Les Jones

Guns > Carry Permits and Self Defense

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
- George Orwell

NEW YORK POST: Which celebrities pack heat in New York? SayUncle and AlphaPatriot beat me to the press with this one, so I'll have to sex mine up. Whose pistol is hot - Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Howard Stern, Don Imus, Donald Trump, and Tommy Mottola. They all have permits. Whose pistol is not - William F. Buckley, Chazz Palminteri, Paul Sorvino, Joan Rivers and Steven Seagal. Their requests for permits were rejected.

And as is typical when carry permits are issued at the discretion of authorities, there's an element of corruption and favoritism: "As The Post first reported, ex-NYPD license head Bernard Petrofsky was accused by police brass of rubber-stamping permits for Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry in exchange for concert tickets and backstage passes." Corruption and cronyism are why many states are going to shall-issue permits, which mean that authorities have to issue permits to all qualifying citizens. You know, just like they issue driver's licenses to everyone who qualifies.

Clayton Cramer's article in the current issue of Shotgun News covers Alaska's new Vermont-style carry laws, and nuances of carry laws and reciprocity between states. (Yep, it's the Clayton Cramer who blogs.) Shotgun News has a web site, but the article doesn't appear to be online. Packing.org is another good resource.

MAD OGRE: Guns of the Matrix. A rundown of all of the guns used in both movies.

DONALD SENSING: Thoughts on the Second Amendment and the fundamental dividing line of civilization.

Do not count on the police to maintain domestic tranquility in the final analysis. Their role is certainly important in enforcement, but they are reactive. They do not generally stop criminals; they apprehend them. But no criminal actually believes he will be caught, else he would not commit the crime.

Furthermore, there is no moral difference between the homeowner who protects his life or property with a gun and one who does not but summons a police officer. If the police arrive on time (problematic), they use violence or its threat to protect the law-abiding. The unarmed homeowner has merely "contracted out" his wielding of deadly force or the threat of it. (In my view, for an able-bodied man or woman to do that is morally cowardly.)

This is very similar to something that Kim du Toit's wife wrote:

I expected other people to protect me. I expected my husband to do it when he was home and I expected a cop to be there to rescue me if something happened to my husband. Yet I was perfectly happy for a criminal to be shot, by someone else, if he threatened me or my kids. Shame on me.

It was the realization of that hypocrisy that finally pushed me over the edge. I should not expect others to do for me what I am not willing to do for myself. I was the one whose morals were all screwed-up. How dare I think that someone else should risk his or her life for me (be it my husband or a police officer) if I wasn't willing to lift a finger for anyone else or even myself?

It was after this realization that the real meaning of the Second Amendment became crystal clear. Not only did I have the right to defend my country and myself, I had the RESPONSIBILITY to do so.

HERITAGE FUND: Stop lawsuits against the gun industry.