NRA Board Candidate Questionnaire

The election of NRA Directors is once more upon us, with ballots due from voting members by March 27.

The only nomination of special note is actor Tom Selleck, who will no doubt be groomed as the next high-profile trophy president in the Charlton Heston mode—in other words, a handsome and popular star who reads his lines well. With the passing of Neal Knox, no serious challenge to the “Winning Team” exists, thus there is no need for a “Don’t vote for these guys” ad.

The choices this year ensure that Wayne La Pierre will maintain uncontested control. There are 31 candidates for 25 open slots, and the Nominating Committee has endorsed 28 of them. That’s outrageous.

No true reform will come to the NRA until voting members can rate director candidates based on unequivocal platforms of support for “shall not be infringed.” Unfortunately, no such demand has been made by the membership, so expect more status quo, backroom deals, political compromises and suspect politician ratings.

Too bad. As a start, I’d like to see each candidate for the BOD specifically answer the following questions, adapted from a questionnaire I have sent in the past to political candidates who claim to be pro-Second Amendment.

I won’t hold my breath, but if anyone can get a candidate to give straight for-the-record answers to these, please let me know.
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1. Do you believe that the Constitution is the "supreme law of the land" and that the Bill of Rights acknowledges the birthrights of all Americans?

2. If so, should these rights be proactively protected from infringement by all levels of government, including city, county and state?

3. Please give some examples of gun laws you consider constitutional.

4. Please give some examples of gun laws you consider unconstitutional.

5. Does the right to bear arms include the right for any peaceable citizen to carry them concealed without a permit, as in Vermont?

6. Do you believe that Americans have a right to own, use and carry weapons of military pattern?

7. Do you support or oppose Project Exile, and do you agree with current NRA management’s call to “enforce existing gun laws”?

8. Do you support or oppose licensing requirements to own or carry firearms? Why?

9. What specific gun laws will you work to get repealed?

10. If elected to the NRA Board, will you back your words of support for firearms rights up with consistent actions? How?

Request for Historical Examples of Bearing Arms

“PLEASE,” Judson Witham writes, “I am seeking as many HISTORICAL accounts of BEARING ARMS in defense of the Family Homestead (Farm) from Hostiles as possible. My work is being made FREE as I collect cases from Colonial or Civil War era Court OPINIONS from around the USA. I ask for cases from MAINE to California ‘Bearing Arms’, ‘The Defense of Self Defense’ are sought to BOLSTER the arguments for PASSAGE of the Self Defense Act of 2005 HR 47 Currently in the Judiciary Committee of the 109th Congress."

If you can help, contact him at jurisnot@yahoo.com.

Absolutely Shameless Self-Promotion: "A Judgment Call"

Who should we trust more to establish gun policies--folksinger Peter Yarrow, pop tart Britney Spears, actor/UN "Messenger of Peace" Michael Douglas, grunge diva Courtney Love, and entertainer Rosie O'Donnell--or the Founding Fathers?

"A Judgment Call" is my Rights Watch column for the March issue of GUNS Magazine, coming this week to enlightened newsstands throughout the Republic.

The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden

I first became aware of Robert J. Avrech after he wrote an excellent article titled "Jews and Guns." As a long-time gentile supporter of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, I believe we need RKBA allies across all demographics, and the argument that an armed people won't be loaded into cattle cars is pretty damned compelling.

That he is an established voice in Hollywood, having written the screenplay for Body Double, means his voice has a far reach, and has potential to first be noticed by, and then persuade folks who might not give me the time of day.

I began corresponding with Robert and he told me about his new novel, The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden, the story of a Jewish immigrant family in America's Old West. The postive value of firearms deployed in moral hands is prominently portrayed (without falling into the trap of being "preachy"), and it also explains how coerced disarmament allowed for persecution and murder of Jews in the protagonist's Russian homeland.

My verdict: I loved this book, and not just because it validates my beliefs. I read it in one sitting, devoured it, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Robert asked me to write a review, which you can find on Amazon.com. While there, pick up a copy, or get one at the website for Robert's publishing company, Seraphic Press.

This book is suitable for literate children, and for anyone who likes a good story with characters you care about. Buy it. I did.

"Safe Schools"--GUNS Magazine, Feb. 2005

Facing an unprecedented terrorist threat, official "readiness" policies mandate that we become conditioned sheep. This is insane.

Read complete article here:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_2_51/ai_n8591516

GUNS Magazine 50 Year Anniversary Article

Fifty years ago, when GUNS was born, we had already capitulated to decades of federal gun controls. But a 1919 excise tax, a 1927 concealable firearms mailing ban, the National Firearms Act of 1934, requiring registration and taxing of machine guns and short-barreled shotguns, and a 1938 dealer licensing requirement, were, to most Americans, irrelevant.

Read complete article here:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_1_51/ai_n7581230