Won't someone please think of the criminals?

Found this little gem on Youtube. 

 

Welcome to the United States Of Idiocracy

One of my favorite cult classic movies is "Idiocracy".  It is Mike Judge's comedic depiction of an entirely average American soldier who volunteers to be a test subject in a suspended animation experiment.  However, instead of only sleeping for one year, the experiment goes predictably wrong and he awakens 500 years later to find the world populated by dullards.  Due to excessive reproduction by the least intelligent members of the population, he has become by de facto the smartest man in the country.  While the movie is zany and obviously fictional, it contains many kernels of satirical truth.  From our diets to our entertainment to our shopping habits we are slowly but surely becoming a country of lowbrow mouth breathers.

 

Nothing demonstrates this more accurately than the battle for gun control currently raging across the U.S.  While the leftist anti-gunners love to portray American gun owners as violent unintelligent rednecks and inbreds, the reality is that the most unintelligent, the most uneducated, and the most ill conceived ideas statements, and actions come from the gun prohibitionists.  I've compiled a small collection of gems from the past few months to illustrate my point.

 

Last month Vice President Joe Biden advised people who want to defend themselves to buy a shotgun.  While this in itself is not bad advice, it was the next sage comment that induced incredulity in anyone who understands the legal and moral aspects of self defense with a firearm.



 

 "...if there's ever a problem just walk out on the balcony here ... put that double-barreled shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house." 

 

 

Apparently Mr. Biden does not understand the very basic principals of physics which dictate that those shotgun pellets have to stop somewhere.  And firing blindly and indiscriminately outside the house could result in some well-deserved criminal charges for the shooter.  While we were still reeling in disbelief from that nugget of wisdom, Ol' Joe outdid himself a short time later.  During an interview with Field and Stream magazine on the subjects of gun control and self defense this was the Vice President's advice to the American public.

 

"...you want to keep someone away from your house, just fire the shotgun through the door.”

 

Sounds like the Girl Scouts better think twice about peddling their cookies at Joe Biden's house and heaven help the Jehovah's Witnesses.

 

The idiocracy isn't just limited to the second highest office in the land.  In December 2012, just days after the Newtown shooting, the Journal News of  New York published an interactive map showing the addresses of all of the residents in Westchester and Rockland counties who had firearms permits.  They claimed it was a public safety issue and that people had a right to know who owned guns in their communities.  The backlash was both predictable and severe.  Their offices were flooded with angry calls and emails and within a short time the web was awash with links to the home addresses, phone numbers, and personal information of the editors, publishers, journalists, and other staff members of the Journal News.  So what was the incredibly hypocritical response from the newspaper?  They hired armed guards to protect their offices and their homes.

 

And in other incredibly stupid recent news,

 

• Bank Of America froze the assets of American Spirit Arms, a lawfully regulated and licensed firearms manufacturer because, according to one of their managers "...We Believe you should not be selling guns and parts on the internet.”

 

• Cable TV giant Comcast imposed a policy that refused to sell local advertising time to gun retailers.

 

• Administrators at the University Of Colorado in Colorado Springs oppose the right of students and staff to defend themselves with firearms.  Instead, they actually advised women to prevent violent sexual assaults by vomiting or urinating on themselves.

 

• In Trappe, MD two 6 year olds were suspended from White Marsh Elementary school.  Their offense?  Using their fingers as pretend guns for a game of cops and robbers on the school playground.

 



 

• In Philadelphia, PA a 5th grade girl was searched, reprimanded and suspended for having a piece of PAPER shaped like a pistol.

 

 

• In Baltimore, MD a second grader was suspended from Park Elementary School for two days after chewing his Poptart into the shape of a gun and saying "bang bang".  In an incredibly misplaced attempt at making things right, the school then sent notes home with students advising parents that counselors would be made available for any students who were traumatized by the pastry.

 

• In Mount Carmel, PA a kindergartner was suspended for "terroristic threats" after wielding a pink plastic Hello Kitty toy that blew bubbles.

 

 

• And in perhaps the most obscene reaction possible, a 16 year old student at Cypress Lake (Florida) High School was suspended after he physically disarmed another teen who had brought a handgun to school, presumably preventing yet another school shooting. 

While I compiled these incidents as a semi-humorous look at people who are controlled by their own irrational fears and kneejerk reactionary way of thinking, the reality is that it really isn't funny.  Not only are we becoming victims to our own fears, we are raising our children to believe that inanimate objects are inherently evil and that it is somehow morally superior to be a victim rather than to fight back.  We are promulgating the nanny state and instilling a sense of dependency on the government to protect us and defend us.  Remember gun control isn't about guns its about control and when seconds count the police are minutes away. Stay safe.



 

A Quick Discussion About Safety and First Aid

I just wanted to quickly touch on the subject of safety and first aid but more specifically preparedness.  Emergencies can strike anywhere and any time.  You never know when you or one of your family or friends may receive a traumatic injury. 

If you're like me, you spend your week days working with your hands in an environment surrounded by things like power tools, bladed tools, heavy objects, and open flames.  In my spare time I'm generally at the range, on a boat, or engaging in some other activity that could potentially inflict a traumatic injury.  Even relatively tame activities like yard work or cooking can result in serious accidental injuries. And you never know when you may be the first person on the scene of a vehicle crash with injuries.
 

Hopefully this indoor range was equipped to treat a GSW on site

Are you prepared to render first aid?  And even if you possess basic first aid skills, do you have the tools on hand to deal with a major injury?  Enter the "blow out kit" or "blow out bag".  This is a common item used by combat troops and first responders who need to apply immediate life saving techniques, specifically for traumatic injuries like gun shot wounds, lacerations, punctures, amputations, and shrapnel injuries.  The blow out kit is intended as a single-use item which contains items necessary to stop bleeding, restore breathing, treat for shock, and keep the patient stable until he or she can receive more advanced medical treatment.   The idea is to have a compact portable kit that can be used quickly without having to search around for needed items.

Items commonly found in a typical blow out kit include the following:

1. A battle dressing or sufficient gauze to stem severe hemorrhaging
2. Rubber gloves
3. Medical tape
4. Elastic bandages
5. Blood clotting agents
6. Triangle bandages for slings
7. Foil rescue blanket
8. Decompression needles*
9. Tourniquet*
10. NPA – Nasopharyngeal Airway tubes*
11. Surgical shears

* indicates items that require additional medical training

 

Though you can purchase complete Blow Out Kits online and at specialty retailers, most of these items can be easily found in your home or local drugstores and pharmacies.  Simply select the items that best fit your needs and place them in a large Ziploc freezer bag.  Make several kits to place in various locations so that they will always be there if you need them.  For anyone who has a food sealer, you can use vacuum seal bags which both seal them and make them even more compact for portability.

 

One for the car and one for the range bag.  Blow out kits - don't leave home without one.

 

  Clearly we all hope we never have to use them, but just like a gun, its better to have one and not need it than to need one and not have it.  Stay safe.