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pwjirwin
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Name: Paul
Country: Canada
Birthday: 3/5/1969
Gender: Male
Interests: Computers
Biking
Boating
Watersports
Snow Angels
Law Enforcement
Safety & Security
Firearms
Community Services
Talking & Listening
Expertise: Handy in all things, master of none.
Occupation: Retired, but also Minister
Industry: Medical, Technical & Spiritual
AIM:  vermontca
MSN: vermontca
ICQ:  43580395
Yahoo:  vermontca
Member Since:
4/20/2005
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| For any surfing the net, if in the US or surfing into connections in it, there is some information I have been made aware of. I just wanted to let you know that the New Homeland Security Bill has passed. Things will be different now and Internet surfing as you know it will be tracked by what the FBI calls a 'non-intrusive method.' The FBI says you will hardly notice anything different.
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| http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article5299010.ece
The following is an article by Richard Munday, a reporter in London England.
"The firearms massacres that have periodically caused shock and horror around the world have been dwarfed by the Mumbai shootings, in which a handful of gunmen left some 500 people killed or wounded.
For anybody who still believed in it, the Mumbai shootings exposed the myth of "gun control". India had some of the strictest firearms laws in the world, going back to the Indian Arms Act of 1878, by which Britain had sought to prevent a recurrence of the Indian Mutiny.
The guns used in last week's Bombay massacre were all "prohibited weapons" under Indian law, just as they are in Britain. In this country we have seen the irrelevance of such bans (handgun crime, for instance, doubled here within five years of the prohibition of legal pistol ownership), but the largely drug-related nature of most extreme violence here has left most of us with a sheltered awareness of the threat. We have not yet faced a determined and broad-based attack.
The Mumbai massacre also exposed the myth that arming the police force guarantees security. Sebastian D'Souza, a picture editor on the Mumbai Mirror who took some of the dramatic pictures of the assault on the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, was angered to find India's armed police taking cover and apparently failing to engage the gunmen.
Related Links
a.. Gunmen had elite training 'from Pakistan'
In Britain we might recall the prolonged failure of armed police to contain the Hungerford killer, whose rampage lasted more than four hours, and who in the end shot himself. In Dunblane, too, it was the killer who ended his own life: even at best, police response is almost always belated when gunmen are on the loose. One might think, too, of the McDonald's massacre in San Ysidro, California, in 1984, where the Swat team waited for their leader (who was held up in a traffic jam) while 21 unarmed diners were murdered.
Rhetoric about standing firm against terrorists aside, in Britain we have no more legal deterrent to prevent an armed assault than did the people of Mumbai, and individually we would be just as helpless as victims. The Mumbai massacre could happen in London tomorrow; but probably it could not have happened to Londoners 100 years ago.
In January 1909 two such anarchists, lately come from an attempt to blow up the president of France, tried to commit a robbery in north London, armed with automatic pistols. Edwardian Londoners, however, shot back - and the anarchists were pursued through the streets by a spontaneous hue-and-cry. The police, who could not find the key to their own gun cupboard, borrowed at least four pistols from passers-by, while other citizens armed with revolvers and shotguns preferred to use their weapons themselves to bring the assailants down.
Today we are probably more shocked at the idea of so many ordinary Londoners carrying guns in the street than we are at the idea of an armed robbery. But the world of Conan Doyle's Dr Watson, pocketing his revolver before he walked the London streets, was real. The arming of the populace guaranteed rather than disturbed the peace.
That armed England existed within living memory; but it is now so alien to our expectations that it has become a foreign country. Our image of an armed society is conditioned instead by America: or by what we imagine we know about America. It is a skewed image, because (despite the Second Amendment) until recently in much of the US it has been illegal to bear arms outside the home or workplace; and therefore only people willing to defy the law have carried weapons.
In the past two decades the enactment of "right to carry" legislation in the majority of states, and the issue of permits for the carrying of concealed firearms to citizens of good repute, has brought a radical change. Opponents of the right to bear arms predicted that right to carry would cause blood to flow in the streets, but the reverse has been true: violent crime in America has plummeted.
There are exceptions: Virginia Tech, the site of the 2007 massacre of 32 people, was one local "gun-free zone" that forbade the bearing of arms even to those with a licence to carry.
In Britain we are not yet ready to recall the final liberty of the subject listed by William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England as underpinning all others: "The right of having and using arms for self-preservation and defence." We would still not be ready to do so were the Mumbai massacre to happen in London tomorrow.
"Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India," Mahatma Gandhi said, "history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest." The Mumbai massacre is a bitter postscript to Gandhi's comment. D'Souza now laments his own helplessness in the face of the killers: "I only wish I had had a gun rather than a camera."
Richard Munday is the co-author and editor of Guns & Violence: The Debate Before Lord Cullen"
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| Yes, I am a normal kid at heart individual who does like getting gifts, but I also like giving them.
I have my practical needs and wishes, which tends to mean I need practically everything. As I said, I am a kid at heart, but as an adult, the toys are simply a little more solid and costly than the G.I. Joe and car I got as a kid, and took apart to see how they worked the next day. That car never did get back together.
The roles I have served at work, rest, play, and volunteering have had an influence on the things I tend to give. Tools to build and fix with, first aid, fire, and other supplies for emergency preparedness, and the wealth of technology in lifes work and entertainment. I will continue to supply some good practical things for friends and family. My wish for them all of course is to be safe, prepared for the emergencies life has to offer, and have the right tool for the jobs around the house or workshop. I just can't afford to get them all as well equipped a workshop or computers as my own continually growing ones.
I came up with some ideas for small things that those who might wish to stuff in my stocking could consider, especially to make life for them a little easier when shopping around, even if that is by mouse. I find I am using eBay and the internet to find things more and more, and it tends to save some money on each item. That said, PayPal gifts can be a safe and easy way to give a little money that might have gone to a gift card or alike, and you don't have to go to the store to pick it up. Ordering things online sometimes has an option to pay with PayPal, and the gift can be used directly, not just at eBay. Near everyone knows I shop at www.tigerdirect.ca for many technology items for myself and others, and they also accept PayPal. I even saw some things at www.4sevens.com that have brightened my way of seeing things. I also have great difficulty passing a Canadian Tire store without stopping to see what I still need, or what is on special (www.canadiantire.ca).
I like a good beverage in hand. That has meant a good cup of coffee, something cold and refreshing, or even a sip of quality scotch, wine, or alike to enjoy an evening. I have enough mugs for home and travel for coffee, but am short on good heavy glasses to enjoy the others, and would like enough to share them with others as well. I say heavy glasses, as the quality of a glass is often found it its weight and thickness. You would not build a house on a foundation that was not very solid, so one should not enjoy even a glass of water without a good solid start to it. Cheers!
The coming season of giving and sharing is likely to be as busy as any other in the past. The giving of self and gifts should be a comfort and not so stressful. Share, love, laugh, hug, and do take time for quiet and self.
 "Be Good All Day"
Paul
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| I posted some comments in reply to Rob's comment about my November 25th, 2008 entry. It says a great deal both related and unrelated to firearms and self defence. Call it a bit of a rant by me.
There are hundreds of documented stories of self defence by citizens with firearms. Some with their own firearm, some with that of an assailant, and most without a shot ever being fired. Keep in mind that these events are those which were reported and became part of news reports. There are likely others that did not make the news. Not all cases of self defence are ones with a generally positive result, as there have also been accidental shootings of innocent persons. Such incidents are very few. I advocate better training and practise in part to reduce such incidents, but i am sure there is more that can be done. Some victims have been injured during some incidents.
Do a search for "Civilian Gun Self-Defence Blog" and you will many blogs so named, and several sources of information relevant to such matters.
Those who hold on so tightly to a belief that self defence, even with a firearm, can not make a difference for the good people of the world are deluding themselves. That is ok wth me, as if I have the rare and unlikely cause to come to defence of such a person, they will find that I will defend them just the same in so far as I am able.
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| The truth about active killers in mass shooting events has been that they target people who can not defend themselves. This is not my story, it is that of the author, and of course the victims.
http://www.wcpo.com/content/news/localshows/iteam/story.aspx?content_id=d26c29ff-f134-4202-bc40-947534a6de3c
Reported by: Brendan Keefe
Email: Brendan.Keefe@wcpo.com
There have been so many school shootings over the last 40 years that researchers have been able to develop a profile of the typical mass murderer.They're called "active shooters" or "active killers" and their crimes play out in a matter of minutes.
After the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, police changed their tactics. The two student gunmen killed 15 people and themselves before the SWAT team was in position. Commanders realized that it simply takes too long to assemble a tactical team in time to stop an active killer.
The new tactics developed in response to Columbine involved creating an ad-hoc tactical team using the first four or five patrol officers on the scene. They would enter the shooting scene in a diamond formation with guns pointing in all directions. This technique was employed by police departments around the country.
Then 32 people were killed by a lone gunman at Virginia Tech in April 2007. Seung Hui Cho shot 47 people, 30 fatally, in the university's Norris Hall in just 11 minutes.That means every minute he killed more than three people and shot a total of four. Once again, the gunman continued shooting until a four-officer team made entry and then he killed himself. Law enforcement once again reviewed its tactics. Based on the Virginia Tech data, top tactics training facilities determined the first officer on scene should make entry immediately with an aggressive attack on the shooter. Every minute the officer waits for back-up, another three or more people could die. In other words, while it was once considered suicide for a lone officer to take on an active killer, it is now considered statistical homicide for him not to do so.
Tactical Defense Institute in Adams County, Ohio developed one of the first "single officer response" programs in the nation. TDI was teaching the tactic even before Virginia Tech. Now the National School Resource Officer Organization (NSRO) is using TDI instructors to teach school resource officers nationwide how to confront a gunman immediately. Locally, all Blue Ash police officers are trained in these new tactics in large part because their chief, Col. Chris Wallace, is also a TDI instructor.
The other statistic that emerged from a study of active killers is that they almost exclusively seek out "gun free" zones for their attacks. In most states, concealed handguns are prohibited at schools and on college campuses even for those with permits. Many malls and workplaces also place signs at their entrances prohibiting firearms on the premises. Now some tacticians believe the signs themselves may be an invitation to the active killers.
The psychological profile of a mass murderer indicates he is looking to inflict the most casualties as quickly as possible. Also, the data show most active killers have no intention of surviving the event. They may select schools and shopping malls because of the large number of defenseless victims and the virtual guarantee no on the scene one is armed. As soon as they're confronted by any armed resistance, the shooters typically turn the gun on themselves. (UPDATE 11/21/08 by Anchor/Reporter Brendan Keefe): We have received many requests about the source for our assertion that most mass murders have occurred in otherwise "gun free" zones. The experts are Ron Borsch from SEALE Academy in Bedford, Ohio and John Benner from Tactical Defense Institute. A summary of Borsch's study can be found here We also conducted our own analysis of mass murders in the U.S. The vast majority occurred in schools or on college campuses where firearms are banned as a matter of state statutes. Others took place in post offices where firearms are banned as a matter of federal law. Most of the rest took place in shopping malls or other businesses where the owners posted signs prohibiting firearm possession by anyone including those with CCW permits. In some states, like Ohio, those signs have the force of law and violators are prosecuted under the relevant statute. In other states, like Texas, the signs are considered trespass notices and violators are first asked to leave, then they are arrested for trespass if they decline (of course, if your weapon is visible, it's no longer concealed and there are other potential legal consequences). Based on data from the SEALE study, an analysis by TDI, and our own painstaking research, we are able to say definitively that most "active killer" shootings have occurred in so-called "gun free" zones. The experts who say they may be "invitations" are also John Benner and Ron Borsch who have six decades of law enforcement experience and training between them. The Luby's Cafeteria shooting in Killeen, TX in 1991 took place before Texas adopted its Florida-style CCW law. In fact, that mass murder of 23 people was used as an example by those seeking to enact the CCW legislation. It is accurate to say firearms were banned in Luby's at that time because there was no uniform concealed carry law in place in 1991. In fact, several victims and survivors had legally owned handguns in their cars at the time of the shooting. While that shooting was not addressed in our story, it and others over the last 40 years were analyzed in our investigation. As journalists, we are not interested in entering into the heated debate over gun control. We are, however, interested in reporting the facts. In this story, the facts point to the active shooters ignoring gun prohibitions and perhaps selecting those locations because they are "soft targets" where no resistance would be found. | | |
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