Last night a mass shooting occurred at Indy’s FedEx facility. This weekend is the Indy Gun & Knife Show “Show”). Hypocrisy: “act of pretending to have a character or beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not possess.” Exhibitors can’t “carry” & live rounds are banned at the Show.

A radio ad for the Show used to feature voice caricatures of Harvey (7-foot tall pookah rabbit) or Barney Fife. The ad for this Show had no such voices. Announcer simply stated dates, times and…

   On Wednesday, another mass shooting took place in the United States.

   Before the gun nuts get revved up, this blog will not address the absurd proliferation (oddly, “prolife” is the first part of the word “proliferation”) of assault weapons, etc., in this country. Instead, I want to address another aspect of the incident.

   An individual identified as a forensic psychiatrist appeared on The Charlie Brooker Show after a school shooting in Winenden, Germany, in March, 2009. In…

   The president of the National Rifle Association yesterday stated the NRA has chosen the vehicle by which it will advance its political agenda. That "vehicle" is the Republican Party.

   For years members of each party have crawled over each other to seek NRA support. NRA support means money, as in $$$$. Members of the House of Representatives, who are in a constant fund-raising mode (one estimate is that 25% of a member's time is spent in fund-raising endeavors), take money when…

   Whatever your view about guns, firearms, the Second Amendment, gun control, may be, one aspect of the public discussion its one-sided nature. I have heard/seen programs on which one side---choose by network---prominently is featured. I have watched people yell or scream at each other, but I have yet to see/hear intelligent, civil discourse on the topic.

   That is why "Civil Discourse Now" was started. I got tired of the "rah rah our side" nature of many shows and the…

   At Grady's Championship Deli, located at 44th and Keystone (east side of Keystone Avenue, just north of Fall Creek Parkway) at 11 a.m. we will stream "live" a discussion about gun rights. My position is what some (many?) in this country would view as extreme. I believe there should be no private ownership of guns. Our guest panelists will be Andrew Kirch, well-known amongst those of the Indy blogosphere as a conservative advocate, and a very passionate advocate of gun "rights." Also,…

   LATEST ON SATURDAY'S SHOW: ON SECOND AMENDMENT. We will air at 11 a.m. sharp. Andrew Kirch will join our panel. We should be able to announce, later today, where we will have The Show.

   President Obama announced his plans to address gun violence. Senator Rand Paul characterized the President as monarchical (as did Sean Hannity, but at least Paul does not have to rely upon staff writers to spell "monarchical" correctly). Others mentioned impeachment of the President because he had…

   There were several responses to my blog yesterday about Adolf Hitler's policies toward gun control.

   I should clarify what Hitler did about guns. In 1938, the Third Reich enacted new gun laws. They superseded  a restrictive 1928 enactment by the Weimar Republic. The Third Reich's new laws prohibited Jews and enemies of the state from possession of firearms. So Paul Ogden's reference to Hitler's comments about keeping guns from certain segments of society is correct. The ability…

   Saturday's Show will address the Second Amendment and arguments for control or repeal of the Second Amendment. We stream "live" at 11 a.m.

   One common argument against any restrictions on gun ownership relies upon what is set forth as an historical "fact"---that one of Adolf Hitler's first actions as Chancellor of Germany was to require registration of ownership of guns by private citizens. To authenticate this claim, gun advocates even have a "quote" from Hitler:

      …

Civil Discourse Now will stream (how'd I dodge the obvious verb?) from the Indiana State Fairgrounds on January 19 at 11 a.m. to discuss ramifications of the Second Amendment. So far one panelist we have confirmed is Andrew Kirch. Co-host Mark Small (me) will advocate that the Second Amendment should be repealed. There's no need to talk about slippery slopes with me on this topic. Andrew will argue (vehemently I am sure) against the position I favor. Paul Ogden probably also will favor…

   This country seems to be held hostage by ourselves. The NRA—as some alternative to gun control—advocates armed guards in our nation’s schools.

   Armed security was on staff at Columbine. The 2009 shootings at Fort Hood took place on an Army post—in the middle of a lot of people armed with firearms who were trained in use of firearms. Armed guards apparently are not as effective as the NRA would have us believe. An alternative would be to have armed guards in every hallway and in…

Colorado Chaos

   "When mindless acts of terror (is the phrase redundant?) occur in the world, will people please not immediately ascribe those acts to believers of Islam?"

   I wrote those words exactly one year ago (07/23/11) tomorrow, after the nut went crazy in Norway and killed 84 people. Thursday night we had another episode of insanity, but here in the States. ABC did a lousy job (as in: check sources, don’t just Google® someone’s name) and tried to link…