Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Civics lesson

Sure, this guy is not mentally ill (so far as the story goes), so what could possibly go wrong if he carries a loaded pistol to work at his state Capitol?

Let us count the ways.


A Missouri House staffer reportedly left a loaded gun in a public restroom in the state Capitol last week.
According to a Capitol Police incident report, a Kahr CM9 9mm pistol – later claimed by House Speaker Tim Jones’ legislative assistant Dave Evans – was found on top of the toilet paper dispenser in a men's restroom in the Capitol basement Friday. The incident report states that the gun “was fully loaded with one round in the chamber and six rounds in the magazine.”
Loaded with hollow-point bullets, according to another report because some of those Capitol rats can't be brought down with just one round.

No information about whether the safety was set to "on" or "gun nut," but Missourians will be comforted to know that "A law passed in 2011 allows Missouri legislators and their staffers to have guns in the Capitol if they have concealed gun permits."

The story does not say whether common or garden  variety Missouri citizens can pack heat on lobbying visits in order to protect themselves in case a deranged Republican solon (but we repeat ourselves) should crack and start shooting. 

It goes without saying, of course, that everyone needs to carry a pistol with a round racked in the chamber, at work or at home, in order to prevent tragedies like this. Even out in the countryside, it is important to have a firearm, in case you are attacked by a bear.

Because as Dave Evans can testify, you can't be too careful.




9 comments:

  1. I fell you bear paragraph was a jab at H. Skipper.

    From my point of view, it is extremely funny that people need to worry about bears when walking dogs nearby their homes. It is just so far from my reality.

    On the other side, I may need to worry about being robbed while walking through some places, and this is possibly very far away from the reality of those fearing bears...

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  2. Skipper and his neighbors may be among th very, very, very few Americans who can make a case for guns around the home, although I am not persuaded there are not other ways pf dealing with their bears.

    The bears in the news story were smaller bears. A knife would not likely get through a grizzly's fur.

    It may not have in the case of the black bear, either. The bear may have decided not to fight.

    A friend of mine on a research trip to Brazil was warned not to cross the sidewalkl at Copacabana if he expected to live to return. I heard an NPR report ;that the Nairobi mall was popular because it was (until this weekend) regarded as safer than trying to shop in the streets of Nairobi.

    American gun nuts who feel they must go armed don't know what street crime is. They wouldn't last 30 seconds in Lahore.

    A friend of mine who used to be a drug dealer tells me a story of how he made a wrong turn in Oakland and was surrounded by a lot of scary black guys. Instead of trying to shoot his way out, he says, 'I reached into my pocket and pulled out a big fatty (marijuana cigarette).' They all shared some tokes, and since it was good sensimilla, the scary black dudes sent him on his way, saying, 'Honkie, you can come back anytime.'

    Might not work with bears.

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  3. You don't have to shoot the bear. From today's Honolulu Star-Advertiser:

    JUNEAU --A black bear walked into a bar at the Alaskan Hotel in downtown Juneau on Monday night. Bartender Ariel Svetlik-McCarthy says she freaked out and yelled, "No, bear! Get out! No! You can't come in here!" The bear complied,leaving within seconds.

    Possibly he looked around, didn't see any cute lady bears and decided to try his luck at some other bar.

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  4. Skipper and his neighbors may be among the very, very, very few Americans who can make a case for guns around the home, although I am not persuaded there are not other ways of dealing with their bears.

    Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the other ways of dealing with bears often involve mauling or death.

    Predators are predators, no matter the species, so I am left wondering why the case is made for bears but not for wolves, or mountain lions (to name two others that have killed people). Or, for people who kill people.

    American gun nuts who feel they must go armed don't know what street crime is. They wouldn't last 30 seconds in Lahore.

    Ok, just what, precisely, does street crime in Lahore have to do with anything. Other than an incredibly weak opportunity to engage in slanging at the expense of analysis.

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  5. Mountain lions are ambush predators, so carrying a gun is a low-probability method of coping. Wolves are pack predators, so carrying a gun is a low-probability method of dealing with them.

    People who kill people are also, in many ways, ambush predators. Even carrying the gun in the hand, safety off, and looking around for an attacker is not very effective. Read Chapter One of John Huddy's "Storming Las Vegas" for a real-world example.

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  6. Shots fired outside Capitol, officer wounded, I read in my morning paper.

    So much for the fantasy that knowing that someone around might be armed deters shooters.

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  7. Mountain lions are ambush predators, so carrying a gun is a low-probability method of coping. Wolves are pack predators, so carrying a gun is a low-probability method of dealing with them.

    You have utterly no idea what you are talking about.

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  8. Shots fired outside Capitol, officer wounded, I read in my morning paper.

    So much for the fantasy that knowing that someone around might be armed deters shooters.


    So much for the fantasy that your morning paper has a clue.

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  9. It looks as if the incident in Washington is even worse for the gun nuts than the initial appearances. Another case in which a nothing event was turned deadly by access to firearms.

    Don't I know what I'm talking about? Funny. There have been a few eports of lion attacks, all i ban recall were ambushes.

    erhaps you should have proposed alligators.

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