◼ A few things you won’t hear about from the saturation coverage of the Newtown, Conn., school massacre: - John Fund/National Review
Mass shootings are no more common than they have been in past decades, despite the impression given by the media....
Almost all of the public-policy discussion about Newtown has focused on a debate over the need for more gun control. In reality, gun control in a country that already has 200 million privately owned firearms is likely to do little to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals. We would be better off debating two taboo subjects — the laws that make it difficult to control people with mental illness and the growing body of evidence that “gun-free” zones, which ban the carrying of firearms by law-abiding individuals, don’t work....
Economists John Lott and William Landes conducted a groundbreaking study in 1999, and found that a common theme of mass shootings is that they occur in places where guns are banned and killers know everyone will be unarmed, such as shopping malls and schools.
I spoke with Lott after the Newtown shooting, and he confirmed that nothing has changed to alter his findings. He noted that the Aurora shooter, who killed twelve people earlier this year, had a choice of seven movie theaters that were showing the Batman movie he was obsessed with. All were within a 20-minute drive of his home. The Cinemark Theater the killer ultimately chose wasn’t the closest, but it was the only one that posted signs saying it banned concealed handguns carried by law-abiding individuals. All of the other theaters allowed the approximately 4 percent of Colorado adults who have a concealed-handgun permit to enter with their weapons.
“Disarming law-abiding citizens leaves them as sitting ducks,” Lott told me. “A couple hundred people were in the Cinemark Theater when the killer arrived. There is an extremely high probability that one or more of them would have had a legal concealed handgun with him if they had not been banned.”
Lott offers a final damning statistic: “With just one single exception, the attack on congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson in 2011, every public shooting since at least 1950 in the U.S. in which more than three people have been killed has taken place where citizens are not allowed to carry guns.” - More at the link.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Nikki Haley appoints Rep. Tim Scott to Senate
◼ Scott will replace Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who is leaving the chamber in January to head up the conservative Heritage Foundation.
“It is with great pleasure that I am announcing our next U.S. senator to be Congressman Tim Scott,” Haley said. “I am strongly convinced that the entire state understands that this is the right U.S. senator for our state and our country.”
Sen.-designate Scott, 47, will become the only African-American currently serving in the Senate and the first black Republican to serve in the upper chamber since the 1970s. He will also be the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction.
◼ South Carolina governor chooses Rep. Tim Scott to replace Jim DeMint in the Senate; Updated - Doug Power/Michelle Malkin
Labels:
Nikki Haley,
Senate,
Tim Scott
‘WE WILL RENDER YOU OBSOLETE’: ANONYMOUS ATTACKS WESTBORO BAPTIST OVER PLANS TO PICKET SANDY HOOK FUNERALS
◼ As the country grieves for the families in Newtown, Connecticut, where a crazed gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary on Friday, members of Westboro Baptist Church have announced their intention to picket the funerals of the deceased. - The Blaze
Disgusted by Westboro Baptist’s actions, the hacker group Anonymous stepped in on Sunday.
According to msnNOW, the hackers released the private information of Westboro Baptist members online, including phone numbers, professions, birthdays, known relationships, home and email addresses, in retaliation.
Anonymous also included an accompanying video in which they excoriate the self-described church in the strongest of terms, and pledge to destroy it.
Gizmodo took a transcript of part of the video:
Disgusted by Westboro Baptist’s actions, the hacker group Anonymous stepped in on Sunday.
According to msnNOW, the hackers released the private information of Westboro Baptist members online, including phone numbers, professions, birthdays, known relationships, home and email addresses, in retaliation.
Anonymous also included an accompanying video in which they excoriate the self-described church in the strongest of terms, and pledge to destroy it.
Gizmodo took a transcript of part of the video:
“Since your one-dimensional thought protocol will conform not to any modern logic, we will not debate, argue, or attempt to reason with you. Instead, we have unanimously deemed your organization to be harmful to the population of The United States of America, and have therefore decided to execute an agenda of action which will progressively dismantle your institution of deceitful pretext and extreme bias, and cease when your zealotry runs dry.Here is the full clip:
We recognize you as serious opponents, and do not expect our campaign to terminate in a short period of time. Attrition is our weapon, and we will waste no time, money, effort, and enjoyment, in tearing your resolve into pieces, and with exposing the incongruity of your distorted faith.”
Is Jerry Brown the New Voice of Reason?
◼ Is it possible that Jerry Brown, a life-long Democrat, is now the voice of reason in Sacramento? - Jon Coupal/Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
There was a time when Democrats were proud to declare themselves the defenders of working people, the middle class or those who aspired to become middle class. As recently as the 1990s, there were Democrats in the Legislature who upheld this tradition. Sadly, over time, these defenders of average citizens have been largely replaced by those who are more selective about which interests they care about.
The priorities of this new breed of Democrat has shifted to issues like what kind of light bulbs are you using in your home or how many calories are you consuming. To these “nanny staters,” creating the California Blueberry Commission is their idea of helping the economy in a state where several million residents remain unemployed.
These representatives believe that their narrow agenda so important that anybody who has a job, a business or who has been marginally successful, should foot the bill with higher taxes. When Proposition 30, the $50 billion tax increase, was passed in November they were jubilant -- not just because they would now have more money to spend, but because many believed this represented a new era in California where the public was ready to embrace new taxes. And it didn’t hurt their morale that their party elected super-majorities to both houses of the Legislature.
Already State Senators Mark Leno and Lois Wolk have introduced legislation to make it easier to increase property taxes on homeowners. Known as “parcel taxes,” homeowners are compelled to pay a set amount for the privilege of living within a community imposing the tax. A young couple in a starter home, an elderly couple in a bungalow and a multi-millionaire in mansion all pay the same amount. While parcel taxes are legal, they require a two-thirds vote under Proposition 13. If Leno and Wolk get their way, these taxes will be imposed with a lower vote threshold even though a majority of these taxes pass under the current system....
Brown has cautioned against “over-reading” voters’ intentions and declared he will oppose any additional taxes not approved by a public vote.
Over the years, our renaissance governor has been described as eccentric (and worse) because of his philosophical and spiritual musings that often seem extraneous. However, Democratic leaders in the Legislature would be wise to take to heart Brown’s recent comment to reporters: “When I was doing Zen meditation in Japan back in the late ‘80s, before going to bed I’d say with mediators, ‘Desires are endless, I vow to cut them down.’”
There was a time when Democrats were proud to declare themselves the defenders of working people, the middle class or those who aspired to become middle class. As recently as the 1990s, there were Democrats in the Legislature who upheld this tradition. Sadly, over time, these defenders of average citizens have been largely replaced by those who are more selective about which interests they care about.
The priorities of this new breed of Democrat has shifted to issues like what kind of light bulbs are you using in your home or how many calories are you consuming. To these “nanny staters,” creating the California Blueberry Commission is their idea of helping the economy in a state where several million residents remain unemployed.
These representatives believe that their narrow agenda so important that anybody who has a job, a business or who has been marginally successful, should foot the bill with higher taxes. When Proposition 30, the $50 billion tax increase, was passed in November they were jubilant -- not just because they would now have more money to spend, but because many believed this represented a new era in California where the public was ready to embrace new taxes. And it didn’t hurt their morale that their party elected super-majorities to both houses of the Legislature.
Already State Senators Mark Leno and Lois Wolk have introduced legislation to make it easier to increase property taxes on homeowners. Known as “parcel taxes,” homeowners are compelled to pay a set amount for the privilege of living within a community imposing the tax. A young couple in a starter home, an elderly couple in a bungalow and a multi-millionaire in mansion all pay the same amount. While parcel taxes are legal, they require a two-thirds vote under Proposition 13. If Leno and Wolk get their way, these taxes will be imposed with a lower vote threshold even though a majority of these taxes pass under the current system....
Brown has cautioned against “over-reading” voters’ intentions and declared he will oppose any additional taxes not approved by a public vote.
Over the years, our renaissance governor has been described as eccentric (and worse) because of his philosophical and spiritual musings that often seem extraneous. However, Democratic leaders in the Legislature would be wise to take to heart Brown’s recent comment to reporters: “When I was doing Zen meditation in Japan back in the late ‘80s, before going to bed I’d say with mediators, ‘Desires are endless, I vow to cut them down.’”
Labels:
Governor Jerry Brown,
Reform,
Spending,
Taxes
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