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Dingy Harry Is Right – Billionaires Are Trying To Buy Democracy

September 10, 2014 by 2 Comments

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) gave a speech yesterday on the floor of the Senate. It was his first floor speech since the end of the August recess. As The Hill reports it, he said, in part,

“We have had in this country a flood of very, very dark money coming into this nation’s political system,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “Radical billionaires are attempting to buy our democracy.”

Reid is correct in his statement – just not in the billionaires to whom he referred. He, of course, was continuing his jihad against the libertarian Koch brothers.

However, if one were to examine the backers of the universal background check initiative in Washington State, I-594, you would come to the conclusion that a gaggle of billionaires was indeed trying to buy “our democracy.”

Examining the public reports from the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, one finds that a full 72% of the funding for the anti-gun Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility has come from five billionaires (including spouses) plus one very wealthy woman from an “old Seattle family”. In dollar terms, these six have donated $5,171,600 out of the $7,175,542 donated to the anti-gun organization. Small contributions to this gun control ballot initiative total only $63,009 or less than 1% of the total.

So who are these billionaires (or near billionaires), how much have they given individually, what is their estimated net worth, and where do they stand on the Forbes 400 list of richest people in America. Here is the list in order of contributions:

  1. Nick Hanauer, $1,485,000; net worth $1 billion, venture capitalist, Second Avenue Investing

  2. Bill and Melinda Gates, $1,050,000; net worth $72 billion, No. 1 Forbes 400, co-founder Microsoft

  3. Michael Bloomberg*, $1,030,000; net worth $31 billion, No. 10 Forbes 400, founder Bloomberg LP

  4. Connie and Steve Ballmer, $830,000; net worth $18 billion, No. 21 Forbes 400, former CEO Microsoft, owner LA Clippers

  5. Paul Allen, $500,000; net worth $15.8 billion, No 26 Forbes 400, co-founder Microsoft, owner Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trail Blazers

  6. Ann Pigott Wyckoff, $276,600; net worth est. multi-millions, heiress and daughter of the late Paccar Corporation president Paul Pigott. Paccar manufactures Peterbilt, Kenworth, and Leyland trucks.
To put these contributions into perspective, let’s look at the campaign committee for I-591 which is the other ballot initiative which opposes universal background checks. Protect Our Gun Rights is the campaign committee formed to support I-591. The largest individual (non-organizational) contribution was $1,500 by a Boeing engineer. The primary contributors to Protect Our Gun Rights are the Washington State-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and Washington Arms Collectors. This committee has raised a total of $1,121,535 at last report.
As Dave Workman, the Seattle Gun Rights Examiner, put it, this is a billionaire bombardment and he is correct. So when Dingy Harry speaks of “radical billionaires attempting to buy our democracy”, he just has the wrong set of billionaires in mind. It isn’t the Koch brothers, it is the Hanauers, the Gates, the Allens, the Ballmers, and the Bloombergs who plan to dominate the TV airwaves with their appeals to low information voters in an effort to impose their will on the people of Washington State.
*Bloomberg’s contribution was funneled through MAIG and Everytown for Gun Safety (sic).
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A Gun Rights Case From The Fringes Of America

September 8, 2014 by 7 Comments

The United States of America includes more than just the 50 states. It also includes three unincorporated organized territories and two commonwealths. The territories are the US Virgin Islands,  Guam, and American Samoa while the commonwealths are Puerto Rico and the Northern Mariana Islands. It also includes nine uninhabited territories administered by the Department of the Interior. These includes two islands famous for their battles during WWII: Wake and Midway.

Thus, when a Second Amendment case comes up involving the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, it is of interest. Making it even more interesting is that it is a case jointly supported by the Second Amendment Foundation and the NRA Civil Rights Legal Defense Fund. The case is Radich et al v. Deleon Guerrero and it is being heard in the US District Court for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Before I get into the case, a little reminder as to geography. The Northern Mariana Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean northeast of the Philippines and are much closer to the Asian continental mainland than they are to the continental United States. Students of WWII will recognize the island chain for the important battles fought for two of its more important islands – Saipan and Tinian. Moreover, the Enola Gay took off for Hiroshima from Tinian.

Like Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands enjoys commonwealth status with the United States as a result of the approval in 1976 by Congress of a Covenant to establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America. This covenant was fully ratified in 1986 when qualified residents were granted US citizenship. The covenant also applies United States law, in general, to the CNMI and a US District Court was established there by Act of Congress in 1977. The District Court is part of the 9th Circuit.

Radich v. Delon Guerrero is a challenge to the Commonwealth’s restriction on handgun possession and carry. It seeks both a preliminary and permanent injunction against the Commonwealth’s enforcement of their Weapons Control Act as well as a finding that the Act violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments on both their face and as applied to the plaintiffs. These laws include:

(a) the prohibitions on virtually all
CNMI residents from obtaining handguns for self-defense purposes; (b) the
prohibition on obtaining a WIC and possessing a firearm for self-defense purposes;
and (c) the good cause requirement for obtaining a WIC,

The plaintiffs are David and Li-Rong Radich who are residents of Saipan, CNMI. Mr. Radich is a US citizen born in California and a Navy veteran working as an environmental consultant. His wife, Li-Rong, is a Chinese citizen with permanent legal resident status. They have been married since 2009. In 2010, while Mr. Radich was out of town on business, Mrs. Radich was the victim of a home invasion and suffered broken ribs, facial contusions, and a suspected orbital fracture.

In 2013, the plaintiffs applied to the CNMI Department of Public Safety for a Weapons Identification Card so as to provide for their self-defense. Despite the requirement that a decision be made within 60 days, the plaintiffs are still waiting for an answer from the Department of Public Safety in violation of the law.

With the Supreme Court’s decisions in the Heller and McDonald cases as well as the 9th Circuit’s decision in Peruta v. San Diego, it would seem that this case bodes well for the plaintiffs. Guam has already changed their laws to bring themselves into compliance with Peruta.

Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation notes:

“The Second Amendment does not just apply to the continental United States and Hawaii,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “It also applies to territories under U.S. jurisdiction. The issue is a fundamental civil right, not only to possess a handgun, but also to use firearms for self-defense purposes, which is currently banned in the Northern Marianas.”

It is a fundamental civil right and one that the District Court in the North Mariana Islands ought to recognize. Too bad that the Commonwealth’s government didn’t recognize this right.

UPDATE: Professor Eugene Volokh of UCLA provides a note on the Volokh Conspiracy blog about this case. He points out that the CNMI Covenant expressly states that Amendments 1 through 9 inclusive are applicable in the Northern Mariana Islands.

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That Ain’t Moonshine!

September 7, 2014 by 2 Comments



Booze marketed as “moonshine” has become popular in the last few years. Maybe Popcorn Sutton* and his legend had something to do with it, maybe not. Perhaps it was was the Discovery Channel series Moonshiners and its stars Tickle, Tim, Josh, etc. Even the History Channel had to get in on it.

A dissenting view on what constitutes “moonshine” comes from a post on The Alcohol Professor blog celebrating September as Bourbon Heritage Month. In a discussion about sourced bourbon – whiskey from new micro-distilleries actually made in a giant factory in Lawrenceburg, Indiana – the author takes exception to calling any unaged whiskey (or white dog) moonshine.

Another product choice is to sell an unaged whiskey while some of the other liquid ages in barrels in its cocoon stage on the way to being a bourbon.


Let’s be clear about what this is. Or rather, what it isn’t.


Here’s a checklist.

  • Are you avoiding the payment of government taxes to release your product?


  • At any time, was a firearm a necessary component for a transaction between yourself and either your customer or purveyor?

  • To the best of your knowledge, have you, or anyone you know, been seriously threatened simply because your product exists to the point where you feel it should have a hiding place, just in case?

  • Are you apprehensive about selling your product during broad daylight when anyone can see?

  • Has anyone ever chased you menacingly, especially at night, in order to steal your product from you on the way to a purveyor?

  • Are you on an FBI most wanted list for producing this product?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, congratulations! You make moonshine!


If not, then your unaged distillate IS NOT NOR EVER WILL BE MOONSHINE!!!


Deep breath.

I tend to agree with this assessment.

The only real moonshine I can remember drinking was over 30 years ago. I remembered it as being very smooth with a strong corn smell when you sniffed it. It was reputed to have been that moonshiner’s going out of business batch.

As for my own taste in whiskey, I think I’ll stay with the stuff aged for years in oak barrels whether it comes from Kentucky, Canada, or Ireland.

* My dentist went to high school with Popcorn Sutton. His remembrance of Sutton differs from the popular legend. He said Popcorn was “a mean little SOB who looked like he’d as soon kill you as look at you.”

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It’s Time To Win Again

September 6, 2014 by 1 Comment

Thanks to the work of Aaron at the Weapon-Blog, there is a new list of guns that you can win.

The handgun category features all the big names: Smith & Wesson, Glock,  Ruger, Sig, Colt, and H&K.

The rifle category starts off with something really special: a SBR made by Noveske in .300 Blackout with a SilencerCo Saker 7.62 suppressor. Sweet!!!! I also count 6 AR-15s, a Tavor, a PTR-91, and a slew of bolt action hunting rifles.

If you come across contests not listed, let Aaron know about them.

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JPFO’s Official Statement On Merger With SAF

September 5, 2014 by 1 Comment

The official statement from the board of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership is below. I covered some of the controversy on the decision to merge in my earlier post announcing the merger. As I said there, I hope it works out so that both organizations can keep up the good fight for the Second Amendment and our rights.


From JPFO:


Dear JPFO Members and Supporters,


Even before the passing of founder, Aaron Zelman, there was serious
doubt as to whether or not JPFO could survive. For years Aaron struggled
heroically with chronic health problems.


The results were rapidly expanding problems in administrative, database
and member support and new product operations, along with no systematic
fundraising program — to name just a few. Aaron delegated painfully
little? But considering it all, what he accomplished goes well beyond
the heroic to near miracles.


The regular staff was reduced to a devoted office manager of some
15-years, LaVonne, an equally devoted webmaster, Chris and Aaron’s two
Board members, Bruce and Bob serving with him since the mid-1990s. The
effort to rebuild JPFO began in earnest, facing the ominous headwinds of
a diminished database and largely empty coffers.


After some months, Charles Heller stepped-in to provide Executive
Director services; including media contacts.


One bright spot was the wise counsel of the JPFO advisor on spiritual
matters, Rabbi Dovid Bendory, known affectionately as the “Gun Rabbi.”


The task was truly immense. It seemed to grow in difficulty as each step
forward unearthed more challenges. Tragedy struck again a year later
when our office manager, LaVonne passed away unexpectedly. She had
loyally worked with Aaron for over 15-years. Her husband, Doug resigned
his regular employment as her fulltime replacement. Without his
commitment it is a virtual certainty JPFO would have collapsed more than
a year ago.


Adding to these losses was the death of another key writer, Kirby
Ferris. More recently a board member was blindsided with two major heart
surgeries and is still in rehabilitation.


Then just weeks ago another key writer, the prolific 2A and science
fiction author, L. Neil Smith, who worked with Aaron on various books
and other major editorial projects, suffered a stroke, right in the
middle of our Fall educational and fundraising product developments.


In spite of all this seemingly endless ?damage control? we were able to
increase the membership; and thanks to the contract writers and the
webmaster, who maintain a flow of quality editorial material; while
organizing first-rate office operations; including tight inventory
controls with a quick turnaround of member requests.


From day one, due to the highly specialized Jewish orientation, the
primary target constituency was extremely small. Fortunately, non-Jews,
so taken with the powerful JPFO message, have also consistently been a
vital source of revenue; while donating impressive amounts of time and
talent to various projects, from 1989 to this very day.


However, all along was the paradox that as a skeletal crew of fiercely
devoted workers salvaged and refined after Aaron’s passing, the Stalking
Horse of poor cash flow was always there. We came to realize that JPFO
needed one or more major supporters to break through to the next level.


Many inquiries yielded nil, it became clear that the most logical and
efficient solution was to ally with another 2A organization, while
preserving our identity.


That’s not all. We realized we must have an organization with longevity,
solid management, financial depth and marketing powers to insure JPFO
carried on.


The urgency of this search accelerated as the monthly revenue streams,
from all sources, began a steadily decline early this year. Recent
fundraising efforts have yielded little. The headquarters was reduced to
being run by the managing director, with part-time secretarial help.


To solve these problems, the JPFO Board of Directors sought out and
elected to merge with the Second Amendment Foundation
(SAF).

Founded in 1974, now with over 650,000 members, SAF is the oldest and
largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action
group focusing on the right to keep and bear arms.

JPFO will be operated independently by SAF and current JPFO private and
industry members and contributors will continue to receive all benefits
promised. It will maintain a separate board of directors.

The JPFO website will continue to run independently as a stand-alone
entity but will now include links to it from TheGunMag.com,
KeepandBearArms.com, plus SAF.org. JPFO will also become a member
organization of the International Association for the Protection of
Civilian Arms Rights (IAPCAR) to expand its reach internationally.

Certain JPFO editorial and administrative staff are likely to remain or
be available for the transition. Later, headquarters will move from
Wisconsin to SAF headquarters in Bellevue, Washington.

The decision to merge with SAF has generated powerful disagreements and
no small amount of vitriol… But before making final decisions on this
action, please visit this page
 to discover
what firearms industry icon, Massad Ayoob, has to say about this
controversy.

Adulation of Aaron Zelman is spot on; nevertheless, it would be
profoundly unfair to not tip the hat of deep gratitude to all members,
donors, plus those deeply devoted volunteers that have committed well
into the thousands of hours of free services since 1989, so making many
of Aaron’s landmark projects possible even with the Stalking Horse of
financial distress continually behind his back, as it was for us until
the merger.

Sincerely,

JPFO Board of Directors

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SAF, JPFO Merge

September 5, 2014 by

It appears that the merger of Jews for the Preservation of Firearm Ownership with the Second Amendment Foundation is an actuality. It is a move that will please some and disappoint others. David Codrea, the National Gun Rights Examiner, has been following the whole process. His article last night announcing the merger pointed out some of the controversy over the merger and that only time will tell if the merger will strengthen JPFO.

Writer Claire Wolfe has spoken out strongly against this merger. She had been a writer for JPFO and resigned her position with them to go public with her opposition to the merger. She terms the merger as a sell-out of the ideals of JPFO founder Aaron Zelman. The whole series of her posts on her Living Freedom blog at Backwoods Home magazine can be found here.

Speaking out in favor of the merger has been Second Amendment stalwarts such as Gary Marbut of the Montana Shooting Sports Association and Massad Ayoob. Both men agree that the financial strength of SAF will be essential to keeping JPFO from going down the drain.

Frankly, it is hard to keep any organization going when its charismatic founder and leader suddenly dies. While the message is ultimately the most important aspect of the organization, it and the founder are so intimately intertwined that it is hard to have one without the other. I don’t know the whole history of JPFO nor do I know the details of any animosity that Aaron Zelman might have had for Alan Gottlieb. I do know that both organizations support the Second Amendment and that anything that helps both survive to keep on fighting for it can’t be all bad.

The announcement from Alan Gottlieb and SAF on the merger is below:


BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today announced that Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) has become part of the SAF family, bringing together two stalwart gun rights organizations under one banner.

“We’re both delighted and proud to announce this merger,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “JPFO was founded 25 years ago by the late Aaron Zelman, and it has become a strong voice in defense of the Second Amendment. I’m personally confident that bringing JPFO into the SAF extended family will benefit firearms owners at many levels.”

Zelman passed away in 2010, and for the past four years, the JPFO has worked hard to maintain its position in the gun rights community.

“We see this as a tremendous opportunity,” said Gottlieb. “With SAF’s resources, we expect JPFO to continue its important work and grow to meet new challenges, educating people about the pitfalls of gun control, and the benefits of gun ownership and personal protection.”

Gottlieb said JPFO operations will be transferred from Wisconsin, where it was founded by Zelman in 1989, to the SAF offices at Liberty Park in Bellevue, Wash. JPFO editorial support staff will stay on and help maintain organizational continuity, he added.

“A few years ago,” Gottlieb noted, “Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership also merged into the SAF family and it has proven to be a great benefit to the gun rights community.”

By joining with the foundation, JPFO will also become a member organization of the International Association for the Protection of Civilian Arms Rights (IAPCAR) and expand its reach internationally.

JPFO will be operated independently as a project of SAF and current members and contributors to the organization will continue to receive all benefits promised, Gottlieb added. JPFO’s website will continue to run independently as a stand-alone entity but will now include links to it from TheGunMag.com, KeepandBearArms.com, as well as SAF.org.

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“There Is No Justice For Gun Owners In New Jersey”

September 5, 2014 by 9 Comments

The headline, “there is no justice for gun owners in New Jersey”, is a statement by Brian Aitken on the treatment that he and Shaneen Allen have received from that state’s justice system. He is featured in a new NRA News Report by Ginny Simone entitled “Accidental Criminals: Brian Aitken is Living the Nightmare”.

As both Aitken and Allen point out, if Ms. Allen had lied to the officer when stopped for the traffic violation in Atlantic County, New Jersey, she wouldn’t be facing up to 10 or more years in prison for being an “accidental criminal”. The judge in her case told her that telling the truth didn’t matter in this case; it got her in trouble. Isn’t incentivizing lying a perversion of any justice system?

Moreover, as Aitken points out, the gun laws of New Jersey are not meant to deter criminals but rather to deter honest citizens from actually owning firearms. Both judges and prosecutors want to use these “accidental criminals” as poster children for their goal of a disarmed public.

Every potential juror in Atlantic County should see this video along with Simone’s earlier one on Shaneen Allen. If they understood the ramifications, they might just vote “not guilty” in the jury room. Her case is a strong argument for jury nullification.

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A Reminder From NSSF About This Year’s Senate Races

September 4, 2014 by

The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Project Gunvote just released their first video of the political season. It is a good reminder that just a few US Senate races could mean the difference between more gun control and less. For example, North Carolina’s Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) says she supports the Second Amendment. That didn’t stop her from voting for the Manchin-Toomey universal background checks among other things.

Just saying…

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Maybe He’ll Mind His Own Business Now – Not Ours

September 4, 2014 by 1 Comment

The Wall Street Journal ran a story this morning about our “favorite” former mayor Mike Bloomberg. It appears that he will be taking over the CEO reins of Bloomberg LP again.

Less than a year after leaving office as mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg will return as head of Bloomberg LP, the financial data and media firm he founded and still controls, the company announced Wednesday.

Mr. Bloomberg, 72 years old, will take charge at the end of the year, when Daniel Doctoroff, who has been chief executive since 2008, will step aside, the company said.

In a statement, Mr. Bloomberg said he hadn’t intended to return to Bloomberg LP after his mayoral stint was completed. “However, the more time I spent reacquainting myself with the company, the more exciting and interesting I found it—in large part, due to Dan’s efforts. I have gotten very involved in the company again and that led to Dan coming to me recently to say he thought it would be best for him to turn the leadership of the company back to me.”

Mr. Bloomberg—who owns 88% of Bloomberg LP and is worth $33 billion, estimates Forbes—had been expected to turn his attention to his philanthropic efforts after leaving office.

Good! Now maybe he’ll be too occupied minding his own business to mind our business. Let’s hope so.

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If You Aren’t Mad About This, You Should Be

September 2, 2014 by 15 Comments

This morning when I started to make my rounds of the blogs I came across an anomaly. Tam Keel’s View From The Porch was coming up with a weird message saying that it was open to invited readers only. Thinking it was just a typo on my part, I tried to access her blog from a link at Shall Not Be Questioned. I got the same result.

As she is a Facebook friend, I checked there for info. I saw that she had posted a note last night saying she was done with it. Reading through the comments she noted that she didn’t need the hassle and she had writing for pay that needed attention.

This is a stunning loss to the gun blogosphere. Tam was not merely the Mistress of Snark. While she was that in spades, it was her deep knowledge of firearms and training that kept me coming back. Whether it was her recent posts about testing out the Walther PPX or her collection of Savage pocket pistols arranged in chronological order, you learned something and it made you think.

And why did we lose Tam as a blogger? Because of an unrelenting cyberstalker who just wouldn’t give up.

One who writes nonsense like this:

If my South Bend business trip wraps up early tomorrow I might stick my nose in the 1500; I don’t need anything but yesterday was my b-day 60 so who knows…I haven’t hit a big show in a few years and just a walk-through with my little Georgia Girl would be fun. And I may see you at your Sun. gathering for a bit, maybe buy the group a round; that in itself would be a nice little present from me to me.

That is just a taste of the crap he’s been sending Tam at, from what I can gather, an unrelenting pace.

I don’t blame Tam a bit for saying enough was enough. Perhaps this will be merely a hiatus. We can only hope for that. In the meantime, keep an eye out for her published work. I know she writes for SWAT Magazine as well as Shooting Illustrated.

I do have one wish. I would like this cyberstalker found, charged, convicted, and imprisoned for a long time.

UPDATE: Tam has turned her blog archives on and has disabled the comments. While she is still on indefinite hiatus, we are still able to partake of her past work. Thanks to Rob Reed for making the request. And thanks to Tam for agreeing to do it.