Promoting Hate Crimes and Home Invasions

When I first read the Second Amendment Foundation e-newsletter below, I was a bit skeptical.  I mean, law-abiding gun owning citizens should be able to expect as much respect and privacy as any other citizen, right?

Apparently not.  The Gannett owned Journal News covering Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam Counties in New York State has chosen to demonize gun owners, instill fear in county residents, and promote home invasions and hate crimes.  The method used was to publish a detailed list of permit holders, their addresses, and an interactive map (with satellite view option) showing the exact location of those residences. 

In publishing the data, the Journal News, apparently with the approval of the Gannett Corporation (see data below), has promoted crime and chaos.  Now every gun owner in that area can expect burglaries and/or home invasions by criminals seeking firearms.  Every non-gun owner in those counties can anticipate the same with the odds of the event turning deadly increased. 

  

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Connecticut Gun Owner Privacy Law

Chapter 529, Section 29-28, Paragraph (d)

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 1-210 and 1-211, the name and address of a person issued a permit to sell at retail pistols and revolvers pursuant to subsection (a) of this section or a state or a temporary state permit to carry a pistol or revolver pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, or a local permit to carry pistols and revolvers issued by local authorities prior to October 1, 2001, shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed, except (1) such information may be disclosed to law enforcement officials acting in the performance of their duties, (2) the issuing authority may disclose such information to the extent necessary to comply with a request made pursuant to section 29-33 for verification that such state or temporary state permit is still valid and has not been suspended or revoked, and the local authority may disclose such information to the extent necessary to comply with a request made pursuant to section 29-33 for verification that a local permit is still valid and has not been suspended or revoked, and (3) such information may be disclosed to the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services to carry out the provisions of subsection (c) of section 17a-500.

Chapter 529, Section 29-36e, Paragraph (e)

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 1-210 and 1-211, the name and address of a person issued an eligibility certificate for a pistol or revolver under the provisions of section 29-36f shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed, except (1) such information may be disclosed to law enforcement officials acting in the performance of their duties, (2) the Commissioner of Public Safety may disclose such information to the extent necessary to comply with a request made pursuant to section 29-33 for verification that such certificate is still valid and has not been suspended or revoked, and (3) such information may be disclosed to the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services to carry out the provisions of subsection (c) of section 17a-500.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Exemptions

The aforementioned Sections 1-210 and 1-211 set forth exemptions for the FOIA.  The state’s Freedom of Information Act does not include gun permits as the permits are already considered confidential under Section 29-28 (above).  State law takes precedent and neither state nor local records cannot be made public. 

NOTE:  There was resistance to this exemption in the state legislature when the legislation was raised.  It is possible that legislation will rise in the next session to repeal the exemption. 

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Second Amendment Foundation e-newsletter 121220

BELLEVUE, WA - Hate speech directed at gun owners and firearms rights groups in the wake of the Connecticut tragedy could lead to hate crimes, the Second Amendment Foundation said today.

SAF said statements made by broadcasters including Piers Morgan and Chris Matthews, as well as comments on social media have contributed to an environment of hate directed against law-abiding Americans who are being demonized for a crime they did not commit.

This comes as President Obama has launched an effort that could culminate in an attempt to ban semiautomatic sport-utility rifles and ammunition magazines, and impose other restrictions on gun owners who are not responsible for the actions of an obviously mentally disturbed individual.

"Focusing on the instrumentality of firearms alone to the exclusion of possible other causative factors is doomed to failure and would do an injustice to the memories of the Sandy Hook victims and their families," said SAF President Joseph Tartaro. "Of course, we are pleased to see that by adopting a broad task force approach in search of solutions to prevent or reduce the kind of violence that was visited upon Newtown, CT, last week that the president has sought the expertise of several cabinet departments that deal with mental health, educational administration, pharmacology, law enforcement and cultural issues in addition to firearms."

But SAF cautioned that narrowing the focus to firearms and pushing a ban on popular semiautomatic firearms will only fuel the campaign of hate now underway on cable television and in social media. For example, Morgan called one national gun rights leader "an unbelievably stupid man," Matthews suggested gun owners are, "..people on the far-right (who) never lose their passionNormal people have other interests like their spouses, their lives, their children, and even their generalized politics isn't driven by one issue." A university professor in Rhode Island tweeted, "Looks like the National Rifle Association has murdered some children."

"The remarks become obscene after that," noted SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. "We have received some vulgar e-mails from people that want us to vanish for the sake of a civilized world'.

"This kind of rhetoric does not contribute to any rational discussion," he said. "Vitriol like this only promotes hate, but apparently it's okay to perpetuate bigotry so long as you are an anti-gunner, and a liberal. If anyone is harmed as a result of this hate campaign, we expect them to be prosecuted under the hate crimes laws."

"If this hate speech leads to hate crimes," Gottlieb concluded, "people like Piers Morgan and Chris Matthews will be partly responsible."

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Gannett Corporation

The company’s 82 U.S. daily newspapers, including USA TODAY, reach 11.6 million readers every weekday and 12 million readers every Sunday, providing important news and information from their customers’ neighborhoods and around the globe. USA TODAY, the nation's No. 1 newspaper in print circulation, and USATODAY.com reach a combined 6.6 million readers daily.

The Broadcasting Division’s 23 TV stations reach 21 million households, covering 18.2 percent of the U.S. population. Through its Captivate subsidiary, the Broadcasting Division delivers news, information and advertising to a highly desirable audience demographic on 9,500 video screens located in elevators of office towers and select hotel lobbies in 25 major cities across North America.

More Than One Cliff

If anyone is maintaining any quantity of foodstuffs in their pantry including dairy products like instant milk or cheese, now is the time to stock up beyond your normal inventory.  If you were not keeping a large inventory, now would be good time to start.  I expect that the Farm Bill (see below) will not pass in the Congress, we will see dairy product prices about double, and other food prices increase dramatically. 

I do not know exactly when we will see the price increases but for milk and soft cheese products, the time is probably relatively short, hard cheese products may take a bit longer.  For other products, it will probably be around mid-2013. 

The current version of the Farm Bill (2008) expires 31 December 2012.  If the 2012 adjustment version is not enacted, the law reverts to the permanent 1949 version.  The 1949 version requires accounting for inflation and that is what will drive dairy and other commodity prices skyward.  Dairy is just the first one we will see affected. 

The Senate bill is S. 3240 and it was approved.  The House version is H.R. 6083 and it has not passed.  To the best of my knowledge, there have been no joint committee meetings to resolve the differences. 

A summary of the situation is presented at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_U.S._Farm_Bill

Find information on the House bill at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:h.r.06083:

Find information on the Senate bill at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:S.3240:

I expect that the Legislative and Executive branches of our government will eventually do something but do not hold your breath.  The Secretary of Agriculture may take some mitigating action but is limited in what can be done and for how long. 

The following summarizes…

“Any government support program, such as direct payments, marketing loans, and ACRE are in effect for a commodity until the end of the current marketing year. For example, that will be June 30, 2013 for wheat and Aug. 31 for corn and soybeans. However, the dairy support program ended Sept. 30, 2012 without any replacement. Under 1949 Permanent Law, parity prices become effective Jan. 1, 2013 for any commodity for which the Permanent Law has not been suspended. (Typically, each new Farm Bill suspends the 1949 legislation, but that has not happened.) Subsequently, at the expiration of the current marketing year for a commodity, familiar commodities will have some unfamiliar prices that the USDA says producers shall be paid.”  http://nationalhogfarmer.com/business/no-farm-bill-will-trigger-production-quotas-parity-prices

What happens when prices increase?  Everybody pays more for their needs and wants.

That, of course, reduces the amount of discretionary spending money available.  Then what happens?

Everybody wants more pay from their jobs (if they have one).  That, in the end, drives prices even higher. 

Can you say hyperinflation? 

People on fixed incomes are screwed.

Weimar Republic anyone? (http://mythoughtsstuff88.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-weimar-republic-then-and-us-now.html)

Victoria Soto was Ready

A while ago, I wrote a piece titled “Are You Ready for Anything” (Link).  That article primarily addressed physical disasters such as hurricanes.  I have intended to write follow-up articles talking about how to prepare for other threats.   A friend beat me to one of the subjects I had intended to tackle and did it quite well.  So, with a slight modification to the first paragraph, here it is. 

Victoria Soto has been revealed as one of the heroic teachers who died in the line of fire as she saved her students in the Connecticut shooting.  The twenty seven year old was one of three teachers murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

A friend of hers posted a tribute to Miss Soto on her Tumblr account. In her tribute she wrote: "I talked to Vicki Tuesday and she told me that she loved her 16 angels and never wanted to let them go. Today when the shooting started Vicki hid all of her kids in closets and when the gunman came into her room she told them the class was in gym. She was then murdered. Not one of her students were harmed. Words can not express how heartbreaking and tragic this is. I will miss you dearly."

I know that some people thought yesterday that my post on the Sandy Hook school shooting was bad timing...and may still think that this post is "not the right time." The pain is raw and it is hard to even comprehend what has happened. I understand that. But respectfully, this is the best time to bring something like this up. I spent 14 years in law enforcement. We spent a large portion of our time preparing to handle ourselves in armed confrontations to increase our odds of survival.

Please, think about it. What would you do in a situation like this? You must plan for it. Because it's happening everywhere. If you don't want to or can't carry a gun, you still need to do something. So start thinking about it now.

Ask yourself these questions..."What if I'm in church and someone comes in and starts shooting" "What if I'm at the mall and I hear the sound of gunshots just outside the store I am in?" "What if I am at the gas station and someone robs it?" To think about what you would do in a situation like this is the first step to reacting should this ever happen to you. You are less likely to freeze up when an armed confrontation begins if you mentally prepare yourself before it happens to you.

If you don't think you need to prepare yourself for a tragedy like this one AT ALL TIMES in this day and age, you are mistaken. Waiting to become a victim is not an acceptable option. It can happen any time, any place, anywhere and with absolutely no warning. Please make yourself get in the mindset to fight back...any capable adult needs to fight for their lives. The mentality of these people who are going into the situation is the same as a "suicide bomber" or any terrorist. They KNOW going in that they won't make it out alive and they don't care. You have to change your mindset and react and fight. And THAT is not a political statement, it's a fact.

I AM NOT talking about children or people who are unable to physically defend themselves. In a perfect world, every school would have an armed security guard. Teachers should protect themselves. Not as a "vigilante" response, but when you go on lockdown and that POS comes in YOUR ROOM, try to take them out or foil their plan using whatever means possible, as Ms. Soto did. I think teachers who are CAPABLE shooters and capable of handling protecting themselves and others in a stressful situation should carry and go through a firearms stress course if they choose to carry a gun on their person. Regardless of whether school staff is armed or not, there should be mandatory training by police departments given by officers and firearms instructors to EVERY school employee on what they HAVE to do in order to best protect themselves and their students in situations such as these. This should be nationwide.

As far as the people who think that more mental health programs would completely eliminate the problem, that line of reasoning is faulty. Anyone can have a traumatic incident in their lives occur at any given time and go off the deep end. Others have mental issues that are NEVER apparent. For example, Columbine shooter Eric Harris was POPULAR, very well liked by everyone, a manager at the fast food place he worked at, his dad was a high ranking official in the Air Force, he was well spoken, and very knowledgeable in many things. He had a dark side to him that hardly anyone knew about. He and Dylan Klebold planned Columbine for a YEAR and NO ONE knew about it. A mental health assistance program would not have stopped Eric Harris.

There have been many on line arguments about what the "solution" is to stopping these heinous acts. To argue about being pro gun or anti gun is counterproductive. We are all on the same team, none of us want to see these horrific tragedies happening. So we need to stop arguing and work together. The issue is not guns or religion. It's a change of mindset. If you don't want to carry, that's fine, but be prepared to bash someone over the head with a chair and do whatever you need to do to neutralize the threat. Because you will never carry a gun doesn't mean you have to accept it, lay down, and die. Fight back. In whatever capacity you can live with. I would rather lose my life trying to save others than sit back and watch them get killed and then have to live my life with the knowledge that I got scared or froze and did nothing.

This post can be viewed in a positive light from anyone's perspective. It depends on how you choose to look at it. It's pro gun, YES, but the real MESSAGE is that everyone should prepare themselves. We can agree to disagree on some things. What I really wanted to impart on this thread was that everyone should prepare themselves to take a stand and fight back in whatever capacity you can live with. If a gun is not for you, come up with an alternate plan, take cover, start looking for a possible weapon.

For those of you who HAVE gun control in your country, this information still applies to you!!! There was a series of uncoordinated mass stabbings, hammer attacks, and cleaver attacks in the People's Republic of China which began in March 2010. This series of attacks left at least 21 dead and some 90 injured. If you think that because there are "no guns allowed in the UK" that you don't have to think about this, you are mistaken. This information can still be helpful....anything can be used as a weapon. Tim McVeigh used fertilizer. 9-11 terrorists used box cutters and planes. It can still happen. Just be vigilant and think ahead.

Help will take time to get there. The only person capable of saving you is YOU. If you are not armed, use whatever means you have at your disposal to FIGHT BACK. And for the people saying "today is not the day" to talk about this topic, how long should I wait? A day? Two? Three? On Tuesday, two innocent people were killed when a gunman open fire at a mall in Oregon. That was just a few days ago. Just think of a plan of action and ask yourself what you would do in a situation like this EVERYWHERE YOU GO. This post was motivated out of care and concern. Something like this should never happen and it is up to us to take care of ourselves, and each other.

No greater sacrifice can anyone give, than to sacrifice all so others may live. God bless all of the innocent victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings and the victims of the mall shooting in Happy Valley, Oregon. Prayers for their families in this difficult time. R.I.P. angels.