Speaking of the Castile Shooting...

[MGMcAnick]

i wonder if telling Barney Fife is the best idea at this point...it got Castile killed.

That is precisely the problem. Far too many law enforcement personnel resemble Barney Fife in their qualifications to do the job. Far too many are now the "grown up" bullies who roamed the halls of every Jr High and high school in the country. Who else would want that job for that kind of pay?

Troubled people don't make good cops either. One of my former high school students fit that profile. BMOC, football star, and definitely a bully. (He was also a poor student. Maybe that's part of the problem too.) He pulled a couple of young ladies over one night because the driver forgot to turn on her headlights after fueling her Corvette at a well lighted gas station. She did not have a local license tag on the car, which is another reason he figured he needed to stop them. He had the girls in tears, accusing them of being hookers from out of town, and berating them for a variety of things. What he didn't know was that the driver's stepbrother was his lieutenant, one of perhaps 100 officers with that distinction. After about 15 minutes he let them go, without a ticket. She pulled out her cell phone and called her stepbrother. He got a three day suspension. He ate his gun about a year later.

[RayThom]

You are not the only one here with a CCW permit."

I am a LIBERAL DEMOCRAT who has had a CCW since the '70s. I got it soon after being beaten and robbed by a couple of members of the Pagan MC gang. I rarely carry my KelTec P-11 but it's always close at hand.

I wouldn't be so paranoid if people weren't always after me.

[BoSoxGal]

I had a CWP in Montana. I don't feel the need in Massachusetts.

[Jarlaxle]

You'd have a hard time getting one, unless you are "connected" to the right people.

[BoSoxGal]

Here are the requirements:

Required Documents:
1. Approved training course given by a Massachusetts state certified instructor within the last year
2. Completed application
3. Copy of driver’s license or ID card
4. Copy of birth certificate or passport
5. You will be required to justify your request in writing. Make your request as detailed and specific as possible. Valid reasons for requesting a concealed handgun include personal threats, being in a high-risk profession or routinely carrying large amounts of cash.
6. Two passport photographs
7. 2 Fingerprint cards
8. Proof of residency ( may be a utility or cable bill)
9. Report from your home state Bureau of Criminal Records listing your arrest record


The only 'obstacle' is #5, and considering I'm a former law enforcement officer and the victim of a felony intimidation charge that resulted in conviction against the stalker who the State of Montana considered dangerous enough to issue me a lifetime protection order against, AND I've had a previous CWP and have passed character and fitness, I don't think it would be a problem if I really wanted one.

But at the moment I'm fairly confident I moved far enough away from my insane Sovereign Citizen stalker to protect myself, because we all know a protection order might as well be toilet paper.

[dales]

In the SF Bay Area, a CCW is next to impossible to obtain.

[liberty]

You are not the only one here with a CCW permit."

I am a LIBERAL DEMOCRAT who has had a CCW since the '70s. I got it soon after being beaten and robbed by a couple of members of the Pagan MC gang. I rarely carry my KelTec P-11 but it's always close at hand.

I wouldn't be so paranoid if people weren't always after me.

Is the federal government doing anything about these gangs. When I googled and read the part about how they treat the girls that fall into their hands it made me want to take my shotgun and go patrolling for them, but that would be an illogical thing to do. It would do no lasting good and would end my mission of prepare for my children’s future. Have you posted your encounter with Pagans on this board?

[Burning Petard]

BoSox, I am puzzled by that last requirement-- Home State? That seems to assume Mass. permits potentially could be issued to non-mass residents. Am I mis reading this?

snailgate

[BoSoxGal]

No, there were a couple of additional requirements for non-residents seeking a MA permit; I didn't include them as they weren't relevant to me, but apparently it is possible - I imagine for folks who regularly travel through or stay part-time in the state.

[RayThom]

... Have you posted your encounter with Pagans on this board?

No, I rarely speak about it unless I'm with old friends who sometimes bring it up in conversation.

It was way back in "nineteen-aught '71" and I was bolting down the new Edelbrock headers on my '67 Cougar XR7/GT at a friend of mine's Sunoco station -- using the lift after hours. It was just me and the nighttime "gas pump jockey" on the premises. Along comes the gang -- five of them -- and they think I'm the night mechanic with all the money. (The employee hid in the parking lot when he saw all the commotion by the lift bay.)

The head goon asks me for all the money and when I told them I didn't work there they accused me of lying to them. I realized they were getting somewhat pissed so I made a run for it down a small hallway which led to a rear door. Halfway there two of them tackled me and started to punch and kick me and ripped my wallet from my pants. A gas customer pulled in and this seemed to scare them off -- they made their escape in a pickup truck and not on motorcycles.

The owner had a hidden "panic button" to summons the police in emergencies and they were there in minutes. A short time later the ne'er-do-wells were spotted and arrested. For eighteen months after the incident I was involved in a variety of police activity and municipal and county court actions. When I started showing up at every opportunity the gang got angry and I was furtively warned that any more participation would be injurious to my health. That's when the Chief of Detectives assisted me in acquiring a CCW. I bought a Browning Hi-Power with a 16 round clip and he taught me how to use it defensively at their police range.

In the end, three goons got off without any jail time and two others -- who had prior felonies and/or misdemeanors -- went away for up to two years. I never heard anything from them after sentencing and nothing since, but every ten years I renew my CCW.

And the rest, they say, is history.

[Burning Petard]

I moved to Delaware from Michigan in 1972. I was surprised at the frequent regional news about the Pagans and the Warlocks MC crimes against others and with each other. Never heard of them back in the midwest but they were big here. Now I don't look at the Philly or Wilmington papers but I do pay attention to local tv and radio. Rarely hear about those two or any other MC. In the midwest I still hear that MC clubs are important for illegal drug logistics. I don't know if other competitors have pushed them out of this business in the mid-Atlantic, or they are just better at keeping a low profile now.

snailgate

[Burning Petard]

And an aside for holders of Browning Hi-Powers. Strongly recommend sending them to Cylinder & Slide of Fremont Nebraska. Browning experts. They can improve the trigger feel and accuracy and at the same time improve reliability and ammo digestibility.

snailgate

[rubato]

That is precisely the problem. Far too many law enforcement personnel resemble Barney Fife in their qualifications to do the job.

Barney Fife was a compassionate, decent, human being not given to anger or egotism. Barney would be a huge improvement.


yrs,
rubato

[dales]

Even Aunt Bee would be more qualified than a lot of LEO's.

Sorry, but too true.

[rubato]

Even Aunt Bee would be more qualified than a lot of LEO's.

Sorry, but too true.

I'm guessing she spelled it "Bea" short for "Beatrice" but she, and most of the regular characters on that show were the kind of people you want for neighbors and friends. The great thing about that show is that it was assumed that everyone cared about doing the right thing like it was the most important thing in their lives, being kind, being honest, being considerate of other people's feelings. It was a picture of America as we wish it was rather than the cesspool of disease which is now popular culture. There is a sweetness about it without being cloying or artificial like "Father knows best".

yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

not given to anger or egotism

Are you kidding?

Barney could fly off the handle at the drop of a hat; and as for ego...

As a lawman, he thought he was Eliott Ness, Matt Dillon and Joe Friday rolled into one...



He also thought he was great singer...

[Big RR]

In fact, for those very reasons there were times when Andy would not let him carry a gun, and insisted his revolver be kept unloaded (with only one bullet in his pocket).

[rubato]

Barney had foibles, not vices. His self-image was not supported by reality but he did not act as if he was higher than others or that he could ignore the feelings of others, so no, while he could be vain he was not especially egotistical. And he was emotionally volatile but not given to rage. Quick to fly off the handle and quick to calm down afterwards.


yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

In fact, for those very reasons there were times when Andy would not let him carry a gun, and insisted his revolver be kept unloaded (with only one bullet in his pocket).

And it is because of the essential sweetness of his character and his deference to Andy that he accepted this condition.


yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

Barney and the choir is a great example of the lengths everyone else would go to just to be kind. And when you watch that scene you realise that if is the presumption of kindness which perfuses that whole community. No one says "just smack him upside the head with reality and tell him he can't sing at all", no one. Not even for a laugh.


yrs,
rubato