Laws enforce zero tolerance for common sense: "In January, Adam Liston made a serious mistake. Liston, 18, a senior at Davis (CA) High School, dropped off a few friends at school on his way to the gun range with a new shotgun in his gun rack. Someone reported seeing the gun, and the next day, the vice principal asked to search Liston's Ford F-250 truck. Liston readily agreed.Six police cars arrived and officers swarmed the truck. As they searched, his heart sank. He realized he had forgotten to remove the shotgun, unloaded and still in its original box, from his truck after target shooting. Liston broke down in tears as officers confiscated the gun and arrested him. He was handcuffed and taken to the Yolo County Jail."

Feisty reporters: "A radio reporter and his two companions survived an 'ambush' Thursday night on Natalio Bacalso Avenue, Cebu City [Philippines] by firing back at their assailants. Using an Ingram machine pistol and .45 caliber pistols, George Benaojan, a reporter of El Nuevo Bantay Radyo, said he and his two volunteer reporters scared the gunmen away with superior firepower."

Texans fought for their right to arms: "In September 1835, Santa Anna sent his brother-in-law, General Martin Perfecto de Co's, to Texas to confiscate the inhabitant's arms and to arrest Santa Anna's political opponents. Like the Americans in 1775 who demanded their English common-law rights, the Texans of 1835 demanded their rights under the Mexican Constitution of 1824. They realized these rights could be protected only by an armed populace. Sam Houston, commander of the Texas citizens army, urged the North Americans: "Let each man come with a good rifle and one hundred rounds of ammunition and?come soon. Our war cry is `LIBERTY OR DEATH!'"... Now, as in 1836, there are those who would deprive Texans of this most basic right of free men. All other rights flow from this one: Without the means to resist oppression, none of our rights can he guaranteed.

The real agenda behind the assault weapons ban: "The 1994 semiautomatic or so-called assault weapons ban expires Sept. 13. The media drumbeat to reauthorize it has begun, and some politicians are dancing to the familiar tune. Instead of merely reauthorizing the ban, however, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-L.I.) seeks to ban more guns and implement a national registration scheme. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the assault weapons ban sponsor, said on CBS' '60 Minutes,' 'If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate for an outright ban, picking up every one of them -- Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in -- I would have done it.' The gun control agenda has never been stated more honestly."