church attendees are not attacked with the frequency that they were in the 1630's in Virginia. The United States today has a population tens of thousands of times greater than all the colonies in 1631.  It seems like we are being attacked at a greater frequency because each attack is trumpeted over the entire nation, and our communication system is so good that everyone hears of every attack almost immediately.

Church attendees tend to be responsible people. It makes sense for those with knowledge of firearms to carry at church.

With the recent attacks on church attendees, the legal carry of firearms to church is bound to rise.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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Concealed Carry in Churches

According to concealedcarry.com, concealed carry is banned in only two states, Nebraska and Louisiana. It requires permission from a church leader in seven states, Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, and South Carolina. In the other 41 states, you have the right to conceal carry in church just as you do in other private property.


The church may ban the practice, just as you may in your own home. But there is no law to prevent you from exercising the Second Amendment in church.

Dean Weingarten

Gun Watch

WY: Off Duty Warden Shoots, Kills, Charging Grizzly

Image by Troy Nemitz

An off duty Wyoming Game Warden, Chris Queen, was hunting elk in the Little Sunlight Basin north of Cody, Wyoming, not far from the Wyoming border. He was returning to his horses late in the day, about 6:30 in the evening. The sun had set 15 minutes earlier, but there was still considerable light.  A grizzly sow bluff charged Chris, then charged him full out. From ktvh.com:

Queen told investigators he slowly backed away believing the sow would return to her cubs and move on.

But, after returning to her cubs, the sow exhibited even more aggressive behavior.

Suddenly, the animal lowered its head and fully charged.

Queen said he fired his rifle at the charging grizzly, killing it just a few feet from where he stood.

Because Chris is an Game and Fish employee, the Game and Fish department asked the sheriff's office and the Devision of Criminal Investigation to step in, to prevent even the appearance of a conflict of interest. From parkcountysheriff.net:

It is not unusual for an agency with concurrent jurisdiction, to be asked to assume investigative responsibility for an incident when a member of a law enforcement agency with primary jurisdiction is involved," said Steward. "This maintains the integrity of the investigation and eliminates even the perception of impropriety,"

The off duty Game Warden, Chris Queen appears to be following the best available advise.  Tom Smith Professor at BYU, one of the most quoted proponents of bear spray, said as much  in a Sports Afield article in 2012. He said that it would be foolish to drop a rifle to attempt to obtain pepper spray, while being charged. From hcn.org:

Here’s the problem, according to Brigham Young University professor Tom Smith. In an interview with Sports Afield, he said, “If I’m actually out hunting and I have a gun in my hands, and suddenly a bear comes at me, do you think I’m going to lay the gun down and pick up bear spray? Are you out of your mind?”

In 2015, Smith reiterated that bear spray was especially helpful when you were *not* carrying a gun. From jhnewsandguide.com:

Brigham Young University professor Tom Smith headed both studies. Smith urged hunters to carry bear spray in addition to their firearms. Guns can be cumbersome, he said, require precision to be effective and are less likely to be on someone’s person when they are needed.

“There’s no reason why you can’t up the odds for yourself and increase your chances of a safe trip by having a deterrent that will do you good when you don’t have your gun at the ready,” Smith said.

The problem, of course, is that it would seldom be prudent to switch from a rifle to bear spray.  While there are numerous proponents of bear spray, and there is no doubt that bear spray can work, it has been remarkably over-hyped.

Bear spray and  firearms studies do not use the same criteria for success and failure.  I contacted Dave Smith, prominent author and bear attack expert. We talked about the study Efficacy of Firearms for Bear Deterrence in Alaska. Dave Smith told me that attempts to obtain the data set used for the Efficacy paper have been rebuffed. It is a red flag against the validity of a study when the authors will not release their data. 

Chris Queen has been around bears for a long time. The first reference that I came across was his working on assessing grizzly bear damage, back when they were still considered endangered, in 1998. 

The incident is still being investigated. This is a case where an outdoor professional, who has worked with bears a great deal, seems to have been  restrained in the use of deadly force. If the investigation shows the bear was killed only a few feet from him, It is likely he will be cleared.

In self defense cases, police officers commonly are taught to consider a person with a contact weapon, within 21 feet, to be a deadly threat. Bears have the equivalent of contact weapons on all feet and in their jaws.  They are typically as large, or much larger than large men. The are much faster.

If a large, strong, fast man, with knives in both hands is shot while running at someone from within 21 feet, it is almost certain to be justified as self defense.

Bear attacks are rare. Attacks by people are common. But when deadly force is credibly threatened against you, it is justified to use deadly force in response.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

Looking for Sports Afield September-October 2012 125th Anniversary Edition quote

I am looking for help from someone who has access to the September-October 2012 edition of Sports Afield magazine. It is the 125th Anniversary edition.

I am looking to confirm a quote from BYU professor Tom Smith. It is probably in the "Hunt Safely in Grizzly Country" article, but I do not have a page number. The quote is:

 "If I'm actually out hunting and I have a gun in my hands a suddenly a bear comes at me--do you think I'm going to lay the gun down and pick up bear spray? Are you out of your mind?"

Smith is also quoted as saying: 

 "Does it really have to be a spray versus gun argument? That's ridiculous." Smith says "both guns and spray have their place... because there are times when one is the better, or the only option."

 I can find the quotes referred to in places, but there does not seem to be an online link for the original source.

If you have the original magazine, or access to an online version, I would like a picture of the page with the quotes, or a screenshot of the page with the quotes. Then I could use the image as a way to verify the original source authenticity.

Lacking that, verification of the the article and a page number would be helpful.

Any help would be appreciated. I would be happy to give credit to anyone who provides the source, if that would be desired.

You can send images or tips to isherllc@gmail.com.

Dean Weingarten

Gun Watch

Update: Thanks for all those who looked or offered suggestions. I have a copy of the article in my possession.

NJ: Gunfight in Home, Homeowner Wounded, Invader Killed

BELLEVILLE -

(AP) -- Authorities say a home invasion attempt ended in a struggle that left the armed intruder fatally shot and the homeowner wounded.

Essex County prosecutors say the intruder entered the Belleville home around 10 p.m. Tuesday and shot the homeowner a short time later. But the homeowner soon returned fire and the wounded suspect fled the home, eventually collapsing at a site in nearby Nutley.
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AR: Elderly Woman Shoots, Kills 19-Year-Old Intruder

The woman told authorities she called out to the intruder who forcefully entered the home and ordered him to leave her home. She said he advanced toward her and that's when she shot him in self-defense.

"Of course it makes you be a little more concerned about your neighborhood if have people that are breaking into homes," said John Rimmer, neighbor.

Cody Smith, of Marion, Arkansas, was killed.

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OR: Wolf Shot in Self defense: Department Recommends Warning Shots

On 27 October, 2017, an Oregon elk hunter found himself being stalked by three wolves.  One of the wolves charged directly at him, in spite of his yelling in an attempt to scare it off.  The hunter fired at the charging wolf, believing his life was in danger.

The wolf was killed, and the other two wolves ran into cover at the shot.  The hunter initially thought the animal might have been a coyote, but examination by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) revealed it was an 83 lb female wolf.  From bluemanountaineagle.com:

Further investigation at the site of the shooting indicated the hunter was 27 yards from where he shot and where the wolf died. The wolf was seized and later released to ODFW for examination. The Union County District Attorney’s Office was consulted regarding the investigation, and based upon the available evidence, the case will not be prosecuted as this is believed to be an incidence of self-defense.

It is unlawful to kill a wolf in Oregon, except in defense of human life — and in certain instances involving wolf depredation of livestock.

According to ODFW, this incident marks the first time that a wolf has been reported shot in self-defense in Oregon since they began returning to the state in the late 1990s.

The myth of the "harmless" wolf was created by the intense hunting and trapping pressure applied by hunters and trappers equipped with 19th century technology, extending into the mid 20th century. Wolves are opportunistic top level predators in direct competition with man for the top level spot.  It was relentless hunting with modern rifles, trapping with steel traps and snares, and poisoned baits that reduced wolf populations and made them shy of humans.

When these pressures were removed in the late 20th century, wolf populations zoomed. Without intense hunting or trapping, wolf populations grew and their prey species populations dropped. Wolf contact with people increased. Documented attacks were sure to follow.

Professor emeritus Valerious Geist of the University of Calgary, Canada wrote a heavily documented paper(pdf) on the process, as he tried to understand where the model of the "harmless" wolf, that he had believe all his life, had failed. If you wish a shortened version, I have put together an excerpt.

Recipe for “harmless & romantic” wolves (based on Alberta data): License trappers so as to have one trapper per 25 square miles. Give him leg-hold traps, snares, poison and an accurate gun, insist that he live off the land, give him a monetary reward for killing wolves, hire predator control officers to kill all wolves entering agricultural lands, let game wardens poison wolves after the big game season, remove all legal protection from wolves so that hunters, ranchers, farmers etc can shoot them all year long, drop by the ton frozen horse meat injected with strychnine or 1080 from aircraft on frozen lakes all winter long, (note killings of wolves by native people as ongoing).

It is interesting that the ODFW recommends that a warning shot be fired as part of a means to scare off threatening wolves. 

“Dangerous encounters between wolves and people are rare, as are such encounters between people and cougars, bears and coyotes,” said Roblyn Brown, ODFW acting wolf coordinator. “They will usually avoid humans and leave the area when they see, hear, or smell people close by. If you see a wolf or any other animal and are concerned about your safety, make sure it knows you are nearby by talking or yelling to alert it to your presence. If you are carrying a firearm, you can fire a warning shot into the ground.”

Dangerous encounters with wolves are still rare. Wolf populations are growing in populated areas. As wolf populations grow, wolves will become more habituated to humans, and wolf attacks on humans will increase.

The way to minimize these attacks is to keep wolf population at acceptable levels. Wolves are very difficult animals to hunt on foot with rifles. More efficient methods, such as steel traps, or hunting from aircraft, may need to be employed.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

AR: Homeowner Fires at Robber, Wounds boy in Hand

The victim said he ran to his bedroom to get his handgun and when he noticed his bedroom door opening behind him, he fired off several shots in the direction he suspected the two men were coming.

The suspects then ran off. Officers say they do not know if the suspects were hit, but the 9-year-old boy in the next room caught one of the bullets in his finger.
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Book Review: The Red Cliffs of Zerhoun by Matt Bracken 532 pages

Matt Bracken continues to please. I have read all of Matt's books, and consider him a friend, even though we have never met in person.

The Red Cliffs of Zerhoun is a dystopic novel of the near future. There have been no significant technological advances. The world's economy has crashed, with large parts of the world torn by local wars. Electricity in most areas is either missing, or highly localized.

The action takes place near the coasts of Ireland, mainland Europe, and Africa, if we consider "near" to be within a couple of hundred miles. 

Matt knows his weapons, and how they are used. He knows sailing and boats, and shows a real understanding of interactions in the black market. While I do not share Matt's life experiences, I have been overseas. I have been in some mildly exotic and interesting circumstances, off the beaten track. I know a bit about shooting, hunting, warcraft, and defensive tactics.

This is the best book from Matt Bracken to this point. His technical details are  correct. That is important for anyone who is willing to set aside disbelief over the future history part of the book. His reading of people and their interactions is believable, especially his understanding of high performing military culture. I found my self nodding, this is right, this is the way it often happens. The believability of the technology and personal interactions overcome the intial assumptions needed for a broken and dysfunctional future world.

The result is a Tom Clancy like novel of serious technical competence wrapped around a page turning action/adventure thriller. Entwined with the action are geopolitical insights and historical knowledge.

I recommend the reader set aside a weekend. Do not start this novel on a Sunday evening, unless you have the next day free. I only took a small break out of a nine hour straight reading jag.  Now I am reading it again, savoring the small nuances that I may have missed the first time.

The book is refreshingly politically incorrect.  Matt uses history as a guide to human behavior. It is the best guide we have. In the book, Christianity and Islam are in conflict, as they have been throughout the vast majority of their mutual existence.

There are no superhuman characters in the book, though numerous characters believe that something more than chance has brought them together.

It is a common human belief. It adds to the  story.

If you want to be carried away on an adventure with believable motivations, high drama, and action that does not involve super-heroes, this book is an excellent choice.

I highly recommend this book for recreational reading. At the end, there is a handy reading list for those who wish to delve into the subject matter in greater detail.

The Red Cliffs of Zerhoun is available on Amazon for $19.95 in large format paperback, or on Kindle for $7.99. To try out the novel, you can read a hundred or so pages here for free.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

CA: Security Guard Wounds one of Group

A security guard at a South Los Angeles marijuana dispensary opened fire on a group of robbers Saturday night, sending one man to the hospital, police said.
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WI: Gunfigtht in Home, no one Wounded

MILWAUKEE — Police said a suspect and victim exchanged gunfire after the suspect entered the victim’s home early Saturday, October 28th near 80th and Beechwood.

It happened shortly before 1:00 a.m.
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CT: Hartford Turn in event 28 October, 2017, Profit Center

Hartford Connecticut had a gun turn in event on Saturday, 28 October, 2017. They have been using the Orwellian term "buy back". You cannot buy back something you never owned to begin with.

Hartford has been holding these events every few months.  Gun turn-in events have become scarce in most states as private purchasers turned the affairs into impromptu gun shows. They are hanging on in those states where private sales are banned. A sale is not private if the government requires the sale to be conducted through a government agent, and to be recorded.

Second Amendment supporters have another way to use these events to advantage. In Connecticut, Joel Cramer, a Connecticut resident, has made a name for himself on ctguntalk.com. I found him when I was looking for details about the Hartford turn in event for 28 October.

I asked Joel if the information on the discussion board was correct. He said that it was. About three months ago, he turned in items that collected $1,700 from a Hartford turn-in event, and on 28 October he received another $900 in gift cards.

Joel confirmed he knew a person turned in 10 stripped receivers and got $4,500 in gift cards. He insisted it was not a rumor, he could confirm it happened. It was probably at the event three months ago. It is the only event I have found that paid $450 per "assault rifle" in Connecticut.

At the turn in last Saturday, the officers refused to take the two AR-10 stripped receivers Joel brought with him. He had to settle for turning in some old pistols.

Joel told me he has been attending these events since 1994, and that he hopes they continue.

Hatford has increased the payments they will make at these events. in March of 2017, they offered much less. From the courant.com:

Working firearms can be exchanged for Stop & Shop gift cards in varying denominations: $200 for assault rifles, $100 for pistols and revolvers; and $25 for shotguns or rifles.

The prices this time twice those amounts.  From wfsb.com:

• $400 gift card for an assault rifle 
• $250 gift card for a semi-automatic handgun 
• $150 gift card for a revolver 
• $100 gift card for a shotgun or rifle

41 guns were collected on 28 October, 2017, at the event. There were several police officers on site.

Joel said that the incentive for "assault rifles" had dropped from $450 at the event three months ago. Perhaps the organizers thought $450 was too much to pay for stripped receivers.

Joel has a company that specializes in machine guns, silencers, and short shotguns. It is Remarcable Arms in Wallingford, Ct.

The guns turned in at the Hartford events are to be destroyed after they are checked to see if someone has listed them as stolen. It is a waste of valuable assets. Several states have banned the destruction of these resources, instead requiring that the guns be placed into the normal commercial channels of firearm distribution. The proceeds are used for the benefit of the public. Proceeds usually go to either the general fund or to the police budget.
Some agencies auction firearms directly to the public. Others take bids from dealers.

Everyone benefits.

©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

TX: Armed Homeowner Shoots Home Invader

A few minutes later the man came back, kicked in the door and forced his way inside. But the homeowner had a gun and opened fire, police said.

Neighbors said they heard about a half a dozen shots. When responding officers arrived they found the wounded suspect in the street. The suspect was taken to the hospital in critical condition. He is expected to survive, police said.
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ID: Armed Homeowner Holds Suspect for Police

PINEHURST, Idaho—A Pinehurst homeowner held a suspected burglar at gun point until law enforcement arrived on scene.
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LA; Armed Woman Sends Burglary Team Fleeing

Four men who planned to commit a burglary on Thursday were surprised by a gun-toting homeowner, according to Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office.

Just before 10 a.m., deputies were called to the 11000 of Peggy Lane in Keithville regarding a burglary in progress. The homeowner said several men were at her front door dressed in hoods and carrying backpacks. When she met them at the door with a handgun, the suspects fled in an SUV that was parked in the bushes.
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2017 Gun Trace Report Conceals as much as it Reveals

The City of Chicago has released its Gun Trace Report. It is a political, polemical document, with a veneer of respectability lent by the University of Chicago Crime Lab.  Prominently displayed are suggested restrictions on gun ownership, gun sales, and increased record keeping requirements.  While reading the document, I was looking to find how many guns were *not* traced. It is an important number. If the percentage of guns not traced is high, it undercuts any supposed utility of tracing guns.

Not only does the document lack any numbers for guns that were not traced, it conflates the numbers of traced guns with those of all confiscated guns. From page 4 of the report:

Seven of the top ten source dealers are within Illinois, and six of those seven fall within the Cook County suburbs that border Chicago. The remaining FFL source dealers within the top ten are located in northwest Indiana. Collectively, these ten source dealers make up almost a quarter of the crime guns recovered in Chicago, despite the existence of many other federally licensed dealers in Chicago’s vicinity.

For the better part of a decade, Chuck’s Gun Shop and Midwest Sporting Goods have consistently remained the top two FFL source dealers for crime guns recovered by police in Chicago. Chuck’s Gun Shop and Midwest Sporting Goods continue to provide a strikingly large portion of the total number of traceable crime guns that includes more than 5,000 separate FFL dealers from all 50 states. These two dealers are the retail source of more than one in ten crime guns recovered in Chicago.

Notice the conflation of "traceable crime guns" with "crime guns".

997 guns were traced to Chuck's Gun Shop over four years, 2013-2016. That is 6.7 percent of the guns that were traced.  There were 960 purchasers.  Over 92% of the purchasers of these guns purchased only one gun. Of the 997 guns confiscated and traced, only 43 were reported stolen.  When we consider the total number of guns confiscated, the percent from Chuck's Gun Shop drops to 3.7 percent.

The number of guns that were not traced was calculated from the information in the report. According to the report, of the guns traced from 2013 to 2016, 40.41 percent of the of eTraced guns equaled 6,026 firearms. Simple math converts those numbers to 14,912 guns eTraced.

That number was checked with the figure of 12,531 guns given as 84.01 percent of the guns eTraced. Converting that to 100%, there were 14,916 guns eTraced, total. There is a small round off error of four guns. I will conservatively use the larger figure of 14,916.

14,916 guns were traced during the period of  2013-2016.

From the report, total guns confiscated during  2013-2016 were 26,849.

The percent eTraced is calculated as 14916/26849, which equals 56% of the total.

This would not matter much, if we had a reasonable idea that the guns that could not or were not traced were from the same places that the traced guns were.

That would be a bad assumption. The newer a gun is, the more likely it is to be traceable on eTrace.  Newer guns are more likely to be traced to gun stores. This already biases the sample, probably quite significantly.

There are categories and sources of guns that cannot be traced. Many shotguns and .22 rifles made prior to 1968 did not have serial numbers. They can not be traced. I have seen and owned many of these guns.

Pistols were not required to have a serial number before 1958.  Hundreds of thousands of small, inexpensive revolvers were made from 1875 through 1958 without serial numbers. I have seen numerous examples at guns shows. There were about three dozen manufacturers making revolvers under hundreds of different names. Most did not have serial numbers.

Homemade guns hardly ever have serial numbers, or if they do, the numbers are not usable. They can be a significant percentage of the guns used in crime. In Australia, almost 14% of pistols that are confiscated are illicitly made. In 1986, 20% of the guns seized by police in Washington, D.C., were homemade. More and more guns in the United States are being made at home. It is becoming easier and easier to do so.

There are many firearms that were made for military purposes without serial numbers or with identical serial numbers. There are also "lunch box specials" where people who have access to firearms factories smuggle out gun parts to assemble their own guns.

The report calls for universal gun registration, background checks on private sales, and state licensing of gun dealers. All of these measures are indicated as means of making the tracing of guns to their legal source easier.

The report does not indicate how making guns easier to trace will have any effect on crime, or on the availability of guns to criminals.

In Chicago, of the guns traced to gun stores, nearly 92% were one time purchases by an individual (the average number is about 1 percent smaller than the percentage from Chuck's Gun Shop). The fact the gun could be traced to an individual that purchased one gun has done nothing to reduce the number of guns from this source. Because an individual purchased one gun, once, the ability to stop future sales becomes moot.

Illinois has a legal requirement for gun owners to report lost or stolen guns. But only 4.3% of the guns traced to Chuck's gun shop were reported as lost or stolen.  Clearly, the law is ineffective. It is nearly impossible to prove a person knew a gun was lost or stolen at a certain time.

The suggested legislation has significant costs. Universal gun registration is expensive. State licensing of gun dealers is expensive.

The unstated purpose of these regulations is to make it harder for law abiding people to own guns. The theory seems to be, if the number of legal guns can be reduced a little, eventually, guns available for crime will be a little harder to get. If it is a little harder for criminals to get guns, then crime will be reduced.

There is no evidence that this complicated and expensive means of reducing the availability of guns to criminals actually works.

Because criminals who are willing to use guns are a small percentage of the population, gun availability in the general population has to be reduced by large numbers to have any chance of working. 

It did not work in England and Wales. It did not work in Europe. It did not work in Australia. It did not work in Canada.  After gun registration, crime, or crime with guns, did not decrease.  In Australia, homicides with guns decreased, but the numbers were falling before the gun registration scheme was put into place.

Perhaps the clearest example is Brazil. Brazil never had widespread gun ownership. Yet Brazil has a very high level of homicide and homicide with guns. Brazilian criminals routinely make their own guns, often small shop sub-machine guns.  Brazil's homicide rate is five to six times as great at that in the United States. The homicide rate was not reduced after Brazil made its restrictive gun laws even more restrictive.

The report overlooks an extremely important fact. While most of the guns traced in Chicago come from outside of Chicago, the crime rates in the areas the guns come from are routinely far, far below the crime rates in Chicago.

This shows the guns are not the problem. Focusing on the guns is a distraction, at best, at worst, a deliberate misdirection from the obvious primary problems.

Essentially, the report is saying: We have a crime problem in Chicago. To fix it, restrict the rights of those other people in those other states, where the crime rate is lower.

That does not pass the smell test.

The linchpin of the regulatory scheme is universal gun registration. We have examples of failed registration schemes. New Zealand eliminated most of their required gun registration in the 1980's. There was no measurable effect on crime.  Canada did away with most of its long gun registration scheme in 2011. From forbes.com:

Maybe they shouldn't worry. Universal registration has been tried in several countries, most recently in Canada. The program turned out to be far more expensive than expected and didn't have any discernable impact on crime, perhaps because long guns are used so rarely by criminals in the first place. Canada's gun homicide rate, according to the handy statistics at Gunpolicy.org, has held steady since the late 1990s.

To sum up. Tracing guns almost never does any thing useful to solve crimes. It only has any chance with universal gun registration. Universal gun registration is expensive and ineffective.

What is the purpose of focusing on ineffective policies that have been shown not to work?  Could it be to focus thought away from policies that encourage criminality and violence? Maybe gun owners in other states are considered to be a "whipping boy", someone who needs to be punished for crimes committed by other people?



©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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