Hot tip, boys and girls. Enjoy the ride.
Smith & Wesson Holdings Corp.
The Roller Coaster Is Only a Quarter of the Way Up
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Category Archives: Guns
Eric Holder will be safe in the Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies only attack people who have brains
Employee Parking Lot Gun Crime in Texas
September 1, 2011 marked the go-live date for the new Texas law barring employers from taking disciplinary action against employees for having concealed guns locked in their personal vehicles on company property.
Despite the claims of totalitarian government proponents and people with a tendency to believe fairy tales or who sport extreme IQ deficits, there have been no increases in work place violence since that date in the State of Texas.
In fact, work place violence will most likely trend downward over the next few years if anything, based on the overall downward trend of violent crime across the country in states that have issued concealed carry / right to carry laws over the last several years. See the image below? Guess which states are experiencing an increase in violent crime in opposition to the rest of the country?
Yep, the yellow ones and that single black one. Interesting that all the folks who always claimed that allowing citizens to carry handguns in public would lead to frequent shoot-outs in the streets and an increase in gun violence are strangely quiet now that reality has proven they were either idiots or liars.
Nationally, we are currently at a 36 year low in violent crime.
More freedom, more guns = less crime.
Can the dumb-ass in the White House understand that simple math? Apparently not.
Lunch Break at the Gun Range
Do you know what tomorrow is?
Tomorrow is the day that a new law goes into effect in the State of Texas which forbids your employer from firing you for having a handgun securely locked in your own personal vehicle while it’s parked on company property.
Those who work near a gun range can now spend their lunch breaks doing a bit of target practice.
Talk about your mid-day stress relief.
Guess I should start melting down the rest of that last 150 pound batch of wheel weights pretty soon and start churning out more practice ammo with the Dillon Square Deal B. I’m going to be spending lots of lunch breaks at the range from now on and my colleagues will have to get used to the faint odor of cordite in those afternoon meetings. They won’t mind, some of them are going to be doing the same thing…except they buy that expensive factory ammo and can’t afford to do it as often.
There’s been a great deal of controversy over this new law. Conservatives and even Libertarians have been divided over it because a valid argument can be made that business owners should have every right to control what enters their property while individual employees should not be restricted from having a means of self defense in their car while traveling to and from work.
That is the true and valid controversy around this law. The argument that employees having weapons in their vehicles would raise the incidence of workplace shootings is, in my opinion, irrelevant. Whether it results in my workplace shootings or not, you do not restrict freedom and liberty based simply upon a risk that it will be abused or have an adverse affect for a few folks. I freely admit that they may be nut-cases out there who will fly off the handle and go grab a gun out of their car during an office altercation when they wouldn’t if they had time to cool down without the immediate convenience of a nearby accessible weapon.
But I doubt that’s going to happen. And I seriously doubt it’s going to happen often.
I believe it is far more likely that there will be circumstances where crimes are prevented and innocent lives are saved due to someone having a handgun in their car parked in the employee lot.
Freedom always has a price, and often comes with risk. Accept it or live at the mercy and whim of others.
Let The Texans Run
For those who think that the political landscape in Texas is as flat and stereotypical as the central plains:
George Bush was not a cowboy. He owns a ranch, which would make him a rancher, but not necessarily a cowboy. He employed some cowboys on his ranch, and he used to watch other cowboys at Texas stadium sometimes; for a while he actually owned a bunch of Rangers, but they didn’t carry guns. A bunch of Rangers that did carry guns protected him for a while when he was governor.
I wasn’t crazy about President George W. Bush, but I liked him much better than I like President Barack H. Obama.
Rick Perry is not a cowboy, either. But he wears cowboy boots with a suit because he is a Texan and thus can get away with it. In Texas, it is not pretentious for someone who is not a cowboy to wear cowboy boots, and they can do it in church as well as at the ranch. Rick Perry is also often surrounded by Rangers with guns, and is known to tote a concealed handgun himself, not because he has a special right to as governor, but because he is a Texas citizen with who is allowed to carry one under the Concealed Handgun License laws just like any other non-convict law abiding Texas citizen.
Governor Perry and I both tote guns not just because we’re Texans, but because the second amendment of the United States Constitution says we can.
I wouldn’t be ecstatic about a President Rick Perry, but I’d like it a lot better than President Barack H. Obama.
Just because I am a Texan does not necessarily mean I agree with the political philosphy or aspirations of either George W. Bush or Rick Perry (I don’t). But I admire the fact that they are both Texans and seem to be stand-up guys. I don’t think Barack H. Obama is a stand-up guy, but that’s just my opinion.
Because I am Texan and have a heavy accent I am unable to prononce the words “Norfolk”, “Yonkers”, or “Mianus, Connecticut” without embarrassment. Just the same as you eastern folks who can’t say “Tawakoni”, “Bexar”, or “Mexia”.
Ron Paul is a Texan. I like his political philosophy and have voted for him in the past. I may vote for him in the future. I don’t know if he totes a gun, but I know he is fine with me toting one. I know a lot of other Texans who think that Ron Paul is a total nut job. I know a lot of other Texans who think I am a total nut job. I think Ron Paul is the most stand-up guy I’ve ever seen in the world of state and national politics. I’ve never caught him in a lie. Period. I’ve seen good men do bad things and bad men do good things, but I’ve never seen Ron Paul do a bad thing.
I know some Texans who like Barack Obama. They don’t like me.
I know some Texans who like Mit Romney (who is not a Texan, by the way). Most of them don’t like me, either.
I carry a gun. I wear boots. Not cowboy boots: Bates military and police service boots. Because I got used to them when I was a cop.
I don’t ride a horse. I ride a motorcycle.
I ride a BRITISH motorcycle, and I don’t have any patriotic twinges of guilt over it. I don’t believe Harley riders should feel any guilt over the front wheels on their bikes that are made in Japan, either. Nor do I think Triumph riders in England should feel bad about the ignition switches on their bikes stamped “assembled in the Netherlands”.
I don’t wear a cowboy hat. I don’t wear a baseball cap. I sometimes wear a doo-rag.
I don’t own any cattle, but I am known to eat them with a sprinkling of Lowry’s seasoned salt and charbroiled rare on a Weber Kettle grill.
I will kill anyone who is within reach that is actively posing a physical threat to the life of one of my loved ones. I will stand up for anyone else who does the same for their loved ones, Texan or not.
I am like most Texans, totally unique.
Label us and put us in a box all you want. We all know the truth. Texans are varied and opinionated, and nearly all of them are proud as hell to be Texans…that’s about all we got in common.
Let the Texans have a shot at the national stage. ALL of ‘em.
And by ALL OF ‘EM I mean Ron Paul. The media seems to think he’s Betelgeuse and something terrible will happen if they admit he exists.
He’s another Texan.
- Tim Frazier
This article was inspired by An Open Letter to the National Media – Subject: Texas by Kyrie O’Connor.