New WarOnGuns Poll: The Ratings Game

Over the past months we've been discussing Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, who is revoking previously-issued CCW permits despite being endorsed and given an "A" rating by NRA-PVF.

I generally avoid two-question polls, but in this case, a pretty direct question is involved that doesn't require nuanced response choices. See the left margin and take the new poll.

Here are the results of last week's poll (click on image to enlarge). Those of you who pledged to get a copy of "In Search of the Second Amendment": what's keeping you? Here's a link to order it. Go. Those who have no intention of doing so, I don't get it, but sadly, I'm not surprised.

"A Longtime Gun-Rights Advocate"

[T]hey have support from Councilman Robbie Waters, formerly a sheriff and city homicide detective. A longtime gun-rights advocate, Waters says he thinks the measures wouldn't "weaken people's legitimate rights," but they would help police stem gun violence.

So, being required to submit a thumbprint and have my personal information recorded before being allowed to purchase ammunition doesn't infringe on my unalienable right to keep and bear arms, Councilthing? And as far as reporting goes, have you told everyone that criminals--you know, the ones who actually engage in that "gun violence" you say will be stemmed--would be exempt, because that would violate their right against self-incrimination?

How the SacBee figures this statist tool for a "gun-rights advocate" goes beyond Orwellian. The "authorized journalists" wouldn't be lying to us (again), would they?

By the way, Robbie--nice office.

Cancer in the Cantons

Pacifists and centre-left parties want voters to have the final say on breaking with a long-standing Swiss tradition of storing personal army rifles and pistols at home.

Right, and we all know what a sterling record commies have whenever they gain power over disarmed populaces.

Insidious traitors are determined to destroy human liberty from within, under the banner of progressiveness. They do it here and abroad with impunity because there is no personal cost.

What they fail to realize is a record has been created and they can't take it back. None of us involved in political advocacy can.

The time may come when I am required to pay for my words and beliefs. If the situation is reversed, I have to wonder how motivated I'd be to intercede on behalf of those who would rather see me destroyed than armed.

Do as We Say, Not as We Do

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) personnel are processing thousands of firearms and more than a million rounds of ammunition following Thursday's arrest of two Southern California men on charges of selling firearms illegally from a Compton gun dealer, Los Angeles ATF Special Agent in Charge John A. announced today.

John A. What? Does the guy have a last name, or did someone just negligently fill out the paperwork for the press release and then not check it before filing?

What would you BATFUers do to a gun dealer who neglected to fill in a last name?

Uh-huh. I thought so.

Ya gotta wonder why the agency feels the need to issue press releases. As I recall, glory hounding is what got them in the Waco mindset.

I Actually Called in Sick to Finish it

Unintended Consequences truly is required reading for gun owners, and for people who take their liberty and freedoms seriously. (I know I just said "required reading" and I mean it. THIS MEANS YOU!) (No, seriously, buy it now!)

ExistingThing reviews a book.

I think he likes it.

Rearming the Big Easy

People across New Orleans are arming themselves — not only against the possibility of another storm bringing anarchy, but against the violence that has engulfed the metropolitan area in the 19 months since Katrina, making New Orleans the nation's murder capital.

Good. I just hope they never let anyone disarm them again the next time.

I do have a beef with this. Vivian admits she's a new gun owner. I doubt the AP photographer knows much about them. I know her finger's off the trigger, but especially considering the inexperience of all involved, this story's feature photo belongs over at Xavier's.

I also gotta wonder how many of these new gun evangelicals will continue to support politicians that hate RKBA.

[Via Cousin G]

This Day in History: March 25

On this day in 1774, British Parliament passes the Boston Port Act, closing the port of Boston and demanding that the city’s residents pay for the nearly $1 million worth (in today’s money) of tea dumped into Boston Harbor during the “Boston Tea Party” of December 16, 1773.

Wayne Fincher Update: A Plea for Help

Wayne Fincher's daughter tells me he needs legal help. The court-appointed defense attorney advises him he is looking at prison time. No doubt--the federal government has done its utmost to assure exactly that outcome.

Frankly, I'm at a bit of a loss--unless a legal foundation steps forward to give him pro bono representation, lawyers are generally in it for the money. I've sent a donation to his defense fund, but not unsurprisingly, most gun owners have not and will not, as we seem determined to hang separately.

Can I at least get the regulars here to spread the word and try to locate the legal counsel needed? At a minimum, will you forward this link to other gun owners, post it to forums?

And finally, helpful suggestions will be appreciated in the "Comments" section to this post.

VA Bill Makes Illegal Gun Sales...uhh...Illegal

The bill, sponsored by Del. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Prince William County, prohibits anyone but law enforcement officers from trying to make an illegal gun purchase from a firearms dealer.

So it's OK if "The Only Ones" do it?

I need someone who's more of a policy wonk than me to explain this, but there is an exception for "A private security company licensed to do business within the Commonwealth," so Bloomberg's Mintz Group co-conspirators may just need to get a business license to operate in The Old Dominion--assuming they don't have one already.

I would have thought that, state law notwithstanding, these stings--if they actually involved "illegal purchases"--would violate GCA '68 and various aspects US Code, both for the individual who lied on the Form 4473, and for the recipient/"prohibited person". Why Bloomberg & Co. aren't currently under indictment is beyond me--or would be if I didn't know how "The Only Ones" operate.

We're the Only Ones Political Enough

The Commission on Elections granted gun ban exemptions to at least 8,000 politicians, GMANews.TV learned on Saturday from Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer.

We're "The Only Ones" and you're not! And there's not a goddamn thing you can do about it!

Arms are for Shackles

This is no backwoods survivalist talking, just an African American who grew up in the South at a time when the people in uniform were often the bad guys, and when having a pistol or a shotgun to brandish saved a lot of black people's lives. That time is gone, though, and quelling the horrific black-on-black violence of today is so urgent that I can look past the history lesson.

Then you're a fool.

What you're saying is you learned nothing from the last time a people were oppressed, so you're inviting a recurrence. That and that you buy into the "living document" lie.

Curses! Foiled Again!

In a sleazy political stroke, Republicans played the gun lobby's card...

Only a cowardly, anonymous traitor, that is, a Herald Tribune editor, would call an article enshrined in the bill of Rights a "poison pill" and "an insult." Only a tyrant enabler would characterize "attempts to outlaw firearms" as "legitimate," and attempts to prevent it "sleazy."

There can be no peace with these wormtongues. They won't allow it.

The Sound and the Fury

The Sound:


The Fury:



Per Larry Rankin:

This newspaper reporter was against citizens' having guns rights. I know because I asked him if he was against guns and he quickly said, YES, and than caught himself.

This is a good article to use against the NRA A rating program. I have had several people call Ed Worley, NRA/ILA rep in Sacramento, more than one time and as many as three. To this day he has not returned one call!

This article says a lot. The best part is when he [Bill Brown] says in a roundabout way that the other sheriffs gave out too many. So he is saying that Sheriff Jim Anderson was a lot more pro-gun than he.

I am happy with this article because it shows the new direction that Bill Brown has taken us! Thank you NRA for helping get such an anti-gun sheriff elected!

[Also via GP]

(As an aside, I'd like to know what idiot at The Santa Barbara Daily Sound thought "the Web Paper experience" was a good way to do anything except keep people from reading the damned paper on the Web.--DC)

This Day in History: March 24

On this day in 1765, Parliament passes the Quartering Act, outlining the locations and conditions in which British soldiers are to find room and board in the American colonies.

We're the Only Ones "Not Obliged" Enough

Your request for information has now been considered and I am not obliged to supply the information you have requested.

Cryptic Subterranean follows up on the Thames Valley Police, who neglected to respond to an elderly woman being attacked with a hammer, and then lied and said they didn't respond because they had to prioritize their calls.

When I asked them what the greater priority was, and proved there were no area police emergencies reported in the news in that time period, they told me they wouldn't respond because I was "not involved." Now they tell Jay.Mac they won't respond because they don't have to. He tells me this came from Malcolm Hopgood, "Freedom of Information Officer." Talk about an Orwellian title.

I expect nothing less than this kind of CYA from "The Only Ones." I wish I could say I didn't expect it from the "authorized journalists," but in truth, that's why I've established that category here at WarOnGuns. Bloggers are treated with disdain, but too often "official" news outlets refuse to investigate stories, and taint what they do with bias, omission and lies.

Great follow-up, Jay.Mac. I'm going to see what I can do about getting this some wider exposure in the magazine...

We're the Only Ones Never Disciplined Enough

He told the Chicago Tribune that his client had completed a substance abuse treatment program and had never been disciplined since joining the police department in 1994.

We discussed this "Only One" yesterday as we watched him manfully beat a woman less than half his size into the floor, as other disarmed Chicago men manfully stayed out of it and let it happen.

Now we find this:

Authorities are investigating whether anyone tried to bribe or threaten a bartender to dissuade her from pressing charges against an off-duty police officer accused of beating her in an attack caught on camera, police said Thursday...

The state's attorney's office and internal police investigators are looking into claims that Abbate and at least one other person threatened Obrycka, as well as the owner of the bar, Bond said.

The threats included telling the bar owner that illegal drugs could be planted on the premises and that Jesse's Short Stop customers would be harassed, according to Obrycka's attorney, Terry Ekl.

One can only wonder why the "authorized journalists" are evidently content to let the "authorities" do the investigating.
After all, these are the same authorities who evidently didn't cuff the animal when they took him into custody. Professional courtesy, you know.

And as for never being disciplined, that's hard to do when you give the guy a pass on a DUI. Oh, and then there's this gem. It appears this animal was "named in a federal lawsuit for beating a man under arrest in 1999. The man later died."

But he was never disciplined.

Does anybody really think he would have been "disciplined" this time if there hadn't been a camera on the premises?

When are idiot Chicagoans who provide the fuel for the tyrannical Daley machine going to wake up? And when are Illinois gun owners going to send a line in the sand message to Springfield, telling them in no uncertain terms that Chicago disarmament will not be tolerated outside of Cook county?

We're the Only Ones Pushy Enough

A police officer shoved a skateboarder into the bushes...and it was caught on tape.

There's also a link to the video. Nice marks the kid got on his back from the unprovoked assault.

What a vicious, ignorant, lowlife.

You'll note "The Only One's" identity hasn't been ferreted out by our watchdog "authorized journalists." Here's another account where the mayor shifts the blame to skateboarders, and another where a "councilman says the officer handled the situation 'professionally'."

I guess--if you're a professional thug.

And here's yet a fourth account--still giving anonymity to the head case with the badge and the gun, that says "As of now, the officer in the video is still working as normal."

Hard to argue with that last part.

And no, I'm not arguing that anyone should be able to skate anywhere that is not there property and cause damage to structures. But there are sure as hell better ways to handle that than attacking them without warning. She could have broken his neck, and had any of us done the same thing, we would rightfully be charged with assault and battery.

[Via Wm H]

This Day in History: March 23

During a speech before the second Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry responds to the increasingly oppressive British rule over the American colonies by declaring, "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" Following the signing of the American Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, Patrick Henry was appointed governor of Virginia by the Continental Congress.

A Matter of Time

Gun purchases would be limited to one per month and anyone selling a gun would have to get a background check on the prospective buyer under gun control plans an Illinois House committee endorsed Wednesday.

If one gun a month is good, wouldn't one gun a year be better?

Just asking, because if you buy into the "logic"...

Common Tyranny

Standing next to a combat rifle that is 5 feet long, weighs 35 pounds and can blow holes through armor a mile-and-a-half away, Gurnee Police Chief Robert Jones wonders why civilians still can legally buy this weapon in Illinois.

Ah, it's our old friend Burt Constable.

Yeah, chief, letting Illinois cops be "The Only Ones" who can deploy such a weapon sounds like a great idea.

And "Reverend" Oldershaw: Don't you have more important things to worry about that will better contribute to "the common good"?