Chicago has had many fine police superintendents over the years, and when the Occupy twits hoped to stage a monster riot in Chicago a while back, Chicago’s Garry McCarthy showed superb organization and an understanding of how riots spread; he effectively managed the event so that a handful of scuffles and minor injuries were the only results.

However, because he is a political animal, Garry McCarthy is under orders from the liberal Democrats that run Chicago bankrupt into making nonsense statements about firearms. Specifically, he objected to the new Illinois concealed carry bill’s requirements for training which require 16 hours of instruction on the law.

Police officers go through six months in the police academy, four months of field training, ongoing training and practicing. We make mistakes frequently

Okay, let us have some fun with this one.

Assuming McCarthy really believes this, what a total lack of comprehension by someone who ought to know much better. In fact, it is so far removed from reality that it borders on satire. No doubt he is trying to convince himself of something he really does not believe.

• Police officers do not spend six months learning to shoot firearms. They also learn police procedure, first aid, defensive tactics, legal aspects, investigation, handling of evidence, and so on and so on.
• McCarthy reveals a common liberal myth that the legal right to carry a weapon is solely about replacing police officers, rather than providing first-line defense while officers are en route to your home. It does not take six months to learn when and where you can carry a weapon; frankly, it does not take sixteen hours, either.
• Police officers, especially in departments as large as Chicago’s, spend very little time actually practicing with firearms. It becomes far too expensive. Officers in Chicago only need to spend a couple hours per year on the range, and score a 70% or better. And some of that will be spent on a TASER. Remind us again how this makes them experts on home defensive shooting situations.
• It is easy to find a police officer familiar with firearm skills, shooting under various conditions, good with a variety of calibers, and so on. It is much easier to find a police officer who is just about operationally clueless about his own firearm as imaginable. Ever hear cops talk about guns? You immediately come to the conclusion that a lack of proper introduction, orientation, and training is evident. If you doubt this, go up to any gun store clerk and ask for his or her favorite “cop questions.” Some are funny; most are dreadful.
• Cops manage to avoid mistakes because they are aware of the headaches that follow even if they legally shoot their weapons correctly. But yes, mistakes happen. But police officers are routinely exposed to dangerous situations, and the frequency with which they fire their weapons is expected to be hire than the average homeowner. This is like saying “Even expert poker players lose money from time to time; therefore, the average person should not play poker.” The average person will not statistically be in line to make as many mistakes.
• And even if they do—and let us say that 90% of concealed carry owners could use more training: who is Garry McCarthy to say the remaining 10% should not be allowed to carry at all? This is like saying people should not celebrate birthdays because there is a chance that someone could be burned by a candle.
• Also, most states have a minimum training period, and many of them are modeled on each other. Illinois is not inventing its training program from scratch: it is using both Utah and Florida models to develop the requirements. McCarthy is welcome to point out how many mistakes happen in other states as a ratio to law enforcement mistakes. The fact is that McCarthy won’t because he knows how bad he’ll look on this one.
• Finally, take a look at Chicago’s homicide rate. Is Garry McCarthy the sort of person who should be holding up his city as an example of what is so perfect about the current system? You wouldn’t listen to Paulie Shore for advice on making a classic movie, so why on earth Garry McCarthy can weight in on this is beyond us.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.