Bring In The Clone!

I've said it before, but we need more like this guy.

ht to SayUncle

Can't Legislate Away Crazy

Since some folks seemed concerned with where the crazy guy got his gun, I thought I'd point out that the Denver Post is reporting that it was likely from his father's sock drawer and taken without permission.

I'd also like to mention that the attitude of the educators who ended the situation is exactly the way I hope my children's teachers feel.

"THESE KIDS ARE MY KIDS"

It wasn't the police who ended the situation.  It was the educators who work tirelessly to give these children knowledge and education.

Friendly Engineering Advice

If you are an engineer or designer working for a shipbuilder, you might want to have a long chat with Paul the Pirate.

If you don't, you might end up with a craptastic ship.

Someone Unplugged the Force Field at the Gun Free Zone

Seven miles from my house someone unplugged the force field at Deer Park Middle School and an adult gunman used the opportunity to go batshit insane and shoot two students.  Apparently unarmed teachers put their students ahead of themselves -- as they likely do daily -- and tackled the gunman.

The two students who were shot thankfully do not have life threatening injuries and are expected to be okay.  It could have turned out much worse.  He could have been better prepared or Dr. David Benke could have called in sick today.  Hopefully the school gets the power back on their magic gun repelling force field soon so that this doesn't happen again.

It Should Be A Holiday

Turns out today is PSH Day.  That car I saw last night must have just been getting an early start.

NM PSH

Driving back to New Mexico this evening it was a bit snowy being February and all.  Going over the mountain pass at the border of Colorado and New Mexico I suddenly saw a bunch of break lights.  Turns out that a New Mexico driver had taken a corner a bit too fast and ended up stuck and facing the wrong direction halfway in the left lane and half on the shoulder.

As I passed the car I checked to see if everyone looked okay (several other drivers had already stopped to render assistance) and noticed the license plate.

XXX PSH

I am sure there was more than a bit of that taking place in the car as it spun out of control.

Talk Amongst Thieves

My wife's response immediately after watching this...

That guy has no clue how to clear a room does he?

The Black Spot

I don't think Senator Bennet has much of a chance of retaining his office.  The kiss of death he received yesterday just confirms my suspicions.

As an aside, can it really be a re-election campaign if you weren't elected to the office in the first place?

Big Ouch

So my wife couldn't get the pilot on the furnace relit last night.  Turns out the exchanger is broken.  That means new furnace.  Nothing like stimulating the economy to the tune of 5K.

We Know Snow

Dear Vancouver,

We have better snow in April than you have for the Winter Olympics.

Signed,
Damn Near Every Ski Area In Colorado

Add Your Name To The Roster

Via Sensibly Progressive, a petition to stop the CSU self defense ban.

Pretending It's Either / Or

Without my kids and wife around to talk to / play with / holler at, I'm finding myself with a lot more time on my hands.  The first couple of weeks in the motel, I just relaxed and tried to deal with the stress of the somewhat lousy situation.

This week I'm starting to look around and wonder just exactly what I am going to do down here for the next 7 months and change.  I know I'll be fishing and hiking and generally exploring the countryside.  I also know that my beer making equipment will make the trip down shortly.

What I can't decide is if I need to start reloading or if I want to build an AR from the ground up.  I have long wanted to get into reloading, but I do wonder if starting it up down here in a house that is not my own is the best idea.  I mean, blowing up myself in the house that I own the bank owns is different than blowing myself up in the house I'm renting.  Building an AR sounds like a lot of fun and something that is right up my alley, but it looks to be a very addicting hobby.

The biggest problem I see is that if I put the barrel on the AR that I'm thinking about putting on top, I would likely need to start reloading anyway.  I guess the real question is do I start with the chicken or the egg...

Monday Morning Laugh

Via Tam...

Ever see The Day After Tomorrow?

Please go play Kiss The Locomotive.

Between that and the title of the post, I can't get the grin off of my face.  If you're in need of a laugh on a Monday morning head on over.

Soapbox Time

The other day I mentioned that I thought the presentation by RMGO would have been more effective if they had actually quoted the pertinent sections of the law.  Then yesterday, SayUncle posted to a link talking about a new app for both the Droid and iPhone that gives an overview of CCW laws for each state.

I think things like this and the maps and trip planners on carryconcealed.net are great.  They give a good general overview of the laws and highlight the important stuff.  These tools should not, however, be a substitute for READING THE LAW.

If you read the overview on carryconcealed.net you will find that New Mexico has a "no guns in bars law".  Tennessee also has a "no guns in bars law" that they are trying to get rid of (which is not listed on the site).

If you assume that by following the Tennessee version of their "no guns in bars" laws while you are in New Mexico it will keep you legal, you might want to think again.  The problem is that two areas where common sense laws have been applied with impunity are guns and alcohol.  There is so much common sense in those two areas that the common man has no hope of figuring out what the law is without a good deal of research and likely a call or two to an attorney to get it all straight. 

Read the laws people.  They may be written in goofy legalese, but they are mostly readable.  Do some research and if you are still confused, call your lawyer.  Concealed carry laws are a tangled mess of best intentions and common sense.  It is very easy to end up on the wrong side of the law when you don't know which side to stay on to keep you legal. Read the laws and stay out of trouble.

RMGO Tells CSU What's Up

Over at Sensibly Progressive, there's a video of members of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners holding a press conference on CSU campus, discussing the proposed weapons ban.  They do an alright job of framing the issue, but I feel that their presentation would have been more powerful if they had read the relevant part of the law.

18-12-214. Authority granted by permit - carrying restrictions.
(1) (a) A PERMIT TO CARRY A CONCEALED HANDGUN AUTHORIZES THE
PERMITTEE TO CARRY A CONCEALED HANDGUN IN ALL AREAS OF THE STATE,
EXCEPT AS SPECIFICALLY LIMITED IN THIS SECTION. A PERMIT DOES NOT
AUTHORIZE THE PERMITTEE TO USE A HANDGUN IN A MANNER THAT WOULD
VIOLATE A PROVISION OF STATE LAW. A LOCAL GOVERNMENT DOES NOT
HAVE AUTHORITY TO ADOPT OR ENFORCE AN ORDINANCE OR RESOLUTION
THAT WOULD CONFLICT WITH ANY PROVISION OF THIS PART 2.

 (4) A PERMIT ISSUED PURSUANT TO THIS PART 2 DOES NOT AUTHORIZE
A PERSON TO CARRY A CONCEALED HANDGUN INTO A PUBLIC BUILDING AT
WHICH:
(a) SECURITY PERSONNEL AND ELECTRONIC WEAPONS SCREENING
DEVICES ARE PERMANENTLY IN PLACE AT EACH ENTRANCE TO THE BUILDING;
(b) SECURITY PERSONNEL ELECTRONICALLY SCREEN EACH PERSON
WHO ENTERS THE BUILDING TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE PERSON IS
CARRYING A WEAPON OF ANY KIND; AND
(c) SECURITY PERSONNEL REQUIRE EACH PERSON WHO IS CARRYING
A WEAPON OF ANY KIND TO LEAVE THE WEAPON IN POSSESSION OF SECURITY
PERSONNEL WHILE THE PERSON IS IN THE BUILDING.
(5) NOTHING IN THIS PART 2 SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO LIMIT,
RESTRICT, OR PROHIBIT IN ANY MANNER THE EXISTING RIGHTS OF A PRIVATE
PROPERTY OWNER, PRIVATE TENANT, PRIVATE EMPLOYER, OR PRIVATE
BUSINESS ENTITY.

CSU is a public university.  This should make it cut and dry.  Unfortunately, there is some precedent which might allow CSU to implement their gun ban.  In May of last year a judge dismissed a lawsuit attempting to overturn a similar gun ban at Colorado University.  It was ruled that the CU Board of Regents was not a local government.  It would stand to reason that if CSU enacts their policy and RMGO files a suit, the suit will hinge on whether the CSU Board of Governors are a local government or an entity with statewide legislative powers like the CU Board of Regents.  Hopefully in the end, the rights of the CSU students, faculty, and staff will not be trampled.

A Politician Finally Figures It Out

Yesterday morning I was reading The New Mexican.  It serves as the somewhat local paper down here.  There was an article talking about a proposed New Mexico bill to increase penalties for people who can't figure out how not to drive drunk even after being repeatedly convicted for DWI.  The bill sounds reasonable, but was tabled and will likely die in committee.

They actually looked at the potential costs of the bill and decided that they did not have the money to fund the increased penalties.  State Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez (D!), has the money quote.

In the past, the attitude of the Legislature was "the funding doesn't matter if the policy is good.  That's what got us into this financial mess we're in now."

We need to get this guy to Washington D.C. for the President's big health care shindig and have him stand up, repeat the above and then sit back down.  Not that it would do any good mind you, but the looks on some of the D.C. politicians faces sure would make me feel better.

Tough Timmy

I watched the much hyped Super Bowl ad from Focus on the Family last night.  My local paper wants to know if it changed my views on abortion.  Seriously?  Did they not see it?  If I wasn't familiar with Focus on the Family, I would have no idea that the commercial was even about abortion.  It seems many companies don't know what a commercial is even for anymore.

On the other hand, I entered myself to win some free pants during the game despite the commercial, because well we can't all be like Robb.

They Stole Cattle Too

I've already mentioned how I have ancestors that were hung for stealing horses. Talking with one of my aunts who does a lot of genealogy stuff, I got the following story.

In the early 1900's Cecil, Edd, and Clay to a wagon and left the territory of Oklahoma and were going on up around Gunnison or Durango, Colorado to look for work or a farm to rent. Somewhere around Gunnison, they were short of food and came across a stray long horn. They killed the longhorn and Cecil went to the creek for water to clean the carcass out. When he got back, two cowboys had ropes around Clay and Edd's necks and had them on horses all set to hang. Cecil tried to reason with them but the cowboys were determined to hang all three. As they tried to put a noose around Cecil's neck, he pulled a revolver from under his coat and shot both cowboys. They buried them by the creek and nothing was said about it until years later.

My Ancestors Were Cattle Rustlers doesn't quite have the same ring to it though...

M. Knight Don't Screw It Up

My family and I are big fans of the animated version of Avatar: The Last Airbender series.  If you aren't familiar with it and have even a shred of geek in you, check it out.  That being said, I am holding my breath and hoping that the live action version won't be screwed up.



Mr. Shyamalan doesn't give me the greatest confidence, but I'm still hoping.

Ben & Tom's Excellent Adventure

For some reason, this reminded me of a time traveling Keanu Reeves



Tip 'o the hat to PGB

Couln't Have Said It Better

Jay G, on birthdays and what being a father is all about. 

If you are a Dad or about to become a Dad, read the words Jay wrote, put them to practice, and you'll do just fine.

Local Paper Says What?

So since I'm down here I thought I'd read the local paper.  There was an opinion article with an interesting title, so I clicked and read.  I've read it through twice trying to decipher the author's opinion on the issue and looking for a point.

I finally decided that the author wants to issue CCW permits to lawnmowers 

Take a look for yourself if you dare, and let me know if you think I've got this one right.