Felipe Calderon, President of Mexico, was interviewed by Charlie Rose last week. He blamed the start of the rise in violence in his country on the end of the Clinton-era Assault Weapons Ban.
Later in the interview El Presidente Calderon notes that the per capital GDP in Mexico has risen from about $3,000 per year to $15,000 since the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) was passed. With the rise in income has come the rise in drug use in Mexico itself. As a result the drug cartels are no longer in just the wholesale export business but have now entered the retail drug trade as well. Calderon admits that much of the current cartel violence is aimed at controlling their distribution territories. By the way, NAFTA was ratified in 1992 – 12 years before the Assault Weapons Ban expired.
Because we refused to renew a gun control bill that never had any impact on crime and because we made the Mexicans a more prosperous people, the violence of the drug cartels and the failure of the Mexican federal government to control their own state is now our fault. Yeah, right.
If Calderon had blamed the rise of the drug cartels and accompanying violence on the passage of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005, I might have believed him. With most domestic meth production ended due to the difficulty of getting pseudoephedrine in quantity, the overwhelming majority of the drug now comes from Mexico. This also coincides with the growth of the Mexican cartels and the violence in Mexico.
If you have listened to shows like Tom Gresham’s GunTalk or follow competitive pistol shooting, you know the name Rob Leatham. You also know he has won each and every Single Stack National Championship held before 2011. This year he came in second and this is his response that he posted on his Facebook page.
2011 Single Stack Nationals are history – in more than one way. Congratulations to Dave Sevigny, who won the match. Dave is the first and only to beat me at the USPSA/Springfield Armory Single Stack Nationals. He shot a great match. Neither of us had a single penalty. I lead through stage 9, and Dave took the lead after the 10th. It was a battle to the very end. My hat’s off to you, Dave.
The Brady Campaign released this highly indignant sounding press release condemning the House Judiciary Committee for preserving Americans’ right to the due process of law.
Brady Campaign Blasts Judiciary Committee’s Vote Against Amendment to Prevent Gun Sales to Terrorists
May 12, 2011
Washington, D.C. – Today, the House Judiciary Committee voted down an amendment to the Patriot Act, offered by Rep. Mike Quigley (Ill.-10), to close the “Terror Gap” by giving the Attorney General authority to prevent gun sales to known or suspected terrorists. The Committee voted 21-11 against the Quigley Amendment on a party-line vote. Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, issued this statement in response to the Committee’s action:
“On the day after two suspected terrorists seeking to buy guns and explosives were arrested in New York City, the House Judiciary Committee, incredibly, voted against an amendment to give the Attorney General the authority to prevent known or suspected terrorists from buying guns. Since 2004, over 1,300 persons on the terrorist watch list have been allowed to purchase firearms or explosives because federal law is so weak that being a known or suspected terrorist is not itself sufficient to prohibit someone from buying guns. The Quigley Amendment would have closed this dangerous ‘Terror Gap.”
Osama bin Laden is dead, but the war on terror is far from over. How can the Congress pretend to be serious about protecting the nation from terrorism, while voting to allow known terrorists to buy guns? The shadow of the gun lobby falls heavily over this disgraceful vote. Is there now a ‘gun exception’ to the war on terror?”
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence has an on-line store where they peddle their t-shirts, posters and other trinkets. As in the real world, when customers aren’t buying your crap you tend to lower the sales price. This must explain this Tweat.
@CSGV
Everything in #CSGV store 15% off with code SPRINGSAVING . Enjoy! #p2 #peace http://fb.me/O85alrIi
Meh! Even at 50% off, I doubt most people would buy their trinkets. They certainly aren’t buying their arguments.
I came across this little church outside of Kernersville, North Carolina this afternoon. Given the state of the Middle East these days, it’s too bad there aren’t more of these churches.
Link at the Peace, Love, Ammunition blog has examined the 516 page document that purports to have ALL the comments received on their “Shotgun Study”. While there are numerous problems with this document – including the publication of personal address information – the worst is what seems to be the deliberate omission of comments.
As Link notes about the comments he submitted:
I downloaded the poorly planned 516 page PDF and immediately searched for a distinct portion of my email address. It was not found. I know I submitted an email to the BATF on this matter, and I also knew that I had received an acknowledgment from the ATF confirming receipt of my email.
I searched and found their receipt email which I was initially going to post, but as I dug deeper into the rabbit hole it became less relevant. Their receipt email was sent to me on 13 May 2011, which struck me as bizarre, since I knew I sent my response to their request for comment prior to attending the NRA Annual Meeting at the end of April 2011. I searched my sent items and found that I had sent them my thoughts on their “study” on 8 April 2011.
Read the whole report which includes a link to the ATF released comments. The link to the study is below.
There are a lot of good BBQ restaurants in this world. There is also a lot of disagreement over barbecue styles and which is best.
True to my Greensboro roots, the place I prefer over all others is Stameys. They have been cooking their Lexington-style BBQ for 80 years. It isn’t a trip to Greensboro unless I get at least one meal at either of the two locations of Stameys.
This is their regular chopped pork plate. It comes with hushpuppies and their vinegar based Cole slaw. It is heaven on the taste buds!
Thanks to a Tweat from Sean at A NC Gun blog, I saw that HR 822 – the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act – has now is co-sponsored by a majority of House members as of Friday. HR 308 is still stuck at 107.
Thanks to these Congressmen and Congressmen who pushed the bill up to 227 co-sponsors from the 200 previously reported..
Rep Royce, Edward R. [CA-40] – 5/10/2011
Rep Quayle, Benjamin [AZ-3] – 5/10/2011
Rep Upton, Fred [MI-6] – 5/10/2011
Rep Pitts, Joseph R. [PA-16] – 5/10/2011
Rep Pearce, Stevan [NM-2] – 5/10/2011
Rep Price, Tom [GA-6] – 5/10/2011
Rep Hurt, Robert [VA-5] – 5/10/2011
Rep Blackburn, Marsha [TN-7] – 5/11/2011
Rep Fleischmann, Charles J. “Chuck” [TN-3] – 5/11/2011
Rep Huizenga, Bill [MI-2] – 5/11/2011
Rep Walberg, Tim [MI-7] – 5/11/2011
Rep Issa, Darrell E. [CA-49] – 5/11/2011
Rep Rohrabacher, Dana [CA-46] – 5/11/2011
Rep Campbell, John [CA-48] – 5/11/2011
Rep Nunes, Devin [CA-21] – 5/13/2011
Rep Berg, Rick [ND] – 5/13/2011
Rep Noem, Kristi L. [SD] – 5/13/2011
Rep McMorris Rodgers, Cathy [WA-5] – 5/13/2011
Rep Ribble, Reid J. [WI-8] – 5/13/2011
Rep Ryan, Paul [WI-1] – 5/13/2011
Rep Burgess, Michael C. [TX-26] – 5/13/2011
Rep Shimkus, John [IL-19] – 5/13/2011
Rep Womack, Steve [AR-3] – 5/13/2011
Rep Black, Diane [TN-6] – 5/13/2011
Rep Kingston, Jack [GA-1] – 5/13/2011
Rep Young, C.W. Bill [FL-10] – 5/13/2011
Rep Cardoza, Dennis A. [CA-18] – 5/13/2011
As I said earlier, it is time for the House Judiciary Committee to have hearings on this bill.
Mary Shepard is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit brought by the National Rifle Association and the Illinois State Rifle Association against the State of Illinois for denying Ms. Shepard the right to defend herself.
If there was ever a plaintiff who could make the case for needing to defend oneself with a firearm, it is Mary Shepard. Back in 2009 when she was 69 years old, she and 76 year old Leona Mount were the victims of a vicious beating attack. They were attacked by Willis Bates as he was burglarizing the Anna (IL) First Baptist Church where both ladies worked. The Associate Baptist Press gives this description of their injuries:
Arrest warrants claim that Bates repeatedly kicked the heads and bodies of Shepherd, the church treasurer, and Mount, a maintenance worker, before getting away with less than $600.
Both women were taken by ambulance to Union County Hospital in Anna and airlifted to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Shepard remained there, while Mount was transferred to St. Louis University Hospital in St. Louis. Both women are expected to recover, a fact that church members are calling a miracle.
Shepard’s injuries included a skull fracture, concussion and a possible broken bone in her right cheek. She was moved from the trauma unit to the ICU for observation and later transferred to a regular room. She has since been released from the hospital and is recuperating at home.
Surgery was scheduled Oct. 8 for Mount to begin to repair a broken nose, numerous facial fractures, jaw fractures and a fractured palate. Medical staff at St. Louis University told family members the injuries were like nothing they had ever seen. Despite that, she reportedly suffered no damage to her brain or eyes.
The video above is a report from WSIL Channel 3 back in October 2009 announcing Bates’ arrest. Bates was given a 23 year sentence for two counts of attempted murder. He had previously served 7 years in Illinois prisons for residential burglary. Here is his Illinois Department of Corrections rap sheet including a current picture.
Even before this horrific beating, Mary Shepard, now aged 71, had obtained concealed carry permits from the states of Pennsylvania and Florida. According to IllinoisCarry, Ms. Shepard had taken five firearms training courses including Personal Protection Outside the Home. However, because Illinois law forbids concealed or open carry, she was unarmed when attacked by 6’4″, 240 lb. psychopath Willis Bates. Ms. Shepard discusses the attack, her injuries, the aftermath, and her firearms training which if she was allowed to carry for self-defense could have prevented these horrible injuries in an video made for IllinoisCarry.
The Cook County politicians who kept Mary Shepard defenseless in the face of the attack by Willis Bates should be forced to watch this video. Of course that is a futile hope but perhaps one day – whether by court order or by legislation – the good people of Illinois will be allowed to protect themselves in public with a firearm.
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