Now We Know Why Schumer Has Been Hiding The Bill

I pulled up S.374 - Protecting Responsible Gun Sellers Act of 2013 on Thomas, and I came up with a two-page shell of a bill that means nothing. To ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the national instant criminal background check system and require a background check for every firearm sale. Well, gosh! Who could have a problem with that, right? I mean, didn’t the panel of gun banners last night at the town hall tell us that these are just common-sense measures to prevent people who shouldn’t have guns from having them? At first glance it’s a pretty easy bill. A BILL

To ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the national instant criminal background check system and require a background check for every firearm sale.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. Short title.

This Act may be cited as the “Protecting Responsible Gun Sellers Act of 2013”.

SEC. 2. Findings.

Congress makes the following findings:

(1) Congress supports and respects the right to bear arms found in the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

(2) Congress supports the existing prohibition on a national firearms registry.

(3) There are deficits in the background check system in effect before the date of enactment of this Act and the Department of Justice should make it a top priority to work with States to swiftly input missing records, including mental health records.

(4) If the citizens of the United States agree that in order to promote safe and responsible gun ownership criminals and the mentally ill should be prohibited from possessing firearms, it should be incumbent upon all citizens to ensure weapons are not being transferred to such people.

Who could possibly have a problem with a bill like this, right?

Well, there’s obviously a reason sleazy Chuckie Schumer hid the text of the bill until it passed committee! Because when legisleeches ask who could possibly oppose a bill to keep guns out of the wrong hands, they mean YOUR hands.

No more private sales, folks! Each transaction will have to go through an FFL, after paying a fee set by…

…the Justice Department!

Does anyone else see anything wrong with allowing Eric Holder – the man embroiled in a scandalous program that funneled thousands of firearms to Mexican drug cartels – to set a fee for a private transfer of a firearm? Heck, all he has to do is set the price prohibitively high, and he’s just prevented a whole lot of people from exercising their rights!

Karen Marangi from Mayors Against Illegal Guns made it a point to tell us that gifts between family members and spouses, as well as firearms passed through estates are exempt from the bill’s onerous provisions. A temporary transfer of a firearm doesn’t have to go through an FFL either… IF the temporary transfer of possession occurs in the home or curtilage of the unlicensed transferor; IF the firearm is not removed from that home or curtilage during the temporary transfer; and IF the transfer has a duration of less than seven days.

So what if I go TDY for a month, like I will this summer, and Rob has my firearm for a month? We’re not married. An overzealous prosecutor may charge me with an unauthorized transfer.

Oh, and by the way – if we happen to come home and our house has been ransacked by robbers, our possessions strewn all over the house, our home destroyed, our possessions, including my firearms stolen…

…I’d better have those things reported to the police within 24 hours. No getting over the victimization. No taking a breath to get over the shock. Report it, or you’re in violation of federal law.

Same if you lose a gun on a trip. Your ass had better get back within 24 hours to report it, or it’s prison for you!

You know what?

No thanks!

No wonder that swine Chuckles kept this bill under wraps until the last minute!

If you haven’t read this thing, you need to.

Source: The Liberty Zone

Note that this bill prohibits you from teaching a friend to shoot, because that would involve a "transfer" of a gun outside your home or curtilage.

It essentially shuts down teaching most people to shoot, until *after* they have bought a gun.

Note that in Chicago, you are not allowed to buy a gun until you show that you have been taught to shoot.

Registration leads to Confiscation in California

The anti-freedom types insist that registration never leads to confiscation. Dean Weingarten

Wearing bulletproof vests and carrying 40-caliber Glock pistols, nine California Justice Department agents assembled outside a ranch-style house in a suburb east of Los Angeles. They were looking for a gun owner who’d recently spent two days in a mental hospital.

They knocked on the door and asked to come in. About 45 minutes later, they came away peacefully with three firearms.

--------------------cut--------------------------

“Very, very few states have an archive of firearm owners like we have,” said Wintemute, who helped set up the program.

------------------cut----------------------------

At a house in Fontana, agents were looking for a gun owner with a criminal history of a sex offense, pimping, according to the attorney general’s office. Marsh said that while the woman appeared to be home, they got no answer at the door. Without a warrant, the agents couldn’t enter and had to leave empty- handed.

They had better luck in nearby Upland, where they seized three guns from the home of Lynette Phillips, 48, who’d been hospitalized for mental illness, and her husband, David. One gun was registered to her, two to him.

“The prohibited person can’t have access to a firearm,” regardless of who the registered owner is, said Michelle Gregory, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office.

--------------------cut--------------------------

In an interview as agents inventoried the guns, Lynette Phillips said that while she’d been held involuntarily in a mental hospital in December, the nurse who admitted her had exaggerated the magnitude of her condition.

More Here

FL:Suspected robber shot by elderly man

Stevens, 81, wasn't going to lead the man to his home, so he pulled over in a field in the 5500 block of Northwest Second Place. When the Kia also stopped, Stevens armed himself with a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and got out of his truck, according to Marion County Sheriff's Office reports.

Stevens told investigators that the driver of the Kia - later identified as Lonnie Lorenza Hollingsworth Jr., 28 - got out of the vehicle, approached him and demanded "everything you got," reports state.

"I didn't want to shoot him, but I had to. I shot him," Stevens told deputies as he pulled out the revolver from his pocket.

More Here

NM: Private Sales Prevented in Santa Fe

Santa Fee held its third gun turn in this year on the 9th of March. 232 guns were turned in. At previous turn in events, private individuals bought some of the guns. This approach offered advantages to everyone. It took the guns off the streets, placing them in responsible hands, rewarding their former owners with more money than the formal event offered, and stretched the turn in dollars so that more low-value guns could be traded for the event premiums.

At this third event, the police moved to prevent the private buyers from buying private firearms. It is hard to see why they would do this, unless the police were more concerned with political propaganda than getting guns off the streets. It may not be coincidence that this event resulted in more guns being turned in to police than previous events, which netted 194 and 224, respectively. From the ABQJournal:

On Siringo Road, police set up controls in the parking area in part to prevent people from buying guns from those who showed up to turn in their guns under the buyback program. Deputy Chief John Schaerfl said the new venue, at one of the city’s facilities maintenance buildings, is city-owned but not public property. Anyone trying to buy or sell a gun there would be in violation of city ordinance.”

New Mexico has a very strict Constitutional provision that prevents local governments from infringing on the right to keep and bear arms.

From a discussion on the New Mexico events:

“the applicable language is found in Art II, Sec 6:

[...] No county or municipality shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms. The above has case-law holding that such extends to the sale of firearms for the simple/obvious reason that a regulation on sales is a regulation on the keeping -- if you're in NM & interested you can likely go to your county courthouse and examine the annotated State Constitution for the exact cases. “

At least one person who attempted to privately purchase collector arms at the event was quoted in the ABQJournal as saying:

“They essentially cut off gun collectors from being able to save these neat old guns,” said one Santa Fean who declined to give his name. “To see them get cut up makes me sick to my stomach.”

It remains to be seen if any action will be taken to rein in the Police Chief and the Santa Fe Police Department.

Premiums for the gun turn ins were in the form of prepaid visa cards and were relatively high: 100 dollars for operational rifles or shotguns, $150 for handguns and $200 for “assault weapons” or “high capacity” weapons. All weapons turned in were to be destroyed.

A turn in event in Maine used a more progressive approach, where turned in firearms were sold to a dealer, with the proceeds used to fund the special Olympics.

Link to ABQJournal

Link to discussion of NM Constitutional provision

Link to Maine Charity turn in

Link to article listing numerous events with private buyers

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

WA:Intruder with Large Knife, Shot and Killed

Spokeswoman Monique Cotton says the intruder was armed with a large knife and had been threatening residents in a domestic dispute.

The man had crawled through the doggie door about 7 p.m. Wednesday and was coming at the homeowner when he fired a handgun. Officers attempted CPR but the intruder died at the scene. An autopsy on the Spokane man is being conducted Thursday.

More Here

CA:Cottonwood man shows concealed weapon, scares off shooters

A few minutes before 1 p.m. on Wednesday Ryan Split, 29, was sitting in his parked vehicle at the intersection of West Street and Sheridan Street in Redding. Split heard a single gunshot and then noticed that a bullet had penetrated the rear window of his vehicle and struck the inside of the front windshield, police said.

--------------cut-----------------

Split, who has a valid concealed weapons permit, produced a handgun, police said. Upon seeing the gun the occupants in the SUV sped away from the area and were last seen northbound on Airpark Drive, toward Placer Street.

More Here

Colorado Dems Threaten Sheriffs on Support for Constitution

Now the state’s sheriffs have entered the fray, expressing support for the Second Amendment, and according to El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, the officers are getting some blowback from the Democratic Party.

-------------cut-----------------

Maketa then referred to an email he’d received Wednesday saying “that the Senate Dem Leadership is very upset with the Sheriffs and their opposition to the gun control bills.”

Sheriffs’ salaries are set by state lawmakers upon the recommendation of a salary commission’s findings, he explained. “But the Dems have been dangling [the salary bill] out there and refusing to follow their own created commissions’ recommendations. They’ve put it off now for two years.”

The Senate Democrats, Maketa told Crank, were “very upset” with his “testimony in opposition on the gun bills. And they are stating that, basically, we should reconsider our position to gain a more favorable light for salary support from the Dems.”

More Here

NYT touts Leftist Activist as Gun Owner who Wants Severe Gun Restrictions

The New Hope of Gun Control Advocates

The self-hating gun owner:

Other gun owners interviewed for this article expressed similar reservations, citing their enjoyment of hunting or of introducing family members to the sport while expressing support for stricter gun control legislation. Mr. Kundu, for instance, supports a ban on the kind of assault weapon that he owns, a rifle manufactured by Panther Arms.

Yes, AR-15 owners who think AR-15s ought to be banned. Does the New York Times really believe this is a deep well gun control folks can tap in order to get support? This times piece strains credulity.

Kundu claims to be a master marksman in Washington State. The governing body for that kind of shooting is the NRA or WSRPA. Most competitive shooters will have match results online somewhere, especially at that level. So I decided I would start digging. If he is truly ranked Master in high-power, someone should have heard of him, or shot with him, and there should be a record. When you do that kind of competition, and are ranked highly, you’ve shot with an awful lot of people in an awful lot of matches. I couldn’t find any match results indicating this guy is a serious competitor, but what I did find destroys the whole NYT narrative. Michael Kundu, who the New York Times claims is the new “middle ground” in the gun control debate, is neither an ordinary gun owner, or any kind of moderate voice.

This is not the first time Kundu has been in the media pitching himself as a self-hating, anti-hunting gun owner. CNN has taken the bait too. So who is Michael Kundu? Well, he was School Board President for Marysville School District who ended up in hot water in the past for writing a racist e-mail as a school board president. Also, as School Board President, he attempted to censor dissenting viewpoints on global warming from being discussed in schools.

Perhaps more telling, Kundu’s associated with Sea Shepherd, who were recently declared pirates by the 9th Circuit:

Johnston’s 1997 stock donation included shares of a company named Northern Development Associates, a for-profit business which is now 100-percent owned by Sea Shepherd.

Corporate records show that the company’s officers include Watson’s ex-wife Lisa DiStefano and longtime associate Michael Kundu.

Sea Shepherd’s own web site says he was Pacific Northwest coordinator for the group in 1997. You can see a profile of him here. Additionally, his activities have earned him the ire of native Americans.

How stupid does the New York Times think we all are? And are we to believe that no one at CNN, or the New York Times, are aware that the new, moderate voice of gun ownership is in fact a radical activist with a group that has been accused of engaging in piracy on the high seas? There is nothing ordinary or moderate about this guy.

Source

The comments at the site are full of more information about Mr. Kundu as a leftist activist. Dean Weingarten

YouTube: VIDEO: Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. Interview Project Veritas

This video is slow at first. I had difficulty hearing what Sheriff Clarke was listening to. After a minute or two, you can listen to Sheriff Clarke answer questions, and those answers are fascinating.

The video runs 10 minutes 11 seconds. Sheriff Clarke's response starts at 1:36

Link to YouTube video of Sheriff David Clarke

Mexican troops detain 34 'self-defense' vigilantes

MORELIA, Mexico (AP) — Mexican soldiers have detained 34 vigilantes who formed part of a ‘‘self-defense group’’ that allegedly kidnapped police officers and seized police equipment earlier this week in the western state of Michoacan.

The army raid in the town of Buenavista represents the strongest blow yet against the growing vigilante movement that has seen masked townspeople throw up checkpoints in several parts of southern and western Mexico.

More Here

Sell your dad a pistol – now you're a criminal

Not long ago, a friend of mine was telling me the story of his father’s acquisition of long-desired handgun. They were in a gun shop and found the exact gun his dad had been wanting for a number of years. The price was right, but the problem was that they were all the way across the state of Texas from their hometown, and if the background check didn’t go through and immediately return an approval, it would require a nine-hour drive back to the shop when the approval finally came through a few days later. His dad was going to pass on the gun because his “instant” background checks seemed to always get delayed, and he wasn’t willing to make the drive again. As a solution, my friend pulled out his Texas concealed carry permit and bought the gun on the spot. Having a carry license negates the need for a background check in most states. After the sale, he handed the gun to his father and his father handed him a check for the price of the gun. In doing that, they both committed a federal felony, as did the dealer who sold it to them and witnessed their private transaction.

My friend was incredulous when I explained to him that, had he bought the gun as a gift for his father, everything would have been legal, but because he was reimbursed for the cost for the gun, the transaction was technically a “straw sale.” My friend, his father and the dealer could be charged with lying in the process of a firearm transaction – the same crime members of the Reese family spent a year and a half in jail over and for which they are still being persecuted. The stated penalty for the crime is up to five years and a $5,000 fine, but if some in Congress get their way, that will move up to a penalty of up to 20 years and $100,000 in fines.

More Here

TX:Teen fires shot at armed prowler

The 18-year-old boy was home alone when he noticed “a male standing by the shed outside the house,” the report says.

“He approached the male with a shotgun, and when he got the male’s attention, he was about 20 yards away from him. He said the male then started to raise a pistol toward him, so he shot at him with a 410 bird shot.”

The intruder then took off running, heading south.

More Here

PA:Mystery gunman shoots suspected robber in SW Philly

SOUTHWEST PHILADELPHIA - March 8, 2013 (WPVI) -- Police say a suspected robber was shot and critically wounded by a mystery gunman in Southwest Philadelphia early Friday morning.

More Here

VA:Stabbed in Neck, Employee Draws Gun, Drives off Attacker

Aggravated Malicious Wounding – On March 7th at 1:16PM, police responded to the Pawn City located at 4124 Dale Blvd in Woodbridge (22193) for an initial report of a robbery. The investigation revealed that a known customer to the business, identified as the accused, was in the process of completing a transaction with the victim, a 62 year old man of Burke. The victim is an employee of the business. After completing the transaction, the accused displayed a knife and stabbed the victim in the neck. The victim fell to the ground, at which point, the accused got over the counter and stabbed the victim a second time. The victim was able to retrieve a firearm causing the accused to flee the business in a vehicle. The victim was flown to an area hospital as a precaution for non-life threatening injuries.

Detectives from the Violent Crimes Bureau were able to quickly identify the suspect. Detectives and officers located the vehicle in the area of River Ridge Blvd. A traffic stop was conducted on Wayside Dr where the accused was detained without incident. Following the investigation, the accused was subsequently arrested.

Source

TX:Armed Boy stops Kidnapping, rape

DICKINSON — Authorities on Thursday released the names of two men charged in connection with a home invasion that involved sexual assaults and an abandoned murder plot.

A boy broke from his binding and grabbed a handgun that sent the suspects fleeing from the Webster home invasion, which started about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 18400 block of Anne Drive.

More Here

Anti-Gun Hysteria in Schools Has Gone Too Far

In the wake of Sandy Hook, progressives have unsurprisingly placed the blamed on inanimate objects rather than on the mentally disturbed individuals who use them. As such, gun-control proposals and legislation have swept state legislatures throughout the nation, Congress and the White House. But as the gun control debate rages on, common sense seems to have been hijacked by hyper-paranoia and zero-tolerance policies in schools across the nation.

And since there seems to be a gun-hysteria story du jour, here is a compilation of 10 recent incidents that best demonstrate how far off the political correctness deep end people in this country have gone:

1.      Michigan: “School confiscates cupcakes decorated with Toy Soldiers” – A woman made a batch of cupcakes for her son’s classmates. Her 9-year-old son decorated them with plastic soldier figurines. The mother was called shortly after delivering them and was told they couldn’t be served because the soldiers had guns.

2.     Maryland: “Pop-Tart Pistol?: 7-year-old gets suspended for gun-shaped pastry”—The child claims he tried to make it into the shape of a mountain but it turned out looking more like a gun. Obviously he was suspended for two days. PS- students are being offered counseling services if they were troubled by the pastry incident.

3.     Colorado: “Colorado boy, 7, reportedly faces suspension for tossing imaginary grenade”—He was just trying to save the world from evil forces but apparently that flies in the face of the school’s “no weapons, real or imaginary,” policy. He doesn’t understand why he was “dispended,” either.

4.     Maryland: “6-year-old boy suspended for pointing finger like a gun got off easy”—Just suspension, not expulsion? The author of this article quips, “Soon, six year-old children will be forced to sit indoors playing Sensitivity Training and delivering Powerpoint lectures to each other on Safety Within the Home and Workforce Best Practices.”

5.     Illinois: “Student ordered to remove U.S. Marines T-Shirt Due to Gun Imagery—or face suspension”—The 14-year-old had reportedly worn the shirt “many times” before without incident. The imagery in question shows two intersecting rifles below the word, “MARINES.”

6.     Washington: “Pasco school district overturns 6-year-old’s suspension for discussing toy gun”—But how did it come to suspension in the first place? The child was talking about the Nerf guns his family bought during a recent family vacation.

7.     Michigan: “L’Anse Creuse High School had security scare Tuesday morning”—Hardly. A former student who works at the Air National Guard Base, which is less than 5 miles away, entered the school looking for a letter of recommendation. “Concerns were raised” because he was dressed in camouflage.

8.     Pennsylvania: “Schools locked down over "ambiguous message" taken as threat”—that ambiguous message would be a phone message that included a quote from the theme song to ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’ that says, “And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school.” Schools in the county were on lock down for 20 minutes as a result of a receptionist misunderstanding the message and calling police over the “threat.”

9.     Arizona: “Florence student suspended over picture of gun”—a high school student was suspended because he made the desktop background on his school-issued computer a picture of a gun on top of a flag. The student’s reason? He’s interesting in joining the military.

10.  Florida: “Fla. High school student reportedly suspended after disarming gunman”—this one is by far the most disturbing. A student wrestled a loaded gun away from a 15-year-old who was allegedly pointing the firearm at another student and threatening to shoot. By any account, what this student did was heroic and rather than being praised, he’s being punished.

While it’s perfectly understandable that schools take potential threats more seriously in the wake of Sandy Hook, it’s as though people have lost any and all ability to exercise sound judgment in situations involving “weapons” in schools—real, fake or imaginary—and the appropriate level of punishment.

Next thing you know, this will actually happen:



SOURCE

South Africa:Man (81) shoots farm intruder

An elderly man from Upington, in the Northern Cape, shot dead an intruder in his home during a farm attack, it was reported on Wednesday.

------------cut----------------

The elderly man was left on the floor in his bedroom. The assailant went back to the kitchen to find his wife, Cloete said.

Despite having an injured hand, Albert Strauss grabbed his pistol and fired two shots, one of which hit the intruder in the throat. He died in the house.

More here

SC:Man shot by homeowner is in critical condition

A man who kicked in the back door of a house in Landrum, assaulted his wife, and then was shot by the homeowner is in critical condition this afternoon, authorities said.

If he survives, he will be charged with burglary and criminal domestic violence, said Spartanburg County sheriff’s spokesman Kevin Bobo.

The homeowner called 911 at 6:26 p.m. Friday to report that someone was trying to break into his house, Bobo said, then called again and said he had shot the intruder multiple times.

When officers arrived at the house at 532 Hwy. 14 West, they discovered that the wounded man had come for his wife, Bobo said. The homeowner went upstairs and locked himself in the bedroom.

More Here

WV Grass Roots move to Restore Constitutional Rights

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A bill that would void Charleston's gun ordinances moved a step closer to passage in the West Virginia House of Delegates on Friday.

House members approved a second reading of the legislation (HB2760) in the morning without amending the bill. A final House vote on the bill is expected next week.

The measure would strike down county and municipal gun control ordinances, including those enacted by the city of Charleston in the 1990s, that are inconsistent with state law.

---------------cut-----------------------------

Opponents of local gun control measures have tried to get the laws in Charleston and other cities overturned in federal court. When federal judges told the West Virginia Citizens Defense League to pursue its case in state courts first, the group instead turned to the state Legislature.

More Here

3D Printed AR15 Magazines Offered for Sale

Cuomo Mag

In its rapidly expanding role of protector of the people's right to arms, Defense Distributed is offering copies of the "Cuomo" its revolutionary 3D printed AR15 30 round magazine.

The magazine is designed to accept either hardware store or standard AR15 magazine springs, which need to be bought separately to make the magazine functional.

As a bit of political history, these magazines may prove to be a curio that either sparked the start of a revolution in 3D printer manufacturing, saved the Constitution by demonstrating the insanity of attempting to outlaw boxes with springs, or both. The current price is $50, higher than the price of a mass manufactured magazine.

I wonder if it would be possible to obtain one of these magazines, signed by Cody Wilson? 20 years from now it might make it into a museum.

The magazines are available here. They may not be shipped to CA, HI, MA, NJ, NY, or other places that ban the sale, transfer, or possession of "high capacity" magazines.

Link to Defense Distributed online shop

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

South Dakota passes law allowing teachers to carry guns in class

With a signature from Gov. Dennis Daugaard, South Dakota officially passed into law Friday a bill which will explicitly allow the state’s teachers to carry a firearm in the classroom.

From The New York Times:

While some other states have provisions in their gun laws that make it possible for teachers to be armed, South Dakota is believed to be the first state to pass a law that specifically allows teachers to carry firearms.

About two dozen states have proposed similar bills since the shootings in December at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., but all of them have stalled.

Source

House Republicans launch ‘2nd Amendment Initiative’ v. Obama gun agenda

The House Republican Study Committee (RSC) has launched a Second Amendment Initiative for the 113th Congress under the leadership of Indiana Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Third District) to counter what they believe is President Barack Obama’s “out-of-touch agenda” on gun control.

In a press release, RSC Chairman Rep. Steve Scalise (R-Indiana) asserted that the president’s “radical anti-gun agenda is a threat to our constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”

“Efforts to take away the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans will not reduce crime or prevent criminals from breaking the law,” Scalise said. “We will not allow President Obama and liberals in Congress to take away our right to bear arms.”

More Here

WV:Armed Employee Chases Robber Out of Huntington Business

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Police say a man who robbed a Huntington pizza restaurant got away with the cash, but not before getting a good scare from an employee armed with a gun.

-----------cut------------

As the suspect left the store with an unknown amount of money, he was followed by an armed Gino’s employee.

Huntington Police say the employee pointed his gun at the suspect, who then let out a shrill scream, fell into a mud puddle and began screaming he was unarmed.

More Here

3D Printed AK Magazine in Development by Defense Distributed (video)

Defense Distributed is making progress on a 3D printed AK magazine, as shown in the pictures below.

They call this magazine "The Feinstein".

Link to video

Georgia: Gun Free Zones may be reduced

A reform of the concealed carry law in Georgia passed the house on 7 March. The bill would reduce but not eliminate a number of gun free zones in the State.

People with concealed carry permits would be allowed to exercise their Second Amendment rights in airports outside of the security zone, on college campuses (but not in dormitories or at sporting events), and in government buildings that do not have security.

Churches would be allowed a greater exercise of First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and assembly, if arrangements are made in advance. Previously, guns were banned from churches by government decree.

Designated school personal who have a concealed carry permit would be able to legally protect school children.

The bill will now proceed to the Senate.

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

Concealed and Open Carry in Mississippi to Conform to the Constitution

Although the Mississippi Constitution has undergone a number of iterations in the last hundred years, it seems clear when it comes to the carrying of weapons:

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

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

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

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

While the legislature was clearly given the power to “regulate or forbid” the carrying of concealed weapons in 1890, they were expressly not given the power to regulate the open carrying of weapons.

However, in 1992, the legislature passed a shall issue concealed carry law that forbid the carrying of a pistol or revolver, if it were "concealed in whole or in part" without a permit.

In an obscure court case, that law had been interpreted to mean that a person could not carry a handgun openly, because part of the firearm, even if it were suspended by a thong around the neck, was concealed.

This bit of judicial idiocy seems insane, as the Constitution only gives the legislature the power to regulate or forbid concealed carry, and yet the court is saying that all carry is concealed carry, making a mockery of the state Constitution.

On 4 March, 2013, reason prevailed in Mississippi. The offending language was removed from the statute. The law is now in concurrence with the state Constitution. It will go into effect on 1 July of 2013.

Open carry in Mississippi, will clearly be legal without a permit, as the Constitution requires. Those who have a permit to carry concealed need not worry about legal consequences if some part of their personal defensive weapon is inadvertently revealed through a gust of wind, a reach to an upper shelf, or a “wardrobe malfunction”.

Link to Mississippi constitutional provisions

Link to discussion of the law and the court case

Link to article discussing passage of the reform statute

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

KS:No arrests planned in fatal shooting Monday, says Sumner County sheriff

Sumner County law enforcement authorities said they finished their investigation of a fatal shooting Monday night in which a 41-year-old man from Iowa was shot by a farmer.

Sumner County Sheriff Darren Chambers said no arrests will be made in Monday’s shooting, and that the farmer shot the man in self-defense.

“We’re not going to pursue criminal charges,” Chambers said. “Based on the scene and a witness and the history of the gentleman, we don’t feel this was anything more than self-defense.”

The Kansas Highway Patrol had been looking for the 41-year-old man, who Chambers said had several warrants out for his arrest in Iowa, shortly before noon. The man had driven through a Kansas Turnpike tollbooth without paying. His car, which Chambers said was stolen from Indiana, was found abandoned a short time later. He was seen running into a wooded area near the tollbooth.

More Here

MO:Charges Filed Against Robbery Suspect Shot by Bank Employee

(TRIMBLE, Mo.) A man police say was shot by a bank employee during an attempted robbery is now charged.

The U.S. Attorney's Office charged Michael Oliva, of Liberty, with attempted robbery.

More Here

Senator Coburn Holds the Line Against Universal Gun Registration

Citizen disarmament advocate Charles Schumer (D-N.Y) has shown that the cry for universal background checks has always been a subterfuge to move toward universal firearms registration.

Senator Coburn (R-OK) has offered a compromise allowing for background checks as long as no records are kept. Such systems are easily implemented and controlled through sting operations. The advantage of such a system is that can not easily be used to construct a universal registration database. Gun registration has historically been the precursor of gun confiscations, either slowly and individually, over time, or in groups during a crises.

It appears that the potential of registration is more important to those who advocate citizen disarmament than requiring universal background checks, as they remain adamant in requiring record keeping as part of any new law.

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

Mississippi Governor Signs Pro-Gun Bills into Law

Fairfax, Va. – Governor Phil Bryant has signed two important pro-gun bills into law in Mississippi.

“These two bills protect the privacy of Mississippians and remove legal traps for law-abiding citizens wanting to exercise their right to carry firearms for personal defense,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “On behalf of NRA members and all gun owners in Mississippi, I would like to thank Gov. Bryant for signing these bills, as well as Lt. Governor Tate Reeves, House Speaker Philip Gunn, state Representative Andy Gipson, state Senator Giles Ward, and state Representative Mark Baker for championing this important pro-gun legislation.”

House Bill 485 ensures that the personal information of carry permit holders and applicants remains confidential and exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act. This will keep the private information of law-abiding citizens out of the hands of the media and is a meaningful measure to protect those who exercise their Second Amendment right of self-defense.

House Bill 2 eliminates the confusion in a recent opinion by state Attorney General Jim Hood regarding carry permit holders carrying holstered, partially-visible pistols on their person. This law strikes the phrase “in whole or in part” after the word “concealed” where it appears in Section 97-37-1 of Mississippi law prohibiting the carrying of certain firearms or other deadly weapons. It also more clearly defines the term “concealed” for carry permit holders as well as non-permit holders so that Mississippians can better understand the intent of the law.

“In January, I called on House and Senate leaders to take swift action to protect gun owners and the right to arms, and today I am signing two very important gun rights measures into law,” Gov. Bryant said. “As a matter of public safety, I remain opposed to releasing personal information on law abiding gun owners. Sensitive gun owner information is entitled to privacy protections—just like medical records, tax documents and personnel files.

“I am also signing House Bill 2 into law to protect Mississippians who are licensed to carry concealed weapons. This important measure will also help those who protect us by allowing veterans and active duty military personnel under the age of 21 to apply for concealed carry permits.”

Source

FL:Miami police: Would-be robber is shot by victim, dies

An attempted robbery backfired when the victim fatally shot his attacker Tuesday night in northwest Miami, police said.

------------------CUT----------------

A man was approached by another armed man who demanded his belongings. The would-be robber then shot the man in the hand.

More Here

Florida bill would require anger management courses for bullet buyers

More demonization.  The gun-haters think gun owners are out of touch with reality but that's just projection.  It is they who are seriously out of touch


Gibson.  Strange hairline

A Florida legislator wants anyone trying to buy ammunition to complete an anger management program first, in what critics say is the latest example of local lawmakers reaching for constitutionally-dubious solutions to the problem of gun violence.

The bill filed Saturday by state Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, would require a three-day waiting period for the sale of any firearm and the sale of ammunition to anyone who has not completed anger management courses. The proposal would require ammo buyers to take the anger management courses every 10 years.

“This is not about guns," Gibson said. "This is about ammunition and not only for the safety of the general community, but also for the safety of law enforcement.”

Gibson said she’s concerned with citizens stockpiling ammunition, potentially creating dangerous situations should those individuals ever come in contact with law enforcement agencies or criminals.

More HERE

The Annotated Homicide Rate VS Gun Control, 1885 To 2011

Isn't 1905 when the "Progressive" movement took off in the United States? Dean Weingarten

Someone did an excellent job of annotating our homicide rate chart from 1885 to 2011. Since every thing here is intended to be taken for use against the gun control nuts, I am glad they left a link so I could enjoy their good work.

Here is the same chart, with just a bit greater detail than dropping keywords on the graphic allow. The easiest way to do this is to put key numbers referencing the notes, below:

1.) The SodbustersThe United States was pretty well settled by 1885, with homicide rates that generally reflected the country of origin of the settlers. Most areas homicide rates were as low as 0.4 per 100,000 population, or 1 murder for 250,000 population. The exceptions were some notorious cities such as New York and San Francisco.

2.) Labor Wars The same labor problems that very nearly destroyed the British Monarchy visited the US. While the homicide rates stayed extremely low by today’s standards, murder rates were terrifyingly high by the standards of the time. The resulting gun control laws that were intended to disarm strikers and scabs hit everyone, and the homicide rate more than tripled.

3.)Sullivan’s Turnaround The labor wars took a breather in 1909 and 1910, with a slight decrease in both homicide and violent crime rates. There were well founded hopes for continuing decline in those rates but New York’s “Big Tim” Sullivan destroyed those hopes with New York’s Sullivan Law and the soaring crime rates that caused.

4.)Bathtub Gin and Gun Control. As a result of further labor problems, WWI, prohibition, and the rise of gangs such as Capone’s, murder and violent crime rates did not come down until 1934, when prohibition was a dead letter and cash strapped police departments stopped enforcing gun laws that should never have been passed in the first place.

5.)The Black Market Spike. During WWII the same gangs that fought for alcohol distribution rights fought to supply the black markets with everything from kerosene, meat, and catchup, to tobacco, and yes, booze. While law eforcement came down hard, it was still enough to cause a short term spike in murder rates.

6.) The Second American Gun Control Drive The second gun control drive effectively began in early 1963 and the results were immediately obvious. Homicide rates doubled in a decade, going from a rate of 4.6 per 100,000 population in 1963 to an official rate of 9.4 per 100,000 in 1973 and 9.8 in 1974. The apparent short term declines between 1973 and 1991 are a result of under-reporting crime totals, and not an actual decline. That decline did not come until…

7.) Relaxed gun laws and falling crime rates By 1991 the beneficial effects of Florida’s Concealed Carry Weapons permit system had become obvious. The two murders a day in Florida’s roadside rest areas had disappeared, violent crime and homicide rates were “falling off a cliff, and people sorely beset by violent crime were begging their legislators for relief. And for concealed carry.

8.) And now, with murder rates at a 100 year low And now, with a year and a half years of decline to add to the post 1993 decline, it appears the United States murder rate is at its lowest point since 1910. And it is obvious that the ruling faction in the Democratic Partei wants to drive murder rates back to where they were in the 1980′s. It is also obvious that they must be stopped.

Stranger

Source

U.S. Attorney steps up case against Reese family by going over judge’s head

The whole persecution reeks of totalitarian tactics. The entire family jailed for nearly a year and a half, without bond, on paperwork violations. All of their assets (a couple of million in property and inventory) impounded so that they could not hire attorneys. Numerous bogus charges brought in order to intimidate a plea bargain. The prosecutors should be on trial here. Dean Weingarten

Stung by reversals in his office’s prosecution of the Reese family and mindful that scrutiny for his role in that case could derail his elevation to the federal bench, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Mexico Kenneth J. Gonzales filed three documents yesterday with the intent of denying a defense motion to dismiss outstanding counts and compel prosecutors to testify at an evidentiary hearing, and also to go over the head of U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Brack.

“Notice is hereby given that the United States of America, plaintiff in this case, appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. ' 3731, from the Court’s Memorandum Opinion and Order (Doc. 404) entered on February 1, 2013, in which the Court granted the defendants’ motion for new trial on the counts of which the jury had found them guilty,” Gonzales wrote in a Notice of Appeal.

The second document, the United States’ Response in Opposition to Motion to Dismiss with Prejudice the Four Remaining Counts of the Indictment Based on Brady/Giglio Violations urges “The Court should deny the motion to dismiss and should do so without granting an evidentiary hearing.” The basic reasons they give, translated from arcane legalese, are they say they didn’t do anything wrong on purpose, what they did do wrong was just negligence because there were things they didn’t know, when they found out they’d messed up they tried to fix it, they’ve set up controls to keep it from happening again, and none of this warrants dismissal of the case. Plus they don't want to have to be questioned under oath about it.

Source

What Motivates Mass Murderers

Why did a deranged man choose to kill 20 innocent young children in Newtown, Conn.? Immediately after the killing, some speculated that he was jealous of the Sandy Hook students because his mother spent time volunteering at the school.

However, new evidence shows the real motive was likely different: He wanted to try to kill more people than the current mass-shooting record holder, the 2011 Norwegian mass shooter.

Police have apparently discovered articles in the killer’s bedroom leading to this conclusion. USA Today writes that the school was picked “because it was the easiest target for an alleged attempt to outdo Norwegian mass murderer who killed 77 people in July 2011.” Likewise, the Hartford Courant reports that the Connecticut shooter “saw himself as being in competition with” the Norwegian killer.

Is this a believable motive? Unfortunately, it is. Indeed, the goal of a high body count is nothing new at all. Many mass killers are clearly vying for fame, and not just any shooting will do. They know very well that the more people they kill, the more the world will hear about their deeds. The Newtown killer presumably picked this target also because the horror of killing small children would further add to the media attention.

These killers might well be mentally ill, but many of them are also calculating and highly logical. Though many plan to die in the attacks (75 percent of mass shootings end with the shooter’s death), they typically feel unappreciated and want to be remembered by others. They use mass killing to force people to notice their existence.

A perfect example is the Virginia Tech killer, who compared himself to the Columbine killers. He hoped that if he could massacre more people than they had, he could achieve even more media coverage.

All the discussion about the shooter only shows future mass killers that they can expect to be lavished with similar attention. I have been arguing for almost 15 years that, in order to cut down on future killing sprees, the media should stop giving these killers the attention that they crave, especially by mentioning their names.

Some countries, including Canada, put legal embargoes on information about pending criminal cases. Only after trials have occurred may the news media go into the case’s details. The main reason is to protect the jury from bias, but it also limits the notoriety the killers can accrue. That said, even Canada has no restrictions on coverage if the killer himself dies at the scene.

But this is the United States, home to the First Amendment. No one seriously discusses a gag order on the press, even if it would be a very effective way of curtailing these attacks. A free press serves as an important check on government power, and allowing the government to determine when certain topics are too sensitive for the press puts us on a slippery slope. (It’s worth noting, however, that when it comes to guns, the press has no problem touting such “reasonable” regulations.)

Mass killers choose their targets carefully so they can achieve the greatest carnage. Obviously schoolchildren make an easy target, but they aren’t the only example of this phenomenon.

Mass shootings occur in places where people of all ages are defenseless, such as so-called gun-free zones in which lots of people congregate and guns are banned. Since at least 1950, all but two of the public shootings in America with more than three deaths have taken place where guns were banned.

More Here

Teacher Threatened boy, Questioned His Mental State Over PHOTO Of BB Gun

In California, gun hysteria has reached such fanatical heights that teachers now feel empowered to confiscate student property, disregard their privacy, question their mental state and threaten police action – in front of other students. All have happened to the son of actor and entrepreneur Joseph C. Phillips, at El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills, CA.

Phillips, best known for his role as Lt. Martin Kendall on The Cosby Show, lives with his wife and three sons in the San Fernando Valley. In addition to being a regular fill-in host for Larry Elder on KABC radio in Los Angeles, he owns Daddy J’s Wingshack, where his 15-year-old son works and earned the money for an Airsoft bb gun. Last week his son brought a digital camera to school to show his friends a picture of the Airsoft.

On my radio show Saturday, Phillips explained that as his son was showing off the single photo, his Social Studies teacher, a Mr. James DeLarme, walked by. As his son described the incident, DeLarme “snatched” the camera out of his hand and asked him about the photo. When his son explained that it was a picture of an Airsoft bb gun, DeLarme declared the police would have to be notified and promptly left the room to confer with another teacher. The two teachers scrolled through all the photos on the camera, finally handing it back to the boy. Then, in front of all the students, DeLarme asked him, “Do you have any animosity towards your classmates?” and “Are you angry at anyone at school?”

Furious at the way his son had been treated, Phillips wrote a letter to the principal, Mr. David Fehte:

    "It may come as a shock to Mr. DeLarme, It may even be news to you, but my son is not the only boy in Woodland Hills with a BB gun. There are quite a few boys attending your school who not only own BB guns, but own real guns as well. (Some of them play air soft with my son!) Their fathers, mothers, and brothers also own guns and shoot regularly. Owning a gun is NOT a sign of mental illness. Owning a BB gun is NOT an indication of mental instability! Certainly, showing friends a photograph of a gun is NOT a warning sign that a student is a potential danger to his classmates! I object, in the strongest of terms, to my son being treated as a potential danger and to his being threatened with law enforcement. I further object to not being notified! If Mr. DeLarme truly believed my son presented a danger, both my wife and I should have been notified immediately!"

Rather than respond himself, Fehte dispatched a vice principal to answer Phillips’ letter. The vice-principal claimed, according to Phillips, that the teacher had done the right thing to, “secure the safety of the 3,000 students and the 250 faculty members at the school.” Secure their safety from what? A photo?

One wonders how many other El Camino Real High School students are being threatened and humiliated by their teachers, and how many parents are likewise uninformed.

More HERE

AZ:Avondale Mayor and Councilman Prevented from Return to Medieval Deodand Ritual

In a strange twist of emotional symbolism over reason, Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers and Councilman Charles Vierhout voted against the required sale of valuable property to raise money for the police and city of Avondale.

State law requires that confiscated or forfeited firearms be sold, rather than destroyed in a ritual comparable to the medieval concept of the Deodand, where objects could be considered to be guilty of crimes.

The police department has about 1,000 firearms that have been confiscated or surrendered, and they are running out of room.

As demand for firearms is currently high, this is an especially fortuitous time to sell the property. Working firearms are seldom worth less than $100, so the entire collection will probably bring more than $100,000 for the City and police.

Only one citizen complained about the law, and wanted the property destroyed rather than sold.

Destruction of the firearms would only benefit gun manufacturers by increasing demand, although some would argue that it would give an emotional lift to those who have an irrational fear of weapons.

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

LA:Covington woman shoots at armed burglar in her home

COVINGTON, La. - A Covington woman who awoke to find an armed man in the doorway to her bedroom was able to frighten him by screaming and then fired several shots at him as he fled, according to the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office.

More Here

Citizens Reports from Tucson Gun Show, March 2013

Long Lines at Tucson Gun Show, by LennyJoe

LennyJoe posted this report:

Just wanted to pass on some views on what I seen this weekend at the Tucson gun show I went to on Saturday.

First off, it was a good thing that we purchased tickets online. When we got there, about 1.5 hours before the show opened, there were 2 lines. The line we were in, tickets on hand, had about 150 people ahead of us. The second line, ticket purchasers grew as time went on and when they finally started selling tickets around 0800, I would estimate about 400 people in line. ONce they purchased their ticket, they got into line 1, which by then had grown to about 350 people.

It was amazing to see how many people were waiting to get in when it opened. A rough estimate would be around 1000 people or more. The line was huge and the traffic was backed up from others waiting to get in to park.

So the doors opened at 0900 and about 95% of the people in line went direct to the ammo counter. They had 6 lanes opened and every one was full. Being #150 or so in line at the opening, we ended up around #20 in line for ammo. It took me an hour and a half to finally get to the counter to place my order.

Prices for ammo wasn't extremely outragous given the current market. I paid $139 for 500 rounds of Wolf Classic 7.62x39, $3.50 per box of Winchester 00 buckshot and $34.95 per thousand of Winchester large rifle primers. They had plenty of ammo and it was going fast. Other prices I seen were $135 for 500 rounds of reloaded 55 gr .223 bullets and there were hardly any .22 long rifle ammo left. Mostly Mexican made long rifle and they would only sell 250 per person.

Outside of the primers, I seen very little reloading gear at all. A powder guy that normally has a lot of powder at high prices wasn't even there. Rumor had it, he had nothing to sell.

The best deal I got yesterday was a DPMS stripped lower receiver for $149 and a DPMS lower parts kit for $60 to which I got 1 each. Thought about getting more but didn't need them as this finishes my 300 AAC Blackout rifle. Didn't want to horde any more. They also had RR stripped lowers for $159 and RR LPK for $75ish. The place selling the lowers were going out of business and by they way they looked, their inventory wasn't going to last that long, especially at those prices, given today's market.

Other observations....found some .223 GI mags for $20 each and they sold all 200 in about 45 minutes. Magpul were up in the $30's and any full built AR's were over $1000. I even seen 9MM Winchester White Box 100 round boxes going for $50....

So, the biggest seller was ammo. Everyone was taking what they could, wheeling it out on dolly's, travel bags and even wagons. It was a very busy morning and I'd bet the ammo is pretty much gone today. No need for me to go back today since I got pretty much what I wanted from there.

So there you go, the market is still in a panic for the most part and ammo is getting scarce. I hope things calm down soon but with the political crap going on, one only knows if it ever will.

PavePusher added these observations:

I did not buy a ticket on-line. Big mistake.

Doors were to open at 0900. I got a slightly late start due to some piss-poor-planning and a minor mechanical issue. Arrived at the fairgrounds at approx 0900, line of cars was about 1/4 mile long. Got in, parked right up front (Yeah, motorcycles!)(parking lot was over 2/3rds full, I've only ever seen it maxed at 1/4 for any other gun show here)... and got in the line for tickets, approx. 250 yards long. This was, by everyones account, the longest line they've ever seen for one of these. Took about 15-20 minutes to get inside (0930) and.... get in line for the main ammo vendor. (They generally only have one main one.) My section of the line was about 80 yards long. Waited two hours and was only 2/3rds of the way there, easily another hour to wait and I had another appointment to get to and no way to call to postpone or cancel (no cell reception, and the guy doesn't have a cell phone). So I left.

Observations:

1. A few people were walking around selling ammo from carts. Don't know if they brought it in, or were first-in-line that morning. One was selling 100-rounds lots of 5.56 for... $100. That's right, $1 per round. I. Ain't. Kidding. And I think he got it, too.

2. Before I left, I went up to the head of the ammo line to check what they had. Looked like they were still fairly well stocked, had about 3 times the usual number of people working, and no-one was standing still.

3. Took a quick swing around to browse other items before I left. Magpul AR magazines for $30 and up. An "unissued" Yugo SKS for $500. Saiga AK, 7.62, $1200. S&W M&P15 .22 rifles, $500. Yowzer.

4. Most hand-gun, and bolt/lever/pump long-gun prices looked fairly normal.

5. The place was packed, nearly elbow-to-elbow. Busiest I've ever seen.

6. Sadly, I still can't afford Dawson knives... sigh.

On the way out, I bought raffle tickets for an Armscor-based 1911 and a set of 3 long-guns (7mm bolt-action, a Browning-copy O/U shottie and a Mossberg .17 HMR). The ticket line was down to 100 yards long.

Depending on what I get up to tonight, and how late it runs, I may try for an early ammo run tomorrow to see if there's anything left. (Ticket/hand stamp is good for both days, may as well get my $10-worth.) I need 5.56 and 7.62x39 for myself, looking for 9mm and .22LR for a friend in Phoenix. There's another show in Mesa next weekend, depending on how tomorrow goes, I'm considering a pre-dawn run up there with a folding chair, thermos of coffee and something to read.

My current advice for gun shows: If you want ammo, get in line an hour early (at least). If possible, buy your ticket on-line, so you won't have to wait in line to buy. If you're looking for anything other than ammo, go after 1200, the initial crowd may have a chance of tapering off by then.

Google map co-ordinates: 32.044546,-110.783118, then zoom in two clicks and center the arrow.

Ticket line started on the road, about 100 feet right of center of picture. Event building is the long one stretching north-south on the left. Entrance is where the road intersects it. Ammo vendor was on very north end of building. Ammo line started inside the door, forward two aisles, then turn north about 30 feet and wait.

I was parked south-east of the center-point, just to south of the V-shaped building.

I hope that we are able to continue to enjoy these First Amendment freedoms of association and speech with our Second Amendment rights to buy and sell guns. They are under attack as never before.

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

At Bensalem Turn In, only two of 586 firearms were stolen

A screenshot of guns collected at Bensalem Township's gun buyback events. Credit Bensalem Township

The Bensalem Patch notes that only two of 586 firearms turned in at the two recent turn in events were identified as stolen.

From the Bensalem Patch:

Nearly 600 firearms, two of which were stolen, were collected at Bensalem Township's anonymous gun buyback events held in February, according to the police department.

Sgt. Andrew Aninsman claims that the program was conducted without cost to the taxpayers:

"Over the course of two days we received 586 firearms at no cost to taxpayers," Sgt. Andrew Aninsman said. Cash was given to those who brought in guns, but the money was supplied by the Federal Drug Forfeiture, Aninsman said.

But, this is misdirection, of course, because the money could have been used for another purpose to reduce taxpayer costs, rather than to create political theater to demonize gun ownership and armed citizens.

The picture of the box of handguns shows the usual mixture of junk and nice items.

At Bensalem, civic minded gun enthusiasts offered an alternative to individuals who wanted to get a better deal for their unwanted heirlooms.

From myfoxphilly.com:

Township officials offered between $50 and $200 for each weapon. They say they hope the buyback will reduce gun violence in the township.

Outside, a group of gun advocates set up a table offering a better price to people carrying high-quality weapons.

"As responsible gun owners we're concerned that some worthy, quality firearms might be turned in and destined for destruction and our objective is to save them from destruction," said gun advocate Rob Pepe.

Constitutional rights advocates across the nation are offering alternatives to these misnamed "buybacks", as the government never owned these guns in the first place.

At least one turn in effort joined Constitutional rights and anti-gun forces in an effort to remove unwanted guns from homes, sell them to responsible people, and use the proceeds for charity.

Falmouth Maine program raises money for special Olympics

The Maine program may be the future of turn in events for the country.

Link to Bensalem Patch

Link to myfoxphilly.com

Link: Falmouth Maine program raises money for special Olympics

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

GUNS AND EQUALITY

The gun has long been called an equalizer. As in, “God made men, and Colonel Colt made them equal.”

My friends and colleagues at the Second Amendment Foundation have a new push for this theme: see it here. http://www.examiner.com/article/saf-launches-equal-gun-rights-campaign?cid=db_articles

The gun is a force multiplier. As has been noted in this blog more than once, it allows a handful of beleaguered black Americans to fend off larger numbers of Klansmen.

The gun allows the righteous few to hold their own against many who are doing violent wrong. Do a Google search for Elfego Baca. Wise modern gun experts from Don Kates to Tamara Keel have pointed out that if you want to know how warm and fuzzy it would be to have a world without guns, you have only to look back to the outlawry and oppression of the Middle Ages.

The gun allows the female of our species – generally smaller and lighter, and always with proportionately less upper body strength and less cultural predispositioning to using physical force – to defeat men attempting to rape her. The modern feminist version of the Old West saying about Colonel Colt and equality is the popular tee-shirt slogan that says, “God made men and women equal…and Smith & Wesson keeps them that way.” I remember one of my graduates who confronted a burglar in her home. She drew her gun and snapped, “Don’t move!” He came at her. She shot him in one of his upper limbs. He came at her again. She shot him dead with a bullet to center chest. The shooting was, of course, ruled justified. To this day, I shudder to think what this aggressor would have done to her if she hadn’t had her SIG-Sauer.

The gun allows the poor and powerless to protect themselves as well as the rich and powerful. It is axiomatic in our country that any citizen should be able to become President. A poor kid raised by his grandparents recently did so, and got re-elected. He and his family are surrounded by Secret Service agents with high cartridge capacity firearms. Us ordinary po’ folks don’t have heavily armed security guards provided by taxpayer funding to guard us and our families like Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, or Michael Bloomberg. How sad and ironic that the poor kid who grew up to be President doesn’t want your potential-future-President kids to be protected as his own potential-future-President children are.

Equality. Freedom. Guns.

Yes, they all do belong in the same sentence.

Source Massad Ayoob

Utah lawmakers advance gun law pushback bill

Utah lawmakers have advanced a bill that declares Utah alone is able to regulate firearms in the state.

The proposal is one of several high-profile firearms bills in the Legislature this year, and legislative attorneys and critics said it's very likely a court will find the law unconstitutional if it passes.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Brian Greene, R-Pleasant Grove, said the measure is an assertion of state's rights and individual liberty, and he doesn't believe it's unconstitutional.

More Here

OK:Homeowner Chased and shot at Intruder

MIDWEST CITY — A homeowner chased an intruder from his house Saturday afternoon and then fired several shots from a handgun when the man tried to run him down in his driveway.

More Here

MO:Home owner holds burglar at gun point, burglar arrested

A Holts Summit man is facing multiple charges after he attempted to burglarize a home outside Fulton early Sunday morning.

Nelson Barnes has been charged with burglary in the first degree, felony property damage and stealing.

Deputies were called to the home on State Road O at 1:33 a.m. When they arrived, they saw that the home owner had Barnes at gun point.

More Here

Stand Your Ground Reform Introduced in Florida

Combee, a Republican from Florida House District 39, has introduced a bill to reform the current Florida law on self defense.

Currently, the law allows for people who face an aggressor to be prosecuted if they display their weapon or fire a warning shot without hitting anyone.

Aggressors whose actions were stopped, could call the police and claim they were assaulted.

From victim surveys it is clear that the most common defensive use of a firearm is to display it to show an aggressor that the potential victim is armed, which in most cases defuses the situation. The reform proposed follows the Arizona defensive display law passed in 2009, which allows people to show aggressors that they are armed, without legal peril. The proposed Florida law goes one step further and allows warning shots to be fired.

Some have argued that if it had been legal for George Zimmerman to show Trayvon Marten that he was armed, that the physical altercation could have been prevented and the Florida teenager might be alive today.

Another provision of the reform bill is to allow some teachers to be armed for the protection of children, once they have received training. The reform grants significant power to principles and school administrators to determine how the firearms would be kept on school property, and what teachers would be allowed to be armed.

Senator Alan Hays is expected to file a Senate version of the bill.

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

New York to go to court next week over gun law

Statists hate the rule of law, and the limitations that it places on the exercise of power by the government. Dean Weingarten

A gun-rights group is challenging the assault weapons ban on grounds it violates the state constitution.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A New York state judge has accepted a constitutional challenge to the so-called NY SAFE Act after opponents filed a complaint Thursday.

State Supreme Court Judge Gerald Connolly signed an order Friday directing Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders to "show cause" in court March 11 that the law should not be enjoined.

According to a gun-rights group leading the complaint, We The People of New York, Inc., 1,256 plaintiffs from 58 New York counties filed a constitutional challenge in the Albany County court Thursday. The complaint argues that Cuomo's "message of necessity," used to push the bill through the Legislature without the required three-day waiting period, included misrepresentations and violates the state constitution.

More Here

WA:Times editorial, gun control group play dangerous semantics game

Sunday’s editorial in the Seattle Times regarding a newly-created Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility plays a dangerous game of semantics to fool the public into believing that this group knows anything about true firearms safety, and is no threat to a fundamental civil right protected by both the state and federal constitutions.

The very name of the group is deceptive, as it would be more appropriate to call itself the Seattle Alliance for Gun Control. That’s what this group really is, and they know it.

Naturally, the editorial panders this group of gun prohibitionists as having “a serious infusion of talent, energy and resources.” They include Seattle City Councilwoman Sally Bagshaw, former Councilwoman Tina Podlodowski. Author and public television host Eric Liu, Seattle-King County health director David Fleming and Zach Silk, a campaign manager.

Noticeably absent is anybody described as a certified firearms instructor, or even a gun owner; anyone who might have a remote idea of what true firearms “responsibility” entails.

The editorial contains this gem: “Promoting sensible, responsible gun ownership does not trample on Second Amendment prerogatives to own firearms.”

Does anyone see something wrong with that statement? The Second Amendment doesn’t refer to a “prerogative” to keep and bear arms, it refers to a “right.” That right, according to two successive Supreme Court rulings, is an individual one, not some “collective” right of states to organize militias. It is right that shall not be infringed.

Washington State's constitutional provision protects and affirms the right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself or the state. It’s such a solid provision that when Arizona became a state, its constitution copied Washington’s language. Washington's tenet says the right shall not be impaired.

More Here

Colorado Fights Concealed Carry on Campus: Why, Exactly?

The Colorado lower house passed four gun-control bills recently, all of which were bad ideas, but at least some of these bills had something to do with a real problem: mass murder. Democrats are, of course, pursuing the wrong strategy, but there is at least some connection between recent mass murders and high-capacity magazines; it isn’t like they passed a law against staplers.

But why did they pass a bill to ban concealed-carry licensees from carrying on university campuses? What problem were they trying to solve?

I have been following the struggle over concealed carry on campus for a number of years, at least in part because I teach at a community college and I have taught at a state university in the past. While I generally feel safe on campus, I recognize something that many students figured out after the Virginia Tech slaughter. By declaring themselves “gun-free zones,” universities and colleges have essentially put up an invitation: “Madmen intent on going out in a blaze of infamy: come here to commit your crime. We guarantee that no one here will be able to legally shoot back.”

This is the one category of college crime that does worry me a bit: the insane person who decides to become famous by shooting up a place where we are sheep to be led to the slaughter. This is a low-probability, high-consequence event: I used to compare it to an asteroid collision, people no longer laugh when I say that.

The case for banning concealed carry on Colorado college campuses, according to one of the Democrats in the Colorado lower house, is essentially that women terrified of rape will just start shooting people at random out of fear. This does not seem to be a problem in Colorado as a whole; perhaps there is something about university students that makes them less intelligent than the average Colorado female? More likely, Rep. Salazar is a sexist fool.

In any case, we don’t have to wonder what the results of allowing concealed carry on campus will be. The experiment has been ongoing for some years now.

More Here

Stockman Seeks Repeal of Gun-Free School Zones Law

This step toward sanity has been totally ignored by the old media. Dean Weingarten

Texas Republican Steve Stockman is searching for co-sponsors for a bill he introduced Jan. 3 that would repeal the federal law that prohibits firearms in school zones.

Stockman, a no-holds-barred conservative member of the 1994 freshman class who returned to the House this month after a 15-year hiatus, had been working with the conservative group Gun Owners of America to craft the legislation even before the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School killed 20 children and six staff members last month.

“Not only have so-called ‘gun-free school zones’ proven to be anything but that, they appear to have placed our children in even greater danger,” Stockman wrote in a Dear Colleague letter circulated Wednesday. “Co-sponsoring the Safe School Act is the first step toward protecting our children.”

The gun-free school zones law enacted in 1990 (PL 101-647) was subsequently overturned by the Supreme Court, which ruled it exceeded congressional authority to regulate interstate commerce. A second iteration from 1995 (PL 104-208) remains in effect. The law prohibits possession of a firearm on the campus of a public or private school or within 1,000 feet of the grounds.

Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., is the sole co-sponsor of Stockman’s bill (HR 35) thus far. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., introduced similar legislation (HR 133) on Jan. 4 to repeal the gun-free school zone regulation. Other conservatives, including Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, have voiced support for such proposals, but have not officially signed on to the legislation.

“The time has come to end the deadly experiment of disarming peaceable, law-abiding citizens near schools,” Stockman said.

More Here

MO:More detail on Bank Robber shot in Trimble

LIBERTY, MO (KCTV) -

A bank robbery suspect is in a Kansas City hospital. He was shot while trying to hold up a bank in Trimble, MO.

First Security Bank is not a traditional bank where just anybody can walk in, so police said the suspect was most likely buzzed in before he pulled a gun and demanded cash. That's where things took an unusual turn.

Trimble Police Chief Larry Fish said a civilian inside the bank pulled out a gun and shot the would-be robber. --------------cut----------

Residents said Trimble is a small town and lots of people have guns and concealed carry licenses.

"He could have saved a lot of lives doing that," Patricia McWilliams said.

She said she's glad someone inside the bank was able to defend customers and staff.

"If not, he could have done worse. He could have hurt a lot more people or stolen a lot more money," McWilliams said.

More and Video Here

CA: Fleeing Felon Shot after Invading Home, Attacking Grandfather

The sheriff's office said the suspect got into a confrontation with an elderly man inside the home, and they wrestled for a shotgun.

The suspect then allegedly hit the elderly man and jumped into a pickup on the property, before the elderly man's son got the shotgun and allegedly shot the suspect, who was sitting in the truck, in only his underwear.

The suspect is reportedly in critical condition at Kern medical Center.

More Here

DC:Resident shoots intruder at P.G. apartment complex

A Forestville resident shot and injured a man who attempted to force his way into the man’s apartment late Thursday night, Prince George's County police said.

The man was “under the influence of some sort of drugs” when he went door-to-door banging on the doors of multiple apartments in the 3300 block of Walters Lane, police spokesman Cpl. Larry Johnson said.

“One resident opened the door to investigate and that’s when the suspect forced his way inside,” Cpl. Johnson said.

The resident had his gun in hand as the two got into a scuffle and he shot the intruder, police said.

More Here

MO:Armed citizen shoots suspect during attempted bank robbery in Missouri

An armed man attempted to rob the First Security Bank in Trimble, Mo. Friday afternoon, March 1, according to Kansas City’s KCTV 5 News. However, the attempt landed the would-be robber in the hospital with a gunshot wound, as he didn’t anticipate to be met by an armed citizen.

The man entered the bank, pulled a gun and demanded money. He was shot, then attempted to flee in his vehicle. Speculation is that he was shot by a bank employee, but this yet to be confirmed; only that he was shot by an armed civilian.

More Here

Joseph Vincent Eldringhoff, 27, of Topeka, was booked into the Shawnee County Jail on Saturday in connection with aggravated robbery and aggravated assault.

A man attempting to rob a central Topeka liquor store with a steak knife bit off more than he could chew Saturday afternoon when the business’ owner pulled a handgun on him.

The owner then held the would-be robber at gunpoint until officers arrived to arrest the man without further incident, Topeka police said.

Cpl. Chris Sturgeon identified the suspect as Joseph Vincent Eldringhoff, 27, of Topeka.

More Here

DE:Disarming the law-abiding is not sound gun control

For example, the Governor has proposed banning the simple possession of a firearm within 300 feet of a school. Such a law is meaningless to criminals who are likely prohibited under state and federal law from possessing a firearm in any location. The true impact of the school zone law proposed by Markell and Biden will be felt by law-abiding citizens, for whom every trip to the range or the hunting field would be akin to running blindfolded through a legal minefield. If the citizen were to stray into an area of 300 feet around any kindergarten or unmarked alternative school, the citizen would have committed a crime that could lead to financial penalties, loss of a job and a criminal record.

There is absolutely no evidence that the school zone law would provide any protection for children or anyone else. Could any rational person believe a madman intent on shooting up a school full of children (and facing the death penalty for doing so if he even planned to survive) would somehow be deterred by the fact that bringing a firearm within 300 feet of the school is illegal? Moreover, under Delaware law it is already a crime to carry a concealed deadly weapon and the penalty for that crime is enhanced if the crime occurs within 1,000 feet of a school.

More Here

FL:Cypress HS students suspended for disarming gunman?

FORT MYERS, Fla. - A 16-year-old Cypress Lake High School student, who wrestled a loaded revolver away from a teen threatening to shoot, is being punished.

The student grappled the gun away from the 15-year-old suspect on the bus ride home Tuesday after witnesses say he aimed the weapon point blank at another student and threatened to shoot him.

The student, who Fox 4 has agreed not to identify because he fears for his safety, says there's "no doubt" he saved a life by disarming the gunman. And for that he was suspended for three days.

More Here

MD:Intruder Shot By Homeowner In District Heights

According to Cpl. McKinney, a preliminary investigation indicates the injured man was banging loudly on an apartment door. The homeowner, armed with a handgun, opened the door to investigate. That's when the man forced his way into the apartment. In response, the homeowner shot the intruder who then attempted to take refuge in another apartment where he was later found by police.

No other injuries were reported.

The homeowner's weapon was recovered at the scene. Right now the incident is under investigation and charges are pending.

More Here

TN:Robbery suspect shot and killed by Dollar General Store manager

KNOXVILLE (WATE) - The grandmother of a man shot in killed Wednesday outside a Dollar General Store in East Knoxville is sharing her thoughts on the incident and how her grandson will be remembered.

Wednesday night just before 8 p.m. there was a shootout between a robber and a store manager.

According to the Knoxville Police Department, an armed robber went into the Dollar General Store on Asheville Highway and the robber demanded money from the store's safe.

The store manager complied. The shooting occurred seconds later outside the store. The shooting happened in front of the store in the parking lot.
More Here

AZ:Opportunity for Cheap Guns, Phoenix turn in events in May 2013

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton has announced that he will be arranging a gun turn in for every Saturday during the month of May. Locations have yet to be announced, or what will be used as incentives for the turn ins.

Called by the propaganda term “buy back” the programs insinuate that all firearms belong to the government, when in fact the guns were never owned by the government.

This is a prime opportunity for Constitutionalists to have fun and the possibility of picking up some decent guns for very good prices. It appears that Mayor Stanton has $100,000 to play with, donated by Arizonans for Gun Safety, a citizens disarmament group. No one is saying where the money came from, except that it was an anonymous donor.

It is easy to understand why a donor would not want their name associated with such foolishness.

If the Mayor is smart, he will follow the example of Falmouth Maine, where the guns gathered were sold, and the proceeds were given to the special Olympics.

The practice of appearing at these events has caught fire this year, with numerous activists showing up and obtaining nice firearms for good prices:

NM:More than 300 guns sold at sheriff buy back event(and private sales!)

PA:Gun Buyback Met With Competition In Bensalem.

Outside, a group of gun advocates set up a table offering a better price to people carrying high-quality weapons.

Second Gun Buyback Nets 42 Weapons

Also in front of the church were people offering to buy the guns off of people before they reached the buyback event.

ANGRY WHITE DUDE ATTENDS GUN BUYBACK COUNTER EVENT IN DALLAS

NM: City’s gun buy-back program nets hundreds of weapons

Outside the police station, a group of four or five men gathered to offer cash to people who were bringing guns in.

Gun buyback in Cincinnati collects 135 weapons

The Cincinnati Enquirer (http://cin.ci/W41mWY ) reports that a federally licensed gun dealer showed up to provide some competition. He bought a dozen weapons for $40 to $100 by standing outside the church with a sign that read “Cash 4 Guns.”

Several good deals made at Lansing Gun Turn in

MI:100+ Guns Turned in for Gun Buyback

Just outside where the buyback program was being held pro gun activists were offering cash for guns.

NM:Police harass legal buyers at Santa Fe Gun Turn In

Seattle has gun Turn in, Private buyers save guns

Tucson Gun Turn in - First Hand Account

AZ:Former Senator Offers Better Alternative to Gun Turn In

A Reader Reports from the Hartford CT Gun Buyback

Cleveland Gun Buyback Program Attracts Buyers Offering Cash for Guns (VIDEO) (OH)

The Detroit PD Doesn’t Like Competition(MI)

Gun-buying enthusiasts crash firearms ‘turn-in’ event at Memorial Coliseum(OR)

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

South Africa:Robber shot as he held girl hostage

Durban - A robber who held a nine-year-old girl hostage at her home in Sherwood on Wednesday night, was killed by the child’s father. Maseeha Baig, the granddaughter of former Sydenham councillor Yacoob Baig, was lucky to be alive after she was caught in a shoot-out between her father and the robber. She is in hospital after a bullet grazed her thigh. Maseeha had been in the master bedroom on Wednesday night when one of three men who entered her home grabbed her while his accomplices ransacked the home, looking for valuables. “I heard screaming and ran from the back of the house to the lounge,” said Ridwaan Baig, Maseeha’s father. “I told the guy to let her go but he fired at me and I pulled my gun from my holster and fired at him.” He said the bullet hit the man on his upper body and when he “stumbled and fell”, the other two men fled.

The man was pronounced dead by paramedics.

Baig said his two children, his brother, wife and mother had all been at home at the time of the incident.

“My younger brother, Raees, had been standing at the door seeing a friend off and my five-year-old son, Abdulla, was with him when three armed men came in through the open gate.”

Ridwaan said the men had told Raees to be quiet, but he grabbed Abdulla and ran screaming inside the house.

Source

Hypocrisy on ‘paperwork prosecutions’ highlighted by Reese case

Testimony in yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s “assault weapon” bill produced at-times contentious exchanges between two witnesses for the bill, U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado John Walsh, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward A. Flynn, and Sen. Lindsay Graham, particularly over the subject of non-prosecution of those who lie about their criminal histories on background checks.

“Nearly 80,000 Americans were denied guns in 2010, according to Justice Department data, because they lied or provided inaccurate information about their criminal histories on background-check forms,” The New York Times reported in January. “Yet only 44 of those people were charged with a crime.”

“How many prosecutions “have you taken up for failing a background check since you’ve been U.S. Attorney?” Graham asked Walsh, who admitted “Off the top of my head, I’m not aware of any.”

“What kind of deterrent is that?” Graham challenged. “Why aren’t we prosecuting people who fail a background check?”

More Here

Try to remember ....

LA:Citizen attacked with Hockey Stick, Shoots Attacker

The men involved in the assault and shooting incident at the Hurry Back Mart, 3200 Louisville Avenue, on Monday morning remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition.

Monroe Police Sgt. Mark Johnson said Terry Harris, 42, approached the unnamed victim around 10:30 a.m. as he was pumping gas.

Harris attacked the victim repeated with a hockey stick, causing serious head wounds. Why Harris attacked the victim is unknown.

The victim produced a firearm, shot Harris once in the torso and fled the scene in his vehicle.

More Here

CA:Police: Intruder killed by Meadowview resident in shootout (under investigation)

A Meadowview resident shot an apparent home intruder to death on Tuesday, said Sacramento police, based on a preliminary investigation.

Both men were armed.

The shootout likely happened on a front lawn just before 11:40 a.m., police said.

The resident, who was found on the same block by police, suffered nonlife-threatening injuries. Emergency crews took him to a nearby hospital, suffering from several gunshot wounds. The man is in his 20s.

Both men were armed. The shootout likely happened on a front lawn just before 11:40 a.m., police said. The resident, who was found on the same block by police, suffered nonlife-threatening injuries. Emergency crews took him to a nearby hospital, suffering from several gunshot wounds. The man is in his 20s.

More Here

Gun Free Zones: The Ugly Truth

The ugly truth is that gun free zones are not about irrational dreams of safety. They are about power and control. The irrational spouting about safety is just a way to get emotional support from those who don’t really think about the issue.

Gun free zones are just another incremental way to move toward total control. The idea is simple: make an example of a place where guns are not allowed, with no rational reason other than “we do not tolerated armed citizens *here*” . This lends legitimacy to the thought that citizens with guns are a bad thing, and the idea that more such zones should be created and encouraged. Haven't we all heard a variant of “If we do not allow guns in (school, legislature, church) then we certainly should not allow them in (school, legislature, church, parking lot, mall, store, DC.)

Gun free zones are designed to grow and spread, like small pox.

The other purpose of gun free zones is to make carrying a gun as uncomfortable, legally dangerous, and impractical as possible. Look at any map that shows the impact of the insane “Gun Free School Zone” act of 1996. In any urban area, it becomes impossible to conduct business in a normal manner while carrying a gun that is not licensed in that state, without breaking the law.

Neither of these clear purposes is discussed openly by those who detest free citizens, fear the power that they gain from carrying guns, and the independent mindset that it fosters.

Those who favor citizen disarmament base their appeal on lies, derive their power from lies, and cannot exist when their lies are exposed.

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

TX:Houston homeowner holds 3 burglary suspects at gunpoint until cops arrive

HOUSTON – A man came home Wednesday morning to find three juvenile suspects inside his northwest Houston home, police said.

It happened at about 8:30 a.m. in the 5500 block of Bent Bough near Maple Tree.

When Randy Magdeleno entered his home he said he heard voices.

“So I grabbed my rifle and I came around through here in my kitchen,” he said. “It was scary, I didn’t know what I was walking into and hearing people running around inside my house at the same time. I didn’t know if they were carrying weapons around or not.”

More Here

Why the Left hates Gun Shows

Long Lines into and out of Arizona Gun Show, 2013

Gun shows are centers of resistance to the nanny state. As resistance to the growing, all pervasive regulations and vague, impossible to decipher federal laws, grows in the heartland of America, gun shows offer a place where freedom is still practiced, and limits to State power are recognized.

At most gun shows, if you are not a gun dealer, you are allowed to sell your personal firearm to another person without special permission from the nanny state. The stranglehold on political speech by the MSM is not so tight, and opinions that are not tolerated on ABC, NBC or the New York Times are tolerated in reasoned discourse. Books that are not found at book stores may be bought, and most people there revere the Constitution.

Gun shows are where the new breed of principled, activist state organizations, dedicated to rolling back decades of unreasoned and illegitimate restrictions on the ownership and carrying of arms, have organized, recruited, and thrived.

Organizations such as the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), the Buckeye Firearms Association, the Arizona Citizens Defense League(AZCDL), and numerous other grass roots organizations have used the freedom of association of gun shows and the concentration of liberty loving Constitutionalists to build strong and effective state organizations. These organizations are staffed with volunteers, unlike the astroturf organizations of the anti-freedom forces, that consist of one or a handful of paid activists.

Volunteers man the table at the gun show where someone who wants to fight back against the nanny state, but who has been told, most of her life, that freedom is an ancient and outdated concept, finds an organization of like minded people who are making a difference at the state level.

It is amazing what the power of this grass roots organizing, with near instant communication through the Internet, and earlier, phone trees, has been able to accomplish. Legislators are realizing that the MSM has, and is, repeatedly lying to them about the popularity of citizen disarmament. They realize that their political careers can be put at risk by the large numbers of freedom fighters who actually vote, campaign, and pay attention. This has been how the concealed carry movement has gone from just a handful of states in the 1980’s to 50 states when Illinois joins (by court order) this summer (2013).

Few of those who wish us to regress toward an all powerful state, who without a hint of irony, call themselves “progressives” attend gun shows. They fear the concentration of freedom activists, and the ability to organize that gun shows offer.

Gun shows are centers for exercise of both the First and Second Amendments, which is why they are despised by the left.

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