Bill of Rights or Entitlements?

As Mr. Derby reconsiders "entitlements" — otherwise known as inalienable rights — he should include the freedoms of religion and the press as well.

Faced with religious terrorists intent on slaughtering Americans and a press intent on publishing national security secrets — problems the Founding Fathers did not have — repealing the 1st Amendment could potentially save countless lives.

But Mr. Derby fails to realize that the Bill of Rights is not a list of benefits bestowed or denied at the whim of government; they derive directly from the Creator of man — see the Declaration of Independence. And the delicate balance recognized by the U.S. Constitution cannot be tampered with; for if one goes, the others will soon follow.

Link: Stuck in the 1700s

Repeal the 1st Amendment?

The "paranoia and bone-chilling hatred spew[ing]" from the internet message boards Ms. Price refers to, while juvenile and inappropriate, is also known as "free speech."

Perhaps, when Ms. Price makes the case for repealing the 2nd Amendment — which despite her tragic and emotional appeal, she has yet to do — she can explain why the 1st Amendment should be repealed as well.

Link: Targeted by Gun Nuts

Solution to Fairfax bank heists?

When comparing gun policies of the Fairfax County banks robbed so far this year, banks that prohibit patrons from carrying firearms were over three times more likely to be robbed.

Wachovia and BB&T — together accounting for nearly two-thirds of banks hit — feature "no guns" signs in most area branches. Banks with more citizen-friendly gun policies, even though less in branch number, are still less likely to attract the criminal element looking for a quick buck.

While police and bank managers ponder causes for the recent rash of holdups, the data suggests removing "no guns" signs and policies — which were not heeded by robbers anyway— will result in less robberies.

Link: Bank heists spike to 26 in county

Tighter 'Hero' Control

As details of the Seattle Jewish Federation attack emerged — despite minimal national coverage — anyone with a heart was struck by the story of Dayna Klein who took a bullet through the arm while protecting her unborn child.

Unbowed by her ordeal, this quick thinking, strong-willed woman has now carved out a "cause" for herself.

But instead of demanding greater surveillance of mosques or championing the death penalty for terrorists, disappointingly — though predictably — Mrs. Klein is calling for "tighter gun control."

Unfortunately, she cannot accept the reality — that Naveed Afzal Haq shot her because she's Jewish — and has opted for the path of least resistance: wounded mother crusades against faceless — and irreligious — enemy. Guns.

After seeing her on the Today Show, I should have known it wouldn't be the last we heard from Dayna Klein. The attraction of the spotlight and the lure of some imagined moral authority was too great to resist.

What we really need is a program to help victims through the difficult process of physical and emotional recovery by advising them that being shot does not make them experts on Constitutional law or even sensible public policy. And for goodness sake, to stop them from being whisked away to "meetings" with former President Bill Clinton.

In a news conference, Klein said she wants to know why the man who invaded the Jewish Federation was able to purchase guns from shops just before the shootings. The answer is that we cannot yet reliably predict the future. Haq had broken no laws and waited the required 5-day period between purchasing and picking up his guns — hardly the impulse "just before the shootings" implies. This capricious question — not to mention her use of the terms "man" and "invaded" instead of "Islamofascist scum" and "attacked" — clearly demonstrates this woman is not thinking straight.

I'm not unsympathetic to her situation. My wife is pregnant with our first child and, as much as I'd like to, I can't be with her every second of the day. But instead of "workplace safety" or "How to Dial 911 with a Gun Pointed at Your Head" classes, we opted for a more proactive solution — a concealed carry permit and a snub-nosed revolver.

Instead of American Red Cross training that taught Mrs. Klein how to take a deep breath and dial a phone, she could have taken NRA handgun training teaching her to put two in the chest and one in the head. Just think: she could have been a super hero by dispatching Mr. Haq before police even arrived.

Whether or not to exercise her right to self-defense is Mrs. Klein's choice. However, since she is not interested in the fate of the Muslim terrorist who shot her — saying he has wasted enough of her time — she should do us a favor and not waste our time with delusions about a "safer society" free of guns. The so-called 'million moms' have marched down that road before. And it leads nowhere.

Proverbs says if you don't discipline your kids, you hate your kids. I say the same goes for husbands that don't buy guns for their pregnant wives. If Mrs. Klein wants to make a positive change in pursuit of perfecting the world, she should start by advocating no-fee concealed carry permits and handgun discounts for pregnant women.

Link: "Hero" turns focus to gun control

Previously: An Act of Terror in Seattle

Grandpa Packs a Surprise

Facing a home invasion, this elderly —but sharp — Delaware man grabbed an unlocked pistol ready for action to thwart the attackers, possibly saving his life. Usually, all it takes is the sight of the business end of a barrel to send criminal cowards running.

Burglars flee after resident, 79, grabs hidden firearm

Wilmington police are looking for two men who broke into a home and robbed an elderly man's safe.

About 3 p.m. Tuesday, two males between 15 and 18 broke into the basement of a home in the 200 block of E. 29th St, said Wilmington police spokesman Master Sgt. Steven Elliot.

A 79-year-old man inside was awakened and forced to open an in-home safe, Elliott said.

The two men took money and a handgun from the safe, then ran away after the man grabbed a hidden firearm, police said.

Anyone with information about the two men is asked to call Wilmington police detectives at 576-3620.

Spy Cameras Focus on You, Not Crime

A recurring theme among the gun control and rely-on-police-for-safety crowd: it doesn't work, but it's still a "good idea."

If surveillance cameras are not useful in prosecuting criminals, yet the same politicians and police who advocate gun control still advocate them, then what ulterior motives must be at work here? Do I even have to ask?

The silver lining here, if any, is that this issue falls squarely in the lap of the ACLU. And while they won't lift a Mont Blanc pen for the 2nd Amendment, they will sue anyone that might get a look at what they do in their bedrooms.

Link: Spy cameras fail to focus on street crime

Lose Your Illusion of Airport Security

As you stand there spread-eagle and barefoot while a high school dropout waves a magic wand over your crotch and a senior citizen stares cross-eyed into a gritty, black & white X-ray machine monitor, do you feel safer? I don't.

Rounding out the three-ring circus, we must now play 'toss-the-hand-cream-and-hair-gel' before boarding the plane as the National Guard astutely looks on.

While this degrading display appeases some travelers who think: I'd rather abandon my dignity and common sense than hurt someone's feelings, it does absolutely nothing to make air travel safe from a terrorist attack. The illusion of safety is not safety.

Thank G-d we stopped the latest attempt at mass murder by Islamofascists. But it was not the airport security screening process that uncovered the plot.

Here's how it worked:

Despite bewailing from the New York Times, the NSA picked up 'chatter' by wiretapping and monitoring communications. The US then alerted Pakistani intelligence who — probably through beatings and torture — extracted more information out of the locals. Finally, MI5 kicked in doors — maybe some teeth — and arrested 24 accomplices in Britain, thus thwarting the plan to blow up 10 planes over the Atlantic Ocean.

Note the complete lack of airport security involvement in this process. The plan called for drinks and cameras to be carried onboard — both perfectly permissible, as were box cutters on 9/11 — which would have passed through security without incident. What stopped the attack were intelligence agencies doing what they were supposed to do: spying on enemies, gathering intelligence and raiding safe houses.

If the TSA wants to do something productive to earn their federal paychecks and benefits, they must start racially and ethnically profiling 20 to 40-year-old Middle-Eastern and North African Muslim men. Yes, we know not everyone who fits into this category are terrorists. But overwhelmingly, all those currently intent on slaughtering infidels certainly do.

Even President Bush's assurance that "we're safer now than we were on 9/11" was tempered by adding, "but we're still not completely safe." Islamic terrorists need only stay one step ahead of the prohibited carry-on items list to be successful. Until we capture or kill a sufficient number of them, the threat remains.

The government can best protect us, not by forcing Chinese ladies in wheel chairs to surrender their nail clippers, but by monitoring, infiltrating, and destroying the Muslim jihad movement. We should not all have to suffer — with air travel becoming akin to a maximum-security prisoner transfer — because of an Islamic death cult.

Profiling will happen. The question is whether it will start before or after the next big attack. Until it does, you're not as safe as you think you are.

Storage Study Stretch

From the diving-for-dollars world of academia comes another bottom feeding, bogus "study" done solely for the purpose of giving politicians "scientific" cover when they push for "feelgood" but ultimately ineffective gun control measures — like requiring guns in homes with kids to be locked up.

"Parents were more likely to believe that adolescents, compared with younger children, are old enough to exhibit good judgment around firearms," wrote study author Renee Johnson of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

"This belief creates a situation in which adolescents have easy access to a lethal means with which to kill themselves or to hurt others," she wrote in the journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Did the "research fellows" control for juvenile delinquents or kids with mental and emotional problems that warrant greater concern about their access to firearms?

Or do they assume all teenagers are potential manic depressive, suicidal murderers?

Gee, come to think of it, how did I survive high school without killing myself or someone else?

Parents' "beliefs" are based on experience from actually raising kids — not studies. As parents, they know at what age their kids are responsible enough to coexist with loaded, unlocked firearms the same way parents determine when they can stay out past 10pm.

One expert said too many U.S. homes have guns, and, in many cases, accidents are just waiting to happen.

"The notion that a gun in the home is useful for self-defense in the advent of an intrusion is belied by the data," said Dr. David L. Katz, an associate professor of public health and director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine. "A gun is 40 times more likely to injure its owner or a member of the household than it is to be used in warding off an intruder," he said.

Apparently, David L. Katz MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP and associate professor of public health and director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine is an expert in the prevention of terse titles. Nevertheless, I'm sure his notions about keeping an (unlocked) gun at home for self-defense would change if he awoke to a masked marauder standing over his bed, bat in hand, demanding his dollars.

Far too many homes in which children of any age live have the unnecessary hazard of an accessible gun, Katz said. "Ideally, fewer people would own guns. Nearly as good is having all gun owners store their firearms unloaded and locked," he said.

Yes, and ideally fewer Harvard and Yale professors would spend time on studies simply to prop up political agendas. Even better — unload and lock up the eggheads for safe storage.

Smile! You're on DC Crime Camera

That means you — not the criminals. Criminals will take the necessary precautions to conceal their identities when committing a crime.

But you smile— as you get raped, robbed, or murdered — because you know the DC Police are watching. And although they won't arrive in time to help you, they have the video they need to file a very detailed report of your demise.

Isn't that reassuring?

Link: District to set up crime cameras

Hot Coffee Works, Hot Lead is Better

I hope she saved some for her husband: You wait here with the car-jacker, honey, I'll go get help!

Woman throws coffee at hijacker

Cape Town - A 24-year-old man was arrested after robbing a couple of their car at gunpoint in Kuilsriver, said police on Wednesday.

Captain Elliot Sinyangana said the man approached the couple as they were about to leave their house at 06:00 on Wednesday and fired shots at them.

He said: "Just as the man was firing shots in the air, the husband went to seek help, leaving his wife in the car.

The hijacker pointed a firearm at the wife demanding that she get out of the car.

Man opens fire at cops

Sinyangana said the woman, who would not give up without a fight threw hot coffee at the man, forcing him to remove his mask.

"This enabled the woman to have a quick peek at the man before he drove away with their car... leaving her stranded on the driveway."

According to police, a member of the public later spotted the hijacked car parked in a street not far from the couple's residential area and informed police.

Sinyangana said: "When police got to the scene, the man opened fire, but didn't harm anyone."

Sinyangana said the man was arrested and detained at Kuilsriver police station.

He added: "His 9mm pistol with live ammunition was confiscated and he will face charges of armed robbery, attempted murder, possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition when he appears at the Kuilsriver magistrate's court on Friday."

The Right to Fight or Flight

In the New York Times article on the "stand your ground" law expanding to 15 states, predictably, they highlight cases involving a hooker, a cab driver, and a "cop shooter" to paint the law in a negative light.

However, I think the Times editors overstated their prejudices with most clear thinking Americans — if there are any that still read the Times — probably agreeing that deadly force was justified in these cases from the few facts that were given.

The most important point about this law, however, was only mentioned in passing:

But some legal experts doubt the laws will make a practical difference. "It’s inconceivable to me that one in a hundred Floridians could tell you how the law has changed," said Gary Kleck, who teaches criminology at Florida State University.

Even before the new laws, Professor Kleck added, claims of self-defense were often accepted. "In the South," he said, "they more or less give the benefit of the doubt to the alleged victim’s account."

While I applaud the increasing number of state governments putting criminals on notice that they face growing occupational hazards, like the ban on gun confiscations during emergencies, the stand your ground law is already implied in the US and most state constitutions and codes.

Requiring a duty to retreat — as some of these states did previously — imposes an undue burden on the defense to prove their innocence. This law says to the defendant claiming self defense: prove that you attempted to flee before using deadly force.

With the stand your ground law in effect, there is no difference whether someone on trial for murder is claiming self-defense or insanity. The burden of proof is entirely on the prosecution — as it should be — to prove that a claimed act of self-defense was in fact an unjustifiable homicide, whether the defendant first attempted to flee or not.

It is simply bad law to require citizens, when faced with a deadly threat, to explore their escape options before resorting to the necessary force required to stop the threat. As they say: it is better to be judged by twelve than carried by six.

Link: 15 States Expand Right to Shoot in Self-Defense

Gun Ban Blunder Behind Bars

Even in one of the most regulated, guarded, and theoretically secure places in the country — the state prison — criminals still find ways to get guns.

And yet fanatical gun-grabbers continue to fantasize that banning and confiscating guns will solve all societies' ills.

Even if anti-gun radicals could turn the entire country into one big prison — which some would do if they could no doubt — they would still fail to achieve their goal of eradicating guns.

Link: Gun Find Puts NJ State Prison in Lockdown

Link: Trenton prisoners stay locked in cells during gun probe

Pro-Gun Letters from East and West

According to the industry, letters to the editor are the most read section of the newspaper. Here's two well-reasoned examples getting the message out there to the masses:

Criminals won't obey gun laws

Regarding "Killings show failure of gun policies" (Letters, Tuesday):

I guess the letter writer does not believe in the Constitution giving the American people the right to bear arms.

It is naive to think any kind of gun control would stop the serial killers that are wreaking havoc in Phoenix. Do you really think that a sick-minded criminal such as this would give up his gun voluntarily simply because there is a "law" against it? It's already against the law to shoot people, but that is not stopping him.

There are many examples where laws have been passed to "control" guns with horrible results. The crime rate in these cities has actually gone up. No matter what laws you pass, only the law-abiding citizens will follow them. Criminals will always find ways to get weapons.

How many people are attacked and killed with a knife or even a baseball bat? Are you going to ban these, too?

I am so very thankful that I live in a country that respects my right to own a gun if I choose to, just as it's your right to leave yourself completely helpless to defend yourself against these criminals.

Judy Cherington, Surprise

Not-so-benign anti-gun group

I READ JILL Porter's misleading puff piece on Bryan Miller, head of CeaseFire NJ. Porter describes Ceasefire NJ as only interested in "gun-violence prevention."

Well, one man's "gun-violence prevention" is another man's gun control. A quick read of Ceasefire NJ's Web site tells all: Ceasefire was a staunch supporter of the quintessential gun-control window-dressing known as the Brady Act.

It supports one-gun-a-month legislation in New Jersey and now in Pennsylvania, another unproven gun control canard. It opposes "Saturday Night Specials," otherwise known as guns that poor people can afford for self-protection. It opposes the carrying of concealed weapons for personal protection, despite research by respected researcher John Lott showing the effectiveness of such laws in lowering crime rates.

Judge for yourself whether this is a moderate, safety-oriented agenda or that of a rabid anti-gun group.

Jonathan Goldstein, Narberth

Anti-Self-Defense in S. Africa

After being robbed and stabbed, shopkeepers call police — who arrived too late to catch the robbers — only to be arrested themselves for "illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition."

Just imagine the trouble they would be in if they actually used to firearm to defend themselves. Although with only five bullets — one for each perp — they would have to be crack shots.

Three Ethiopian nationals were expected to appear in the King William's Town magistrate's court on Thursday for illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition, Eastern Cape police said.

Police Superintendent Errol Francis said the men were arrested on Tuesday night after alerting police to a robbery in their shop.

"But when police got there, it was discovered that they were in possession of a firearm and five rounds of the 9mm pistol's ammunition... which were hidden in a mealie bag."

He said the three men had been robbed by five others who pretended to be customers at a shop in Dimbaza township.

"One of them had been stabbed in the back but he was treated at a local clinic shortly before his arrest."

Errol said police were still searching for the five men alleged to have robbed the Ethiopian nationals of a duvet set.

Jew School Firebombed in B'more

Security is being increased at synagogues and other buildings after a firebomb made from a beer bottle ignited after being thrown at a door of a library building at Baltimore Hebrew University on Wednesday.

Why not install some "Molotov Cocktail-Free Zone" signs around the school campus?

Worked for drugs and guns, right?

Police are investigating the incident as arson, not as a bias crime, because no notes or other messages were found, Moses said.

That's Donny Moses, the police spokesman.

Note to Jew-haters: Next time, be sure and leave clear documentation of your intentions. Otherwise, Moses has no idea whether you meant to hit the Hebrew school or you just have really bad aim.

Link: Increased Security After School Firebombing

Woman uses keys, head to escape attack

This woman has obviously not been indoctrinated with the so-called feminist victim mentality.

After returning home to find two perpetrators inside who then attacked her:

"They started to grapple a little bit at which time she was able to actually jab him with her car keys in the chest and pushed him off and she fled to safety."

A jab to the eyes instead of the chest would have been more effective in ensuring the assailant could not retaliate. But, thankfully, her efforts were enough to get her to safety.

Of course, under these life-threatening circumstances — had she been armed with more than keys— she would have been justified in using deadly force against her attackers.

Victim advocates on the other hand much prefer the culprits still at large and capable of striking again. Keeps them in business.

Link: Woman uses keys as weapon during home invasion

Why We Write

For the major media, burying the story of an Islamofascist gunning down defenseless Jewish women in Seattle far outweighs the benefits of harping on the Muslim terrorist's reported concealed carry permit.

But for Josh Sugarmann, blogger for the Huff-and-Puffington Post, the opportunity to get in a jab against the NRA — at the expense of the Jewish Federation victims — was too great to resist.

After reading his blog entry and posting my own short, polite response, I read this previous comment by "moshe":

I just read a well reasoned argument from one of your readers. But with all due respect I doubt that you will seriously consider any of these responses...Because you sell anti-gun books for a living, I do not expect you to change your position.

I thought: He's right. Why bother? Is responding to this anti-gun fanatic a waste of time? Do I really think Mr. Sugarmann will see the light after reading my or anyone else's comment?

As "moshe" points out, Sugarmann has invested too much emotionally and financially — with a book titled Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case For Banning Handguns — to step back and take an honest look at this issue.

So why do I, and other pro-gun patriots, write back?

Although I grew up in Virginia — technically, the South — I was not raised to be either pro-gun or anti-gun. I never even handled a firearm until I was 17 and after that, it was another 10 years before I picked up another gun, at that time to receive proper instruction in a basic pistol class.

When presented with the seemingly counterintuitive idea through my reading that more guns lead to less crime, I was able to explore this notion without any biases or emotional attachments. And after researching the issue, it became clear to me that since criminals — including sometimes governments — had limitless, unfettered access to guns, so should law-abiding citizens.

What gives me hope is that not everyone who reads Josh Sugarmann's blog shares his manic, anti-gun ideology. There are still impressionable, open minds out there that have not sacrificed their common sense on the altar of utopian liberalism. And the possibility remains to plant a thought in a yet unwarped mind that can blossom into intellectual honesty.

We must not allow blogs like Mr. Sugarmann's to go unanswered. For every anti-gun post, respond with a countering comment. For every illogical news article, write a letter to the editor. Yes, the pen is mightier than the sword, but that was before the gun. Harness the power of the pen and use it to every possible advantage, because should it fail, the alternative is disastrous.

Link: Seattle Jewish Federation Shooter had Permit to Carry Concealed Handgun

Two Good Ol' Boys Bow to Bloomberg

Two Georgia gun dealers succumbed to New York City Mayor Bloomberg's demands that they accept a "Special Master" to scrutinize their every move and extract financial penalties that will slowly put them out of business — setting a dangerous precedent.

To call this a "settlement" is ridiculous. No criminal charges were filed. No one was arrested. The dealers admitted no wrongdoing. The video evidence is subjective — flimsy at best. The only "fine" they must pay is a "$5000 bond in advance to cover possible penalties." In other words, extortion that will no doubt become a down payment toward their own demise.

In typical Big Apple gangster style, Bloomberg's racket is to strong-arm these dealers into accepting a New York-appointed, omnipresent stooge who will work to achieve over time what the city is now prevented by federal law from doing in one shot: using frivolous lawsuits to put gun dealers out of business.

Not only does this capitulation undermine possible future legal action against Bloomberg by the more than 40 other gun shops targeted in the "sting operation," (like the suit brought by Bob Barr representing another Georgia gun dealer) it also legitimizes the mayor's legally dubious tactics, pressuring the other shops facing suits and encouraging other paltry politicians to engage in their own game of "cops and gun dealer."

Also problematic is that the agreement gives a jurisdiction with no legal authority and no accountability extraordinary powers that "include widespread and unprecedented access to the dealers' firearms-related records as well as the authority to inspect their inventories and observe them with cameras or additional undercover operations."

If I learned that a gun dealer I frequented had this type of arrangement, I would find a new place to shop.

As Federal Firearms Licensees, gun store owners are already subject to a myriad of strict rules governing every aspect of their business. The BATFE has a hard enough time keeping their own databases in order. Now they're going throw a third-party nanny into the mix who will have access to the personal information of every customer that buys a gun at that store. And there is no authority governing what the Mayor of New York can do with that information.

By letting this yankee, Bloomberg, butt in and look over their shoulder, these Good Ol' Boys have handed gun grabbers a victory that must not be repeated.

Link: New York City strikes landmark gun sales deal

Link: Two gun dealers settle Bloomberg lawsuit, agree to supervision

American Jewish Response to Terror and Self-Defense

While I do not endorse the affiliations or other views of Moshe Finberg, Chairman of B'nai Elim, he's right about this one:

I read with great disappointment that the director of the Seattle chapter of the Anti-Defamation League "issued a recommendation to all Jewish institutions, including synagogues, to cancel services and evacuate the buildings" following the murderous attack on the Seattle Federation building last Friday.

This reaction is all too reminiscent of the "run and hide" response of the Jewish People over the past 2,000 years when we have been attacked, and plays directly into the hands of our enemies. It reflects a fatal lack of bitachon [confidence in HaShem], rejecting His ways for the perception of safety one has with his head buried well in the sand. Instead, all Jews should be armed and/or otherwise ready to defend themselves to the full extent permitted by law, and go to prayer services, rallies, and ordinary day to day activities of normal Jewish life.

We should be openly Jewish and attend our services in our synagogues in numbers larger than ever. Of course law enforcement should provide security to us as it would for any group targeted for hate crimes and terror. Nevertheless, we must be prepared to take care of ourselves as there are not enough law enforcement officials to cover every anti-Semite with a weapon. Get your heads out of the sand and stand up straight and proud, confident and strong. That is Yeshurun - Israel at our finest. HaShem doesn't want his Children to run from the class bullies. Never Again.

Link: Run and Hide? Think Again!

Previous: An Act of Terror in Seattle