Retired cop gets away with murder

In 2014, a man was sitting in a movie theater sending a text message. A man sitting behind him took offense at this and asked him to put the phone away. The texter told him to piss off because it was only previews. The complainer, who happened to be a retired police captain, went to get a manager. The manager told the cop to relax, the movie hadn't even started yet.

Returning to the theater, the retired cop began arguing with the man, who became upset and threw a large popcorn in the cop's face. The cop drew his concealed weapon and shot the man dead.

The cop was subsequently charged with second degree murder. He immediately claimed self defense under Florida's stand your ground law. Years of legal maneuvering and the SYG hearing finally got underway in 2017. At the SYG hearing, an off duty cop who witnessed the shooting had some damning testimony. The court denied the SYG defense and ordered a trial.

After another year of legal maneuvering, the trial was finally set for February of 2019. Then, in another twist, his defense team argued that changes in Florida's Stand Your Ground law that came in 2018 should be applied retroactively. A court in August of 2018 agreed, and now his trial has been delayed in definitely.

A man killed another in a petty disagreement. Here we are, more than five years later, and the shooted continues to use legal maneuvering to avoid trial. I am all for self defense and believe that everyone deserves justice, but this is an outright abuse of the legal system. The whole idea of SYG hearings is to prevent legal bills from running innocent people into bankruptcy, not allow people to play the system and delay a trial until they die of old age.

This is the sort of thing that anti gun forces love to point to as a reason to eliminate self defense and concealed carry.

Thugs

There was a Burger King that was robbed this past Saturday morning at about 7:30 in the Villages.

They finally found and arrested the guy. He is only 18 years old, but has already been arrested four different times since his 18th birthday. The history of this particular thug is an interesting insight into the court system:

October 2018:
Aggravated Battery with a deadly weapon
Criminal Mischief
Battery by touching or striking
This ended in a plea deal where the felony charges were changed to misdemeanor.

November 2018:
This case was the misdemeanor charges that were part of the plea deal from October. He finally made it to trial in January, and was released January 17th with a sentence of time served and a $1350 fine (which he never paid).

February 2019
It wasn't long before he was in trouble again. Just 35 days after his release from the last case, he was again arrested for driving without a license. He received 6 months probation and a $600 fine.

April 2019 (The Burger King robbery)
Illegal carry concealed weapon
6 counts kidnapping to facilitate a felony
2 counts criminal mischief
1 count of aggravated battery on a LEO
1 count fleeing and attempting to elude LEO
1 count of  robbery with a firearm
possession of methamphetamine
driving without a license
2 counts of child abuse

This is all just since he turned 18 in September. He is a one man crime spree. Since his 18th birthday seven months ago, he has committed at least 15 felonies (that we know of), even though he was in jail for four of those seven months. 

When thugs like this are running the street and robbing people at gunpoint, honest, law abiding gun owners are being punished, even though it is the failure of our court system to put a stop to this madness. Maybe this time they will have him serve some real time, because the next crime he commits will likely result in him killing someone.

Guardian

Today the Florida Senate voted to remove the prohibition on teachers carrying firearms as a part of the Guardian program. This ends the law that armed school janitors and lunch ladies, but denied the same ability to teachers. Opponents claim that this places too much of a burden on teachers. I don't see how, since the program is entirely voluntary, and should a teacher ever need to use their weapon to defend their students, it will be less of a burden than standing by as they watch someone murder their students or even getting murdered themselves.

As for me, I have already volunteered for the program. I hope that I am selected. I even used it as an excuse to buy a new handgun. I just bought a M&P 2.0 9mm Compact. I caught one on sale at my local gun store. They had them on sale for $379, and at that price they threw in 4 magazines and a $50 gift card.

I put a new set of Trijicon HD sights on it, and installed an Apex Action Enhancement kit. The new action lowered my trigger pull to what I measured to be 4.75 pounds and removed the grit from the trigger. The trigger now has a smooth pre-travel, and a clean, crisp break.

Now to wait for the House and my school district.

Lightning sinks boat

A boat sank in Florida after it was struck by lightning. The couple lost many belongings, including 374 bumpstocks.

Pistol standardization

I have owned dozens of handguns. About five years ago, I decided that, to simplify maintenance and the number of spare parts and tools that I need to keep in stock, I would be going with one brand of handgun. I wanted it to be striker fired, available in multiple calibers, and relatively common as well as reliable.
I arrived at this decision because I had just gone through dealing with my 1911 phase. I owned several 1911 type handguns: Several Kimbers, a Colt, and a couple of others. They all required more maintenance and were less reliable than any other category of handgun that I owned. They became safe queens. For more than a kilobuck, I expected more. Sure, you can get a reliable 1911, but expect to spend as much on one as you would on a machine gun. I decided that I wanted to find something more reliable.

Then I realized that there really was no difference between handgun cartridges. The 45 versus 9mm versus 40 debate just stopped being interesting. For all practical purposes, there is no difference between handgun cartridges. So, I gave up on stocking so many different types of ammo.

I sold many of my own handguns and thereafter decided to buy firearms based upon the niche they were to fill. The Smith and Wesson M&P series fills most of my needs. I have full sized models in 9mm, 22LR,  and 40 caliber. They all even have the same sights on them (Trijicon HD in orange) so it is easier to transition from one to the other. I also have a 357Sig and 9mm barrel for the 40, so I can choose my caliber.

For those times when a single stack is needed, the Shield fits that bill nicely. Again, the Trijicon sights make transition from one handgun to the other easier.

I also have a Jframe, just so I have a handgun that I can quickly slip into a pocket for a quick trip to the store. I am also planning on getting an M&P 9mm compact just in case the legislature finally decides that teachers can be accepted into the Guardian program.

"Big boy" rules in Brazil

Here is a video of Brazilian (Sao Paulo) police training at the range. I wonder if the instructor gets hazardous duty pay.

What caliber for large flightless bird?

Not too far from where I live, a man fell and was killed by his cassowary, which is a large flightless bird that is nearly human sized and known to occasionally kill dogs and humans. I wonder if they taste like chicken. I am betting you that #4 shot would work pretty well.

Dumb idea

An Orlando company is attempting to market "intelligent guns" that will tell the wielder if the gun is pointed at a "good guy" or a bad guy. A device mounted on the gun appears to act as a sort of IFF device.

Not only are the guns supposedly able to tell the difference between a school shooter and an armed teacher, the guns will be locked in a safe that can be released by school officials via WiFi. Just wait until some kid hacks the system and gets a gun that identifies him as a good guy.

College= Left wing breeding grounds

Read this letter, filled with leftist talking points, to see what your college tuition and tax dollars are paying for. Then you will know why Gainesville was one of the blue areas in Florida's last election cycle.

Why I carry

Man giving out $20 bills at Waffle House is shot and killed by a man angry that the victim didn't give the shooter's girlfriend $20.

Know what you are talking about

On a recent post about taxes, irontomflint left this comment:

Taxes will be fair when everyone pays the same rate- no deductions, no pro-rating systems. You earn a dollar, you pay the rate. The business earns a billion dollars, it pays the same rate. If you or a business loses money, too bad, you learn from your mistakes and move on. You want to advertise or have children, why should the rest of the country subsidize you? That comes from yoour own profits. You want to take a risky chance? Fine, but why should anyone else be forced help you along? THAT'S when taxes will be fair

There are more than a few problems with this statement. Let's look at the problems one at a time:

1 According to this comment, businesses cannot deduct expenses before calculating profit. In other words, they will be taxed on gross receipts, not on profit. Advertising and other expenses could not be deducted. A car dealer would sell a car, but cannot deduct the cost of acquiring the car, advertising the car, the pay of the staff, or the cost of the car lot and building. They would be responsible for paying income tax on the entire price of the car. If they lose money, "too bad." The truck transporting the car from the factory to the dealer could not deduct expenses, nor could the factory, the parts supplier, and everyone else in the supply chain. This would be an incentive for companies to move manufacturing jobs overseas to avoid the taxes, and raise prices drastically for the rest of costs.

2 If this were to come to pass, the rich would pay the same tax rate as the poor. Either my taxes would massively fall, or the tax on the poor would greatly increase. This would likely cause shenanigans like a universal 40% income tax rate with a massive welfare program to return money to the poor.

Whoever irontomflint is, he doesn't know squat about economics.

All or none

Roller coasters are a fun way for people to experience the adrenaline rush that so many people crave. They are precisely engineered to thrill riders without causing them injury. In order to accomplish this and remain safe, they are engineered to safely handle the majority of riders. This means that there are height and weight restrictions. People who fall outside of those norms will have issues being properly restrained by the ride's safety systems. This is why amputees are sometimes told they cannot ride, because the lack of limbs can cause them to fall out of roller coasters.

So we have amputees complaining that they should be able to ride roller coasters, while claiming that their rights under the ADA are being violated, and also complaining that they get injured when the ride isn't able to protect them. You can't expect the kids who staff these rides to be able to judge the ability to ride on a case by case basis- they aren't engineers or doctors.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Take responsibility

I keep getting told that my "hobby" of being a gun owner means that I am responsible for every person killed by a gun wielding criminal because I won't support making guns illegal.

Let me illustrate why that is nonsense: Your support of illegal immigration means that you are now responsible for the 14 year old that the illegal immigrant without a driver's license ran over in Florida.

Republicans screw gun owners again

Ted Cruz caves on gun control and supports red flag laws. This is becoming a trend, and as I have been saying for years, just because the Democrats are your enemy doesn't mean that the Republicans are your friend.

We are getting more gun control with the Republicans running the show than we did when the Democrats were in power.

More complicated than you think

On social media, a post from a firearms page:

students perform better in private, charter and home schools. Government doesn’t know how to educate as is evidenced by 40 years of flat performance on test scores even though we throw more and more money at it. Now the public education system has become a soapbox for liberals to brainwash rather than educate. Critical thinking is not taught and even discouraged. The system still employees the old industrial model from the turn of the last century to teach. Innovation is discouraged in our public education system. The solution proposed by teachers and the union? Less competition and choice as is diverts resources. More money. That’s not self serving at all!

Much like anti gunners who talk about clips and firing in "full semiautomatic," giving opinions on things while demonstrating your lack of knowledge makes you look dumb. The issues are not nearly as cut and dried as the writer suggests. Let me explain:

1 The reason why private and charter school students do better on standardized tests is simple: the schools get rid of under performing students. To use Florida as an example, students who are enrolled in a charter high school MUST graduate in 4 years. If they fail to do so, they are forever barred from attending high school. Once they begin to fail classes, charter schools convince these students that their future would be better in public school, where they are permitted for more than 4 years. (In some cases until 21 years old.) Public schools are forced by law to admit any and all students who wish to enroll, because the US Supreme Court has ruled that everyone has the right to a "free and appropriate public education."

2 Home schooled students do better for almost the same reason. Students and their parents who do well in being motivated to teach and learn at home take the tests, students who are not very motivated either drop out entirely, or return to public school.

So basically, all of the troublemakers and unmotivated students are pushed to public schools, while the better (on average) students are found in charter, private, and home schools.

3 More money is not really fixing the problem, because the schools are not really where the problem lies. More than half of my students are chronically absent (meaning that they miss more than 20% of the school year.) About ten percent of my students have missed more than a third of the school days, and more than one of them has missed HALF of the school days. You cannot teach a child who isn't there.

4 Teachers, in my experience, are not overwhelmingly liberal. It seems to me that we have the same sort of mix as the community in general. I teach in a rural school, and we have a few liberals, a few conservatives, and a bunch that are either moderate or keep their opinions to themselves.

5 We TRY to teach critical thinking. We all do. The kids won't think. All they want to do is use their smartphones to get the answers, and then do something else. Usually play video games. In fact, standardized tests try to get the students to use the knowledge gained in the course to draw conclusions. (Called DQ4 questions)

6 The claim that education has not changed is patently false. There are plenty of differences in how school is being taught. This is where the complaints about common core have come from. I have already posted about how the common core complaints are mostly wrong. I did a similar post about common core for science.

I have students who barely get a C in high school biology who say they want to be a doctor. Students who have failed algebra claim that they want to be engineers.

I agree that we need to stop throwing good money after bad. We waste a lot of time and effort on trying educate kids who don't want to learn, and on students with disabilities that prevent them from ever being more than simple manual laborers. There should be an exam at the end of the year when a student turns 15. Those who excel at a high level go to a college prep high school, students who show aptitude for it go to vocational school, students who fail are done and can go get a job.

Just try selling that idea to the public, though.