Insane.

That’s unholy.

From the comments:

If there is ever a zombie outbreak, i want to be near this guy.

(thanks to Ken for the link)

This is a Craigslist posting out of Savannah, Georgia:

To the Guy Who Mugged Me Downtown (Downtown, Savannah)

I was the white guy with the black Burberry jacket that you demanded I hand over shortly after you pulled the knife on me and my girlfriend. You also asked for my girlfriend’s purse and earrings. I hope you somehow come across this message. I’d like to apologize.

I didn’t expect you to crap your pants when I drew my pistol after you took my jacket. Truth is, I was wearing the jacket for a reason that evening, and it wasn’t that cold outside. You see, my girlfriend had just bought me that Kimber 1911 .45 ACP pistol for Christmas, and we had just picked up a shoulder holster for it that evening. Beautiful pistol, eh? It’s a very intimidating weapon when pointed at your head, isn’t it?

I know it probably wasn’t a great deal of fun walking back to wherever you’d come from with that brown sludge flopping about in your pants. I’m sure it was even worse since you also ended up leaving your shoes, cell phone, and wallet with me. I couldn’t have you calling up any of your buddies to come help you try to mug us again. I took the liberty of calling your mother, or “Momma” as you had her listed in your cell, and explaining to her your situation. I also bought myself some gas on your card. I gave your shoes to one of the homeless guys over by Vinnie Van Go Go’s, along with all of the cash in your wallet, then I threw the wallet itself in a dumpster.

I called a bunch of phone sex numbers from your cell. They’ll be on your bill in case you’d like to know which ones. Alltel recently shut down the line, and I’ve only had the phone for a little over a day now, so I don’t know what’s going on with that. I hope they haven’t permanently cut off your service. I was about to make some threatening phone calls to the DA’s office with it. Oh well.

So, about your pants. I know that I was a little rough on you when you did this whole attempted mugging thing, so I’d like to make it up to you. I’m sure you’ve already washed your pants, so I’d like to help you out. I’d like to reimburse you for the detergent you used on the pants. What brand did you use, and was it liquid or powder? I’d also like to apologize for not killing you and instead making you walk back home humiliated. I’m hoping that you’ll reconsider your choice of path in life. Next time you might not be so lucky. If you read this message, e-mail me and we’ll do lunch and laundry.

Peace! – Alex

That’s stupid fast.

An Oxford-style debate of the topic, with three experts on each side, and a poll of an audience before and after they make their arguments.

[ Do Guns Reduce Crime? | intelligencesquaredus.com ]

People often ask me why I choose to carry a concealed weapon. When I respond that there is real crime being committed all around us, and that I refuse to forfeit my chances when confronted with it, the answer is usually the same.

That’s just sensationalism. It’s very safe in America. The times in which you would ever need to protect yourself with a gun are mostly fantasy, constructed merely to support your argument.

No, they aren’t.

A buddy of mine recently underscored why carrying a weapon is not an outlandish idea. He had just purchased a Nintendo Wii, at a Walmart in a small town, in broad daylight, when someone came up behind him and his girlfriend.

He said, “Hey, is that one of those new Wii’s?” My buddy turns and says excitedly, “Yeah, man, they only had a couple more — you better hurry up if you want one.”

The guy responds, “How about you sell me that one?”, and my friends says, “Nah, man…I’ve been waiting to get one for months…” — not realizing there was any danger. At that point the guy says, “No, you don’t understand — how about you just GIVE me that one…” — as he pulls a knife on him.

In a flash, my buddy drops the Wii, pulls his Glock, and keeps it trained on the guy as he reaches for his mobile phone to call police. The guy didn’t take long to make his decision; he bolted and was gone within 30 seconds.

The police took over seven minutes to get there.

Some may say that the situation wasn’t worth it. Just give the guy the Wii, right? Wrong.

That’s not the country I want to live in. I, as an American, want the right to repel those who attempt to infringe upon my freedoms. And pulling a knife on me, while I’m with my woman, in order to steal from me, most definitely qualifies.

Keep in mind: this happened around an hour from where I live, less than a year ago, and similar things are happening nearly every day in my area. The threat isn’t theoretical. It’s not fantasy conjured up to support an argument. It’s real. And its foundation in reality is simultaneously the foundation of my logic for carrying.

If crime was extremely rare I’d be as anti-gun as you can imagine. But it’s not, so I do what I have to. I simply refuse to rely on the government for my security. And as an American, I shouldn’t be asked to.:

Obama said two things regarding the recent supreme court decision:

1. He agrees that the 2nd amendment is an individual right
2. But he also thinks local government should be able to place restrictions on guns to keep them out of the hands of “gangbangers and children”.

My question is simple: exactly what made him think anyone wants those people to have guns? Of course those people shouldn’t have guns.

• Gangbanger implies a record of doing something wrong. And I do agree that if you’re convicted of engaging in some sort of gang-oriented activity you should maybe temporarily lose your right to carry a gun (perhaps for a few years?). That seems fair. But the key is that it’s due to a person doing something wrong, not just as a blanket policy.

• He also mentioned children. Um, children shouldn’t have guns. It’s illegal for them to have guns. It should remain illegal for them to have them. I’m not sure why we’re talking about this.

I think Obama is saying that too many people have guns that shouldn’t have them. And in that case I’m in total agreement. But law-abiding citizens should be able to own and carry them as desired, assuming they get licensed and trained according to local regulations.

From this article:

Adding to the reasons why voters should “Dump Doyle” in Wisconsin’s upcoming gubernatorial election, their state had the greatest total violent crime rate increase (15.1%) between 2004-2005. Murder was up 25.2%; robbery up 11.2%; and aggravated assault up 20.2%. Wisconsin is one of only two states that prohibits Right-to-Carry entirely, but in 2005, 11 of the 12 states that had the greatest decreases in total violent crime, and 12 of the 14 states with the greatest decreases in murder were Right-to-Carry states. The seven states with the lowest total violent crime rates in 2005, and 11 of the 12 states that had the lowest murder rates, were Right-to-Carry states. Last, but not least, is good news from Florida, the state that during the last 20 years has been most often attacked by anti-gunners, for (among other reasons) setting the Right-to-Carry and “Castle Doctrine” movements in motion. In 2005, Florida recorded a murder rate 13% lower than the rate for the rest of the country (4.96 per 100,000, vs. 5.67 for the rest of the country). For the record, Florida’s 2005 murder rate was 58% lower than it was in 1986, the last year before the state’s landmark Right-to-Carry law took effect.

This is well understood by my readers (they tend to be rather bright), but I’ll say it again just for the record: if you make it illegal to carry a weapon in the United States, all you will do is ensure that only criminals have weapons.

There is a really easy way to end the debate here. Find the number of negative outcomes that have arisen due to right-to-carry laws, e.g. legal carriers having accidents or injuring/killing someone out of anger, and then compare that to the amount by which negative outcomes decreased among criminals, i.e. the overall crime rate fall.

At that point it’s relatively simple. Hell, now that I think about it the crime rate itself would include the crimes committed by the legal owners, so it’s a moot point. Guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens are good. I mean, damn — look at the U.K. Gun control is doing wonders for them, right?

Or look at Jamaica vs. Switzerland. Jamaica allows virtually no guns and has an insane murder rate. Switzerland has an exorbitant number of guns and maintains a very low crime rate. Think about it.

I recently purchased my first (and only) handgun. I ended up going with a Glock 23C. I pretty much made this choice a few years back when I got to fire one at a buddy’s house. It fires .40SW, which is considered to be a solid defense round. The big thing with this particular design is that it’s “compensated”, meaning it has openings in the top of the barrel that allow gas to escape.

I’m also getting my CCW license; I’ve already completed the “training” and paid the fees. I’m just waiting for my paperwork at this point. Then I’ll be able to take it to the mall and the movies, just like the little gangster wannabe in our weapons class (someone really asked if they could do that during the training).

For ammunition I went with the Speer Gold Dot Hollow Points, 165gr. From the research I’ve done they seem to be a modernized version of the highly respected Federal Hydrashocks. People have some very good things to say about the stuff.

Anyway, I’m glad to finally get this chore out of the way. I’ve been wanting to get a pistol for years and finally got around to it. Now I’ll be able to go to the shooting range as well as the driving range when I want to release some tension.