Articles by Herschel Smith

Rolling Stone:

It’s easy to call acts of horror “evil.” It’s comforting to ascribe an external, unknowable motive to events so terrible we can’t imagine a motivation.

The human mind is incapable of imagining what would drive a man to haul an arsenal of high-powered weapons into a hotel room, knock out a couple windows, murder dozens of people and injure hundreds more by spraying them with gunfire. So we call it evil. That settles that.

All the author does in this article is display a lack of understanding of my world view and display his own confusion over current events.

The Scriptures are quite clear, and evil can be understood.  The Westminster Confession of Faith is clear: “Sin is any want of conformity to or transgression of the law of God.”  Man does this because he fell in sin through the federal headship of Adam, and the only redemption from this fallen nature is the only begotten Son of God, Jesus, whose death, burial and resurrection vicariously atoned for the sins of His people.  Without Christ, America is bound for more of the same as you saw in Las Vegas.

You may not like it.  The author at Rolling Stone may not like it.  But your dislike doesn’t change facts one iota.  Mankind attempting to regulate his way to utopia is akin to building the tower of Babel.  It’s doomed to fail.

There now.  I hate giving a Sunday School lecture to a Rolling Stone author, since we have so many more important things to discuss, but he apparently needed that.  I don’t apologize one bit for my views, and I see nothing “unknowable” about this, as some sort of worshiper of Immanuel Kant.  He can lampoon it all he wants, and I’ll lampoon the fact that none of his laws and regulations succeed in bringing utopia.

Statement.

On behalf of MGV, we are deeply saddened for the victims and families affected by last night’s activities and absolutely sickened by the behavior of the individual who committed a sheer act of violence on our community. We realize there will be many sensitivities to firearms and their misuse, and we would like to address a few points as a business that offers firearms experiences in a safe, controlled environment in Las Vegas. We believe, as we always have, that there should absolutely be more stringent control on the types of firearms private individuals can own and the processes they must go through in order to own those firearms. There were many factors contributing to this tragic event, but there is no doubt that the shooter’s ability to inflict so many casualties was heavily due to the types of weapons he had access to. MGV agrees that the NRA, Federal Government and individual states have a responsibility to continue to maximize efforts to keep these firearms out of the hands of the wrong people.

We believe that responsible gun ownership is attainable through the application of common sense, more stringent vetting and background checks, dramatically increased mandatory sentencing for gun offences and increased testing standards for gun owners.

I hope their few moments of fame with the collectivists felt good, because gun owners never forget.  If you want to get a taste of the venom coming their way, visit this reddit link.

I can’t find the original post.  If they have any sense at all, they took it down.  But that may be too little, too late.  The gun community now knows what they’re made of.

Too bad for them.  But it’s best that we know, and the community will act accordingly, I assure you.

Via WRSA:

Some links, and then a brief assessment from me.

Nick Gillespie, bless his heart, is fighting the good fight, with a very good article at Reason arguing that now is the time for less gun control, not more.  I agree.

Paul Ryan, known to us as the communist shill who hates gun rights, has said that the SHARE act is dead for the time being.

Someone named Andrea Ruth, writing at Red State, argues for more involvement of the community witch doctors we know as Psychiatrists.  I suppose she wants mental health “professionals” to approve all gun purchases.  Perhaps she would think differently is a mental health professional had to approve her raising a child, or driving a car.

The White House punts on suppressors, saying essentially there is no love for the SHARE act.

And Trump himself has said “we’ll be talking about gun laws.”  Great.  I wouldn’t be so concerned about that if I thought he held to any doctrine on anything at all.

My brief assessment.  The shooter had an awful lot of guns and magazines, more than he could ever shoot in several days of being in that room.  These were magazines that hold more than 30 rounds.  He spent an awful lot of money on weapons, more than I find feasible in a short amount of time (like months or even several years).  These were pricey weapons, not low-end guns.

Something is very wrong with this picture.  I don’t like it at all, but it’s going to take time to cipher all of this.  Something feels very rotten, and as if on queue, the controllers started spewing forth their gun control bullshit as soon as this happened.

AR-15s, AR-10s, high capacity magazines and slide fire (or bump fire) stocks will be the boogeyman.  I expect a reassessment of slide fire stocks very soon by the ATF, or an executive order challenged by no one, that places them on the NFA list.

I expect the introduction of new gun control bills in Congress, and all it takes is the democrats and a few republicans (along with Trump), and we have a brand new assault weapons ban.  Perhaps this is intended in all of this.

Times are going to get dicey for us.  Hold on to your breeches.  The ride is liable to get rough.

Daily Caller:

Former FBI agent Manny Gomez claimed on MSNBC on Monday that hunters use suppressors so that deer cannot hear the gunshots.

Firearm owners actually use suppressors to prevent hearing loss, and even with a suppressor, a firearm would still be loud enough to spook a deer or other wild game.

“Sportsmen, hunters would make an argument that they need that so that their target, whether it’s a deer, etc. don’t hear the shot,” Gomez claimed, “but numerous other sportsmen have shot from muskets–when the founding fathers started the Second Amendment–up until now successfully killed game animals without the use of a silencer.”

So here’s a news flash for “Agent” Gomez and MSNBC.  The rounds most hunters use for deer are supersonic (I can conceive of the use of a subsonic round like a suppressed .300 Blackout, but most hunters would consider than an unethical kill).

That means … hold on to your breeches … the round gets there before the sound does.  I know physics is hard to the uninitiated, but please do try to keep up.

Here is a remarkable video.  Watch it completely.

In this video, you’ll notice at least the following things.  Feel free to add to them in the comments.  I’m going to address my remarks to the response of the people, not LEOs.  I don’t care, per se, about LEOs in this commentary because I’m not focused on LEOs.

The music is loud.  Being in such venues under these conditions means that at least one of your senses has been effectively removed because you can’t hear threats.  The crowd is densely packed.  It was hard to move around when the shooting started.

The reaction is lethargic and extremely delayed.  Even when the music stopped and the shooting was identified, the people on the video laughed rather than sought cover or concealment.  The venue itself was effectively a confined space, with an overwatch from the hotel (and perhaps other hotels or buildings).  This gave a shooter great position to use a long range, standoff weapon in relative safety while he perpetrated his evil.

Even after it was recognized that there was a shooting and they were in danger, the people stopped to take videos, laugh, talk, and variously jibber-jabber and yak about what was happening.  With this kind of response, it’s a miracle that hundreds more didn’t die.

Folks, confined spaces are dangerous.  They can kill you.  You can be trampled, you can be shot, you can be knifed, you can be run over, and you can be assaulted.  You are usually hemmed in on one or more sides, and concealment and cover is usually limited in venues like this.  Confined spaces also concentrate gases, contaminants and dangerous biological hazards.  Here they were in a confined space with no protection, and yet they were lethargic in their response.

Remember the three E’s.  Evasion, Egress and Escape.  Evade the initial danger, find suitable egress from the danger, and escape the location.  Get out without delay.  Better yet, avoid crowds like this, and examine the nature of the venue before you ever go.  In conditions like this where there is an “observation post,” or conditions are good for one to have been set up, make your escape before anything happens.  In other words, begin thinking about your safety at all times and in all locations.

With America behaving like this, with lethargy being the order of the day, and with safety and security being the last thing people consider, and also with the influx of MS-13 members, Islamists and other bad actors across the borders, we are set up for disaster and many more events like this, of much greater magnitude.

Don’t buy the hype or the progressive talking points.  Gun control won’t help this situation.  With the foundations for civil unrest or even civil war being laid by the deep state, and with the porous sieve that defines our Southern border, this cannot be dealt with simply or with another law or regulation.  America needs to think differently about her future.

Do that right now.

Washington Post:

However, one member of the band went even further, posting a lengthy message on Twitter about his personal response to the attack. After spending the night fearing for his life, Caleb Keeter, the group’s lead guitarist, spoke up about gun control.

“I’ve been a proponent of the 2nd amendment my entire life. Until the events of last night. I cannot express how wrong I was. We actually have members of our crew with [Concealed Handgun Licenses], and legal firearms on the bus,” Keeter wrote. “They were useless.” He continued:

We couldn’t touch them for fear police might think we were part of the massacre and shoot us. A small group (or one man) laid waste to a city with dedicated, fearless police officers desperately trying to help, because of access to an insane amount of fire power.

Enough is enough.

Writing my parents and the love of my life a goodbye last night and a living will because I felt like I wasn’t going to live through the night was enough for me to realize that this is completely and totally out of hand. These rounds were just powerful enough that my crew guys just standing in close proximity of a victim shot by this f—ing coward received shrapnel wounds.

We need gun control RIGHT. NOW. My biggest regret is that I stubbornly didn’t realize it until my brothers on the road and myself were threatened by it. We are unbelievably fortunate to not be among the number of victims killed or seriously wounded by this maniac.

So part of being a proponent of the second amendment for you is believing that a handgun would be of any use against a long range, standoff weapon like a long gun?  And in spite of the fact that the shooter didn’t use handguns, you project the evil of what happened on your own guns that you consider worthless for self defense, disregarding the fact that they would have been quite useful had the shooter decided to engage close quarters battle with you?  And you didn’t ponder the fact that a handgun would have indeed been useful to someone who did engage the shooter in close quarters battle?

I see.  Why don’t you stick with music and leave the thinking to thinking men.

The Hill:

Fox News strategic analyst Ralph Peters said “the Founding Fathers didn’t want every juiced-up psycho to have a machine gun collection” and argued that “an armed crowd” would have only made the situation worse after a mass shooting at a Las Vegas concert left at least 58 dead and more than 500 wounded.

“The idea that an armed crowd would’ve made a difference — if it made any difference, it would’ve been worse,” Peters told Stuart Varney on Fox Business. “And I am a gun owner. I will always be a gun owner.”

“But the Founding Fathers didn’t want every juiced-up psycho to have a machine gun collection,” he continued. “We need to look at what kind of weapons they had — clearly, this guy had military-grade weapons — and where he got them. Because automatic rifles are illegal for the average citizen to own.

How the hell do you know what the founding fathers wanted beyond what they wrote, drama queen?  And I assume that you have a clinical definition for the phrase “juiced-up psycho?”  Let’s hear it, doctor.  Give me your clinical definition.  We’re waiting.  Oh, I see.  You don’t have one.  Okay, on to the next point.

As to this notion that the founding fathers didn’t want “civilians” to own “military grade” weapons, you expect us to believe that the patriot fighters during the war of independence, who had risked their lives, livelihoods, families and fortunes, and who shot cannon when they had powder and ball, and who used these weapons against the government, would not have wanted machine guns if they had access to them?  You only think that because you’re an idiot.

I told my sons Joshua and Joseph about your commentary, Ralph, and we all agreed that we care more what our dogs had to say about gun control than we did what you have to say.  Joseph asked Roxie, his Chow, a very sweet girl, and she looked at him like I look over the top of my glasses at somebody stupid.

Roxie thinks you’re full of crap, Ralph.  So do I.

NRA-ILA:

At 3 a.m. on September 14, David Dunstan was alerted to a suspicious noise on his Bungowannah, NSW farm where he lives with his wife and three children. When he went outside his house to investigate the disturbance, Dunston came upon a man armed with a piece of wood and a knife.

Concerned for his family’s safety, Dunstan, a licensed gun owner, retrieved a .22-caliber rifle from a locked gun cabinet, and without loading it, confronted the trespasser. Describing his mindset to the Herald Sun, Dunstan said, “I went into protection mode … I yelled out to Andrea (his wife) to get the key to the gun cupboard.” Dunstan then used the unloaded rifle to detain the knife-wielding man until police could arrive. Police later determined that the trespasser had attempted to enter a child’s bedroom at another home before going to the Dunstan property.

[ … ]

When law enforcement came to Dunstan’s farm to investigate the incident, police confiscated the rifle he used to defend his family, along with two others. Upset, Dunstan told the Herald Sun, “What are you supposed to do if someone was breaking into your house… I don’t know what, as a law-abiding citizen of Australia, we’re supposed to do?” Dunston went on to say, “The police have handled this the wrong way (and) I can’t get an answer out of them.” 

Lamenting the lack of respect for armed self-defense in Australia, Dunstan told Yahoo7 News, “You go and break into someone’s house you can be expected to either get arrested, shot or you could be maybe killed… And until that happens this sort of stuff keeps going on.”

Gun rights advocate and Liberal Democratic Senator for New South Wales David Leyonhjelm has come to Dunstan’s defense. In an interview with Yahoo7 News, Sen. Leyonhjelm said, “Dave was defending his family against a threat. He did what any normal father would do.”

Speaking with the Border Mail, Dunstan remarked, “I just don’t know what I should have done, what would have been the right way to do it.” Sadly, in the Land Down Under there doesn’t seem to be a “right way” for the law-abiding to fight back against criminal violence.

Thanks to the NRA writers for bringing this to our attention.  This is what it looks like with state monopoly on violence at the worst inflection point, the extremum.

A man must allow a criminal to violate his home and property, harm his children, and potentially rape his wife of even kill his family members because only law enforcement is allowed to have firearms.

A government that abuses its people and violates or gives up that “mandate of heaven,” as Mike Vanderboegh used to call it, must confiscate weapons because of that fear.  Confiscation of weapons cannot admit to any stipulation or suffer any exception.  Weapons means all weapons, for any purpose at all.

Having no weapons means that a man cannot perform his God-given duty of defense of family.  Thus, you cannot allow the state to confiscate weapons, no matter how much they fear you and want you disarmed.

Breitbart:

“When you see Judge Moore pull out a gun at a public rally, that is a threat,” Schaeffer told MSNBC “AM Joy” host Joy Reid. “This is the act of a fascist. This is not American. People don’t do this.”

Yea, your daddy said something a little different, dude.

“The Bible is clear here: I am to love my neighbor as myself, in the manner needed, in a practical way, in the midst of the fallen world, at my particular point of history. This is why I am not a pacifist. Pacifism in this poor world in which we live – this lost world – means that we desert the people who need our greatest help. What if you come upon a big, burly man beating a tiny tot to death and plead with him to stop? Suppose he refuses? What does love mean now? Love means that I stop him in any way I can, including hitting him. To me this is not only necessary for humanitarian reasons: it is loyalty to Christ’s commands concerning Christian love in a fallen world. What about the little girl? If I desert her to the bully, I have deserted the true meaning of Christian love – responsibility to my neighbor.”

Right Francis, and not only that, but you should do more than hit him.  If necessary, you should put a bullet in him.  Hey Frank, your daddy is more of a man than you’ll ever be in a thousand lifetimes.  And your atheism is a shame to you and your family, and most of all means that you’re on the wrong side of history and life.