Profiles in Apathy

We have no shortage of expectations and strong opinions about what we want. But when it comes time to step up to the plate, things get awfully quiet.

"Profiles in Apathy," my Rights Watch column for the January 2007 issue of GUNS Magazine, is now online.

Plying a Seamy Trade

An early December Associated Press story out of Atlantic City caught my eye. "Prostitutes arm selves as body count rises," read the headline...

I scanned the whole story, interested to find out how easy it's proving for the East Coast ladies of the evening to arm themselves for their own defense. Way down in the ninth paragraph, I read of "Christine, 37, who works out of a cheap motel on Pacific Avenue near the entrance to several casinos," who "bought a canister of pepper spray after the bodies were found in the ditch."

That's it? A can of pepper spray?

Yes, that's it. And the sadistic bondage and discipline/dominance perverts who run the government and enforce its freaky edicts wouldn't have it any other way.

Vin Suprynowicz is one of our most articulate and clear thinking liberty writers. Anyone who does not regularly read his columns is cheating themselves.

Everybody here has read his last book, right?

Wayne Fincher Update: January 3

From Paul W. Davis:

There are several documents relating to Wayne's case that have been added to the webpage. Most important of the documents are the transcript of the Bond Hearing, and the Preliminary Jury Instructions for both the Government and the Defense.

You will find these documents in Adobe Acrobat and Wordperfect format. The Bond Hearing is the additional format of HTML (please excuse the HTML as it has not been reformatted to appear as the printed document)

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In Search of the Second Amendment

My review of David Hardy's new DVD should be in next month's (March) issue of GUNS Magazine. I'm not going to post it here before it hits the newsstands, but I will give you my concluding assessment:

David Hardy has given us an important tool to use in educating ourselves and others.

Click on the title link to learn more, including how to get your own copy.

We're the Only Ones Rooty Tooty Fresh and Shooty Enough

An Alexandria police officer who shot and killed a teenager last year will be disciplined, but not fired, police officials announced on Tuesday.

Officer Carl Stowe was working as a security guard when he fired shots, killing 18-year-old Aaron Brown in a Duke Street IHOP parking lot on Feb. 25.

Only "The Only Ones" could get away with stepping in front of a car and then claiming it was coming at them so they had to defend themselves.

Oh, and about the title to this post? I'm really sorry. Truly, I feel bad. I'll try not to let it happen again.

Have You Sent YOUR Email?

Some of you have, most of you have not. The fewer who take the minute to do this, the greater the likelihood those who wish to see this resolved will be ignored.

What have you got to lose?

This Day in History: January 3

In a stroke of strategic genius, General George Washington manages to evade conflict with General Charles Cornwallis, who had been dispatched to Trenton to “bag the fox” (Washington), and wins several encounters with the British rear guard, as it departs Princeton for Trenton, New Jersey.

Three-Card Monte

Gov. Mitt Romney will file paperwork forming a presidential exploratory committee on Wednesday...

You know, the guy who supports the "assault weapons ban" and the "Brady Bill".

Now with Giulianii and McCain already on the table, we're ready to start the game...

Going, Going, Gone...

With little fanfare, the federal government has substantially increased the number of licenses it has taken away from gun dealers over the past five years, according to newly obtained statistics.

Sure glad we have a BATFU where we're working out of their Big Boss's office.

Take a Valium?

My personal opinion is that this is a storm in a teacup, and Codrea needs to take a Valium or something.

Why, Kim?

I didn't invent the guns in space angle, I merely reported it, and I even commented on how stated administration policy could be used to establish regulations without invoking any change in Second Amendment interpretation. If they had simply done this, not many gun owners would have even noticed the new regs, let alone protested.

As far as the "collective rights" issue goes, you just essentially agreed with me, admitting "we gunnies are going to get upset about this" and referring to the new language as "lunacy."

I've addressed the speculation that it may be just a bureaucratic oversight here, but regardless--since the function of government is essentially to protect our rights-- such sloppiness, if that's what it is, amounts to irresponsible, and some would say, criminal negligence when one of the keystone rights is involved.

If it's truly "a storm in a teacup," then there's no reason why the administration shouldn't order the language they approved for publication in the Federal Register rescinded, and the office of the president shouldn't publicly reaffirm it's commitment to an "individual rights" interpretation.

I have a way to find out, and it'll only take a minute--probably less than a tenth of the time it took to write commentary with a conclusion telling people I need to take a Valium. Why not just send the White House an email on the topic and find out? If it's no big deal, they should be happy to make everything all right. Right?

I know it would sure settle me down, hysterical little Cassandra that I am.

This Day in History: January 2

The Continental Congress publishes the “Tory Act” resolution on this day in 1776, which describes how colonies should handle those Americans who remain loyal to the British and King George.

Open Letter to President Bush on FAA Assertion that Second Amendment is a "Collective Right"

Dear Mr. President,

From Federal Register: December 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 241)
[Rules and Regulations]

[Page 75615-75645]
II.C.6: Security Requirements:

Additionally, nearly all courts have also held that the Second Amendment is a collective right, rather than a personal right. Therefore, despite the Second Amendment collective right to bear arms, the FAA has the authority to prohibit firearms on launch and reentry vehicles for safety and security purposes.

From Laura Montgomery
Senior Attorney
Office of the Chief Counsel
Federal Aviation Administration:

This rule, including its security requirements, underwent coordination and review within the executive branch. It was reviewed and approved by the Executive Office of the President.

From "President George W. Bush Speaks On The Record":

NRA: Also early on in your Administration, Attorney General John Ashcroft stated his view "that the text and the original intent of the Second Amendment clearly protect the right of individuals to keep and bear firearms." This was a clear reversal, was it not, of the Clinton Administration's position?

President Bush: It was a clear reversal. It was a position that needed to be reversed--—the prior Administration had taken the position that the Second Amendment only applies to state militias and doesn'’t protect an individual right to bear arms. My opponent issued a press release earlier this year supporting that exact same position. I know that'’s not what the Constitution says. The Constitution gives people a personal right to bear arms. So we did reverse the Clinton Administration'’s position, and I think that was the right thing to do.

Mr. President, is it still "the right thing to do"? Clearly, the language that the Senior Attorney, Office of the Chief Counsel for the FAA says was "reviewed and approved by the Executive Office of the President" directly contradicts your earlier stated position.

Some have suggested this is merely a bureaucratic oversight--a staffer issuing routine approval without a meticulous detail check and without your cognizance. Others fear it may signal a change in your administration's official position on the Second Amendment.

If it's the former, will you take immediate steps to revise the Final Rule and delete all references to "collective rights," as well as establish controls to prevent such oversights from happening in future rulemaking?

If it's the latter, will you issue a public explanation of your new position and the reasons behind it?

Your immediate attention and personal response to this matter will be appreciated.

Sincerely,

David Codrea
Citizen

CC: Laura Montgomery

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

Related Reading:

Further Thoughts on the Bush 2A Reversal
Bush Administration Reverses Ashcroft Interpretation of 2A
Bush Administration Declares 2A a "Collective Right"
FAA to Disarm Universe
Other Links

'Free Wayne'

[Via Joe & Barb McCutcheon]

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Wayne Fincher Update: Jan.1

From Paul W. Davis :

In the interest of maintaining access to all the documentation involved in the case of U.S. v. Hollis Wayne Fincher, I have updated the MOWCA's website with a page focused on the BATFE raid on the Militia and the arrest and detention of Wayne.

http://www.arkansasmilitia.com/raid/main.html

This page does not replace the USvFincher blog or the other blogs and websites that are tracking this case. However, it will lay out all documentation involved. Please note: This page is not a blog and is not intended to function as such, but is a document repository that also functions as a backup to the USvFincher blog in case access is unavailable for whatever reason.

All submissions to the page will be cleared through the militia and/or Wayne's lawyer if applicable. Please remember that I am only the webmaster and cannot post a document unless it has been previously cleared through the militia.

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The Money Quote

"A person who is willing to shoot an officer is willing to shoot a civilian," he said.

Bingo!

Crouching to Tyranny

The removal of guns from this city's streets is basic to achieving a civilized level of order and a feeling of safety, which is the job of the New York Police Department and the city administration and any gathering of do-gooders focused on the lowering of the murder rate.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says that Operation Gun Stop is a necessary program because it creates incentive and guarantees the protection of those citizens who want to report the sale of or possession of illegal firearms.

Stanley Crouch--kind of makes you wonder if Mr. Adams was prescient when he said:

Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!

Stanley could benefit from reading this, that is, assuming he's merely ignorant.

"Review the Bidding"

Thanks, Blogonomicon!

This Day in History: January 1

On this day in 1781, 1,500 soldiers from the Pennsylvania Line--all 11 regiments under General Anthony Wayne’s command--insist that their three-year enlistments are expired, kill three officers in a drunken rage and abandon the Continental Army’s winter camp at Morristown, New Jersey.

Wayne Fincher Docket Updated

Direct Link

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The Missing Post

Thanks, Fodder!