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Brazilians Reject Proposed Gun Ban

Brazilians soundly rejected a proposal to ban the sale of guns in a national referendum Sunday, striking down the bid to stem one of the world's highest firearm murder rates following a campaign that drew parallels to the U.S. gun control debate.

With more than 92 percent of the votes counted, 64 percent of Brazilians were opposed to the ban, while 36 percent backed it, said election officials, giving the 'no' position an insurmountable lead. The proposal would have prohibited the sale of firearms and ammunition except for police, the military, some security guards, gun collectors and sports shooters.

There are a number of interesting ramifications and issues associated with this - aside from the primary fact that the Brazilians were not willing to cede full responsibility for personal protection to an all too ineffectual governmental system.

Some Brazilians said they resented the referendum because they feel the government is ducking its responsibility to keep the peace. "It's immoral for the government to have this vote," said Pedro Ricardo, an army officer in Sao Paulo. "They're putting the responsibility on us, but ... the way to cut down on violence is to combat the drug trade and patrol our borders."

Hmmmm. Sounds sort of familiar doesn't it!? Enforce borders? What a concept!

About 39,000 people in Brazil are killed by guns each year, compared to about 30,000 people in the United States, although the U.S. population is about 100 million more than Brazil's, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hello? Come again? Does anybody know what the US Centers for Disease Control is doing collecting data on gun deaths in Brazil? One shudders to learn the answer.

Ann Coulter Continues Criticism of Choice

Ann Coulter is no stranger to well delivered (and well deserved) invective, and she continues her barrage of criticism of the Harriet Miers appointment to SCOTUS in her inimitable style.

She goes beyond this, to note a more serious problem than the appointment itself:

The sickness of what liberals have done to America is that so many citizens ? even conservative citizens ? seem to believe the job of a Supreme Court justice entails nothing more than "voting" on public policy issues. The White House considers it relevant to tell us Miers' religious beliefs, her hobbies, her hopes and dreams. She's a good bowler! A stickler for detail! Great dancer! Makes her own clothes! That's nice for her, but what we're really in the market for is a constitutional scholar who can forcefully say, "No ? that's not my job." (Emphasis Added)

We've been waiting 30 years to end the lunacy of nine demigods on the Supreme Court deciding every burning social issue of the day for us, loyal subjects in a judicial theocracy. We don't want someone who will decide those issues for us ? but decide them "our" way. If we did, a White House bureaucrat with good horse sense might be just the ticket.

The super-hot button issue with both the left and the conservative side is Roe v. Wade. After commenting specifically on what is realistically describes as "the abortion holocaust" she reaches what the Chief considers as the most profound observation of all:

We've gone from a representative democracy to a (judicial) monarchy, and the most appalling thing is ? even conservatives just hope like the dickens the next king is a good one.

Indeed. We would be better served by remembering the old American Revolutionary slogan: "No King but King Jesus!"

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In an earlier post on free speech, I suggested on possible case in which a university might be justified in interfering with a Professor's expression of his or her opinions. The case was a professor who openly advocated genocide. Well,...

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I received an e-mail from the proprietor of the new Nebraska Citizen blog not long ago, and have no good excuse for not blogrolling the site until tonight. Keep your eye on that site, because I'm predicting big things....

Joe Girardi has agreed in principle to become the next manager of the Florida Marlins, exiting his role as the Yankee bench coach. Details of the contract will be finalized tonight. Funny Joe Girardi story. In about 1993 or 1994,...

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