How many reloads does it take to shop at Wal-Mart?

This is beyond scary:



This is a good way for someone's little prince or princess to get shot to death by a scared shopper.  As I've mentioned before, there are folks out there (like me) who might not have the option to leave the area.  There are some who would casually say to let the cops handle the mess, which I agree with whole-heartedly, but what happens when the 300+ kids decide that the watermelons they're throwing just don't splatter enough, and they turn towards your cart with your kids.  If you don't think that will ever happen, are you willing to bet the lives of your children on it?  I'm not.

Teenagers or not, the disparity of force is overwhelming here even if they were all eight years old; and it's been well established that mobs like this tend to get violent in a heartbeat.  I'm still of the mindset that I would try to get out with my family if I can, but if not I would back my kids into a corner and try to keep the savages away.  Seeing a mob like this one in a small area makes me think a lot less of two spare magazines.

Airgun safety

Most gunnies get that you should keep your firearms away from small children (when you're not out shooting with them) or from kids who are not mature enough to be trusted with them while you're away, but consider that your firearm policy should also include airguns.

I was several years younger than these kids and I had access to both airguns and firearms whenever I wanted, but never went out shooting children with them.  It wasn't even a consideration.  Wow!

A new kind of crazy

Apparently the end of the frickin' world has arrived.  We have naked homeless guys eating people's faces, growling at cops, and shrugging off bullets, and also we have knife wielding psychos cutting out their intestines and throwing them at cops.  Combine this with all the violent mobs and you have the makings of an apocalypse.  And yes, I know violent crime is still on the downswing, but seriously, when was the last time you heard of a face eating guy?  Crazy!

So be paranoid my fellow gunnies.  Stay alert, and watch out for naked people who growl in public!

It's not safe for either side

Whether you are an average Joe just trying to have a civilized argument with your girlfriend or you're a homeless dude with a bitter streak, it's a dangerous world out there for the both of you.

Later in the evening, Jett said, the two men returned. The one who had asked for the dollar went to the driver’s side window and tried to stab the man with a knife. The driver got a gun from his console and shot the knife-wielding man in the chest.

Up until about eight to ten years ago, there were no homeless people in my area to speak of.  I don't live in Stafford, but I spend a lot of time there, and the amount of panhandlers and homeless camps here and in surrounding counties like Spotsylvania (Really?  There's a place called Spotsylvania?  Creeeeeepy!) has spiked dramatically.  The cops have been arresting them right and left, and my guess is because they've been getting more aggressive, but I can't confirm that.  It's just my opinion. 

I think that as more and more people fill the homeless camps and more people are panhandling on the side of the highways outside shopping centers, things get very competitive and the natural tendency is for aggression to go UP.  The more desperate people get, the more likely it is that they will resort to violence.  On the flipside of this powder keg is Joe and Jan Schmucketelli who just want to shop for discounted bulk diapers at Costco without getting knifed in the ribs over forty three dollars (Why do I suddenly hear Hank Jr?).  In this day and age, a quality reliable pistol with highly advanced ammunition can be had for less than a good DVD player, and they can be readily carried or stowed in the console of your Tahoe.  In the end you don't know who to trust these days, and any friendly window-side encounter over a few bucks can transform into something else entirely, so be cautious.

Stafford county, Virginia is not a "dangerous" or violent place, but bitter people are everywhere.  This thread is not for bashing the homeless -- indeed, it wasn't very long ago when a homeless man close to here did a very honorable thing, and that should be commended.  I'm more or less pointing out that there is danger in both camps.  The tightwad guy with no patience or tact who's loading azaleas into the back of his Honda -- he may be armed, so don't come back waving a kitchen knife in his face because he didn't hook you up with a five-spot.

More mob violence

This dude was beaten almost to death by a group of guys in Alabama.

Owens' sister, Ashley Parker, saw the attack. "It was the scariest thing I have ever witnessed." Parker says 20 people, all African American, attacked her brother on the front porch of his home, using "brass buckles, paint cans and anything they could get their hands on."

And the media did the country no favors for their works in inciting a race war.  Good job.

I'm going out on a limb and suggesting that this sort of behavior is going to get much much worse in the coming months, and when it does it will be everywhere.  This wasn't a savage beating in Chicago or North East DC; it was in frickin Mobile Alabama.  All cities have their rough spots, but the hatred of man is going to start pouring out from every crack and crevice, so be prepared in your daily life.

Why scumbags always gotta be scumbagin' up in this piece?

You may remember hearing about a dude with a CCW getting jumped at a gas station by two scumbags in Dayton, Ohio sometime last year, and he blasted one of the morons twice in the guts with a .45 caliber Glock. There's a huge thread on it with input from the man who blasted the moron at Ohioans For Concealed Carry, which also details the shenanigans that went down after the shooting by the moron who didn't get shot, along with his inbred family. Well, it appears that that second moron done gone and got himself shot too at another gas station over what looks like a drug deal gone bad.

This is a clear indicator of the fact that most people who are shot with handguns survive. Moron #1 who was shot twice last year survived, and from what I've heard is serving time somewhere. Moron #2 was shot in the neck, and one of his accomplices was shot in the legs. Both encounters were filmed, so we get an inside look into the scumbaggery.

If you want more details on both shootings, either go to the one OFCC thread above, or check out the Shooting of Moron #1 and Shooting of Moron #2 at ARFCOM.

Don't tempt the savages

Fells testified that the female victim, whom he did not know personally, got out of her vehicle, “came up to me and spit in my face. She was cursing at me."

Fell’s cousin, Austin Morris, whose charges were dropped in this case, stated that the spit landed in Fells’ eye and “was enough to see it drip and run down his face."

The victim was shot in the back by Fells for her stupidity. Before you say it, I'm not condoning what Fells did in any way shape or form; by his own admission he's untrustworthy and deserves his 12 year sentence. What I am saying is that if you don't want to win stupid prizes, than don't play stupid games. There is no reason in the world to spit in somebody's face, and if you do it and don't get shot by some jackass, then you will more than likely get a brutal beatdown at the very least. Same goes for arguing over parking spaces and throwing insults about people's mommas at strangers; you don't know if John or Jane Q. Public is wrapped real tight, so it's best to not provoke the savages.

Fortunately both morons survived this encounter. Hopefully some of this area's more high-strung residents read the article and take the lesson from this and apply it to their day to day lives. I'm sure it's no different in other parts of the country, but folks around here are fed up, and because of that they tend to disregard the "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and instead resort to all sorts of tactless behaviour. So stop flipping the bird, insulting, spitting, ramming cars on the interstate with your dumptruck, ***ETA: stabbing drunks and fist fighting, and generally acting like you don't have any sense, take a breath or two and calm down, and your chances of getting maimed or killed by a psycho will fall dramatically.

Stressed to kill

Chicago has lost its marbles. The gun ban there doesn't seem to have kept guns out of the hands of scumbags, but maybe it can be said that it's prevented them from good marksmanship.

My Creator has a sense of humor

At times he shows it just to amuse us, like in this video from an ARFCOM thread where an opportunistic thug is robbing what looks like a drug store, and hasn't noticed the cop standing in line behind him. Awesomeness!

I mean, there you are on a boring night shift with nothing to look forward to but endless domestic violence calls when you swing in to CVS for a Redbull, and no shit, this little scumbag standing three feet from you starts robbing the clerk at the register. There's no investigative work needed, no looking at cameras, no interviewing witnesses - you get to pull your gun and stuff it in that shit's face, right before repeatedly slamming his resisting ass into the floor and into the parking lot. I'm OK with this. This is how my idea of law enforcement plays out in my head.

I could only imagine the conversation the cop had with his peers at the station later on.

Seven years. . . .

It doesn't seem like it's been seven years since the murder of one of the world's most talented guitarists. I realize that he played in a musical niche that most people don't care for, or even appreciate, but I didn't take it too well when he was killed.

"Dimebag" Darrel Abbott was killed on stage this day in 2004 in Columbus, Ohio by a scumbag with a handgun. Here is a video that offers a view of a mass shooting that may change your perspective a bit on what happens.


First thing I noticed was that the audience didn't go anywhere, or seem to panic at all; they kind of just stood there for several minutes like a bunch of goons and watched a gunman murder five people. Next, one of the band's technicians repeatedly attacked the gunman, and was shot multiple times all over his body, including his chest, and yet he still persisted in trying to stop the gunman from killing his friends. The whole time he was getting shot fighting the gunman, he was pleading for somebody to help him. Nobody did. Hundreds of men stood there quite calmly and watched him fight a madman alone.

A cop finally walks in with a shotgun and, when the gunman took a hostage and pointed his pistol at his head, the cop shot the gunman and killed him. The most profound part was the look on the officer's face when he walked away after killing the psycho; to me it looks like a man that did the hard thing that day, even though he didn't want to. The last thing was I noticed was what another band tech said while he was watching his friends get murdered: "I kept screaming NO! Ya' know, but. . . there was nothing I could do."

"There was nothing I could do" is not an excuse that I ever want the option of being able to make. I willingly inconvenience my life by a substantial margin just so I don't ever have to face that regret; so there's something I can do in a moment where someone may need me. I'm not knocking the guy; shit happens in life and we chose day to day how we will be postured to prepare for it.

To end on a better note, here's Dimebag at his finest (embeds are disabled, probably because of today).

***ETA: Here's one:

Assault Thingy shootout

Jacksonville police said Monday that it was an AK-47 assault rifle in the hands of a man who was shot Sunday morning by an off-duty officer as he tried to rob a Family Dollar store.

The off-duty cop shot the scumbag with an AR15, thus ending the debate about which rifle is more awesomer. Good shoot!

Only you can prevent sawzall violence

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — Police in Everett, Wash., say a woman is accused of cutting her sleeping husband's neck and shoulder with a power saw.

The story doesn't mention it, but it's apparent that there was no background check conducted on the purchaser of the saw. Anyone can just walk into a Harbor Freight and buy a truckload of these reciprocating saws and slash their husbands. It's best for the children that we enact a law to restrict the purchase of power tools to licensed construction workers so we can avoid this senseless violence forever.

Reality check

So you and your wife are walking back from charity work at the local homeless shelter one night and a thuggish looking scumbag with "FELON" tattooed on his forehead in Arial Bold font jumps out from an alley way 15 yards away, full stop, holding a knife in one hand and a box of condoms in the other. He yells "This is a stickup and a rape and a murder! Give me your wife, your money, and your car keys or I'll kill you both dead with this here bowie knife!!". . . .allowing you ample time to think and draw your sidearm and get into that Isosceles stance you learned about on the range. Scumbag takes a single step offering you the chance to blow him away with your fang-face patriot-ninja-warrior ammo and save the day.

Sadly, lethal force encounters don't usually look like that as far as I can tell. Here is a real example of a lethal force encounter that fortunately resulted in not only no fatalities, but justice served as the scumbag in question went back to prison for the rest of his life ***Warning: Graphic pictures near the end of the thread*** -- My CCW Shooting AAR.

The victim was maimed forever from the encounter, and the scumbag was dumb enough to leave a prominent blood trail from the crime scene to his bed, complete with bloody weapon containing empty shell casings. All in all, though, it could have been a lot worse. The victim was never charged with any crime, got his weapon and personal belongings back (after two years! Yikes!), and mostly recovered. Some of the things that stand out from this story to me are that this is a specific example of a grip safety causing a defensive weapon not to fire at the precise moment it needs to, and also that appendix carry would have not only allowed a more covert draw by the victim, but also may have prevented the scumbag from discovering the empty holster, thus arousing suspicion. Also, even though it wasn't needed in this fight, a spare loaded magazine is definitely something that you should carry.

I post this story because there are armed folks out there -- good people, mind you -- that it seems can't wait to get into a situation where they take out the bad guy and save the day, going home victorious knowing they did the world a service. There are those also who are cluelessly armed and under prepared. This story is a stark reminder of why I try my best to live a life of avoidance, de-escalation, and deterrence in order to not end up in a situation like this one, but if trouble does find me, that I'm prepared and focused.

How did he do it?!?!?

How in the world was a heavily armored gunman able to gain access to a secure facility that clearly had signs preventing said gunman from the premises?

The apparent ease with which James Ray Palmer entered the building -- straight through the front door -- has raised questions about safety even in small county courthouses and prompted a reexamination of security measures there.

Oh. I'm thinking that the Gun Free Zone signs should now be made large enough to completely block access to the front door of courthouses, and should be made out of 1/2" steel plate so that armed madmen cannot wander in and shoot up people in the hallway unchallenged for eight full minutes. That would work in the interim.

A full time solution to prevent armed attacks like this in the future it would probably be to pass laws making it illegal to shoot up courthouses, or to even carry guns in there, and to have armed cops screen and disarm all those who enter the building. . . . . .hmmmmm. Maybe that's not such a good idea after all.

I did note to that he had a CCW and no prior history of violence. It happens.

Drive-by crossbowing and other violent and bizarre stories

It sounds to me like this country has come completely unglued. There are so many violent attacks and thievery in the news these days that it makes my head spin; we have this morning a story out of San Diego about a kid shot with a crossbow in a drive-by. We also have widespread and rampant thievery of things like HVAC units, copper pipes and wire, toilet paper, hair extensions; and it's all become a family affair as well.

I've passed on many crazy stories just like that one this week already, but there are so many that are too close to home that I'm getting irritated.

There's this one out of the Fredericksburg, Virginia Wal-Mart where a teenager was beaten into a coma by other teens, and also an armed robbery and carjacking at a gas station right across the street. I shopped at that Wal-Mart with my family this weekend, and I get gas at that station all the time with my kids in the car early in the morning; the idea of a group of thuggish little shits attacking my family or driving off in my car with them makes my blood boil. There was also an armed home invasion where the homeowner was attacked with a baton over some prescription meds.

If anyone wonders why I'm so damned paranoid, this is why. With all the mob-of-disenfranchised-teens beating up folks and robbing stores all over the country, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's on edge.

Even the ladies are doing it

Video footage of a group of teenage girls savagely attacking a woman in Philly. It seems that city has seen the most use of the teen mob attack.

My takeaways from the half of the video that I was able to watch are: 1) the victim noted that she heard the attackers coming up behind her, and said that she is vigilant about being aware of her surroundings; 2) By the time she turned around, the attack was already initiated; 3) She was on the ground immediately.

To address the first takeaway - being aware of your surroundings is paramount to your safety. The consensus is that picking up on an attack and avoiding it is the best option, and will have a better outcome than a fight and/or shooting your attacker(s). With that said, you cannot count on vigilance to always win the day, so be prepared.

On the second takeaway, even if you spot an attack before it happens, you may not be able to prevent it regardless, so be prepared.

Third takeaway - learn to fight on the ground. Most physical fights end up on the ground anyways, and I am as guilty as any about doing my practice shooting while standing. Most of that has to do with where I shoot; I can shoot safely with a handgun or rifle from a bench, but not up at a target while I'm on the ground. Shooting school is where you would learn the techniques. I would imagine that it's difficult to get a gun into play while a group of people kick you in the head while you're on the ground, but it's a probability that could happen, so be prepared.

Also, just because attackers are female does not mean that they aren't capable of inflicting severe or fatal injuries. A girl can end your life just as easy as boy or man, especially when you're on your ass in a parking lot and there's six of em'.

Be careful answering your door

It's disgusting that there are people in this world who do not posses an operational conscience, but considering the state of the economy and how desperate citizens are right now, it's a good idea to harbor some paranoia and take a looksee outside before throwing the door open to whomever knocks.

Smells like teen angst

There's a whole lot of good quotes in this article, despite the content being as unsettling as it is. An example:

“We can’t expect that imposing a curfew is going to stop some 15-, 16-, 17-year-old from bringing a gun to anywhere,” he said at an afternoon City Hall news conference. “On the other hand, we should be able to expect parents not to have their 13-year-old children on the Plaza getting shot.”

That's the Kansas City mayor talking. I don't know anything about who he is or what he stands for, but I think he's right on the mark as far as where the root of the problem lies: parents, get ahold of your kids.

The shootings occurred shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday near 47th and Wyandotte streets. When shots rang out — witnesses reported hearing five or six — James was about 50 yards away. His two bodyguards pushed him to the ground and drew their guns.

“They basically forced me into the flowerbeds by the Cheesecake Factory,” James said.

He was uninjured. But two boys and a girl — 13, 15 and 16 years old — were wounded. A bullet grazed the girl’s face, and the two boys were shot in their legs, police said. None of the injuries was life-threatening. James said all three youths were in stable condition on Sunday.

The mayor got an up close view of what I am now considering to be modern teen violence. As a parent, I would not allow my teenage kids to be wandering about at night in the middle of a plaza crowded with unruly kids and known for violence.

The first notable occurrence was on April 10, 2010, when as many as 900 youths, some as young as 11, converged on the shopping and entertainment district that Saturday night. Police responded to reports of vandalism and assaults. One group of teens robbed and beat a couple from Grandview. A girl in a prom dress was shoved into a fountain. Fights broke out.

In my experience, large groups of teenagers wandering about on their own program will find trouble to get into. When I was a teen, my friends and I would hang out in the woods by a bonfire or at a lake, and it was not uncommon for a police officer to stop by and make sure we weren't causing trouble. I can't recall a time when they were not fair to us, it being a minor inconvenience, and looking back I would expect the cops to make ensure nothing bad was being done.

Circo, the mayor pro-tem, was at James’ side on Sunday as the mayor acknowledged that while more youth activities would give kids more things to do, it was not the city’s responsibility alone. Churches, schools and businesses, also, need to get involved, he said. But most of all he blamed parents for allowing their children to roam unattended late into the night at the Plaza and other gathering places in the city.

“We have a youth problem on the Plaza, but first and foremost we have a parent problem,” he said.

Yes. I agree one hundred percent. If parents really are dropping their kids off into this situation and aren't heeding the blatant notice that city officials are giving to take control of the situation, than they deserve whatever outcome the city decides. If you do not control yourself, you will be controlled - a maxim of law.

There may be more underlying problems that didn't make it into this article, but to me it sounds like the city government is placing the proper folks on notice to get their act together or the city will do it for them. When little Johnny comes home with tales of being violated by the cops while mobbing at the plaza late at night, you can bet the parents will be outraged. Another consideration is that while teens around the country are robbing and assaulting en-mass, armed folks are taking notice and it's only a matter of time before a large group of kids tries to lay hands on the wrong victim.

Checking out that video, the cops are putting people on notice that if their kids are part of the trouble makers, they could be shot by an average joe. Now I think it's deplorable Captain Rhodes calls being armed against violence being a "vigilante", as that is petty statement. As for his cellphone vs handgun comment, and "which one are you going to chose", how about stuffing a cellphone in your holster, sport, and then go about trying to stop a violent scumbag. Not going to work out so well, is it?

He is letting the populace know though that average people are carrying guns and are scared of these mobs of teens. Teenagers are generally not smart enough to see the danger they are putting themselves in, so it's up to their parents to have a sit down with them and tell it like it is. Your kid may be good and all, but things may change when he or she gets into the company of other teens.

***Update: Another Gun Blog has a link to a video/news article about a home owner in Kansas City who was threatened by an angry group of teenagers, and they fled when he came out of his house with a Mosin Nagant in hand. No actual force necessary.

Flash mob attacks gaining popularity

And not in a good way:

Similar attacks are also being investigated in cities likes Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, D.C., and Milwaukee, where 30 people were arrested after alleged mob attacks erupted at the Wisconsin State Fair on Aug. 4. At least 18 people were injured in or around the grounds, including seven police officers, authorities said.

Attacking cops; fractured skulls; this goes beyond simple robbery. Many are asking when the US will have riots like Britain, but I think we've had them for some time now. The natives are pissed off, and they're acting out against whomever they encounter on the streets. I don't care if it's racially motivated or not; a group of thuggish kids cracking skulls for any reason is a deadly threat.

Only in Fairfax

One man may be responsible for stabbing at least five women in the butt, according to Fairfax County police.

The headline "Serial Butt Stabber Sought in Virginia" kinda drew my attention first thing this morning. This type of criminal behaviour doesn't surprise me at all considering that it's happening in Fairfax, which is like the San Francisco of Virginia.

Then again, in once-quiet Fredericksburg, Virginia, some creepo is flashing the ladies at McDonald's, so anything can happen. Strange times bring out strange behaviour.