"What Price Treason?"

Supporters of Wayne Fincher have asked that letters by sent to the "judge who tried Wayne and will do the sentencing. He needs to know how the citizens of Arkansas, and the United States (& those abroad who care) feel about this egregious case."

Here is one such letter that the author has graciously allowed me to post:

20 Jan 07

U.S. District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren

United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas

Sir:

As an American citizen who is deeply concerned about the state of liberty and the lack of rule of law in this land I have been following the Fincher case. This nation was wrested away from a ruling elite that ruled by whim and the myth of moral superiority of the highborn. Because of the reasons for our departure from our mother country we established the rule of law, not whim. Those rules reserved and guaranteed rights embodied in the Supreme Law of the Land , The Constitution of the United States of America. Government was guaranteed no rights in that document, but were granted certain powers in order that the state be able to honor its duty to the citizen in protecting the reserved and guaranteed rights bestowed by Nature and Nature's God upon the citizen.

Therefore, when I read that you had stated in public, on the record, that the Second Amendment guaranteed an individual right and not a collective right, I was pleased beyond measure. I thought to myself, "Finally an honest sitting judge, who will rule based on law." That thought did not sustain me long. For the very next day, after your meeting with representatives of the prosecution, you reversed yourself. Which brings me to some questions for later in this missive.

I know you did not attend and graduate law school without ever learning that the Constitution of the United States of America was and is the Supreme Law of the Land. Further, I contend that you could not have graduated law school without ever learning that the jury is charged with judging not only the facts of a case, but also the law under which charges are brought. Were you to try to deny having ever learned that, your already suspect integrity would be revealed by its absence.

I can believe that you graduated law school and never learned that the courtroom belongs to the jury, not the judge, not the state, not the prosecutor and not the defense. The jury owns the courtroom, they are the highest power in that room, at all times. As stated previously, I can believe you graduated without that ever being revealed to you by your instructors. Such is the nature of arrogance in many that attain offices of honor. Many believe that they are imbued with a moral and universal superiority that places them above others and often simply ignore the truth if it does not please them. The fallacy of the judge owning the courtroom is one such manifestation of this arrogance. So while I can believe you were never taught that in law school, simply because the fiction of a judge owning the courtroom must be protected if the abuse of juries and the jury system is to be sustained, I cannot understand how you were able to study law and the history of the law and not discover the truth on your own. I suspect that it is an ignorance of convenience on your part.

The judge is a referee. His job is to keep the proceedings fair and in the bounds of the law. The judge has a duty not to be an advocate. A duty you have miserably failed in Fincher.

It has been ruled and upheld many times that a judge is not required to inform a jury of its duty and right to judge the suitability of the law under the Constitution. While it may not be legally required of him, it is certainly a moral obligation if justice is to prevail in our nation. When a judge declines to apprise a jury of its entire duty, but deigns to apprise it partially of its duty, he has become an advocate, and has shown his disrespect for justice.

I could cite cases and rulings that uphold everything I have stated above. I could cite quotations and writings of founders and jurists who have stated in eloquent terms the principles you have violated. I could do that, but I believe it would be pointless. I do not believe I have engaged an honest and principled man who has a different point of view, or who only needs to see the proofs that he has ruled wrongly, to set his path aright. I believe I am addressing a man who already knows all the things I have addressed here. I believe that man knew he was wrong when he disallowed the jury in Fincher to hear what the law, especially the Supreme Law of the Land, had to say, before directing the jury to a guilty verdict.

So here are the questions for you I mentioned above.

What was your price? What was offered you in that meeting with representatives of the prosecution that seems to have caused a complete reversal of what you had stated only the day before? Was it reward? Was it threat if you did not cooperate?

To sum it up in one question, "What price treason?"

Absolutely sincerely,

Charles H. Sawders
Doddridge, Arkansas

Send your letter to:
U. S. District Judge
Jimm Larry Hendren, Chief Judge
P. O. Box 3487
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72702-3487

Shot Boy's Father Seeks Gun Control

The father of a two-year-old boy shot dead in his pushchair while on a family holiday joined hundreds of other campaigners as they marked moves to introduce international gun control measures.

I guess he doesn't think "Brian" had a big enough advantage.

"Brian, Please..."

Tragic Sharon Bell's killer shocked her with a stun gun before murdering her in a frenzied knife attack, a jury heard.

A harrowing recording of the hairdresser screaming in agony and pleading for her life was played at Newcastle Crown Court.

Do you think Brian would have been so merciless if instead of pleading with him to stop she was commanding him to keep away--or else she'd shoot?

On the Lighter Side

Official upset by gun lighter his son says he bought at fair...

All it would have taken was a wave of the sleek-looking replica, and a law-enforcement officer to mistake it for a weapon.

"Don't just stand there, idiot. Call a doctor. And then help me find my nose."

Forget Getting Guns Off the Streets--How About Getting Street Off Our Guns?

Mayor Street joins a group of 50 mayors in Washington today pushing for new strategies to stanch the flow of illegal guns into American cities.

With Pennsylvania hamstrung "with some of the most lax gun laws in all of the country," Street said, the mayors are pushing for "tougher laws to control illegal guns... . This is a national movement to deal with the proliferation of guns."

The coalition, known as Mayors Against Illegal Guns, formed last April in New York. In September, the coalition joined Street for a lobbying push in Harrisburg.

With President Bush to offer his State of the Union address tonight to a Congress now controlled by Democrats, Street said that he's hoping for a better gun-control environment.

He's got his wish. It's already started--despite the predictions by some that all those "gun-friendly Democrats" will keep it from happening.

This Day in History: January 23

On this day in 1775, London merchants petition Parliament for relief from the financial hardship put upon them by the curtailment of trade with the North American colonies.

We're the Only Ones Pole-Dancing Enough

The footage is shocking: A man lies screaming on the floor of a police station as officers sodomize him with a wooden pole.

Yeah, but come on--those are Egyptian "Only Ones."

That could never happen here.

Now Raise Your Right Hands...HIGHER!

This week, guns will be top of mind for many Athens middle schoolers.

For months, area students have been creating essays, raps and posters about guns, and this week, their efforts culminate with assemblies on the effects of guns and a pledge against gun violence.

See, you can't pray, because that might offend some student and make them feel singled out and embarrassed if they don't succumb to peer pressure and join in.

I'd be curious to hear how the pledge sounds in its original German...

We're the Only Ones in Fellowship with the Ring Enough

Montgomery police are investigating the weekend theft of an officer's department-issue weapon, and its possible connection to a robbery ring.

And look who took it: An Only Ones' Precioussss...

"But the System is Not Dead-on Accurate"

Sixteen cities across the country have installed ShotSpotter, a system of rooftop listening devices that triangulates the origin of gunshots and pinpoints, in seconds, the location on a map. This week, Boston introduces a plan to spend $1.5 million on the system...

But the system is not dead-on accurate, meaning police must be circumspect about how they use the new trove of data, warn civil liberty advocates. Data from ShotSpotter has not yet been challenged in court, and both the company and defense attorneys predict an eventual showdown.

That's why I'm waiting for someone to propose a new bill requiring all bullets be equipped with GPS transponders...along with mandatory shutoff switches on all firearms that the police can activate via radio signal from a safe distance, or maybe even deactivate them all by satellite signal in a time of emergency.

Hey, who could possibly be against that but someone up to no good?

We're the Только Ones Familicidal Enough

A Russian policeman used a gun and grenades against own family killing his wife and daughter before being shot dead by his son-in-law, the Interfax news agency reported on Monday.

"Only Ones" is same in Mother Russia as everywhere, tovarisch!

What Do You Call a "Gun Death Study" Put Out by the Antis?

Junk science.

WoG discussed the "study" here, and wondered if it would hold up to scrutiny.

It doesn't. The critique this post title links to demonstrates how "outcomes of the statistical analyses were ignored in the speculative comments made in the conclusions."

How convenient. How predictable. How "scientific."

So naturally, the "authorized journalists" have tripped all over themselves to bamboozle their readership into accepting validity of the first paper, and ignored this one. I've tried several different search terms to find this new analysis in any "news" accounts--so far, without "luck," as if that should be necessary.

[Via Anonymous]

This Day in History: January 22

Famed Tory outlaw Claudius Smith meets his end on the gallows on this day in 1779 in Goshen, New York. In the wake of his death, Patriot civilians hope for relief from guerilla warfare in upstate New York.

Today's "Standards"

An Orangevale youth who fatally shot a passing motorist with a hunting rifle had to write a 1,000 word essay on why he was sorry and will serve 30 days in juvenile hall.

And naturally, "As part of his sentence, the special education student also must spend 500 hours speaking to other youths on the dangers of guns."

Hey, ask the experts.

We're the Only Ones Sending Our Kids Off to School Packed Enough

Administrators at a Catholic school in Marrero had some tense moments Thursday morning after a student accidentally brought a police officer's service revolver to school.

Chief Deputy Newell Normand of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said that a 5-year-old student at Immaculate Conception Elementary School had a .40-caliber handgun in a small bookbag.

Naturally, the Chief "Only One" won't disclose the mother's identity, nor does he "plan to make any arrests."

Any bets We the People would be afforded such courtesy?

This story nicely supplements two of today's earlier posts. First we have the Chicom corrections officer tragedy, and then we have the admittedly ignorant columnist proving just because you have a forum to express yourself, it doesn't mean you know what you're writing about.

Someone needs to ask reporter Allen Powell II about those standard issue .40 caliber "service revolvers."

A Primer in Pink

Personally, I'm what the Pink Pistols call a "gun bigot," someone who's not crazy about firearms, knows nothing about them, "may never have even fired one, certainly doesn't have any, [and] would gladly subject innocent people to defenselessness."

That admission is the first step toward a willingness to learn.

I don't think she would have been quite so receptive had her introduction to RKBA not come from a group that "liberals" feel a natural protective affinity for. And even if she still has strong reservations and probably won't be "cured," a lot of really good messages got disseminated in this story to her readership.

Good job, Mr. Spradlin.

"Marginally Effective at Best"

Todd Vandermyde, a Yorkville resident and legislative liaison for the National Rifle Association, said his group prefers a more "low-key" approach. He called Concealed Carry "marginally effective at best."

As opposed to "completely ineffective"?

We're the Only Ones Enforcing Gun Laws Enough

Such an example is the case of Andrea Parker, a Cook County correctional officer who was charged Wednesday with reckless conduct in the accidental shooting death of her 6-year-old grandson, Jaylen Parker.

This is why we need to keep guns out of the hands of ordinary Cook county serf...uh...citizens.

Don't worry, Chicom Sun Times, you and "The Only Ones" aren't the only ones who want to "enforce gun laws." For the kids, of course.

This Day in History: January 21

On this day 1738, Ethan Allen, future Revolutionary War hero and key founder of the Republic of Vermont, is born in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Of Course You Realize This Means War

Responding to questions from Sen. Arlen Specter at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 18, Gonzales argued that the Constitution doesn'’t explicitly bestow habeas corpus rights; it merely says when the so-called Great Writ can be suspended.

"There is no expressed grant of habeas in the Constitution; there's a prohibition against taking it away,"” Gonzales said.

Where this idiot thinks the right came from in order that it could be taken away is a mystery.

Still, why the hell not amputate another obsolete legal appendage from another time? We can toss it into the dumpster of history with all the other useless relics.

After all, there's no First Amendment any more, what with "Campaign Finance Reform," FCC censorship, proposals to force political commentators to register with the government they're supposed to be critical of, censorship of "adult content" (and lest you think the people of the Founding era only meant to protect political and religious freedom, follow the link on my Jan. 19 "This Day in History" post), "hate speech" edicts, restrictions on freedom of assembly, laws forbidding the public expression of religion, etc.

And it's not like there's any recognized Second Amendment. Hell, the Bush administration just issued new FAA regs where they openly declare it to be a "collective right," and federal prosecutors are doing their utmost to destroy Wayne Fincher, while a federal judge greases the skids. Hell, according to him, there's not even a Constitution--at least one you can mention in his courtroom.

It's not like there's any Fourth Amendment, what with warrantless searches--yeah, they're just against "terrorists," that is, until We the People who believe in the Citizen Militia of the Constitution are classified as such, as an Arizona representathing is proposing. Besides, who needs a warrant when you can simply phone in an anonymous tip to a snitch line claiming an enemy has a gun and the authorities need to respond NOW!

It's not like there's a Sixth Amendment, what with the trial by jury subverted via judicial instructions that the judge, not the jury, is the most powerful authority in the court. Oh, and the anonymous tipsters mentioned above? So much for your right to face your accuser.

The Fifth and Eighth Amendments? Don't worry, "waterboarding" and other delights are just for terrorists. You know, like those militia freaks I mentioned a couple paragraphs back. Now wear your dog collar, get back in that pyramid and smile...

Ninth and Tenth Amendments? Ha. The whole damned country is ramped up for the War on Drugs with federal authority nowhere delegated in the Constitution, along with the federal hand in everything from education to health care to labor laws to environmentalcase activism to...besides which, all the neocon establishment opinionmakers will tell you there is no right to privacy (back to Amendment IV, I see)...

The evisceration of the Bill of Rights is damned near complete. Rulers so treasonous they behave as if following a demonic playbook are so blatant in their tyranny it's a wonder their horns aren't visible.

Hush now. Nothing to see here. There will be no war, even though one has been declared on us that would have spurred our forebears to storm the citadel in fury. Most of our countrymen will never miss what they never knew they had--until, of course, it's too late.

Honey, get me a beer? Hey--it's Saturday. Is there anything good on tonight?

[Via John Perna. Also thanks to US Citizen for calling my attention to the "Minuteman" story]

This is Not America

Does the Bill of Rights still serve as a guarantee of God-given rights against arbitrary abuses of government power? Or is it just a 215-year-old piece of paper that can be disregarded at the whim the authorities?

Doug Newman illustrates "What the Hollis Wayne Fincher Case Means to You."

[More about Wayne Fincher via WarOnGuns]

New WarOnGuns Poll: Should Released Felons Get Their "Gun Rights" Back?

Your choices are:

__YES-They have paid their debt to society
__NO-They've proven they can't be trusted
__MAYBE-NO for violent crimes, YES for nonviolent or unconstitutional convictions like "gun law" violations
__If they're still violently dangerous, why are they being let go?

Take the new poll in the left margin of this page. This one is supposed to let you give multiple answers.

Many thanks to 1894C for suggesting this topic.

Here are the results of the last poll, "Wayne Fincher Should Receive :"

We're the Only Ones Understanding the Seriousness Enough

Seven weapons, including two submachine guns, were stolen last weekend from an FBI agent's vehicle in Southwest Washington, the agency said yesterday.

Also taken were ammunition, a police radio, bullet-resistant vests, body armor and photography equipment, the FBI said.

Well, the feds steal our weapons all the time--seems turnabout's fair play. At least the thieves didn't burn down their headquarters and massacre their women and children.

Their guy left that stuff in an unattended vehicle. I'm sure glad "The Only Ones" are so much more capable of keeping weapons out of "the wrong hands" than we ordinary mortals.

Oh, and WaPo "Authorized Journalists"--what was the agent's name again? I didn't quite catch that while you were acting in your capacity as government watchdog...

[Via Kurt Hofmann, who also titled this post, and K-Romulus]

Second Amendment Carnival VIII

Stan, over at Free Constitution, is once more "providing the best 2nd Amendment coverage the blogosphere has to offer." Go check it out.

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.

A Woman's Touch

In order to right this perceived injustice they have decided to treat boys in school as if they were defective girls...

Another area of attack in the schools has been the zero tolerance of guns. Up to 25 or 30 years ago, kids took guns to school and left them in their cars or in cloak rooms. Now, boys have been suspended for using their thumb and forefinger to visualize their "Bang! Bang!" Classes of little children are led in chants of: "I will never use a gun." This dangerous fruit of feminism is both anti-gun and anti-self defense.

Kudos, Larry Pratt for not being afraid to dive into the roiling waters of political correctness. And applause for Kate O'Beirne--I'm going to buy her book today.

I've noticed women getting much more enthused about firearms and self defense when taught by other women--it's an approach and confidence thing that men are often insensitive to. That's why groups like Liberty Belles and Armed Females of America can be so important.

[Via Skip]

No Insult Meant to Whorehouses at Low Tide...

"Welcome to Chicago," says the cop played by Sean Connery to FBI agent Elliot Ness in the 1987 gangster-era film "The Untouchables."

"This town stinks like a whorehouse at low tide."

I.Carry.org presents a trifecta of corruption. These are the vile criminal plunderers who disarm you and me under force of law.


[Via HZ]

This Day in History: January 20

On this day in 1777, Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson leads 400 “raw” men from the New Jersey militia and 50 Pennsylvania riflemen under Captain Robert Durkee in an attack against a group of 500 British soldiers foraging for food led by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Abercromby near Van Nest’s Mills in Millstone, New Jersey.

Off to a Crawl

There wasn't exactly a rush of people in Platte County aiming to earn the right to start packing a concealed handgun during the first week of eligibility.

The Nebraska State Patrol issued one concealed carry permit to a Platte County applicant during the first week (Jan. 3) Nebraskans were eligible to apply, according to information released last week by the State Patrol.

Don't you just love the mentality that thinks we must "earn the right"?

I'd like to say this doesn't surprise me due to the "legal" infringements (oxymoron!) thrown in the way of a right that shouldn't require permitting, but the truth is, most of our countrymen just don't give a damn.

We can do our best to educate and inform, but I fear society as a whole is going to need to take a persuasive beating before people start to rouse from their apathetic slumber. We saw it in the LA riots, when potential gun buyers (no shortage of "antis" among them) were indignant to find out there was a waiting period, and oh, by the way, all "legal" sales had been suspended pending further notice.

Brady Paradise

The government management in the area said that anyone who is seen or caught carrying a gun will be shot. The order does not affect the government soldiers either in plain clothes or in uniform.

In fitting irony, the Somali national anthem is titled "Somalia, Wake Up."

Contra Costa Times Slimes Nugent

This would normally be the place we'd insert a smart-aleck remark about the celebrity in question ... if we weren't afraid the celebrity in question would hunt us down and kill us.

Ha ha. Witty "liberal." Ha ha.

What a lying punk.

"Down With Guns!"

"Up With Peace, Down With Guns," they chanted on Martin Luther King Jr. Day as Rockaway residents of all ages and community leaders marched to retake their streets and end the gun violence that claimed four young lives and brought 2006 to a bloody close.

You have to register to read the rest of the story, but somehow I don't think it will be worth the time to do so. I guess I'll never know if Miram Rosenberg reported on the elephant in the parade...

I guess chanting brainless slogans is just a whole lot easier than addressing difficult issues.

Two, Four, Six...

The tipster alerted cops about Bianchino through an anonymous program called "Gun Stop," in which people can confidentially inform the department about illegal guns and receive a reward of $1,000.

Charges are pending against Bianchino.

Well, I guess if they don't respect the Second Amendment (and possibly the Fourth--the story said nothing about a search warrant), there's no reason to expect anyone in government to give a damn about the Sixth:

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right...to be confronted with the witnesses against him...

And the Most Effective Use of Hysteria and Propaganda in a Headline Award Goes To...

'Toy' gun killed our tragic son

Bloody brilliant.

We're the Only Ones Rangy Enough

City officials could face a debate over gun rights after the police chief suspended the licenses of a shooting range at which a woman killed herself in October.

The issue is headed for the City Council, and possibly the courts, with the police chief asking for new regulations that would ban customers who don’t have a firearm identification card from entering the shooting range. A lawyer representing the range said yesterday that such a measure could force the business to close.

So if it's up to the "Only Ones" chief, novices, who don't have enough interest to procure a permit just to try something new, will never be introduced to the shooting sports, and importantly, to the safety training and familiarity with firearm handling they afford. That way, if they ever do come across a gun, they'll be completely untrained. Plus, there will be fewer in the general population "legally permitted" to keep and bear arms (talk about an oxymoron!)

This Day in History: January 19

On this day in 1764, the British Parliament expels John Wilkes from its ranks for his reputedly libelous, seditious and pornographic writings. Over the next 12 years, Wilkes' name became a byword for Parliamentary oppression both in Britain and in Britain's North American colonies.

School Safety for Hand Puppets

"The next thing we know," Kukla said, "he pulled multiple weapons out from under his clothes and out of his backpack"...

Her message -- along with that of four other speakers -- was: Make guns easier to track and harder to get for those who shouldn't have them...

"The question is whether you allow law-abiding citizens to defend themselves," Valone said.

Kukla disagreed.

Naturally. When you insist on being a pathetic and helpless herd animal, what would it say about your lack of courage and character to know there are others who refuse to be--what was the word Machiavelli used?--"contemptible."

How many "gun laws" did the assailant willfully ignore, and her solution is to enact even more? When it comes to school safety, brainless puppet Kukla makes about as much sense as Fran and Ollie.

And why would any responsible parent trust the lives of their children to her care?

We're the Only Ones Raging Against the Machine Enough

An off-duty Hollywood police officer has been charged with threatening a family with a gun in an act of road rage, authorities said.

We've been down this road before. What more proof do we need that only "The Only Ones" are trained, trustworthy and stable enough to bear arms?

Happy motoring!

We're the Only Ones Who Don't Need No Stinkin' Badges Enough

More than 3,600 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) or Homeland Security Department airport security uniforms and badges have been lost or stolen over the past five years, The Washington Times reports.

Fly the friendly skies--with "The Only Ones."


[Via Wm H]

A BIDS Clarification

I received the following clarifying points on the Blind Identification Database System (BIDS) from Russ Howard and Brian Puckett in response to my recent "Talkin' to America" interview with Aaron Zelman of JPFO:

From Russ Howard:

Good article in Guns Magazine - and JPFO interview. Thanks for bringing it up again when no one else will! A few key things I'd like to emphasize. Not that you don't already know...

1. The government doesn't need to establish a registration system. It already has one, with national lists. Private dealer lists are de facto national registration lists. In that regard, NICS is a dangerous red herring. Keeping names through NICS would be a convenience for the government over the existing national registration system, but the government can already get the names from dealers when it gets the will. Until dealer lists are discontinued and destroyed, we have national registration. If any group knows the historical danger of de facto registration via privately held state-mandated gun owner lists, it's JPFO.

2. Full implementation of BIDS implies timely destruction, soon after BIDS passes, of all private dealer records that identify gun buyers. Currently, dealers that go out of business are required to turn over their lists to the government. Waiting for a dealer to go out of business to require list destruction would be unreliable as the dealer would likely be bankrupt, dead, disabled, etc., and the lists of those dealers who don't go out of business would always be available for confiscation. As long as dealers keep gun buyer identifications, we have national registration. As Brian Puckett notes (see email below), "There is no point in keeping one branch of the government from compiling a list of gun owners if other branches are doing that exact thing". Likewise, there's no point eliminating lists directly held by the government without eliminating indirectly held lists that can become directly held at any time. It's lame to fight the former while ignoring the latter, perpetuating the myth that we don't already have registration.

3. In re: "We think just deleting GCA 68 entirely is preferable to gutting it via BIDS"... Of course, that's our preference too. Anyone who knows us should know if we could eliminate GCA 68 by snapping our fingers, it would be gone. We don't want to save GCA 68 with BIDS, we want to eviscerate it.

But just deleting GCA 68 is not going to happen - certainly not in one fell swoop. So why not at least use BIDS as a persuasive hammer to beat the enemy over the head, and use it to expose the key goal of those who push registration via background checks? A pro forma argument might go something like ...

"Registration does not have to be an intrinsic aspect of background checks. The law could be changed so that a dealer could check to make sure a buyer is not a violent criminal without the government ever knowing who is buying guns, and without the creation of lists of gun owners. If you want background checks for crime reduction rather than as a vehicle for registration for the purpose of eventual confiscation, and if there are viable ways for dealers to avoid selling to criminals without building de facto registration lists of decent citizens, then why insist on coupling background checks with registration? The anti-gun crowd insists on marrying background checks and registration because it's really about registration and confiscation for them, not crime control."

BIDS is not a compromise. It doesn't give up something in return for something else. It gives the enemies of freedom nothing, while taking a lot back.

BIDS isn't just incremental. It totally guts the most dangerous aspect of GCA 68, and it's self-reinforcing. It largely eliminates the gun grabbers' incentive to defend the surviving sections of GCA 68. It essentially repeals GCA 68, but the name would live on, like a hollow tree ready to fall over in a high wind.

From Brian Puckett:

[G]un buyer checks are not going to be repealed unless we have a change of government, or the Supreme Court starts adhering to the written constitution, or the public starts thinking its a good idea for paroled murderers to walk into stores and buy guns. This will not happen any time soon, if ever. BIDS will eliminate all the bad parts of background checks, since the government doesn't perform them and therefore doesn't know who's buying a gun. If the entire proposal is accepted, all dealer forms would be destroyed..., AND the government would destroy its ongoing compilation of gun owners via surrendered dealer form 4473's.

As noted in the proposal:

(a) Elimination of current records.

One purpose of BIDS is to eliminate possible gun owner registration via NICS background searches and associated records. If that goal is valid, then it makes no sense to continue other methods of gun owner registration. Therefore any requirement that dealers enter the names of gun buyers on firearm transaction records (such as BATF Form 4473, or state Dealers Record of Sale forms) should be halted. There is no point in keeping one branch of the government from compiling a list of gun owners if other branches are doing that exact thing.

In keeping with the overall goal of eliminating gun owner registries, ideally every gun owner's name would be deleted from every existing state and federal electronic registry, and from every paper record in federal, state, or private hands.

At a time when there are those in government coveting an expansion of NICS to include a full-blown database registry, it's not unfair to ask why the major gun groups--who have known about BIDS for years--refuse to explore its potential. If the only place you hear about it is via a humble blog like this, get ready for more infringements of your rights.

Wayne Fincher Update: January 18

From Paul W. Davis, the Wayne Fincher docket "is updated through the end of the trial."

***

I missed this report from a few days back. The following immediately caught my attention:

Wendy Johnson, assistant U. S. attorney, said the investigation of the Militia of Washington County continues.

“[Fincher and his supporters ] are good people, and they believe very strongly,” Johnson said. “Those beliefs are just contrary to the laws of the land.”

No, Wendy, last time I checked, the Constitution was "the supreme law of the land," and my copy still says "shall not be infringed."

We know that's not the interpretation you and other members of the Bush administration argue in court and elsewhere, but there it is.

But continue persecuting "good people," Wendy. It's not like this country doesn't have real and evil domestic enemies, with whom you have apparently aligned.

Good Lord, Wendy, is this really what you wanted to do with your life?

***

We're up to 17 now on the Free Wayne Webring. Join us.

[More about Wayne Fincher via WarOnGuns]

This Day in History: January 18

On the evening of January 18, 1776, the Council of Safety in Savannah, Georgia, issues an arrest warrant for the colony’s royal governor, James Wright. Patriots led by Major Joseph Habersham of the Provincial Congress then took Wright into custody and placed him under house arrest.

Free Wayne Webring Update

13 sites in two days--not bad, but we can do better.

Please join, or if you don't have a site or blog, encourage those you frequent to do so.

[More about Wayne Fincher via WarOnGuns]

A Compelling Reason

"I can't find a compelling reason for anybody to have a gun in this courthouse," Commissioner Scott Gillenwaters said.

You'd better pray a compelling reason never finds you, foolish man.

Off-duty law enforcement officers will be allowed to tote weapons in the courthouse, the panel decided in a separate vote.

Ah, yes. As we've demonstrated countless times here at WarOnGuns, only "The Only Ones" are competent and trustworthy enough to bear arms.

A "Startling Success"

Police Commissioner Ed Davis had barely been on the job two weeks when the gun violence that has ripped through Boston’s neighborhoods took another life - a 14-year-old middle school student.

Ten days later, another 14-year-old was shot to death. Less than two weeks later, a 13-year-old boy was gunned down.

That's funny. The eggheads at Harvard's Kennedy School of Subversion...I mean...Government, would have us believe that "Preliminary date" from Operation Ceasefire "suggest that this strategy has had a dramatic impact on reducing gang violence."

I hope this doesn't mean that Project Exile hasn't yielded "startling success" in Richmond or Philadelphia...

Ai Chihuahua!

Mexican drug gangs are armed with assault weapons bought at gun shows in the United States and smuggled across the border, a report says.

Nice. The corrupt Mexican government does its utmost to facilitate illegal border crossings, and then complains the permeable border facilitates Mexican corruption.

So obviously, the solution is to curtail more freedoms of American citizens.

My cabeza hurts.

Everybody's bought and read this, right?

A List Addition

Criticize the need for guns, the obsession with guns, and you're labeled unpatriotic, anti-Constitution or - horrors - a liberal.

You forgot "Nazi."

Goodfella

"Goodfellas" actor Paul Sorvino pulled a gun on his daughter's ex-boyfriend after the man pounded on her hotel door and made threats, the daughter testified Tuesday.

As I noted here, Sorvino was one of the few from the Hollywood set I recall who attended California Rifle and Pistol Association banquets back in the days when I was a "true believer" and went to such events myself.

Now if he could just get his idiot other daughter Mira to lay off the citizen disarmament support...

A Snowball's Chance

Rep. Bartlett, of Maryland, has introduced HR 73. I'll paste its text in extended remarks below. It doesn't have a snowball's chance of getting out of Judiciary Committee, but the effort is praiseworthy.

As usual, David Hardy's opinion is something we should heed.

Thing is, the bill ain't exactly new. Bartlett has been shopping a variation around for many years now--here's a link to a GOA article from Sept. 1999 (scroll to bottom).

I guess the real question ought to be what the hell good was it having a Republican-dominated congress all those years before the Pelosi regime if something as straightforward and righteous as this couldn't get enacted?

[Via Straightarrow]

This Day in History: January 17

Relying upon strategic creativity, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and a mixed Patriot force rout British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton and a group of Redcoats and Loyalists at the Battle of Cowpens on this day in 1781.

We're the Only Ones Oxymoronic Enough

The Rockport Police Department’s domestic violence officer has been charged with firing a weapon during a dispute with his wife.

You cannot make this stuff up. Only "The Only Ones" can.

We're the Only Ones Shocking Enough

A police officer was accidentally shocked by another officer's stun gun while they were trying to subdue a teenager suspected of being drunk, according to a police report.

Another electrifying moment for "The Only Ones."

A Fairfax Republican

A northern Virginia senator is taking aim at gun shows with legislation to require private sellers to run criminal background checks on their customers.

Sen. Jeanne-marie Devolites Davis, R-Fairfax, said Monday that the so-called gun show loophole makes it all too easy for criminals to get firearms.

Fairfax? That's some lobbying success.

Until the Republicans are shown that creatures like this will be repelled at the polls, they will continue to betray their duty to the Constitution.

I also like the quote from the little girl, which is an accurate measure of the mindset of so-called "adults" who bleat to be disarmed.

I don't suppose with all this renewed interest in background checks that our Fairfax gun lobby will show any interest in an alternative?

This Day in History: January 16

British Admiral Sir George Rodney, with 18 “ships-of-the-line,” engages an inferior Spanish squadron of 11 battleships commanded by Don Juan de Langara off the southwestern coast of Portugal at Cape St. Vincent, in what comes to be known as “The Moonlight Battle.” (“Ships-of-the-line” is the 18th century term for ships substantial enough to be used in a battle line, a tactic of war in which two lines of ships faced off against each other.)

Because "Bounty" Sounds so much Nicer than "Snitch"

The program is a gun bounty program modeled after one in Jacksonville. It lets people turn in others who are carrying guns illegally, all to get a reward...

"We’re actually going to offer through CrimeLine $1,000 reward to anyone that turns in somebody that has an illegal gun or a gun that has been used in a crime of some sort. And that's a pretty significant reward, $1,000, and you can do it anonymously."

Dyer says the program has been effective in Jacksonville, but it’s impossible to calculate the exact impact it had on crime there.

Great way to get rid of the competition if you're a drug dealer, or for an "Only One" to bypass that pesky Fourth Amendment and anonymously phone in his own "tips."

And don't you just love the way they claim it's "effective" but can't come up with any proof?

Somebody Fisk This Moron

I don't have time today.

We're the Only Ones Recovering Enough

Police investigating a report of shots fired early Saturday morning on the South Side arrested two men who allegedly had a gun stolen from a Schuylkill Haven, Pa., police officer.

Thank goodness--another gun "off the streets."

This seems to happen so often to "The Only Ones," maybe they should consider having a "buyback."

Alicia Off-Key on "Mommy" State

It seems like more and more Hollywood women are taking a trip to the gun shop.

Now, adding herself to the list, Alicia Keys says she is considering buying a gun for protection...

That's fine, Ms. Keys. Taking responsibility for your own protection is a requirement of being a free and responsible adult.

You'd think someone who realizes that would also realize America doesn't "need a mommy." And, incidentally, all the "mommys" currently viewed as in the running for president aren't exactly friendly to the idea of a woman having the right to choose keeping and bearing arms.

Join the "Free Wayne" Web Ring

Blogonomicon has taken this idea and made it happen, along with a fine representative graphic by Hairy Hobbit. See my left sidebar.

Many thanks, gentlemen, for creating this.

If you have a blog or website, please join us to help develop and maintain internet awareness and show solidarity. If you don't have a site but still want to help, please contact other sites you frequent and ask them to join.

[More about Wayne Fincher via WarOnGuns]

This Day in History: January 15

Having recognized the need for their territory to assert its independence from both Britain and New York and remove themselves from the war they were waging against each other, a convention of future Vermonters assembles in Westminster and declares independence from the crown of Great Britain and the colony of New York on this day in 1777. The convention’s delegates included Vermont’s future governor, Thomas Chittenden, and Ira Allen, who would become known as the "father" of the University of Vermont.

I'm sure old Ira would have approved of this then...

Pentagon to Develop Super-Suits

The Pentagon is hoping that a new type of suit will give its soldiers super-human powers. It would be made from a newly developed super-strong but super-lightweight fabric that could stop bullets and increase the soldiers muscle power up to a hundredfold.

If and when they get the super-suit perfected, is there any question they'll be limited to the standing army/"Only Ones," and possession by the "militia" will be verboten?

This story reminded me of one of my favorite old "Outer Limits" episodes.

Another Senseless DHMO Death

A 28-year-old woman has died of water intoxication after taking part in a Californian radio station's water drinking contest.

She was in the "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" competition trying to win a Nintendo Wii video game system.

The answer, of course, is common sense water control laws, although some of us wonder if an outright ban on this dangerous substance might not be in everyone's interest.

If it saves one life...

We're the Only Ones Violating Parole Enough

Calamia, a former Indialantic police officer and Brevard Community College criminal justice instructor, pleaded no contest in 1988 to the execution-style killing of former reserve Brevard County Sheriff’s Office deputy Gary Smith in 1987.

So the issue shouldn't be what's he doing out of the country, or what's he doing holding an AK-47.

The issue should be what the HELL is a convicted execution murderer doing out in the general population in the first place?

He served 10 years behind bars? Meanwhile, a crack dealer with a gun who never shot, let alone killed anyone just got 55.

But then, he's not an "Only One."

New WarOnGuns Poll

I'm playing around with a new poll feature (see left sidebar).

I dunno.

Is it worth it? Should I keep it or dump it?

• Keep it?
• Dump it?
• Who cares?

I'll leave it up for a week. If it can attract a few hundred votes in that time, I'll figure there's enough interest to keep it.

Romney Retreats on Gun Control

[Use BugMeNot to bypass site registration.]

Former governor Mitt Romney, who once described himself as a supporter of strong gun laws, is distancing himself from that rhetoric now as he attempts to court the gun owners who make up a significant force in Republican primary politics...

But perhaps the most significant gun legislation Romney signed as governor was a 2004 measure instituting a permanent ban on assault weapons. The Legislature mirrored the law after the federal assault weapons ban, which was set to expire. According to activists at the time, the bill made Massachusetts the first state to enact its own such ban, and Romney hailed the move.

"These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense," he was quoted as saying. "They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people."

That's a lot more than just "rhetoric." Now that some are trying to help him erase the past, it would seem fair to require proof that he really has "reformed."

I'll change my opinion if he provides the right and unequivocal answers to some clear questions. If he won't, and he won't, you'll know he continues to be just another in a long train of power-mad political swindlers, which of course, he is:

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, state and federal? Will you direct the Department of Justice to do this?

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-type programs, and do you agree with current NRA management’s call to “enforce existing gun laws”? Where is the Constitutional authority for this, and how do you square it with "shall not be infringed"?

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, will you back your words of support for firearms rights up with consistent actions? How?

11. How will you personally atone for your past support of citizen disarmament edicts?

I'm sending these questions to the Romney campaign. Don't hold your breath.

[Photo from Organization for Mitt Romney blog: Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, and National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre talk with attendees while touring the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show in Orlando, Fla., Friday, Jan. 12, 2007. Romney has formed a presidential exploratory committee for the 2008 election. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhac)]

Wayne Fincher Update: January 14

Washington County Militia Leader Convicted in Federal Court

Fincher's defense argued that the law under which he was charged is unconstitutional because it violates the 2nd Amendment's guarantee of citizens' rights to bear arms...Prosecutors told jurors the case was simple -- Fincher had the machine guns and they weren't registered as required.

"No, his defense didn't argue a thing--they were not allowed to by the judge. If your only source of news as "authorized journalists," this piece would make you think Wayne Fincher got a fair trial.

U.S. Constitution One Nail Closer To Burial

The results of this governmental abuse of power are the tragedies of an innocent man in jail, his family broken-hearted and the abusers celebrating their contrived victory.

This case truly has never been about the law, evidence and justice. If it had, Fincher would have remained a free man and would have been found not guilty by the jury.

Dale Morfrey shares some candid observations.

[More about Wayne Fincher via WarOnGuns]

This Day in History: January 14

On this day in 1784, the Continental Congress ratifies the Second Treaty of Paris, ending the War for Independence.

I'm afraid the war for independence will never be over as long as there are those who make war against independence.

The "Free Wayne" Web Ring

It's just a thought, but one I don't have time to execute myself: a "Free Wayne!" web ring, to help develop and maintain internet awareness and to show solidarity. Here's the Web Ring site where this could be set up.

If you have a blog/website and would want to participate as a ring member, drop a comment below.

If you can assume the role of Ring Master and set everything up, let's discuss it in the Comments.

Maybe we can start out with a solicitation to develop an identifying graphic, maybe a Gadsden flag with "Free Wayne!" or some such...?

If there's interest and someone wants to take the lead, let's get a comment thread going.

Is there any support for this?

UPDATE:

Graphic courtesy of Hairy Hobbit

We're the Only Ones Lying Enough

A narcotics team that shot and killed an elderly woman while raiding her home lied to obtain the search warrant, one team member has told federal investigators, according to news reports confirmed by a person familiar with the investigation who requested anonymity.

You know, when you consider the whole point behind having a government in the first place is to protect our lives, our rights and our property...

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

We're the Only Ones Safely Storing Enough

A Valparaiso police officer's handgun and ammunition were stolen after someone broke into her home late Thursday or early Friday morning.

So locking your gun up in one place and your ammunition in another is something "The Only Ones" only tell us to do...?

Capping Gun Crime with Hip-Hop

He's recorded the R&B/hip-hop single "Da Truth Hurts" as part of a new promotional campaign for Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federal program created to reduce gun crimes through local programs.

Project Safe Neighborhoods? Oh, yeah, the NRA management/George Bush-endorsed program that the feds used to bust Wayne Fincher.

I wonder how many attendees will get shot at that concert "Mike Nasty" is planning?

"Romney Supports Gun Rights"

"I support the right of individuals to keep and bear arms as guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution," said Romney, former governor of Massachusetts.

Sure he does.

God damned liar.

And why the hell is Wayne LaPierre squiring him around?

Ron Paul for President

Ron Paul, the iconoclastic nine-term congressman from southeast Texas, took the first step Thursday toward launching a second presidential bid in 2008, this time as a Republican.

I note some of the dullards on gun forums have already started naysaying this decision, which will lead eventually to accusations of wasting our votes and demands to fall in lockstep behind whatever gungrabber with an (R) after his name is imposed on us.

The immediate effect will be to convince gun owners that this is a lost cause and thus a waste of their time, money and effort, that is, to discourage us from getting behind this. If we listen to such unimaginitive (or manipulative) counsel, we will squander a grand opportunity to afford Dr. Paul a mass media forum for advancing his ideas and educating our countrymen on liberty.

[Via JR, Kurt , and Tom]

We're the Only Ones Babysitting Enough

The unsuspecting Marcello dropped broad hints about his source inside the U.S. Marshals Service during conversations with his incarcerated brother in 2003. FBI agents heard every word about the man Marcello called "the babysitter."

Deputy marshal John Thomas Ambrose surrendered Thursday to FBI agents who say he was the source who spilled to Marcello secrets about a federally protected witness to organized crime.

Nice to see "The Only Ones" can apparently be trusted to protect witnesses as well as they do our rights.

[Via Tommy Sherman]

Wayne Fincher Update: January 13*

Fincher found guilty of having illegal weapons

Round one went to the government Friday...

Fincher's attorney, Oscar Stilley, vowed to appeal the verdict all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Friends: Fincher No Danger

"Wayne helped form this militia, in part, to prove his constitutional right to do so," said Don Bright, a longtime friend of Fincher's. "This is not a violent man by any means, but what we're seeing here is a jury that didn't get to hear his side of the story."

Email from Paul W. Davis:

It has been another long day in Court, and again, not a pleasant one. I was very concerned when I saw the thrust of Oscar's summation last night. I prayed that he would not get cited for contempt, which was a very likely event given the drive to clamp down on anything that references the 2nd Amendment and the rights of Jurors.

Thus it was quite a blessing to see that the one objection the US Attorney had, the Judge overruled. It was plainly obvious that she did not like the argument Oscar made. However, the Judge allowed him to make it as the Jury Instructions were a directed verdict based upon the fact that Wayne never denied having the arms in question. Frankly, I'm surprised the Jury too as long as they did (almost 5 hours), if they followed the instructions given. Personally, if one followed the jury instructions, deliberations would have taken only as long as it takes to write "yes" twice on the forms. I am going to post the Jury Instructions, both as proposed, and as finally delivered. You will be shocked at what you see.

It was hard on Wayne's family, even though they were told last night to expect the worst. However, Wayne is not broken, and is determined to go on. When Oscar and I visited with Wayne prior to the jury returning from deliberations, he said it was worth it to expose the fraud that exists in the law, and how it is done in this country. Plainly, the Federal courts are corrupt, and are more interested in procedure and precedent, than in administering judgement and justice. This will be appealed.

However, there was one thing that happened today that disturbed me greatly. As Oscar and I walked back from lunch, he received a phone call in which it was brought to his attention that someone said that he should have done this or that, that he did or didn't do. Though I am not a lawyer, I am neither ignorant, nor stupid and I do know somewhat about the law. I can tell you that it is very hard to stand up there and get slammed to the carpet time and again and have the Judge angry at you repeatedly because you will not give up on pushing to get your arguments heard. Oscar was repeatedly called down by the Judge and told to essentially "shut up." Throughout this trial, Oscar has tried vigorously to get justice done, and was shut down at every turn. The Judge was not interested in the law, only procedure and precedent. In fact, if memory serves, the jury never actually read, or heard the text of either 18 USC 922(o) or 26 USC 5861. I believe the court record will bear out my recollection. Nonetheless, they were "able" to determine that Wayne had violated a law that they never knew exactly what the law said. Needless to say, before I left to go to court this morning I picked up my copy of Alexandr I. Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago and took it with me to place on the table beside me.

All that being stated, I would that certain be careful about armchair quarterbacking as they were not there and not facing a totally hostile court. If Oscar told me once, he probably told me a good dozen times over the last four days that this is a tax case, meaning that they were playing dirty here just like in a tax case. However, I know that Oscar does not give up easily either (just like Wayne) and so he was not going to quit.

Now, that being stated as well, help would and will be greatly appreciated as Oscar was already busy and took the case because no one wanted to touch it, and he could not stand to see Wayne railroaded. At least now, we have a solid record of the proceedings and the things done had to be done in full view of the public.

Unfortunately, they found Wayne guilty on both counts. However, I know that good will come out of this. We now have to move forward to gather information about several things, not the least of which is information on all US Appellate court decisions that are firearms related.

[More About Wayne Fincher via WarOnGuns]

*Sorry-I originally mistakenly entered "January 14."

This Day in History: January 13

In the early morning hours of January 13, 1776, British forces raid Prudence Island, Rhode Island, in an effort to steal a large quantity of sheep. But, upon landing on the island’s southern beaches, the British were ambushed by fifteen Minutemen from Rhode Island’s Second Company led by Captain Joseph Knight, who had been tipped off to the Brits’ plans and rowed across Narragansett Bay from Warwick Neck the previous morning.

Fincher Guilty In Machine Gun Case

It took a jury just under five hours to find Hollis Wayne Fincher guilty of owning illegal machine guns and a sawed-off shotgun.

[Via US vs Fincher]

[More About Wayne Fincher]

Wayne Fincher Case: Ruling on the Motion in Limine

I've just had time to browse through this and won't be able to give it a detailed read until tonight.

One point that stands out: the prosecutor is arguing the official position of the Bush adminstration Department of Justice.

Feel free to give your own analysis below.

I also note that closing arguments are scheduled for 9:00 am today in Fayetteville, which means they're probably going on as I type these words.

[Via Paul W. Davis]

[More About Wayne Fincher]

We're the Only Ones Stunning Enough

The indictment accuses Hood of using the Taser in August 2005 on a handcuffed man at a Colonial Beach motel. The indictment also alleges Hood used a Taser on a man in September 2005, causing him to fall backward and strike his head.

Hood then used his Taser on the man a second time as he lay on the ground, prosecutors said.

Turner is accused of completing false reports on both incidents.

While Turner asked for an FBI review of the Colonial Beach policy on Taser use, the indictment alleges the chief supplied false police reports and made false statements during the review.

What did Captain Renault say?

"I'm shocked, shocked..."

[More from "The Only Ones" files...]

GIGO*

AMERICAN states where more people own guns have higher murder rates, including murders of children, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have reported...

"Our findings suggest that in the United States, household firearms may be an important source of guns used to kill children, women and men, both on the street and in their homes," said Matthew Miller, assistant professor of health policy and injury prevention, who led the study...

After dividing the states into four groups based on how many households had guns, the researchers found the states in the highest quartile of firearm ownership had overall homicide rates 60 per cent higher than states in the lowest quartile.

I haven't seen this study, so I'm going out on a limb here, but there's a big difference between households that have guns and households where guns are owned.

Violent urban felons have guns, but they don't legally own them, so if they're included in the mix, the results are automatically tainted and skewed in favor of citizen disarmament, and I suspect that's exactly what this whole show is all about. This "news" account also doesn't differentiate between whether any of the homicides were justified, whether any were committed by law enforcement, and what percentage were suicides--and as we've seen, if you want to reduce those, you'll get better results by disarming "The Only Ones."

Here's a "study" I'd like to see these eggheads document: Take the 4 million or so active members of the NRA, arguably the most heavily armed civilian population on the planet, and track their murder rate. I'd bet Prof. Miller a thousand dollars it's lower than the general population's murder rate in disarmed Japan.

If owning guns correlates to the 60% homicide differential he claims, it sounds like easy money. Any bets he'll take that bet?

*Garbage In/Garbage Out

Eyewitness Update from the Wayne Fincher Trial

David,

I cannot update you very much at this point as it is late, and it has been a difficult day. I am much reminded of the show trials of the Soviet Union in the 1920's: everything looked proper,but was very wrong. When this is all done I will be posting documents like mad to the Militia website. There will be many "must read" records from the court. I would highly encourage someone to setup a mirror site in the event this one is taken down. I do not expect it will be,but one never knows.

I spent about 45 minutes in private conversation with Wayne after proceedings were done for the day. Since Wayne is a dear friend, it was precious time to have. Wayne has not given in, and will not give up. After Oscar and I left the Federal Building, I told Oscar that the most honorable man in the courtroom today was Wayne Fincher. He agreed.

I will send more tomorrow.

Warmest regards,

Paul W. Davis

Via separate email, Mr. Davis also calls our attention to Document 26-1 of the Docket, giving us an update on how Mr. Fincher's health issues have been treated.

[More About Wayne Fincher]

Judge Disallows Fincher Defense

Hollis Wayne Fincher's machine gun trial will go to the jury today with the defense having presented no evidence or witnesses to the jury.

The defense rested Thursday after U.S. District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren ruled Fincher's proposed testimony inadmissible.

So much for earlier reports that this creature was honorable.

[Via Hairy Hobbit]

[More about Wayne Fincher ]

This Day in History: January 12

On this day in 1777, American Brigadier General Hugh Mercer dies from the seven bayonet wounds he received during the Battle of Princeton.

Prosecution Rests in Fincher Case

The prosecution finished calling witnesses early this afternoon in the Wayne Fincher federal case.

[More about Wayne Fincher from WarOnGuns]

We're the Only Ones Working for the Weekend Enough

Patrick Moser's lies cost the City of Middletown $400,000. They cost him his 16-year career as a cop. And now, they're going to cost him seven weekends in the Orange County Jail.

Let me see if I've got this straight: A police officer lies in a police report and a hearing in an attempt to convict a citizen of criminal charges, and then complains things were "stacked" against him "from Day One" because he's been sentenced to weekend jail time?

What the hell is this world coming to? Don't they know he's an "Only One"?

[Via Declan]

New Strategy for 'Exile'--Televised Wishful Thinking

The state's top federal prosecutor is paying three Baltimore television stations more than $41,000 to air a new public service announcement starting today about the potential perils faced by felons charged with federal gun crimes...

"If we get the message to criminals and prevent them from carrying guns, we will save lives and we won't have to pay to prosecute them and incarcerate them," Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said in an e-mail yesterday.

Yeah, Rod. And if wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets.

Blow some more grant money. It's not like it comes out of your pocket. Plus, you get your name in the papers, which never hurts a tough law-and-order prosecutor with career ambitions.

When this doesn't work--and it won't--maybe you guys can get more federal funding to try something equally effective, like magic incantations and tossing chicken bones.

Maybe It's Just an Oversight?

THE ban on the carrying of licensed firearms in public places will start this Sunday.

PNP Chief Oscar Calderon reminded the public that the PNP will suspend all the gun carrying privileges when the nationwide 150-day gun ban takes effect on January 14, the start of the election period for the May 14 national and local elections.

That's strange. I didn't see a statement from a spokesman for the violent criminals pledging compliance with the moratorium.

Know Your Enemy

Hoping that the new Democratic state House will be more receptive to gun-control legislation, state Rep. Dwight Evans yesterday said he will reintroduce a series of gun bills that previously failed.

And, naturally, all they "want is common-sense gun policies..."

These people will never give up. They'll continue to press for disarmament laws at the local, state, federal and global level. They'll file lawsuits. They'll propagandize to the public and be abetted by a media that can only be characterized as co-conspirators. They'll indoctrinate America's children with their evil lies.

Meanwhile, "our" side can't even muster more than a dozen people to take one minute and send an email to the president after his administration approved regulations declaring the Second Amendment a collective right.

Jury Seated in Fincher Trial--Judge "Flip Flops"

A jury has been seated for the trial of a Washington County man accused of illegally having three machine guns and a sawed-off shotgun.

Here's another account:

A five man, seven woman jury with two alternates was selected Wednesday in day one of the Wayne Fincher trial. Many Fincher supporters filed into the federal courtroom...all stood as Fincher entered.

While Defense attorney Oscar Stilley said he expects to show Fincher is completely not guilty of any of the charges...during his opening statements the Prosecution had two objections to mention of the militia and the second amendment...

The Prosecution brought an ATF Special Agent on the stand to discuss the firearms found in Fincher's home and property.

And finally, I got this very disturbing email from Paul W. Davis:

The Judge came in this morning and virtually reversed his ruling from yesterday. In addition to that, I distinctly heard him say (and the court record proves it) that the Second Amendment was an individual right in that he spoke about the Bill of Rights and stated that they were individual rights that were protected by the first 10 Amendments.

This morning he totally reversed himself and stated that the 2nd Amendment conferred a collective right. Oscar argued with that and referenced the 2004 USDOJ paper and we also have an official copy of the 1982 Senate Subcommittee report that states that it is an individual right. However, the judge only accepts recent circuit court rulings and no other authority is sufficient for evidence or proof. Oscar argued that point strenuously and the Judge didn't seem to care.

Right now, I sit at the defense table as I am assisting Oscar. It is also a good opportunity to visit with Wayne when the Judge demands that counsel meet him in chambers.

You need to post that we actually live in the Land Down Under, and our courts reflect it.

Mr. Davis adds he "will post the judge's ruling on the motion in Limine as soon as I have it and am able," and, of course, I'll link to that here.

[More about Wayne Fincher from WarOnGuns]

This Day in History: January 11

Francis Salvador, the first Jew to hold an elected office in the Americas, takes his seat on the South Carolina Provincial Congress on this day in 1775.

Judge OKs Fincher Arguments

A man charged with possessing illegal machine guns will be able to argue at trial federal gun laws are unconstitutional, a judge ruled Tuesday. But, the judge is not going to allow the trial to digress into a freewheeling, uncontrolled debate of the Second Amendment in front of the jury.

This could be huge.

Which means the big gun lobbying groups will no longer be able to ignore this case. So don't be surprised to hear rumbles of discontent, followed by full blown accusations that this is a horrible case that will ruin everything for everybody and put all of our "gun rights" at risk.

Expect Wayne Fincher to be smeared for daring to defend himself.

I've been champing at the bit all day to post this, but Blogger was down this morning and I just got back in.

[Via Wolfesblog]

[More from WarOnGuns]

Talkin' to America Interviews David Codrea

Our latest Talkin' to America interview focuses on "War on Guns" blogger David Codrea! Listen to this fascinating interview to learn more about the injustice our government is bringing to bear on a man who is being denied his right to even _discuss_ the US Constitution or the law in court! You'll also find some commentary on the NRA that you may find useful as well.

Don't miss the latest Talkin' to America! You can download it or read the transcript at www.jpfo.org/talkamerica.htm.

As I'd mentioned earlier, we got around to discussing this blog, my GUNS Magazine Rights Watch column, the BIDS system, Matt Bracken's books, Wayne Fincher, the NRA, and, of course, my favorite subject...

Thanks again, Aaron Zelman. What must you have thought when I dropped the phone right at the beginning of the interview and had to request that we back up and start again...?