Rational Review » 2AM Commentary

City with strictest gun laws has most officers killed by gunfire

Mary Lou Seymour — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 02:59:08 +0000

“The City of Chicago has some of the most restrictive gun control laws in the nation. Up until a few months ago, it was illegal for a private citizen to own or possess a handgun anywhere within the city, including in one’s own home. For 2010, Chicago also holds another distinction. More Chicago Police Officers were killed by gunfire this year than any other police agency in the nation. The city also boasts one of the highest violent crime rates in the country, with 1 in 89 residents being victims of violent crime last year.” (12/15/10)

Florida school board shooting shows failure of “gun control”

Mary Lou Seymour — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 02:57:04 +0000

“Superintendent Bill Husfelt, who acted bravely, albeit futilely, had time to say ‘Please don’t’ before assailant Duke opened fire. The rest had to resign themselves to diving for cover in terror. Why? Isn’t Florida one of those states with ’shall issue’ concealed carry and a ’stand your ground’ law …. Yes it is. But that’s trumped — at least in the eyes of the Bay District Schools board — by policy …” (12/15/10)

Did you hear the one about the anti-gun Senator shooting an intruder?

Mary Lou Seymour — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 02:44:25 +0000

“Stop me if you’ve heard this one … a blowhard, anti-gun Senator rags on gun owners, day in and day out. So one night, he’s at home, living his Life O’Reily, when an intruder shows up to burgle/home invade/rob/commit mayhem. What’s a poor Progressive that abhors gun ownership to do? Silly wabbit! If they are a state senator, they do what any other gun owner would do — they pull out their gun and air condition the criminal with a little lead. … Seems die-hard, left-wing, anti-gun crusader and N.C. state senator R.C. Soles, 74, shot one of two intruders at his home just outside Tabor City , N.C. about 5 p.m. Sunday.” (12/14/10)

Make sure to celebrate Bill of Rights Day

Mary Lou Seymour — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 07:23:29 +0000

“It’s the holiday that got away. Wednesday is the 219th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, a critical turning point in the history of this country and one that transformed this nation forever. Still, you won’t find any Bill of Rights greeting cards in local stores. It’s not that Americans are short on patriotism. In fact, we celebrate Veterans Day, Constitution Day, Flag Day, Memorial Day, Washington’s Birthday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Independence Day.” (12/14/10)

KS: Gun-toting woman accosted in own home, arrested

Mary Lou Seymour — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:37:16 +0000

“So let’s go over the details here. A 21-year-old outsider with a fifty pound weight advantage admittedly forced his way into the woman’s home several times. He admits he attacked her. He admits he ‘restrained’ her physically. He admits that he was trying to date the woman’s underage daughter. And when the mother armed herself against this attacker in her own home … the cops arrest the mother?” (12/10/10)

Thank veterans by protecting their right to self-defense

Mary Lou Seymour — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:33:11 +0000

“St. Louis, as home to the St. Louis VA Medical Center, plays an important role in caring for our wounded warriors, who have sacrificed so much in our nation’s service. Awareness has steadily grown of the fact that not all war wounds are physical in nature. American service members have been fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq for most of a decade now, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) afflicts an enormous number of these brave men and women, with the VA treating over 140,000 new PTSD sufferers last year.” (12/10/10)

Gun Owners Year in Review — 2010

Mary Lou Seymour — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:31:20 +0000

“Your attention to and activism with Gun Owners of America has made a world of difference over the past several months. The past couple of years were supposed to be the worst on record, as far as gun rights are concerned. With the election of Barack Hussein Obama, Americans went rushing to gun stores and generated a buying spree that created shortages of firearms and ammunition around the country.” (12/10/10)

A call to arms

Mary Lou Seymour — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 01:50:50 +0000

“So here’s a call to arms, quite literally. If you are a gun owner, and can use your weapon safely and responsibly, think seriously about whether you might owe a duty to yourself, your family and your neighbors to carry a sidearm in public. Even if not, hold yourself as though you might well be armed. Ladies can keep a hand inside their purses and look people in the eye as they approach in a parking lot. Gentlemen should keep a hand in a coat pocket and walk confidently and tall. And if that hand clutches a personal defense arm, so much the better. Bad guys won’t like it. That’s a good thing.” (12/08/10)

Pushing a right to bear arms: The sharp kind

Mary Lou Seymour — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 03:03:50 +0000

“Arizona used to be a knife carrier’s nightmare, with a patchwork of local laws that forced those inclined to strap Buck knives or other sharp objects to their belts to tread carefully as they moved from Phoenix (no knives except pocketknives) to Tempe (no knives at all) to Tucson (no knives on library grounds). But that changed earlier this year when Arizona made its Legislature the sole arbiter of knife regulations. And because of loose restrictions on weapons here, Arizona is now considered a knife carrier’s dream, a place where everything from a samurai sword to a switchblade can be carried without a quibble.” (12/05/10)

Armed and female

Mary Lou Seymour — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 02:51:51 +0000

“I remember one of my first female students. She was in her sixties, an accomplished academician and author with strong roots in what was then called ‘women’s liberation.’ She had considered the gun to be a hideous side effect of testosterone poisoning. Then, she was assaulted by armed criminals and nearly died. ‘It occurred to me,’ she told me later, ‘that I had neglected one element of my empowerment.’” (12/05/10)

Taking your own personal safety seriously

Mary Lou Seymour — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 02:12:37 +0000

“The holidays are upon us and our time is stretched beyond its usual capacities as we strive to meet the demands of the season. Our lives become rushed as we focus on getting places, beating crowds, shopping, etc., and understandably we may be focused on the tasks at hand, thereby reducing our normal levels of alertness. How aware are you of your surroundings at any given time on any given day? Are you prepared to avoid certain unpleasant situations that may befall you simply because you were unaware of what was going on around you?” (11/30/10)

Dear Diary: 30 days to conceal carry, day 3

Mary Lou Seymour — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 02:10:17 +0000

“Went to the range today. If you’d like to read my in-depth review of the gun I’m carrying for the 30-day project, click on over. I’ll wait. Back? Good. Okay, so I was having a discussion with Fearless Leader the other day, and RF casually mentioned that he and his significant other keep a gat strapped to their person pretty much every waking moment. (There’s a story there, I’m sure, but he’s not sharing — yet — and I’m not prying.) Since I don’t live in downtown Beirut, I’m disinclined to keep a gun on my while I’m at home.” (11/30/10)

Norming guns away

Mary Lou Seymour — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 01:33:16 +0000

“We American gun-owners need to become more familiar with the process of ‘norming.’ The ‘norm’ of civilian disarmament already surrounds our country and has the potential to nullify our Second Amendment right. When global firearm-prohibitionists speak about ‘norming,’ they are actually discussing the process wherein society becomes increasingly hostile to the possession of arms in the hands of civilians.” (11/29/10)

In plain sight

Mary Lou Seymour — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 02:38:52 +0000

“They deny us our First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech and Press, while claiming its protection for themselves. They squelch any expression of our religious belief or patriotism, while demanding the freedom to spread THEIR lies. They seek to deny our Second Amendment right to Keep and Bear Arms — our right to self-defense — while they will use violence to impose their will on the rest of us.” (11/28/10)

A deliberate plan to cut back on travel?

Mary Lou Seymour — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 03:04:57 +0000

“Between the proliferation of AGW (anthropogenic global warming) BS being used to control businesses and manufacturing, the ever increasing reduction in both the size and comfort of cars, and the ever rising prices of gasoline, voluntary travel is being cut more and more every year. So, is the latest round of security bullshit another round in the anti-travel gun?” (11/22/10)

The police are under no legal obligation to protect you

Thomas L. Knapp — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 20:00:57 +0000

“Opponents of the private ownership of firearms always claim there is no need for individuals to own a firearm for self-protection because the police are entrusted with that duty. Nothing could be further from the truth. Courts throughout these United States have consistently held that police have no legal duty to provide police protection to any individual citizen.” (11/22/10)

Guns n’ Moses

Mary Lou Seymour — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 03:36:20 +0000

“This is not a retrospective on the life of Axl Rose, although he may be nearly as old as Moses. This entry is an exploration of the necessity for an armed citizenry. In a perfect world there would be no need for citizens to bear weapons. Today’s world is not perfect, however, and members of our society should be armed for a number of reasons.” (11/19/10)

Do mental health study findings demand disarming one in five Americans?

Mary Lou Seymour — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 03:34:28 +0000

“But if this survey is true, can we as a society afford allowing twenty percent of the population to roam free among us potentially armed?” (11/19/10)

“Winning firearms freedom, one lawsuit at a time”

Mary Lou Seymour — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 01:07:37 +0000

“Ten years is a very long time, during which a political landscape can change, and so can the judicial arena. Ten years ago, if someone had suggested that the politically-fashionable handgun bans in Washington, D.C. and Chicago could be struck down on Second Amendment grounds, he might have been laughed out of town. Today, a herd of municipal attorneys for cities and towns large and small are paying a lot closer attention to firearms regulations.” (11/15/10)

Concealed carry for modern America

Mary Lou Seymour — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 00:34:24 +0000

“My wife is forcing me, against my will, to get a CCW. I don’t acknowledge the right of the state to grant this right, as the 2nd Amendment states ‘The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms Shall Not be Infringed,’ and being forced to buy a license IS infringing. But she’s tired of my bitching about the license, and thinks I need to carry as the society deteriorates, so we’re gonna get the licenses together.” (11/14/10)