YOU CAN KILL TERRORISTS BUT YOU CAN’T KILL FEAR

One of the “benefits” of killing Osama Bin Laden, apparently, has been to remind Americans how afraid they are of the Islams.

We’ve been hearing about how al Qaeda is vowing revenge for his death (well, c’mon, you didn’t really think they’d lose their motivation, give up terrorism and get real jobs, did you?) and how Bin Laden spent his final days dreaming of trains (which means that now trains will become even more inconvenient to use than airplanes, now that Charles Schumer is all panicky).

Which means that we’re probably going to keep hearing about teachers bagging on Muslim students for being Muslim, and pilots refusing to fly until someone takes the imams off his plane, on the grounds that Muslims are scary and probably want to kill everyone.

Whatever circle of Hell Bin Laden is residing in now, I’ll bet he’s still smiling.

On and on and on it goes.

The never-ending story,

This is dF

ASK ABOUT GUN SAFETY, GO TO JAIL

ITEM: Florida passes a bill that will make it the first state in the nation to make it illegal for pediatricians to ask parents if they own guns.

That’s because asking such questions is an infringement on the rights of parents to own guns, according to the National Rifle Association, which has lobbied for this bill and several others like it in other states.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has always encouraged its members to bring up gun ownership in order to help counsel parents on gun safety (just as they also ask if they have a pool to counsel them on pool safety). But awesomely-named NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer says pediatricians should mind their business:

"We take our children to pediatricians for medical care — not moral judgment, not privacy intrusions," she says.

"This bill is about helping families who are complaining about being questioned about gun ownership, and the growing anti-gun political agenda being carried out in examination rooms by doctors and staffs."

In other words, if anyone ever asks you if you own a gun, they’re planning to take it away from you.

Obviously I can’t say for sure that the bill will lead to a rise in kids accidentally shooting themselves and their family members in Florida (whether because the AAP is overstating the risk, or pediatrician counseling never made a difference in helping gun-owning parents take gun safety any more seriously in the first place). And it’s only fair to mention that the AAP is on record as supporting gun control, so it’s no wonder the NRA has a political beef with them.

But even by NRA standards, this is paranoid. Which may sound harsh, but look … If someone asks you if you own a gun and yr first response is “None of yr goddamn business!” and assume they’re asking for the purpose of taking away yr right to have one, and yr solution is to ban people from asking the question, yr letting The Fear get the better of you. Yr also the reason the NRA gun-nut stereotype exists.

Safety last,

This is dF