In the last posting here, we shared the most recent bizarre behavior of Chicago’s Mayor Daley in regard to “Gun Control.” Now we discover that indicted and disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich feels Mayor Daley isn’t going far enough on gun control…see LINK HERE . How interesting that Blago doesn’t mention that when he himself was arrested by The Feds, they seized his FOID (Illinois Firearms Owner’s Identification) card. Good that he’s not a hypocrite or anything…

If I can quote Blagojevich himself, who was talking about something else at the time, that’s “f—in’ golden.”

Meanwhile, an octogenarian Korean War vet in Chicago in the last few days used a firearm to shoot and kill a long-time felon (who apparently benefited from “catch and release” justice) who invaded the home the shooter shared with his wife of similar age. In rural America, that would earn a pat on the back from the county sheriff. In Daley’s Chicago, it has city authorities looking at whether they can criminally charge the old gentleman because his FOID card had expired, and because he used a handgun not currently registered under the “grandfather clause” in “handgun-free Chicago.” Public opinion is clearly with the vet: see LINK HERE.

This American veteran wielded deadly weapons in time of war as a soldier of his grateful country. He channeled that experience to protect his octogenarian wife and his 12-year-old grandson. It will be interesting to see if practical, street-smart Chicagoans hold the Chicago criminal justice system’s feet to the fire on this, to make sure that this exemplary senior citizen is not punished for being the very exemplar of Good Defeating Evil.

Last month, at the ILEETA national conference of police trainers held outside Chicago, more than one veteran Windy City cop told me that the current mayor’s dad, the original Mayor Daley, not only owned a fine gun collection but was known to go out in public carrying concealed a particularly nice Colt .38.  Ya think his son might be rebelling against parental values or something?

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It is abundantly clear to anyone who looks at the evidence that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is truly, genuinely obsessed with banning firearms. He has expressed frustration of late with the prevailing prediction from all sides that the soon-to-come US Supreme Court decision in McDonald v. Chicago will reverse his beloved handgun ban, and has promised to find a way around such a decision. (Interesting…an elected leader who promises to find a way to contravene what will be established as law by the highest court in the land.)

In a recent press conference, Mayor Daley – never noted for being either articulate or self-controlled – picked up a gun that was on display as a prop and babbled about shoving it up the rectum of a reporter who asked him an innocent question. Read about it HERE, in the words of that reporter himself.

My favorite newsman in Chicago, a city long famed for great newsmen, is John Kass.  Kass is honest, logical, and street-smart. You can read his take on it HERE.

It is said that the mad Roman emperor Nero played his fiddle as Rome burned. As the city of Chicago finds itself in a tightening grip of criminal violence, Mayor Daley literally raves and threatens those who remind him that violent crime has INCREASED since his beloved handgun ban. He has even more-than-tacitly expressed the wish that one or more of the Justices become a victim of gun crime, so they can be persuaded to come over to his side of the issue. Not normal, well-adjusted thinking.

Wasn’t it Albert Einstein who said that continuing to do something proven not to work is the very definition of insanity? It would seem that the Mayor of Chicago fits more definitions of insanity than that…

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One of my students asked me yesterday if it was OK if he shot part of his allotted 500 rounds with the excellent Advantage Arms .22 Long Rifle conversion unit on his Glock 23 carry gun. The reason was that he’d been able to round up 500 rounds of .40 S&W, but shooting it up would leave his practice ammo supply severely depleted. I told him that part of what he was learning with me was rapid fire recoil control, and he’d do better to shoot with the “real deal.” (Conversion units for inexpensive .22 are great for developing trigger control, though, and “draw to the shot” smoothness with accuracy.)

Yes, the ammo shortage continues, and it has generated much discussion among gun folks. My good friend Jon Strayer has some very insightful comments on the reasons for it HERE, at the ProArms News and Views Blog.

Friend Ted Fries passes along THIS commentary  from a blog with which I was previously unfamiliar.

I’m finding somewhat more availability than this time last year with SOME cartridges, while others — .45 ACP, for instance – are simply not to be found in certain areas.

What’s all y’all’s take on this? Comment here!

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Events in recent days remind us that while the firearm is seen at law as a deadly weapon, it is also sometimes seen in logic as a tool of rescue.

CALIFORNIA: A drugged-up gang-banger who has flunked mental health treatment takes his mother hostage. When he points a gun at her head, two snipers from the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team dispatch him with surgical rifle fire, saving her life. (Link)

AFGHANISTAN: Insurgents surround a British patrol. The situation looks hopeless until a British sniper – said to be firing from an incredible one and a half miles away – breaks the ambush by killing five of the insurgents with his rifle in less than half a minute.   (Link)

TEXAS: Two deputies are making a seemingly routine arrest when the suspect goes suddenly hyper-violent. He gets one deputy down and attempts to rip the service pistol from the policeman’s holster.  Moments later the perp is dead, justifiably slain by two police bullets. (Link)

FLORIDA: A police sergeant who went from 1994 to second quarter 2010 without having to discharge his weapon in the line of duty, is forced to shoot his second man in two months when, like the first, this one points a gun at him and other police personnel. (Link)

These are clear lessons, seen every day around the world. These happened to involve rescuers in uniform. Sometimes, the rescuers are ordinary citizens, whose guns extinguish the threat and protect innocent lives. Often, the mere drawing of the gun is enough to forestall danger, with no blood shed on either side.

The common thread is the presence of a gun in the hands of the good folks. Lesser means accomplish less.  For instance…

VIRGINIA: Outraged at an armed robbery occurring in his presence at a service station/convenience store off the Interstate, a customer grabs a couple of bottles from the beverage case and smacks the gunman over the head. In the struggle that follows, the Good Samaritan is shot several times. Fortunately, his assailant is a poor marksman; doctors say the good guy will recover from his multiple gunshot wounds. (link)

There are lessons here. Do not point a gun at your mother. Do not surround well-meaning peace-keepers and try to kill them. Do not try to take the nice policeman’s gun. Do not point a gun of your own at the nice policeman.

And if you do have to get into a gunfight, bring a gun, not a bottle.

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What better time than Mother’s Day to reflect on our pet names for the ones we love? In the comments on my last blog entry below, Fruitbat 44 remarked, “Interesting article, but ‘The Evil Princess’???!!! Well, we all have pet names for our loved ones, and while I suppose ‘Snookums’ and ‘Honey-Sweetie-Pie’ might get a bit cloying after awhile, I do wonder if ‘The Evil Princess’ might be going too far in the opposite direction.”

Well, Fruitbat, I guess you kinda hafta know her…

Comments are definitely invited here, as this is the sort of discussion that cries out for collective wisdom.

One of my friends introduces his wife as “The War Department.” She smiles approvingly each time.

On the other hand, “Bitch” only works as a pet name if you are BOTH agreed that it’s an acronym for “Beautiful, Intelligent, Talented, Charming, and Humble.” If you aren’t in agreement on that, don’t be surprised if you feel a sudden need to come up with an acronymic explanation of why her pet name for you is now spelled b-a-s-t-a-r-d.

My Adult Supervisor is a podcast producer and self-styled Techno-Chick, while I am a reluctantly recovering Luddite. Our discussions of matters cybernetic generally end with me saying something like “Yes, Mensa Girl,” while she replies soothingly, “Have a banana, Mongo.”

A decade or so ago, I was having lunch with some prosecutors when the topic of a boys’ night out arose, and the question was posited as to whether our wives would allow it. One of the fellas said, “I’ll have to ask She Who Must Be Obeyed.” Another of our group – married at the time to an athletic woman almost six feet tall, who carried a gun and had put her share of aggressive males on the ground – chimed in, “I think it will be OK with the Amazon Queen.”

One of the assistant district attorneys looked at the chief DA and asked, “Do you have a pet name for your wife?” He smiled smugly and replied, “Oh, you mean Obedient Wench?”

It was then that the rest of us knew we had to kill him…

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