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Some of the Firearms Destroyed in Santa Fe, NM One of the oddest parts of the political desire to disarm Americans is the push to destroy valuable property for propaganda purposes.   In Santa Fe, New Mexico, tens of thousands of dollars of valuable property was destroyed purely for propaganda.  Even in the old Soviet Union, which was no slouch when it came to disarming its people, the guns that were collected were not wantonly destroyed.   They were cared for, refurbished, sold to renew state resources, or used to defend the state from its enemies.  No doubt many were redistributed...

The old Soviet Union did not generally destroy the weapons that it confiscated from people.   The Soviets understood value, and did not wantonly destroy valuable property for no reason.   They confiscated much property and sold it for state purposes, used it in defense of the state, or redistributed it to "reliable" Party members and officials. I am looking for sources to validate how the Soviets distributed the weapons that they confiscated.   I know that even old obsolete revolvers made for the Czar were refurbished in state armories.   I own one. Any sources for stories about...

Joseph Wilcox, armed citizen who died attempting to stop a mass shooting Mass shooting situations trigger a tsunami of public emotion, so there are enormous incentives for politically correct reporters to "interpret" them in certain ways for political purposes.  They are often complex events that take time and careful investigation to unravel.   In the recent shooting in Las Vegas, two police officers and a concealed carry permit holder were killed by the two attackers, who also died. The last three deaths occurred in a Wal-Mart, which, I am told, has some of the most complete surveillance camera systems of...

Australian 1997 Gun Confiscation/Destruction in Progress In the Monash University Shooting, only two people were killed, so it does not make the list of mass killings, in which four people unrelated to the shooter are required to meet the definition of a mass killing. It was not for lack of trying.   The shooter had six handguns, which it appears that he obtained legally.   He killed two people and wounded five others before he was stopped by citizens who rushed him as he fumbled for one of the other five handguns on his person.  While the wounded lecturer of the...

The image above is tantalizing and frustrating in its scope and lack of resolution. In writing articles about the great Australian gun confiscation of 1997, I have not found any images that I can easily use.   I found an AP source, but they are very careful with copyright protection.  I am sure that there are images of the destruction that are publicly available, but I am having a hard time finding them. If you have better luck, please contact me.   I would appreciate images that give the scale of the destruction and are clear enough to show details of...

Aside from attacks on the Second Amendment, there is a certain theme that’s now repeated after every massacre committed by an unhinged individual: that most all mass killers are white. After the recent Elliot Rodger murders, for instance, Michael Moore said that he no longer had “anything to say” before immediately saying, “Nearly all of our mass shootings are by angry or disturbed white males.” Not to be one-upped in the inanity department by a mass of male whiteness, one Brittney Cooper at Salon wrote, “How many times must troubled young white men engage in these terroristic acts that make...

 Link to video: On 21 May in Youngstown, Ohio, a couple of teenage criminals attempted to rob  a Sami Quick Stop a little after midnight.  The armed confrontation that ensued resulted in one robber wounded, both captured, and minimum damage to the store.  One of the suspects is reported to have dropped a rifle as he fled.   There are several lessons to be learned from the video.   As is common, numerous things could have been done better by all three participants. The first lesson is that you do not have to be a perfect gunfighter to be effective.  You...

Congressional Representative Jim Moran’s (D) retirement from his seat in Virginia’s gerrymandered 8th Congressional District (Arlington County, Alexandria City, Falls Church City, and Fairfax County (part)) has resulted in that district’s first serious Democrat primary race in decades. If some gun owners have their way, Republicans, Libertarians, and Independent voters will decide this election because Virginia allows voters from all parties to vote in any party’s primary. Gun rights group leaders such as OpenCarry.org’s co-founder John Pierce, a Virginia lawyer and socially liberal member of both the ACLU and the American Bar Association’s Second Amendment Civil Rights Litigation Subcommittee, have...

The two boxes of ammunition cost about the same on today's market The price of 12 gauge hunting ammunition has dropped back to near pre- ammunition bubble levels.    Wal-mart had 100 rounds of birdshot loads priced at $19.97 a couple  of days ago.   That is 20 cents per round, or $5 per box of 25.  Before the Barack Obama ammunition bubble, the ordinary price was a little lower, perhaps $4.50, with sales just before dove season as low as $3.00. .22 rimfire ammunition, particularly .22 long rifle (LR) ammunition prices are at an all time high.  This is a...

The Obama caused bubble in ammunition prices seems ready to bust.   Over the last few years people have seen ammunition prices double or triple.  Handgun and rifle ammunition has been hard to find at times.   .22 long rifle ammunition tripled in price over the last 18 months.   People would line up to buy ammunition at prices two and three times the level that they were just two years ago. All of that is about to change.   Ammunition supply looks as though it is ready to catch up with demand.   Centerfire pistol and rifle cartridges are available on most store...

This shooting in California is a good example of why the FBI does not report the vast majority of justified homicides in this country.  The robbery was stopped and the robber killed, so no robbery will be reported by the police.  What would be the point?  From the San Gabriel Valley Tribune: “Wurtz came to collect some property that our victim was holding,” Coleman said. But after obtaining the agreed-upon property, “(He) wanted more,” the lieutenant said. Wurtz then tried to rob McCabe, officials said. “He Tasered our victim,” Coleman said. “The resident fired in self-defense.”  Without a robbery...

The man in the dark car watched the house ahead of him.  It was close to the edge of the road, and the open garage door gave him the opportunity he craved.   As usual, he had a buzz on.   Everybody had a few to keep the edge off, didn't they?  And tonight, he needed a bit more.  He came from the bar where he had telegraphed his plans.  He was going to get even with that SOB that had ratted him out for DUI. A light came on in the garage.  He saw the door to the garage from...

William Polster on a Open Carry Walk On 17 May, I attended a gun turn in event in urban Milwaukee.  The neighborhood is known for its high crime rate.   One of the first things that I noticed was a person openly carrying a holstered handgun, who marched with those calling for an end to unjustified shootings. That was a special occasion, and one focused on guns.  A few days later, on Memorial day, I took a picture of a young man openly carrying at a busy McDonald's in Hayward, Wisconsin.   A commenter, "Secret Agent Man" on freerepublic.org, one...

The President of a private Catholic university was interviewed by The Catholic News Service, which is *not* a part of the Catholic Church.  It was published in  The Pilot, a paper that claims the title of "America's Oldest Catholic Newspaper".   The paper is owned by the Archdiocese of Boston.   On June 1, it published an interview with Sister Carney, who has been the President of Bonaventure University, a private school in Allegany, New York, for the last ten years. Here she speaks of the emotional plea for more government restrictions on the private ownership of firearms after the...

On May 30th, in a 1400+ word essay, an unnamed NRA-ILA writer ignited a firestorm against Second Amendment supporters in the opposition media.  In a few badly chosen words near the end of the essay, the unnamed staffer gave the opposition priceless ammunition to smear open carriers.    This should be a lesson to everyone to choose their words carefully.   I do not know if editorial control was exercised.   It is clear that the word choices were emotionally loaded and welcomed by those who desire a disarmed population. In other words, the unnamed writer pulled a Zumbo. Here are the...

 In early May of this year, TMJ4, a Milwaukee television station, set off a flurry of interest in Oconomowoc and Wisconsin open carry laws.   A Wisconsin mother was in the park, took the above picture, posted it on Facebook, and asked if open carry was a legal practice.   TMJ4 talked to Oconomowoc officials who told them that a local ordinance made it illegal.  TMJ4 broadcast that information to hundreds of thousands of Milwaukee homes. Local Second Amendment supporters were outraged.  Nick Clark, President of Wisconsin Carry, contacted the television station and reporter, and informed them that they had received...

Polish Occupied Territories in 1941 Note the Radom District, Center Left This story is purely anecdotal.   It was told to me by the principle participant about his actions during WWII when he was a teenager/young man in NAZI occupied Poland.   I believed him when he told it to me; I still believe him.  I doubt that he will write a biography, so I will relate the events here so that they may be preserved. I met the old soldier while I was working for the U.S. Army in Panama.  It was 1986, just before Christmas.  Another friend had brought...

Open Carry Walk in Eureka Springs Montgomery County is a rural county just Southeast of the center of Georgia.  The population of the county is under 10,000 people, so I was a little surprised to come across this account of a deputy accosting a person openly carrying a holstered pistol at the local Walmart.  From opencarry.org, SFCRetired relates:  A fun evening at Wal Mart on Atlanta Highway. When I walked in the door, the young deputy sheriff crooked his finger at me in a "Come here" gesture. That got my blood pressure easing up immediately as I am most...

An open carry march in Texas This is an interesting announcement at Action10 news in Corpus Christi, Texas.  What makes it interesting is that their is no castigation of the open carriers, no attacks on them as "frightening", no characterization of their event as a danger to society.   In addition, the short item accurately describes the motives of the event organizers, as they have stated them.   Here is the article, from kztv10.com: CORPUS CHRISTI - A group of gun owners across the state will continue peaceful demonstrations asking for change in restrictive open carry laws. The goal is to...

The Louisiana Supreme Court has ruled that enhanced penalties for the possession of a legal firearm while in possession of illegal drugs do not violate the States new protections of the right to keep and bear arms. In 2012, the voters of Louisiana approved a constitutional amendment to the state Constitution that removed the constitutional provision that gave the State the power to regulate concealed weapons.   It added the requirement that the court use the strongest level of judicial review, strict scrutiny, for Amendment 2 cases.   There is a a good discussion of the history behind this amendment...