The Truth About Gun Control posts another great essay called The Problem of Collectivism:

Being told to rely on others (the police) to defend us, when that obviously does not work, is bad enough. Being told we MUST rely on others, though, is unconscionable. It is essentially telling us that we have a duty to die when a madman like Cho decides to commit murder, all in the name of a no-guns policy that is meant to make people "feel safe."

I find it very distressing that so many people don't get that pro-CCW people are suggesting that people must take responsibility for their own safety. When they talk of the odds that a CCW holder would be in the class to stop the crime, they illustrate very clearly that they are picturing themselves not as the person taking action to save himself (and thus everyone else as well), but as the helpless victim who expects others to protect him!

That would not be so bad if the people who cannot break out of the role of helpless victims only put their own lives in danger, but they're not content with that. They have to make ALL of us into helpless victims. In their simplistic logic, they think the only difference between themselves and people like Cho is that Cho had a gun-- and as such, they can't tell peaceable armed citizens from crazed murderers!

If this blog isn't on your list, it should be. Posting is infrequent, but always hits the mark.

Hammer's comment reminded me of an encounter I had once.  An encounter with an abject idiot.  The kind of idiot who knows everything.  You know the type.

It was in truck driving school, and the topic had wandered onto concealed carry.  Said idiot began to tell a tale of how he was stopped for a routine traffic violation and claimed to have nearly gotten into serious trouble because "concealed carry is banned in San Antonio."

I immediately attempted to correct him, telling him that under Texas law, no municipality has the authority for a blanket ban on concealed carry.

"San Antonio does," he replied.

"No.  No municipality has authority for a blanket ban on concealed carry under Texas law," I repeated.

"Yes, they do.  I grew up around guns," he answered dismissively, waved his hand at me and walked away.

"I grew up around guns"???  What does this even mean?  He most certainly did not grow up around Texas CHL law, because it hadn't been around for that long.  And this somehow made him a better authority on Texas CHL law than I, who also happened to grow up around guns, by the way, even though the fact is entirely irrelevant.

There was a young lady in this class also, and she remained sitting with me as he left.  Then she looked at me as if she expected me to say more.

I told her, "I sincerely hope he is not carrying when he finally pisses off the wrong person, because he desperately needs to get the shit beaten out of him."  (I would like to say that this is not the kind of language I use routinely, but in this case I felt I had to make a point).

Like I said, he was an idiot.  That was not the first time he had spewed utter garbage.  Every time he opened his mouth, it redlined my B.S. meter.

Since starting my new job back in June, I have been even more active than before, and my previous job was not sedentary by any means.  I have also (almost) entirely cut out soft drinks in place of Gatorade type beverages.  I was hoping this would help me lose a little weight.

I am not overweight.  However, I knew it would not hurt to lose a few around the belly, and I was hoping for it because I had an idea it would make IWB carry more comfortable.

For the past few weeks I've been cinching up the belt one more notch just before I start moving so my pants won't sag.  Even though it was a little uncomfortably tight, I can't abide pants that sag even a little.

However, this week I can safely say that I have officially dropped one belt size.  I was right.  IWB carry has become much more comfortable.