“As a country we’re in a state of denial because we’ve confused the right to bear arms with the right to carry arms all the time anywhere or anyplace you want.” – U.S. Army Gen. (Ret.) Russel Honore in Honore: America’s in denial about gun culture [via usatoday.com]
Isn’t bearing arms and carrying them whenever we want to the same thing?
The general is an excellent example of the Peter Principle: Individuals tend to be promoted until they reach the point of incompetence and then remain there until they retire.
It’s been said many times, and I don’t know for sure if it applies in this specific case, but the desire to disarm innocent people is probably more likely to reflect malevolence than incompetence.
I agree 100% and to add insult to the injury, he more than likely made General Officer because he pledged allegiance to the Democratic Party like 90% of the G.O.’s / Flag Officers in DoD.
No he’s an example of a government employee. To them citizens exist to pay taxes to continue funding the government.
exactly what I was going to say.
Definition of bear: “to hold or carry”.
With that in mind, the good General said, “we’ve confused the right to bear arms with the right to carry arms”. You can’t make this stuff up. Perhaps he should consider a second career as a lawyer.
I think the General is the one that’s confused, because that is what it says.
Idiot.
Our biggest problem before Desert Storm was (soldiers) accidentally firing their weapons, and they’re trained.
That’s the problem with a lot of military officers now, fearing a ND of personnel underneath them rather than a Fort Hood massacre.
“Fort Hood…Not my responsibility, that was the fault of terrorists…”
versus
“Oh crap, I got a ND from some idiot under my command in my jacket. There goes my career”
When I was in tech school, literally late September, 2001, I picked up most of a mag’s worth of 9mm hollowpoints outside my squadron’s barracks. I turned them in, of course, but they were just scattered around the grounds. Honestly, I thought it might have been some kind of exercise to catch airmen not paying attention. Now, they probably would run such an exercise, and I would have been disciplined for not running away like a child to tell an adult.
Come to find out, they were issuing SPs weapons without ammunition. My best guess, in hindsight, is that a base cop, off duty but in uniform, went there for lunch or dinner, not realizing that the cargo pocket on his BDUs had a hole. It was north Texas, guys didn’t like the idea of being symbolically armed, they would bring in personally purchased ammo. Bases were all but locked down under possible threat, and they still refused to arm even security personnel.
There’s a reason that the older battleground monuments make a distinction between “men” and “officers.”
Unless AFR 207-1 changed drastically since I left, there are very strict regulations governing what an SP carries while on-duty. Unless they are training, they should not have empty guns. If your story of empty guns is true, you could have reported their commander for disobeying a lawful order or regulation to the Office of Security Police.
I thought Ft. Hood was declared by those in power to be “workplace violence” rather than terrorism.
That was the Whitehouse.
Just because he managed to BS his way up to the rank of general doesn’t mean he’s an expert on guns and US gun culture.
I came to his house bearing gifts, but I didn’t just carry them anywhere with me life a maniac.
WTF does he think “to bear” means?
He’s means like how all the gun-free zones don’t permit people to carry but the murderers do anyway, right?
Why politicians refuse to make that connection confuses me too.
He’s either willfully ignorant or an out of touch shut-in with senioritis.
What do all of these people do with their free time that they cannot be bothered to do 15 minutes of research? Do they simply avoid it because they don’t want their perception shattered or do they only accept information from properly vetted sources that will reaffirm their perception?
Bonus points for being a living caricature of a general.
Just another POS REMF who we would be much better off without. I think somebody needs to throw the old general a good old fashioned blanket party.
Nope. He gets a pension and we the taxpayer (citizen bearing arms) pony coin for his 37 years of “service”.
No, this guy was the Dolezal of the Army. If you look at his service record, he’s a staff puke’s staff puke. He’s never had a combat arms command in his entire career.
“Honoré describes himself an “African-American Creole”, a combination that includes French, African, American Indian and Spanish ancestry.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russel_L._Honoré
Not defending what he said, but Creoles are very light skinned African Americans. He’s not faking that one.
Actually, Cajuns (which is wha the claims to be) are descendants of the original French settlers of the area who had a little bit of everything mixed in.
Of course I was only an E-4 when I got out.
” . . .If you look at his service record, he’s a staff puke’s staff puke. . .”
Which means he’s a guy who punched his minority credit card throughout his long and storied career. Staff puke = equals statist lapdog. This is the kind of guy who would happily command the confiscation of guns from private citizens.
I never held a combat arms position either. ;-;
Be that as it may, you’re not claiming to be a war hero. I was a POG myself. (A 1371, but still a group POG). But hey, us Corporals have to stick together.
Cincinnatus this man is not.
So how many citizen did he have disarmed just when they needed them most during Hurricane Katrina?
Beat me to it. When I read that he was the leader of the effort after Katrina, I wondered the same thing.
Oh and he has political aspirations, so no surprise he’s flapping his trap about guns in the hopes of scoring points from the left.
Yeah, it took me glancing over his bio before I realized he was in charge of the troops going door to door in New Orleans. By all rights, he should have been stood up against a wall and shot.
So, if I were in the National Guard in 2005, and got ordered to perform serial armed robbery, THIS is the guy I would have been looking for after I had to shoot my own Commanding Officer?
“Man who had an old lady beaten and stole thousands of firearms from citizens thinks bear is different from carry.”
The tar and feathering must have happened after they quoted him since I don’t see a reference to it.
Well it looks like Obama is succeeding at “transforming America” in the military also.
Every F’ing direction I turn I’m increasingly confronted with Obamabots.
It’s gonna take 20 years of Reagan’s to correct the damage that our POS president inflicted on this country….and the likelihood of that happening is about nil.
Probably better for my sanity just to kick back and await the Sweet Meteor Of Death.
+1
Yes, it is going to be a long road back to government that respects liberty. At this point, I’m resigned to perpetual political conflict at best for the rest of my days, unless these turds really do want to settle it with civil war.
My thoughts exactly. Let it slide down the toilet…til it gets real. I won’t see liberty restored in my lifetime. And I’m only 60 and in great shape.
Sadly, I think I agree with you. He and his minions have driven out most if not all the leaders we might actually want in charge of a military effort. Now they all seem to be neutered clones of this idiot.
How does one get to flag rank and suddenly loose any inkling of common sense?
Sounds like someone is looking for a career in politics after all!
What exactly does he think the word “bear” means anyway?
Wesley Clark, Stanley McCrystal, and now this guy. They sure don’t make generals like they used to.
He is neither an idiot, nor willfully ignorant, I think.
Rather, he is a (retired) flag rank officer. Anyone with any aspirations to get above O-4 or O-5 or thereabouts (lieutenant commander to Commander in the Navy, major to lt colonel in the army, etc.) is going to be an intensely political animal, especially given how long it’s been since we’ve been on an all-out war footing.
Considering the current political environment, that means anti-gun among other things.
I believe you are correct. Lots of those guys around.
Here are two Jim-dandy quotes from retired General Honore’ in the USAToday article …
No, the biggest problem is expecting a perfect safety record for anything. Unintentional injuries happen in factories. Do we ban factories? Unintentional injuries happen when people barbecue in their back yards. Do we ban barbecuing in back yards?
First of all, it is wrong for the retired General to demand that we all live our lives the way he grew up. Second of all, a firearm locked in a cabinet is utterly and totally useless if a crew of home invaders suddenly kick down your door at 4 a.m. or when a two-bit thug approach you with gun in hand in the grocery store parking lot.
Retired General Honore’ is a Fudd. Even worse, he is a yellow-bellied traitor to us all. Upon conviction for treason, I would like to see Honore’ sentenced to live in the highest crime neighborhood of Chicago with nothing more than a shotgun that has to be locked in a cabinet unless he is hunting afield. Oh, and he has to have a sign in his front yard that tells everyone about his sentence.
No worries, then, the sign would be unreadable from graffiti in under 10 minutes.
He’d just become the “General” to one of the gangs.
So- the general defines the problem- ND’s; yet believes the solution is complete risk avoidance vice training to mitigate it. If my soldiers can’t handle weapons without ND’s the solution isn’t taking away all their weapons, it’s training in proper weapon handling and drilling until they can’t get it wrong. It’s a different environment today with ISIS and increasing jihadism than it was under desert storm with a higher risk/consequences that need to be factored into decisions on arms.
You know the antis really try to use “credible” sources for the purpose of explaining why the people should not be able to arm themselves.
I just so happen to also know of a general who would disagree with this military man’s opinion.
First name George last Name Washington.
(Mic drop)
Yeah but Honore is black so that pretty much trumps Washington.
Now if you could prove Washington was a transvestite or something we can talk but as it is black guy beats Washington in the PC card game.
Well, he did wear wigs and fancy hats, can we count him as a transvestite?
If he’s “black” then Washington was a Polynesian. He’s basically Dolezal for the Army.
As long as criminals and terrorists can operate “all the time anywhere or anyplace”, we will carry “all the time anywhere or anyplace”.
I agree, plus I’m going to quote you from time to time.
Honore? No honor. Honore? No, Benedict Arnold. What a disgustiing and shameful example of elitism that spits in the face of all those americans that fought, and were crippled or killed in defending our freedoms, including the right to KABA anywhere we can legally be.
This man? More like traitor, would have been a British sympathizer fighting on the side of the Tories against the American patriots.
GO YOU KNOW WHAT YOURSELF GENERAL! You swore to Defend and Uphold the Constitution…the 2nd Amendment is a part of that. You have effectively betrayed that oath with your statements.
This is the exact kind of idiot who would follow a Presidential order to disarm Americans.
From the article:
Retired U.S. Army Gen. Russel Honore, Louisiana’s most well-known 21st century military hero
Huh? The guy was basically a general in Korea on 2002 and then part of the Katrina effort(greeeeatttt job there)…that makes you a HERO!!?!?!?
“The best place for weapons when you’re not in the field is to be locked up in the garrison,” Honore’ said. “Our biggest problem before Desert Storm was (soldiers) accidentally firing their weapons, and they’re trained.
“I’ve been around guns all my life, but when I was growing up they were locked in the cabinet unless you needed them for hunting.”
Damn FUDD…yeah, the people getting murdered by the hundreds in New Orleans(blacks) is all because they aren’t properly “trained”. If only the criminals would lock their guns away….oh, and only HUNTING guns should be allowed…they’d we’d all be safe.
“I’ve lived in Europe and Korea and all over the world,” Honore’ said. “They don’t have the same level of gun violence in the United Kingdom or Germany or Italy or the same affection for guns other than for hunting.”
Yes…and they don’t have a Constitution…or individual rights….no pesky things like search warrants, freedom of speech, 5th and 4th Amendments, etc etc…if only we could be more like KOREA!!!!
If you think that the military supports the Constitution, you’re gonna have a bad time.
I forget, did anyone ask the General?
Well, he is a retired U.S. General, I guess he’s earned the right to STFU, and go form a Constitutional Convention or Civil War like everyone else.
He is a libtard, for this comment, he preaches “preparedness” but he spells it P-O-O-P-S-T-A-I-N.
He did ‘suck-t-sideways’ in LA with Katrina, despite FEMA and the full faith and credit of the U.S. government and people. (He did bring in Mexicans to treat the water).
And (from his own website: http://generalhonore.com/press-room.html) he does like what they do in Cuba:
Hurricane Tips From Cuba
July 29, 2013
“Cuba manages hurricanes well,” said Russel L. Honoré, the retired lieutenant general who commanded military relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005.
As an active duty soldier I’ll say this…
Anyone who expects anyone above the rank of Colonel, or Sergeant Major, to think like a reasonable human being…
Is either insane, or has never served in the military.
or, both.
+ 1
: )
I’ve learned to stop expecting rational thought out of anybody who can give legal orders to a Gunnery Sergeant.
Exactly. Honore is a puke, and CNN’s favorite ex-General.
His public actions during Katrina – running around in the field exhorting enlisted guys to “lower their weapons this was not Iraq” was exactly what senior military leaders should NOT do and basically incompetent. What the F does he have battalion commanders and captains for?
Typical ass kisser that gets promoted to GO
Surprised no one mentioned how the “general” had troops open fire on snipers and criminals during katrina
So let’s start with what others have said, bearing and carrying are the same. Next, let’s look at the commenter. The General came into prominence during Hurricane Katrina, where firearms were illegally confiscated. I’m unaware of any connection between the General and this travesty, but I’m sure he was working with people who knew about the illegal acts. Then there is the fact that he’s talking about all of the tragic acts of violence in this country, but he conveniently ignores the history of the general government attacking areas of other sovereign countries, destroying lives, families, and futures. I call that a hypocrite. Finally, I’d like to point out his own words: “We have to have a different kind of conversation in America and be prepared to speak about the politically unspeakable.” I’d have agree with the words, but I’m positive we do not mean the same thing, we need to talk about the aggressive foreign policy our government has taken on, we need to talk about the unsustainable welfare state that causes people AND businesses to become dependent on government, we need to talk about the Federal Reserve causing havoc on our financial system and economy as well as the world’s, we need to talk about the war on drugs that destroy untold numbers of minorities as well as empowering law enforcement with ever increasing abilities to encroach on EVERYONE’S liberties. Those are the things WE NEED to talk about, but those topics will likely loosen the control the government bureaucracy has on us, and THAT is unlikely.
What does he care, he’s got his 6-figure pension, healthcare for he and his wife….forever. Interesting he does not mention any suggestions how we can keep firearms out of criminals hands – only how to limit firearms for those who are not criminals. Perhaps he might take on the root cause of the biggest problem we face – un-ending multi generational social programs and other taxpayer hard earned cash funding other people’s existence. America is about self reliance…that is quickly fading away.
I wonder what Sherman and Patton would say.
Before or after they beat his face into a finely minced paste? I think this clown needs to have a conversation with Chesty.
I don’t think it would’ve been much of a conversation.
The least severe thing Chesty would’ve done is… things… very bad things… with those stars on his beret.
Oh how that would warm my little black heart. What I wouldn’t give to see that man rise from his grave and start jerking knots into folks in D.C. Chesty is spinning in his grave with our current “leadership”. Hell this idiot wouldn’t last 10 seconds against some of the NCO’s I knew, and Chesty said it best they’re the back bone of the Corps.
Would that be the same Gen. Patton who was very much for disarming American civilians, and was part of the lethal government response to the Pensioner Army in the 1930’s? He was a phenomenal combat general, but an elitist, and like so many other flag officers, traded in his common sense for a star.
I think he is “stuck on stupid” on this one.
I remember seeing videos of this guy in action a number of years ago. He acted like a royal jerk with a high-and-mighty attitude, and at times, he seemed to be channeling Castro’s arrogance. First, he is smoking a cigar while in uniform for official photos, which is unprofessional at best, and likely against several regulations. Second, he took pleasure at yelling at enlistees for doing their job exactly the way they were trained…while smoking his cigar. He is the worst example of an officer I have ever seen, and I am so surprised that he made it to three stars.
Little Russell seems to be the same kind of jerk as General Dugan. I had the displeasure of meeting General Dugan in person, and I can say that these generals have similar personalities. When the first Bush fired General Dugan, it came as no surprise to many people in the USAF. It is too bad the 2nd Bush didn’t fire this guy.
This man stands in the same long gray line as Patton and Macarthur. I wonder if Patton would slap him? I bet he would poop his pants if he heard a shot fired in anger.
Could it be that the Brass is afraid of their own soldiers shooting superiors ? That includes Obama ? I wonder what would happen if the JCS, while wearing a sidearm entered a room where Obama was sitting ?
I recently learned that one loses the protections of the Constitution when they enter the Armed Services. That’s also very suspicious to me.
Hmmm. I must have missed that in my 20 year career. The scope of the speech part of the First amendment is a bit restricted, but the rest are as intact (or restricted) for military personnel as for the rest of the population.
Good thing he’s retired.
As a enlisted soldier I can say to him:
Fuck you, sir!!!!
Generals send men to their inevitable death every day, and then claim the moral high ground. It’s a whole Mount Everest of hubris.
So, what part of the U.S. consitution did he swear oath to?
The answer is all of it you dumb smuck. You can’t pick and choose you policital hack.
Yeah Katrina-swell job “general”…
Ahhh….General “You are stuck on STUPID!” Honore. Google that reference to see his calm, cool, collected demeanor in a crisis. When this hack does run for LA Governor, his slogan should be “If you like my approach to the First Amendment, you’ll LOVE my take on the Second!”
OK, let’s do this. 37 years of service and I’m not seeing any deployments to any hot zones. What a phony general. Looks like he’s spent his career handing out MREs and directing traffic. He’s a glorified lunch lady/crossing guard.
Now, let’s not discount the value of emergency relief. I’d kind of like to have a chopper swoop down and scoop me off the roof of an embassy if the country I was in were collapsing around me. Still, depsite his lengthy resume in this area, I’m not really seeing any astounding successes.
The vast majority of people take care of themselves and each during natural disasters. Where he might be needed is where things are really bad. Like New Orleans. Roll the tape.
This guy brags about leading the DoD’s reponse during Katrina. For starters, nobody considers that a success. Second, the DoD is subordinate to FEMA, in these situations, which coordinates the overall federal response. That was led by the infamous Michael Brown at the time, whose razor thin (and possibly inflated, at that) resume revealed him to be woefully unqualified for the job.
Did General Honore rise to the challenge to fill the leadership competency void? Nope. When Brownie got the boot, was General Honore tapped as his replacement? Nope. That assignment went to Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen, who by all accounts I found did a commendible job.
Honore’s contribution appears to be limited to participating in (or not resisting) the Katrina gun confiscations, then riding Admiral Allens’s successful coattails.
General Honore? More like Major Loser.
Officers like him are the reason I advocate gutting half the Pentagon’s manpower. If he was there, he probable spent most of his career fetching coffee for his superiors.
He’s more likely to be killed by that see-gar than a firearm.
Just because you graduated west point or went OCS does not mean you understand the us constitution or read any American history book. But you would think a black person from Louisiana would know something about the black Christian Deacons For Defense and Justice.
Didn’t stop you from following orders from him, his ilk and his politician masters.
Yes sir. Right away sir. 🙂
Only in your wet dream socialist fantasy. Those of us who have lost our fear of officers have no trouble telling them to fvck off. Are you still afraid???
Sure you did. Is that why your oath explicitly states your duty to obey lawful orders, the legality of which is determined by the people giving the orders? 🙂
Shockingly, a government animal shills for government power.
For once, I agree with you.
The RTBA is for citizens and citizen-armies. Not for professional soldiers i.e. generals. Shut up “General”. You are a disgrace to this nations military. I think we better keep an eye on guys like this. Can you say “coup d’e tat”?
Since our tax dollars run the show, he works for us. In what kind of backwards business does the employee get to publicly bad mouth the boss and not get fired? America is in a rut because 1) the cult religion of US govt is out of control (Govt can solve anything! Let’s put all our faith in govt! If you’re not for govt, you’re a terrorist!) and 2) our elected officials forgetting that we aren’t their subjects but their bosses.
You can’t fire him. He’s retired.
Oops, my mistake. I stand by my “cult of govt” point though.
This just goes to show – all officers should be either mustangs or warrant officers. You can keep your precious academies, but a six year active enlistment should be a prereq.
yeah, right. because GEN Petreaus would have learned a lot about strategy by being a mess sergeant or supply sergeant.
As an enlisted guy who became an officer, I think your idea is …not well thought out, to put it kindly.
Honore has NEVER impressed me. He was clearly promoted for , uh, reasons. Brains not one of them.
He has a very patronizing and typical view of the 2nd amendment among GOs – they know what’s best for the privates, er, I mean citizens.
The last person who’s word you should accept at face value on the issue of civil rights is a retired GO. He (or she) spent 3 or 4 decades operating under a “command economy” that dictated to subordinates and routinely infringed on rights recognized for civilians.
Not that all former generals are unable to grasp that civilians are not privates, but don’t expect them to have any idea about civil liberties or the 1st and 2nd amendment until they demonstrate that they do.
The good general must also be confused about the founders intent to not have a standing army as stated in the same constitution, only a standing navy.
There were no conditions of “prohibited places” to carry firearms either in the US constitutional 2nd Amendment nor the state constitutions at the time of their original writing.
Are there conditions of “prohibited places” of where I can and cannot exercise my right to free speech or practice my religion?
I don’t think so.
Are there condition os WHAT I can speak? No.
Then there should be no condition on what type of Weapon I can carry.
Many of you have stated that he is the type of guy to follow orders to disarm citizens. If you read the USA Today article you will see he already has. “The retired army general, best known for his role leading the Hurricane Katrina recovery in New Orleans”. They already were disarming citizens after Katrina.
This man does not deserve to be called General.
Wow, you all really want to live in the Wild Wild West, don’t you? Discrediting a very creditable Flag Officer that I served with just because he and most citizens don’t want to live in the Wild Wild West. Guns Guns Guns, you all really need to get a life.
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