Teh Burning Stoopid Zone. . .

You unlock this door with the key of stupdity. Beyond it is another dimension - a dimension of morons, a dimension of idiocy, a dimension of WTF???. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, a place beyond logic and rationality. You've just crossed over into . . . . teh Burning Stoopid Zone. 

What **IS** it about about the intersection of Politics and Guns that REALLY generates exceptionally large amounts of  high-grade Burning Stoopid ??

Imagine, if you will, a legislature so jaded, that in range of a microphone that they don't control, that the masks come off, and the true Stoopid stands proud in the light of day.

Meet the New Jersey Senate. . . . at the end of a session, well. . . listen for yourself.  Turn the volume up at ~15 seconds. . . .

A transcript reads  (H/T Guns Save Lives and CNJPolitics.com):

“We needed a bill that was going to confiscate, confiscate, confiscate.”

“They [gun owners] want to keep the guns out of the hands of the bad guys, but they don’t have any regulations to do it.”

“They don’t care about the bad guys. All they want to do is have their little guns and do whatever they want with them.”

“That’s the line they’ve developed.”

The discussion appears to be among Senator Loretta Weinberg (D37), Senator Sandra Cunningham (D31), Senator Linda Greenstein (D14), and at least one member of Senate Democratic staff.

Yes, the politicians keep telling everyone that they don't want to take your guns.  Except when they talk amongst themselves, thinking that us "little people" won't hear them. . .

In fact, I call your attention to this excellent essay on EXACTLY why those of us who support the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, frankly, don't trust the anti-gun politicians and their supporters: we've long since recognized your "Death by a Thousand Cuts" strategy. . .

Well, I have a little news for you, grabbers: 

And then, there's the flip side.

Meet Adam Kokesh.  Libertarian. Talk-show host.  And a man who has taken teh Burning Stoopid to heart, and made it his own.

He wants a march on Washington, on July 4th.  To support the Second Amendment.  So far, so good.  But he wants the march to consist of armed citizens with loaded weapons.

And he wants to use the Memorial Bridge in Arlington, Virginia, to start.

Because Open Carry is legal in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Now, a quick aside here: those of us who support RTKBA pride ourselves on being law-abiding, peaceful citizens.  When we find a gun law or policy we disagree with, we work within the political and legal system to make our case, assert our rights, and change the laws or policies.

Now, let's look at this proposed March.

The Memorial Bridge connects Arlington National Cemetery to the District of Columbia, and is owned by the National Park Service.  It was likely chosen because (1) it has sidewalks for pedestrians,  (2) there's a Metro (i.e. the Subway, for those who don't know DC) station nearby, as well as parking for the Cemetery.

Arlington National Cemetery prohibits firearms unless part of a funeral ceremony, or a law-enforcement burial where members of law-enforcement are in attendance with their duty weapons.  So to GET to the Bridge, you have to break the law.

The National Park Service follows local law and policy.  So carrying on the Bridge is legal, as long as you're still in Virginia.  And ONLY if on the bridge.

 .  . . .  but the moment you cross the line into DC. . .  open carry is illegal, and concealed carry permits are not even issued OR recognized. And the DC Police Chief, Cathy Lanier, has stated that if the march goes on, they very likely will be met at the DC line with police.

And this is where teh Burning Stoopid meets the road.  We do NOT break the law.  Common sense, as well: don't bait the bear.    Let's see. . .   people who are carrying LOADED weapons, confronting the police.  That will go SO well.  And all it would take is ONE shot (can you say agent provocateur ??  What better way to have gun owners tainted with teh crazy, it would just take one hard-core supporter of EITHER end of the argument ), and all hell will break loose.  Not to mention the long term effects of RTKBA supporters trading shots with cops .  .

Kokesh et al: if you want to get your protest on AND carry in DC. . . there's a better way, and just the day before:  The Armed Toy Gun March on DC.   Super-soakers.   Nerf Guns.  Hell, I may show with my souped-up, belt-fed Nerf Machine Gun. . .

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In other news of teh Burning Stoopid, we have a report in from the Language Wars:  Custodians at a college in Colorado are suing for "unsafe work conditions", and "discrimination" because their instructions are given to them in English, a language they "don't understand".  .  One claims she was hurt because she COULDN'T READ a warning sign. . .

Meanwhile, over at Northwestern University in Illinois, International students are complaining over local celebrations of Cinco de Mayo, claiming they "demean their heritage". . . including eating tacos, wearing sombreros, and drinking tequila.  The Boggle is high with this one.  Hint to the perpetually-aggrieved: we adopt and modify a LOT of traditions here in the States: we tend to do FAR more on Saint Patrick's Day than the Irish,  Mardi Gras in France is far more subdued than the bacchanalia we have in New Orleans every year. . . . .

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Trending for teh Burning Stoopid is the IRS considering an apology is sufficient for politically-driven audits, but that's a topic for another day. . .  until then, it's so much Burning Stoopid, so little time to catalog it. . .