Gun Culture

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

That’s the amendment that’s seems to define the United States right now.   The others appear to be to be negotiable or endangered.

Here’s a few tidbits in the news today dealing with Guns.

One strange headline from Politico:

Evidently, Republican Pete King thinks it’s okay to carry guns around, just not around him.  Well, at least not within about 1,000 feet of him and his colleagues.  I guess preschoolers don’t deserve the same kind of protection.

“It would give law enforcement the weapon they need to protect federal officials, and just as importantly, it would provide a large measure of security for those who want to meet with their federal elected officials,” said King, who is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee.

According to The Hill, Weeper of the House John Boehner just says NO to gun control.   Guess he really wants an NRA fundraiser for his next election.

King’s legislation got the cold shoulder from Boehner and other Republicans after it was announced.

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said the Speaker would not support King’s legislation.

The office of Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said the majority leader is reserving judgment until the King bill is finalized.

“Mr. Cantor believes it’s appropriate to adequately review and actually read legislation before forming an opinion about it,” Cantor spokesman Brad Dayspring stated in an e-mail.

Michael Riley of Bloomberg writes that “Glock Pistol Sales Surge in Aftermath of Arizona Shootings”. Guess I’ll be ordering the latest fashion for those chickens among us:  a bullet proof space suit.

After a Glock-wielding gunman killed six people at a Tucson shopping center on Jan. 8, Greg Wolff, the owner of two Arizona gun shops, told his manager to get ready for a stampede of new customers.

Wolff was right. Instead of hurting sales, the massacre had the $499 semi-automatic pistols — popular with police, sport shooters and gangsters — flying out the doors of his Glockmeister stores in Mesa and Phoenix.

“We’re at double our volume over what we usually do,” Wolff said two days after the shooting spree that also left 14 wounded, including Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who remains in critical condition.

A national debate over weaknesses in state and federal gun laws stirred by the shooting has stoked fears among gun buyers that stiffer restrictions may be coming from Congress, gun dealers say. The result is that a deadly demonstration of the weapon’s effectiveness has also fired up sales of handguns in Arizona and other states, according to federal law enforcement data.

“When something like this happens people get worried that the government is going to ban stuff,” Wolff said.

Yes, it’s the good old U S of A where you too can be a militia of one.

Yup, it’s an open thread, but please don’t lock and load!   I’m your Huckleberry.