Working the Crowd

Organizers of pro-gun rallies across country lament low turnout [More]

For myriad reasons, that's not what the majority of the gun owner demographic does.

Years ago, before the Great Western Gun Show was forced out of California, I recall being disappointed over how it could attract over 40,000 gun owners--yet a counter-protest against the Million Moms only drew a few hundred RKBA activists.

It is what it is.

The antis bus people in. They have billionaire backers and a supportive media guaranteeing free advertising. They are collectivists and the mob is their tribe.

Organizing such events requires experienced professional oversight,

That just ain't us.

Focus on strengths.

And don't forget: We get thousands upon thousands at gun shows throughout the year, and 80,000+ at NRA conventions.

[Via several of you]

Another One Bites the Dust

Del Mar board votes to suspend fairgrounds gun show up to a year [More]

And there's not one legitimate reason for doing so.

I remember when they did this to Great Western  -- and now gun owners with time and money to go to shows, but not to shows of support, are reaping the rewards of  apathy.

The gun grabbers can get away with it in California, and curiously, there's not one national or state "gun group" out there telling its members why.

[Via Michael G]

The Final Curtain

You won't find any gun shows in Saratoga Springs after this weekend when a measure to ban them on city properties goes into effect. [More]

Shades of Great Western...

Timing it for Memorial Day weekend is no doubt a calculated insult.

So, gun and ammo companies: Are any of you going to step up and tell Saratoga Springs they won't arm their "Only Ones" through you?

A Question of Priorities

"You see people come here from all walks of life," said booth owner, Gene Branson. "Some people even come a hundred miles to this show." [More]

If gun owners devoted a tenth of that effort and expense to actively championing the right to keep and bear arms, we would be an invincible political force. That most prefer to squabble like learning disabled children over such trivialities as being asked to send an email exemplifies why things are the way they are.

Years ago, before the Great Western Gun Show was forced out of California, I recall being especially bitter over how it could attract tens of thousands of gun owners--yet a counter-protest against the Million Moms preceded by announcements and appeals throughout the "activist" network, only drew a few hundred. And out of all Los Angeles, we'd be lucky to get 50 to show up at an NRA Members' Council meeting, and of those, maybe half a dozen-- of the same people all the time-- actually did any work.

I repeat: If gun owners would get off their lazy, apathetic butts and consistently and proactively devote time, effort and treasure to the cause, we would be invincible. It's easy to point the finger at politicians for attacking us, or NRA management for compromising, and I'm not saying that should stop, but put in perspective, politicians wouldn't betray us if they didn't dare--and compromises wouldn't be made if they weren't perceived as advantageous or necessary.

This Happy Ending for Wiener Sounds Obscene to Me

“While I am happy that the Cow Palace Board of Directors voted to end gun shows, it shouldn’t have taken decades for the Board to do so,”  Wiener said in a statement. [More]

I remember when the gun-grabbers drove out Great Western. The lesson I got from that was that while tens of thousands would flock to the shows, only tens of tens would involve themselves to seriously advocate and work for RKBA.

And that reminds me: I miss Frank Barnyak. When I think of men like him and ...things like this Wiener piece of crap...

Gun Show Expected to Draw Crowds

Organizers of the upcoming Craig Gun and Sport Show are expecting the largest show in the event's history.

"Everything a hunter, sportsmen or shooter would want," said Dick Becker, a Maybell resident and member of the sponsoring Bears Ears Sportsman Club, of the items available at the show. "Camouflage, guns, supplies, scopes, mounts ... This will be the biggest show in Northwest Colorado."

I remember when we used to have the Great Western show at the LA County Fairgrounds, back before the Board of Supervisors evicted it as an exercise in hostility against gun owners. It would routinely draw 40,000 over a weekend.

I remember how disgusted I was when the Million Moms/Brady Campaign held a rally in front of the federal building in Westwood--they had thousands of Birkenstock liberals, plus bussed-in inner cityites. On our side of the street, we could never manage more than a hundred or so.

This was on a weekend, so nobody would have had to miss work. I guess those 40,000 gun owners must have had something better to do.

I don't have statistical backup, but I estimate less than 5% of gun owners carry 99% of the load when it comes to protecting our rights. The rest are, in my opinion, no better than welfare parasites, who exist off the efforts of others.

If that doesn't change, things could get real ugly.

Vanishing Point Reappears

FOX TV Movie releasing to DVD in March
By David Codrea

PRESS RELEASE:
“Charles Robert Carner’s action-packed remake of the cult classic 'Vanishing Point' roars onto DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment, March 8, 2005. Viggo Mortensen (“The Lord of the Rings”) stars as Kowalski, the lone hero in the Dodge Challenger who leads an army of lawmen on a wild car chase across the American West…”

Viggo Mortensen in VANISHING POINT
Produced by Alan C. Blomquist
Directed by Charles Robert Carner
Screenwriter Charles Robert Carner
“Vanishing Point” also stars Jason Priestley, Christine Elise, Keith David, Steve Railsback, John Doe and Peta Wilson
________________________

HISTORY
Back when I was young and immortal, I fancied myself fast behind the wheel. But this was the era of muscle cars, and as proud as I was of my old Buick V-8, it fell short of the "gold standard"--it wasn't a Mopar.

As if to remind boys like me of our place in the food chain, the movie “Vanishing Point” came screaming into theaters, featuring Barry Newman as the pill-popping Kowalski, who leads police on an interstate chase over a bet. But for me, the real star of the film was the white 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T with the 440 Magnum engine.

“Vanishing Point” became a hit with a cult following, for many, the benchmark for car chase movies. There was no way for me to know at the time that a generation later it would bring a friend into my life, resulting in collaborative efforts on GunTruths.com and the Citizens of America national advertising campaign for gun rights.

When I first heard of Charles Robert Carner I was producing a newsletter for the Westside Los Angeles NRA Member’s Council, 2nd Amendment West, my first foray into gun rights commentary. Because he was a nominal member of the Council and wanted to publicize the film to gun owners, Charlie contacted me about his soon-to-be-broadcast television movie for 20th Century-Fox, a remake of the Newman classic.

“What is this guy,” I remember thinking to myself, “nuts?”

Besides, what did a car movie have to do with guns?

As it turned out, not that much--at least, not as it applies to We the People. But it had plenty to do with the main reason we have guns. It had plenty to do with freedom.

What follows is not going to be a “movie review” per se, as much as a series of observations. You can read a review I am told is good here. I informed Charlie I didn’t want to read it until after I had finished this article, to avoid any influence on what I wanted to say.
________________________

THE FILM (and why gun owners/liberty activists should care)
First impressions: Gentle guitar notes set a sad, serene mood. A horned toad establishes the terrain. Machine sounds invade—bulldozers, it turns out, doing what? Squad car lights are flashing. Helicopter blades thud. Other instruments have joined the guitar; the music is more urgent now, and ominous. A Man in Black directs activities. The bulldozers have formed a roadblock. A white Challenger appears over a rise, pursued by flashing police cars.

Protestors carry signs on the sidelines. One, just briefly visible, reads “Don’t Forget Mt. Carmel.”

This is a “mainstream” television movie?

“If you do not stay back,” a bullhorn blares, “you will be arrested.”

The Challenger stops. We see a close up shot of Kowalski, the driver. His face looks grim, determined, resigned.

It is Easter Sunday in Riddle, ID.

Basic Plot/Synopsis:
Former Army Ranger and racer Kowalski restores vintage muscle cars and delivers them to customers. While in transit to deliver a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, he learns his pregnant wife, who suffers from Lupus, has been admitted to the hospital and is gravely ill. Unable to schedule a flight at the local airport, he decides to take advantage of the awesome machine at his disposal and drive from New Mexico to the hospital in Boise. Cops stop him for speeding. They won't listen to him and want to take him in to process his citation, which will result in a long delay. Desperate, Kowalski takes off and the chase is on. And then the feds get involved.

In Carner's words, "The story is also a spiritual quest." It explores Kowalski's religious awakening, thanks to his wife, as well as the deep bond and commitment the two have made to each other. Faith and the sanctity of marriage--there are two concepts Hollywood doesn't beat to death.

Important Differences:
The car looks the same as it did in the Newman classic. There is a difference, we learn--the 440 Magnum has been replaced with a 426 Hemi.

One big difference is with Kowalski. Mortensen's has a first name (Jimmy), and unlike the pill-popper in the original, the new Kowalski has a purpose.

There's another big difference. This remake focuses its lens on the government's War on Freedom, and the evil tactics they employ.

"In the 25 years between Richard Sarafian's original and my remake," Carner writes, "the right and the left had switched places. It was deep in the Clinton era. The 'counter-cultural' 'anti-establishment' attitude of the original gave it a hip, '60's left-liberal-nihilism. In my remake, it's the small businessman (once the backbone of America) who has become the outcast - and that neo-fascist state is populated by Leftists. The FBI = the Gestapo. The theme - the individual vs the state - is the same; it's just that the state is now the former '60's radicals in power."

Memorable Characters:
That's why my favorite character in the new VP is The Man in Black, sinister FBI supervisor Warren Taftley, played as the Javert to Mortensen's Valjean by Tony-winning stage star Keith David. We first meet him when the camera pans down from portraits of Bill Clinton and Janet Reno, as he is instructing a subordinate to tie Kowalski's flight in with drugs and guns.

"How do you figure guns?" the agent asks.

"Idaho. Extremists. Right-wing militias," Taftley replies. "That's our way in--domestic terrorism, high explosives, planning another Oklahoma City."

"It could be--but we don't have any evidence," the agent cautions.

"We'll get it," Taftley confidently assures him. "He's run across four state lines. It's gotta be something big."

In the minds of those corrupted by power, there can be no innocent explanation for a subject exercising freedom. We are all suspects. And evidence is just a formality.

Carner did something cool here in the casting, breaking away from sterotypes--having a black man represent corrupt authority to the point of being an enthusiastic persecutor. That had to be a very liberating role to play, and Mr. David does it well.

"We worked Keith's shooting schedule around a play he was doing," Charlie tells me. "He was great and he really enjoyed playing a guy who assumed his own righteousness to the point of absolute dictatorship."

There are other great characters as well--Kowalski is assisted in evading his pursuers by a happenstance ally, a libertarian/Constitutionalist talk radio broadcaster known as "The Voice," portrayed by Jason Priestley, in another bit of inspired casting that certainly helps break the sterotype of a Beverly Hills 90210 heartthrob.

Replacing the hip "SuperSoul" role Cleavon Little played so well in the original VP, The Voice warns Kowalski about his pursuers so that he can take alternate routes, all the while decrying tyrannical abuses and philosophizing to his listeners about liberty-oriented themes, and how "The Bill of Rights is as forgotten as the Dead Sea Scrolls."

"Once upon a time," The Voice laments, "the police would have given this man an escort, instead of trying to run him into the ground!"

Another good portrayal is turned in by Steve Railsback, playing Sgt. Preston of the New Mexico State police.

"It takes a Mopar to catch a Mopar," Preston explains to his deputy, abandoning his squad car for a black '68 Charger R/T in a subtle tribute to another great car chase film, Bullitt. (The Charger should have blown the doors off Steve McQueen's 390 fastback Mustang).

The rest of the cast acquit themselves nicely as well. Christine Elise as Raphinia, Kowalski's wife, provides a moral anchor and spiritual mentor for Jimmy, and the gorgeous Peta Wilson, as the Motorcycle Girl, plays a provocative temptress and then ally.

The Ending:
I won't reveal it here-- you'll have to get the DVD and see it for yourself. I will say that Carner doesn't let up on his freedom theme. We see the protestors more clearly now. In addition to the "Mt. Carmel" sign, there's one that reads "Remember Ruby Ridge."

How did he get away with it on Establishment TV?

"You can tell I had a lot of fun on the movie," he tells me. "When I wrote the script, I just ranted away - went for it. I figured when the network started whining, I could pull back a little and still respect myself in the morning. But when Viggo signed on - and was only available right this minute - that first draft got green-lit. And the network never squawked. I kept all the politics in the final cut."

Carner's is an important voice in the film industry for principles of freedom that are almost universally ignored. "Vanishing Point" is a good example of popular art we could use a lot more of.
_______________________

CHARLES ROBERT CARNER FILMOGRAPHY
Chicago-born Charles Robert Carner began working in the entertainment industry after graduating valedictorian of his class at Columbia College, where he directed the film Assassins, starring Joe Mantegna, which was named Best Student Film at the Chicago International Film Festival.

Carner then went to work as a story editor for director Tony Bill, writing screenplays in his spare time. His first produced script was Seduced, starring Gregory Harrison and Cybill Shepherd. He followed that with the action-adventure feature Gymkata; Let's Get Harry, with Mark Harmon, Robert Duvall and Gary Busey; and the telefilm Eyes of a Witness, starring Jennifer Grey and Daniel J. Travanti. Carner expanded into producing on the feature film Blind Fury, with Rutger Hauer. He then began realizing his lifelong dream of directing his own scripts. He began with episodes of "Midnight Caller", "Reasonable Doubts" and "The Untouchables", before moving on to such television movies as A Killer Among Friends and One Woman's Courage.

Carner's list of television movies continued to expand, with such titles as Vanishing Point, starring The Lord of the Rings’ Viggo Mortensen, and The Fixer, starring Jon Voight, both of which went on to win several awards. In July 2000, his film Who Killed Atlanta's Children?, starring Jim Belushi and Gregory Hines debuted on Showtime and became that network's highest rated movie of the year. Carner made a huge splash on basic cable when he wrote the TNT Western Crossfire Trail, the highest-rated cable movie in television history, starring Tom Selleck. He wrote, directed and executive produced the holiday hit Christmas Rush for TBS Superstation, starring Dean Cain and Eric Roberts, and directed Red Water, the highest-rated basic cable movie in history, starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Kristy Swanson for TBS Superstation. His last network directorial effort, Judas, aired on ABC Television in 2004.

Mr. Carner is a Life Member of both the National Rifle Association and the Sierra Club, serves on the Executive Committee of Catholics in Media, and is a biographee in Who's Who in America.

You can read his gun commentaries here. (Click on "GunTruths Correspondents")

--Report compiled from various sources including Mr. Carner.

Meanwhile, Over at the Religion of Peace

One can only wonder what the fate of a mouthy Demanding Mom would be...[More]

On a tangentially-related note, I won't be surprised to see Lindsay strap on a bomb some day.

Speaking of which, I wonder why ISIS hasn't decided a great way to strike terror in Western hearts and boost their influence would be to kidnap a celebrity so many worship and then do the throat/head routine on video. For that matter, it would seem a "suicide attack" at the Oscars would really get the world's attention.

Probably the only thing stopping them is knowing how well protected these anti-armed citizen investments are, and not wanting to enjoy anything but success.

This Day in History: July 22

I am in a great measure a stranger to the expedition against Detroit, and intirely so, to that against the Senecas. Agreeable to the Direction of Congress, I sent General McIntosh and two Regiments to Fort Pitt, but whether an expedition is immediately intended against Detroit, or whether those Troops are to remain as a defence for the Western frontier, I do not know. The parties of Indians and others, under Butler and Brandt, have already done considerable mischief on the North East corner of Pennsylvania; having cut off the inhabitants, and destroyed the Settlement of Wyoming. [More]

This Day in History: May 31

On the western side of the Catawba River, Capt. John McClure collected a party of thirty-two volunteers and on May 31 attacked a group of Loyalists gathering to take British protection at Alexander's Old Field, in present Chester County. 

Although the Loyalists, led by a Colonel Houseman, numbered about two hundred, they were defeated and dispersed by the small Patriot force. This was the first Patriot victory after the fall of Charleston, and the beginning of a great wave of backcountry resistance to the British and their Loyalist allies. [More]

Great Expectations

Really, David. I expected better from Bracken, and I certainly expected better from you.

Commentator Joel expresses disappointment with racial theme elements in the "Foreign Enemies" online sample.

Author Matthew Bracken responds:

I’m not sure what politically correct planet Joel hails from, or if he has some other axe to grind, but I’m confused by his comments. He begins by referring to “all those EEEVIL dirty brown people” in Domestic Enemies. Was he referring to the heroine, the Arab-American Ranya Bardiwell? Or perhaps to the hero, Alexandro Garabanda, a Cuban-American? Domestic Enemies is set in the future in New Mexico, during a period when the Southwest is fracturing away from the United States. Yes, plenty of bad guys in the novel are Hispanic. Plenty of the good guys are as well. Perhaps if I had set the novel in North Dakota, and invented an immigration invasion by Canadians leading to…never mind. You get my point. If I’m going to write reality-based fiction about the breakup of the USA, set in the Southwest, it’s going to be pretty hard to avoid some Hispanic bad guys. Sorry Joel, if that offends your PC sensibilities. (And don’t hold your breath waiting for my novel about North Dakota.)

As far as cannibalism occurring three weeks after the complete cutoff of Memphis from the outside world, following a Richter level eight earthquake—yes Joel, that would happen. Spend a little time researching such disasters. People don’t quietly starve, while calmly sitting at home. The young and the strong quickly revert to cannibalism in the face of the total cutoff of other sources of food. History shows this, over and over. In the posted excerpt, there is one case of cannibalism described, in a city of over a million inhabitants.

Considering that you found the internet posted sections of Domestic Enemies to be full of “all those EEEVIL dirty brown people,” (despite the ethnicity of the heroes and its Southwestern setting), I’m not surprised that you would compare the posted excerpt from Foreign Enemies to the infamous white racist screed, “The Turner Diaries.” Perhaps you stopped reading these excerpts, before you got to the story of Web Hardesty? He is a white racist villain of the first order, using the breakdown of law and order following the earthquake to engage in a vendetta against African-Americans and Hispanics in Western Tennessee. I’ll say it in your terms: Web Hardesty is an “EEEVIL dirty white person.”

In Foreign Enemies, a rough sort of race war is introduced as one of several background plot elements. Blacks and whites are portrayed in both heroic and evil roles. Perhaps you are simply offended that I would dare to suggest that a complete breakdown in the social order would lead to racial atrocities being committed on all sides? If so, I would suggest that you are a Pollyanna, inhabiting the lofty airs of politically correct thought, viewing the world through rose-colored glasses.

Forgive me if I don’t think that folks will be holding hands and singing Kumbaya, three weeks after an earthquake wrecks most of the bridges between Little Rock, Saint Louis and Nashville. In Memphis, after three weeks with no food, drinking water, electricity or gas, I believe that we would see many of the worst traits that humanity has demonstrated under similar circumstances down through the ages.

I don’t expect that Joel will be reading Foreign Enemies, after he saw “all those EEEVIL dirty brown people” in Domestic Enemies, (in spite of the fact that the heroes are themselves “brown people.”) But for anyone else who read and enjoyed my first two novels, I make this promise: Foreign Enemies ends with a positive resolution of most of the various crises described. This includes a racial reconciliation by several of the characters, who had come to distrust members of differing ethnicities.

And please don’t get the idea that Foreign Enemies is primarily about racial conflict. That is merely one of the plot elements, in a novel that is mainly about the total usurpation of the Constitution by a rogue President and Congress.

Matt Bracken

Florida

Bob Barr Poster Contest Finalists

Regulars know about this. If you're just finding out, you can read more here.

Bottom line, both the Bob Barr presidential campaign and the Libertarian Party have ignored repeated correspondences asking them to explain their candidate's support for the Lautenberg gun grab. So we had some fun with it and held a poster contest.

Here are the entries. WoG visitors can select the winner.

RyanMGuard


Western Rifle Shooters Association


DarkBlog


Mindful Musings


Real Gun Guys 1


Real Gun Guys 2


21 Guns, Salute

These are great. Thanks to you who entered. Now it's time to vote.

POLL CLOSED AND REMOVED FROM THIS POST ON 7/28/08

One vote per visitor/computer. I'll create a sidebar link to remind people of the contest, and announce the winner next Monday--along with a prize that I still need to determine.

In Memoriam

Nick E. Morrison, Service # 35911900, Rank Private First Class, U.S. Army, Unit: 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, Entered Service From Ohio. Date of Death June 2, 1944. Buried Plot B Row 9 Grave 31, Sicily-Rome American Cemetery

Many Americans have the day off. They’re looking forward to barbecues and picnics, parades and games. Pursuit of happiness is good, albeit the Republic’s survival would be better served were Liberty pursued as vigorously as comforts and pleasures.

One way to connect with personal purpose is to reflect on those who came before us and endured great hardships and sacrifices, to bequeath to us, their heirs, a system of principles and laws designed to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” Here are some men I will be reflecting on today:

My uncle Nick Morrison did not make it back from WWII. He was only 19 and gave “the last full measure of devotion,” sacrificing life, love and family. Think about that. I cannot imagine the agony my grandparents had to endure over the loss of their only son. Over 50 years later, a friend visited the Sicily-Rome Memorial Cemetery where he was laid to rest and brought back a photograph of his grave site which I gave to my mother. She still wept at the loss of her kid brother.

My uncle George Codrea was a Marine on Guadalcanal and also at Chosin in Korea. He passed away in 2006 and was interred at Arlington. I will always treasure that he took time out in his later years to support my RKBA advocacy by sending me news clippings to write about.

My uncle George Popa was also a Marine who served in WWII and Korea. He passed away in 2007 and was laid to rest at Old Mission San Luis Rey.

My father John Codrea was a Marine on Guam. He turned 21 on Pearl Harbor Day. Dad died in 2012 and was interred at Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery.

This is a day I have much to contemplate, including a solemn obligation to prove worthy of those who went before, of those I miss. I’m sure it is the same for most of you and especially for those of you either in harm’s way or who desperately love those who are.

This Day in History: August 25

Henry Dearborn, Lieutenant Colonel, 3rd NH, "We find great difficulty in getting ready to moove for want of a sufficient number of horses to Carry our provisions Ammunition Stores &c however we are to morrow without fail with 27 days flower & live beef Our whole force that will march from here is about 5000 men Officers included with nine pieces of Artillery Three of the Anyda Warriers arriv'd in camp this afternoon who going on with us as guides two runners ariv'd from Col. Broadhead at Fort Pitt Informing that Col Broadhead is on his way with about 800 men against the western Indians." [More]

Coming Soon, to a Caliphate Near You

 The objective of the Grey Wolves is to unify all the Turkish peoples into a single country called Turan whose territory would stretch from Europe to China. The Grey Wolves also want to establish a new world order based on Islam that is led by Turkey; they are opposed to the assimilation or integration of Turkish immigrants into Western society. [More]

Why was it in the interests of the German people to welcome them in...?

And note the term "right-wing," like "conservative," is subjective based on time and place, but used to great effect by the cultural Marxists to conflate and smear.

[Via Michael G]

Scuttle Mark Kirk: It's Past Time for an Example

Way past time.

Bear with me while I connect some dots.

Western Rifle Shooters Association analyzes the new federal "assault weapons" ban bill.

Note the Orwellian purpose these liars use: "To reinstate the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act."

The head liar behind this tyranny is "Republican" Mark Kirk. We've met this piece of...work before.

45superman tells us about bearding the lyin..uh...lion in his den--or at least his apologists.

The chief apologist is your typical obnoxious RINO who calls himself "Team America"--fitting for someone who sounds like a wooden-headed marionette. Per this great patriot:

I myself own a Baretta92 with several high capacity clips. I also support concealed carry - for me - not sure about the rest of the yahoos out there (but that's another debate).

But do I really NEED my Baretta to carry 15 bullets instead of 10? I think I'd be OK without the extra firepower.

Do we NEED guns that can shoot right through a policeman's vest?

Do we NEED .50 caliber rifles that can take down a plane?

Rambo might say yes, but Mark Kirk says no, and I happen to agree with him.

Go read the post and the comments. Get good and mad at these devoid-of-all-principle aparatchiks. Then give 45s some backup and let these weasels know what you think of them.

Here's the thing: If you're a gun owner and live in District 10, you can continue to cede the GOP to the Big Tent Bolsheviks--or you can send a wider message that what worked in District 10 can be applied in every district in the land.

It's amazing what behavior modifications a little judicious human sacrifice can produce--even people who aren't true believers will fall in line if for no other reason than self-preservation.

There is another choice, you know. And for those soulless cowards over at Team Amerika for Gungrabbing Traitors, who say this will just ensure a win for Dan Seals, who will then take all our guns, well--y'all are WarOnGuns regulars. You know what to say to that.

This is the perfect candidate to make an example of--he's just been downgraded from "Lean R" to "Toss Up," so he's vulnerable--and in a close race, it doesn't take much at all to tip the scales.

"But if Mark Kirk loses, you'll lose all your guns, not just the ones we want to ban!" they bleat, like we haven't heard that one before.

What's that Tweety Bird line? "He don't know me vewy well, do he?"

Newsflash: I won't lose any rights unless I surrender them or they are stripped from me by overwhelming force. Besides which, the decision to surrender or not is mine.

Let the Team Amerika comments sink in and ask yourself if you really want to let that gaggle of party hacks dictate the terms under which they will surrender your rights...

Which would you rather see scuttled? Your political voice or tyrant wannabe Mark Kirk's bid for ever more coercive power?

OK, Baizuo

 Chinese derogatory social media term for ‘white left’ Western elites spreads [More]

What a great way to dismiss hand-wringing "progressives." I wish I'd known about this earlier.  I wonder if using it will you kicked off Twitter...?

[H/T WRSA]

Our Second National Holiday

And so, on the day we should probably celebrate as our SECOND great national holiday, on Dec. 15, 1791, Virginia became the 11th state to ratify the first 10 proposed amendments, Mr. Madison’s “Bill of Rights” — though a better name might be the “Bill of Prohibitions” on government conduct — thrown together in an attempt to placate such vociferous anti-federalists as Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee.

Vin Suprynowicz educates those of us who will sit still and listen about Bill of Rights Day.

[Via Western Rifle Shooters Association]

Sarah Palin: So What?

American gun owners - as well as others in the ostensibly-rational conservative part of the political spectrum - have a great deal in common with victims of spousal/partner abuse.

Western Rifle Shooters Association expands on an observation by Billy Beck responding to Vin Suprynowicz. All raise points we need to consider.

WarOnGuns readers will note I've been generally positive in what I've said about Sarah Palin. Does that mean I'm softening and getting ready to endorse McCain?

I'm afraid you'll not see an endorsement from me. But a few considerations are at play here that I'll explain.

First, as I've asked before, "Why should someone with political aspirations ruin his chances by championing something as unsupported as gun rights?"

It may not be that big a deal in Alaska, but on the national stage, it's pretty remarkable. Gun owners deserve to know her position and she deserves us knowing.

Another theme I've raised is the moral implications of whatever we choose. Whether we compromise and go lesser of two evils, whether we sit on our hands, whether we go third party, it will affect the results--and we will share in responsibility for what follows if our decision helped enable it. That's why I always advise to vote your conscience. My conscience says if I'm to do so rationally, I need more information, not less.

With that in mind, look for me to talk more about Sarah Palin, and much of it will no doubt be positive. Look for me to provide a forum for people like Michael Dukes, who knows and supports her, for the reasons I've stated.

Plus, I have to admit I really am enjoying the way the Daily Kos/HuffPo left and their "Authorized Journalist" co-conspirators are going into increasingly desperate emotional meltdown, and the way Team Lightworker is funding an expedition of hit men to try and dig up something...anything... that might stick. Tell me if the GOP were doing this against Hillary that it wouldn't be decried as another paranoid republican witch hunt against women. When The Lightworker himself is reduced to pig and lipstick attacks, there's just something deliciously ironic and entertaining.

But all this aside, look at what WRSA has written. That's part of what we need to consider, too. Soberly, and with full understanding that what we do--or don't do--can have very real consequences.

We're the Only Ones Retentive Enough

Constable Elizabeth Roth, 34, was on duty at Wetherill Park police station when the man, who was known to police, jumped the counter about 6.30am (AEDT) today and snatched her pistol.

The man turned the weapon on Constable Roth, who was working alone in the south-western Sydney station, shooting her once.

I have a great way to prevent this from ever happening again.

Develop "smart guns."

Then require everyone to have them except the police.

What?

They're already planning that?