Canada Continues to Eliminate Failed Gun Registry

Gun registration is virtually never used to solve violent crimes.   The only realistic purpose of gun registration is to gradually reduce the number of gun owners, a gradual gun confiscation over time.

Quebec's Court of Appeal has sided with the federal government's argument that the national long-gun registry information shouldn't be handed over to the province to create its own database.

That moves the government closer to destroying the Quebec data, which was preserved last year by the court order after legislation was passed to scrap the federal registry and the records contained within it.

The federal government has already destroyed the data on 5.6 million rifles and shotguns registered in other provinces. The Quebec records at issue in this ruling cover an estimated 1.6 million rifles and shotguns.

More Here

OK:Armed self defense by felon at his home

Walker said witnesses report that the victim showed up at Lyke's house with a gun, and the two men exchanged gunfire.

"We have witnesses saying that's what occurred, so we can't in good faith charge him with murder," he said.

Lyke was arrested for possession of a firearm after former conviction of a felony. Authorities added other complaints from traffic violations earlier this month and a charge of knowingly concealing stolen property from JC Penny in December, 2012.

 More Here

PA:Felon Shot, Killed in dispute over Sacred Stones

 From other reports, Michael Woodhead had a long criminal history of assault.

NEWBERRY - A dispute reportedly over sacred Indian stones resulted in a 32-year-old man being shot to death around 12:30 a.m. Thursday inside a Woodward Township home in Lycoming County.

 Police detained 44-year-old Kevin Bennardi who admitted to shooting Michael Woodhead in Bennardi’s home at 59 Wither Hollow Lane. No charges have been filed against Bennardi.

The Sun Gazette reports, Bennardi told police Woodhead charged at him when he shot Woodhead multiple times with a .22 caliber rifle.

Bennardi told investigators that Woodhead "was upset with him because he had touched Woodhead's sacred Indian stones."

Woodhead, who is an American Indian, had apparently left behind some sacred stones at Bennardi’s home when he moved to Muncy Valley two months ago.

 Police say Bennardi call 9-1-1 shortly after shooting Woodhead and told the 9-1-1 dispatcher he had just shot and killed Woodhead.

 Source

PA:70 year old store owner shoots robber in ankle

According to investigators, the suspect entered the store and tried to reach into the cash register.

 So, the 70-year-old owner told police, he shot the bandit in the ankle.

 More Here

NC:Resident Kills Home Invader, 2-Year Old Girl Wounded

The resident has been charged  with voluntary manslaughter.  This seems a bit unusual, but the case appears to be gang related.  Gang members still have rights to defend themselves, though, and there is no mention of any prior convictions. 

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem police said a man was charged after a shooting that left a teenager dead and a toddler wounded.

Kashif Antoine Lang, 19, is accused of shooting and killing 17-year-old Jashun Ladonte Ingram at Lang’s home at 4144 Macarthur Street around 2:15 p.m. Monday.

Police said Ingram and several others were involved in a disturbance with Lang and others in the home.

Police said Ingram and his group were breaking home’s windows and trying to get inside at the time of the shooting.

 More Here

 Link to Article on North Carolina Castle Doctrine law

AL:Woman Wounded in Gunfight with Home Invaders

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) – Huntsville police are searching for two men who broke into a home.

At 1 a.m. Friday, two men kicked in the side door of a home in the 3600-block of Fay Street, just north of Mastin Lake Road.

They were armed with a shotgun.

But the homeowner was also armed.

More Here

MS:Judge Blocks Mississippi Constitution from Taking Effect on Open Carry of Arms

In a surprise move, circuit Judge Winston Kidd ruled the law that restores the open carry rights guaranteed by the Mississippi Constitution as vague, and that an injunction is needed to stop irreparable harm.

This bizarre interpretation of the law comes late in the process.  The law clarified a strange interpretation of the Mississippi concealed carry law that defined any kind of carry as concealed carry.    According to that interpretation, even carrying a pistol by a thong around the neck was defined as "concealed carry" because the the thong "concealed" a tiny part of the pistol.

No other state in the union has such an interpretation of what "concealed" means.  

Open carry of weapons has always been protected by the Mississippi Constitution.  Concealed carry of weapons was protected until the Constitutional amendments of 1890, when the legislature was granted the power to regulate concealed weapons.

Here are the changes that have been made in the Mississippi Constitution regarding the right to bear arms since statehood:

1817 Mississippi:  Every citizen has a right to bear arms, in defence of himself and the State.

1832 Mississippi:  Every citizen has a right to bear arms in defence of himself and of the State.

1868 Mississippi:  All persons shall have a right to keep and bear arms for their defence.

1890 The right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person, or property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall not be called in question, but the legislature may regulate or forbid carrying concealed weapons.

 The clarification of the law passed the legislature with overwhelming margins, was signed by the governor, and was to go into effect on 1 July, 2013.

In support of the injunction, State Senator John Horhn, Democrat, of Jackson said "we don't believe that the constitution provides for open carry."

 A hearing is scheduled for 8 July for more arguments to determine if the injunction should be extended for more time.

A lawyer for the Southern Poverty Law Center,  played the tired old "wild West" card, claiming mayhem woud follow if the Constitution was enforced and open carry protected as it is in most states.

The Mississippi Constitution seems clear. 


Link to previous article on the passage of the law

Update:

Link to article that gives opinions that the injuction only applies to Hinds County, Mississippi

WI:Cheap Gun Opportunity Developing in Racine for July 27th, 2013

 

Long Guns Recently Turned In at Phoenix event in May, 2013

Racine, Wisconsin, will be hosting a gun turn in event on 27 July, 2013. While these events are commonly labeled with the propaganda term "buyback" the guns were never owned by the people attempting to buy them.

The event will be held at the Urban League  at 718 North Memorial Drive in Racine  from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

At this time it is unknown what or how much will be exchanged for various firearms.   In other parts of the country, inducements have usually been in the form of gift cards varying from $50 to $200.   Occasionaly, people are asked to turn in firearms for free.

Across the country, communities, police departments and churches are sponsoring gun turn-ins to get "guns off the street". At many of these events, private buyers are showing up, offering cash for the more valuable guns. These private additions to the public turn-in are effective, no doubt, in getting more guns off the street, because they add to the resources that are available to those who want to get rid of guns for something of value, be it a grocery card or a number of twenty dollar bills.

You can help make the turn-in in your area more effective by standing on the curb with your "Cash for Guns" sign, or at a folding table, willing to offer more than the gift card for firearms that are more valuable. It would be best if numerous private parties were available, as more good guns could then be transferred into responsible hands.

This action serves many useful purposes. It stretches the turn-in budget so that more guns can be taken off the street. It helps keep fearful widows from being defrauded of most of the market value of the gun they are turning in. It prevents valuable assets from being destroyed by bureaucratic inflexibility. It is a win-win-win situation.

It also dispels the pernicious message that guns are bad and should be destroyed.

Private sales are legal in Wisconsin, as is open carry of firearms.

Link to article with numerous examples of private sales at gun turn in events
 
Link to most recent article about private buyers at Detroit event

Link to Phoenix Article: pictures of private buyers

©2013 by Dean Weingarten Permission to share granted as long as this notice is included.

How the CDC succumbed to the Gun "Epidemic"

This is an excerpt from an article published in 1997, which shows why Congress stripped funding from the CDC for studies on gun control.  The CDC was using its voice as a means of propaganda.

Further, Bordua and Cowan said, "assumptions are presented as fact: that there is a causal association between gun ownership and the risk of violence, that this association is consistent across all demographic categories, and that additional legislation will reduce the prevalence of firearms and consequently reduce the incidence of violence." They concluded that "[i]ncestuous and selective literature citations may be acceptable for political tracts, but they introduce an artificial bias into scientific publications. Stating as fact associations which may be demonstrably false is not just unscientific, it is unprincipled." In a 1994 presentation to the Western Economics Association, State University of New York at Buffalo criminologist Lawrence Southwick compared public health firearm studies to popular articles produced by the gun lobby: "Generally the level of analysis done on each side is of a low quality. The papers published in the medical literature (which are uniformly anti-gun) are particularly poor science."

As Bordua, Cowan, and Southwick observed, a prejudice against gun ownership pervades the public health field. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, nicely summarizes the typical attitude of her colleagues in a recent book. "My own view on gun control is simple," she writes. "I hate guns and cannot imagine why anybody would want to own one. If I had my way, guns for sport would be registered, and all other guns would be banned." Opposition to gun ownership is also the official position of the U.S. Public Health Service, the CDC's parent agency. Since 1979, its goal has been "to reduce the number of handguns in private ownership," starting with a 25 percent reduction by the turn of the century.

Since 1985 the CDC has funded scores of firearm studies, all reaching conclusions that favor stricter gun control. But CDC officials insist they are not pursuing an anti-gun agenda. In a 1996 interview with the Times-Picayune, CDC spokeswoman Mary Fenley adamantly denied that the agency is "trying to eliminate guns." In a 1991 letter to CDC critic Dr. David Stolinsky, the NCIPC's Mark Rosenberg said "our scientific understanding of the role that firearms play in violent events is rudimentary." He added in a subsequent letter, "There is a strong need for further scientific investigations of the relationships among firearms ownership, firearms regulations and the risk of firearm- related injury. This is an area that has not been given adequate scrutiny. Hopefully, by addressing these important and appropriate scientific issues we will eventually arrive at conclusions which support effective, preventive actions."

 Here is the link to the original, much longer article in Reason

AZ:Armed Homeowner Captures Burglar

The homeowner, Mauricio Esquivel, says when he pulled into his driveway Thursday morning, he noticed his windows were broken and knew something wasn't quite right.

"My intuition says something's not right.  I went back in my car and I pulled out a pistol that I carry.  Through a cracked window, I see an intruder in the living room.  At that point I cocked my gun and I just pointed it right at him and I told him not to move and I ordered him to the ground.  I was able to pull my phone out, unlock it and then call 911.  Everything played out perfect.. nobody got hurt and the perps going to jail," he explained.

 More Here

WA:Anti-rights group says gun turn in "buybacks" are a "waste of resources"

Gun buybacks like the one promoted and hosted by Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn are little more than a distraction, often “backfire” and are red meat for anti-gun-control zealots.

That’s the advice Washington CeaseFire would have given McGinn had anyone from the Mayor’s Office bothered to contact the state’s leading gun safety group before announcing the January buyback, according to email correspondence provided to seattlepi.com.

 More Here

FL:Homeowner Exchanges Shots with Intruders

SANFORD, Fla. -

A Sanford homeowner fired shots at two armed intruders who shot up his house during a home invasion, police said.

The incident happened around 7 p.m. Wednesday at a home in the 2500 block of Princeton Avenue.

According to police, the duo entered the home and fired shots before the homeowner grabbed a gun and fired at them.  No one was injured, however.

More Here 

AK:Two Home Invaders on Trial for Deaths of Accomplices Killed by Homeowner

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A man and woman suspected of participating in a home invasion are on trial for the deaths of two men police say were their accomplices.

More Here

NH:Shooting of Home Invader Ruled Justified

MANCHESTER – The death of Michael Larocque Jr. of Derry, shot by a Lake Avenue resident during a home invasion, was a justified use of deadly force, according to an investigation by the New Hampshire Attorney General and Manchester police.

Ian Peters, 38, shot the unarmed 24-year-old man after he and a second unidentified man kicked in the door to Peters' 430 Lake Ave. apartment about 2:40 a.m. on Saturday, June 9. Larocque was shot in the arm and abdomen and died at the scene.

More Here

TN:Homeowner wounded in gunfight

(Tipton Co., TN) A homeowner was shot in the leg by an intruder early Tuesday.

The alarm system and sounds of someone downstairs woke the homeowner, who grabbed a handgun and went to the stairs.
That’s where he encountered an armed intruder, who began shooting at him.

More Here

Who are MAIG’s NH “gun victims”? The word “victim” only fits one.

Recently, the Mayor of Dover NH, Dean Trefethen, has been asked to quit Mike Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors against Guns (as the mayor of Nashua did), but has doubled down on his membership. He takes pride in standing alongside some 30 mayors arrested for crimes from bribery to buggery and back again, and pride in trying to stop “the epidemic of gun violence,” which in New Hampshire as well as the rest of America refers mostly to bummed-out losers whacking themselves (something that happens everywhere in the world where bummed-out losers despair about their miserable lives), and to criminal losers being deftly distanced from the gene pool by the lawful firearms self-defense employment of police and armed citizens.

As we, and many others, previously reported, the list of names read by his pals in Concord included many violent felons, or as they described inmates in A Clockwork Orange, “pervos and hardened prestoopniks.” But we only listed four of the criminals (and only had dashcam video of the death by “gun violence” of one — sorry). A scrub of the list by the Washington Examiner found at least 11 more.

So we thought we’d look specifically at New Hampshire — whose death troubles this sensitive mayor? As it happens, NH punches below its weight on violence of all kinds, something criminologists attribute to the relatively high mean socioeconomic status of Granite Staters, the long, cold winters which discourage criminals (and everybody else, to some degree), and — when nobody’s recording them, anyway — the low percentage of minorities in the state (see above about long, cold winters), given that minorities are proportionally more likely to commit violent offenses.

But there are still six New Hampshire “victims of gun violence” on Bloomberg and Trefethen’s list, which is maintained interactively at their ally, Slate magazine. They are:

Ismael Chavira, 19

Chavira was a “victim of gun violence” in Manchester, NH on 19 December 2012 (some references say 16 December). He had a handgun, which under Federal law is illegal for anyone under 21 to acquire. What sort of handgun is unknown, because after playing recklessly with the gun at a party where drugs and alcohol were used, he put it to his head and fired it, subsequent to which party-depressing event, some unspecified one of the other yout’s at the party made off with it. He was survived by numerous siblings of equally-numerous last names, but apparently no co-workers, as he does not appear to have held a job.

Daniel Langlois, 25

Langlois was driving when someone shot him 27 December 2012. At first the police thought it was a  car crash, but the crash wasn’t violent enough to explain his fatal head wound. Turned out there was a bullet in there.  He had just been in a fight at a bar with a group of unspecified individuals. The case is very confused but he seems to be a true murder victim, someone who may have been killed in retaliation for the bar fight or in retaliation for something he did in his work as a bouncer, a profession that guarantees encounters with angry drunks. Spoiler: Langlois is the one of the six that was a victim of someone other than himself.

Geoffrey Bidwell, 42

Slate and MAIG report Bidwell as “killed,” which he isn’t. What he is, is bat guano crazy. He’s also a many-time rehab failure for drugs and alcohol, someone who couldn’t buy a gun under existing laws. Not that he had one; on 6 January 2013, Bidwell assaulted a police officer with a log, screaming, “I want you to kill me.” Nice try, Geoff. The cop fired twice, and one shot hit Bidwell. Just one more victim of gun violence, but we guess Bloomberg and Trefethen want more cops to be beaten up with logs, since they’re mourning Bidwell. (We bet they’re sorry he didn’t die).

Jacob Carver, 15

Carver is a victim of “gun violence.” He killed himself with the service pistol of his girlfriend’s father, the Danville, NH police chief, on 11 March 13. If he hung himself from a rafter, would he have been a victim of joist violence? Ligature violence? Suicide is always tragic, and young suicide is doubly so. But Bloomberg and Trefethen’s claims about this “crime” don’t add up — unless they plan to disarm the cops, too.

Larry Bohannon, 52

Poor Larry was just minding his own business  29 March 13, plying his trade, when police in Walpole, NH interrupted him at work, specifically, committing armed robbery. (His trade? Career violent criminal, specifically, a serial kidnapper and armed robber, and a fugitive at the time of his expiry). Invited to lay down his gun and decamp to a shady cellblock, where he might well meet members of Bloomberg’s MAIG cabal as well as his own old friends, he declined, choosing to test police in a driving contest followed by a challenge of marksmanship instead. Larry took home the 2nd Place Gunfight Cup: fatal gunshot wounds to the head, chest and abdomen. As a convict, Larry was forbidden to possess firearms of any kind, but respect for any law seems absent from his life. Even a stridently anti-police website seems to think Larry had it coming. Another victim of gun violence that Bloomberg would rather have alive and free to ply his trade, which makes the people of Walpole glad that he’s mayor of some lesser place.

Michael Laroque, 24

Laroque was gunned down in the prime of his life in Manchester, NH on 9 June 13. All he was doing was committing a violent home invasion at the time, when the apartment dweller defended his fiancee and child by gunning Laroque down and shooting at Laroque’s accomplice, who escaped. Laroque came out of the home he invaded: feet first, head covered, on a gurney (a picture is at the link), much to the chagrin of Bloomberg and Trefethen, who would rather have him alive and free, invading homes and terrorizing children.
Personally, we can’t see who would mourn guys like Bidwell, Bohannon or Laroque, except perhaps family members who regret that they went bad, and paid MAIG operatives and professional Newtown mourners. One suspects that last group of payroll patriots are being rewarded well enough to join the memory of their dead children with the likes of Michael Laroque, who actually died trying to harm a child. Bad cess to him.

Are there people in the world that, no euphemisms, need killing? We argue yes, and some of the people on this list were among them, and the world is a better place for their demise. Conversely, to the members of MAIG, these men were better left free to commit their violent crimes. That is a philosophical chasm that can’t be bridged by reason or compromise. Theirs is the voice of descent ad nihilo, the voice of madness.

So let’s sum this up. Of six gun homicide victims whose names were read by paid anti-gun activists in Concord, NH this month:

1: isn’t even dead, and he was a guy “well known to the authorities,” shot by a policeman he was attacking.

1: armed felon, fatally shot by cops after an armed robbery and high-speed chase.

1: fatally shot in the act committing a home invasion.

1: killed himself, possibly inadvertently, with a weapon he probably broke the law to acquire.

1: killed himself deliberately, with a sworn officer’s duty weapon.
Oddly enough, none of this “gun violence” took place in leafy Dover, a bedroom community for, among others, UNH professors. That may be why Dean Trefethen can be so judgmental about it.

Three of the six were slain by police weapons. And exactly one of the six appears to be an innocent murder victim.  Whose death, heartbreaking tragedy that it is, is offset by the three lives saved by the citizen who shot the home invader, and scared off a second home invader (who remains at large).

Moreover, none of the six would have been saved by MAIG’s current preferred policies of Schumer-Manchin-Toomey backdoor registration and ban on family transfers, and a renewal of the failed 1994 “assault weapon” ban. Except perhaps for the home invader; you may call that progress, Mr Trefethen, but we’d rather not.

So their cases are more violent criminals than crime victims, and their solutions won’t address these kinds of killings, but do address their psychological desire to dominate their fellow citizens.

But is it surprising that MAIG’s “gun victims” are mostly criminals? What are we at, thirty MAIG mayors indicted, arrested or convicted for everything from kiddie diddling to assault (with a firearm,  for irony buffs) and kidnapping? Plus, one of Bloomberg’s bodyguards?

This entry was posted in Lord Love a Duck on June 26, 2013 by Hognose. 

Source: Weaponsman.com Here 

PA:Cheap Gun Opportunity, North Philadelphia, Saturday, June 29, 2013

Long Guns Recently Turned In at Phoenix event in May, 2013
North Philadelphia will be hosting a gun turn in event on 29 June, 2013. While these events are commonly labeled with the propaganda term "buyback" the guns were never owned by the people attempting to buy them.

The event will be held at Deliverance Evangelistic Church at the corner of Lehigh and 21st, from 10 am to 2:00 p.m.

Gift cards of $100 will be given for each gun turned in, no questions asked.
Across the country, communities, police departments and churches are sponsoring gun turn-ins to get "guns off the street". At many of these events, private buyers are showing up, offering cash for the more valuable guns. These private additions to the public turn-in are effective, no doubt, in getting more guns off the street, because they add to the resources that are available to those who want to get rid of guns for something of value, be it a grocery card or a number of twenty dollar bills.

You can help make the turn-in in your area more effective by standing on the curb with your "Cash for Guns" sign, or at a folding table, willing to offer more than the gift card for firearms that are more valuable. It would be best if numerous private parties were available, as more good guns could then be transferred into responsible hands.

This action serves many useful purposes. It stretches the turn-in budget so that more guns can be taken off the street. It helps keep fearful widows from being defrauded of most of the market value of the gun they are turning in. It prevents valuable assets from being destroyed by bureaucratic inflexibility. It is a win-win-win situation.

It also dispels the pernicious message that guns are bad and should be destroyed.

Link to article with numerous examples of private sales at gun turn in events
 
Link to most recent article about private buyers at Detroit event

Link to Phoenix Article: pictures of private buyers

©2013 by Dean Weingarten Permission to share granted as long as this notice is included.

Update: I have been informed that private sales are legal for long guns in Pennsylvania, but that handguns are required to be transfered through an FFL.

TX: Shotgun-wielding dad chases home intruders

SAN ANTONIO -- A homeowner chased and fired shots at two men he says broke into his Far West Side home.

News 4 San Antonio was told the homeowner had picked up a family member from a party after the family member got into a fight with two or three other males there. Shortly after the homeowner and his family member returned home, the other males involved in the fight showed up there.

More Here

GA:Gas Station Clerk Shoots, Kills Armed Robber

Police said 10 minutes before the clerk was about to close the store, a man walked inside wearing a ski mask and a hooded sweatshirt. The robber pointed a gun at the clerk and went straight for the cash register, police said. They said the robber was so preoccupied with grabbing the money from the cash register, he forgot about the clerk who also had gun.

Police said while the suspect was stealing the money, he took his eyes off the clerk and lowered his gun. At that time, the clerk seized the opportunity, pulled his own gun out and shot the robber.

More Here

Letter to Senator McCain

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN

 

Thank you for yours of May 30th, however; there remains a problem:  You have too narrow a focus and you are thinking in double contradictions. To wit, I quote:

 

“I do not believe narrowly expanding background checks impinges on our Second Amendment rights.  Anything we can do within the bounds of the Constitution that would prevent someone who should not have a firearm from getting one is a good thing.”  --John McCain, May 30th, 2013

 

Nothing you do as a U.S. Senator regarding background checks as pre-condition for exercising any right is within the bounds of the Constitution.  And that is not a “good thing.”  I illustrate:

 

All background checks do impinge on our Second Amendment rights because to the extent they require government permission as a pre-condition for purchasing a firearm – from anyone! -- they are an a priori restraint on the exercise of our right to keep and bear arms.

 

In the absence of probable cause of wrongdoing, all background checks as a pre-condition for the purchase of a firearm are an a priori restraint of our Constitutionally-guaranteed right to due process.

 

The 5th Amendment prohibits government from requiring a citizen to witness against himself, and the Courts have already ruled a felon is not required to answer background check questions truthfully.  Indeed, no authority is delegated to government to compel background checks as a pre-condition to exercising any right.

 

All background checks violate our Constitutionally-guaranteed right to be secure from being compelled to obtain permission to exercise a right.  In the absence of known felony conviction, government is not delegated the lawful authority to issue or deny permission to exercise a right.  And government is not delegated the authority to ask.

 

All background checks violate our right to privacy in the exercise of our rights.

 

All background checks violate our right to be secure from being compelled to waive a right as a pre-condition for obtaining “permission” to exercise a right.

 

Being required to obtain government permission to exercise a Constitutionally-guaranteed right violates our right to a republican form of government founded on the rule of law.

 

Any law requiring background checks of any kind as a pre-condition for obtaining government permission to exercise any right is null and void from the moment of its inception, is but mere color of law, and cannot be enforced other than by a rogue occupation government that has abdicated its lawful authority to govern.

 

As a U.S. Senator you may legislate the authority to arrest and prosecute a felon in possession of a firearm.  You have no authority to legislate the violation the Constitutionally-guaranteed rights of any citizen as a pre-condition to obtaining government permission to exercise a right.

 

Senator John McCain, you need to re-align yourself with the principles and governmental limitations inherent in the Constitution of the United States as amended.  Otherwise the Barry Soetoro (aka Barack Obama)-led Marxist Mafia regime will destroy the first, only, and probably last best hope for the liberty of Mankind on this planet.  It is time you stopped helping them.

 

Donald L. Cline

Bloomberg Spends NYC Cash on Nevada Gun Laws

BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
June 25, 2013 11:27 am

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is using city resources to strengthen gun laws in a state that has not contributed to the influx of illegal guns into the city.

City employee Christopher Kocher was sent to Nevada to lobby for a bill that focused solely on state background checks within the state of Nevada, according to a New York Post report:

City employee Christopher Kocher was sent to Nevada as a representative of Mayors Against Illegal Guns to lobby for a bill that enforces background checks on all firearm sales in that state.

But Kocher, who works as a special counsel to the mayor’s office, apparently didn’t want his role to be known and scrubbed his City Hall e-mail address from the state of Nevada lobbying-registration Web site early this month.

City Hall officials are arguing that the trip was entirely appropriate despite Kocher’s attempts to hide the city’s involvement because the laws would make New York a safer place.

More Here

Incomplete Nature gun article correction puts agenda over truth

“The News Feature ‘The gun fighter’ wrongly implied that blogger David Codrea had ‘outed’ gun researcher Garen Wintemute,” a correction issued in the June issue of the science journal Nature admitted. “Wintemute had in fact publicized his own work before Codrea’s 2007 blog post.”

Following in the agenda-driven footsteps of political media, Nature, ostensibly a fact-driven and unbiased scientific journal, has jumped on the “gun control” bandwagon, at least that part of it bemoaning a lack of federally-funded “gun violence” studies, with a profile on anti-gun researcher Dr. Garen Wintemute by correspondent Meredith Wadman in its April issue. That article, astonishingly, made reference to a post on this correspondent’s blog from over six years ago.

(snip)

This quote should be given more publicity, as it shows the political nature, with demonstrated pre-approved "results" of the CDC "research".

“Absent from Wadman’s article is acknowledgment of the outrageous bias that caused Congress to pull funding for predetermined outcome ‘studies’ in the first place, after ‘Dr. Mark Rosenberg, Director of the CDC's National Center for Injury Control and Prevention (NCIPC) told The Washington Post: “We need to revolutionize the way we look at guns, like what we did with cigarettes. Now it [sic] is dirty, deadly, and banned,”’" the letter concluded.

More Here at Gun Rights Examiner

CA:Wife shot, Homeowner shot, Grabs Invaders gun, Shoots Invader

It is almost always better to have your own gun than to have to take it from an attacker.

(06-25) 12:46 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A man whose home in San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood was invaded by three robbers early Tuesday managed to wrestle away one of the assailant's guns and use it to critically wound him, police said.

The chaotic incident - which left the resident and his wife with bullet wounds as well - began about 2:30 a.m. when three men pried open the door of a home atop an automotive garage on Elmira Street near Industrial Street, said police Sgt. Dennis Toomer.

Inside the home were a man, his wife and their two kids, police said. Neighbors said the couple had three children, including a newborn baby.

More Here

Historic rifle used to help thwart Northfield raid in 1876 now on display

Unlike the depictions of most westerners as cowards unwilling to face desparadoes, the real history is that armed bad men usually died young and quickly. That is what happened when the Jesse James-Younger gang attempted to hold up the bank in Northfield, Minnesota.

Northfielders and tourists alike have heard the story of how Henry Wheeler grabbed his rifle and started shooting at the James-Younger Gang to thwart the attempted robbery of the First National Bank.

This summer, the Northfield Historical Society will display that rifle — a .50 caliber Smith carbine — that is on loan from owners Gerry Groenewold and Connie Triplett. The display opened Tuesday and will run through Sept. 30.

More Here

TX:Homeowner Shoots Suspected Backyard Burglar

Texas law allows for use of deadly force to protect property at night.

A homeowner in Dallas says he shot a man suspected of burglarizing his backyard shed.

The homeowner, who did not want to be identified on camera, said the family's alarm system went off around 5 a.m. Monday, alerting the homeowner to someone breaking into their storage unit.

The man, who said he has a concealed weapons permit, said he grabbed his .45 caliber gun, went out into the backyard, and discovered a man walking out of the shed with an edger and weed eater.

The homeowner said he told the alleged burglar to stop. That's when the alleged burglar dropped the equipment and jumped the fence to an alley. The homeowner said he fired several rounds and hit the man.

More Here

FL:84-year-old Homeowner shoots at burglar

In the United States, it is usually not a good idea to shoot at a vehicle that no longer threatens you.

MANATEE COUNTY - A burglary suspect sped away from a Bradenton house in a hurry after the 84-year-old homeowner confronted him with a pistol.

The homeowner, Anthony Disanto, arrived home Sunday and found a newer-model VW parked in the driveway of his home on the 2800 block of 26th Ave. Dr. W.

As a burglary suspect emerged from the home, Disanto approached him with his gun.

More Here

CA:Resident kills Intruder

The intruder, identified by police as 24-year-old Thomas Gilbert Manzano of Barstow, had broken a back window to an apartment, according to police, climbed inside and confronted a man.

The two men brawled, police say, and Manzano allegedly threatened to kill the man. That's when the victim's father came to his rescue.

"He arms himself, comes into the room and ends up shooting the suspect," McBride said.

More Here

Armed with Tooth and Claw - A Woman's View of Concealed Carry (Fiction)

From outside the bedroom window comes the screech of an owl, a sudden war cry beyond its peaceful hooting. With it, a mouse or a squirrel cries like a baby as it perishes, blood spilling on the pure white blanket of snow. Inside the house, a girl with a shy smile, patrolling her own habits, not watching nature, not aware of nature watching her, loyal to the mythology of safety that has four walls, but no defense for it. She comes home at night at the same time, leaving in the morning at the same time, driveway dark, obvious to anything outside that watches her world with the same intensity by which she disregards it.

A couple of miles away, a moonlit lane between pine trees and stone. There in the shadows, only steps away, a long shadow shifts. A woman with a gun stops, sensing movement, sensing darkness within the dark, in the woods past her mailbox. Her hand moves to her firearm, poised. A bobcat, easing back through the trees. A shadow, a form that slides like light through a picket fence, slanting sideways, then disappearing under cover. Her hand eases away from her weapon, but she backs away, towards light, towards home and sleep.

Complete essay Here

GA:Mayors Against Illegal Guns rally only lightly attended by supporters (Photos)

The "No More Names: National Drive to Reduce Gun Violence" rally in Atlanta today was more heavily attended by counter-ralliers from GeorgiaCarry.org by a margin of approximately two to one than by MAIG supporters. The rally was held at the State Capitol. The media covering the event also seemed to outnumber the Mayors Against Illegal Guns attendees. The GeorgiaCarry members were evident by their orange "Guns Save Lives" buttons. The Executive Director of GeorgiaCarry, Jerry Henry was present.

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GA:Police looking for second shooter in attempted shoe robbery

Atlanta Police are looking for a potential second shooter in Saturday’s attempted robbery of 20 people waiting outside Wish boutique in Little Five Points to buy the new LeBron James sneakers. Two black males approached the line of customers waiting outside Wish on Moreland Avenue just after 5 a.m. One produced a handgun and ordered the customers to “give it up.” A customer waiting in line drew his own handgun from a holster and fired at the would-be robber, striking him multiple times. The robber fled the scene, but collapsed a short distance away and died. The dead suspect was identified as Sandy Ezzard, 36, of Atlanta.

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TX:Police: Rosenberg homeowner opens fire on teenaged burglary suspect

This is a followup story with more details.

At 19 years old, Arrona is already a convicted felon, and shouldn't have been carrying a gun when police say he tried to break into this house on Memorial Day Eve.

(snip)

A flashlight caught his eye. After a closer look, Sosa recognized a young man wearing light colored clothes as one of his neighbors. The trouble? The house the young man was trying to get inside didn't belong to him. Sosa called the property owner, who arrived with his own gun.

"There were six, seven gunshots," Payne said.

More Here Sosa ran across the street to join his neighbor when he arrived to confront Arrona. He said Arrona had a gun and pointed the weapon at the homeowner before shots were fired.

OK:Homeowner Kills Intruder

"One of the first things [the homeowner] did was call 911. That allows us to get here quickly," Edmond Police spokesperson Jenny Monroe said. "One person in the home was checking what was going on and the other person was on the phone with 911."

One homeowner shot Wilson. Monroe said Wilson was dead by the time EMSA arrived.

More Here

IL:Jewelry Store Robber Shot

Jun 24, 2013 (Chicago Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- One man was shot and police were searching for two others after they attempted to rob a jewelry store at the Oak Brook Center Sunday afternoon, police said.

(snip)

After the man broke the case a security guard in the jewelery store drew his weapon and told the man to drop the hammer, Kruger said. The man with the hammer then began approaching the guard who fired his weapon, striking the robber in the abdomen, Kruger said.

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VA:VCDL Conducts Successful Protest of Bloomberg Tyranny Tour

From: VCDL President

SIGNS? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' SIGNS! ER, WELL, OK, MAYBE WE DO

On Wednesday I surveyed VCDL's inventory of signs from previous events, but found that I didn't have any applicable signs here in Richmond for the Bloomberg Tyranny Tour (BTT). I got in my car and began my drive up to Roanoke for my talk at the Roanoke City Republican Committee meeting. On the ride up I called EM John Wilburn in Blacksburg to ask him if he could help me with signs for Friday.

John jumped into action with member Sheila Rigney and they produced an excellent set of signs, all mounted on sticks. The sticks made the signs easier to hold and had another side benefit (more on that shortly). On Thursday, as I headed from Roanoke to Staunton for my talk to the Shenandoah Valley Tea Party, I breathed a sigh of relief as I learned that the signs were ready!

AND SO IT BEGINS

Friday morning we had around 30 VCDL members at the BTT event in Blacksburg. At least six of which were women and we had quite a few young adults as well.

The antis had a similar number of people present in the morning, counting them and their children. As the morning wore on into the afternoon, we outnumbered them significantly (perhaps a difference in dedication to the cause?)

Bloomberg sent in a three-man security team the day before to secure the grounds. The security team had wanted the police to block off streets and put up barricades, etc. (You'd swear that Michelle Obama was dropping into Blacksburg for a vacation stop.) The Blacksburg police told them that wasn't going to happen - and it didn't. ;-)

The BTT started their press conference at 9:30 AM. There were around 5 different members of the media present, and I was interviewed by all of them (articles with video are below).

I was extremely proud of our group. We stood quietly holding our signs as the press conference, and the later reading of names, continued. It's not easy to do when the other side is spewing misinformation, such as the infamous 40% of guns are sold without a background check statistic and that universal background checks won't lead to registration.

A few of the angrier antis tried to get a reaction from us, clearly hoping for a confrontation, but not a single VCDL member took the bait.

Once the press conference was over, they started reading names of those "killed with a gun." The names included criminals killed by police, criminals killed by other criminals, suicides, and accidents, to swell the number of names. The reading of the names droned on: "John Doe, age 34, Duluth, Minnesota, killed with a gun." Sometimes they didn't know the person's name or age: "Name unknown, age unknown, Chicago, Illinois, killed with a gun." No mention of all the names of those who are alive today because they had a gun to protect themselves. No mention of the fact that the list they were reading from might have been shorter if some of the victims had had a gun.

THE ANTIS UNINTENTIONALLY PROVIDE HILARIOUS COMEDY RELIEF!

One of the antis we had crossed paths with before at a previous VCDL protest at Virginia Tech ("No Guns, No Funds"). He was there with all his malevolence. He was holding up his little "No more names" signs, one in each hand, and glaring at us in a defiant manner, praying for a confrontation. He was summarily ignored.

EM Dave Hicks had taken his sign ("Defend Liberty, Oppose Bloomberg") and stood behind all the antis and behind the podium. Because Dave is tall and the signs were on sticks, Dave got his sign way up in the air, well above the antis and virtually guaranteed to be in the background of photos and videos of the event's speakers. ;-) No one could complain, as he was not blocking their signs at all, he was simply towering over them from behind.

Typical of our opponents, there were a few of them who were determined that our signs would not be seen (hey, they don't like free speech either - unless it is THEIR free speech, of course).

Here's where it really started to be fun.

First, there was a young woman who was determined to block out Dave's sign. So she stood in front of Dave on her tippy-toes and held up her sign as high as she could. Unfortunately for her, she was not able to match the height of Dave's sign. Out of frustration she started to jump up in the air, holding her sign as high up over her head as she could.

Well, for a split second her sign did cover the very bottom edge of Dave's sign and then Mean-Ole-Mister-Gravity pulled her back down. ;-) So she just kept hopping up and down for a while, determined to get her way. I was grinning ear-to-ear.

Ah, but it gets better!

A little while later Dave was standing a little to the side with his sign in front of him, with the stick resting on the ground. Two antis then stood directly in front of him to block his sign. So Dave lifted his sign up in the air and the two antis did the same and held their signs high to block his. And then Dave lowered his sign and they lowered theirs.

I swear I saw a twinkle in Dave's eyes at that point and I thought to myself, "uh, oh."

Dave raised his sign. They raised theirs. Dave lowered his sign. They lowered theirs. Dave raised his sign. They raised theirs. Dave lowered his sign. They lowered theirs. Dave raised his sign. They raised theirs. Dave lowered his sign. They lowered theirs.

Dave had created a miniature "wave" event! And all of this without a single word being said. I had to turn away to wipe the tears of laughter flowing down my face. ;-) I'm giggling and teared up as I'm writing this, a day later!

The wave motion even disturbed the current speaker as she was trying to figure out what the heck was going on in her peripheral vision.

Finally the antis realized that they looked like marionettes with Dave pulling their strings!

AND THE SAD REALITY OF VIOLENT CRIME

One of the speakers was Mr. Neil Heslin, who had lost his 6-year-old son, Jesse, in the Sandy Hook massacre. Neil is a soft-spoken man who had suffered an unimaginable loss. I noticed he was talking to several of our members later in the morning, so I decided to go over and talk to him as well. I shook his hand and offered my personal condolences. It turns out that he is a gun owner and started shooting as a very young man in upstate New York and Connecticut many years ago. He was a person that you couldn't help but like. He carried no malice, but was simply trying to find some way to keep others from going through what he has gone through.

Toward the end of our rather lengthy and pleasant conversation, Neil took out his cell phone and said he wanted to show me some photos of his son. I immediately recognized one of the photos from an article in a newspaper back in December. A beautiful little boy with a beaming grin. It was taken on a day when they had gone fishing together. I told Neil that looking at that photo it was crystal clear that Jesse was crazy about his dad.

As Neil walked away, I vowed silently to redouble my efforts to get rid of those damned gun-free-slaughter-zones that allowed a monster to kill that sweet little boy.

PRAISE FOR VCDL

After the event was over, one of the Bloomberg security team members told one of our members that of all the groups that he had dealt with before, VCDL was the most well-mannered of them all.

One of the Blacksburg police officers also told one of our members that he greatly appreciated our conduct.

Finally, Andrew Goddard came over, shook my hand, and sincerely thanked me for our group acting so respectfully during the event. That was nice of him and, as I said earlier, our members were indeed a class act. We are not angry disrupters. We are good natured, but fair, firm, and relentless in fighting for our beliefs.

OH:Gun Turn ins (buybacks) Ineffective

Educational efforts to show the ineffective nature and the propagandistic nature of gun turn ins (buybacks) is having an effect.

The Cleveland Police Department held its annual gun buyback over the weekend, swapping gift cards for certain types of firearms. Opponents say such programs waste taxpayer dollars and destroy desirable weapons. And as WKSU’s Kabir Bhatia reports, in many cases it comes down to a matter of economics.

(snip)

Effectiveness

Gun advocates have become increasingly critical of buybacks. And in Arizona, lawmakers last month passed a law forbidding police from destroying guns obtained in such programs. Instead, they have to be sold to federally licensed dealers.

Some researchers question the effectiveness of buybacks in fighting gun violence. A study from the Center for Problem-Oriented Policing at the University of Wisconsin says the people attracted to buybacks are usually the least likely to commit crimes.

Instead, the study says increased police patrols, intervention with known felons and tougher gun laws are more effective.

More Here

AL:Jury decides gunman acted in self-defense

A Tuscaloosa County jury found John Earl May, 58, not guilty in the death of Stanley Foster, 40. The two men exchanged gunfire during an argument at Foster’s home in the Rosser Estates neighborhood on Feb. 25.

Attorneys Jerry Hudson and Randy Rose of the Tuscaloosa County public defender office argued self-defense at the trial this week.

More Here

TN:Robber, Owner of Gas Station in Gunfight

SUMMERTOWN, TN (WSMV) - A Lewis County gas station clerk didn't hesitate to fight back when an armed robber hit his store, but police say both men are lucky to be alive after what happened next. MOREAdditional Links Bullet holes, broken glass and a box full of discarded crime scene tape are all evidence of what happened at the J & C Market in Summertown.

Investigators say a man walked in about 3:20 p.m. Thursday, pulled a gun and demanded every dollar in the register.

"Told them to go stand in the corner away from the door on the opposite side of the building. When he exited the store, the owner exited the store," said Lewis County Sheriff's Lt. Tommy Fransen.

And that's when the gunfight began. Deputies say the thief fired at least five shots, and the owner shot back three times with nothing protecting him but an outdoor ice chest.

More Here

GA:Robber shot, killed

Atlanta police said a man was shot and killed in Little Five Points early Saturday morning after he tried to rob a group of people waiting in line to buy the new, $180 sneakers, the Nike LeBron X EXT, which were released today.

One man in the line pulled out a gun and shot the would-be robber, witnesses told police, who have charged no one and consider the shooting to be self-defense.

More Here

MS:Journalistic Confusion over Mississippi Open Carry

The Mississippi has always protected the right to openly carry weapons.

With confusion and concern looming over Mississippi’s new gun law set to kick in July 1, businesses are reminded of their rights in relation to the “Open Carry” legislation.

House Bill 2, approved by Gov. Phil Bryant in March, is being referred to as the open carry law because gun owners will now have fewer concealment regulations.

"HB 2 set out to redefine what a concealed weapon is," said Cleveland Police Chief Buster Bingham. "If the law holds up, any person can carry a weapon on their belt as long as it's holstered. It doesn't need to be hidden or obscured.”

Also written in the bill’s language is that citizens may carry with or without concealed carry permits — any law-abiding citizen over 18 years of age may ‘holster carry' in the open if done in a non-threating and otherwise lawful manner.

(snip)

For the meantime, it remains to be seen how the state reacts to new carrying rights.

More Here

How to Arm the Citizenry

Kyle Coplen may not be a sidesaddle gunslinger — the 29-year-old got his master’s in public administration from the University of Houston this spring — but he can handle a weapon. And he is working to make sure you can, too.

Coplen is the founder and head of the Armed Citizen Project (ACP), a Houston-based nonprofit that trains single women and residents of crime-ridden neighborhoods in firearms use — and then arms them. It’s a small-scale effort so far, but Coplen has lofty targets. ACP aims to arm citizens in 15 cities nationwide by the end of 2013, hoping to collect in the process valuable data about the effects of gun ownership on crime rates.

More Here

AZ:Homeowner wounds home invader

SUN CITY, AZ - The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has taken a man into custody who they believe is suspected of a home invasion in Sun City.

(snip)

Neighbors say they're not shocked the homeowner was armed because in their neighborhood everyone is armed and ready.

"And the ones that don't like guns, we have a lot of widowed women who live by themselves, we take care of them, check on them all the time," said neighbor Walter Ready.

Barnes was shot in the hand and neck. He was taken to a nearby hospital to recover from his injuries.

More Here

TN:Burglar shot by homeowner

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – A man has been charged after being shot by a homeowner during an alleged attempted burglary on Thursday morning.

(snip)

Heath grabbed his .22-caliber revolver and confronted the man, later identified as Dalling. Parkerson said Heath told him to keep his hands up, but when the man went for his pocket, Heath shot him.

More Here

TX:Homeowner shoots career criminal

More details have emerged after a homeowner shot and wounded a suspect he said was allegedly trying to break in to his home early Thursday morning in northwest Harris County.

Guillermo Andrade was charged with criminal trespass after the shooting, which happened about 12:10 a.m. in the 1600 block of Sweet Grass Trail near Rolling Creek, said Mark Herman, assistant chief deputy with Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office.

Herman said the homeowner heard banging on his back door. He looked outside and saw a man kicking the door. Herman said the homeowner, whose name has not been released, grabbed a pistol and opened fire, hitting the man three times.

More Here

NC: Truck theft thwarted by armed owner

SALISBURY — Authorities say a Salisbury man caught his neighbor in the act of stealing his truck and held him at gunpoint until officers arrived.

Tuesday morning, the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office got a call from James Lambert. He said he was holding someone at gunpoint who had tried to steal his truck. Lambert told deputies he was in his house on Hildebran Road when he heard the truck start up. He said he ran out of the house with a pistol and saw Richard Lee Wright III, 19, also of Hildebran Road, in the driver’s seat of his 1993 Ford Ranger.

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FL:Resident Confronts Multiple Invaders, one shot and killed

A home-invasion plot was foiled Wednesday night when a Jacksonville resident shot and killed one of the assailants, authorities said.

Police responded to a report of shots fired about 11:20 p.m. at the home in the 2000 block of Oak Water Drive.

Multiple males attempted to enter the house, Sgt. T.K. Waters said. When the first assailant was shot, the others fled.

More Here

OR:Pistol-Packing Grandma Starts Neighborhood 'Glock Block'

A grandmother in Milwaukie, Ore., is organizing a "Glock Block," a pistol-packing group of neighbors that she said she hopes will help deter crime in her community.

Coy Tolonen, 65, said the idea came to her last Thursday after she tried and failed to chase down a thief who ran away with her beloved bronze yard statue.

Later that evening, the grandmother of three said she realized a door to her home had been jimmied open, possibly by the same man she said stole her statue.

"It just made my blood run cold because our grandkids are playing here a lot, and one of them could have been snatched just as easily as the statue," she told ABCNews.com.

"These guys need to know if you're going to pick on a little old lady, then lots of the ladies I know are packing [guns]. They're sweet ladies but if it's their life, I'm sorry you're going to lose yours," Tolonen said.

The breast cancer survivor said she wasn't going to let anything jeopardize the safety of her or her family in their home, and so the "Glock Block" idea was born.

More Here

Mike Vanderboegh:I AM Expendable. Why Colorado. Why me.

Mike Vanderboegh is one of the bloggers/citizen journalists that exposed the Fast and Furious scandal. He is going to Colorada to transfer a standard capacity 30 round magazine in open defiance of the newly passed, almost certainly unconstitutional new law.

From Sipsey Street Irregulars:

A personal note to the two former residents of Dennis Avenue who I know read this blog. Do us all a favor and don't rat me out on this post. I'm going to be speaking frankly and she doesn't need the worry.

In Colorado, not all the Nazis are in the state legislature and the governor's mansion. Some pick up the trash along the roads (and not in a chain gang, unfortunately).

Along with all the defeatist claptrap troll responses to We Are Expendable, bleating about "every day the bluefor gets stronger and the redfor gets weaker" (sounds a lot like the collectivists' "resistance is futile" meme, doesn't it?) there came a somewhat different response to my latest post on Colorado. Old Greybeard writes:

Since you will be flagrantly violating a Colorado "law", and they will want to make an example of you, what makes you think you will get bail, since surely you would be considered a flight risk?

Also, all those magazines will be totally wasted. You might as well just mail them to the Colorado state police because those guys will wind up using them someday or they will just be destroyed after being used as evidence against you.

That's the biggest reason I haven't sent you any magazines. PLEASE CHANGE YOUR MIND ABOUT THIS FOLLY. There are other ways to support the Second Amendment. For example, being able to continue updating your blog every day, my friend. - Old Greybeard

Now I smiled when I read this because I know Old Greybeard. I know where his heart is. And though we disagree on some things, I am proud to call him a friend. He is motivated, I am certain, only out of concern for me. But he raises several issues -- some serious -- that I think need to be explained.

First, no, OGB, those magazines won't be wasted. I'll only have one in my hand or in my vehicle if/when I am arrested in Denver. The others, I assure you, will not be wasted. My daughter Zoe will be my driver/videographer for the trip and will not participate in the action. The charge is a misdemeanor. I am not a flight risk. I will have local counsel already arranged and, if the readership comes through when I issue the call, bail money in somebody's pocket.

"When, if not now, shall we resist?" -- Mike Vanderboegh, Hartford, CT, 20 April 2013.

In some measure, this is an undiscovered country I knew I was headed to when I founded the Three Percent movement. When you draw a line that you declare is a last ditch, you either defend it or risk violating your principles and discrediting your entire life.

I never sought to be a leader of anything. The unfortunate thing for me is that other people thought I was a leader. You know, when I was first picked to lead my Alabama militia unit (we didn't even have a name for it back then), I was perplexed. I had been in Alabama since 1985. I knew about the difference between "Yankees" and "Damyankees." I had married a southern girl and stayed. Ten years afterward, whenever I'd go up to Winston County to interview descendants of Alabama Unionists, I'd still get some old lady leaning forward into my face with a piercing gaze and challenging, "Y'all ain't from aroun' heer, air ya?" And I always had to admit that I wasn't.

So finally, one day, I asked the other guys in the militia, "How come you picked me? I mean, I'm a 'Damyankee.' Why are you trusting me?" There was an uncomfortable silence and finally, with a wry grin, one of the boys said, "Well, hell, Mike. You ARE a Yankee. If we put you out front and you get killed, we ain't lost nothin'." The room exploded in laughter. Which, I reflected, sort of told me where I stood. And it WAS funny.

But the thing about being a leader is that you have the responsibility, the DUTY, to LEAD. As one comment to the transcript of my Hartford speech said: "By sticking your neck out and taking action, hopefully the people of CT will have an example to follow and won't feel fear now that someone else has already done it."

And that's one aspect of leadership. A leader doesn't ask his people to do anything that he isn't willing to do himself, and, by his example, he inspires others.

The other thing is that I don't know how long I'm going to be able to keep this -- all this, including the blog -- up and running. True, with my weight loss of 135 pounds since the surgery both my blood pressure and my diabetes are doing much better. My previously infected toe on my right foot is now healed and as of yesterday I am back with shoes on both my feet again for the first time in months. But I still have congestive heart failure (if I ever get tased it will probably kill me right there) and the nagging aftermath of the surgery is that hole in my back that continues to leak. In fact the past three days it has gotten far worse, and now seems to be infected according to the two different doctors (and their co-pays) that I visited yesterday. We're having to change the dressings four to five times a day. Oh, they've prescribed an antibiotic and I'm taking that but this up and down stuff gets to be more than a bit wearing. Then there's Churchill's black dog that seems to make a reappearance every time I turn to Absolved to try to finish it.

On the bright side, the surgeon yesterday came up with yet another idea to plug the hole in my gastric-esophogeal junction by means of a state-of-the-art human epoxy glue. When I get back from Colorado, I will enter the hospital (they have to keep me NPO yet hydrated by means of IVs while the glue is setting up) and we will give it a shot. The funny thing is that this glue is mostly used to repair anal fistulas and when the doc told me THAT I laughed myself half to death. When he asked what was so funny I said, "You know, Doc, there is a considerable body of opinion including my ex-wife and Eric Holder, that I am an asshole. I guess this proves it."

Still, I'm skating on the the thin ice of multiple threats to my health not including my ex-wife's voodoo doll or Eric Holder's collectivist animus. I know that, statistically speaking, after all I've been through I shouldn't be here, leading me to conclude that God is not done with me yet. So I do what I can, while I can. It is after all, what He has commanded all of us stiff-necked Christians to do -- which is to stand in the gap. The thing is, when you get closer to the end than the beginning, you begin to realize your own body's mortality and you want to make whatever time you have left count. The other thing is, if you're a Christian, you understand that they cannot take away or compromise your own inextinguishable soul, only you can do that. So, if you stay true to your faith, the worst thing that happens is that you go to a better place where your side wins in the end.

OGB, God love him (and He does), believes that to be so much fairy dust. Well, maybe it is. We'll all find out sooner than we want to rather than later, given the world we live in. But the fact of the matter is that I DO believe it. It is a part of who I am, and to quote another flawed Christian, Martin Luther, "Hier stehe ich, ich kann nicht anders, Gott helfe mir, Amen." ("Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.")

The thing is, I believe I wouldn't be here without the prayerful support of my readers. This is spiritual warfare we are engaged in people, with the best evidence of that being the absolute, blood-thirsty evil of our collectivist enemies and their appetites for our liberty, our property and our lives. How can you look at Waco and not see the evil hand behind it? How can you consider the vicious, sustained campaign by the federal "law enforcement" bureaucracy to victimize the Reese family without hearing the Devil himself laugh in the background? These people who seek to enslave us are evil. It may be a banal evil, to use Hannah Arendt's phrase, but IT IS EVIL bureaucratized and yet personified all at once and together. So, viewed through the lens of my own principles, I AM expendable. It is what God put me on this earth to do -- fight evil with all my heart and soul until He calls me home.

No one thought that the authorities of your state would pass laws making criminals out of the previously law-abiding -- but they did. If they catch you violating their unconstitutional laws, they will -- when they please -- send armed men to work their will upon you. And people -- innocent of any crime save the one these tyrants created -- will die resisting them. -- Mike Vanderboegh, Hartford CT, 20 April 2013.

Why Colorado? Because that is where the collectivist enemy is. That is one place where he has made gains that need to be confronted. It seems that we have turned back the federal grab that the citizen disarmament blood dancers began after Newtown, much to their frustration. But it is the states where they continue to gain ground. So, we must confront them as they confront us -- state by state, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, using all the tools at hand. As my good friend David Codrea says, "Any chair in a bar fight." Even those who urge me not to go concede the truth that the Colorado tyranny must be resisted. We must confront these collectivist bastards in Colorado and every other state where they've made gains. My friends and supporters, OGB included, just don't want it to be ME. But if not me, who? And if not now, when?

There is one way you might stop me from going. Just don't send me any more subscription donations. Without the money for car rental and gas, without the bail money, I'm dead in the water, so to speak. As generous as y'all have been, if the PO Box remains empty as it was this week, I'll be reduced to hitchhiking. So you can vote with your wallets. Should I stay or should I go? I'm tempted to say it's up to y'all, but that would be a lie. I'm going. Somehow, God will provide. But I'm going. I love OGB like a brother, but I'm going.

Source: Sipsy Street Irregulars

Illinois AG seeks to deny forcibly disarmed young woman her day in court

Yesterday, we looked at Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's latest maneuvers intended to minimize Illinoisans' Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms. Or perhaps that it is not her latest maneuver. As it turns out, she has also been busy lately trying to persuade the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois to dismiss an 18-year-old woman's lawsuit over the state's refusal to issue her a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card, required in Illinois for purchase or possession of guns and ammunition. From the Madison-St. Clair Record:

More at St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner Here

WA:Homeowner holds burglar at gunpoint for deputies

A would-be burglar was stopped in his tracks by a Spokane Valley homeowner armed with a 12-gauge shotgun who said he's had enough with thieves on his property.

(snip)

Malloy also saw a knife on the suspect's belt, so he grabbed his shotgun.

More Here

TN:Gunfight, car chase with burglars ends in their arrest

(Memphis) Police say a man chased down a pair of burglars.

The homeowner not only shot at them as they tried to break into his home, but actually followed them in his car to make sure they got caught.

Two brothers are now in jail, charged with attempted burglary and attempted murder.

“It all happened so fast,” said Mr. Hall. “They got out of the car and started shooting at me.”

Not everyone would do what this man did. He didn’t want to be on camera and just wants to be called ‘Mr. Hall.”

“How many times did they shoot at you?” asked reporter Sabrina Hall.

“Nine, ten,” said Mr. Hall.

More Here

Bloomberg's Gun Control Rally Names Boston Bomber as Victim of Gun Violence

At a June 18 gun control rally in New Hampshire sponsored by New York mayor Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns group, the name of Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev was read aloud as a recent victim of gun violence.

Throughout the rally, organizers read a list of names of people who had been killed with guns since the Dec. 14 shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. 

When they read Tsarnaev's name, pro-gun supporters who were at the rally to counter Bloomberg's group began shouting, "He's a terrorist," according to a report by Tim Buckland of the New Hampshire Union-Leader.

Tsarnaev was killed by police in a gun fight days after detonating bombs at the Boston Marathon. 

More Here at breitbart.com

MN:Bear Attacks Woman, Charges Officer who shoots and kills it

This is an earlier attack than the recent Wisconsin incident. This attack was reported on 5 June, 2013.

MCGREGOR, Minn. (KMSP) -

A woman was attacked by a 190 lb. black bear in northern Minnesota on Monday night after her dog chased after its yearling cubs.

According to the Minnesota DNR, the 72-year-old McGregor, Minn., woman was bitten and clawed, but sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

(snip)

An Aitkin County deputy couldn't find the bears near the property, but a DNR officer later found them about 200 yards away from the home. When the sow ran toward the officer, he shot and killed it.

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WI:Man Shoots Bear, stops Attack on Brother

It appears to me that the dog was doing what it is supposed to do, defend its territory. Bears have to be continually reminded that people are dangerous predators at the top of the food chain. When they lose their fear of men and dogs, this is the sort of incident that takes place.

SHELL LAKE, Wis. (KMSP) - A man is recovering at a Twin Cities hospital after he was attacked by a black bear Monday night near Shell Lake in northwestern Wisconsin.

According to the Wisconsin DNR, the bear attack was provoked by the man's dog.

The victim's brother, who was inside the family's cabin, stepped out and shot the bear. The bear was injured, but ran away.

The victim was taken to the hospital in Shell Lake before he was airlifted to the Twin Cities, where he is in stable condition.

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Will the brainlessness ever end?

MS:Police: evidence backs up self-defense in Tupelo shooting

Police Capt. Rusty Haynes tells The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal that tests indicate that 41-year-old Brad Nance was four to six feet away when he was shot and killed Thursday.

"That is a really close shot and further confirms the resident was acting in self-defense," Haynes said.

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VT:Man with Rifle Shoots Attacker, Saves Pregnant Woman

Vermont State Police said Aaron Allen, 28, of Hudson Falls, died after being shot by Michael White, 24. Police said Allen went to a house on John Corey Road Sunday evening with a knife and was stabbing his ex-girlfriend, Heather Thompson, when he was shot.

Thompson, 22, had a restraining order issued in Washington County against Allen because of an April arrest for unlawful restraint, police said.

“He came to kill her, and who knows, they all could have been dead if Mikey hadn’t stopped him,” Debbie White said Monday afternoon. She was out of state at the time of the incident but returned after the attack.

State Police said Michael White, 24, saw the attack and fired a rifle twice, hitting Allen, who was taken to Rutland Regional Medical Center. He died there early Monday morning, police said.

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TX:Man claims self defense in deadly shooting

The brothers are sons of the girlfriend. This appears to be a case of a man defending himself against domestic violence.

Police say after smashing the windows, the two brothers threatened the boyfriend. That's when multiple shots were fired. The medical examiner's office confirmed 28-year-old Manuel Cantu died at the scene, and his brother's name has not been released.

The boyfriend is not facing any charges at this time.

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OH:Gunshot Drives off Naked Intruder

WEST CARROLLTON, Ohio (WDTN) - A burglar usually wants to go undetected, maybe dress in dark clothing, but not a suspect West Carrollton police just nabbed.

The man who police say tried to break into a home on Glenada Court at Gibbons Road early Monday morning was naked, in the buff.

Police say the resident was at home when the naked burglar came calling. Police say he told the intruder he had a gun. The burglar kept trying to enter through a window, so the homeowner fired off a shot.

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A Second Front on the Second Amendment

Quietly, with almost no attention from the old media, a strong second front has been opened in the fight to restore the Second Amendment.

There can be no doubt that knives, tomahawks, and other edged weapons were meant to be included as arms protected under the Second Amendment. They were commonly used weapons in the militias of the Revolutionary War, and had been part of military equipment since the dawn of history.

Opponents of individual rights have been able to dig up a few town safety ordinances regulating the storage of gunpowder or the firing of guns in urban centers.

I have yet to see one that forbade the carrying of knives, tomahawks, or other edged weapons. Swords were specifically mentioned during the debates about the ratification of the Constitution.

Laws limiting the carrying of knives have proliferated after the War between the States, and especially in the last half of the 20th century. Now a small but extremely effective organization is fighting to restore the Second Amendment protections to edged weapons by rolling back silly, ineffective, and unconstitutional bans on them.

A plot in Customs to redefine "switchblade" to include most pocket knives was defeated in Congress in 2009.

In the last few years, New Hampshire(2010, 2011), Utah(2011), and Arizona (2010) have removed most of the bans and restrictions on carrying edged instruments. Knife preemption, eliminating most local restrictions, was passed in Georgia in 2012. A Missouri ban on switchblades was repealed in the same year.

Now, in 2013, a vertible flurry of knife law reforms have been successful in the states.

Kansas started the year with a repeal of the ban on switchblades, dirks, daggers, and stilettos, and by enacting preemption legislation to do away with a patchwork of local laws that were impossible for any sane traveler to keep up with.

Alaska soon followed with a repeal of the ban on switchblades and statewide knife law preemption.

Tennesee followed just a few days later with knife law preemption, and plans to repeal bans on switchblades and others next year.

In May, Indiana eliminated the state's ban on switchblades, with Texas to follow just a few days ago in June.

With the national focus on semi-automatic firearms, standard capacity magazines, and incipient national registration disguised as background checks, little attention has been focused on the success of much needed reforms on the carrying of edged weapons clearly protected by the Second Amendment.

Surprisingly, a reasonably fair article was published in Mother Jones, not know for its concerns about upholding the Constitution. Knife Rights even awarded the author, Richard Grant, with a Freedom's Voice award.

The passage of significant reforms in five states in the first half of 2013 indicates that times are right for rolling back infringements of the individual right to carry and use these time tested tools.

©2013 by Dean Weingarten Permission to share granted as long as this notice is included.

NM:Reese lawyers reply to prosecutor move to deny assets for defense

The prosecution's persecution of the Reese family continues.

Attorneys Robert J. Gorence and Jason Bowles filed a Defendants’ Reply in Support of Motion for Partial Release of Assets on behalf of clients Rick, Terri and Ryin Reese in the District Court of the United States for the District of New Mexico last Thursday.

(snip)

Arrested almost two years ago for allegedly knowingly selling guns to cartel members while operating a New Mexico gun store, all Reese family members were found not guilty on the most serious charges of conspiracy. Additionally and significantly, money laundering charges against them were dismissed. Husband Rick, wife Terri and son Ryin were convicted on a handful of lesser charges of making false statements on forms, basically under the presumption that they should have known federal agents were lying. Rick and Ryin were released on bond in February and Terri was released on bond last year. Son Remington was cleared of all charges, and a new trial for the outstanding convictions has been ordered following the judge’s ruling that the prosecutor withheld evidence from the jury.

More Here at Gun Rights Examiner

CA:Father shoots intruder who grabbed daughter

“When a female family member who lives in a rear house went to check, (she) was confronted by Guerra," Walker wrote. “The female victim began to scream for other family members to come help her, and Guerra grabbed her.”

The victim’s dad hustled to her aid.

“Guerra attempted to attack the father, at which time Guerra was shot once by the father,” Walker wrote.

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NJ:Business Owner Shoots, Kills Armed Robber

The suspect announced a robbery, and ordered the owner to fill the backpack with money and gold. The suspect said he would shoot the owner’s family members if the owner did not comply, authorities said.

But the owner fought back. He pulled his own gun, and shot the suspect.

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OR:Owner stops burglary attempt with pistol shot

MYRTLE CREEK, Ore. -- A man came home to find two men breaking into his home on Dole Road, and the Sheriff's office says he fired a pistol at the men.

(snip)

Both suspects ran from the scene, and have not been located.

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WV:Lookout man holds burglary suspects at gunpoint

A Fayette County man held two burglary suspects at gunpoint until authorities arrived on scene to make an arrest.

Michael Ray Clark, Jr., 22, was arrested on a entering without breaking charge. He was released from jail on $7,500, according to the Fayette County Sheriff's Office. An unidentified minor, who was released to her parents, could face charges later.

Deputies told WOAY the pair tried to steal copper from the trailer, which was unoccupied, unlocked and undergoing renovations. The home sits on Foster Hill Road in Lookout.

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Texas Repeals Switchblade Restricitons

BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is applauding Texas Gov. Rick Perry for signing a repeal of the Lone Star State’s ban on so-called “switchblade” knives, thanks largely to efforts by Knife Rights, a group CCRKBA has supported from its inception.

“While other knife restrictions in Texas remain in effect,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “this looks like a good first step toward more rational laws regulating knives, which must be protected under the Second Amendment, same as firearms. The right to keep and bear arms is not limited simply to guns.”

The legislation was passed 141-1 by the House of Representatives, and 31-0 by the State Senate last month. Now that Gov. Perry has signed the measure, it takes effect on Sept. 1.

Passage of the Texas legislation brought the number of pro-knife bills passed by state legislatures this year to five. Knife Rights indicated that it will be back in two years in an effort to pass knife law preemption in Texas.

“Our hats are off to Knife Rights and in particular the people they recognize as having been instrumental in getting this accomplished,” Gottlieb said. “Kudos go to Rep. Harold Dutton and Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, and Knife Rights volunteer W. Scott Lewis.”

Source

TX:Off Duty ATF Agent Defends Home, Shoots Burglar

SPRING, Texas – A federal agent shot and wounded a burglary suspect while defending his north Harris County home on Sunday morning, deputies said.

According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco, Firearms and Explosives shot a male suspect who had entered the man’s home at 4 a.m. in the 5300 block of Brookway Willow Drive.

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NY:Robber has knife,Pharmacist Shoots, hits tire, Robber arrested

A pharmacist who purchased a gun after two fatal pharmacy robberies on Long Island used it to shoot at a robber Friday afternoon, according to Nassau County Police.

(snip)

Gumpert pulled a knife from his waistband and he took steps towards Longo. The victim was armed with a licensed revolver and fired once, which deflected off the ground and struck the rear tire of Gumpert’s car.

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Ban on some knives ends in Indiana

Knives are arms protected by the Second Amendment of the Constitution.

Some contend that the ban on knives that can be easily be opened with one hand, by the push of a button,(switchblades) was prompted by the play and movie "West Side Story".

I call these sort of laws, "trendy laws", laws that make no sense logically, but are passed as a sort of trendy effect pushed by the media. The newtimes notes:

Indiana's upcoming end to its decades-old ban on switchblades has spurred some of the state's gun stores to start taking pre-orders for the spring-loaded knives.

State lawmakers passed a bill earlier this year legalizing the sale and possession of the automatic knives beginning July 1. The state's ban had been in place for 30 years.

Knives are commonly used for self defense. It may be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Second Amendment to prevent people with only one usable hand, or weak hands, from having access to these useful tools.

Dean Weingarten