Obama and Senate Democrats solution to Sequester?: Increase government spending by $62.4 billion, raise taxes by $55.1 billion, raise the deficit by $7.2 billion!

How can anyone take the Democrats seriously?  Their offer to replace the sequester cuts is to increase government spending and the deficit.  Obama supports the Democratic Senate alternative.

CBO estimates that S. 388 would increase direct spending by $62.4 billion and revenues by $55.1 billion over the 2013–2023 period. Thus, the cumulative deficit would increase by $7.2 billion from those changes.

Obama has been critical of what he claims is a "meat cleaver" approach to cutting the deficit.  But his solution is to increase the deficit.  His offer to Republicans who are trying to cut the deficit is to increase it.

UPDATE: IBD claims that Obama's own proposal is even worse, though as they point out the plan has been well hidden.

. . . Turns out, Obama did have one [though he] . . . hasn't exactly been promoting this so-called plan. . . .
There are no details, for example, about the $200 billion in cuts to defense and domestic discretionary programs, other than that Obama wants them split evenly.
And while he offers $400 billion in "health savings," 30% are lumped in a bucket labeled "other."
Worse, Obama's "balanced" plan actually counts hundreds of billions of new revenues from taxes, fees and rebates as "spending reductions." Examples:
• His plan to "strengthen" unemployment insurance is labeled as a cut, but it's really a $50 billion tax hike.
• The $35 billion from the federal worker retirement programs involves boosting worker contributions.
• Most of the $35 billion in Medicare savings comes from charging wealthy seniors more.
• The $140 billion in "reduced payments to drug companies" are in fact rebates Obama wants drugmakers to pay Uncle Sam for selling drugs to poor seniors.
• Then there's the $45 billion in spectrum fees and asset sales that Obama lists as spending reductions.
Viewed correctly, it turns out that more than $300 billion — about a third — of Obama's proposed "spending cuts" are actually revenue increases. . . .

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The complete video of my appearance on Piers Morgan's CNN show last night

The interview that went from about 9:12 to 9:30 PM ET started off reasonably enough, but it quickly devolved into a mess.  The problems started when Piers began realizing that he was losing the debate.  At that point he started raising his voice and talking over me.

Erik Wemple at the Washington Post has a discussion of the appearance that starts this way:

CNN last night showed a sense of humor as Piers Morgan battled with gun-rights proponent John Lott (“More Guns, Less Crime“) on the fine points of mass shootings and their prevention. A chyron hit the screen repeating a question that Lott had posed: 

“Lott: Why am I on?” . . .  

Morgan’s high point came at the very end of the segment, when he was bidding adieu to Lott:

MORGAN: Mr. Lott, thank you for joining me again. I look forward to talking to you again about this. As you know, I disagree with you passionately. But I respect your right to have your opinion.

Bolded text added to highlight Morgan’s brilliant linguistic precision. Lott is free to have his opinion, just not express it on his show.

The Blaze has a discussion available here, News Busters available here, and the Washington Times available here. 

CNN host Piers Morgan on Wednesday repeatedly talked over guest John Lott Jr., who was trying to present and correct several myths and misstatements about gun facts, ultimately telling him: “I’m going to keep talking so I suggest you keep quiet.” . . . 

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Fox Business: "President Distorting the Facts in Sequestration, Gun Control Debates?"

The video of my appearance with Lou Dobbs is available here.

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Illinois moves forward with what looks to be the most restrictive concealed handgun law in the country

Nationally, the average right-to-carry state requires 5 hours of training and a $65 permit fee.  Illinois will require 8 hours and $80.  Illinois will have neither the longest training nor the highest fees, but the state will have probably by far the most extensive.  The newspaper the Pantagraph has this:

Under the legislation, licensees would be barred from carrying weapons into nearly all government buildings, including schools and universities, as well as prisons, mental hospitals and amusement parks. Bars, taverns, sports stadiums and casinos also would be listed as no-gun zones.
Business owners also would get to choose whether to allow concealed weapons on their premises. . . .

The bans are much broader than the list would first appear from the list in the newspapers.  Bans not only encompass these places, but often include phrases such as "close proximity" or nearby or adjacent property or parking lots. As one member of the state House correctly noted:

"When they get done with this, you won't be able to carry anywhere," said Rep. David Reis, R-Willow Hill, expressing a frustration among many gun rights advocates as they watched restrictions get piled on. . . . 

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Massive vote fraud barely foiled in Florida

One strong reason to crack down on absentee voting.

South Florida election officials have reportedly foiled a plot to fraudulently apply online for thousands of absentee ballots in three 2012 primaries, but the masterminds remain at large amid concern that they could be successful the next time around by making minor adjustments.
Officials in the state’s Miami-Dade region said they blocked the effort to get 2,552 absentee ballots in three August primaries because the requests rolled in just minutes apart on July 7, 2012, according to The Miami Herald, which conducted its own investigation. . . .
The absentee ballots still would have gone to the rightful voters. So short of stealing ballots from mailbox, the hackers’ only way to have swayed or flipped the voters would likely have been to inundate them with calls and mailers. . . .

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Note on New Zealand's long gun registry

Charles Cooke has this useful note:

New Zealand’s long-gun-registry experiment ended in failure, too. By the early 1980s, New Zealand’s National Police pleaded with that country’s parliament to abandon the system, having watched ballooning budgets lead only to a lot of wasted time and to the expansion of a system that, frankly, didn’t do anything useful. In 1983, parliament, conceding that criminals are unlikely to leave registered guns at the scenes of their crimes, complied. . . .

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Concealed carry moving forward slowly in Illinois

You can watch the debate as the Democrats are loading the concealed carry bill with tons of amendments here.

It seems to me that proponents of the bill would like to see it defeated and have a judge write it up.

Having been ordered by a federal court to institute a concealed carry system for gun owners in Illinois, the state Legislature today has started debating a bill that would do just that – but with dozens of restrictions. 

House floor debate is underway over the concealed carry bill, HB1155 – or rather, over the first of 27 different amendments attached to the bill, most of them seeking to restrict carrying weapons in places like government buildings, hospitals, museums, amusement parks and on public transportation. . . .

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Michelle Obama misuses the term "automatic weapon"

Why do all these extremely well trained smart lawyers keep on calling semi-automatic guns "automatic weapons"?  From the Washington Examiner:

In an interview with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts aired this morning, First Lady Michelle Obama recalled the tragic death of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton who was shot and killed in Chicago after performing during the President’s Inauguration celebration in Washington D.C. 

“She was caught in the line of fire because some kids had some automatic weapons they didn’t need,” the First Lady explained. “I just don’t want to keep disappointing our kids in this country. I want them to know that we put them first.” . . .

ABC Good Morning America edited out Michelle Obama's statement about "automatic weapons."

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Growth in concealed handgun permits: Florida has 1,019,866 permit holders, Utah has 411,604

Florida had 1,019,866 permit holders as of the end of January 31, 2013. That is quite an increase from the 887,000 permits in December 31, 2011 -- a 132,866 or 15% increase.

Arizona saw an increase from 163,000 to 182,813 going from December 31, 2011 to February 24, 2013.   That is  a 19,813 permit increase.

Arkansas saw an increase from 111,000 to 130,041 going from December 31, 2011 to January 28, 2013.   That is  a 19,041 permit increase.

Colorado saw an increase from 90,000 to 139,560 going from December 31, 2011 to December 31, 2012.   That is a 49,560 permit increase.


Indiana saw an increase from 406,000 to 449,025 (obtained from David R. Bursten, Captain Commander, Public Information Section, Indiana State Police) going from December 31, 2011 to January 11, 2013.   That is a 49,560 permit increase.


Kansas saw an increase from 39,000 to 62,557 going from December 31, 2011 to February 24, 2013.   That is  a 23,557 permit increase.

Kentucky saw an increase from 170,000 to 216,463 going from December 31, 2011 to December 31, 2012.   That is a 46,463 permit increase.

Michigan saw an increase from 296,000 to 455,663 going from December 31, 2011 to February 4, 2013.   That is a 159,663 permit increase.

Minnesota saw an increase from 91,000 to 119,574 going from December 31, 2011 to January 31, 2013.   That is a 28,574 permit increase.

Missouri saw an increase from 133,000 to 160,184 going from December 31, 2011 to January 31, 2013.   That is a 27,184 permit increase.

Ohio saw an increase from 270,000 to 313,718 going from December 31, 2011 to June 30, 2012.

Tennessee saw an increase from 341,000 to 390,343 going from December 31, 2011 to February 7, 2013.   That is a 27,184 permit increase.

Texas had 584,850 permits on December 31, 2012, up from 519,000 a year earlier.  That is 65,850 more permits or a 13 percent increase.

Utah had 411,604 on December 31, 2012, up from 347,000 a year earlier.  That is 64,604 more permits or a 19 percent increase.

Just these Fourteen states represent an increase of 773,261 permits.  When you consider that permit data isn't available for Alabama, New Hampshire, and New York and that permits aren't even required for Arizona, Alaska, virtually of Montana, Vermont and Wyoming it is clear that the total here is well above 9 million (8 million at the end of 2011).  Just Alabama by itself probably has well over 400,000 permit holders.  So say we are extremely conservatively saying 9.3 million.  I estimate that there were fewer than 1.3 million permits in 1997 and about 4.6 million permits in 2007.

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Student threatened with suspension for wearing Marines T-shirt with picture of two rifles on it

Can't school officials differentiate a picture of a rifle on a T-shirt honoring the Marines and a real gun that threatens people?  Of course they can.  This is just an attempt to terrify students about guns.  From Fox News:

An Illinois father wants a school district to reconsider its dress code after his son was asked to remove a U.S. Marines T-shirt or be suspended, FoxNews.com has learned. 

Daniel McIntyre, 44, of Genoa, told FoxNews.com that his 14-year-old son, Michael, was asked to remove the T-shirt by eighth-grade teacher Karen Deverell during reading class at Genoa-Kingston Middle School on Monday. Deverell, citing the school’s dress code, said the garment’s interlocking rifles was problematic and had to be removed from sight, McIntyre said. 

“My son is very proud of the Marines, and, in fact, of all the services,” McIntyre said. “So he wears it with pride. There are two rifles crossed underneath the word ‘Marines’ on the shirt, but to me that should be overlooked. It’s more about the Marines instead of the rifles.” . . .

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The Hill newspaper: "Obama using fake Twitter messages in fight over gun control"? Apparently Obama's former digital strategist, Brad Schenck is involved

Obama's former digital strategist, Brad Schenck is apparently involved in the use of the pseudonym's.  From The Hill newspaper:

"Obama's anti-gun campaign is a fraud," [Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas)] said. "Obama's supporters are panicking and willing to do anything to create the appearance of popular support, even if it means trying to defraud Congress," he added. "I call upon the president to denounce this phony spam campaign." 

Stockman said that in response to Obama's call for people to tweet their congressman in support of gun control legislation, he received just 16 tweets. But he said all of these messages were identical, and that a closer look at them revealed that only six were from real people. 

"The other 10 are fake, computer-generated spambots," his office said in a press release. As evidence, he said these 10 tweets use default graphics and names, and have not engaged in any interaction with other people. Two of the tweets were sent at nearly the same time, and both follow just one person: Brad Schenck, Obama's former digital strategist. . . . .

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Mention of my new book "At the Brink" in the Washington Times

From today's Washington Times:

A LOTT TO THINK ABOUT 

It could prove a handbook, perhaps, for the next few months. “At the Brink: Will Obama Push Us Over the Edge?” written by economist John R. Lott and published by Regnery provides a sobering assessment of what President Obama has done, and intends to do with America in his second term, prompting the author to declare that the U.S. economy hangs in the balance, not to mention liberty. 

He parses dubious stimulus plans, the debt monster, Obamacare, gun control, assorted scandals and offers some pointers for Congress. 

“There is a growing awareness in the United States of the mounting debt problem, and opinion polls show increasing acceptance of budget cuts. But Barack Obama wants to raise taxes to redistribute wealth, not to reduce the deficit. Our country, in short, is in trouble. Can we pull ourselves back from the brink? Call me a cock-eyed optimist, but I believe that in America, facts can change minds,” Mr. Lott says. “And the facts are overwhelmingly lined up against Barack Obama.”

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New piece in Investors' Business Daily: "Obama's Sequester Cuts Are A Mere 1% Of Budget"

My new piece starts this way:

President Obama is almost breathless predicting "devastating" consequences if the sequester trigger is pulled. 

He warns the cuts "will hurt our economy ... add hundreds of thousands of Americans to the unemployment rolls. ... The unemployment rate might tick up again." 

But will a $44 billion cut in spending out of a $3.8 trillion budget, a mere 1%, really be a "meat cleaver approach" that will "eviscerate" government programs? 

Obama frightens people by pretending that the $1 trillion cut takes place right away rather than being spread out over 10 years. 

He has taken almost every possible position on spending and taxes. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama continually promised to "cut net spending" and make government smaller. The stimulus was promised not to "raise projected deficits beyond a short horizon of a year or at most two." . . . .

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Senate Judiciary Committee to mark up gun control bills on Thursday

From Politico:

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has released a series of gun-violence preventions bills — including a controversial assault weapons ban being pushed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) — for mark up in his panel on Thursday. 

Because of procedural rules in the Judiciary Committee, any member — Republican or Democrat — could delay that session for a week. 

But the move to include the assault weapons ban in the committee package guarantees that the National Rifle Association and gun-rights groups will try to derail the bill in committee or when it reaches the Senate floor during the next several weeks. 

Other legislation being considered for Judiciary markup is a bill by Leahy to stop illegal gun trafficking; a “placeholder” proposal on universal background checks for all gun sales by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.); and a measure by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) to increase school safety. 

Leahy has been pushing for expanded background checks for all gun transactions. His legislation would make it more difficult for “straw purchasers” to obtain guns for third parties, especially those with criminal records or who would otherwise be ineligible to buy a gun themselves. . . .

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) says that they aren't that close to a deal on background checks, but I always worry that the Dems are asking for more than they want and then compromise.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said Sunday that a bipartisan Senate group he belongs to isn’t “that close” to striking a deal to expand background checks on gun sales, citing a remaining disagreement over keeping records. 

“I don’t think we are that close to a deal,” Coburn said on “Fox News Sunday.” 

The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keefe reported that the group is on the verge of striking a deal to expand background checks to all private gun sales with limited exceptions, but that disagreements remain over the issue of recordkeeping of private gun sales. 

Coburn, who has received an “A” rating from the National Rifle Association, voiced strong opposition to keeping records on sales involving law abiding gun owners. “There absolutely will not be recordkeeping on legitimate, law abiding gun owners in this country.” he said. “And if they want to eliminate the benefits of actually trying to prevent the sales to people who are mentally ill and to criminals, all they have to do is create a record keeping. And that will kill this bill.” . . . .

Amazingly, just the previous day the Washington Post reported:

A bipartisan group of senators is on the verge of a deal that would expand background checks to all private firearms sales with limited exemptions, but significant disagreements remain on the issue of keeping records of private gun sales, according to aides familiar with the talks. . . . 

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Idaho discussing making it a crime for State or Local government Official to help the Feds Seize Guns

From the Times-News newspaper in Idaho.

Idaho law enforcement officers who help the federal government confiscate any newly banned firearms or ammunition could get jail time and a $1,000 fine, under a measure introduced by lawmakers on Monday.
The bill seeks to head off possible attempts by President Barack Obama and Congress to outlaw semi-automatic weapons, high-capacity magazines or ammunition following the massacre of Connecticut elementary school students.
Government employees in Idaho who help enforce new federal firearms restrictions or registration requirements would be guilty of a misdemeanor, according to the measure.
The Obama administration has said that it has no plans to confiscate weapons or require national firearms registration. Even so, Republican Rep. Mark Patterson of Boise is among a group of 22 co-sponsors who say this bill is necessary to ensure Idaho residents' "inalienable God-given rights to defend themselves'' are forever protected. . . .

Thanks very much to Dan Warner for the link.

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Is there a right to carry a gun? The 10th Circuit court of Appeals says no

The video is also available here.

A copy of the 10th Circuit's decision is available here.  The previous 7th Circuit decision is discussed here and here.

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Gun Control groups pushing hard for gun registration

Universal background checks aren't going to work anyway, but without gun registration they won't even work in theory because you won't be able to prove whether family members or others have exchanged ownership of guns without going through background checks. 

Coburn, the group’s ambassador to gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association, won’t accept a record-keeping requirement on the grounds that it could lead to government overreach. Schumer and Manchin, who are in regular contact with gun control groups, say any bill without a records provision would be as toothless as an honor system. . . . 

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Audio from appearing on Mike Huckabee's show to discuss my new book "At the Brink"

The audio from my appearance on the show is available here.  It was fun talking to Huckabee as always.

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Juan Williams: Liberal media will ‘shut you down, stab you, kill you, fire you’ if you disagree

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Dems use misleading gun control ads against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

Mitch McConnell, who might be in a tough senate race next year, is the early target of ads from gun control groups.  The point is that an assault rifle is the exact same as a semi-automatic hunting rifle.  It fires the same bullets with the same rapidity, doing the exact same damage.

“I am a Vietnam vet and a hunter,” Gary Nutt of Cub Run, Ky., says in the ad. “I only shot my rifle one time this last season. One shot, one deer. But I’d be a pretty bad hunter if I needed an assault rifle to shoot that buck. I support the plan to ban assault weapons and keep ’em out of the wrong hands. Because I know these guns. I know what they can do. The NRA and the gun manufacturers have given a ton of money to Sen. Mitch McConnell. And now he’s blocking reform. Senator, whose side are you on?” . . .

Meanwhile actress Ashley Judd looks like she is running against McConnell:

"My impression is this is something she wants to do, and she is now taking the time to make the contacts she needs to make throughout the state to try and generate commitments of support and in some cases fundraising," Yarmuth said. "She is certainly acting like a candidate, a potential candidate. 

"I think in her own mind ... she has made a decision to run and she's doing the right thing and not ruffling any feathers along the way," he added. . . . . 

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Total federal debt

From Robert Samuelson:

TREASURY DEBT HELD BY THE PUBLIC: $11.3 trillion 

FEDERAL LOANS AND LOAN GUARANTEES: $2.9 trillion in 2011 

FANNIE AND FREDDIE: $5.1 trillion 

THE FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION: $7.3 trillion . . .

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New piece at National Review: "Ted Cruz Sets the Record Straight on Guns"

My new piece at National Review starts this way:

Newly elected senator Ted Cruz has jumped right into the fray. So far he is the only senator who has dared challenge the many blatant falsehoods President Obama and many congressional Democrats have been pushing regarding guns, in particular the bogus claim that 40 percent of gun sales are done without background checks. 

Unsurprisingly, his willingness to speak out has recently made Cruz a target of the media. While he has come in for a range of attacks from the New York Times, recently Politifact has focused on his statement: “the jurisdictions with the strictest gun-control laws, almost without exception . . . have the highest crime rates and the highest murder rates.” In the last case, they labeled his statement “false.” 

Is the “false” rating deserved? In Politifact’s explanation, it becomes more than a little bit obvious that their verdict is seriously strained, not least because they do acknowledge that context clarifies Cruz’s point. When using the term “strictest gun-control laws,” the senator was referring to gun bans (either a ban on handguns or all guns), and he was referring to so-called panel data as the evidence. 

This makes a considerable difference  . . . .

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What the Obama administration predicts for gun control regulations

From The Hill Newspaper:

The gun lobby is citing the nine-page memo in ads running in 15 states, including several swing states with Senate elections next year. In the ad, the NRA says the memo proves that the administration “believes that a gun ban will not work without mandatory gun confiscation” and thinks universal background checks “won't work without requiring national gun registration,” according to the AP. . . .

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New Fox News piece: Will Obama push us over the edge?

My newest Fox News piece starts this way:

Obama thinks he has a mandate for change. But this is the man who ran for president in 2008 promising to “cut net spending” and to shrink the federal government; a man who promised that his “stimulus” spending was only temporary. 

Obama hid regulations from view until after his reelection. The press maintained the fiction that Obama supports the Second Amendment and is no threat to citizens’ keeping guns for self-defense. Yet the day after his reelection, Obama called for the UN Arms Trade Treaty negotiations to be started again, and a few weeks later he promised to put the full force of the federal government behind a push for massive new gun control. 

Even on taxes, Obama’s post-election demands contradicted the positions on which he campaigned. Sure he promised higher taxes on “the rich.” But during the campaign he said that he wanted $800 billion from them. As soon as Republican speaker of the House, John Boehner, agreed to raise that amount by eliminating various credits and deductions for high-income taxpayers, Obama announced that he really wanted twice that amount. . . . 

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Interview with Mark Levin on my new book "At the Brink"

It was a very lively interview and is available here.

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7th Circuit Appeals Court will not reconsider decision to strike down Illinois' ban on concealed carry

The question now seems to be whether Illinois will appeal to the Supreme Court.  My own hope is that they do appeal.  This is the best case to create a precedent on concealed carry laws.

A federal appeals court won't reconsider an earlier ruling that Illinois' concealed carry ban is unconstitutional.
A three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Illinois' ban in December and gave lawmakers until June 8 to legalize the concealed carry of firearms.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan asked for all 10 judges to review the decision, saying it conflicted with decisions by other federal appellate courts and goes beyond what the U.S. Supreme Court has held. . . .

Thanks very much to Tony Troglio for this link.

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Obama's cynicism: Refusing to negotiate and then saying that it is the Republicans who are refusing to do so

Politico here could be tougher, but at least they are making it clear that the delays are do to Obama, not the Republicans.

. . . . He has been so certain of his campaign skills that he didn’t open a line of communication with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell until Thursday, a week before the spending ax hits. And when they did finally hear from Obama, the calls were perfunctory, with no request to step up negotiations or invitations to the White House. 

That’s because Obama’s all-in on an outside strategy, doing just about everything other than holding serious talks with Republicans. In the last two days alone, he’s courted local TV anchors, called in a select group of White House correspondents to talk off-the-record, chatted up black broadcasters, and announced plans to stump next week at Virginia’s Newport News Shipyard. Throughout, he’s talked in tough terms that signal little interest in compromise — or suggestion of backing down. 

He’s navigating a thin line. Obama is convinced he’s got the upper hand on Republicans. Yet he can go only so long before he risks being perceived as a main actor in Washington’s dysfunction, threatening a core element of his political brand — and the fragile economic recovery he’s struggled to maintain. 

The calls placed Thursday to Boehner and McConnell were prompted, in part, by a White House desire to inoculate Obama from that exact criticism. . . . .

Compare that discussion in Politico to the White House's discussion here.

QUESTION: Did the White House or the administration make the Department of Defense wait to release the specific cuts on the sequestration until the last two weeks? It seems like we're just hearing about this. And General Odierno had said last week that they didn’t prepare for it very well because they didn’t think it was going to happen. 

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE: No. The answer to your question is no. And there is a process here underway. I think -- I mean, I can't speak for General Odierno, but I think we're all hopeful and remain at least insistent that Republicans do not make the choice to allow sequestration to happen; that they choose instead to come up with a balanced plan or to agree to a balanced plan to postpone or eliminate the sequester. 

The fact is, broadly speaking, we've known what the impact of these dramatic, across-the-board cuts would be. I can quote to you page after page of Republicans citing the harm to the Pentagon and our defense readiness that would come if sequester were to take effect. . . .

Charlie Cook has a related point on immigration, where the president's constant politicization of issues makes it harder for an agreement to be made.

Every time Obama takes a public stand on immigration, he makes it that much more difficult for Republican members of Congress to support it. Keep in mind that 94 percent of House Republicans are in districts Mitt Romney carried and that 34 of 45 GOP senators represent states Obama lost. As a result, most congressional Republicans are far more afraid of losing a primary to a more conservative challenger than a general election to a Democrat. It is a lot easier for them to support an immigration bill that has broad-based support in the business and farming communities (and that also happens to be supported by Obama and the Democratic leadership) than to back a bill so popularly identified with the other side. If the president really cares about enacting immigration reform, he will get off the campaign trail, depoliticize it, and keep as quiet about it as he can. . . .  

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Colorado Democrat Rep. Joe Salazar is in trouble over rape comments and Amanda Collins' powerful response

Here is the debate over gun free zones on college campuses.

Salazar:  “It’s why we have call boxes, it’s why we have safe zones, it’s why we have the whistles. Because you just don’t know who you’re gonna be shooting at. And you don’t know if you feel like you’re gonna be raped, or if you feel like someone’s been following you around or if you feel like you’re in trouble when you may actually not be, that you pop out that gun and you pop … pop around at somebody.”  

Amanda Collins has a response here.

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Senate Democrats outraged by problems with Obamacare

The video from Fox News is available here.

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Teacher outrageously gives zeros to students who wrote about hunting and a gun show

These teachers are just trying to traumatize students about guns.  From Fox News:

An English teacher at Denton High School in the Dallas-Fort Worth area allegedly refused to grade two student reports because they discussed guns. 

MyFoxDFW.com reports that the teacher, Dewey Christian, told his students to write a report on anything they wanted. 

Marshall Williams, one of Christian's students, told the station he chose to write about a Fort Worth gun show he had attended. He said Christian told him he would get a zero on the assignment because of the topic. 

Another student, Alex Wright, said Christian rejected his report because it mentioned hunting. 

After telling his mother, Kimberly Williams, about the incident, she and Marshall met with Christian, according to the report. 

Kimberly Williams' cell phone video recording of the meeting reportedly shows Christian explaining that he refused to grade the report because of concerns about school violence. . . . .

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More vote fraud in Hamilton County, Ohio

So there are no examples of vote fraud?  Possibly all this explains the very high voter turnout rate that they had in that county that drove the state barely to Obama.

Authorities also are investigating if she voted in the names of four other people, too, for a total of six votes in the 2012 presidential election. 

"I'll fight it for Mr. Obama and for Mr. Obama's right to sit as president of the United States," Richardson vowed when asked about the voter fraud investigation that is now under way. 

Richardson is one of 19 people suspected of illegal voting by the Hamilton County Board of Elections in the last election. . . .

More vote fraud here:

Another case of alleged voter fraud was brought to the attention of the the Hamilton County Board of Elections Tuesday, this time involving two Sisters of Charity.  

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters sent a letter to Board of Elections director Tim Burke saying there's probable cause to believe criminal activity has occurred in the case of deceased voter Sister Rose Marie Hewitt. 

Sisters of Charity confirm that Hewitt died on Oct. 4 of last year. 

Board of Elections documents obtained in an open records request indicate Hewitt applied for an absentee ballot on Sept. 11, but it wasn't received by the board until after she died. . . .

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Audio of my radio interview with Glenn Beck yesterday on my new book "At the Brink"

My radio interview with Glenn Beck is available here.

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Newest piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer: "Misleading claims about what new proposals will do"

My newest piece starts this way:

President Obama's continued call on Friday for "commonsense proposals to make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun" is something that everyone agrees with. Unfortunately, the president is misleadingly claiming what his proposals would do, and they are more likely to do more harm than good. 

Consider "background checks." According to Obama and gun-control advocates, "40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without a background check." That is just false. Only if you were to classify family inheritances and gifts as "purchases" would you get a number anywhere near that high. . . .

A version of this piece has appeared in the Tampa Bay Times, Omaha World Herald, Youngstown Vindicator, the Gulf Today, and the Columbus Post-Dispatch.

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Copy of my radio interview with Sean Hannity on Monday about my new book "At the Brink"

Sean was great to about my new book "At the Brink" on Monday.  He had me on for about 15 minutes, which is a very long time.  The audio of the radio interview is available here.

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Here is a picture I had yesterday with Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke.

It was great to meet him (previous posts here and here). I really admire him.

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Helping people in high crime areas defend themselves: The Armed Citizen Project

Houston weather, traffic, news | FOX 26 | MyFoxHouston

This is an interesting project located in Houston, Texas:

The Armed Citizen Project is dedicated to facilitating the armingof law abiding citizens, and analyzing the relationship between increased firearm availability and crime rates. We will choose a mid-high crime neighborhood in Houston, and offer defensiveweapons to citizens that can pass a background check, and that will take our safety, legal, andtactical training. . . . 

From Fox News Houston:

A University of Houston graduate student is doing an unusual study. He's going to give away 20-gauge single-shot shotguns in high-crime neighborhoods to see if it reduces crime."We're not just tossing a bunch of shotguns into a community and walking away," says Kyle Coplen. "What we're doing is finding residents who are interested in protecting themselves. we're not forcing guns on anyone."

From CBS:

A University of Houston graduate student says he’s conducting a study to hopefully answer the question being asked across the country, “Do more guns reduce crime or not?” 

Kyle Coplen, who founded the Armed Citizens Project, is giving away 20-gauge single-shot shotguns to residents in mid- and high-crime neighborhoods to test whether or not the weapon will help reduce crime in the area, according to the group’s website. Coplen says the weapons are not of much value to criminals, but are especially useful for citizens looking to protect themselves from criminals. . . .

Thanks to Kyle Coplen for contacting me earlier today. 

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Appearance on Glenn Beck's radio program to talk about my new book

A transcript and audio of my interview with Glenn is available here.

GLENN: John Lott is one of my favorite thinkers, especially when it comes to ‑‑ well, when it comes to facts and figures, you know, he’s probably best known for his work on guns, guns by the numbers. I think his name is ‑‑ the name of his book is More Guns, Less Crime, and it is the ‑‑ it is the standard bearer, I think, for that kind of stat, and you won’t read that anyplace else. Well, he has turned his attention now to what this administration is doing and what this government is doing to push us over the brink. That’s the name of his new book called At The Brink. Will the man who won’t be named on this program without a $20 fine, will “that guy” push us over the edge is the subtitle and John is with us now. Hi, John, how are you? 

LOTT: Great to talk to you. Thank you very much for having me on. 

GLENN: You bet. You’re taking this on, and I wonder if we can ever come back from this because I look at the facts that you have in this. I just look at the things when you talk about the stimulus and how the stimulus is going to go down in history as the most expensive economic failure in all of history. You want to make that point first before I ask you the question on it? . . .

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"At the Brink" is in the top 100 in Amazon sales rank

Thanks for everyone who has bought the book and written such nice reviews.  I greatly appreciate you all doing that.  Thank you.

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These are the types of gun control emails Obama's "Organizing for Action" are bombarding its massive email list with

Yesterday I put up a post on how the Obama administration was collecting stories about people's whose lives have been impacted by gun violence.  Today, they are starting to send out these types of emails.  You can click on this picture to make it larger and easier to read. Note no discussion of defensive gun uses.  No acknowledgment of the benefits of owning guns.  Just attacks about the evils of guns.

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Science explains why women talk more than men

From Science World Report:

. . . Previous research has shown that women talk almost three times as much as men. In fact, an average woman notches up 20,000 words in a day, which is about 13,000 more than the average man. In addition, women generally speak more quickly and devote more brainpower to speaking. Yet before now, researchers haven't been able to biologically explain why this is the case. 

Now, they can. New findings conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and published in The Journal of Neuroscience show that a certain protein may be the culprit. 

In 2001, a gene called FOXP2 appeared to be essential for the production of speech. In order to test this protein, the team, led by J. Michael Bowers and Margaret McCarthy, looked at young rat pups. These animals emit cries in the ultrasonic range when separated from their mothers. The team recorded the cries over five minutes in groups of 4-day-old male and female rats that had been separated from their mothers. They found that male pups had up to twice as much of the protein FOXP2  in regions of the brain known to be involved in vocalization--perhaps an unsurprising finding since researchers noted that males made twice as many cries as females. . . .

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"At the Brink" reaches 197 on Amazon

Thanks very much to the eight people who have so far written reviews of the book.  After one works for months on a book, it is great that people seem to enjoy it so much.

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Obama Campaign (now called Organizing for Action) email about organizing to push gun control

This is an email that I received today.  Apparently Obama's people think that there should be a debate by only discussing the bad things happen from guns, but the point should be what the net effect of gun ownership is.

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Yet more stories of the damage from Obamacare

From the Financial Times:

US retailers and restaurants chains that employ millions of low-wage workers are considering cutting working hours or paying fines rather than enrolling employees in health insurance plans under Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare law. 

Employers are concerned that the law increases the cost of insuring employees on existing plans, partly by broadening the range of benefits. It also requires companies to insure some employees not previously covered. 

David Dillon, chief executive of the Kroger supermarket chain, told the Financial Times that some companies might opt to pay a government-mandated penalty for not providing insurance because it was cheaper than the cost of coverage. 

Nigel Travis, head of Dunkin’ Brands, said his doughnut chain was lobbying to change the definition of “full-time” employees eligible for coverage from those working at least 30 hours a week to 40 hours a week. 

Some restaurants, including Wendy’s and Taco Bell franchises, have explored slashing worker hours so fewer employees qualify for health insurance, arguing that they cannot afford the additional healthcare costs. Other businesses are deliberately keeping headcounts below 50. . . .

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Woman defends herself against three male attackers

From St. Louis:

Police say a woman shot at three people this morning when she suspected them of breaking into her apartment building. 

The woman was in her third-floor apartment about 10:30 a.m. at Miami Street and Missouri Avenue when she saw three men coming up the stairs, police said. She fired one shot at the trio, prompting them to run off. It wasn't clear if anyone was shot. 

She was not hurt. Police were looking for three males but did not immediately have descriptions of them Tuesday. . . .

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Kindle edition of "At the Brink" now released

Many people have been asking me when the Kindle edition of "At the Brink" would be out.  Well, it is available here.

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Armen Alchian, one of the greatest economists ever died today

The Alchian family said that Armen died in his sleep this morning 
at the age of 98. Alchian was one of the greatest 

and most influential economists ever.  His free market views 

shaped generations of economists.  Alchian had a huge impact 

on anyone who knew him and my life was no different.

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Video of my appearance on Sean Hannity's TV show

The video is available here.

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"Colorado Democrat Under Fire For Suggesting Female College Students Fearing Rape Should Not Have Access To Concealed Guns"

The link is available here.

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Why is Obama getting such positive news coverage?

Reporters do have a tough job and only a fraction of the resources that they used to have.  I can definitely see how that has caused the government to have much more power relative to them, that it is so much easier now to simply take and run with what the Obama administration gives them.  Still, I don't believe that is the entire story.  I don't think that a Republican would have this easy of a time dealing with the media.  From Politico:

With more technology, and fewer resources at many media companies, the balance of power between the White House and press has tipped unmistakably toward the government. This is an arguably dangerous development, and one that the Obama White House — fluent in digital media and no fan of the mainstream press — has exploited cleverly and ruthlessly. And future presidents from both parties will undoubtedly copy and expand on this approach.
“The balance of power used to be much more in favor of the mainstream press,” said Mike McCurry, who was press secretary to President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Nowadays, he said, “The White House gets away with stuff I would never have dreamed of doing. When I talk to White House reporters now, they say it’s really tough to do business with people who don’t see the need to be cooperative.” . . .

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Some of the radio shows that I am doing today for the book launch

These shows should be fun.  I particularly enjoy the Dennis Miller and Dennis Prager shows whenever I have been on in the past.

	The Pat Campbell Show 9:35 to 9:50 AM
	Frank Beckmann Show				10:09 AM – 10:29 AM
	Mark Larson				10:40 AM – 11:10 AM
	Dennis Miller				11:05 AM – 11:35 AM
	Dennis Prager				12:20 PM – 1:00 PM
	Scott Hennen Show				1:35 PM – 2:00 PM

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Employee with gun stops armed robbery

Typical very short news story that occurs frequently even if it doesn't get much news coverage.  From Lancaster, PA:

A robber who claimed to be armed fled a Lancaster sub shop without money when an employee pulled a gun of his own, police said. 

Lancaster police said the would-be robber demanded cash from Speed's Sub Shop, at 318 E. King Street, just after 10 p.m. Saturday. 

The employee pulled and then pointed his own handgun at the suspect, who immediately fled the store empty handed, police said. . . .

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Proposed Washington State law would require that police go inside gun owners homes once a year to check guns

I wish that the nonsensical parts of the proposed assault weapon ban that this provision is part of would also get critically discussed, but at least this might keep the law from getting passed.  From the Seattle Times:

Forget police drones flying over your house. How about police coming inside, once a year, to have a look around? 

As Orwellian as that sounds, it isn’t hypothetical. The notion of police home inspections was introduced in a bill last week in Olympia. 

That it’s part of one of the major gun-control efforts pains me. It seemed in recent weeks lawmakers might be headed toward some common-sense regulation of gun sales. But then last week they went too far. By mistake, they claim. But still too far. 

“They always say, we’ll never go house to house to take your guns away. But then you see this, and you have to wonder.” 

That’s no gun-rights absolutist talking, but Lance Palmer, a Seattle trial lawyer and self-described liberal who brought the troubling Senate Bill 5737 to my attention. It’s the long-awaited assault-weapons ban, introduced last week by three Seattle Democrats. . . .

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"CU regents seek board support for concealed-carry on campus"

I am not sure what impact that this resolution will have on the political debate, but it is not particularly surprising that the Board of Regents may have become more accepting of concealed handguns on campus after it is clear that the problems that they were concerned about haven't occurred.  From the Bolder, Colorado Daily Camera:

Two regents on the Republican-leaning University of Colorado Board of Regents will ask their colleagues later this week to support concealed-carry rights on the school's campuses. 

Regent Jim Geddes, R-Sedalia, and Sue Sharkey, R-Windsor, are proposing a resolution that says the regents "support the right of Colorado citizens to lawfully exercise the right of concealed carry, including on University of Colorado campuses." The proposed measure goes on to say that "gun-free zones" leave law-abiding citizens vulnerable to harm. 

The board will likely vote on the measure at its meeting in Colorado Springs next week. The board will meet there Wednesday and Thursday. . . .

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"Teachers in Florida suburb getting free weapons training lessons"

Will the attitude of teachers change on guns?  Probably not for most liberal teachers, but this is still encouraging.

A group of teachers in a Florida suburb are receiving free weapons training classes for free, according to a report by FOX13 News. 

The event held in Safety Harbor and conducted by security company International Executive Protection is meant to teach teachers, and students, the basics of self-defense and the details of Florida's Concealed Carry Weapons Permit. 

"I've been kind of skirting around the issue of getting a gun again and this opportunity came open," Oak Grove (Clearwater) Middle School teacher Terri Cunningham told FOX13 News. "I decided it's free; don't turn down anything that's free." 

The class, which normally costs $75, was offered with a discount because of the apparent growing interest in concealed carry permits among teachers in the wake of the Newtown shooting. . . .

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26 states completely opt out of state run exchanges, seven other states would only take on part of the task

From the Washington Times:

The backbone of President Obama’s health care law is taking shape, with 26 states choosing to let the federal government run the online insurance markets mandated by his signature reforms instead of keeping the job in-house or partnering with the feds. 

The Department of Health and Human Services had encouraged states to run their own markets, or “exchanges,” that help the uninsured find coverage. Only 17 states and the District of Columbia took on the task, while seven states decided to split the duty with the Obama administration, according to a breakdown by the Kaiser Family Foundation. . . .

This is putting it mildly.

“It’s not what the drafters of the bill had hoped would happen,” Timothy Jost, a health law expert at Washington and Lee University School of Law, said of the outcome on Friday. . . . 

There could be a lot of court cases determining whether there are now limits on what the Federal government can spend on health care in those states. 

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Democratic state senator and three Democratic state representatives move to ban hunting ammunition in Wisconsin?

This type of law would never have been offered a decade or two ago.  Redstate has a detailed discussion of the proposed law:

“The provision in the bill draft that provides whoever intentionally sells, transports or possesses any bullet that expands or flattens easily in the human body is guilty of a Class H felony conflicts with current DNR hunting rules.  Under s. NR 10.09 (1)(c)2., ‘no person shall hunt any deer or bear with any air rifle, rim-fire rifle, any center-fire rifle less than .22 caliber, any .410 bore or less shotgun or handgun loaded with .410 shotgun shell ammunition or with ammunition loaded with nonexpanding type bullets or ammunition loaded with shot other than a single slug or projectile.’ The bill draft does not provide an exception to the prohibition on possessing expanding bullets for deer or bear hunting.” (Emphasis added)

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Great piece by Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe: As gun ownership in Massachusetts plummeted, murders and violent crime soared

The whole piece here is highly recommended.  From Sunday's Boston Globe:

IN 1998, Massachusetts passed what was hailed as the toughest gun-control legislation in the country. Among other stringencies, it banned semiautomatic “assault” weapons, imposed strict new licensing rules, prohibited anyone convicted of a violent crime or drug trafficking from ever carrying or owning a gun, and enacted severe penalties for storing guns unlocked. 

“Today, Massachusetts leads the way in cracking down on gun violence,” said Republican Governor Paul Cellucci as he signed the bill into law. “It will save lives and help fight crime in our communities.” Scott Harshbarger, the state’s Democratic attorney general, agreed: “This vote is a victory for common sense and for the protection of our children and our neighborhoods.” One of the state’s leading anti-gun activists, John Rosenthal of Stop Handgun Violence, joined the applause. “The new gun law,” he predicted, “will certainly prevent future gun violence and countless grief.” 

It didn’t. . . .

Jacoby points out that while gun ownership plummeted, murder rates soared.

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Corruption, favoritism and cronyism in the way Los Angeles County gives out concealed handgun permits

Government officials, people with important connections, and friends of the sheriff seem to get all the concealed handgun permits in LA county.  Unfortunately, the people who need the protection the most, the poor minorities who live in high crime areas aren't the ones who are able to get protection.  From the LA Weekly:

. . . As of May 2012, only 341 people had been granted them, according to sheriff's records. Compare that with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, which had 1,754 permit holders in 2011, despite of a population of just 2 million people to L.A.'s 10 million. The Kern County Sheriff granted even more, with 3,564 permit holders in a population of 800,000 people. 

In L.A. County, records show, most of the permits go to judges and reserve deputies. But there is another group that seems to have better luck than most in obtaining permits: friends of Lee Baca. Those who've given the sheriff gifts or donated to his campaign are disproportionately represented on the roster of permit holders.  

Chuck Michel, a gun-rights attorney who has pushed for greater access to concealed-weapons permits, says practices in many "anti-gun" jurisdictions are "corrupted by favoritism and cronyism." 

Michel had not looked in depth at L.A. County's practices, but the Weekly did. Last year, theWeekly filed a public records request for all 341 active concealed-weapons permits granted by the Sheriff's Department — as well as a list of the 123 people who applied for concealed weapons over an 18-month period but were denied. (You can see the complete list of permit holders we obtained from the Sheriff's Department here.) 

Those lists contain many of the same names that appear on Baca's gift reports and contribution records. 

In fact, more than two dozen people who have given gifts or campaign contributions to the sheriff also have gun permits. More than one out of every 10 permits issued to civilians went to people on Baca's gift list. The permit holders include Michael R. Yamaki, an attorney and reserve deputy who is among Baca's best friends, as well as several people who attended Baca's 1999 wedding. . . .

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