by Chris Cox, head of the NRA-ILA, was on Cam Edward’s show Friday night. Among the things he discusses with Cam are the NRA’s response to Obama’s “stakeholder meeting”, Operation Gunwalker, and the media among other things.
Month: March 2011
An Open Letter From Colleen Lawson To Illinois Legislators
Colleen and David Lawson were two of the plaintiffs in McDonald et al v. Chicago et al. Mrs. Lawson posted the open letter to Illinois legislators today on her Facebook page. She has graciously given me permission to reprint it here.
Dear Legislator:
Could you please help me decide which of my kids lives to save? Here’s the problem:
Last night yet another of my kids found himself on the goodbye end of a robber’s gun as the robber slowly counted down
“5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . “
I know you politicians told us “if it saves one life, then keeping guns away from law-abiding citizens is the right thing to do!” but I’m having a little trouble figuring out which life is the one to be saved. I’ve had most of these kids for 20 years or more, and I’m rather fond of them all.
My kid last night? It was his third time facing armed robbers in Chicago, in Illinois. Can you tell me how many times is just right and how many times is too many?
The one last night was in a convenience store at the time. He and his friend had gone into the store to buy soda, and they hid as the robber stuck his gun in the face of the store clerk and began counting down.
Do you give classes in hiding? Wait, that can’t be right, cause many kids get found anyway, and it’s not always easy to stay quiet if your heart is thudding and you’re afraid. Maybe you give classes in what kids should do if they find themselves around guns. No, that’s not right. State Sen. Annazette Collins proposed that idea, to keep kids safe and deglamorize firearms, and she was roundly trounced for the idea.
Mr. Legislator, all my kids have been robbed at gunpoint on the streets of Chicago — well, all the young ones, who still live in Chicago. Does that mean that it’s better for my kids to live someplace else? Wait, that can’t be right, because you keep telling us that Chicago is a good place to raise children.
Is it best to just stay home? That can’t be right, cause the first time he was robbed at gunpoint he was on the steps of his own house.
Maybe being in a group is best. No, that can’t be right, either. The last time, three of my kids had grouped together for safety as they walked home from a friend’s house. But their attackers had grouped together, too. Three unarmed victims, three robbers with guns, just over three blocks from home in what was once one of the three safest areas of the city.
Mr. Legislator, I have tried to keep my family safe by living in an area where lots of policemen live. But it seems to be open season on cops, too, in Chicago. Even Thomas Wortham, a cop who was also the son of a cop, was shot in front of his parents home as his father watched.
Should I try one of the other “safe” areas? No, less than twenty-four hours ago, an acquaintance of mine was in a group of 4 and got robbed in Lincoln Park by . . . a group of 4.
Maybe only going out in daylight is the answer? Or maybe in an area that’s more retail than residential? Gosh, that can’t be right: Two of my girls were attacked mid-afternoon as they waited for a bus right outside a major shopping mall.
Perhaps you say that everything’s fine because none of my kids were shot or killed, and because last night’s robber chose to be contented with the money and goods, and let the clerk and customers go. But it would have been hard to say that as I wiped the blood from the face of the one who’d had her head slammed into the concrete sidewalk as she and her friends were robbed.
And that can’t be right, anyhow, cause not everybody’s kids escape uninjured.
Can you tell me if there is a questionnaire that we give to a criminal to determine which ones will be “nice” and not kill their victims? Just hurt them a “little” or leave them in fear for a while? How much is “a little”? How long is an okay “while”?
Maybe I’ve misunderstood the whole “if it saves one life” policy; Does it mean that, so long as it’s MY kids life that’s saved by being unarmed on the streets of Chicago, the disarmed citizen policy in Illinois is still justified? Which kid? What do I tell the siblings? What do I tell my neighbors, as they mourn for their slain kids?
What if it’s your kid that gets killed or hurt, Mr. Legislator, and I’m unable to help?
A couple of these kids aren’t mine by birth: they just hang out at my house cause they feel safe here. Should I tell them to stop feeling safe?
To me, they’re all my kids, and I tell them every day how valuable they all are. One studies daily for her GED, one’s in college to be a grade school teacher, one’s still in high school, one works twelve hours a day helping underprivileged children, one’s less than a semester away from getting his law degree. Should I ease up on the value talk? Should I tell them that, “Hey, folks die every day, that’s just the way it is?” Devalue life a little bit so they don’t think there’s anything unusual about being helpless victims?
No. That can’t be right. Because that is exactly how you grow a criminal. You desensitize him to the value of life, take away his sense of what is right and what is wrong, and expose him to crime after crime after crime after crime until he sees no hope for the future and learns to either be a victim or to look for victims.
And that is exactly how you grow a victim. Let them know that there is no chance of anyone nearby who has the ability to help them if they find themselves at the mercy of an attacker. Gee, it sounds like the same thing you tell a would-be attacker, doesn’t it? Let them know that they need have no fear of anyone being able to fight back. And they will come. And they do come. And keep on coming. There are entire blocks in Chicago where street attacks have occurred weekly — WEEKLY, Legislator! — for years without a single arrest being made.
Dear Legislator, please tell me what I am to say to my kids today, when they ask me why this keeps happening to them. I really want to know. I don’t mean to cut into your busy day. I just want to do what’s right.
Don’t you?
Maybe it would be easiest to just share with me what you tell your own kids and I will share it with mine.
I totally understand that your intentions were good when Illinois first believed that criminals would obey the same no-gun laws that the law-abiding follow … but what do you tell your kids when they ask you why we have not ripped away that errant foundation as has every other state within America? What do you tell them when they ask how you will know which of them will be hurt or killed by an attacker, and how you have chosen that to be okay by you?
What do you tell your kids when they ask why we elected you, then gave some of you the right to conceal carry, and others of you the expense of a protection detail, and then nod our heads in submission as you tell the rest of us that it is better that we do not get the same ability to defend ourselves?
Criminals know that there are less than a thousand Chicago cops armed and able to stop them during any given shift these days.
I personally know thousands of Illinois private citizens who take their citizen responsibility seriously enough that 34 other states trust them to calmly, competently and maturely carry concealed firearms as they live their daily lives. The children in those states can stand on their own steps, shop in convenience stores and wait for busses near malls with the confidence that they and would-be criminals are constantly aware that someone may be right nearby to thwart an attack and help them stay safe. Someone who has so committed themselves to time, training and mastery of defense that they stand out easily as the calmest ones seen in an emergency situation.
But in Illinois, criminals and victims walk our streets with only the confidence that, unless you — personally, Legislator — stand in support of HB 148 and bring concealed carry to the lone holdout state of Illinois, no one will ever come to your children’s aid if they, like my kids, find themselves at the mercy of an attack. This can’t be right, can it?
Though I have taken the time to learn and master the calm and skill necessary to defend my family and yours, I cannot personally afford a security detail for my family at this time. If you won’t allow me to defend my children – and yours – in the face of armed attack on the streets of Illinois, will you kindly share your protection detail with my family? My neighbor wants to hear your answer, too.
And, if you will not, then tell me, please: What shall I say to my kid today, as I help him through the sound he’s heard again and again for the past 12 hours?
You remember — the one that goes “5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . ?”
How long should he wait for the final “click”?
How long should I?
Second ATF Agent Speaks Out On CBS News
ATF Special Agent Rene Jaquez was interviewed by Sharyl Attkisson on CBS News this evening. Agent Jaquez is stationed in Juarez, Mexico which has become one of the most dangerous locations in Mexico. He had previously been interviewed about Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker) on the Spanish-language station Univision.
More importantly, it now becomes evident that Operation Fast and Furious did not involve only the ATF.
But ATF wasn’t working alone on the case known as “Fast and Furious.” Documents show ATF had conference calls with “DHS” (Homeland Security). “USMS” (U.S. Marshals) and DEA. An “ICE,” or Customs agent, was on ATF’s Fast and Furious team. They were advised by an “AUSA,” or Assistant U.S. Attorney under the Justice Department.
North Carolina CCW Reform Delayed
The NRA-ILA sent out this alert on North Carolina HB 111 this afternoon. The bill would allow concealed carry in restaurants and eating establishments that serve alcohol. It would not change the law that makes it illegal for someone who is carrying concealed to consume alcohol. The bill would also allow concealed carry in state and local parks.
North Carolina: Right-to-Carry Reform Bill Delayed by the state House of Representatives
Monday, March 21, 2011
Please contact your state Representative TODAY!
Consideration for House Bill 111 has been delayed by the state House of Representatives. Please continue to contact your state Representative IMMEDIATELY and urge him or her to support H 111, and to support efforts to remove the Ross Amendment. To locate your state Representative and their contact information, please click here.
HB 111, introduced by state Representatives Mark Hilton (R-96), Jeff Barnhart (R-82), Fred Steen (R-76), and Kelly Hastings (R-110), would remove the prohibition on Right-to-Carry permit holders carrying a concealed firearm into any restaurant that serves alcohol on premises. It would also remove the ability of a local government to ban the carrying of concealed firearms by Right-to-Carry permit holders in local parks, and clarify that permit holders are allowed to carry in State Parks.
The bill was amended in subcommittee to allow servers in restaurants to ask patrons who order an alcoholic beverage whether they are carrying a concealed firearm. This amendment was proposed by state Representative Debra Ross (D-38), one of the most virulently anti-gun legislators in the General Assembly. During the debate, opponents of the legislation grossly misrepresented the current Right-to-Carry law repeatedly. While those opposed to the Ross Amendment questioned the wisdom waiters and waitresses asking such intrusive questions, supporters of the amendment claimed it is illegal for someone carrying a concealed firearm to order an alcoholic beverage, leading some to ask why servers should be asked to act as part-time law enforcement. However, it is not illegal to order alcohol while carrying a firearm. It is illegal to CONSUME alcohol while carrying. Should this law pass, along with the Ross Amendment, law-abiding permittees who simply order alcohol for a friend, but who have no intention of drinking alcohol themselves, may be asked by a server to reveal they are carrying a concealed firearm, thus negating the concept of carrying concealed. Anyone within earshot will certainly know the individual is carrying a firearm, including anyone who may be intent on committing a violent crime at that restaurant, or in that restaurant’s parking lot.
The Ross Amendment was clearly intended as a “poison pill,” and was designed to create opposition to the bill. Nothing in the current law or in H 111 would require a permittee to answer the server. However, restaurant owners may have concerns regarding potential liability should they choose to not harass their patrons with intrusive personal questions. While the NRA remains in support of H 111, we will work to remove the Ross Amendment.
Please continue to contact your state Representative IMMEDIATELY and urge him or her to support H 111, and to support efforts to remove the Ross Amendment.
IGOLD 2011 Videos
Congratulations to the Illinois State Rifle Association and ICarry for what looks to have been a successful IGOLD Day.
FFL Finder – A Review Of the iPhone App
FFL Finder is an iPhone app that lets you find gun dealers, gunsmiths, firearms manufacturers, Class III dealers and manufacturers, importers, and pawnbrokers that deal in firearms. It was developed by Warsaw, Illinois-based Hunt Geek, Inc. who says they make “techie tools for the outdoors”. I can’t speak to their other apps but I did like FFL Finder.
I have used FFL Finder for the last week. It allows you to filter by up to nine FFL categories, find dealers within a specified radius of your current position, or find dealers across the United States by going to that location on the map. You can select from standard map, satellite view, or a combo of the two.
If you are looking for a certain dealer in a city, you can put part or all of their name in the search field. If you just want to know the name of all dealers within a 20-mile radius of either your current location or a spot on the map, you leave that field blank and go from there. FFL Finder does require an internet or WiFi connection to retrieve current data for display or mapping.
FFL Finder uses push-pins to indicate the location of all the hits it finds within the radius specified. You just tap on the pin and it will then list the dealer at that location. I had GPS enabled while I was doing the search above.
Tapping of the label will bring up complete information about the FFL. It also allows you to dial directly from the app by tapping on the phone number. One of my favorite local dealers, Carolina Mountain Tactical, is shown above. (All the screen shots were generated directly on my iPhone)
The info screen gives you the street address, phone number, and type of FFL. If you have GPS enabled, it will also tell you have far your current location is from the dealer’s store.
The are two things I really like about FFL Finder. First is its ease of use. Like all good apps, it is intuitive. No special knowledge or instructions are needed to use this app. Second, even though I was familiar with the larger dealers in my area, I found a lot of smaller dealers, gunsmiths, and others that I had no clue were located near me. For example, I had read a good review of Galloway Precision’s parts for the Ruger SR9 in The Truth About Guns. I just didn’t realize that they were in the Asheville area until I used this app.
While FFL Finder does include a filter for collectors of curious and relics, no C&R FFL’s are currently included in the database. I tested this by searching for myself. Jeff Hughes, co-founder of Hunt Geek and self-described Lead Dorkitecht, said this was a known problem and it was due to ATF not providing them with that information. However, the rest of the database is accurate and is normally updated on a quarterly basis.
This app does not search on a zip code. I think that would be a useful way to search as opposed to having to center the map on a city or town. When I asked Jeff Hughes about it, he said, zip code searches were “more data intensive – and due to the broad nature of zip codes, it would be less accurate.” However, he said that they may add this feature later if there is enough user demand for this feature.
The app is $1.99 in the iTunes Store. It is a fair price for a really useful app especially if you are like me and check out gun stores when you travel on business or on vacation. The other apps from Hunt Geek are Rangefinder – a shot drop calculator, Knot Wars which illustrates 40 knots, and Shooting Hours which calculates sunrise, sunset, and shooting hours for your location.
In the interest of full disclosure and to keep the Federal Trade Commission happy, Hunt Geek provided me this app for free. That said, I would have happily paid for it.
Pronunciation Guide For Libyan Leader
Now that the USS Barry has joined the coalition against Libya, it brings to mind the name of the guy that those missiles are trying to kill. Is is Muammar El-Qhadafi or is it Mo’amar Khadhaffy? The answer is yes.
Here are all the possible ways to pronounce the name of that guy in Libya with the female bodyguards.
H/T MungoSaysBah‘ MilIntel
Triple Threat Pistol Drill
The targets used by Viking Tactics have a variation on the Mozambique (two to the chest, one to the head). They do three to the chest, one to the head, and one to the pelvis. It looks to be an interesting drill.
One thing I’ve wondered about in these sorts of drills is whether it is better to take out one target completely and then move to the others or hit each each one once or twice and then go back. I’ve never been in a tactical situation nor have I attended a class so I don’t know the right answer to this.
Progressive Bifocals And Shooting
I’m not to bifocals yet as I get by with just reading glasses. Still, if you have aging eyes and you wear progressive bifocals, this little video by Bryan Bilenski might just explain why you are having problems with your shooting.
H/T GunTalk
Bad Translations
Depending upon a mechanical tool like Google Translate to translate from one language to another can result in some interesting translations.
Here is a case in point. This morning I was reading on the Blade Forums about a new bushcraft knife from Mora of Sweden that came with a firesteel attached to its sheath.
The original page on the knife at the company’s website was in Swedish. Someone helpfully posted this link which translated the page from Swedish to English. The third paragraph was translated thusly:
On the rugged vagina is a well-lit room for the steel and the diamond will be easy to sharpen the blade. It is easy to replace the two included bältesclipsen that lets you choose how you want to carry your knife.
The proper translation from Mora of Sweden’s own page is this.
The robust sheath is provided with a well thought out space for the firesteel and completed with a diamond sharpener, making it easy to sharpen the knife blade. A black handle with high-friction grip gives the finishing touch to the Bushcraft Survival, a knife that suits a tough lifestyle!
And we sometimes wonder how international incidents come to pass. Wonder no more.
By the way, if you are looking for good, reasonably-priced knives to use outdoors or to put in your bug-out kit, the Mora knives are some of the best you can find. They are sharp, strong, and well-made. I probably have a dozen of them in various styles. I can recommend them without any hesitation and can also recommend Ragnar’s Ragweed Forge as the place to buy them. He also has a full catalog of other Scandinavian knives including Finnish puukko and leuko knives. For the price of the cheap crap bought at a discount store, you can have a real knife made with good steel that will last.