The Real Gun Guys

More on the Seattle ban

Here is a transcript of the press conference. Below is a section of the questions and answers from after the conference. There’s more, but I thought these were most pertinent. I understand the video of the press conference will be available soon, and I’ll post it when it does. One thing about Washington state law concerning firearms you should understand. Besides the legally restricted areas like courthouses and the like, you can carry a gun anywhere, even the state capitol. “No Guns” signs mean nothing unless you are discovered, and when asked to leave you refuse. You can be charged with trespassing at that point. Because of state preemption, Mayor Nickels has absolutely NO RIGHT to restrict guns anywhere state law does not. I forsee a legal challenge in Mayor Nickels future.

Reporter: Do you foresee metal detectors at City Hall or other facilities?
Nickels: “Signage will go up at all of the city facilities initially. They will let people know that they have a responsibility themselves not to bring a weapon into that city facility. And then we will look at different ways that we can effectively enforce this.”

Reporter: Do you have the legal authority to do this? Isn’t this the exclusive purview of state law? All it might take to undermine it is a legal challenge
Nickels: ‘That is a great question. And I certainly would not be surprised if there is a challenge to our authority on this. The state pre-empts all laws relating to firearms. They do not allow us to adopt a law strong than state law.
“But a recent Washington State Supreme Court case recognized that cities could adopt rules that regulate guns on city property. The name of that case is Northwest Shooting Park Associates v. the City of Sequim.
“So we believe we do have the authority to adopt a rule that protects people while they’re using city facilities.”

Kerlikowske: “The concealed firearms statutes in this state, through the RCW (Revised Code of Washington) already precludes carrying firearms at schools, municipal courts, all of the court houses, etc. So it isn’t like this is the only place.
“When you go to a Sonics game and you have a concealed firearm… it’s not your right to stay there if you have that firearm on you. You can then be asked to leave or you can, essentially, leave.
“I wouldn’t quite say that is a constitutional right to carry a gun at every city sponsored event or in many buildings that already exist throughout the state. … “

Nickels: “It is not my goal to infringe on people’s rights to possess firearms. It is my goal to keep people safe when they are using city facilities and when they are going to events that take place in the public realm such as Seattle Center and parks.
“There are three exceptions to that. There are three groups that I think should not be allowed to carry firearms at all. Those are convicted felons. Those are people who are mentally disturbed and might do harm to themselves and others. And those are children.
“And unfortunately, with the lax gun laws that we have in this state, all three of those groups find themselves with easy access to deadly force.”

Reporter: How does your executive order keep those types of people from carrying a gun?
Nickels: “It will keep them from carrying a gun into City Hall, or into Folklife Festival, or some other city event. Why this one individual was able to get a concealed weapons permit, I can not explain how that happened. A person with a serious history of mental illness, and a serious history of drug abuse, it seems to me, ought to, on the face of it, not be able to get a such a permit or buy a weapon.”

So a sign is going to make a criminal not carry a gun into a restricted area? Don’t insult our intelligence Mayor Nickels. It’s not about public safety at all is it, it’s about control and pushing your gun banning agenda, even if it means breaking state law.

Perhaps the Mayor needs a refresher on just how stupid “Gun Free Zones” actually are.

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“How to feel safer…”

Once again the East Tennessean delves into the thorny issue of guns on campus and fails miserably. While I didn’t have much hope for a truly balanced article, I had some. You’d think I’d learn.

We start out with this:

It has become harder for students to imagine themselves completely safe on their college campuses because of the recent school shootings across the country. The one-year anniversary of the shooting at Virginia Tech is at hand and images of the Northern Illinois shooting still fresh in our minds, students everywhere are constantly wondering how to feel safer on campus.

Notice the emphasis on “feeling safe.”

Large decals have been placed on the doors of every building to warn students of six years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $3,000 if a firearm is brought onto school premises. The decal also states that those who have the appropriate concealed handgun license are not excluded from those penalties. Although these are viewed as helpful and useful changes, some on the ETSU campus wonder if more guns could be a solution to the problem.

Decals are helpful and useful changes? Pu-lease! I’m sure a “Cho” would walk up, see the decal and think to himself, “Gee, I’d better not go inside and kill anyone today, I could go to jail and get fined!” Stupid.
They then interview two students who are for being allowed to carry concealed with their permits on campus, one of whom had this to say about who should be allowed to carry a gun.

“I would not be opposed to it, but I believe there should be extensive background checks, a waiting period, and psychological testing done before handing a gun to anyone.“

That’s right up there with, “I own a gun, but…”

Donnie Barnett had this to say.

“Yes, you have the right to bear your arms, no, you do not have the right to take things designed to kill people into places of higher thought and learning which should be a sanctuary for students. It should not be a battlefield, but a campus. Police should be there to quickly respond and protect the innocent.“

The real world doesn’t stop once you cross the campus property line Donnie and like it or not, there are people out there who want to kill you, and some silly decal or “Victim Rich Zone” isn’t going to stop them. You’re idea of campuses as “sanctuaries” is naive to say the least. The cops have no duty to protect you, and even if they do come, odds are they’ll be hiding behind trees, clutching they’re AR-15’s. By the time they get to your body, the shooting will be LONG over.

“I think it is a very dangerous idea,” said Kevin Fox, a senior psychology major. “Accidents happen with weapons all the time, and I believe it would cause more harm than good.” Both Barnett and Fox also stated that they would feel that the safety they currently feel on campus would be jeopardized causing them to feel slightly more paranoid of their fellow classmates.

Gwen Lewis, executive aide for the department of music, expressed her concerns as well. “I used to carry a concealed weapon, but I don’t know that I agree with it being allowed on campus. There are too many immature people and you cannot trust everyone with a gun,” she stated. “Although, if it were allowed, yes, I would probably carry mine on campus with me.”

…

“Although I am a law-abiding Tennessean with a state-issued handgun carry permit, and I carry everywhere but school, the thought of having students carrying weapons (firearms) at school is a school of thought that just won’t ever see the light of day,” said ETSU graduate student Clark Tucker, who has bachelor’s and master’s degree in criminology. Tucker is also active in the ROTC and is pursuing a career as a military police officer. “I hope to God that my personal safety isn’t ever entrusted to my fellow classmates,” he said. “I entrust my safety to my own personal awareness and to those that have decided to make a career out of being police officers. Others should do the same.“

Again the emphasis on feeling safer, rather than actually being safer. The two have little relation to each other. Nationwide, very, very few crimes are committed by people with a concealed carry permit, and of those who do, few of those involve the use a firearm. Permit holders are among the nations most responsible and law abiding citizens. As such, they feel the added responsibility to use their weapons in a responsible manner. I suppose no one should tell these students that when they go off campus, there is a very good chance they will be within touching distance of many armed people and never even know it. Let’s not tell them though, it might make not them feel safe anymore. Clark Tucker is another one of those, “I’m a gun owner, but…” people who feel it’s alright for him to carry a gun, but no one else. It’s fitting that he’s decided to begin a career as an “only one.” That’s right folks, he thinks that only the military and police officers are “Professional enough” that he knows of, to handle a firearm correctly. You don’t need to protect yourself folks, the police will always save you!

I wish Clark all the luck in pursuing his Only One career, and may he never, ever, have to entrust his life to a lowly member of the public. ‘Cuz you know, permit holders have never come to the rescue of police who are in danger of being killed…

Well, after explaining how decals make us feel safer and including quotes from twice as many students against the idea as for it, we’re left with one last nugget.

Across the country though, concealed carry on campus is an escalating issue on campuses everywhere. Handguns are banned on campuses in 38 states. Utah is the only state that requires universities to allow students, faculty, and staff, with the appropriate permits, to carry concealed handguns on campus. In 2004 the state ruled that concealed handguns should be allowed on universities because they are allowed in the state and schools are technically state property.

Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., and Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, Va., also allow concealed handguns on campus and have yet to report any gun-related incidents.

Additional information about the issue is available at the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus Web site at http://concealedcampus.org.

Just as with the dire predictions of “blood running in the streets” that the anti-rights people keep baaing about, this too is proving the same. Everywhere it’s been tried, there have yet to be any gun-related incidents.

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Governor Gregoire Signs Griego Act

The Griego Act is named after the University of Washington employee who was shot to death by an ex-boyfriend, who then shot and killed himself. If you are unfamiliar with The Griego Act, this is from the sponsors website:

OLYMPIA – On a unanimous vote today, the House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 6357, now known as the Rebecca Jane Griego Act, sponsored by Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle. The bill was written following the tragic murder of Rebecca Griego, a University of Washington employee that was killed by an ex-boyfriend whom she had previously attempted to serve with a protection order.

Before today’s vote, Rebecca Griego’s mother and sister, Diane Perry and Rachel Griego, testified in the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 20, and spoke of the difficulties Rebecca had in serving the protection order that could have helped save her life. Currently, protection orders must be served on the abuser in person, and there are no clearly defined limits to how many times a victim must return to court if the authorities are not able to locate and serve the abuser. Under Kohl-Welles’ bill, courts may not require a domestic violence victim to make more than two attempts at serving a protection order in person.

“With this unanimous vote in the House, the Rebecca Griego act is one step closer to becoming law,” said Kohl-Welles. “This legislation will provide uniformity across the state in making it easier for victims to serve process by mail or by publication when an abuser has successfully avoided being served in person.”

This act makes it easier to serve restraining orders in domestic abuse cases. What good it would have done for Rebecca Griego I haven’t a clue. She got a restraining order against this creep, which he ignored and killed her.

Unless a restraining order is printed on Kevlar it’s worthless.

If I had my choice between a piece of paper and a good 1911 shooting 230 gn hollow points over 1,000 FPS, I’m going to take the pistol. Of course the state has decided, in their infinite wisdom to ban the possession of the very thing which could have saved her life. Several students testified at the hearing in favor of allowing permit holders to CCW on campus, but they were ignored. I’m not surprised.

I predict more of the same in the future unless the government comes to it’s senses and eliminates the victim rich shooting zones otherwise known as “Gun Free Zones.”

I’m not holding my breath.

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