Articles by Herschel Smith

The Washington Post:

NAIROBI, Kenya — As attacks on Christians mount in Kenya’s coastal region, some evangelical pastors in Mombasa area no longer may be willing to turn the other cheek.

Worried about attacks against their churches and congregations, some pastors are asking for rifles to protect themselves from suspected Islamic extremists.

The violence intensified on Oct. 20 and 21, when two evangelical church pastors were killed inside their churches. Pastor Charles Mathole, 41, was killed Oct. 20 as he prayed inside his Vikwatani Redeemed Gospel Church. The following day, East African Pentecostal Church pastor Ibrahim Kithaka was found dead in Kilifi, about 35 miles north of Mombasa.

Christian leaders blame the attacks on increased radicalization of Muslim youth. The attacks have occurred amid protests by Muslims that they were being targeted in Nairobi’s war against terrorism.

“Our many churches are not under any protection. They do not have walls or gates. The government should issue AK-47 rifles to every church so that we can stop them from being burnt, our property from being looted and our pastors and Christians from being killed,” said Lambert Mbela, a pastor at Mathole’s church, during his funeral.

Good for them.  A rifle is a better personal defense weapon than a handgun except where the barrel length is an impediment to CQB (although I would certainly choose to have access to both).

We are seeing more of that muscular Christianity where Christians defend themselves, the justification of which is something we’ve discussed here and here.  And notice that these pastors aren’t attempting to make some sort of in-vogue or posh political statement.  Hand wringing over what the elitists think of you is a boring, first world white people problem.  These men are fighting for their very lives and to protect their flock.

Does the American Christian church care anything about churches across the sea and on the other side of the world?  Does American Christianity care that the Syrian Christians are being slaughtered?  My answer is no.  When is the last time you heard a sermon on imprecatory prayers against the evil-doers and radical Islamists?  When is the last time you saw a loud mouth American pastor of a mega-church take a road trip to Syria to visit fellow Christians?

We’re too busy navel gazing to do much of anything except be anemic and worthless.  How about this.  In order to show your affection for your brothers and sisters in Kenya, instead of having your next Presbytery or General Assembly meeting where you can glad-hand your admirers and have your worthless committee meetings and be elected to this post and that one, cancel the meetings and arrange to carry weapons to your Kenyan brethren.  Otherwise, shut up about “Christian love.”  If we’re going to be running guns to the Christians in Kenya, sign me up to go with you.  I’ll put my money where my mouth is.  We need to carry a bunch of them in order to counter the guns Obama is running to the Islamists.

The Daily Beast:

If you were told a Republican has a 30-point lead in one of the two states that hold off-year gubernatorial elections, in the past you would have guessed Virginia, seat of the old confederacy, certainly not New Jersey. But the politics have flipped. Republican Chris Christie is cruising to victory in the blue state of New Jersey, and Democrat Terry McAuliffe has a big lead in Virginia, topping a ticket that could sweep enough Democrats into elective office to install a Democratic attorney general for the first time in decades and break the GOP’s lock on the Virginia General Assembly.

I’m not so sure, and the author may be whistling through the grave yard.  But continuing:

Seeing opportunity in this once red state on the issue New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg cares most about, gun safety, his Independence USA super PAC, which he founded last year, contributed some $2 million to McAuliffe’s campaign and to the Virginia Democratic caucus overseeing state legislative races. On Tuesday—just seven days before Election Day— Independence USA directed another $1 million into the race for attorney general, where Democrat Mark Herring has a real chance to defeat Republican Mark Obenshain. As a state senator, Obenshain voted to repeal the one-handgun-a-month law and to allow guns in bars and daycare centers. He also supports the bulk purchase of guns and opposes closing the gun show loophole.

If McAuliffe wins, as the polls indicate, he will break a long-standing curse that whatever party holds the White House loses the governor’s race in Virginia. And he will buoy hopes among Democrats that Virginia is reliably purple, if not blue, in the 2016 presidential election.

Seeing opportunity in this once red state on the issue New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg cares most about, gun safety, his Independence USA super PAC, which he founded last year, contributed some $2 million to McAuliffe’s campaign and to the Virginia Democratic caucus overseeing state legislative races. On Tuesday—just seven days before Election Day— Independence USA directed another $1 million into the race for attorney general, where Democrat Mark Herring has a real chance to defeat Republican Mark Obenshain. As a state senator, Obenshain voted to repeal the one-handgun-a-month law and to allow guns in bars and daycare centers. He also supports the bulk purchase of guns and opposes closing the gun show loophole.

If McAuliffe wins, as the polls indicate, he will break a long-standing curse that whatever party holds the White House loses the governor’s race in Virginia. And he will buoy hopes among Democrats that Virginia is reliably purple, if not blue, in the 2016 presidential election … The top three statewide candidates for the GOP are walking billboards for extremism, which gave McAuliffe plenty of running room, even among more rural voters, to the point where he could be more assertive on issues of gun safety than anyone had previously dared, calling for expanded background checks and limits on the size of gun magazines.

For my readers in Virginia, this is awesome.  This is where it’s at.  The fight is on your doorstep, and you must repel the invasion and take it to the enemy.  The State is where the battles for our liberty should be waged, and if you lose I don’t want to hear any bullshit excuses and plans for taking your loss of gun rights before the totalitarian federal court system and whining about the second amendment.

I don’t intend to sound unsympathetic or mean spirited, but if your state elects the ass-clown Terry McAuliffe to the office of Governor, you deserve everything you get.  Again, I’m sorry, but win or move.  The battle lines are drawn, and the federal leviathan will not help you maintain your rights.

Win the battles or move from Virginia and take everything with you when you go.

Bob Unruh writing at World Net Daily:

The anti-gun lobby is running out of excuses and sooner or later will have to admit that they are simply collectivists and don’t want members of the hive to be capable of self defense.

But another thing we learn is that violent crime (whether with a gun or not) is a culturally and racially concentrated phenomenon.  And to further demonstrate the point, what do you notice about this gun crime map?

I’ll let the readers weigh in.

We covered it here.  You know the drill.  Sonoma deputies shot and killed a boy holding a toy gun.  First, let’s cover some details about the man.

The Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy who killed a 13-year-old boy after mistaking his toy AK-47 for a real rifle was identified Monday as a firearms instructor, hunter and war veteran who in the past has warned other officers that they may need to use lethal force to survive an encounter.

Deputy Erick Gelhaus, 48, had broad experience with guns – even relative to others in his profession – before he fatally shot Andy Lopez Cruz last Tuesday just outside Santa Rosa, an incident that has prompted community outrage.

Gelhaus is a frequent contributor to law enforcement magazines and online forums in which he promotes officer safety. He served as an infantry squad leader in Iraq, according to his online profiles, and he describes himself as an avid hunter in North America as well as Africa.

He once accidentally shot himself in the leg in 1995 while on duty with the Sheriff’s Office – reportedly while holstering a gun. However, officials said he has not fired upon a suspect in 24 years with the agency, where he serves as a field training officer for new recruits and trains colleagues to shoot at the department’s gun range.

This is just too good.  He is an expert on firearms – and he shot himself in the leg.  So let’s cover some details on the shooting itself.  Here is the one you really need to know.

Ethan Oliver, who lives across the street from where the shooting occurred, said he heard two gunshots, and while Lopez was on the ground the deputies “went at it again and unloaded like six to seven shots,” KTVU.com reported.

Like I said in the initial article.  The blue wall will close in and you will never hear the story.  Watch it happen, I said.  It’s happening.  The cop who did it is an “expert,” even though he shot himself.  The cops who fired were under threat, or had to assume so.  But they continued to shoot after the boy had gone down.

You’ll never hear the truth from the LEOs.  But you’ll hear enough of it to assist you in developing an understanding of how LEOs see the world today.  Be very careful and circumspect.  Watch your six.  The LEOs think they are in Iraq (and most of them only know what they saw on television).  The LEOs think we are Sunni or Shi’ite insurgents.  The LEOs think they are in the infantry.  The LEOs will kill you.  And the blue wall will close in to protect them.

Not this:

Four law-enforcement officers were wounded Friday in a suburb of Sacramento, Calif., during an attempt to take a wanted gang member into custody.

The shooting occurred in Roseville, a suburb about 20 miles northeast of the state capital.

Helicopters circled overhead and armored vehicles and other police cars flocked to the area following an initial report that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent had been shot.

A sporadic gun battle lasted into the night and the commotion snarled traffic for hours. Police responded by setting up a checkpoint and pointing guns at motorists, as this Associated Press photo shows.

I have sent a note to the California Highway Patrol demanding to know why this officer hasn’t been arrested and charged with endangerment and assault with a deadly weapon (which includes perceived threat as well as potential danger).  I asked that they not respond that “the officer is observing trigger discipline,” because that’s not a good enough excuse for me.  I would have been arrested and charged with a crime.

I’ll let you know if I get a response, but I’m not holding my breath.  The CHP apparently allows criminals to work in their ranks.  I wonder how this guy would feel if he received a Christmas card in the mail of his picture shown through a high powered scope, cross hairs centered on him?

Rachel Alexander writing for Townhall issues a warning.

… the NRA stepped in and got some of the worst language revised last December. Senate amendment 3276, Sec. 2716, part c. prohibits the creation of a firearms database and stops doctors from disclosing or collecting information relating to a patient’s firearms. Ironically, this provision was probably the only positive result of most members of Congress not bothering to read the bill before voting on it.

However, the provision does not go as far as prohibiting doctors from asking their patients if there are any firearms in their home. In January, Obama issued 23 executive actions and orders regarding firearms. Order 16 stressed that Obamacare does not prohibit doctors from asking patients about their firearms, and the fact sheet includes, “Clarify that no federal law prevents health care providers from warning law enforcement authorities about threats of violence.” What constitutes a “threat of violence” could be very arbitrary. This puts doctors in a difficult position by suggesting they act as pseudo-law enforcement agents. It is damaging to doctor-patient privilege. If doctors have a patient with PTSD or mental illness, and they fail to ask the patient about their firearms, or report them to law enforcement, they could be on the hook later. It encourages them to err on the side of snooping into their patients’ guns. This is especially troubling considered the definition of mental illness keeps expanding.

In Guns And The Mentally Ill: A Professional Assessment, I noted yet again that the mental health profession couldn’t possibly sustain the load of predicting violent behavior and that mental health maladies have no particular association with propensity to violence.

Yet mental health continues to be the whipping boy du jour of the gun control fanatics, which led my commenter and former member of the military Will to comment:

I absolutely regret seeking care from the VA for PTSD for just this reason.

I’m so sorry.  I am so very sorry to the members of the military who have seen combat, earned the combat action ribbon (or Army equivalent), or who have sought care for PTSD.

For those who thought we had their backs, I’m so sorry that the country let you down by sending you to fight in a war with obscene rules of engagement that caused you danger, sent you to fight without enough troops, and now places you at risk upon return to lose your right to own weapons.

America will answer for its sins one day in time, and then in eternity.

As readers know I’m usually bored with polls.  But The Washington Post had an interesting piece entitled The Start Divide Over Gun Laws – In Two Charts.

The best way to describe Americans’ overall attitude to current gun laws? One word — split.

A new Gallup poll shows that nearly half of adults say laws concerning guns sales should be tightened, while 50 percent say they should be unaltered or loosened.

Wait.  You mean all that stuff about 90%+ of all people wanting universal background checks was all just horse shit?  You mean they were just making that up because they know the GOP just sticks its fingers into the air to see which way the wind is blowing rather than make laws based on principle?  You mean the collectivists can’t be trusted?

Gosh.  It seems that someone should have said something about that before now.

David Codrea:

“At the Burlington City Council Meeting on Monday, Councilor Norm Blais, the driving force behind the gun control ordinance campaign in Burlington, proved what [we have] stated from the beginning,” VFSC explained. “Burlington [is pursuing] the dismantling of the Vermont Sportsmen’s Bill of Rights so that towns and cities all over Vermont will have the power to enact gun control, hunting, shooting, fishing and trapping regulations. We would then face a patchwork of conflicting municipal ordinances.”

I am a long standing and diehard advocate of State’s rights, even to the extent that I don’t think the federal court system should be invoked when local gun control is concerned.  All gun politics is local, I have said.  The corollary is that in order to prevent local hicks, ne’er-do-wells and criminals from acting out their Napoleon fantasies upon other men, association with the state means that – assuming robust gun rights laws already exist – local municipalities and townships shouldn’t be able to preempt state laws.  The state is the right size for law-making and control.  Our founding fathers were wise.  Oh, and David is of course correct.  The goal of progressives is complete control over everything.  They’re control freaks and they think they know better than you.

Kurt Hofmann:

And it’s all bogus. As this column has noted before, John Fund debunked the claim handily in the National Review. More surprisingly, the shrilly anti-gun, fawningly pro-Obama Washington Post found the claim very unconvincing (soon updated to even less convincing than that, with a much more defensible figure being 14-22%), and when Obama continued to repeat the “40%” fiction, they realized that they had still been giving him too much slack.

Kurt covers some lies told by the collectivists.  There are so many from which to choose.  Kurt is of course correct to note that a good tactician goes after the weakness of his opponent – in this case lies concerning polling statistics – while at the same time Kurt acknowledges that polls or not, we’ll keep our guns.  Good.  Very good.

Michael Bane notes what he believes to be the utility of AR pistols as a PDW.  I’m not so convinced that one needs a high velocity round like this, but I’m more convinced than ever that a SBR has specific utility as a PDW, especially inside homes (regardless of caliber or muzzle velocity – and I would probably choose a pistol caliber SBR).  Of course, SBRs are illegal unless registered as such with the ATF, and I’ll have my fingernails pulled off before I’ll ever register any weapon with the ATF to get a tax stamp.

Mike Vanderboegh:

John Lott has written another book. No big surprise there. The surprise, forwarded to me by David Codrea, is that Lott has sanitized the story of the Fast and Furious scandal by writing me out of it.

John Lott has written another book. No big surprise there. The surprise, forwarded to me by David Codrea, is that Lott has sanitized the story of the Fast and Furious scandal by writing me out of it.

Now, it is no surprise that John Lott doesn’t like me very much. He took the trouble to personally look me up when I was resting and chatting with supporters on the steps at the side of the Connecticut state house right after my Hartford speech back in April (he also spoke at the rally) to take me to task for my “lawbreaking,” saying that I was alienating the vast majority in the center and playing to gun confiscationists’ worst characterizations of American firearm owners.

I told him if he was waiting for the “vast middle” to agree with us or to save us from the determined minority of collectivists who sought to disarm us he would be waiting a very long time. He left, frustrated and obviously angry that I could not see his “wisdom.”

John Lott is a jerk.  I’ve known this for some time now.  I interacted with him on an article I wrote about cases involving firearms in national parks and also so-called “assault weapons” and their ban in D.C.  John responded by saying that neither case was good to take to the supreme court and that, basically, me thinking so showed that I didn’t read his blog and should and I’d know more than I did.  Or something like that.

Frankly, I hadn’t known about him or his blog until just before that note, and so his point was irrelevant.  But his ass-clownery towards me wasn’t irrelevant at all.  Never read John Lott, never will.  That fact that Lott wrote Vanderboegh out of F&F only shows again what a jerk he is.

I don’t often do this, but I must proffer several unfortunate object lessons for many of us, if not most or even all of us.  The example comes from Nevada.

The parents of a seventh grade student who killed a teacher and wounded two students before taking his own life could face charges if police determine the boy got the semi-automatic gun from home, police said today.

“The potential is there [for charges to be filed],” said Sparks Police Department Deputy Chief Tom Miller. He said that decision would have to be left up to the local prosecutor’s office.

Miller said investigators believe the 12-year-old obtained the Ruger 9mm semi-automatic handgun from his home, however authorities are still trying to confirm the origin of the firearm.

He declined to identify the boy out of respect for his grieving family, but said he was a seventh grade student at Sparks Middle School.

One day after the shooting that took the life of a Marine veteran turned math teacher and left two students wounded, police said they were trying to determine what caused the student to snap.

Miller declined to address reports that the shooter may have been bullied, but Faith Ebans, a student who said she had math class with the gunman, told ABC News she believed he had been made fun of at school.

“I saw kids pushing him around and doing a lot of mean things to him,” she said.

“I guess one day he got tripped and my friends said, ‘Trip them back,” she said. “But I guess he just decided just to shoot them.”

The first object lesson has to do with education.  It may not have been fifty years ago, but public education has turned into an opportunity for the statists to indoctrinate gullible children into the ideas of communism, train them in atheism, and teach them to ignore all that is holy, good and righteous in favor of that which is manipulative, self serving and abusive.

Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly unsurprising that children snap in such environments.  As I tried to explain to a younger man in the context of “criminal intent” – a man who lacked my wisdom and years – in a very heady conversation, children are left virtually defenseless in public schools.

I know very little about you, but I assume (you can correct me if I’m wrong) that you do not have children of advanced school age (and I have no idea whether you are married). If your children one day attend public schools (I home schooled mine for the last several years except for one), they will find this notion in spades in the school system. Let me tell you how it plays out.

The kids that know they aren’t attending college know the kids who intend to attend college. The school system has given up on the idea of finding facts, finding fault and finding intent. Hence, the kids who have no intention of attending college abuse the ones who intend to attend college. It happens this way, and hundreds of others.

Let’s say that the school lunch line of a five minute wait. The bad kids will break in line and even punch the good kids. The good kids take it, run away, and avoid conflict at all costs. They do this because they know that the principal will make no attempt whatsoever to find facts or intent if a fight breaks out. Fights means that a kid is defending himself, or even that he isn’t and sits in a corner getting the hell kicked out of him. When it’s finally broken up, both kids get suspended, it goes on record, and colleges don’t accept kids with records. End of story. The competition is too high to accept kids with records, regardless of the fact that it’s disputed. All such records are disputed by every student.

My boys could have beat the hell out of anyone who they fought, but one of them needed to attend a scholarly college to do what he does, and for him we simply planned classes to avoid the bad kids, sent him with his lunch, and prayed that he got out without being in a … ahem … “fight.” Daniel, my Marine, just beat the hell out of anyone who accosted him. It cannot be that way for everyone. The ones who need to go to college behave differently. Daniel is in college now because of the Marines.

You see, smarts comes from books. Wisdom comes from age and experience. I have that. Been there, done that, got the tee shirt. And if you have children of advanced age one day, they will get the hell beaten out of them in school, or they will defend themselves and not go to college, or you will home school them. Welcome to fact-less, intent-less jurisprudence and lack of lawsuits against schools.

Public schools are tailor made for abusive treatment, and sometimes Christian schools aren’t much better with the girl-drama and cliques.  Be careful and wise, younger men, on how you educate your children and what you allow them to endure.  Consider home schooling.

The second object lesson pertains to guns.  I don’t know what “secure your weapons” means for you.  I don’t know if you’re an empty nester, or have younger children at home, or perhaps children being abused in public schools.  I know some men who never have a problem even with younger children, where their children know that even touching a gun means a “whooping.”  Others will have to use a different metric.

But if you do not exercise positive control over your weapons, you may find yourself heartbroken, and possibly in prison.  My opinion is that it isn’t within the purview of the state to tell you what “secure your weapons” means for you.  But you must police yourself.  The lives and freedom of you and your loved ones is at stake.