UrbanGrounds

This Is Why We Cling (bitterly) to Our Second Amendment Rights in Texas

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 11:44 am 13 Responses »

Feb 112012

You gotta be world-class stupid to be a robber/burglar in Texas

If you’ve decided to make burglarizing peoples homes and robbing businesses your profession, you’re a loser to begin with. But to decide to go into that line of work in Texas, where most of us own guns and our legally protected if we shoot you in your worthless ass for trying to break into your homes or rob our businesses also makes you an idiot.

What did 33-year old thug Terrance Hall think convenience store employee Thom Vu was going to do when he climbed over a safety glass partition in order to get to him and the cash register?

A north Houston convenience store employee shot and killed a burglary suspect after the man climbed over the safety glass, Houston police said on Friday.

Terrance Hall was shot several times about 9:30 p.m. Thursday at the store in the 800 block of West Little York. The 33-year-old man was pronounced dead at Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital, HPD officials said.

Store employee Thom Vu, 49, told HPD investigators Hall tried to push open a door in the back then climbed onto a nearby ATM machine, police said.

Hall then crawled over the safety glass around the register area and fell behind the counter.

Vu told police he grabbed a gun as Hall came toward him and opened fire.

A Harris County grand jury will decide if any charges will be filed in the shooting.

According to Harris County records, Hall had a criminal record with past convictions for narcotics trafficking, criminal trespass and evading arrest.

That should be one of the shortest grand jury meetings ever. Mr. Vu should be commended for his actions and for taking another piece-of-shit thug off the streets.

Is it any wonder that Obama would try to destroy the second amendment if he were elected to a second term? It’s resulting in the death of way too many of his supporters and voters…

Houston: Another Home Invader Shot Dead by the Home Owner

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 9:54 am 7 Responses »

Jan 072012

And this is why we the people retain the right to own and bear arms

When will criminals learn that one of the dumbest things they can do is break into homes in states that honor the Castle Law and where citizens are likely to be armed (and prepared?) You know…states like Texas.

The surest way to end your burglary career early (and on a gurney) is to break into someone’s home in Texas:

An armed man was fatally shot after he tried to force his way into a home in south Houston, police said late Friday.

The man was killed in an exchange of gunfire about 7 p.m. with somebody inside the home in the 10900 block of Roandale. He was the only person who was hit, Houston police said.

Several people were in the house at the time. Detectives didn’t know if the person who fired the fatal shot was a resident or a visitor.

Beyond calling it an apparent home invasion, police didn’t know why that particular house was targeted.

And That’s Why They Call the 12-Gauge Shotgun “the man-stopper”

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 9:11 am 11 Responses »

Jan 052012

On Christmas Day, 18-year-old Sarah McKinley of Blanchard, OK lost her husband to lung cancer, leaving her a widow and single mother to their 3-month old son.
On New Year’s eve day, alone at home and still greiving her husband’s death, two men — Justin Martin and Dustin Stewart — tried to break into her home armed with a large hunting knife.

Sarah McKinley re-enacts the moment before she shot and a man who had broken into her hom

Sarah McKinley re-enacts the moment before she shot and killed a man who had broken into her home

Martin knew that Sarah was home alone and that her husband had died, armed with a hunting knife you know that he had nothing but evil intentions in mind when he broke into her home.

She described to an Oklahoma news station what she did while the men were knocking aggessively on her front and back door: “I walked over and got the 12-gauge, went in the bedroom and got the pistol, put the bottle in his (son’s) mouth, and then I called 911.”

She barricaded the front door with a sofa and then locked herself and her baby in the bedroom.

When she called 911, she asked the dispatcher what she should do if they broke into her hom.

“I’ve got two guns in my hand – is it OK to shoot him if he comes in the door?” she said.

The dispatcher’s response was measured, “I can’t tell you that you can do that, but you do what you have to do to protect your baby,” the dispatcher told her.

Around 2:00 p.m., Martin kicked in the bedroom door and headed for McKinley armed with a hunting knife. Which is when Sarah McKinley shot him in the gut. Police found him slumped over a floral-print sofa, dead where he fell.

Dustin Stewart -- almost as dumb as he looks

The accomplish, Dustin Stewart, being not nearly as dumb as he looks, ran.

If that was the end of the story, it would be a damned fine one. One of the most textbook cases of using a gun and deadly force to protect yourself, your home, and your family.

As Detective Dan Huff told KOCO-TV, “The law provides you the remedy, and sanctions the use of deadly force.”

But as I said, the story does not end there, and it only gets better.

After running for his life, Dustin Stewart eventually turned himself into police. And while Mrs. McKinley will not be charged with any crime, Stewart is being charged with murder.

That’s right…in Oklahoma (as in Texas) if, while engaged in a feloney, a person is killed, you are guilty of murder.

In her inteview with KOCO-TV, McKinley said, “It was either going to be him or my son. And it wasn’t going to be my son.”She added: “There’s nothing more dangerous than a woman with a child.”

Well, except a woman with a child. And a shotgun.

____________

Lost in this story is…why the hell did it take more than 21 minutes for police to respond? You’ve heard the old saying, “The police are only minutes away when you have seconds to spare.” What happens when the police are nearly a half hour away and you only have seconds or minutes to spare?

Governor Walker Signs Castle Doctrine into Law in Wisconsin

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 3:29 am 2 Responses »

Dec 122011

Wisconsinites get expanded second amendment rights

Me and my fellow Texans have been under the protection of the Castle Doctrine since September 1, 2007. There is a great peace of mind knowing that I can do whatever is necessary to protect my home and family from intruders or those who might wish to do us harm in our home (or vehicle) and not worry about the threat of lawsuits.

And now, thanks to Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsinites (of which I’m an honoring member, having lived in Eau Claire and Antigo for a few years) also have that assurance and protection:

MADISON- Gov. Scott Walker has signed a bill that allows homeowners to legally kill intruders. The bill, nicknamed the “Castle Doctrine,” creates a presumption of legal immunity for someone who kills or injures a person breaking into his or her home, vehicle or workplace. The measure requires a judge to presume that the use of deadly force was necessary. The immunity presumption would not apply to a shooter who attacked someone he or she should have known was a public safety officer. The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the bill early last month. Walker signed it into law Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier this year Wisconsinites became the 49th state to allow some form of concealed carry for it’s citizens (only Obama’s home state of Illinois still denies it’s citizens this most basic of second amendment rights), allowing the state’s citizens the ability to protect themselves when they leave their homes. And now they are protected in their homes, too.

Clerk in Florida Kills Would-be Robber, Saves Baby

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 3:23 pm 70 Responses »

Dec 032011

And this is why responsible, law-abiding citizens should be armed everywhere they go at all times. Because you just never know where and when evil will appear:

A convenience store manager grabbed a gun from under the counter and shot a robber in the knee when the man scooped up the clerk’s infant daughter, deputies and family members said Wednesday.

The robber tried to get into the cash register Tuesday afternoon at Del’s 24-Hour Food Store in Naples but he couldn’t open it. He grabbed a stroller with Elizabeth Easterly’s 1-year-old in it and headed for the door, according to a sheriff’s report and family members. Easterly shot the man and he died at a hospital.

“She’s pretty much in shock, but she saved the baby,” said Easterly’s grandmother, Nancy Ackerman. “He was taking the baby outside, and she went over the top of the counter. I don’t know how she did that because it’s real high.”

Easterly, 22, and her husband run the store for her grandfather, Del Ackerman. She was alone briefly during a shift change with her daughters, ages 1 and 2, when the man came in at about 3 p.m.

Ackerman, 75, said his granddaughter told him the man acted erratically and demanded money. As he fled the store, he tried to grab the baby, but couldn’t get her loose from the stroller straps. When he began carrying it out, Easterly, as she had learned in a training course, shot the man once in his knee.

The robber, identified Wednesday as 32-year-old Daniel Ramont Hernandez, was tackled outside by a man coming to work at the store and held down until deputies arrived.

She shot him in the knee most likely because he was holding the baby/stoller in such a way that a double-tap to center mass wasn’t possible. Looks like her training paid off as she knew exactly what to do and was ready to do it.

Why the Second Amendment: Shootout at Houston Area Denny’s

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 9:49 am 12 Responses »

Nov 272011

Eating out is becoming more-and-more dangerous for your health all the time. And it's not just the HFCS-laden foods, either...

This is what happens when law abiding citizens refuse to be helpless victims to violent crime; when they instead decide to fight back to protect themselves (and those around them):

HOUSTON – Authorities are searching for suspects involved in a shootout inside a Denny’s restaurant in east Houston early Saturday.

Police said a customer was sitting inside the Denny’s in the 11900 block of East Freeway at Federal Road around 5:50 a.m. when two men with guns entered the restaurant wearing bandanas.

Authorities said the customer, who had a concealed handgun, took cover and began shooting at the suspects.

The suspects returned fire before fleeing the scene in a white minivan. The customer ran outside and fired at the suspects’ van, but they got away.

No one was injured.

Police said a white minivan with what appeared to be bullet holes was later recovered in the 1400 block of Griffin.

Well done, sir. There simply is no telling what the robber’s intentions might have been. There are numerous cases where, after robbing a store or restaurant, all the customers were also either robbed or shot. This customer decided not to wait around to find out if these thugs were planning on using the deadly weapons they were brandishing.

I only wish he would have been a better shot and left two dead thugs on the floor inside the Denny’s. Once they fled, he probably shouldn’t have followed them out to continue the battle, as the threat had already been eliminated.

An armed society is definitely a polite society. Every single time a thug commits a violent crime, he should expect to be confronted and challenged (and stopped) by a mob of well armed (legally) and trained citizens. If you thought you had a fifty-fifty chance of being shot dead if you pulled out a gun to rob someone or someplace, you might reconsider. But if the odds are in the thug’s favor, in cities such as Chicago where law-abiding-citizens are forbidden from protecting themselves, then the thugs will continue to terrorize their communities.

__________

UPDATE — heard on the radio this morning that the man was a CHL holder and that he was the only customer in the Denny’s when he saw the two armed and masked would-be-robbers enter the store. He ducked behind a booth and drew his handgun before engaging the thugs. Which means there really is no excuse for there not to be at least one dead thug. Gotta make that first shot count.

MSNBC’s Alex Wagner: Get Rid Of Second Amendment

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 12:00 pm 8 Responses »

Nov 152011

Guns: assuring the rights of idiots like Alex Wagner to spew stupid shit since 1791

She’s just saying publicly what most Liberals believe privately.

Go to Real Clear Politics to see the video of this Liberal MFM reporter when infamous misogynist Bill Mahr (another completely unhinged Liberal) what she thinks needs to be removed from the Constitution. Wagner says the second Amendment since “it doesn’t seem to fit in with the others.”

What this moonbat doesn’t get is that her favorite amendment, the first, and every single other right granted by the Constitution, is only assured because of the second.

Bill Maher, HBO: “Let’s ask Alex. What would you change in the Constitution?”

Alex Wagner, Huffington Post: “Well, I’m going to be pilloried for this. I think get rid of the second Amendment, the right to bear arms. I just think in the grand scheme of the rights that we have; the right of assembly, free speech, I mean, owning a gun does not, it does not tally on the same level as those other Constitutional rights. And being more discreet about who gets to have a firearm and right to kill with a firearm, I think is something that would be in our national interest to revisit that.“

You know what, Alex — I think you’ve just persuaded me that that whole ”Freedom of the Press” thing should also be revisited. You know…in our national interest. Since so many of you seem to be too fucking stupid and too fucking Liberal (yes, I know those two things are incestuously intertwined) to be granted such a freedom.

Oh, and in other second amendment news today, the US House of Representatives will consider a bill allowing concealed carry permit holders to carry handguns across state lines. While there is already a lot of reciprocity among states, this would be a step in the right direction of ensuring full second amendment rights for all citizens (except those in Illinois).

Gallup Poll: Record-Low 26% in U.S. Favor Handgun Ban

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 1:53 pm 6 Responses »

Oct 262011

If you're in this 26% minority, you are a "miserable creature, who has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than yourself."

Which, much like his shove-it-down-your-throats Obamacare fiasco, puts Obama squarely in the minority on another issue near-and-dear to most Americans.

Via Gallup:

A record-low 26% of Americans favor a legal ban on the possession of handguns in the United States other than by police and other authorized people. When Gallup first asked Americans this question in 1959, 60% favored banning handguns. But since 1975, the majority of Americans have opposed such a measure, with opposition around 70% in recent years.

The results are based on Gallup’s annual Crime poll, conducted Oct. 6-9. This year’s poll finds support for a variety of gun-control measures at historical lows, including the ban on handguns, which is Gallup’s longest continuing gun-control trend.

For the first time, Gallup finds greater opposition to than support for a ban on semiautomatic guns or assault rifles, 53% to 43%. In the initial asking of this question in 1996, the numbers were nearly reversed, with 57% for and 42% against an assault rifle ban. Congress passed such a ban in 1994, but the law expired when Congress did not act to renew it in 2004. Around the time the law expired, Americans were about evenly divided in their views.

Despite Obama and Eric Holder’s best efforts (via illegal operations such as Fast and Furious and Gun Walker) to make guns less popular, fewer and fewer Americans are interested in stripping the second amendment rights from their friends and neighbors. Lest we decide to take away your first amendment rights (and a few others).

h/t to Q&O, who writes:

Why [the opposition to banning handguns]? Because, I think, concealed carry laws haven’t brought the mayhem that the advocates claimed they would. In fact, quite the opposite. And its always nice for the bad guys who may be thinking about taking you on for whatever evil reason to have to guess. Deterrence is the best form of self-defense.

Secondly, it may sound trite, but people have accepted the cliché “guns don’t kill people, people do” as a truth. It isn’t the tool that’s the problem, it’s the person using the tool.

Finally, I also believe most Americans have finally realized that self-protection and self-defense are inherent responsibilities they must discharge and can’t outsource to government. The best tool for that, ye olde equalizer, is a hand gun responsibly used.

And then, of course there’s that pesky Constitutional amendment and all.

Exactly. If you’ve never read Robert Boatman’s Social Obligation to Carry a Gun, you should.

Question of the Day: Why Doesn’t the Self-Defense Shotgun Get the Respect it Deserves?

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 1:59 pm 3 Responses »

Oct 172011

Well…I don’t know who’s not respecting it…but it gets a ton of respect from me. And, I’m guessing from any would-be home invader who has heard the distinctive sound of a round being chambered via pump action shotgun while looking down at a red laser dot painted on their chest.

The above question via The Truth About Guns:

“Nothing causes criminals to back off more hurriedly than does the presence of a shotgun,” gun guru John S. Farnham pronounced. “Shotguns scare people as do no other weapon.” And no wonder. When loaded with 00 buck or the new breed of self-defense shell, a shotgun is about as close to a “instant man stopper” as you can get. Even before all that sturm und drang, the sound of loading a pump action shotgun with that first shell should give pause to the most determined attacker. And yet cops are all swapping the scattergun’s combat distance devastation for “reach out and touch someone with a .22 (or ten)” AR. Millions of civilians have made the AR their “go-to” home defense gun. At the other end of the scale, a lot of fresh entrants into the world of concealed carry put their piece on the bedside table at night and call it good. Given their reliability and fearsome firepower, why have shotguns become the red-haired stepchild of armed home defense.

I’d love to own the Benelli M4 in that video — maybe someday. But at about ~$1600 MSRP, I think I’ll stick with my current Mossberg Model 590A1 “Persuader” 12 GA shotgun (which you can pick up new for less than $400), which replaced my Mossberg Model 500 HS 410.

Gun Crimes Keep Going Down Despite Increase in Gun Sales

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 12:58 pm 1 Response »

Sep 292011

My Springfield XD .45 ACP (top) and my Kahr .40 S&W at Red's Indoor Range

Shocking, I know. It seems that the more legally owned guns that are out there in the hands of law abiding citizens the more crime decreases. Part of that whole “an armed society is a polite society” thing.

This data obviously does not include guns illegally purchased (with tax payer dollars) and sold to drug cartels by the ATF, as those gun-related crimes and murders are on a decided uptick these days…

Via our good friend at the Daily Caller:

Despite increases in gun sales, gun crimes continued to decrease in the United States for the fourth straight year in 2010, according to the FBI.

The FBI recently released its Crime in The United States statistics for 2010. Overall, murders in the U.S. have decreased steadily since 2006, dropping from 15,087 to 12,996. Firearms murders — which made up 67 percent of all murders in the U.S. in 2010 — have followed this trend, decreasing by 14 percent.

At the same time that firearms murders were dropping, gun sales were surging. In 2009, FBI background checks for guns increased by 30 percent over the previous year, while firearms sales in large retail outlets increased by almost 40 percent. The number of applications for concealed carry permits jumped across the country as well.

I just bought another handgun this month — and haven’t committed a single new crime since! Seems like the best thing to ever happen to the gun industry was electing a staunchly anti-second amendment President like Obama…

And where are gun-crimes most likely to occur? That’s right — in cities with the most restrictive gun rights:

Broken down by firearms murder rate per 100,000 people, the District of Columbia is number one, with 16 firearms murders per 100,000 people in the District.

D.C. also topped the list of firearm robberies per 100,000 people with 255.98.

Yet D.C. arguably has the tightest gun laws in the country. Although an outright ban on handguns was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2008, legislators ensured the new regulations for obtaining a registered handgun would be anything but easy.

“When guns are outlawed, only the outlaws will have guns” indeed.

Armed Business Owner Defends Property from Three Would be Repeat Burglars; Kills One, Injures a Second

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 10:26 am 20 Responses »

Sep 192011

If you break into someone's property and see this, your best bet is to quickly go face down in the dirt and beg them not to shoot you.

Burglary comes with numerous inherent occupational hazards. One of which, expecially if you decide to practice your trade of burglary in Texas, is likely to be death by shotgun blast to the face.

In Fort Worth, the owner of a landscaping company was tired of having his business broken into at night and robbed, so last Saturday night, he stayed up late on guard duty with his shotgun in hand. At around 2:00 a.m. he heard intruders, so he told his wife to call 9-1-1 and he went outside to investigate.

Outside, he ran into three men. The un-named owner stated that he saw a “shiny ojbect” in the hands of one of the men, felt threatened, and fired. That man, later identified as Bentley Lenti (22) died at the scene.

After firing the first shot, the owner claimed that the two other men ran towards him (not the sharpest crayons in the box, are they?), so the owner shot again. This time the thugs turned and ran. The second thug who was shot, Juan Campos, was arrested later at a hospital.

I can imagine in some more Liberal states that the owner of the store would probably be in a lot of trouble. A scummy defense lawyer would probalby claim that it was premeditated murder, since he staked out his property and lay in wait for them, and didn’t try to retreat or give them a warning to leave before he shot them.

Thankfully here in Texas he was perfectly within his rights to do exactly what he did. As for the thugs? If you don’t want to get shot, don’t break into other people’s property and try to rob them. Seems simple enough to me.

Say Hello to My New Little Friend: Kahr .40 S&W

Posted by Robbie Cooper at 8:54 pm 6 Responses »

Sep 182011

Say hello to my new little friend.

I’ve been wanting a new everyday carry piece for quite sometime, and have been doing my research on various models. My current piece, a Springfield XD .45 ACP Compact (with a 5″ barrel) is a fantastic handgun, but it’s a bit heavy (31 oz) and not the smallest of choices for concealed carry (8.3″ long overall).

Criteria for a new piece:

.40 S&W or .45 ACP caliber
Reliable
Lightweight and shorter barrel length — if a gun is not comfortable and easy to carry, you’re not going to carry it everyday.
Under $600 — if money were no object, I’d run out and buy a new Kimber Ultra CDP II .45 ACP today, but at nearly $1400, I think that might be a wish item for another day.

A fairly new manufacturer kept popping up in my searches, Kahr Arms, made in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the region commonly known as “Gun Valley.”

On Friday afternoon I stopped into the best gun shop in all of Central Texas, McBride’s Guns just to browse and talk to their exceptionally knowledgeable and helpful staff. Spent about 15 minutes chatting with an older gentleman who works there named Bob. Asked him about the Kahr line and the two old geezers, both wearing Vietnam Veterans ball caps, both chimed in immediately to let me know that they were each carrying Kahr’s (one a 9mm and the other a .45 ACP) and swore by them.

Bob pulled out the Kahr CW .45, and while I was getting a feel for it, he mentioned that they’d just received a CW .40 S&W as a trade in a few weeks ago, and I could walk out of the store with it for less than half the cost of a new .45 ACP.

Range Report

As we’re skipping to the range report, it’s safe to assume I couldn’t pass up such a good deal. Bought a couple boxes of range ammo and headed straight to Red’s Indoor Range (South) to put some lead down range.

First off, the gun fits my hand exceptionally well. It’s a small, compact handgun, but I can still get three fingers on the grip without needing a grip extension. At 16.1 oz, it’s almost half as heavy as my Springfield XD and nearly 2 inches shorter. Since the magazine is a single stack (6+1), it’s also much thinner than my double-stack SA XD (10+1).

I’ve carried it all weekend (inside the waistband, mostly), and hardly knew it was there.

It has a much longer trigger pull than my XD, too…but with a double-action only (DOA) trigger and passive safety, that was expected. I had my .45 with me at the range, too, and was able to do a shot-by-shot comparison. My XD is much more accurate at all distances for me, but with the 1.4″-longer barrel that was expected. The Kahr .40 S&W also has a bit more recoil than my larger caliber .45 ACP, but that’s also to be expected in a shorter-barreled handgun.

Took me a couple of magazines to get the Kahr properly sighted, but once I did, I feel confident that it will be more than effective at typical defense-situation distances (3-25 meters).

I’ve put 150 rounds through it this weekend, and not once did it misfire, misfeed, or jam. Breakdown took less than 3 minutes, and reassembly was no more than that either. Very quick and easy to clean handgun (almost identical breakdown procedure as my XD).

So, until I can afford the Kimber Ultra CDP II, I think I’ve found my new everyday carry piece. For the price, it’s really nice looking (stainless steel slide with a black polymer frame), reliable, accurate, and very easy to conceal handgun. And made in America, too, if that’s important to you (always a consideration for me).

My XD will likely become my vehicle carry piece for the days I drive my truck…simply love that gun too much to keep her locked up in the safe.

Older Entries