[NYDailyNews] America is being held hostage by a tiny minority of absolute lunatics for whom owning two, three, eight or even 10 guns is simply not enough.
That’s the main finding of the first comprehensive study of gun owners in two decades. No, the main finding is that the vast majority of gun owners are serious, sober, responsible people, whether they own one gun or ten.
Among the many findings — that handgun purchases are soaring, that Americans wrongly believe Just a little judgmental, aren't we?
hey need more guns for personal safety, and that there are more privately held guns in this country than cars — is a bit of news so shocking, it should embolden our spineless lawmakers in Washington: Why? Nothing seems to 'embolden' our spineless Congress-critters. Terrorism, economic collapse, national debt, health care, none of that emboldens them. Why should a non-crisis like gun ownership?
Roughly half of all guns are owned by just 3% of American adults.
The study by Harvard and Northeastern Universities — leaked to the gun website The Trace and the Guardian US before publication next year — estimates that there are now 265 million firearms in private hands in the U.S.
And about 130 million of these guns are owned by that 3% — what the Guardian called “a group of super-owners who have amassed an average of 17 guns each.” Any of them committing crimes? Any of them violating the law? Any of them threatening anyone?
Call them “super owners” or, as I prefer, “super paranoid whack jobs” — but whatever you call them, they have a disproportionate influence over gun policy in this country. Considering the thousands of gun control laws in this country, I'd say the obverse is true.
Certainly, millions of Americans own guns — 55 million in the new study, up from 44 million two decades ago — but as a share of the population, gun owners have dropped from 25% to 22%.
So if gun owners represent a smaller portion of our population — and nearly half of all guns are owned by dead-enders — isn’t it time for our politicians to realize that they don’t have to listen to them anymore? Yes. Ignore a minority. How.. American.
The study also offers another reason why our lawmakers should ignore the worst fears of gun owners: Two out of three firearm owners say that self-defense was their primary motivation for getting a gun. That’s up from 46% in 1994. A motivation, but wrong. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is to keep a tyrannical government in check. That could be a major reason why Congress leaves guns alone.
What has happened during those 20 years? Crime has plummeted. FBI stats show that overall violent crime and murder are half of what they were in the early 1990s. Robbery has been reduced by more than half. Paging Fox Butterfield to the headline courtesy phone: as gun ownership grows, crime has gone down.
Frankly, this self-defense argument should be handled by the psychiatrists of all these fraidy cats rather than our politicians, who should be debating concrete facts, not unfounded fears. This is the guy who was frightened at the sound of an AR firing last summer. Just who is the "fraidy cat"?
Worse, the only thing the self-defense crowd has to fear is the self-defense crowd itself: Studies show that people who die in accidental shootings were more than three times as likely to have had a firearm in their home. Duh. More weapons present in any scenario means accidents will be higher than when no weapons are present. That's one of the reasons why we have an NRA, which teaches gun safety.
So, memo to Washington lawmakers: The vast majority of Americans does not own guns. So when the three-percenters come to you looking for fewer gun restrictions, you can tell them to buzz off. We the people have got your back. Have their back? With what? Your good intentions? Classic case of 'othering'. Mr. Kuntzman sees gun owners, conservatives and the like as deplorable, irredeemable, and un-American. The eliminationist rhetoric is next.
As Hershel Smith has remarked, why do academics think that gun owners will tell them the truth about gun ownership?
#4
In 2013, 44,000 people died from drug overdoses and these deaths are on the rise. Drug overdose deaths exceeded motor vehicle-related fatalities in 36 states.
#6
...they have a disproportionate influence over gun policy in this country.
The people who care most about a subject always have a disproportionate influence over it; for some decades they were at a disadvantage to the equally passionate anti-gun crowd, but that crowd has shrunk dramatically as liberals have increasingly found reasons to invest in their first gun.
#10
#4In 2013, 44,000 people died from drug overdoses and these deaths are on the rise. Drug overdose deaths exceeded motor vehicle-related fatalities in 36 states. Posted by JohnQC
Bingo. But, but, but we NEED more methadone clinics and suboxone clinics to ruin our communities... And less enforcement on the Mexican border in order to keep the prices low on the poison crossing our borders...in order to muddle the heads of the D voters. If a few die from OD - well then that is the Police's fault... Sigh...
First, the study: how was this data obtained? Did we do a survey? Get ahold of purchase records? Does the count include air rifles? How?
A sportsman, with the money and proper storage space, will get to 17 quite quickly. A collector may get to 17 just doing History and Evolution of the M-1.
Then, someone who has that many firearms and that much political influence isn't holding up gas stations. Much more influential is the out of money meth head with a ghetto banger - all of which is illegal, unlike the gun collector.
Oooohhh, Mrs. Kuntzman, AR-15 felt like a bazooka in her mouth, felt like a cannon on her rear, caught the PTSD. Smelled of sulfur and brimstone, have her irritable bowels.
And between times the owner of the gun shop where our hero played with guns responded. Rantburg won't let me add a third link to my comment, but it is available in the second encounter if you want to read it.
#16
I'd like a nice air rifle. Say, like one of the Lewis and Clark walkabout types (Girardoni). A better air reservoir would not be refused. But (on topic) if anyone asked me if I had any firearms, I would walk away.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
09/21/2016 14:33 Comments ||
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#19
Whiskey Mike, there are some real nice Pre-Charged Pneumatic Air Rifles out there. AirForce Big Bore Texan claims a .45 @ 1000ft/s. Probably want an air compressor or compressed air tank so you are not sitting around the campfire pumping the tank for 6 hours.
And I agree, when talking to strangers the answer is always no. newc's link claims the data was by polling.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
09/21/2016 18:07 Comments ||
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#24
SwksvolFF. Wow I had no idea! Great info. TY sir or madam! Off to look NOW.
And I never respond to polls. Congenital defect I suppose.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
09/21/2016 22:37 Comments ||
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#25
I looked that beast up. Véry nice. $1700 all up, $1000 bare. Looks like it is worth every penney. And it sounds like it needs a suppressor (also found). Bullet selection is 'limited' but I have a Corbin hydro swaging setup. .458 conical looks like a place to start. Will go longer if I have to. Thank you again.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
09/21/2016 23:18 Comments ||
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Ninth Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski, one of the brightest legal minds in the country and fearless in his willingness to hold the government accountable, has issued another challenge to our justice system writ large and the Department of Justice in particular. In today’s Wall Street Journal, Judge Kozinski explains the importance of a report the White House is releasing today from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology [PCAST].
This report calls into question or flat out condemns “the scientific validity of forensic evidence techniques” on which rest countless criminal convictions in federal and state courts across the country. This includes DNA, fingerprint, bitemark, firearm, footwear and hair analysis. As Judge Kozinski notes, television shows like CSI have instilled a belief that these methods can be trusted, and many juries have convicted based on them. But in truth, both the methods and those who apply them are quite fallible. Indeed, Judge Kozinski writes, “Bitemark analysis is about as reliable as astrology.”
There are many examples of false identifications—even with fingerprints, which we have long thought were so accurate. One need only look to the FBI’s declaration that the 2004 Madrid bombing fingerprint matched that of an American lawyer. Fortunately for that American, Spanish authorities identified the real bomber. More at the link
#1
One need only look to the FBI’s declaration that the 2004 Madrid bombing fingerprint matched that of an American lawyer.
A lawyer's fingerprints on the Madrid bomb? Couldn't get him for something like jaywalking or tearing the labels off mattresses?
Judge Alex is correct. There are two court standards for admissible expert testimony. These two legal tests for expert testimony are: the Frye test and the Daubert test. Judges are faced with deciding whether evidence and expert qualifications meet these standards. I have seen some experts not allowed to testify in court as the result of these standards. Some sciences are "soft" such as the area of psychiatry and psychology whereas others are "harder" such as those of physics and engineering. At times the technology is in a nascent stage and just not well-developed.
Paul Martin Laurence Weston (born 1965) is a British far-right politician, the chairman of Liberty GB and a member of the Pegida UK leadership team. An activist and blogger.
[Breitbart] FRANCONVILLE (FRANCE) - French Presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy said that once immigrants are granted citizenship in France they "should live like the French".
Speaking at a public meeting in the northern Paris suburb of Franconville, the outspoken former president, who wants to return to the top job in 2017, also denounced "extremist political Islam" whose goal was to "provoke the Republic".
"I will be the president of action, I do not accept the 238" victims of attacks in France since January 2015, he added, promising to lead a "merciless war" on Islamist terrorism.
"I will not accept the medieval behaviour that wants men to swim in swimsuits while the women are locked up" in burkinis, he added.
Denouncing the "tyranny of minorities", Sarkozy said that if he won the 2017 election, he would be "the president of the national community, because in France the only community that matters is the French community."
Hey Nick, good luck with that 'Live Like the French' effort.
“We took the liberty to make some enquiries concerning the ground of their pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury, and observed that we considered all mankind as our friends who had done us no wrong, nor had given us any provocation.
The Ambassador [of Tripoli] answered us that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.
{Letter from the commissioners, John Adams & Thomas Jefferson, to John Jay, 28 March 1786}”
[DAWN] IT is sensible advice at a time when common sense is in short supply in many parts of the region. Three former foreign secretaries and a former national security adviser have jointly framed a foreign policy and national security road map that ought to put this country and the region itself on a path towards stability and security. Their advice, as published in this newspaper yesterday: Pakistain must, for its own sake and for the sake of the region, act to end the international perception that it shields the Afghan Taliban and anti-India Lions of Islam on its soil. Clearly, there is no panacea to the region’s security troubles, no single action that can cure its ills. Just as clearly, much will depend on sensible policies being adopted by Afghanistan and India, not least their penchant for externalising blame for many problems of their own making. Yet, Pakistain’s distancing itself from all non-state actors and gunnies -- a comprehensive, obvious and irreversible distancing -- is a sine qua non for domestic and regional stability.
"We must reflect why is it that Pakistain has ended up always siding with the most regressive elements in Afghanistan, some of whom we falsely regarded as assets, why most educated Afghans have become alienated from us and why we allowed our policy to fall in the insidious Afghan ethnic divide," the former foreign secretaries and national security adviser have written. In recent times, even asking the right question tends to attract criticism from certain nationalistic quarters of seditious intent and aiding the perceived enemy. The US and Afghanistan have erred in many areas and in many of their policies over the last decade and a half and, most egregiously from a Pak perspective, have often blamed Pakistain for their own failings in Afghanistan. Yet, what did not make sense in the 1990s cannot be good policy today; policymakers here have helped to craft an environment in Afghanistan where radical Islamists among that country’s Pakhtuns are the only semi-allies that this country has. What future for Afghanistan can that possibly envisage that will redound to Pakistain’s interest?
On India, the equation can appear murky because of a bellicose government in New Delhi. But the terrorism problem between India and Pakistain existed long before Narendra Modi became prime minister. More to the point, Islamabad’s sensible and rightful diplomatic position on the Kashmire dispute has been internationally diminished by the perception that Pakistain nurtures anti-India Lions of Islam on its soil. Where, after all, is the promised action against those involved in 2008 Mumbai attacks? Contrast also the negligible attention that India’s recent atrocities in held Kashmire have received internationally versus the grim coverage of the Uri attack. If India will not budge and the world will not listen, how does it help Pakistain to give them reason for continuing to do so?
Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] CHIEF Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali’s comments on Monday about a "nexus" between certain political and religious parties, and snuffies is not only a bold assertion of the truth, it also vindicates what many -- including this paper -- have been saying for long: until political and religious parties distance themselves from violent elements under their wing, the war against militancy will not be won. Several examples spring to mind that confirm Chief Justice Jamali’s concerns. For example in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , the existence of a bad boy wing of the MQM has been an open secret for decades. Until the Muttahida got on the wrong side of the security establishment recently, it held Karachi in a vice-like grip, enforced by its dreaded bad boy faction. The PPP also patronised elements from Karachi’s underworld -- specifically in Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... -- in the shape of the so-called Peoples Amn Committee
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09/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] THE decision by Brahamdagh Bugti to seek political asylum in India is ominous; it is a dangerous twist to rising regional tensions. The move comes at a time when India has stepped up its aggressive rhetoric indicating it will exploit Pakistain’s "vulnerabilities" in the troubled Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... province.
Brahamdagh and other Baloch separatist leaders have been living in exile in Europe for the past many years. His decision to move to India apparently came after the Swiss government rejected his request for asylum. Although there is nothing new about the Indian connection with the Baloch insurgency, the granting of asylum would in a way formalise New Delhi’s use of sub-conventional warfare to undermine the state of Pakistain.
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/21/2016 00:00 ||
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[DAWN] Pakistain is facing an exceptionally dangerous challenge with aggressive rhetoric and threats from India and Afghanistan and hostile narratives gaining resonance in Washington.
Failing to suppress the sustained uprising in India-held Kashmire, the Modi government has intensified its smear campaign against Pakistain in yet another attempt to portray the Kashmiri protest as Pakistain-inspired terrorism.
Following the attack on the Uri Indian army camp, India may heat up the Line of Control (LoC) to detract attention from its atrocities in the Valley. Pakistain should even be ready for worse.
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Posted by: Fred ||
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#3
Blood in, blood out. Gang mentality with religious underpinnings.
The rest of us get out of a religion if we don't like it, we change churches or we don't practice at all. We don't try to kill everyone who doesn't believe as we do.
#4
author of this seems unfamiliar with Islamic scripture, hadith and sunna so the answers to his questions disturbed him
a lot of muslims are like him - they haven't read their scripture or if they did, they didn't understand it (quite possible as it is a struggle to read)
Posted by: lord garth ||
09/21/2016 10:42 Comments ||
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#5
Islam fancies itself The Final Religion.
And it may well be.
#6
Seems too pat. Saying exactly what we'd want to hear.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
09/21/2016 20:49 Comments ||
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#7
Seems too pat. Saying exactly what we'd want to hear.
My local paper carries articles on Saturday about "interfaith" activities where the involved parties are quoted about how much it helps "understanding" each other.
Fuck that. I already *understand* Islam, and its adherents. The "extremists" are plotting to kill us. The "moderates" are rooting for the "extremists" to kill us sooner rather than later.
I abhor their presence in our country. When I see some once-was-a-woman wrapped in a head-to-toe bag it takes every ounce of my self control not say as I pass "Get the hell out of my country."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] CHIEF Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali’s comments on Monday about a "nexus" between certain political and religious parties, and 
