Tag: Gun Safety

Couple That Shot Las Vegas Cops Couldn’t Have Made Their Intentions Any Plainer

Trish
The Millers on their wedding day. These are not happy people.

Besides being a cold-blooded act of cowardice, Jerad and Amanda Miller’s unprovoked shooting of two Las Vegas policemen and a Wal-Mart shopper prompts a bigger question: How much rope must a free country give antisocial, violent malcontents with which to hang themselves? Do we wait for the body count? If not, how do we decide it’s time to act to protect potential targets?

The Millers couldn’t have been more forthright in their intentions. Yet their next-door neighbor and self-proclaimed “best friend,” who was “holding documents for the couple that included detailed plans to take over a courthouse and execute public officials” said she didn’t realize they were “that crazy.” Really?

Is that how we want it to work in this country? I’m really asking

Officers Alyn Beck, 41, and Igor Soldo, 31, were in their seats at CiCi’s Pizza, 309 N. Nellis Blvd., at about 11:20 a.m. Sunday when suspects, identified by sources as Jerad Miller, 31, and his wife Amanda, age unknown, entered the rear of the restaurant…

The police official said neither officer had a chance to return fire…

Jerad Miller then covered the officers with the Gadsden flag, a yellow banner with a coiled snake above the words, “Don’t tread on Me,” and placed a manifesto with a swastika symbol on one officer’s body.

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Here’s How the Gun Lobby Wants Us to Live

Trish

Quality of life? Out the window.

If you were wondering what life is like under the recently passed, “All Guns, All the Time” Georgia law crafted by ALEC and the gun lobby, here’s an answer. It means that some guy, trying to make a point that only he understands, can pace back and forth at your kid’s little league game with a gun (and knife) clipped to his belt. And when you and the other parents herd your kids into the dugout and form a human shield around them as you call 911, you can be told by law enforcement that there is nothing they can do.

Quality of life? Out the window, when there are important second amendment rights to be exercised. Where are your priorities, parents?

The park is responding by considering hiring an armed guard, because the answer to too many guns is just what Gun Owners of America and the NRA want: more guns! Feel secure, knowing your second grader is playing under loaded weaponry.

It’s time to pause and remember the wise words of Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) in the movie, Jurassic Park. “Just because we can, it doesn’t mean we should.”

Even the 2nd Amendment’s Little Known Dumbass Clause Wasn’t Strong Enough

Trish

While this ad from Saatchi & Saatchi for the “gun responsibility” group, Evolve, is funny, neither the ad’s, nor the group’s, dots connect.

“Personal decisions” leave us at the mercy, not of good guys with guns, but just guys with guns which in reality is all there is

The spot’s creators said they were not taking a stand on gun safety laws.

“When we researched the gun debate in America, we saw that it’s become almost impossible to have a thoughtful discussion about gun safety. What I love about Evolve is that they’re not about taking a side in that debate–they’re squarely focused on promoting personal decisions about gun safety.”

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It’s Not Just the Zimmerman Jury That’s Messed Up; It’s Also the Stand Your Ground Law

Trish

For the people out there wondering what the Zimmerman jury was smoking, I have a partial explanation, thanks to former Florida state Rep. Dan Gelber.

As Gelber explained on his blog, before the Stand Your Ground (SYG) law was passed, convicting Zimmerman would have been a slam-dunk.

Under Stand Your Ground, the George Zimmermans of the world can get themselves into all kinds of ridiculous messes and shoot their way out under no penalty of law

In 2005 the Florida Legislature fundamentally changed the analysis used by juries to assign blame in these cases. When the legislature passed the Stand Your Ground law it changed the rules of engagement. It eliminated the duty to avoid the danger and it eliminated any duty to retreat…

Here is the actual jury instruction read to Florida juries prior to the legislature’s enactment of Stand Your Ground.

“The defendant cannot justify the use of force likely to cause death or great bodily harm unless he used every reasonable means within his power and consistent with his own safety to avoid the danger before resorting to that force.

“The fact that the defendant was wrongfully attacked cannot justify his use of force likely to cause death or great bodily harm if by retreating he could have avoided the need to use that force.”

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Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence: ‘Trayvon is Dead Because a Man with a Violent History Was Allowed to Carry a Gun’

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The Brady Campaign Against Gun Violence issued a statement following the verdict which exonerated George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin. The statement reminds us that Trayvon would be alive today if people like George Zimmerman, who has never even had the decency to say he’s sorry for the mistakes he made the night he harassed and then shot an unarmed 17-year-old, were not trusted to carry a concealed handgun.

Even Rick Perry once said, “Oops.”

Dan Gross, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence today called the verdict, “part of a tragic event that could have easily been prevented.”

Gross said, “There is sharp disagreement over the verdict, but there can be no disagreement over the reason why Trayvon Martin is dead. George Zimmerman had a gun that night, and the state of Florida allowed him to carry it virtually anywhere despite a violent history. […]