Loveable Liberal has a great post at TennViews: High noon in home room

A U.S. Air pilot "accidentally" discharged his/her weapon on approach to Charlotte. No one was injured and the flight landed without further incident. According to the news reports, it is the first time this has happened since allowing pilots to carry guns after 9/11.

Personally, I'm OK with arming pilots as long as they are trained and qualified. It appears this pilot wasn't adequately trained. There is no excuse for an "accidental" discharge. Also, how much you want to bet it was a Glock?

What kind of sick, dysfunctional society do we live in that wants to arm teachers in public schools and universities and even allow college students to carry guns to class?

Rep. Stacey "Knoxville's Embarrassment" Campfield has introduced just such a bill, saying:

"It's unfortunate that these supposed gun-free zones are now really just an opportunity for those who are going to carry a gun illegally to know where to go and have some easy victims."

He says he left out a provision that would allow students to carry guns on college campuses so his proposal would "sound more reasonable."

The University of Tennessee doesn't think more guns are needed on their campus according to WBIR:

"In response to similar questions, August Washington, the chief of police at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has stated allowing more guns on campus would not increase safety. In fact, we think the opposite is true. We are opposed to allowing anyone other than trained law enforcement personnel to carry guns on campus."

(The WBIR report quotes "flaming liberal" Carole Borges.)

AP:

Nearly half the Senate is pushing the Bush administration to let gun owners carry handguns and other firearms into national parks and wildlife refuges.

Forty-seven lawmakers have signed a letter asking Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to lift Reagan-era restrictions that prevent citizens from carrying readily accessible firearms onto lands managed by the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Although this story hit the wires yesterday, the letter (.pdf) was actually sent a month ago. It was signed by Senator Corker but not by Senator Alexander.

How embarrassing.

Hope the victims will be okay.

UPDATE: One victim dies at UT Hospital.

UPDATE: Suspect shot and killed by KPD in Western Plaza parking lot.

UPDATE: Tests link suspect's gun to Hooters killing

Six junior high or high school students were shot Tuesday after they got off a school bus, and two were critically hurt, police said.

I guess all the kids on the school bus should have been issued concealed carry permits so they could have been armed and thus prevented yet another senseless tragedy.

All day, CNN has been looping this disturbing 911 call from a guy who was itching to go shoot some burglars in the yard, citing the recently enacted "castle doctrine" in Texas.

The trouble is, it was a neighbor's yard, not the shotgun toting yahoo's yard. The killings are caught on audio tape. I wonder how the big hero feels today about gunning down a couple of petty thieves over some cheap replaceable junk?

UPDATE: SayUncle factchecks the story.

"The weapons included a 9 mm assault rifle that the teenager's mother had recently bought for him, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. said. Prosecutors are reviewing her actions."
Link...

This child's cache of weapons was in full sight in his room. His mother is either mentally impaired, mentally ill herself or one of the worst parents ever.

That clicking sound you hear? It's from empty magazines all around the country.

You have a right to bear arms - you just may have trouble loading 'em.

Maybe SayUncle should take up a collection...

Troops training for and fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are firing more than 1 billion bullets a year, contributing to ammunition shortages hitting police departments nationwide and preventing some officers from training with the weapons they carry on patrol.

An Associated Press review of dozens of police and sheriff's departments found that many are struggling with delays of as long as a year for both handgun and rifle ammunition. And the shortages are resulting in prices as much as double what departments were paying just a year ago.

"There were warehouses full of it. Now, that isn't the case," said Al Aden, police chief in Pierre, S.D.

Departments in all parts of the country reported delays or reductions in training and, in at least one case, a proposal to use paint-ball guns in firing drills as a way to conserve real ammo.

Remember, we're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here. Good thing, too. Paintballs wouldn't deter the terrorists for long...

(Wasn't it Zell Miller who said that Kerry would reduce our armed forces to using spitballs? How ironic.)

UPDATE: SayUncle responds, as does the original poster. Some of the comments are hilarious. At least SayUncle seems to sort of get the point.

Every now and then I go over to see what they're talking about at SayUncle's, because I've met the guy and he's OK (other than being maybe a little too obsessed with guns and the 2nd Amendment), and occasionally there's an interesting post about blogging or local politics (except for some off-the-deep-end posts by #9 which he allows there).

But apparently Uncle's gone on vacation, and given the keys to his blog to a bunch of his gun-nut blog buddies. Usually I just ignore that stuff, but this post was rather shocking.

More...

If you want to see what the NRA Gun Utopia looks like, here's a good example. In Iraq, They shoot people when they're mad...They shoot people when they're glad.

Read more at WhitesCreek...

While I'm thrilled that fundamentalist Christian fanatics now have a "museum" of their own - the new Creation Museum in northern Kentucky near Cincinnati - I was furious to discover that firearms are not allowed on the premises. Surely no Bible-believing Christian would harm another human with a gun, right? And surely an armed fundamentalist citizenry would be able to prevent some poor deluded soul from trying to bring in the rapture prematurely, right? It's so disappointing that Christian fundamentalists have bought into gun-grabbing liberalism lock, stock and barrel.

Link...

State Sen. Jimmy Kyle (D-Memphis) got an amendment to the "guns in parks and public places" bill to also allow guns in the State Capitol building, including the House and Senate chambers and the Legislative Plaza, where guns are currently prohibited.

Sounds reasonable to me. After all, CCW promoters keep telling us they are the safest, most law-abiding people in the whole state of Tennessee. If families in state parks would be safer with CCW guns around, so would our elected officials, right? What's the big deal?

Apparently it's a big deal to the bill's sponsor, Sen. Tim Burchett (R-Knoxville). He withdrew his bill rather than allow it to pass with the amendment.

Money quote:

"I do not fear the permit holder. I trust that permit holder enough to have them up in that gallery," Kyle told colleagues, referring to a balcony area that overlooks the Senate floor.

"If we're going to be telling families visiting state parks that it's OK to carry a gun around them, it should be OK to carry a gun around us," said Kyle. "We set one standard for citizens, another for us. I'm tired of that."

Heh. Indeed.

Rocketsquirrel's good advice below notwithstanding, this is a big story, and for those at work who couldn't see it, here's a summary of the Virginia Tech press briefing that just concluded.

Read more...

Reports: up to 22 killed in Virginia Tech shooting rampage. Shooter reported killed. Others, possibly as many as 28, reported wounded.

UPDATE: ATF says shooter killed himself, two 9mm handguns recovered. White male, connection to university unknown at this time.

UPDATE: Wounded victim who was shot in upper arm says shooter was "Asian", walked in and started firing at random, shot several students and possibly the professor, left, tried to come back in, they barricaded the door and he began firing through the door.

UPDATE: Reports now say 32 dead. Student journalists from the school paper are posting updates at a temporary alternate site.

UPDATE: CNN reports that the death toll is up to 33. They include the gunman in the count.

UPDATE: AP reports that Virginia Tech officials confirm shooter was a student.

UPDATE: CNN single source report (i.e. not confirmed) that a Glock 9mm and "a .22" were recovered.

UPDATE: NBC reporting that the shooter purchased both handguns in Virginia.

UPDATE: New revelations about the shooter's state of mind.

UPDATE: The Hillbilly Savants blog has an extensive roundup.

Blog accounts from the campus:

Ruination Day

Madness on campus

Rather scared

Virginia Tech shootout (scroll down)

Insane freshman year

Holy....

So, I notice the "nonprofit Tennessee Wildlife Federation" is pushing the right-to-hunt Constitional amendment again.

Sigh. Sure wish we had a Democratic infrastructure that would recognize the constant stream of right-wing-social-issue Constitutional amendments as the political ploy it is: a blatant move to push conservative Republican turnout every time there's a statewide election. "Animal rights activists" will not and cannot push to outlaw hunting in Tennessee, especially since every statewide candidate for office in Tennessee falls all over himself to produce TV commercials showing him dressed in camouflage and ready to go play Great White Hunter.

But nooooo. Every Democrat in the Tennessee legislature will vote to support this thing, and anyone who writes them to oppose it will be characterized as some lefty lunatic. Sorta like the 100% effective move the GOP used to push the 2006 gay marriage amendment [also supported overwhelmingly by Dems in the state legislature...the vote to put it on the ballot was 88 to 7 in the House], which many folks think cost Harold Ford a Senate seat.

I swear, a lot of the time I think we get what we deserve in this state. Too bad little kids and other folks without the power to force any change have to suffer along with those who put jackasses in office.

I told you guys I liked Paul Hackett:

An Iraq war veteran who drew national attention when he ran for Congress criticizing the president chased three men who had crashed into a fence outside his home, then guarded them with an assault rifle until police arrived, according to police reports.

...

According to a police report, officers were called to Hackett's home on Nov. 19 after a car crashed into a fence and sped away. The officers arrived to find three men lying face down near their car and Hackett with an assault rifle slung over his shoulder.

"He said he had done this about 200 times in Iraq, but this time there was not a translation problem," the police report said.

Hackett told police later that he was carrying a civilian model of an AR-15 and that one round was in the chamber but the safety was on. He said he never aimed the weapon at the men or put his finger on the trigger.