Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Somali pirates attack a Dutch warship:

Troops aboard the Dutch warship HNLMS Tromp fired warning shots Wednesday off the coast of East Africa as suspected Somali pirates in two small skiffs raced toward their warship, the EU Naval Force said.

After the pirates realized they had made what spokesman Cmdr. John Harbour called a "rather silly mistake," they turned around and fled. EU Naval Force personnel tracked down the two skiffs and a third suspected mothership, finding ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades on board, said Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force.

But that's not the stupid part. This is:

The two skiffs were destroyed and the pirates were set free on the mothership after it had been cleared of weapons. [emphasis mine]

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?

Do they really expect that to stop - or even slightly discourage - these human cockroaches from going right back out and attacking another ship? They probably had replacement skiffs and weapons before the end of the day! If you want to stop piracy, you have to actually punish the pirates! Hanging from the yardarm is a good start.

One of these days, someone is going to get really serious about fighting pirates. Until then, well, we have this idiocy.

A School Shooting, and a Heroic Teacher

There was a school shooting in Colorado today:

One male and one female were shot at about 3:30 p.m. outside Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton, Jefferson County Sheriff's office spokeswoman Jacki Kelley said. Both students were taken to a nearby hospital and were expected to survive.

Student Steven Seagraves said he was about 10 feet away when an adult approached students and asked them: "Do you guys go to this school?"

When the students said they did, he shot them, Seagraves said.

Seventh-grade math teacher David Benke, a 6-foot-5 inch former college basketball player who oversees the school's track team, tackled the suspect as he was trying to reload his weapon.

Nobody could have blamed Mr. Benke for running for cover. He was unarmed, against someone with a rifle. He saw an opening and took it - at great risk to his own life - to protect his students.

"He was trying to rack another round. He couldn't get another round in before I got to him so I grabbed him," Benke said, recalling that he didn't have time to fear for his life.

They don't say what kind of rifle it was, other than "high-powered" - of course, to the MSM, any rifle is "high-powered." The story says he was reloading, but it sounds more like it may have jammed. I suppose we'll find out later, though I don't expect the media to get it right without getting it wrong at least three different times.

[Update Feb. 24, 2010: NPR says this morning that it was a bolt-action rifle.]

At this time, the shooter appears to have no connection to the school, and no motive has been released.

Good job Mr. Benke, it sounds like you prevented a massacre. Any praise I can offer will fall infinitely short of what you deserve for your courage and quick thinking. Don't beat yourself up because you couldn't stop the first shots - when you have no reason to expect an attack, the attacker will always have the initiative, and the advantage of surprise. You overcame that, and took advantage of a single moment pure, blind luck to save many children.

Bill further restricts sex offenders

From the Roanoke Times:

Legislation that would further limit where sex offenders can live and expand the list of convictions that activate those restrictions has drawn the ire of civil libertarians and advocates of reforming those laws.

[...]

If enacted, Athey's House Bill 1004 would bar individuals ordered to register as sex offenders for crimes involving a juvenile victim from living within 500 feet of multiple places children are known to frequent.

It would add school bus stops, community parks, playgrounds, recreation centers, public pools and private, parochial and Christian schools to state law, which applies to day care centers, public schools and adjoining public parks.

I have just two comments on this right now:

1) In addition to my next objection, I would have to object to adding school bus stops to the list. They can change from year to year without notice (unless it affects your own kids). What happens to a sex offender who wakes up one morning and finds out they've moved a school bus stop in front of his house? Does he have to move? Can he be charged with a violation immediately even though he wasn't notified? If he does have to move, how long does he have before he can be charged?

2) This objection is actually the most important - even beyond Constitutional considerations. It is, of course, the perennial objection to sex offender registration/restriction laws: If they're so dangerous we have to continually track where they live, and restrict where they can live, work, and travel,

WHY ARE WE LETTING THEM OUT OF JAIL IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

Pirates successfully repelled - by GUNS!

Arming ships to stop pirate attacks works.

Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday for the second time in seven months and were thwarted by private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship who fired off guns and a high-decibel noise device.

See? Pirates don't want to deal with high-risk targets - ones that can perforate their precious hides with lead. Unfortunately, some people still don't get it.

However, Roger Middleton, a piracy expert at the London-based think tank Chatham House, said the international maritime community was still "solidly against" armed guards aboard vessels at sea, but that American ships have taken a different line than the rest of the international community.

"Shipping companies are still pretty much overwhelmingly opposed to the idea of armed guards," Middleton said. "Lots of private security companies employee people who don't have maritime experience. Also, there's the idea that it's the responsibility of states and navies to provide security. I would think it's a step backward if we start privatizing security of the shipping trade."

No matter how much you trust other people to protect you, ultimately you are responsible for your own safety. The owners of the Maersk Alabama have at least partially realized that, and addressed it by hiring an armed security team. They have at least realized (through bitter experience) that you cannot rely on people who aren't there - the navies of the world simply cannot provide an armed escort for every single ship on the oceans. When there is a navy vessel close enough to respond to an attack, the pirates just go looking for another victim where there isn't one close enough.

This quote sums it up nicely:

"Somali pirates understand one thing and only one thing, and that's force," said Capt. Joseph Murphy, who teaches maritime security at the school. "They analyze risk very carefully, and when the risk is too high they are going to step back. They are not going to jeopardize themselves."

Sounds like most criminals, to me.

Dumb Crook Tricks

County police investigate reported abduction

Roanoke County police are investigating a reported abduction and attempted bank robbery.

Lt. Chuck Mason said a man walked out of his house in Roanoke County near Vinton this morning and was met by a man with a handgun. He was forced to get into a car and then go pick up a female friend, Mason said.

The three drove to the Valley Bank branch on Starkey Road, and the man with the gun ordered them to withdraw money. While he remained outside, the woman and the other man went into the bank. The man handed the teller a note warning the bank to lock the doors.

If you're going to force someone at gunpoint to do something they don't want to do, don't leave them alone to do it in a place they can get help.

Duh!

UPDATE; Still no suspects in recent double-murder.

Update 9-11-09: Task force set up to investigate Montgomery County double homicide.

A multi-agency task force has been formed to investigate the double homicide of two Virginia Tech students.
[...]
The task force is made up of officers from the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office; the Blacksburg, Christiansburg and Virginia Tech police departments; the Virginia State Police; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the United States Marshall's Office; and the United States Forest Service.

What a list! It seems like everybody who can be involved is involved. I can see the US Marshals, and the Forest Service - it happened in a National Forest, so it's federal land and under the Marshals' jurisdiction, and the Forest Service is expected - and the FBI, while unexpected, is not surprising, but the ATF? How did they get involved?


Virginia Tech offers $10,000 reward in killings.

Virginia Tech is offering a $10,000 reward for information that helps solve the killings of Tech students Heidi Childs and David Meltzer last week in the Jefferson National Forest.
[...]
Police are following leads and tips, but believe the killings may have been random because investigators have been unable to find a motive.

No leads, no idea if the killer is still around, or if or when he'll decide to kill again.

Be careful, and remember the first step in self-defense is being aware of your surroundings.

On Self Defense

Rich at Shots Across the Bow has a good post up about one of the fundamentals of self-defense - avoiding the need to defend yourself. You should read the whole thing, but here are some

Today, my son texted me and asked me how much it cost to get a Handgun Carry Permit. I gave him the ball park figures for the class and the application. He thanked me and told me that his roommate had been robbed at gunpoint the night before.,

Yeah, I called him immediately.

That should prompt a call from any parent.

"Your roommate was robbed by two men with guns right at your front door, on a well lit street, and they got away clean. You live in a bad neighborhood."

This is really the only point I disagree with. While crime happens more frequently in "bad neighborhoods" (which is usually why they're considered bad neighborhoods), it's certainly not limited to bad neighborhoods. This could have happened in the most upscale, hoity-toity part of Beverly Hills or the most run down part of Detroit. This one incident, by itself, doesn't make it a bad neighborhood. Crime knows no boundaries.

"The first step in self defense is being aware of your surroundings." [emphasis mine]

That is the money quote, right there. I'll repeat it - The first step in self defense is being aware of your surroundings. The three steps of self-defense are avoid, evade, fight. You cannot avoid danger if you are not aware of your surroundings before you enter the area of danger. If you take nothing else from his post, take that truth with you.

His final paragraph sums things up nicely.

Anyway, I believe I got the point across to my son that carrying a gun is only one small part of self defense. The first piece is maintaining an awareness of your surroundings, and the people in them. The second is forethought. Have a plan. Know what you're going to do when things go south. The third piece is to have multiple layers of defense, but that's a post for another day.

The idea of awareness as the first part of self-defense is especially important in my town today. It seems there are still no leads in last weeks double homocide in Jefferson National Forest. There is no indication that there is a suspect, and no way to know if the killer is still around or if he's fled the area, if he lives here or was just passing through, if he targeted the victims or if they were randomly chosen, or if it was a one time event or if he'll do it again.

Maintain awareness, please.

(h/t to SayUncle)

Hokies - Be cautious, be aware, be careful!

Update: Police continue investigation into Virginia Tech students' deaths. Still no suspects. Everybody be careful out there.

A double homocide of two Virginia Tech students Thursday morning.

The bodies were discovered about 8 a.m. by a man walking his dog. Metzler’s body was inside a car; Childs’ was outside, [Sheriff Tommy] Whitt said.
He did not say how many times or where on their bodies they appeared to have been shot. No weapons were found, he said.
[...]
Caldwell Fields is a popular weekend hangout spot for Tech students, authorities said. “We are going to step up our patrols in that area even though we think it was a random act of brutal violence,” Whitt said.

There are apparently no suspects at this time. Whoever did this is still wandering around free, and there's no telling if he's still in the area or not, or if he'll do it again.

Maintaining condition yellow is highly recommended until this killer is found. So is carrying, if you can.

Bad news for TGSCOM, Inc.

According to this story at the Roanoke Times (which appears to be an AP story):

The gunman who killed three women and wounded nine others at a Pittsburgh-area health club bought accessories for a handgun from the same Wisconsin-based dealer that sold a gun to the Virginia Tech shooter.

Forty-eight-year-old George Sodini bought the accessories from TGSCOM Inc. of Green Bay, Wis.

Note that he only bought accessories, not the actual weapons. There's no indication of what kind of accessories, or whether they played a part in (or have any relevance to) the actual shootings.

I fully expect yet another PSH anti-gun editorial from the RT soon, calling for TGSCOM to be shut down, or for banning internet gun sales, or something similar. I'll point it out if I see one.

Update:

TGSCOM Inc. sold a Glock Magloader and a Glock Factory Magazine to 48-year-old George Sodini for $46 in April 2008, company president Eric Thompson said.

It was not immediately clear if Sodini used the accessories during his attack on a health club in Collier Township, Pa., on Tuesday.

So they still don't know if this is relevant, but they're going to report on it anyway.

ZOMG!!!! - Mexican Gun Canard on NPR

NPR is trying to resurrect the Mexican Gun Canard now. There was a segment on today's Morning Edition claiming two-thirds of the guns seized from the Mexican drug gangs are traced to the US. Not even two-thirds of guns traced, just an absolute two-thirds. They didn't even slip it in quietly, like most MSM reports have done.

Remember, to kill a zombie, you have to destroy the brain.

[Edit: Maybe we should see if Robb can do a graphic for this. I'm picturing a zombie in a sombrero holding an AK-47, maybe standing on a mountain of "assault" rifles.]

The Mexican Gun Canard Rises Again

We thought it had died, as it should. But like a zombie, it's lifeless corpse keeps rising from the grave. Yet another example at the Roanoke Times:

Legal gun sales in this country facilitate this illicit trade.

According to federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives data collected over the past three years, more than 90 percent of firearms traced after being seized in Mexico are from the United States.

It's hardly a mystery where many of them come from. The ATF agent in charge of its Houston division noted in a New York Times story in April there are about 1,500 licensed gun dealers in that area alone.

No mention of the fact that 90 percent of firearms traced is not 90 percent of firearms seized. That little fact is not mentioned, and left for the observant reader to figure out on his own - probably in the hope that the majority of readers won't notice it.

No mention of the fact that it doesn't make economical sense for the Mexican drug gangs to find someone who can pass the background check who would be willing to do a straw purchase, and front the approximately $800-$1000 the average "assault weapon" costs at a legitimate dealer, when they can send someone to their south and buy the same weapon for only a couple of hundred dollars on the black market there.

No mention of how many of the weapons traced to the US were sold to the Mexican government, or another South American government first. (How many governments or revolutionary movements did we prop up during the Cold War, anyway?)

This was an editorial, so there's not the obligation to present an unbiased summary, but this smacks of a deliberate twisting of the facts. Even in an editorial, this is irresponsible and unethical behavior for a newspaper that wants to claim journalistic integrity.

90% of self defense is YOU

There are no dangerous weapons, only dangerous people.

A 17-year-old high school marching band student beat up two assailants who tried to mug her as she walked to school in this high desert community about 40 miles north of Los Angeles, sheriff's officials said Tuesday.

The girl punched one of the men in the nose, kicked the other in the groin and beat both with her large baton before she ran away on Friday morning, officials said.

Firearms may be the most effective defensive weapons, but it's important to remember that they're not the only effective defensive weapons.

It's also worth remembering that criminals will attack anyone they think might be a good victim. Maintaining condition yellow whenever you might be vulnerable is the first rule of self defense.

What the heck is going on?

Another one. Again in Alabama.

A man shot and killed his estranged wife, their teenage daughter and two other relatives in rural north Alabama before returning to his home in a nearby town and killing himself the day before their divorce trial, authorities said Tuesday.

That's eight in the last month. And Alabama seems to be particularly hard hit.

It was one of eight mass shootings around the country in the last month that have left grief-stricken communities in shock. It's also the third mass killing in Alabama during that time.

Seriously, what the hell is going on that people are suddenly committing mass murder so often?

Update:
And another one.

The New, Improved, Mexican Gun Lie. Now 5% Bigger!

Several bloggers have been pointing out how FOX News is debunking the lie that "90% of Mexican crime guns have been traced to the US." You should go read it, it's good. You'll get these quotes in context, too. The truth?

What's true, an ATF spokeswoman told FOXNews.com, in a clarification of the statistic used by her own agency's assistant director, "is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S."

But a large percentage of the guns recovered in Mexico do not get sent back to the U.S. for tracing, because it is obvious from their markings that they do not come from the U.S.

[...]68 percent of the guns that were recovered were never submitted for tracing. [...]83 percent of the guns found at crime scenes in Mexico could not be traced to the U.S.

You would think that might be a significant fact, wouldn't you? Apparently, the AP doesn't think so:

The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recently reported that up to 95 percent of guns seized at scenes of drug violence in Mexico can be traced to U.S. commercial sources. [Emphasis added]

So, yesterday 90% of guns seized were traced to the US, today it's 95%? How does that work if 83% of gun seized could not be traced to the US?

Does. Not. Compute.

Something else worth noting is that they don't tell you how many of the guns that were traced to the US came from the civilian market. Consider this:

More than 150,000 soldiers deserted in the last six years, according to Mexican Congressman Robert Badillo. Many took their weapons with them[...]

and, according to "Ed Head, a firearms instructor in Arizona who spent 24 years with the U.S. Border Patrol":

Some guns, he said, "are legitimately shipped to the government of Mexico, by Colt, for example, in the United States. They are approved by the U.S. government for use by the Mexican military service. The guns end up in Mexico that way -- the fully auto versions -- they are not smuggled in across the river."

Gee, I bet those guns "can be traced to U.S. commercial sources." I'm sure Colt could be considered a "commercial source" - depending on how you define the term. Notice that the AP never tells you what they mean by "commercial source."

The AP's "Authorized Journalists" apparently think that if their lie isn't working, they just need to make it a bigger lie. Look for them to start repeating it more often, too. That's what liars do when they think someone's going to put some inconvenient facts out where people can see them.

Vigilantes rise in Mexico

Shadowy vigilante groups are threatening Mexico's drug gangs near the U.S. border in retaliation for a wave of murders and kidnappings that killed 1,600 people in this city alone last year.

Honestly, as bad as the situation in some parts of Mexico has gotten, I've been expecting this for a while. Not only have there been a massive number of murders, but many have been brutal, and some have been terrorist-style executions. But what really gets me is this:

"People's reactions are understandable. But this is not the route we should take to solve things," said Andreu Rodriguez, an opposition lawmaker and the head of security issues in Chihuahua's state legislature.

What else are they supposed to do? The government obviously can't protect them, and you won't let them own the weapons they need to protect themselves! The only thing they can do is band together and try to fight on their terms, not the gangs' terms.

"We cannot tolerate the presence of these type of faceless, anonymous groups," said Manuel del Castillo, a spokesman for the state government.

Again, what other options do they have? If they are open in their defiance of the gangs, not only will they become the next victims, but the gangs will likely target their friends and family, too. Plus, they will have to worry about the government arresting them for "vigilanteism" when all they are doing is trying to protect themselves, their families, and their neighborhoods, which is something their government - that would be you Señors del Castillo and Rodriguez - has utterly failed to do.

I may come across here as a fan of vigilante activity. Despite a certain fondness for the old Shadow radio shows, and innumerable comic books, I don't really approve of vigilanteism. I prefer the rule of law and trial by a jury of one's peers. But in this case, the police, the courts, and even the military have shown their inability to protect the citizens they have rendered helpless through disarmament, so I find myself left with the question:

What else can they do?

Huh?

Must be one heck of an eggbeater.