The Jury has decided...Now what?

 NOT GUILTY!

Now what should happen?

1. The Left should learn that when they try to co-opt and shape an event for their own ends, people WILL eventually see through it.

2. Mr. Rittenhouse should be suing every leftist that has called him a "murderer" or "White Supremacist", and that includes Joe Biden along with CNN, MSNBC, Washington Post, New York Times, and many, many more.

3. Mr. Rittenhouse needs to get his gun back. Failing that, the rest of us should buy him another one. And send him to a couple good tactical and judgment shooting schools. He really shouldn't have put himself in that situation but he had the right to be there and he survived attacks by multiple leftists who tried to take that right--and his life--away from him.

4. Someone needs to offer Mr. Rittenhouse a good job and a scholarship. He deserves his life back.

5. Gabe Grosskruetz, needs to be charged with felonious assault for attacking Mr. Rittenhouse with that Glock pistol. 

6. Every Leftist mad about this outcome should line up and start kicking rocks and pounding sand until they get over it.

7. At least one Member of Congress needs to invite Mr. Rittenhouse to be their special guest at the next Presidential Address.

Yes, this pleases me. 

Garrett Foster was a waste of skin.

There. I said it.

That fat punk-ass AK-toting wanna-be bad boy Garrett Foster, who was shot dead two days ago in Austin, Texas when he was blocking traffic with a bunch of other rioters is being lauded today as some sort of a hero by the loon left, but all that he really was was a poser and a bully who thought that people would respect him if he carried a loaded rifle around while he caused trouble. When a regular citizen tried to drive down a road that Foster and his friends were obstructing, the mob blocked the car in and started banging on it and Garrett said "He's my change to be Rambo!" and ran up to the car,m pointing his rifle at the driver just like in one of his video games. Alas for poor Pugsley, the car driver had a concealed carry permit and a firearm, and he had the resolve to defend himself. The driver acted in response to the threat that Foster was presenting and dropped him like a dirty sock with multiple rounds to the chest. The driver then left the scene, stopped when he felt safe, and called the police. The driver is not in custody right now in large part because despite the lies told by Foster's pals, plenty of pics show Garrett pointing a deadly weapon at the man before the man defended himself.

And now we're hearing how Garrett Foster was a "veteran". I tried to look into that and all I could tell from the news stories was that ten years ago, he joined the Air Force but got discharged within a year, supposedly because his girlfriend had depression. Forgive my skepticism but I've never heard of the military giving someone an early discharge because a friend of theirs was unhappy. I suspect that Foster got tossed out because he wasn't able to hack it or was otherwise just a slug. And to compensate, he became a gun-toting anarchist who never missed a chance to carry his rifle to an anti-govbernment protest according to people who knew him.

Folks, Foster wasn't doing anything heroic or good. Foster wasn't much of a man. (I can't find any reference to his having a job.) He was just a sad little boy playing at being a man, and unfortunately he ran up against a real man--Texas has quite a few of those--and he wasn't ready for it. Foster started a gunfight and Foster lost despite having every tactical advantage. All that he was lacking was a set of balls to actually carry through with his threats and unfortunately for him, the man he threatened actually had a pair and did what he needed to.

In the immortal words of Tuco...

Someone has to be that guy

So being bored last night, I got around to installing a new magazine spring in my Benicia Arsenal rework 1898 Krag. Working on a 120+ year old gun is always a challenge but I got it apart, put the new spring in and managed to get it back together correctly in about an hour and without breaking anything, so I was pretty pleased with myself. The magazine hinge pin in particular is prone to breaking and those aren’t cheap or plentiful any more, probably because so many people break them.
But I reassembled it without a problem, giving it all a good cleaning and oiling while I was inside. Then I cycled some rounds through it for a function test and that smooth old Krag action ran them through perfectly. I loaded a couple more mags up and ran those through too. Did I mention how slick and smooth a properly-functioning Krag is?
I picked the loose rounds up off the floor and was just about to put the rifle away when a neighbor called from outside to ask me something. I went out to talk to him and as we talked, a gunshot went off just down the block. While this doesn’t happen as frequently as it used to, my response hasn’t changed. I ducked back inside And grabbed the Krag because it was right there. I scooped up a handful of .30-40 cartridges, moved back outside and took up a good position behind my car where I could see down the block. I opened the Krag magazine, dumped the shells in, closed the magazine and cycled the action, chambering a round. From where I was I could see two blocks down and a block to the left. My view of the street to the right is blocked by houses. Pretty sure whoever fired that was around the corner and not too far down but as long as they stayed there I was ok with that. My neighbors called the police and probably because they had nothing else to do, they were there in a few minutes. As is typical of NOPD, they didn’t look around to try to find the shooter (or victim), they just switched on all their lights to let everyone know that they were there and then they left. Hell, they didn’t even seem to see me standing in front of my house or the old Krag tucked discretely behind the gutter downspout. They soon left and I picked up the rifle and walked back inside. And then I thought about it. If someone with a gun had come running around the corner onto my street towards me, my house, my neighbors, etc. ... Hell I guess somebody has to have the honor of being the last person in history shot by a Krag.

Another day, another mass shooting here. Not involved.

Once again, we have gunshots on Bourbon street on a Saturday night after midnight, just a short walk from my house.

1 Dead, Nine Wounded in Bourbon Street Shooting.

I am safe though. I will never be in danger of this particular recurring event because I know better than to be there. The old saying "Nothing good happens on Bourbon Street after midnight" is a truism, and especially so during the Bayou Classic week-end, when the Quarter fills up with, shall we say, a more "urban" crowd that tends to be unwelcome and the source of trouble pretty much everywhere that they gather in large numbers.

I avoid Bourbon Street after midnight as a rule, but I've learned from my friends here, including some of the most liberal SJW types you'll ever meet, to avoid the entire French Quarter during Bayou Classic and Essence Fest week-ends. Even liberals know trouble when they see it.

But this brings up a good point about concealed carry.

"You carry your gun when you go places like that, don't you?" This is a question I've been asked more than once. and my response is always the same:

"No. I don't go places like that." Duh.

While it's true that I carry almost all of the time, I also have the common sense to not go places where I know that there is a higher-than-average chance of needing that weapon. I don't go looking for trouble and trusting my firearm to get me out of it. I avoid trouble wherever possible by not going where it is expected to be. I was taught two good rules early on and I teach them to others every chance I get.

Rule #1. Always carry a gun.
Rule #2. Don't go places where you suspect that you might need to use that gun.

Of course I hope that trouble does not find me in other places, but if it does, I'm definitely prepared to deal with it, and with clean hands because I did not go forth to seek it out.

And that last bit: Crucial. Your legal right to self-defense fades quickly if you do things that contribute to the situation in which you were forced to use deadly force. That means if you provoke the fight, you may lose the defense, and the same applies if you knowingly go in harm's way. A license to carry doesn't mean that you get to go out and be Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson's character in the "Death Wish" movies for the younger readers here.) and just wait for muggers so you can shoot them. If a judge or jury decides that's what you were doing...well anyone who remembers Death Wish probably remembers Bernie Goetz, too. Don't be that guy.

Come to New Orleans. Have a good time. Look me up. Just don't look for me in places where trouble is expected because me and my ever-present sidearm will not be there.

Yesterday...Busy but good.

Got up early Saturday morning and headed for the bar. (This is New Orleans, folks...it's seriously how we roll.) Just had a couple of cups of coffee--no booze--and headed out to Pear River to do some more shooting.

I took these two out to fine-tune the zeroes on them.

Top is my Springfield Armory M-1A, which I purchased new back in 1988 in response to George H.W. Bush's famous "Assault Weapon" ban. It was my "go-to" rifle for many years, and it was my competition rifle as well as my prime defensive tool before I came around to ARs. But now the circle is complete and I've once again embraced the .30 round for most social purposes.

The lower rifle reflects my philosophy modernized--it's that custom FAL that I had done by the nice folks at DS Arms. It's shorter and more utilitarian than the M-1A and much handier for work in an urban setting, IMHO. It's got it's new Blue Force Gear Vickers sling on now.

Using the 25 yard range, I zeroed both for 200 yards, and then played around on the 100-yard steel plates at the range. I think that they're actually 8" discs, and impossible to miss with the M-1A. I could hit them regularly with the FAL too, but I needed to use just a bit of hold-over and really concentrate on trigger press since the sights aren't as adjustable as the M-1A's and the trigger is definitely not as smooth. But that's the difference between the two. The FAL is a fighting rifle, period. It's made to put rounds on man-sized targets out to a reasonable range and do so even when wet, muddy, frozen, etc., It's not quite "AK-47" rugged, but it's a lot closer than the M-1A, which is more of a precision weapon with it's crisp, "break like glass" tuned trigger and superior adjustable sights.

Both rifles functioned flawlessly and put the rounds pretty much where I wanted them to go. I wish that I could have gotten another turn on the FAL front sight tool to get it down to 100 yards, but it bottomed out at 200 and a touch high at that. So it goes...

They do handle totally differently. The FAL is more ergonomic and comes onto point quicker, but the M-1A has sights and a trigger to die for.

Now I'm thinking seriously about a Springfield Scout. or a SCAR Heavy, which I also have a bug for, thanks to Old NFO letting me shoot his. I want compact and reliable and fast-handling and precision all rolled into one. The search for the perfect rifle goes on.

Then it was home for at minute to lock up the rifles and change, and off to a free self-defense seminar put on by a guy who is setting up a new MMA and self-defense school here. Hey--free and a chance to pick up a trick or two--what's not to like? (Esp. the "free" part.) Did that, came home again, took a nap on the couch, then joined my neighbors down the street for a block party that they'd kicked off because--hey, it's New Orleans...it's how we roll.

Then as I was walking home, all full of good food and beer, I looked at the front of my house and saw this:

Eff'n dogs. This is how THEY roll.

"Next time leave the blinds open so we don't have to open them ourselves."

CCW holder shot and killed.

In Arlington, Texas, a man with a CCW tried to make a "citizens' arrest" when a gunman who had just shot his wife in the leg was attempting to flee the scene. The gunman knocked the CCW holder's gun aside and shot him, killing him.


'He thought he could help': Concealed carry gun-wielder intervenes in domestic dispute and is shot dead.

This is sad, to be sure. The CCW holder had the best intentions here, but damn... this was a poor choice, probably brought on by poor or no training. So let us take a minute and look at two of the main issues here, the tactical and the legal.

Tactical fail: The bad guy in this case was already fleeing the scene. He was in his truck and getting ready to drive off when our CCW holder, who had just gone to his own car to get his gun, commanded him to stop and get back of his truck. The shooter got out, but smacked the CCW holder's gun away then shot him. Few things wrong here, beginning with the way that this started. The CCW holder here was in the store as the bad guy fled. Overlooking for a moment the fact that there was no real need to leave the store to go after him here. The store was cover. The CCW holder ran to his car to get his own gun. That car was cover. The CCW holder left THAT cover and ran right up to the shooter, danger-close and unprotected. Not tactically sound at all.

Then there was his trying to give commands to an armed man who he know has just shot someone else. To quote Tuco... "When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk." This ain't the movies, and you don't have discussions with armed bad guys. You either shoot them before they can shoot you, or you do not engage at all. Period.

Finally...citizens' arrest? Really? How many CCW holders are trained to make an arrest at all, much less in a situation like this? (Answer = 0) Even assuming that the bad guy doesn't shoot you right off, now what? Got handcuffs? Know how to secure a "prisoner" until the police arrive? Can you safely disarm and search him? And the answer to all of these questions, of course, is "no". So why even try something like that? Because it looked cool in old movies? Those were movies. Don't "arrest" armed bad guys. Either shoot them or don't engage them.

And then there's the Legal fail: The CCW doesn't make you a cop or empower you to make arrests. It basically puts the weapon on your person so that you can, in accordance with the laws of self-defense, protect yourself or others from threats of immediate death or great bodily harm. It doesn't grant you police powers. Here, our shooter had been a threat to the woman that he'd shot at, but he was leaving when our late would-be hero decided to act. Is the shooter a bad person? Yes he is. Does he need to go to jail? Yes he does. But that's the job for the real police at this moment and the smart thing to do is to be a good witness--get his description, his license number and direction of travel. Round up other witnesses and get EMS coming for the victim. There's plenty of helpful things to do without playing John Wayne.

My thought here, without knowing our CCW holder's background, is that he likely didn't have the training that told him stuff along the lines of what I just wrote. Maybe no one ever told him that he could not and should not try to be Dirty Harry all by himself against an armed felon, something that even real, properly-trained cops know better than to do. All I do know about our CCW holder here is that he left a wife and three kids behind, and that's also something all of you need to think about before to go out and jump into a fight that's not even your fight. Protecting yourself or your family members from immediate harm IS your right and duty, but stepping into someone else's fight, or trying to stop a fleeing bad guy whose identity is surely know to the victim and/or which can be divined from his license plate, is just not smart or fair to your own family that may shortly have to get by without you forever.

Your thoughts?

An avalanche of CCW fail

In Pennsylvania last week, a man was shot to death in a church.

Apparently Robert Braxton III was sitting in seats reserved for other members, and when an usher tapped him on the shoulder to ask him to move, he got upset and yelled at the usher, telling him not to touch him. And this little blow-up sparked wanna-be TV action hero Mark Storms into action.

As the usher and the pastor spoke to Braxton and calmed him down, Storms, by all accounts, rushed up to them with a gun drawn, flashed a badge and ordered Braxton to leave the church.

The badge was one of those ones advertised on the internet that simply says "Concealed Weapons Permit Holder". They serve no purpose and are bought exclusively by idiots and morons.

Braxton apparently didn't care for being badged by a poser, because he reportedly told Storms what he could do with his "fake badge" and "fake gun". Then he punched Storms in the mouth.

Storms retaliated by shooting Braxton and killing him.

Gunman fatally shoots Pennsylvania churchgoer after fight over seat at Sunday service

Storms was rightfully arrested and charged with voluntary manslaughter. At his arraignment, Storms claimed that he was using his handgun in "self defense", and, apparently without talking to or heeding the advice of a lawyer, he told the police that he was hoping to defuse the situation by showing a gun, which, according to court documents, he's done in the past.

Sigh... it's people like this who mess it up for the rest of us CCW holders and responsible gun owners. The anti-gun crowd always tries to say that we do stuff like this, and even though we all know better, here comes some tosser to do exactly this sort of stupid thing.

So let us count the screw-ups in this case. Feel free to add any that I miss:

1. Storms buys a poser badge that carries no authority but merely identifies him as a concealed weapons permit holder. Why he feels that he needs a shield like real police and other officials carry is not known to me, but it appears that he's got a history of going around flashing it at people, no doubt hoping that it'll be mistaken for a real badge. Impersonating a police officer is both illegal and dangerous, and no one not a sworn Law Enforcement Officer needs to be carrying a badge around, especially a toy badge like this one.

2. Storms decided to butt into a verbal dispute that he wasn't even a party to. No one asked him to help, it was being handled by the appropriate people, and it wasn't his business.

3. Storms pulled his gun (and flashed his toy badge) to intimidate Braxton and get him to do what Storms--who had no authority to act--was ordering him to do.

4. Storms, with his gun out, was close enough to Braxton that Braxton could easily punch him in the face. Had Braxton gone for a disarm instead, he could probably have pulled it off, because Storms was way too close to react to the attempt.

5. While it's plausible to argue that you shot in self-defense in response to an attempt to disarm you, shooting someone for busting you in the lip is pretty much cut-and-dried retaliation. Storms life doesn't appear to have been in danger there; only his ego did.

6. I can't think of anything Storms could do to make this worse, unless...oh, wait--he could give statements to the police about how he was trying seize control of parties having a verbal disagreement by threatening them with his gun. Yeah, that could make it worse, as could having a history of having done this sort of thing before and not learning from those incidents.

All I can say now is that I hope that Storms likes jail food and diverse roommates, because I think that he's going to be getting his fill of both for a long, long time to come.

Another police officer attacked; attacker's family cries over result.

In Gallatin, TN, a Sheriff's Deputy was attacked by a woman with an axe while helping carry our an eviction from a local public housing complex. A responding Gallatin officer was then set upon by this same woman as he exited his car. She charged at him and ignored his commands to stop and he took action to protect himself. Watch the video here and see how fast it unfolded. Note that he retreated while trying to give her commands but she kept coming.

Heart-stopping video shows the moment police officer fatally shot ax-wielding woman



The woman, identified as Laronda Sweatt, was shot twice and assumed room temperature shortly afterwards.

Predictably, her momma and other ran to the news to condemn the police officer and defend this "good woman".

Ella Sweatt is Laronda's mother and told WKRN: 'Laronda was a very sweet, caring person until you pushed her.' (Translation: "push her" and she stops being sweet.)
'Laronda wasn't violent unless you made her violent.' (Translation: She got violent.)
'Her and I had our ups and downs, but...' (Translation: Even Momma couldn't handle her at times. But...)
Ella Sweatt also said: 'Laronda didn't like to fight. (Translation: She fought.)
'All through school the child had to fight. They picked on her because she was small. (Translation: She fought a lot.)
'She was my only child out of five...' Can't even translate that.
'She died a beautiful lady. And I'm not gonna be satisfied until I get the truth.' (Translation: I want the cop in jail and I want a pail of cash.)

Henry Apple, Sweatt's cousin, was among numerous family and friends who gathered at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin on Wednesday.
“She was a good person,” Apple said. “It could have been avoided, him killing her and shooting her in the chest like that. It could have been avoided.”
Apple said Sweatt had "a mental problem". (Translation: "She was nuts and we all knew it, and she was hitting folks with an axe, but that don't matter now because police shot her.")

Bottom line is, at the end of the day, all of the police officers and innocent bystanders went home safe and sound, and one less unstable axe-murderer wanna-be is out of circulation. Still, I'm sure that the #BlackLivesMatter-but-only-if-white-police-are-involved racists will be along shortly to protest this and loot some local businesses in her honor.

Watch the shooting video again. Fast, huh? If you carry as an officer or civilian, are you ready for something like that?

One down, countless to go.

As I finish packing and loading, it's always good to see stories about a decent person triumphing over thuggery, as just happened down in Miami, where a burglar met a proper end.

A Miami woman killed a teen burglar as he fled her home, police say. Should she be charged?

Of course now the family is saying that he didn't deserve to be shot, and that we as a society should expect punks to steal our stuff because they need nice clothes for school.

Sounds to me like a few more of that family need to be culled out of the gene pool.

Women gunnies...HELP!

OK. I was just informed that my sister wants her first handgun and that she intends it for concealed carry. (She already took the class and got the permit.) Apparently she has the plan that she can just keep it in her purse, an idea that sends me right over the edge, as an effective self-defense handgun has to be kept absolutely secure and instantly accessible, and a purse, in my mind, is neither. I may be swayed regarding some of these new "concealed carry purses" but haven't made up my mind yet.

She also doesn't know what she wants yet, and I'm too far away from her to take her shopping at a few gun stores to get a feel for what fits her best.

So this being the case, I'm putting out a call to every red-blooded American woman who carries a firearm for personal protection. Please reply via post and tell us what you carry and how you carry it. I know what works for me--big gun with big bullets in a leather OWB holster--but her needs and shape are different.

Also, if you've tried anything in the past that worked or didn't work well, please share that too, if you don't mind.

All replies will be greatly appreciated. And please pass this link around to ensure that it reaches as many pistol-packing women as possible.

Thanks in advance.

Armed "victim" turns tables on would-be car-jacker

In Atlanta, Edgar Horn slid into the passenger seat of Hashim Fannin's car and said "you know what this is."

Fannin knew, all right. He knew that Horn was announcing a car-jacking. But Fannin knew something else, something that Horn did not. Fannin knew that he had a licensed concealed weapon on his person, and he promptly shared that information with Horn by pulling the sidearm and forcing Horn to lie face down on the parking lot while Fannin called the police.

Man holds suspected carjacker at gunpoint until police arrive

Horn of course tried to play it off by claiming that he thought that he was getting into the car of "a friend" abd begged fannin to let him go, but Fannin didn't buy it and held him for the police.

“I told him no, there’s no leaving, leaving was before you hopped into my car ... at this point there is not leaving,” Fannin said.

The car owner kept the suspect, Edgar Horn, 61, at gunpoint face down in the parking lot for several minutes until police arrived.

“You were not trying to rob me,” Fannin said to the man on cellphone video of the incident. “Do you just get into random people's cars ... you thought I was your friend … you thought I was your friend ... so you woke up stupid this morning?”

When police arrived, you can see Fannin wave them over, and put his gun down. The police officer shakes his hand, before putting the suspect in handcuffs.

“Honestly, I look at it like this. That is one less guy I got to worry about bothering my mom when she’s out grocery shopping,” Fannin said.

Somewhere out there, Shannon Watts is crying and dipping into her third carton of Haagen-Dazs. She really hates it when guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens stop crimes and save lives.

Darwin Award Win! Man with toy gun tries to rob man who has real gun.

Yeah, you just had to know that was going to end well...and it did.

POLICE: ATTEMPTED ROBBERY VICTIM FATALLY SHOOTS TOY GUN-WIELDING SUSPECT IN UPPER DARBY

Investigators say a 67-year-old man was walking on a path when the suspect ran up and demanded cash.

"He hears somebody running behind him. As he turns around, he sees a masked man with a gun pointed at him saying, 'Give it up, give me all you got," said Supt. Michael Chitwood, Upper Darby Township Police.

However the intended victim grabbed the suspect's gun.

During the struggle, police say the victim pulled out his own weapon and fired one shot striking the attempted robber in the head, killing him.

The victim does have a concealed weapons permit.

Police have identified the deceased as Tyler Williams of West Philadelphia. Tyler was 18 years old, and police are searching for a relative willing to get in front of the news cameras and tell us all how he was just getting ready to start turning his life around, get a job, and go to school to become a dental hygenist or some other such nonsense.

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, the streets are a little safer and even the air is a little fresher tonight.

Vigilante FAIL. Man Attacks Concealed Pistol Holder, Gets Arrested.

Screaming "He's got a GUN!", 43 year old Michael Foster attacked 62 year old Clarence Daniels as he walked into a Hillsborough County, Florida Wal-Mart after observing that Daniels had a firearm on his person. Only problem for Foster: Daniels has a concealed-weapons permit and was lawfully carrying his firearm when Foster jumped on him and knocked him to the ground.

Vigilante arrested for tackling licensed gunowner in Florida Wal-Mart

Foster was arrested by responding police and charged with battery, as he should have been.

Now my concerns go a bit deeper than the original story. First of all, it sounds as if Mr. Daniels, though a lawful CCW permit holder, was not doing a very good job concealing his sidearm if Foster could spot it like he did. (Remember folks, if bad guys can see it, they can attack--like Foster did--or take you out pre-emptively if they want to. The option is theirs.)

My second concern is that Mr. Daniels was apparently not aware of the fact that he was about to be attacked until Foster grabbed him. A major part of self-defense is situational awareness, and that means keeping an eye as to your surroundings and other people in proximity to you, especially those who seem to be eyeballing you. Now can we all be 100% aware 100% of the time? Not likely. However it sounds like Mr. Daniels definitely got caught not paying attention. Not good. Not good at all.

Now let's go back to Foster again. Was he simply some wanna-be do-gooder with a hero complex, another George Zimmerman wanna-be? (It is Florida, after all.) Or was he something worse, namely one of those whack-job anti-gun loons who urge each other on the internet to attack or call the police on anyone that they suspect to be armed? Hopefully this gets investigated, and if it's the latter, hopefully he is exposed and he pulls some serious jail time.

Either way, this is the sort of thing that anyone who carries a concealed firearm needs to be aware of, and it's a lesson showing that we've got to remain vigilant. And having a "Plan B" for those times when someone gets too close to draw on or tries to disarm you is never a bad thing. Does YOUR holster have any retention features, and have YOU thought of what you'll do if/when someone hits you from behind and goes for your gun?

If not, why not?

Victim Turns The Tables On Would-Be Robber, Shoots Him With His Own Gun

So in Washington DC, a place where it's illegal to carry guns, an 18 year old named Channel Johnson (seriously!) tried to rob a man with a shotgun.

Unfortunately for Channel, his intended victim grabbed the shotgun from Channel and shot him dead with it. (And yes, I'm smiling as I type this.) As a result, Channel got switched off permanently.

Man kills robber after wresting shotgun away from attacker, D.C. police say

A man who was being robbed in Southeast Washington on Wednesday wrested a shotgun away from a gunman and fatally shot his attacker, D.C. police said on Thursday.

The man who died was identified as Channel Johnson, 18, of Southeast. Police said they questioned the man who was robbed but have not filed charges. The incident has been classified as a death investigation, and is continuing. Police initially said Johnson was shot in the back. He died at an area hospital.

As of this time, the local media is searching for a relative who will give the standard teary pronouncment about how "he was a good boy...just getting ready to turn his life around and get a job and everything." It's also reported that Al Sharpton announced that he was going to speak at Channel's funeral, but then he found out that no white police officers were responsible for Channel's death and he canceled.

It's not known where or when Channel Johnson's funeral will be, but if you want to attend, I'm told that the obligatory funeral t-shirts with his picture on them can be obtained from any one of his close relations.

Guns Save Legislators Lives in PA.

Remember when Barry Obama sneered at Pennsylvanians as "bitterly clinging to their guns and their religion"? Well for a couple of Pennsylvania lawmakers, clinging to guns saved the day when a punk pulled a gun on two of them, only to be met by the gun of one of the legislators, State Rep. Marty Flynn, who has a concealed weapons permit.

Statehouse Shootout: Pa. lawmaker exchanges gunfire with would-be robber

Imagine that--guns saving lives. Who'd have thought, eh? Looks like at least some of the Pennsylvania legislature are apparently more secure than B.O. is in the White House. Of course they're taking responsibility for their own safety and not trusting their lives blindly to a bunch of people that they've disrespected for six years straight.

As for Pennsylvania, I'm betting that we don't see much in the way of CCW restrictions out of that legislature, at least for a while. And mad props to Harrisburg Police for responding quickly and nabbing four of the punks responsible for the attempted robbery.

Sometimes fate brings two idiots together.

And in cases like this, where one of the idiots has a gun, things have a tendency to turn very bad indeed.

Michigan Man charged with muder in apparent road rage shooting.

To sum it up, two idiots joust with each other in traffic. One finally passes the other and it seems to be over, but then at the next red light, the second idiot pulls up behind the first one, gets out of his car, and storms up to the driver's side of the first idiot's truck, at which time first idiot shoots second idiot in the face, killing him. First idiot, who had a CCW permit, claims "self defense", but self defense requires a good-faith belief of immminent serious bodily harm or death AND "clean hands", meaning that you cannot have provoked your alleged attacker or otherwise contributed to the affray.

As it stands now, first idiot, a 69 year old man name Martin Zale, is facing murder charges, and the second idiot, 43 year old Derek Flemming...well he's dead and his family is out doing sob stories about how his daughter will have to grow up without a father now as they beat the drum for a Gofundme account to raise money for his funeral or a party or whatever. But I won't be contributing, because Derek Flemming wasn't a victim here. He was a wanna-be tough guy who decided to run up on some old man that he didn't know in a fit of rage and it was just his dumb luck that the old man that he ran up on had a gun and an impulse-control problem of his own. Flemming, in his fit of ego-driven anger, pretty much killed himself and it's as much his fault that his daughter has to celebrate her birthday without him there as it is Zale's. There were no winners here, only two losers, and the only real victims are Flemming's children and the vast majority of law-abiding gun owners who are now being tarred with the dirty brush in the media even though they know better than to engage in road rage incidents or whip their pistols out to get them out of trouble that their own poor judgement got them into. Zale knew or should have known better at his age, especially after taking the required coursework for a Michigan CCW that includes a lecture on self-defense and the law, and Flemming was also old enough to know better than to jump out of a car and challenge perfect strangers to a fight.

And I know that all of you reading this, many of you CCW holders yourselves, are mature enough to avoid getting into situations like this, so pass this lesson along to anyone else you know who might be considering a CCW. Let them know that one bit of bad judgement combined with a firearm concelaed or openly carried can and will destroy one or several lives. But then again, I'm pretty much preaching to the choir as, despite isolated incidents like the one above, people with concealed weapons permits are more law-abiding and much less likely to be arrested for violent or nonviolent crimes than the general population as a whole.

And Detroit residents take out the trash again with another home invader killed.

In the last two months, I think that more home invaders have been shot in Detroit than US troops in Afghanistan.

Suspect dead after crash, shooting following break-in in Detroit

In addition to this one:

There have been at least five shootings by homeowners in the past two months:

■On March 6, a would-be burglar was fatally shot by a homeowner in the 8200 block of Penrod when two men tried to break into a home.

■On Feb. 28, a woman shot and killed a man trying to break into her home in the 22000 block of Grove.

■On Feb. 22, two home invaders were killed on the city’s southwest side. Earlier that same day, a woman shot and killed a man after he confronted her as she pulled into her garage.

■On Feb. 17, a woman opened fire on three teens who kicked in the door to her home. The teens, ages 14, 14 and 15, weren’t hit and were later arrested by police.

Police Chief James Craig caused a national stir in January when he told The Detroit News he felt the city’s crime rate would go down if more people were armed because it would make criminals think twice about breaking into their homes or attacking them.

Apparently the criminal class is still slow to get the message. Maybe Detroit needs to change it's motto from: "Will the last taxpayer to leave please turn out the lights?" to something a bit more representative.
Maybe: "Detroit: Where we whack 'em and stack 'em."

Detroit: Where you can't even rob the pizza man without getting shot

Yeah, technically it was in Redford, but only by a block. And the robbers were Detroiters, apparently a pair who decided that committing Home Invasions in Detroit was getting to be too dangerous, what with all of the armed homeowners. So who seemed like a "safer" victim? The pizza guy! Pizza guys don't carry guns, right?

Cops: Pizza driver fires shots at Redford 'customers' who tried to rob him

One in jail, and one in the hospital enroute to jail. If this keeps up, Detroit won't have any thugs left, aside from the likes of George Cushingberry and Monica Conyers, that is.

Law-Abiding Homeowner 2, Home Invaders 0 in Latest Detroit Match-Up

And once more in Detroit, where, when seconds count, the police are just minutes away, a prepared homeowner is alive today because he was armed and took action.

Detroit homeowner fatally shoots 2 suspected home invaders

Detroit Police Sgt. Michael Woody said the homeowner heard commotion near his side window at about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at his house on the 14800 block of Dexter and decided to go out the back door and swing around to see what was happening in his driveway.

When the resident spotted the two alleged perpetrators, men in their 20s, a fight ensued. The homeowner reached for his handgun and opened fire.

“He struck both men, killing them instantly,” Woody said.

The homeowner has a concealed pistol license, Woody said.

There have been several home invaders shot or fired upon in recent weeks, and the city has had 8 justifiable homicides in 2014, not counting the latest two, which have not yet been deemed justified.

Detroit has traditionally had a large percentage of the nation’s justifiable homicides by citizens. In 2012, for instance, the last year for which national figures are available, there were 25 justifiable homicides in Detroit, which made up 8 percent of the 310 seen nationwide. Last year, there were 15 justifiable homicides in the city.

Detroit Police Chief James Craig said at a press conference last week that in his 37-year career, he’s never seen as many homeowners defending themselves by shooting intruders. Craig told The News in January he felt the crime rate could be lowered if more “good Americans” were armed, because he said criminals would think twice about attacking them.

“It does appear more and more Detroiters are becoming empowered,” Craig said. “More and more Detroiters are getting sick of the violence. I know of no other place where I’ve seen this number of justifiable homicides.”

Craig referenced recent incidents where women shot home invaders. “It’s interesting that these incidents go across gender lines,” he said.

Among the recent shootings:

■On March 7, a woman in her 50s shot and killed a man trying to break into her home in the 22000 block of Grove Street. She heard noises at her rear window and shot the intruder in the chest.

■On Feb. 22, two home invaders were killed: At 2 a.m., two men broke into a house on the city's southwest side; the homeowner shot both men. A 21-year-old man died and the other man escaped.

■Earlier on Feb. 22, at 12:30 a.m., a woman who was surprised by a gunman when she pulled her car into the garage was able to reach for her own gun and fatally shoot the man.

■A woman on Feb. 17 opened fire on three teens who kicked in her door. The alleged intruders, ages 14, 14 and 15, were caught by police, and charged with home invasion.

“People who are faced with a dangerous situation are taking matters into their own hands,” Craig said. “We’re not advocating violence; we’re advocates of not being victims. We’re advocates of self-protection. We want people to be safe.

“This should be a message to those who continue to perpetuate violence on Detroiters that enough is enough. You’ve got to be concerned about good Detroiters who aren’t going to stand for it,” Craig said.

“Detroiters are fed up and they are taking action.”

Thug dies when "scare attack" victim shoots back.

Ah, N'awlins...

Benjamin Valteau, 25, was killed on Friday night on South Claiborne Avenue by a shooter who, police said, could have been acting in self-defense. Valteau pulled a weapon and, in return, was shot.

Maybe that was the case. But Valteau's father, Benjamin Bass, said he believed his son had intended only to scare a man whom, at other times, he had considered his friend.

"My son was just ... doing a scare attack," said Bass. "I know he wasn't pulling up to kill that guy."

Victim of Friday night shooting on South Claiborne a relative of former sheriff, a family man

So to recap, this "family man" who "wasn't a bad guy", pulled up on this other guy and jumped out of his car with a shotgun. Said other guy (who, to be fair, was probably something of a thug too since he was reportedly a "friend" of the deceased) pulled out a gun of his own and capped shotgun guy. Now shotgun guy's dad, just three weeks out of prison his own self, says that his son was just motivated by "something in the moment", whatever that means.

"My son doesn't portray an image, like he wants to be a gangster," said Bass. "He doesn't carry himself that way ... I think it was something in the moment that made him come out there that way he did."

The guy who shot shotgun guy has been released by the police thus far as they consider it a self-defense shooting, but the investigation continues.

Meanwhile, I shall continue to carry my concealed firearm whenever business or pleasure takes me to the Crescent City...just in case some other cretin decides that I look like I might be worth "scaring".