Posts filed under ‘Firearms’
Get Ready for Surface-to-Air Missiles on London Rooftops During the Olympics
My God, when a society has to go to this extent to “protect” itself, something has gone terribly wrong and it might want to take a look at what and why.
(Image via Wikipedia)
This is no joke:
London 2012: Missiles May be Placed at Residential Flats
The Ministry of Defence is considering placing surface-to-air missiles on residential flats during the Olympics.
An east London estate, where 700 people live, has received leaflets saying a “Higher Velocity Missile system” could be placed on a water tower.
A spokesman said the MoD had not yet decided whether to deploy ground based air defence systems during the event.
But estate resident Brian Whelan said firing the missiles “would shower debris across the east end of London”.
The journalist said: “At first I thought it was a hoax. I can’t see what purpose high-velocity missiles could serve over a crowded area like Tower Hamlets.
“They say they’ll only use them as a last resort, but… you’d shower debris across the east end of London by firing these missiles.”
Mr Whelan, who claims to have seen soldiers carrying a crate into the building, said his property management company put up posters and gave out the leaflets on Saturday.
He continued: “They are going to have a test run next week, putting high velocity missiles on the roof just above our apartment and on the back of it they’re stationing police and military in the tower of the building for two months.
My sense of the Olympic games is that they are designed to promote friendly competition amongst nations and to bring diverse cultures together. If the Olympic games have devolved into the need to put surface-to-air missiles on roofs, the heart and soul of the tradition is gone. Let’s be done with it.
Aside from that, It’s hard to know who’s doing the terrorizing here. The British government or some unknown entity they’re trying to protect people from.
Fox Calls Armed Neo-Nazi Group a “Civil Rights Group”
You can’t make this up.
On Friday I posted about armed members of the “National Socialist Movement” who are “patrolling” the streets of Sanford, Florida (where Trayvon Martin was killed):
Neo-Nazis are currently conducting heavily armed patrols in and around Sanford, Florida and are “prepared” for violence in the case of a race riot. The patrols are to protect “white citizens in the area who are concerned for their safety” in the wake of the Trayvon Martin shooting last month, says Commander Jeff Schoep of the National Socialist Movement [NSM]. “We are not advocating any type of violence or attacks on anybody, but we are prepared for it,” he says. “We are not the type of white people who are going to be walked all over.”
[...]
“Whenever there is one of these racially charged events, Al Sharpton goes wherever blacks need him,” Schoep said. “We do similar things. We are a white civil rights organization.”
The full post is here.
Fast forward to Saturday and”MyFox” out of Orlando bought that “civil rights” crap.
In Fox’s world, righties can do no wrong and white people are always the victim:
Go to the original here.
The Miami Heat Wear Hoodies in Support of Trayvon Martin
A tweet and a photo from LeBron James of the Miami Heat. Notice the hashtags in the tweet:
This is what you get when you follow the link in the tweet:
Photo via LeBron James
TAKE THAT GERALDO and bravo to the Miami Heat and LeBron James.
“Stand Your Ground” Law in Florida Results in “Skyrocketing” Rate of Homicides
Check out this graph:
The proliferation of these laws is part of a deliberate lobbying campaign by the NRA. In 2005, at the NRA’s urging, Florida became the first state to pass a “stand your ground” law. Before that, most states required you to retreat from a confrontation unless you were inside your own home. Now 24 states have these “stand your ground” laws, which critics call “shoot first” laws (Gawker’s pseudonymous blogger ”Mobuto Sese Seko” calls the laws “a great, legally roving murder bubble”) because they authorize citizens to use deadly force even if the person who makes them feel threatened is, like Martin, unarmed.
[...]
Prosecutors hate “stand your ground” laws because they make it much harder to successfully prosecute people who claim self-defense. In Florida, a defendant doesn’t have to actually prove he acted in self-defense—the prosecution has to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that he didn’t do so, a very high bar to clear. The upshot? In 2010, the Tampa Bay Times reported that “justifiable homicides”—i.e., killings that were deemed legitimate—have skyrocketed in Florida over several years since the “stand your ground” law went into effect.
What motive do the NRA and the Koch brothers funded ALEC group have for pushing this law? Is it as simple and viciously selfish as fishing for higher gun sales? Or are the Kochs hoping we’ll all kill each other so they can possess the whole country and everything in it?
I just don’t get it.
University of Colorado Students Allowed to Carry Concealed Weapons
Oh boy:
In a victory for gun-rights advocates, the Colorado Supreme Court today struck down the University of Colorado’s campus gun ban, saying the CU Board of Regents overstepped its authority in blocking students from carrying licensed concealed weapons.
This is crazy. Remind me to be very careful and very nice when I drive or walk through the campus so I don’t accidentally piss off some 21-year-old uber-jock who’s packing heat.
Hate and Fear
I know it’s early but this would be our Tweet of the Day:
And apropos of that, there’s this:
Wisconsin Republicans Vote to Allow Guns Into the Statehouse, But They Ban Cameras and Protest Signs
Man oh man, what f**ked up priorities:
The Wisconsin State Assembly Thursday passed a new policy on concealed weapons, allowing for both concealed weapons on the floor, and for members of the public to have concealed guns in the viewing gallery.
[...]
Democrats attempted to mount some opposition to the policy, by contrasting it with another policy — that citizens are not allowed to bring cameras or protest signs into the gallery. The Dems moved to allow signs and cameras, in addition to guns, but this was voted down by the GOP members.
In addition, as Jessica Arp from the local CBS affiliate reports, Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca jokingly said he had another amendment to offer, to allow signs in the galleries — if they are taped to a weapon.
I can’t imagine being a Wisconsin state legislator, standing on the floor of the assembly, knowing that people all around me, including those in the gallery above, could be packing heat, and being comfortable with that. Nor can I imagine being more terrified of a camera or a protest sign than a room full of people with loaded guns. But, hey, then again, I’m not a Republican.
Millions for “Homeland Security” and Then, There’s This
Are we throwing millions of our “homeland security” tax dollars down a rat hole? I think so.
We pay for body scanners at airports and big bad toys for the FBI and the CIA but we haven’t gotten our act together when it comes to this?
247 people on terror watch list buy guns in 2010
More than 200 people suspected of ties to terrorism bought guns in the U.S. last year legally, FBI figures show.
The 247 people who were allowed to buy weapons did so after going through required background checks as required by federal law.
It is not illegal for people listed on the government’s terror watch list to buy weapons. For years, that has bothered Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who is trying again to change the law to keep weapons out of the hands of terrorists.
Gosh. I wonder if the NRA has its hand in this (ah, yeah).
Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) Blows Off Question From Constituient: “Who is Going to Shoot President Obama?”
In light of past presidential assassinations in the US and the recent attempted assassination of Gabriel Giffords, one would think a member of the House of Representatives would take something like this seriously:
Here’s the latest evidence that nothing has changed in post-Tucson America: A person at a Tuesday town hall with Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., got up and asked, “Who is going to shoot President Obama?”
The exact wording of the question is not clear because, the Athens Banner-Herald reports, there was a lot of noise at the event. Perhaps more significant than the question was the response of the crowd and Broun, who is a member of the Tea Party Caucus and one of the most right-wing members of Congress.
The question prompted a “big laugh” from the crowd, in Oglethorpe County, Ga., according to the Banner-Herald. Broun, for his part, did not object to the question. He said in response:
“The thing is, I know there’s a lot of frustration with this president. We’re going to have an election next year. Hopefully, we’ll elect somebody that’s going to be a conservative, limited-government president that will take a smaller, who will sign a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.”
Apparently, being a “conservative” means never having to tell someone that shooting people because of their political views is Not. An. Option.
Massacre in Cairo?
NBC’s Brian Williams is reporting live from Tahrir Square (10:21 p.m. ET/5:21 a.m. in Egypt): “The sun can’t come up fast enough in Cairo.”
(BTW – Fox and CNN are AWOL.)
It’s Easy to Buy a Glock 9mm, No Questions Asked
From Gunshow Undercover:
Two weeks after the tragic shootings in Tucson, undercover investigators went to a gun show in Phoenix, Arizona and purchased guns — no background check, no questions asked.
(H/t Liz G.)
Another “Isolated Incident” Death Threat Against a Democrat (#5)
Think threats by wingnut Republicans against Democrats are “isolated incidents?” Think again. This would be the fifth such “isolated incident” in roughly the last four weeks (here are the other four):
Los Angeles Country Sheriff deputies announced “a 42-year old South Los Angeles man was arrested by Sheriff’s Major Crimes Bureau detectives Friday morning, after a series of recent phone calls threatening to kill retired U.S. Congresswoman Diane Watson.
Another “Isolated Incident”
Police in Arlington, MA this week seized a “large amount” of weapons and ammunition from local businessman Travis Corcoran after he wrote a blog post threatening U.S. lawmakers in the wake of the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ). In a post on his blog (which has since been removed) titled “1 down and 534 to go” — 1 referring to Giffords and 534 referring to the rest of the House of Representatives and the Senate — Corcoran applauded the shooting of Giffords and justified the assassination of lawmakers because he argued the federal government has grown far beyond its constitutional limits.
I saw that post while it was still up. The title alone gave me chills and frankly, it scared me so much I decided not to post about it. I hate to admit that; it’s embarrassing because damn if the terrorists are going to shut me up, but in this case the terrorist did.
P.S. This played a part in my thinking: note the third comment to this post.
Guns Now Legal on the Floor of the New Hampshire Statehouse
It’s amazing the chutzpah the gun lobby has:
On the Legislature’s opening day, House Republicans — who have a 3-to-1 advantage over Democrats — lifted a 40-year-old ban on guns on the House floor and in adjoining rooms.
Yeah Republicans! Now they don’t have to go outside to have a duel.
Jesus. Talk about setting the wrong tone.
