America, circa 2016

Today's Idiot With a Gun - They Make 'Em Dumber in Texas

On Friday, a 7-year-old shot himself in the leg with his father's handgun.  The little boy didn't find it on a table, or hidden under a pillow.  No, this 7-year-old's father is not that careless--he's even worse.

Andrew Crittenden of San Angelo actually GAVE the gun to his son to play with.  He later told police that he thought the gun was unloaded.

And gun un-safety isn't Mr. Crittenden's only talent.  He managed to hit a 5-year-old with his pick-up truck while on the way to the hospital with his injured son.  

Both children will be fine.

eye'm thynkin':  #1  What sane person gives a 7-year-old a real gun to play with like a toy?

#2  He THOUGHT the gun was empty?  He didn't check?

Read more at The Dallas Morning News

Who Thinks a Gun That Looks Like a Cellphone is a Good Idea?

Minnesota company Ideal Conceal has just come up with a handgun that is capable of folding up into an impostor cell phone.

The Ideal Conceal hand-cannon is a .380-caliber pistol and will be available sometime later this year.  The company is excited to market this gun to the public because, as it states on its website, it "will be virtually undetectable because it hides in plain sight."

How comforting...

eye'm thynkin':  Does the world really need this?

What Could Possibly Go Wrong #1: Think of the number of children who are fascinated by guns and who are killed by guns left where they can find them.  Now think of the number of children who play with cell phones.

What Could Possibly Go Wrong #2:  When a police officer stops someone and that person pulls out a cellphone, how long is that officer supposed to wait to find out if his family is going to suffer a death by cellphone?

What Could Possibly Go Wrong #3:  Imagine you're at school, or church, or at the mall, or at your local farmer's market, or... and someone near you pulls out a cell phone.  Do you duck or die?

So I ask again, does the world really need this?

Read more at Liberal America

Today's Responsible Idiot with a Gun Story

A 32-year-old Walton County (Georgia) man's leg was severed just below the knee with a piece of shrapnel when he and his friends blew up a law mover in a rural location near his home on Saturday.

The men were using Tannerite to blow up the riding mower, according to the Walton County Sheriff's Office.  Tannerite is a combination of chemicals sold legally at most gun and sporting goods stores...

...One of the men at the site explained they put about three pounds of Tannerite inside the mower and Presley was shooting a gun at the Tannerite to ignite an explosion.

eye'm thynkin':  The Walton County Sheriff's Office said it best: "Yes, it is legal and no, we can't make people stop doing it.  But why folks, just why?"

Read more at OnLine Athens

Four Stories from Political Pollution

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m'eye thoughts:  Trump vs. Cruz: who is the most obnoxious?  Here's a 1:43 video that probably will not, in any way, help you decide. Enjoy!

Watch the video at Addicting Info

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Guess they were surprised that this many people could figure out how to get one of those spanking new voter IDs.

Read more at Freak Out Nation

Hope you didn't expect the local official in charge to apologize.  

Read

Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell's response here.  

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Laws that allow a man to openly carry a handgun into a special needs school were repeatedly questioned and jeered at a special Monday night meeting of parents, staff and others at the school.

The best question of the night:  

"Kids with a toy gun can get kicked out of school but an adult with a (real) gun doesn't?" one man asked.

Read more at Michigan Live

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If you need another reason to fear the misogyny and all around ickiness of Donald Trump, this should do it.

Watch the video at Buzz Feed News

Two More Stories from Political Pollution

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New York City Police Chief Bill Bratton:

"He doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.  Quite frankly, I took great offense at that statement.  I have almost 1,000 Muslim officers in the NYPD.  Ironically, when he's running around here, we probably have a few Muslim officers guarding him."

m'eye thoughts:  Cruz doesn't care about facts.  Hate sells, and he's just trying to make his monthly quota.

Read more at Raw Story

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If more guns make us safer, why wouldn't the RNC want guns at their convention; after all, they're the "good guys," right?

Read more and sign the petition at 

Change dot Org

More Stories from Political Pollution

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MaKayla was killed by an 11-year-old who had easy access to a firearm.  Her family wants gun owners who do not store their guns safely to be held responsible for tragedies like this.

MaKayla's Law is now making its way through the Tennessee legislature. Erin Luper, an NRA lobbyist in Tennessee, wants to make sure the law never passes.

m'eye thoughts:  They call themselves "responsible gun owners," until it's time to be held responsible.  Makes sense, in a rabid NRA kind of way.

Erin Luper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinluper

News on the progress of MaKayla's Law

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/522/941/981/makayla-gun-rights/

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These people have completely fallen off the cliff of common decency.  Violence is not a virtue. Rioting is not a civilized response to rejection.  Just when I think they can't surprise me any more, they say or do something that not only surprises, it shocks and disgusts.

I want my America back.

Read more at Liberal America

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"I want, no, I demand, a president whose first loyalty is to the Constitution, and to the people--all the people--he or she was elected to serve.  Only a Christian has the privilege--and only ones like Ted cruz, who present themselves as holier than thou, would have the gall--to claim otherwise."

Read more at Daily Kos

Today's Dumb-*ss with a Gun Story

A total of six people, a family of five and an unrelated teenager, were all shot at a Florida gun range in what was obviously a total accident.

The shooting happened early Saturday afternoon at the Forest Road 88 Shooting Range.  According to police officers, a 21-year-old man who of course knows how to safely handle a firearm, was loading an antique shotgun.  The shotgun reportedly discharged accidentally.  The shot apparently hit the concrete floor, and then ricocheted, spraying shotgun pellets through the air, hitting six people...

...The Ocala shooting range, where the accident occurred..."is unsupervised" (Sarcasm alert!) ...because anybody who is able to pass the stringent vetting to purchase a firearm has obviously trained diligently in how to handle a weapon that can take someone's life with the mere twitch of a finger.  Why would anyone need to supervise?

eye'm thynkin':  Those are some very lucky people.  

Added note:  In 2005, a man accidentally killed himself at this same unsupervised shooting range while he was "practicing cowboy action shooting."

Read more about the shotgun accident at
Winning Democrats

Videos from My Political Pollution Facebook Page

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m'eye thoughts:  "American presidential politics didn't get this way on its own.  This is the work of an American presidential candidate who deliberately made this happen--and the Republican Party is about to nominate him for President."

Clips proving Trump's call for and culpability in the escalating violence begin at about the 3:00 mark.

Watch the video at MSNBC

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Perfect.

Watch the video at Awesome Stuff

West Virginia Legislature, Bought & Paid for by NRA

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin (D)

Gun owners in West Virginia will no longer need to get a permit to have a concealed weapon...  The House voted on the measure Friday and officially overrode a gubernatorial veto on Saturday.

The law, which does away with the permit and training program for people 21 and older who want to carry a concealed weapon, was supported by the National Rifle Association, (color my not shocked), but opposed by law enforcement across the state. (And no doubt by their families who want them to return home safely at the end of their shift.)

"West Virginia's law enforcement officers have dedicated their lives to keeping us safe and helping us in times of need, and it's disheartening that the members of the Legislature have chosen not to stand with these brave men and women--putting their safety and the safety of West Virginians at risk," Democratic Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said in a statement Saturday...

...The (now defunct) permitting process also included a background check and a gun safety class, both meant to reduce gun violence.

eye'm thynkin':    A permit process designed to reduce gun violence does not serve the NRA's reason for being: to sell more guns.  And anyway, what's a dead cop or two when there is NRA money to be had?

Read more at Think Progress

Responsible Gun Owner Teachers Her Toddler to Shoot...He Shoots Her

Meet Florida resident Jamie Gilt... Jamie is many things.  She's a Ted Cruz supporter.  She's a pro-gun advocate who runs a narcissistically-named pro-gun Facebook page called "Jamie Gilt for Gun Sense." ...According to her Facebook likes she is an admirer of the Tea Party, she's a horse enthusiast, thinks Hillary Clinton belongs in prison, and admires the terrorist group who engaged in an armed standoff with the federal government at Bundy Ranch.  She's also exactly the sort of person who would leave a loaded gun within arm's reach of a 4-year-old.

On Tuesday afternoon, a Putnam County Sheriff's Deputy noticed a woman behaving frantically inside her four-door pickup truck.  The officer quickly realized that a woman inside the vehicle had been shot, according to Captain Joseph Wells.  The woman explained to the officer that she had been shot by her four-year-old son as he sat in the back seat of the car...

...(On her Facebook page) Gilt cheerfully declares that all her children "know how to shoot"--something her 4-year-old proved after she left a loaded gun within arm's reach of him.  "Even my 4-year-old gets jacked up to target shoot with a .22," she wrote in response to someone who praised her "spirit and patriotic attitude."

She was shot with a .45-caliber handgun.

eye'm thynkin':  I wonder if she'll be bragging about how proud she is that her 4-year-old graduated from a .22 to .45 all by himself!  Yeehaw!  YippySkippy!  Mommy taught me how to shoot and I shot her in the back!  I was totally jacked!

Read more at Addicting Info (The article includes some screenshots from her FB page that have to be seen to be believed.)

One Less Stupid Guy With a Gun in Washington State

AP Photo/Jens Meyer

A 43-year-old man has died after authorities say he accidentally shot himself in the face while taking selfies.

The Skagit Valley Herald reports the man and his girlfriend were photographing themselves with the weapon on Sunday at a residence when he shot himself.

Skagit Couinty Sheriff's Office Patrol Chief Chad Clark says the woman reported that she and the man had taken photos with the gun several times that day and that the man had loaded and unloaded bullets multiple times.

Clark says a bullet apparently remained in the gun the final time he fired.

eye'm thynkin':  #1 This is a special kind of stupid.  #2 Does pointing a gun at yourself and taking a picture pass for entertainment in Washington?  #3 "...a bullet apparently remained in the gun..."  I give you Patrol Chief Chad Clark, a master at stating the obvious.

Read more at Koin 6

Stories from My Political Pollution Facebook Page

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m'eye thoughts: "The people we need to fear in this country are not Muslims, they are the people he is actively encouraging to arm themselves.  He and his organization are the reason so many of us are dying.  His hypocrisy is mind-blowing."

Read more at Addicting Info

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Another report from inside a Trump rally.  The pattern is set and it's not pretty.  It's not American.  It's not even civilized.

This is a post I shared from a young lady in Michigan. 

One Story, Two Graphics, and a Video from Political Pollution

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m'eye thoughts:  The Five Republican Stages of Trump

I enjoyed Stages 1-3.  

Today, the GOP is at Stage 4, and my entertainment quotient has plummeted.

--2--

This is just plain embarrassing.

Watch the video at Vox

--3--

It's a sad example of Washington's skewed priorities.

With reasonable restrictions on gun purchases, maybe we wouldn't need to spend time fighting Apple over unlocking a terrorist's iPhone.

--4--

"...Cruz's objection stems from the part of the deal providing funding to Flint..."

GOP Bible, Book of Rafael 1: 1 

Blessed are the money-obsessed, for they shall be made King of the Christians.

Story at Politicus USA

Today's Good Guy With a Gun Report: Two Idiots, One State Trying to Make a Difference

1 - A woman was rushed to the hospital early (Monday) morning after police say she accidentally shot herself at a Birmingham motel...

...The woman's toddler son was in the room at the time of the shooting but was not injured.

Birmingham police Sgt. Rebecca Herrera said the woman was in the motel room when she thought she heard a noise.  She grabbed her gun that was under her pillow, and somehow shot herself in the chest...

...Her injuries could be life-threatening, but Herrera said the woman was in stable condition as of 3:15 a.m.

eye'm thynkin':  A gun safety course may have helped her tell one end of the gun from the other.

Read more at ALdotcom

Justin Ryan Jones
via Bell County Sheriff's Dept.

2 - Police in Bell County, Texas arrested Justin Ryan Jones, a 34-year-old man (on Tuesday) who shot his 9-year-old daughter in the chest in what police said was reckless behavior...

...Jones reportedly told a Bell County Sheriff's Department deputy he was showing his children gun safety when the gun he was holding fired and shot his 9-year-old daughter. (Oh, please! I'd be surprised if he could even spell the word.)

But Jones' son said his father was pretending to shoot them.

The 7-year-old said he liked the clicking sound the gun made. He said his father pulled the trigger and "his sister was shot," the affidavit said,

Jones' other son, age 6, said his father was pointing the gun at his sister and held it in both hands while pretending to shoot them.

Nothing like a little Texas-style family fun time with a firearm.

The little girl is currently in Intensive Care after several surgeries.

Read more at Daily Kos

                  photo: Michael Saechang

3- Gun buyers in Oregon could have to wait longer to get a weapon if there's a delay in processing their criminal background check.  The Oregon House narrowly approved the measure Monday.

Most background checks are cleared right away.  But about three percent of the time, there's some sort of delay.  Right now, if that delay lasts three days, the dealer is free to complete the sale.  The new bill would extend that waiting period to 10 days.

Democratic Rep. Lew Frederick said allowing sales to go through by default is a loophole, no matter what time frame.  He said while the new bill wouldn't close that loophole..."it makes it tight enough to catch a few more people who might exploit it."

I'd rather they had closed the loophole completely--no completed background check, no gun. A little inconvenience is worth the chance of saving a life, but I'll take what I can get.

Read more at OPBdotOrg

Another Dumb Guy With a Gun - 12-Year-Old Wounded by "Responsible" Militia Member

Brandon Curtiss (left) with other members of the
III% Idaho group (Facebook)

The daughter of a militia member was shot and wounded Sunday after a local meeting of the III% Idaho group,

The 12-year-old girl, whose name was not released, was taken by helicopter to a hospital for treatment after the shooting at the Rupert Gun Range, reported the Twin Falls Times-News...

...It's not clear who was handling the weapon when it fired, wounding the girl.

Brandon Curtiss, the president of the state III% militia group...said militia group members wanted to take target practice after a county meeting of the militia group--which was involved in last month's armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Curtiss said a militia member's gun accidentally fired while cleaning the weapon, and the bullet struck a metal table beneath a shelter and ricocheted.

eye'm thynkin':  I can't help but be reminded of the bill currently making its way through the Iowa legislature that would make it legal for children--of any age--to carry a weapon.  It will be safe, they say, because there will be adult supervision.  Well, that didn't work so well here did it?

And who in the hell cleans a loaded gun?

Read more at Raw Story

More Stories I Originally Posted at Political Pollution Page

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m'eye thoughts:  Wha-a-a-a-t?

Read more at Addicting Info

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What's next, tiny pink and blue guns advertised as perfect for baby shower gifts?

Read more at Raw Story

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Proof that not all billionaires are asshats.

Go to Political Pollution to view the video

(Sorry, I don't know how to share a video here.)

More Stories From My Political Pollution Page

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m'eye thoughts:  So sad, and so entirely preventable.

Yeah, this guy had a concealed carry permit, but his loaded gun wasn't concealed; it was lying on a table in plain sight.

This is the 18th shooting this year where a good-guy-with-a-gun left a loaded firearm where a child could find it...that's one every three days. 

Thank you, NRA, for making this possible.  Smart guns could have prevented every one of these shootings, but you stood your ground and kept them off the market.  These 18 families surely appreciate your efforts.

Read more at The Washington Post

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Well, this love affair didn't last long.

Read more at Politicus USA

Terrorist or Toddler; You're Just as Dead.

February 16 - More Stories I Originally Posted at Political Pollution

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m'eye thoughts:  This is unbelievable.  What happens when he "accidentally" kills someone?  Will that be okay because he's a bad shot?!

Read more at Raw Story

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I used to think that Republicans would eventually reach a point where their outrageous talk would run up against a wall of decency, but they seem to just keep moving the wall.  President Obama wants "the crosses and Stars of David sandblasted off the tombstones of our fallen veterans"...really?  Do they lie awake at night thinking up new garbage they can feed the dopes who swallow their every moronic lie?  Or maybe they're just trying to see how much bullsh*t their followers are capable of digesting:  "As long as they can keep it down, we'll keep it up!"

If Ted Cruz is supposed to be the anointed King of the Christians, shouldn't he be setting some kind of decency example?  Or did his crown come with a Get-Out-of-Hell free card?

Read more at Occupy Democrats

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When even your home state hates you...

Read more at Liberal America