Seven Years for Murder, or the Demon Gun

I’m sitting here in prison.
I’m not worried.
No, not me!
I know that my parole board is about to set me free.

I’ve killed a dozen women.
Damn near two dozen men.
And several little children, but
I don’t number them.

You’d think I’d have to pay for
All the wrong I’ve done.
Liberals just don’t fault me.
They blame my Demon Gun!

I might kill with a crowbar.
I can always use a knife.
If you ever cross me,
You know I’ll take your life.

You’ve all seen the studies.
They prove I’m not to blame.
I was mistreated as a child.
That’s my claim to fame.

You see, it’s really your fault
For the course my life has run.
If you had been more caring,
I wouldn’t need a Demon Gun.

The Liberals want to take the guns
From the average Joe.
You want to know what I think?
I say, “Go, Man Go!”

I’ve mugged and robbed my way around.
I’ve surely had my fun.
It really isn’t my fault.
It’s all my Demon Gun!

And if another Hitler
Should give tyranny a go,
You know about my friends and me.
We’ll join the Gestapo.

So take away the Demon Guns
From sea to shining sea.
When the people are disarmed,
The Ruler will be me!

Feel free to pass along the poem for non-commercial use with attribution to this site. All other rights reserved. Let me be clear! If the Liberals succeed in turning this country into a prison, who will guard the guards?

Def Mech

Of the 5 states with the highest denial rates, Colorado led the country in the percentage of wrongful denials.  71% of Colorado denials were reversed on appeal.

In the Centennial State, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducts background checks for individuals who buy firearms from licensed dealers and at gun shows.  The U.S. Government also runs a background check system through the FBI.

The FBI National Instant Check System (NICS) had only a 4% denial reversal rate for 2008. According to my calculations, the NICS check was almost 18 times more accurate in protecting honest citizens than the CBI background check.

Colorado Residents, please contact the Governor of Colorado, your State Senator, and your State Representative. Ask that the state move the CBI check to the NICS.

*Source: Workman, Dave, “Nearly 11,000 wrongly denied by background checks in 2008,” The new Gun Week, Second Amendment Foundation, Bellevue, WA, 09-15-09, Page 2.

Def Mech

People asking detailed questions about security measures at government buildings or deliberately going into restricted areas would cause me concern.  Timing the arrival of emergency responders would set off numerous alarms in the intelligence officer part of my brain case.  Rehearsing a terrorist attack is a definite “no-no.”

A large donation to a “charity that you have never heard of” is more troubling, when regarded as an indicator of terrorism.  Using guns in a garage as a symptom of terrorist intentions strikes me as downright scary in an Orwellian, Stalinist, Nazi kind of way.  (I would be suspicious of C-4 explosive charges, grenades, rocket propelled grenade launchers, Molotov cocktails etc.)

We need to keep in mind and this video should have mentioned that American Citizens have a right to own binoculars, cameras, and watches.  American Citizens, unlike disarmed British and Japanese subjects, have a constitutional right to the possession of and use of firearms.

This video was funded by the Obama Administration’s Department of Homeland Security and unveiled at a convention of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which tells you a lot about what I perceive to be bias in the piece.  Homeland Security put out the infamous document warning about Second Amendment supporters, veterans, and abortion opponents as potential terrorists.  The International Association of Chiefs of Police is featured on the anti-gun Joyce Foundation Website in conjunction with their efforts to implement draconian gun control measures in the United States.

BTW, Barack Hussein Obama sat on the board of the Joyce Foundation for years.  He also appointed Janet Napolitano to the Homeland Security post.  Draw your own conclusions about his stand on guns.

You will note in the video that citizens are asked to report “any suspicious activity” and “gut feelings” that something may be amiss.  ”Suspicious looking vehicles” should be reported.  “Suspicious persons” should be phoned in to the Colorado Information Analysis Center.  God help you, if you happen to be a white male wearing a boonie hat driving a pickup truck with a gun rack in the back window and an NRA sticker on the bumper.

BTW, unless I missed something, most of the “terrorists” in the video were white men with short haircuts.  There were a few anglo women and one black man portrayed as dangerous enemies of America.  Other people of color would never be involved in terrorist activities, so don’t narc on them.  It could be that government agencies that helped with the video just don’t have any other people of color on staff to play terrorists.  Hmmm! Maybe we should investigate those agencies for affirmative action problems.

Thanks to Peter Boyles of KHOW Radio for bringing this story to my attention.  (I have received no quid pro quo for this mention of the radio host or his station.)  If you write a blog, you want to get used to saying things like this, because “Big Brother loves you” and is getting into the business of regulating speech on the Internet.

Stay alert!  Stay alive!  Be suspicious of your neighbors!  (They might turn you in.)  (Is this kind of video a good way to build American Unity in a post-partisan, post racially conscious nation, or what?)

Def Mech

The second program, “Lock and Load,” will air at 7 PM on October 21^st on Showtime.  This one takes viewers to The Shootist gun store and indoor shooting range in Englewood, Colorado.  ”Lock and Load” is a six-part attempt at “reality TV.”  Each episode will last one-half hour and portray patrons and transactions at the Englewood shop.

Both pieces will undoubtedly be condescending and dismissive with regard to gun owners and fear mongering with regard to all normal Americans who aren’t part of the “Gun Culture.”  The militia show “…may make you more than a tad nervous.”  The Shootist series is promoted as “scary in a different way…”  One of the patrons of the gun shop featured in the series is an “over-weight and put-upon husband” who plays well into the Left-wing stereotype of gun owners as fat white men seeking manhood in the ownership of firearms.

Stay alert!  Given the Obama Administration’s appointment of numerous anti-gun Czars and Cabinet Members, these programs could be more than just entertainment.  Mainstream Media documentaries have an odd way of correlating themselves with government attacks on the rights of American Citizens to armed self-defense against crime, tyranny, and genocide.

Of course, I could just be paranoid.  After all, I’m a veteran who supports the Second Amendment.  Oh Gosh! I’d better watch myself!  I could be one of those people.

Def Mech

The story in The Denver Post, “08 Race worker held in damage to Democratic HQ,” by Jessica Fender, appeared on Page 1B of the 08-26-09 paper. Litwin’s piece, “Bemused by the pane and the story,” showed up on Page 2A of the same edition.

In describing the alleged perpetrator as a possible agent provocateur, Boyles shined a light on an extremely dangerous tactic that is always available to those who would socialize medicine and disarm the American People in the name of “progress.” If you believe in the utopian dream of the perfectly managed society, then the ends justify the means.  This may mean attacking your own side and trying to blame it on someone else.   As David Horowitz wrote on Page 438 of his excellent book, Left Illusions, “If you believe in a future that will redeem mankind, what lie will you not tell, and what crime will you not commit, to make the future happen?”

The purpose of this crime may have been to cast false blame on the so-called “Nazis,” “haters,” and other conservative “wing nuts” who dare to oppose the statist policies of the Obama Administration. The blame game ploy is as old as history. Nero used the fire that destroyed much of Rome to justify persecution of early Christians. Hitler used the Reichstag Fire to boost support for his takeover the German Government. (Who started the fires? We will probably never know.)

I’m not saying that the alleged perpetrator and his unidentified accomplice were paid by anyone to commit an act of political vandalism. Mr. Schwenkler had worked in the past for an organization with Left-wing ties, according to the news stories. If he did shatter the windows of the Democrat Headquarters, he may well have acted out of personal conviction and not as a paid operative.

It is also possible that the actual perpetrator of this crime is so far Left that breaking out the windows was a protest.  Perhaps the socialized medicine scheme pushed by the Obama Administration does not go far enough. Litwin mused over this conundrum in his article.

It now appears that anarchist web sites are raising bail money for Schwenkler, who is reportedly an individual with ties to far-Left anarchist organizations. It may be that this incident is an internecine quarrel between Leftists.

In any case, defenders of the right of American Citizens to armed self-defense against crime, tyranny and genocide must be ever vigilant against agent provocateurs who seek to demonize firearms and the people who own them. We must closely examine every single high profile mass murder and spree killing for evidence of possible external influences. See my post of 03-12-09, “Look for more shootings after church killing and more calls for gun control,” tagged “Conspiracy Theory.”

We must also be aware of Left-wing media bias that magnifies alleged wrongdoing associated with conservatives and minimizes  crimes committed by the “progressive” Left. See my Category, “Media Bias.” As Edmond Burke wrote, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Burke also said, “The people never give up their liberty but under some delusion.”

Avoid delusions! Let us actively support the civil rights of all Americans and be acutely suspicious of anyone who approaches the jewel of liberty that is our Bill of Rights.  We must educate citizens to avoid knee jerk reactions.  Every attack on the Left is not from the Right.  Sometimes, the Left attacks the Left.

Def Mech

The headline, “Actor to testify against killer,” appeared in The Denver Post on 01-27-09 on Page 14A.  The article described Mr. Grammer’s efforts to adequately punish one of his sister’s killers and save society from further outrages.

Bob Russel, a former Colorado Springs District Attorney, told The Denver Post Reporter that Mr. Grammer “felt guilty…because he didn’t protect…” his sister.  Of course, he couldn’t have kept her from harm, because it is impossible for good people to shield everyone they love from the evil actions of felons and sociopaths. Nevertheless, this sense of guilt is often psychologically transformed in the minds of relatives and other loved ones of crime victims into a visceral hatred for anything associated with the crime.

We frequently see this defense mechanism of displacement at work in cases where the weapon involved happened to be a firearm.  The displacement of feelings of guilt, anger, and overwhelming loss that accompanies  a fatal crime helps to ease the burden of the survivor by providing a scapegoat, a target for the negative emotions that are eating away at the grieving individual.  An unreasoning fear of weapons may also be described by the term hoplophobia.  (See my post “Displacement as a defense mechanism in the irrational fear of guns,” 08-17-2008, tagged “hoplophobia”)

To my knowledge, and I believe to his credit, Mr. Grammer has never advocated banning knives or imposing draconian restrictions on the people who own them.  Instead of displacing his anger, Mr. Grammer has appropriately directed it against the perpetrator of the horrible crime against his sister.  By his actions, Mr. Grammer is taking a positive step to insure that a dangerous felon is not released back into society to kill again.

It would be a good thing, if all relatives and other loved ones of crime victims were this rational and precise in their response to tragedy.  Sometimes, however, it is harder to target specific perpetrators. What happens if the criminals are out of reach of the survivors, because they have been killed, committed suicide, or evaded the law?  It would seem to make sense to direct blame against individuals in the criminal classes who commit violence, e.g., muggers, killers, and rapists, to name a few.

Unfortunately, in many cases, survivors’ anger is inappropriately directed at law-abiding citizens and heretofore-legal behaviors.  I am referring, of course, to legal gun ownership and the right of Americans to armed self-defense against crime, tyranny, and genocide recognized by the Second Amendment.

We, who struggle to preserve that right against all infringement, owe Mr. Grammer a vote of thanks for his courage and insight in opposing the parole of a triple murderer.  It makes sense to punish offenders. It does not make sense to disarm or hinder potential victims.

Def Mech

The U.S. Forest Service has closed the Rampart Range Shooting Area near Colorado Springs following a negligent discharge of a handgun that resulted in the death of a person using the range.  Please contact the U.S. Forest Service Regional Office at 202-275-5350 or E-mail at http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/contact/ , before Friday, if possible, to request that the range be reopened with supervision to prevent a recurrence of this tragedy.  See related articles at Colorado Gun Issues, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/COGunissues/.

Just a reminder, the anti-gunners are going to bludgeon us with every single accidental shooting death.  The negligent discharge of a firearm not only threatens to kill or injure someone and ruin your life, it threatens the right to armed self-defense against crime, tyranny and genocide of every American Citizen.  If you follow four simple rules originated by Colonel Jeff Cooper, you will be a safe shooter.  These rules should be taught in every school in America, but don’t hold your breath.

Treat every gun as a loaded gun.

Never point the muzzle of a gun at anything you aren’t willing to destroy.

Keep your finger out of the trigger guard until your target is in your sights.

Be aware of what is behind your target.  What happens if you miss?

There is a Tanner Gun Show August 1st and 2nd at the Merchandise Mart at 58th Avenue and I-25, if you are in the Denver Metro Area.

Def Mech

The US Justice Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Program supported the project.  CU Professor Mark Pogrebin led the team of CU and CSU researchers, who surveyed prisoners in 2003, 2004.

We should keep in mind that 73 individuals constitute an extremely small sample size, totaling about four percent of the subjects of the landmark prison study done by Professors Wright and Rossi.  (See my post under the Category: “Research.”)

The Colorado study group may have been an available sample rather than a random sample, but we will have to wait for the book in July to look at their selection process.

Given these potential limitations, we can consider the self-reports of the prisoners to be representative to some degree of the Colorado population of convicted felons who have used firearms in the commission of a crime.  (We should keep in mind that it is illegal for a convicted felon to possess a firearm.)

It will be instructive to find out if the book goes into other crimes committed by the research subjects.  The book does apparently touch on the role of drugs, especially Meth, in increasing violent criminal behavior.  (It is also illegal for drug addicts to possess firearms.)

According to the article, the Colorado findings suggest that “gun-control laws would have had little effect on the study subjects’ criminal behavior.”  The impressive CDC Study and the even more massive NAS Study, which indicate that there is no substantial scientific evidence that gun control laws prevent crime, support this conclusion.  (See my posts under the Category: “Research.”)

Another interesting finding of the study in question is that some criminals would be deterred by liberal concealed carry laws.  Wright and Rossi found that criminals are risk averse and, in effect, do a kind of risk/benefit analysis when selecting victims.

Florida Scientist Gary Kleck found up to 2 million defensive uses of firearms every year in the United States.  Economist John Lott postulates that “shall issue” concealed carry laws save lives and reduce crime.  (See David Kopel’s review of John Lott’s book, More Guns, Less Crime, here.)

An interesting artifact of the Colorado Study is that “most inmates said that concealed weapons…” or “the perception” of concealed weapons in the hands of potential victims would lead to more violent behavior on the part of the criminals.  There are two possible problems with giving credence to this idea.

The first problem is that the criminals in the study group could have been motivated by bravado, attempting to convince the researchers (and themselves) that they were not intimidated by the idea of relatively widespread, spontaneous, armed opposition to their felonious acts.  The second, and more insidious possibility, is that the convicts knew that their responses might find their way into public policy debates on concealed weapons permits.  What better way for a career criminal to improve “business conditions” than to provide responses to researchers that might actually disarm potential victims?

Most criminals do not attack police officers in order to take their weapons.  Few criminals attempt armed robberies at gun stores or gun shows.  I personally give more weight to the much larger Wright and Rossi Study and the evidence of crime deterrence suggested by Dr. Kleck and Dr. Lott.

One convict’s remark that he would shoot people he thought were carrying concealed guns should make it abundantly clear that CCW permit holders’ names must be kept private to protect them and society as a whole.  Another implication of this individual’s attitude is that we should incarcerate dangerous felons for as long as possible to keep them from committing future criminal acts.

According to the Post article, this small Colorado study seems to agree with much of the research supporting the Second Amendment and the fundamental right of American Citizens to self-defense against crime.  Defense against tyranny and genocide appear to be beyond the scope of the study.  It will be interesting to check out the book.

Def Mech