Another reason besides coffee to drop by your local Starbucks

I'm not an everyday Starbucks customer for a couple of reasons. First there ain't one anywhere near me out here in the boondocks, second after a couple of cups at home in the morning, any more caffeine will come back to haunt me. Oh the joys of my "golden years."

But the next time I pass a Starbucks anywhere, I'll probably stop and buy something, just because. The Washington Times editorial board gives Starbucks a great big attaboy!

If you want to have a nice, relaxing cup of coffee in a safe environment, try Starbucks. The coffee-shop chain, generally known for environmentalist chic, is probably one of the safest places to hang out these days for a reason that doesn't fit its image - Starbucks is letting customers openly carry guns in its stores. Americans thus can enjoy their rights and wash them down with a Frappuccino.

Not surprisingly, Starbucks has taken some flak for its stand. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, an organization that has supported gun bans in Washington and Chicago, wants guns kept out of Starbucks. Collecting signatures from across the country, the gun controllers announced this week that they have gathered 28,000 signatures to try to pressure the bean sellers to hang fire. What the Brady Campaign actually did is misfire.

Here is some free PR advice for those who support gun bans: 28,000 signatures from a country of 200-some million adults is embarrassingly small. The National Rifle Association, with more than 4 million members, could collect that many signatures for the opposite position in less than an hour. It's obvious which side won this duel. Despite all the harping from the left, a spokesman for Starbucks said last week that the company is sticking to its policy of letting customers carry guns where it's legal.

From sea to shining sea, the climate for guns is changing, and the progress extends beyond Starbucks. Major retailers such as Home Depot, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble apparently also are friendly to people who openly pack heat, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Brady Campaign warns businesses that allowing customers to carry guns will scare away other customers. Yet it seems pretty obvious that the businesses themselves - despite all the pressure they face from trial lawyers and bureaucrats to ban guns - are in a much better position to know what their customers want.

I don't do open carry often, most notably when I'm working at the gun store, but knowing some major retailers are gun friendly will sure make me feel a lot more likely to spend some money there even when I'm going concealed, which is all the time. If you see me wearing pants...

'Guns in Saloons': Common-sense rule of law in 40 states, soon 41

North Carolina's concealed-carry law prohibits permit holders from carrying in an establishment that serves alcohol, even if they don't drink a drop. Virginia is about to join the 40 states which do not have such a silly restriction and the Washington Times urges the new governor to sign the legislation into law in an editorial titled "Guns in Saloons." I liked it so much I stole whole thing.

Someone who is drunk shouldn't be handling a gun, but that doesn't justify a ban on concealed carrying in all places that serve alcohol. On Tuesday, the Virginia House of Delegates joined the state Senate and voted 72-to-27 to overturn this ban. Gov. Robert F. McDonnell's signature is all that stands in the way of getting rid of this dangerous restriction.

Over the past two decades, a sweeping wave of freedom has allowed more citizens to carry concealed handguns. States have realized that there is little reason to restrict the carrying of concealed handguns by those who have received permits. Forty states currently allow concealed handguns to be carried in places that serve alcohol. None of the states that have allowed this freedom has cause to reverse the decision.

The facts are clear. Despite misleading claims to the contrary by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Violence Policy Center, permit holders are law-abiding individuals who are extremely careful with their guns. This general rule applies in states that allow concealed handguns in bars. Permit holders simply haven't been getting liquored up and harming others through irresponsible conduct. Virginia hasn't had any problem with open carry in restaurants, so it's hard to understand why anyone thinks there could be a problem with concealed handguns.

Take Florida and Texas, two states that allow concealed handguns in bars. Between Oct. 1, 1987, and Jan. 31, 2010, Florida issued permits to more than 1.7 million people. Only 167 have had their permits revoked for any firearms-related violations. That is a minuscule 0.0098 percent revocation rate. The vast majority of those revocations were not for violence, but merely for accidentally carrying a gun into a gun-free zone. During the past 16 months, there was only one incident involving a firearms-related violation.

The numbers are similar in Texas. Over the five years from 2002 to 2006, the average rate at which permit holders were convicted of a misdemeanor or a felony was 0.04 percent. In 2006, the most frequent reason for revocation involved permit holders carrying a concealed handgun without keeping their licenses on them. The forthcoming third edition of "More Guns, Less Crime" shows that in other right-to-carry states, permit holders are just as law-abiding. That book finds no evidence that revocation rates are any higher in states that allow permitted handguns in taverns.

What gun prohibitions do is create dangerous gun-free zones - places where criminals intent on harming others feel confident they can commit crimes with impunity. A criminal who takes his gun into a gun-free zone knows that the good law-abiding citizens, his victims, are sitting ducks. A government that maintains laws like that is not looking after the interests of its citizens.

It's past time for the commonwealth to take aim at counterproductive laws that endanger Virginians. With a flick of his pen, Mr. McDonnell can correct this problem and modernize Virginia's right-to-carry law.

I hope common sense will break out in the N.C. Legislature to pass a similar repeal of our law. It's common sense that permit holders have a right to defend themselves anywhere, but particularly in a saloon where some drunk might get up the courage to shoot a few people, just for the hell of it. If the drunk knows the saloon is a gun-free zone, he's far more likely to shoot.

Just because I'm sitting in a restaurant that serves alcohol doesn't mean I'm drinking, and it does mean I want my right to be armed and ready if some fool decides to shoot a few people.

Might as well tell a joke on that topic while I'm here. Mrs. Smith was a gossip and she started blabbing in church one Sunday, "Do you know where I saw Deacon Jones' pickup truck? It was parked at that new restaurant in town that serves alcohol! I just know he was sitting at the bar getting drunk, but I wouldn't set foot in that place, so I didn't actually see him drinking."

Word quickly got to Deacon Jones about the slander, but he didn't say a word to Mrs. Smith. But that Monday when he got off work, he drove his pickup truck to Mrs. Smith's house down the street from where he lived, parked it her yard and walked home for the night.

Next Sunday, Mrs. Smith was strangely quiet with not a word of gossip to spread.

Chicago RTKBA decision will affect gun-rights in all 50 states

From the Heritage Foundation, Alan Gura, counsel in DC v Heller and now McDonald v Chicago discusses why the effect this latest case could have on the Second Amendment. Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation also weighs in.

Bottom line quote from Gottlieb: "this is going to affect the Second Amendment rights of the people in all 50 states."

If the Supremes (rock on!) give us the nod on this one, we'll only have seven more states to go! There are 57 states, right? That's what the President said and he's got to be right. Doesn't he?

When should you carry a concealed handgun?

What's the last thing you check before you go out the door as you leave home? Car keys? Wallet? Is the door locked? How about, "What am I going to carry today?"

I first got my concealed-carry permit in 2006 and did not carry at all for a while. Then I started carrying occasionally, just when I thought I needed to. Then I thought it through and eventually decided to apply a truth I learned as a Boy Scout. The Scout motto is "Be Prepared."

Since nobody knows what's going to happen when you leave home, how can you be ready to confront a deadly threat? Be prepared by never leaving your home or anywhere unarmed.

Here's a short answer to that question from a Sig Sauer Academy senior instructor.

"I only carry when I think I need to . . ."

Have you heard this before? I have, many times. Recently I was working with a large group of law enforcement personnel. We were having a casual conversation about what we carry "off duty" while out and about. I was surprised to hear the answers (no I wasn’t). Many of them stated they only carry when the think they'll need it. After about the third time I heard this I had to ask., "So, how do you know if you are going to need it?" The responses ranged from, "Well, if I'm going into a bad part of town", or, "If I'm going to be out with the family". The reality is that we will never be presented with a criminal intelligence update that tells us the day or time we may need our firearm. So how do we mitigate not being prepared for a deadly force encounter? We do it by carrying all of the time. Yes, this includes running out to the corner store on Sunday morning to pick up the paper or hitting the deli for a sandwich on your day off. Make the commitment to yourself right now. Never be accused of not being prepared. Especially when your life or the lives of others may depend on it. A wise NCO once said to a new paratrooper standing in the door of an airplane, "Son, you're about to become either a training success or a not too amusing anecdote."--Adam Painchaud, Senior Instructor

Here's the latest commercial from SIG SAUER Academy, "Training for Armed Professionals and Responsible Citizens." They have satellite classes in various locations around the country with the closest to me being Midland, Va. Maybe one day I'll be able to attend one of them.

U.S. Senate To Consider Right-To-Carry Reciprocity Amendment

Great news! The U.S. Senate will consider on Monday or Tuesday legislation that will extend right-to-carry permit reciprocity to all 50 states of the Union. (Or all 57 states, depending on your geography skills.)

The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) has the details.

The U.S. Senate is now considering the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1390). As a part of the consideration of that legislation, Senators John Thune (R-SD) and David Vitter (R-LA) will offer an amendment on Monday to provide for interstate recognition of Right-to-Carry permits. There is a very high likelihood of a Senate floor vote on this important and timely pro-gun reform on Monday or Tuesday.

While the right to possess firearms for self-defense within the home has long been respected under the law, for most of our nation's history, state and local governments have prohibited ordinary citizens from possessing firearms for self-defense in many settings outside the home. Recently, however, most state legislatures have taken steps to reduce those restrictions. In the last twenty years, the number of states that respect the right to carry has risen from 10 to 40 -- an all-time high.

Contact Your U.S. Senators TODAY And Urge Them To Support Your Right To Self-Defense

If I may be permitted to "put words in your mouth," here's the short sentence I composed for an email to my two U.S. Senators after clicking on the contact link above.

Please cosponsor and support the Thune-Vitter amendment to the National
Defense Authorization Act (S. 1390) to provide for interstate recognition
of Right-to-Carry permits.

At present, North Carolina's concealed-handgun permit has full reciprocity with 30 states, meaning I can legally carry my concealed handgun in NC and also in those states. Here's the current list off the N.C. Attorney General's site:

States with North Carolina Agreements

Alabama	Kansas	Oklahoma
Alaska	Kentucky	Pennsylvania
Arizona	Louisiana	South Carolina
Arkansas	Michigan	South Dakota
Colorado	Mississippi	Tennessee
Delaware	Missouri	Texas
Florida	Montana	Utah
Georgia	New Hampshire	Virginia
Idaho	North Dakota	Washington
Indiana	Ohio	West Virginia

One more reason to never go anywhere unarmed

If I ever even briefly consider going anywhere unarmed again, I'll remember Pinelake Rest Home in Carthage.

CARTHAGE -- When Michael Cotten pulled into Pinelake Health and Rehab on Sunday to see his aunt, a big man in overalls fired a shotgun at him before he could even park.

The blast Cotten described was apparently the first in a shooting rampage that left seven elderly residents and one staff member dead, Cotten and two others wounded, and the suspected gunman in custody and hospitalized, police said.

The shootings took place about 10 a.m. at the facility, at 801 Pinehurst Ave. in Carthage, about 60 miles southwest of Raleigh.

"As I was pulling into the parking lot, he started shooting my vehicle before I came to a stop," said Cotten, 53, of Carthage, a food-bank outreach coordinator and retired corrections assistant superintendent.

There's only one hero in this mess, the man in blue who responded to the frantic 911 call.

A Carthage police officer, Justin Garner, 25, was shot in the leg during the incident, but he was treated and released from First Health Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst.

Carthage Police Chief Chris McKenzie said Garner confronted Stewart in the hallway of the nursing home. Both men fired. Both were wounded, McKenzie said.

Translation: Police Officer Justin Garner stopped the murderous rampage with one or more well-aimed shots. He was shot in the leg by the murderer, but he stopped the killing.

I worked in Carthage at the weekly newspaper there in the late '70s and in recent years since I've been Pinelake Rest Home to visit the retired managing editor, Woodrow Wilhoit. Thank God Woody has gone on to glory and wasn't one of the victims at Sunday's shooting rampage.

From reading the news accounts, it seems the murderer was looking for his ex-wife, a nurse assistant working at the rest home, but was stopped by Garner before he would find and kill her.

I probably shouldn't be so critical with such scant knowledge, but it appears to me that one of the goats in this mess is the aforementioned Michael Cotten, apparently the first shooting victim who is identified as a "retired corrections assistant superintendent." Seems he's obviously clueless since he identified the murder weapon as a shotgun, while photos clearly show it's a rifle.

But Cotten is mainly a goat for not being armed. He's retired from working in prisons and isn't armed? He of all people should know the world is full of dangerous people, inside and outside prisons. If Cotten had been armed, he could have stopped this rampage when it started.

But again, I'm probably being too critical without knowing enough facts. It's just that this is real close to home and I'm mad as hell. It could have been my elderly mother in that rest home. It could have been my daughter working as a nurse in that rest home.

And even though Officer Garner responded promptly to the 911 call, he was at least two or three minutes away from downtown Carthage to the rest home on the outskirts of town. As the saying goes, when seconds count, police are minutes away. So if you aren't armed, you oughta be.

Buy yourself a handgun. Learn how to use it. Get yourself a concealed carry permit. And then never go anywhere unarmed again. That's the only way to survive and protect the people you love in these dangerous times. If it hasn't happened already, your quiet hometown could be next.

What iz it? Plus, How You Can Make A Difference

Was reading stuff this morning online and saw this, which is identified only as a 9mm pistol in a gun shop in Sacramento, Calif. What the heck is it?

It got my attention because it has a thumb safety on the wrong side, so to speak, the right side, which is what us lefty shooters really appreciate.

I downloaded it and opened it up in Photoshop for a closer look but the writing on the slide it too pixelated to read. If anybody knows, speak up.

It was displayed with an interesting column on Townhall.com: College Students Seek to Use Concealed-Carry Permits by William Perry Pendley.

Quote:

One minute, Suzanne was eating lunch with her mother and father. The next, the happy hubbub of the restaurant was silenced when a pickup truck crashed through the brick, mortar, and glass. How could that happen? The driver emerged, but Suzanne noticed he wasn’t dazed or drunk; he was angry and purposeful. Then, she saw the guns. He stepped over the debris and began to shoot patrons. She must be dreaming. Her father leaped to his feet, charged the gunman, was shot, and fell to the floor. When the gunman turned his back to shoot others, she remembered: she had a gun! Where was it? She had to find her gun! Oh no, it was in her car. She crawled, then ran toward a window to escape, to get her gun, and to return to save her mother. Was it only a nightmare?

The scene is the infamous murders in Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas. Suzanne is Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, a chiropractor who became one of the nation's most effective advocates of concealed-carry laws for civilians after that 1991 incident, leading to a "shall issue" carry law in Texas in 1995 and has since spread to almost all states, with a few exceptions.

Quote:

The massacre that killed Dr. Hupp’s parents was the deadliest shooting rampage in American history, that is, it was until the Virginia Tech Massacre of April 17, 2007, when 32 were killed and 17 wounded. Subsequently, on February 14, 2008, a gunman killed 6 and wounded 18 at Northern Illinois University. Little wonder, therefore, that students on CU’s campuses in Boulder, Denver, and Colorado Springs—who have a license to carry concealed weapons almost anywhere else in Colorado—wish to exercise that right in what, in their view, is one of the most dangerous settings they will encounter: “a gun-free zone.” Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), a national advocacy group with over 30,000 members that supports the legalization of concealed carry by licensed individuals on college campuses, agrees. Last month, SCCC, two CU students and a recent CU graduate filed a lawsuit in Colorado state court seeking a ruling that CU’s policy is illegal and unconstitutional!

See what one determined person can do when they set their mind to it?

Time for national reciprocity law

When I travel from God's country here in North Carolina, my concealed carry permit is recognized without restriction in 30 states, so I can go from Florida to Pennsylvania (if I avoid Maryland where my wife's sister lives) and be legally armed. But when we cross the state line into New York, where my wife's family has a summer home, my pistols can't come with me.

As the King James Version saith, that sucketh. Isn't the right to keep and bear arms protected by the national constitution, the 2nd Amendment to our Bill of Rights? Yes, the Supremes just said by a razor-thin margin in the Heller vs. D.C. case. But. There's always a but. They didn't throw out all the state and local laws restricting RTKBA, just the D.C. monstrosity. So the fight goes on, city by city, state by state. Or maybe there's a better way to skin this particular cat.

A.W.R. Hawkins asks Is It Time for Federal Reciprocity of Concealed Carry Permits?

There are at least two strong justifications for national reciprocity. The first springs from the Second Amendment itself, where we read that the right to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed.” With these words, our Founders were hedging in a natural right and thus placing it off limits from federal or state government interference. Moreover, as Justice Antonin Scalia rightly concluded in the Heller case, our Founders did not want a city government -- such as San Francisco, Chicago, or D.C. -- to infringe upon it either. No government constructed by man has the right to deny us the rights that are ours by way of birth.

In other words, laws or policies that infringe upon our natural rights are wrong whether those laws or policies emanate from the President, the Congress, the court system, a state government, or the San Francisco City Council. Our Founders gave no government a veto over natural rights. This is why Ted Nugent is quick and accurate in saying he “has a concealed carry permit called the Second Amendment.”

Government-issued laws that limit our right to keep and bear arms are infringements on natural law itself. Like the Supreme Court said in the Heller decision, natural rights are preserved by the Constitution, and the right to self-defense is a natural right. It’s our right as humans, not something the government granted us out of its good grace.

In other words, maybe us gun nuts shouldn't be using a pea-shooter to protect our rights. Let's break out the cannons and go for the biggest target of all, a federal reciprocity law. Great idea!