The Truth About Guns

By Chris Hernandez

So there I was, minding my own business, taking a bathroom break at the station. This was late on New Year’s Eve in a small town. I was just a rookie with less than a year on the street. But even so, I knew crap was going to hit the fan at any moment. My shift had started several hours earlier. The first thing I had done was head to the worst part of town and check the crowd. What I saw was a guarantee something bad would happen before long . . .

Every small Texas town has at least one really crappy area. Ours was “100 Smith Street”. On this block stood two tiny falling-apart old houses, about 1200 square feet each, which had been converted into “nightclubs”. The clubs were directly across the street from each other, the only two structures on a trash-strewn, crack-infested, deserted block. And on weekend nights on this very small street, about 400 people would be in and around these two clubs.

As many of you know, ATF has a proposed rule-making change under review about NFA transfers to legal entities. The big hubbub is all about how CLEO signatures could be required and it’s the end of the world and you should buy your NFA devices before you can’t any more. Everyone’s saying make your comments known, call your congressperson, etc. What am I doing about it? Absolutely nothing . . .

Okay, I lied.

In fact, I’m doing something more than nothing. I’m doing, as the old song from Steve Miller Band told me to do, I’m taking the money and running. Taking money from every person who thinks they will never get another stamp again after Obama closes the loophole. It’s amazing how much more effective ATF is at selling my products than I am. This past month, I have sold more cans to people freaked

From Fox News’ report of Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson’s press conference:

When an armed school resource officer entered the room, Pierson believed he was cornered and turned his gun on himself, Robinson said.  The entire attack lasted approximately 80 seconds and was captured by security cameras.

Sounds to me like that school resource officer stopped what could have possibly been another tragedy in this country. It’s a result that we expected, based on our own independent testing of school shooting scenarios. If the armed school resource officer wasn’t pr

A reader who prefers to remain anonymous sent this question to RF:

Robert, I know you are busy but would like to ask your opinion on how to handle a situation. My daughter is four years old in a private pre school. There is a boy there (not pictured above) that plays a little rough and I have spoken to the teachers about her coming home complaining about him being mean to her. Today I pick her up at their play time and see the boy being a little aggressive towards another kid, but not physical. I get in the car with my kid and ask her if that boy has been playing nice she tells me that just today he pointed his finger at her and says “I’m shooting you dead” . . .

These kids are four years old. I know you have daughters and wanted your input on how I should handle this with my kid and with the school. I’m obviosly pro-2A and don’t mind kids playing cops and robbers or cow

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (and Really Big Fires) is, without a doubt, a rogue agency. We have Ruby Ridge, Waco, the “glory hole” debacle, the “cigarette walker” scandal, the as-yet-unexplained Fast and Furious anti-gun running gun-running op

By Alan Brooks

The anti-gun group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America held rallies yesterday in 50 cities across 36 states. Their Jessie Jackson-esque message on the anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shooting: “No more silence. End gun violence.” Unfortunately, their rally in front of City Hall in Austin, Texas was less than spectacular. Maybe it was the cold, windy weather. Maybe it was poorly-promoted. Or maybe there just aren’t that many people who agree with MDA’s message of civilian disarmament. Whatever the reason, the turnout was small. Minuscule, even. All of twelve to fifteen people were there (mostly white, middle-aged, upper-middle class women) — and nearly as many reporters . . .

If I hadn’t been looking for the rally I wouldn’t have noticed it and I certainly wouldn’t have known what their cause was. Most of the women were huddled around, sipping Starbucks co

School shooter Karl Pierson purchased an as-yet-unidentified 12-gauge shotgun at an as-yet-unidentified Denver-area gun store on Dec. 6, and bought ammunition Thursday, Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson told the media. Pierson turned 18 on Sept. 3, making the purchase legal. Colorado gun law does not require a permit to purchase a rifle or shotgun. No background check is required. The gun does not have to be registered with the state. There is no indication that the attack will spur changes in the law. Yet.

“I think there are a lot of folks on our side fighting against the ‘guns everywhere, anytime for anyone’ thing that the gun lobby’s doing. And in quite a few states our advocates have been able to defeat some of that stuff, like bringing guns on college campuses. I think focusing on what we want is long overdue in our movement and is a big focus now . . . We were fighting on their terms in states across the country, now they’re fighting on our terms.” –  

Shoulda been a DGU: Three people were injured in a hatchet attack in an east Texas Walmart early Sunday morning. The attacker was a transient who had the hatchet (not pictured) with him when he entered the store. He attacked two female employees, and a male customer was slightly injured trying help the women. Police did not believe that the transient knew the women, and there is no known motive. One woman was treated and released, the other spent a few days in hospital. The customer was only slightly injured and refused medical treatment. The transient was arrested and remains in jail on $225,000 bond charged with three counts of aggravated assault . . .

Today’s Lockdown of the Day™ is brought to you by Albany, Ohio, where the Albany campus of the Alexander Local Schools was locked down Friday afternoon after ammunition was f

As providencejournal.com is reporting, all four Exeter, Rhode Island city councilmen survived an attempt to recall them after they voted to push concealed carry permit responsibility to the state’s attorney general. “According to unofficial Journal figures, each of the four council members survived the recall attempt by wide margins.”

It’s only a matter of time before there will be “another Sandy Hook.” I don’t mean a lone spree killer acting out his sick fantasies on innocent children, although that too. I mean a coordinated terrorist attack on a school. Or a mall. Or a public building. Or some other highly populated soft target. The Kenya Westgate mall killings and the Belsan “Hostage Crisis” are not anomalies. They are harbingers of things to come. And when that evil arrives, all the local, state and federal SWAT teams will be too little, too late. Eventually, the good guys will defeat the bad guys. What then? Will citizens arm themselves or will the government crush gun rights in the name of safety? I like to think the former but I fear the latter. As much as a terrorist atta

One year after the Newtown massacre there hasn’t been a lot of progress on school safety—depending on where you live. Some states—most notably Utah—have made it easier indeed possible for teachers to arm themselves to defend against an attack. Also on the positive side, new school construction is putting target hardening at the top of the agenda. In Newtown, Connecticut and elsewhere, armed School Resource Officers now patrol school corridors. In general, though, it’s more of the same safety procedures that failed at Sandy Hook Elementary: shelter-in-place “lockdown drills” and “call the cops” protocol. So what can your child do to survive during the rare but potentially cataclysmic event of a school shoo