Parents originally called police in early September, saying a man was at the bus stop in Cornelius early one morning, said Maj. David King with the Cornelius Department. The parents provided a description of the car, but it left before police could get there.
On Sept. 22, they got another call from parents. This one said the man taking pictures was back, and this time they had a license number.
I think that probably covers roughly half of my paranoia as a father and an American. Good grief.
For the record: As a lifelong Southerner who somehow managed to grow up not a racist, I can say without any reservation whatsoever that Jimmy Carter is an idiot and an embarrassment to his former office, his country and the region most associated with him.
You, sir, may leave. Any time it suits you is fine.
I haven't regularly read LGF in years.
WTH happened to Charles Johnson?
I saw that there is some sort of brouhaha amongst some of these Big Time Blogger types so I went back for a visit.
Sad.
LGF was a gateway blog for me back in the day. It wouldn't shock me more to go read Lileks and see that he was now devoting his time to furries.
Longtime Charleston SC Mayor Dick Riley oversimplifies Mayors Against Illegal Guns:
"We're against illegal guns, so if anyone is opposed to our position, then they are in favor of illegal guns,"
from the Post & Courier
At least Columbia's Mayor Bob isn't running again. One less bigot on the roll.
Continuing the Citizens/Journalist's Guide to Firearms meme I am happy to pass along this slightly modified by Robb version :
from Sharp as A Marble - original post Sebastian
After posting my glocklove comment over at his site, Huey asked me about how I once used a firearm to save my life.
I don't think my lifesaving story is too terribly compelling. It's chock full of dumbassery on my part. But here it is, warts and all. Cue the italics.
I was working as a bartender in Columbia, SC and had just moved to a dilapidated old house about 2 blocks up Devine Street (the main drive) from the 5 Points "entertainment district".
On a whim one night, I decided to walk down to work to see what the hike would be like and maybe catch up with a couple of friends. I had intentions of walking to and from job as parking in 5 Points is terrible in general and an epic fail if you have to work there. I understand that this has not changed.
So...I didn't find any of my friends, and after a couple of beers I hoofed it back up the hill that led to my house. Not a bad hike at all.
Almost to my street and displaying a tragic utter disregard for situational awareness, I was caught unawares by a shady looking dude on a BMX bike as he pulled up next to me and asked me if I had change for a twenty.
By shady, I mean all of 5'2 and 125 pounds with crazy hair, a surplus woodland camo jacket 3 sizes too big (this is June in Columbia, SC approximately 112 degrees at 10:30PM) and, of course, sunglasses. At night.
His sudden appearance startled me so that instead of barking at him to stay back, I merely replied "Sorry dude, I've got no cash at all". The truth. And the standard response to the multitude of 5 Points panhandlers.
Here's where I made my 2nd (or 3rd, but there's so many) mistake: Instead of watching him take off in the other direction, I confidently crossed the intersection where he had stopped me and made my way up to the next street which was my own.
As I reached the next corner, I stopped and did (what I now know is) a "Crazy Ivan" to see if he was following me. He had made it about halfway to where I was, stopped his bike and was merely looking at me. Instead of telling him to move along, piss off or get lost (4th mistake) - I decided that I'd be better off confronting him closer to home (soooo young and dumb -at least the 5th mistake if you're counting).
I had my car keys in my pocket and my car was parked about 100 yards away on the right hand side of the street, facing away from me with the drivers side door closest to me. I knew that somewhat unsafely stowed under the drivers seat of my car was my loaded Glock 27.
Foolish young Brian takes a left and walks a bit faster (how many mistakes was that?)...off of the well lit main road and down the poorly lit side street, thinking about the motions that he will have to use to get the car door open. Hands on keys...fingers on car key...take the keys out and put them in the door...open door, leave keys in door and reach for the pistol.
That is what I was thinking when I should have been chasing this guy off.
About halfway there I turn around over my right shoulder to see if he's still following me and WHACK, I'm on my hands and knees in the middle of the street. He's hit me with something, but I have a very large, very hard head and I am not unconscious, but dazed and bleeding profusely. So naturally I begin cussing him.
I cuss him as I get to my feet. I cuss him as I stagger towards my car. I cuss him as I scrape my key up and down the side of the door, trying to get the door unlocked.
He's riding around me in circles, looking around to see if anyone has heard me.
I get the door open (still cussing him) and fall on my knees to dig under the seat for my unsafely stored (in battery too - ugh -sorry SC law) Glock.
I found it and pointed it at him weak handed, but he saw the gun and was already hauling ass back up towards where he hit me (with a @#$% brick, we found out later).
I tried to get a bead on him with the intention of shooting him in the back as he rode away, but fortunately for him I couldn't get a good sight picture due in part to my double vision from the blunt force trauma to my skull.
Rule 4 saved that guys life that night.
That's it really. All of that probably took a minute and a half.
I stuck the Glock in my waistband and staggered up to the porch where I freaked out one of my roommates who was reading a book on the couch by sticking my bleeding head through the front door and asking for some help. She and my other roommates' boyfriend took me to the hospital where they stapled me up. No painkillers because I had those beers earlier. Ouch.
The police never caught the guy. We moved out of the house a couple of months later after getting robbed.
That was 13 years ago this summer. I was very, oh-so-very stupid and very lucky.
I'll never sell that Glock.
Added: I'd like to point out that I did not do even 1 thing correctly as these events transpired. If I had made even 1 better decision this would have never happened. I'll post a list later - I've been uncommonly prolific today.
Here's a tale detailing the process of using Back To My Mac to catch the thief who swiped your Mac.
"...the victim used his replacement MacBook Pro to screen share with the stolen device, and even watch as someone filled out an online form to find a job, displaying an address, social security number and phone number."
Dumbass thief took a pic of himself with the iSight too and left it on the desktop.
from TUAW
from the Chucktown Post & Courier "Brady Center critical of S.C."
Now I am jut shocked. SHOCKED I tell you. I simply cannot imagine why the Brady Center would be "Critical of SC"...
In 2006, lawmakers passed a bill that extended legal coverage under the Castle Doctrine, in which residents can use deadly force against intruders to protect themselves and their property. Someone's business or a car in danger of being hijacked became areas covered by the legally recognized defense.
Oh. There is that. And...
South Carolina is not shedding its reputation as a gun-buyers' haven, Brady Center senior attorney Daniel Vice said.
"Unfortunately," he said, "in South Carolina it is very easy for dangerous criminals to get deadly weapons."
Wow. Just like anywhere else, it's easy for dangerous criminals to get "deadly weapons" in South Carolina, just not LEGALLY.
Brady officials consider South Carolina a weak gun-law state because of the ease of getting firearms over the counter. Among their arguments is that there are no limits here on monthly purchases, and the lack of background checks required at gun shows.
Yawn. Nobody listening. Old news.
However this is actually the least biased gun story I've seen in print in some time. Good on you Schuyler Kropf, you've exceeded my expectations by not merely regurgitating Brady talking points, but adding the NRA response without a trace of a sneer.
Love the comments too.
If there are so many pro-gun folks in SC that take the time to write well-thought-out comments to stories like this, why does it seem like there are only 3 or 4 gunbloggers from SC?
Online donations through PayPal are a huge part of our fundraising. They shut down our entire account-not just the raffle button—for twelve hours right in the middle of an email fundraising push. Looking at the Terms of Use, we couldn’t understand where we’d gone wrong, but we had to immediately remove the raffle so we could get back online ASAP. This just breaks our hearts because we were so excited about the tremendous fundraising impact the Gun Blogger Rendezvous raffle was already having.
From Foxnews:
The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to approve Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor to be the first Hispanic justice.
The committee voted 13-6 Tuesday morning to send Sotomayor's nomination to the full Senate, where she's expected to be confirmed easily next week.
Just one Republican, South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, joined Democrats in voting for President Barack Obama's first high court nominee. The panel's chairman, Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, called Sotomayor a restrained, fair and impartial judge who has not favored any one group of people over another. But the top Republican, Alabama's Jeff Sessions, said her speeches and some rulings revealed beliefs that conflict with the idea of blind justice and fidelity to the law.
I hope SC voters are paying attention.
Joe Huffman responds to his Senator Murray's "Legislation to regulate the use of firearms is and should remain primarily a state issue."
Since you are of the opinion that legislation to regulate the use of firearms is, and should remain, primarily a state issue I presume I can count on your support of efforts to remove firearm regulations at the Federal level. I would like to suggest you introduce legislation to undo the continuing infringement of our rights inflicted by the following Federal firearms laws:
• National Firearms Act of 1934
• Gun Control Act of 1968
• The Hughes Amendment
• The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention ActOnce those are infringements have been successfully resolved I will be glad to provide you with a list of other Federal firearms laws that need to be eliminated as well.
Read the whole thing.
To Violence Policy Center Action Network Members:
TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, the U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on an amendment sponsored by South Dakota Senator John Thune to the defense reathorization bill (S. 1390) that would force our communities to allow dangerous individuals from other states to carry loaded, hidden handguns in public.
ACTION STEP
Call your two U.S. Senators today! Call 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senators' offices.
Tell your U.S. Senators to vote NO on the Thune gun amendment.
A new VPC study (http://www.vpc.org/studies/ccw2009.pdf) released yesterday and cited in a New York Times editorial (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/opinion/21tue2.html?_r=1&ref=opinion) today shows that in a recent two-year period in only 31 incidents, concealed handgun permit holders killed at least seven law enforcement officers and 44 private citizens. These incidents include five mass shootings resulting in the deaths of 23 victims. Because of the secretive nature of state concealed carry systems, the VPC was forced to rely on news clippings for its research. The actual number of unjustified killings by concealed handgun permit holders is most likely far, far higher.
States currently have the authority to make their own rules about who can carry a concealed weapon (CCW). But the gun lobby's friends in Congress want to dramatically undermine each state's authority to determine who can possess handguns by allowing individuals with concealed carry permits issued by virtually any other state to cross state lines with their deadly weapons and carry loaded guns in public--a policy that will also increase gun trafficking, as well as gun deaths and injuries. This proposal is particularly dangerous for states like California that have tough permitting standards.
o The Thune amendment would dramatically increase the number of individuals carrying concealed handguns in public in your state.
o The Thune amendment would require states to recognize concealed carry permits that are issued by other states. The practical effect of this change would be to establish the lowest common denominator as the general rule for carrying a concealed handgun.
Call your senators NOW and tell them to vote NO on the Thune amendment.
Thank you, as always, for your time and energy to help stop gun violence.
Sincerely,
Josh Sugarmann
Executive Director
"Propagandist! Parrot! Fool!"
Frank Lautenberg hasn't had an honest job in years; he's been suckling at the government teat since the current president was a frosh in undergrad. After metastasizing from a mere Port Authority commissar to a senator in 1982, he voted about like you'd expect a Democrat from New Jersey to vote, being generally in favor of taxes and of bribing lower-income voters with other people's money.
Oops."This is Fred. Can you have a marked unit meet me at the foot of the bridge?" Heitzman told the dispatcher.
"What police department are you from?" the dispatcher said.
"Um, auxiliary patrol," Heitzman answered.
PLEASE HELP KEEP OUR NATIONAL PARKS SAFE!
We need your help to stop the gun lobby from railroading through Congress a proposal allowing loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges.
The Bush Administration initiated this effort by pushing through a last-minute rule at the Department of Interior. The process used to finalize the rule was so flawed that a federal court issued an injunction to prevent it from going into effect and the agency agreed to complete an environmental impact study.
But the gun lobby is pressuring Congress to do an end-run around these environmental safeguards, forcing the agency to allow loaded guns in parks. The measure was attached as a rider to the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act (H.R.627) by Senator Coburn (R-OK). It would allow individuals to openly carry rifles, shotguns, and handguns in national parks if the gun is in compliance with state law. As a result, individuals could attend ranger-led hikes and campfire programs openly carrying handguns or rifles at Yellowstone National Park, Shenandoah National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and many other national park units across the country.
This outrageous proposal would endanger wildlife, park visitors, and the park rangers entrusted with protecting the parks. That is why the proposal is opposed by all of the major organizations representing the interests of national parks and park rangers, including the National Parks Conservation Association, the Association of National Park Rangers, Coalition of National Park Service Retirees, and the U.S. Park Rangers Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police. The measure is also opposed by all of the national gun violence prevention organizations and The Humane Society of the United States.
Votes are expected on this dangerous proposal as soon as THIS TUESDAY, MAY 19th. PLEASE ACT NOW AND CALL 202-224-3121 AND TELL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVE THAT YOU OPPOSE LOADED GUNS IN NATIONAL PARKS.
PLEASE ALSO CALL THE WHITE HOUSE AT 202-456-1111 AND GIVE PRESIDENT OBAMA THE SAME MESSAGE.
CONGRESS AND THE WHITE HOUSE ARE ALREADY HEARING FROM THE GUN LOBBY. PLEASE MAKE SURE THEY HEAR FROM THOSE WHO CARE ABOUT MAINTAINING THE SAFETY AND SANCTITY OF OUR NATIONAL PARKS!
Thank you, as always, for your efforts to stop gun death and injury.
Sincerely,
Josh Sugarmann
Executive Director
We find ourselves in the unsavory circumstances of the embezzler who had always promised themselves that they would pay the money back, only to get in deeper and deeper to such time that repayment became impossible.
