One Republican success story: We all need guns now to protect ourselves from a violent armed society, part 1.

When republicans didn't like how businesses were harmed by city voters that passed paid sick leave laws, they jumped into action and banned local regulations statewide. Problem solved.

When republicans saw a shocking rise in Milwaukee residents getting murdered on the streets they…said it was Milwaukee’s problem. Priorities. 

And that’s one of the more deadly ways republicans run state government.

After 3 years of declining homicide rates, the avalanche of lax gun laws and the shifting social attitudes about our new gun culture are now eating away at our social fabric. The effects of change are slow but predictable.

Watch in amazement as Rep Jim Steineke feigned surprise by Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett’s accusation that recently passed gun laws are taking their toll. He asked, what laws? Really, Rep. Steineke, you can’t point to one law passed in the last 4 years that may have caused this surge in gun violence?

Here's a little help for Steineke, who didn't do himself any favors by asking "What particular law did we pass that led to this increase in gun violence? I can't think of one possible bill that we passed over the last four years that has anything to do with the increase in violence." Of course republicans are asking for irrefutable proof there's a connection, like supply side economics creating high wage jobs...okay, maybe that's not a good example.

1. How about our more lenient Deadly Force/Castle/Stand Your Ground Law, where we can now settle arguments more permanently.

2. Maybe Rep. Steineke doesn’t remember when our gun loving Republican bullies in the legislature rammed open carry down our throats. Hey, who would have thought road rage would be made so much easier by allowing guns to be openly carried in our vehicles? Silly us.

3. Oh, and now republicans are choosing to get rid of a common sense 48 hour cooling off period so crimes of passion and social disagreements are guaranteed to increase and end badly.

4. And it's what republicans didn't do, like closing the gun show and personal gun sales loophole.

Maybe someday we'll have real discussion over the societal change brought about by arming everyday citizens. It's amazing we let a small portion of our society, spurred on by an activist conservative Supreme Courts misreading of the 2nd Amendment, make guns just another hand held devise, not unlike a smart phone, that we'll simply start using without even thinking.

Father of Son Killed at UC by gunman speaks for every responsible parent.

For anyone with a child, the following is going to make so much sense. It’s the whole reason why parents are so disturbed by open carry bully’s trying to prove their pointless agenda. It never occurs to them that to us, they’re strangers with loaded weapons. For some dumb reason, we’re supposed to trust them after?

This is such an incredibly moving response from a father whose son was killed randomly by another supposed safe law abiding citizen, it's difficult to watch. He's right, while the killers get all the media coverage, there's nothing about the victims:

TPM: The father of one of the victims of a mass shooting near the University of California, Santa Barbara placed the blame for his son's death on politicians once again Monday, invoking the 2012 elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn.

"Have we learned nothing? These things are going to continue until somebody does something," Richard Martinez said in an interview with CNN. "So where the hell is the leadership? Where the hell are these people we elect to congress that we spend so much money on? These people are getting rich sitting in Congress, and what do they do? They don't take care of our kids. My kid died because nobody responded to what happened at Sandy Hook."

Martinez's son, Christopher, was the last of six victims allegedly killed by Elliot Rodger before the suspected shooter took his own life. 

"Those parents lost little kids. I had 20 years with my son. That's all I'll ever have," he said. "But those people lost their children at 6 and 7 years old. How do you think they feel? And who's talking to them now, who's doing anything for them now? Who is standing up for those kids that died back then in an elementary school? Why wasn't something done? It's outrageous."

And yet...

Jordan Davis's Murder...ends in Mistrial!

This is how stand your ground has changed our view of shooting someone, and the lower value we've put on life, especially black teenagers:

USA Today: Circuit Judge Russell Healey declared a mistrial on the first-degree murder count. A Florida jury found a software engineer guilty of attempted murder and shooting into a car full of teenagers, but they could not agree on first-degree murder in the death of one of the teenaged boys.

You could see that shocking verdict in the face CNN's Don Lemon, and the guests that followed:



Here's what a very shaken legal reporter Sonny Hosten had to say, while people in cars circle the court house shouting "Not guilty," and the Jordan family's reaction:

Rep. Joel Kleefisch says Parents will love having strangers with guns in their kids schools. It will be safer....

UPDATE: The amendment below has been scrapped...for now.

What every parent needs to see is a stranger with a loaded gun in their kids school. Ya think?

You’d have to be stone cold crazy, like Rep. Joel Kleefisch, to think something this idiotic is a good idea.

Anyone with a concealed weapons permit could carry a gun onto school grounds in Wisconsin under a proposal being put to a vote Thursday by the Republican chairman of the Assembly Criminal Justice Committee.

Allowing any of the roughly 203,000 people who have a concealed weapon permit to bring a gun to school doesn't have enough votes in the Republican-controlled committee to pass, said its sponsor, Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc. The goal, he said, was to start a discussion about school safety. “I’m not sure the citizens of Wisconsin want concealed weapons holders on school grounds,” Kleefisch said.

Let me get this right, Kleefisch assumes no one wants this law, but we should at least start talking about because, who knows, we might get used to the idea? Here's WKOW's Greg Nuemann with the story:

Kleefisch also backed legislation promoting crossbow hunting near schools Democratic Rep. Evan Goyke, a member of the committee (said) “We’ve got to defeat it. It’s a terrible amendment. It is very dangerous and unnecessary. My biggest problem is: How can a school know who is armed and who is unarmed and who is allowed to be armed and who is not allowed to be armed? Good guys and good-intentioned people may sometimes act inconsistent with their intentions.” 

But our kids will be safer with complete strangers with loaded guns in our schools, right?

The goal is to make schools safer, Kleefisch said. Schools need armed people who can fight back if there is an attack, he said.

Kleefisch also backed legislation promoting crossbow hunting near schools. What is it with this guy about weapons and schools?

Guns pass Cars as number one killer, even as fewer people own firearms.

I can't wait to hear how they're going to explain this one. What new cliche will they shape around the number one killer in the U.S.? The fact is, the auto industry continues to make cars safer, while gun manufacturers laugh at technologies that could save lives.

State Republicans propose Buying Out-of-State Rifles on same day another "responsible" Gun Owner Shoots and Kills 12 People.

On the same day state NRA Republicans pushed this:

Nothing wrong with this guy...

GOP bill would loosen restrictions on sales of long guns: A Republican effort to ease controls on purchases of rifles and shotguns from out of state might please hunters, but at least one Democrat sees it as an act of subservience to the National Rifle Association.

Timing is everything; this tragedy happened to remind us why Republicans are so bad at governing:

Navy vet ID'd as shooter in DC attack that killed 12 … sprayed bullets from the fourth floor down to the cafeteria area in the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters just after 8 a.m. (with) an AR-15. While stationed in Fort Worth, he was arrested on Sept. 4, 2010, after an upstairs neighbor reported that he had fired shots up into her apartment.

Why did this guy have a rifle?

Two strange men carry assault rifles to family Farmers market, what could go wrong?

Even my conservative friend in Milwaukee called these two guys knuckleheads for not doing concealed carry advocates any favors.

I've always contended the that small fraction of hobbyist gun owners and potential carriers don't seem to care one bit about public safety and everyone else's freedom to not have strangers with loaded guns around their families. I'm including much of the story here because it's important to understand how useless reasoning is when dealing with these people;

Here's what an AR-15 looks like....

jsonline: Two men heading to Appleton's downtown farmers market with AR-15 rifles slung over their shoulders and handguns in holsters swiftly attracted the attention of police officers last weekend. The men, Charles Branstrom, 27, and Ross Bauman, 22, ultimately were released without tickets or charges.

Branstrom recorded the confrontation with Appleton Police. 

Milwaukee's police chief ridiculed the pair. "In a post Aurora-Newtown environment, it's a reckless and irresponsible stunt to strut around in public with an assault-style weapon and think police should assume you're well-intentioned," Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said Thursday, referring to mass shooting incidents in Colorado and Connecticut. "It's just absurd," Flynn said.

Police were trying to appeal to the practical side of carrying a gun in public, and hoping this was one of those learning moments. It wasn't. According to their recording:

The men are walking down the street when they see a police car's lights go on and they see officers approaching. As the officers order the men to put their hands against the wall, the police ask why they're carrying the guns that way.
"For self-defense," Branstrom says.

"These are real AR-15s guys. I'll cover them both," says one officer, who levels his own weapon at the men as another officer begins questioning them.

Police ask if the men are headed to the farmers market. "Yeah, we were just going to do some shopping," Branstrom says.

"Do you understand how that might create a disturbance if you're walking around with an AR-15 strapped to your back?" asks an officer.

"Yeah, I guess some people don't like guns," Branstrom replies.

One officer offers this parting comment: "I get what you guys are trying to do. ... But when you grow up a little bit and you're a parent and have kids at an event like this and you see someone walk through with guns strapped to their back, your first inclination is going to be, 'All right, what's this guy up to? Is my child going to be safe?'"

Branstrom, an Appleton truck mechanic, said he gets that argument, but said police just "provoked more fear and panic" the way the rolled up on him and Bauman. "I'm still kind of shaken," he said. "I was one nervous twitch away from having a bullet put in me," he said.

Fear Grips America, as Americans Grip their Guns and Target Sane Gun Laws. Voters Oust Two Colorado Democrats for Background checks and 15 Round Mags.

Perhaps I overreacted, and I'm hoping that's the case after hearing what Rachel Maddow had to say about this NRA victory:



Here's what I originally posted: 
There are those who are trying to play down the Colorado recall over gun regulation, but I’m not one them.

This was a big, fear laden victory for an ever growing movement of civil vigilantism.

When Americans are faced with this…

 …two mass shootings last year – at an Aurora, Colo., movie theater and a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

…that resulted in two sensible attempts to reduce the ease of committing these public acts of execution:

Both (recalled) state legislators voted for 15-round limits on ammunition magazines and for expanded background checks on private gun sales.

You've got to wonder just how bad this is going to get. Knowing a few of my conservative friends has opened my eyes to the right wings volatility over events in the news, mostly imagined, that anger them to the point desperation and near hopelessness.

The Colorado state senate president who faced a backlash after casting votes for gun control has conceded in a race to recall him from office, and … a second state lawmaker (also) lost her recall vote. "We as the Democratic Party will continue to fight," the Denver Post quoted Sen. John Morse as saying. "The highest rank in democracy is citizen, not senate president, so soon, along with many of you, I will hold that rank and there's nothing citizens can't accomplish when they put their minds to accomplishing it."

Attempts to pass reasonable gun laws isn't just dead, is created a backlash that now has the ability to control elections, bringing about an entirely different and unpredictably violent society based on one issue.    

Kurt Bardella, a communications consultant for the recall said, "The people of Colorado have made history tonight sending a loud and clear message that will reverberate through-out the county and alter the terrain of the gun-control debate."

The gun culture continues to rot away at human nature. And the majority of American who choose not to arm themselves may soon have too. Hows that for liberty and freedom? 

Democratic-leaning Connecticut, Maryland, and New York also passed tougher gun laws without a recall effort making a state ballot.

Toure takes on Racism after shooting of Australian student.

To my conservative friend in Milwaukee and anyone else who might listen, here's the right response from MSNBC's Toure about the tragic shooting of Chris Lane:



I just read this stomach turning story below, that makes it official for me; guns are now simply another way to deal with everyday disagreements. You can argue, or you can just shoot your way to wing the debate. Guns were supposed to make us safer. Everyone was the next Lone Ranger:

jsonline: Three teenagers playing basketball were shot Monday evening after an argument with a resident on Milwaukee's south side, police said.

The three, boys ages 15, 16 and 17, were taken to a hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening ... the boys were playing basketball with others in the 1500 block of S. 26th St. when one of those playing got into an argument with a neighborhood resident. The resident left but returned about 6:30 p.m. and fired several shots from a handgun, according to the release. 

Another Concealed Carry Permit Holder Shoots Someone.

Law abiding concealed carry gun owners? They’re all so responsible, right? 

Here’s another reason why making gun ownership easy for everybody is not making society safer, which I believe is a violation of the Constitution.

Oak Creek Patch: A Milwaukee man faces charges after he told police he accidentally shot his cousin during a barbecue at an Oak Creek mobile park, FOX6 reports. Brandon Kronquist, 26, was charged Monday … his family were grilling food on Wednesday, and before they sat down to eat he tried to pull a firearm — which he has a concealed weapons permit for, from his pocket to place on top of a refrigerator. He said he attempted to pull it in a “quick draw” fashion as a joke, but it accidentally fired and hit his cousin in the back, according to FOX6. 

It’s just a fluke? The truth is, common place use of guns is a whole lot different than common place use of knives or perimeter lights to deter criminals. Ya think?

Concealed Carry Owners Shoot it Out all over City. We're now safer with new law?

My conservative friend called me and told me how mad he was two concealed carry owners had a very public shootout. He said it makes them all look bad.

I told him it’s not just the dangerous shootout, but the now casual way people are using weapons, and the ease at which they think they can do this kind of stuff. We've opened a Pandora’s Box.

With “stand your ground” laws that make it justifiable for a fun toting aggressor to shoot their victim because that victim decide to fight back (Travon Martin), no one is safe anymore from a supposedly perfectly legal and “responsible” gun owner. Right now, we’re all sitting ducks.

jsonline: Two Milwaukee men — each with a state permit to carry a concealed weapon — traded dozens of shots in a rolling shootout through two sides of town and down a freeway, the kind of scenario concealed-carry opponents feared would turn road rage incidents deadly.

Eric Adamany, 27 (one of the shooters) estimated people in the other vehicle fired 50 to 100 rounds at his car.

The gunfight is bound to spark more debate over concealed carry.

Pointing out the new mindset we’re seeing with gun violence:

Mayor Tom Barrett said "This has always been one of my concerns (with the concealed-carry law) — that things like road rage could turn out like the wild, wild West," he said. "Here we are."

But hey, actual concealed carry owners would never do that, unless of course only the irresponsible ones do it. That's what gun nut Nik Clark says:

Nik Clark, president of Wisconsin Carry Inc., a gun rights advocacy group, said both Adamany and Scott's actions fell well outside of any kind of responsible gun owner training.

Ya think:

But he also said their irresponsible gun use is outweighed by at least five instances … "The fact that we now have a single instance where a CCL holder may have broken the law (and will certainly lose their right to carry as a result) doesn't change the reality that concealed carry works," Clark said.

Oh but carry doesn't work. Unless of course, losers like Nik Clark continue to downplay the significance of this development with contradictory excuses and lies. It wasn't the only case:

In another recent case, a concealed-carry license holder was charged in a shooting … the two men got into a fight after visiting taverns together … told police he fired when he feared Banks was about to attack him again.

Gun Ownership in Wisconsin increases Violent Crime Rate in Milwaukee?

Remember the gun nuts argued that gun bans caused violent crimes to go up, like in Britain? I remember.

The verdict is in, and Wisconsin’s first year of concealed carry has resulted in:

jsonline: Violent crime, fueled by a nearly 20% jump in robberies, rose 5% in the first six months of this year compared with the same time last year, according to statistics released by the Milwaukee Police Department. The increase was driven by a 33% increase in aggravated assaults, with domestic violence-related assaults accounting for part of the increase, according to police.

Yeah for our new gun law. I'm wondering how Policymic will explain away their "myth" mistake?

Myth: The UK and Australia gun bans have reduced violent crime. Both the UK and Australia instituted strict gun control legislation which basically eliminated private gun ownership in 1997. However, neither countries' legislation had an impact on lowering violent crime, and in both cases violent crime actually went up in the years following the enactment of the gun legislation.

Hey, that's what happened in Milwaukee too. Ooops.

“Responsible” Gun Dealers lose 11,000 Firearms in 2012!!!

See, you can trust gun dealers too, just like gun owners who shoot people for $150 or for killing teenagers who go to the wrong house.

To make matters worse, those 11,000 lost guns are only a drop in the bucket. Last year, the ATF inspected a mere 13,000 out of nearly 70,000 gun dealers in 2012. Extending the 11,000 lost guns per 13,000 dealers ratio, it is reasonable to estimate that about 60,000 guns were lost in 2013.

Immature Bully Sheriff David Clarke earns Conservative admiration for public tantrums. Plus other gun related horrors.

My message to Republicans, “grow up!!!” Leave childish things and behaviors behind. But they won’t.

My conservative friend in Milwaukee loves Sheriff David Clarke, and defends him by saying “no one’s perfect.” A meaningless response of course. The same goes for Clarke’s wasteful use of my friends taxes. Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice writes:

When Milwaukee County Supervisor Patricia Jursik proposed a ban on taxpayer-funded radio and TV ads starring elected officials, you knew exactly what Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. was going to do next. “So you know what I did a few weeks ago?” Clarke laughed. “I took out another $10,000 and made a new ad.”

My conservative friend laughed too. A little wasteful…? That’s David Clarke, he’s a character, so big deal. He will still gets their vote for tantrums and political playground bullying. Audio:

"And if you smell trouble?" Clarke says. "Trust your instincts, be decisive, use the element of surprise against your attacker, and most importantly, be ruthless in your response. Are you ready?"

The veteran supervisor (Jursik) said Clarke was putting out a "very dangerous message" by encouraging people to surprise attackers and to be "ruthless" with them.

Ya think? The following stories came to mind after reading this, as we slip rather quickly into a conservative world of chaos and in your facedefiance:

(Since) Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act through the legislature … Some sheriffs have stated that they refuse to enforce the law, lawsuits threaten to defeat the law, and now gun rights proponents have promised to ignore the law completely. Melody Burns, a New York talk show host, told gun supporters at a rally, “Do not comply. I just want to remind you — do not comply!”

Hypocritical? Is this the civil disobedience Republicans bashed here in Wisconsin when over a million protesters came out against Scott Walker’s union busting Act 10, or the “anti-American” war protests in the turbulent 60’s? It's worse. We've got big time problems when we’re seeing “law enforcement” refusing to uphold laws.

Most people were stunned after reading this story:

A Texas jury has acquitted a man accused of murdering an escort he found on Craigslist after she refused to have sex with him. Ezekiel Gilbert admitted to shooting 23-year-old Lenora Ivie Frago on Christmas Eve of 2009 … Gilbert testified that he had found Frago's escort ad on Craigslist and believed sex was included in her fee. When she arrived at his house, she walked around for 20 minutes before leaving to allegedly give Gilbert’s cash to her driver, Gawker reported. Gilbert's lawyers claimed he was justified in shooting Frago because he was trying to retrieve stolen property — the $150 fee he paid her. Texas law allows people "to use deadly force to recover property during a nighttime theft."

Stay away from Texas is about all I can say, a place where your life apparently isn't worth anything.  There's more: 

State Senator Tom Corbin (R-Greenville) introduced a bill that would make every South Carolina resident ages 17 and up a member of the state’s “unorganized militia.” Check out this excerpt from the bill: “Any able-bodied citizen of the state who is over 17 years of age and can legally purchase a firearm is deemed a member of the South Carolina Unorganized Militia, unless he is already a member of the National Guard or the organized militia not in National Guard Service.”

Still more...

Some Maryland gun store owners are ignoring pleas from the State Police, opting to sell guns to customers rather than waiting for background checks.

...and more:

A Houston nonprofit is giving away free shotguns to single residents who live in neighborhoods with high crime rates. The neighborhood of Oak Forest was one of the first in the country to receive free guns and training from the Armed Citizen Project. The 29-year-old founder of the nonprofit, Kyle Coplen, said they expect to train 50 residents in Oak Forest, where residents will put up signs warning that the neighborhood is armed.

Don't forget the kids:

Parents of a 6-year-old boy who was accidentally shot and killed by his 4-year-old neighbor are now suing the neighbor's parents. Brandon Holt, 6, was playing at his neighbor’s home in Toms River, N.J., at about 7 p.m. on April 8. The boys were playing “pretend shooting” when the younger boy shot Holt in the head with a loaded .22-calibre rifle.  
Americans hate terrorists and love our kids, right? So you might be shocked to know that preschoolers with guns have taken more lives so far this year than the single U.S. terrorist attack, which claimed four lives in Boston. This is admittedly tongue-in-cheek, but one has to wonder if the NSA’s PRISM program would have saved more lives had it been monitoring toddlers – or gun owners – rather than suspected terrorists.

The return of Six-gun-Justice: Like the song about outlaw Liberty Valance says, "The point of a gun was the only law that Liberty understood."

A West Virginia journalism professor at Marshall University wrote an op-ed accusing the National Rifle Association of treason and calling for members to be executed by firing squad. In Christopher Swindell’s May 30 article from the Charleston Gazette titled “Gun safety debate is B.S.,” Swindell claims he’s pro-gun ... “The NRA advocates armed rebellion against the duly elected government of the United States of America," Swindell wrote. "That's treason, and it's worthy of the firing squad. The B.S. needs a serious gut check. We are not a tin pot banana republic where machine gun toting rebel groups storm the palace and depose the dictator.” 

I want Domestic Tranquility, not Death Threats from Gun Owners.

The psychological change a person goes through once they have a gun is one of the biggest issue facing our civilized society, yet no one seems to want to connect the dots. It's all about attitude.

The next step our adolescent gun owners are going through right now? Threatening those who don't play with guns, values life, and want the constitutional guarantee of domestic tranquility. I'm pretty sure getting your head blown off  ain't so tranquil.

NBC: A threatening letter was mailed to President Obama that is similar to two letters containing poisonous ricin sent to Mayor Bloomberg and his anti-gun group, officials

confirmed Thursday. 

The text of that mailing was identical to the letters sent to the mayor and his gun group, which threatened: "what's in this letter is nothing compared to what I've got planned for you. You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. Anyone wants to come to my house will get shot in the face. The right to bear arms is my constitutional God given right and I will exercise that right till the day I die."

Bloomberg is the founder of the anti-gun group and has emerged as one of the country's most potent gun-control advocates, able to press his case with both his public position and his private money.

"There's 12,000 people that are going to get killed this year with guns and 19,000 that are going to commit suicide with guns, and we're not going to walk away from those efforts," said Bloomberg, adding that he didn't "feel threatened." 

New WiFi Rifle Streams Video, Shoots when Pointed in the Right Direction.

Killing people with one shot, first time, is about to become the new standard for gun goons, if the following rifle's technology catches on. NPR:

A new rifle goes on sale on Wednesday, and it's not like any other. It uses lasers and computers to make shooters very accurate. A startup gun company in Texas developed the rifle, which is so effective some in the industry say it should not be sold to the public.

It's called the TrackingPoint rifle. On a firing range just outside Austin in the city of Liberty Hill, a novice shooter holds one and takes aim at a target 500 yards away. Normally it takes years of practice to hit something at that distance. But this shooter nails it on the first try.

The rifle's scope features a sophisticated color graphics display. The shooter locks a laser on the target by pushing a small button by the trigger. It's like a video game. But here's where it's different: You pull the trigger but the gun decides when to shoot. It only fires when the weapon has been pointed in exactly the right place, taking into account dozens of variables, including wind, shake and distance to the target.

The rifle has a built-in laser rangefinder, a ballistics computer and a WiFi transmitter to stream live video and audio to a nearby iPad. Every shot is recorded so it can be replayed, or posted to YouTube or Facebook.

Walker's gun regulation dodge focusing on mental illness just means we'll see a bloody trail of more victims.

Instead of seriously debating the use of sensible gun laws in Wisconsin, that may make it harder for walking time bombs from getting guns, Scott Walker wants to treat mental illness. He knows that's BS, because I know it's BS.

Since latching onto the do nothing excuse to treat mental illness, Republicans have pretty much gotten most of their constituents off their back (I'm hoping to be wrong).

But reality stepped in; what happens when the most conservative county in the state, filled with officials dead set on getting government out of the way, fail to detain a guy who's parents believe is dangerous? He went on to kill three retired farmers.

Walker's complete lack of empathy and the inability to identify a major public safety problem, means his promise to get serious about treating mental illness is yet another deadly dodge.

Mental illness laws are difficult to impose, because they can easily infringe on a person rights. That's why the Republican promise to crack down on mental illness is an empty gesture. Even when someones parents were desperate for help. This story is just scary:

WSJ: The parents of a man accused of killing three retired farmers in southwestern Wisconsin warned Waukesha County officials just before the murders that their son was delusional and potentially dangerous, but county mental health professionals disagreed and did not detain him ... his parents are saying the tragedy uncovered April 28 never would have happened if Kuester had been hospitalized as they asked. “Our son is going to spend the rest of his life behind bars because they wouldn’t help him even though we repeatedly asked,” said his mother, Kathleen Kuester of Waukesha.

The head of the Waukesha County mental health system stands by the April 25 assessment from one of its most experienced crisis managers that Kuester didn’t meet any of the criteria defined by state law that would have allowed the county to detain him against his wishes. “We felt we responded in the ways we could,” said Peter Schuler, director of Waukesha County Health and Human Services.

Schuler doesn't appear to think a review of this evaluation failure is even necessary. Even with the following history?

Besides the Waukesha County mental health crisis worker, employees at the Waukesha Police Department and Waukesha County jail, where he was detained briefly on April 26, also declined requests to admit his son to a mental hospital, Jim Kuester said.

Four years ago, Kuester, under a delusion that a high school classmate had been killed, ventured aimlessly for 16 hours through a wooded marsh … Kuester showed signs of paranoia and told them somebody was trying to kill him, Kathleen Kuester said … he eventually wound up at Waukesha County Mental Health Center, she said. “It’s been like this ever since,” said Kathleen Kuester,

“He would come to his brother’s place that is across the hall from my apartment and spend hours talking about the demons all around him. He said they were following him everywhere.” The Kuesters became alarmed and sought help, Kathleen Kuester said.

Jim Kuester asked Robert Walker, a clinical social worker and crisis manager for the Waukesha County Mental Health Clinic, to admit his son to a mental hospital … The Kuesters thought the sum of his erratic behavior that week would be convincing evidence to have their son hospitalized. “He was talking about getting his dead dog back, he was talking about Satan, he’s talking about demons, he’s talking about people following him trying to kill him, he’s talking about messages God was giving him,” Kathleen Kuester said. “I can’t help but feel that Jaren was a victim, too, and that he was let down by Waukesha County Mental Health, the Waukesha city police department and the Waukesha County jail.”

Woman Threatens to shoot Governor and Family for doing a good job.

Another perfectly normal citizen is suddenly a not so law abiding one. Funny how that works.

If convicted, the subject of the story below will still be able to purchase a gun without a background check. Now that's freedom.  

Jackson County Chronicle: A Black River Falls woman, 52-year-old Dana E. Sartor, has been charged after she reportedly threatened to shoot Gov. Scott Walker’s wife and children. Sartor admitted that she left the message but didn't know why she did it and she had no reason for doing it … She said she actually recently had written the first-term Republican governor to tell him she thought he was doing a good job.

The 10-second voicemail message was left on Walker’s constituent services line where a female with slurred speech stated, “Gonna shoot your wife and kids.”

Sartor told detectives she knew as soon as she left the message that she shouldn’t have done it. Sartor stated she did not drink alcohol or take any medications that day and she didn’t intend to harm Walker’s family.

And she thinks Walker is doing a good job. Oh boy.

The Rise of Guns and Mass Shootings still not enough to protect life. Instead, we protect guns.

Mother Jones has done a great job following the gun issue, including this recent story, along with charts:

The research confirms that: Public shooting rampages have spiked in particular over the last few years … Many of the attackers were heavily armed … None of the shootings was stopped by an ordinary citizen using a gun.

Author of the study, Pete Blair, advises law enforcement officials … gathered data on 84 "active shooter events" (ASEs) between 2000 and 2010 in which the killer's primary motive appeared to be mass murder. Notably, the jump in attacks in 2009 and 2010 was prior to the massacres in Tucson, Aurora, Oak Creek, Newtown, and numerous other locations during the last two years. Although Blair's research does not cover 2011 and 2012, he concludes that "our tracking indicates that the increased number of attacks continued in those years." As our own investigation showed, there were a record number of mass shootings in 2012.

Does the rise in gun ownership and the loosening of state laws over the last four years effect increase the carnage? Of course:

The unprecedented spike in these shootings came during the same four-year period, from 2009-12, that saw a wave of nearly 100 state laws making it easier to obtain, carry, and conceal firearms. (We mapped those laws here.)

And do armed citizens come to our rescue now that concealed carry is so common? No.

While our study examined cases in which four or more people were murdered, Blair's dataset includes less lethal rampages in which the median number of victims shot was four and the median number of those killed was two. Blair found that at least 41 percent of the attackers carried multiple weapons. We found that a majority of mass shooters carried multiple weapons, and that more than half of them used assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. 

Moreover, our investigation made clear that so-called "good guys with guns" do not stop public shooting rampages. Likewise, Blair's data couldn't be any clearer when it comes to the National Rifle Association's favorite myth: He found just 3 cases out of 84 in which an armed individual who had been on the scene used a firearm to stop the shooter. And none of the three were ordinary citizens.

Solve Gun Violence; Do Away with People!!!

I'll be darned, the NRA was right after all. More guns just may be the solution, because they kill more people. And people, not guns, are the problem. 

This revelation came to me after I read the following:

Leader Telegram: The Eau Claire County Board passed a resolution 17-10 in support of background checks for gun buyers, bans on military style weapons, tough penalties on gun traffickers who arm criminals, increasing access to mental health services and "making schools safer." "Background checks - agree or disagree, but have the debate. Have the vote."

Those opposing the amendment said the resolution put too much emphasis on gun control while the central problem was violence.

Guns aren't violent, they're inanimate objects. People are violent. Evil, sick, careless people. So do away with people. Give them more guns.

NOTE: The hypocrisy of the right is almost breathless. They've been complaining about the way Democrats have supposedly exploited the Sandy Hook tragedy, using Sandy Hook families as human shields for strictly political purposes?

They would never think to exploit a tragedy...

Those opposing the amendment resolution ... mentioned Monday's bombing at the Boston Marathon, which did not involve guns.

"I think we need to look at things in a broad perspective," said Supervisor Gary Gibson. Gibson said it troubled him that recipes for making bombs could be found on the Internet.