Quote Of The Day



Smith and Wesson (SWHC) released their earnings report for the fiscal year ending April 30th yesterday. With the growth in gun sales over the past three years, you would expect that they did well and they did. Net sales figures for the 4th Quarter were up approximately 38% over the same quarter in the prior year. Fiscal year net sales for 2013 were up 43% over FY2012.

So who should they thank for their sales growth? John Nolte at Breitbart has this to say:

It is hard to judge who Smith & Wesson should thank most: Gun-grabber President Obama, murdered-child-exploiter Piers Morgan, or insufferable-sell-out Joe Scarborough. Or maybe the gun maker should just send a big fat bouquet to all of the media:

JournOlist HQ

Hollowed-Out Volcano Lane

Water Carrier, DC 66666

Actually, Smith & Wesson should be and likely is grateful to a nation of Americans who instinctually understand and appreciate their God-give right to not be bossed around, intimidated, or swayed by a bunch of hypocritical, bossie-pants, fascists who hide behind armed guards in secured high-rises.

 In what is generally a down day for Wall Street, S&W stock is up approximately 5% at midday.

Bloomberg Loses In Nevada

While Bloomberg’s billions were enough to “persuade” both houses of the Nevada Legislature to pass SB 221, it wasn’t enough to “convince” Gov. Brian Sandoval (R-NV) not to veto the bill. SB 221 provided for universal background checks on all transfers in Nevada.

Bloomberg had blanketed Nevada with his lobbyists and spent a lot of money on ads pushing Sandoval to sign SB 221. However, Gov. Sandoval, who had pledged to veto the bill even before it passed, seems to have listened to callers to his office instead.

It is a significant defeat for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun control advocacy group, Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns, which spent hundreds of thousands of dollars working to get the bill passed.

The group bought numerous ads on social media sites, news websites and television, in addition to mailing out materials attacking select lawmakers who voted against the bill during the session. Video ads pressuring Sandoval to sign the bill surfaced immediately following the Assembly nod of approval.

But an automated system set up to field the flood of calls to the governor’s office about the bill showed an overwhelming majority of calls wanted Sandoval to veto the bill. The system did not record names, so it was possible for callers to call multiple times and distort the numbers.

 The gun prohibitionists are still clinging to their mythical 86% of Nevadans in favor of the bill and are castigating the governor for ignoring their push poll.

Repeating an oft-cited result of a poll showing 86 percent of Nevadans favor background checks for private party gun sales, critics said Sandoval has made an unpopular decision.

“Clearly Gov. Sandoval is going against the will of the people,” said Brian Fadie, executive director of ProgressNow Nevada, a group that favored the bill’s passage. “He is standing with extremists who are mostly filled with paranoid fears of the government taking away their guns.”

 Gov. Sandoval, in his veto message found here, said that the bill’s measure on the reporting of mental health issues were very good. However, he goes on to say that that bill’s background check provisions “constitute an erosion of Nevadans’ Second Amendment rights under the United States Constitution and may subject otherwise law-abiding citizens to criminal prosecution.” He adds that the bill would also alter the burden of proof for illegal sales of firearms under Nevada.

I congratulate Gov. Sandoval for vetoing the bill and for recognizing the “flypaper” nature of this bill written by Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors. These transfer provisions were never meant to stop crime but are intended to create a new class of inadvertent criminals ultimately leading to the loss of their rights under the Second Amendment.

Obama Cancels Safari To Tanzania

I know the thought of Barack and Michelle going on safari in Tanzania conjures up confusing images. It does for me. I just can’t see the anti-gun metrosexual president stalking a lion or shooting a charging Cape Buffalo with his Holland and Holland or Westley Richards double rifle in .500 Nitro Express while being urged on by both Michelle and his professional hunter.

According to the Washington Post, the White House decided to cancel the safari part of his African trip due to “costs”. Those costs would include snipers to kill any lion or cheetah that got too close to the First Family.

The president and first lady had also planned to take a Tanzanian safari as part of the trip, which would have required the president’s special counterassault team to carry sniper rifles with high-caliber rounds that could neutralize cheetahs, lions or other animals if they became a threat, according to the planning document.

But officials said Thursday that the safari had been canceled in favor of a trip to Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, where Nelson Mandela was held as a political prisoner.

When The Post first asked White House officials about the safari last week, they said no final decision had been made. A White House official said Thursday that the cancellation was not related to The Post’s inquiries.

“We do not have a limitless supply of assets to support presidential missions, and we prioritized a visit to Robben Island over a two-hour safari in Tanzania,” said spokesman Josh Earnest. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t do both.”

Internal administration documents circulated in April show that the Obama family was scheduled to go to both Robben Island and the safari park, according to a person familiar with the plans.

 I’m sure President Theodore Roosevelt is spinning in his grave. After all, when he went on safari it was for more that two hours and, by God, he carried his own rifle which was a Winchester 1895 in .405 Winchester.

Army’s Individual Carbine Competition Canceled

Soldier Systems is reporting that the Army has decided to cancel the Individual Carbine competition. This was the Army’s search for a replacement for their current carbines the M4 and M4A1. The cancellation was done because none of the contenders made a high enough score to make it to the next round of the competition.

From the Army’s release:

The IC program consisted of a three-phased competitive strategy to determine whether industry could provide a best-value, improved alternative to the M4A1 carbine. Phase I consisted of reviews of vendor proposals and non-firing evaluations of bid samples. All vendors successfully met Phase I criteria. In 2012, the Army commenced Phase II of the competition, which subjected IC candidates to rigorous evaluations that tested the extreme limits of weapon performance in such areas as weapon system accuracy, reliability, and durability. For Phase III, the Army planned to award between zero and three contracts for weapons meeting Phase II requirements for further environmental and operationally oriented Soldier testing. Upon completion of all testing, the Army planned to conduct a cost benefit analysis between the top performing competitor and the M4A1 carbine.

At the conclusion of Phase II testing, however, no competitor demonstrated a significant improvement in weapon reliability — measured by mean rounds fired between weapon stoppage. Consistent with the program’s search for superior capability, the test for weapon reliability was exceptionally rigorous and exceeded performance experienced in a typical operational environment.

Based upon Army analysis, test results may have been affected by interaction between the ammunition, the magazine and the weapon. The Army’s existing carbine requirement assumed use of the M855 ammunition; the weapons tested in the IC competition all fired the next generation M855A1 Enhanced Performance Round (EPR) currently in fielding. The use of the M855A1 round likely resulted in lower than expected reliability performance. These effects are unique to testing conditions and are not known to affect the reliability of any weapon in the operational environment.

The remaining monies from this program will now be reallocated to other Army budget priorities. There is some speculation that this is the real reason they ended the competition.

The end result is that that Army will continue to field the M4A1 and will not be buying such weapons as the FN SCAR, the Remington ACR, or the HK 416 or the like. Colt Defense and Adcor Defense were also in the competition.

HB 937 Passes NC Senate And Goes Back To House For Concurrence

The North Carolina Senate passed HB 937 today on its Third Reading and have sent it back to the House of Representatives for their concurrence. They also rejected an amendment by Sen. Angela Bryant (D-Nash ) which would have allowed the disclosure of non-personal statistics regarding Concealed Handgun Permits including the number of applications, revocations, and denials by both county and Zip code.

While the final roll call vote has not been posted yet, Sean is reporting the final vote was 31-16. After the House concurs, it will go to Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) for his signature. There has been no indication that he opposes the bill.

CalGuns And SAF Challenge Microstamping Requirement

The CalGuns Foundation and the Second Amendment Foundation have filed a Second Amended Complaint in their case challenging Califorinia’s Handgun Roster. The amended complaint in Pena et al v. Cid now also challenges the handgun microstamping requirement.

From the CGF release:

CGF Challenges CA Handgun Microstamping Requirement in Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit

SAN CARLOS, CA – The Calguns Foundation announced today that attorneys for it and co-plaintiff Second Amendment Foundation have filed an amended complaint in the federal civil rights case Peña v. Cid that includes a challenge to California’s handgun microstamping regulations.

The plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment will be argued by the court’s deadline in November.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2009 as a challenge to California’s handgun “Roster” regulations that arbitrarily bans handguns based on a list of “acceptable” handgun models approved by the state. The new filing addresses microstamping, which makes it even harder for Californians to legally purchase a handgun for self defense.

Gene Hoffman, chairman of The Calguns Foundation, said, “California’s attempt to limit the availability of handguns to her citizens is so broad that it makes it impossible to purchase the revolver that the U.S. Supreme Court has specifically ruled had to be registered to Dick Heller, whose case struck down the District of Columbia’s handgun ban and affirmed that the Second Amendment protects an individual civil right.”

“The state cannot dictate that some common arms can’t be bought just as they can’t dictate which versions of religious texts are acceptable,” Hoffman added. “Now that the state requires microstamping, it’s unlikely any new make or model of pistol will be added – making it even clearer that this is an incremental ban on firearms.”

“When the case was originally filed,” SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb recalled, “the state’s microstamping requirement was not active and was not part of the lawsuit. However, because of substantial delays involving the Ninth Circuit’s protracted Nordyke litigation, microstamping is now a significant issue. We’ve had to amend our complaint to address this new effort by California legislators to limit the types of handguns one can legally purchase.”

The amended complaint can be viewed at http://ia700204.us.archive.org/23/items/gov.uscourts.caed.191444/gov.uscourts.caed.191444.53.0.pdf

The May 17, 2013, California Department of Justice Information Bulletin on handgun microstamping regulation enforcement can be viewed at http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/firearms/infobuls/2013-BOF-03.pdf.

More information about the Peña v. Cid lawsuit can be viewed at http://wiki.calgunsfoundation.org/Pena_v_Cid.

“Industry Leading Firearms Manufacturing Company” Is Considering Rockingham County, NC

The Town of Mayodan and the Rockingham County Partnership for Economic and Tourism Development have announced that an industry-leading firearms company” is considered locating a major facility in Mayodan. The unnamed company will be hosting an open house on June 18th for potential employees. They are trying to find out if there are enough qualified employees to staff the plant.

As I posted in mid-May, Ruger had announced at their Annual Meeting that they had narrowed their search for their third manufacturing plant down to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas. One of their major requirements was an existing manufacturing facility of approximately 250,000 square feet. Rockingham County has approximately six available facilities that would meet this qualification according to a list from
Rockingham County Partnership for Economic and Tourism Development. Mayodan has two facilities on this list that were former Unifi Textile plants. 


Rockingham County is also home to the headquarters of Remington Arms/Freedom Group which has about 200 employees in Madison. However, as WGHP MyFox8 reports, the company considering Mayodan is not Remington.

Officials have not disclosed what the company is, but Graham Pervier, president of the RCPETD, said it is not Remington Arms.

Pervier could not say how many jobs would be created as a result of the possible expansion, but he said it is “a substantial number.”

The company is now working to decide whether the region has enough qualified candidates to support the expansion, Pervier said.

Town officials in Mayodan are quite excited about this possible new company and are strongly urging potential candidates to send their resumes.

“We’re pretty excited about what this could mean for our community,” Mayodan Town Manager Michael Brandt said. “This offers the potential to reuse one of our existing buildings and provide hundreds of much needed jobs for the area.”

Brandt said the amount of support demonstrated in this early candidate screening process would be a major determining factor in the company’s decision on location.

“So we really need people with the right skills and experience to apply as soon as possible,” Brandt said. “There’s a short timeframe here and we want to show the workforce is here and ready.”

The latest unemployment reports show that Rockingham County has a 10% unemployment rate. Mayodan, which is located in western Rockingham County, is located equidistant (or about 30 miles) from both Greensboro and Winston-Salem.

Finding Paul Revere

Kieran Healy is a sociologist at Duke University. He just published a satirical blog post on using social network analysis to track down Boston radicals. Only it was not radicals from the 21st century Boston but rather those 1772 Boston.

I have been asked by my superiors to give a brief demonstration of the surprising effectiveness of even the simplest techniques of the new-fangled Social Networke Analysis in the pursuit of those who would seek to undermine the liberty enjoyed by His Majesty’s subjects. This is in connection with the discussion of the role of “metadata” in certain recent events and the assurances of various respectable parties that the government was merely “sifting through this so-called metadata” and that the “information acquired does not include the content of any communications”. I will show how we can use this “metadata” to find key persons involved in terrorist groups operating within the Colonies at the present time. I shall also endeavour to show how these methods work in what might be called a relational manner.

The analysis in this report is based on information gathered by our field agent Mr David Hackett Fischer and published in an Appendix to his lengthy report to the government. As you may be aware, Mr Fischer is an expert and respected field Agent with a broad and deep knowledge of the colonies. I, on the other hand, have made my way from Ireland with just a little quantitative training—I placed several hundred rungs below the Senior Wrangler during my time at Cambridge—and I am presently employed as a junior analytical scribe at ye olde National Security Administration. Sorry, I mean the Royal Security Administration. And I should emphasize again that I know nothing of current affairs in the colonies. However, our current Eighteenth Century beta of PRISM has been used to collect and analyze information on more than two hundred and sixty persons (of varying degrees of suspicion) belonging variously to seven different organizations in the Boston area.

Rest assured that we only collected metadata on these people, and no actual conversations were recorded or meetings transcribed. All I know is whether someone was a member of an organization or not. Surely this is but a small encroachment on the freedom of the Crown’s subjects. I have been asked, on the basis of this poor information, to present some names for our field agents in the Colonies to work with. It seems an unlikely task.

The post shows the power of social network analysis to shift through metadata to find the key players in an organization, their linkages, and centers of influence. Just as importantly the post will give you an idea of how it works. It is hard to criticize something if you don’t know how it works.

So when you hear all the disclaimers from President Obama or Rep. Mike Rodgers (R-MI) or Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that they didn’t listen to anyone’s phone conversations or read Grandma’s forwarded emails, it doesn’t matter. The metadata is all they need to convict anyone of us in abstentia of “crimes against the state” – or what they would have you believe are crimes.

On an off-topic, side note, I’ve always pondered the use of social network analysis to find the linkages amongst the gun prohibitionists. It certainly would be interesting.

UPDATE: This post by DaddyBear is a must read about the NSA revelations. His military time was spent in signals intelligence working alongside the NSA. Moreover, the current head of the NSA, Gen. Keith Alexander, was his battalion commander when he was in Germany.

H/T Instapundit

HB 937 Comes Up For A Vote In The NC Senate Today

HB 937 with the Senate Judiciary I Committee substitute language comes up for its Second Reading vote in the North Carolina Senate today. The Senate goes into session today at 3pm so the vote should happen sometime this evening. I just sent my State Senator a note encouraging him to vote for it which I anticipate that he will.

This bill does many things as the alert from Grass Roots North Carolina outlines below (see also Sean’s detailed analysis of the bill). Despite what the gun prohibitionists and some in the media might want you to believe this bill does not allow you to carry concealed on educational property and it doesn’t allow you to carry concealed while drinking alcohol in a bar or restaurant. What it does do is allow you to store your firearm in a locked vehicle while on educational property and it allows you to enjoy a nice meal in a restaurant that serves alcohol while carrying concealed.

From GRNC:

Senate improves on HB 937

House Bill 937 passed the NC Senate Judiciary I Committee today and will head for the Senate floor as early as tomorrow. Please see below for immediate actions required.

Due to the efforts of Senator Buck Newton (R- , GRNC ****), Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger (R-Guilford, Rockingham, ****) and Senate Rules Chair Tom Apodaca (R, Henderson, ****), the version passed by the committee was far stronger than what left the House.

Although debate was limited, when asked for public comment, the chief of security for the University of North Carolina, along with security heads from all 17 campuses stood, in uniform, to express “concerns” about the bill’s campus provisions. Afterward, GRNC president Paul Valone addressed the committee by noting that UNC objections to campus carry on the premise that it would harm their ability to “protect” students rang false in light of the fact that violent crime on campuses across the state, plus attempts by two schools to suppress reports of violent crime, reveal that UNC is doing a poor job of “protecting” anyone.

GRNC wishes to thank Senate leadership for working with our organization to strengthen laws, better enabling lawful North Carolinians to protect themselves and their families.

Improvements to HB 937

In addition to restaurant carry, guns in locked vehicles in state-owned parking lots and a limited provision for guns in locked vehicles on state college campuses, all of which were in the House version of the bill, the Proposed Committee Substitute passed by the Senate:

  • Expands the guns-in-locked-vehicles provision for concealed handgun permit-holders (CHP-holders) to include all campuses rather than simply institutions of higher learning. As before, employees of the institution living in detached dwellings could still transfer firearms to and from their homes, but also added is a limited measure for employees who do not have CHPs.


  • Enables CHP-holders to carry at assemblies of people for which admission is charged and any establishment serving alcohol unless the person in control of the premises posts against firearms. As before, permit-holders would be prohibited from imbibing alcohol.

  • Narrows and clarifies the definition of “recreational facilities” within parks where municipalities may still ban concealed carry in parks, specifically prohibiting bans when organized athletic events are not taking place, and prohibiting bans in greenways, biking and walking paths and other open areas.

  • Removes handgun permits from public record, rendering them unavailable to the media.

  • Repeals the current prohibition on firearms for CHP-holders at funerals and parades.

  • Repeals NC’s Jim Crow-era handgun purchase permit system in its entirety.

  • Requires sheriffs to revoke CHPs from permit-holders convicted of disqualifying crimes.

  • Expands hunting to include use of sound suppressors.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!

  • CALL & EMAIL YOUR STATE SENATOR: Tell them to not only support HB 937, but to oppose all weakening amendments, particularly “poison pill” amendments to restaurant carry and any amendment which would weaken campus carry.


  • SEND AN EMAIL TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE SENATE using the copy and paste list below.

  • EMAIL THE UNC BOARD OF GOVERNORS: Even if you have already contacted them, email them again to ask whether 17 UNC security heads, in uniform, were lobbying against HB 937 at taxpayer expense.

CONTACT INFO

NC SENATE:

Austin.Allran@ncleg.net, Tom.Apodaca@ncleg.net, Chad.Barefoot@ncleg.net, Tamara.Barringer@ncleg.net, Phil.Berger@ncleg.net, Stan.Bingham@ncleg.net, Dan.Blue@ncleg.net, Andrew.Brock@ncleg.net, Harry.Brown@ncleg.net, Peter.Brunstetter@ncleg.net, Angela.Bryant@ncleg.net, Ben.Clark@ncleg.net, Daniel.Clodfelter@ncleg.net, Bill.Cook@ncleg.net, David.Curtis@ncleg.net, Warren.Daniel@ncleg.net, Don.Davis@ncleg.net, Jim.Davis@ncleg.net, Joel.Ford@ncleg.net, Thom.Goolsby@ncleg.net, Malcolm.Graham@ncleg.net, Rick.Gunn@ncleg.net, Kathy.Harrington@ncleg.net, Fletcher.Hartsell@ncleg.net, Ralph.Hise@ncleg.net, Neal.Hunt@ncleg.net, Brent.Jackson@ncleg.net, Clark.Jenkins@ncleg.net, Ellie.Kinnaird@ncleg.net, Floyd.McKissick@ncleg.net, Gene.McLaurin@ncleg.net, Wesley.Meredith@ncleg.net, Martin.Nesbitt@ncleg.net, Buck.Newton@ncleg.net, Earline.Parmon@ncleg.net, Louis.Pate@ncleg.net, Ron.Rabin@ncleg.net, Bill.Rabon@ncleg.net, Shirley.Randleman@ncleg.net, Gladys.Robinson@ncleg.net, Bob.Rucho@ncleg.net, Norman.Sanderson@ncleg.net, Dan.Soucek@ncleg.net, Josh.Stein@ncleg.net, Jeff.Tarte@ncleg.net, Jerry.Tillman@ncleg.net, Tommy.Tucker@ncleg.net, Trudy.Wade@ncleg.net, Michael.Walters@ncleg.net, Mike.Woodard@ncleg.net

UNC BOARD OF GOVERNORS:

peter.hans@nelsonmullins.com, renee@fairproductsinc.com, ann.goodnight@sas.com, lbissette@mwbavl.com, maedog@bellsouth.net, pgb0902@aol.com, lbuff@embarqmail.com, president@uncasg.org, wcdavenport@nc.rr.com, jdeal@dealmoseley.com, phildixon@daglawyers.com, jfennebresque@mcguirewoods.com, flood_dudley@bellsouth.net, paulfulton@triad.rr.com, hgage@ec.rr.com, thomasharrelson@aol.com, lawyers@pinehurst.net, leroylail@hickoryfurniture.com, amax2@suddenlink.net, emcmahan@littleonline.com, charles.mercer@nelsonmullins.com, fgm@millsconstructionco.com, bmitchell@wcsr.com, hnath45@yahoo.com, powersd@rjrt.com, tarheel111@att.net, raiford@trasklandco.com, pdwalk@charter.net, brad.wilson@bcbsnc.com, david@youngandassociates.com

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

TO THE NC SENATE:
(Suggested subject: “Please pass HB 937 as is”)

Dear Senator,

I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your efforts in moving HB 937 through the Judiciary Committee today, clearing the way for a full vote on the Senate floor soon. Your commitment to the safety of all North Carolinians is to be commended. Each one of you, especially Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, Senate Rules Chairman Tom Apodaca and Senator Buck Newton has worked closely with Grass Roots North Carolina to insure that my safety should not be compromised due to pressure from several anti-gun organizations as well as their unfounded fears.

The North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association opposes repeal of the archaic, redundant and arbitrary handgun purchase permit system which is, in fact, a leftover Jim Crow law. The facts are, however, that: (1) Background checks for handgun purchases will continue to be done, as they are in other states, via the National Instant Background Check System (NICS); and (2) Sheriffs currently impose a broad array of obstructions, including notarized character affidavits (3 in Orange County), limiting permits issued to as few as five per year, and extra checks (and fees) from local clerks of court. Worse, because there is no way of tracking permits once issued, people convicted of crimes after receiving a permit can use them to bypass NICS. This system is dangerous and needs to be repealed.

UNC President Tom Ross would have us believe that his safety record is sufficient to belay the fears of his staff and students, but when we take a closer look at his actual record, we find it severely lacking. Not only is he currently being investigated for covering up the actual number of attacks across many campuses across the state, he also sent 17 of his campus police units, in uniform at tax payer expense, to the NC General Assembly to oppose HB 937.

Despite the coordinated pressure against HB 937, you stood strong and carried out the heroic passage of true “common sense” legislation. I now look forward to HB 937 going to a full vote on the Senate floor soon, and having it passed as is without weakening it through amendments or procedure. I will continue to monitor this legislation via alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina.

Respectfully,

TO UNC BOARD OF GOVERNORS:
(Suggested subject: “Don’t use my money to lobby against my rights”)

Members of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors:

Today, the North Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee approved HB 937 and it will soon be taken to the Senate floor for a full vote. I would like to ask each of you if UNC security chiefs were testifying, in uniform, while on the payroll, and therefore at taxpayer expense, while expressing their “concerns” about HB 937 to the Senate Judiciary I Committee. Is this the case?

I support higher education, but I cannot support a university system which fails to protect students from violent predators, actively hides the fact, and then opposes legislation which might deter such predation.

Accordingly, I will not contribute money to any UNC or supporting institution — and will advise alumni and others to do the same — until UNC withdraws its opposition to HB 937. Please advise me of your position on this issue.

Respectfully,

We in North Carolina are very fortunate to see our gun rights expanding at a time when they are contracting like it is in places like California, Connecticut, New Jersey, Colorado, and New York. Bills like this and support for them don’t happen overnight. Just like the Castle Doctrine, much of what is in this bill has taken years of patient effort by gun rights groups like GRNC to make it a reality. Since ammo is hard to find anyway, why not take the cost of a box of ammo and send them a donation. You may also want to send the NRA-ILA a little bit as well for their efforts at the Federal level.

UPDATE: According to the bill’s record on the NC General Assembly website, three amendments were considered, two passed, and the amended bill passed its Second Reading. No roll call vote is recorded so it may be that they are late reporting it or that it passed on a voice vote.  The amendments that passed came from the pro-gun side.

Time To Help Out One Of Our Own

If you follow gun rights litigation the name Gray Peterson might ring a bell.

Gray is the plaintiff in Peterson v. Garcia (formerly known as Peterson v. LaCabe and Peterson v. Martinez) which challenges the state of Colorado’s concealed handgun law as specifically applied to the City and County of Denver. A Washington State resident, Gray sought a Colorado CHL as that state did not recognize either his Washington permit or his non-resident permit.

In February, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Gray’s appeal. They have also denied his request for an en banc rehearing of the case.

Gray put it on the line to challenge Colorado’s refusal to recognize non-resident CCW permits. Now he needs our help and that help has nothing to do with guns or gun rights.

Gray’s father Dave Wilson is suffering a loss of cognitive function due to an unknown and undiagnosed illness. Gray is his next of kin and needs to raise $10,000 to pay for a cash-only diagnosis.

David Wilson, age 55, is the father of one (me). About 2 years ago (and without my knowledge) , he started losing cognitive function due to an unknown condition which is currently un-diagnosed due to his refusal to get treatment on prompting of his mother, and only somewhat with his ex-wife (my mother).

As David’s only son, I am his next of kin under Florida law and when he is potentially incapacitated, it falls on me to get him treatment, placing him under guardianship through the court system if necessary. Unfortunately, as he’s been jobless due to his loss of cognitive functions which have been increasing as time goes on (no unemployment, no social security as he’s too young)…

Why 10K? Going to cash-only diagnostic route will be quite expensive, plus travel expenses, transport expenses, my personal income loss in dealing with this. 10K seems like the minimum the safe-bet/assumption, and I don’t want to run out before we start dealing with more obscure issues. I also am OK with getting more than that to deal with further unexpected expense (attempting to be conservative here).

I love my father very much, which is why I’m putting this out there, to help save him from cognitive deficiency (if acute or due to mental health) or if it cannot be saved from (if chronic due to physical health), making sure he is set up to live with me, or somewhere geared to his condition nearby me.

This kind of hits home for me. My mother spent the last 4 1/2 years of her life in a nursing home with organic brain syndrome or dementia. While she had excellent health insurance as a retired school teacher, that didn’t cover long-term care expenses. I was fortunate that she had a good pension and had been a saver so I didn’t run out of money for her care. The other reason this hits home is that I’m a year older than Gray’s dad. Hearing about something like this hitting someone younger than you makes you look in the mirror and say there but for the grace of God go I.

I have sent Gray a donation and would encourage you to make one if you can. He has set up a page to handle the donations and it can be found here. So far, donations total $650 so there is a long way to go. Please be as generous as you can afford to be.