Demon Pass

That’s what I hear when they talk about the Pelosi/Slaughter plan to “deem and pass” the takeover of 1/6th of the economy without actually voting on a bill. Instead they will vote on a “self-executing rule” to deem the bill passed with a bunch of amendments sneaked in at the last minute without debate or even reading. Anyone have a problem with that? You must be a racist homophobe hypocrite, according to the anointed ones. Not to worry, though, because, as Pres. Obama tells us, “Well, a lot of those folks, your employer it’s estimated would see premiums fall by as much as 3,000 percent [sic], which means they could give you a raise.”

We are heading into a Demon Pass of sorts, as the “progressives” try to outdo themselves on who can show the greatest disregard for the rule of law and the Constitution. Just a few other straws in the wind from today alone:

Reason Magazine: Oregon police SWAT teams surround a law-abiding citizen’s house, arrest him, confiscate his guns. All without a crime, a threat, a warrant or even probable cause.

The House Judiciary Committee thinks you must be a racist if you point out that the feds can’t legally force the states to let felons vote. The members think they’ll just have to find some way to get around those pesky, explicit Constitutional provisions that reserve that decision to the states.

Eric Holder “explains” how we have to give terrorists civilian trials by jury and the best legal team leftist money can buy, because Osama bin Laden is really just like Charles Manson. But don’t worry, we’ll never Mirandize bin Laden, because we’ll just kill him.

For the first time in recorded history, Dennis Kucinich spoke and a few people were actually interested in what he had to say, which amounts to, “I’m a much cheaper date than Landrieu or Nelson,” and “I’ll vote for this bill no matter how bad it is, and believe me, it reeks.”

Demon Pass dead ahead.

Does Gun Control Stop Gun Violence?

Ryne noted the post by Jay Tea at Wizbang poking holes in the Brady Campaign‘s latest report card ranking states for their fervor in implementing gun control laws. A quick comparison of the murder rates by state with the Brady rankings shows several highly rated states have higher gun homicide rates than “less safe” states that don’t toe the Brady line and allow their citizens to own these dangerous objects:

New Hampshire ranks 50th on that list, with a score of 0.43. And California? Brady’s “safest” state? 4.82 — more than 11 times worse. (That’s gun homicides per 100,000 residents.)

Oh, and Utah? The state that scored a zero? Twice as bad as New Hampshire, with 0.93. That’s still less than one-fifth of California.

That made me wonder what the correlation is between Brady’s gun control rankings and gun homicide rates. Plotting the gun homicide rates against  the rankings from the Brady Campaign for each state gives the chart at the right. Clearly, the Brady ranking is useless as a measure of the risk of being a victim of gun violence, as there is no correlation between the two. The states ranked above 40 by the Brady Campaign averaged  2.75 gun homicides per 100,000 people, while the remaining 42 states averaged 2.89.

The Brady Campaign’s press release doesn’t explicitly claim that their rankings represent “safety.” Although if tight gun control laws don’t make you safer, what’s the justification for them?

At least there have been reports of violence prevented with gun-free zones.

UPDATE: What’s up with Lousiana (10.13) anyway? Unmentioned, but obvious: There is no significant difference in the averages of the Brady Top 8 and Bottom 42.

Massacre Foiled by Gun Free Zone

Dozens of lives were saved today when a crazed gunman was turned away from an area shopping mall after seeing a “Gun Free Zone” sign at the door. Several witnesses reported seeing the man approach the mall carrying two assault rifles, bandoleers of ammunition, and a backpack. “He looked very angry, and I was sure they were in for trouble inside the store,” said Tara Hertz, who saw the incident from her car. “But when he reached the door and saw that sign, he just threw his hat at the ground, then turned around and went back to his car.”

County Attorney, Guy de Michelin, agreed, “That sign saved lives today. If the mall hadn’t had the foresight to prohibit guns on the site, there would have been a bloodbath.”

The would-be gunman sped off in a late model Prius. Police are looking for a man of average height and build, wearing camouflage clothing.