Is There Something in the Water?

Sometimes you have to wonder about what is wrong with folks these days. There are so many things going sideways, that just do not make any sense and are antithetic to rational thought.

One phenomenon that appears to be happening at an ever increasing rate is the brutal slaying of children by parent or parental figure.

Three recent incidents in North Texas:

From the Dallas Morning News:

Mother hangs herself, 4 children; infant found alive

From Fox News:

Texas Mom Arrested for Allegedly Setting 3 Daughters on Fire

From the Star Telegram:

'There was something that made him go over the hill'

Man shoots estranged wife and two step children.

Every time I attempt to wrap my brain around incidents such as these, I hit a brick wall. I keep thinking of the children's last thoughts. The terrible confusion of a little girl who still loves her mommy with her dieing breath as she struggles on the end of a rope. The terror as darkness bursts into flames as mommy strikes the match, the betrayal voiced as a charred 7 year old little girl screams, "Why mommy? Why mommy? Why did you do this to me?" after she and her sisters were pulled out of their burning house. The horror and confusion as a little girl watches Daddy shoot Mommy, Brother and Sister. This 3 year old was dropped off at a church, covered in her families blood.

What goes through a parent's mind to make it okay to perform such atrocities against their children?

Goblins I can understand, this form of evil, I can not.

Off Camping

It is a beautiful weekend, so V and I are off camping at Lake Ray Roberts.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

Law Abiding, or Groveling?

45Superman has made a very significant point on his blog, "Armed and Safe", he takes a position that I agree with 100%. It really is disheartening that when we gun owners are law abiding, we bow to unconstitutional laws.

Read what he has to say here.

Safety Tips For Women

Here in North Texas we have at least two, and maybe three, active serial rapists on the prowl. One that has been in the news quite a bit has raped, molested, brutalized 19 different women, killing one.

This is what he is supposed to look like:

CBS 11 reported on some recommendations a local police department gave to help keep our women safe.

By Jack Fink

Frisco PD Gives Safety Tips After Rapist Attacks

Hundreds of residents of the Vineyards Apartment complex, where the attack took place, showed up for a crime watch meeting to learn how to stay safe.

Residents were encouraged to leave their porch lights on at night.

They were also told to call police if they see or hear any suspicious activity.

I'll bet those women felt much safer after that little meeting. This was back in April, the goblin has struck again and again. One of his earlier victims offers up some advice of her own (also reported on CBS 11).

By Stephanie Lucero

Rape Victim Delivers Message To Other Women

North Texas police detectives say there's no new information about a serial rapist who has terrorized 19 victims.

One of the women attacked is making sure her attacker knows she's taking steps to make sure it never happens again.

Kathy Smith knows she's not a typical rape victim. She's soft-spoken, but she has a bold message.

"I don't want to ever let myself be in that position again," said Smith. "The only one who can really protect me, is me."

"The only one who can really protect me, is me" That is it in a nutshell.

I thought he was about to spread my brains all over my bedroom wall, and I just did what I could to get out of there alive," Smith said.

Since then, she's experience nightmares, post traumatic stress and she has been angry at the man who raped her.

But Smith has not been silent. She's now applying for her license to carry a concealed handgun, and she encourages others do the same.

"If someone were to break into my home again, they wouldn't find someone pulling the covers up and screaming. They would find a gun pointed at them," said Smith.

Smith says she knows the serial rapist could strike again. She wants to warn other women not to let their guard down.

Take responsibility for your own safety, do not be a victim. Follow the generic safety advice. Park in well lighted areas, go out with friends, keep your porch light on, be aware of your surroundings. These practices will help avoid, but not prevent a violent attack. A firearm is a force equalizer. 100+ grains of copper jacketed lead applied liberally to the chest of a goblin will give even the most petite of women the advantage over a goblin intent on violence.

A firearm is not a magic talisman, it is a tool. It takes a bit of training to effectively use this tool. Once you make the decision to provide for your own safety, I highly recommend you seek out instruction on the safe and efficient use of your handgun.

Thanks to Tony for the story.

The War on Guns has also commented on this article.

Newt Gingrich on Violence

Newt was a guest on today's "Your World with Neil Cavuto". The discussion was supposed to be about gun violence, but Newt brought it to the point. Violence is violence, and we are going to have to make some major changes in the way we bring up our children if we want a reduction in youth violence.

From Fox News:

Newt Gingrich on Solutions to Gun Violence

GINGRICH: Yes. And we don't use the right language.

Somebody who walks up to kill you is a predator. Somebody who kills you for the purpose of taking your money is a predator. Philadelphia, which has been the most lax city — the judges is Philadelphia are so unwilling to lock up violent — violent criminals, that the district attorney has actually said there's no point in arresting them, because the judges won't put them in jail.

Philadelphia has suffered 3,000 murders since 1988, just in that one city. And, so, we really have a problem of predatory behavior, where we tolerate levels of violence we shouldn't be tolerating.

And some of this, by the way — and then the third point I want to make is about the culture. We have created this weird adolescent culture. We saw it — I saw it last night on FOX, film of girls beating up a girl on a playground in a way that would have been unthinkable when you and I were young.

We have tolerated the growth, whether it's on MTV or it's in a variety of other sources. We have tolerated a language. We have tolerated a kind of rap music. All of these things have been a coarsening, degrading process of saying to people, it is OK to ignore authority. It's OK to be brutal. It's OK to do really bad things.

And I think we have got to really come to grips at some point that trapping children, trapping young people into those kind of cultural settings, has consequences that are very bad for the society.

The interview was brief (but much more than I clipped) and did not go into solutions. We know that blaming tools and restricting liberty is not the answer, but how do we put an end to this cycle of violence? How do we re-introduce some understanding of what is right or wrong, good or evil into communities where violence is the norm? A start to fixing the problem seems easy. Lock up the goblins, lock them up and keep them locked up. Where do we go from there?

Arlington anesthesiologist's other car is a British tank

One day while I was leaving my Pulmonologist's office, I noticed this mini tank sitting over in the next parking lot. I had to go over and check it out. There was another guy looking it over, and neither one of us knew what the heck it was. Well, now we know.

From the Star Telegram:

By O.K. Carter

Arlington anesthesiologist's other car is a British tank

On the rare occasions that Michael Henderson gets in a hurry and motors his street-legal tank onto a local interstate, the outcome is inevitable. The vehicle, technically a rubber-wheeled, tanklike armored car called a Ferret Scout, draws a crowd of motorized gawkers.

"Next thing I know, they're in tight all around me checking out the tank, and I can't change lanes to make my exit," says Henderson, an Arlington resident and a staff anesthesiologist at Arlington Memorial Hospital. "I learned pretty early that I better stay in the right lane."

Now that is to cool.

Medellin and the Second Amendment

From The Volokh Conspiracy

By David Kopel

Medellin and the Second Amendment

The Supreme Court's oral argument today in Medellin v. Texas has interesting implications for Second Amendment rights. The rationale promoted by the Bush administration, and which apparently has support from at least some of the Supreme Court, offers a roadmap for how a future U.S. President could evade Congress to impose highly restrictive gun controls.

The implications of this case are staggering. The Executive Branch could end up with powers that would have torn an earlier United States to shreds. Go and give it a read, it is chilling.

Patience pays in Hooters license fight

A local Hooters Restaurant has won a major legal battle. Good for Hooters, not so good for customers.

From the Star Telegram:

By Cynthia Neff

Patience pays in Hooters license fight

ARLINGTON -- Patrons of Hooters were greeted with good and bad news Monday: The southwest Arlington restaurant finally won its liquor license but will no longer be giving away beer.

That's the rub of it, no more free beer at Hooters.

The restaurant has given away approximately $2,200,000 (400,000 beers) while working through the courts to get their license.

The restaurant, at Interstate 20 and Little Road, has faced opposition to obtaining a permit to serve alcohol since before it opened in 2002. A local group called the Partnership for Community Values has argued that the restaurant uses sex appeal to sell food and merchandise and objected to its proximity to Martin High School, churches and residential areas.

While this group held up the license to sell beer, Hooters has been giving away two free beers with each meal, not a bad deal and quite the unintended consequence for the Partnership for Community Values.

Slideshow

Alandp of Blogonomicon has developed a great slide show that shows the results of thinking that "The government must have a monopoly on force".

Force

I encourage you to head on over and check it out.

Armed for first day of school

Now this is a "common sense" gun regulation.

From Aftenposten:

Armed for first day of school

Students on the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard aren't allowed to leave their village without a shotgun and ammunition. That's because hungry polar bears can be behind every swing on the island.

Although no one wants to shoot a polar bear, and they're indeed protected by national law, the huge white animals can quickly outrun a human. And humans don't have a chance if confronted by an aggressive bear.

So everyone on Svalbard needs to be able to defend him- or herself, and students undergo weapons training every year.

"We feel more secure and look forward to learn a lot more," said Helga Therese Tilley Tajet of Moelv. She's studying meteorology at the University of Oslo and will concentrate on the Arctic marine climate for the next six months at the university on Svalbard, UNIS.

The students are also trained in Arctic survival techniques in addition to how to use a weapon. "It's absolutely necessary,"

Helga Therese Tilley Tajet (from left) Eliza Harris and Helene Birkelund Erlandsen started their school year with a course on weapon use and survival in the Arctic.

Now, if you take out the references to bears, and add "crack head", "gang banger", or "serial rapist" instead, you come up with a good rational for encouraging our college students to protect themselves.

H/T to The War on Guns and Tony for this story.

Day at The Range

V and I headed out to the range to work on some basics. Grip, sight picture and trigger control for V, drawing from concealment and double taps for me. I also wanted to get some time in with the AR. It was a beautiful day, partly cloudy with a little breeze with the temperature in the high 80's.

This was the first time at the range for V since her class, and she started out just a bit rusty, but by the end of the day she was very happy with her improvement. I think that a little work on hand and wrist strength will do wonders for her.

I am changing my draw from concealment routine a bit. I have been using my strong hand thumb to hook under the edge of my shirt, lift the shirt over my sidearm, and then grasp the pistol. I am now working on using my weak hand to grasp and lift my shirt to help clear the pistol, this keeps the shirt out of the way of my draw. This also places my weak hand in a better position for completing my two handed grip and seems to make the movement from the draw to getting my sights on target smoother. The next Defensive Pistol Match is the 27th, there will be a lot of dry fire practice between now and then.

Anybody Want a Kitten?

Look what V found when she got back from the store this morning!


When she got out of her Jeep, she heard mewing coming from our boat. It took us at least a half an hour to get these five little kitties out of the bilges, they can get into the tiniest spot.

Needless to say, resident head bird in charge of everything was not pleased to have a box full of kitties on the kitchen floor.


I really dislike the cats that are allowed to run loose in the neighborhood. They eat the baby birds, the geckos and pretty much all the other small critters that are kind of cool to have around. I wish cat owners would keep their cats inside.

National Collegiate Empty Holster Protest

As you have probably seen on other blogs (Say Uncle, and The War on Guns to name a couple), the Student Government Association of MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University) has voted against a proposal to allow students to carry firearms on campus. If this is new to you, there is more information here.

The push for concealed carry on college campuses is being taken up by students across the country. More and more folks are making the decision to provide for their own protection and see "victim disarmament zones" to be nothing more than ridiculous feel good policy/legislation that accomplishes nothing towards making our institutions of higher learning safer.

One organization that is working towards this end is the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus. This group is attempting to organize a nation wide campus protest to raise awareness of this issue.

National Collegiate Empty Holster Protest

During the week of October 22-26, 2007, college students throughout America, organized under the banner of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, will attend classes wearing empty holsters, in protest of state laws and campus policies that stack the odds in favor of armed killers by disarming law abiding citizens licensed to carry concealed handguns virtually everywhere else.

In 39 U.S. states, thousands of collegiate students and faculty—age 21 and above—are licensed to carry concealed handguns throughout their day-to-day lives. And they do so without incident. However, despite the absence of any compelling evidence that these licensed individuals would pose any more threat to college campuses than they currently do to office buildings, shopping malls, movie theaters, grocery stores, banks, etc., they are prohibited, either by state law or school policy, from carrying their firearms onto most college campuses...

For more information, visit the website here.

Outdoors: Youngsters vs. targets

Long time readers of A Keyboard and a .45 know that daughter #3 was a 4H shooter. One of the most exciting events of her teen years was the State 4H match held in San Antonio. It is always a pleasure to pass along articles dealing with youth shooting sports in general, and the 4H in particular.

From the Star Tribune:

Outdoors: Youngsters vs. targets

More than 700 young shooters -- some only 9 years old -- gathered Saturday at Beaverbrook Tri-County Sportsman's Club near Cedar, Minn., just north of the Twin Cities.

The event was the 2007 Minnesota 4-H Shooting Sports Wildlife Invitational. Kids from throughout Minnesota competed with air rifles, shotguns (trap), .22 rifles, bows, black powder firearms and air pistols.

That just has to warm your heart. 700 young shooters on the firing line and sharing a very special weekend together.

This is the king of news I like to see.

If you live in Texas, and are interested in the 4H shooting sports for your children, you can find information here. Outside of Texas you can find information at the national website here.

A Defensive Use of a Carbine

This mess was just clearing up when I got to work this morning.

From the Star Telegram:

By Bill Miller

2 robbers die when guard fights back

Two teens are dead following a botched robbery of a 20-year-old security guard who fought back early Thursday in southwest Dallas, police said.

The dead are Detavias Davis, 17, and Sergio Vann, 19, according to the Dallas County medical examiner's office.

The incident happened 12:30 a.m. outside a Family Dollar store on Redbird Lane, south of Dallas Executive Airport, formerly Red Bird Airport.

The guard, Dedrick Howard, was using a laptop computer in his vehicle when he was approached by three young men, said Sgt. Ray Beaudreault, a homicide detective.

They ordered him out of the vehicle, and one of the robbers, later identified as Vann, had a handgun, Beaudreault said.

Not looking good for the security guard here. Oh dark thirty and three armed goblins seem to have the tactical advantage. From the title of this post, you know it is not going to end well for the goblins. They may have the advantage...

But Howard grabbed an semiautomatic SKS carbine and opened fire, killing Vann, Beaudreault said.

Davis, Beaudreault added, tried to flee in white car, but Howard was worried the teen might also have a gun.

"So, fearing for his life, (Howard) fired again and struck the driver,'' Beaudreault said. "(Davis) drove off, but because of his injuries, he wrecked."

Davis was taken to the hospital from the crash scene on nearby U.S. 67, also called the Marvin D. Love Freeway, but he died later, Beaudreault said.

The third robber, age 17, ran from the parking lot to the wrecked car and he tried to retrieve some personal property from the white car, but police arrested him, Beaudrealt said.

The teen is expected to be charged with aggravated robbery, Beaudreault said.

This shopping center is fairly close to where I work, and this is not the first shooting to occur here. However, this may be the first defensive shooting on the property. As this was close to work, it was the water fountain subject of the day. During the day I checked several different news sources to find out if the guard was going to be charged or not. It turns out that he will be going before the Grand Jury, but will probably not be charged. There was one interesting thing I noted in all the other coverage of this incident that thankfully was absent in Mr. Miller's report.

Let us see if you can pick up on it.

From the Dallas Morning News:

Police: Security guard with assault rifle kills 2 suspected robbers

From CBS11 TV:

Dallas Robbery Gone Wrong Ends With 2 Dead

The security guard had an assault rifle and shot at the group. Two people were shot. One of them was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

From WFAA Channel 8:

Two dead in strip mall shooting

DALLAS — Dallas police said an Oak Cliff security guard armed with an assault rifle shot two suspected robbers Wednesday night in a strip mall near Executive Airport.

They just can not seem to help themselves can they?

This is why the Star Telegram is my paper of choice.

It's Hockey Time!

The season for the Dallas Stars starts tonight, and I am ready for it.

Out of the last 6 years, I may have missed watching 5 or 6 Stars games. V is a Stars fan, and she has been a large factor in my conversion from an Avs fan to a Stars fan (although the 'Wings are still #1). A little known JR fact. Grandson #2 is partially named after Patrick Roy, the greatest goalie to protect a net.

Tonight it is Stars vs. Avs in Colorado. Life will continue after the game.

Neighbor, 83, shoots burglar

Talk about being neighborly...

From the Wilson County News:

By Gabriel Valdez

Neighbor, 83, shoots burglar

LA VERNIA — Raymond Charles Bunte, 83, shot and killed a burglar who broke into his neighbor’s house at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 28.

He told deputies from the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office that he heard a loud noise from his neighbor’s house on F.M. 1346, Sheriff Joe Tackitt Jr. said. Since he knew his neighbor was at work, Bunte drove his vehicle around his neighbor’s home.

Bunte saw a ve-hicle he knew shouldn’t be there and blocked it in with his own. He saw that the front door was kicked in and, with 12-gauge shotgun in hand, shouted for the burglars to come outside, Tackitt said.

One suspect ran, but the other, 23-year-old Dustin Brandon Houston, got into his vehicle and tried to run over Bunte.

Bunte fired once, hitting Houston in the head and killing him instantly, Tackitt said. Bunte’s wife flagged a passerby down on the road, who made a call to the police at 1:52 p.m.

And the one that got away?

Bexar County law-enforcement units and the Texas Rangers assisted Wilson County deputies in the search for the other suspect, identified as Steven Christopher Muniz, 24. Texas Rangers arrested Muniz at 10 p.m. at his home on the south side of San Antonio. He was arrested on outstanding San Antonio warrants for burglary of a habitation. Wilson County has yet to charge him, Tackitt said.

Houston and Muniz had told friends earlier that day they were on their way to commit burglaries in Wilson County, according to Tackitt.

That is one crime spree that came to a quick and decisive ending.

This is One Goblin That Needs Killing

The Supreme Court of The United States has agreed to consider whether a method of execution, lethal injection, is cruel and unusual punishment.

In some cases, I would argue that lethal injection is not nearly cruel enough. This is such a case.

'I killed her. ... She deserved it,' suspect says in taped confession

Travis County seeks death penalty for Selwyn Davis in killing of Regina Lara.

By Patrick George , Claire Osborn

What has this goblin done to deserve a painful death? More than enough.

Selwyn P. Davis, 25, made a chilling confession during his interview with Austin police, according to videotape played on Monday, the first day of his capital murder trial.

"I killed her. And I ain't glad I did it, but I did it because she deserved it," Davis said in the video, in which police asked him about the death of his girlfriend's mother, 57-year-old Regina Lara. "I left the knife at the house, didn't I? You gonna find the prints."

Davis is accused of killing Lara on Aug. 22, 2006, at her apartment on 38½ Street.

He murdered his girlfriends mother. If proven guilty, that in and of itself would be grounds for the death penalty, but that is not the extent of his evil.

According to court documents, Lara's killing was part of a two-day crime spree during which Davis broke his ex-girlfriend's jaw, sliced his uncle with a knife and sexually assaulted a teenager.

The brief details.

Shortly before the killing, Davis beat Martinez so badly that she was hospitalized with a broken jaw and a crushed eye socket, she testified. She told the court: "He said if I left him, he'd kill my mom."

Davis also is accused of raping a teenager at Lara's home shortly before Lara was killed. "He said, 'If you cry, I will beat you up,' " the girl testified. "He told me, 'Now, you're gonna have my baby.' "

This goblin has absolutely no remorse for his actions, and feels he has done nothing wrong. What possible benefit to society would be gained by allowing him to live out his full life behind bars?

There is none.

It is a blessing that we live in a society in which folks have the luxury of being able to look for causes such as abolishing the death penalty to champion. There are many places in this world where the fight to stay alive takes priority over everything else. The fact that we do have this luxury should not blind us to the fact that goblins are amongst us, and these goblins deserve to be put down when caught and convicted.

Gander Mountain Goes Pink

Daughters are to old, and granddaughters are to young... darn.

Remington® 870™ Junior 20-Ga. Pink Shotgun

Gander Mountain Exclusive pump action shotgun with true youth stock and 12½” length of pull. Features a 3” chamber

Christmas is rapidly approaching, and I will bet dimes for dollars that they push this pretty hard through the holidays.

H/T to KBCraig, who found this here.

FCI's Best Fundraiser Yet

I am sure that you have noticed this logo on the top of my sidebar:

Hopefully you have even clicked on it to enter the Fifty Caliber Institutes latest drawing. If not, what the heck are you waiting for?

Up for grabs is a Cobb Manufacturing BA50TR. This is a bolt action, .50BMG target rifle

Caliber - .50 BMG (12.7 X 99mm).

Operation - conventional bolt action.

Barrel Length - 30 inches.

Magazine Capacity - 10 rounds. (Comes with 2 magazines)

Rifling Twist - 1 turn in 15 inches.

MIL-STD-1913 rail at 12'o clock position on the Hand Guard.

ERGO pistol grip and Rail covers.

Steel Bipod.

Hard Case with wheels.

Rifle Weight - 30 lbs.

Overall Length - 58 inches.

Along with the chance at the rifle package, each ticket purchased also has a chance at a S&W Performance Center MDL .500 Caliber Handgun designed by John Ross (John Ross is the author of Unintended Consequences) The winner will receive Serial # 005 of 500 handguns created.

5” half-lug barrel for GREAT balance and ballistics—you’ll love the way it looks, feels, carries, and shoots

Faster 1:10” twist button-rifled barrel—stabilizes bullets up to 725 grains at long range or at lower velocities, and gives deepest penetration. Gun is shipped sighted in for the powerful 500 grain Hornady long-nose factory load.

Tensioned barrel with muzzle nut—allows a tight .0035” cylinder gap for greater velocity

Interchangeable Millet front sight blade--be on target with ANY load

No unsightly markings—just my initials for the serial number prefix to let you know you’ve got the real thing, built with Performance Center dedication to detail. Elmer Keith (and Henry Bowman) would have loved it…

For an interesting read on the development of this handgun, go here.

Each ticket purchased for this raffle will be used in both drawings. So if you buy one ticket, you get a chance to win either of these two fine firearms OR BOTH OF THEM. Tickets are $25 each, but FCI is also continuing its policy of giving away 5 tickets for every $100 contribution.

To enter the drawing, or to find out more information about the Fifty Caliber Institute, click here.