Shall Not Be Infringed...

...means precisely that which was originally written. [More]

Check out the new website (and blog) from E. David Quammen of Gun Show on the Net.

The More Things Change

The more things stay the same...

[Via E. David Quammen]

Only Ones Blasts from the Past

[The Nashville Union, Nashville, Tuesday, April 5, 1853. Vol. XVIII. No. 290. Pg. 2]

[Via E. David Quammen]

We're the Only Ones Not Likely to Forget Enough

Back before "department protocol" had been firmly "established"...

[Via E. David Quammen]

We're the Only Ones Pronounced Enough

[More]

Attitudes sure have changed.

[Via E. David Quammen]

We're the Only Ones Hearkening Back to a Simpler Time Enough

[More]

[Via E. David Quammen]

That's Quite Some Temporal Exception

[More]

So he didn't completely "abandon" them, did he?

This is the guy who maintained "[It] is quite unlawful to demand, defend, or to grant unconditional freedom of thought, or speech, of writing or worship, as if these were so many rights given by nature to man."

[Via E. David Quammen]

An Idea Worth Exploring

The local market should bury the paper by boycotting any advertiser.

E David Quammen articulates an idea I agree with, although I would suggest a nuance to the strategy: If you try to boycott all advertisers, the amount of supporters will be so diffused that most businesses won't be affected--if even aware of it. Face it, we've seen how most gun owners are unwilling to lift a finger and get involved, generally the same ones who bluster about "cold dead hands."

Pick ONE advertiser, a major one like a local car dealer, and first ask them to contact the paper and let it know they don't appreciate its editorial positions dragging them into the middle of a controversy with their customers--that's not why they advertise. For leverage to encourage them to do the right thing, you might want to tell them you are also asking their main competitor to do the same thing. And you never know--the owner might be a gun owner who is just as PO'd as you, so give them a chance to partner with you first by keeping things polite.

I would think a campaign involving a targeted local business getting a hundred or so letters and phone calls might actually produce some results. And if the business is unwilling to contact the paper and threaten to pull its advertising, then would be the time to escalate to the boycott stage.

What this needs to work is for one local gun rights activist to become the leader and coordinator. Start a blog. Hold a meeting with local gun owners. Recruit support from local gun shops, ranges, clubs--and if any advertise in the paper, perhaps they should become the first business approached, especially if they don't wish to involve themselves. As for membership, it would seem the paper has provided us with a great starter list...

New WarOnGuns Poll: The Purpose of Government

See the left margin for the new poll, created from a suggestion posted by E. David Quammen. Regular correspondent Straightarrow also gave two ideas, that I'll be using in the coming weeks.

Here are the results of last week's poll:

Should Released Felons Get Their "Gun Rights" Back?

The Next Waco?

There is a situation that is taking place in Concord, N.H. that merits the attention of all those concerned with the Rights of We The People.

E. David Quammen calls our attention to the plight of Ed Brown, a citizen in New Hampshire who is putting his life on the line to defy federal authority.

I've been following the thread over at The Claire Files on this to learn more.

We're the Only Ones Domestic Enough

Two studies have found that at least 40% of police officer families experience domestic violence, in contrast to 10% of families in the general population. A third study of older and more experienced officers found a rate of 24%, indicating that domestic violence is 2-4 times more common among police families than American families in general...

[M]ost departments across the country typically handle cases of police family violence informally, often without an official report, investigation, or even check of the victim's safety

Well, ye-ah! If they were treated the way the rest of us would be, including a federally-mandated lifetime prohibition on gun ownership, well, they wouldn't be "The Only Ones", would they?

[Via E. David Quammen]

Million Moon March: A New Tack

This is really funny, and it illustrates how--when an idea gets set loose in the wild--others can adapt it and make it far superior to the original plan--so much so that I now recommend using this new approach as the main one.

The first evolutionary move in this direction came from Free Constitution, who submitted a photo of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez using the selected caption "Make me safe from armed violence."

Then E. David Quammen from Gun Show on the Net came up with an inspired idea and hit the ball out of the park.

This was his submission:



The caption: Make me safe from armed violence.

And the Million Faces campaign posted it!

Why is that funny? Why is that worthy of becoming the new tactic for us to use?

Because, if you haven't recognized it already, the image is of genocidal butcher Pol Pot, the monster responsible for Cambodia's "Killing Fields." And because that's exactly what "gun control" does--it makes monsters safe from (defensive) gun violence.

David's success made me realize that--instead of sending protest photos we know Control Arms will reject and substitute--we could probably get them to post many more of our actual submissions if we just sent in portraits of predators. A Google image search on the name of a known tyrant or Nazi is one good place to start (just make sure if you pick a dictator he's not in military uniform--I found a great portrait of Idi Amin in a suit looking very respectable, ditto for Uday and Qusay Hussein...)

But why stop there?

We have the FBI's "Most Wanted List." The Postal Service also puts out posters, as do many state and municipal law enforcement websites.

And then we have the sexual predators, like on California's "Megan's Law" website (and their "illegal use" disclaimer doesn't address what I'm proposing here)...

David's success really does open up a wealth of potential for sticking it in the eye of those who are working to undermine our rights, plus it's just plain ironically funny. Let me know if Control Arms posts your predator, and keep those pictures coming in.

UPDATE: Forgot to include this--we got a nice mention over at Rational Review.

THUS FAR:

The Million Moon March

Million Moon March Update

Joining the March

Million Moon March Update (#2)

Million Moon March Gallery

Gallery Updates