All posts in category Defense of Others

Quote of the Day: Changing Pants Edition – 2012-07-24

Linoge expands on someone else’s comment about acting during a mass shooting, and in doing so hits one out of the park.

Bravery is not the absence of fear; bravery is the overcoming of fear. I can only hope I will be able to do what I need to when I need to, and then I will worry about little details like changing my pants later

Somebody is unexpectedly trying to kill you. Fear is both natural, inevitable, and acceptable in that situation. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Then do what you have to do to look out for you and your own in spite of your fear.

If your pants are a bit damp or dirty when it’s all over, at least you’re still alive to change them.

END OF LINE

1 Comment
by Jake on July 24, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Concealed Carry, Defense of Others, Lethal Force, Philosophy, Self Defense

Posted by Jake on July 24, 2012

https://cursesfoiledagain2.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/quote-of-the-day-changing-pants-edition-2012-07-24/

An April 16 victim’s mother speaks out… in support of guns on campus.

Holly Adams, mother of Leslie Adams, one of the 32 victims of the Virginia Tech massacre, speaks out against the likes of Colin Goddard and other anti-Rights activists. I received this on Monday – the fifth anniversary of the shootings – by email from VCDL, and I will reproduce her entire statement here.

On April 16, 2007, my child, Leslie Sherman, was killed by Seung-Hui Cho during the Virginia Tech massacre.  Today is the fifth anniversary of her death.  Always in my memories, every day I wish that this tragedy was a nightmare and I could wake up to hold my daughter even if it is just one more time.  That opportunity might have been possible if someone been able to defend and protect my daughter in her classroom before Cho took 30 precious lives.

There is an unfortunate drive for more gun control and the continuation of preventing guns on campus by parents whose children lived or survived during that fatal day.  Several family members of those victims have actively voiced their support for increased gun control measures.  As result, it has been assumed that they speak for all families of the Virginia Tech victims.  I am writing this to make it clear that this is not the case.  They do not represent me and my views.

Speaking for myself, I would give anything if someone on campus; a professor, one of the trained military or guardsman taking classes or another student could have saved my daughter by shooting Cho before he killed our loved ones.  Because professors, staff and students are precluded from protecting themselves on campus, Cho, a student at Virginia Tech himself, was able to simply walk on campus and go on a killing rampage with no worry that anyone would stop him.

I ask a simple question:  Would the other parents of victims be forever thankful if a professor or student was allowed to carry a firearm and could have stopped Seung-Hui Cho before their loved one was injured or killed?  I would be. I also suspect that the tragedy may not have occurred at all if Cho knew that either faculty members or students were permitted to carry their own weapons on campus.  Cho took his own life before campus police were able to reach him and put a stop to his killing spree.

A sad testament to this anniversary date is the number of similar killings in schools and public places that have taken place afterwards as if nothing has changed to help prevent such needless and heartbreaking events.  That is why I fully support the VCDL in their outstanding efforts to help prevent this type of tragedy and loss from occurring in the future.

Holly Adams

Given who is making the statement, and in order to keep it a faithful reproduction, I will make an exception to my normal policy of redacting the killer’s name.

This statement stands on its own. It is, in it’s entirety, today’s quote of the day. I can add nothing, except to note that you won’t see the mainstream media printing this, or even acknowledging its existence.

END OF LINE

(h/t to SayUncle and Robb Allen for reminding me about this.

1 Comment
by Jake on April 18, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Civil Rights, Defense of Others, Gun Rights, Homicide, Liberty, Local to me, Media Bias, Politics, Quote of the Day, The Bill of Rights, Tools of Liberty, Tragedy, Victim Disarmament Zone, Virginia Tech

Posted by Jake on April 18, 2012

https://cursesfoiledagain2.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/an-april-16-victims-mother-speaks-out-in-support-of-guns-on-campus/

A Gunblogger’s real life DGU, thankfully with no shots fired

Gunblogger RedeemedBoyd (now added to the blogroll) has done us the honor of recounting his recent Defensive Gun Use (DGU). This occurred only a few days ago, so his recollections are still fresh. Go, read. I have a few comments for when you’re done.

Got it? Good. Let’s look at a couple of things.

Others, including RedeemedBoyd, have already pointed out how it was his situational awareness that allowed him to stop the attack before it even occurred, but I really want to emphasize one significant point: nothing the attackers did in preparation for this ambush appeared unusual or out of place for the location.

Think about that. Every piece of their setup looked innocuous, and nothing set of his alarms until they actually made their approach. Even then, it was only because he saw motion in his mirror from the corner of his eye that he was able to focus on their approach and see the warning signs in time to take the precaution of drawing his pistol. Had he not seen that motion, he might not have had time to notice that they were trying to hide what they were carrying. Had he not been paying attention to his surroundings, he might not have noticed them at all until they were right next to his windows, by which point he probably would not have gotten out of the encounter without at least two broken windows, and probably not without some kind of injury. He would have been trying to draw his pistol while somebody was either grabbing him or striking him with an ASP baton – and at the same time as the other attacker would likely have been trying to grab his daughter on the other side.

Another question to ask, and the answer to this one is pretty chilling: What was their objective? This seems to be an odd and ineffective setup for a simple robbery. If it was a carjacking, they probably wouldn’t have been as ready to break the windows – I don’t know what part of the country he’s in, but this is still January, and even if it is unseasonably warm there it’s still probably cool enough that driving without windows would be unpleasant. Also, whether it was a carjacking or simple theft to strip and sell the car, the getaway car seems to be extraneous – they could drive the stolen car just as easily.

The biggest conclusion that looms in my mind is that this was intended as a physical assault, perhaps as part of an initiation. And that could have been very bad news. Hopefully, if that were the case, they would have left his daughter alone. Hopefully.

Fortunately, RedeemedBoyd had three things working in his favour. 1) He was aware of his surroundings, 2) He was armed, and 3) He kept the presence of mind to react appropriately and prepare as soon as he recognized the possibility of danger.

The final thing to take from this is that the attackers were cowards. As soon as they realized their intended prey was armed, they panicked and ran like scared little jackrabbits with a pack of hounds after them. No attempts to bluster or intimidate, or even to carry out their attack at all. They just ran.

Remember that. Most violent predators are cowards. They deliberately choose the weak, helpless, or unaware – those who are least likely to be able to fight back effectively – as their victims, and they frequently run when confronted. But it’s also very important to remember that they don’t always run. Don’t expect your gun to be a magic talisman that frightens away your attackers as soon as it is drawn without you ever having to pull the trigger. Be prepared to shoot if you have to.

And always carry your gun. It’s a lighter burden than regret.

END OF LINE

1 Comment
by Jake on January 11, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Armed Citizen, Concealed Carry, Cowards, Defense of Others, Defensive Gun Use - No shots fired, Evil Bastards, Gun Rights, Guns, Is it worth a life?, Self Defense, The Bill of Rights, The Gun Blogger Community, The State of the Blog, Tools of Liberty
Tagged ,

Posted by Jake on January 11, 2012

https://cursesfoiledagain2.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/a-gunbloggers-real-life-dgu-thankfully-with-no-shots-fired/

Defensive Gun Use – What did the intruder have in mind?

Sarah over at Cranky Chicks with Guns tells us about a successful DGU by her sister, in her sister’s new home, where Sarah is currently living.

Rather than give a summary here, I want you to go there and read the whole thing. Then come back and read the rest of my post here.

Go on, I’ll wait.

…

Done? I want to point out a couple of things.

First, I want you to recall this part.

So, the bad guy’s head was at the bottom of the doorway because he was standing on the ground. When he saw Cee, they stared at each other for what she said felt like forever. It wasn’t too hard to see the dude because, even though the back-porch light wasn’t on, there was a kitchen light shining partly into the hallway.

Then he resumed trying to open the door and climb into the trailer.
[Emphasis mine.]

He knew someone was there, and he knew that she saw him. He could reasonably assume that other people were there from when he had knocked on the door earlier (more on that later). Yet he still tried to get in, even once he knew he had been seen.

What do you think he might have been planning to do once he got inside?

Next, let’s look at this point.

Around nine the night before last, somebody knocked on the front door. Matt and I both answered because I noticed that my brother didn’t have his handgun on him. He was tired and just not thinking. […] Note here that the guy who knocked on the door never saw my handgun.

The dude told a b.s. story about needing the phone number for the person in charge of renting out the lots in this park. Matt got rid of the guy pretty quickly because that’s crap. If you’re a decent person in need of information, you don’t knock on strangers’ doors at night. You collect your info during daylight hours or find it for yourself.

This wasn’t a random break-in attempt. He had scouted the home the night before.

Now, if someone is home at 2100hrs (9pm for those who don’t speak military time) then it’s not a great leap of logic to assume that someone will probably be at home at 0130. So he knew someone would probably be at home before he even tried to break in. Not only that, but he knew there would probably be a male someone at home, because that was who had answered the door the night before.

What do you think he might have been planning to do once he got inside?

My third point notes this.

The Deputy took 10-15 minutes to get here.

Ten to fifteen minutes, for an attempted break-in where shots were fired. How much do you want to bet that the bad guy had a good idea of how long it might take help to arrive? What could he have done to them in ten or fifteen minutes if they had managed to call 911? How long would it have been before a deputy came by on his routine patrol if they hadn’t? What could he have done to three sleeping people in that amount of time?

Would a deputy on patrol even have noticed anything was wrong if he had not been caught while he was still trying to get in?

What do you think he might have been planning to do once he got inside?

This event could have ended very, very badly, but for a combination of luck, level-headedness, and the fact that civilian ownership of a firearm is legal.

Luck: Her sleep schedule had been jumbled, so she was still awake to hear his attempts to get in. Her husband Matt was (from what I gather) exhausted from working to get the home ready and from dealing with her recent illness. Her sister (Sarah) was knocked out on Benadryl due to her allergies. Neither was likely to be awakened by his apparently quiet forced entry, and Sarah actually slept through the gunshot.

Level-headedness: Matt made sure his gun was nearby when he went to sleep, and Cee had the good sense to go back and grab it when she realized someone was trying to break in. She had the good sense to do this before trying to wake anyone else up or call 911. Had she tried to wake someone up first, he might have been inside and on her before she succeeded (see my point about Luck, above). Had she stood there and called 911, he might have been inside and on top of her before anyone answered, and the police would have a nice audio recording of… well, I’m not going to say, but I’m sure you can guess.

Legal civilian ownership of a firearm: He didn’t stop trying to break in until she fired at him, even though he knew she had seen him. If the anti-Rights advocates had their way, there would have been no guns in the home, and Cee’s only option would have been to call 911 and wait the 10-15 minutes it would have taken for a deputy to arrive. This would have had the same result that I inferred in the previous paragraph.

This was about as clean a defensive shooting as you can get. Had she hit him and killed him right there, it would have been fully justified.

Self-defense is a natural right. Self-defense works.

END OF LINE

(h/t Weer’d Beard)

[Source: Cranky Chicks with Guns]

1 Comment
by Jake on December 14, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Armed Citizen, Civil Rights, Cowards, Crime, Defense of Others, Evil Bastards, Gun Rights, Is it worth a life?, Lethal Force, Liberty, Self Defense, The Bill of Rights, The Gun Blogger Community, Tools of Liberty

Posted by Jake on December 14, 2011

https://cursesfoiledagain2.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/defensive-gun-use-what-did-the-intruder-have-in-mind/

*You* may believe that money isn’t worth a life

But try telling the criminals that.

The anti-Rights crowd tells you that compliance is safer than resistance, but what do you do when they just start shooting? They tell you to give them what they want, but what if they don’t give you the chance?

You fight back. It works.

But what’s surprising is the store clerk (he’s over on the right side of the screen). As he ducks around the corner, he takes shots at the alleged crook, who quickly scrambles back across the counter.

Police say that man is Harold Robertson, and they quickly caught up with him a few blocks away. He was hit twice in the arm and the employee was hurt, too. Both are expected to recover.

One crook injured, one still on the loose, and two store employees who are shaken, one is also injured, but both are alive. That’s a good outcome.

The story doesn’t mention it, but it’s clear on the video – these scum started firing as soon as they spotted the employees. They opened fire without provocation, without warning, and without giving the employees time to react or to comply with any demands they might have made. Had the clerk not grabbed his own gun (and my only critique is that he should have had it on him if possible, not under the counter – he almost couldn’t get to it, and that may be the point when he actually got wounded) would these goblins have simply run off once they had the money, or would they have decided to finish off the witnesses?

Only the crooks themselves know the answer to that question.

Fighting back works. It doesn’t guarantee a perfect outcome, or even that you will survive, but it gives you a better chance than if you don’t even have the option to fight. Remember that, and CARRY YOUR GUN!

END OF LINE

[Source: WFAA.com website, retrieved 10/12/11]

(h/t Gun Free Zone)

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by Jake on October 12, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Armed Citizen, Cowards, Crime, Defense of Others, Evil Bastards, Is it worth a life?, Lethal Force, Self Defense, Tools of Liberty

Posted by Jake on October 12, 2011

https://cursesfoiledagain2.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/you-may-believe-that-money-isnt-worth-a-life/

Props to the cops

in this story.

Shortly after we were seated I noticed a man come in and act pretty rudely to the hostess. He took a seat on the far side of the room facing the door, mostly with his side/back to me. Nothing abnormal about this, as I do it all the time [.] I was watching as he sat down and I saw him print pretty clearly when his grip caught on the spindle of the chair – he adjusted quickly and it was gone. […] I probably wouldn’t have given it much more thought as FL is a CC only state, but I’m not a big fan of a rude people to begin with, and as many of you like myself spend a lot of time watching other people you understand when I say something was just off about him. He seemed almost like he was nervous, but that doesn’t quite describe him correctly. If I had to use a word I would say “shifty”.

As our food was being delivered another man entered and took a seat by the windows where my family and I were. I noticed that he was watching the first man, and at some point he became aware of the fact that I was watching both of them. We smiled politely at each other after making accidental eye contact once. The alarms in my head were really going off, because the second guy had come in already interested in the first guy. I was pretty uncomfortable with the situation, and urged my wife to hurry up so we could hit the road again (a nearly impossible task, she’s a very slow eater). I remember turning slightly in my chair so I could clearly draw if I needed to.

We started to leave and while my daughter was collecting her purse and sandals from the floor (don’t ask me why she loses her shoes every time) the first guy got up and went to the register to pay. The second guy made a noise that caused me to glance in his direction – he looked sharply down at his waist and in his hand was a badge, then he glanced at the register and motioned me to wait. The Officer got up and headed towards the register. I quickly shook my head slightly no, turned my body to block my strong side from the register, and pulled my shirt back slightly to expose my Glock and nodded my head towards the register (I was really hoping he would understand that I was trying to tell him the first guy had a gun, and not anything else). I let my shirt fall back and slid my hand back to where the first guy had his weapon. The officer shook his head slightly and continued to leave.

I waited until they had both left the building before paying for our own meal and sent my wife to take my daughter to the bathroom one last time so I could head out to the parking lot first. When I walked outside there were several Florida Highway Patrol cars parked near mine, I could see them searching the vehicle parked next to me. One of them walked over towards me and said “Howdy Tex” (alluding to my hat) and held out his hand. I shook it, and he told me he just wanted to say thanks for the heads up. He said he couldn’t provide any details, just that he had been asked to say thanks[.]

Not a word was said about my carrying. Not once was I asked to produce my license(vehicle or weapon). Good for them.

This was a well handled situation, both by the police and the concealed carrier. The police did well both by the officer in the restaurant noticing the carrier’s attention to the suspect, warning the carrier, and not reacting negatively on seeing the carriers firearm, and the other officer with the “thank you” outside afterward, and by recognizing that the carrier was a ‘good guy’ and they didn’t need to harass him outside. The carrier did well by noticing a suspicious person and his weapon, and by acting to notify the officer once he realized that he was probably going to  confront the suspect outside.

There are some suggestions, in the forum and at Robb’s, that a hand signal may have been better than flashing his gun – and the carrier acknowledges this later in the forums. I would tentatively agree, since it could have been mistaken as a threat (though that’s less likely since he had his wife and child with him). There was also always the chance that he could have been one of those anti-armed-citizen cops who would have had the carrier eating pavement at some point. On the other hand, I wonder if a hand signal might have been visible enough from the register to tip off the suspect, since they were both taking pains to keep things hidden. The bottom line, though, is that everything worked out okay in the end, and an officer who may or may not have known beforehand that the suspect he was after was armed was warned before confronting him – it might have saved someone’s life.

Good job all around, and a great learning experience for everyone to pay attention to.

END OF LINE

[Source: GeorgiaPacking.org thread, retrieved 8/29/11]

(h/t Sharp as a Marble)

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by Jake on August 29, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Armed Citizen, Concealed Carry, Defense of Others, Doing the Right Thing, Evil Bastards, Guns, Heroes, Police, Shiny!, Tools of Liberty

Posted by Jake on August 29, 2011

https://cursesfoiledagain2.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/props-to-the-cops/

On Moms and Guns

An excellent article here. A mother recounts two stories, one where the only reason she didn’t have to use a gun was sheer good luck, and one where her daughter DID have to use a gun – fortunately without having to actually fire any shots.

There’s not much I can add to this. Go. Read. Enjoy.

END OF LINE

(h/t Maddened Fowl)

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by Jake on August 24, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Armed Citizen, Civil Rights, Crime, Defense of Others, Gun Rights, Guns, Liberty, Self Defense, The Bill of Rights, Tools of Liberty

Posted by Jake on August 24, 2011

https://cursesfoiledagain2.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/on-moms-and-guns/

Fighting back works!

Even if your assailant is armed and you are not.

A robber messed with the wrong man in Florida on Thursday night. 63-year-old, 5-foot-7 Fred Kemp used a foot sweep and a rear naked choke to disarm a robber who pointed a gun at Kemp and his wife.The couple was getting into their car in Boynton Beach when a man came out of the darkness and approached them with what turned out to be a pellet gun. Wanting to keep his wife safe, Kemp returned to the skills that he learned as a wrestler for Hofstra University.

“He started to hit me, so I reacted from there,” a bruised but smiling Kemp said Friday. “I got him out into the street and held his arm. I foot-sweeped him down and I was trying to get a hold of the gun. He banged me up a little bit but my main concern was the gun.”

Kemp’s quick thinking led him to apply a rear-naked choke, then when the robber was weakened, he took the gun from him. The police report mentioned that Kemp held the robber down until the police arrived.

Fight back. Be as vicious and brutal as necessary. Remember, they are threatening to kill you if you don’t comply – do you want to trust that someone willing to do that is going to honor his word and not kill you if you do comply? There’s plenty of evidence that criminals are often willing to kill even if you comply.

To those who would say “It’s only stuff, is it really worth a life?” I say that the robber is the one who made that decision – he made that decision when he decided to place you in fear of yours in order to steal from you. You have no way of knowing what his decision was until he either leaves or kills you. He may not even know what his decision is until he either leaves or kills you. So the only question you should ask at that point is whether it’s going to be your life or his.

Fighting back does not guarantee success – but it does give you a better chance than not fighting back if he was planning on killing you.

Fighting back works. Concealed carry works. CARRY YOUR GUN!

END OF LINE

[Source: Yahoo! Sports article, retrieved 8/14/11]

4 Comments
by Jake on August 15, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Cowards, Crime, Defense of Others, Evil Bastards, Heroes, Self Defense

Posted by Jake on August 15, 2011

https://cursesfoiledagain2.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/fighting-back-works/

Armed resistance works. Carry your gun!

Weer’d Beard points us to a video illustrating why you should carry your gun, even if you’re just taking care of something out in your yard.

According to the story on LiveLeak.com,

The homeowner – who only wanted his first name, Danny, used – said he and his brother were checking security around the house prior to a trip out of town. When the two men walked back into the open garage, a man wearing a Ninja mask ran from across the street waving a pistol.
The assailant got into a fight with Danny’s brother, Mike, but then ran away when Danny pulled out his own pistol and fired three shots. Danny said the man returned fire, but only hit the house and a Mercedes Benz parked nearby.

Look at that video. The entire incident, from the time the goblin comes in to view running across the street, until the time he runs out of sight blindly firing behind him, only takes about 12 seconds. He manages to cross the street and get to the garage in less than four seconds (Tueller drill, anyone?).

If this happened to you, would you have time to go back inside and get your gun before the goblin decided to shoot your brother? Would he shoot you in the back if you ran back inside for your gun? CARRY YOUR GUN!

If you called 911, would the police have time to get to you before he killed one or both of you? CARRY YOUR GUN!

Remember, the entire incident took only twelve seconds from start to finish. If this man had done what the anti-rights crowd advocates – “call the police and be a good witness” – there’s a good chance either he or his brother (or both of them) would be dead long before any police managed to get there. That, of course, assumes he would even manage to finish dialing before the goblin decided to shoot him, in which case they may never come at all. When seconds count, the police are only minutes away. CARRY YOUR GUN!

Resistance works. Armed resistance works even better. Notice how the goblin continued in the face of the brother’s attempts to fight him? He doesn’t run until he faces armed resistance. CARRY YOUR GUN!

Concealed carry works. Fighting back works. Fighting back with a weapon works better.

CARRY YOUR DAMN GUN!

END OF LINE

[Source: LiveLeak.com article, retrieved 7/26/11]

(h/t Weer’d Beard)

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by Jake on July 26, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Armed Citizen, Concealed Carry, Cowards, Crime, Defense of Others, Evil Bastards, Lethal Force, Philosophy, Self Defense, Tools of Liberty

Posted by Jake on July 26, 2011

https://cursesfoiledagain2.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/armed-resistance-works-carry-your-gun/

Who needs a gun in the Alaskan wilderness?

Update: According to the CNN version of the story (h/t SayUncle), they carried bear spray. Obviously, it didn’t work. There’s a reason bear spray is generally known as “people seasoning”.

Also, CNN reports that two of the students were so badly injured that the medevac* helicopter wouldn’t take them. That’s Bad. That means they expect you to die during the flight (there’s not enough room in most EMS helicopters to have appropriate access to the patient to deal with that). Alternatively, it is possible that there were severe, life threatening injuries in areas that the flight crew would not have access to in flight. Common EMS helicopters like the EC-135 and EC-145, or even the venerable Bell 412, have limited or no access to any areas below a patient’s waist.

* I’m assuming it was a medevac helicopter, and that the second aircraft that did take them was a fixed wing medical flight. But, we all know how the press routinely screws up the details, so take that for what it’s worth.

—–

Everyone. Especially if you’re responsible for the safety of others.

The teens were hiking in the Talkeetna Mountains east of Denali National Park and were trying to cross a river when the grizzly attacked Saturday night, the troopers said.

The two 17-year-old students in the lead, Joshua Berg of New York and Samuel Gottsegen of Denver, bore the brunt of the attack, the troopers said.

Other members were able to activate an emergency beacon and the group was rescued on Sunday morning by the Alaska Air National Guard, the troopers said.

While Berg and Gottsegen were the most severely mauled, two other students, 16-year-old Noah Allaire of Albuquerque and 18-year-old Victor Martin of Richmond, California, also were hospitalized with injuries.

Seriously, why on earth would anyone be out in the Alaska wilderness without a gun? It’s called the wild for a reason!

The bear was a sow that appeared to be guarding a cub, said Don Ford, the outdoor school’s Alaska director.

“They believe there was a cub,” Ford said. “They didn’t actually see the cub, but they saw some rustling in the brush.”

This was not a random attack, or a case of the students doing something stupid like sleeping with food in their tents. They simply got too close to a cub that they never actually saw, and didn’t even know was there, until it was too late. That is something that could happen to anyone wandering in the woods where there are bears.

Now, I can understand the students not having guns, but for the 3 instructors that were with them to not be armed on a 30 day hike in the Alaskan wilderness, when they were responsible for the lives and safety of the students that were with them, is simply inexcusable.

END OF LINE

[Source: Reuters story on Yahoo! News, retrieved 7/25/11]

2 Comments
by Jake on July 25, 2011  •  Permalink
Posted in Defense of Others, Guns, Pet Peeves, Philosophy, Stupidity, Tragedy, WTF?

Posted by Jake on July 25, 2011

https://cursesfoiledagain2.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/who-needs-a-gun-in-the-alaskan-wilderness/

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