Cheek to Cheek With Senator Rick Santorum

I finally had time to go through the September issue of American Rifleman, which features a Wayne LaPierre/Chris Cox tag team suck-up session masked as an interview titled "Face to Face With Senator Rick Santorum."

The subhead tells us the senator "receives an 'A+' grade from the NRA Political Victory Fund."

Gun Owners of America gives him a "C" rating. Why the disparity?

For one thing, the senator's own words show him in lock-step with NRA management.

"I support strict enforcement of current federal gun laws...My overarching position on gun legislation, and I also believe, the Republican Party's position, is that before we pass new laws to restrict Second Amendment rights, we must enforce the laws currently on the books to determine whether they are truly effective, rather than pass more redundant, ineffective laws."

Note the concern is wholly whether or not an edict will be "effective," not whether it is Constitutional. Perhaps Sen. Santorum and Messrs. LaPierre and Cox would explain where the Constitution provides for any federal gun laws, and how that squares with "shall not be infringed." Perhaps they could explain to us why their focus isn't on repealing, rather than enforcing existing infringements.

"In addition," Santorum continues, "I support programs such as Project Exile that have been successful in dramatically reducing violent gun crime."

Oh, for God's sake. Go read this.

I guess if you repeat something long enough, you might get some Kool-Aid drinkers who take things at face value without fact-checking to buy into it.

NRA's Project Exile showcase cities are experiencing murder rates at "crisis" levels. In Philadelphia, police are reduced to begging the public for help in identifying killers, and Richmond actually saw a murder increase in 2004 while national numbers declined.

NRA management needs to be told by its membership--in no uncertain terms--that they can't have it both ways. They can't tell the antis that gun control doesn't work, and then turn around and recommend gun control.

NRA members need to understand that "enforcing existing gun laws" is exactly what the feds were doing at Waco and Ruby Ridge.

The Asylum is Open

Nicki Fellenzer wants a place where she can post on topics that wouldn't fit over at The Liberty Zone (like the Clay Aiken thong), so she's checked herself in to Nicki's Asylum.

The Clay Aiken thong.

Good grief.

C'mon, Nicki, not before breakfast...:-)

When Sarah Gets Her Wish

Here's an appalling story to throw back into the faces of gungrabbing police statists:

"City where police gun down children...

"1,195 people were killed by police here in 2003, an alarming number of them shot in cold blood."

Yep, we need more sensible gun laws. Only the police are professional enough to be trusted with carrying firearms in public. We need to get in step with the rest of the world.

For the children.

Trouble in Paradise

My wife and I have been owners at R-Ranch in the Sequoias since before the kids were born. It's been great for them and us. We've always loved the place and go up several times a year to restore our souls (and use the gun range).

As with anything where other people are involved, disagreements spring up. I've stayed out of the politics of the place because that's not why I bought in, and I get into enough scraps down here in Flatland. But now it looks like a fight to the finish is being forced on me and I won't be able to remain sidelined.

One of the Board members just sent this out via the Ranch's e-news update:

Rules for Firearms
A couple of month ago there was an incident on the ranch involving a gun. When we checked the ranch rules we found we had no written rules dealing with the use and caring of firearms on the ranch.

Earl [the Board president--DC] gave me the task of coming up with some rules for the safety of all.

I have scheduled the dance hall for a meeting of all, who are concerned with the issue. The next board meeting has been change to 24 Sept. 10 A.M. So I have reserved the dance hall for 12 Noon, 24 Sept. to have a meeting. We have several owners who are interested in attending the meeting, but I would like to get as many owners as possible to attend and participate in the debate. I would like the rules that we give to the board for review to be a consensus of a large group rather than just a few.

I would appreciate it if you would run an article to let all the owners know about the meeting. I will have a list of what I think the rules should be, but that will only be a base to start from. I will chair the committee and will try to get a secretary to take notes. All who attend will be members of the committee.

My reply:

The last thing we need is politically correct hysteria limiting the right of rational free Americans to keep and bear arms on what is their own property. One “incident” is hardly cause for infringing on my rights. That’s the same excuse well-meaning (or sometimes subversive) fools use for imposing “gun control” on society at large, and the results are always the same: the goblins have what they want when and where they want it, and the “good” people are helpless.

One incident out of the 15 years I have been an owner. This is an urgent problem? If some moron did something stupid or evil with a gun, that has no bearing on me and I will not be penalized for it. Punish him—severely-- and be done with it.

You should know, the California Penal Code prohibition against carrying a loaded firearm provides an exception for a temporary residence or campsite.

Finally, unless the Ranch is willing to guarantee my protection and that of my family while there—including from bears and mountain lions—where the directors know we have a recurring problem—it seems they are setting us all up for a big liability should something happen if people are forced to obey some artificial prohibition.

Don’t open this door. There is no need to. It will only cause more divisiveness and not solve a thing.

If someone is brandishing a gun, there are already laws against that. If someone is recklessly endangering someone with a gun, there are already laws against that. If someone is threatening someone with a gun, there are already laws against that.

What more does Earl want?

And one other thing—if you do pass a prohibition, I’ll ignore it and carry what I want when I want. It’s not like anyone will know for sure—just like always.

The implications--if such rules are imposed and allowed to stand--reach far beyond the borders of Ranch property. I have some ideas on where I want to take this and will post updates as they happen. In the meantime, suggestions on legal avenues to explore and cite references will be appreciated.

Another Newspeak Award

"Freedom bags."

You could not make this stuff up.

Declawing the Lion of the West

My first impression is the guy is too short for the role. But "Al Bouler, of Montgomery, Ala., who portrayed Davy Crockett at Davy Crockett Birthplace State Park in Limestone this past weekend...said Crockett was actually about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, his own height."

The park's official website claims that at "15 years of age [Crockett was] approaching six feet in height."

Illusions of Fess Parker and John Wayne vs. Billy Bob Thornton aside, that's really a minor debate.

What interested me was the rifles. The reneactors appear to be violating Tennessee state law:

Are firearms allowed in state parks?
Firearms are allowed at authorized firing ranges and at parks with authorized hunts. Firearms in transit must be unloaded and cased. No other firearms are allowed.

So if the real Crockett could miraculously be transported to the present, he'd be arrested, charged with a crime and imprisoned for carrying ol' Betsy in his namesake park. Wonder what he would have thought of that?

[KABA Newslinks.]

Newspeak at It's Finest

"The first thing we had to do in the community was to empower people to say no to guns."

Wow. That's so perversely twisted it approaches elegance.

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted...

I've been on full system burn for the past 5 months, working 7 days a week at my "real" job, posting to this site, and turning in my magazine columns by deadline.

I'm taking 2 weeks off. Posting will be sporadic.

Vistors are invited to make yourselves at home. Go ahead and explore all the rooms, put your feet up on the furniture and scrounge around in the fridge. There's archives over in that column on the left, as well as links to other blogs that have the good taste and sound judgment to link back to WoG.

I'll be checking in from time to time to see if the place has burned down yet, or if anybody needs a beer or something...

Brady Center: Ginning Up Jonesboro

"You kill five people in cold blood, shocking an entire nation. You go to prison. Seven years later, you get out, and you are free to buy all the guns you want."

Sounds like a perfect reason to disarm you and me.

"[T]his is a textbook case of an individual who should be deemed by society as forever barred from the privilege of owning a gun."

Well, doesn't this little revelation prove the lie that they're not interested in disarming Americans--only in having "sensible gun laws"?

It ain't a "privilege."

True, it's outrageous that the "justice" system reintroduces monsters in our midst. As long as it does, expecting the rest of us to be even more defenseless is criminal and insane.

My thoughts on the effectiveness of laws that disarm segments of our non-incarcerated society--for whatever reason--can be found here.

Bottom line: Anyone who can't be trusted with a gun can't be trusted without a custodian.

Gun Law News: Request for Information - Sullivan Act

"We are beginning an investigation into the origins of and precursors to the Sullivan Act. We have a fair amount of information and the text to some New York Times editorials. What we need is more, and better sourcing for our information. We need quotes, with firm sources and, if possible PDF files. This would be especially true of any newspaper articles or editorials. If you have any information related to this, please forward it to us via Feedback."

Seems like a worthy and potentially fruitful venture.

As an aside, I have found the GLN site to be an excellent resource. RKBA activists would do well to bookmark and visit it regularly, and add it to the roll if you have a blog.

Doh!

So California state officials want the public to believe that by forcing manufacturers to install microstamping mechanisms in handguns and laser-etch serial numbers on ammunition, they'll be able to keep track of it all to solve crimes.

Why don't the dolts focus on finding the 30,000 cars they bought on the people's dime and now can't account for?

"Tracking down the data has been difficult... the situation 'was so bad,'...that one government agency had purchased $4 million worth of automobiles but didn't have any record of where it bought them.

"So far the department has determined that California spent $33.6 million on automobile acquisitions in calendar year 2004, but it is still compiling fleetwide data and does not yet know the total value or ongoing costs of the state's fleet."

Make of This What You Will

"Wilcox's demeanor toward authorities on the night of his arrest contributed to prosecutors' decision to drop the charges."

Random reactions:

I'm glad he's off.

I'm sorry it took a technicality to do it.

I doubt you or I would have the connections to make this work for us--or the high profile to focus a media spotlight so that the technicality couldn't be conveniently overlooked/successfully denied.

When are some of these multimillionaire celebrity gun owners--particularly ones who are minorities and could do much to sway public opinion about the right of all people to keep and bear arms--going to put their shoulder to the wheel and help promote and preserve that right?

The Government We Deserve

“At the close of the constitutional convention, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin what type of government the Constitution was bringing into existence. Franklin replied, ‘A republic, if you can keep it.’”

Flash forward:

“[O]nly 55 percent of Americans [are] able to correctly identify the three branches of government.”

"Thrilling...and Thought-Provoking"

The following review of 'The Black Arrow' appears in the current, August edition of the 'Midwest Book Review':
The Black Arrow
Vin Suprynowicz
Mountain Media
3172 North Rainbow Boulevard, Suite 343
Las Vegas, NV 89108
$24.95
www.TheLibertarian.us / www.TheBlackArrow.us

In "The Black Arrow: A Tale Of The Resistance," author Vin Suprynowicz draws upon his skill and expertise as a syndicated newspaper columnist to write a provocative novel set in the near future of 2031 where America is ruled under the authority of a Patriot-Poindexter police state. This is a time of ID checks, invasive body searches, stacked juries, kangaroo courts, a corrupt political class, and a gray-suited police cadre known as the Homeland Security Special Forces. It is against this background that wealthy record company executive Andrew Fletcher decides to resist the all powerful police state by becoming a masked vigilante known as the "Black Arrow". The result is a thrilling, rapidly paced, 703-page action/adventure novel that also incorporates thoughtful and thought-provoking commentary on the power of the state run amok, an unusual love story, and how a movement of the people can take back their liberties when pressed too far by those above them. Highly recommended reading -- especially for the libertarian inclined!

-----------------------------------------------------

Vin Suprynowicz is assistant editorial page editor of the daily Las Vegas Review-Journal and author of the books Send in the Waco Killers, The Ballad of Carl Drega, and The Black Arrow. For information call 702-656-3285, or visit
www.TheLibertarian.us or www.LibertyBookShop.us.

Another Senseless Child Gun Death...

...that could have been prevented if only we would enact "sensible gun laws"?

Good grief, how do you reach ages 19 and 20, and not be able to tell if a revolver is loaded?

Oh, Yeah, THIS'LL Work...

"But what I do believe that we can do is bring a concerted effort to the border so that we can capture many more guns than we have been capturing in the past that are coming in illegally."

Das Boots

How ironic.

A gungrabber has armed guards for his boots.

GunLawNews Replies to JPFO

Scroll down to August 9: SB397 Issues

Coming Soon to the California Hit List: BB and Pellet Guns

From "California Dreamin'," my Rights Watch column in the Sept. 2005 issue of GUNS Magazine, on newsstands now:

"Pellet Guns and BB Guns: Dangerous Playthings on the Open Market," by the Senate Office of Research, calls for regulating air guns with the same restrictions as firearms.

Its author is a former Los Angeles Times hack, the SOR Director is a former aide to termed out (anti-gun) Senate President Pro-Tem John Burton, and the report was prepared at the “request” of Jack Scott, another notorious gun banner.

To prove how dangerous air guns are, the report cites an instance where “[a] 16-year-old boy sustained a severe midbrain injury from a self-inflicted combination BB/pellet gun wound through the roof of his mouth.”

The “study” states “anyone can get a pellet gun with a muzzle velocity of 1,000 feet per second—more powerful than some .45 automatics.”

To back the claim that a pellet gun has “more striking power than many classes of handgun firearms,” it provides an endnote—but one that references back to the original claim, in a nice bit of circuitous deception.

You can read this bit of taxpayer-funded subversive nonsense here.

All you need to know about "study" author Max Vanzi: "Max has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UC Berkeley."

Ditto for SOR Director Donald Moulds: "...Don was a Visiting Scholar and Teaching Fellow at Harvard University, a Ford Foundation Scholar, and a Fellow at the Center for the Study of Cultural Values and Ethics and at the Program for the Study of Arms Control, Disarmament and International Security..."

Fatal Blindness?

JPFO addresses criticisms of it’s previous alert on S.397.