The following is Grand Rapids Michigan Mayor George Heartwell’s official statement to the Grand Rapid, Michigan City Council on the subject of gun control:
Since last we met as a City Commission – according to the online resource Wikipedia – there have been nine school shootings, and at least one movie theatre and one mall shooting in the United States. If that pace continues it will outstrip last year’s reported 31 school shootings. Since January 1, 2000, there have been a reported 119 school shootings in the (United States). How could we forget the 6-year-old boy in Flint who brought his uncle’s gun to school and killed his little 6-year-old classmate because, as he said, “I don’t like her.” . . .
In Grand Rapids there have been 23 reports of gunshots and three shooting victims since January 1.
There have been uncounted numbers of suicides by gun in the country since last we met, but, if averages hold up, then 1,119 people have turned their guns on themselves and taken their lives in the last three weeks. Just over half of all suicides are by gun.
There is estimated to be 310 million guns in this country. That is one gun for every man, woman and child in the nation, save 9 million. Many of those guns are owned by unstable people or are owned by others in the homes of unstable people in which guns are readily available. The Congress of the United States has failed its responsibility to protect us from those dangerous and mentally unstable people. Every American citizen is at risk today because of our lax and irresponsible gun laws. We even had an illustration in our neighboring community of (Ionia) of two licensed gun carriers drawing on each other after a road rage incident. Both are dead.
I sit in our City Commission meeting week after week anxious and frightened because a civilian with a gun is in this chamber. I know that he can kill me, and probably others at this table or in these chambers, before the police officer in the rear of the room can react. Carrying a gun always, always represents the threat to use that gun to kill or maim another. That, after all, is why these people carry their guns.
Now the gun advocates want to “desensitize” the community to open carry. The more guns we see, they say, the less we will fear them or the people carrying them. Well, I will never be desensitized and God help us all if society accepts those bullying tactics as the norm.
I urge all citizens who feel as I do to take action. Arm yourselves with the righteousness of our position. If you see an armed person come into a store or restaurant, alert others and leave the establishment. If you see an armed person in a shopping mall or movie theatre, alert security and leave the building. If you see an armed person approaching a school, call the police. You see we can never know what that individual’s intention may be. We must always err on the side of public safety rather than regretting later, when people are dead, that we didn’t act.
Everyone knows why a “copycat” weapon in the maryland gun law must have an overall length of 29″. ahh the, the irony. ooh the shame.
“Girl Scouts is not a political organization and we do not advocate on any position. Further, neither girls nor volunteers are allowed to promote another organization in their role with Girl Scouts.”
I call BS on this one. Do a simple search engine lookup regarding “Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood”. Girl Scouts CEOs proudly proclaim their partnership with Planned Parenthood. Just another reason that I pulled my child out of that corrupt organization. GSA is about a political as you can get. I do admit the cookies are tasty, though.
I wonder if this SOTU isn’t the final nail in Hillary’s 2016 coffin?
If you see an someone dress in blue that has a gun, call the Po-po and get out of there. Say there is someone with a gun. That is what he means, right?
Pu$$y !
That’s what I was thinking. I’m embarrassed for him. Most women I know are manlier than he is.
So, to put this into perspective, Since January 1, 89,998,881 Americans with guns did not commit Suicide.
Last year, 89,999,969 Americans with guns did not participate in a school shooting.
Since January 1, 2000 89,999,881 Americans with guns did not participate in a school shooting.
Right on, 99.99986778% of the population, no problems.
As another thought, if someone keeps open carrying (legal in MI) and keeps getting stopped by police, could it be harassment by police and even the mayor?
Every politician should be afraid of an armed population. Thats the way the constitution was designed.
BINGO!!!
Absolutely. This is yet another reason why open carry is vital to preserving our republic. If the armed citizen/s who attends their meetings always carried concealed, the Mayor would write him/her off and not pay any attention whatsoever.
I know lots of people are not comfortable with open carry. Even I struggle with it sometimes. Nevertheless, this is why we have to keep doing it.
“Arm yourselves with the righteousness of our position” I laughed really hard until I kept reading his recommendations after that. Seriously though people like this need to be tried for treason.
How many grains of Positional Righteousness to down a rapist?
(I dare the powder manufacturers to come out with a product called Positional Righteousness. If Hornady can do Zombie Max and make money, you can do this…)
Hey, we got Liberal Tears lubricant…
This mayor seems to have irrational fear of guns and also an irrational fear of people with or without guns. Now I would blame the media, both entertainment and news media for his fears, because he isn’t shooting as many rounds as I am, nor attending places where lots of folks shoot firearms safely. I don’t seem to fear as many people as he does either. I will pray for him to be able to see beyond his fear.
I suppose if the media reported every traffic fatality with the same gusto, he would be afraid to cross a parking lot, as everyone driving a car is just looking for an opportunity to run someone down, why else would they have a car.
Should we call the police when we see armed police officers too? After all, police officers kill people all the time. What about politicians? Historically, politicians have caused countless deaths and genocidal conditions. When I see a politician, I feel anxious and frightened.
It seems I have been tooling up incorrectly for quite some time now. I’ve been packing a 45, but evidently ‘righteousness’ has more stopping power. Where can I buy an IWB righteousness holster?
Starbucks.
http://www.crossbreedholsters.com/
The media’s business is the creation of fantasy and nothing else. News reporting is no longer the result of investigation, but the consolidation of rumors and legends supplied by others. And the material aired is not news, but entertainment inspired by incidents.
Any and all POTG in Grand Rapids should heed his advice. Every time you see an armed cop come into a store or restaurant or movie theater or approach a school alert those around you and leave immediately. After all, in the words of your own esteemed mayor “Carrying a gun always, always represents the threat to use that gun to kill or maim another. That, after all, is why these people carry their guns.” This includes cops!
“Arm yourself with righteousness of our position” What a “Dick”
I was once so incensed at receiving yet another unjustified, hateful speeding ticket, that I contemplated stipulating Trial by Combat against the Council’s chosen Champion, to defend my honour (and the right to pick my own speed at which to travel).
But I Googled it and found that this legal right was abolished in the late Middle Ages.
Damn. (Phew!).
What I like is that they are getting desperate enough now to really say what it is they are thinking, and it’s appalling.
I wonder if he is familiar with concealed carry. OMG! Guns I can’t see!
He should be. We are a “shall issue” state.
and when you “err on the side of safety”, and that “err” results in my being falsely accused and probably detained, you can bet I’ll sue you until you have no money left on which to live.
I live in GR. Our mayor is an idiot and the success this city has had is due to private investment from families like the Devos, Meijers and Vanandels. They brought the theaters, exhibition venues, BUSINESS, and and real tourist attractions or business to this city. It was a Devos who thought of the ever-poplar artprize that brings millions to the city. GR has prospered in spite of this nitwit, not because of him. He has done nothing positive for the city.
This is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. It’s time to elect a new mayor!
No wonder it is currently taking 60+ days to get approved for a CPL in Kent County…
So anyone with a gun means to kill. Oh but not my bodygaurds or the police. They are “different”.
Good for Beretta. Please leave the anti-Constitution states and do not sell them any arms…
The VA tech killer used two handguns with 10 and 15 rd magazines, he just used a lot of them. The guy in Norway used a Mini-14, which is legal in every US state, Canada and much of Europe. In the end, all that matters was who was on the other end of that gun operating it and the amount of planning they put into their attack. All of us here know this because we all understand how firearms operate, but we’re just talking amongst ourselves, we’ll never convince anyone that legitimately believes banning pistol grips on and threaded barrels on some rifles, but not others, will dramatically reduce crime and or the body count of mass killing, anything. Personal opinion though? Pump action shotgun. It will reliably feed and fire, has a good spread and its projectiles are deadly.
Not sure there is anything to get outraged about here. The small amount of info in the story leads one to believe that there was not sufficient justification for dude to draw down.
Why would one draw a gun on a car that almost hit him? Generally speaking, you can lawfully use or threaten lethal force only to stop a potentially lethal threat – if there is no longer a potentially lethal threat, you can no longer use lethal force.
Is there more to this story?
I’m not a big fan of open carry, at least not in a city. In a rural area it can make a lot of sense, but not in a city.
I thought people pretty much outgrew it in the pioneering days when towns got big enough to start to have a bit of law and a school.
This right falls into the category of just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Sounds like Hizzhonor is off his meds again.
…How long have you been having these paranoid delusions, sir? That long? Please go with the nice men in white uniforms, sir. They’ll take to a safe place. No sir, no one is out to get you, sir. These nice men are here to help you…
I think the real question is this, if all he could buy was a shotgun but he really needed an AR-15 to do what he intended, is the shotgun deadly enough to kill a cop in an ambush and retrieve the patrol rifle from the car?
What prevents people from murder are cultural/moral prohibitions and consequences. Once suicide is intended consequences no longer matter. If such a person wants to kill people they will kill people and no law in the world can prevent it.
Anyone notice that Mayor Heartwell doesn’t appear to be afraid of the armed police officer in the meeting?
I guess it really says something about the person who only trusts people on his payroll.
Afraid of a citizen (and I wonder if its the same one each time) legally carrying in the council chambers. Huh.
I suppose he’s also afraid of the citizens who brought their voices and opinions? No? Wonder why not …
I do not think abstract means what he thinks it means.
In large (as in 95%) part, the deadliness of the weapon depends upon the operator. In the hands of an experienced shooter who continuously tops off the magazine and uses buckshot, a 12 ga. shotgun is going to be very deadly at close range, even as compared to an AR. In the hands of a someone with virtually no firearms experience (as is frequently the case with mass shooters), I’m going with the AR. Far less recoil, easier to reload, and easier to operate than a pump-action.
This makes me want to go to their next meeting wearing as many handguns as I can possibly fit on my belt. Imagine his horror as he sees me wearing not one, but three or four handguns — especially a .44 Magnum with a barrel over 8 inches long!!!
Now if I could only find a belt that would hold up all that weight.
suspenders would help hold some of the weight on your shoulders. Also don’t forget shoulder holsters.
Anyone know where to find the 716 DMR for sale?
Hitler and Eva reincarnate.
Hitler left, Eva right.
2 to 1 they will leave military M-9 production in Maryland and have all commercial production or shotguns rifles, ARX-160, M-92FS, and PX4 to Tennessee now. Since leaving military production near the Pentagon always works in giving quick access to Brass.
Is… is that the constitution behind them?! I don’t even know where to begin.
I suggest with the 2d Amendment.
This may sound silly but I am so afraid that these misguided people are going to take my only source of protection. I would rather them tackle the true problem, mental illness. No one will talk about it period. I tried talking to Democrats and all they say is it’s guns. WHY?
“I urge all citizens who feel as I do to take action. Arm yourselves with the righteousness of our position.”
From Emerson’s essay on Courage:
Everything I need to know about MDA is in the comment section of the video.
What? You expect a terrorist organization to allow open comments on their propaganda and calls to jihad?
He is listed as an Independent but has, since 1990, made only three donations to politicians and all three were to Democrats including one to each our “wonderful” Senators, Levin and “Stab-U-Now.”
These people are so naive it’s not even funny. Violence will NEVER be ended; humanity is inherently violent. There will always be human predators preying on others whether it be physically as in robbery or financially as in Soros. The only way to protect against predators is to show strength, to make oneself not a target.
Humans can only hope to become non-violent when we become something other than human (through technology) or become extinct.
The Girl Scouts tweeted that Wendy Davis should Woman of the Year, so it’s a lie that they don’t get involved in politics.
I hereby demand that Pasadena enact a zero tolerance policy regarding these ANIMALS by posting “Notice! Bear Free Zone” signs, backed by heavy fines for violators.
Where is this place called “Grand Vapors,” and why did it elect a mayor who needs testosterone replacement therapy?
so he is telling people: “when you see an armed person, call another armed person” … the fact that people think that somehow police officers are magical angels has a nice romantic tone to it. but in the end, they are people with a gun who have training. dot dot dot. mind you, some armed people in a public place might be off duty police officers or plain clothes police officers … do we call police on police than? i just do not understand the logic or the rhetoric being used by those who rely MOST on the man with a gun … “before the police officer in the rear of the room can react.”
what a hypocrite. can i have a police officer with me and all members of my family too? thanks!
I am shocked, SHOCKED, by the failure of empathy and sympathetic understanding seen in the comments here. The fact that a politician is pants-wettingly terrified whenever he sees a gun is a reason to feel sorry for the poor, gutless milksop, not a reason to cruelly mock him and denigrate his views. It’s not his fault that he’s a thumbsucking pansy whose mother doubtlessly milkfed him through age eight.
Pasadena will be going into full lockdown mode. All citizens ordered to “shelter in place” and remain inside. Full local and state SWAT teams, with armored assault vehicles will patrol.
Anyone caught disobeying the order to stay inside will be arrested and jailed. LEO anticipates search for bear will take 48 to 72 hours.
When bear is sighted, LEO will immediately engage with semi-automatic pistols and rifles.
Bear will probably be engaged by up to 50 LEO’s. Chances of survival? Excellent!! (Based on recorded ability of LEO nationwide to hit anything except a family pet, tied to a doghouse).
C.S. Lewis said, – “Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busy bodies. Those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
Intelligence officer: Bear? What bear? Only four of 35 indicators of bear activity are currently active. We assess the potential for bear activity as LOW.
Military Intelligence, S-2: Reports to ground troops that bear is a non-combatant. Six Infantry wounded. MI states that if the ground forces would have read the nesting diagram provided in the 24 page enemy intel report, they would have known the bear was a possible threat.
Embed Main-Stream-Media Reporter: Decides bear is patriotic nationalist agrarian reformer being molested by imperialist U.S. forces, asks bear for directions to nearest bar. If bitten by bear, charges U.S. troops with neglect of duty to protect freedom of the press.
(Modified from the Differential Theory of Military Operations (Snake Model))
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2013/10/the_differentia.html
TTAG is behind on this story. Tom Lambert, one of our members and the one that was mentioned in the story, attended the GR City Council meeting on Tuesday night and had this to say to the mayor:
STATEMENT DELETED – WE’RE RUNNING IT AS A SEPARATE POST.
The City of GR refuses to remove illegal and unenforceable laws on the books about carrying firearms. All municipalities are barred from enacting their own firearms legislation due to state preemption.
Up close the shotgun with 00. Getting hit with the full load is like getting hit nine times with a 9mm MP5 sub machine gun, all at the same time and in the same place. Over 25 yards the AR wins.
Personal favorite up close is #4 buck in 20 gauge. 24 rounds of .24 caliber ammo hitting all at the same time, with less recoil. And the gelatin tests say it’s more devastating that 00 Buck.
Maybe its because I live in Maryland and cant carry, but how in the hell do you forget where your gun is.
I wish I could find a P-09 threaded. Kipp at CZ-USA said they are back-ordered and the threaded P-07 has been discontinued for 2014 🙁
Repubtards will never admit to a mistake they did and change it.
I do have to question his remark about the improperly charged man being let slide by a CPL board. In a constitutional society such constructs are irrelevant. A free man needs no permission to be armed.
It’s amazing that even outside of the U.S. the failure of the war on drugs is being blamed on gun owners.
“The next time Jorge tells you to cover the point spread, cover the fucking point spread!“
Ammo sensitive. Not a big deal for a target gun. But for a gun that’s marketed towards the self defense crowd, big no-no.
How can someone be blamed for something without proof??? How come we don’t believe that the guy who said he would pay for the bill…actually is the one who punched the guy. He knew if he talked first he would get out of this. The cops promised him no charges if he talked. Like duhhhh I would blame someone else as well, let’s be realistic people I would do the same & so would many of you.