Lots of news in the world of guns and the Second Amendment today, so here’s a quick lunchtime roundup:
gun laws that in no way would have prevented the crimes they were passed in reaction to. (Hat tip: Say Uncle.)
Archive for the ‘Crime’ Category
A Dollop of Gun News
Wednesday, January 16th, 2013gun laws that in no way would have prevented the crimes they were passed in reaction to. (Hat tip: Say Uncle.)
Murderer in a Coma. I Know It’s Serious.
Tuesday, January 15th, 2013Hey, remember Convicted murderer, Democratic fundraiser, and accused heroin dealer Amado Pardo?
He’s been released to hospice care, According to his attorney, he’s “not been mentally responsive since December. ” Hmmmm. Maybe. I’m remembering all those sick gangsters suddenly coming down with an amazing array of ailments in Casino.
Also: “On Thursday, Pardo’s wife Amanda Pardo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance. She has not yet been sentenced.
Interestingly, a “Tish Pardo” commented on the previous post:
Have you ever heard the saying “don’t judge a person unless you’ve walked a mile in their shoes”? You are very quick to judge Mayo apparently you have all of the “facts”. Yes he’s a convicted murderer, do you know the circumstances? Do you care to hear them? He may not have made the best choices, but he was a good man. He did his time for the murder convictions, you know what the problem is with society? They don’t let people change their lives for the better. If you’ve been convicted of a crime you might as well be a leper. Mayo employed people no one else would, he expected them to work to earn their pay, he helped people. Im not saying he’s a saint, but he used his abilities to help others and give back to the community. A convicted felon turned pillar of the community and here you are degrading him and his accomplishments because of his past.Well, his future is on the rocks because of what people think they know, law enforcement has the word of one man/woman and a lot of circumstantial evidence. But go ahead
It’s a very special type of pleading indeed that includes the phrase “Yes, he’s a convicted murderer.” Perhaps Ms. Pardo could comment below on how Amado Pardo is innocent of the heroin distribution charges, despite his wife having plead guilty to the same crime…
(Austin City Council is) Breaking the Law, Breaking the Law
Monday, January 7th, 2013I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but the SuperGeniuses on the Austin City Council (along with allies among the Travis County apparatchiks) have gotten it into their heads that it’s just a swell idea to ban gun shows within the city and county limits. Because I’m sure so many criminals are buying their guns legally at a gun show. (Hint: NICS is not, in fact, a misspelling of that TV show with the hot Goth chick.)
Over at Whipped Cream Difficulties, Dwight has taken the bull by the horns, and provided not only a list of reasons why that’s a really bad idea, but a list of contract addresses for City Council critters, allowing those of you who live within the limits of the City of Austin (I don’t) a chance to express your extremely displeasure with this noxious and ill-advised gun-grabbing regulatory gambit.
Oh wait, did I say noxious and ill-advised? Add to that one more adjective: illegal.
As Dwight notes, a gun show ban “will expose the city to legal action under section 229 of the Texas local government code.” Let’s take a look at 229, shall we? The relevant portion states:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 43.002 of this code and Chapter 251, Agriculture Code, a municipality may not adopt regulations relating to:
(1) the transfer, private ownership, keeping, transportation, licensing, or registration of firearms, ammunition, or firearm supplies
Now, I’m not a simple country lawyer (or a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid, either), but banning gun shows sounds precisely like adopting regulations pertaining to the transfer of guns to me.
They’d have done better listening to this, er, guy.
It’s like the entire Austin City Council parading through the center of the state capitol wearing KICK ME signs. And the state legislature just might take them up on it.
On the other hand, if The People’s Republic of Austin is foolish enough to push this through, I’m sure there are venues in Williamson County that would love to have that business…
Email and Phone Numbers: Let Them Know What You Think of Their Illegal Gun-Show Banning Ploy
Thanks to Dwight, here’s some contact information for Travis County officials, who are evidently voting Tuesday:
And Austin City Council Critters:
Democrats Can’t Help Wanting to Ban Guns. It’s What They Do.
Tuesday, December 18th, 2012Like a foolish dog returning to eat its own sick, liberals can’t stay away from expressing their long pent-up desire to disarm law-abiding Americans. Their central governing principle is to give more money and power to the federal government (or the UN, when they can get away with it), and independent gun owners stand in their way. The Sandy Hook shooting victims weren’t even in the ground before Democratic lawmakers were calling on Obama to “exploit” (their words) the tragedy to push for more gun control.
Liberals seem to regard guns like Sauron’s One Ring: as an evil object of magical power that automatically warps and corrupts the user. Frequently, they also seem to see people disagreeing with them as a sign of mental illness. (Check Twitter for how many call 2nd Amendment activists “sick” or “insane.”) I suspect that makes it harder for them to recognize real mental illness. And when they say they want a “dialog” over guns, what they really mean is “Shut up and hand over your guns and I’ll temporarily stop calling you deranged, bloodthirsty killers.”
When the plan to deter gun use by the criminal and insane starts out “Step 1: Disarm the Sane and Law-Abiding,” I think I see a flaw in their brilliant scheme. It’s as if there were a rash of food poisonings from unlicensed food carts, and the liberal solution was to ban an all food carts.
Two years ago I said that when push comes to shove, there’s no such thing as a pro-gun Democrat, and this week West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is the prime example, “A” rating from the NRA notwithstanding. Expect any pro-gun Democrats to either undergo a mysterious conversion to the gun-grabbing cause, or get pushed out of the party, just like nominally “pro-life Democrats” either caved (Bart Stupak and his bloc) or were pushed out (pretty much every national election over the last 20 years).
Other Sandy Hook shooting fallout:
Firearm Releated Homicides Have Declined for Five Straight Years
Saturday, December 15th, 2012They may have declined for longer than that, but the table only goes back to 2007, and the 2012 data period obviously hasn’t ended yet.
Between concealed carry laws and DC. vs. Heller, more law-abiding citizens are carrying guns than ever before, but gun violence isn’t up, it’s down.
I guess John Lott was right.
LinkSwarm for 12/14/12
Friday, December 14th, 2012A quick LinkSwarm for a Friday night:
Texas vs. California: 12/12/12 Edition
Thursday, December 13th, 2012This was supposed to go up last night, but there was a glitch. Ten hours late sounds about right for California…
Missing Link Between the Benghazi Scandal and the Petraeus Sex Scandal
Tuesday, November 13th, 2012If, as resigned CIA Director David Petraeus’ mistress Paula Broadwell mentions in the clip below, the attack on the Benghazi consulate was an attempt to free prisoners being held for interrogation, then it adds a new dimension to the scandal, as explained by Charles Krauthammer.
If the interrogation story is true, there are at least four interlocking scandals here:
- The Obama Administration standing by watching while an American consulate was under attack for seven hours without lifting a finger to help as four Americans died.
- That same Administration lying about the cause of the attack to both congress and the American public.
- The same Administration has known about the CIA director being compromised by an extramarital affair since at least summer and did nothing about it for fear of jeopardizing Obama’s reelection campaign. The only other explanation is that everyone in the intelligence community is manifestly incompetent. (“Hey, should I tell Obama his CIA director is having an affair? Nah. He’s got that golf swing to worry about.”)
- Either the intelligence community, or else the Obama Administration itself, has been ignoring Executive Order 13491, issued January 22, 2009, which states (in part) “The CIA shall close as expeditiously as possible any detention facilities that it currently operates and shall not operate any such detention facility in the future.”
I think the Administration standing by for seven hours while four Americans died without lifting a finger to help them is still the biggest scandal. Guess I’m just old-fashioned that way. Sadly, I get the impression that the last point is the one the Obama Administration was trying hardest to cover up.
But all deserve investigation.
“Democrat of the Year” Convicted of Stealing Money From Mentally Handicaped Elderly Woman
Saturday, October 27th, 2012If you put this in a novel, the editor would reject it for the symbolism being too heavy-handed.
Estelle Carson, the Denver woman named the “Jefferson County Democrat of the Year,” has been convicted of stealing money from an elderly woman with physical and mental disabilities.
“A Jefferson County jury on Thursday convicted Carson of identity theft and theft from an at-risk person, both felonies, according to Pam Russell, spokeswoman for the district attorney. Carson, 67, is scheduled to be sentenced in December.”
And what was so vitally important that Carson had to steal money from the handicapped?
“Carson, who met the victim last year, wrote three checks from the woman’s account, including one to pay for Carson’s cable, Internet and phone when they were about to be canceled.”
On Carson’s Facebook page, she says that “My president needs four more years.” [Insert your own Obama stealing people’s futures metaphor here.]
A picture of the convicted felon from that page. Note the tie-dye t-shirt.
“C’mon people now/Smile on your brother/Everybody get together/Try to rob one another right now.”
Also from that page (a screen cap in case she takes it down):
Also from her Facebook page: “I am out walking and knocking for GOTV from now until November 6.”
Maybe. The article doesn’t say whether the judge let her out on bail before her sentencing.
(Hat tip: Gateway Pundit.)