Moms Demand Action – TN/Nashville
Moms visited the Madison, TN, Staples today, to ask their corporate office to go gun-free nation-wide. The manager told us she carries at all times. Just so you know. — with Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Benito Mussolini. I’m not sure which is better. The “carries at all times” part or the “someone tagged them as Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini in the photo” part. (I wish I could have seen the look on their faces for the first one, though.) The post is here, though I’m guessing it will get scrubbed very soon [h/t Jeff]. . .
Your Lockdown of the Day™ comes from Vacaville, California, last Wednesday. A citizen called police just before 11 a.m. to report a man with a rifle in a creek in a residential area. The citizen spoke to the man briefly, and then the man fled northwest along the creek. Police responded and found several hunting rifles abandoned near the creek, and commenced a search during which they asked Willis Jepson Middle School, about a half mile away, t be placed on lockdown. Officers searched for two hours with the assistance of a K-9 unit and a CHP helicopter without success. The school lockdown was then lifted. The guns were later found to have been stolen from a nearby home.
Be glad you live in the U.S.A., times three. (1) Police in Mothutlung, South Africa, northwest of Pretoria, illegally used 12-gauge shotgun ammunition to quell a protest over water shortages, killing four people. (2) Police have reportedly used lethal “car stopper” bullets against protesters protesting newly-enacted anti-protest laws in Kiev, Ukraine. (3) An ongoing revolution in Bahrain (fallout from the Arab Spring) produces regular reports of the killing of peaceful demonstrators by the regime that is struggling to remain in power in the face of a people who want to move toward democracy.
Russia only had two fatal explosions of stockpiled ammunition last year, down from five the previous year, according to officials. Unfortunately, when looked at long term, the trend is reversed. In the five-year period up to 2012, 17 ammunition depots caught fire or exploded, compared to nine in the prior five years. So, uh… good job?
A new online firearms marketplace goes online in Washington today. Washington Gun Exchange is an online marketplace for in-state private gun sales. They will be in competition with national sites like Armslist, but founder Nick Moyes says his sites (he already has a companion site in Utah) are designed to be more local in nature. The site will be based in Washington, but Oregon residents will be able to post listings, as well. Moyes said that the decision to open in Washington is at least in part because MAIG has contributed to the ballot measure campaign for universal background checks. “The political statement is there as well.”
Doug Varrieur of Big Pine Key, Florida has a gun range in his yard. The seven-yard range has a foot-thick backstop made of 6x6s and 2x12s, and is in the open air right next to his travel trailer, right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. And it’s completely legal. State law preempts local gun ordinances in Florida, and the only law limiting the discharge of firearms on private property is Fl. Stat. 790.15, which criminalizes discharging a firearm “recklessly or negligently” on property used as a dwelling. So, as long as he’s doing it safely, he’s within the law. He is considerate, though, to both his neighbors, and to police. He calls the cops ahead of time to let them know that he’ll be shooting, and he confines his shooting to Wednesdays between 3 and 4 p.m. The news story linked above has a web poll: “Should state law continue to allow homeowners to set up a gun range on their property?” As of this writing, with 155 votes, it’s running 75/25 in favor of “Yes.” God Bless America.
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