CCWthemovie

Some people shouldn’t carry a gun. Some people should at least read Massad Ayoub’s excellent book “In the Gravest Extreme” whose thesis, as I understand it, is to never draw your firearm unless you are in fear for your life.

So, reports allege that this man didn’t follow that rule. Apparently police agree that kids asking goofy questions based on a 1980s t.v. commercial doesn’t pass mustard- I mean muster for brandishing a deadly weapon and pointing it at people.

I have never been hunting. My experience with firearms has been exclusively target shooting and self/family defense training. Then I heard about Spirit Ridge Rifle Golf.

Man, that looks like fun. I am definitely going plan a trip to go rifle golfing at Spirit Ridge.

Lots of people seem to not know what CCW stands for. It’s an acronym for Concealed Carry of Weapons. My home state of Utah calls the permit a CFP, short for Concealed Firearm Permit.

Why carry a loaded weapon around? Just in case I need it. No, I’m not paranoid. That’s what you call someone who’s afraid of concealed permit holders. I’m simply prepared.

I don’t expect to have a fire, but I have insurance and fire extinguishers just in case. I don’t expect to be in a car wreck, but I wear my seat belt just in case. I don’t expect my little kids to wander off at the park, but I keep my eye on them to be safe.

I got an e-mail the other day that quoted a fine american, MAJ L. Caudill USMC (Ret):

When I carry a gun, I don’t do so because I am looking for a fight, but because I’m looking to be left alone.The gun at my side means that I cannot be forced, only persuaded. I don’t carry it because I’m afraid, but because it enables me to be unafraid. It doesn’t limit the actions of those who would interact with me through reason, only the actions of those who would do so by force. It removes force from the equation…and that’s why carrying a gun is a civilized act.

Amen.

A home invasion in Salt Lake City was foiled when the apartment dwellers fought back the gunman with their bare hands. At the end of the article is states:

While the victims won in this situation, police do not recommend fighting back.

In our post 9/11 world, it is ridiculous to think that if you don’t fight back, criminals and terrorists won’t hurt you. They bring a weapon to the crime with the pure intention of hurting you.

I wonder if the reporter is the actual source of the above quote, or some liberal police association, or if it was the actual SLC police interviewed for the piece. Regardless, it is bad advice. Criminals attack weak targets. If they learn from hard experience that in a post 9/11 world there are no weak targets, then maybe crime could be reduced.

KSL.com is reporting that the wife killer in Lehi, UT was a concealed weapons permit holder.
We should remember that according to the data,

Permit revocation reasons shows that permit holders do not use their firearms to commit crime.

Obviously, this will never be 100%, so that’s why the rest of us law abiding citizens are allowed to protect our family from wackos. The founding fathers knew this when they conceived the Second Amendment. Not even our government should be the only ones allowed to bear arms in case it goes wacko also.

In light of recent shootings, especially those taking place at churches including one at an LDS church in Utah, I wrote the following e-mail to various publicly known contacts for the LDS church:

***Please pass this on to those in leadership capacities and influence over the decision to support the Utah law which makes concealed firearm permit holders become criminals if they ever carry their defensive weapon in church.***

In light of recent events in Colorado Springs, CO and Lehi, Utah, I feel it is a bad decision to sponsor Utah legislation which makes it a crime for concealed weapons permit holders to bring their defensive firearm into an LDS meeting house in Utah.

In Colorado, a concealed weapons permit holder helped to stop the attack of a mass murderer. In Lehi, UT, no one present had a weapon except the perpetrator since Utah law makes it illegal for a firearm permit holder to go to an LDS church while packing.

In a recent ksl.com news article about the murderer in Lehi, UT, a commenter about the article left this enlightening thought:

“For all of the hand-wringers out there
by Otherjonathon L. @ 5:19pm – Mon Jan 7th, 2008
wanting us to NOT judge Ragsdale, I say this.
Ragsdale pumped four bullets into her torso, ine (sic) into her head, and he was temporarily insane? Not a chance that is ever going to fly. Not a chance. He made the conscience decision to murder her, actually assisinate (sic) her, at a place where she felt most safe. It was an act of premeditated murder. Nothing else. No matter how you hand-wringers try to justify, rationalize, or excuse HIS “bad choices”, he had the presence of mind to plan this out, then carry it out…”

Please note that many people might feel safe at church, but they aren’t safe since criminals do not care about any laws or policies prohibiting firearms in select places. Since it would be unfeasible to set up every Utah meeting house with fences, checkpoints at all gates, armed security patrolling the parking lots and entrances, and metal detectors at each entrance, I would suggest that the LDS church withdraw support for the wording in Utah code 76-10-530.

For example, when I go to church in Idaho, the Church may say no guns allowed, and if someone were to somehow find out that I was legally carrying my handgun with a permit, they could ask me to leave. If I refused to leave, then I could be charged with trespassing. Contrast this to current Utah law which makes me a criminal the second I forget to disarm before entering an LDS church.

Withdrawing support for current wording in 76-10-530 would save face for the church since the Church could still have the policy that no weapons are allowed. Withdrawing Church support for 76-10-530 current wording would allow our legislatures to proceed in changing the law to just make it an offense only if the firearm permit holder is discovered carrying and refuses to leave the premises. (Of course, non-permit holders are already breaking the law and would be prosecuted.)

You can still have the policy that no weapons are allowed in church to satisfied your insurance policies, but at least those of us seriously interested in protecting our families and friends from violent criminals would not become criminals ourselves if the law were to be revised similar to Idaho’s.

If you think about recent shootings, violent criminals attack in convenience stores, schools, churches, and banks. In Utah, I am legally allowed to be armed and defend myself in all these places except an LDS church.

Consider discussing this issue with Clark Aposhian.

Sincerely,
Anonymous member whom you could probably find out who I am by comparing my IP address to IP addresses of those logging in to Ward websites, but who wishes to hopefully remain anonymous since I don’t want my life to be made difficult.

So the terrorists may try something at the malls. At least those states with excellent concealed carry laws will have vigilant citizens keeping an eye out for trouble.

I saw this list over at packing.org. I love it!
My favorites:

5. We must get rid of guns because a deranged lunatic may go on a shooting spree at any time and anyone who would own a gun out of fear of such a lunatic is paranoid.

8. A woman raped and strangled is morally superior to a woman with a smoking gun and a dead rapist at her feet.

33. We should ban “Saturday Night Specials” and other inexpensive guns because it’s not fair that poor people have access to guns too.

35. Private citizens don’t need a gun for self- protection because the police are there to protect them even though the Supreme Court says the police are not responsible for their protection.

But go read them all because they’re all right on.

[Update 10-23-2007] Apprarantly packing.org is down, so catch at 40 reasons for gun control at attrition.org.

In the last month, there have been four school shooting incedents in:

• Quebec
• Wisconsin
• Colorado
• and now Pennsylvania

The tragedies listed in the USA all happened in the last week. If I were a teacher, I would want to be legally allowed to carry my legally concealed weapon. The problem is, most state CCW laws prohibit the legally armed citizen from carrying their weapon into a school. This makes schools targets for wackos, not safe havens for students (if you doubt this, then please refer to the recent murders in schools outlined above). If only school faculty members in all states could have the opportunity to legally arm themselves, they could defend themselves and possibly stop deranged psychos from killing our children.

Utah has taken the lead by allowing lawfully CCW inside schools. When will the rest of the nation follow suit?

Being from a Red state and also being pro2A, I am considering the possible options for my vote in the 2008 presidential elections. Mitt Romney appears to have a very good shot. (See the wikipedia entry for Mitt, Run Mitt Run, and Evangelicals for Mitt web sites.)

My biggest concern is this quote from the Wikipedia website under “Other Issues\Gun Control:”

According to his 2002 gubernatorial campaign, Romney “is a supporter of the federal assault weapons ban. Mitt also believes in the rights of those who hunt to responsibly own and use firearms.”[94] July 1st, 2002 Mitt Romney signed a permanent ban on Assault Weapons. “Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts,” Romney said, at a bill signing ceremony with legislators, sportsmen’s groups and gun safety advocates. “These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.”

Now, I could assume that he said those things to just get elected in Massachusetts, but he is not a liar. I can only assume that he must have meant it. Therefore, anyone wanting to infringe on my right to bear arms deserves some scrutiny.

I don’t like it when people imply the only good use for firearms is hunting. Personal/family defense and recreation are valid reasons to own firearms. Also, deep inside that quote is a falsehood. He fell prey to the anti-2A’s buzzword “assault weapon.” There is no such thing. The term is mearly a political device meant to demonize law abiding gun owners. You can’t really know what fun-at-the-range is until you’ve fired a fully automatic firearm; therefore, I do think they are made for recreation.

Also, I reserve the right to have an automatic weapon in case an attacker has an automatic weapon.; therefore, I do think they are made for self defense.

The person who I really wish would run is Condoleeza Rice, a known pro2A political figure. She understands the value of having a firearm for personal defense.

With the bombings came marauding groups of armed white vigilantes called “nightriders” who drove through black neighbourhoods shooting and starting fires. John Rice and his neighbours guarded the streets at night with shotguns.

The memory of her father out on patrol lies behind Rice’s opposition to gun control today. Had those guns been registered, she argues, Bull Connor would have had a legal right to take them away, thereby removing one of the black community’s only means of defence. “I have a sort of pure second amendment view of the right to bear arms,” she said in 2001.
(Source: The Times which is British so they spell differently than Americans.)