Doug Berger

2009 has yet to draw to a close, but one still has to scroll the mouse a while to read the full list of homicide victims names on the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s website. There are almost 60 names as of October, all killed by intimate partners, family members, and some bystanders who just got caught in the fray. Of those, 47 were felled by guns. The list does not include names of perpetrators who committed suicide following their crime, but if it did, the grand total would be 58.

The smoking battle in the Senate generated some nominations for Quote of the Week. First, a good one from Mark Binker, reacting to pro-smoking lunacy from a market extremist who's dumber than a stump.

Says Binker:

Right. Because if you smoke and get a disease and it kills you, you're not a strain in the entitlement system. (Coming next week, a bill to require all those with chronic diseases to take up bear wrestling, sky diving and live porcupine swallowing.)

I am by no means an opponent of the 2nd Amendment, and have studied the Founding Fathers' reasoning behind its inclusion in our Constitution and concluded they had all citizenry in mind when they referenced the Militia, and not a tight select group as some of my fellow Liberals have concluded. With that clearly stated, I also believe the possession and use of firearms should be sensibly regulated, and the enforcement of our laws should be reserved for those we have given the responsibility to do such. Any effort to erode these common sense ideals should be scrutinized closely and potential consequences explored, or we may find ourselves one day living under the aura of vigilante justice again.

A bill was introduced last month by (believe it or not) Democratic Senator Doug Berger, titled the Castle Doctrine:

The Dome is featuring lots of the Honorables weighing in on taxes and spending. Worth a close look. Doug Berger's ideas are better than most. Then you have nonsense like this from Jim Forrester.

I don't know how anyone with a lick of sense can stand dealing with that cast of characters.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Long kicked off his 2008 re-election campaign last night at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Durham. ... It has become tradition for Long to jumpstart his re-election at the ANNUAL SALUTE TO JIM LONG.