Now Hear This...

I'll be on the The Steve Gill Show tomorrow morning at 10:30 CST to discuss my Examiner.com reporting on H.R. 45. They must have seen today's WorldNetDaily piece.

Producer Dusty Jensen tells me:

We've got you scheduled for tomorrow, with Ann Coulter as your opening act. It's 11:30 Eastern, 10:30 Central. The segment will start around :33, so if you can call at :30 that'd be perfect!

If you go to his website, there's a "Listen Live" button in the left margin for those of us who need that option.

It should be fun.

"The Most Prudent and Effective Strategy"

Forwarded to me:

----- Original Message -----
From: "ILA-Contact"
To: <________>
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 10:58 AM
Subject: Holder


Dear Mr. _________,

We are vehemently opposed to Holder's nomination and are working with a number of U.S. Senators to try and prevent his appointment. Eric Holder is a radical enemy of the Second Amendment, and we will do what we can to keep him out of office.

Using our influence with the U.S. Senators is the most prudent and effective strategy we can use to stop him. He is not currently under indictment for any crime, so there is nothing legally prohibiting from taking office except the need for U.S. Senate approval. If there were, I can assure you that we use all of our power and influence to use that against him.

I can assure you that we've made it perfectly clear to the Senate that Holder is our enemy, and that voting in favor of his appointment will have serious consequences in future relations with the NRA. I understand that there are a number of rumors on the internet criticizing the NRA, but please understand that we cannot release any more information beyond what I've written here. We are doing everything we can.

Please review this recent letter Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox sent to Senator Patrick Leahy and Senator Arlen Specter:

http://www.nraila.org/media/PDFs/HolderLetter010909.pdf

Cordially,

Angus McClellan
NRA-ILA Grassroots

Yeah, we saw that.

Ar least they're not ending their correspondences with "rest assured" any more.

I'd sure like to see one of those internet rumors pointed out to me. Most of what I've seen have been pretty dead on, albeit they missed the point about Holder not being a strong enough champion for federal gun control edicts.

I guess some will argue this "strategy" is "prudent." Any bets on how "effective" it will be?

We're the Only Ones Called on the Carpet Enough

Sgt. Chris Van Compernolle told SBT24/7 News that a man from Illinois had a handgun concealed in his pocket. The gun accidentally discharged when he was retrieving something from his pocket and fired straight down into the carpet...

No one was injured and there was no property damage, VanCompernolle said.

A Four Winds statement later identified the man as an off-duty policeman from the University of Illinois-Chicago. [More]

Drum roll please?

No charges have been filed in the case, which is being reviewed.

This is some "Authorized Journalism."

They say there were no injuries and they say he sustained minor injuries. They say there was no property damage and they say he shot the carpet. There's no reciprocity for concealed carry and he endangers customers and employees, and he wasn't hauled away in cuffs?

Anybody think a non-"Only One" would be treated with similar deference?

"The gun accidentally discharged."

Good grief.

[Via Ben G]

Renew America Together

The Presidential Inaugural Committee has announced a short-video competition to highlight what Americans are doing on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. As part of the Renew America Together project, the video contest asks for videos that describe and detail service projects, according to the PIC's official Web site. [More]

That's not much time. I wish I'd know about this sooner.

You realize, of course, what fun we could have with this.

And There Was War in Heaven

I'm in mortal combat with Mama Liberty!

:)

She sent me this.

Short story: a guy shot a bad guy in defense. The police took his gun.

I wasn't overly concerned, and replied:

It's the gun used in the shooting so forensics can run tests and ballistics can corroborate or challenge his statements. If they took all his guns, that would be one thing. In this case, it's pretty routine practice, plus they do it to "Only One" service weapons as well.

She ain't havin' none of that, and shot back:

Dear David,

Right, and if it is his only gun, he's sol until they give it back unless he can afford to buy another one - provided they LET him buy another one. Police often hold such guns for YEARS, since they are "evidence."

I don't buy it. There is no need for ballistics or any other tests on the gun since he acknowledges that he shot the criminal. There is nothing to prove that way. The autopsy would be the only way to tell the trajectory or path of the bullet in the body to verify his account of the shooting. The gun itself has nothing to do with it.

I understand forensics, evidence gathering and the autopsy process very well. Confiscation of his gun is BS. Sorry. :)

I just thought you might like to see a girl beat me up.

We're the Only Ones Charged Enough

Johannes Mehserle, the former BART police officer accused of shooting and killing an unarmed man New Year's Day, was arrested at 6:20 p.m. Tuesday on a murder charge in Nevada, officials confirmed. [More]

About damn time...

Anybody think it would have taken this long with a non-"Only One"?

[Via J.D. Tuccille]

Forbidden Knowledge!

The US Drug Enforcement Administration has rejected the bid of a UMass Amherst researcher who wants to create the second laboratory in the nation authorized to grow marijuana for medical research. [More]

Because God forbid medical research be something best left to medical researchers.

I wish I knew how to write to Garrison Courtney, so I could thank him for all his fine work securing the blessings of Liberty.

[Via Zachary G]

A Foreign Policy Expert

There are nearly 7,000 gun shops along the southern U.S. border, about three for every mile. They sell thousands of hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, AK-47s, and "cop killer" guns and bullets that cut through Kevlar body armor. The weapons quickly flow south, again with barely a nod from U.S. Border Patrol. [More]

Right. Mexico is our fault.

Hey, don't forget those damned American gun shows.

And who is the expert we must heed?

Shannon O'Neil is Douglas Dillon fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations...

That ain't all she is.

[Via John Richardson]

Criminals for Gun Control

They are, you know. [More]

But I'm actually more worried about criminals in government...

[Via Libertyteeth]

'Atlas Shrugged'

From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years [More]

Except we have no Galt's Gulch refuge.

Which means we either fight or we surrender.

[Via Ron Bokleman]

The Tyrants' Pavlovian Response to Tyranny

Globalists are "salivating" over the possibility of a Constitutional Convention at which issues such as the 2nd Amendment could handily be dismissed, according to a leader who warns Virginia likely is the next target for the drive. [More]

I raised this flag a month ago. I sure wish more would join me.

But I guess Americans are as yet too detached and apathetic. I wonder what it will take to wake more up...?

You should have seen how shocked some were, and how outraged some got, after the LA riots broke out, and they found out about gun purchase waiting period (from shops that had not closed down).

[Via Avg Joe]

We're the Only Ones with Two Sides to the Story Enough

The police officer told Pluhar Jr. he needed to wait his turn, but the Frankfort man purportedly refused.

The elder Pluhar then allegedly approached the off-duty officer, told him to mind his own business and asked whether Kirby wanted to take the dispute outside.

When Kirby asked Pluhar Sr. what his intentions were, the Frankfort man purportedly said he would kick Kirby's posterior and also suggested he might shoot him. [More]

Huh. I hate line cutters. Sounds like a good call to take an arrogant bully down.

But wait:

He said his son had waited in line for 25 minutes once and been sent by a clerk to exchange an item. When he returned, Pluhar Sr. said the clerk waved his son to the front of the line, and Kirby objected.

He said his son tried to explain the situation, but Kirby insulted him, at which point Pluhar Sr. asked Kirby to step outside but Kirby laughed at him. Pluhar Sr. also denied Kirby's claim that the older man threatened to shoot him. He said he and his son tried to walk away from the confrontation, but Kirby followed them outside.

Pluhar Sr. said Kirby never identified himself as a police officer and he only found out he was an officer from other police at the scene.

So who do we believe?

See, that's the problem you run into when there are so many "Only Ones" and so few peace officers...

[Via Avg Joe]

Big Brother's New Target: Tracking of All Firearms

Columnist David Codrea of Guns Magazine, however, calls it a "ridiculous affront to liberty."

"This is nothing less than a declaration of war on American gun owners," Codrea writes on Gun Rights Examiner. [More]

Nice to see someone notice all the screaming.

It's their main page headline right now, so I'm fairly stoked.

Kill (the) Bill

I guess if you're not going to let a little thing like "shall not be infringed" bother you, why would Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution's proscription that "No... ex post facto Law shall be passed" slow you down? [More]

Today's Gun Rights Examiner column looks into the fine print behind the new gun owner harassment and registration bill I talked about in yesterday's column.

As always, I ask WarOnGuns regulars who find value here to help me spread the word so we can get full advantage from this national exposure to a broad audience. Please keep it up so that results like yesterday's (#1 in "Politics" and #2 in "National") can become the norm. Not that I wouldn't mind our unalienable right to keep and bear arms taking and holding the very top spot...

This Day in History: January 14

By virtue of the powers to me given by the Honble. Continental Congress, I do hereby Authorize you, after Appointing the Officers of the four Ranging Companies mentioned in my Instructions of yesterday, and setting them to Recruiting; to proceed immediately to the Cherokee, or any other Nation of Indians in which you may have an Influence, and there use your utmost endeavours to procure a Number of Warriors (not exceeding in the whole 500) to join the Army under my immediate Command.

They are to come provided with Arms, Blankets &ca. but shall be supplied with Ammunition and Provisions, they shall receive in lieu of presents, the same pay as the Troops in Continental Service do, and if they have Officers of their own people, you may engage such advanced pay, provided it bears a similarity to the difference in ours, but not greater. [More]