Montana is Awesome Part II

Throw this brief interview of Democratic governor Brian Schweitzer on the Real ID along with Montana's stance on the 2nd Amendment on that growing pile of evidence that Montana is the awesomest state in the Union. The "Live Free or Die" state of New Hampshire has nothing on Montana.

Not really having to do with Montana but with the liabilities of the Real ID, Kerry Howley at Reason mag says one group of citizens who is extra vulnerable:

Organizations such as the National Network to End Domestic Violence contend that stores of half-guarded data would empower stalkers, violent exes, and obsessive abusers hunting for information. Abuse survivors are living repudiations of the assumption that only criminals need seek the comforts of anonymity.

Read the whole thing here

Go Montana

They take the 2nd Amendment seriously out in Montana, unlike out here in LaLa land:

Montana officials are warning that if the Supreme Court rules in the D.C. gun ban case that the right to keep and bear arms protects only state-run militias like the National Guard, then the federal government will have breached Montana's statehood contract.

Can you imagine if the SCOTUS decided (though I can't see how) that the right to keep and bear arms was decided as a collective instead of an individual right? Would Montana secede? Would the feds let them go that easily?

Where is it? Oh yeah here:

...That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness...

I would love someone to ask John McCain his opinion on this.

"Senator McCain, what would be your response if Montana decided that their interests weren't being served by the federal government because the Supreme Court decided that the 2nd Amendment is a collective right? They also agreed to join the Union contingent upon the understanding that it is an individual right, your response?"

I don't know when the decision is going to be handed down, but oral arguments for the case DC vs. Heller are scheduled for next month.

Vietnam Veteran lauds female Guard who shot Gunman

The Colorado church shootings from the perspective of someone who was there:

Larry Bourbonnais, a combat-tested Vietnam veteran, said it was the bravest thing he's ever seen.

Bourbonnais, who was among those shot by a gunman Sunday at New Life Church, watched as a security guard, a woman later identified as Jeanne Assam, calmly returned fire and killed the shooter.

"She just started walking toward the gunman firing the whole way," said Bourbonnais, who was shot in the arm. "She was just yelling 'Surrender,' walking and shooting the whole time."

The whole piece is here.

This guy came within yards of the Von Maur Gunman

Joe's Crabby Shack: Firsthand account of the Von Maur shooting

NW came within yards of the gunman at the Von Maur shooting last week. He posted his account at Joe's Crabby Shack. The whole story is pretty good. But this struck me as the most honest observation by NW:

...I am not trying to be a hero and say that I would have tried to save lives. I am saying that I was trying to save my life, and if my family was there, their lives as well. There is nothing "hero" about what I am saying, it's about survival.

I feel that I am alive today because of luck. I chose to run, but it was not a choice. I was forced to run. Many will say that is the right choice. I say it is the choice that requires luck. ALOT of luck with the position I was in.

Use of deadly force at times may also require luck. But, it also depends upon skill, awareness, and practice. These are things I can control, and these are things I trust far more than luck...

Conservative Belle: The 2nd Amendment Question You Did Not See

Over at Conservative Belle, there is a good discussion about this youtube vid:




Well, now that I've watched it a couple of times, I still don't get the question. Besides, my fists, Thunder and Leroy are my weapons. They dispense justice 24/7!!

CB's response is so much more coherent than mine was just now. Check it out.