We caught wind of a CDC report this week that counted accidental deaths. Over a three year span from 2008 to 2010, almost 94 thousand people died from accidental poisoning. In that same span, only 1700 people died from accidental shooting. However, we don’t need a report to tell you that millions of dollars will be spent trying to fund and enforce gun control, while virtually no money will be spent trying to cut down on accidental poisonings.
Recently, an unattended GLOCK was found stuffed into a toilet seat dispenser on Capitol Hill. The culprit wasn’t a terrorist or some gun rights activist, however: it was left their by a member of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s security detail. House Speaker John Boehner’s executive bathroom suite all but gifted a pistol to an 8 year old visitor. That pistol was left behind by a “dignitary protection officer.” A janitor later found another GLOCK just lying around while he was tidying up at Capitol Police HQ. What this tells me is if Washington can’t keep track of their own guns, they have no business trying to take mine away.
Vermont has officially signed into law a bill that creates certain restrictions for gun owners. Certain criminals will no longer be permitted to possess a gun. Any violation of this will now be a breach of state law as well as a federal law. Mental health patients will be added to a federal registry that prevents gun ownership. Said patients could restore their rights once they recovered from their illness. The bill does not include an expansion in requirement for background checks. All in all, this bill does very little to change the gun control landscape in the state, as this duplicates a federal law into state law.
In California, we have further proof that gun control will not work. California currently has a little over 16 thousand people on California’s gun registry cannot legally own guns. These people have been barred either by their criminal record or mental illness. California originally had almost 20 thousand illegal gun owners, and in the span of a year and a half, only 3400 people have been dealt with. This comes during a time when California’s gun ownership is skyrocketing. So, 16 thousand illegal gun owners who have registered guns? Just imagine how ineffective these laws are for people who illegally own guns.
A concealed carrier in Houston, TX shot and killed an armed robber on Thursday of this last week. Outside of the Ruiz Cash n Carry store, a robber pointed a handgun at an employee who had arrived at work, assuming that the bag carried by the employee contained cash. The employee has a CHL, and despite having a gun pointed at him, drew his weapon and fired 4 shots. The suspect was hit several times in the chest, and died later at a local hospital. The Cash n Carry employee is unharmed, in large part because of his gun.