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Open Carry Guns Deter Crime
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Mark A. Taff
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If you don't conceal your weapon, you give up the element of surprise in the event you are attacked and need to defend yourself. However, by carrying your firearm openly, you may deter a crime from happening in the first place, which would then lead to a better outcome. It is difficult to determine exactly how many crimes are deterred each year by those who carry openly due to the obvious fact that in such circumstances the crimes don't even take place.
We do however have at least one documented example in Kennesaw GA where a crew of armed thugs decided NOT to commit armed robbery in a waffle house because the thug who went in to scout the place before the crime saw Matt Brannan and J.P. Mitchell openly carrying their firearms. |
The several varieties of gun nuts
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Mark A. Taff
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Present in all three classifications is an element of paranoia, a strong belief that without these weapons one is not likely to survive the truly crazy (like maybe one's testy neighbor or a disaffected co-worker or student seeking revenge from bullies) or the ubiquitous criminals that use guns as necessary tools in their business. It is a violent world that needs violent answers.
Those who regard guns as an unimpeachable right protected by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States don't want any restrictions on when, where, or how they are present on a person -- always, in a bar, near a school, in a church, openly on the hip, or concealed. |
Gun Owners -- To the Back of the Bus!
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Mark A. Taff
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On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks, age 42, disobeyed the bus driver�s order and gave up her seat for a white passenger. This woman�s brave stand sparked a 381-day bus boycott, paving the way for the United States Supreme Court to outlaw racial segregation on buses.
Today, that�s history and common knowledge. Most of us know and recognize that Rosa Parks did the right thing and that racial discrimination is wrong under any circumstance. But, back then, racist actions were sometimes socially accepted, practiced and even legal, especially in many parts of the south.
Freedom, once lost, is a very slow train coming home. |
Constitutional double standards
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Mark A. Taff
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But the tone of the debate shifts when state and local regulations meet with the left's approval. Suddenly, the Constitution's reach hits a wall. The Times thus expressed naked fear in its lead editorial last Tuesday that the high court, in a Chicago case, might conclude the Second Amendment, which endows U.S. citizens with the right to keep and bear arms, cannot be "infringed" by states or cities.
"Does the right to bear arms apply against city and state government as well?" The Times doesn't think so: "There is another right, however, that should not get lost: the right of people, through their elected representatives, to adopt carefully drawn laws that protect them against other people's guns." |
Put That Thing Away!
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Mark A. Taff
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Public attitudes on this issue seem to have changed dramatically since the 19th century, when carrying a concealed weapon was often banned as a sneaky, disreputable practice conducive to crime. Today, by contrast, it's the open carrying of weapons that is deemed alarming. In addition to avoiding that effect, hidden guns have the advantage of deterring criminals who can't be sure who is armed and who isn't.
Yet in D.C. v. Heller, the 2008 decision vindicating Second Amendment rights, the Supreme Court noted that "the majority of the 19th-century courts to consider the question held that prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons were lawful under the Second Amendment or state analogues." |
They'll take my gun when they pry it from the cold, dead fingers of my hand that's not carrying a Starbucks soy latt�
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Mark A. Taff
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They�ve been tossed out of Peet�s and California Pizza Kitchen, but they�re apparently welcome at Starbucks.
But not all gun advocates are fans:
�I�m all for open-carry laws,� said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, a gun rights advocacy organization in Washington State. �But I don�t think flaunting it is very productive for our cause. It just scares people.�
All due respect to Mr. Gottlieb, but isn�t scaring people part of the reason for gun ownership? If you�re buying a pistol for self-defense, aren�t you wanting to make sure you can outmuscle any assailants? And if you can assure them that they�ll be outmuscled before they even assail you, haven�t you won? Where�s the problem here? |
IL: Concealed-carry pupils emphasize need for defense
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Mark A. Taff
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Mike Krutsinger of Oakland believes in gun rights and self defense.
�I think it�s my right to be able to defend myself and my family,� he said Saturday during a pause in the schedule for a concealed gun carry class at the home of Bill Culp, a certified National Rifle Association instructor.
Though Illinois does not have a concealed-carry option for gun owners, Krutsinger and his classmates signed up for Culp�s class so they could get a Florida-based certificate making it legal for them to carry a firearm in 30 states. In addition, the students are learning safe and legal ways to use a firearm under the worst of conditions.
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Huffington Post Readers Getting Inaccurate Gun Info
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Mark A. Taff
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We know that many Huffington Post readers are not Second Amendment supporters, although we believe they value accuracy in what they read. HuffPost readers in search of a better understanding of gun ownership trends in America and the firearms industry can do better than to rely on a blog written by Josh Sugarmann of the extremist anti-gun Violence Policy Center. HuffPost readers may want to consider subscribing instead to this blog, which chronicles the firearms industry and firearms trends, often using statistics from the FBI (as below) and ATF to ensure accuracy. |
OK: Federal gun laws targeted by Brogdon
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Mark A. Taff
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A bill that passed the state Senate last week asserts exemption from federal regulation for guns and ammunition manufactured, sold and used in Oklahoma. It is similar to one adopted by Montana last year.
"Hopefully, it will do two things," said the bill's author, Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso. "It will help secure our Second Amendment rights and it will be a boon to economic development."
Oklahoma has no civilian arms industry to speak of, but Brogdon said gun and ammo makers might move to the state if his bill is adopted.
For Brogdon and others, though, the larger issue is the federal government's role in controlling the manufacture and sale of firearms. Brogdon, a Republican candidate for governor, says it should be zero. |
Is Justice Scalia abandoning originalism?
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Mark A. Taff
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Without the Privileges or Immunities Clause, however, the Court must continue extending the un-originalist version of substantive due process to protect the right to keep and bear arms. To give original meaning to the Second Amendment, it must ignore the original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment!
Yet this is the line Scalia took last week: Instead of accepting the plain meaning of the Privileges or Immunities Clause�which uncontrovertibly protects the right to keep and bear arms�the justice chose a route that avoids disturbing a 140-year-old precedent rejected by legal scholars of all ideological stripes. |
VA: Senate panel kills 'castle doctrine' bill
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A Senate committee has rejected the so-called "castle doctrine" bill, which would have provided immunity from civil prosecution if you used lethal force to defend yourself and your home.
House Bill 854 was proposed by Delegate James "Will" Morefield, a Republican from North Tazewell and a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. It was struck down by the Senate Courts of Justice Committee on a 9-6 party-line vote Wednesday. All of the Democrats on the panel voted to kill the bill; all of the Republicans wanted to keep it alive.
Mike McHugh, president of the Virginia Gun Owners Coalition, called the committee's action "outrageous." |
Controversy hits Starbucks and Supreme Court
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Mark A. Taff
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Love �em or hate �em, firearms are always news. And guns are very much in the news this month. At the US Supreme Court last week, the nine justices heard oral arguments in a landmark lawsuit that will determine if Chicago�s draconian anti-gun ordinance passes muster, measured against the individual-right standard laid down by the Court in a Washington, DC case just two years ago.
On a more local level, in Starbucks Coffee houses across the country, Second Amendment passions are being fanned, as firearms-carry advocates and opponents battle over whether the java giant should retreat from its current policy of allowing patrons to openly carry handguns if permitted by state and local laws. |
Don't Let Obama's Anti-Gun Silence Breed Complacency
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Mark A. Taff
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What should we make of a recent editorial arguing that the Obama White House has made no attempt to infringe upon the Second Amendment and that Obama openly declared his respect for the right to bear arms during his presidential campaign?
It's true that President Obama hasn't advanced the gun control agenda. He hasn't even sought a renewed ban on "assault" weapons. However, the idea that President Obama has more in common with Wayne LaPierre than with Sarah Brady is misleading. Remember the "bitter clingers" comment? Therefore, if eternal vigilance is freedom's price, then complacency must be its worst enemy. The Second Amendment is under assault even as the Supreme Court seems poised to recognize the individual right it protects. |
MI: Business booms for gun shop owner
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Joel Fulton said he works in the highest regulated industry in the United States: selling guns.
The co-owner of Battle Creek's Southside Sportsman Club, 539 Capital Ave. S.W., talked Thursday about dealing with federal regulations, who should carry a gun and why there's a giant gun for a mailbox out front.
When someone asks what you do for a living, what do you tell them?
"I try not to tell them 'gunrunner.' That usually tends to be fairly negative. I tell them I own a gun shop and that we do the training for the concealed weapons classes for those who choose to carry a firearm and carry it on their person for self-defense.
Ed.: Must-see photo of mailbox. |
WA: States must protect gun rights as they ensure public safety
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Mark A. Taff
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State governments can and should enact gun regulations that increase the public's safety, but Americans do have an individual right to own them.
That last part is an unwelcome thought to some people. There has long been an argument that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms," guaranteed by the Second Amendment, was meant to apply only to militias.
That was a specious argument, and in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court threw it out. Gun rights belong to individuals, like the others in the Bill of Rights. |
Is Thomas the Last Hope for a �Privileges or Immunities� Revolution?
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Mark A. Taff
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A piece by Tony Mauro on the BLT blog on Friday put us at ease a bit � reminded us that we�re not the only ones fascinated by the Supreme Court�s seeming unwillingness to breathe new life into the 14th Amendment�s Privileges or Immunities clause. Even the so-called �originalists� on the case, most notably Justice Antonin Scalia, hinted that going forward, PorI would continue to be a dead item. Click here for a post we did on the situation last week.
As we�ve written before, at issue is whether the court will extend the Second Amendment to the states and if so, how. The court has previously used the 14th Amendment as the vehicle through which other amendments were extended to the states. |
NY: Man With Toy Gun Shot Dead by Police
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R. Smith
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Police shot and killed a man today who pointed what turned out to be a fake gun at officers in Brooklyn.
Officers said they received a 911 call about a man with a gun near PS 194 in Sheepshead Bay on Monday afternoon. When police arrived at the scene, the man pointed the gun at cops and refused to drop it, law enforcement officials said.
The NYPD said the officer discharged three rounds, striking the suspect.
The 23-year-old male was taken to Coney Island Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after 4 p.m. Sources said he was not a student and it is still unclear why he was brandishing the toy pistol.
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VA: 19 April 2010: Bring Your Sidearms and Longarms To The Banks of the Potomac
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concerned american
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The latest on the April 19th "Restore The Constitution" rally on the Potomac:
As it stands now, [the above] is how I plan on attending the Restore the Constitution rally on 4-19 at Ft. Hunt and Gravelly Parks.
Pistol loaded, openly carried. Rifle unloaded, slung to rear. Bandoleer of magazines containing ammo. All in accordance with rules below. Please note that guidelines below are subject to final coordination with the Department of the Interior:
Submitter's note: Please go to the linked material and read the latest on the upcoming open-carry 'Restore The Constitution' rally being held on the Virginia banks of the Potomac on April 19, 2010. |
OR: Portland State University raises questions about school security, guns on campus
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One afternoon last November, a Portland State University economics student gave a class presentation on what he described as the U.S. military's flawed reliance on one of its key combat rifles.
As a visual aid, Zachary Bucharest hauled out a duffel bag and withdrew the disassembled parts of a Colt AR-15, a semiautomatic version of the military M-16. For the next 15 or 20 minutes, he kept professor John Hall's class engrossed as he lectured about the weapon's inferiority to the foreign-made AK-47.
Submitter's note: I wonder if this article could have any more bias? |
Canada: Canadians hope Chicago keeps gun restrictions
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Canadians loved your amusing editorial patting us on the back for our peaceful ways and acknowledging our prowess at our national sport, hockey. We don't even complain much that a high percentage of the shootings on our streets are committed with guns imported from the United States, due to its unbelievably negligent gun marketing practices.
Many Canadians view Chicago, like New York, as a prime weekend holiday destination. The vast majority of us hope that the U.S. Supreme Court will not overturn the vital right of states and local jurisdictions (like Chicago and D.C.) to exercise sane and sensible gun control. |
PA: Troopers raid popular bars for unlicensed beers
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Larry
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In fact, according to Maida, more than half the beer removed by the State Police was properly registered - but the cops couldn't find it on their lists because of "clerical errors" or "blatant ineptitude" between the police and the Liquor Control Board, with whom the officers were conferring by telephone.
She estimated the total value of the confiscated stock at $7,200, representing about 20 brands, some of which go by multiple names.
For instance, the cops grabbed Monk's Cafe Sour Flemish Red Ale.
The beer has been sold throughout the state at dozens of restaurants and distributors for the last seven years. The brand appears on the state's online list as "Monk's Caf� Ale." It's on tap seven days a week at the Center City bar after which it was named: Monk's Cafe, at 16th and Spruce streets.
Submitter's note: Hope the whining statist informer is happy (temporarily).
I'm certain that cop-bars would have been treated the same. |
TN: Chattanooga Police officer charged with domestic assault
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A 15-year veteran of the Chattanooga Police Department has been arrested and charged with domestic assault, a department spokeswoman said today.
Officer Carlos Woodruff was placed under arrest after police were called to his home and told by his wife of the assault, Lt. Kim Noorbergen said.
She said Officer Woodruff has been relieved of duty.
The police department�s internal affairs division and the major crimes division�s domestic violence unit participated in the investigation, she said.
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Violence Policy Center: Dancing on victim�s grave�again?
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When Richard Calderon shot and killed 13-year-old Alexis Wiley last Thursday, it was a tragedy, pure and simple. But since Calderon apparently has a concealed handgun license, anti-rights organizations like Violence Policy Center will surely celebrate this as more proof that all licenses should be revoked. |
TN: Chattanooga Police Officer Charged With Domestic Assault
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Chattanooga Police Officer Carlos Woodruff, a 15-year veteran, was placed under arrest and relieved of duty after police were called to his residence. His wife said that he had committed assault.
The arrest came after a joint investigation by the Chattanooga Police Department Internal Affairs Division and the Major Crimes Division (Domestic Violence Unit).
Because of the ongoing investigation no other details of the assault have been released.
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WI: Racine man wins $10,000 judgment after gun arrest
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RACINE, Wis. (AP) - A Racine man arrested after openly carrying a holstered gun on his porch has won a $10,000 judgment from the city and two police officers.
Frank Hannan Rock and a gun-rights group sued the city and officers in January in federal court. |
UT: Police confront student carrying gun on UVU campus
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OREM -- A student confronted by police for openly carrying a gun at Utah Valley University says he's within his rights. Now advocates on both sides say his story points to a problem in Utah law.
The student posted on YouTube the confrontation he had with officers after they responded to a report of a man with a gun. |
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