Tell me how gun control works?

Walt suggests there may be another reason why Maine is a much safer place than Chicago, but political correctness forbids me from discussing that. In any case, thanks to Agent 35.

VIDEO: South African woman shoots at home invaders

There are millions of videos on YouTube. You could keep your eyeballs glued to your screen 24/7 and you'd never see them all. In fact, every hour you watched, you'd get farther behind. So you'll excuse me for being a bit late to see and repost this interesting video from the "new" South Africa, originally uploaded in May of 2015. The subtitles added by Mr Coetzee tell you all you need to know about what went down.



In the USA, Canada or western Europe, the Coetzees would likely be facing charges for shooting at these poor disadvantaged yoofs. But not in South Africa. That country's new post-apartheid constitution has no Second Amendment, nor anything resembling it. Yet no-one questions the necessity of keeping... and sometimes using... firearms to protect their homes and themselves. They have to do so, for incidents such as this are all too common. Thank goodness it hasn't come to that in our countries. Right? Errr...

Footnote: Every now and then you'll see, somewhere in the liberal media, an argument that "white flees" from South Africa should not be allowed to immigrate to the countries of the West. They might infect us with their racism, you know...

Further viewing: A different turn of events in King County WA can be heard in "Actual 911 call of home invasion shows why everyone must be prepared to defend themselves", posted to YouTube just three months ago. You don't need me to explain the moral of this story, do you? Keep it in mind next time someone disses the NRA.

Americans! Will more gun control make you safer?

Chinese New Year celebrations are over, the Winter Olympics are half over (with only one Russian caught doping, so far), and life in the Excited States of America goes on as usual. Another day, another mass killing, this one a school shooting in Florida. Walt can't tell you how many that makes this year, as I've already lost count.

The usual "thoughts and prayers" have been expressed by all and sundry. But along with the expressions of grief -- real and genuine -- we're hearing shouts of anger, and plenty of them. The latest yesterday's rally at Parkland FL, where 1000s of angry students, parents, teachers and neighbours of the high school where 17 people were killed demanded that immediate action be taken on gun-control legislation.

There were also rallies in St. Petersburg, on the other side of the state, and in Fort Lauderdale, about 25 miles from the scene of the horrific crime. Delaney Tarr, a student at the school where it happened, told the crowd in front of the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, "Because of these gun laws, people that I know, people that I love, have died, and I will never be able to see them again."

Let's think about that. What "gun laws" was Mr Tarr talking about? Laws exist, and the laws allow the purchase of an AR-15 assault rifle provided the purchaser has been properly vetted by the police and other bureaucrats charged with enforcing the laws. Since the killer, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, was known in the community to have exhibited signs of mental disturbance, it seems to me that the problem is not with the laws (or lack thereof), but with the system by which the laws are supposed to be applied.

It appears now, from public records, interviews with friends and family and online interactions, that Mr Cruz was unstable and violent to himself and those around him. Alas, even though a number of agencies, including the FBI, were notified about his threatening behaviour, but did little to stop it.

The Sun-Sentinel reported that Florida's Department of Children and Families investigated when Cruz posted on Snapchat a video showing himself cutting his arms. That was back in August of 2016. The agency's abuse hotline was told, "Mr Cruz has fresh cuts on both his arms. Mr Cruz stated he plans to go out and buy a gun. It is unknown what he is buying the gun for."

According to the paper, the DCF investigation was completed in November. The agency concluded that Mr Cruz had not been mistreated by his mother, was receiving adequate care from a mental health counsellor and was attending school. Mental health centre staff "came out and assessed the [victim]," the DCF report said "and found him to be stable enough not to be hospitalized."

"Attending school"... yes... At school, Mr Cruz routinely fought with teachers, was accused of swearing at staff and was referred for a "threat assessment" in January 2017 (two months after the DCF investigation wrapped up), according to the New York Times. School records seen by the Times show he was suspended several times in the 2016-17 school year and was frequently absent. They also show Cruz attended at least six schools, including a school for students with emotional problems, the newspaper said.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said his office had received more than 20 calls about Cruz in the past few years. He did not say what action his department took... if any. Which brings us to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, America's super-cops.

The FBI said "a person close to Cruz" called the FBI's tip line and provided information about Cruz's weapons and his erratic behaviour. The caller was concerned Cruz could attack a school. The agency acknowledged the tip should have been shared with the FBI's Miami office and investigated, but it was not. Perhaps those responsible were too busy with the investigation into the non-existent connection between Russian conspirators and the Trump campaign!

Dear American readers, how safe do you feel? Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that "they" -- terrorists, gangstas, crazy people -- aren't out to get you! The FBI, your state and local police and other agencies of social control (as I characterize them) are supposed to be "serving and protecting" you. Are they? Ha!

Now the usual gang of snowflakes, lefties and SJWs want to use events like the Parkland school killings as an excuse to take away your guns. Do you know what will happen if more restrictive gun laws are passed that would, for instance, make carrying a gun of any kind in a school zone illegal? I'll tell you! What will happen is that no-one will have a gun at school except someone evil and/or crazy enough to not give a shit about the new tough law!

Here's another question. How would such a law be enforced? What are they going to do, make all the students (and teachers and visitors) pass through a metal detector and undergo a pat-down search on entering the school? How many more law enforcement officers would that take? Would they be as effective as the rent-a-cops employed by the TSA to keep you safe at airports? Ha!

IMHO, the best defence against people like Nikolas Cruz is that envisioned by the Second Amendment to the Constitution. The Parkland massacre would not have been averted if the heroic football coach or any other teacher had been packing heat, but the loss of life would have been considerably less. Perhaps only Mr Cruz would have been killed.

Let's close with a thought from Thomas Sowell, an American economist, turned social theorist, political philosopher and author, who was born in North Carolina but grew up in Harlem. "The key fallacy of so called gun control laws is that such laws do not in fact control guns. They simply disarm law abiding citizens, while people bent on violence find firearms readily available."

VIDEO: Thinking about gun control

This weekend's unexplained... and unexplainable... massacre in Las Vegas has been politicized to the Nth degree by the Democrats, lamestream media and others whose agenda is to overturn the Second Amendment and take our guns away, leaving weapons only in the hands of criminals, terrorists and "the Authorities". I've been thinking about that. Being a libertarian, I'm inclined to resist the calls for disarmament of ordinary people, but tragedies like Mandalay Bay and Sandy Hook give me pause.

I have some experience with guns. In my misspent youth [a century ago. Ed.] I was into Dr Hunter S. Thompson's fun trio of drugs, firearms and loud music. Get ripped on reds 'n' white and go out on a dark night and blast the shit out of some inanimate object -- good times, good times. The key word there is "inanimate". I was never a hunter. I did shoot skeet, but Mrs Walt found it hard to clean and cook. But there was something mighty satisfying about firing a good shotgun, like this Ithaca 51.

I used to keep mine, safely stored, in my cabin in the pines, a good half-hour by car from the nearest town of any size. I have always subscribed to the theory that a man's home is his castle, and was secretly hoping for an opportunity to defend my little castle with the Ithaca or either of a couple of pistols I kept for just such an occasion. The shotgun would have been best. Cut the intruder in half with a deer slug. Yeah. Just as Bill Burr says at the 2-minute mark of this video.



Eventually I discovered that the Authorities and Forces For Good in the community don't want us to defend ourselves and our property. If someone breaks into your home or place of business, they say, don't challenge them, especially with a weapon. They could use it against you! Just call 9-1-1 and the police will take care of you. I call BS on that! I tried it when a young punk walked into my office after hours, looking for trouble. I gave him what he was looking for -- a warning shot across the bow, so to speak -- and then called the police. Guess who wound up in the dock (not the kind where you park your boat)? That's right. It was me! [Should be "It was I!" Ed.]

Right, Ed. We must watch our grammar. But we have no time for that now. To get my train of thought back on the rails, imagine what would have happened if I had actually shot that kid! I would likely be writing this blog with a pencil on prison stationery. [But that's what you... oh... never mind. Ed.] Law-abiding citizens who exercise whatever right to self defence is left to them by the nanny state get the shitty end of the stick every time, while criminals and terrorists get the other end. It ain't right!

I will grant you... I have to grant you, given the terrible reality of events like this weekend's massacre, that every now and then some deranged individual will go right off the deep end and take out some innocent people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mandalay Bay was the worst, but it wasn't the first. On the other hand, perfectly sane but perfectly evil people do the same thing. Look at Orlando. Look at San Bernadino.

Several people said that if some of the people shot in those terrorist attacks had had guns of their own, the death toll would have been considerably lower. IMHO that's right. We can't depend on our police to protect us, either because they are afraid of being called "racists"and "Nazis" or because they themselves are the thugs and bullies who like to shoot people just for the fun of it. Our best defence against terrorists or other marauders is a peaceful but vigilant and well-armed citizenry.

Please don't tell me that's a ridiculous notion, a classic example of American exceptionalism. Swiss laws on the possession and use of firearms are based on a longstanding tradition of shooting as a part of the national identity. The practice of the Swiss militia is to have the citizen soldiers keep their rifles in their homes. And we're talking about military-style guns, not just hunting rifles or shotguns.

What is needed, to avoid repeats of Mandalay Bay or Pulse or Sandy Hook, is not a ban on firearms, but more careful screening and enforcement to make sure that guns are kept out of the hands of terrorists and idiots. In Switzerland, in order to buy most weapons, the purchaser must obtain a weapon acquisition permit. Any adult citizen who is not psychiatrically disqualified nor identified as posing security problems, and who has a clean criminal record can request such a permit. The same rules apply to the purchase of ammunition.

In the result, although the percentage of Swiss who own firearms is probably higher than that of the USA, the murder rate in Switzerland is much, much lower. And so far there has not been a single terrorist attack. Think about it. Banning guns is not the answer to ails the Paranoid States of America today. It's not the guns. It's the people who have them.

Further reading: "The Culture of Death—and of Disdain", by Peggy Noonan in The Wall Street Journal, 5/10/17. "Why do Americans own so many guns? Because they don’t trust the protected elites to protect them."

American gun owners, be warned by the Canadian experience

The Canadian government, like that of Communist China, doesn't trust its citizens to have guns. That's a fact. The only people allowed to have firearms should be the police and the armed forces -- the agents the state uses to control ordinary Canucks. That's the plan.

Walt thanks Agent 17 for drawing our attention to a cautionary commentary by Brian Lilley, which appeared on SunNews back in January. Interestingly, although the link sent by our agent still works, the video itself no longer appears on the SunNews website. Is there something wrong with Ed.'s browser or is the ruthless Canadian "Ministry of Public Safety" trying to silence its critics? Fortunately, at least part of the video made it to YouTube. Here it is.



Agent 17 wanted to know if the story of Bruce Montague's prosecution by the Canadian authorities -- that should be in caps: AUTHORITIES -- is true. Yes, it is. But Mr. Montague is fighting back. Click here to go to his website, featuring details of the case and (more important) an analysis of how his treatment by the AUTHORITIES violates the Canadian Charter of so-called Rights and so-called Freedoms.

But this is nothing new. Back on the late 70s, one of Walt's own agents, kept a legally registered pistol in his office in Canada's so-called Province of Opportunity. Our agent was in the sort of business where it is not unheard of for malefactors and tortfeasors to show up on one's doorstep with booze in their bellies and mayhem in their minds.

That's exactly what happened one warm summer evening. When he heard heavy footfalls on the office stairs, our agent confronted the young punk and, apprehending an altercation, fired a warning shot across said punk's low brow. Guess who got arrested? You got it! Our agent spent a couple of nights in the county bucket and months in pre-trial detention before having several law books thrown at him by a judge who felt that our agent should have called the police, whose "local" office was some 15 miles distant.

Want more? Click here to read a similar story about New Brunswick resident Lawrence Manzer, who was (like our agent) charged with "possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace". There's a video report too. The title of the webpage is "Here's a reason to be ashamed to be a Canadian".

Dear readers, the argument against turning our countries into police states is old, simple and true. If your government succeeds in making it illegal for law-abiding citizens to have firearms for recreation and self-defence, the only people left in possession of guns will be the Agents of Control and, errr, the criminals to whom the law means nothing.