RKBA

This Debate Would Be Over If the Other Side was Rational

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One of the tactics used by those who advocate banning privately owned firearms is that Great Britain enjoys a lower level of homicide than that found in the United States. The idea is that we could have lower murder rates, if only guns were banned.

Part of their argument is true. The US has a homicide rate about 2.5 times that of the UK.

Kevin of The Smallest Minority discusses out some painful truths about this assertion. He points out that the US homicide rate used to be much greater, but has fallen even though more states have passed laws allowing private citizens to carry concealed firearms. At the same time, the rates of all violent crimes, and all crimes in general, have been climbing in the UK even though they have been passing ever more laws restricting legal self defense.

Seems simple enough. They restrict weapons in the UK, and crime goes up. We allow more people to carry firearms here in the US, and crime goes down. Even if there are other reasons which affected this outcome (and there are), the very idea that banning guns will lead to less crime has been completely discredited. Right?

I wish!

Cowardice is Eternal

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Glenn posts about an interesting case.

Two subway workers in New York called the police when they witnessed a rape in progress, but didn’t do anything to physically stop the crime. A case brought against them was thrown out of court, the judge saying that calling the cops is all that is required of witnesses.

Glenn isn’t any too happy about the ruling. He says….

“In a previous day, in a different culture, such men would have been afraid of being called cowards for failing to help a woman under such circumstances.”

I don’t think Glenn remembers Kitty Genovese. That particular incident might not have occurred in another culture, but it certainly happened in a previous day.

Look at it this way. At least the New York residents who saw the crime called police this time around. That is certainly an improvement over past performance. Maybe, after another four or five decades, people who live in New York will even become as brave as those of us who hail from flyover country.

Those who follow the links above will no doubt note that two of the three examples are where people who were legally carrying concealed weapons confronted a crazed killer. Since New York effectively bans that sort of thing, we really can’t expect them to have the same level of civic concern. This is, I think, one of the points that Glenn was trying to make.

But also note that the last link leads to the story of two unarmed vacationers who tackled a rifle wielding gunman who was shooting at the White House. Neither of them were from New York.

Ammo Situation Bleg

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There can be little question that the Obama administration will try to assault the rights of gun owners everywhere…eventually.   There is already word of an attempt at another silly “assault weapons” ban, which will be no doubt accompanied by the old canard of “we respect the rights of hunters but  blah blah blah”.   I am not so sure if another ban will go through as there are a lot of Donk senators from states where gun rights is a very large issue.

A more logical approach would be for the Dems to go after ammunition.   Right after the election I read in a lot of places about the “Obama bounce” for gun manufacturers and ammo manufacturers alike.   I, for one,  have been  shopping for  an evil black rifle and have been stockpiling tens of thousands of rounds of ammo of different calibers  for my enjoyment (and/or defense)  later on.

The usual place that I purchase my ammo hasn’t raised their prices much, but they have been out of a lot of stuff lately.   I just ordered from Cabela’s yesterday, and the prices were just slightly higher than I am used to paying, but I also had to eat the freight.   All in all, not too bad of a deal.

I am interested to see in different areas of the country what the ammunition situation looks like, and if you are experiencing any price spikes or shortages.  

Cross posted at LITGM.

Quote of the Day

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I don’t think people are thinking overthrow of the government. I think the prevailing sentiment is anarchy, which coincidentally fits right in with law enforcement buying and training sprees.
 
Bubbling right below the surface, I think there’s an unspoken sense of alarm that there’s a great deal of social unrest, political outrage, economic turmoil, force-fed liberal social spending, a growing sense of cynicism about the effectiveness of our legal system, and the very likely prospect of a major terrorist attack. All managed by an out of control Congress and a dangerously ideological new president while the rest of the world’s economies circle the drain. All things considered, the future is not looking so bright.
 
In that light, stocking up on guns and ammunition sounds like a common sense act of prudence. It’s not just for right-wing, knuckle-dragging, Bible-thumping hate-filled conservatives any more.

-Commenter 10, “bobdog”, responding to this post.

Obama: Buy Guns

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Yes, I know, the real headline is: Obama: Don’t stock up on guns . This means that the fact that people are buying guns has caught Obama’s attention and matters enough to him for him to express disapproval. Reasonable people might infer that he will support legislative and regulatory efforts to restrict gun ownership if it becomes politically expedient to do so.