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Quote of the Day: Florida is the Pitts Edition

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Leonard Pitts (courtesy savannahbookfestival.org)

“They call Florida the ‘Gunshine State.’ But this madness is not Florida-centric. In Colorado, you can have a gun in class. In Arizona, you can take one to the bar. In Georgia, they’re trying to make it legal to take one to church. So this isn’t just Florida. It’s America. We live in states of insanity.” Leonard Pitts, Even gun owners think Florida needs stronger gun laws [via newsday.com]

0 thoughts on “Quote of the Day: Florida is the Pitts Edition”

  1. This is exactly how it should work, not just for firearms, knives too. Most travelers return to the first airport where they go through security to board a flight at, so holding such goods should not be a problem. It should be a revenue generator for the airport, short and long term storage lockers. Ya know! Seems like they have such as that at airports already! Wow, what a concept.

    And a heartfelt thank you to this officer for actually doing his job correctly. Too bad he is going to get hammered by the feds.

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  2. I was going to make a comment about how misleading the title of the original article was, but technically he did get two people’s opinions. So I guess he can legitimately say “gun ownerS”….

    Still, agitprop all the way.

    EDIT: FIRST!

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    • After all, he did say “We live in states of insanity.” I’d say he’s speaking for himself & other gun-grabbers & not law-abiding gun owners.

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      • This is the M.O. of the media since Obama has been in office. They scream that Obama is a “moderate”. This makes real moderate Dems and Independents look like they are on the right. Then the press calls anyone who doesn’t agree with this “moderate” President (everybody right of center) an extremist. They were rather sucessful in this goal post shifting up until Obamacare turned out to be the steaming pile of shit many “extremists” predicted it to be. I am hopeful that if the media continues this detatched attempt at shifting the goal post, centrist Inds & mod Dems will see what they are buying is BS. One can dream at least.

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  3. It’s been a while since I’ve read the local rag (which used to run his columns), but I remember him not really having much to say outside of prog talking points. Some things never change I suppose.

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    • Well, that will never happen. These “people’s” bullsh*t comes out and sprays all over the very people who don’t want it, without fail.

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  4. Carrying in a church has been legal in Tennessee since it became a shall-issue state in 1994, and there hasn’t been a single criminal homicide inside a church by a law-abiding citizen with a permit.

    Someone needs to ask Leonard how Georgia will be any different.

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  5. Well, When old saying stick around it is true.If America is crazy and you stand alone, what is that telling you. He is soo just wanting to be important . Forget him and his BS.

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  6. It’s hard to argue with someone who completely fails to understand the concept of self defense. These people believe that the only reason you’d carry a gun to class, church or a bar is that you’re thinking of shooting people there. The whole concept of defending yourself never occurs to them. That’s what we have the police for. In a way they’re like toddlers who haven’t yet learned the concept. When another toddler hits them they run and cry to mommy. To them you wait until you’ve been assaulted and then you run and tell the police. Once you’ve reached the age of 30 and you still haven’t learned that you can stand up for yourself and others, there’s just no changing your thinking. Unless you actually become a victim of crime and realize how impotent the police are to protect you. That has a funny way of getting through to people.

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    • Yep. I’m a minister. We were having a youth rally at our church in N. Texas with hundreds in attendance a few days after the shooting at the Baptist church in Ft. Worth in ’99*. Parents, staff, kids…everyone was a bit shaken. As part of our response, we had a couple of local LEOs outside, and some of our deacons who were licensed to carry at the entrances inside. They all played it pretty low key, but they wanted everyone to know safety was a priority. What the left fails to see is that no one brought a gun that night because they planned to shoot anyone. They did it because they were willing to thwart the plans of anyone who would come to harm someone, just as the off duty LEO in the Aurora church shooting was able to stop a killer in his tracks.

      * http://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/16/us/gunman-kills-7-and-himself-at-baptist-church-in-fort-worth.html

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  7. It’s actually pretty simple connection to make if you’ve read Pitts’ works before. He identifies guns with white rural culture, and he doesn’t like white rural culture because he assumes rural whites are racist. Therefore, guns are bad.

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  8. “We live in states of insanity”. Gee, thanks for the heads up, Leonard. Maybe that’s why we carry and cringe every time an idiot with a byline regurgitates this crap.

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  9. Good good these tactics are what’s needed to unify our 2a base and reform the republicans to be universally pro rights and destroy the budding anti gun movement

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  10. Every gun I grew shooting with my father was stolen by my crack addled cousin. But of those, there were two. Remington 1100, 3in chamber vented rib. We must have shot 10,000 clays together. My mother bought him that for in 1975 the month after I was born. The other was a S&W 686 with a 6 inch barrel. After I shot the gun the first time, he talked that gun up to me like it was a howitzer. Told me how great I did. Made me feel 8 feet tall. I was 10 years old and I was likely shooting .38 spl.

    I’m getting a little verklempt just thinking about it.

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  11. Modern firearms ARE dangerous. But in the same way cars, electricity, and natural gas are. When used properly no one gets hurt. Do something stupid accidentally/negligently or on purpose while handling any of these, injury and/or death can and do occur. But as always, it takes HUMAN HANDS to make these situations possible.

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    • In my state they stress it is unlawful to carry at any church but according to the law you can carry if you have permission from the church. It is common for certain church members to be allowed to carry, especially at special functions where they feel security staff is needed.

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  12. I have to disagree with blanket statements such as “2A supporters are smart enough to know which party respects their rights and which party doesn’t trust them.” I know all to many Republicans who are Fudds, still. Concealed Carry in Colorado was for years blocked by a RINO committee chairthing, who would no doubt be shocked to be told she is not a republican.

    Certainly if you *don’t* know anything about the two candidates in a race, the smart money is that the republican won’t be worse than the democrat. They might even actually be good. But it’s not a certainty.

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    • Then split your votes between Republicans and Independents. Either that, or go enjoy your “gun rights” in Democratic strongholds like CA and NY. I never said Republicans were perfect, but they are a whole lot better than Obama, Feinstein, and DeLeon for gun right. Actually they’re better than them on pretty much everything.

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    • I would put it this way, that at present only the Republican party is likely, in a given state, to have a vocal or effective subset of leaders that openly support a reasonably natural non-newspeak interpretation of the 2nd amendment.

      Both parties contain large fractions of activists who are more in favor of extra cheap immigrant labor and special government financial favors, 2nd amendment be damned. Republicans in this group are business owners requiring cheap labor, like agriculture, low-end services, and small manufacturers. Democrats in this group are most of their politicians, desiring two nearly synonymous advantages: an increase in their core voter pool and a growth of dependence on government,

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    • The more organizations fighting for the same cause, the better. The NRA has been singled out as the enemy by the left. If the have to attack dozens of groups then they will appear to be on the wrong side of the debate…which they are.

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  13. I find this a little ironic in that the overwhelming number of firearm related homicides and shooting are perpetrated by BLACK people. Make sure your own house is in order before you go pointing fingers at anyone else, BRUH.

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  14. I think the key take away from FC’s post is that we all need to avoid bad gun dealers and bad lawyers; however I’m concerned about the continuing confusion about constructive possession of NFA firearms–particularly in any way that makes light of the issue. I think it would help if we address these issues with a clear perspective on the everyday life of a gun owner.

    We advise many clients each day about these issues. They aren’t worried about their buddy beside them at the firing line. They’re worried about dealing with the unexpected in a manner that minimizes their risks. We provide them a solution so they have peace of mind. You can read my full discussion on constructive possession in today’s TTAG’s features: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2014/01/matt-in-fl/constructive-possession-nfa-firearms-red-hands-required/

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  15. Did this guy want a fancy country club range, run by old Negroes in white gloves and vests? Those do exist but not run by the county. They also cost a lot more.

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  16. I’ve been looking for 22LR for months but it seems it all must be hanging out with Unicorns and Leprechauns because its certainly non-existent!

    I put absolutely nothing past our government… No civilian entity can possibly be buying ammo so fast that it can’t find its way to Walmart or even the on-line vendors!

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  17. Yet another item to put on my practice list for the next time I go out to a state or national forest.

    Say, and remember that you can practice all of this in your own back yard with AirSoft handguns!

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  18. Jim Cirillo used to teach this very aggressively. You need to learn how to shoot “out of position.”

    One of his favorite positions from the ground was to two-hand the pistol between your knees. Very stable, and your shins provide some cover from incoming attacks. Putting the gun between your knees makes you hard to disarm or for someone to kick the gun away.

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  19. I’m confused, are we supposed to agree or disagree? Personally I agree. Forget amnesty and get on with it. “Lazy and stupid” aren’t the reasons for non-compliance and they know it. The reason is no means no.

    Republicans shoring up support with amnesty is laughable. More like Democrat pussies drawing a new line in the sand after we stepped over the last one. Like a little old lady wagging her finger at a biker gang.

    Bluff called, time to lay down the cards.

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  20. As an NRA instructor who is certified in several categories, I’ve often seen exactly the reverse of this problem – pedantic wind-bag instructors who love to hear themselves talk, love to insert countless little tacticool inside jokes of which the newbies have no clue, and/or provide endlessly detailed engineering level ballistic explanations for very simple questions. As a result, I’ve seen one-day classes stretch into 1 1/2 days, with no increase in value.

    Sure, if folks are having difficulty with some of the subject matter, you should extend that discussion. But programs like the NRA’s are carefully vetted to make sure that the subject material is adequately covered in the time allotted. If an instructor starts straying too far beyond (or below) the recommended times, it’s time for him or her to get introspective about just how much of their story-telling needs to be cut from the curriculum.

    I agree with dwb – a pure “volume” approach doesn’t guarantee proficiency. In our classes we make sure that everyone knows the material, whether it takes longer or we can whiz through a couple sections if everyone’s on board.

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  21. It instructors operate with integrity and thoroughness filling up the required time should not be much of a problem.

    Synthesizing some of the above comments, it’s Chicago. Like the 3rd World and the Middle east, very little is just what it seems to be on the surface. The people wanting to pass the bill probably have some unspoken agenda.

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  22. Yeah, the “no carry” policy for the military is really lame. Reminds me of the Russian Penal Battalions on the Ost Front in WW2 – unreliable troops would be marched under guard to their section of the front in preparation for an assault. They would then be armed. Once the assault was over they would be disarmed and removed, again under guard, to their camp area. Hmmm.
    I guess Washington DC doesn’t trust the soldiers that fight so hard and risk so much to defend our nation – but then, maybe that’s what they are afraid of – men that want to defend their nation.

    More on topic – our volunteer fire service allows handgun carry with a permit. Next we need rifle carry – I’m not kidding, but there’s places in our county I’m not going to without a carbine.

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