So says a real estate agent who is afraid of guns:

I am not in favor of real estate agents bringing guns to work, unlike my colleague Trey Garrison.

First and foremost, let me issue a positioning statement on guns. I recognize that we live in a scary world full of scary people. Realtors, real estate agents, brokers, and others have every right, duty, and responsibility to protect themselves.

But count me among those who think that the answer to gun violence is not introducing more guns into the equation.

That argument has never made any sense to me. It’s like saying we can defeat heart disease by eating more cheeseburgers.

The real answer is making sure we live in a safer world. I’ve often said that the world would be a better place if guns didn’t exist at all. Maybe that’s naïve or narrow-minded, but it’s what I believe.

But I also recognize that I’m fighting an uphill battle when I argue that all guns should disappear. Despite my pie-in-the-sky ramblings, I certainly appreciate and understand the rights granted to all U.S. citizens by the Bill of Rights.

The Bill of Rights is something that I hold very dearly. I probably wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if the First Amendment didn’t exist. But I also recognize that the founding fathers couldn’t possibly have predicted that we’d live in a world when a 20-year-old man can walk into an elementary school and brutally murder 20 young children and six adults in a few minutes.

In 50 years, will we think of this time like we think of the Wild West? It seems like some folks won’t be happy until we can all carry a handgun in a holster on our hip wherever we go.

If I see a stranger carrying a gun, I turn and run. I don’t feel safer.

But as I said before, I recognize that we live in a scary world and we all have to protect ourselves. Some people work in professions where they’re more prone to encounter bad people with bad intentions.

Hear that, ladies?  Some professions are just more dangerous than others, and since you chose real estate, you are at greater risk of being raped.  That’s just the way it is.  Got it?

Actually, I thought of just such an instance near my home town, where a female real estate agent was recently raped while at “showing” home.

The real estate agent says he choked her, pulled out a knife, and raped her inside a home she was scheduled to show him in Salisbury Tuesday.  The two then drive to a second house in Granite Quarry where the agent convinced Cooper to allow her to call her office.  She gave a secret code that told coworkers she was in danger.

“As a woman, you’re supposed to be safe.  Period,” said Salisbury resident Hattie Johnson.  “Especially if a person was assaulted and they were on their jobs, they’re doing their job… it’s scary.”

No, you aren’t supposed to be safe, period!  Despite the idiotic ramblings of Mr. Social Darwin above who thinks we are constantly evolving to a higher state (perhaps he has watched too many episodes of Star Trek), nothing you do can change the heart of man.  You must carry means of personal defense.

Or, if you wish instead to listen to Mr. Social Darwin above, he would rather you be raped.  Perhaps he even takes pleasure in the fact that you lack the means to protect yourself in some sort of sick way.  Make up your own mind.

Literally, if they have their way.

Defund.com:

A mob of Wisconsin teens attempted to rob a group of adults in Milwaukee only to be shot at by a West Allis man carrying a concealed carry weapon.

Police say that a group of teens attempted to rob a group of adults when one of the men pulled out his gun and began shooting at the teens.

He fatally shot one of the robbers, a 15-year-old known gang member who was already the victim of another non-fatal shooting on August 1.

The teen had previously been charged with armed robbery, auto theft, theft, and fleeing.

 Police have arrested another two 14-year-old males, a 16-year-old male, a 17-year-old female, and an 18-year-old male.

Police say this particular group is responsible for multiple armed robberies that have recently hit Milwaukee. Police say the group may be responsible for “dozens” of robberies over just the past three days.

“This is criminals that are running around the city creating opportunities for them to rob people all over and this was just the timing,” Alderman Jose Perez said. “This has nothing to do with the district or the neighborhood.”

The Daily Caller reports that a “similar incident involving a Milwaukee robbery gang occurred in July. A nurse carrying a concealed carry permit shot a 15-year-old assailant as he and a 17-year-old accomplice attempted to steal her car. During the investigation it was discovered that the two teens had been involved in previous armed robberies that involved numerous others.”

Whether it’s due to a “group of adults” or a nurse who trying to get to work or back, if enough thugs get shot, there will be no more thugs.  The solution to the problem of crime is to kill the criminals.

Chicago Reader:

“The gun violence in this city is the result of lax gun laws, period,” McCarthy said after a bloody weekend this spring. “It couldn’t be more clear what we need to do.”

[ … ]

Before the movers and shakers of the City Club, McCarthy summarized that whole backstory by noting, “The African-American community is very concerned about mass incarceration.”

But he also said he understood why: “The war on drugs has been a failure.”

Not so long ago, that would have been a bold statement by a big-city police chief. But increasingly it’s smart politics to acknowledge the unsustainable costs of locking up drug offenders, if not the racial and economic disparities in who’s punished. And around here Mayor Emanuel and his police chief have trailed other elected officials in calling for reforms.

In fact, it’s sometimes unclear which side of the drug issue McCarthy hasn’t taken. He’s described the police approach to the drug trade as a “ground war” that’s meant to prevent violence—and, at the same time, he’s said that the police can’t solve what’s fundamentally an economic issue.

“Law enforcement will never fix the narcotics problem in this country,” McCarthy said Wednesday. “But we can use narcotics enforcement to reduce crime and improve the quality of life in the community.”

He pointed out that drug offenders outnumber gun offenders at the county jail by more than five to one.

“If the system is designed to put people in jail for narcotics possession, then we’re doing a really good job. But if the system were designed to keep people from getting shot, then those numbers would tip, wouldn’t they?”

McCarthy seemed conscious of it this time. “Jobs, poverty, lack of education are certainly cornerstones of what causes crime. But it’s going to take decades to fix them. We can do something about gun laws very simply with a conversation.”

On this point, at least, he is quite clear.

It’s the drugs.  No, wait!  It’s not the drugs, we’re making drugs too important.  It’s an “economic issue.”  No, wait!  It’s guns.  No, wait!  It’s jobs, poverty and lack of education that causes crime and mass incarceration.  No, wait!  Since I really don’t have an answer, it must be the guns.  Let’s have more onerous gun laws.  That will fix it.

So there you have it folks.  It’s obscene to watch, I know, secularists and progressives trying to plan society and engineer solutions to problems that they don’t understand.  It’s really a pitiful sight to see.

The best information comes not from what Garry McCarthy has to say, but what one commenter has to say about McCarthy.

Reprinted from NYPD Rants via Newark Speaks.com:

1. Gary McCarthy was found “guilty” in March 2006 over an traffic altercation he had in 2005 with two New Jersey police officers. A traffic court judge ruled that Gary McCarthy had blocked vehicular traffic with his police-issued car while he and his wife confronted two plainclothes members of the Palisades Interstate Police at a gas station along the Palisades Interstate Parkway. The officers in question had just issued a summons to McCarthy’s 19-year-old daughter, who was driving another car and became verbally confrontational toward the two police officers whom in essence were enforcing the law. When Gary McCarthy had arrived on scene he was clearly irate and violently confrontational and had to be grabbed by the two police officers whom also confiscated McCarthy’s firearm and handcuffed him as well as restrained his wife when she attempted to grab the gun from the two police officers. The judge fined McCarthy $200 for blocking traffic.

NOTE: Had this incident occurred in New York City to an NYPD Police Officer the individual in question would be charged with Disorderly Conduct, Resisting Arrest, Obstruction of Governmental Administration, Assault on a Police Officer, and Unlawful Possession of a Weapon. That is not even including the possibility of driving while intoxicated. Now mind you that is just the charges faced by an average civilian. McCarthy was acting as representative of the New York City Police Department so imagine when the next incident occurs, in what capacity is he going to be acting in Newark Police Director?

A not-so-pleased Garry.
2. McCarthy’s wife Regina – was charged with “unreasonable noise” – when she verbally abused and cursed at the Palisades Park Police during the entire incident. Most disturbing is the fact that she had attempted to retrieve Gary McCarthy’s confiscated firearm from an Official Police Vehicle while Gary McCarthy was fighting with one officer. Regina McCarthy had to be physically thrown to the ground as she fought with the officer over the firearm and rear cuffed face down on the ground. My question is what was her intention if she had obtained complete control of that weapon which was a 9mm handgun? Was she going to shoot the officers, break Gary McCarthy free, or just hold the officers at gun point? That is a very, very, frightening thought to comprehend!

3. McCarthy acknowledged he had had two glasses of wine at dinner hours before, but said he was not drunk. He also acknowledged that it was Regina who had backed the NYPD’s black Ford Explorer into the gas station against oncoming traffic. My question here is why was a non-certified civilian driving an “Official NYPD Police Vehicle” when she was not trained by the NYPD Drivers Training Unit as required by the NYPD Patrol Guide for all Line and Duty Officers? The bottom-line is she had no permission to operate the said vehicle! Is she going to be doing this with Newark Police Vehicles as well?

4. When the New Jersey Officers in question tried to calm Gary McCarthy, McCarthy only became more irate and confrontational and told the officers when they informed him that they were going to arrest him for gun possession McCarthy replied; ” “Knock yourself out.” Here is a man whom has no respect for police officers when he himself is an executive level law enforcement official in the worlds largest police department. How can men under him respect him? They certainly did not in the NYPD that is for certain.

Happy Garry. His wife Regina is out of town, perhaps?
5. McCarthy acknowledged that he had cursed in retaliation, that he had disregarded Regina’s advice to leave the scene when they realized that the Palisade Park Police were giving him more than ample warning to leave the scene before it escalated. He added that that one point a Detective Rossi threatened to put McCarthy “through the system,” while saying of his career, “Twenty-four years down the drain. How does it feel?”

6. McCarthy had also lied and denied a report that he had been reprimanded by the NYPD after he had gotten into an physical altercation with a off duty NYPD Sergeant at a cop bar in the Bronx on City Island the night he was appointed deputy commissioner.

On a separate incident McCarthy who was also out drunk again on City Island one evening was shooting out street lights with two other police officers one of whom was McCarthy’s brother whom is a New York State Trooper.

When McCarthy was confronted by an NYPD Sgt concerning the shooting incident McCarthy had retaliated against the officer later on who insisted on pursuing the shooting incident as a criminal matter. Needless to say the incident was quietly swept under the rug by the NYPD!

7. Gary McCarthy spent two days in a New Jersey traffic court in an attempt to explain away the circumstances that led to his being disarmed, handcuffed, and arrested. It is estimated that McCarthy had spent about $7500 on legal fees and court costs concerning the traffic violation. When confronted by reporters outside the courtroom McCarthy glared at the reporters for about five seconds before uttering the words through clenched teeth, “Get away!”

8. The traffic incident might not have even occurred had Gary McCarthy done nothing instead of intervened after his teenage daughter Kyla was ticketed for parking illegally in a handicapped zone on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in February 2005. The Palisades police officers who ticketed Kyla and later arrested McCarthy and his wife Regina testified they told Kyla that if she brought a handicapped parking placard to court, they would recommend her ticket be dismissed.

My goodness.  It just keeps going on from there.  I didn’t reproduce all of the comment.  None of it is surprising.  McCarthy sounds like a typical totalitarian to me.

California Healthline:

On Wednesday, a group of California mayors sent a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown (D) urging him to sign a bill (AB 1014) that would allow temporary restraining orders to prevent individuals who are suspected of having mental health issues or who are potentially violent from purchasing or possessing guns, the Los Angeles Times‘ “PolitiCal” reports (McGreevy, “PolitiCal,” Los Angeles Times, 9/3).

If signed, the bill would take effect on Jan. 1, 2016 (O’Neill, “KPCC News,” KPCC, 9/3).

The bill, by Assembly members Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) and state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), would allow family members and friends to contact law enforcement if they believe an individual could be a threat to themselves or others, and officers then could ask a judge for the temporary restraining order.

[ … ]

Meanwhile, Gun Owners of California Executive Director Sam Paredes voiced concerns about the measure being used in an unintended manner. He said the restraining orders could end up being used as a legal “weapon or tool by those who want to cause harm … or discomfort” to individuals who own guns (“KPCC News,” KPCC, 9/3).

Eric Wooten, president of the Liberal Gun Owners Association, said the measure also could be an “enormous disincentive” for gun owners to seek mental health and substance misuse treatment.

Oh, and I’m absolutely certain that no one will ever use said latitude to settle squabbles, right?  Read it again.  “Family members and friends.”  Does that sound rather broad to you?

Besides, it’s a myth that violence can be correlated to mental health, and it’s prejudiced to think so.  And as I’ve quoted before, here is reader menckenlite on psychiatry.

Control freaks love psychiatry, a means of social control with no Due Process protections. It is a system of personal opinion masquerading as science. See, e.g., Boston University Psychology Professor Margaret Hagan’s book, Whores of the Court, to see how arbitrary psychiatric illnesses are. Peter Breggin, Fred Baughman and Thomas Szasz wrote extensively about abuses of psychiatry. Liberals blame guns for violence. Conservatives blame mental illness. Neither have any causal connection to violence. The issue is criminal conduct, crime. Suggesting that persons with legal disabilities are criminals shows the nonsensical argument of this politician and his fellow control freaks.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

The Blaze:

A Oregon-based gun maker said Thursday that it has been blocked from processing credit card transactions by its long-standing credit card company, and believes it is the latest victim of the Obama administration’s “Operation Choke Point.”

The Obama administration has said Choke Point lets the Departments of Justice and Treasury crack down on illegal businesses by blocking their access to banks and other parts of the U.S. financial system.

Calico Light Weapons Systems believes it is the latest victim of the administration’s overreach. In a statement released Thursday, Chris Holmgren, the company’s owner, says he was unexpectedly warned in mid-July that his credit card processor would have to close his account due to “illegal activities.”

Firearms producers are prohibited by law from selling guns over the Internet. But Holmgren says his company does not sell guns online, and only sells certain parts.

“The [credit card] company thought that I sold firearms over the Internet, which I do not,” he said. “My company only sells parts online, like screws, washers, and other soft goods.”

After several phone calls to his credit card processor, Intuit Merchant Service, Holmgren was told a “policy change” related to “illegal activities” is what was forcing Intuit to close Calico’s account.

Holmgren said that his company later indicated it would re-open his account, but said this has not happened yet.

“I am certain that this is the work of Operation Choke Point, and that my company was targeted because it is considered a ‘high risk’ by the Department of Justice and FDIC, even though we do nothing illegal,” he said.

First of all, to all of the idiots who think it’s illegal to sell guns online, let’s deal with this once and for all.  It’s not illegal to sell guns online.  Got it?  Guns can be purchased and sent to anyone who can successfully complete form 4473, done at the time of receipt at the FFL to whom the gun is shipped.  So let’s stomp that red herring into the ground please.

Second, let’s please end the unconstitutional thuggery of targeting law abiding businessmen with the power of the government because those currently in power happen to dislike the business.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think that Obama and Holder were a bunch of evil, totalitarian, collectivist, communist members of a criminal cartel from Chicago.

Prior: Sun Trust Bank Implementing Operation Choke Point

David links a comment on his piece at Guns Magazine:

Sorry but like many have already said, you should know the laws of the states you travel through. Even as a sheriff’s officer when I go to another state on personal business I call ahead to the town I am going to and ask if there are any laws I need to know about, or if I should just leave my gun home. Pennsylvanians aren’t very smart to begin with, so I am not surprised by this story. I don’t think she should do time in jail, but a nice heavy fine would work. What the hell do you need hollow points for in the first place? You planning on shooting a cop through a vest?

First of all, personal defense ammunition doesn’t penetrate soft body armor (Kevlar).  Even FMJ or MC ammunition (ball ammo) doesn’t penetrate soft body armor unless it’s high velocity like 5.7 X 28.  Second, HR 218 allows sworn LEOs to carry weapons across state lines regardless of any other considerations (not that it should if our rights aren’t similarly recognized).  I doubt that the commenter is a LEO.  That would make the person a liar.

David Codrea:

How the gun owner community will react to the merger remains to be seen. At this writing, it does not appear those opposed to the acquisition are doing anything other than expressing strengthened resolve, while those intent on helping JPFO through the transition remain hopeful. Based on interest expressed in limited venues where the development is being discussed, it appears many are either unaware or else unconcerned.

So it’s a done deal.  You know my views on this.  I don’t have relationships with corporations.  I do with people.  I’ll wait until David and Kurt tell me their experiences with this arrangement.  I’m in a holding pattern and will continue to link those individuals to whom I’m committed.  I have no commitment to organizations.

More on the vulnerability of the electrical grid.  You do understand, don’t you, who was first to discuss the vulnerability of the larger step up transformers (nearly four years ago now), and who (Bob Owens) was first to discuss the vulnerability of the smaller, lower voltage infrastructure?  And we didn’t even get paid for it.

Via Reason, there is this great report from CCTV America:

Since the Islamic State made its push into northern Iraq, questions of safety have emerged. Some Kurds are preparing to leave their jobs and fight with the peshmerga military, while others simply want to arm themselves for protection. They both can go to the same place: a bazaar tucked away outside the city of Erbil.

I don’t know if the Christian community is among those who intend to “weapon up” like I’ve recommended, but it’s good to see at least some of the folk responding like the situation demands.

As a sidebar comment, I see no revolvers, and what I suspect is a lot of 9mm handguns, along with AK and AK-variants (so probably along with availability of 9mm and 7.62X39 ammunition, but no .45, .38, .308, 7.62X51, or 5.56 mm).  Why these shooters prefer to have long guns with their butt stocks removed is completely beyond me.

Upon watching this report it occurred to me to do a quick search of ISIS and gun control.  Sure enough, this turned up for the rules implemented by ISIS upon capture of new territory.

“No drugs, no alcohol and no cigarettes allowed,” it added.

No public gathering other than those organised by ISIS will be allowed at any stage. No guns will be allowed outside of its ranks.

Statists and totalitarians are the same the world over.  Guns for me, but not for thee.

David Codrea:

New Jersey is going full bore to prosecute a lawbreaker arrested for possessing a handgun loaded with hollowpoint ammunition in violation of state law. Evidently this person is so dangerous that entry into a diversionary program is off the table, and instead, a mandatory minimum 3-year prison sentence will be imposed if a felony conviction is obtained, something that seems probable at this writing … How that will benefit the people of New Jersey is unclear.

It won’t benefit the people of New Jersey.  This poor woman is being prosecuted for the same reason that Sergeant Tahmooressi is left to rot in a Mexican prison by U.S. authorities.  The people of New Jersey don’t care any more about women trying to defend their loved ones than the authorities care about the U.S. Marines.  It’s all about guns, which in turn is all about control.

Via David, there is this from Virginia democrat Mike Dickenson:

Let us pray to god that he infects all members of the @nra with Ebola so they can meet a miserable end, as so many have at the hands of guns

This is an imprecatory prayer.  He’d better be careful.  I’ve prayed such things, once when the subject of my prayer soon contracted cancer and lost his job (Senator Arlen Specter).  But if your heart is dark or you don’t have the mind of God in such matters, you may bear the brunt of your prayers.

Kurt Hofmann:

Frum, MacGillis and Horwitz would have us believe that cops will continue to morph into storm troopers unless and until we the people submit to further forcible citizen disarmament laws, that we must choose between being “policed” by an army of enforcers indoctrinated to think of the people (the same people they used to claim to “protect and serve”) as enemies; or we must surrender those arms best suited to protection against those who would destroy or oppress us–including out-of-control police. That sounds rather a lot like extortion, and is also a false choice.

The collectivists want it to be a Hobson’s choice.  But since we aren’t part of the collective, we mustn’t make any choice at all, except to fulfill the duty to protect ourselves and our families (and tribes).

This picture from Mike Vanderboegh is worth much more than a thousand words.  I stared at the screen today looking at that picture for about ten minutes.  Burn it into your memory.  Don’t ever forget it.

In other news, Al Franken is a loathsome, awful man.

The following year, in 2005, the radio hosts Opie & Anthony played the interview before they welcomed Franken on their XM radio show. The old Franken explains his 2004 interview: “There were a couple guys, and one was smarter than the other,” he said. “There were actually two guys, I think they’re both Down Syndrome, and one actually made a lot of sense. . . . We stayed with each other . . . and then the other guy made no sense.” Prompted by his politically incorrect hosts, he laughs about the use of the term “genetic disaster” to refer to the mentally retarded.

May God give him his due recompense for his bigotry and hatred of the very ones whom God says to protect and love.  Shameful.

Greenville News:

Marina Lambrou, owner of the Boston Pizzeria on Woodruff Road, said she knew some of her customers had permits to carry concealed weapons before the law changed in February to allow permit holders to take their guns into establishments that serve alcohol.

Lambrou chose not to prohibit guns, and she said the issue hasn’t been a problem.

“I don’t prohibit and I don’t encourage it,” she told The Greenville News. “I just feel this is a free nation, and if someone feels like they need the extra protection, then God willing, let them do it.”

State law enforcement and restaurant officials say they know of no problems since the law went into effect seven months ago. The law allows permit holders to take guns into places that serve alcohol but allows businesses to prohibit guns and doesn’t allow permit holders to consume alcohol.

Erin Dando, leader of the South Carolina Chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a gun reform group, said more businesses would prohibit guns but the new law requires the signs banning guns be 8 by 12 inches with 1-inch lettering.

“Frankly, the size requirement is alarming for business owners and it’s prevented some from putting them up,” she said. She said one business that has posted a sign has heard negative feedback from members of a gun rights organization.

Gun owners said on The Greenville News‘ Facebook page they are voting with their feet if restaurants choose to ban weapons.

“Only a couple of the restaurants where I have eaten decided to post signs after the new law went into effect,” posted Stephen Combs. “Their food wasn’t exceptional enough for me to feel the need to disarm and patronize them.”

“If there have been any incidents, I’m not aware of them,” said Jerrod Bruder, executive director of the South Carolina Sheriffs Association.

He said the organization’s concerns about the changes in the law had to do with training and education. The new law still requires training of permit holders but has dropped the number of mandatory hours of training.

Thom Berry, a spokesman for the State Law Enforcement Division, said he wasn’t aware of any incidents involving concealed weapons permit holders and businesses that serve alcohol under the new law.

Sgt. Jennings Autrey, a spokesman for the Greenville County Sheriff’s office, also said he wasn’t aware of any such incidents.

Board members of the South Carolina Restaurant and Hotel Association said they think the new law hasn’t produced any problems.

My goodness.  Is that what we have to do to make an informative news report?  Ask everyone and their cousin too about it?  How about my dog?  Wonder what Heidi thinks about it?  Does she know of any issues resulting from the law?

No, there aren’t any issues.  There won’t be with concealed carriers, and the next step is to get open carry passed in South Carolina, over the objections and opposition of communist State Senator Larry Martin.  Martin opposed recent attempts at legalization of open carry in S.C. because those horrible Negros down around Charleston might open carry and thus affect the tourism industry in South Carolina.  Yes.  Seriously.  Really.  I wouldn’t be able to make this up if I tried.  That’s why he opposed open carry.

But open carry worked as well in Mississippi as I said it would.  My readers in South Carolina might want to tell Larry what you think about him – one way or another.