The Author is trying to sell a different topic...

WASHINGTON (Feb. 18) -- Teddy Roosevelt couldn't bring a gun into Yellowstone National Park, but soon anyone with a permit will be able to shoulder a shotgun as they watch Old Faithful erupt.

Read the article by Andrea Stone and see how he/she tries to lead the reader astray from what is actually happening.  He/she muddies the waters between conservation and self protection.  Yes, Roosevelt could not hunt, shoot, trap in National Parks where these activities were not allowed all in the name of "Conservation"  gun slingers will not be hunting either when it is not allowed.  I will bet ya my life's saving that when  Obama toured Yellowstone National Park there were LOTS of guns in very close proximity on National Park Grounds.  Did someone forget to tell the sitting president that guns were not allowed in National Parks and the Secret Service would have to:

"According to historian Douglas Brinkley's "The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America," the park's superintendent "issued a stern statement declaring that the president's gun would be sealed by the U.S. Army when he entered the park, just as with every other citizen."

I don't think so?


However, crime is also not allowed anywhere and it still happens.  When was the last time you took a stroll though a National Park and needed a park rangers assistance? 

Mother natures creatures like to eat as well and little tikes make yummy snacks for cougars, bears, gators and other animals high on the food pyramid.   

Next time I take my family for a cruise down Colonial Parkway and if I unfortunately come across someone that requires the use of a firearm for protection, I will be sure to ask the victim if they feel firearms should not be carried by those who have take it upon themselves to be licensed, trained and courageous enough to exercise their second amendment rights in National Parks.  Ok, I fibbed a little there but you get the point!

EDITORIAL: The forgotten virtue of firearms

A re-post...
 Let's hear it for the heros!

Bang Bang in the "View"

Don't forget to check out the "Shootings" map at the bottom of the page!

By Cindy Clayton
The Virginian-Pilot
© December 14, 2009

NORFOLK

Police are investigating two shootings this morning that sent three people to the hospital.

The first shooting happened just after midnight in the 800 block of Johnson Ave. during an attempted robbery, said Chris Amos, police spokesman.

The man who was shot was taken to Sentara Norfolk General with injuries that weren’t considered life-threatening, Amos said. No suspect description was available in that case, but the man was thought to be driving a dark-colored sport utility vehicle.

About 5:45 a.m., police were called to the 600 block of E. Ocean View Ave. on a report of a shooting, Amos said.

A woman there had been shot during an argument with a man, Amos said. After the shooting, the woman and her son chased the man, took the gun and called for help.

The woman was taken to a hospital with injuries that weren’t considered serious and the man was treated for minor injuries, Amos said.

The man is facing a malicious wounding charge, Amos said.

Why Pack heat here in Norfolk?

A friend of mine told me of this story yesterday (it actually happened to him). I heard it from the mouth of the person, it is not "hear say."

Mark and his wife went to the car rental place on Norview Ave. and N. Military Hwy. (Budget I think). His wife drove him there and waited out in their car until he came out with the keys to the rental. She was following him home, but got caught at a red light. Mark pulled into the parking lot of the Golden Coral at 6103 N. Military Hwy to wait for his wife.

While waiting, a car pulled up beside him, and a young man asked him if he (Mark) could give him some money. Mark kindly told him "No... not today." The youth then said something like ...then how about I come over there and get it myself...

Mike, a fellow CCW holder, lifted his 380 auto to the window and said "If you do it will be the last move you ever make." The youth smartly sped away in a cloud of dust. Smart move I'd say! [PVC: VCDL VP Jim Snyder noted when when he saw this email: "I hope he called the police and reported the incident"]

Thanks for all you and VCDL do to support our 2nd Amendment rights here in VA!

Brady Center speaks.....

Why does the Brady Center want to leave the innocent unprotected?

"It is a case that calls out for common sense," Brady Center attorney Daniel Vice said then. "It's ridiculous to bring a gun to a child's soccer game."

So, the Brady center must think it is also ridiculous to bring a gun to child's classroom or a center of higher learning or a National Forrest?

So, all of you police officers, leave your bullet launchers at home, it is ridiculous to bring a gun where children are present, especially you police officers at Virginia Tech, and Columbine HS Colorado, The Amish School in PA, and the school at Winnenden Germany and many others!

"Children were sitting at their tables, with pencils still in their hands, their heads fallen over on the table," said regional police director Ralf Michelfelder, describing the grisly scene that his officers found. "Most of them had shots in their head — it must have all happened in seconds."

NUTZ: Too bad the police were minutes away when seconds counted to stop this needless act of violence. Why does the Brady Center want to prevent people from being able to protect themselves from criminals?

Still not convinced, the Brady Center should also be complicent in the recent murder of two Virginia Tech students in The Jefferson National Forrest.

Friday, August 28th 2009,

Virginia Tech students David Lee Metzler, Heidi Lynn Child found slain at Jefferson National Forest

Jul 30, 2009

Washington, DC - A federal court today permanently vacated a last-minute Bush Administration rule allowing the carrying of loaded, concealed firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. Responding to lawsuits filed by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and parks groups, the court had previously issued a temporary injunction staying enforcement of the Bush rule, finding that the rule was “astoundingly flawed” and issued in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.

I am sure Mike Peters of Mother Goose and Grimm would like to redue his strip from August 31st 2009

Is your Kid safe today?

Guns Save lives, Exercise your 2nd Amendment Rights!

This article, by MSNBC, starts out with a description of lives being saved here in Virginia by an open carrier (the shooting at the Golden Market in Richmond).

On the pro-gun side, VCDL EM John Pierce, is interviewed. John, along with EM Mike Stollenwerk, runs the OpenCarry.org web site.

Also interviewed is Gun Owners of America (GOA) and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA).

I supplied some of the information the reporter used, but was not interviewed.

Because of the continued movement towards gun-rights in the country, including coverage in articles like this, the Brady Campaign has got to be buying Tums antacids by the pallet! ;-)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32492783/ns/us_news-life//

Guns near Obama fuel 'open-carry' debate Second Amendment activists divided by public displays of firearms By Mike Stuckey Senior news editor msnbc.com updated 6:49 p.m. ET Aug. 25, 2009 Gun owners may be arguing among themselves and with gun-control activists about it, but for Mustapha Kassou, there’s no debate over the “open-carry” movement, which created a furor this month when
pistol- and rifle-packing citizens showed up near several public appearances by President Barack Obama.

Kassou was working the cash register in the Richmond, Va., market he owns on July 11 when a gunman stormed the store with robbery on his mind. In an incident captured on surveillance video, the bandit ordered the eight customers to the floor and pumped two bullets from his snub-nosed pistol into Kassou, who fell to the floor behind the counter.

As the store’s patrons prayed and screamed, one of them drew a .45- caliber revolver from a holster in plain view on his hip and ordered the robber to drop his gun. In the shootout and hand-to-hand struggle that followed, the customer managed to wound the robber three times and prevent him from shooting anyone else. By the time police responded to a 911 call, the robber lay mortally wounded in a pool of blood; he died three days later in a hospital.

“Thank God he had his gun that day,” Kassou said of the man with the .
45, a friend of his and a member of the loosely organized open-carry movement who has declined to be publicly identified and eschewed any notion that he was a hero.

“He saved many lives that day,” Kassou told msnbc.com in a telephone interview. “If it wasn’t for him, probably I would not be here.”

Kassou and other open-carry advocates say the case is an example that supports their notion that openly armed citizens can deter and stop crime effectively.

Reason to cringe
While the outcome of the gunfight at Kassou’s Golden Food Market is perhaps the best publicity the open-carry movement could hope for, some in its ranks are cringing at the far greater coverage given to the recent open-carrying activities of others. Outside presidential town hall meetings from New Hampshire to Arizona, these gun owners have worn their loaded revolvers and semiautomatic pistols for all the world to see. One man slung a military-style AR-15 rifle over his shoulder.

One of the biggest attention-getters was William Kostric, who strapped a 9 mm Smith & Wesson in a SWAT-style leg holster and wore it to Obama’s Aug. 11 town hall meeting on health care in Portsmouth, N.H.
“I wanted people to remember the rights that we have and how quickly we’re losing them in this country,” he told msnbc-tv's Chris Matthews.

The White House, hoping to allay fears of a security threat, has said that people are entitled to carry weapons outside such events if local laws allow it. "Those laws don't change when the president comes to your state or locality," spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

The incidents have stirred fear and anger among some Americans, and contempt from gun-rights activists for what they see as overreaction and unfair spin by the national media. They have also exposed a subtlety and nuance in America’s ongoing debate over firearms that are often lost in the predictable, shrill arguments between gun- control advocates and Second Amendment defenders.


As much as any issue, open carry reveals divisions within the gun- rights community, often characterized by gun-control advocates as a monolithic force that is led in lock-step by the powerful and well- heeled National Rifle Association. But you won’t find the NRA weighing in on this issue; the 4-million-member group did not respond to msnbc.com’s requests for an interview.

“They’re obviously avoiding taking a stand on this one,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the nationwide advocacy group for “sensible” gun laws. “It’s a no-win for them.” If NRA officials criticize those who open-carry near Obama events, they run the risk of irritating their “rabid membership,”
Helmke said. If they support the behavior, “they’re going to lose all credibility not only with the public but with the elected officials who usually vote their way.”

Other gun-rights groups, however, have not shied away, offering a range of reaction.

'It's their right'
“We do applaud them for being a positive example of responsible gun owners,” said John Velleco, director of federal affairs for the Gun Owners of America, probably the loudest voice of support for those who have displayed firearms near Obama events. “We’re not calling for people to do that but if they’re doing so legally it’s their right to do it,” said Velleco, who has said he would have no concerns over thousands of citizens openly carrying firearms to an event at which the president was speaking.


But Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, another staunch defender of gun rights, was not applauding. Gottlieb said the open carrying of firearms near presidential town hall meetings on health care “is not the time or the place for it. I’m not for disallowing them to do so, I just don’t think it’s politically intelligent. … I would like to see gun owners think twice before they go to a rally like that with a firearm strapped on. It doesn’t necessarily put our best face forward.”


John Pierce, co-founder of OpenCarry.org, a social-networking Web site for gun owners that catalogs weapons laws across the nation and chronicles efforts to loosen and remove restrictions against the public carrying of firearms, praised the low-key response of the White House and the Secret Service to the incidents. But he also worried a bit about the actions of those who wear guns near presidential venues.

A 'very mixed message'
“I absolutely believe open carry should be legal anywhere that a citizen can legally be,” he explained. “Having said that, one of the things that I find a little bit less than perfect about the recent situation is not the fact that citizens were open-carrying, but rather that they were there as a form of open conduct to disagree with a political position that the president has taken, whether it’s about health care or the economy.” Doing so with a gun strapped on sends a “very mixed message,” said Pierce.

Velleco of Gun Owners of America dismissed that. It “might be a different story” if the town hall open-carry incidents were organized.
“You have to remember, this is a leaderless action,” he said. “I wouldn’t call it a movement. I don’t know of anyone who is coordinating people to show up at these events armed. … Gun Owners of America would not call for an armed rally. These people are doing it on their own.”


'Setting the table'
But some gun-control activists said they see a clear link between the recent open-carrying actions and past campaigns by the NRA and other groups.

“Leading into the election last year, the NRA spent something like $15 million saying if Obama is elected he’ll take your guns away,” said Helmke of the Brady Campaign. “That whole lead-in from last year is really kind of setting the table for some of what we’re seeing with this open carry at Obama events.

“When you’re seeing some of the NRA language from the ads last year being parroted by some of … the picketers and protesters, you start realizing there’s consequences to what they’re saying.”

Jim Kessler of Third Way, the successor organization to the gun- control group Americans for Gun Safety, said openly carrying firearms near the town halls is the sort of thing done by “a very tiny faction of the extreme right wing that’s a real paranoid conspiracy theorist group.”

While he does not believe the NRA is behind the open-carrying, he said it could work to the gun group’s advantage. “I think they (NRA
leaders) think these people are whack jobs, to be honest with you, but they love a fight. What the NRA is interested in the most is raising money and increasing membership. They love having Obama as president.
It means their membership is going to go up.”


An unseemly image
The “whack job” image is a big concern to Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation. He does not like provocative open-carry actions just as “I don’t like gun owners running around with the T-shirts saying, ‘Kill Them All and Let God Sort Them Out.’ If someone from the media is at a gun show, that’s the kind of person they’re going to put on TV.”

And that collides harshly with the image that Pierce and others are trying to craft for the open-carry movement, which he said is “normal law-abiding citizens being able to exercise their rights as they go about their everyday lives.”


In rural Virginia, where he grew up, “every corner had a rifle or a shotgun in it,” Pierce said. “It was simply a part of life. Everybody hunted. Firearms were just a part of life, a noncontroversial part of life.” He’d like all Americans to feel the same and sees the work of OpenCarry.org as largely educational.

One positive of the current controversy, Pierce said, “is that it does make open-carry very visible. A lot of people living in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, the Northeast, basically … when they see this, it’s a real wake-up call that there are rights that are exercised in the rest of the country that are so far outside their experience. It makes people begin to wonder about the limits that laws in their states have placed on their rights.

“Open-carry IS the Second Amendment,” Pierce said. “If you believe in the Second Amendment, you believe in open carry.”

A call for more laws
But the Brady Campaign’s Helmke has a different take. “They’re showing the rest of the country how weak our gun laws are,” he said. “When you open-carry, you don’t have a permit, no one has checked you out, you don’t have to go through any training in a lot of places. You can carry a .50-caliber sniper rifle down the street. When folks see that, then maybe they’ll wake up to the fact that we really don’t have many laws on the books with regard to guns.”

Third Way’s Kessler said that despite last year’s landmark Heller ruling by the Supreme Court that upheld individual rights to own guns, “There is no constitutional right to carry a firearm. This is not even close on the constitutional scale — I have a right to carry a firearm wherever I go — it’s just not.”

Kessler and Helmke caution that gun-rights advocates, who have enjoyed years of legislative and legal success on issues from relaxed concealed-carry laws to the expiration of the 1994 federal assault- rifle ban, could push too far.

They cite the Senate’s failure, albeit by a narrow margin, in July to pass an amendment that would have made a concealed-weapon permit from any state valid in all.

“I think the gun lobby is starting to lose its clout,” Helmke said.


As for open-carry, which, although at least tacitly supported by most in the gun-rights community is still criticized by many as less tactically shrewd than concealed-carry, Kessler said, “You have to decide what kind of society you want to live in. Do you want to live in a society where the person next to you is openly carrying a firearm? Does that make you happy? I think for most people it disturbs them. It would for me.”

It shouldn’t, said Velleco of Gun Owners of America. “These people, if anything, are contributing to public safety, not endangering it. … Lawful gun owners use firearms over a million times a year successfully in self-defense. And they make our streets and neighborhoods safer than they would be otherwise. That’s what people don’t understand.”

Kassou, who has recovered from his wounds and returned to work in his Virginia store, said his attitude has changed. “Nobody likes to carry a gun,” he said, and before he was shot he didn’t. “We’re not here in a war zone, we’re just trying to make a living, but sometimes you have to defend yourself.”

So now Kassou straps a gun on each day when he heads for his market.
Does he wear it openly, as lawful firearms owners are allowed to do in Virginia?

“Yes sir, I do.”

Related articles by Zemanta

• Loaded Guns Allowed In National Parks Under Credit Card Bill (huffingtonpost.com)

el Merto In the "View"

Just think... I run by this motel just about every other day with little CC in the stroller along with her cute little .45!! Some thing I am crazy some think I am smart! What do you think?

We love the "View" how about you?

Check out my running tally!!

---

By Patrick Wilson
The Virginian-Pilot

© August 14, 2009

NORFOLK

A man was shot and killed this afternoon at the Bay Inn at 315 E. Ocean View Ave. Homicide detectives were still on the scene late this afternoon; no arrest had been made.

The shooting, which happened in the lobby of the hotel, was reported at 1:35 p.m., and the victim was pronounced dead at 1:42 p.m., said Karen Parker-Chesson, a police department spokeswoman.

Police have not yet released the victim’s identity.

The Bay Inn, also called the Relax Inn, is a single-story brick building with a neatly manicured lawn. Several people at the hotel said they were staying there while looking for permanent housing in Hampton Roads.

Police asked that anyone with information on the shooting call Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.

Defend and Declare

Crackerz, CC and I went to the South Hampton Roads/ Chesapeake Tea Party this afternoon. I was happy to have participated. I, as was Crackerz, was a little disappointed with the turn out. However I am sure that as the event lasted several hours, people came and went. On the bright side, I think it was a success and it was one of the safest places in all of Hampton Roads. Not only was I exercising my second amendment rights, so were several others that were visible. At least we did not have the Political Police with batons and tear gas dispursing the crowd. Oh that is right, we don't live in Iran!

God Bless America

More on gun control

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

From the Virginia Citizens Defense League

I was interviewed by Kimball Payne of the Daily Press last week.

Senator Locke's bill to ban carrying of guns at festivals (which I
refer to as the "Chet Szymecki disarmament bill") is just another
example of the lengths that anti-freedom members of the General
Assembly will go to make government our master.

Rather than chastising Norfolk for knowingly breaking state preemption
laws, she encourages Norfolk by putting in this bill.

Rather than sympathizing with the victim, she acts like it was CHET
who did something wrong!

Senator Locke totally misses the point of needing a gun for self-
defense at a festival.  Apparently she and her sister had a bad
experience with an armed person at a Norfolk festival a few years
ago.  Senator Locke says, ""It [crime] has the potential to happen at
any festival with that many people."

Yes, it does, Senator.  I completely agree.  Sounds like your bill
needs to be withdrawn ASAP.

Oh, by the way, Senator Locke - VCDL has found out that Norfolk was
enforcing its illegal 'no firearms' ban at festivals for years.  So
the very festival where you had the bad experience already had a gun
ban in place!  The ban worked really well, didn't it?

It is critical that we assume nothing about the fate of either pro-gun
or anti-gun bills.  Every anti-gun bill must be fought like there is
no tomorrow, even if the patron is not optimistic about its passage.

Here is the article that came out today. 

Long but wothy account of Mall shooting in Omaha

The Shack has the privilege of being able to talk with one of the witnesses
from the third floor of the Von Maur store at Westroads Mall in Omaha.

On the condition of anonymity, he has agreed to tell his account of what
happened. He will only be identified by the moniker NW.

I was given the first draft of this account Thursday morning, 12/6/07. The
only changes that have been made were mostly grammatical and organizational.
NW's account has not changed. He has opted to leave any inaccuracies (such
as the gun identification) as it was originally written in order to properly
show how the mind works in this condition.

I have agreed to post his story account as is, with only minor edits for
spelling and grammar. The bulk of this was written about 14 hours after the
event occurred. There is an update at the end.

His story presents an interesting issue for CCW holders in such a situation:
Shoot or no shoot. Hide or flee. Help or don't help.

Please look at the post after this account as I have put up a practice drill
(The Von Maur Drill) that is designed based on this man's scenario.

With that, I now turn the blog over to NW.
The shooting

I took a later lunch that day because I had a noon phone meeting with a
company out of New York, apparently we're not on the same lunch schedule. I
also planned to take a one-hour lunch that day, instead of a 30-minute
lunch, so I could go to Van Maur and pick up some gifts for my wife. We were
both there on the evening of Dec 03 with my 1-year-old daughter, and my wife
tried on some coats and showed me some bath robes she liked, so I knew
exactly what I was going for that day.

I asked a co-worker (named K for this story) for directions to Van Maur from
my place of business. as she knew a faster route that would get me there
quicker.

I left work around 1:15 to 1:20 and arrived at the front doors of Van Maur
at 1:35 (shooting -7), I remember specifically looking at my watch as walked
in. I came in the south entrance to Van Maur, right by the elevators.

I proceeded to 2nd floor using the escalator around 1:36 (shooting -6
minutes). I soon picked up a coat that my wife liked. I spent a couple
minutes there because I was still not completely sure about picking the
white coat or black coat. I checked my watch and realized time was running
out, so I picked the white one. This was about 1:39 (shooting -3).

Then I again took the escalator to the third floor. I went over to the bath
robes near the bra section, which is by customer service. I was standing
close to the north wall, by the east corner. I walked around the robes a bit
to see if there were any last minute changes about what I wanted to get,
then I proceeded to the rack of robes that my wife had expressed interest
in.

At this point I don't have a time line, but the events unfolded follows: I
heard gunshots, about 8. I knew exactly what they were, but my brain didn't
want me to believe it.

I looked towards the escalators because it sounded like they came from
there. I could not place the direction the shots came from because I was
surrounded by 4 walls and standing nearly in a corner.

I stood there for maybe 8 seconds (time enough to change a magazine), then I
heard several more shots. Somehow, then I focused in on the shooter. He was
towards the south wall, in the east corner, maybe 30 degrees to my left. He
was about 30 yards away. He was shooting towards the west and I had a nice
side view of him.



He was wearing what looked like a solid green sleeveless vest, and was
shooting a semi-automatic rifle. I could see sleeves of a shirt that did not
match the vest. The vest did not look military or camouflage, but to me
looked green.

To me, at the time, I thought the rifle might be an AR15. One thing I
noticed, it appeared that the empty shells were ejecting out of the left
side of the gun instead of the right, which doesn't make sense and could
have been an illusion. All I could see were mostly the black parts of the
gun. The stock of the gun was the black frame style, instead of a wood
stock.

The shooter had brown or black hair, and I remember it being cut quite
short, but not buzzed. He had the gun up to his cheek and was shooting in
rapid succession doing quick maneuvers with the gun. At first, It went
through my mind that this guy was some sort of military and this was a
terrorist attack. I could see the shells ejecting from the gun.

The way he was walking and shooting, calmly, no yelling, made me think that
there was more than one shooter and they were performing a "clean sweep". He
was aiming down the barrel of the gun, and shooting rapidly.

At this point, I stared for nearly 5 seconds, until I turned and ducked down
and started running. I want to make note of this point in time, as I will
come back to it.

I was running towards the north wall and somehow making my way farther
towards the east wall at the same time, putting myself in the corner even
more. There were maybe five people who started walking fast looking in the
direction of the shooter. I am not sure if they could see him or just heard
the commotion. When they saw that I was running like heck, others started
running, too.

People were running into the dressing rooms. I got near the door and decided
that is not where I wanted to be. I ran west a few yards uncertain of what
to do or where to go. I was trapped. But then I focused in on an emergency
exit and ran out of it. The alarm sounded. It was loud, but I think it was
only an alarm attached to the door, not sure if it set the whole store
alarms off, but they were loud shrieking alarms, not continuous, but a pulse
type alarm.

I ended up in some gray hallway with a set of stairs and very little room to
move side to side. I ran down one set of stairs to 2nd floor.
There was a door there and I almost went through it. But I heard more
gunshots that sounded like they were on the other side of the door. I
believe I turned and I jumped over the stair railing to the next landing,
skipping the stairs completely. I do not remember the impact, and I do not
remember if I jumped down a whole floor, or ran down the first half of the
stairs and jumped down the rest. I am not certain of this point due to the
fear I felt at this point after hearing more gunshots I thought was on 2nd
floor, confirming in my mind there were multiple shooters.

I ran down a small hallway and found a door to the outside, but it would not
open. It was a double door with a push bar. At this point, I had to make a
decision. Do I wait here or get out?

I didn't know what or who was on the other side of the door, and but I
decided to go for it because I was trapped at the end of a hallway with no
where to go. I pushed the door hard and it still would not give, so I kicked
the push bar and the door flung open.

I was now outside, on Van Maur's loading dock on the east side, I looked to
my right and there was a long trash can close to the wall. I jumped over a
rail, off the dock between the garbage can and the wall. I ran along this
until I came to the end of both the garbage can and wall. I then realized
that I was still carrying the coat I was going to by my wife. For some
reason, I decided to drop it, and probably ruined it.

Then I ran out into the parking lot, which is between the mall and the
parking garage. I didn't know what to do next. I tried to call 911 on my
phone with no luck. I yelled to some guy to call 911. Then I asked him if he
had a gun I could use. I was freaking out, and in reality probably would not
have gone back in. However, I was worried about someone picking off people
in the lot, or coming out charging with guns firing. I had no idea how many
shooters were in there.

I borrowed a lady's cell phone, and she was worried I was going to run off
with it. But 911 was busy, so I knew people were probably called. It took
FOREVER for the cops to get there, I estimated the time as10 minutes but the
news says 6.

During this time I did not know what to do. I almost just went for my car
and left, but I realized that couldn't be right. It was like someone pulled
a fire alarm at the store, so I thought about just leaving and let everyone
else figure it out. I decided that was the wrong thing to do.

I walked around to the north side and saw all the cops loading up. I yelled
to them, "I saw what is going on. The guy has an M-16 type gun. If you need
information, I can give it or else I am outta here." A police lieutenant
pulled me aside and I ended up in a cop car.

Minutes later another witness joined me. She said she was right beside me on
the 3rd floor before the shooting. We were both very shaken up. My lungs
were burning because I nearly did a full sprint down 3 floors. The cold air
hit my lungs hard.

I was later taken to J.C. Penney and interviewed. At first, the interviewer
was taking notes, but when he realized how involved I was I had start over,
this time with a tape recorder running

I was then escorted to my car and I stopped back by work. I arrived at work
around 4pm, which means my interview ended around 3:30 – 3:45.


My feelings

When I heard the first round of gunshots, I knew what they were but didn't
want to believe it. I tried to think that they were balloons or fireworks.
However, I definitely took a defensive stance ready to run.

When I saw the shooter, I stood there for nearly 5 seconds just watching.

Why?

First, he was firing 90 degrees away from me. The thing is, this image was
nothing new to me. I see people shooting all the time at the range, on TV,
in video games. But what my brain was having a hard time processing was that
was Van Maur.

Now back to the point I referenced earlier.

Honestly, and as God as my witness, when I saw him shooting and as watched
for a few seconds trying to figure out what he was going to do and what I
should do, the thought that when through my mind was, "If I had a gun, I
have a perfect shot."

Yes, a perfect shot. I had a full side profile, I was close, and no one was
visible behind him except a wall. I had a clear shot during the second round
of fire. I told this to every cop I came in contact with. The interviewer
agreed.

When I realized that I had no gun, fear instantly struck me, along with
anger, and severe panic.

I ran hard.

I did not think to try to help people, I just got out.

While I was running, I kept hearing shots. In my mind, I could see myself
getting shot in the back, bullets ripping through me and blood spraying in
front of me.

Interestingly, I was still able to make decisions. I knew the dressing room
was a bad place. When I realized I was trapped in a corner, more fear set in
and I almost went for the dressing room, but then I saw the emergency exit.

I instantly started second-guessing that decision as well. For all I knew,
there were more shooters waiting for people to try to escape. But realizing
that I was wide open to attack, I ran out the emergency door.

As I ran down the stairs, all kinds of thoughts started occurring. What if a
shooter was coming up the stairs? What if one followed me down? Every
decision I made was second-guessed, should I just stop or keep going?

I kept going, and due to luck, I was fine. There was only one shooter, and
he did not set any booby-traps.

Luck.

God.

Luck.

That's all. My decisions were fairly limited and all I could do is go where
the doors and hallways took me.

After my interview, as I was being escorted by the cops to my car, I saw the
nice, white coat still there by the garbage can. I pointed it out to my
interviewer who was escorting me, hoping maybe he'd let me go pick it up to
possibly save it. But, it was a lost cause. I would have gone back later and
paid for it.

This part of the story may be removed later, but I will have it here for
now.

I do not have a Concealed Handgun Permit. I have completed the training
class, but I keep putting off applying for the permit because I think it is
useless. In the places I would need a gun most; I am not allowed to have it.
I will not be a person living in fear and not go to Van Maur because they
don't allow guns.

My point is that Open Carry needs to be easier in Omaha, and places like
Westroads need to take down their "no guns" signs.

If I had my gun deeply concealed, I wouldn't have been able to draw it very
fast. However, if I had open carried, I could have drawn instantly.

Either way though, I could have drawn and taken a clean shot. However, in
both cases, regardless of the laws, I am not allowed to carry a gun at all
in Westroads Mall. If the laws did not oppress my rights, I would carry a
gun most places (except work). I would certainly have had it in the mall as
mall shootings have been on my mind since the incident at a mall involving a
shotgun back in February.

My wife is somewhat cautious about guns as is my sister-in-law. After this
event, both are now pro-guns. In addition, I will never again be caught
without a gun.

I later learned from the news that people were shot at customer service (to
my right) and the children's section (in front of me, off to the left). This
means it was only luck this guy did not target me, as I was closer to him
than some of the people he shot. I have a second chance at life.

What really irks my gut is that I was just there at Van Maur on Monday night
with my wife and daughter. What if they were with me this time? Escape like
I did would not of been possible.

I am very angry at the city of Omaha and the mall for their stupid laws that
nearly cost me my life. The laws protected no one, and in my opinion, caused
people to die.

Will I go to the media? Maybe. I can't make a decision now because I am
still shaken up. I got very little sleep last night. I need to let my head
clear. Nothing I do right now is going to change the outcome and near brush
with death.

Right now I have been practicing with my .40 S&W Beretta, replaying the
situation in my mind.

I could have done it, no problem, no hesitation, no regrets. This was a test
of my soul, and the results are in and I know them for certain.

I am going to go buy some "gear," then go to the shooting range for some
target practice.

My knee hurts and my legs and lungs still burn. I cannot recall how high of
jump I took, but I am going back to Van Maur to find out.

UPDATE 12/6/07 - I went to a local shooting range and purchased several
silhouette targets. I then put the targets down range, to the approximate
place I think the shooter would have been.

It seems it may be between 40 and 50 meters based on my memory. I used my
Beretta 90-Two (.40 S&W) and shot each target several times with 6 round
magazines. I mostly aimed for the head because that is probably what I would
have done in the mall, as I didn't know if he was wearing a vest or not.

My accuracy to the head was about 4 out of 6, depending on how fast I fired.
For the shots I missed the head, they still hit the neck or the chest. A few
test cases, I missed the head by an inch. I would of been shooting up at a
slight angle so the missed shots would of went higher than most people
stand.

I then took body shots and my accuracy was near 100% on the target, though
not necessarily in the kill zone. I conclude I could have taken the shots
with decent accuracy and been effective. I cannot predict the outcome,
except that I would of rather been shooting at the killer, instead of
crossing my fingers, turning my back, and running away. Even if I only
wounded him, I could of run in closer for more accuracy. Call me crazy, it
may be true, but running away like I did was crazier and more risky with my
life. I just got lucky.

I do want to say that when I talk about that I could of stopped the killer,
I am not trying to make a political statement. I am simply saying if I were
allowed to carry a gun, I would have and I would have used it. That is a
hard fact. I am not trying to be a hero and say that I would have tried to
save lives. I am saying that I was trying to save my life, and if my family
was there, their lives as well. There is nothing "hero" about what I am
saying, it's about survival.

I feel that I am alive today because of luck. I chose to run, but it was not
a choice. I was forced to run. Many will say that is the right choice. I say
it is the choice that requires luck. ALOT of luck with the position I was
in.

Use of deadly force at times may also require luck. But, it also depends
upon skill, awareness, and practice. These are things I can control, and
these are things I trust far more than luck
The statements I am making today are my own, and represent my personal views
and my views alone. It may or may not be the views of my family, friends,
employer, other professional affiliates, or anyone or thing affiliated with
me in any way of form other than myself.
Thanks, NW.

Stay safe;
xxxJM24xxx

Chet v Norfolk

Gun-rights advocates stage protest at Norfolk council meeting

Chet Szymecki, who was arrested in June at Harborfest, was joined Tuesday by his daughter Kiersten, 13, and his wife, Deborah. JOHN H. SHEALLY II | THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

By HARRY MINIUM, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 29, 2007

NORFOLK

More than 100 gun-rights advocates, most carrying handguns on their hips and wearing buttons saying "Guns Save Lives," came to the City Council on Tuesday night to protest what they called harassment of law-abiding gun owners by city officials.

The protest was called by the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, after Chet Szymecki of Yorktown was arrested in June at Harborfest for carrying a gun.

Szymecki was arrested for violating a city ordinance banning guns at Harborfest - an ordinance that officials now acknowledge violates state law. City Attorney Bernard A. Pishko said city officials were unaware of a state law prohibiting localities from banning guns.

Video: Highlights of the council meeting. Brian Clark | HamptonRoads.tv

Carrying a weapon openly is legal in Virginia, even at a large gathering such as Harborfest. Once city officials realized their error, the charges against Szymecki were dropped.

"We made a mistake," Councilman Barclay C. Winn said. "It was unintentional."

Most who came to protest didn't appear to believe it was an innocent mistake.

"You know it was illegal," said Dave Vann, who drove from Falls Church to speak. "You arrested someone, and now it's going to cost you dearly."

Szymecki, a Navy veteran, said he was manhandled and hurt and that his wife, Deborah, his three children and two other children who accompanied them were traumatized. He said he has hired Norfolk attorney Stephen Merrill.

An emotional Deborah Szymecki told the council that after several police officers were done handcuffing her husband, she was left without money or the keys to the family car.

Others rose to describe incidents in which they said they were questioned and often handcuffed by police for simply carrying a firearm openly.

"Apparently you have some officers who don't understand the law," said the president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Philip Van Cleave of Midlothian.

The meeting drew more rowdy as it continued, with speakers receiving thunderous applause and some expressing disgust for the council. Some used unsavory terms to describe the police.

Councilman Paul R. Riddick left the meeting as gun-rights advocates began speaking, he said, in protest of their protest.

Kim Barton, who would not say where she lives, tried to speak but was told by Mayor Paul Fraim that she couldn't because she had not signed up to speak.

"I want to hear what she has to say," Vann said.

Fraim replied, "I'm running this meeting " and informed Vann his time to speak had expired.

Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com

Interesting thought!

When you call 911, you summon a man with a gun to use force on your
behalf. The fact that you don't personally own the weapon in question
doesn't make you morally superior. On the contrary, it makes you a
hypocrite of the first order. You absolve yourself from having to use
force by shifting that responsibility to another person, and then you
congratulate yourself on your civilized attitude.
--Marko
munchkinwrangler.blogspot.com 

Virginia Tech: Rage, Reflection and Rejection

How could this have happened? Is that a serious question? In a place where
possession of a gun — and indeed, any effective means of self-defense — is
prohibited; a place packed with young people who have been taught that
surrender and submission is not only the correct, but the morally superior
response to lethal confrontation; a slaughter-chute where the prey were
lulled by a moronic mantra of "this is a gun-free zone; a safe and nurturing
place; there is nothing to fear," 32 are killed at leisure by a lone, armed
psychotic. Through a red film of rage, I ask, I cry, How could it NOT have
happened? Did thinking people not know, from both ancient and modern
history, and from simple common sense, that it had to happen?
First, disarm as many citizens as possible. Restrict their God-given right
to self-defense, and make those who successfully deter predators the
subjects of aggressive prosecution and endless life-destroying lawsuits on
behalf of their would-be murderers. Create "killing boxes," and fill them
with infantilized, mind-massaged victims, and give them rules against
resisting killers. Forbid trained, experienced, armed citizens and even
off-duty peace officers from bearing arms in those zones, and ridicule those
who protest as "paranoids."
Coddle the obviously crazed and dangerous. Brush aside and ignore their
prolonged, repeated, graphic threats of grisly mass murder. Minimize their
malignant malice; indulge it as "diversity" and celebrate its "otherness."
If the most obvious threat is brought before a court, then fumble and fail,
without follow-up, and hold no one accountable for it, because the guilty
are "gentle, compassionate, socially-sensitive souls." Do not blink at the
ticking time bomb's return to the classroom, where his freshly embittered
brain spews out even more and greater warnings of the coming explosion.
Finally, claim this inevitable event, and the actions of its architect
"could never have been foreseen," even if, absurdly, you "knew it had to be
Cho" when you heard of the slaughter. Only a "respected professor" or other
half-wit could utter such words without seeing their irony.
Above all, totally abdicate decision-making power on the issues of arms and
self-defense to those who are completely unqualified to even address the
subjects.
A Better Bloodbath
In America, many of our oldest and most onerous gun laws were crafted by
criminals and passed by their puppet politicians. Frequently their purpose,
as in New York City, was to prohibit arms to rival gangs. In other places,
like Chicago and San Francisco, their aim was to criminalize ethnic
minorities and "subversive elements," including blue-collar workers with
coal on their clothes and grease under their fingernails; those who might
organize and object to dangerous slave labor conditions and perennial
poverty.
Following on that foundation came more restrictive weapons laws propounded
by "progressive thinkers" and "social engineers," many of whom also embraced
the "science" of "eugenics," which called for the euthanasia of "congenital
misfits, morons and degenerates." Jews were, as a race, defined as
degenerates. The "progressive" philosophy also envisioned a more
"manageable, unarmed populace" of those who were not quite bound for the gas
chambers, but well below the sophistication level of "gifted society" —
those "born to lead." They only abandoned euthanasia, by the way, when the
Third Reich co-opted the theme.
Tyrants and gangsters still exert their influence, because corrupt
politicians prefer unarmed peasants; a simple fact. Their motives ethically
disqualify them from such decision-making. Then, increasingly, our laws,
policies and public perceptions have been and are promoted and enforced by
psychological cripples, the emotionally unbalanced, and moral cowards.
Am I being rash and unreasonable?
Please consider this: Those who fear inanimate objects — tools like guns and
knives — and believe them to be intrinsically evil or capable of inspiring
evil, are clearly psychologically crippled. They cannot think rationally
about arms and their lawful use. Those who cannot differentiate between
armed, trained, dedicated guardians of their fellow man, and twisted,
predatory, psychotic killers, based on shared use of firearms, are clearly
emotionally unbalanced. Those who so morbidly fear physical confrontation
they preach submission and surrender, even unto death, in preference to
fighting for life — and seek to enforce that condition upon others — are
moral cowards.
None are possessed of the courage, wisdom and appreciation of the dynamics
of violence and counter-violence requisite to engage in decision-making on
those critical issues — yet they do. They persist, and the killing zones
widen, deepen and darken with the blood of innocents.
Our rights and freedoms were fought for and affirmed by brave and brilliant
men, now derided and ridiculed by academia and the effete as "Irrelevant
Dead White Males." Our rights have been stolen by the unworthy. To them we
must say, "Your way has not, does not, will not work. Sit down and SHUT UP!"
HYPERLINK "http://www.nssf.org " \t "_blank"

Norfolk and visitor with a holstered .45 are tangled in a Catch-22

By MATTHEW ROY, The Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK

Chester Szymecki Jr. was waiting for some music to start at
Harborfest when a sheriff's deputy approached.

It was a warm June afternoon, and thousands of people wandered on and
off the tall ships moored around Town Point Park. Szymecki had come
from Yorktown with his wife, their three children and two children
from their neighborhood.

Szymecki had brought along something else, too - a .45-caliber
handgun in a holster on his belt.

The deputy asked Szymecki whether he was a police officer. He said
no. And then, he said, uniformed city police began closing in. They
gave him a choice, he said: Leave the event or face arrest. When he
tried to say that there must be a mistake, he was disarmed and led
away, handcuffed, he recalled.
click here

Szymecki was charged with violating a local ordinance that the City
Council had passed in May, which set up rules to govern Harborfest.
Among them was a provision banning handguns and other weapons.

There's just one problem: A few years ago, the General Assembly
barred localities from enforcing laws governing the carrying of
firearms. That meant state law prevailed. And in Virginia, "open
carry" is legal.

Localities today generally do not have the authority to restrict
guns, said Mark Flynn, director of legal services for the Virginia
Municipal League. A state law last amended in 2004 says localities
cannot adopt or enforce laws regarding the purchase, carrying,
possession, storage, or sale of firearms.

Szymecki was given a summons and released. When he showed up for
court June 22, the case was withdrawn at the request of an assistant
city attorney.

The case has enraged the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun
rights group that has successfully challenged local gun restrictions
around the commonwealth. Szymecki is a member. In the past the group
has protested Norfolk's attempts to prevent the carrying of weapons
in city parks.

Philip Van Cleave, the president of the league, says members plan to
crowd the City Council chambers in protest at a future date.

The ordinance, he said, was "a huge mistake."

City Attorney Bernard Pishko said the city is not attempting to
challenge the state law by imposing restrictions on handguns.

Pishko described the gun ban in the Harborfest ordinance as an
oversight, a "housekeeping" issue. "This is one that we missed," he
said. An ordinance governing Afr'Am Fest in May contained the same
restrictions on weapons. Both ordinances were in effect only for the
few days the events ran.

Pishko said his office has since advised police that "the only gun
laws in effect for Norfolk are those in effect for Virginia."

Szymecki said the incident has changed the way he views the police.
He said he plans to file a lawsuit and have a "neutral court" decide
whether police violated his rights.

More on Chet vs Norfolk

A couple of notes on Chet Szymecki's arrest in Norfolk:

Chet did get his gun back on the day that the charges were dropped in
court.  However, the PD would not release the gun to him unless he
supplied his Social Security Number yet again.

Actually the PD didn't even want to do it then, but someone who knew
what the deal was with Chet got that little problem fixed.

The police did refuse to give Chet back his confiscated ammunition,
basically stealing it as far as I am concerned.  There is Stalin
smiling again at government bullies. :-(

Chet's wife will be suing Norfolk, too.  Wahooo!