Presumed Violent Until Disarmed: The New McCarthyism

This is Joe McCarthy. He's the guy they named "McCarthyism" after. He exaggerated, and he over-reached, but at least the people on his blacklist were enemies of the Republic.

This is Carolyn McCarthy (no relation to Joe). She thinks all firearms and their owners should be blacklisted. She and her friends are doing a pretty good job of it. This is the face of the new McCarthyism.

You remember her, surely? Her husband was killed on the Long Island Railroad in a victim disarmament zone. He was killed by gun control. So what does his grieving widow do? Why, run for Congress to give us more gun control, and she's been doing that ever since.

Those of you who have been paying attention to "Barrel Shroud McCarthy" surely remember this exchange with Tucker Carlson:

Tucker Carlson: What's a barrel shroud and why should we regulate it?
McCarthy: I think the more important thing is...(*stall stall stall stall*)
Tucker Carlson: I read the legislation. What's a barrel shroud and why should we regulate that?
McCarthy: (stall stall stall blah blah)....I'm not saying it was the best bill..
Tucker Carlson:Do you know what a barrel shroud is?
McCarthy: I actually don't know what a barrel shroud is...
Tucker Carlson: OK 'cause it's in your legislation...
McCarthy: I think it's "a shoulder thing that goes up."
Tucker Carlson: No it's not.

Here it is on youtube. Funny, right? Maybe not so funny.

You may also remember this from the New York Daily News in July of last year.

An outspoken Long Island gun owner's home was raided by Nassau County detectives, who seized two dozen weapons he lawfully owns just one day after Rep. Carolyn McCarthy's office made a 911 call about him.

Freeport resident Gabriel Razzano claims he was targeted in the spring raid for his "unpopular" political beliefs.

He's now filed a $5 million federal lawsuit against the Nassau PD and McCarthy, charging they joined forces to strip him of his guns unconstitutionally.

The case pits Razzano against McCarthy, the most outspoken gun-control advocate in Congress. A crazed gunman murdered her husband in the infamous 1993 Long Island Rail Road Massacre.

The flap arose on March 19, when Razzano visited McCarthy's Garden City office to discuss an article about an illegal immigrant who was deported but was later nabbed in Freeport for the attempted murder of a cop.

"The office staff felt that Razzano's behavior was disruptive and threatening," said Lt. Kevin Smith, a police spokesman.

Razzano's home was raided the next morning.

Sounds like an abuse of power to me. Sounds like, in fact, the new McCarthyism.

Carolyn McCarthy demands the banning of fifty caliber rifles because, she says, "they can shoot down airliners."

Of course Carolyn is not the only practicioner of the new McCarthyism. I hear that in Maryland, they're using SWAT teams to serve common warrants on anyone known to be a gun owner because "its an officer safety issue." The gun is there, they think, predisposing the suspect to violence. Instead of a presumption of innocence until proven guilty you are now presumed violent until disarmed.

Then there's even sillier expressions of the new McCarthyism. well, that is they would be silly if they weren't so outrageous. Surely you've heard of this lady?



Meet Betsy Ramsdale, a middle school teacher from Wisconsin who has been suspended from her job teaching skulls full of mush for the "crime" of having this photo on her Facebook page. Dod Codrea writes of it here and here. Fat White Man chimes in here with some trenchant observations, comparing Ms. Ramsdale's plight to the Lima Ohio SWAT team.

Just when you thought that it couldn't get any worse, we have this:

Student faces expulsion for fake drill team guns

AURORA - A local school district has suspended a member of the Young Marines youth leadership group after students saw drill props in her vehicle.

Marie Morrow, a 17-year-old senior at Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora, is serving a 10-day suspension. Her punishment could be extended at an expulsion hearing later this month.

Morrow is a student leader in the Douglas County Young Marines, a group dedicated to teaching leadership and life skills.

Cherry Creek Schools suspended Morrow after other students reported seeing guns inside her SUV, which was parked outside school while she was in class.

The school also called police, who seized the three drill team guns made of wood, plastic and duct tape. Police told Morrow to claim them in time for her after-school drill practice off-campus.

School administrators, however, were less understanding. The guns were declared "authentic representations of genuine weapons," triggering a mandatory expulsion statute in state law.

"I have never been in trouble at all," said Morrow, who is planning to attend the United States Merchant Marine Academy. "I hadn't imagined in a million years that anything like this would have happened."

Chris Proctor, commanding officer of the Douglas County Young Marines, was rebuffed in his attempt to explain the props to school leaders.

"There's no mistaking that these are not real rifles," said Proctor. "I think somewhere along the line, logic has to take over and they have to be able to make exceptions to the rules."

"Marie is one of the best kids that you could ever imagine," he said.

"I could see where the school could be freaked out about it," said Morrow. "But I think there should be some leeway with the law based on situations and realize this is just an honest mistake."

"The law doesn't make any distinction between a genuine weapon and a facsimile," said Cherry Creek Schools spokeswoman Tustin Amole.

Amole says federal and state laws mandate expulsion, and that school districts only have discretion to determine the length of that expulsion.

Asked who had the discretion to deem the props "dangerous weapons," Amole said school administrators and police made the decision based on state law that defines a "dangerous weapon" as "a firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, or a firearm facsimile that could reasonably be mistaken for an actual firearm."

Amole said the props in Morrow's vehicle caused concern among students and administrators who made an "assumption" that the weapons appeared "genuine."

Morrow's mother grew emotional while saying she hoped her daughter would continue her volunteer and service work despite the incident.

"I just don't want it to affect her view on the world, (make her believe) that people who do the right thing don't come out on top," said her mother, Jennifer McGrew. "I've always kind of really looked up to my daughter for having a mind of her own and going places that I never even dreamed."

A hearing officer could recommend Morrow be allowed back in school after her 10-day suspension or could expel her for as much as the rest of her senior year. The final decision belongs to the Cherry Creek Schools superintendent.

Morrow, who has already secured the necessary recommendation from a member of Congress to attend the Merchant Marine Academy, has been told an expulsion would not derail her eventual acceptance to the Academy.

"As long as I can get my diploma, I guess everything else will work itself out," said Morrow, who explained she's trying to focus on her planned career of service. "It's not going to be the end of the world."

Arrests, suspensions, threatening jobs, lives and futures. And why? All because each of them had a firearm -- not doing anything illegal mind you -- just having a firearm. Or, in Ms. Morrow's case, a dummy gun.

And they wonder why we feel backed into a corner. They wonder why we are getting angrier by the minute. They have no idea. They are making us a despised minority in our own country, cutting us off from any political recourse. And we are armed. They certainly betting a lot on our good humor, aren't they?