What is happening???....

I knew it didn't look right, but in my old age of 46 I just don't care about appearence as much as I used to. Since I wasn't submitting the manuscript for publication for money, I figured you'd all get the idea.


munk, formerly eclectic, now elective only.
 
I once had an editor return a ms of mine with a note: We'll buy this as soon as you learn to spell.
 
I had my usual returned short story come back with the staff's responses, a gift from the editor who liked me. One of the responses was ".....and tell MR. ______ __________ to learn the difference between plural and possesive pronouns!!!"

It's and Its


munk, guilty as charged
edit: this reminds me, the first year I went to university in Ca the State had given up and now required a test to see if you really could read and write. I don't know how I passed.


I can't believe I've challenged Ayoob and have yet to hear a peep.
 
I don't have a problem with anyone attempting to decontruct dogmatic belief systems. Massad is very knowledgeable and offers sound advice, but he is not Moses and the Ten Commandments (all of which are very sound as well:) ).

I live in Canada: The True North, Strong and Hoplophobic.

In my country you already have to take a national Firearms Safety Course, which I believe is a good thing. Too many idiots leave loaded .30-30s on the porch and don't teach their kids anything. Drive a car; get training. Drive a rifle or pistol; get training.

:Rant: :mad:
On the other hand, I also have to get a separate firearms registration card for EACH gun I own. This is in addition to getting a Firearms Possession Certificate to cover me as a person. My government has already banned several makes and models, which were confiscated from owners and destroyed without compensation. Owning something which my government has banned could net me 5 years in prison, since they had the wherewithal to put this regulatory issue into the Criminal Code of Canada. IE: They ban it, I surrender it or go to jail and lose my passport and bondability, not to mention five years of my life. Does this sound reasonable yet?

Reasonable would be to register the owner as safe or not safe, and then allow him or her to purchase whatever they wanted. A person is either safe or not safe. A gun is like a band-saw: depends on who tries to use it. Their $80 million dollar plan has cost us Canadians almost a Billion dollars now with little change in violent crime. Why? They are micro-managing objects instead of governing people.

My government claims that they instituted these laws to stop massacres like the one that some idiot (his name doesn't deserve to be remembered) did at a University in Quebec, killing 14 students. However the gun that he used wasn't even put on the restricted list, let alone banned. There are clearly other motives behind this farsical legislation. Give the U.N. website a try and you will see.

Oh yeah, when I apply for a Firearms Possession Certificate, I am allowed to own a gun for two reasons: collecting and recreational purposes. I am not allowed to put 'self defense' on the application, or it will be categorically denied. Fortunately I have been an avid recreational shooter since I was 13 years old, and self-defense was never really a part of the ownership equation for me. Also, a myriad of invasive personal questions on the application form include getting permission from an ex-wife or lover. The only ones I am OK with are the psychiatric ones: If someone has had a problem then they should be certified as mentally healthy before being allowed to possess a gun.

Using a firearm in self-defense would be a last resort for me, and realistically I would pick up whatever is at hand to help me fend an intruder off, even if it was a lamp or a duck decoy (if it's good enough for our P.M., it's good enough for me;) -least that's the way he thinks.).

:/Rant: :cool:

Ayoob's strategy makes all the sense in the world in my country. I think it makes a great deal of sense everywhere else too, including the USA: First make everyone safe then call for help. Barricade a defensive position if possible. Ayoob's strategy and tactics give anyone a reasonable strategy for controlling the outcome of potentially violent encounters and minimizing the danger. Fire drills for people emergencies; similar to fires and first aid. All put the preservation of life as paramount.

Not everyone survives an accident because they wore a seatbelt, but it is still reasonable advice to wear that belt.

Phil
 
Munk Stated:
How many of you would like to pass a Federal course before owning a firearm? If human beings are so incapable of defending themselves with firearms, and avoiding prison while doing so, why are so many millions of Americans using them with little training and thwarting crime?
Click to expand...

Well spoken. A gun is a fairly simple tool for the most part. It is proper education of children and having firearms around them that is needed I think. We have enough hunting 'accidents' every year that training in safe handling is a reasonable thing to ask. Ever been watched through someone else's scope on a cut line? It's spooky and it makes you feel naked and VERY angry.
 
They are getting closer, but the leads just aren't there...
 
Self defense is pretty much what I told them when I got my carry permit. I was a security guard at the time, so maybe that "pseudo-law enforcement" credential helped ;)

Keith
 
Philthygeezer,

Suffice it to say that we will never agree on this issue, and that's ok.

I do not believe that a homeowner who chooses to hunt down an intruder either lessens himself or brings dignity to the intruder, actually I believe the opposite. That also does NOT imply that the above mentioned homeowner is a "ready fire aim" type of person. All people should know their target.

You give examples of a drunk brother and a punk idiot. There are many other examples of homocidal maniacs, gangs, and people high on drugs. None of these types will respond to reason in an intelligent manner. The last thing I would do is to let them know where I am, and what I am capable of. I would much rather approach them from behind, then lecture them as they approach room temperature.

Having said all that, you have certainly given this a lot of thought, and have every right to your opinion, and I hope that this approach you take works well should you ever have to use it. Here's hoping that you will never have to use it.

Pendentive,

GREAT posts, thanks for all the info!
 
Self defense is pretty much what I told them when I got my carry permit. I was a security guard at the time, so maybe that "pseudo-law enforcement" credential helped
Click to expand...

If the possibility of threatening to, or exercizing deadly force isn't part of one's employment, what other reason besides self defense is acceptable for a carry permit??

"Self-defense" sounds fine to me,
"Increase self-esteem" doesn't.

I think minimal competency for concealed carry is very reasonable, one is aware of and can be prepared for those practicing most other activities that can create deadly accidents, like driving cars...no car, no possibility of auto accident. If cars, then auto accident possible. Doesn't really matter if everyone driving has a license or not. Unconcealed firearm, I will be extra careful unless I know that person very well. Just as I try to be extra careful around cars, heavy equipment or power tools operated by those I don't know.

---------

If a minimal level of competency is to be required, the parallel to driving should be followed: certification or license for firearm OPERATION outside of shooting ranges and other special areas. Operation means both firing, or the threat of firing, which any properly trained person will usually agree means aiming it at something. Concealed carry is pretty close to operation. Who paid for the thing isn't the issue. Willful complicity by providing the firearm for operation by the unlicensed should be dealt with as harshly as unlicensed operation. But the provider may not be the owner. Ownership or possession is not operation.

Registering each firearm is an entirely different issue, relating to ease of tracing and identification, for various reasons and ends. Some good, many bad.

Last I knew, anyone can legally buy or own a radio transmitter that requires certification to operate.
Or a car. You're not supposed to use it without the license. You can however, make it available to certified/licensed users. Nothing wrong with owning a car and employing a licensed driver, even if one doesn't have a license themselves. In an emergency, those without a license have to decide if it's worth the possibility of paying a KNOWN and REASONABLE potential penalty to resolve the situation. Like a 14 year-old unlicensed driver driving a disabled licensed driver to get help. Or calling for aid with a high-powered marine radio without a license. Should he not help because he could get jail-time for no license? Should I not help my neighbor or family by use of a firearm because I could get jail-time? The penalties should not be so large as to discourage appropriate action in a true emergency. And a judge should have discretion to waive them.

Don't really see why the huge emphasis is on ownership instead of actual use.

Unless, of course banning firearms is the true goal, not safe, responsible use.
 
Phil, accidental firearms deaths are at historic lows here in the US despite record amounts of firearms owned. The number escapes me, ( I no longer memorize all this stuff like I did ten years ago.) but it is less than 1,000, around 600, and is far less than swimming pools, power cords, etc.

I do not want my government to decide which of it's citizens should own guns, unless they belong to a prohibited class of the insane or felons. In those cases the individuals have already made their choices and revealed themselves to the Government. That's a big difference.
Ayoob sells his articles based upon his knowledge and 1) our fear of bad guys, and 2) our fear of being sent to jail after locating bad guys.
I rather doubt there is anything he says that I disagree with, just his overall attitude. There is a pervasive attitude that without specialized training citizens shouldn't even own guns. That plays into the franchised and the disenfranchised social class war, the priviledged and the not, the government employee and the citizen.

When you sell someone a bag of golf clubs and some balls, you do not find them out on the freeway practising. In our country the informal help of friends and strangers teaches many gun safety. There is virtually no one I can think of for the several years I managed a gun store in a large metropolitan area who left the store without training or the intention to get some. My experiences are seconded by every distributor, dealer, smith, and provider I've ever known in the industry, and at one time I knew a bunch.

If I lived in Canada I would probably subscribe to Ayoob. That would be the safest approach. He makes the most sense in a country that never had the right to keep and bear arms. I notice the cost of registration just keeps climbing, what's it up to now? I also noted that when you eliminated handguns leaping suicides went up to take up the slack, the rate finally surpassing the old numbers. In concealed carry states, especially shall issue states, crime went down in the US.

Gun people are often of strong views. I liked reading Ayoob once upon a time OK, Cooper even better, and was fond of the belicose heavy bullet man from Idaho. O'Connor could write circles around all of them though, and wasn't so defensive as to 'hate' anyone of a opposite camp, like Keith was known to do.

With Freedom comes responsibility. That is why guns work. You are just naturally too damn scared to have them do anything else, and you do it right.

They haven't caught the suckwad, but he's left a taro card, death, saying he is god. That's a good sign. He probably isn't a terrorist, and people who leave taro cards will leave other clues.
A lot has been made of how lethal this man is. We've always known anyone who can shoot with a shotgun or 30/30 could do a lot more damage than fools spraying 762 by 39, and an average hunter with a scoped rifle is deadly when the target doesn't know its a target.
I guess most of us assumed some idiot like this would show up eventually. I keep waiting for bombings to become common place.

Anyway, what works for the individual suits me. I would no more talk you out of your well thought plan than I would advise Swede 79.

munk
 
I'm in Swede 79's and Raghorn's camp with firearms...but has anyone given any thought to a khukuri defense?

It might have some problems. If you remove an arm from an attacker...what will you tell the forensic examiner who wants to know why you then took off his left leg, his right hand, and decapitated him? He posed a clear and present danger? He was writhing on the floor in a menacing fashion?

Does anyone remember when good guys were allowed and encouraged to wound instead of kill?
Our 'advancement' really has paid off, hasn't it, when it is better to kill in self defense?


munk
 
Swede 79; you mention not letting an intruder in your home know where you are; what do you think of guns mounted with flashlights?


I'm a little skeptical of showing a bad guy where I am with a light.


munk
 
Munk,

I think that lights make really good targets, plus you lose one of your advantages - night vision. It's probably safe to assume that you have been asleep awhile and the intruder has come in from the outside. For a short time, he's effectively blind, and you're an owl. I would also figure out a way to ensure that you can turn your bedroom light off at your bed, and someone coming in the room can't turn it on and blind you. Some types of bedroom furniture allow that with knobs for reading lights.

Once in the Army, we came in from a night patrol. As we approached several folks around from our unit, they were huddled around a campfire. We were very careful to not look at the fire, and passed them by by probably no more than 15 - 20 ft, plain as day to us, and we were completely invisible to them, no joke. It was a very powerful lesson that I have never forgotten.

Just make that first shot count, because after the muzzle blast, you might as well turn all the lights back on, your night vision will be gone. Unless you keep one eye closed, then you have 2 shots. :D
 
Originally posted by munk
I'm in Swede 79's and Raghorn's camp with firearms...but has anyone given any thought to a khukuri defense?

It might have some problems. If you remove an arm from an attacker...what will you tell the forensic examiner who wants to know why you then took off his left leg, his right hand, and decapitated him? He posed a clear and present danger? He was writhing on the floor in a menacing fashion?
munk
Click to expand...

In my house I'd claim a khukuri as a "weapon of opportunity," i.e. the closest thing I happened to grab onto as I headed out to investigate the bump in the night. Since I have several displayed in a decorative fashion in my bedroom, I think its a plausible argument.

I've read all of the experts and I know my obligations. I also know that in this town of 3000, every household has a big dog and firearms. I'll trust the jury decide who intended to do what.
 
---------------------------------------------------

U.S. National - AP

New Clues Found in Sniper Hunt
Wed Oct 16, 9:09 AM ET
By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press Writer

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) - The Washington-area sniper's latest slaying has yielded the most detailed clues yet in the search for the elusive killer: information about license plates and the description of a man in a white van seen fleeing the attack.


In another development, the Pentagon (news - web sites) has agreed to provide aerial surveillance in the hunt for a sniper who has terrorized the Washington, D.C., suburbs for the past two weeks, killing nine and injuring two.


The new clues surfaced in the Monday night slaying of FBI (news - web sites) employee Linda Franklin after she and her husband loaded their purchases from a Home Depot into their car.


For the first time, witnesses were able to give information about license plates on vehicles they said were fleeing the scene. Some described a light-colored Chevrolet Astro van with a burned-out rear taillight.


At least one witness saw a male sniper aim and fire, then flee in a van, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The newspaper cited anonymous law enforcement sources.


"There was some additional information that we were able to get from (Monday) night's case, and I am confident that that information is going to lead us to an arrest in the case," Fairfax County Police Chief Tom Manger said.


Robert Young, a Washington construction worker, was among witnesses who returned to the shopping center Tuesday to talk with police. He said he had heard a muffled gunshot and seen a white van Monday night.


Young said as he backed his truck out of his parking spot, a white Astro van with two men inside tried to turn into his lane. He said the driver appeared very agitated to find his way blocked and instead drove by a neighboring restaurant and out of sight.


Young described the driver as a short man of slight build who appeared to be Middle Eastern. "I got a good look at the guy," he said.


The driver "seemed to be excessively irritated because he couldn't pull into my lane," he said. "I thought this fool was going to want to get out of the van and duke or something. But he didn't. He kept on going."



Law enforcement sources told The Associated Press there was no indication the sniper targeted Franklin, 47, because of her job with the FBI's Cyber-Crimes Division, created last year to focus on computer crimes as well as intellectual property cases.

In Maryland, Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose, the head of the investigation, emphasized that Franklin was not working on the sniper case.

With the terrifying spree two weeks old, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld agreed Tuesday evening to provide military surveillance aircraft in the hunt for the killer, a Pentagon spokesman said. Sources said federal agents on the plane will relay any information they collect to authorities on the ground.

The Army also has started searching its records for people with sniper training.

Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge said investigators are hesitant to rule out the possibility that the slayings are the work of a terrorist because there is no hard evidence about motive.

Each of the victims was cut down with a single bullet fired from a distance by a high-powered rifle. All were going about everyday tasks.

Last week police found a tarot death card at a crime scene inscribed, "Dear Policeman, I am God."

In a continuing appeal for the public's help, Moose released composite images of a white van with roof racks that witnesses saw after Friday's slaying of a man at a gas station near Fredericksburg, Va.

Moose said there appeared to be similarities between the van seen at Friday's shooting and the van from Monday night's attack. Manger would not say whether witnesses to the latest attack were able to give complete license plate numbers to investigators.

"Each shooting has revealed more to this investigation. We're encouraged every day," said Michael Bouchard, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

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