Out to the Badlands of New Mexico...

...and back in the saddle again, begging the question of how many cowboy cliches I can cram into a single sentence. Anyhow, am back in the office getting ready for the premieres of THE BEST DEFENSE: SURVIVAL and COWBOYS on Wednesday.

I plan to be TWITTERING the 11PM Eastern episode of TBD:S as well as being on-line in the DOWN RANGE Television blog chatroom. Hopefully, cohosts Rob Pincus and Michael Janich and TBD:S show Producer Tim Cremin will be joining us.

If you're one of those inquiring minds who want to know, here's your chance!

Meanwhile, here's an interesting piece from the Fox affiliate in my old hometown of Tampa, quoting research Gary Kleck from my alma mater of Florida State University:

Nationally renowned expert FSU Criminology Professor Gary Kleck has spent decades studying the numbers.

He says there is no credible evidence that more guns in more hands mean more crime. Kleck uses the landmark Supreme Court overturn of one of the most restrictive handgun bans in the country as an example.

"It was ineffective," Kleck said. "That is, homicide didn't go down as was promised following the law's implementation."

So how do you protect the Simons of the world? You can't, Kleck says, at least not with the second amendment

It's as simple, he says, as this: "Good guys have good effects with guns, bad guys have bad effects with guns."

Professor Kleck says his research is based on a couple of key facts:

• First, groups that have the highest gun ownership have the lowest involvement in violence and
• Second, the vast majority of gun owners have guns for purposes other than self protection-- they use them for target shooting and hunting and private collecting.

In the end it really comes down to educating yourself and your children about guns and the dangers. Kleck says any true gun restriction will not happen any time soon, unless a case comes before the Supreme Court and a legal precedent is set.

In the end, it always comes down to individual responsibility...at least in the world we would like to live in, as opposed to the Brave New World being crafted for us these days.

Here's something strange from the wilds of Fargo, via my pal at Say Uncle:

Note to the folks who keep loaded guns in their houses: that stranger rustling around in your bushes or lurking by your garage may be a teenager playing a game. Don’t shoot.

The author goes on to wax poetic about her childhood games of criminal tresspass, and how, hey, if you leave your door unlocked and some loon walks in, it's your fault! Right-o!

Note to neighborhood youth: that racking noise you hear is a backed up by #000 buckshot...play whatever games you want on your own property, but before you go lurking and rustling in my house, remember Colorado has a castle law.

Okay, that's it for this morning...oh, excuse me! I apparently went though this whole post without mentioning the late King of Rock. Since it's Monday and my brain is still rebooting, let's kick it on over to Tam at View from the Porch for today's commentary:

Cosmic Screwup
We here at Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, LLP would like to apologize for the error that occurred in our mailroom. It seems that a package intended for one "M. Jackson" was delivered to a "D. Carradine" by mistake. We sincerely hope that this hasn't caused a loss of confidence in the normally excellent service provided by Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, LLP, and we look forward to your continued patronage in the future.

Thank you,
Mgmt.