Zehaf-Bibeau a Lawbreaker!

Zehaf-Bibeau's long criminal record for a series of crimes, including drug possession, robbery and assault, barred him from owning or possessing a gun.

-from "Police: Canadian terror attack driven by ideology" on the USA Today website today.

I think the author of this quote meant to say that his criminal record made it "against the law for him to own or posses a gun."  Obviously, he wasn't "barred" from anything.  So much for gun laws in Canada.

Target in a Confused (If Not Deceptive) Manner Addresses Firearms in its Stores

The Target CEO recently made the news by "addressing" the matter of its customers carrying firearms in Target stores.  The pertinent post on Target's blog is here.  The text of that post is as follows:

[The post begins with an editorial introduction.] Every day at Target, in everything we do, we ask ourselves what is right for our guests? We make all of our decisions with that question in mind. Questions have circulated in recent weeks around Target’s policy on the “open carry” of firearms in its stores. Today, interim CEO, John Mulligan, shared the following note with our Target team members. We wanted you to hear this update from us, too.

[Then we have Mulligan's statement.]  The leadership team has been weighing a complex issue, and I want to be sure everyone understands our thoughts and ultimate decision.

As you’ve likely seen in the media, there has been a debate about whether guests in communities that permit “open carry” should be allowed to bring firearms into Target stores. Our approach has always been to follow local laws, and of course, we will continue to do so. But starting today we will also respectfully request that guests not bring firearms to Target – even in communities where it is permitted by law.

We’ve listened carefully to the nuances of this debate and respect the protected rights of everyone involved. In return, we are asking for help in fulfilling our goal to create an atmosphere that is safe and inviting for our guests and team members.

This is a complicated issue, but it boils down to a simple belief: Bringing firearms to Target creates an environment that is at odds with the family-friendly shopping and work experience we strive to create.

Is Mulligan addressing "open-carry" alone or do his remarks include licensed concealed carry?  I am uncomfortable with open-carry practices, but I affirm the right to concealed carry.  I think the pressure for open carry is coming from fringe elements in the right-to-bear-arms population, although obviously a powerful fringe-element.  In my view, open carry is provocative and unnecessary.

Mulligan's statement, however, does not clearly distinguish open-carry and concealed-carry practices.  Is he using the general discomfort with open-carry as a means to taint the practice of concealed-carry?  I think he probably is.  As you read many of the news reports on Mulligan's statement, the distinction between open-carry and concealed-carry is difficult, if not impossible, to see.  I attribute that to a bad-faith attack on all carry forms.

Gun Violence Down, Gun Sales Up

Go figure.

Yes!



Nerf’s N-Strike Barricade RV-10

The rotating cylinder on this semiautomatic holds 10 Whistler Darts (their plastic tip is designed to make a high-pitched whine as air rushes past it).

Photo: Robin Broadbent

 Thanks, Instapundit!

The Annual New Year's Eve Physics Lesson

Do you suppose we really are as stupid as the Left Wing thinks we are?

More on "celebratory gunfire."

FBI: Legal Gun Sales Up; Violent Crime Down

Data from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation show that America has been on a firearms buying spree since the end of 2005. Meanwhile, the FBI recently released preliminary 2009 crime data indicating that violent crime has been dropping at an accelerating rate since the end of 2006. More here. (Thanks, Instapundit.)

Hello 2009 and Goodbye 2008

We saw "Michael Clayton" on video last night, part of our gala New Year's celebration here on Dove Avenue. We would recommend this suspenseful film, starring George Clooney and others. (One of the villains is Tilda Swinton, who played the White Witch in the first Narnia film.) Clooney is a lawyer in a big Wall Street firm, and it was fun to see the stereotypes populating that "community." Great pace, tension, superb acting - you are happy to forgive the act of blessed Divine intervention on which the plot turns, especially if this is part of the point - that God sometimes does such things.)

Afterward, we watched on Channel 2, a PBS station here, a great live telecast from Lincoln Center of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring the conductor Lorin Maazel and the mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, who is a Texas Tech graduate. Following that was a rebroadcast of a Great Performances video of a Chicago blues show called "Crossroads" featuring, among many others, Eric Clampton, B.B. King, Cheryl Crowe.

About 15 minutes before midnight, we switched over to watch the Times Square ball drop - there were two networks broadcasting the festivities, and one of them had Dick Clark as a host. He simply looked pitiful and exploited. But I guess part of the point of New Year's is to acknowledge time's inexorable march. The ball dropped on schedule, although poor Dick Clark was at least one second behind on his countdown for about 8 seconds, but finally caught up at about midnight minus 5.

I guess it's obvious that we survived midnight. That is, no bullets came through our roof. Given the way people are prone to celebrate the event by shooting up, that is vertically, up into the air, not out from one's position (get it?), we cannot assume that we are safe inside our homes here in South Florida. Here is the obligatory article about this practice that appears annually in the Miami Herald, although one must wonder why they published this year's article in the January 1 edition rather than the December 31 issue.

Criminals for Gun Control

I Can't Resist Posting This

I mean, this is more Sarah Connor than June Cleaver. . . .

-Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.

"The Company He Keeps"

Comments by Wayne LaPierre, the Executive VP of the NRA, on Mr. Obama and the Second Amendment.

Why the Burglary Rate is Pretty Low

in Hialeah.

You Carry?

I received an email from the private investigator we use, referring to this kidnapping in Hialeah. He linked to this pdf that shows a diagram of the kidnapping gang. He made this statement in his email: This is exactly why we carry pistols.

"Guns are a Feminist Issue"

I didn't say it, she did. (Be sure to read the comments.) Thanks, Glenn. (By the way, you should have seen my law partner Jane handle her .45 semi at the all day Hand-Gun Self-Defense class we attended a couple of Saturday's ago.)

Glocks and Legos

At BrickGuns.

More Bang! Bang!

This is another excellent video. It addresses how to hold the semi-automatic pistol, and answers the question of what part of the finger to use to pull the trigger, and why.

Bang! Bang!

This is kinda cool.

Following in my father's footsteps

though more technologically advanced, natch as one would expect from the post-modern, web2.0, tech-geek, hipster-wannabe that I am.

EDITED: to avoid the second use of a form of "naturally," in consecutive posts.