Cliffy’s Lyon Again…

It seems the hoplophobic blowhard is at it again with his favorite subject, despite being called on the carpet time after time. This guy likes to yap for the same reason dogs like to bark, they like the sound of their own voice. For as highly educated and smart as this guy likes to think himself, he’s incredibly stupid.

As you know, we have been invaded by the paid gun lobby web trolls for calling Alan Korwin on the carpet for repeating AND further embellishing one of the gun lobby’s favorite lies on C-Span.

Most recently, troll Bob S has been challenging my use of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Kellerman Study which states:

In homes with guns, a member of the household is almost three times as likely to be the victim of a homicide compared to gun-free homes.

Like parrots squawking in unison the gun lobby trolls insist the study is “oft-refuted” and flawed. It isn’t flawed and NOBODY has questioned it, except admitted gun freaks.

I checked LexusNexus and found nothing refuting the Kellerman Study. One can be fairly sure if an NEJM published study is challenged and fails, heads roll and careers are destroyed. Today Kellerman maintains the highest level of credentials and respect in his field.

Go and read it…or not. Apparently my wheel barrow of cash got sent to the wrong address…time to call the NRA!

*yawn*

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More on the Suspension

From the Worcester Telegram:

Silence on lock and load

WINCHENDON SUSPENSION

By Gail Stanton CORRESPONDENT

WINCHENDON— School officials said yesterday a privacy policy prevents them from saying much about the suspension of a Toy Town Elementary School student earlier this week for bringing an empty blank shell casing to school.

The decision to suspend 10-year-old Bradley Geslak was made by school Principal Deborah Peterson. “Massachusetts General Law gives principals absolute authority in their schools. She (Mrs. Peterson) has no obligation to notify anyone else because it is expected that she has enough authority under the Massachusetts Educational Reform Act to make these decisions,” said School Committee member Christine B. Philput.

“As a School Committee member I am not made privy to issues regarding students as the decision-making process is at the building level, and the responsibility lies with the principal,” agreed School Committee Chairman Michael Niles.

Ms. Philput said the school’s apparent silence about the situation is only in order to protect the child and not in any manner to appear evasive.

“I’m sure parents wouldn’t want us to talk about a child’s suspension,” said School Superintendent Brooke Clenchy.

“Everyone is uncomfortable,” said Ms. Philput. “They would never want to do anything that may harm a child.”

Crystal Geslak said her son, Bradley, was suspended for five days for bringing the shell casing to school. She said a uniformed veteran gave him two of the blank casings on Monday during a Memorial Day celebration at the GAR Park, across from the elementary school.

She said she also didn’t think to tell her son not to take the casing to school with him.

After a teacher saw him with the casing at school on Tuesday, school officials called his mother to inform her they were expelling him for five days.

“I was totally shocked. I couldn’t believe this was happening,” she said.

Ms. Geslak said she also doesn’t understand why she was not given a written report on the matter when she picked up her son.

“I would have thought that when deciding to suspend my son that they would have had a complete report ready for me,” she said.

“I will say that I was surprised when I heard that,” said Ms. Philput yesterday about the absence of a report.

Ms. Clenchy said the documentation process can always be improved.

But, as for Ms. Geslak not being presented with a written report when she arrived at school, Mrs. Clenchy said, “That would not normally be ready in time for the parent to pick up with their child. It normally goes out a day or two later.”

As for the suspension and the media attention it has received, Ms. Philput said, “I am really concerned and am sorry for what the family has had to go through in all of this.”

School Superintendent and Principal contact info here.

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Outrage of the Week!

From the NRA-ILA:

This week’s outrage comes to us from Winchendon, Massachusetts where, in yet another case of “zero-tolerance” enforcement defying common sense, fourth-grader Bradley Geslak was suspended from Toy Town Elementary School for bringing a Memorial Day souvenir to school.

According to a May 29, Telegram.com article, a uniformed veteran gave the 10-year-old two empty rifle shell casings from blanks used during the town’s Memorial Day celebration Monday morning. Bradley gave one of the empty casings to his grandfather and kept the other as a souvenir. The trouble began when he took his souvenir to school the next day.

“He was just playing with it at lunch,” explained Crystal Geslak, Bradley’s mother. “He wasn’t showing it to anyone; he had it in his hand and was playing with it.”

A teacher saw him with the harmless piece of brass and confiscated it. Ms. Geslak was then called at work and told to come and pick up her son, who had been suspended for five days!

Ms. Geslak arrived at the school to find her son in tears. “I was totally shocked. I couldn’t believe this was happening,” she said. “It was just an empty shell, not even from a real bullet. A sharpened pencil would be more dangerous than this piece of metal.”

“He was so proud to have been given them. His dad’s a veteran, his uncle’s a veteran, both his grandfathers are veterans. Memorial Day is a big thing to us. It’s a very important holiday and we have a big celebration every year,” Ms. Geslak said.

Ms. Geslak, who will be forced to miss work in order to stay home with her son, says she is worried about what having a “weapon-related suspension” on his school record will mean to his future.

To add insult to injury, the family says a school official told them that the shell would not be returned, and that the next step might involve assigning a probation officer to Bradley! Yes, you read that right, a probation officer.

A young boy punished over a harmless souvenir. By any standard, that’s outrageous.

If you’d like to express your concern over this incident, please visit http://www.winchendon.mec.edu/. To leave a voice message for Brooke Clenchy, Superintendent of Schools, please call 978-297-0031.

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Captain Kirk for President!

Warning, may cause sensitive people discomfort.

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Are YOU on the list?

From Radar Online:

According to a senior government official who served with high-level security clearances in five administrations, “There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived ‘enemies of the state’ almost instantaneously.” He and other sources tell Radar that the database is sometimes referred to by the code name Main Core. One knowledgeable source claims that 8 million Americans are now listed in Main Core as potentially suspect. In the event of a national emergency, these people could be subject to everything from heightened surveillance and tracking to direct questioning and possibly even detention.

What are they talking about precisely? One of the COG (Continuity of Government) programs:

Few Americans—professional journalists included—know anything about so-called Continuity of Government (COG) programs, so it’s no surprise that the president’s passing reference received almost no attention. COG resides in a nebulous legal realm, encompassing national emergency plans that would trigger the takeover of the country by extra-constitutional forces—and effectively suspend the republic. In short, it’s a road map for martial law.

Truly scary stuff if true. It begs the question, who is considered by the government to be so bad as to authorize their round up and incarceration during a national emergency? That I’ll leave up to your imagination. But, you say, the government would never do something this heinous. I have only one thing to say in reply to that.

That was truly a dark period in our history. Keep in mind also, reaching far back into history, the vast majority of people killed world wide, have been killed by their own governments. I don’t see this trend reversing itself anytime soon.

Keep this in mind the next time someone blathers on about how “only the police and military should be allowed to have guns!”

(h/t) a valued reader. Thanks!

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Firearms Trace Data

The firearms trace data for 2007 has been released by the BATFE. Get it and study it, you know the anti’s will.

http://www.atf.gov/firearms/trace_data/index2007.htm

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I’ve got to get me one of these!

The Ultimate Clip (Magazine) Loader:

Review at GunBlast.

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Teen Saves Mother From Carjacker - Redux

I got this comment in about an earlier story I posted about where a 17 y/o boy took the gun away from a carjacker and shot him with it. I get irate comments from time to time, mostly from people who knew the criminal or family members. None of them ever admit their friend/loved one was anything other than a saint. This one is little different.

In my opinion, when you turn to a life of crime, you deserve whatever you get. Crime is a high risk occupation with a high probability of death. There is a choice each of us has. No one has to become a criminal. That said, let’s see what this person has to say, complete with misspellings and lousy grammar.

“the gun man was out of the car on the ground when the so called hero ot out of the car walked around the car and shot him 5 times, unloading the gun then pistol whipped him in th face where h was shot and kicking him in the ribs over and over, where he was shot 4 times!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is a true hero…. all u had to do was drive off oh thats right u did after u wiped the gun off walked 2 the drive through window and said u shot someone, u then got back in the car and u both drove off!!!!!!!!!!!!! how sorry is that calling your family and friends telling them what u just did!!!!!!!!i dont agree what happened that nite but u didnt need 2 take a life, a father,a brother, and a son!!!!!!!! i hope u can live with yourself!!! the pain and suffering he had 2 go through and finally his life was tking! we prayed for god to take him but he was a true fighter!! i asked him if he knew u! all he could do was cry ! he had no voice,kidneys,couldn’t walk ,eat ,piss or shit! i know he paid for what he tried to attempt that nite, but u have 2 live with it 4 ever! he died 8 days before his 45th bday, he cant see his girls get married, see his 1st grandchild be born,grow old with thier mother. i just want to say thank u for a horrible year and years 2 come! fathers day will never be the same! i know he is in a better place, i just wish he didnt have 2 live us in such horride!!”

Hmmm… Okay, Jane Doe, let’s see what that facts are in this case.

This from the Times-Picayune:

Carl Chestnut, the suspect in a carjacking who was shot in a Metairie restaurant drive-through after a 17-year-old in the car wrestled away a gun — is wanted in an unrelated killing, police said.

But Chestnut’s relatives said Tuesday afternoon that his condition is worse than authorities first thought, revealing that he may have been mortally wounded.

Kenner police on Tuesday issued first-degree murder and aggravated burglary warrants for Chestnut, 44, in connection with the death of Odrey Bordelon, 60, a trailer park manager found strangled in his home June 5. They also are seeking a second suspect, Wayne Hayden, 50, who is still at large.

…

A few more details about the carjacking were available Tuesday. According to the arrest report, Chestnut approached the vehicle from the driver’s side holding a .38-caliber revolver about 1:30 a.m. He pointed the gun at the mother, who was in the driver’s seat, partially opening the car door, the report said. Chestnut then allegedly tried to put his foot on the accelerator while pulling the mother’s hair, the report said.

The woman was able to steer around another vehicle in front of her while trying to keep her foot on the brake, the report said. The woman’s son then tried to attract Chestnut’s attention away from his mother. When Chestnut pointed the gun at the teen, he grabbed the weapon and the two began to struggle, according to the arrest report and information previously released by the Sheriff’s Office. At least one shot was fired inside the car.

The teen managed to wrest the gun away from Chestnut, then pushed him out of the vehicle, the report said. The 17-year-old then got out of the car with the gun in hand and shot Chestnut several times, the report said. The teenager asked an Arby’s employee to call authorities.

According to the arrest report, another patron in line at the restaurant told the woman and her son to leave the scene. The pair apparently did so, but were stopped a few minutes later, the report said.

There is more from the above site, but the basics of the case are, Carl Chestnut, having earlier strangled the trailer park manager to death and robbed him, shows up at this Arby’s and tries to carjack a 53 y/o woman and her 17 y/o son with a .38 caliber revolver. The son takes the gun away from him and shoots him several times.

It’s sad that he turned to a life of crime and that he got killed, but don’t expect me to cry any tears over this. Like I said earlier, in life we make certain choices and we have to live, or die with the consequences. Carl Chestnut made some bad choices in his life, and unfortunately for those who loved him, they resulted in his death. The culpability for his death lies not with the carjacked woman’s son, but with him alone. If he hadn’t tried to carjack (or worse) them, he might still be alive.

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From Canada’s National Post

The Post editorial board: How did a demagogue like David Miller become the mayor of Canada’s biggest city?

Let’s see if we have this right. Toronto has a problem with young gang members using smuggled handguns to kill one another in rave clubs and warehouses — and in order to fight this trend, mayor David Miller wants to … take away target pistols from Olympic shooters and close down law-abiding gun clubs.

Mr. Miller’s logic is so bizarre, it’s hard to know where to begin to dismantle it. He either completely misunderstands the causes of crime in his city — or, worse, he is cynically redirecting public anger from criminals to law-abiding gun collectors and target shooters. Whichever the case, Torontonians ought to be outraged.

Brandishing a report from city bureaucrats that claims “up to” 40% of gun crimes in Toronto are committed using firearms stolen from their rightful owners — RCMP and Ontario Provincial Police estimates are closer to just 10% — Mr. Miller said shooting sports are a “hobby … that creates danger to others.”

The mayor’s choice of language is telling: He insisted many of the crime guns used in his city “are stolen from so-called legal owners.” But there is nothing “so-called” about the legal status of rightful owners. They are law-abiding Canadians — unless of course you are a spin-doctoring politician out to demonize them.

As usual, the mayor is too timid to take honest action necessary to curb gun crime, namely beefing up police in neighbourhoods where most of the crimes occur. That might get him labelled “insensitive” or even racist, and that would never do. So instead, Mr. Miller has latched onto gun owners as convenient whipping boys, knowing that in our urbanized culture most voters cannot understand the allure of shooting sports.

In short, Mr. Miller is counting on the public’s ignorance about guns to give his useless proposals the look of a real effort to tackle crime. His recommendations, though, will do nothing to prevent murders, shootings and other gang-related violence. Nor will they prevent the influx of illegal handguns from the United States, which are the weapon of choice in almost all violent Canadian gun crimes.

In Britain, after the tragic elementary school shootings at Dunblane, Scotland in 1996, all private handgun ownership was banned and all handguns confiscated. Even England’s Olympic shooters, for a time, were forced to shuttle across the Channel to France for practice. Since then, though, New Scotland Yard and the Home Office estimate that the inventory of illegal handguns in Britain has expanded by 3 million. Gun crime has nearly doubled. And many cities now have more gun crime than comparable U.S. cities. Police refer to Manchester as Gunchester.

And Britain, remember, is an island — and all its neighbours have tough gun-control laws. If even the UK cannot keep guns out despite a universal prohibition, what chance has a single city such a Toronto, whose criminals have easy land access to the United States and its guns?

Municipal gun control is useless. In cities where handguns are banned or severely restricted — Chicago, Washington D.C., London, Tokyo and others — gun crimes remain common. As they do in Toronto, criminals in these cities merely go underground, or to a neighbouring jurisdiction, and buy an illegal weapon. Only in New York, which implemented much more aggressive policing in the early 1990s, has gun crime fallen significantly.

Instead of following New York’s lead, though, Toronto Mayor David Miller is intent on replicating the failure of Britain. In the process, he threatens the enjoyment of reputable gun hobbyists without any chance his ideas will do a thing to stop shootings in Toronto. Can someone please tell us how this ignorant demagogue became the mayor of Canada’s biggest city?

Photo: Tyler Anderson, National Post.

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CCW Saves Lives, Again!

It’s happened again, this time in Winnemucca, NV. A murderer walked into a local bar there and opened fire, killing two and injuring two more, before he was shot and killed by a private citizen carrying a concealed handgun. The hero who took the killer out has a valid concealed carry permit from the state of Nevada, which doesn’t disallow carrying concealed weapons in bars, lucky for them.

“I was there. I saw everything,” said Hayes, who lay stomach down on the floor just six feet away from shooter Ernesto Fuentes Villagomez, 30, of Winnemucca. “(Villagomez) looked very determined. You could see it in his eyes. He wasn’t just shooting random people. He was focused on those two.”

The two were Winnemucca residents and brothers Jose Torres, 20, and Margarito Torres, 19, who Villagomez shot with a high-capacity handgun about 2:30 a.m. Sunday, police said. Residents of Winnemucca, a town of 8,000 people about 160 miles northeast of Reno, still were reacting Monday to the shooting, saying they couldn’t believe this could happen in their town.

“I’m just sad that something like this could happen in a little town like Winnemucca,” said resident Heather Huerta, 22. “I probably would feel different if someone from out of town did it. But having local residents involved makes it scary.”

At first, Hayes thought someone set off a firecracker in the bar; no warning or fight preceded the shooting. But once it became clear what was going on, everyone hit the floor, Hayes said. Including employees, about 40 people were in the bar, Hayes said, disputing police reports that about 300 patrons were in and around the bar.

“I saw (Villagomez) shoot one guy, come back around and shoot the other guy,” Hayes said.

Villagomez then started walking toward the middle of the bar before suddenly collapsing to the floor. Hayes later found out that Villagomez was shot by a 48-year-old customer from Reno who was carrying a concealed handgun. Authorities declined to release the Reno man’s name, only saying that the man had a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon. The man was released after authorities ruled the death a justifiable homicide.

“He was just some random guy in jeans and a shirt who happened to be there,” Hayes said. “I was just glad that there was somebody there who was able to help us out.”

(h/t) Say Uncle and Dustin’s Gun Blog.

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