One of the best columns about the David Gregory high capacity magazine story was written by Mark Steyn, Laws Are for Little People (h/t Ace):
This is, declared NYU professor Jay Rosen, “the dumbest media story of 2012.” Why? Because, as CNN’s Howard Kurtz breezily put it, everybody knows David Gregory wasn’t “planning to commit any crimes.”
So what? Neither are the overwhelming majority of his fellow high-capacity-magazine-owning Americans. Yet they’re expected to know, as they drive around visiting friends and family over Christmas, the various and contradictory gun laws in different jurisdictions. Ignorantia juris non excusat is one of the oldest concepts in civilized society: Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Back when there was a modest and proportionate number of laws, that was just about doable. But in today’s America there are laws against everything, and any one of us at any time is unknowingly in breach of dozens of them.
Yup, fear of an unintentional breach of the patchwork of gun laws is what’s stalled me, so far.
To Howard Kurtz & Co., it’s “obvious” that Gregory didn’t intend to commit a crime. But, in a land choked with laws, “obviousness” is one of the first casualties — and “obviously” innocent citizens have their “obviously” well-intentioned actions criminalized every minute of the day. Not far away from David Gregory, across the Virginia border, eleven-year-old Skylar Capo made the mistake of rescuing a woodpecker from the jaws of a cat and nursing him back to health for a couple of days. For her pains, a federal Fish & Wildlife gauleiter accompanied by state troopers descended on her house, charged her with illegal transportation of a protected species, issued her a $535 fine, and made her cry. Why is it so “obvious” that David Gregory deserves to be treated more leniently than a sixth grader? Because he’s got a TV show and she hasn’t?
I had not heard of Skylar Capo before. Here she is:
Here’s Gibson Guitar:
Interesting how NBC News has not issued a comment yet on why it should be held to a different standard than everyone else.
And Gregory? He gets to interview Obama just one week after his alleged crime.
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Money quote from the Steyn piece:
look a squirrel…..its wearing a cowbell too.
Be careful. That could be a protected cowbell.
And the little girl should also face charges for sounding like she was named by Sarah Palin.
When the revolution occurs, the first act should be to repeal every law ever passed…
I’m still surprised anyone at all has any expectations at all of NBC being a ‘news’ organization.
As a propaganda arm of the government/Democrat/union/education complex, it (and MSNBC) is bought and paid for via General Electric’s government military contracts.
Like the Pravda under the Soviets, citizens of that country learned to read the opposite of whatever was broadcast. So the mere fact Obama is appearing on NBC should alert people to believe the opposite of what he promises, and read the worst into what he says.
Prediction (and I have yet to be wrong with any of them): we will see a literal gun-grab in the U.S., and it will spark violence — exactly what Obama and friends want — and will result in martial law in some parts of the nation.
How’s that for an urgency in installing GOP House and Chair leaders with balls?
Think about the consequences if instead of David Gregory holding up an illegal magazine (undocumented cartridge holder?) to make a point, Wayne LaPierre had held one up to make a point about the absurdity of many existing gun laws.
Maybe we could get the woodpecker to interview Obama. T’would be more hard hitting than the gobbling love-fest Gregory delivered today.
Pathetic.
I guy walks into a bar holding up a high capacity magazine, a woodpecker, and a Big Gulp 16-oz soda …
A guy
Just for chuckles…
any bets on how long it would take to score a fully automatic weapon in LA…???
How long to obtain…say…cocaine…in any major US city…???
No problem. I think I can hook you up:
Eric Holder
c/o U.S. Department of Justice, Fast and Furious Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
I was just talking to a young cop the other night about some guns he was booking as evidence. He had run the guns in the system and came up with no hits as to registration.
He seemed almost baffled that there was no record of these guns. I was trying to explain to him that I see this all the time. Also, you get a lot of guns with the serial number obliterated, so you can’t trace those, either.
And with hundreds of gun manufacturers in the world, anyone who thinks more and more restrictive gun laws are going to hurt anyone but law abiding citizens is in for a rude awakening.
Ignorantia juris non excusat is one of the oldest concepts in civilized society: Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
David Gregory of course knew the law and flaunted it so as to teach us little people how we should “behave.” This is much like Eric Holder flaunting American law to create a Fast and Furious teaching lesson. Both of them wanted shock and awe reporting because 1) it creates ratings and 2) it focuses attention on Obama’s Dick Durbinish agenda.
Gregory played the King’s fool now let him hang for it just as Hillary will for Benghazi.
How many other “scandals” have been organized by the Left? One has to wonder at this point given their desire to use radical models of “change.”
A picture of the gun’s magazine would have sufficed. Gregory chose otherwise and in fairness to the rest of us “little people” should suffer the consequences of his actions.
(Disclaimers: Ignorantia juris non excusat…so, all metaphors used in the above comment are shaken not stirred and are not to be construed as actual. Past performance does not guarantee future performance. All’s Well that End’s Well…)
“And Gregory? He gets to interview Obama just one week after his alleged crime”
Gregory never mentioned Obama’s gun scandal, Fast and Furious so of course Obama did not mention Gregory’s Gun Law/Magazine scandal from the previous week.
Obama might just as well create a cabinet level department, the Department of Non-Critical Ass Kissing Journalism. He could staff it for free.
If you want to understand what is going on in front of us, I have a reading list for you.
Don’t worry… If you have a patch cable, you can hook up your iPhone to the stereo in your car and listen to these books from Audible. com (highly recommended), while you simultaneously read the others before you go to bed.
I would also recommend canceling your cable TV service – it really makes a difference vis-a-vis the amount of reading you can accomplish; you’ll also appreciate not being lied to.
1) The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
2) The Last Lion by William Manchester (with Paul Reid on the 3d Volume)
3) The Second World War by Winston S. Churchill. (Somewhere around 6 or 8 volumes, or about 1.6 million pages, or so it seemed 😛 )
You see, just as the horror story The Shining, this has all happened before many, many times.
History, in fact, does repeat itself.
“… and he made her cry.” Just for that he should be tarred and feathered.
Let’s face it, we live in a world gone mad of our own making. Every time someone utters, “there should be a law,” some do gooder happily steps forward to make it happen. Add that to congress critters who think they have to be seen doing something, anything, regardless of how disastrous the outcome will be, and you have the perfect storm for insane laws that crush people in their wake.
The next day her mother helped her set up a lemonade stand to help cheer her up.
The cops busted her.
From Forbes, “The Inexplicable War on Lemonade Stands.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/08/03/the-inexplicable-war-on-lemonade-stands/
When the laws of society are not just, then respect for the law diminishes. I no longer respect these insane prosecutions of acts of kindness, decency and common sense. Will you join me in a legal insurrection? Civil disobedience is just around the corner.
If you have been thinking about getting a firearm, but have held off because of gun laws, I would say find a class where you can rent a gun, and take it at the next opportune time.
Until you’ve actually run a firearm, it’s really hard to know what would work for you and what wouldn’t. Furthermore, the additional responsibility of owning firearms is a bit frightening, even without the legal trouble. Taking a class in it can give you a better understanding of what you are really in for, and put that in its proper perspective.
Finally, unless you have young children in the house, I would do it now, rather than waiting until you feel you need it. Learning to use a firearm well takes considerable time. I’ve been working at it for about a year now, and at five paces, I can usually hit around 5-6 inches of where I’m aiming, if I take my time. (Believe it or not, that is an improvement.) Under stress, I expect I would shoot considerably worse.
It just takes time to build up the skill-set. Better to take that time now when you don’t need it, than wait until you do.
That Environmentalist chick looked utterly orgasmic that she/her group had succeeded at temporarily shuttering a private sector business based on obscure laws with which compliance is nearly impossible. She earned my disdain.