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After Sandy Hook, when Congress was considering “universal background checks,” Joe the Plumber declared “Your dead kids don’t trump my constitutional rights.” The comment, painfully true, played right into the hands of gun control advocates. That’s because . . .

gun control advocates paint gun owners as selfish bastards. Heartless. After all, anyone who rejects “common sense” infringements on their natural, civil and constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms doesn’t care that gun rights “extremism” results in murderous mayhem. Think of the children!

You and I know the antis’ logic is perverse. Gun owners are, as a group, law-abiding Americans. They are as concerned about criminality — and the effects of criminality — as non-gun owners. More so, in fact, as they’ve taken steps to protect themselves, their families and other innocent lives against it.

Do they care that children die when irresponsible gun owners fail to teach their progeny gun safety and/or fail to properly secure their firearms? Of course they do. Do they care when crazies and terrorists slaughter unarmed Americans? Certainly.

But they do not believe that government regulation is the answer to preventing these deadly threats.

Why would they? Gun control disarms good guys. Irresponsible gun owners remain irresponsible. Bad guys still get guns. It’s as simple as that.

Most gun owners do believe in effective, respectful law enforcement. They do believe that the criminal justice system can — or at least should — prevent violent crime. But again, the majority believe that gun control plays little to no part in the overall effort to combat “gun violence.”

Meanwhile, gun owners’ sympathy and empathy for crime victims is routinely dismissed or ignored. “It should have been a defensive gun use” — a phrase you hear here on a regular basis around here — is considered victim blaming.

Donald Trump’s insistence that an armed patron of The Pulse nightclub could have stopped the slaughter was derided, dissed and dismissed out of hand. In the antis’ fevered minds, supporting gun control is the only way to show you care.

So what are we to make of this [via reuters.com]?

The victims of a mass shooting at a Florida nightclub in June 2016 will receive nearly $8.5 million for emotional and financial support for victims’ families, those wounded in the attack and responders, the U.S. Department of Justice said . . .

“This award will reimburse victim services costs for operation of the Family Assistance Center in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, and ensure that victims, witnesses and first responders receive necessary services to help them adjust in the aftermath of violence, begin the healing process and cope with probable re-traumatization,” Marilyn McCoy Roberts, the office’s acting director, said in a statement.

There it is: once again, the federal government coming to the “rescue” of people suffering from a tragedy. With your tax dollars. How do you feel about that?

At the risk — make-that-certainty — of sounding callous, I don’t believe it’s the government’s job to compensate survivors and victims of a mass shooting. Or fund non-governmental victim services.

Keep in mind that, in the aftermath of The Pulse slaughter, survivors, victims and victims services agencies received a large amount of charitable contributions. While there were scams aplenty, a good part of the $7 million raised on Go Fund Me went to the individuals and groups affected.

For another, the government’s Pulse payout comes at a price. Not just in terms of draining the public coffers. In terms of perpetuating reliance on the government. Floods, fires, hurricanes, unemployment…. Uncle Sugar will take care of you.

While I’m all for a “safety net” — so that people don’t go hungry or homeless or die from lack of medical care — where do you draw the line? For me, it’s somewhere before this DOJ Pulse payout.

And lastly, the DOJ payout smells like blood money.

There is no question that the police response to The Pulse nightclub attack was wholly inadequate. No one was held accountable for the police paralysis that left victims bleeding to death inside the club. If it were me, that’s the federal compensation I’d want for my loss or suffering.

I’d want the feds to help ensure that the officers whose inaction led to needless death and injury were dismissed from the force, and that all the mistakes made by the “first responders” were made public. Including the feds’ failure to remove an identified terrorist threat when they had the chance.

Does that make me a heartless bastard? Maybe so. But my heart bleeds for both the Pulse nightclub victims and survivors and the people who may die because lessons were ignored and mistakes covered up.

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49 COMMENTS

  1. Didn’t it take OPD SWAT something like 3 hours to breach the club after the shooting started? IIRC a few of the security managed to return fire (and one died) which probably allowed some people to escape.

    • I think you’re right about the three hours.

      Torches, pitchforks and rope are what some people at OPD deserve for that.

    • They did not know if their was a sniper in the area.

      Also just not giving into these emotionalists makes you a “cold hearted bastard” so screw them.

  2. I really feel bad for the family and friends of the loved ones that were killed and lost and severely wounded. And if you want to donate money to their cause to help the families and loved ones that are still alive continue on a normal life that’s fine. However this was in a terrorist attack on American and as usual the liberal media play this as a hate crime against homosexuals. Which may have had something to do with the goofball that did this but then again maybe not. And even though these spree killings seem to be more frequent the grand total on statistics proves that these things happen less than 1.4% of the time that is a very low number which I’d like to see Zero but we do live in a free country. At least for now we do.

    • Just so everybody knows I was not talking about government compensation I was talking about donations through websites and churches like every other disaster in this country whether man-made or Mother Nature. Just like Katrina in Louisiana and Mississippi we all did can drives for canned foods at our local church and sent all of that food and clothing and everything you can think of like toothbrushes toothpaste all too the areas that actually needed it through our church. I was definitely not referring to federal government agencies responding to this like a national disaster. I think local church and Outreach programs 501c tax-exempt that’s what they’re designed to do help people like this in these situations and a hell of a lot more other situations as well. This should not be up to the federal government to give these people money because of their loss unless they’re suing the federal government for Obama letting all these terrorists into the country to begin with.

      • Historically, individual Americans, through churches, Red Cross, et al, have shown themselves to be the most generous in the world when it comes to helping people within and without our borders. They have done far more than any government agency to help people.

        Government agencies have been portrayed as the saviors of those in need. A false claim. There are so many regulations involved with government agencies that a great many people can not qualify for their assistance. Most often, government money goes to other government agencies which misuse it. Who knows better what aid is needed; federal, state, or local level?

        For government to compensate people in such a way is insane. What next? Perhaps compensate all people whose families were victims of the Crusades? The victims of the Irish potato famine because spuds originated in the new world?

  3. ‘“It should have been a defensive gun use” — a phrase you hear here on a regular basis around here — is considered victim blaming.’

    Jesus, really? That may, quite literally, be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s wrong to wish that someone had face-shot that guy right off the bat?

    If someone says “Yeah, he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt…” is that victim blaming too?

    • In the minds of the left, yes. Shit, they love their microagressions so much that universities have started instituting mandatory “sensitivity training” for their faculty, along with specific phrases that constitute microagressions, and thus are not allowed to be used, by students or faculty. These phrases include such horrible, contentious, evil, racist, sexist, bigoted statements as “law and order”, “land of opportunity” or “the job should go to the most qualified person”. So yes, the left honestly would consider that victim blaming. Hell, wasn’t there something on here a while ago where a pro gun person was debating a high profile female anti and pointed out that guns are the best way for a young, petite woman to defend herself against a large rapist?

      And instead of offering any kind of counter argument (though of course there IS no counter argument), the woman freaked out completely, claiming that her opponent was blaming victims of sexual assault for not being armed or some such bullshit. Perhaps more so than any other single attribute, the left worships victimhood.

      • “… the woman freaked out completely, claiming that her opponent was blaming victims of sexual assault…”

        I somehow missed that story. Thanks for bringing me up to speed.

  4. A heartless bastard? Sure, count me in as well. What moron brought up the idea of paying the victims and families? I’ve had my fill of this type of Obamacare, does it ever stop?

    • No. It doesn’t and never will stop because we continue to fund and feed this nonsense. We continue to pay our taxes like good little victims sitting still for the vampires to suck us dry. And, alas, even for me merely suggesting this or advocating for the secession of states from our “holy union” to stop this insanity I will be shouted down as an un-American extremist, told to go move somewhere else if I don’t like it, etc.

      And in doing so I hope that it will shed a little light on why, no, it will never ever stop. It will only continue to get worse until it collapses in on itself or the victims of the bloodletting finally decide they truly have had enough and do something proactive to stop it and not merely cry and whine to their elected officials while pointing and waiving at a piece of over 200 year old paper that has been shredded and desecrated from before the ink was even dry from the signatures on it.

      And yes – I am fun at parties BTW.

  5. No you just sound logical. I guess that passes for hate speech nowadays. Logic and liberty trumps emotion. Learn it, live it, and love it. That right there is the sausage factory of God’s green earth.

  6. “While I’m all for a “safety net” — so that people don’t go hungry or homeless or die from lack of medical care — where do you draw the line?”

    None of that is the proper role of government. All of that is the appropriate role of civil society – charitable organizations, churches, family and individuals. If government is responsible for these caretaker roles then why have any civil society at all? Just let government take care of everything – like in Cuba or North Korea, but only more-so because these countries are obviously not doing enough.

    • ^ Completely agree. As Frederic Bastiat said (and I’m paraphrasing): The law cannot be both just and philanthropic. The pursuit of philanthropy through law will destroy liberty and justice.

    • This! So . much . this.

      Government’s almost exclusive role is punishing evil-doers and organizing national defense.

      I can also entertain a case for government building roads and organizing/standardizing some things. Beyond that, no thanks.

    • And it is certainly not the federal government’s job. Under our system, if the citizens want the government to do something beyond what the framers intended for the feds, that is what state governments are for. Leave the rest of the country out of it.

      That’s the beauty of our federal system. If it is honored, we can have any sort of “republican” government we want in the states. If one state wants to be libertarian and another wants to be a European cradle to grave entitlement style socialist utopia, they can do that.

      If the federal government was limited to its proper role, then this country would be a lot better off. Few people would care who the president was or what the federal government did because it wouldn’t effect them.

  7. There is a precedent for this — the payouts to the dependents of 9/11 victims. I can’t say that I object. The government wastes my tax money in ways that are less justifiable. What would help is to say to the survivors, “No one would have criticized you for jumping Mateen, and stabbing, slashing and beating on him until his corpse was no longer recognizable.”

    • Where does it easy the victims or their survivors are getting paid?

      “This award will reimburse victim services costs for operation of the Family Assistance Center in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, and ensure that victims, witnesses and first responders receive necessary services ”

      Sounds like the money is going to a bunch of social workers.

  8. It’s not the police’s job to protect people. They enforce law, which is ‘reactionary’, by definition. “Protection” is proactive, like when the secret service visits Snoop Doggity-Doggy-Dogg about his antics. Sometimes law enforcement incidentally protects people from violence, but only very rarely. If police ‘protected’ people, there wouldnt be rapes, molestations, carjackings, and mob attacks.

    If you want actual ‘protection’, like Barack O’Bama enjoys, you’ll need to talk to the secret service. Unfortunately, you’re not worthy of their services.

    • This. All of this. Once people starting understanding that police, and other “first responders” are no different than their home/renters/car/life insurance, things will start to get better.

  9. Robert is this your opinion piece? If so, your line of thinking has changed a LOT in the last several years.

    It gives me hope for my delusional friends who see a socialistic government as a solution for the worlds woes.

  10. In a country where the scum of the Earth get billions in federal aid to propagate more scum of the Earth, I can’t get too pissed about this payment of a few million in conscience money.

    • I agree. This is pretty low on my list of things to be upset about. And wouldn’t this be considered terrorist attack? The government has long compensated Americans killed in such attacks (think 9/11) particularly when the government failed to stop the plan. Or, in this case, where the response was… not particularly impressive.

      And, yes, it is the government’s job to stop such attacks. That is part of the reason we keep them around.

      • It is not possible for the government to stop every act of terror. They talk about the perp having been on the Watch List. As it happens, a large portion of those on the Watch List are not held. They are released for lack of evidence. People seem to think the government is a powerful god and can stop every bad act before it happens. As yet, there has never been any proof that the government had anything to do with 9/11 or that they knew in advance when and where, or even if there was a planned attack scheduled. The plot may very well have had other targets.

        Consider the firemen and police who died on 9/11. They had pretty dang good benefits which went with the profession they chose to follow. On top of those benefits, millions in donations were collected. Then the government stepped in to compensate for their loss. I imagine that those people associated with the companies who had offices in those buildings paid out compensation to the families of employees as well. Yes it was a tragic day, Still, the amount of compensation was over the top. How far back in US history does one need to go before finding that citizens were never compensated for bad acts. That people were expected to take care of themselves… saving for medical needs, for vacations, for retirement, buying insurance to make up for the loss of the bread winner who was a bank teller when the James brothers robbed the bank and killed him?

  11. I don’t believe it’s the government’s job to compensate survivors and victims of a mass shooting … or fund any victim services.

    If victim services is such a noble cause, then a charity can handle that and plenty of people will happily donate to that charity.

    STOP taking my money by force (taxes) to give it away to others. I have already given more in terms of time, money, loss of family, tears, lost vacations, and pushing back retirement — all for a single extremely noble charitable cause — than 99.9% of the population in our nation. Taking more money (which equates to my time) from me is an epic injustice and incredibly cruel.

    My apology for the rant. I am tired of other people constantly stealing from me (through taxes). I have given FAR more than “my fair share”. Let others give more if they want.

  12. Does nobody else remember that this topic has been addressed before, by none other than Davy Crockett? In the 1884 biography of Crockett by Edward Sylvester Ellis, he tells the story of Crockett voting against a bill to provide money to a widow because, “We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please in charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of the public money.”

    The story of how he came to that position is very interesting, in terms of learning from past mistakes.

    See: http://www.constitution.org/cons/crockett.htm

  13. Family members of those victims that were HIV/AIDS+ ought to have their “award” prorated based upon advancement of their disease and life expectancy

      • Personal experience… when a loved one dies in a situation covered by insurance, the life expectancy and other factors are considered when the insurance company determines how much they intend to pay. So, why shouldn’t such factors be taken into account by the government?

        Then the family hires an attorney to fight for more compensation. No matter how high the amount reaches, the attorney(s) get 40% of the gross. Less than 60% is divided between the family members.

      • Have you seen the Obunghole-era related programs administrated by pro-homosexual/Gay Rights NGO’s here in the USA that receive federal funding (MY tax dollars) that directs those that are Hep C/HIV/AIDS+ NOT to disclose their status to potential partners? Colleges and high schools are “on board” with this and bringing in speakers and distributing material that advocate hiding one’s “status” from partners and others who are at risk of being infected.

        Maybe you missed the U.S. govt program run by the U.S. AID (Agency For International Development) through the State Dept again paid for by taxpayers that spent millions of dollars promoting (flyers/TV/Radio ads/billboards/pamphlets etc.) and encouraging “homosexuality” in Africa where HIV/AIDS infection rates are skyrocketing and where witch-doctors tell the HIV/AIDS+ males that sleeping with a virgin will cure them thus the reason so many babies and toddlers are being raped, infected or dying from their sexual assault?

  14. We need common sense immigration and refugee control. If it saves just one life it’s worth banning all refugees. It’s for American children. Why would anyone be against common sense immigration and refugee laws?

      • If we did not let in his Father, HE would not be here, 2nd and future Generation immigrants/refugees crimes are preventable.

        But hey “Muh nation of immigrants” “diversity is our greatest strength”, “all people are interchangeable” even if that means we import hordes of hostiles who`s actions are used to rob us of our wealth and rights, right?

  15. while it is good to see the focus turn away from the perpetrator of the violence to the victims, I’m not sure this is the right way to go about it.

  16. Biggest lesson to be reminded of as most of us already know is that YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN as far as personal safety goes.

  17. “There is no question that the police response to The Pulse nightclub attack was wholly inadequate. No one was held accountable for the police paralysis that left victims bleeding to death inside the club. If it were me, that’s the federal compensation I’d want for my loss or suffering.”

    No one’s fully labeled this an act of terrorism, and no one’s been held accountable to importing as-sloads of (sleeper-cell much?) jihadis.

    That’s what the payout’s for. It’s hush-money.

    • Police had little information to act on. Were there more actors involved? Were bombs planted intentionally to take out first responders. Terrorists have used such tactics before. Perhaps more attacks were planned for a time when first responders were taken out. Much like a sniper who shoots the first target with the intention of only wounding, and then terminating the four others who try to aid the first one. If a large portion of first responders are eliminated then actors are pretty much free to go where they want and to do whatever they want.

      Step one is containment; prevent the situation from spreading and/or escalating.
      Try to make contact with people inside (actors or hostages)
      Negotiate
      Entry if negotiation fails
      Clear the scene and render aid

      • DaveW,

        “If a large portion of first responders are eliminated then actors are pretty much free to go where they want and to do whatever they want.”

        And if a large portion of (or more appropriately ALL) first responders are unwilling to immediately counter-attack, then bad actors ARE free to go where they want to do whatever they want. Of course this is exactly what we have been experiencing. This, let me repeat, THIS is why we should not have “gun free” zones. This is why We the People are truly on our own. This is why we must have the means to act for OURSELVES.

  18. Who wants to bet that Obasturd and his DOJ hid the fact that the Pulse nightclub shooter was HIV/AIDS+ and was seeking retribution for contracting the disease? Remember that misadminstration was adept at crafting narratives, Trayvon Martin was 12 yrs old and an aspiring astronaut, Mike Brown was a college bound “Gentle Giant”, and their favorite excuse for all Moslem jihadists who commit attacks upon our soil was that they were “mentally ill” (heard after EVERY attack in the UK and Europe but NOT Syria/Iraq/Pakistan or Afghanistan).

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