I'll Support Your Gun Ban; But I Have Conditions

1. All radical elements of islam will be immediately deported. All mosques will be closed and the buildings renovated for mental health centers. CAIR will be disbanded and outlawed. The Muslim Brotherhood will be escorted to the docks and given the choice of boarding a ship or walking off the end. All representatives from countries with islam as the primary form of government will be escorted to the docks and given the same choice.

2. All extremist groups will be outlawed. If your group has called for the death of an American citizen or your group has created stress in another American citizen's life through direct action, you're disbanded. No more Black Panthers, no more Westboro Cult, no more La Raza.

3. I want a written gaurantee that there will never be another beating, stabbing, shooting, liquor store, convenience store or bank robbery ever again. That gaurantee will come with hefty penalties if violated.

4. I want a written gaurantee that there will never be another domestic violence incident, anywhere in America, ever again. Gaurantee that there will never be another abused wife or child anywhere, ever. That one comes with a hefty penalty for non-compliance as well.

5. All gangs, drug, ethinic, or street, will be disbanded.

6. All criminal elements will surrender their weapons before the gun ban is enacted.

Those are my conditions for my support of your gun ban. They are non-negotiable and binding. Make them happen and you will have to shove me out of the way to get in front of me in line to sign the papers.

Were These the Red Flags?

As the days progress, we will learn more and more about the unbalanced, unstable person who committed murder in Tuscon. Like VA Tech, this shooter had documented issues. Could he have been stopped? I don't know.

Gabrielle Giffords shooting: Frightening, twisted shrine in Arizona killer Jared Lee Loughner's yard

Adjunct Prof. Ben McGahee, 28, worried about violence. "I remember going home and thinking to myself, 'Is he going to bring a weapon to class?'" he told USA Today.
Lynda Sorenson, 52, who was in McGahee's basic algebra class with Loughner, expressed similar fears in emails to friends, The Washington Post reports.

On June 14, she wrote: "We have a mentally unstable person in the class that scares the living crap out of me. He is one of those whose picture you see on the news, after he has come into class with an automatic weapon. Everyone interviewed would say, 'Yeah, he was in my math class and he was really weird.' I sit by the door with my purse handy."

In September, college officials sent campus police officers to Loughner's home, where he lives with his parents, with a letter informing him he could not return without a mental health professional's written assurance that hispresence at college would "not present a danger to himself or others."

"It was obvious to everyone that Jared wasn't a normal guy,"said neighbor Anthony Woods, 19. Loughner worked as a volunteer at the Pima Animal Care Center, where he walked dogs and cleaned cages. "He loved animals and was a good worker," said another volunteer.

Loughner had once tried to join the military but was deemed unsuitable, officials said.

Read more:

Life Imitates Art - Minority Report in Oregon?

Pre-Crime Policing
Allegedly “disgruntled” man has his guns seized, and “voluntarily” surrenders to two SWAT teams and dozens of police officers for a crime that hadn’t been committed

To hear them tell it, the five police agencies who apprehended 39-year-old Oregonian David Pyles early on the morning of March 8 thwarted another lone wolf mass murderer. The police "were able to successfully take a potentially volatile male subject into protective custody for a mental evaluation," announced a press
release put out by the Medford, Oregon, police department. The subject had recently been placed on administrative leave from his job, was "very disgruntled," and had recently purchased several firearms. "Local Law Enforcement agencies were extremely concerned that the subject was planning retaliation against his employers," the release said. Fortunately, Pyles "voluntarily" turned himself over to police custody, and the legally purchased firearms "were seized for safekeeping."

This voluntary exchange involved two SWAT teams, police officers from Medford and nearby Roseburg, sheriff's deputies from Jackson and Douglas counties, and the Oregon State Police. Oregon State Police Sgt. Jeff Proulx explained to South Oregon's Mail Tribune why the operation was such a success: "Instead of being reactive, we took a proactive approach."

There's just one problem: David Pyles hadn't committed any crime, nor was he suspected of having committed one. The police never obtained a warrant for either search or arrest. They never consulted with a judge or mental health professional before sending out the military-style tactical teams to take Pyle in.

/snip

If what happened to Pyles is legal, in Oregon or elsewhere, we need to take a second look at the civil commitment power. Even setting aside the SWAT team overkill in Medford, there's something awfully discomfiting about granting government authorities the power to yank someone from their home and drag them in for a mental health evaluation based on a series of actions that were perfectly legal, especially with no prior oversight from a judge, or guidance from a psychiatrist.

"The idea that Pyles turned himself in voluntarily is ridiculous," says Starrett, the gun rights activist. "There's nothing voluntary about waking up to a SWAT team outside your home, then having a police negotiator call and suggest you surrender. They had no arrest warrant. But Pyles only had one option. If he didn't come out on his own, they were going to come in to get him."

Read the rest at Reason.