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Confusing The NRA With The NSSF

July 2, 2016 by 2 Comments

The Seattle City Council has mandated that pistols that would normally be traded in when the police department makes upgrades will be destroyed. This boneheaded move which passed council with an unanimous vote will cost taxpayers approximately $30,000 according to the website Blue Lives Matter.

“Officer Blue” then went on to make this statement:

What the Seattle city council is ignoring here is that guns are still being actively manufactured and sold. Destroying old guns doesn’t reduce the number of guns on the streets, it just increases the number of newly manufactured guns being purchased. The NRA is unlikely to oppose such a knuckle-headed policy, because destroying old firearms increases the profits of gun manufacturers. Gun manufacturers only make money on the first time that a firearm is sold. All used gun sales are potentially a lost sale to a gun manufacturer. If other police departments follow suit in destroying their used firearms, then you might want to look into purchasing stock in gun manufacturing companies.

“Officer Blue” is making the common media mistake of thinking that the NRA is an agent of gun manufacturers. While they have good relationships with the manufacturers, it is not the job of the National Rifle Association to increase the profits of the firearms industry. That is the job of their trade association the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

In reality, I think both organizations would oppose the destruction of these firearms. The NRA would oppose it as a matter of public policy as it recognizes that not all shooters can afford new firearms. Moreover, historically many surplus firearms such as M1 carbines were sold directly to shooters under the auspices of the NRA. The NSSF would oppose it because their constituency also includes FFLs as well as manufacturers.

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California Gun Owners Get Screwed — Again

July 1, 2016 by 4 Comments

Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) did his usual splitting of the baby with regard to gun control bills today. He signed six and vetoed five. As per the usual lately, gun prohibitionists won much more than they lost and the Constitution was spit on once again.

The bills signed creates a registry of ammo owners, bans loaning of guns between family members and friends, bans the bullet button, adds non-violent misdemeanors as a prohibiting factor for gun purchases, and, last but not least, bans possession of all magazines with more than a 10-round capacity. On this last measure there is no grandfathering of existing magazines.

Brown said he was signing these bills “to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner”. Of course, none of these bills would prevent further terrorist attacks like in San Bernardino or Orlando.

The release below from the Firearms Policy Coalition gives more details:

California Governor Jerry
Brown Guns Down the Constitution
Governor Jerry Brown signs 6, vetoes 4 gun
control bills that were passed by the California Legislature yesterday.
SACRAMENTO – This
morning, four-term Governor Jerry Brown conspired with other members of the
State’s corrupt one-party majority to make it easier for criminals and
terrorists to kill innocent people, said civil rights advocacy organization
Firearms Policy Coalition.
Brown signed six and
vetoed four of the eleven anti-gun, pro-terror bills that were passed by the
Legislature yesterday. (Note – there was a 5th anti-gun vetoed – AB1176)
The “Gunpocalypse”
legislation signed by the Governor today will create new criminal liabilities
affecting millions of law-abiding people, cost the state tens of millions of
dollars in new fees and fines, and eviscerate fundamental, individual rights.
“These are
constitutionally-illegitimate laws passed by a patently illegitimate government
that had the audacity to attack and criminalize millions of its own people in Stalin-esque
fashion,” said Firearms Policy Coalition President Brandon Combs.
“We expect mass
non-compliance with these laws and encourage good, peaceful Californians to
carefully consider the risks of voluntarily identifying their firearms, magazines,
and ammunition to law enforcement officials, especially the California Department
of Justice.”
The Legislature
suspended nearly every procedural rule to rush these anti-gun, ISIS-enabling
bills through to Brown before he left for Europe, a place that may have served
as the model for his unconstitutional firearm policies.  Now that the first phase of their year-long
campaign to support violent criminals and terrorists is complete, the members
of the Legislature who passed the bills have left Sacramento for a month-long,
taxpayer-funded vacation.
“The Legislature ignored
every rule in the book to fast-track their civilian disarmament agenda and herd
the people into a state-wide gun-free-zone,” said Craig DeLuz, the director of
public and legislative affairs for Firearms Policy Coalition.
Continued DeLuz, “There
are still a dozen anti-gun bills pending in the Legislature, and while Governor
Brown’s actions today were disturbing, Firearms Policy Coalition and our
members will continue to fight to defend and restore the Second Amendment in
California.”
With Senate Bill 1446¾ a statewide,
confiscatory ban on lawfully-possessed “large-capacity” magazines¾law enforcement interests
once again cut shady deals to exempt their retired members from the long reach
of the new gun control laws.
Earlier this year,
Firearms Policy Coalition, two other civil rights groups, and a number of
individuals filed a federal civil rights lawsuit–captioned Garcia v. Attorney General Kamala Harris–that challenges
California’s gun law exemptions for retired law enforcement officers on
Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection grounds.
“Jerry Brown and the
California Legislature have openly declared war on gun owners and the Bill of
Rights,” continued Combs. “By signing the bills that he did, Governor Brown
showed us that he has no respect for the rule of law, reason, or law-abiding
people. I submit that he and his ilk deserve the same contempt in return.”
“The government would be
wise to remember that there are more California residents with guns than there
are government officials to take them away. To coin a phrase, ‘come and take it’,”
Combs concluded.
The Governor signed the
following bills today:
·                 
AB 1135 (Levine): Bans common and constitutionally-protected
firearms that have magazine locking devices.
·                 
AB 1511 (Santiago): Criminalizes loaning of firearms between
personally known, law-abiding adults, including family members, sportspersons,
and competitors.
·                 
AB 1695 (Bonta): Makes a non-violent misdemeanor a prohibiting
offense.
·                 
SB 880 (Hall): Bans common and constitutionally-protected firearms that have
magazine locking devices.
·                 
SB 1235 (de Leon): New restrictions on ammunition purchases;
creates a DOJ database of ammunition owners.
·                 
SB 1446 (Hancock): Statewide confiscatory ban on all lawfully-possessed
standard-capacity ammunition feeding devices that hold more than 10 round;
exemption for retired police
The Governor vetoed the
following bills today:
·                 
AB 1673 (Gipson): Would have redefined “firearms” to include
objects that are not firearms
·                 
AB 1674 (Santiago): Would have banned buying more than one firearm of
any type within a 30-day period
·                 
AB 2607 (Ting): Would have dramatically expanded the reach of
secret “Gun Violence Restraining Orders”
·                 
SB 894 (Jackson): Would have re-victimized victims of theft by
criminalizing the failure to report lost and stolen firearms

AB 857 (Cooper), which would require that serial numbers be
placed on un-serialized firearms manufactured going back 50 years and on all
new home-built firearms, is still pending. 
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Happy Dominion Day

July 1, 2016 by 1 Comment

To all my Canadian friends and acquaintances in the 51st state, Happy Dominion Day!

Growing up July 1st was always Dominion Day and not Canada Day. It was not until 1982 that the name was switched and then it was only done on a late Friday afternoon under the earlier Trudeau’s government. You can read the whole sordid tale of that here.

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Sit-Ins Pay Off For The Democrats

June 30, 2016 by 6 Comments

It was only last week that the House Democrats held an all-night sit-in the House chamber to protest in favor of gun control. We sadly saw a hero of the civil rights movement, Rep. John Lewis (R-GA), protesting in favor of actions that would actually curtail both 2nd and 5th Amendment guarantees. At the time, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said the Democrats sit-in was nothing more than political theater and that the Constitution must be protected.

That was then and this is now.

According to the Washington Examiner, Ryan told the House Republican Conference that the House will vote next week on a package of measures including one that would use the no-fly list to deny firearms purchases.

The House will vote on an anti-terrorism measure next week that would prevent terror suspects from purchasing guns, House Speaker Paul Ryan told GOP lawmakers Thursday.


In a conference call with the House Republican conference, Ryan, R-Wis., outlined a plan to vote on a legislative package that responds to the recent terrorist shootings, including limiting access to firearms by those on federal terror watch lists.


“The terrorism package will include measures to disrupt radicalization and recruitment, and a provision to prevent suspected terrorists from buying guns,” a GOP aide said….


The move comes as Democrats threaten to continue “sit-in” demonstrations on the House floor until the GOP majority allows votes on two specific Democratic gun control measures. The demonstrations forced the House GOP to gavel out early for a week-long recess earlier this month.

You know what this means – time to start calling/emailing/faxing your Representative. You can find their webpages and phone numbers here.

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Being Prepared

June 30, 2016 by

You don’t have to have been a Boy Scout to know that the Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared”. As the newest video commentary from Dom Raso makes clear, Islamofascists are going to target gun-free zones. These include night clubs like in Orlando and shopping malls like in Kenya.

And it doesn’t have to be only Islamofascists. A suicidal man who wanted to achieve notoriety with his death targeted the Von Maur Mall in Omaha, Nebraska. He killed eight people in that gun-free zone.

You do have some choices. First, you could just avoid shopping or visiting a place that is a gun-free zone. It might crimp your social life but shopping shouldn’t be too hard given the growth of Amazon Prime. (Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial.)

Second, you could still obey the gun-free zone signs but have a plan. In other words, be prepared. That preparation should include your family if you have one. Have an agreed upon meeting place if you have to suddenly exit, have an alert word that everyone knows means get out now, and make sure everyone knows where the exits are including the less obvious ones. This is just a start.

Third, even if you aren’t allowed to carry a firearm you can carry a knife, an ASP baton, pepper spray, or other weapon. Gun-free doesn’t have to be weapon-free.

Finally, you can carry a firearm regardless of the signs. Note, I am not advocating disobeying the law. You should know the law of your state or the state which you are visiting. You should know if the gun-free zone signs have the force of law or are they merely a suggestion. You should know the legal consequences of disobeying the law and weigh them in your own mind compared to the alternatives.

Would having a gun make a difference? It did in a South Carolina night club just last Sunday night.

Deputies said 32-year-old Jody Ray Thompson pulled out a gun after getting into an argument with another man and fired several rounds toward a crowd that had gathered out in front of the club.

“His rounds struck 3 victims, and almost struck a fourth victim, who in self-defense, pulled his own weapon and fired, striking Thompson in the leg,” Lt. Kevin Bobo said.

Bobo said the man who shot Thompson has a valid concealed weapons permit, cooperated with investigators, and won’t be facing any charges.

I don’t know the South Carolina law on carrying in clubs and don’t know if the legal concealed carrier actually went into the club but I do know it stopped a mass shooting.

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NRA Releases Ad – It’s Powerful

June 29, 2016 by

The NRA-PVF has released their first ad of this presidential election cycle. The ad is not so much pro-Trump as it is anti-Hillary.

I’ve watched the ad a few times and every time I’m struck by how powerful a message it sends. It features Mark “Oz” Geist who is a retired US Marine and is the security contractor who led the mission in Benghazi. He is the co-author of 13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In Benghazi. With the Rep. Trey Gowdy’s House Select Committee on Benghazi releasing their report damning both the White House and State Department, it is very timely.

Watch it and share this with your friends.

UPDATE: I just saw the NRA ad featured in a story regarding Donald Trump on CNN this morning around 9:30am EDT. They didn’t run the whole ad but enough to get the gist of it. According to CNN, the NRA-PVF is spending $2 million on air time.

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The Sicilian Widow

June 28, 2016 by 1 Comment

I came across an editorial in the National Review from June 14th. While I’m a little behind times as we have family visiting, the editors of the National Review said we don’t need a new assault weapons (sic) ban. You can read the whole editorial here.

However, what caught my eye was this characterization of the AR-15:

An “assault weapon” is the Sicilian widow of the firearms world: a little scary-looking and all dressed in black. 

I love it! This can lead to a whole plethora of names for new AR builds. The old style one could be named Mrs. Corleone. A more modern one could be Francesca or Isabella or Carmella or Elena. The possibilities are endless.

No word, though, on whether an AR-15 can pull off the malocchio or evil eye.

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Because Civil Rights Don’t Have Borders

June 24, 2016 by 1 Comment

California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to ride gun control to the governor’s mansion in Sacramento. His opponents in the gun rights community, while underfunded compared to Newsom, are determined that he isn’t going to win without a fight.

The Firearms Policy Coalition recently released this 30 second spot noting that civil rights don’t have borders and that Newsom’s proposals could spread to the rest of the nation. If you can spare a few bucks, you might want to donate to the fight. Even better donate the equivalent of the price of a box of ammunition. That would appropriate since Newsom wants to have you to have to buy a $50 ammo purchase permit.

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Paul Ryan: “We’re not going to take away a citizen’s due process rights.”

June 23, 2016 by 2 Comments

I know Speaker Paul Ryan has gotten a lot of bad press from conservatives lately. However, this is a time we should be applauding his stance on due process which is forthright and to the point. He rightly points out the sit-in yesterday by some Democrats was nothing but a publicity stunt.

From the transcript provided by the Speaker’s Office:

This Is a Publicity Stunt
“This is nothing more than a publicity stunt. That’s point number one. Point number two is this bill was already defeated in the United States Senate. Number three, we’re not going to take away a citizen’s due process rights. We’re not going to take away a citizen’s constitutional rights without due process. That was already defeated in the Senate. And this is not the way to try and bring up legislation.”

The Real Issue Here Is Terrorism
“Now, let’s focus on the issue at hand here: terrorism. And let’s find out what we need to do to prevent future terrorist attacks. And if a person is on a terror watch list, and they go try and buy a gun, we have procedures in place to deal with that. We want to make sure that those procedures are done correctly. And that is something we should be able to do in a calm and cool manner without these sort of dilatory, publicity-stunt tactics to try and bring a bill that already died over in the Senate to the House floor. That’s not any way to bring a bill to the floor.”

We Must Defend the Constitution
“They know we will not bring up a bill that takes away a person’s constitutionally guaranteed rights without their due process. We don’t agree with that, and the Senate already doesn’t agree with that. So I think, look, the point here, Wolf, is this is a publicity stunt. They’re trying to get you to ask me those questions for publicity’s sake. This isn’t trying to come up with a solution to a problem. This is trying to get attention.”

The House Rules Are Clear
“Look, this is the way the rules work in the House, and they have ever since we had TV. We had a similar protest when we were in the minority in 2008. Not only did the cameras not go on, they turned the lights off on us. This is what you do when you go into recess subject to the call of the chair. These are the House rules, and they’ve been this way for years.”
“This is nothing more than a publicity stunt. That’s point number one. Point number two is this bill was already defeated in the United States Senate. Number three, we’re not going to take away a citizen’s due process rights. We’re not going to take away a citizen’s constitutional rights without due process. That was already defeated in the Senate. And this is not the way to try and bring up legislation.”