The Geek's NRA Board Recommendations

GeekWithA.45 tells us who he endorses for the NRA Board of Directors and why.

I'd be curious to see how his picks would answer this.

“A Plea for Help”

I don’t normally involve myself in individual requests for assistance. This one came through, and the gross unfairness of the situation struck me—as well as the implications for destroying lawful commerce in firearms. Here’s the gist of things:

Teenage reptiles plot and execute a “thrill killing” of two pizza deliverers. They obtain their weapons by breaking into a gun shop.

Lawsuits are filed by the victims’ survivors. Among those named, who settle for an undisclosed amount: the burglarized gun store and their alarm company.

Aside from having the predictable effect of scaring off New Jersey proprietors from dealing in firearms, the former owners of the gun store have also had their financial lives destroyed.

I received the following from Lawrence C. Farrell, Jr., of Gun Owners of New Jersey:

“A PLEA FOR HELP

"Hi Everyone, I am making a personal plea to help some folks who really need it. Keith and Sheila Hughes are the young couple who owned the gun shop in Sussex Co that was broken into 7 years ago and a gun stolen was used in a murder. They had followed every regulation concerning store security, however, the NJ courts said they were negligent and responsible for the crime and have been suffering ever since. I have been recently notified by friends that they are about to lose their home and belongings because of a court decision still related to the incident 7 years ago. They have lost their business, their credit, their jobs;---need I go further, simply because they owned a gun store in NJ. They are a young couple with 2 small children and they don't deserve this.

"On another note, the murder victim’s family sued and won millions of dollars from their insurance. Welcome to NJ! To get to the point, please send a small donation to them and let them know you are a gun owner and they have friends. They are really at the end of their rope after years of harassment. A $20.00 donation from each of us (or whatever you can) will go far to pay some bills and boost their morale.

"Please send donations to:

"HUGHES FAMILY C/O Vernon United Methodist Church PO Box 345 Vernon, NJ 07452

"THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ANY GUN STORE OWNER OR ANY OF US IF OUR HOMES WERE BURGLARIZED. THEY NEED SUPPORT FROM THE GUN OWNERS COMMUNITY. PASS THIS ON TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT CARE. We appreciate this very much.

"Peggy and Mike Bodner, ANJRPC"

Lawrence asks that donors write “GONJ” on the memo line of their checks.

More on the Questionable CNN Gun Buy

The Smallest Minority wants to do a “blogswarm.” (I’m new to blogging, but I can guess what that means. Still, please bear with me. Up until a few days ago, I’d have said “fisking” is what they’re teaching Massachusetts public school kids to do):

TriggerFinger has done a great job keeping on top of this story:
*His letter to CNN
*For those having trouble viewing the CNN video...
*CNN Felony Gunswarm!
* ...and a straw purchase, too!
*The 1968 Gun Control Act
*CNN reporter commits a federal felony to get an anti-gun story

Did CNN Just Commit a "Gun Crime"?

Freedom Sight points us to a discussion over at The Claire Files. Apparently, a reporter at anti-gun CNN just committed a federal felony by purchasing a .50 cal. rifle without going through all the “legal” transfer requirements. Either that or he did, and he’s not disclosing it in his story to make it look like just anybody can do this.

To see the video, go here and click on the “Powerful Rifle Readily Available” link in the Video graphic at the top right of the page.

NOTE: "To view this CNN content you must have RealOne SuperPass or CNN NewsPass."

NRA Bashes U.N. on Small-Arms Reduction

"Others here may suggest the U.S. to get out of the U.N.” Wayne LaPierre thunders (just like he means it). “Right now I just want the U.N. to get out of the U.S." [More]

Right.

Will you put your money where your mouth is, Mr. LaPierre?

Will you fold up shop on NRA's much-ballyhooed UN NGO and withdraw support and NRA membership from the World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities?

Will you have the Board pass a resolution that NRA's official and only policy toward global gungrabbers is "Molon Labe"?

I wrote a rebuttal appearing in the Sept. 2003 issue of GUNS AND AMMO to a piece featured in their May 2003 issue that praised the World Forum as a “pro gun watchdog.”

In it, I documented WFFSSA’s backing of gun marking/ registration schemes, along with their assisting the UN in defining "non-sporting" firearms, and recommended "Rather than working with [the UN], we should withdraw and conduct our sovereign affairs as prescribed by the Constitution--observing Washington's admonishment to 'steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.'"

Interestingly, the California-based NRA Members Councils, which don't do a thing that is disapproved by their masters in Fairfax, attacked my endorsement of the Constitution and of Washington's philosophy, complaining "it is hard to imagine how an almost Islamist-like exclusionary world-view will enable the Codreas of the world to convert more than the occasional wandering 'Aryan' to the paradise of a rapidly diminishing gunowner 'reservation.'

"It is apparently more important for Codrea and his ilk to maintain an ideological purity of thought rather than achieve any of the incremental positional successes that could best guarantee eventual victory."

Just like all those incremental successes gun owners have enjoyed in California, right?

One more question: By calling for expulsion of the UN, does Wayne's new "ideological purity of thought" and "Islamist-like exclusionary world-view" now make him one of my "ilk"?

The Politics of Suicide

There goes that darned Nicki Fellenzer-- making sense again...

Workplace Violence Carries Heavy Cost

"Never allow guns, knives or other weapons in or around company property, including parking lots," Louise Rogers-Feher authoritatively postures, as if she knows what the hell she's talking about.

"In some instances, employees have gone to their cars during breaks and returned with weapons," she warns.

Great idea, Louise! You first.

Let's ban all guns in all workplaces.

INCLUDING the Baltimore County Police Department, where YOU work.

I, Propagandist

One of my old GunTruths posters has turned up on the “Classroom Tools” website, along with a dissection of the “propaganda” techniques it employs.

The poster features the infamous AP photo taken during the federal home invasion to snatch Elian Gonzales, along with the caption, "Gun Control: The incomprehensible theory that this guy, and people like him, are the only ones who should be armed."

The analyst draws some conclusions about my intent that reflect much more on what’s going on inside his head than went on in mine. For instance:

5. At whom is it targeted?
Americans fearful of Big Government taking away their "2nd Amendment rights"

While GunTruths was definitely intended to be a resource for Second Amendment activists, the posters (as we stated on their index page) were primarily intended to make “people who support gun control …out of conditioning rather than out of deep conviction” take a closer look at the logical and moral implications of citizen disarmament.

7. In one clear, brief sentence, summarize the message with which you've decided to work.
You need guns to protect yourself against tyranny.

I would actually state this in a different way: A tyranny is the inevitable result of a monopoly of force.

10. Clearly state the behavior or belief the author wants from the target.
The author wants to reinforce the belief of those who already know that governments are tyrannical.

S/he wants these people to continue voting for and contributing to those who promise to protect their "2nd amendment rights".

Ah, no, I wasn’t attempting to “reinforce beliefs” with a poster. What good would that do? I was attempting to call hard evidence to the attention of people who might not have thought of gun control as tyranny-enabling citizen disarmament. And the poster is silent on voting for or contributing to politicians. It’s more elemental than that.

11. Does the message attempt to manipulate with emotion, reason or both?
Emotion

Sure, emotion plays a big part. The AP photo does that by itself. But the sentiment and conclusion of the caption—that gun control results in firearms controlled by the government, and that such control results in citizens helpless against abuses of power—is something I’ve never heard a reasoned argument against.

12. Describe how you think the manipulation works?
Red letters signal alarm.

Yo, egghead—I hate to disappoint you. But I’m not an artist, see? My sense of composition is pretty rudimentary. The reason is no more complicated than this: I picked red because I tried a couple other colors and thought it looked the prettiest.

The poster ignores most of the facts surrounding this particular situation—the Federal Government's need to enforce a court order to turn Elian Gonzalez (the child) over to his father after repeated attempts to negotiate the turnover were rejected by those holding the boy; the same people who had lost every legal challenge they'd filed in an effort to keep him. For example, there is no acknowledgement that the situation was resolved peacefully, and that Elian was photographed happily in his father's arms just a few hours later. Neither is there any consideration of what might have occurred had the man apparently attempting to protect Elian had a weapon. In fact, no one was injured or killed. Would that have been the case had the protector been armed? Probably not, unless he was unwilling to use his weapon; and in that case what would be the sense in having one?

No, the poster illuminates the facts: The deployment of stormtroopers against the public is the act of a tyrannical government. There was never any indication of violence on the part of the family warranting a military strike. There were many ways this could have been resolved without resorting to blitzkrieg home invasion tactics.

But the analyst’s prejudice is clear: The only safety lie in submission. Into the cattle cars, people. Resistance is futile.

13.Do you believe this item was successful propaganda?
Absolutely

14. What evidence supports your answer to the last question?
Polls showed that information like that in this poster contributed to a conviction among the members of the Cuban community in South Florida to support George W. Bush over Al Gore in the presidential election that took place a few months after the events illustrated by this image. Given the closeness of the outcome of the presidential race in Florida, this type of propaganda was clearly one of the factors that led to Mr. Bush's narrow Electoral College victory, and subsequent ascension to the presidency.

First, despite our stated intent to reach outside the choir with our posters, I doubt this saw much circulation in South Florida’s Cuban community. And I have never been silent in my criticisms of the Bush administration’s manipulation and betrayal of gun owners.

But it’s not like this “scholar” has been right in much else of his analysis.

GUNS Magazine: "A Judgment Call"

Folksinger Peter Yarrow of Peter Paul & Mary believes we need more gun laws. Performing at the 2004 Million Mom March rally urging Congress to renew the federal "assault weapon" ban, Yarrow's main emphasis in the gun control movement has been to protect children.

It's too bad he wasn't thinking about protecting them when he was convicted of a sex offense for molesting a 14-year-old girl--but perhaps it explains why he wouldn't want to make it easy for parents to own a gun.

Read complete article here:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_3_51/ai_n8709820

More Black Arrow

I just ordered the hardback.

After reading Thomas L. Knapp's review, I didn't want to put it off any longer.

With all the good buzz, I wanted to make sure I got a copy before they ran out.

When There’s Not Enough Blood to Dance in, Just Flap Your Arms and Bray

Peter Hamm, Michael Barnes, Sarah Brady, et al, weigh in on the New York Mall shooting.

Any bets on whether the Hudson Valley Mall and its shops prohibit customers and employees from carrying concealed firearms?

Microstamping for Macroinfringement

California Assemblything Paul Koretz (D-West Hollyweird, etc.), has introduced a bill that “would, commencing January 1, 2007, expand the definition of unsafe handgun to include semiautomatic pistols that are not designed and equipped with a microscopic array of characters, that identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol, etched into the interior surface or internal working parts of the pistol, and which are transferred by imprinting on each cartridge case when the firearm is fired.”

Furthermore, “This bill would provide that…no handgun may be submitted for that testing unless the handgun is” so designed and equipped.

This will, of course, stop and/or solve no violent crimes (as if that's justification for infringing on our rights). That’s not the point.

The point is to further limit the availability of firearms to California citizens by drying up their sources of supply. The state started with their stupid “drop test” requirement (as if there was an epidemic of “gun deaths” and injuries resulting from that nonexistent problem, and as if there were no remedies through the courts if there were), and then moved on to mandated loaded chamber indicators (like the kind that was on the Beretta 92 Compact L that Michael Soe used to kill Kenzo Dix during a practical joke—but a Center to Prevent Handgun Violence-backed lawsuit was still filed because the gun didn’t have a written warning on it as well).

Like the reptiles that leave brass at crime scenes get their guns through channels traceable to them. Koretz, of course, knows that. It's just another calculated harassment of gun manufacturers and dealers, designed to drive them out of business by creating prohibitively expensive compliance requirements.

This is more "In your face, California gun owners!" from someone who hates them. It is, in fact, a hate crime.

The Trustbuster

TriggerFinger points us to a discussion over at The Claire Files about Boomershoot. I haven’t included a link to that site, and if you follow the ones I did include, and then read them thoroughly, you’ll see why: Concerned about potential terrorist activities, he’s turned over data to the feds that may end up bringing people under scrutiny who haven't done anything wrong. Motives notwithstanding, trust and credibility with many has been boomershot and probably won’t be regained. Too bad—cool site—if you decide to visit it after reading more.

Here’s Another “Thumb’s Up” Black Arrow Review…

…courtesy of Wolfesblog.

Think Your Congressthing Will Endorse THIS Resolution?

What do you think the chances are that our current Congress would approve the following language? The Continental Congress did, back in 1775.

"We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery. Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we have received from our gallant ancestors. . . . We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them, if we basely entail hereditary bondage upon them. . . . [We are] with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves." --Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson, “Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Their Taking up Arms”

I’d recommend sending this to your representative to ask, but it would probably scare the hell out of them and get turned over to Die Abteilung der Homelandsicherheit.

Gunman Opens Fire at Upstate New York Mall

Everyone who can’t run away is cowering helplessly until he runs out of ammo. They are disarmed under penalty of law by the same government that is NOT there to protect them.

Expect strident demands for yet more gun control in New York.

Hobart Man Dies Testing Bulletproof Vest

“HOBART, Ind. -- A man whose friends initially said he was killed by gunfire outside a Gary liquor store actually died after he donned what he thought was a bulletproof vest and asked a cohort to shoot him.

“A friend then shot Daniel Wright with a .20-gauge shotgun, but it turned out the vest Wright had put on Thursday was a flak jacket not designed to stop a bullet.”

Read complete story here.

I’m sure there will be no shortage of smartass “Darwin Award” comments among the chatroom/forum warriors, but this is tragic. A young man is dead and his survivors must live on with this senseless and terrible loss.

I did plenty of stupid things when I was young, and am lucky to still be here.

This would not be as likely to happen in a society that inculcated respect for firearms at an early age, with attendant age-appropriate education as young people mature--as opposed to knee-jerk fear, loathing and avoidance.

It’s also illustrative of how uneducated most reporters are. The AP is notorious for ignorant articles when it comes to guns. One would think a professional reporter would learn his subject matter well enough to distinguish “shot” from a “bullet.”

And as we can see from the headline, the editors are no better, as the story clearly indicates that bullet resistant vests played no part in this.

Six Degrees of Hypocrisy

It's gonna be a slow day at the computer--we have company coming and the house and yard are a mess due to jobs, taking care of kids, my writing, etc.

Weren't we supposed to rest on the seventh day? Well I have chores to do.

So I'm gonna cheat and rely on an old effort from GUNS AND AMMO to be my entry for today. If you haven't already seen "Six Degrees of Hypocrisy," just click on the link.

It's about our many good friends in Hollywood. I guess when you're rich, famous and can afford the best personal security money can buy, worrying about "ordinary" people's ability to defend themselves just isn't a priority.

Besides, it's a numbers game--if they lose a few fans out of millions, it won't even be noticed at the box office.

And in the interests of complete disclosure, I have another motive for revisiting this article. I'm working on a piece about an established Hollywood producer/director/screenwriter who is one of the strongest supporters of the Second Amendment I know. I plan on posting more soon, but, alas, my charwoman/lawnboy duties come first.

Does This Make Me a Globalist?

I guess GUNS Magazine has an international presence I was unaware of.

I was totally surprised to find my February "Safe Schools" article reproduced in German as "Sichere Schulen.”

Now I find “Escuelas Seguras” (Spanish) and “Écoles Sûres” (French) as well.

Don't these people realize I barely speak American? Or as Homer Simpson asked: "What do we need to learn English for? We're never going to England."

The Black Arrow

Andy Barniskis has reviewed Vin Suprynowicz’s The Black Arrow.

I haven’t read the book yet, but am looking forward to doing so. Vin holds a prominent place in my personal pantheon of great liberty writers of our time. I’d like to see his column widely syndicated throughout the land--not just so that he would reap the rewards of being a magnificent talent, but because his message is sorely needed by our countrymen.

I hope The Black Arrow sells.

I note Bill St.Clair over at End the War on Freedom is like a kid at Christmas with this book.