Editorial

Ferguson: Never let the facts get in the way

of stealing television sets

David A. Lombardo

Let me see if I understand this. If a white police officer shoots a black male, it's okay to steal television sets, right? You certainly don't want to rush into anything, of course, but, on the other hand, waiting a couple of days to find out the actual facts of what happened might prove embarrassing and, worse, might negate the justification for stealing televisions. We certainly don't want the facts ruining a good story now, do we?

Look, it's a myth that white cops are out there shooting innocent black children every day. Are there racist white cops? I'm sure there are, just as there are racist blacks. But the assumption that any white cop who shoots any black male is automatically guilty is nothing more than a cheap excuse to loot and get interviewed by Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson on television.

The fact is that the overwhelming majority of blacks who die by gunfire are shot almost exclusively by young black males. Just where are Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson after all those shootings? Those two clowns don't show up if there are no television cameras. And there are no television cameras because those shootings happen so often, the news purveyors don't have enough money to pay for the mileage to send a reporter to the scene every time.

Here are a few inconvenient truths courtesy of the Department of Justice. Young black males account for about one percent of the population yet commit almost half of the murders in America. That's not conjecture; that's USDA prime red meat, documented fact. Since Michael Brown was killed, there have been scores of black youths killed by other black youths, and they get nary more than a page 10, one column inch, at best-no riots, no looting, no cameras and by extension no Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson.

And then there's this: Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson can't fabricate a story when it's a black-on-black shooting, and far more often than not, the rush to judgment after a white on black shooting has proven to be wrong in the end.

Sharpton is particularly prone to race-baiting and fabricating facts. In 1987, for instance, it was Sharpton who built an entire phony rape case around 15-year-old Tawana Brawley, claiming she had been raped by some white men. Not a single word of it was anything but fabricated lies. Even caught red-handed, not once has either of those race-baiting low-lives looked squarely into the camera and said, "Jeez, I really screwed up on this one."

The culture in the United States today is underpinned with instant gratification yet the single most common complaint is that it's not fast enough. Let's face it, snap judgments are as much a part of American culture as hot dogs and pizza. In every lethal force seminar I teach, I tell students I don't care what you're looking at; I care what you see. We all see what we want to see, but, as one would anticipate, snap judgments are all too frequently wrong. Unfortunately Ferguson isn't the first time that an angry black mob has jumped to a conclusion that is not sustainable by the facts. We saw it happen in both the Trayvon Martin case and the O.J. Simpson case: different conclusions but the same principle at work.

When Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was caught smoking crack on videotape, only 26 percent of blacks that saw it thought he was to blame for his own arrest. Thirty percent thought he should run for reelection as mayor, and 46 percent said they'd vote for him if he did.

When is the last time an angry white mob looted the local Best Buy after some black cop shot a white perp? When is the last time a Chinese mob threatened civil disorder when one of their own was shot by any cop? The point is this: any white-on-black shooting turns out every black militant group imaginable to foment the people to the point they will import protestors as they did in Ferguson, and this administration is doing its damned level best to see that it happens. Obama, Sharpton, Jackson and others have a vested interest in keeping a chasm between blacks and whites to serve their own ends. When will people wake up and see what's going on under their noses instead of being duped into becoming a mob? Or is that free 70-inch, 3-D, surround sound, high definition flat panel TV too much of a temptation? 

California ammo registration bill defeated

Sportsmen, gun owners and retailers in California scored a major victory on Saturday as the California State Assembly was unable to muster the votes (35-35-8) to pass an ammunition registration bill. The proposed law would have required firearms retailers to report identifying information to state authorities for all ammunition purchases made in the state. Sen. Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), the next Senate president, originally proposed that those buying ammunition be required to obtain a state permit and undergo a background check before each ammunition purchase. The bill was amended numerous times in an attempt to force passage, and the final version that failed would have required ammunition sellers to provide information on purchasers to the state Department of Justice after the fact, including the buyer's name, address and date of birth, in addition to the date of the sale, brand, ammunition type and quantity. [Source: National Shooting Sports Foundation]  

SAFER USA &

AURORA SPORTSMEN'S CLUB

COURSE SCHEDULE

(Private group classes available)  

Unless noted, all classes meet at the SAFER USA facility

190 W. Lincoln St; Waterman, IL 60556. Call 815-744-5487 for further information.

NRA BASIC PISTOL

Sat, Oct 11th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

NRA RANGE SAFETY OFFICER

Sunday, September 21st, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm 

NRA BASIC INSTRUCTOR TRAINING (6 hours)

Saturday, September 13th, 9:00 am - 3:00 pm 

NRA INSTRUCTOR PISTOL (10 hours)

Sunday, September 14th, 8:00 am - 6:00 pm 

ILLINOIS CONCEALED CARRY I (16 hours)

Sat, Sep 6th and Sun, Sep 7th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm 

This is a small class; It's almost private instruction!  

Sat, Oct 4th & Sun, Oct 5th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Sat, Oct 18th & Sun, Oct 19th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm 

 ILLINOIS CONCEALED CARRY II (8 Hours)

Sat, September 13th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm 

Sun, Oct 12th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm  

Sun, Oct 26th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

Register for a SAFER USA class 

Discrete, private instruction available for VIP & High Profile Individuals  

Call 877-954-3030 

Emanuel spins Chicago's violent crime problem

Even though Chicago has more murders than any other city, its mayor, Rahm Emanuel, says it's not the "murder capital," according to an article in a recent edition of Politico. Emanuel appears to base his conclusion on a study ranking Chicago 21st in terms of its per capita murder rate. However, this ranking compares Chicago (population 2.7 million) to towns with populations as low as 100,000. While apples-to-apples in terms of using rates instead of numbers of crimes, it isn't apples-to-apples to compare a big city with small towns. Emanuel further noted that violent crime is down for the first seven months of 2014. However Chicago's situation doesn't appear so favorably when its murder rates are compared to those of other cities and the country as a whole, year-in and year-out, over time, from 1985 through 2012.

Since the early 1990s, Chicago's murder rate has been significantly higher than the aggregate rate of other cities of comparable size. Emanuel notes that murders in Chicago have declined thus far in 2014, as compared to 2010 and 2013. However Emanuel was elected in May 2011, and from 2011 to 2012, Chicago's murder rate increased 16 percent. Meanwhile the aggregate murder rates of other cities of one million or greater population decreased three percent. [Source: NRA/ILA] 

Study finds assault weapon and CCW restrictions associated with higher murder rates