A "Liberal" changes their mind

A liberal with a gun
by Sara Sedlacek · July 25, 2007

When I started here at the Index one of the first people to come in to talk to me (and openly make me aware of his agenda and his motivation for speaking with me) was a representative from the West Liberty Gun Club. He was a nice guy so I gave him his soapbox time. We had very differing opinions on gun control and a gun’s place in society, but he invited me to the gun club anyway.

Several weeks ago, I did a story on the West Liberty Gun Club. It was the second time I’d been out to the club. The first was for a competition and I was so confused I couldn’t write anything about it. We used that first visit as an educational experience, just to get familiar with the lingo and the people. My second visit to the gun club gave me an opportunity to do something I’d never done before and never in a million years thought I would want to do again: I shot a gun.

I’ve always thought guns were neat to look at. I always enjoyed going to the Rock Island Arsenal and seeing all the different kinds of guns, but I never wanted to shoot one. I shot BB guns as a kid but that was a long time ago and a BB gun is a heck of a lot different than a rifle.

So there I was, on that second visit, a cynical outsider with a cookie-cutter image of what “gun club people” were like. In my mind anyone who belonged to the gun club must be some kind of militant, gun-toting, camoflauge-wearing guy resembling the offspring of Ted Nugent and G.I. Joe. Not a single gun club member looked anything like G.I. Joe or Ted Nugent. In fact, most of the members I met on that second visit were children, and well-behaved children no less.

I was amazed at how seriously the kids took the competition. They were careful with and, most importantly, knowledgeable about their guns and shooting sports. They were also very calm and patient, not like any kids I’d ever seen.

It was also comforting for me to learn that most the people involved in the gun club are not hunters. Most of them are interested only in shooting sports. There were some hunters. All of them, however, had the same concerns I had about guns. They were worried about guns falling into the hands of the wrong people and people owning guns and not learning about how to care for them and use them properly. Though we had different ideas about how to solve these problems, the concern was shared.

After learning a little more myself, I was asked by members of the club if I’d like to try shooting a .22 rifle. I did and, as it turns out, I’m not a bad shot. Members of the club invited me to a ladies’ fun match, at which I placed fourth (out of only nine, two of which tied for second place. The third place winner was only 11-years old.) this past Sunday. As it turns out, shooting a gun accurately takes more concentration than I ever thought. Through this experience I’ve realized that guns are what you make of them. Guns are violent if you use them for violence. I found that it takes a certain amount of serenity and meditation to accurately fire a gun, two things I never thought could be associated with guns.

I walked into that gun club with the worst thoughts about the place and I walked out with a completely different opinion. It never hurts to try to learn a little more about the things you don’t like and the people you don’t agree with, you may find out you didn’t know enough about them to have an opinion in the first place.

Ebay becomes even more Anti-Gun

New Listing Restrictions on Gun Parts

Matt Halprin

Hello everyone…In mid-August, we will be updating our Firearms, Weapons and Knives Policy to place more restrictions around gun-related items. Once these changes take effect, we will prohibit listings of any firearm part that is required for the firing of a gun. This includes items like bullet tips, brass casings and shells, barrels, slides, cylinders, magazines, firing pins, trigger assemblies, etc. Please read the Firearms, Weapons and Knives Policy for more details on our current policy.

As you may know, eBay does not allow the listing of any items which are regulated by individual states or the federal government; however, there are still a large number of firearm-related parts that are legal and are widely available in retail stores. These items have also historically been allowed on eBay.

After learning that some items purchased on eBay may have been used in the tragedy at Virginia Tech in April 2007, we felt that revisiting our policies was not only necessary, but the right thing to do. After much consideration, the Trust & Safety policy team – along with our executive leaders at eBay Inc. – have made the decision to further restrict more of these items than federal and state regulations require.

This new update continues to encourage safety among our community members and brings our policies in the U.S. and Canada in closer alignment with our existing policies in other markets around the globe.

Sincerely,

Matt Halprin
Vice President, Trust & Safety

Dial 911 and Die!

Woman shot dead in middle of 911 call
By KATHLEEN CHAPMAN

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Sunday, July 29, 2007

BOYNTON BEACH — A woman was shot to death in front of her mother Saturday night, apparently while on the phone with 911 dispatchers.

Mittie Marie Allen, 49, was on the phone in the bedroom at her mother's home on 11th Avenue, according to Boynton Beach police. Dispatchers said they heard a man in the background ask Allen whether she had called police at 6:46 p.m. The man, who police say was her boyfriend, Anthony H. Williams, then shot her at least once in the head.

Allen rolled forward, grabbing onto the shirt of her mother, Odessa Cox, pleading for help. Cox ran into the street, where a witness saw her and called 911 at 6:50 p.m. Six minutes later, the SWAT team arrived at the house.

SWAT members entered the house at 8 p.m., but Williams was not inside. Police believe the 52-year-old lives in West Palm Beach and were looking for him Saturday night.

Williams has been to prison five times since 1977, according to Department of Corrections records, for crimes including cocaine possession, robbery, aggravated battery and grand theft. He was released most recently in August 2005.

Police ask anyone who knows Williams or where he may be to call Boynton Beach police at 561 (742-6100) or Crime Stoppers at (800) 458-TIPS (8477).

Found at The War on Guns.

Yet another reason to carry a Gun!

(If someone or something did this to one of my children, it would be dead. Period. -Yuri)

DNA Taken from Pitbull that Raped 2-Year-Old

Lockport, NY -- Police say DNA has been taken from the pitbull that attacked a toddler by allegedly sodomizing it last weekend. It was a disturbing and violent attack. The two year old child is in Women and Children's Hospital. Neighbors heard a mother screaming that her child was being raped.

Lockport police say taking DNA from the dog is part of the investigation.

Lockport Police received a 911 call from a frantic City of Lockport mother last Sunday afternoon.

The mother told Lockport Police that she left her two year old unattended for a short time and after hearing the baby scream, she ran to see what was wrong.

When she got in the room, she told Lockport Police the dog, named "Bear" had sodomized the toddler. The mother screamed, scaring the dog out of the house, but the dog was still attached to the baby.

One neighbor told 2 On Your Side, she heard the mother screaming "the dog is raping my baby." Neighbors ran to help, but only one man was able to get the dog and child apart.

Anastacio Castillo says "I tried to get the dog away from the baby, the dog was already inside the baby." When the baby was finally free, he was visibly sick. Castillo says the boy was vomiting and bleeding.

The baby was rushed to Women and Children's Hospital where the toddler underwent reconstructive surgery.

The dog is being held at the Niagara County SPCA for evalution. An animal behavior specialist is scheduled to evaluate the pitbull on Friday.

Since the attack, over 20 people have called the SPCA asking to adopt the pitbull. Hear those calls by clicking Video.

The Niagara County District Attorney's office is assisting Lockport Police with the investigation.

Miranda Workman, behavior specialist at Purrfect Paws in Amherst says, "Most likely this is not a learned behavior. Dogs in tact, not spayed or neutered have a higher hormonal drive."

She urges parents to never, ever leave their children alone with a dog.

PAST STORIES:

July 12, 2007: Pit Bull Rapes Two-Year-Old

FOLLOW UP:

July 23, 2007: Police Want Help With Pitbull Rape Investigation

Thanks to SondraK!

Gun Talk & Chat Today!

I'd like to invite everyone who reads this blog to join me for chat during Gun Talk every Sunday from 11AM - 2PM PST.

There's a good bunch of folks that chat there during the show, so come on in!

-Yuri

This just in from Canada

End the blather

By MICHAEL COREN

Another murder in a Canadian black community, this time the victim being 11-years old. And it took only moments for white liberal politicians to blame law-abiding handgun owners and, yes, the United States of America.

Handguns have to be banned, they cried, and American gun laws are too soft. This has to be a first. Canadian leftists blaming a murder in Toronto on President George W. Bush. Orders of Canada and CBC T-shirts all round.

Such drivel does not, however, explain how Norway, with one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, manages to have one of the lowest crime rates.

Or how Israel, a society where guns are extraordinarily common, has so few criminal shootings.

Or how Britain with some of the most stringent gun control laws in the world has a violent crime rate that is virtually out of control.

It's too late to play silly games any more. If handguns are the cause of all this we have to ask why there are so few shootings in, for example, the Dutch, Ukrainian, Irish, Portuguese, Korean, Hindu or African communities. Why, in fact, there are so few shootings in any community outside of the West Indian and specifically Jamaican.

Oh Lord, the man must be mad. Silence him, stop him, call in a Human Rights Commission before it's too late!

Yet there is nothing racist about seeking answers that might save the lives of young black men and much that is racist about refusing to ask basic questions for fear that politically correct credentials be damaged.

If our leaders were braver they might admit that matriarchy is a fundamental theme of Jamaican society and the levels of fatherless families in the country's urban centres are staggering. This culture has been transferred to Canada. Just as it has to other Jamaican diaspora communities, which experience similar rates of violent crime.

It might be comforting to see every young single mom as a saint who works three jobs and is devoted to her children, but positive caricatures are just as unhelpful as are negative ones.

There are such mothers of course, but also young women who party late and work little. Who find themselves pregnant as teenagers and mothers of several children, perhaps from different fathers, by the time they are adults.

Such problems occur to various extents in all communities, but when the only male role model is the gangster on the street corner with the loud car, loud clothes and loud gun, the chances of leading a law-abiding life are minimal.

Made even harder by a dysfunctional obsession with disrespect.

A gesture or a harmless comment can indicate lack of respect and the need to shoot. Just last week in London, England, three young black men shot a doorman point blank in the face three times because he politely asked them not to smoke. Hard to believe that this was the result of oppression, racism and lack of government programs. Especially as the victim was himself black.

Poverty? Spare me. It is deeply insulting to assume that the poor are criminals.

Also ridiculous to assume that there is genuine, crippling poverty in a country with free education, health care and subsidized housing.

If we care we will halt the platitudes and try to help. No more patronizing blather, no more false scapegoats. If we care we will risk being called names. If we care.

Thanks to Irons in the Fire!

Gun Sales Rise After Cheshire Home Invasion

Security Company Says Phones Ringing Off Hook

NEWINGTON, Conn. -- State gun sales have shot up in the days after the wife and two daughters of a prominent Connecticut physician were killed, according to a local gun shop owner.

Scott Hoffman runs Hoffman's Gun Center on the Berlin Turnpike. In the past few days, following the triple homicide in Cheshire, Hoffman said that people have been rushing to his store to buy guns for themselves and their homes.

"They're scared," he said. "They're scared for their own personal safety and their family's safety, their children's safety and they want a way to protect themselves."

Hoffman said that the most popular weapon for both men and women looking to defend themselves is a defense-grade shotgun. Hoffman credited the gun's popularity to the short waiting period -- it can be obtained in two weeks as opposed to waiting 90 days for a pistol permit.

"We sell about 8,000 guns a year, and I'd say a majority of them are for self-defense," he said.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Jessica Schneider reported that residents questioning their sense of safety following the home invasion have also been calling companies that install security systems.

Joe Mitchell of Associated Security Corp. said his company's phones have been ringing off the hook.

"I had 15 phone calls on my phone by 9:30 in the morning," he said.

He said that security systems aren't meant to protect valuables anymore, that many people use them to protect their lives.

(Yet another reason I carry a gun. I'm not saying that they would have been able to save themselves, but the odds would have been more even. Follow the links at the bottom of the linked page to read more about this senseless tragedy. -Yuri)

Sticking it to the anti's! :-)

A “BEST BUY” in Chicagoland

Where else can you turn this...


…into a bunch of pre-paid $100 MasterCards.



On Saturday, July 21, Chicago held its largest and most generous city-sanctioned gun buy of junk and orphaned firearms. The organizers paid $100 for each firearm, regardless of age, functionality or type. Turn in locations were situated at 23 churches throughout the city.

GUNS SAVE LIFE PARTICIPATED!

Guns Save Life participated in this worthy event, attracted by the offer of $100 pre-paid credit cards for any firearm!

Guns Save Life, also known as Champaign County Rifle Association, is a regional civil rights organization famous for its Burma-style highway signs along highways and interstates throughout Illinois and beyond.

Some of our more talked about slogan sets include:

ROSES ARE RED
MY GUN IS BLUE
I SLEEP SAFE
HOW ABOUT YOU?

GUN CONTROL
IS RACE CONTROL
NOT CRIME CONTROL
AND ITS UNAMERICAN

DIALLED 9-1-1
AND I'M ON HOLD
SURE WISH I HAD
THAT GUN I SOLD

My story.

by John B.

I left Champaign-Urbana at 0530 with 27 guns in my trunk and one on my hip. Given that Chicago Police reportedly now receive one vacation day and a $300 bonus on their paychecks for each gun they confiscate, I was very cautious. Visions of a car accident and subsequent police contact and discovery of the guns in my trunk filled the back of my mind. It would surely earn me the label of "gun runner" and incarceration in the disease-ridden bowels of Chicago’s city jail.

I'm sure the eyeballs first officer to find said guns would be wide with glee:

"Hoo YAH! Cha-CHING, BABY! I just got a month and a half off and a free trip to Aruba!"

I had 23 guns to turn in and didn’t want to take them all in at once as I expected that would raise suspicions. So I decided to visit three or more turn-in locations to “spread” things out. You know, take five or so into each location until I ran out of guns or they ran out of credit cards.

I had a map with turn in locations listed and had planned to be there at 0800, so as not to get there after they ran out of cards (as almost happened to us in Joliet a few years ago when we got there at 0930 or so). I went to the best location proximate to I-90/94 and found myself in the heart of the bad-news ghetto in Chicago. Fortunately, the city’s thugs were sound asleep at this wee hour. I found the door locked at the church and nobody around. Called 311 and found that the event started at 1000.

I killed some time by reconnoitering the second location I planned to transact business with and found a drugstore for a restroom. Returned to location #1 and guardedly read a couple of chapters of “Godless” by Ann Coulter. Towards 1000, there were a lot of folks around looking like they were going to be turning stuff in, so I grabbed two bags (of five) out of the trunk and went to the door at 1000 sharp. Didn’t want them to run out while I’m standing there with a bunch of guns. Didn’t figure they’d take too kindly to me walkin’ out with a bunch of guns in Wal-mart bags (hey, I double bagged them!) if they didn’t have enough cards.

I stood in line there listening to a bunch of hopeless sheep bleat for half an hour. It repulsed me. "I've been blessed," one man said. "When things happen around me, like shooting or people screaming, I don't even look up."

"I figure if something's gonna happen to me, it's gonna happen," he concluded.

Won’t look up if he hears a woman screaming? How pathetic is that?

Now, Chicago officials would probably tell you this program is helping to get guns out of the hands of criminals in one way or another. Well, the average age of the folks waiting in line there was about 60 and I’m not sure anyone there didn’t have at least some gray hair. Heck, tne fella next to me was on oxygen and at least one lady had a cane. These were law-abiding folk. Typically, they were there with a gun that had been in the attic or closet for the last thirty or forty years. They were not criminals or dope slingers who would use a gun to victimize anyone.

Sure, a burglar might have stolen a gun they came across, but do we worry about our cars being stolen and used in crimes that result in good people getting hurt?

You think about those things when you’re standing in the middle of some lousy ghetto in Chicago, disarmed and standing on a sidewalk with two bags full of guns, waiting for them to get around to opening, late.

They finally opened at 1030. They let us in, two at a time. I was first with a real gun... or ten, in this case. Older, but very nice, cop played the gun expert, but it was clear he was no expert. I had to help him show clear on many of the guns as he was painfully slow in his inept effort at opening old wheelguns. After professing an ignorance about guns, I had to pretend to fumble around with the mechanisms. I threw in a few muzzle sweeps for good measure to make it look good. I did keep my finger off the trigger though.

He took all ten, including the starter pistol, as real guns. Yes, a cheap .22 blank pistol that might have been used at a high school track match long ago. Not my problem that he gave us $100 for that pistol. He was just glad and happy I could show him empty cylinders, as he was initially taking about two or more minutes per gun to check them (until I started fumbling and sweeping) and there were lots of folks waiting outside.

They gave me ten credit cards and thanked me profusely, falling all over themselves to tell me what a great thing I was doing and I reciprocated, encouraging them to do it again!. I stuffed the envelopes into my back pocket after folding them.

I noticed that she was pulling the envelopes out of a box which contained an estimated 200 envelopes. ($100 x 200 = $20,000 x 23 locations = About a half-million in support of this program from someone. Looking back, it seems like a pretty fair estimate!) Separate box for the $10 cards for pellet guns and replicas. Similar number of envelopes there.

I left the building in condition orange, watching for any thugs waiting to ambush anyone coming out. The suspicious character watching me carefully with my two bags of guns wasn’t there any longer. Got into the car across the street and was giddy with excitement. I had just sold $10 worth of scrap plus maybe a $50 5-shot .22 "affordable" wheel gun for $1000! It seemed too good to be true!

On to location #2. I was a little worried, since I was a half-hour behind schedule, thanks to the late open at the first church. Still no thug-types on the sidewalks even though it was approaching 1100. I had reconnoitered the location #2 earlier, so it was effortless to find after a few minutes and a single turn. Found a parking spot fairly close to the door.

That was a good thing, because I had nine long guns in two bags, plus another small bag of handguns to go and I was still deep in the rough part of the nation’s murder capital (or close runner up). About forty awkward pounds of rusty (s)crap. I mulled over whether or not to split this into two take-ins (at location #2 and then #3), but decided that based upon my warm reception at location #1, I'd just take them all in.

Oops. One rusty revolver fell out of one of the bags on my way in and skittered across the sidewalk. Ah, crap. I picked it up and palmed it. Whew! Glad nobody saw that.

In I went, greeted warmly. "Whoa! I see you've got some guns!" says the lady at the door. She must have noticed the barrels sticking out of the plastic bag or maybe the rusty clunker in my palm. Clearly, she must have been a detective.

Waited in line, watching "the room". Hot shot young guy was clearing the guns on the table by the door. Very "friendly", but invasive at the same time. Classic "good cop". I’m sure he’d be a good buddy – if you were a fellow cop.

Guns were getting really heavy. I put them down. Whew!

Finally, after the 70-year-old man ahead of me has a pump action bird gun and a single-shot break-open shottie checked, it’s my turn.

I hand the bag with the sawed-off rifle and a pistol or two in it to the hall monitor after asking her ever-so-sweetly if she could hand the bag to the “nice young man” otherwise identified as Hotshot while I dragged forty-plus awkward pounds towards the table. She did, handling it like it had fresh dog feces inside.

"Hey, howya doin'" he greets me. "All these unloaded?"

"I dunno. I think so. I'm not real big on guns." My toes were crossed.

He has trouble getting the guns out of the duct-taped bag. I instinctively reached for my blade, which was not there because its four and a half-inch blade would have landed me in the slammer in disarmed-victim Chicago. Instead, I had my little Spyderco in my pocket (not clipped), but I wasn’t going to let them grab that as its blade was 2 1/2 inches long (also in violation of the 2” rule in Chicago).

“One of you guys got a knife to help him open this up?” I asked.

They all looked at one another like I just asked them for a gold brick or something. Not one of five cops had a blade. How sad.

Finally, some little old lady brings a pair of $1.00 scissors and Hotshot cuts the tape, with some difficulty.

He starts checking them, and notices the rust on his hands from a couple of really choice specimens. You could get tetanus from these if you had any open sores.

"Didja hit a bunch of pawn shops or something?" He asked. "Hey, Benny, come look at these."

Benny comes over and starts sweating me. He's playing "bad cop" in a restrained way. Same questions, only a lot more assertive. "Where'd you get all these? You buy them to bring here?"

They broke me in about as long as it takes in CSI or one of those other cheesy TV cop shows for David Caruso’s character to break down the bad guy’s will.

"Uh. No, they aren't really mine. They belonged to my grandfather and his father. I sold the decent ones and had this stuff in the attic for a long time until I saw you guys were giving $100 cards for any old guns."

Midway through his clearing of the guns, Hotshot motions for me to come closer while he was holding one of the guns.

"Hey, did you know this one was one of our sniper rifles from World War II?" he asked. "See this here," he noted, pointing at the elevation mechanism for the broken rear sight, "this is the windage adjustment."

I think I was able to keep a straight face, but it was really hard.

"Wow. If I'd have known that, I mighta kept that one," I replied. It was a broken down, 60s-era, hardware-store, tubular-fed .22 long rifle pump gun with the tube hanging out of the receiver. I later told this to the guy who donated this gun to the club, and he laughed. "It must have been a one-of-a-kind custom gun!" he said with a hearty laugh.

After showing clear on all thirteen, Benny showed me to the "money table." Similar number of envelopes, only the box was only 2/3 full here. Another woman was busy making notes for each of 13 envelopes and putting labels on the guns. I sashayed over to the other end of the table and had a peek at the "pistol" box. Total junk. Pot metal wheel guns. Maybe a couple of S&Ws, but more likely, just patent-infringement guns from no-name makers. No modern semi-autos.

"Hey you, get over here." Oops, they caught me eyeballing their treasure.

I sheepishly returned.

They gave me the envelopes and watched suspiciously as I verified the count. Gave them a big thumbs up and a smile and turned to leave. It was like they had formed a reception line behind me. Four or five of the women wanted to shake my hand and thank me profusely. Even took my photo with a big shot there. I remembered to stick my middle finger out a lot further than the rest of my fingers while trying to hold a fanned out stack of envelopes for the photo.

Ugh! Got out of there and I ran out of hand sanitizer and baby wipes in the car wiping the funk off my hands.

PLEASE NOTE: Everyone, including the CPD officers were very polite and kind (well, with the exception of ‘Benny’ who was trying to grind me at a “no questions asked” event, but he was still an okay guy). They all meant well, even if they weren’t nearly as proficient in handling firearms as they thought they were.

In my opinion, they should secure some of those “safe zone” pads or maybe old body armor as a safe backstop when handling these very old and possibly malfunction-prone guns (because of rusted firing pins or other issues). They might also do well to ask for firearms aficionados to help to volunteer to show these guns clear, because clearly (pun intended), the folks I witnessed fooling around with these guns were about in over their heads. Of course, it will be a cold day in hell before any of the “noble” class as for help from the peasants in Chicago.

We would like to thank the City of Chicago and George Soros, or whoever underwrote this program for their generosity. We think it will result in a safer society, just not exactly in the way Mayor Daley would have you believe.




EPILOGUE

So, Guns Save Life ended up netting $1700 worth of MasterCards from the event after those who split their donations with the club were “paid” in cards. The club has sold a dozen of its own cards to members for cash.

The last five of the cards are going to be spent at Darrell’s Custom Guns in Cayuga, IN for two CZ bolt-action .22s to be given away to two lucky kids participating in the NRA Youth Shooting Camp coming up over the first weekend in August.

All of the money (and then some) will be spent purchasing ammo for the kids to use during the camp or the rifles. The camp, located in Bloomington at Darnall’s, is the longest running NRA Youth Shooting Camp in the nation.

NRA Youth Shooting Camps teach young people gun safety and safe and responsible firearm use. Kids get a chance to shoot shotguns, rifles, handguns, black powder guns, archery and so much more as instructed by State and/or NRA Certified Instructors (like me) and/or Olympic-level shooting coaches.

I’m proud to say that Guns Save Life is a major supporter of Darnall’s NRA Youth Shooting Camp, donating thousands of dollars in ammunition to shoot, firearms as prizes for the kids, and dozens of volunteers including numerous instructors and staff. I’m quite proud to say that I’m vice-president of the organization and couldn’t be prouder at what we’ve accomplished this last two weeks. We rounded up these guns on short notice, executed our plan to sell them to Chicago and converted the gun sale money into education for young people about the safe and responsible use of firearms.

It’s sweet poetic justice here for Mayor Daley’s CPD Gun Buy.

You accounting wizards have probably figured out that I didn’t turn in the personal defense pieces that I keep in my trunk, especially when going to dangerous places like Cook County. No, I love my Garand. There are many like it, but this one is mine. As is my Beretta.

And they sure weren’t getting the pistol in my fanny pack!

John

...clicky...

Thanks to Sharp as a Marble for the link.

A glimpse inside the mind of the enemy.

Limelight: Washington Ceasefire
Re-calibrating gun control
By Daniel Levisohn
(Commentary by Yuri)

(Something tells me these people need to talk to the JPFO, or possibly a Warsaw Ghetto survivor, it might change their attitude a little bit. You'd also think they would learn a thing or two from Jewish history on the need to keep and bear arms. Instead, they stick they're heads in the sand and hope that everything turns out alright. -Yuri)

This upcoming weekend, employees of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle will quietly commemorate the one-year anniversary of the shooting at its downtown office building.

For Seattle’s Jewish community, July 28, 2006 was a traumatizing introduction to gun violence, both in the scale of the attack and in the alleged shooter’s anti-Semitic motivations. But, even as the shooting was premeditated with the goal of killing Jews, looking back it is also clear the event created waves outside of the Jewish community. For starters, several of the women shot that day were not Jewish, but had intertwined their lives with Jewish causes. Many non-Jewish organizations also came to the Federation’s aid. In a year scarred again and again by the indiscriminate murder of innocent people at the hands of men with guns, the shooting linked Seattle’s Jews to other victimized communities. From the Capitol Hill Massacre to the murder of young Amish schoolchildren to the rampage at Virginia Tech, America’s senseless tolerance of guns was on full display. Taken together, the bloodbaths should have provided a timeline of evidence that our nation’s gun laws need to change — fast.

(I agree. All gun laws are unconstitutional and need to be repealed immediately! -Yuri)

Sadly, transforming the United States of American is a process that is often frustratingly slow. In Washington State, a hope emerged that an overwhelmingly Democratic state legislature might actually make guns more difficult for dangerous people to acquire by passing a plug to the gun-show loophole — a hope driven by so much common sense, it is almost comical that such a law was not passed and remains a political dream.

(This just goes to show that even though the Democrats may be in charge, common sense will still prevail. -Yuri)

Washington Ceasefire is the organization that should be leading the effort to tighten Washington’s gun laws, but in the last few years its own leadership says it has “struggled in the wilderness.” But at a fundraiser on Tuesday, July 17 at the Big Picture, they made a show of beginning to change that. They’ve brought in a new board and a new executive director, Kristen Comer, a young lawyer originally from Spokane who has worked on the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. They’ve also taken the first steps to revamp their strategy. Comer said that within five years we will see a reduction in the number of firearm deaths in Washington.

(The only way I see this happening is if more people start CCW'ing and/or the state makes it easier to carry concealed. Criminals love unarmed victims. -Yuri)

Jew-ish spoke with Comer a few days before the fundraiser.


Jew-ish: A lot of people thought that in 2007 the legislature might actually get something done about gun violence. Can you talk a bit about what happened?

K.C.: I think last year it was traditionally the things that make it difficult. A lot of the time there is not enough political will. The people in the legislature are concerned their constituencies will be upset with them if they enact certain types of gun-control measures, and oftentimes on the other side of the issue their voices are much louder than those who are on our side of the issue.

But I think the tide is changing specifically after the shooting at Virginia Tech. People are realizing there are many loopholes in our laws right now and there are many ways to prevent senseless acts of violence.

(First of all Kristen, my rights are not a loophole, and secondly, you know as well as anyone that if Cho's victims had been legally allowed to CCW on campus, that day at VT didn't have to end the way it did. -Yuri)

Jew-ish: How active was Jewish community on this issue?

K.C.: We certainly worked quite a bit with the Seattle chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women. When we had our committee hearing for the gun-show loophole legislation, I know there were many members of the Jewish community who came to Olympia and showed their support for the legislation. I know it’s also still on the radar screen of the Jewish community as an issue that is important and as an issue to address.

(I was there at that hearing and Pro rights supporters outnumbered those who would take our freedoms away 3:1. It was actually quite heartening. -Yuri)

Jew-ish: Is Washington Ceasefire changing its plans for this upcoming year?

K.C.: We are trying to recalibrate the organization right now because we are in the middle of a change. Our organization going forward is going to have a foundation based upon three different organizational categories: One is a legal component. That will include any sort of legal research to better define what sort of legislation would pass muster and be least likely to be challenged constitutionally in Washington State. We are doing our homework on that front. We are also doing legal research into policy areas we think might be successful that we haven’t considered before. For example, we are looking at how we might influence policy not only at the state level but on a local level as well. In Seattle or Spokane or wherever it might be.

(It's like the old saw about How to Boil a Frog. If you toss him into hot water he'll jump out, but if you bring the heat up gradually you'll have boiled frog for dinner. This just goes to show why even the smallest anti-gun law can be allowed to pass. As time goes on, more and more small laws add up to be one big law and we'll have lost our rights forever. -Yuri)

Jew-ish: Is there more leeway to work locally?

K.C.: That’s part of what we are looking at right now. We have created a legal committee that is staffed with several talented attorneys and we have them doing research right now to figure out what our best alternatives will be.

One of the other prongs is the legislative portion. That is really undefined right now. I think we will probably try to close the gun-show loophole again. (I'll see you in Olympia if you try this again Kristen! -Yuri) But our legislative agenda isn’t set yet for next year. We are going to be meeting with some of our allies in the legislator over the next couple of months to better define what our goals will be is ’08 and ’09 after the elections have occurred.

The third part is our learnedness component, and that’s just getting back to the facts. We know the facts are in our favor. We know that in the United Sates we have the weakest gun laws and the highest rates of gun ownership, and we also have the highest rate of gun violence of any industrialized nation. And we know we can change that. We are going to look at the facts, and try to take the issue into a more credible arena: this is what we know, and this is why gun violence is important to you as an individual person.

(Care to back up these assertions with facts Kristen? No? I didn't think so, because you have none! -Yuri)

Jew-ish: Has Washington Ceasefire focused on the gun-show loophole because the organization feels it is politically achievable or because it thinks it would have a big impact?

K.C.: I was not here when the organization set that as its primary legislative ambition. So I can’t speak as to why that specific policy choice was chosen over many others. But what I do know is that on the face of it seems like a very sensible regulation. If you are purchasing a firearm from a licensed dealer and you have to undergo a background check, the same should be true when you are purchasing firearms at a gun show. There are many loopholes. It is just one in the many loopholes we have when enforcing the laws.

(Ignoring the fact that less than 1% of crime guns come from gun shows, she still lies. It doesn't matter whether you buy retail or at a gun show, if you buy from an FFL you still have to pass a background check. The only exception to this is private sales, and gun shows are not the only place that private sales are allowed. Many guns are sold at garage sales or through classified ad's. After she closes the "Gun Show Loophole" is she going to close the "Newspaper Loophole" too? -Yuri)

Jew-ish: Is there evidence that a significant portion of firearm violence comes through the gun-show loophole?

K.C.: The facts are very, very mixed and that is part of what we are pushing for this learnedness component of our new mission going forward. I know the ATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] put out a study a few years ago that showed that a significant portion of gun purchases at gun shows turn up later in crimes. It’s an easy way for people who can’t buy guns to show up and buy guns without a check.

(Again she lies. Show me the study Kristen. -Yuri)

Jew-ish: Is there anything else you want to tell our readers?

K.C.: We feel there is a lot of really good momentum going in our direction and we think in the next couple of years this issue is going to change. We think that Virginia Tech was shocking to people and rightfully so. And [the House of Representatives] just passed its first major peace of what people are calling gun-control legislation last month. It was the first bill they passed in probably 10 years, since the assault weapons ban, so actually 13 years. So that’s very encouraging. We feel that that sort of momentum will trickle down to the state and local level. And we have a strong mayor and police chief who really believe in our cause, too.

(Notice the repeated dancing in the blood of the VT victims for her own political gain. She also neglects to admit that the "Assault Weapons Ban" only banned certain cosmetic features and the same guns continued to be sold with some minor changes. She further neglects to admit that very few if any crimes were actually committed with these so called "Assault Weapons". I'm surprised she doesn't come out and try to label them "Fully Automatic Machine Guns" like her pal Josh Sugarman.

Folks, we cannot for one second stop in our struggle to keep our rights from going the way of the DoDo. The anti-rights crowd will never stop, and neither should we.

Hmmm... I wonder if the Police Chief ever found his gun?

-Yuri)

What am I?

My Conservative Identity:

You are an Anti-government Gunslinger, also known as a libertarian conservative. You believe in smaller government, states’ rights, gun rights, and that, as Reagan once said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’”

Take the quiz at www.FightLiberals.com

Color me surprised...

Thanks Tamara!

Proof you don't need a brain to work for the Government

Report: Man with Almost No Brain Has Led Normal Life

(Okay, almost no brain! -Yuri)

French doctors are amazed that a 44-year-old civil servant with an abnormally small brain has led a normal life with a slightly lower than normal IQ, according to a report on Physorg.com.

Doctors said the father of two went to the Hopital de la Timone in Marseille with mild weakness in his left leg. He was given a CT scan and an MRI, which showed that his cerebral cavities or ventricles had massively expanded, according a case history to be published in Saturday's Lancet.

"The brain itself, meaning the grey matter and white matter, was completely crushed against the sides of the skull," Dr. Lionel Feuillet told AFP. "The images were most unusual... the brain was virtually absent."

The condition is called Dandy Walker complex and is a genetically sporadic disorder that occurs in one out of every 25,000 live births, mostly in females. Although many with Dandy Walker develop dramatic symptoms from the condition, such as an enlarged skull, jerky muscle movements and problems with the nerves that control the face, the condition also can develop unnoticed.

Doctors believe this man's condition could stem from surgery he had at the age of 6 months, when he suffered hydrocephalus or water on the brain and needed an operation to drain a buildup of spinal fluid.

Subsequent tests have revealed that the man has an IQ of 75, with a verbal IQ of 84 and performance IQ of 70. The bulk of people in society have a minimum IQ of 85.

San Francisco gets even more irrelevant.

Supervisors approve tough gun measure

Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

San Francisco's already tough laws on firearms will get even stronger -- becoming some of the most restrictive in the country -- after a vote at City Hall Tuesday. But even new restrictions won't do much to stop the gun violence escalating on city streets, one sponsor of the new laws said after the vote.

The violence that has been generally confined to more crime-plagued neighborhoods crossed into a major tourist area Monday afternoon, with a shooting that left one person dead and put bullet holes through the front window of a popular restaurant.

Gun-related homicides, injuries from shootings, and gun crimes in and around schools are becoming increasingly common, according to the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice.

The laws -- which gained final approval from the Board of Supervisors -- would restrict both the sale and possession of firearms.

Specifically, they would prohibit the possession or sale of firearms on city property, require firearms in residences to be in a locked container or have trigger locks and require firearm dealers to submit an inventory to the chief of police every six months.

The last provision is intended to allow city officials to know how many guns are sold, though there is only one gun shop in the city.

"We're pleased that, as soon as the mayor signs this, San Francisco has the strongest anti-gun laws in the nation," said Nathan Ballard, spokesman for Mayor Gavin Newsom. The mayor sponsored the legislation, along with Supervisors Sophie Maxwell and Ross Mirkarimi.

Despite the laws, however, Mirkarimi said he doubts they will quell the kind of violence that erupted on Monday afternoon, which police suspect may be tied to a feud between a San Francisco gang and an East Bay gang.

The shooting happened at the corner of Ellis and Cyril Magnin streets, across from the Hilton hotel and near the Powell Street cable car turnaround.

"Nobody should be surprised about the migration and proliferation of gun violence in San Francisco," Mirkarimi said. "We've been saying this for two-and-a-half years, that the murders, homicides and gun violence that have been occurring in the more routine areas ... have now migrated into other areas."

The number of shootings resulting in nonfatal injuries continues to rise, with 269 such incidents in 2005 and 303 in 2006. As of May 10 of this year, there were 105.

Supervisor Maxwell said the new restrictions, which passed 8-3, are separate issues from the violence in the streets. Supervisors Aaron Peskin, Chris Daly and Ed Jew voted "no."

While the mayor has praised these new restrictions, he only expressed tepid support for Proposition H in 2005, which would have required gun owners to surrender their weapons to police and would have made it illegal to buy and sell firearms and ammunition in the city.

Voters passed the proposition with 58 percent in favor, but it is tied up in court after the National Rifle Association challenged its constitutionality. Newsom said the vote amounted to a "public opinion poll."

The gun owners association did not return a call for comment on the new restrictions Tuesday afternoon.

Peskin said he didn't support the laws because he believes they will have no impact.

"It is silly feel-good legislation with no teeth," Peskin said.

Daly has questioned Newsom's commitment to gun control, noting that the mayor wasn't a strong backer of Prop. H, which Daly sponsored.

Jew said sufficient laws already are in place and he questioned the further use of city resources on the issue in the wake of challenges to Prop.

The ATF in action!

Thanks to David Codrea of The War on Guns and his anonymous source, we get our first ever look at ATF Area Supervisor Linda Young on site at Red's Trading Post. I will reserve all comments about the photo, as I think it speaks for its self.

Ladies and gentlemen, your tax dollars at work...

Shoot a machine gun, Raise money for the GOP

GOP fundraiser to feature machine gun shoot

By SCOTT BROOKS
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
Tuesday, Jul. 24, 2007

MANCHESTER – City Republicans will be packing some serious firepower at their next party fundraiser.

Tired of the usual chicken dinners, the Manchester Republican Committee is planning to arm supporters next month with Uzis, M-16 rifles and other automatic weapons for a day of target practice at a Pelham firing range.

"The thought just struck me one day: a machine gun shoot. What the heck?" said Jerry Thibodeau, the committee chairman.

Thibodeau, who is himself a hunter and skeet shooter, pitched the Aug. 5 event as a fun social gathering, as well as a demonstration of the party's support for Second Amendment rights.

The concept prompted shudders across the political aisle. Chris Pappas, the city Democratic party chairman, called the event "not just in poor taste; it is downright offensive."

"The citizens of Manchester have lived through a deadly spike in violent crime the past year-and-a-half, despite the campaign promises of (Mayor) Frank Guinta to lower crime rates," Pappas said. "That the mayor's political party would seek to glorify the use of machine guns for political gain is unconscionable."

The GOP fundraiser will be held at the Pelham Fish and Game Club. Proceeds, Thibodeau said, will be split among the party, the club and the gun supplier.

Republican party leaders are hoping for a strong showing of both novices and experienced shooters. The cost to participants is $25, plus fees for ammunition and parking.

Each of the Republican Presidential candidates was invited, Thibodeau said, but all declined, saying they'll be busy preparing for the following weekend's much-ballyhooed straw poll in Ames, Iowa.

"I really tried to get Rudy Giuliani there," Thibodeau said. "Because I'll tell you, this is a guy that can't relax."

Bob Shaunessy, who chairs the Pelham club's class-3 weapons committee, says he expects shooters will get to select from a range of submachine guns, including Uzis, MAC-11s and Swedish K's, as well as M-16 and AR-15 rifles.

Twenty safety experts, called "range officers," will be on hand to load the guns and monitor the shooters, Shaunessy said. On-site instruction will be required for all participants.

"My first and foremost goal is that everybody who walks in walks out," Thibodeau said.

Few may be more excited about the event than the man who conceived it.

Thibodeau, who recently celebrated his 60th birthday, said he has not fired a machine gun in 40 years.

A Seacoast native, Thibodeau was exposed to guns at an early age. His father, he said, was a machine gunner in Guadalcanal during World War II.

Thibodeau's own experience with machine guns began at 18, he said, when a friend and his father took him out to fire rounds in a sand pit.

The experience, he said, was powerful.

"It's a way of expressing yourself, I guess," he said. "We all have a little testosterone in us, right?"

And yet, he said, many of the people responding to the event advertisements have been women.

The city committee's executive director, Kelly Hurst, said she, too, is excited about the chance to fire a machine gun for the first time.

No stranger to guns, Hurst said she carries a small pistol for personal protection, but notes, "I've never felt a need to carry a machine gun down the street with me."

"It's very different," Hurst said. "I don't know when anyone else, man or woman, may get an opportunity to do this."

Manchester Republicans have several other social events in the works. The committee recently launched a monthly mixer, known as "Thirsty Thursdays," at Murphy's Tap Room on Elm Street.

Other events are more family-friendly. A Sept. 16 rally at Veterans Park will include face painting, rock climbing and, Thibodeau said, an inflatable "moon walker."

"It's about people meeting people," Thibodeau said. "Get the heck away from the computer, get the heck away from work. Come on out and talk to people."

Just like roaches...

Several blogs that link to or post information about the ATF's vindictive attempt to close down Red's Trading Post have been getting visits from the DOJ (ATF). The only possible reason for this is to try and dig up dirt on Red's Trading Post and Ryan Horsley, or to intimidate others in the gun culture into silence.

In fact, recently, they filed with the court that they felt intimidated someone had dared take their picture while they were there, and cobbled that together with an anonymous comment by one of his readers (since removed) and some exaggerated hand wringing as to how they feared for their safety. Give me a break!

I too have received a visit from the DOJ concerning Red's Trading Post. While I find it creepy, and I feel slightly soiled by the experience, their attempt at intimidation isn't going to work.



I encourage all of my readers to go read the Red's Trading Post blog and while you're at it, read the related entries from The War on Guns.

Oh, and does anyone know where I can get a good price on some size 12 Wingtips and a can of Raid?

LOL

Why I don't use Remington Thunderbolt .22lr

I didn't take this video, but it illustrates why I don't use Remington Thunderbolt .22lr in my guns. To be fair, I have not had problems with any other Remington Products.

I personally recommend Federal copper plated .22lr in the bulk pack, or Federal Premium Gold Medal Target .22lr, which is what I shoot in my modified Ruger 10/22. It's 1MOA or less at 100 yards with the Adams & Bennett match barrel on it.

I guess I can kiss that Remington sponsorship goodbye! ;-)

The rest of the story...

Norfolk and visitor with a holstered .45 are tangled in a Catch-22

By MATTHEW ROY, The Virginian-Pilot
© July 22, 2007

NORFOLK

Chester Szymecki Jr. was waiting for some music to start at Harborfest when a sheriff's deputy approached.

It was a warm June afternoon, and thousands of people wandered on and off the tall ships moored around Town Point Park. Szymecki had come from Yorktown with his wife, their three children and two children from their neighborhood.

Szymecki had brought along something else, too - a .45-caliber handgun in a holster on his belt.

The deputy asked Szymecki whether he was a police officer. He said no. And then, he said, uniformed city police began closing in. They gave him a choice, he said: Leave the event or face arrest. When he tried to say that there must be a mistake, he was disarmed and led away, handcuffed, he recalled.

Szymecki was charged with violating a local ordinance that the City Council had passed in May, which set up rules to govern Harborfest. Among them was a provision banning handguns and other weapons.

There's just one problem: A few years ago, the General Assembly barred localities from enforcing laws governing the carrying of firearms. That meant state law prevailed. And in Virginia, "open carry" is legal.

Localities today generally do not have the authority to restrict guns, said Mark Flynn, director of legal services for the Virginia Municipal League. A state law last amended in 2004 says localities cannot adopt or enforce laws regarding the purchase, carrying, possession, storage, or sale of firearms.

Szymecki was given a summons and released. When he showed up for court June 22, the case was withdrawn at the request of an assistant city attorney.

The case has enraged the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun rights group that has successfully challenged local gun restrictions around the commonwealth. Szymecki is a member. In the past the group has protested Norfolk's attempts to prevent the carrying of weapons in city parks.

Philip Van Cleave, the president of the league, says members plan to crowd the City Council chambers in protest at a future date.

The ordinance, he said, was "a huge mistake."

City Attorney Bernard Pishko said the city is not attempting to challenge the state law by imposing restrictions on handguns.

Pishko described the gun ban in the Harborfest ordinance as an oversight, a "housekeeping" issue. "This is one that we missed," he said. An ordinance governing Afr'Am Fest in May contained the same restrictions on weapons. Both ordinances were in effect only for the few days the events ran.

Pishko said his office has since advised police that "the only gun laws in effect for Norfolk are those in effect for Virginia."

Szymecki said the incident has changed the way he views the police. He said he plans to file a lawsuit and have a "neutral court" decide whether police violated his rights.

Matthew Roy, (757) 446-2540, matthew.roy@pilotonline.com

We're from the government...and we're here to help!

Now That's a Shotgun!

It's actually called a "Punt Gun", google has lots of information on them... :-)

Thanks to xavier for the video!

Boo, Frickin' Hoo!

The ATF & me

By Steve Bailey, Globe Columnist | July 20, 2007

There is an epidemic of handgun violence in Boston's poorest neighborhoods, and the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating me?

Consider this my confession. I plead guilty to offending the loony gun lobby.

In the likely event you missed this alleged story, here are the facts. You be the judge.

Twenty months ago, a lifetime in columnist time, I wrote in this space about going to a gun show in New Hampshire. The idea was to see how easy it would be to buy a handgun just across the border from Massachusetts, which has some of the toughest gun laws in the country. The answer: not very hard at all.

I went with John Rosenthal, the Boston gun-control advocate the gun lobby loves to hate, a cop named Andrew Heggie, and a former prison guard, Walter Belair. I also took my kids, who got in free. The cereal makers may be cutting back on marketing to kids, but the gun industry knows it is never to early to target the next generation.

We shopped till we dropped. Someone beat us to the used grenade launcher (price: $190), but it took Belair, a New Hampshire resident and licensed gun owner, less than 20 minutes to complete the purchase of a trashy little .38-caliber revolver, perfect for a night out in Dorchester. The gun, which retails for $349, was bargain-priced at $240, which I had given to Belair. (And, of course, expensed to the Globe.)

Belair could have bought 100 guns in tax-free, no-limit New Hampshire that day, and I could have put them in my trunk and driven (illegally) home. That was exactly the point I was making. That is not what I did. Belair took the gun with him; I'm afraid of guns.

You would have thought I burned Johnny Pesky's jersey at Fenway Park. I got hundreds of vitriolic e-mails and phone calls from the live free and die bunch. No other column in a decade has approached it for hate mail, and that's saying something. In general, these are exactly the people I'd rather not see armed. In January I wrote about a 14-year-old boy who was gunned down on Bowdoin Street. Not a word of outrage from this crowd.

This was all ancient history until 10 days ago when Rosenthal and I talked about our trip to the gun show on WRKO-AM's "Finneran's Forum," where I am a daily (paid) guest. The loonies went off again. On Wednesday the Second Amendment Foundation issued a press release headlined: "SAF calls for firing of Boston Globe columnist in straw purchase." It asked the ATF to open an investigation.

(It turns out that Alan Gottlieb, the foundation's founder and the guy who thinks I should be fired for unethical conduct, was convicted in 1984 for filing a false tax return, a felony. His right to possess a gun was later restored through an ATF program that gave felons a second chance. Gottlieb says the case should have been a civil matter; he says he settled the case for $18,000. But that's another story.)

Coincidence or not, you decide, two ATF agents and a Manchester, N.H., cop visited Belair at his work the same day. They had a search warrant and a tape of the radio interview. They wanted to know about the gun, Rosenthal, and me. Belair told them the gun was at home; they went there later in the day, and confiscated it. They did give him a receipt.

Jim McNally, a spokesman for the ATF's Boston office, declined to comment.

This is how it works. Intimidation is the stock in trade of the National Rifle Association and all the NRA knock-offs out there. Dare to say we need fewer, not more guns in this country, dare to say we need a uniform system for monitoring gun sales in this country and you become a target to be hunted down. Democrats and Republicans have allowed themselves to be cowed by this one-issue bloc for too long.

The list of what ails America's poor urban neighborhoods is long. Start with the disaster of children bearing children, our scandalous dropout rate, and the drugs that are everywhere. But the flood of guns belongs prominently on that list, too. Count me as a proud member of the gun lobby's hit list.

Steve Bailey is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at bailey@globe.com or at 617-929-2902.

(Thanks to Irons in the Fire for the heads up.)

NBC News Report on The Black Rifle

In general it's lukewarm to positive with unchallenged "anti" rhetoric thrown in, but for NBC it's not that bad.

Armed America

www.armedamerica.org

Where Gun Registration and Banning Lead!

This is so sad...it almost makes me want to cry! -Yuri

New Gun Grab Scheme Exposed

Gun Banners Try New Tactic on Dealers; BATF Aims to Bankrupt Honest Sellers

By Mark Anderson

A tyrannical trend has rocked the world of Second Amendment supporters. The oldest still-operating gun store in Idaho, Red’s Trading Post in Twin Falls, is being targeted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), a relic from the days of Prohibition that is setting its sights on law-abiding firearms sellers, nitpicking over clerical errors to wage a war of attrition.

More troubling still is the fact that this appears to be part of an organized campaign to force gun dealers out of business across the country.

On March 5, 2007, Red’s license to acquire firearms was to be revoked. However, for the time being, in accordance with a federal judge’s injunction in favor of Red’s, the store can continue selling firearms as it has done for the last 71 years. Red’s first opened its doors in 1936, under the management of a great grandfather of Ryan Horsley, a current owner.

U.S. attorneys currently are asking U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge to terminate his May 2 injunction that allowed Red’s to continue full operations.

“We’ve spent $70,000 [on legal fees] so far . . . and there’s still no court date,” Horsley told American Free Press on July 11. He believes the ATF and U.S attorneys want to avoid setting a court date since the feds might lose the case and receive unwanted publicity.

Their tactic appears to be: Find clerical glitches, if any, make court filings and exhaust Red’s finances.

“They’re trying to win by attrition,” said Horsley, adding that every legal rebuttal to the citations from each ATF visit costs the store $5,000 to $6,000.

In granting the injunction, Lodge noted: “The ATF speaks of violations found during the inspections of 2000 and 2005, but fails to reveal that additional investigations in 2001 and 2007 revealed no violations or problems.”

He also acknowledged Red’s statement that ATF is exaggerating Red ’s conduct by “double counting” certain violations. The judge also looked at the balance of the ATF’s hardship compared to Red’s hardship and found that the relative hardships tip sharply in the store’s “favor.”

“A 2004 audit by the ATF claims to have uncovered several minor clerical errors. Out of nearly 10,000 firearms transferred between 1996 and 2004, the alleged error rate found was not even a full percentage point. There were no missing firearms, and no willful illegal acts,” notes a statement from Red’s web site.

“This is not just happening to us though and is becoming a common trend throughout the United States.”

DETAILS, DETAILS

Horsley, who said the feds are using a 2005 audit to go after the store, recalled the contradictory and capricious way ATF agents conducted themselves that year.

He explained that he was first told the store’s files should be kept “pretty much alphabetically” but in date-of-purchase chronological order within each letter (A, B C, and so on, according to the buyer’s last name).

Sometime later, ATF agents looked at the same files and did not cite the store with violations.

But during a third inspection, Horsley related that ATF agents told him, “We’re writing you up for not having them in perfect alphabetical order,” meaning that the chronology suddenly no longer matters.

According to Horsley, who worked directly with ATF personnel, the supervisors can overrule the inspectors and re-interpret policies in the process—the very policies used to determine what constitutes a violation.

So the law enforcement agency fiddles with the law, in essence rewriting it to suit its needs at a given time, said Horsley.

He added that when the ATF came in during 2005, the store was cited for not having posters and pamphlets that state handguns are dangerous to children and for not making sure gun buyers indicated their county of residence on government forms used for cataloging firearms purchases.

“We had a 99.6% success rate for the 2005 audit,” Horsley told AFP. He added that another detail raised by ATF agents was whether a box was checked on the forms indicating the type of gun that was purchased (handgun, long gun, or whatever).

One form did not have the box checked. “They searched through 10,000 forms and found one violation of that,” he said. Not having the right literature in the store and the unmarked box on a form prompted agents to designate Red’s as “a threat to public safety,” hence the continuing legal action against the store. Lodge, however, shot back that the store is not a threat to public safety.

A key thing in the law is the word “willful,” said Horsley. The ATF must prove applicable laws were willfully violated as opposed to the few inadvertent oversights and errors that occurred at Red’s.

LARGER CAMPAIGN?

Some say the ATF, while it seems to just be nitpicking over T’s not crossed and I’s not dotted, is actually engaging in a campaign to close gun stores across the country, especially since other approaches, such as cities and other entities suing gun manufacturers and distributors to pin the blame on them when guns are misused, have not worked.

Horsley cited Violence Policy Center (VPC) figures that showed an 80% decline in the number of new federally licensed firearms dealers from 1994-2005. And the ATF’s own figures, he said, show that between 2001 and 2006 revocations of federal firearms licenses, or FFLs, shot up to a rate six times above the norm.

A March 2006 VPC press release noted: “The number of gun dealers in America has dropped by 190,726 since 1994 according to a new study released . . . by the VPC.

The study found that the number of Type 1 FFLs plummeted 78% from 245,628 in 1994 to 54,902 in 2005.”

The Type 1 FFL is the basic federal license required to sell guns in America.

A competitor in Twin Falls, Blue Lakes Sporting Goods was forced out of business in the same manner; however ATF agent Richard Van Loan never allowed the store to appeal the ATF’s decision. It was not until the urging of Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) that Blue Lakes was allowed to have an appeal, but by then they were in the middle of their “going out of business sale,” Horsley noted.

Red’s Trading Post is at 215 Shoshone St. S., Twin Falls, ID 83301. Phone: 208-733-3546.

American Free Press reporter Mark Anderson can be reached at truthhound2@yahoo.com

Ten things non-gun people should know about CCW holders

1. We don't carry firearms so that we can ignore other basics of personal safety. Every permit holder that I know realizes that almost all dangerous situations can be avoided by vigilance, alertness and by simply making wise choices about where one goes and what one does. We don't walk down dark alleys. We lock our cars. We don't get intoxicated in public or hang out around people who do. We park our cars in well lighted spots and don't hang out in bad parts of town where we have no business. A gun is our last resort, not our first.

2. We don't think we are cops, spies, or superheroes. We aren't hoping that somebody tries to rob the convenience store while we are there so we can shoot a criminal. We don't take it upon ourselves to get involved in situations that are better handled by a 911 call or by simply standing by and being a good witness. We don't believe our guns give us any authority over our fellow citizens. We also aren't here to be your unpaid volunteer bodyguard. We'll be glad to tell you where we trained and point you to some good gun shops if you feel you want to take this kind of responsibility for your personal safety. Except for extraordinary circumstances your business is your business, don't expect us to help you out of situations you could have avoided.

3. We are LESS likely, not more likely, to be involved in fights or "rage" incidents than the general public. We recognize, better than many unarmed citizens, that we are responsible for our actions. We take the responsibility of carrying a firearm very seriously. We know that loss of temper, getting into fights or angrily confronting someone after a traffic incident could easily escalate into a dangerous situation. We are more likely to go out of our way to avoid these situations. We don't pull our guns to settle arguments or to attempt to threaten people into doing what we want.

4. We are responsible gun owners. We secure our firearms so that children and other unauthorized people cannot access them. Most of us have invested in safes, cases and lock boxes as well as other security measures to keep our firearms secure. Many of us belong to various organizations that promote firearms safety and ownership.

5. Guns are not unsafe or unpredictable. Modern firearms are well made precision instruments. Pieces do not simply break off causing them to fire. A hot day will not set them off. Most modern firearms will not discharge even if dropped. There is no reason to be afraid of a gun simply lying on a table or in a holster. It is not going to discharge on its own.

6. We do not believe in the concept of "accidental discharges". There are no accidental discharges only negligent discharges or intentional discharges. We take responsibility for our actions and have learned how to safely handle firearms. Any case you have ever heard of about a gun "going off" was the result of negligence on somebody's part. Our recognition of our responsibility and familiarity with firearms makes us among the safest firearms owners in America.

7. Permit holders do their best to keep our concealed weapons exactly that: concealed. However, there are times with an observant fellow citizen may spot our firearm or the print of our firearm under our clothes. We are very cognizant that concerns about terrorism and crime are in the forefront of the minds of most citizens. We also realize that our society does much to condition our fellow citizens to have sometimes irrational fears about firearms. We would encourage citizens who do happen to spot someone carrying a firearm to use good judgment and clear thinking if they feel to need to take action. Please recognize that it's very uncommon for a criminal to use a holster. However, if you feel the need to report having spotted a firearm we would ask that you please be specific and detailed in your call to the police or in your report to a store manager or private security. Please don't generalize or sensationalize what you observed. Comments like "there's a guy running around in the store with a gun" or even simply "I saw a man with a gun in the store" could possibly cause a misunderstanding as to the true nature of the incident.

8. The fact that we carry a firearm to any given place does not mean that we believe that place to be inherently unsafe. If we believe a place to be unsafe, most of us would avoid that place all together if possible. However, we recognize that trouble could occur at any place and at any time. Criminals do not observe "gun free zones". If trouble does come, we do not want the only armed persons to be perpetrators. Therefore, we don't usually make a determination about whether or not to carry at any given time based on "how safe" we think a location is.

9. Concealed weapon permit holders are an asset to the public in times of trouble. The fact that most permit holders have the good judgment to stay out of situations better handled by a 911 call or by simply being a careful and vigilant witness does not mean that we would fail to act in situations where the use of deadly force is appropriate to save lives. Review of high profile public shooting incidents shows that when killers are confronted by armed resistance they tend to either break off the attack and flee or choose to end their own life. Lives are saved when resistance engages a violent criminal. Lives are lost when the criminal can do as he pleases.

10. The fact that criminals know that some of the population may be armed at any given time helps to deter violence against all citizens. Permit holders don't believe that every person should necessarily be armed. We recognize that some people may not be temperamentally suited to carry a firearm or simply may wish not to for personal reasons. However we do encourage you to respect our right to arm ourselves. Even if you choose not to carry a firearm yourself please oppose measures to limit the ability of law abiding citizens to be armed. As mentioned before: criminals do not observe "gun free zones". Help by not supporting laws that require citizens to be unarmed victims.

..clicky..

How can this be?

Scotland tops list of world's most violent countries

By Katrina Tweedie

A UNITED Nations report has labelled Scotland the most violent country in the developed world, with people three times more likely to be assaulted than in America.

England and Wales recorded the second highest number of violent assaults while Northern Ireland recorded the fewest.

The study, based on telephone interviews with victims of crime in 21 countries, found that more than 2,000 Scots were attacked every week, almost ten times the official police figures. They include non-sexual crimes of violence and serious assaults.

Violent crime has doubled in Scotland over the past 20 years and levels, per head of population, are now comparable with cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg and Tbilisi.

The attacks have been fuelled by a “booze and blades” culture in the west of Scotland which has claimed more than 160 lives over the past five years. Since January there have been 13 murders, 145 attempted murders and 1,100 serious assaults involving knives in the west of Scotland. The problem is made worse by sectarian violence, with hospitals reporting higher admissions following Old Firm matches.

David Ritchie, an accident and emergency consultant at Glasgow’s Victoria Infirmary, said that the figures were a national disgrace. “I am embarrassed as a Scot that we are seeing this level of violence. Politicians must do something about this problem. This is a serious public health issue. Violence is a cancer in this part of the world,” he said.

Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan, head of the Strathclyde Police’s violence reduction unit, said the problem was chronic and restricting access to drink and limiting the sale of knives would at least reduce the problem.

The study, by the UN’s crime research institute, found that 3 per cent of Scots had been victims of assault compared with 1.2 per cent in America and just 0.1 per cent in Japan, 0.2 per cent in Italy and 0.8 per cent in Austria. In England and Wales the figure was 2.8 per cent.

Scotland was eighth for total crime, 13th for property crime, 12th for robbery and 14th for sexual assault. New Zealand had the most property crimes and sexual assaults, while Poland had the most robberies.

Chief Constable Peter Wilson, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, questioned the figures. “It must be near impossible to compare assault figures from one country to the next based on phone calls,” he said.

“We have been doing extensive research into violent crime in Scotland for some years now and this has shown that in the vast majority of cases, victims of violent crime are known to each other. We do accept, however, that, despite your chances of being a victim of assault being low in Scotland, a problem does exist.”

The Gang Trailer

Here is the Trailer for the JPFO Documentary The Gang. If you are a gun owner or value your Second Amendment rights then you must see this movie.

Criminals Love Gun Control!

More meaty goodness from Fox News' "The Half Hour News Hour!"

Make your own Gun-Free Zone!

...and watch the criminals run away!

More on Washington D.C.'s Appeal

D.C. to Appeal Handgun Case to High Court

By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 16, 2007; 2:44 PM

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced today that the city will appeal to the Supreme Court to uphold a long-time ban on handguns that was overturned by a lower court in March.

"The handgun ban has saved many lives and will continue to do so if it remains in effect," Fenty said at a morning news conference.

(If this is so, then how come Washington D.C. is the murder capitol of the USA? -Yuri)

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit found three months ago that the city's prohibition against residents keeping handguns in their homes is unconstitutional. In May, the full appeals court declined a petition from the city to reconsider the panel's decision.

There is no guarantee that the Supreme Court will even hear the city's appeal. The high court has not ruled on a Second Amendment case since 1930, D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer said. She said she consulted numerous legal experts before recommending to Fenty (D) two weeks ago to appeal the case.

While many have said that the city should fight the appeals court ruling, some cautioned that a defeat in the Supreme Court could carry severe ramifications across the country for other cities whose gun control laws could overturned.

"We're right on the law," said Singer, adding that the city's ban on most handguns will remain in effect during the appeals process.

"Wherever I go, the response from the residents is, 'Mayor Fenty, you've got to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court,' " Fenty said.

The city's three-decade-old gun ban was challenged by six D.C. residents who said they wanted to keep guns in their homes for self-defense. The District's law bars all handguns unless they were registered before 1976; it was passed that year to try to curb gun violence, but it has come under attack since then in Congress and in the courts.

Alan Gura, an attorney who represented the plaintiffs in the case that overturned the gun-ban, predicted the high court would affirm the lower court's decision.

"We're very pleased the case will go to the Supreme Court," Gura said. "We believe it will hear the case and will affirm that the Bill of Rights does protect the individual."

A central question the D.C. case poses is whether the Second Amendment protects an individual's rights to bear arms. Experts say that gun-rights advocates have never had a better chance for a major Second Amendment victory, because a significant number of justices on the Supreme Court have indicated a preference for the individual-rights interpretation.

Singer said she expects to receive legal assistance from several high-profile Constitution experts, as well as other cities. She said she will ask for a 30-day extension on the deadline to file her appeal with the Supreme Court, pushing that date to Sept. 5.

"If the U.S. Supreme Court decides to hear this case, it could produce the most significant Second Amendment ruling in our history," Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said in a statement. "If the U.S. Supreme Court follows the words of the U.S. Constitution and the Court's own precedents, it should reverse the Appeals Court ruling and allow the District's law to stand."

It's happening - Washington D.C. to appeal!

BREAKING NEWS -- Washington D.C. Will Appeal To Keep The City's Gun Ban!

As many know, the 30-year gun ban in the District of Columbia was overturned two months ago by a U.S. Court of Appeals. Just yesterday (July 15) on "Tom Gresham's Gun Talk," I interviewed Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, about this decision, and we speculated on whether D.C. mayor Adrian M. Fenty would appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Today, Fenty said, "We have made the determination that this law can and should be defended."

WHAT'S AT STAKE

This case hinges on whether the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution applies to people or to governments. In a twisted interpretation, several lower courts have ruled that the Second Amendment ("A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed") is the ONLY amendment which does not spell out rights guaranteed to people. For some reason, these courts have decided that the founding fathers, having just fought a terrible war of independence from a strong central government, wanted to guarantee that only the government had a right to have guns. Go figure.

When the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans stated (in the Emerson case) several years ago that the Second Amendment was an individual right, it stirred up a hornet's nest. Following that, the U.S. Justice Department under John Ashcroft adopted the position that the Second Amendment was an individual right.

This all came on the heels of 20 years of law journal articles which supported the individual right position, and even famed constitutional scholar Lawrence Tribe changed his book on constitutional law to reflect the current thinking -- that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to firearms.

Now, the D.C. Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the individual right position, putting it in conflict with other circuit courts -- a perfect setup for this case to be heard by SCOTUS.

This is high stakes poker, friends. The Supremes could rule that individuals have absolutely no right to firearms. It could go the other way. Or, as some think most likely, it will rule to uphold the lower court decision (or refuse to take the case, letting that decision stand), and leave us with a better-but-uncertain outcome. Why? Because the D.C. court ruled that while the District's gun ban was unconstitutional because it was a total ban, that some gun control laws are legal, as long as they are "reasonable."

And there lies the challenge.

All sides of the gun rights issue will spare no expense to work on this case. This may be the big one that activists have wanted, and yet have feared.

You can bet we'll be talking about it on "Tom Gresham's Gun Talk" in the coming weeks, and we'll keep you up to date.

Keep your powder dry!

Tom Gresham