Thursday, February 28, 2013

Magpul fights Tyranny


The following is an announcement from Magpul, maker of the immensely popular PMAG for AR-15 type rifles. Dean Weingarten

We are proud to announce that within a matter of days we will be going live with a new program. Due to a bill currently moving through the Colorado legislature, there is the possibility that Colorado residents’ ability to purchase standard capacity magazines will soon be infringed. Before that happens, and Magpul is forced to leave the state in order to keep to our principles, we will be doing our best to get standard capacity PMAGs into the hands of any Colorado resident that wants them.

Verified Colorado residents will be able to purchase up to ten (10) standard capacity AR/M4 magazines directly from Magpul, and will be given immediate flat-rate $5 shipping, bypassing our current order queue.

Our customers outside of Colorado, please know that our PMAG production will continue at an ever-increasing rate until we do relocate, shipments to our distributors in other states will continue, and that we do not expect relocation to significantly impact PMAG production. We are also aware that Colorado is not the only state with existing or pending magazine capacity restrictions; we are working on programs for other affected states as well.

Full details and instructions will be announced when we are able to go live; please watch here for the coming announcement.

Source

TX:Truck burgler dodges bullets


A 27-year-old League City man was sleeping in the back seat of an extended-cab pickup while his wife went inside the bank, said Sgt. Tamara Spencer of the League City Police Department.

The man driving the Buick pulled up next to the pickup and punched out the front passenger-seat window, Spencer said.

"Window punches are loud," she said. "Our victim initially thought he'd been shot at."

More Here

Excerpts From David Hardy Testimony Against the "Assault Weapon Ban" 2013


The following are excerpts from the testimony of David Hardy, a scholar who has written extensively on gun control legislation. The entire testimony is contained in an PDF file here.

What is an "Assault Rifle?

“Assault Rifles” The very term “semiautomatic assault rifle” is internally contradictory. In World War II, rifles of standard military power could not be made full automatic, because the recoil (“kick”) was too powerful. The “assault rifle” concept involved cutting the cartridge’s power, and thus its recoil, in half, so that it could be controlled in full automatic fire. An assault rifle redesigned to be semiautomatic is simply a semiautomatic firing cartridges with half the traditional military power.

In Common Use

Heller v. District of Columbia noted that “Miller said, as we have explained, that the sorts of weapons protected were those ‘in common use at the time.’” 128 S.Ct. at 2817. I have elsewhere noted my difficulties with this test,3 but it is clear that the AR-15 platform has become the epitome of a firearm “in common use.”

Based on these data, it is clear that the AR-15 platform qualifies as a firearm “in common use.” The same would be true of the AR-15’s standard magazines, which hold 20 or 30 rounds. The number of these in use (many of them sold as surplus by the government itself) is certainly in the tens, and perhaps in the hundreds, of millions.

Insurmountable legal issues

These legal problem could be solved in one of two ways, either of which, I submit, is constitutionally unacceptable, or practically impossible. Congress could, in addition to the private sales ban, either 1) Impose national firearm registration, covering all firearms in private possession,10 or

2) It could make all firearm possession illegal, period, providing for a defense if the gun owner can prove they bought the gun before the effective date of the ban, or bought it from a licensed dealer after the ban.

Then anyone who possesses a firearm could be arrested and indicted on that possession alone, and be made bear the burden of proving the legality of their acquisition of of the firearm at trial.

Absent (1) or (2), a private sales ban could not be enforced. (1) would require greater precision than appears possible at this time,11 and

(2) would be, I submit, clearly unconstitutional, since it treats exercise of a constitutional right as presumptively a crime.

What works

What does prevent mass killings is a defender, out of uniform and thus not known to the killer, who can deliver immediate and accurate counter-fire. Thus:

• In San Antonio, an off-duty officer shot the attacker down, and limited

losses to two persons wounded.13 • In the New Destiny Center shooting in Aurora, Colorado, the gunman was

brought down by Jeanne Assam, a church-goer with a concealed weapons permit; the death toll was two.14

• The shooting at Pearl High School in 1997 ended when the vice-principal drew a .45 and confronted the shooter. The death toll was three.

I highly recommend reading the entire testimony.

Dean Weingarten

Link to PDF Testimony of David T. Hardy.

Lawmaker: Make all Idaho adults militia members


I have often thought that this offered a good solution for states that trusted their citizens to be armed. Dean Weingarten

BOISE, Idaho – Lawmakers fearful the U.S. Supreme Court might one day reverse itself on the issue of individual gun rights aim to change the Idaho Constitution's definition of a militia to include all the state's adults.

That way, argued Sen. Jim Rice of Caldwell Wednesday in the Senate State Affairs Committee, the federal government could never swoop in and disarm residents.

More Here

LA: Police: No charges expected in self-defense shooting death


No charges are expected to be filed against a man who fatally shot an intruder trying to force his way into his residence late Saturday, Baton Rouge police said Tuesday.

The resident, Kurt Anderson, exchanged gunfire with Anthony Taylor, a 20-year-old man who tried to break into the home at 3875 Topeka St., police said.

Police Lt. Don Kelly said Anderson had not been expecting anyone late Saturday night and armed himself with a handgun before opening the door for Taylor.

Taylor, the only person struck in the exchange of gunfire, ran and collapsed a short distance away, Kelly said.

Officers responding to reports of shots fired at 11:45 p.m. found Taylor’s body near Geronimo and Mohican streets, police have said. Taylor’s gun was located next to him, police said.

More Here

TX:TTPD: Burglary suspect shot, arrested seeking medical help


Arrested: Davonte Willis, 18. (Source: Texarkana Texas Police Department) Arrested: Davonte Willis, 18. (Source: Texarkana Texas Police Department)

TEXARKANA, TX (KSLA) -

Texarkana, Texas Police say a man who forced his way into a house with an armed guest was later arrested after seeking medical attention for his gunshot wound.

The incident happened about 10:30 p.m. Sunday at a residence in the 2000 block of Wood Street, where police say the homeowner told them about how two masked males had forcefully entered her home and ordered everyone to lie on the floor.

Both intruders appeared to be armed with handguns.

But police say a visitor at the house, identified as Troy Johnson, was able to get a weapon already inside the house. When one of the men moved close to him, Johnson allegedly fired several times at the intruder.

The two armed intruders then ran from the house.

More Here

TX:Man shoots at suspected car burglar in The Heights


A homeowner shot at a man he claimed was trying to break into his pickup, police said.

Houston police said the man heard noises outside of his home on 5th Street and Columbia Street around 1 a.m. Monday.

The homeowner grabbed a gun and saw a man breaking into his truck, investigators said. He fired one shot, which scared the suspect away.

When police arrived, they searched the area and found a man matching the suspect's description. He was arrested.

More Here

South Louisiana women carry guns, train others


Lafourche sheriff's Sgt. David Robichaux said he strongly believes a woman should know how to use a gun to protect herself.

After all, if his wife didn't know how to use a gun, the Sheriff's Office would have one less instructor.

Sgt. Charlene Robichaux learned how to shoot when she was a 14-year-old junior deputy in the Terrebonne Sheriff's Office, she said.

“I was the best shooter there,” she said with a grin.

Although she's a shift supervisor for the Lafourche Parish work release program and her husband handles most of the gun courses for civilians and cadets, Charlene will sometimes teach these courses as well. The two of them make a pretty good team, especially because most of these classes are about 30 to 40 percent female, David said.

More Here

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Feinstein gun bill


"About two-thirds of Americans think 'assault weapons' fire faster than other guns, hold more rounds, or use higher-caliber ammunition, according to a recent Reason-Rupe Public Opinion Survey. Yet, if you read the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013, which was introduced last month by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), you will see that the firearms she wants to ban are not distinguished by any of those characteristics. Contrary to common belief, the definition of 'assault weapon' is based on mostly cosmetic features that have little or nothing to do with a gun's deadliness in the hands of a criminal. Feinstein's bill is just the latest iteration of this long-running public policy fraud."

More HERE

MILLER: ABC insists edit of Michelle Obama gun gaffe was 'for time'


ABC News edited out First Lady Michelle Obama saying that a Chicago teenager was killed with an “automatic weapon.” Hadiya Pendleton was allegedly shot by a gang member on probation for a weapons charge with a handgun, not a rifle, which would be semi-automatic (unless it was a revolver.)

Robin Roberts got the first interview with Mrs. Obama since the inauguration in January, which she used to ask about gun-control efforts by President Obama.

A spokesman for ABC News, Heather Riley, emailed me that, “The full story was posted to our website in advance of the interview being broadcast. The edits made to Robin’s interview with the First Lady were made solely for time.”

I read the missing words out loud, and it took me seven seconds.

The transcript of the interview shows that Mrs. Obama said this of Miss Pendleton (italics mine):

“She was standing out in a park with her friends in a neighborhood blocks away from where my kids grew up, where our house is. She had just taken a chemistry test. And she was caught in the line of fire because some kids had some automatic weapons they didn’t need,” she said. “I just don’t want to keep disappointing our kids in this country. I want them to know that we put them first.”

More Here

This is something out of George Orwell's 1984. I have never seen an administration who the media, as a whole, are so completely complicit with. Dean Weingarten

"How to" book on Community Defense goes viral "A Failure of Civility"


As responsible citizens continue to buy all the defensive weapons that can be acquired, a new book on community defense has gone viral.

Promoted in part by a "hasty" review by Matt Bracken, the noted author Castigo Cay and the Enemies, Foreign and Domestic trilogy, the books authors are hard pressed to keep up with demand.

As a fan Matt Bracken's writing, I was looking forward to obtaining a copy of "A Failure of Civility".

All I have received is this apologetic email, which I can well sympathize with:

Thank you for your inquiry about “A Failure of Civility.” We’re up to our eyeballs in mud swamped with book orders so please be patient with us. We promise to answer your email, accommodate your needs and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Regards, Mike Garand and Jack Lawson Members Special Forces Association Authors of “A Failure of Civility” at www.AFailureOfCivility.com
It is nice to be so successful that you are swamped. I am looking forward to my copy, and will report on it when I get it. 80 pages of the book can be viewed at their site.

Link to review of "A Failure of Civility" by Matt Bracken

Link to "A Failure of Civility Site

Link to Castigo Cay and the Enemies, Foreign and Domestic trilogy

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

It’s election time and there are NRA board members who need to go


Former Texas Ranger and NRA Board Member Joaquin Jackson likes to pose with a lever action rifle. And apparently, if he had his way, that would be practically all that you would be allowed to own.

While Jackson, who has appeared in the popular “I’m The NRA” ad campaign, likes to claim that he considers the Second Amendment to be a fundamental right, he has made comments demonstrating that he is anything but a true supporter of the gun rights of all Americans.

A leftover relic of the ‘hunters and skeet shooters only’ mentality that once prevailed at the NRA, Jackson said in a 2007 television interview that he thinks 5 rounds are all that any firearm owned by “civilians” should ever be allowed to hold.

That’s right. There is a sitting member of the NRA Board of Directors that wants laws more infringing than those recently passed by New York!

He also stated that he does not believe that so-called ‘assault weapons’ are protected by the Second Amendment and should be reserved to military and law enforcement but he would be willing to allow you to own them if you only had 5 round magazines.

more Here at Monachuslex.com

3D-printing gun site DEFCAD now attracting 3K visitors an hour, 250K downloads since launch


This article is from 19 February, so I am sure that their traffic is much higher, now that they have released the 3rd generation AR15 lower receiver files. Dean Weingarten

DEFCAD is a website for 3D printing of guns. It’s bathed in controversy, but that’s not preventing it from growing.

Since launching in December, DEFCAD has become home to nearly 90 components, including bullet casings, pistol suppressors, and even grenades.

More significant, however, are the traffic numbers. Visitors to DEFCAD have to date downloaded over 250,000 files from the site, creator Defense Distributed announced via Twitter today.

DEFCAD gets an average of 3,000 visitors per hour, representing roughly 2TB of traffic since launch, Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson said by phone today.

What all this means should be pretty clear: A whole lot of people are interested in downloading (and perhaps printing) guns.

More Here

3D printed AR15 3rd Generation Ready for Download (600 rds, no wear)


Defense Distributed announced that their 3rd generation of 3D printed lowers is ready for distribution. No one knows what the expected life of this lower will be, as it has been used to fire 600 rounds in rapid succession without discernible damage.

In the video, right and left handed shooters switch places while firing the test rounds in rapid semi-action mode. It is clear that the shooters are starting to suffer from hand fatigue from so much trigger action.

The lower receiver design has been reinforced. The upper used is a direct gas impingement type. I would expect that a piston driven design would also work, and might create less potential problems as there would be no hot gases ejected into contact with the lower receiver.

No one knows what the service life of this receiver will be, but 600 rounds without detectable problems is a good start.

Link to Announcement at KeepAndBearArms

Link to video

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

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

TX:Gun Range Burns Down in Rare Event


This is the first indoor range that I recall burning down. I may have missed some events, but this is exceedingly rare. Dean Weingarten

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Smoke and haze could be seen coming from Dallas’ Mockingbird Lane for most of Sunday afternoon.

The smoke was coming from a four-alarm fire at the DFW Gun Range and Training Center, located in the 1600 block of West Mockingbird, between I-35E an

AL:Sheffield police investigating home-invasion shooting death


SHEFFIELD, Alabama -- Police are investigating a possible homicide that happened during a home-invasion in Sheffield late Friday, according to The Times' news partner, WHNT News 19.

Sheffield Police Chief Greg Ray tells WHNT that a 27-year-old man died after being shot at a home in the 200 block of Sterling Boulevard just before 10 p.m. Witnesses at the home told police at least one person came into the home and tried to rob the people inside.

More Here

Trusts Offer a Legal Loophole for Buying Restricted Guns


A growing number of shooting enthusiasts are creating legal trusts to acquire machine guns, silencers or other items whose sale is restricted by federal law — a mechanism that bypasses the need to obtain law enforcement approval or even undergo criminal background checks.

The trusts, called gun trusts, are intended to allow the owners of the firearms to share them legally with family members and to pass them down responsibly. They have gained in popularity, gun owners say, in part because they may offer protection from future legislation intended to prohibit the possession or sale of the firearms.

But because of a loophole in federal regulations, buying restricted firearms through a trust also exempts the trust’s members from requirements that apply to individual buyers, including being fingerprinted, obtaining the approval of a chief local law enforcement officer and undergoing a background check.

Lawyers who handle the trusts and gun owners who have used them say that a majority of customers who buy restricted firearms through trusts do not do so to avoid such requirements. And most gun dealers continue to require background checks for the representative of the trust who picks up the firearm. But not all do.

More HERE

“A Failure of Civility” A Book Review by Matt Bracken


“A Failure of Civility” A Book Review by Matt Bracken

First, let me apologize for the poor writing quality of this review. Normally, I write an essay and spend days and days polishing it. Not this time. I’m currently in between my “pretty” essays, but this review is just pure business, like a claw hammer you picked up at Home Depot to bang nails. Pretty has nothing to do with it, so let’s get on with the job.

Second, let me apologize to the other very kind authors who have sent me their books to review over the past months. I have read them all, most of them are worthy of their own reviews, and I hope to get to them when I can.

A few months ago, I received a copy of the new book “A Failure of Civility,” by Mike Garand and Jack Lawson. It is subtitled “How to defend and protect you, your family, friends, neighborhood and America during a disaster or crisis.” Other than receiving this unsolicited book in the mail, a book I had never even heard of before that moment, I have no connection whatsoever to the authors or to the book.

“A Failure of Civility” grabbed my attention on the first page. It begins, “A few notes to our readers…. Consider reading this book as if the authors have parachuted into your backyard as special operations soldiers to assist you in forming a cooperative protection of your neighborhood. That’s one of the things that special ops soldiers are best at…covert insertion into isolated areas to train people in how to defend themselves against inequitable justice and malicious aggression. The authors’ combined life experiences, military and law enforcement, span 80 years. With this book, we give you the tools of knowledge to enable you to teach you and others how to defend yourselves, your family and neighbors. We want you to help save lives and to keep America strong.”

Wow, what a tall order! As a long-ago Navy frogman, I wondered if they could truly match that claim in their book. They do, and much more. I read the book cover to cover—twice!—in the first week. In fact, I am so impressed with it that I have been hauling it around for the last few months, trying to encourage my friends and relatives to buy it. It’s not cheap – it costs $30. Let me just say that I would trade a dozen loaded AR-15 magazines for it and think I had gotten the better of the deal. And after the lights go out, its value would only increase.

The book is big; it’s eight by eleven inches and 394 pages long. It’s printed in oversize 14 point font. Why? Because when you really need this book, you might be in a cold, dark place, huddled by a fire. They could have printed it in a smaller format and put it out at a lower price, but they decided not to. I completely understand why, and it makes total sense to me, having read it, and understanding the conditions it is intended for.

Now, if you are a former special ops soldier yourself, some of the material in this book might be stuff you have already considered. But even in that case, when you will really need the knowledge contained in it the most, you might be shivering in the cold, malnourished, sick and stressed out, at a point when your brain will be firing on half its cylinders at best. And that’s exactly when the information inside this book will be of the most value to you and to your family. Not now, warm and on a full stomach, but later, just to assure yourself even while you are in a debilitated state that you have covered the bases and that you are making the best possible decisions for your family and for your neighbors.

If you are not a former special ops soldier, then the value of this book simply cannot be stated in 2013 dollar terms. What is the value of your family’s life, of their very survival? Pretty damn high, right? Well, that’s the value of this book. A hypothetical example of its value and its utility came to my mind since I have college-age kids. In the hands of one smart and motivated ROTC cadet at a university, the information in this book would permit the cadets to turn their campus into a fortress that would be able to hold out against almost any foreseeable calamity.

This is not just another handbook on how to build a remote fortress on a mountaintop, beginning with a fantasy budget. It takes a completely different tack, namely, how to survive in place, where you are, on your current budget. How to “bug in,” not bug out. It postulates, and I agree with this, that no single family can survive alone, hidden in a remote fortress or bunker, no matter how large their pre-SHTF budget. It assumes that you will stay in your house and in your neighborhood. And it theorizes that no single house can be fortified to hold out against hordes of criminal bandits once the SHTF. You cannot get through TEOTWAWKI on your own.

That means that you must think in terms of defending your entire neighborhood, whether that neighborhood is in an urban, suburban or rural area. A remarkable thing about this book is that it begins planning the defense of your neighborhood even before the SHTF. You simply can’t wait until the lights go out to defend your area. The book lays out plans for cleverly laying the seeds for neighborhood defense in depth now, before the crisis strikes with full fury.

I could spend thousands of more words summarizing the chapter contents of the book, but I won’t, for the sake of brevity. Please take me at my word that the contents are not another rehash of other “surviving TEOTWAWKI” books. It’s not just a collection of chapters like, “first aid” and “food storage.” It’s so far beyond that basic level that it’s hard for me to express without going on for pages and pages more. It’s full of thought-provoking material on critical subjects that you have never considered, please believe me on that.

Besides survival and defense information, the book also contains first-hand survival stories about life in a city during wartime with no power, major urban riots, and other grim topics, just to mentally prepare the reader for what to expect. A true “failure of civility” will potentially usher in a new Dark Age, when there is no law, and desperate, starving people will do literally anything to survive, including resorting to cannibalism in the extreme situations. The authors are not writing high literature, but a textbook for survival in the most horrible conditions imaginable, yet it’s always engaging and even engrossing.

At the beginning of this review I apologized for not spending days refining it to my usual standards, but I have already delayed too long in writing it. My goal here is not to impress you with my wordcraft. My goal is to encourage you to get your hands on this book while you can.

I think every American family should have at least a few months of food on hand, so that they won’t have to go out foraging during the worst periods of TEOTWAWKI. I believe that every American family needs sufficient heating material to get them through at least one winter with no electricity and no fuel deliveries. I believe that every American family needs enough firearms and ammunition to hold desperate, starving criminals at bay. And I believe that every American prepper needs a copy of “A Failure of Civility” as a reference manual for survival during the most trying times ahead. Along with the Bible, I consider it the most important book that I am personally aware of for getting through the dark days that we may be about to experience.

Every word I have written, in all of my novels and essays, has been meant as a warning to the reachable to get ready for the heavy weather that many of us see coming. Please, buy this book. It’s not cheap, it’s $30 and it’s not on Amazon. The authors are not book pros, they are just some guys with invaluable knowledge to share who are producing the book on their own. Get it now, while you can. I have zero connection to the authors, other than I believe the contents are important beyond measure. If there are other books as valuable as this one for surviving the coming storm, I haven’t seen them yet. I’m not saying they are not out there, but I have missed them so far.

My fondest hope is that in five years, the few people who remember me will laugh and say, “Matt Bracken, what a paranoid jerk he was.” A hack writer of cheap alarmist fiction, the author of a few quickly forgotten novels and essays. I hope and pray that in five years, America will be as strong, prosperous and free as it ever was.

But if not, and if you find yourself at some point cold, hungry, sick and very, very afraid, hiding in a blacked-out basement while you are rereading your dog-eared copy of this book by lamplight, you will be thanking me over and over again for encouraging you to buy it. My cheap and unimportant works of fiction won’t matter a damn at that point, but you will be damn glad that you have a copy of “A Failure of Civility.” You, your family, and your entire neighborhood might pull through the coming storm just because of this one book.

Sorry for dashing off this badly written review, but I have been putting it off for too long already, and time is one thing we are running out of, in my opinion. And sorry to the other authors who have sent their books; I hope to get to them soon. But this review can’t wait any longer. Please buy the book. And buy an extra copy or two to send to “reachable” family members. Tell them to wrap it in plastic, and save it for a time that we hope will never come.

Source

Preserve Gun Rights, Save Black Lives


This past Friday my organization, CURE, sponsored a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, to bring attention to the importance of rigorously defending the right of all Americans, guaranteed under the 2nd Amendment of our Constitution, to own a gun.

Our event provided a forum for black leaders from the world of politics and public policy in Washington, from the business community, from academia, and from the clergy to express their deep concern about efforts currently underway to limit our God-given and constitutional individual right of self-defense.

Why would an organization like CURE, whose mission focuses on the relevance of American values of faith and freedom to minorities, be so concerned about guns?

Because, as conservative black Americans, we know that the soul of America is kept alive with the free flow of the oxygen of freedom. And we know that when that flow is interrupted in any way, the group that suffers first and most are blacks.

New gun control initiatives coming from our President and from Democrats in congress to respond to a highly publicized tragedy by wanting to expand the power of government and limit the freedom of citizens comes as no surprise.

There is no problem facing America today that liberals do not believe should be solved by more government and less freedom. And liberals are consistent and predictable in their indifference to facts and experience that show whenever they do succeed in growing government and limiting freedom, they make matters worse, not better.

A substantial body of research already shows that gun controls empower criminals and weaken law-abiding citizens.

As John Lott, former chief economist of the US Sentencing Commission, recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “With just a single exception, the attack in Tucson last year, every public shooting in the U.S. in which three or more people have been killed since at least 1950 have occurred in a place where people are not allowed to carry their own firearms.”

Regarding black reality, blacks are the least armed, least protected and defended, and the most assaulted citizens in our country.

More Here

MI:Is Detroit a Self-Defense Haven?


Many embeded links in the orginal article. Dean Weingarten

Detroit has been getting a lot of attention for its recent shootings. Not the usual criminal stuff, but the step-up in self-defense shootings as people have come to realize that the police only exist to mark the outlines of bodies with chalk.

- Here is the story of a shootout at a tax preparation business in a suburban Detroit residence. A couple attempted to rob the tax preparer in spite of the fact that a security car was sitting out front. What did the security guard use to defend his clients? One of those demonized AR-15s. But of course, no one could possibly ever have a reason to need a high-capacity magazine.

- Another Detroit senior has shot back at apparent criminals. His story is that two teenagers tried to attack and rob him, a 70-year-old girls' basketball coach of a Detroit high school, as he escorted a couple of his players to their cars after a game. One of the criminals intending violence was killed. All I saw on the news that evening is the family members of the two teenagers talking about what great kids they were, and how they would never do such a thing. Yet one of them had already been expelled from school, according to ABC News. Then it was revealed that the coach is also a Detroit Police Dept reserve officer. While the mother of the dead child claimed her son would never do any such thing, the Wayne County's Prosecutor's Office called this a textbook case of self-defense.

- A candy store owner was almost the victim of a thug who intended to rob his wholesale business. The owner pulled a gun and shot the guy dead.

- Another great defensive measure occurred when two kids (brothers) attempted to rob two utility workers as they came down a pole. One of the utility workers was armed, and he shot the attackers, hitting both. Immediately following the incident, the family once again chimed in with the usual response:

"My 16-year-old, he's a smart kid, intelligent kid. He wasn't no ghetto gangster, no robber, never beat up a person or nothing like that," said Mitchell. "I never heard of my sons carrying no guns. I just don't understand."

Really? Smart, "good" kids who have so little respect for human life that they sling around guns as if they were toys. This man who saved two lives may be punished for carrying a gun while on the job.

Now here are some stats from The Daily:

Justifiable homicide in the city shot up 79 percent in 2011 from the previous year, as citizens in the long-suffering city armed themselves and took matters into their own hands. The local rate of self-defense killings now stands 2,200 percent above the national average. Residents, unable to rely on a dwindling police force to keep them safe, are fighting back against the criminal scourge on their own. And they’re offering no apologies.

Now - before you brand Detroit as being unique in this regard (crime), these desperation crimes are occurring all over, whether it is Memphis, St. Louis, Oakland, or, of course, Chicago. Just try defending yourself in Washington, D.C. or the wonderful city of Chicago, America's gun-free killing field. At least here we can defend ourselves, and without - for the most part - overzealous prosecutors incarcerating victims who choose to serve and protect themselves and their family. This is posted from "Detroit: From Rust to Riches," my new Detroit blog.

Source

FL:‘Stand your ground law’ stands


There are no surprises in the report from the Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection, which was released late last week.

The stand-your-ground law stands, as is.

The task force was formed in the wake of the controversial Trayvon Martin shooting in Sanford – a case that has yet to be adjudicated.

Its mission was to review Chapter 776, Florida Statutes – the deadly force laws – and conduct a listening campaign around the state, hearing from Floridians who support or oppose the “stand” law.

Once done traveling, the group was told to make a report to the governor and the legislature, to ensure the rights of all Floridians and visitors were protected,” including the right to feel safe and secure in our state.”

The 19-member group, which was co-chaired by Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll and Reverend R.B. Holmes, Jr., held public hearing in seven cities: Tallahassee, Longwood, Arcadia, West Palm Beach, Cutler Bay, Jacksonville, and Pensacola.

I attended a task force meeting in Arcadia. Many individuals came to ask for help with a host of personal issues, but there were basically two types of people at the hearing: those who believed Trayvon Martin was murdered, who worried that a similar killing could befall their community, and gun-rights groups. The former believed the law goes too far in allowing self-defense claims to free those who kill when violence could be avoided.

The task force was very good about giving both sides their say.

According to their report, the task force received “16,603 pieces of correspondence, 711 phone calls, 64 comment cards, 160 public comments.”

The group’s first “core recommendation” says all you need to know:

* The Task Force concurs with the core belief that all persons, regardless of citizenship status, have a right to feel safe and secure in our state. To that end, all persons who are conducting themselves in a lawful manner have a fundamental right to stand their ground and defend themselves from attack with proportionate force in every place they have a lawful right to be.

There are seldom clear answers when deadly force is used. Everything is grey.

Even though the law remains unchanged, an armed citizen who uses deadly force should be prepared for up-close and personal contact with law enforcement, and the strong possibility of a civil suit, regardless of the immunity clause embedded into the statute.

Here are the task force’s recommendations:

More Here

Monday, February 25, 2013

Why I oppose Universal Background Checks - A turning point


A letter to the editor, by 'noway2'

Following the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. the gun control debate reached a fever pitch a few weeks ago and has since started to subside. Shortly after the event, president Obama signed a set of executive orders designed to enhance the enforcement of existing gun laws.

I supported the intent of these initiatives, and I still do. At the same time, president Obama also called for the renewal of an "assault weapon" ban and magazine capacity limits. Of course these became the rallying cry of those who are opposed to guns and gun rights and this was quickly followed by legislative proposals. The debate raged.

Now, several weeks later, it appears that these measures are effectively dead. As these endeavors were dying, the anti-gun group began proposing new measures; measures that in my opinion are equally ridiculous, including liability insurance and gun registration. The latter, registration, which is required in a few states has long been opposed both by the majority of gun owners and organizations such as the NRA as well as just about every grass roots gun rights group in the nation. The latest such proposal, eloquently termed Universal Background Checks is likewise meeting opposition.

What is interesting about this is that a few months ago this was considered to be one of the more 'common sense' proposals and at points prior even had the support of organizations like the NRA. In fact, I find myself, who at one time supported the idea, currently being in opposition. The question is what changed?

In terms of my own views, I think the biggest thing is that the specter of confiscation reared its ugly head. As NY governor Cuomo put it, "Confiscation could be an option". Also, with the passage of the NY law, citizens were expected to turn in or destroy magazines that were suddenly illegal. With this remark, the genie left the bottle and it is going to be very difficult to get it back in. This brings us to the problem with Universal Background Checks. The idea behind it being that every gun transfer, with few exceptions, requires a background check to be performed. The idea is obviously an attempt to close what is commonly called, "the gun show loophole", or more formally referred to as face to face transfers.

On the surface, this doesn't seem like a bad idea and may indeed prevent some who should not be allowed access to guns from getting them and may also lead to the arrest and prosecution of some criminals who try. The problem, as with most things, is that the Devil is in the details. The most fundamental problem with this proposal is that criminals will continue to ignore it and will still engage in black market transactions. With approximately millions of guns already in circulation it is easy to see why even in the light of a requirement for background checks that a thriving black market will remain.

In light of the realization of the power possessed by the black markets, how is society to enforce or otherwise make full use of a requirement for Universal Background Checks. The unfortunately truth is that in the absence of Universal Gun Registration that a Universal Background Check is all but meaningless. This can't be overemphasized, so let's repeat it. In order for a UBC to have any meaning, it requires gun registration and this is a problem. It is a problem because, as the gun community correctly argues, registration leads to confiscation.

There is only one reason for the government or law enforcement to know who has what guns. That they can take them when it has been decided that Joe and Jane Citizen are no longer allowed to have a particular gun and to prevent Joe or Jane from refusing to comply with the forced ban. As I mentioned above, thanks to governor Cuomo, this genie is no longer in its bottle.

I am a member of the online gun forum, defensivecarry.com. One member of that forum, who goes by the name Hot Guns, claims to be a licensed gun dealer with an FFL. Hot Guns recently reported that a while back he was subjected to an audit by the BATFE. Regulations require him to keep copies of the Federal Form 4473 for each firearm purchase; in fact this form is required for each inquiry into the NICS background check system.

Supposedly the NICS records are purged after a period of three months. Even though these records are supposed to be purged, the auditor had copies of the records going back at least one year and demanded to see the corresponding 4473 forms. When Hot Guns questioned how and why they were inquiring for these records as they were supposed to have been purged, he received the response from the auditor, "That is what we are supposed to say." In other words, the records are not purged and the government is using the form 4473 as a backdoor form of registration. Apparently this is proving insufficient and some desire to use the recent tragedy to bring registration to the forefront.

For me, this represents a turning point. Clearly the objective is registration and this cannot be allowed to happen. I think it has already gone too far. As Universal Background Checks are meaningless without formal registration, and I am opposed to registration, I can therefore no longer support the idea of Universal Background Checks.

Source

NM:Private buyers aid in gun turn in


Gun owners got another opportunity to turn over their firearms to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday.

In exchange owners got a gift card worth up to $200.

Private gun buyers were also on hand at the buy-back and so was a local woman who opposed what they’re legally allowed to do on the sidelines.

More Here

TX:Homeowner shoots intruder


A Slaton family survived an encounter with a burglar late Saturday night. The man who law enforcement has not been able to identify yet was shot in the leg by the male homeowner in the 6000 block of CR 7920.

Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Bryan Taylor said the homeowner heard a crashing sound, got up to check on his family and retrieved his firearm to investigate further.

All family members were in place but that’s when the homeowner confronted a burglar.

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NC:Homeowner kills intruder: 'I was fighting for my life'


HICKORY, N.C. – A Hickory man is grateful to be alive after he said an intruder broke down his front door, and tried to beat him and rob him Saturday morning.

Paul Ohle said he was in his kitchen around 9 a.m. when he heard his front door being kicked in. Ohle said the man called for help, but as Ohle reached for his phone, the man wrestled it out of his hands.

He “put me in a headlock, drove me to the floor,” said Ohle. “That's when the battle ensued.”

As the two men wrestled, Ohle said he reached for a single-shot shotgun he keeps by the door. The man grabbed it from him and beat him with it.

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IN:Delivery driver shoots suspected robber on Eastside


A shooting on Indianapolis’ Eastside earlier tonight sent a 15-year-old suspected robber to the hospital in critical condition.

Police received a call about 7:15 p.m. from a delivery driver who said two males tried to rob him while he was delivering pizza at 36th Place and Richelieu Road. The driver, who had a weapon with him, shot one of the suspects after he pointed a gun at him, said Sgt. Linda Jackson, spokeswoman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

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TX:Family fights back when 3 gunmen storm their home; one intruder shot


HOUSTON –A 21-year-old man sprang into action to protect his family Thursday night when three suspects barged into their northwest Harris County home.

The young man was home with his mother and father in the 3900 block of Brook Garden when the armed men forced their way into the house around 8 p.m., according to Harris County Sheriff’s deputies.

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After the father was down, the suspects went after the mother. That is when the son ran and got his dad’s gun. He opened fire and hit one of the suspects, who died in the back bedroom. The other two suspects fled the scene.

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WA:Homeowner shoots at man to protect family


BREMERTON, Wash. —

A homeowner opened fire at a man who was demanding to be let into her home Wednesday, police said.

Around midnight, Terry Brumage’s family was asleep when they heard an angry voice at the front door of their home.

A man was demanding to be let in.

Brumage said she did not know who the man was so she armed herself with a .38 caliber handgun.

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Kevin McCarty spoke with Brumage about why she felt she had no choice.

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MI:Woman shoots intruder near Holt


HOLT, Mich. (WOOD) - A woman shot a man during an apparent home invasion in Ingham County.

The suspect was shot multiple times and suffered injuries to his stomach and hands, according to WLNS. He is in critical condition at a hospital.

More Here

Sunday, February 24, 2013

DEMOCIDE: Socialism, Tyranny, Guns, And Freedom


Spread this latest work by Matt Bracken and friends far and wide, especially the video:

Democide: Socialism, Tyranny, Guns and Freedom

Video Link

Democide is the elimination of a despised group by a government. It includes genocide, politicide, and other forms of state-sponsored mass murder. The hated minority headed for extermination may be defined by religious, racial, political, class, cultural or other attributes. Between 200 and 260 million people were the victims of democide in the 20th century, several times more than were killed in international wars during that period.

The first widely studied modern democide occurred in Turkey between 1915 and 1923, when the Turkish government decided to eliminate the country’s Christian minority, primarily ethnic Armenians and Greeks who had Turkish roots extending back to before the Islamic conquest. Two million Christians were murdered on forced marches into deserts without water or food. This democide occurred in view of Western reporters, who took photographs and posted contemporary wire reports. The fact that the democide was known outside Turkey did not deter the Turkish leaders.

The Armenian Genocide, as it has become known, was also widely known inside Turkey, where the majority Muslim population either supported or at least passively tolerated the democide. It was impossible to miss the sight of thousands of Christians at a time being rounded up and force-marched through towns and into the burning deserts on one-way trips.

Stalin and Hitler both noticed the lack of world reaction to the democide of Turkish Christians and planned accordingly. In the Soviet Union, Stalin’s henchmen purged millions of “kulaks” (farmers deemed to have too much wealth), intellectuals, businessmen, and anyone who had ever traveled outside the USSR or even had had contact with foreigners.

In Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe, Hitler proceeded with his own “final solution to the Jewish problem.” Where the German national socialists simply eliminated Jews as quickly as possible in mass graves and gas chambers, Stalin’s international socialists deported their “class enemies” to Siberia, where they were put to work in Gulag slave-labor camps, with years of torture through cold, malnutrition and brutal working conditions preceding the release of eventual death.

Stalin also devised another means of democide when he ordered the forced starvation of the Ukrainians, and five million more innocent victims were added to his totals. In Communist China seventy million people were the victims of democide, murdered by overwork in slave-labor camps, by direct execution, and by regional forced starvation. Millions more were victims of democide in Pakistan, Cambodia, Rwanda, North Korea, and many other countries.

Democide, as the name implies, does not happen in the dark of night without any awareness of it in the country where it occurs. The Turks knew the Christians were being mass murdered. Average Germans were fully aware of what was happening to the Jews between 1938 and 1945, and a large majority either actively supported or at least tolerated it. (I strongly recommend reading Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, by Daniel Goldhagen, to fully appreciate the wholehearted German support for the Jewish democide.)

Today, we sometimes hear that the Second Amendment has outlived its usefulness, that it is a relic of our barbaric past and is no longer needed in the modern era. Horrific mass shootings by deranged individuals are cited as the primary reason for Americans to surrender their most effective firearms and rely solely on a state monopoly of force for their protection. This government-dependent attitude is shortsighted, historically ignorant, and extremely dangerous.

In each of the cases cited above, a necessary preliminary step on the road to democide was the confiscation of privately owned firearms. In Turkey, “reasonable” gun control laws enacted in 1911 permitted the democide of two million Turkish Christians a few years later. In Germany, the “commonsense” 1928 gun control laws of the Weimar Republic preceded Hitler’s Holocaust by a decade.

The Weimar politicians did not intend for their gun control laws to lead to the slaughter of millions of people, but it is an historical fact that those gun control laws permitted the Nazis to carry out their Holocaust. How? By making it economically and militarily feasible to round up and mass murder entire towns without any significant resistance.

In fact, the Nazis quickly learned that they needed only a hundred ordinary military policemen to exterminate towns of a thousand Polish Jews in a single day. Contrast that fact with the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. If the Jews had not first been disarmed, using previous gun registration lists as a map for confiscation, the Holocaust would not have been possible.

Likewise in the Soviet Union and in every other case, democide was preceded by “reasonable and commonsense” firearms registration, followed eventually by gun confiscation and then by the extermination of a despised minority population.

During the past two centuries, while America has avoided tyranny, Turkey, Germany, Russia and the other nations mentioned above have spasmodically lurched between monarchs, democratically elected leaders, and often quite popular dictators, allowing them frequent opportunities to commit democide against their unwanted minorities.

The situation is fundamentally different in America, because we have a centuries-old tradition of private firearms ownership guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the Constitution. The Second Amendment does not “grant” us this right; it puts into writing our God-given natural right to effective self-defense, including armed defense against tyranny.

“Pure democracy” has been described as two wolves and a sheep voting on their dinner plans. The two wolves might see this election as an expression of their highest democratic values, but for the outnumbered sheep, pure democracy is highly problematic. On the other hand, a republic has been described as two wolves and a well-armed sheep voting on dinner plans. The well-armed sheep can veto the outcome of the dinner election simply by brandishing its firearm. The sheep has inherent rights as a sovereign individual, including the right to self-defense, a right that cannot be stripped away by a simple majority vote.

So, when a democratically elected American president speaks of “fundamentally transforming” his country, and of his need to act outside the constitutional framework, the population should be on guard. When that leader begins to push for strict new “commonsense and reasonable” gun control laws, including national firearms registration in the name of “public safety,” the citizenry should be on high alert.

Can any glib politician, pundit or ivory tower academic give us an ironclad guarantee that tyranny will never arise in the United States? Not even a popular tyranny, like those of Ataturk, Stalin, Hitler or Mao? Can anyone assure us that today’s “commonsense” gun registration lists will not be used for future gun confiscation? Of course not.

The future may be unknowable, but history is well understood, and American gun owners know and understand the history of democide in the 20th century. That is why they will never accede to what is currently portrayed in the predominantly left-wing mainstream media as “commonsense and reasonable” new gun control laws.

While American gun owners lament and regret the inescapable fact that deranged individuals in a free country may on rare occasions murder a dozen or a score of unarmed victims, they also understand that government democide murders by the million. And in every case, tyrants can conduct these democides only after disarming their unwanted minorities, rendering them helpless to resist murderous government pogroms.

American gun owners will never permit this historical pattern to be repeated in their country, because they understand that the government’s heavy hand will be kept in check only as long as they are armed. Ask yourself: Were the Armenians, the Jews or the kulaks treated better, or worse, after they were disarmed and rendered helpless by their oppressors, who thereafter held an absolute government monopoly on armed violence? The answer is too obvious to require elaboration.

Naive utopians and other “low-information voters” might not understand the historical pattern, and we don’t expect them to bother to learn it. Cynical and dishonest “progressives” who do understand the historical pattern cannot yet reveal their ultimate goal of creating a disarmed and helpless American citizenry. Nevertheless, millions of Americans understand their hidden aim with crystal clarity, seeing through the false sincerity of power-hungry leftist politicians who are actually Marxist wolves dressed in Democrat sheep’s clothing—for now.

But unless and until these secret Stalinists and sundry other “progressives” can figure out a way to disarm Americans, they cannot execute their historically standard final solution to the “reactionaries-standing-in-the-way-of-utopia” problem. And this is a thorny problem for them, because tens of millions of Americans, disbelieving their deceitful bromides, will stick to their guns no matter what.

Unlike the Armenians, Jews, kulaks and other exterminated peoples, Americans who support the Second Amendment will never be disarmed quietly by government edict prior to meekly boarding a train to a socialist “reeducation” camp. They will not be taken at government gunpoint on a one-way forced march into a desert or a Zyklon-B “delousing shower,” simply because they foolishly agreed to be disarmed by their future oppressors in the dubious name of “public safety.”

If American “progressives” truly intend to disarm the American people, they will have to do it the hard way, by taking their bullets first, one at a time. As the 300 Spartans announced to the vastly larger Persian army at Thermopylae, “Molon Labe!”

You want our guns? Then come and take them!

No registration—no confiscation—no extermination!

Freedom now, freedom forever!

Source

SAF scores another win for concealed carry


The Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation today scored another victory for concealed carry when the entire Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals let stand a December ruling by a three-judge panel that forces Illinois to adopt a concealed carry statute.

The SAF case, known as Moore v. Madigan, was actually decided in December with Judge Richard Posner writing the majority opinion. In the process, the judge affirmed that the right to bear arms exists outside the home. That ruling now stands, leaving the Illinois legislature no alternative but to write a statute that enables citizens to carry outside the home, without a lot of red tape, for their personal protection. This column earlier covered the ruling, which also applies to a similar case filed by the National Rifle Association called Shepard v. Madigan.

It’s a particularly sweet development for SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. Chastised by some gun activists earlier this week for having spoken with some state lawmakers in Olympia about background check legislation, this time he’s knocked one out of the park.

While the case applies to Illinois, it has some major implications for the entire country. Here’s what Posner noted about self-defense and carry outside the home: “The right to ‘bear’ as distinct from the right to ‘keep’ arms is unlikely to refer to the home. To speak of ‘bearing’ arms within one’s home would at all times have been an awkward usage. A right to bear arms thus implies a right to carry a loaded gun outside the home.”

More Here

Federal court: No Second Amendment guarantee for concealed carry Read more: Federal court: No Second Amendment guarantee for concealed carry


The Second Amendment's guarantee of a right to bear arms does not extend to the right to carry a concealed weapon in public, a federal appeals court in Denver has ruled.

"We conclude that the carrying of concealed firearms is not protected by the Second Amendment . . ." Justice Carlos Lucero wrote on behalf of a three-judge panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Lucero cited case law dating to the 1800s that put restrictions on walking around in public with a gun.

More Here

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Roseanne Barr goes on surprising pro-gun Twitter rant


Former Green Party presidential candidate and outspoken feminist Roseanne Barr took to Twitter Tuesday expressing her views on arming women.

“Arm the women of the world-send guns and ammo everywhere-train them to make clean headshots. #howtopreventrape,” the actress tweeted.

Her comments come after Colorado Democrat Rep. Joe Salazar argued that even if a woman feels like she is going to be raped or if someone is following her, that it doesn’t mean she actually is in danger, and there are rape whistles, call boxes and safe zones for a reason.

“You just don’t know who you’re going to be shooting at,” he said.

But Roseanne disagrees.

“Until women use force to fight force, force will win against them,” she tweeted.

More Here

BarackObama.com asks for gun violence stories, only shares ones that promote gun control


"We're a nation that believes in the Second Amendment, and I believe in the Second Amendment. We've got a long tradition of hunting and sportsmen and people who want to make sure they can protect themselves." - Barack Obama, Oct. 16, 2012

by Chad D. Baus

On Wednesday, February 20, we received a great suggestion from a reader:

Hello, on the barackobama.com or organizing for action site they have a link for stories for anti gun people, I thought it would be nice if a few thousand people would tell their pro gun story on it. Some links take you to the page to donate but you can get to the page to tell your story also. http://www.barackobama.com/stories/share-your-story Pat

I thought Pat's idea was an excellent one, and immediately went to the website and posted a story about how my father-in-law was able to utilize his right to carry to protect himself when a violent criminal, who was already wanted for homicide, stuck a stolen gun in his face and demanded his truck.

I also passed Pat's suggestion on to our more than 16,000 followers by posting the link on the Buckeye Firearms Association Facebook page on Thursday morning, Feb. 21.

Several people have commented on the Facebook post, noting that they have submitted their stories. Some have also begun sharing their stories on our Facebook page.

BarackObama.com has begun posting stories, but it's a funny thing - not one of these stories have been posted. Indeed, only stories promoting gun control are being shared there.

In addition to my own story about how my father-in-law used a gun to protect himself from a violent attacker, here are some of the other accounts that have been submitted to BarackObama.com and posted on our Facebook page:

Chris H:

I work second shift, and late one night after work, I was on my porch when I was approached from the walk by a stranger looking for gas money and a phone. When I told him I didn't have any cash (truth) and that my phone was out of order (a lie, but I'm not letting a stranger in my house at 2 am), he became belligerent and started to come at me, cursing and threatening me. I drew my pistol (which holds enough rounds and has enough attachments to qualify an assault weapon under the proposed legislation) and took a defensive stance. My would be attacker stopped his approach and retreated down the street. Reasonably sure my gun prevented a violent confrontation.

David S.

I used to be worried that I would be unable to defend myself from a violent attacker, especially one with a gun. I try to stay alert, and away from harm. That is not always possible. With the right to defend myself with a gun reaffirmed by the Supreme Court, I feel safer knowing that I can defend myself against an armed assailant, instead of waiting for the police to show up.

Greg B.

One night I heard this commotion & I was scared it was a bad guy. I grabbed my Mag Light & my [C]olt 1911 & I wasn't scared anymore. The End. And a happy one at that.

Jeff D.

I work at a gas station.... I always have a weapon... everyone knows by now. The station up the street has been robbed many times, I have not.....

Brian S.

When I was a child, my father and I were returning from an event when a man appeared from almost nowhere and demanded my father's wallet. When my father refused, the man pulled out a revolver, pointed at my dad's head and fired. My dad moved his head quickly enough that he wasn't hit. My dad then pulled out his own service pistol and shot the criminal in the chest and stomach. I'm glad my dad had his pistol on him that night or he'd surely been killed. My father is a retired police officer.

Research shows firearms are used to protect lives as many as two million times every year. "Armed citizen" accounts are published in gun rights magazines monthly. There are also entire websites and blogs devoted to sharing these stories.

Here at BuckeyeFirearms.org, a complete list of known incidents involving Ohio CHL-holders defending themselves is available here.

And yet the BarackObama.com folks can't see fit to post even one "gun violence" story that shows the benefits of an armed citizenry.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Vice Chairman.

Source

Texas bill would block police from enforcing new federal gun laws


AUSTIN, Texas – Under a measure advancing in the Texas Capitol, local police officers could be convicted of a crime for enforcing any new federal gun control laws.

Rep. Steve Toth, a newly elected Republican from the Woodlands, said his proposal would prevent officers from carrying out any future federal orders to confiscate assault rifles and ammunition magazines.

More Here

MI:Teens shot by Detroit utility worker charged with armed robbery


Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has charged two teens who were shot by a utility worker with armed robbery.

Niko Brown, 17, and his brother Devontay Brown, 16, are charged in connection with the robbery of two utility workers on Feb. 6.

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The other worker was able to retrieve his gun, which he had a permit to legally carry, and fired shots at both suspects.

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North Dakota: House to Consider Important Self-Defense Reforms


On Tuesday, House Bill 1467, important “Emergency Powers” legislation, was heard by the House Judiciary Committee. This NRA-backed bill was introduced by state Representative Karen Karls (R-35). HB 1467 was reported by this committee by a 10-3 vote and now goes to the floor of the state House for consideration.

HB 1467 would prohibit the state or any government agency, during a declared state of emergency, from prohibiting or restricting the otherwise lawful possession, use, carrying, transfer, transportation, storage, or display of a firearm or ammunition; seizure or confiscation of a lawfully possessed firearm; or requiring registration of a firearm or ammunition for which registration is not otherwise required by law.

This legislation would protect law-abiding citizens of North Dakota from experiencing a violation of their constitutional rights reminiscent of what occurred in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, where law-abiding citizens were stripped of their lawfully owned firearms by overzealous government officials leaving them defenseless and unable to protect their families and property.

House Bill 1366, legislation that expands the locations where a concealed weapons license (CWL) holder can lawfully carry, was also considered by the House Judiciary Committee. This pro-gun legislation was introduced by state Representative Rick Becker (R-7). HB 1366 was reported unfavorably by this committee by a 7-6 vote and will go to the floor of the state House for further consideration.

Specifically, HB 1366 would amend current law to allow individuals possessing a valid CWL to possess a firearm at public gatherings including athletic events, political rallies, musical concerts, in publically owned parks and buildings, and in churches or schools with permission from the appropriate authority. Currently possession by a CWL holder at these events is a class B misdemeanor. Passage of this legislation is essential to your inherent right to self-defense.

HB 1467 and HB 1366 will provide important protections for law-abiding gun owners in the Peace Garden State. Please call AND e-mail your state Representative TODAY and urge him or her to SUPPORT HB 1467 and HB 1366. Contact information for your state Representative can be found here.

Stay tuned to www.nraila.org for updates on this important legislation.

Source

Group Aims to Make Idaho a Constitutional Carry State


From the passage of the Brady Act and Assault Weapons Ban in the mid-90’s, to the National Firearms Act of 1934 regulating “gangster weapons,” and even to the Presidency of Andrew Jackson which instituted this country’s first weapons laws, gun control has been a political hot topic.

Now, in 2013 the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut has forced the issue back into the minds and headlines across this nation.

In Idaho, a grassroots organization is looking to, as its President believes; return gun laws in the Gem State to their original Constitutional origins.

"Our main goal is to get our law more in line with what the true meaning of what the Second Amendment was," said Greg Pruett, President of the Idaho Second Amendment Alliance. "By forcing law-abiding people to get concealed carry permits, it's not reducing crime in any way, shape, or form because the criminals don't get a permit."

More Here

Friday, February 22, 2013


U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) says that limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds is "generous"--his "generosity" falls far short, when one is attacked by two dozen feral, brutal thugs Credit: Photos © Oleg Volk. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

A local 15-year-old, Demetrius Murphy, was shot and killed last Friday while allegedly breaking into a home.

Another case of a young man--our very future--tragically taken from us as a consequence of one bad decision on his part? Perhaps not, according to Fox 2 St. Louis:

In fact, FOX2 has learned, he was once charged in the case that made the phrase “knockout game” common in St. Louis.

Demetrius Murphy, 15, died Friday morning after he and another teen, Michael Bryant, allegedly tried to break into a man’s home on Tennessee. Police say the homeowner emerged with a gun. Bryant ran, but they say Murphy confronted him and was shot and killed.

We have talked about the "knockout game" before, after a mob of feral teenagers, allegedly including young Demetrius, put a man, Matt Quain, in intensive care--just for "fun." For those unfamiliar with this form of "recreation," here is Wikipedia's entry about it, and this is how St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner described it then:

More Here at St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner

MILLER: The David Gregory police mystery


The District of Columbia seems not to want the public to know what it did — if anything — while investigating NBC News’ David Gregory for possession of an illegal 30-round magazine. The police refuse to turn over the public documents in the case, and the city council is allowing them to stonewall. Mr. Gregory wielded the “high capacity” magazine on his Dec. 23 “Meet the Press” show. Afterwards, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said that it had been asked by NBC if the multi-million dollar TV anchor could possess the illegal component and refused him. The police said it was investigating the matter, but would not release any further information.(Click here to read more about the police matter.) On Jan. 9, I emailed Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier’s spokesman Gwendolyn Crump and top strategic advisor Kelly O’Meara for the case number for Mr. Gregory. By law, the police are required to turn over to the public a copy of the initial police incident/offense report, called the PD-251, which is identifiable by the six digit case number.

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Washington politicians are apparently attempting to hide their two systems of justice. “This is a perfect example of what is wrong with local D.C. politics,” said Officer Baumann. “There are two sets of rules; one set for us common people; and a second set for the politically connected. It is indefensible that the criminal justice process could be manipulated to protect one individual. It undermines public confidence in the District, law enforcement, and the criminal justice system.”

More Here at the Washington Times

ME:Police agencies offer firearm safety and take back day


FALMOUTH, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Four police agencies in Maine are hoping to lower the amount of unused guns in households in the state by offering a take back this weekend.

Sgt. Mike Edes with the Maine State Police says oftentimes people inherit old guns or ammunition and just don't know what to do with it. He says this is a safe alternative to private sales, because the agencies can sell the guns to a licensed dealer; the proceeds made from those sales will then go to the Special Olympics of Maine.

Police will also be offering classes on the safe handling of firearms, and how to properly store a gun at home.

More Here

Interesting change of pace from the usual turn in. More rational. This may be start of a trend. Dean Weingarten

WI:Sheriff warns of second American revolution if gun confiscation laws pass


Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke warned of a second American revolution if gun control and gun confiscation passed and said he would not enforce laws requiring confiscation in his county while speaking with Alex Jones, Infowars reported Tuesday.

“First of all, to me that would be an act of tyranny," he said of the gun control measures currently under consideration. "So the people in Milwaukee County do not have to worry about me enforcing some sort of order that goes out and collects everybody’s handgun, or rifles, or any kind of firearm and makes them turn them in.”

“The reason is I don’t want to get shot, because I believe that if somebody tried to enforce something of that magnitude, you would see the second coming of an American revolution, the likes of which would make the first revolution pale by comparison," he added.

More Here

I have not seen the video. Dean Weingarten

Thursday, February 21, 2013

NM:Gun buyback names released in error


SANTA FE (KRQE) - A unique solution to a shortage of gift cards and a big mistake led to the personal information of dozens who participated in Santa Fe's gun buyback program open to the public.

"It shouldn't have happened, but it did," said Santa Fe Police Department Chief Raymond Rael. "I apologize on behalf of the city, I don't think that information should've been out there."

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Among the 92 names was Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe. Records show he sold the city two handguns and an assault rifle at the January buyback.

Egolf told KRQE News 13 the assault rifle was a Korean War relic that had been hanging around his house for years.

More Here

Korean War "assault weapon" is probably a M1 Carbine, though it could be a MI Garand. Both are highly desirable collector items that bring from $800 to $2,000. Turning one in at a gun "buy back" is wasteful. Dean Weingarten

On The Relative Size Of The Police And The Civilian Firearms Markets


During 2012, Americans purchased more than 18,500,000 new and used firearms. From all appearances, more than 11,000,000 (eleven million) of those guns were new.

The total number of guns sold to the police and the military is less certain, but some things can be inferred. To begin with, there are approximately 800,000 police officers. If their guns are replaced every ten years, that is a total of 80,000 guns a year. If you add other municipal employees who regularly carry, such as animal control officers and some inspectors, you have a potential market of 100,000 guns a year.

Civilian market 11,000,000 guns vs Police market 100,000 guns

For progressives and other numerically challenged individuals, the police market amounted to just 0.009 percent of the total market for guns. A total that is, in the greater scheme of things, a fraction of the monthly increase in gun sales under Obama.

At this time, almost anything that can be persuaded to shoot will sell, but good times do not last forever. Success in the tough times depends on customer loyalties carefully built during the flush times. A gun company that ignores individual gun buyers in order to sell to police and other State sponsored paramilitaries does so at its own peril.

While the public may well forgive a company that says “we will honor our contracts but that is all;” a company that essentially tells the buying public to go to perdition is likely to be very “lite” indeed. “Lite” of customers.

And no, Byron, that AR we have been discussing will not make a Saturday appearance at the range in the next few weeks. Or ever.

Stranger

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South Africa:Top cop shoots intruder dead at home


The unidentified lieutenant- colonel is on leave and was sleeping at his Eldoraigne, Centurion, home in the morning when he heard someone at his front door.

The officer, who was with his wheelchair-bond mother at the time, immediately woke up and went to inspect. He found that the intruders had forced the door open and were already inside the house.

Captain Agnes Huma of the Wierdabrug police in Centurion said the officer shot one of them in the upper body, "killing him instantly and wounding another, who managed to escape".

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CA:Robbery suspect held at gunpoint by car owner in Bakersfield


A robbery suspect was held at gunpoint by a car owner when he was allegedly caught trying to break in to the vehicle, said police.

On Feb. 18, at about 5:30 p.m., the Bakersfield Police Department received several calls regarding a person pointing a gun at a another person who was lying on the ground on Chester Avenue.

Officers said they got there and questioned both people.

Officials said after investigation that the person with the gun stopped the suspect, 33-year-old Jason Perrette, while he was trying to break into his vehicle and was holding the suspect until officers arrived.

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Homeowner Shoots At Theft Suspect


Police say a homeowner fired a gun after coming face to face with a thief at a home near Ray Ellison and Five Palms drive.

It started after a man and woman ran off during an attempted robbery at a nearby CVS pharmacy this morning.

Police say during a foot chase the man ran into the homeowner's house.

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Canada to US: Universal Background Checks? Don’t Do It!


Universal background checks is gun control speak for gun registration. The NRA waffles on the subject—as you’d expect. They have a hard time arguing against an extension of the current FBI background check system because they supported its creation. “We need to fix the current system first” may be a politically palatable prevarication, but it masks the truth: the current background check system is the proverbial camel’s nose under the tent for federal firearms registration. (Which already exists through the ATF’s log book requirement). In fact, “below the radar” private gun sales are how ALL gun sales should be. Below the government radar. Because if they’re not, Canada. And worse. ‘Nuff said?

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I Carry a Firearm for Political Purposes


I carry a firearm for political purposes

Carrying a firearm confirms the right of citizens to use force. It confirms that the ultimate sovereign is the individual citizen, not the State. It confirms that the federal and state constitutions mean something, and are not infinitely malleable by the courts, and that government is limited by the rule of law.

All of those things are opposed by statists who hate being restrained by the rule of law, disdain the citizen, and preach the rights of the group(which effectively mean no rights) vs the effective rights of the individual.

So, carrying a firearm is a symbolic step away from tyranny and back toward the rule of law. It shows that the MSM no longer controls the flow of information so that the left controls the public discourse. It shows that we can restore the Constitution, rather than descend into socialist tyranny. Much of the faith of the left depends on their belief that their philosophy will ultimately triumph. Citizens carrying firearms is a step away from the future of total control that they envision, which is why they oppose it so vigorously, and constitutionalists push it so vigorously. It is the camels nose under the tent.

I carry for political purposes.

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

Gun-grabber has meltdown, flees public affairs forum in anger


With all of the emotion that proposals to infringe on the right to keep and bear arms can generate, what started as a calculated insult against a gun rights proponent speaking at a forum in Oregon turned into an open display of anger and self-humiliation by a former Democrat statehouse candidate.

Lee Coleman fled the hall sputtering insults as he was being questioned by a laughing cameraman.

The event was a Washington County Public Affairs Forum held on Monday. The guest speaker was Kevin Starrett, executive director of Oregon Firearms Federation, and the tensions were created when Coleman, a forum member took to the microphone and turned things personal.

“You made a number of assertions about gun-grabbing and the so-called assault weapon ban as an attempt to grab back weapons already in the hands of people,” Coleman stated. “I would describe those as paranoid delusions. Have you consulted a psychiatrist on this?”

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“You know, in the state of Missouri they’ve introduced a bill that would have actual forced confiscation,” an unidentifed off-camera individual told him.

“Well, I’m in favor of that,” Coleman replied, seemingly oblivious to the totally irrational contradiction such a position creates for someone ridiculing others for objecting to it.

“So is that a paranoid delusion that it’s an actual bill that’s been introduced?” the questioner persisted, as increasing discomfort began to register on Coleman’s face.

“Well, that’s Kansas or wherever it is,” Coleman backpedaled.

“Missouri,” his questioner corrected him.

“Same thing,” Coleman replied, turning away.

“But is that a paranoid delusion, now that it’s actually been introduced and that it actually is a piece of legislation now?” the questioner repeated himself.

“Look the a**hole was talking about congress and our president,” a visibly agitated Coleman shot back, “not Kansas … so, you know, go s*** yourself.”

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Gun Owners Won’t Accept “Universal Background Checks”


Registration by any other name is still unconstitutional

The focus in Washington is slowly shifting from legislation banning certain semi-auto firearms and standard capacity magazines to proposals for “universal background checks” – just as we had warned it would. Politicians know that America’s gun owners are beside themselves in opposition to gun and magazine bans. They’ve watched as fearful shoppers have cleared the nation’s entire supply of AR and AK type rifles in just a couple of weeks, leaving manufacturers and importers 8 to 12 months deep in backorders. The politicians remember what happened after the ban was passed in 1994 and they know there would be a serious price to pay for supporting bans on these popular tools today. On the other hand, the politicians seem to assume that a new law requiring background checks on private firearm transfers would have less negative impact on their ability to be elected. That’s an assumption that could get them in deep trouble.

While gun and magazine bans are overt assaults on the right to arms, and, by comparison, “universal background checks” seem much less onerous, the fact is, inserting government bureaucracy into private transactions is just as unconstitutional, and potentially more dangerous in the long run, than the proposed bans. The core of the gun rights movement understands this and has already geared up for the fight and for the paybacks in the next election.

Even though some in leadership at the NRA have made comments that have been reported as a willingness to negotiate on the background check issue, the true activists in the organization – the guys who do the volunteer work, recruiting, working on campaigns, and participating in grass roots rights organizations – know that there can be no compromise on principles and fundamental rights. That’s why we created the national Coalition to Stop the Gun Ban, which includes dozens of rights organizations from every corner of the United States. One of the foundational principles of the coalition is opposition to, not only gun and magazine bans and restrictions, but also to any federal interference in private firearms transactions, and that opposition comes with a promise of active and concerted reprisals against any politician who is foolish enough to vote for, or in any way endorse, any of these rights-infringing proposals.

Some of the reporting suggesting that NRA, certain “conservative” politicians, or even members of the firearms industry might be willing to compromise on expanding background checks are clearly trying to convince wafflers that these proposals have broader support than they actually do. Mayors Against Illegal Guns director Mark Glaze is leading the wishful dreaming with suggestions that firearm manufacturers would support “universal background checks” in hopes of negating negative publicity.

He told CQ News that his group thinks the industry would support it to avoid the “black eye” they get whenever there is a shooting involving an assailant who should not have access to guns.

Of course this ignore the fact that all of the recent high-profile murderers either passed a background check to obtain their guns, or in the case of the Connecticut monster, murdered the guns’ rightful owner and stole them. That didn’t keep Glaze and his boss from doing their best to black the eyes of the industry.

Glaze also suggested that federally licensed firearms dealers should also support “universal background checks” because it would force private buyers and sellers into their stores, and isn’t increased foot traffic what every retailer wants?

Mr. Glaze is either totally delusional or he is hoping that stating the idiotic in an upbeat and confident manner might actually fool someone into thinking that it’s actually a good idea.

There is no rational reason for anyone in the industry to support any of this nonsense and millions of reasons why they should not, but I’ll just present one: Smith & Wesson.

What the Great Purge of 1994 is to politicians, so the sale of Smith & Wesson in 2001 is to the firearms industry. Smith & Wesson had been an iconic brand in the industry for 150 years, but when they signed an agreement in May of 2000 with the Clinton administration to restrict the way they sold their guns, the gun buying public nearly drove the company out of business. One year later, the company, which had been purchased for $112 million just a few years earlier, was sold for $15 million and the assumption of $30 million worth of debts.

The point of the story is that, just as the portion of the public which clambers for gun control is not the portion of the public that cast their votes based on a politicians position on gun control, the portion of the public that blames gun manufacturers when a lunatic abuses one of their products, is not the portion of the public that purchases those products and keeps the companies in business. Politicians, manufacturers, and retailers must understand that if they don’t “dance with the one what brung ‘em,” they’ll find themselves with a long, lonely walk home at the end of the night.

It’s time for Congress to quit arguing over complicated, resource sucking schemes that have no chance of reducing crime or atrocities, and instead focus on proven strategies that actually work.

Permission to reprint or post this article in its entirety is hereby granted provided this credit and link to www.FirearmsCoalition.org is included. To receive The Firearms Coalition’s bi-monthly newsletter, The Knox Hard Corps Report, write to PO Box 1761, Buckeye, AZ 85326 or subscribe at www.FirearmsCoalition.org. Copyright © 2013 Neal Knox Associates – The most trusted name in the rights movement. Source

Being Shot Gave This Columbine Survivor Strong Views on Gun Control — Here’s Why He Opposes More Restrictions


Evan Todd will never forget the day that Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris burst into Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., intent on killing. How could he? He was the first student shot in the library during a massacre that claimed 12 students and one teacher and went down as one of the worst school assaults in U.S. history.

Since that terrifying day, Todd has been active and open about his views on social and political issues, including gun control. But rather than fight against weapons, he’s been vocal that he doesn’t believe firearms are the culprit. In fact, the survivor is so staunch that he tells TheBlaze he’s come to view gun control as “a theory that creates an illusion of safety, but unfortunately has devastating consequences in reality.”

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CA:4 dead, including gunman, in southern California shooting spree


Police have identified the gunman as Ali Syed, a 20-year-old unemployed part-time student. Police say Syed lived at the Laderaa Ranch residence where the first victim was killed.

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The motive for the shootings is still unclear and it's also unclear if the victims knew each other or the shooter.

"I do not believe any of the victims are related to each other. It might have been a random thing," he said. "We just don't know."

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In most of Calilfornia, it is very difficult to obtain a concealed carry permit. Carrying a loaded gun in a car is not permitted. This made the multiple carjackings in this incident possible. Given the shooters name, could the be sudden Jihad syndrome? Dean Weingarten

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

CA:Would-Be Robber Shot Multiple Times at Metro PCS Store


SACRAMENTO-

The day after a takeover robbery at a Metro PCS store on Folsom Boulevard that left the suspect dead, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department has no one in custody and may never.

“We have no evidence that a crime occurred,” Sgt. Jason Ramos told FOX40, “This is a homicide investigation, although it may very well turn out to be a justifiable homicide.”

Ramos also said surveillance video inside the store shows the suspect hopping the counter with a gun drawn and getting shot multiple times by an employee.

The suspect’s name hasn’t been released at this point, but FOX40 has learned he’s a 30-year-old parolee with an extensive criminal record.

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Wyoming Makes Hunting With Suppressors Legal


WYOMING: HUNTING WITH SUPPRESSORS BILL SIGNED INTO LAW New Law Goes Into Effect July 1, 2013

The American Silencer Association is pleased to announce that on February 18, Governor Matt Mead signed SF0132 into law, granting hunters in the state of Wyoming the right to use legally owned suppressors while hunting all varmint, big game, and trophy animals. The new law will also legalize the possession of suppressors “anywhere where game may occur”, eliminating an ambiguous interpretation of the law by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department which made it unclear whether it was previously legal to use suppressors at outdoor shooting ranges. However, it is important to note that under the new law landowners may restrict the use of suppressors on private land.

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MILLER: Obama’s real gun-control aim


Chicago is a dangerous town, but gun control hasn’t made it better. The city forbids the law-abiding from having guns, leaving the bad guys to rule the streets. The result is one of the highest murder rates in the country. President Obama’s plan isn’t to reverse from a failed course, but to apply federal gun registration and confiscation of certain weapons nationwide.

Addressing students at Hyde Park Academy last week, Mr. Obama recalled the recent murder of Hadiya Pendleton, a teenager. “It’s not unique to Chicago,” he said. “It’s not unique to this country. Too many of our children are being taken away from us.”

The rising homicide rate actually is unique to the president’s hometown. The 506 murders last year reflected a 16 percent increase over the previous year. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, this happened while the rest of the country saw a 2 percent decrease in homicides; the national rate is at its lowest point since 1963.

Mr. Obama reiterated his legislative priorities: bans on the so-called assault weapon and high-capacity magazine, and background checks for every private gun exchange. However, it’s not as if the president really believes these bills would do anything to reduce crime or prevent mass shootings.

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Lott: Obama’s proposals won’t reduce gun violence


Warning that we need to “get weapons of war and massive ammunition magazines off our streets,” in his State of the Union, Obama kept repeating congress must vote on the three types of gun bills he supports.

The most obvious thing that was left out of the talk was that none of the laws now being proposed would have done anything to stop the various attacks that Obama cited as justifying the laws. Nor does the evidence show that the previous Assault Weapon Ban from 1994 to 2004 reduced crime.

Were some of the killers mentally ill? Undoubtedly, “yes,” but none of these individuals had previously been involuntarily committed as a threat to themselves or to others.

Connecticut already had a strict assault weapon ban. But there is no proposed federal or state ban that would have mattered. Replacing a Bushmaster with a semi-automatic hunting rifle that fired the same small caliber .223 caliber bullets would have made absolutely no difference. The two guns would have fired the bullets with the same rapidity and would have done exactly the same damage.

Nor would it have made any difference to ban magazines that hold more than 10 bullets. Someone who is specifically planning an attack can take many magazines with them. Some of the killers have even worn vests with special pockets that allowed them to conveniently carry multiple magazines. A single large magazine is more of a convenience.

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Constitutional Security Force Develops As Result of Police Chief’s Efforts


I wrote last week about Police Chief Mark Kessler’s call to citizens of Gilberton Borough, Pennsylvania to join him and his police department in putting together a “reserve force” that could be called upon to help defend the city in the event of a foreign invasion or more precisely an invasion of the Federal government to confiscate firearms. Well, the response by readers and police departments across the country has been nothing short of incredible and as a result Kessler has expanded his small town “reserve force” to now include states nationwide. He is now referring to the movement as a “Constitutional Security Force.”

I spoke with Chief Kessler a day or so after I released the article and he said the encouragement and response was tremendous. In fact, he indicated to me at that time that he was unprepared for the desire of other police departments to implement something similar in their areas, but he welcomed the opportunity to lead in that endeavor.

Several people wrote to Chief Kessler and several people even wrote to me expressing their support of such a movement and wondered how they might become involved.

As a result, Kessler posted the following about how others can become involved and now anyone, not matter their location, can become part of the Constitutional Security Force. Kessler writes:

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Justice Dept. Internal Memo Admits Gun Buybacks, ‘Assault Weapons’ Bans, and Large Capacity Magazine Restrictions Don’t Work


Gun control may still be very much a topic for national conversation, and the prospects of some variety of gun control legislation may look better for anti-gun forces than they have in nearly 20 years, but a Justice Department internal memo from early in the year that just got leaked to the public may scuttle all of that. The memo comes from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), a subgroup within the Justice Department, which defines itself this way:

The National Institute of Justice — the research, development and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice — is dedicated to improving knowledge and understanding of crime and justice issues through science. NIJ provides objective and independent knowledge and tools to reduce crime and promote justice, particularly at the state and local levels.

In other words, when a policy is proposed that the department has to enforce, they go to this group with questions. No partisan agenda can be reasonably inferred, and if there were one, it would likely incline toward the administration’s preferred policy.

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