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More Self Defense Stories this Week
Submitted by:
Rob Morse
Website: slowfacts.wordpress.com
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Here is the news the mainstream media says never happens. Responsible gun owners defended themselves and the people they care about. Self-defense instructor Dave joined us this week to talk about three self-defense gun stories.
*First story- Where is your gun when an intruder breaks in? You're upstairs and your children are down stairs..with a strange armed man.
*Second story- Are you armed at home in the middle of the night? You hear breaking glass and see a young man standing in your living room.
*Third story- Are you armed when you’re walking down the street at mid-day? A man gets out of his car and yells for you to stop. He pulls a knife.
Text and podcast available at the link. (17 minutes)
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MI: Legislature votes to legalize switchblades
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Corey Salo
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Michigan’s Republican-controlled House on Tuesday unexpectedly voted to legalize switchblade knives for Michigan residents.
The legislation is now on its way to Gov. Rick Snyder and would scrap a longstanding ban on knives that use springs to open after the Senate OK’d the plan in April saying that the danger of such knives was overblown.
House lawmakers voted for the legislation 106-1, with Rep. Rose Mary Robinson, D-Detroit, the sole dissenter.
State law currently stops anyone from selling or owning a pocket knife that can be opened with a button or pressure on the handle and is punishable by up to a year in prison or a $300 fine.
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Pier 1 Imports Unveils New Self-Defense Vase For Smashing Onto Head Of Home Invader
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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Calling it the ideal accent piece for safeguarding one’s property, Pier 1 Imports unveiled Wednesday a new self-defense vase for smashing on the head of a home invader. “This new dappled blue vase with a gloss finish is designed to shatter upon contact with the skull of any intruder that tries to break into your home,” said spokeswoman Madeline Newland, explaining that it was the perfect decor item for an end table near the front door, bedroom window, or any other area of the house where someone might attempt to illegally enter.
Ed.: A bit of humor to start your summer off on the right foot. |
NY: Without training, Collins could shoot self in foot with plan to carry
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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As one of Chris Collins’ 27th District constituents, I have no objection to the congressman being armed the next time I attend a rally to tell him what a great job he’s doing – at least in theory, I don’t object.
As they continually remind us at one of my gun clubs, cops don’t prevent crimes. They solve them. The stark reality is this: You are your own first defender. The latest reminder of that came at last week’s congressional baseball practice, where Capitol Hill police were on hand to prevent further tragedy only because a House leader was there.
So I have no problem with Collins’ plan to use his New York concealed-carry permit to protect himself and his constituents at events in his district. |
DC: It’s Time To Allow Concealed-Carry Permits In Washington DC
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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In the wake of the targeted shooting of Republicans at baseball practice and the heroic efforts of capitol police to apprehend the shooter, it’s time we revisit an ineffective, unconstitutional law that bans adults from obtaining concealed-carry permits inside the District of Columbia.
Not only do our representatives and other government officials deserve to feel safe while doing their civic duty on our behalf, but the rest of us who enjoy DC regularly have a right to protect ourselves while visiting a hotspot for crime. |
KS: Burden Of Proof and Stand Your Ground
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in favor of two men who were charged with aggravated battery but said they were acting in self-defense in stabbing or shooting others.
The high court’s ruling Friday rejected a tougher rule for determining when someone can avoid prosecution under the state’s 2006 “Stand Your Ground” law.
The Kansas Court of Appeals had ruled in each case that when someone seeks to avoid prosecution on self-defense grounds, a trial-court judge must view evidence in the light most favorable for the prosecution in deciding whether a case goes to trial.
The Supreme Court said the judge must weigh evidence impartially. |
FL: Stand Your Ground: Disprove It, Prosecutors!
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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However, there has been a belief that “stand your ground” actually goes against the American jurisprudence principle, as the defendant is left with the burden to prove that his self-defense claim is valid. However, the Florida legislature has recently taken a step to reverse that principle by passing a bill that would require the prosecution to prove that self-defense cannot be used as a valid defense in a murder trial. |
Right-wing media response to Virginia shooter strongly underscores their white supremacist values
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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The biggest fallout from last week’s shooting of House Republicans at a baseball practice in Virginia that grievously injured Rep. Steve Scalise, R-LA, and three others, is not the infantile war of words from right-wingers blaming Democrats; it’s from reactionary white men imposing their right to own and use guns on the rest of America.
The Republican Party is the party of an aging, shrinking, white-dominated America. It’s also the party that’s home to the majority of gun owners in America, according to nationwide studies. That same body of research has repeatedly shown women and non-whites bear the brunt of a great deal of gun violence in America. |
Congressman Mo Brooks introduces bill to let Congress members carry guns across U.S.
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks introduced a bill today that would allow members of Congress to carry firearms anywhere in the U.S. other than in the presence of the President and Vice President or on the Capitol grounds.
The Huntsville-area Congressman said the bill was necessary because members face a growing number of threats and are targets for extremists and terrorists. He said outside the Capitol, members currently have no way to protect themselves.
Brooks said the measure doesn't include any particular training requirements for members.
Ed.: Good plan, now expand that to every law-abiding American. |
Execution by Firing Squad: The Militarized Police State Opens
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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Legally owning a gun in America could get you killed by a government agent. While it still technically remains legal to own a firearm in America, possessing one can now get you pulled over, searched, arrested, subjected to all manner of surveillance, treated as a suspect without ever having committed a crime, shot at, and killed. This same rule does not apply to government agents, however, who are armed to the hilt and rarely given more than a slap on the wrist for using their weapons to shoot and kill American citizens.
According to The Washington Post, “1 in 13 people killed by guns are killed by police.” |
The NRA Will Defend Your Second Amendment Right, Unless You're Black
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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The National Rifle Association (NRA) is one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States, dedicated to protecting the rights of American gun owners, no matter how politically charged the issue is. But in the wake of the acquittal of the cop who shot Philando Castile, a black gun owner, the NRA has remained conspicuously silent.
Castile was shot at seven times while seated in his car, seconds after informing the officer — as he was meant to do — that he had a gun in the car. The NRA's initial response to it was muted. In a statement it released last July, the organization noted that the incident must be "thoroughly investigated," and maintained that it would "have more to say once all the facts are known." |
NC: The NRA is pushing to eliminate concealed carry permits in NC and across the country
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Mark A. Taff
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After swiftly expanding gun-rights laws during the first few years that Republicans took control of the state legislature, the charge to loosen firearms restrictions has slowed – until now.
The state House passed a bill this month that pits gun owners against each other. It would nearly eliminate concealed handgun permits and the training that goes with them, and would set the minimum age at 18 to carry a concealed gun. Under current law, people 21 and older can apply for a permit to carry a concealed gun, and anyone 18 or older can carry a handgun openly. |
DC: Strange and NRA Working to Provide Firearms Training to Members of Congress and Staff
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Mark A. Taff
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The tragedy prompted Strange to send a letter to National Rifle Association President Chris Cox asking him to offer firearms and safety instruction to Members of Congress and their staff. As Strange wrote,
As an NRA member and your good friend, I am writing to ask the NRA, as the largest provider of firearms instruction and safety training in the nation, to consider offering a training program to members of Congress, their staff and other personnel that work on Capitol Hill, regardless of political affiliation, so that they have the skills necessary to survive an active-shooter situation and to safely handle a firearm. As was proven this week, proper training can lead to the attacker being neutralized and lives being saved. |
IA: Weapons banned from Iowa courtrooms in all 99 counties
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Mark A. Taff
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In his ruling, Chief Justice Mark Cady writes, "The inconsistent policies and gaps in protection must be corrected for our unified court system to uniformly protect all Iowans."
“This is overreach on the parts of the courts,” said Richard Rogers, with the Iowa Firearms Coalition.
Rogers said the coalition condemns the ruling and believes the Iowa Supreme Court has no authority to dictate what happens in the public areas and offices outside Iowa’s courtrooms.
“We don't know where they get the authority to disarm citizens who are exercising their fundamental right to self-defense,” Rogers said. |
Why won’t the NRA speak out about Philando Castile?
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Mark A. Taff
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But why aren’t conservatives up in arms? Why aren’t gun owners full of indignation over a licensed gun owner being shot and killed by a police officer, with no accountability and no punishment?
Philando Castile was, from all accounts, a model citizen. He worked in a school cafeteria where he’d memorized the names and food allergies of 500 students. That should be enough reason for conservatives to be upset, but Castile was also a licensed and permitted gun owner.
Ed.: Nice straw man there. Many gun owners are upset. |
The Simple Physics That Makes Some Bullets Deadlier Than Others
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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The bullet that struck U.S. Representative Steve Scalise last week was travelling at somewhere between 1,100 and 2,600 feet per second. The projectile, a 7.62 x 39 bullet, hit the House majority whip with between 370 and 1,550 foot-pounds of force. The rifle round, which is longer than a pistol projectile, likely also began tumbling after its point collided with his hip. That meant that the tip didn’t just bore straight through him, but rather that the whole length of the projectile rotated over and over through Scalise’s body, ripping a wider hole and distributing a bigger shock wave throughout his bones and tissue. |
The uncomfortable question you have to ask before your kid goes to a sleepover
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Mark A. Taff
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"Is there an unlocked gun where your child plays?"
Each year on June 21, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence encourage parents to ask questions about whether guns are accessible to their children.
It's a question that should be asked every day, but as we hear all too often, sometimes guns get into the hands of children. Each day, 19 children in the United States are either killed or injured by a firearm.
And the work isn't done for parents who are taking the right safety measures, Ashlyn Melton writes in a Today column. Melton's son was accidentally shot and killed by a friend who had access to loaded guns. |
Concealed Carry Should Be Everywhere – Even in the Nation’s Capital
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Mark A. Taff
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With a new, friendlier face in the White House, many states are beginning to push a proactive, pro-gun agenda that mirrors the anti-gun, confiscation-minded policies endorsed by the last administration. And while the anti-gun left did not achieve any major court victories over the last eight years, they did manage to flood several cities and states with enough advertising to fool voters into passing referendums against the Second Amendment. Now, the tide may be turning, and it could be only a matter of time before we see a significant gun case back in front of the Supreme Court. |
IL: Chicago City Hall 'locked in pre-McDonald mindset,' meaning legal fights over gun rights likely not over
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Mark A. Taff
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While courts have ruled the city of Chicago has to change its way of thinking related to citizens' gun rights, a prominent Chicago appeals attorney believes the city remains mired in an approach to handgun regulation that could invite yet more legal actions and setbacks in the courts.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals took aim at a Chicago city ordinance restricting access to firing ranges in the city.
While the city took the case to the federal appeals court, Christopher Keleher, an attorney who primarily works on appeals cases, believes the city's case was lost before it even landed in court. |
NRA’s silence on Castile verdict suggests racial bias
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Mark A. Taff
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The National Rifle Association is not normally a shrinking violet in the defense of licensed gun owners, but last Friday’s acquittal of Jeronimo Yanez, the Minnesota police officer charged with second-degree manslaughter and dangerous discharge of a firearm in the death of Philando Castile, produced not even a tweet from the NRA. Given the considerable coverage given the shooting — the victim informed the officer that he had a permit and a firearm during a routine traffic stop, and the aftermath was even streamed live by Castile’s girlfriend on Facebook — that may strike Second Amendment advocates as peculiar. Perhaps it’s more than that. |
NC: Concealed carry changes should pass
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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A bill in the North Carolina legislature that would loosen concealed carry laws in the state has the outspoken support of one of Lincoln County’s legislators. It deserves the support of both state Rep. Jason Saine, who voted in favor of the bill when it was in the House, and state Sen. David Curtis, who was noncommittal when asked about the proposal by a Times-News reporter and said he was unfamiliar with the bill. Gun rights are a fundamental part of the fabric of American life, and are a key part of our democracy, that have to be defended. The legislature has a responsibility to conform state law to the Constitution, even when the federal government abdicates that responsibility. |
FBI Report on Alexandria Quietly Debunks the Gun-Controllers’ Talking Points
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Mark A. Taff
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The FBI has published a brief report on the shooting in Alexandria. It is devastating to the idea that the gun-control measures presently coveted by the Democratic party would have done something to prevent the attack. Over the past two decades, Democrats have focused on three major proposals for reform. They are: 1) That all private transfers should be contingent upon a federal background check; 2) That firearms that look a certain way should be classed as “assault weapons” and prohibited from sale; and 3) That civilians should be forbidden from buying magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. None of these proposals intersect with what happened in Alexandria.
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RI: Rhode Island Lawmakers Consider Domestic Violence Guns Bill
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Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com
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A proposal to take guns away from domestic abusers and people under domestic restraining orders is moving forward in the state House.
The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a Wednesday hearing to vote on whether to pass the legislation on to the full House.
The legislation would require people convicted of a crime of domestic violence, including misdemeanors, and anyone subject to a domestic abuse protective order to surrender any firearms they have and prohibit them from acquiring more. |
AZ: Let’s play ball on gun reform
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Mark A. Taff
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Having tallied the wounded — this was the 195th mass shooting of the year — Republicans speedily canceled the gun silencer hearing, deeming it inappropriate. Given the circumstances, and all that.
But then it occurred to me: If our latest angry white guy, newly dead James Hodginkson, had been free to fit a silencer on his easily obtained killing machine, wouldn’t that have slowed the reaction time of the Republican ballplayers and the cops who’d accompanied them? If he’d sprayed his bullets with a silencer attached, wouldn’t there have been an enhanced risk of far more casualties? |
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