Son of Real ID

I guess if you'd let an employer tag you like a cow, there's not much chance you'll ever stand up on your hind legs and demand any rights.

It's almost like the rulers have a drinking bet going on as to how outrageous they can make things and still achieve compliance.

NRA “Researching the Possibility”

Is that anything like investigating looking into?

NRA still hasn’t taken a public position on the Second Amendment Protection Act.

They still won’t even inform their members that it exists.

Typical.

Weapons of Choice

My June 2005 GUNS Magazine "Rights Watch" column is now online.

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Lotta bloggers talking about SCROTUS ratcheting up tyranny another notch in their medical marijuana decision.

A lifetime ago, an earlier generation used similar arguments in an attempt to ease restrictions against another controlled substance:

"And in the early months of 1921, a dedicated group of brewers, physicians and imbibers attempted to convince the U.S. Congress that beer was nothing less than vital medicine. Whatever craven thirsts might have inspired its advocates, the right of physicians to prescribe 'medical beer' was the subject of intense national debate, drawing the attention of officials at the highest levels of government and provoking arguments within the American Medical Association and other professional groups."

I've never been comfortable with the "medical marijuana" exceptions. It seems to me the argument aknowledges the legitimacy of government coercion when other substances are involved.

Interesting and all too predicatable what our rulers have done with the commerce clause. Time was, "the court construed the clause so narrowly...it ruled that not even so vast an industry as coal mining fell within the commerce power."

That's when FDR rolled up his sleeves and got to work on the last vestiges of federalism.

I find it intriguing that the polar flip in interpretation of the Constitution came about "because one justice, Owen Roberts, switched his vote. Ever since, historians have argued about why he did so."

Sounds like somebody protecting his butt at the expense of everything else to me. Hopefully somebody can tell us more about this character who helped doom the Republic--I'll have to look around.

Finally, anybody thinking Bush really wants strict constructionists on the court needs to square that fantasy with his support of the War on (Some) Drugs and Guns. As if such a jurist would make it through "advise and consent" anyway.

Full Disclosure

TriggerFinger raises concerns about a Bitch Girls post concerning Of Arms & the Law, specifically that a $10,000 funding grant by NRA was not disclosed.

It was. To millions, via NRA's June membership magazines.


From AMERICAN RIFLEMAN, June 2005, pg. 77

David Hardy does not warrant being scrutinized unless it is to confirm the wonderful work he has done and honor him for it. As a member of the Silveira support team from the outset, I know that Roy Lucas held him in the highest regard--and Roy was a guy who would let you know if he had issues with you.

Lest these comments be misunderstood, Matthew, no criticism of you or your decision to post on this is implied. I appreciate your blog and consult it every day.

"This is Not a Right"

Kevin Reece relates the outrageous tale of Cecelia Beaman, a middle school principal victimized by TSA JBTs for accidentally having a bread knife.

It's what Reece doesn't say that catches my attention. Like most Establishment reporters, he doesn't dig very deep.

For example:

"...a security screener announced..."

"...screeners refused to give her paperwork or documentation..."

"'They said "no" and they said it's a national security issue. And I said what about my constitutional rights? And they said "not at this point ... you don't have any".'"

Who "announced"?

Who "refused"?

Who "said"?

Do these people have names? Why do we know private citizen Cecilia Beaman's name, but not those of her thug oppressors?

Case in point:

We know the name of Elian Gonzalez.

We know the name of "fisherman" Donato Dalrymple.

Quick--who's the guy in the goggles?



One purpose of the press is to act as a watchdog over oppressive government, yet time and again I read stories where the agents committing abuses remain anonymous. By not identifying who they are as individuals, they face no personal consequences. They can continue abusing sovereign citizens with impunity.

If some Naziwannabe on the public dole is telling citizens they have no Constitutional rights, I want to know who that creep is. I want him out of any position of "authoritah".

Meanwhile, don't feel too sorry for new civil libertarian Cecelia Beaman, who is shocked, shocked that this could happen to her. As principal of Pacific Middle School, she presides over warrantless searches of charges she suspects of wrongdoing as a matter of policy.

Funny thing about Highline Public Schools' "SEARCH AND SEIZURE (BOARD POLICY 3231-3232)". They admit at the outset: "All students possess the constitutional right to be secure in their persons, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures." But instead of obtaining a warrant based on "probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized," the bar at HPS is lowered to mere "reasonable cause for school authorities to believe that the possession constitutes a crime or rule violation."

So, Cecelia, before you scream too loudly about your rights, maybe you could tell us how many lockers you've ordered searched without a warrant--and what you would do, under the doctrine of "zero tolerance," to some hapless student caught in a situation similar to yours.

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

[I found out about the TSA story via FreedomSight, via End the War on Freedom, via What Really Happened.]

"Only the Military and Police Should Have Guns"

Today is the 16th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square Massacre, where only the military and police had guns.

David Rosen--The Non Sequitur King

"Would he have been able to fire at five people, steal two trucks, break into a gated community, beat two children and fatally beat their mother had he not possessed a lethal weapon? I think not."

You "think not." There's an understatement.

It sure looks like all those citizen disarmament edicts were effective at stopping this career criminal from getting a gun. And for that Rosen blames the "enforce existing gun laws" NRA?

The Times, of course, knows the truth and chooses to lie. Leave it to them to unethically advance their agenda by publishing such desperate and moronic hysterics.

Laser Etching and Microstamping

I can't decide which one is my "favorite" sentence from this article:

"It would link purchasers to handgun ammunition through an electronic swipe of a driver's license at the point of sale."

or

"Sen. Joseph Dunn, a Garden Grove Democrat who introduced the bill for Lockyer, said he is working with law enforcement groups to resolve concerns about how to treat a massive existing inventory [and] possession of unmarked ammunition in homes..."

Squeeze, baby!

The War on Guns: Project Disarmed Neighborhoods

Blog Chez Jacq' adds some good commentary and links to the topic.

Love the picture of Dubya.

Blogs, Media and Magazines

I see Say Uncle wrote an article based on a series of email exchanges with me.

Minor point--I'm "a" contributing field editor with GUNS Magazine, as opposed to "the field editor" All it really means is I get a masthead credit. I still have to work a real job.

Dana and Real ID

"We met with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher yesterday. I asked about the Real ID proposal, which our editorial strongly opposed. Unlike some Real ID defenders, he didn't say it wasn't a national ID card. He said Americans' data already can easily be accessed by the government, so this isn't a new imposition. I asked where authority to impose a national ID card was in the Constitution. He didn't provide an answer."

[Scroll down about 2/3 of the page to "Wednesday, June 01, 2005" to read the entire commentary.]

GUNS Magazine: June 1955 Issue

Each month, in commemoration of their 50th Anniversary, GUNS Magazine is posting .pdf files of issues from their founding year. The June 1955 issue is now online.

I get a kick out of looking through these windows to a different time, and the articles are still fascinating reads.

That's Fred MacMurray and Donna Reed on the cover, playing Meriwether Lewis and Sacajawea in "The Far Horizons." The accompanying article features the guns used by the Lewis and Clark expedition (note the blunderbuss, and that the infamous Miller decision centered on challenging short barrel shotguns not having an acknowledged military utility.)

You can read about a seven-shooter, a brief bio on Buffalo Bill, and see "The First New Revolver in 50 Years." You can peruse the classified ads--God bless whoever it was selling this:

NEW-YOUR Constitutional Guarantee (The
Second Amendment) now available on colorful
patriotic wall plaque Hand-screened on blond
wood 9"x7", ready for your wall or gun rack.
Return if not delighted. $2.95 postpaid.
Merryfield, Bristol 2, Vermont.

Take a trip back through time. And best of all, it's free.

A Noteworthy Quote from the Brady Center on Gun Owner Registration

"The only individuals whose privacy would have been infringed by the bill would have been the privacy of people with something to hide from the police..."

Damn straight.

Shameless Plug: "Failing the Test"

As part of his investigation, Whitesides accompanied firearms expert Len Savage, of Historic Arms LLC, to the Cabarrus County Sheriff’s firing range. There, BATFE Agent Michael Cooney, who wrote the report declaring one of the seized rifles fired “automatically,” set out to prove it on videotape.

The problem was, the FN-FAL wouldn’t cooperate.

"Failing the Test," my "Rights Watch" column for the July issue of GUNS Magazine, provides exclusive behind-the-scenes details of JPFO's "BATFE Fails the Test" video.

The magazine is on sale now. So is the video. Get both and ace the test.

Surrender Your Freedom and Live

"A monthlong gun buyback program aimed at getting firearms off the street netted 75 guns as of Friday. Tuesday is the last day that residents can turn in guns...The gun buyback program, titled ‘Surrender Your Weapons and Live,’ was supported by community groups who blanketed neighborhoods with flyers...Guns were turned in at the police station and residents were given a $50 voucher."

"’It's an opportunity to make sure we don't just get the guns out of the house,’ [Brett] Wells said. ‘But it provides opportunities for family strengthening. Really it has been a collaborative effort.’"

No doubt. Sounds like there are quite a few collaborators.

"The total grant for the project was $65,000 from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Wells said the grant has room to buy about 75 more firearms."

Wait a minute. 150 guns at $50 a pop (sorry) is only $7,500. You're telling me it cost $57,500 to administer this evil farce? And the damn lapdog Times Herald doesn't even raise this point, but instead presents the program as "beating estimates"?

"We would have been satisfied if we'd gotten 30 or 40 (guns)," Wells discloses.

Well no, duh. Keep it down to 75 guns and that's another $3,750 they won't have to shell out.

Our tax dollars at work.

Smile, You're on Kelly's Camera

"New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has told top police brass that he wants to put up about 400 surveillance cameras on high-crime and high-traffic streets..."

Of course he does.

Give it a few years and ordinary cameras won't be good enough.

Welcome to The Gray Zone.

A Memorial Day Remembrance

Years ago, when some friends and I launched the GunTruths website, I wrote an article about some of the flames we'd been receiving from antis who took offense at our unapologetic advocacy of the right to keep and bear arms.

One particularly hate-filled Brit wrote:

"When you broke away 200 years ago realise why we don't think it was as great a victory as you do! There have been lots of events over the years that have shown the US to be less than willing to participate in warfare, and when you do, your preoccupation with firing missiles or dropping bombs from a 'safe' distance means that our guys are in more danger from you. Don't get too close you might get your uniforms dirty!"

My observations follow. The complete article is on KABA.

How do you deal with this? These are people who think that pledging your "lives fortunes and sacred honor" against tyranny is no big deal. These are people who took out ads in newspapers pleading for Americans to "Send guns to defend a British home". These are people who, despite the experience of two world wars in the last eighty years disparage the concept of being invaded and needing guns, all the while living under the protective shield of a largely American NATO deployment throughout Europe. Tonight, as they sleep, United States military forces will be standing guard in the darkness.

I cannot but consider such unfair and stark ingratitude against the recollection of my boyhood visit to the World War II Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno, Italy, where, beneath an ordered formation of uniform white crosses, my Uncle Nick is interred. He never grew past his teens, never went to college, never married, had children, a career, or grandchildren. I can only speculate as to the paralyzing horror, the denial, the sorrow, and the helpless, tragic realization of finality that my grandparents must have gone through with the loss of their baby, their laughing, lovely boy, their cherished only son.

Trust me, beneficiaries of his sacrifice, Nick Morrison's uniform got dirty.




"The World War II Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial is situated at the north edge of the town of Nettuno, Italy. It is just east of Anzio and thirty miles south of Rome...Beyond the pool is an immense field of headstones of 7,862 American military Dead arranged in gentle arcs which sweep across the broad green lawns beneath rows of Roman pines... On the white marble walls of the chapel are engraved the names of 3,095 American Missing who gave their lives in the service of their country and whose remains were never recovered or identified."
--From The American Battle Monuments Commission

No Victims

Deborah Ann Courtney has a new website. In her words:

"Everyone else was either working to get Mc Clintock or Ahnold elected; I was by myself in a courtroom, with one friend, Randy Herrst, not even my family, because my Momma was dying of cancer, and I delivered this statement, as I went deep into myself, and for some reason, the courtroom was jam packed, and silent, and when I was done, and wanted to crumple, a thunderous roar of applause filled the room, and the judge allowed me a few moments of triumph, that grew with the encouragement of the crowd, and as they gave me a standing ovation in the courtroom. My finest moment, his worst fear.

"It is so important that we as victims teach others to become victors. The crowd showed me, now we need to show each other."

Tagging Along

Claire Wolfe just "book tagged" me.

Wow--I'm honored. Really.

I feel like Garth and Wayne.

How can I decline?

Total number of books I've owned: No idea. It must be in the thousands.

Last book I bought: Easy. I'm wearing the t-shirt as I type.

Last book I read: I just finished it today. And what's this talk about maybe not doing a sequel? You can't just leave me hanging like this!

Five books that mean a lot to me:
[These are not listed in any particular order, and there are many more books that mean a lot to me than just these five. So this list is not fixed.]

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

The Bible

Prodigal Genius by John J. O'Neill

The Federalist Papers by Publius

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Tag five people and have them do this on their blogs:

Jed

Nicki

Matthew

Kevin

Say Uncle

There are many more books and many other bloggers that could have been listed here. This reminds me of a scene from the end of the movie version of The Time Machine where Filby and the housekeeper discover George has returned to the future and has taken three books from his library. They don't know which ones he selected as being the most useful for rebuilding a civilization.

"Which three would you have chosen?" Filby asks.