Sebastian has a great Comparison of Reid to some others who have decent ratings from pro-gun organizations.

Honestly, I’m more than a bit surprised.

Via the NRA-ILA:

On June 11, the top law enforcement officials of nearly half the states signed a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, expressing their opposition to reinstatement of the federal ban on semi-automatic firearms.

“We share the Obama Administration’s commitment to reducing illegal drugs and violent crime within the United States. We also share your deep concern about drug cartel violence in Mexico. However, we do not believe that restricting law-abiding Americans’ access to certain semi-automatic firearms will resolve any of these problems,” the letter said.

The letter notes congressional opposition to bringing back the ban, and calls for increasing enforcement of existing laws.

We encourage NRA members to let these state officials know we appreciate them standing up to the incessant clamor for gun control that is currently coming from anti-gun groups and their media allies.

The 23 state Attorneys General, in alphabetical order, by state, are:
(more…)

Those watching things closely may have noticed a trend:

• Gun sales jump (Utah)
• Area gun sales spike (Alabama)
• Gun sales rise in Ohio, stay flat in Ross County (Ohio)
• Gun sales shoot up after Election Day (Colorado)
• Gun sales up, supplies down (Texas)
• S.D. gun shops see rise in sales (South Dakota)
• Gun, ammo sales increase in Churchill, Lyon counties (Nevada)
• Local gun sales increase since election (Arkansas)
• Gun sales shoot way up (Maine)
• Hawaii gun sales shooting up
• Fear Fuels Gun Sales Locally (West Virginia)
• Gun Sales Are Up Since Obama Election (Kentucky)
• Fear of ban increases gun sales (Mississippi)
• Finger on safety as gun sales shoot upward (Idaho)
• Gun sales rise as owners fear stricter controls (North Carolina)
• Gun Sales Boom Ahead of Obama Presidency (Tennessee)
• Gun Sales Booming Since Presidential Election (Nebraska)
• Gun sales, permits climb following election (North Dakota)
• Gun Sales Rise As Buyers Anticipate Political Change (Washington)
• Gun Sales Shoot Upward in Springfield (Missouri)
• Madison gun sales soar (Virginia)
• Some stores see surge in gun sales (Pennsylvania)
• Firearm sales surge following election (Wisconsin)

These are all from the past two or three days and aren’t simply re-runs of AP items in different papers. All of these have considerable, if not exclusively, local content. I could easily have included many, many more.

No doubt, the media coverage is feeding the flames a bit. As is the fact that hunting seasons are kicking off or underway in most states right now. But the trend is unmistakable.

It doesn’t seem to be localized to the bitter, clingy parts of the nation. Or to the red states.

Galvanizing the gun vote

Robb Allen points a Simple Minded response to the recent Mass Murder stopped by CCW:

Query: Had this good samaritan tackled the shooter, would he be less of a hero? Had he struck the shooter over the head with a beer bottle, would he be less of a hero? There are plenty of other examples, but the point is the same.

in a post titled Gun Anecdote Proves Nothing

And goes on with

The gun doesn’t make the hero. The hero makes the hero. The fact that this person was willing to risk his own welfare to help other people sounds decidedly “liberal”. Maybe only liberals should have guns?

He closes with

An anonymous person stopped a man from killing people by shooting him with a concealed weapon. It proves nothing more than on this occasion, one good man stopped one bad man from doing harm. I too applaud the anonymous man, but this doesn’t prove that all good people should carry guns.

But, um, I guess I’m unfamiliar with the claim that “all good people should carry guns.”

Did I miss something? Has the NRA adopted this? Are the gun bloggers demanding that all good people should carry guns?

I left this comment.

Help: I’m trying to find out who’s claiming that “all good people should carry guns.”

Please point me to the ones making this claim.

Thanks in advance!

Go see Robb’s post for a lot more discussion on this.

Say Uncle points out Another mass shooting stopped by a carry permit holder. A guy in a bar, no less.

In the small town of Winnemucca Nevada a man bent on performing a mass shooting at a bar was stopped by an armed CCW permit holder who happened to be in the right place at the right time. The alleged mass murderer had already killed two victims & had injured two others with gunshot wounds, but while he was reloading he was shot & killed by an armed CCW permit holder who was also at the bar.

Let’s see:

1. Killer killing people
2. No law enforcement officials apparently present
3. CCW holder carrying in establishment that serves alcohol
4. CCW stops killer
5. No one killed in cross fire
6. Cops don’t have to hesitate while trying to distinguish killer from cowboy

All in all, a storyline with a rather unhappy ending for the antis.

As I’ve noted, we have disconnected our television. Otherwise, like you, we would be seeing this story over and over and over on every channel.

(I knew I couldn’t keep a straight face while typing that…)

GBR-III Dates Set

The third annual Gun Blogger Rendezvous, once again at Circus Circus in Reno, NV, begins with an informal social gathering Thursday evening (the 9th) and officially ends with breakfast Sunday morning (the 12th), though the hospitality room will be open Sunday evening, too.

Lots of fun in between.

Scheduling conflicts have kept Murdoc from both of the first two GBRs, and it’s too early to commit to this one. But I’d sure like to. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

University of Nevada, Reno:

Police are warning of a serial rapist-killer on the loose and are asking women to avoid situations that will put them at risk. Rape whistles have been distributed to female university students.

Whistles.

About to be raped? Just whistle. Call time-out. See how easy that was?

Maybe someone can distribute yellow flags to female university students so that would-be rapists can be penalized 15 yards for illegal use of hands.

Via Say Uncle, who says: Unreal.

Caleb notes that whistles aren’t completely worthless:

A rape whistle falls into the first tier of defensive implements, and is less useful than a good pair of sneakers and skill at sprinting. If campus security wants to issue rape whistles, that’s fine. Good for them. But if you’re going to send them out, make damn well sure that everyone who gets a whistle is 100% aware of their limitations.

Whistles can definitely be a good thing to have in a tough spot and you should have one in your “grab-n-go” survival kit, but don’t count on one to save you from an immediate threat.

Sebastian calls whistles A False Sense of Security. Exactly.

Also, in my book good shoes are always a must. A lot of times people (including my wife) wonder why I’m wearing the shoes I’m wearing instead of sandals or slip-ons or even why I’m wearing shoes at all. I always say “What if I have to do something?” Though defending yourself is a right that I fully support and encourage, sometimes (usually, even) the proper defense is to put as much space between you and a threat as you can as quickly as you can.

But again, good shoes and the ability to run often won’t be enough. And what’s the university going to do? Offer all female students a new pair of Nikes?

I guarantee that some of the university’s female students are now carrying guns, no-gun policy be damned. Every time there’s a college serial rapist at large we see large numbers of girls packing heat. Though often untrained, we haven’t seen any shootouts at the OK Corral from these women, have we? Even though the main argument against concealed carry on campus is the likelihood of students recklessly shooting up the place, we haven’t even seen that from unlicensed and untrained students in the past. At least not that I’m aware of. So why should we expect it more from trained carriers?

The 2008 SHOT Show begins on February 2nd in Las Vegas. Murdoc will be there with lots of coverage.

The 2009 SHOT Show will be held in Orlando instead of Las Vegas. It will run January 15 – 18 in the Orange County Convention Center. Full story at Shooting Sports Retailer.