Too Much Information

I don't think there is much dispute that dragging the President's daughters into the gun debate was a new low for the NRA...absolutely disgusting to the say the least but  I don’t think Glenn Kessler did the world any favors by reporting that Sidwell Friends doesn’t have armed guards. The freaks that just love their AR-15's and super magazines and just can't wait for the opportunity to blow some Islamic socialist away just hear “soft target” when they hear “Quaker school with unarmed guards”.

I guess someone needs to explain to me why Sidwell couldn’t have just said “no comment” on their security. WTF were they thinking why Kessler thought it was a good idea to tell the world.

Needless Tragedy

This piece on CNN just astounded me. Since when does it make sense to give an 8 year old a damn loaded Uzi to shoot? Everybody involved, the 'certified' instructor, parent(s), gun club owner, whoever, needs some serious punishment. The heights to which human stupidity rise is just amazing. Anyone with any experience with automatic weapons should be aware of the tendency for the weapon to run up and even a big guy like me, knowing what to expect, was surprised at the force the weapons exerts when I qualified with one in the Navy. Stupid, stupid.

WESTFIELD, Massachusetts (AP) — An 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head while firing an Uzi submachine gun under adult supervision at a gun fair.
An 8-year-old shot and killed himself with an Uzi submachine gun like the weapon shown here.

The boy lost control of the weapon while firing it Sunday at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo at the Westfield Sportsman’s Club, Police Lt. Lawrence Valliere said.

The boy was with a certified instructor and “was shooting the weapon down range when the force of the weapon made it travel up and back toward his head, where he suffered the injury,” a police statement said. Police called it a “self-inflicted accidental shooting.”

The victim was taken to Baystate Medical Center where he died. His name was not released.

Although the death appears to be an accident, police and the Hampden district attorney’s office were investigating, officials said.

The club said on its Web site that the event, run in conjunction with C.O.P. Firearms and Training, is “all legal and fun.” People will be allowed to fire weapons at vehicles, pumpkins and other targets, it said.

Free Guns to Good Home

CBS News has acquired the November 30th Inspector General Report on Iraq, also known as the "Management of the Iraq Security Forces Fund in Southwest Asia - Phase III.

You thought the billions in cash was the only thing that cannot be accounted for? Not only are we out billions of dollars in cold hard cash but it turns out those missing billions probably were driven away by fully armed "Iraqi Security Forces" in dump trucks and tractor-trailers.....provided by the US Army courtesy you and me. From CBS News:

Auditors for the Inspector General reviewed equipment contracts totaling $643 million but could only find an audit trail for $83 million.

The report details a massive failure in government procurement revealing little accountability for the billions of dollars spent purchasing military hardware for the Iraqi security forces. For example, according to the report, the military could not account for 12,712 out of 13,508 weapons, including pistols, assault rifles, rocket propelled grenade launchers and machine guns.

Italics mine.

Let me get this straight...the U.S. military can only account for less than 800 of 13,500 weapons they have supplied to the "Iraqi security forces." What did they do just open the warehouse and issue everyone a basket and a chit for whatever they wanted? Do the weapons we issue not have serial numbers or was it nobody could find a pencil? Is it fair to question whether these missing weapons are now being used by the insurgency against our forces?

This kind of crap just blows my mind. When I was on the Navy pistol team in Hawaii I had to sign for every bullet I was issued and I had random checks that the pistols I was issued were still in my possession and properly stowed and maintained. You would think the Iraqis would have had to at least sign a receipt or something for a whole damn rocket launcher. I wonder if this whole weapons issue mess was managed by contractors and not the military. This just is just too big a screw-up for me to think it was pure military alone.

There Should be Outrage

I haven't really waded in on the whole guns and freedom whirlwind that is circling the Virginia Tech tragedy. But the reality is that there is an elephant in the room and it shouldn’t be ignored.

I basically don't have a problem with hunting and owning guns and therefore don’t want to ban guns entirely. However there is a lot to agree with in Elayne Boosler’s furious rant over at The Huffington Post. I don't agree with it completely but you cannot ignore the facts. You have to ask yourself why the media isn't presenting the entire picture of the gun question. Yes, we know a bunch of innocent people were gunned down by a mentally ill kid but what does it mean in context with America's love affair of guns and killing?

The number of children under the age of 17 shot by guns in America every year is greater than the gun-related deaths of children in all the industrialized nations of the world COMBINED.

and

3,300 Americans have died in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last four years. 120,000 Americans have been shot to death in America in the last four years. Where is the outrage? If we can elect a new congress based on its commitment to end the war overseas, we can elect a congress committed to end the war here at home. End both wars.

To highlight the hypocrisy of the situation Boosler concludes her piece up by noting the idiocy when the President responds to the Supreme Court decision that refuses women a medical procedure even when it may be life-saving.

“Today’s decision affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people’s representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of America. This affirms the progress my administration has made to defend the “sanctity of life”.

I encourage you to read Ms. Boosler's piece at Huffpo. You don't have to agree with her every point but you should ask yourself some serious questions about the whole gun ownership thing in this country.