Liberty is an inherently offensive lifestyle. Living in a free society guarantees that each one of us will see our most cherished principles and beliefs questioned and in some cases mocked. That psychic discomfort is the price we pay for basic civic peace. It's worth it. It's a pragmatic principle. Defend everyone else's rights, because if you don't there is no one to defend yours. -- MaxedOutMama

I don't just want gun rights... I want individual liberty, a culture of self-reliance....I want the whole bloody thing. -- Kim du Toit

The most glaring example of the cognitive dissonance on the left is the concept that human beings are inherently good, yet at the same time cannot be trusted with any kind of weapon, unless the magic fairy dust of government authority gets sprinkled upon them.-- Moshe Ben-David

The cult of the left believes that it is engaged in a great apocalyptic battle with corporations and industrialists for the ownership of the unthinking masses. Its acolytes see themselves as the individuals who have been "liberated" to think for themselves. They make choices. You however are just a member of the unthinking masses. You are not really a person, but only respond to the agendas of your corporate overlords. If you eat too much, it's because corporations make you eat. If you kill, it's because corporations encourage you to buy guns. You are not an individual. You are a social problem. -- Sultan Knish

All politics in this country now is just dress rehearsal for civil war. -- Billy Beck

Thursday, March 28, 2013

This is My Shocked Face

So I was noodling around over on Facebook the other day, and posted a picture I thought was amusing.  It drew some commentary from one of my FB friends from high school, one of which was this:
Like the equality thing you got going, but don't like it when the mentally disturbed get 4 assault rifles and shoot up the town... From today's news...
Breaking News: Mentally Ill Gunman on Shooting Spree in Tacoma Washington

Tacoma police say they received about a dozen 911 calls Tuesday afternoon from people living in a residential neighborhood in northeast Tacoma reporting that a gunman was walking through the neighborhood firing indiscriminately. The identity of the suspect is not yet known, although local news stations are reporting that neighbors tell them he has mental health issues. He may have been drinking and is carrying four high power assault weapons.
My response:
I'll wait until we have better information. I would not be surprised to find out that "four high power assault weapons" turns out to be nothing of the kind. I don't care for the mentally disturbed shooting up the town either, but I don't see how disarming me is going to prevent it.
So I kept an eye on the story. The shooter was eventually talked into surrendering. 65 year-old Michael McBee has been arraigned and bail has been set at $5 million. Here's the most current version of what actually happened:
Fistfight led to Fife Heights shooting, investigators say

About 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, court records show, McBee’s temper boiled over, and he allegedly grabbed a 9mm pistol and went next door to settle the score.

Pierce County prosecutors allege he opened fire on his neighbor as the man stood in his garage with his wife and another man, pursued his target — firing more shots as the man ran — and then shot at the wife when she ran inside her house.

Incredibly, no one was hit.

Prosecutors charged McBee on Wednesday with attempted first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and one count each of first-degree burglary, malicious mischief and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Not-guilty pleas were entered on his behalf in Superior Court. Court Commissioner Meagan Foley ordered McBee, 65, jailed in lieu of $5 million bail at the request of deputy prosecutor Phil Sorensen.
One 9mm handgun, not "four high power assault weapons."

Had there been so much as a single "assault weapon," you can rest assured we'd have had a junk-on-the-bunk picture and a full description of McBee's "arsenal."

UPDATE:  Mad Rocket Scientist over at Random Nuclear Strikes has another classic example of media hysteria when it comes to firearms.  I've got to screenshot that paragraph for posterity.  Surely they won't leave it up as-is for long:

 photo Lanza.jpg

I want a picture of that!

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