Advice on self-protection in a gun-controlled America, courtesy of Crazy Uncle Joe
Only Joe Biden could promote gun control in a way that encourages people to break the law and is more likely to injure innocent people than potential threats.
First, here’s what Biden said, during a Facebook chat Tuesday, he had advised his wife to do:
“I said, ‘Jill, if there’s ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony here, walk out and put that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house.’ … You don’t need an AR-15 — it’s harder to aim, it’s harder to use, and in fact you don’t need 30 rounds to protect yourself. Buy a shotgun! Buy a shotgun!”
Now, in a secluded, mostly wooded area, like the one where Biden said he and his wife live in Delaware, that might not be the worst advice. Not the best, either, but not the worst. But not all Americans live like that. In fact, in his state’s largest city, his advice could land someone in jail. From U.S. News and World Report:
A sergeant with the Wilmington, Del., police department explained to U.S. News that city residents are not allowed to fire guns on their property.
The sergeant, who preferred not to be identified, said that Wilmington residents are also not allowed to shoot trespassers. “On your property you can’t just shoot someone,” he said. “You have to really feel that your life is being threatened.”
In fact, Biden’s advice could land his wife in jail in Delaware:
Defense attorney John Garey — a former Delaware deputy attorney general — agreed, and added that several criminal charges might result if Jill Biden took her husband’s advice.
“In Delaware you have to be in fear of your life to use deadly force,” Garey said. “There’s nothing based on his scenario alone” indicating a reason to fear imminent death, he noted.
There’s more at the link, including visual evidence to suggest the Bidens’ home isn’t as secluded as the vice president let on.
On one hand, the illegality of what Biden suggested has more to do with what one does with any weapon — it’s a lot closer to the controversy at the heart of the Trayvon Martin shooting, though not quite the same — rather than the specific kind of weapon one uses.
On the other hand, it’s rather ironic that Biden’s explanation for how you can still protect yourself in a world without “assault weapons” is that you could always … break another law.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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362 comments Add your comment
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 21st, 2013
11:12 pm
Buckshot in a shotgun shell is larger than some pistol or rifle bullets and would be just as deadly if fired in the air.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 21st, 2013
11:25 pm
Enter your comments here
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
7:30 am
@Bruno….”The US has 315,371,722 people right now with a life expectancy of 78.7 years. That comes out to about 4,000,000 deaths per year on average by my math.”
You math is wrong…take it up with the CDC.
•Number of deaths: 2,468,435
•Death rate: 799.5 deaths per 100,000 population
•Life expectancy: 78.7 years
•Infant Mortality rate: 6.15 deaths per 1,000 live births
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 22nd, 2013
7:34 am
When is Kyle going to weigh in on the minimum wage proposal?
chirp
chirp
chirp
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 22nd, 2013
7:40 am
Minimum wage? Eight percent or more of working-age Americans have been getting the minimum wage ($0/hour) for four years under Obozo. When is Obozo going to address THAT?
Chirp.
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
7:41 am
@Bruno…”Guns are used for legitimate hunting, and should be available for self-protection.
As such, I’m kind of in the middle regarding guns. Though I absolutely support the 2nd Amendment, I also think that society has a legitimate interest in restricting certain weapons from being sold.”
I agree that guns should be available for hunting…that excludes handguns and anything more than a single shot rifle in my view. I think that the “self protection” meme is a fantasy and not supported by the data.
I think that if you own a gun it and you must be licensed and you are 100% responsible for securing that gun. If it gets away from you it is your responsiblity.
As for the Second Amendment….
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Anyone that is part of a “well regulated Militia” i.e. National Guard is entitled to gun ownership. The rest is overreach by the Court.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 22nd, 2013
7:43 am
The minimum wage hike is so obviously stupid that it fore gos any commentary. Perhaps you’re at the wrong forum, finn?
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
7:44 am
@Thusla…”And health insurance shouldn’t pay for routine stuff either IMO.”
I am all for giving people visablity into and understanding of the cost of care. Our current system is set up to preclude that. This particuar story is not unsual though and it is just wrong.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 22nd, 2013
7:48 am
So Cons would rather give the working poor food stamps and rent vouchers than ask companies to pay them a little more money.
Now who is stupid?
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
7:51 am
@Bruno…”There’s plenty we can do to get the waste out of health care without resorting to a government takeover.”
I agree with most of what you say except for the government takeover part…single payer is not govenment takeover of care. It is an attempt to address the third party issue. Government takeover is when the health care system is owned by the government and no one is advocating that.
I think the single payer should set a base plan…the individual or a privately purchased insurance company should be responsible for the rest. If a provider wants to work outside the system…tell the patient and make them responsible.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 22nd, 2013
7:54 am
Speaking of health care, Jon Stewart interviewed the writer of the Time magazine covers story on the prices we pay for healthcare. The online version of the interview adds 8 extra minutes.
One highlights:
The ambulance industry takes in more money in a year than Hollywood.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 22nd, 2013
7:55 am
It’s called ambition, finn. You want more money, you study hard, you work hard. You grow yourself into something that is worth more money. In the world we live in today, full of weak minded and lazy snivelers who expect everything to just come to them, a responsible individual would be in demand.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 22nd, 2013
7:59 am
So, according to Aesop, someone working 2 or 3 minimum wage jobs at the same time is still a moocher.
Got it.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 22nd, 2013
8:01 am
Want to see just how gullible the Cons are?
Last week, Slate’s David Weigel detailed how Friends of Hamas doesn’t actually exist. And as New York Daily News reporter Dan Friedman explained, he unwittingly started the Friends of Hamas rumor when he posed the Hagel question to a GOP aide in the form of “an obvious joke.”
According to Friedman, he asked about both Friends of Hamas and the “Junior League of Hezbollah,” and thought that the “names were so over-the-top, so linked to terrorism in the Middle East, that it was clear I was talking hypothetically and hyperbolically.”
LOL, Cons couldn’t tell irony from an iron.
md
February 22nd, 2013
8:03 am
“Anyone that is part of a “well regulated Militia” i.e. National Guard is entitled to gun ownership. The rest is overreach by the Court.”
This is where the anti 2nd go off the track…..when the 2 nd was written, “militia” was just about every Tom, Rick and Harry that existed. Every farmer with a gun was in the “militia”. A bit like the local guys in the volunteer fire department…….and it was written to protect one from our benevolent masters of which some here (jdw) evidently prefer to have all the power…….
Partisay
February 22nd, 2013
8:15 am
Buckshot in a shotgun shell is larger than some pistol or rifle bullets and would be just as deadly if fired in the air.
ummmm…no. I know you can buy shotgun shells with large buckshot but MOST buckshot found in shells from a shotgun are small, BB like. Have you ever fired a shotgun in the air? It rains down the buckshot – damaging nothing. Go throw a handfull of BB’s up in the air. Once they go up from a shotgun they’re only going to fall so fast.
You need to use that Obamaphone you got and do a little more research.
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
8:16 am
@md…milita standing alone can mean everyone…when you add well regulated you have indicated an organized body that trains regularly. That qualifier specifies the use in this case to be a subset of the population that trains together as part of an organized group.
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
8:16 am
O’ and md…that was the view of the court for 200 years until the current crop of wingnuts…talk about legislating from the bench!
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
8:20 am
@md…”it was written to protect one from our benevolent masters of which some here (jdw) evidently prefer to have all the power”
Talk about a facetious argument…you reckon you and boys can hold off the fighter jets, tanks, drones and bombs with your trusty assault weapon…
What I would prefer is to be able to walk down the street without worrying about some nutcase with a gun.
md
February 22nd, 2013
8:25 am
“when you add well regulated you have indicated an organized body that trains regularly. That qualifier specifies the use in this case to be a subset of the population that trains together as part of an organized group.”
Regulated can mean anything, not just what you think it means.
Considering the circumstances when written, and the evidence that points to the fact that it was intended as a protection from the gov’t, regulated may simply mean a form of regulation.
To think it means the gov’t gets to control it when it was intended as protection from that same gov’t is a bit naive…..
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
February 22nd, 2013
8:26 am
I keep my “assault” rifle for gangbangers and other assorted obozo voters.
If I see an A-10 coming towards the house, I plan on leaving, no questions asked.
md
February 22nd, 2013
8:26 am
“Talk about a facetious argument…you reckon you and boys can hold off the fighter jets, tanks, drones and bombs with your trusty assault weapon…”
Seems “the boys” are doing just that in Syria as we speak……don’t underestimate the power of freedom from tyranny.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 22nd, 2013
8:29 am
regulated may simply mean a form of regulation.
LOL. Spin it, baby, spin it.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 22nd, 2013
8:30 am
I keep my “assault” rifle for gangbangers and other assorted obozo voters.
ie, blacks
md
February 22nd, 2013
8:31 am
Oh, and jdw…..if it ever came to that, do you think the guys operating those tanks, planes, and drones are all going to be on the side of the gov’t that has ordered then to attack their own people?
Where do you think the concept of a coup came from?
Which is another reason the current uprising around the globe are fairly successful.
Do I think we’ll get there…..no, but that is what the 2nd was intended to do. The country had just unshackled itself from the tyranny of England, so one needs to understand the mindset of why things were done.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
February 22nd, 2013
8:39 am
CDC: Fast Food Is 11% of American Diet
Well, Aesop and md can rest easy knowing they will have jobs long into the future.
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
8:43 am
@md…”Considering the circumstances when written, and the evidence that points to the fact that it was intended as a protection from the gov’t, regulated may simply mean a form of regulation.”
Evidence supports the fact that the Framers wanted to keep some power of arms with the States. The Second Amendment does that. It gives States the right to a “well regulated militia”. Even in 1776 a militia was raised by an organized government…not the rabble down at the pub.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 22nd, 2013
8:43 am
Partisay: ummmm…no. I know you can buy shotgun shells with large buckshot but MOST buckshot found in shells from a shotgun are small, BB like.
——————-
Ummm…no. Were you the one who admitted you didn’t know much about firearms? You should have stopped there. If it’s “BB like”, it’s actually called BB. Buckshot is much larger. You should know by now that when I comment on something, the facts are on my side.
https://www.google.com/search?q=shot+size&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Z3UnUfylMeKnigLG4ICgCw&ved=0CEoQsAQ&biw=1366&bih=643#imgrc=I6BY1lMQQiVrQM%3A%3By6wSi2v7KkiZlM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.info4guns.com%252Fgraphics%252Fshot_size_penny.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.info4guns.com%252Fshotgun_gauge_ammunition.html%3B317%3B294
md
February 22nd, 2013
8:43 am
“A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”
Notice it does NOT say the right of the gov’t to keep and bear arms. The right of the “people” shall not be infringed…….
People jdw…..people.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
February 22nd, 2013
8:44 am
Finn: gangbangers…ie, blacks
——————
Racist Finn equates gangbangers with blacks.
Nice.
md
February 22nd, 2013
8:46 am
“The Second Amendment was debated and modified during sessions of the House in late August 1789. These debates revolved primarily around risk of “mal-administration of the government” using the “religiously scrupulous” clause to destroy the militia as Great Britain had attempted to destroy the militia at the commencement of the American Revolution. ”
You mean Great Britain wanted to “regulate” the militia?
Now, why would they ever want to do that??????
indigo
February 22nd, 2013
8:46 am
md
Soldiers and Police are people.
The 2nd Ammendment clearly state who can and cannot have guns.
If you are not part of our Military or Police you do NOT have the right to “keep and bear arms”
indigo
February 22nd, 2013
8:46 am
Aesop
Are you ever going to furnish your proof of creationism?
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
8:47 am
@md…”Seems “the boys” are doing just that in Syria as we speak……don’t underestimate the power of freedom from tyranny.”
I don’t underestimate the power of freedom form tyranny…”the boys” in Syria aren’t fighting with commonly available guns…they have nice little goodies provided by other governments. You know why? Because no one had guns in Syria. Ownership was 3.9 per 100 people.
http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearms/region/syria
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
8:49 am
@md…”People jdw…..people”
People md…people that are part of a “well regulated militia”. Not every Tom Dick and Harry that thinks it’s cool to have a gun.
Doug B
February 22nd, 2013
8:50 am
Wow, you are really picking some nits in this one, Kyle.
“In Delaware you have to be in fear of your life to use deadly force”
Is shooting a shotgun into the ground using deadly force? To the ground, perhaps, but I don’t think you could get a conviction in a courtroom on that law. Deadly force means applying the force to a person who can become dead.
But beyond that, what the veep said is common sense. If you legitimately think you are in danger (and he didn’t mention “trespassing”, Kyle. I would’ve assumed he meant there’s someone in the house from my reading of his statement), you take whatever reasonable steps you can to save yourself. You would tell your wife the same thing.
md
February 22nd, 2013
8:59 am
“The constitutions of most of our States assert, that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves, in all cases to which they think themselves competent (as in electing their functionaries, executive and legislative, and deciding by a jury of themselves, in all judiciary cases in which any fact is involved), or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed;
— Thomas Jefferson to John Cartwright, 1824.”
He was there……none of us were.
Georgia
February 22nd, 2013
8:59 am
In the movie, “Every which way but loose”, (Eastwood), Ruth Gordon showed us all how to handle intruders from her porch. Everything she did was perfect. That’s the how, the why, where, the who and the what of gun ownership and protecting one’s property and life. So Biden is correct. Now the NRA’s circle of accomplished marksmen are exposing themselves as total lunatic fringe liberals by mocking Biden’s remarks. Obviously Biden set a trap for the NRA, picking us off with the cool precision of a sniper.
Phasers on stun.
Rafe Hollister preparing for an Obamanist America
February 22nd, 2013
9:04 am
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-27/how-often-do-we-use-guns-in-self-defense
JDW
I posted this earlier on self defense use, from a leftwing website. The NRA guy says 2 million times per year, the anti gun wacko says only 100,000 that are reported and documented by the police, and the experts say that is not accurate either, more like 200,000-300,000 times per year. Even taking the anti gun wacko version, that may be 50,000 lives saved or seriously prevented from injury.
This is something you totally dismissed, as if guns never save lives, and being a stat man as you are, you are wrong.
md
February 22nd, 2013
9:04 am
“The 2nd Ammendment clearly state who can and cannot have guns.”
“People md…people that are part of a “well regulated militia”. Not every Tom Dick and Harry that thinks it’s cool to have a gun.”
Well, considering none of us were there, it once again boils down to beliefs……
I believe words have meaning and the guys that wrote our constitution seemed like pretty smart guys. Since they didn’t write “only militia shall be armed” and intentionally made reference to “the people”, they must of had some meaning behind it.
And as I said earlier, it make sense that if a group of people had just gone through a major war fighting for their freedom from tyranny, they would take that into consideration……..
But that is just my belief……and you guys are welcome to yours…..
bluecoat
February 22nd, 2013
9:08 am
Buck does not apply to all shotgun shot.
md
February 22nd, 2013
9:14 am
“No freeman shall be debarred the use of arms.
— Thomas Jefferson: Draft Virginia Constitution, 1776.
And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press or the rights of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms….
— Samuel Adams, in “Phila. Independent Gazetteer”, August 20, 1789
Are we at last brought to such an humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense? Where is the difference between having our arms in our own possession and under our own direction, and having them under the management of Congress? If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to us, as in our own hands?
— Patrick Henry
[W]hen the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man, who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually….
— George Mason, speech of June 14, 1788
And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms….The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
— Thomas Jefferson in a letter to William S. Smith, 1787″
indigo
February 22nd, 2013
9:20 am
Aesop
You completely ignore me when I ask for proof of evolution, just as I knew you would.
indigo
February 22nd, 2013
9:23 am
Aesop
Correction – creationism
md
February 22nd, 2013
9:31 am
“I don’t underestimate the power of freedom form tyranny…”the boys” in Syria aren’t fighting with commonly available guns…they have nice little goodies provided by other governments. You know why? Because no one had guns in Syria. Ownership was 3.9 per 100 people.”
Pretty sad isn’t it?
Just think about how they would have to live if they didn’t have that help…….depending on others to save oneself……I’ll pass thanks.
md
February 22nd, 2013
9:33 am
“Just think about how they would have to live if they didn’t have that help……”
Maybe like the Iranians that were beaten and killed in the streets by their own gov’t as they marched peacefully without arms……..
I don’t think I like your vision of utopia…..
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
9:34 am
@md…”He was there……none of us were.”
Please note that he was discussing State Governments and that the power he refers to is EXPLICTLY that of the ballot…”as in electing their functionaries, executive and legislative, and deciding by a jury of themselves, in all judiciary cases in which any fact is involved”
There is nothing in this quote that contradicts the obligation of a state to “well regulate” it’s militia nor is there ANYTHING in this quote that leads one to believe that obligation does not exist.
md
February 22nd, 2013
9:41 am
“Please note that he was discussing State Governments and that the power he refers to is EXPLICTLY that of the ballot…”as in electing their functionaries, executive and legislative, and deciding by a jury of themselves, in all judiciary cases in which any fact is involved””
Please note the words……”by themselves”…..there is no limit as to how many that is…..
” that it is their right and duty to be at all times armed;”
Again, as decided by “themselves”……..I’m a self and you are a self, and you do not have the right to dictate as to what I can and can not do…..so if you want to not have an arm that is your choice, whereas if I choose to have one that is my choice. You are not allowed to infringe on my right just because you say so……
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
9:41 am
@Rafe…”I posted this earlier on self defense use, from a leftwing website. ”
Business Week is a “leftwing website”
My data comes from the Harvard School of Public Health…
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hicrc/firearms-research/guns-and-death/
I expect it is far more accurate than that of the NRA.
“This is something you totally dismissed, as if guns never save lives, and being a stat man as you are, you are wrong.”
I didn’t dismiss it…the data leads to two conclusions….
“Most purported self-defense gun uses are gun uses in escalating arguments and are both socially undesirable and illegal
Firearms are used far more often to intimidate than in self-defense.”
The “self defense” meme is a fantasy.
JDW
February 22nd, 2013
9:44 am
@md…”I’m a self and you are a self, and you do not have the right to dictate as to what I can and can not do”
Actually the elected government does have a right to legislate those actions that impact others.