Quote of the Week, June 24 - 30

Quote of the Week, June 24 - June 30, 2007

"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers."

Thomas Jefferson

Many NRA Members "Confused" by Proposed Gun Bill

This article, by Alan Korwin, is well worth a read.

Councilman Points "Gun" at Members in Meeting

I wish my city council meetings were this interesting. I have a point in sharing this anecdote, too, below the story.

L.C. Bulger III watched in mounting horror as a 10-year-old trained a chrome pistol first at his companion's head, then on a group of boys just down the Saginaw sidewalk.

Clad in his Sunday best, Bulger sprinted off his doorstep on the city's East Side toward the child gunslinger.

As he drew nearer and hollered for him to stop, Bulger saw the boy's friend had a gun of his own. Both boys whirled.

"They quickly put the guns in their belts and put their shirts over it," recalls Bulger, a 41-year-old special education paraprofessional, who confiscated the guns.

"But the way they turned around, that could have been pretty deadly if I was someone with a weapon, or an officer."

The guns were fakes but looked as real as any 9mm on the street, says Bulger, part of the Parishioners on Patrol effort to confront violence by roaming city streets at night.

It was Bulger's run-in, shortly before noon two Sundays ago, that prompted fellow anti-violence activist and Saginaw City Councilman Amos O'Neal's dramatic stunt at last week's City Council meeting.

Using the same kind of toy Bulger took from the boy, O'Neal stunned colleagues by whipping the silver replica from his belt, pointing it at the city manager and panning the council chambers with the glinting barrel.

Some people ducked or hunkered down. Others backed up. Only the mayor, the city manager and a police lieutenant in the audience were in on the real story.

Councilman Bill Federspiel, who works as a police officer in Saginaw Township, criticizes O'Neal for pointing the device at people and says that as an officer, he would have drawn his gun had O'Neal's behavior turned any more bizarre.

Although the point of the story is that Saginaw is banning "realistic-looking" toy guns. In fact, the Michigan House is getting in on the act.

"These guns look unbelievably real when they're modified," said freshman State Rep. Andy Coulouris, who helped prosecute a few toy gun cases in his days as a Saginaw County assistant prosecutor.

Coulouris is co-sponsor of House Bill 4892, which could criminalize what the 10-year-old did with the toy.

The law would make it a misdemeanor to remove the telltale orange cap from the toys and a four-year felony to use a replica to threaten or intimidate.

Federal law requires that imitation guns come with an orange plug or likewise marker, but the rule does not apply to non-imitation traditional water, paint ball, BB or pellet guns.

Usually, this is where I would rip on politicians... but I think they are on to something with this one. I'd place realistic-looking toy guns in the same category as an unloaded real gun used in a crime, in that they create a genuine fear-for-life among people they are used on, and hence, justify a self-defense action, be it either from police or a law-abiding citizen. And Michigan has seen a few cases of unloaded weapons or fake weapons used in crimes this year - with the result being a dead perp after a police shoot-out.

Now, I am not for banning toy guns, but in my childhood, you couldn't confuse my cap gun with Dad's .45. I'm sure a lot of you will disagree with my assessment, and that's fine. But I do think the politicians have a point on this one.

Florida Woman with a .38 and Concealed Carry Permit vs. Pitbull

Slow day in Michigan... so here is another Florida story.

Warning - there are a few graphic details

Memories of an Easter Sunday pit bull attack four years ago came rushing back to Christine Bruce on Monday night as a pit bull charged toward her while she was jogging with her dogs.

Unlike four years ago, this time she was ready.

She pulled out her .38-caliber handgun and fired a shot at the charging pit bull as she was screaming at it to stop, she said Tuesday in a telephone interview.

The attack four years ago -- a pit bull ripped open part of a body cast on her right arm while she was recovering from spinal surgery -- prompted Bruce to start carrying the gun for self-defense, she said.

Bruce said she normally walks and runs every day with her two labs and a German shepherd.

According to a Volusia County sheriff's report, Bruce, 44, was jogging with her dogs at 8:13 p.m. when she saw [a man] standing in front of his house at 1435 Gainesville Drive with a white pit bull on a leash. She said [the man] started exciting the dog and when she asked him to stop, he let the dog go and told it to attack her.

"The dog was inside the house barking and then [he] opens the door and comes out with the pit bull on a leash," Bruce said. "I kept running to get away but then I looked back and he let go the leash and the dog."

Afraid for her and her dogs, Bruce retrieved the handgun from her bag and fired at the charging pit bull. She missed the dog but the sound of the gunshot scared it away, the report states.

Bruce has a concealed weapon's permit, sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said. The case has been turned over to Deltona Animal Control for review, Haught said.

[The man], 47, was issued a warning by a city Animal Control officer to keep his dog under control, city spokesman Lee Lopez said.

Concealed Carry Subway Customer Shoots Robber

News out of Florida

Warning - there are a few graphic details

Police said 71-year-old John Lovell II used a licensed gun to shoot the alleged robbers at the Subway on North Pine Island Road and Sunrise Boulevard.

[...]

According to investigators, two armed men entered the restaurant, pointing guns and demanding money. Lovell turned around and saw a gun pointed at his face. Plantation police said that's when he took action.

"As the customer was being forced into the restroom at gunpoint, the customer, who was in fear for his life and legally armed, shot the robbery suspects," said Plantation Police Department spokesman Robert Rittig.

Police said one of the suspects was fatally shot in the head.

[...]

The other suspect,[...], was shot in the chest and was able to run nearly 300 yards into a nearby Bank Atlantic parking lot while trying to escape, police said.

The surviving robbery suspect was charged with armed robbery and murder because someone was killed while the perp was allegedly committing a felony - even though he didn't shoot his partner-in-crime.

Lovell's neighbor Wendi Hill said she spoke with Lovell several times Thursday morning.

"He said everything happened in less than four seconds," Hill said.

She said it didn't surprise her at all that Lovell took action against the robbers.

"He's a very smart guy," she said. "I mean, retired pilot, retired ex-Marine."

Police said Lovell will not be charged with a crime. There is surveillance video of the incident, but police had not yet released it as of Thursday evening.

Immigration Bill Didn't Pass

Rich Galen, in his Mullblog, posted a link to see how Senators voted on the recently failed Immigration Reform bill.

Thank the Good Lord, 15 Democrats defected from party lines and the bill failed by a 46-53 vote (with one abstention).

In Case You Need A Good Laugh Today

Whenever I feel like the weight of the world is crushing me, I think of the Detroit Lions and realize - hey, at least I'm not one of these guys.

So how does quarterback Jon Kitna deal with the poor performance of the team that's gone 24-72 since 2001? He becomes delusional.

The Detroit Lions haven't had a winning record since 2000 and haven't won 10 games since 1995. That's all going to change in 2007, according to quarterback Jon Kitna.

Appearing on WDFN-AM in Detroit on Thursday, Kitna predicted that the Lions will win more than 10 games this season. The Lions were 3-13 in 2006.

In March, Kitna said the Lions would win 10 games in 2007, but after seeing the team's schedule he adjusted his prediction -- higher.

"I'll keep to myself what I think we actually will win. But it's more than 10 games," Kitna said.

Good luck, Jon.

Ron and Fred

I know this stuff really doesn't matter yet, but it's nice to see so much grass-roots Republican interest in Fred Thompson.

Latecomer Fred Thompson, who hasn't officially entered the 2008 presidential race, is setting Republican pulses racing in this early voting state.

Thompson, 64, an actor and former Tennessee senator, has no serious political organization in South Carolina and makes his first appearance in this campaign season in the state on Wednesday. So it's a sign of Republicans' deep unease with the current field of 10 GOP candidates that conservative voters are watching Thompson with interest.

[...]

A poll last week showed Thompson and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani fighting for the lead in South Carolina. It's not clear whether voters are drawn to Thompson because he is the new candidate on the block, or whether his growing popularity is a function of perceived flaws with the other top-tier contenders.

Giuliani's support for abortion rights chafes the core of the GOP here. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's Mormon religion has been questioned by Christian conservatives who wield sizable clout in the state party. Arizona Sen. John McCain riled those conservatives here in 2000, and more recently has found himself on the wrong side of immigration legislation from the perspective of many Republican voters.

And my hero, Dr. Ron Paul, is holding his own, even though the Republican leadership is treating him like a plantars wart, trying to chop him off before he causes too much trouble.

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul will add party crashing to his campaign tactics this weekend.

The Texas congressman, who has struggled to top 1 percent in national polls, wasn't invited to a forum of presidential candidates Saturday in Des Moines. The gathering is sponsored by the Iowa Christian Alliance and the watchdog group Iowans for Tax Relief.

Instead of grumbling, Paul's campaign decided to hold its own party , in the same hall as the forum. They're calling it a celebration of life and liberty.

Snitching... or Punishing Lawless Murderers?

I don't understand what people are thinking when they refuse to cooperate with police in murder investigations.

Sure, I understand people are afraid the perp will come back and try to take them out. That fear makes sense, although if the thug has already demonstrated the capacity to murder, how will refusing to talk to the police help a witness feel safer? And let's be real, it is all about feelings. Refusing to talk to the police doesn't make one safer.

And what is it about people who refuse to "snitch" on a thug? I can rationalize a gang member refusing to give up a fellow gang member, but what about Joe or Jane Citizen who witness a brutal murder committed by someone they don't know on a victim they do know - how is talking to the police "snitching" on the perp?

Both fear and the "refusal to snitch" is really hurting Detroit.

She heard the gunshots but she wouldn't look out the window.

She didn't want to see anything, didn't want to know anything.

She refused to give her name for fear the shooters would come back for her.

That was one neighbor's reaction to a shooting early Wednesday in northwest Detroit that killed two, including a woman who was eight months pregnant.

"Whoever it was definitely ain't playing," the neighbor said. "And I don't want to play with them."

It is a problem that Detroit police have said plagues the department: Witnesses to crimes refuse to step forward.

Some succumb to anti-snitching campaigns that deem cooperating with police dishonorable. Others fear retaliation.

[...]

Detroit police said the problem is growing. At a triple shooting last week in which a 35-year-old man and 18-year-old woman were killed, people who acknowledged they saw the attack refused to talk.

One man wearing a "Stop Snitching" T-shirt watched as police investigated the scene.

That type of reaction cannot be tolerated, said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.

"I hope people aren't buying into this anti-snitch nonsense. Let me assure the public that we will not close up shop and stop prosecuting criminals," Worthy said. "As a society, we cannot allow a conspiracy of silence to creep into the criminal justice system."

[...]

One veteran Detroit officer, who has dealt with the frustration of encountering reluctant witnesses at crime scenes, said fear plays a large role in residents' refusal to cooperate.

"No one wants to talk around here, and I can't blame a lot of them," he said, asking that he not be identified out of concern about being reprimanded. "This is a violent town."

More on Eliminating Gun-Free Zones in Michigan

As written last week, Michigan CPL holders are forbidden to carry in many areas, and one state senator is trying to eliminate these criminal empowerment zones.

Currently, these are the Gun-Free areas:

1. Schools or school property but may carry while in a vehicle on school property while dropping off or picking up if a parent or legal guardian
2. Public or private day care center, public or private child caring agency, or public or private child placing agency.
3. Sports arena or stadium.
4. A tavern where the primary source of income is the sale of alcoholic liquor by the glass consumed on the premises.
5. Any property or facility owned or operated by a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or other place of worship, unless the presiding official allows concealed weapons.
6. An entertainment facility that the individual knows or should know has a seating capacity of 2,500 or more.
7. A hospital.
8. A dormitory or classroom of a community college, college, or university.
9. A Casino
   

"Premises" does not include the parking areas of the places listed above in 1 through 8.

A pistol is subject to immediate seizure if the CCW permit holder is carrying a pistol in a "pistol free" area. The following penalties may also be imposed:

* First offense: State Civil Infraction, $500 fine, CCW permit suspended 6 months
* Second offense: 90-day misdemeanor, $1000 fine, CCW permit revoked
* Third and subsequent offenses: 4-year felony, $5000 fine, CCW permit revoked

Furthermore, effective March 29, 2001, per Administrative Order 2001-1 of the Michigan Supreme Court:

"Weapons are not permitted in any courtroom, office, or other space used for official court business or by judicial employees unless the chief judge or other person designated by the chief judge has given prior approval consistent with the court's written policy."

House Bill 4759, introduced by Rep. Daniel Acciavatti and sponsored by Reps. Jacob Hoogendyk, Kenneth Horn, John Stahl, Paul Opsommer, Kim Meltzer, and Arlan Meekhof simply states:

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 5c. (1) A license to carry a concealed pistol shall be in a form, with the same dimensions as a Michigan operator license, prescribed by the department of state police. The license shall contain all of the following:
(a) The licensee's full name and date of birth.

(b) A photograph and a physical description of the licensee.

(c) A statement of the effective dates of the license.

(d) An indication of exceptions authorized by this act applicable to the licensee.

(e) An indication whether the license is a duplicate.

(2) Subject to section 5o and except Except as otherwise provided by law, a license to carry a concealed pistol issued by the county concealed weapon licensing board authorizes the licensee to do all of the following:
(a) Carry a pistol concealed on or about his or her person anywhere in this state.

(b) Carry a pistol in a vehicle, whether concealed or not concealed, anywhere in this state.

Enacting section 1. Section 5o of 1927 PA 372, MCL 28.425o, is repealed.

Dangers to Hunting in Michigan

The Michigan Supreme Court issued a terrible ruling of June 20, 2007 declaring cities have a right to ban hunting.

"Astonishingly, the court has said that Michigan's citizens who own land or choose to hunt close to their homes within city limits do not have that right," MUCC interim director Donna Stine said. "This ruling ... essentially is a green light to ban hunting," she added. "There simply was no reason for the Supreme Court to make such a radical statement with statewide implications." -- on the MCRGO web site.

From the MCRGO:
The Director of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Ownership is Senator Randy Richardville, R-17, Senate President Pro-Tem. He made the following statement on the Senate floor Thursday vowing to work with the hunting community to find a solution:

Yesterday the Michigan Supreme Court issued an opinion in the Czymbor v. City of Saginaw case that has caused the hunting community in this state to be greatly concerned. The opinion, which further chips away at the rights of hunters and fishermen, is seen as a setback by those in the conservation community. This decision truly has the impact to further threaten our hunting rights in the state of Michigan. A recent survey by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service shows hunting and fishing participation down in the region and nationally, and we don't need further discouragement of the sport.

Mr. President and members, I rise today to make sure that sportsmen and women know that I and many members of this legislative body will stand with them and fight for their rights and our state's great outdoor recreational heritage. Hunters and fishermen in this state need to know that we have their backs covered.

Just last month, the Senate ushered in Michigan Conservation Week. We recognized Michigan's great hunting and fishing heritage and the important role the sportsmen and women have in conserving the natural resources of our state now and for future generations. We also passed a four-bill package that protects the rights of hunting and fishing for Michigan residents. With the issuing of this opinion yesterday, we may now need to revisit the issue and make sure that further legislative recommendations will ensure that our recreational heritage remains strong.

I join many members of this body in saying that we will work with groups like the Michigan United Conservation Clubs on a solution that helps to protect these important rights here in Michigan.

-- State Senator Randy Richardville

Cloture-Voting Amnesty Traitors of S.1639

This video lists all 64 members of the Senate that voted for cloture on Senate Bill 1639 - widely considered an Amnesty Bill. Every senator who voted for it has his/her picture and phone number in this video.



Courtesy of Buck at fromthepen.com and Blogs for Borders.

Dirty Laundry and the CIA

This dandy was written by Josh Gerstein and published in the NY Post today.

This stuff happened 30 years ago. It's a good thing government no longer violates anyone's rights. Yeah, that's sarcasm dripping off of your computer screen.

The CIA is airing its dirty laundry from more than three decades ago by releasing the bulk of a key dossier on the agency's role in assassination attempts, kidnapping, and domestic surveillance efforts that may have been illegal or unauthorized.

The 702-page collection posted on the Web yesterday was the product of a 1973 call by the then director of central intelligence, James Schlesinger, for all agency employees to report any incident where officials might have violated the CIA's charter. The resulting compilation of alleged agency misdeeds was considered so sensitive that it was dubbed "the family jewels."

[...]

One action viewed as flatly illegal by some in the agency was the detention from 1964 to 1967 of a Russian defector, Yuri Nosenko. The records say he was kept at a safehouse in Clinton, Md., for more than a year before being transferred "to a specially constructed ‘jail' in a remote wooded area." CIA lawyers "became increasingly concerned about the illegality of the Agency's position," the documents indicate. Mr. Nosenko was eventually given better digs and a new identity.

Despite the misgivings among some at the CIA about wiretapping and physical surveillance aimed at journalists publishing classified information, the records show that some of the work proved quite successful. "Project Mockingbird," which involved snooping on two newspaper columnists, Robert Allen and Paul Scott, was "particularly productive in identifying contacts of the newsmen, their method of operation, and many of their sources of information," an agency memo said. A dozen senators, six congressmen, 11 congressional aides, and White House officials were pegged as leakers.

Other targets of the CIA's anti-leak efforts included a Washington Post reporter, Michael Getler, and a prominent columnist, Jack Anderson. Some of Anderson's "leg men" were also followed, including Brit Hume, who is now a Fox News anchor.

[...]

Some of the family jewels are remaining under wraps, as are details such as the location of the makeshift jail set up for Mr. Nosenko. "Even though this is a historical set of documents, some of the information remains relevant and needs to be protected," a CIA spokesman, George Little, said.

The agency also released more than 10,000 pages of analytical reports yesterday on China, the Soviet Union, and relations between the two countries.

Blogs for Borders Blogburst 6-26-2007

Congressman Dingell is Now Fighting For Big Cable

Michigan Congressman John Dingell, D-Trenton, was recently known as the broker in the latest gun-banning legislation. As a former NRA Board member(who receives perpetual A+ ratings from NRA-ILA, even though GOA consistently provides much lower rankings), he brought anti-gun McCarthy together with the NRA to infringe upon gun owners rights.

Now he is out to protect Comcast, the cable television giant.

Why?

Because the Big Ten Network isn't giving Comcast a cheap price.

What may not be typical is the involvement of a congressman: Dingell sent Delany a letter Monday with questions about the network, primarily about the status of the negotiations, the prospective end date, the potential revenues and the full schedule of football games on the network, including a specific request about U-M games. The letter did not refer to Michigan State, only "the other 10 teams in the conference."

Michigan is expected to have three games on the Big Ten Network this season; two MSU games already have been scheduled, as well.

Now, first off, I must give credit where credit is due. Congressman Dingell only inquired about the University of Michigan broadcasts... he didn't waste anyone's time inquiring about those Spartans from Michigan State.

However, all joking aside, that does shoot down his explanation:"According to Dingell's staff, no hearings are scheduled. The congressman sent the letter on his individual letterhead on behalf of his constituents."

It seems to me that his constituents would include both Michigan and Michigan State alumni and fans. A lot of fans from both schools. So why not inquire about MSU's scheduled network games?

According to the article, "He [Congressman Dingell] is not raising the specter of hearings even though, as chairman of the energy and commerce committee that oversees telecommunications, it is within his power." Now, I know that U of Michigan football sells much better than State football - and State basketball brings in much more advertising revenue than U of M basketball. But Comcast simply needs to sign a contract for the football season by September 1... get football cheap now, and basketball will be cheap later. So I see what Comcast gets out of this. What I don't understand is what the average fan gets out of this - no more broadcasts of the best rivalries on free TV?

But you know what - the market can sort this mess out. So why is a powerful congressman getting involved? Is this a Federal issue? No.

But the Big Ten better watch out. Dingell is out for you. Maybe he'll get on the ball and force the conference to change it's name to the Big Eleven... isn't Big Ten false advertising?

Who Wins When Both Are "Only Ones"?

Who wins when both parties to a dispute are "only ones"? The one breaking the law?

The attorney for the Detroit police sergeant hit with a Taser in December by a Farmington Hills police officer after a traffic stop is hoping the Oakland County Prosecutor will drop misdemeanor charges against his client.

[...]

Arnold Reed said his client maintains his innocence on the charges of running a red light and interfering with a police officer.

Here is the background of the incident, involving a 12-year veteran of the Deeeetroit Police Department. The officer is accused of:running a red light in his personal automobile in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills - and he wasn't on Detroit Police business. He was in uniform.

A Farmington Hills officer followed [the Detroit cop] to his home and used a Taser to subdue him after [the Detroit cop] refused to give up his gun and later reached for it. An internal investigation cleared the Farmington Hills officer of any wrongdoing.

If found guilty, the "running a red light" charge should only set him back a couple of hundred dollars in fines... plus higher insurance rates. The other charge, "interfering with a police officer," is a misdemeanor.

Sigh... Mixing Religion and Politics

I thought the left-wingers said it is unconstitutional to mix politics and religion.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson was arrested Saturday at a demonstration outside a south suburban gun shop and charged with one count of criminal trespass to property.

Jackson was arrested when he refused to move away from the entrance to Chuck’s Gun Shop in Riverdale, police said. He has protested with other community activists outside the shop in recent weeks after a 16-year-old honor student was gunned down on a city bus.

Police said the shooting was gang-related but the teen was not the intended target.
Jackson, who says the gun shop’s proximity to Chicago provides gang members and criminals easy access to firearms, has used the protests to call for stricter gun laws.

The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a Catholic priest who oversees a South Side congregation, also was arrested and charged with Jackson.

A message seeking comment from the gun shop was not immediately returned Saturday afternoon.

Two teens have been charged as adults with taking part in the May shooting of Blair Holt, an honor student at Julian High School.

No Guns

By Charley Reese at lewrockwell.com

I'm ready at last to support gun control. I believe every police agency in the United States – local, state and federal – should be disarmed.

After all, the gun-control people have been saying for years that we private citizens have no need for firearms. Well, if that's true for us, it's true for the police. We are the inhabitants of the country. We live in the neighborhoods, we are the victims of crime, and if we don't need guns, then who does?

I've yet to hear of a police officer being mugged or raped, and certainly not an FBI agent, as the feds spend most of their time in offices, except on weekends and holidays.

The Secret Service doesn't need guns. Look at the bad record it has. Even with guns, we've lost more heads of state than any industrial nation I can think of. If somebody tries to shoot the president, the agents can stand in front of him. Whether they do so promptly or with slow deliberation will probably depend on the personality of the president. It's safer that way for everyone concerned.

We will still need tough penalties for those who use guns to commit a crime, but as soon as criminals realize they're not going to be shot by the cops, many of them will ditch their guns. Why risk an extra-heavy prison sentence when all you really want to do is steal something?

Naturally, police could still carry pepper spray and clubs. I wouldn't even object if they wanted to carry a pocketful of rocks for throwing. If you practice, you can get to be a pretty accurate rock thrower.

I believe this effort is necessary to stop the militarization of our police. Some police departments these days will turn out a crew of people who look like Darth Vader, with bulletproof vests, masks, helmets, submachine guns, sniper rifles, hand grenades, etc., even if the call is for some little old lady who had too much to drink or a mouse heard in a gun store.

There is a fundamental problem with Special Weapons and Tactics teams (SWAT). They train more than they are ever needed, and therefore they begin to show up when they really aren't needed. For example, if there is a rowdy drunk in one apartment, you don't have to empty out the whole apartment building.

In saner days, a policeman, usually wearing a plaid jacket and rayon slacks, would go to make an arrest with only a snub-nosed .38 in his coat pocket. If he had to, he'd shoot you, but he didn't show up yelling and cursing. He came on reasonable and friendly, and tried to talk you into surrender. Most of the time it worked.

Nowadays, if one guy wants to off himself, a whole SWAT team will show up, block off the street, tie up traffic and diddle around for hours. I've never understood why police wish to interfere in somebody's suicide in the first place.

Naturally, I know that we once had a better class of criminals in this country. Even in the heyday of gangsters like Bonnie and Clyde, they were generally careful not to shoot civilians, and there was practically no crime against ordinary people. My cousins and I, even when we were not long past the toddler stage, often went to downtown Atlanta on the trolley and spent a pleasant and safe day.

I suppose, with our society growing increasingly authoritarian, there is no hope for disarming the police. Well, then, leave the guns for private citizens alone. If the sorry, no-good criminals are going to act without restraint, then let's make sure the few remaining good people can defend themselves.

Quote of the Week, June 17 - 23

However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
-Winston Churchill

Michigan Businesses and Illegal Immigrants

If you look at your built in map of Michigan's lower peninsula on your hand, this event occurred at the tip of the thumb.

Police were investigating the Wednesday drowning of an illegal alien from Mexico who could not swim but apparently jumped off the breakwater at Port Austin.

An investigation led to the deportation of his five companions, all illegal aliens from Mexico.

[...]

The six men, age 16 to 33, worked at the VerHaar Dairy Farm along Soper just outside Bad Axe, police said. Police said none of the men could speak English and did not have green cards or Social Security cards.

Now, why would a farm do such a thing? Some business owner is in trouble with the IRS and whatever the new INS bureau is called.

Jimmy Carter, Father of the Iranian Revolution

By Michael D. Evans, and published in the Jerusalem Post.

We just don't get it. The Left in America is screaming to high heaven that the mess we are in in Iraq and the war on terrorism has been caused by the right-wing and that George W. Bush, the so-called "dim-witted cowboy," has created the entire mess.

The truth is the entire nightmare can be traced back to the liberal democratic policies of the leftist Jimmy Carter, who created a firestorm that destabilized our greatest ally in the Muslim world, the shah of Iran, in favor of a religious fanatic, the ayatollah Khomeini.

Carter viewed Khomeini as more of a religious holy man in a grassroots revolution than a founding father of modern terrorism. Carter's ambassador to the UN, Andrew Young, said "Khomeini will eventually be hailed as a saint." Carter's Iranian ambassador, William Sullivan, said, "Khomeini is a Gandhi-like figure." Carter adviser James Bill proclaimed in a Newsweek interview on February 12, 1979 that Khomeini was not a mad mujahid, but a man of "impeccable integrity and honesty."

The shah was terrified of Carter. He told his personal confidant, "Who knows what sort of calamity he [Carter] may unleash on the world?"

Let's look at the results of Carter's misguided liberal policies: the Islamic Revolution in Iran; the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (Carter's response was to boycott the 1980 Moscow Olympics); the birth of Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization; the Iran-Iraq War, which cost the lives of millions dead and wounded; and yes, the present war on terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

WHEN CARTER entered the political fray in 1976, America was still riding the liberal wave of anti-Vietnam War emotion. Carter asked for an in-depth report on Iran even before he assumed the reins of government and was persuaded that the shah was not fit to rule Iran. 1976 was a banner year for pacifism: Carter was elected president, Bill Clinton became attorney-general of Arkansas, and Albert Gore won a place in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

In his anti-war pacifism, Carter never got it that Khomeini, a cleric exiled to Najaf in Iraq from 1965-1978, was preparing Iran for revolution. Proclaiming "the West killed God and wants us to bury him," Khomeini's weapon of choice was not the sword but the media. Using tape cassettes smuggled by Iranian pilgrims returning from the holy city of Najaf, he fueled disdain for what he called gharbzadegi ("the plague of Western culture").

Carter pressured the shah to make what he termed human rights concessions by releasing political prisoners and relaxing press censorship. Khomeini could never have succeeded without Carter. The Islamic Revolution would have been stillborn.

Gen. Robert Huyser, Carter's military liaison to Iran, once told me in tears: "The president could have publicly condemned Khomeini and even kidnapped him and then bartered for an exchange with the [American Embassy] hostages, but the president was indignant. 'One cannot do that to a holy man,' he said."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has donned the mantle of Ayatollah Khomeini, taken up bin Laden's call, and is fostering an Islamic apocalyptic revolution in Iraq with the intent of taking over the Middle East and the world.

Jimmy Carter became the poster boy for the ideological revolution of the 1960s in the West, hell bent on killing the soul of America. The bottom line: Carter believed then and still does now is that evil really does not exist; people are basically good; America should embrace the perpetrators and castigate the victims.

IN THE '60S it was mass rebellion after the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King. When humanity confronts eternity, the response is always rebellion or repentance. The same ideologues who fought to destroy the soul of America with the "God is dead" movement in the 1960s are now running the arts, the universities, the media, the State Department, Congress, and Senate, determined more then ever to kill the soul of America while the East attempts to kill the body. Carter's world view defines the core ideology of the Democratic Party.

What is going on in Iraq is no mystery to those of us who have had our fingers on the pulse of both Iran and Iraq for decades. The Iran-Iraq war was a war of ideologies. Saddam Hussein saw himself as an Arab leader who would defeat the non-Arab Persians. Khomeini saw it as an opportunity to export his Islamic Revolution across the borders to the Shi'ites in Iraq and then beyond to the Arab countries.

Throughout the war both leaders did everything possible to incite the inhabitants of each country to rebel - precisely what Iran is doing in Iraq today. Khomeini encouraged the Shi'ites across the border to remove Saddam from power and establish an Islamic republic like in Iran.

Carter's belief that every crisis can be resolved with diplomacy - and nothing but diplomacy - now permeates the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, Carter is wrong.

There are times when evil must be openly confronted and defeated.

KHOMEINI HAD the help of the PLO in Iran. They supplied weapons and terrorists to murder Iranians and incite mobs in the streets. No wonder Yasser Arafat was hailed as a friend of Khomeini after he seized control of Iran and was given the Israeli Embassy in Teheran with the PLO flag flying overhead.

The Carter administration scrambled to assure the new regime that the United States would maintain diplomatic ties with Iran. But on April 1, 1979 the greatest April Fools' joke of all time was played, as Khomeini proclaimed it the first day of the government of God.

In February 1979 Khomeini had boarded an Air France flight to return to Teheran with the blessing of Jimmy Carter. The moment he arrived, he proclaimed: "I will kick his teeth in" - referring to then prime minister Shapour Bakhtiar, who was left in power with a US pledge of support. He was assassinated in Paris by Iranian agents in 1991.

I sat in the home of Gen. Huyser, who told me the shah feared he would lose the country if he implemented Carter's polices. Carter had no desire to see the shah remain in power. He really believed that a cleric - whose Islamist fanaticism he did not understand in the least - would be better for human rights and Iran.

He could have changed history by condemning Khomeini and getting the support of our allies to keep him out of Iran.

Image © University of Michigan

You'll never see those punks from Ohio State do something this cool.

University of Michigan astronomers combined light from four widely separated telescopes to produce the first picture showing surface details on a sun-like star beyond our solar system.

The image of the rapidly rotating, hot star Altair is the most detailed stellar picture ever made using an innovative light-combining technique called optical interferometry, said U-M astronomer John Monnier.

Beyond this technical milestone, the Altair observations provide surprising new insights that will force theorists to revise ideas about the behavior of rapid rotators like Altair.

"This powerful new tool allows us to zoom in on a star that's a million times farther away than the sun," said Monnier, lead author of a paper to be published online Thursday by the journal Science. "We're testing the theories of how stars work in much more detail than ever before."

Monnier and U-M graduate student Ming Zhao led an international team that made the Altair observations using four of the six telescopes at Georgia State University's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) interferometric array on Mount Wilson, Calif.

The four telescopes were separated by nearly 300 yards. Vacuum tubes carried starlight from the four scopes to a U-M built device called the Michigan Infrared Combiner, known as MIRC.

The combiner allowed researchers to merge infrared light from four of CHARA's telescopes for the first time, simulating a single giant instrument three football fields across. The result was an image of unprecedented detail—roughly 100 times sharper than pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope.

While solar astronomers can view sunspots and storms on our home star's roiling surface in exquisite detail, most other stars have—until very recently—appeared as simple points of light through even the most powerful telescopes.

But in the past decade, advances in the emerging field of optical interferometry have launched a new era of stellar imaging.

Other research teams have used the technique to acquire surface images of giant stars hundreds of times bigger than Altair. But the U-M-led study provides the first picture of a so-called main sequence star, one that generates energy mainly from hydrogen-to-helium nuclear fusion reactions in its core. Main sequence stars include the sun and most of the stars we see in the night sky.

"This is just a monumental stepping stone for us," said Harold McAlister, director of CHARA and a regent's professor of astronomy at Georgia State University in Atlanta. "Main sequence stars are far and away the largest population of stars out there, and being able to make a picture of one creates tremendous opportunities for future research."

One likely target for future studies: Imaging planets around stars beyond our solar system, said U-M's Zhao. "Imaging stars is just the start," he said.

Altair is the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, The Eagle, and is clearly visible with the naked eye in Northern Hemisphere skies. The nearby star is hotter and younger than the sun and nearly twice its size. Altair rotates at 638,000 mph at its equator, roughly 60 times faster than our home star.

"It's really whipping around and that's why, of course, it's spread out like a twirling ball of pizza dough," said Monnier, an assistant professor of astronomy.

Previous studies revealed that Altair, unlike most stars, is not a perfect sphere. Instead, its rapid spin rate creates centrifugal forces that flatten it into an oval: Its radius is significantly larger at the equator than at the poles.

In 1924, astronomer Hugo von Zeipel predicted that rapid rotators would display just this type of equatorial bulge. He also surmised that these stars would sport a dark band along the equator called gravity darkening. The bloated equator would appear dark because it is farther from the star's fiery nuclear core, and therefore cooler than the poles.

The CHARA picture of Altair, the result of observations made on two nights last summer, is "the first image of a star that allows us to visually confirm that basic idea" of gravity darkening, Monnier said. But the Altair image displays even more equatorial darkening than standard models predict, pointing to flaws in current models, he said.

U-M astronomer David Berger was a co-author of the Science paper. The team also included researchers from St. Andrews University, Cambridge University, Georgia State University, California Institute of Technology, Cornell University, the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble in France, the Michelson Science Center, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. Funding for the Altair project was provided by the National Science Foundation and NASA.

Michigan Citizens - Give More Of Your Money To Fix Govt Budget Woes

Michiganders,

Do you want to go to a Tiger game? Do you want to go to the theatre and catch a movie? If so, you are rich and must be punished. That's right, you rich folk should be paying a luxury tax.

In fact, our Democratic Governor and our Republican legislature are seriously considering putting a $100 million a year tax on every ticket to professional sporting events, shows, concerts, and movie tickets in Michigan.

And that's great, because professional sports organizations grossly undercharge ticket prices. After all, an infield seat at Comerica Park costs $40 a pop. So, if I want to take my family, it costs $240, plus service charges on the tickets ($60), plus parking ($25). So, right now, it costs me (pre-food) $325 to go to a ball game. Under the new proposal, it will cost me $340. That's a good economic move during a recession, don't you think? No, I don't either.

Let's tell the Governor and her raise-the-peons-taxes buddies to back off.

Learn more - including how to defeat this tax proposal - at www.notickettax.com

GOA Analysis on HR 2640

McCarthy Bill Moves To The Senate
-- "Compromise" bill represents the most far-reaching gun ban in years

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

ACTION:

1. Please urge your Senators to OPPOSE the gun control bill (HR 2640) which was snuck through the House last week by anti-gun Democrats.
Some people are saying this bill is a positive step for gun owners, but realize this ONE SIMPLE FACT: Rep. Carolyn McCarthy and Sen.
Chuck Schumer are the lead sponsors of this legislation! These two have NEVER once looked out for your Second Amendment rights!!!

2. Please use the contact information below -- and the pre-written letter -- to help direct your comments to them, and circulate this alert to as many gun owners as you can. It is imperative that we remind gun owners nationwide that gun control DOES NOT work to reduce crime; that, to the contrary, gun control HAS DISARMED millions of law-abiding citizens; and that the answer to tragedies like Virginia Tech is to REPEAL the "gun free zones" which leave law-abiding victims defenseless.


Monday, June 18, 2007

The Associated Press got it right last week when it stated that, "The House Wednesday passed what could become the first major federal gun control law in over a decade."

It's true. The McCarthy bill that passed will DRAMATICALLY expand the dragnet that is currently used to disqualify law-abiding gun buyers. So much so, that hundreds of thousands of honest citizens who want to buy a gun will one day walk into a gun store and be shocked when they're told they're a prohibited purchaser, having been lumped into the same category as murderers and rapists.

This underscores the problems that have existed all along with the Brady Law. At the time it was passed, some people foolishly thought, "No big deal. I'm not a bad guy. This law won't affect me."

But what happens when good guys' names get thrown into the bad guys'
list? That is exactly what has happened, and no one should think that the attempts to expand the gun control noose are going to end with the McCarthy bill (HR 2640).

Speaking to the CNN audience on June 13, head of the Brady Campaign, Paul Helmke, stated that, "We're hopeful that now that the NRA has come around to our point of view in terms of strengthening the Brady background checks, that now we can take the next step after this bill passes [to impose additional gun control]."

Get it? The McCarthy bill is just a first step.

The remainder of this alert will explain, in layman's terms, the problems with what passed on Wednesday. Please understand that GOA's legal department has spent hours analyzing the McCarthy bill, in addition to looking at existing federal regulations and BATFE interpretations. (If you want the lawyerly perspective, then please go to http://www.gunowners.org/netb.htm for an extensive analysis.)

So what does HR 2640 do? Well, as stated already, this is one of the most far-reaching gun bans in years. For the first time in history, this bill takes a giant step towards banning one-fourth of returning military veterans from ever owning a gun again.

In 2000, President Clinton added between 80,000 - 90,000 names of military veterans -- who were suffering from Post Traumatic Stress
(PTS) -- into the NICS background check system. These were vets who were having nightmares; they had the shakes. So Clinton disqualified them from buying or owning guns.

For seven years, GOA has been arguing that what Clinton did was illegitimate. But if this McCarthy bill gets enacted into law, a future Hillary Clinton administration would actually have the law on her side to ban a quarter of all military veterans (that's the number of veterans who have Post Traumatic Stress) from owning guns.

Now, the supporters of the McCarthy bill claim that military veterans
-- who have been denied their Second Amendment rights -- could get their rights restored. But this is a very nebulous promise.

The reason is that Section 101(c)(1)(C) of the bill provides explicitly that a psychiatrist or psychologist diagnosis is enough to ban a person for ever owning a gun as long as it's predicated on a microscopic risk that a person could be a danger to himself or others. (Please be sure to read the NOTE below for more details on
this.)

How many psychiatrists are going to deny that a veteran suffering from PTS doesn't possess a MICROSCOPIC RISK that he could be a danger to himself or others?

And even if they can clear the psychiatrist hurdle, we're still looking at thousands of dollars for lawyers, court fees, etc. And then, when veterans have done everything they can possibly do to clear their name, there is still the Schumer amendment in federal law which prevents the BATFE from restoring the rights of individuals who are barred from purchasing firearms. If that amendment is not repealed, then it doesn't matter if your state stops sending your name for inclusion in the FBI's NICS system... you are still going to be a disqualified purchaser when you try to buy a gun.

So get the irony. Senator Schumer is the one who is leading the charge in the Senate to pass the McCarthy bill, and he is "generously" offering military veterans the opportunity to clear their names, even though it's been HIS AMENDMENT that has prevented honest gun owners from getting their rights back under a similar procedure created in 1986!

But there's still another irony. Before this bill, it was very debatable (in legal terms) whether the military vets with PTS should have been added into the NICS system... and yet many of them were -- even though there was NO statutory authority to do so. Before this bill, there were provisions in the law to get one's name cleared, and yet Schumer made it impossible for these military vets to do so.

Now, the McCarthy bill (combined with federal regulations) makes it unmistakably clear that military vets with Post Traumatic Stress SHOULD BE ADDED as prohibited persons on the basis of a "diagnosis."
Are these vets now going to find it any easier to get their names cleared (when the law says they should be on the list) if they were finding it difficult to do so before (when the law said they shouldn't)?

Add to this the Schumer amendment (mentioned above). The McCarthy bill does nothing to repeal the Schumer amendment, which means that military veterans with PTS are going to find it impossible to get their rights restored!

Do you see how Congress is slowly (and quietly) sweeping more and more innocent people into the same category as murderers and rapists?
First, anti-gun politicians get a toe hold by getting innocuous sounding language into the federal code. Then they come back years later to twist those words into the most contorted way possible.

Consider the facts. In 1968, Congress laid out several criteria for banning Americans from owning guns -- a person can't be a felon, a drug user, an illegal alien, etc. Well, one of the criteria which will disqualify you from owning or buying a gun is if you are "adjudicated as a mental defective." Now, in 1968, that term referred to a person who was judged not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity.

Well, that was 1968. By 2000, President Bill Clinton had stretched that definition to mean a military veteran who has had a lawful authority (like a shrink) decree that a person has PTS. Can you see how politicians love to stretch the meaning of words in the law...
especially when it comes to banning guns?

After all, who would have thought when the original Brady law was passed in 1993, that it would be used to keep people with outstanding traffic tickets from buying guns; or couples with marriage problems from buying guns; or military vets with nightmares from buying guns?
(See footnotes below.)

So if you thought the Brady Law would never affect you because you're a "good guy," then think again. Military vets are in trouble, and so are your kids who are battling Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
Everything that has been mentioned above regarding military veterans, could also apply to these kids.

Do you have a child in the IDEA program -- a.k.a., Individuals with Disability Education Act -- who has been diagnosed with ADD and thought to be susceptible to playground fights? Guess what? That child can be banned for life from ever owning a gun as an adult. The key to understanding this new gun ban expansion centers on a shrink's determination that a person is a risk to himself or others.

You see, legislators claim they want to specifically prevent a future Seung-Hui Cho from ever buying a gun and shooting up a school. And since Cho had been deemed as a potential danger to himself or others, that has become the new standard for banning guns.

But realize what this does. In the name of stopping an infinitesimal fraction of potential bad apples from owning firearms, legislators are expanding the dragnet to sweep ALL KINDS of good guys into a permanent ban. It also ignores the fact that bad guys get illegal guns ALL THE TIME, despite the gun laws!

So back to your kid who might have ADD. The BATFE, in an open letter (dated May 9, 2007), said the diagnosis that a person is a potential risk doesn't have to be based on the fact that the person poses a "substantial" risk. It just has to be "ANY" risk.

Just any risk, no matter how slight to the other kids on the playground, is all that is needed to qualify the kid on Ritalin -- or a vet suffering PTS, or a husband (going through a divorce) who's been ordered to go through an anger management program, etc. -- for a LIFETIME gun ban.

This is the slippery slope that gun control poses. And this is the reason HR 2640 must be defeated. Even as we debate this bill, the Frank Lautenbergs in Congress are trying to expand the NICS system with the names of people who are on a so-called "government watch list" (S. 1237).

While this "government watch list" supposedly applies to suspected terrorists, the fact is that government bureaucrats can add ANY gun owner's name to this list without due process, without any hearing, or trial by jury, etc. That's where the background check system is headed... if we don't rise up together and cut off the monster's head right now.

NOTE: Please realize that a cursory reading of this bill is not sufficient to grasp the full threat that it poses. To read this bill properly, you have to not only read it thoroughly, but look at federal regulations and BATF interpretations as well. For example, where we cite Section 101(c)(1)(C) above as making it explicitly clear that the diagnosis from a psychologist or psychiatrist is enough to ban a person from owning a gun, realize that you have to look at Section 101, while also going to federal regulations via Section 3 of the bill.

Section 3(2) of the bill states that every interpretation that the BATFE has made in respect to mental capacity would become statutory law. And so what does the federal code say? Well, at 27 CFR 478.11, it explicitly states that a person can be deemed to be "adjudicated as a mental defective" by a court or by any "OTHER LAWFUL AUTHORITY"
(like a shrink), as long as the individual poses a risk to self or others (or can't manage his own affairs). And in its open letter of May 9, 2007, BATFE makes it clear that this "danger" doesn't have to be "imminent" or "substantial," but can include "any danger" at all.
How many shrinks are going to say that a veteran suffering from PTS doesn't pose at least an infinitesimal risk of hurting someone else?

FOOTNOTES:

(1) The Brady law has been used to illegitimately deny firearms to people who have outstanding traffic tickets (see http://www.gunowners.org/ne0706.pdf).

(2) Because of the Lautenberg gun ban, couples with marriage problems or parents who have used corporal punishment to discipline their children have been prohibited from owning guns for life (see http://www.gunowners.org/news/nws9806.htm).

(3) Several articles have pointed to the fact that military vets with PTS have been added to the NICS system (see http://tinyurl.com/ytalxl or http://tinyurl.com/23cgqn).

CONTACT INFORMATION: You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Senators the pre-written e-mail message below.

----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Senator:

As a supporter of Second Amendment rights, I do NOT support the so-called NICS Improvement Amendments Act (HR 2640), which was snuck through the House last week.

This bill represents the most far-reaching gun ban in years. For the first time in American history, this bill would impose a lifetime gun ban on battle-scarred veterans and troubled teens -- based solely on the diagnosis of a psychologist (as opposed to a finding by a court).

You can read more about the problems with this bill by going to the website of Gun Owners of America at http://www.gunowners.org/netb.htm.

Gun owners OPPOSE this legislation, and I hope you will join the handful of Senators that have placed "holds" on this bill and object to any Unanimous Consent agreement.

Supporters of this bill say we need it to stop future Seung-Hui Chos from getting a gun and to prevent our nation from seeing another shooting like the one at Virginia Tech. But honestly, what gun law has stopped bad guys from getting a gun? Not in Canada, where they recently had a school shooting. Certainly not in Washington, DC or in England!

If you want to know some language that gun owners would support, then consider this:

"The Brady Law shall be null and void unless, prior to six months following the date of enactment of this Act, every name of a veteran forwarded to the national instant criminal background check system by the Veterans Administration or the Department of Veterans Affairs be permanently removed from that system."

Sincerely,

Blogs for Borders Blogburst, June 20

Quote of the Week, June 10 - 16

"Courage is fear holding on a minute longer."

General George S. Patton, Jr.

Unbelievable

Image © WND

I think I might have heard it all, now.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon blames the ethnic and religious violence in Darfur on global warming and insists more conflicts of this kind are coming because of climate change.

"The Darfur conflict began as an ecological crisis, arising at least in part from climate change," Ban said in a Washington Post opinion column.

As WND reported in 2004, the U.S. declared the rape, pillaging and slaughter of blacks in western Sudan by the Islamist Khartoum regime and its Arab militia allies genocide. The U.N. has described it as the world's worst current humanitarian crisis, with estimates of over 200,000 dead and more than 2.1 million displaced in four years.

In his column, Ban said U.N. statistics showed rainfall declined some 40 percent over the past two decades, as a rise in Indian Ocean temperatures disrupted monsoons.

"This suggests that the drying of sub-Saharan Africa derives, to some degree, from man-made global warming," the South Korean diplomat wrote.

"It is no accident that the violence in Darfur erupted during the drought," Ban wrote.

If you have the stomach to read more, you can find it here.

Judas, Benedict Arnold, and the NRA

Armed and Christian posted his letter to the NRA in regards to the recent sell-out of HR 2640.

That inspired me to write my own letter a few days ago, albeit without A&C's eloquence.

I am disgusted with my NRA leadership. I still can't believe you take glory in your sell-out relationship with gun-banning Democrats and actually support H.R. 2640. Over the last ten years, your actions – not rhetoric – has dramatically softened against anti-gunners. Now it looks like anti-gunners have completely infiltrated the NRA.

You talk a good talk, but your actions betray your support to strip away the 2nd Amendment. The NCIS infringes on our Constitution and our rights listed (but not provided by) the Bill of Rights. I mistakenly assumed that my membership dollars would go toward a fight to eliminate this infringement. Instead my leaders backstabbed me and are working to make it more restrictive.

My NRA leadership didn't act as THE voice of support for firearms owners... they instead buddied up with gun banners whose stated goal and desire is to completely disarm me! I’ve been very active in pro-2A politics and it looks like the movement no longer has any teeth. The gun-banners know they are winning because NRA completely caved – and they know their work might be finished in another election cycle.

Ever since I joined NRA, I've been proud to be a member. I took particular pride in wearing my Life Member apparel. Now I feel shame and embarrassment because of H.R. 2640. Shame on NRA leaders! The Bill of Rights confirms (not authorizes) the Right of citizens to own firearms. It is not the Government's job – or the NRA’s job - to decide who is too dangerous to own guns.

Why didn't leadership, in response to the Virginia Tech tragedy, lobby for the removal of unconstitutional restrictions that denied students the means to protect themselves?

I am disappointed and ashamed that my NRA leadership chose compromise and appeasement. Please quit harassing me every three weeks by calling for donations. My money is going to organizations out there like Gun Owners of America and the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership – organizations that still stand for freedom - and back up their words with pro-2A actions.

Eliminating "Gun-Free Zones" in Michigan

We all know about the tragedy of "gun-free zones", a.k.a. "criminal empowerment zones" or CEZs. Now a state rep has the fortitude to do something about it. Rep. Daniel J. Acciavatti introduced House Bill 4759 to eliminate CEZs.

Here is a letter he wrote to the Michigan Coalition of Responsible Gun Owners, posted on the MCRGO website:

June 12, 2007 -- In 2000 when the Michigan Legislature originally passed concealed weapons legislation, they created so-called "gun free safe zones" to protect Michigan’s citizens. The intent of such legislation is to provide an area where firearms are forbidden and thus make those areas "safer". In effect, two groups of people carry firearms in safe zones: police officers and criminals.

A real life game of "cops and robbers" plays out in these areas while law-abiding citizens are stripped of the ability to defend themselves and must rely on the state and the state alone. These gun-free safe zones are dangerous areas where criminals can target powerless citizens.

Currently, Michigan has nine specific areas which concealed weapon license (CPL) holders are banned from carrying a concealed weapon. These include:

1- Schools or school property; 2- Public or private day care centers; 3- Sports arenas or stadiums; 4- A tavern or bar where the primary source of income is the sale of alcohol/liquor consumed on the premises; 5- Any property of facility owned or operated by a church, synagogue, mosque, temple, other place of worship; 6- An entertainment facility that has a seating capacity of 2,500 or more; 7- A hospital; 8- A dormitory or classroom of a community college, college or university; and 9- Casinos.

Office buildings, hospitals, convenience stores, Post Office buildings, day care centers, schools, universities and chain restaurants have all been targets of shootings with the intent on killing multiple victims. A striking paradox is associated with these incidents because they are much more likely to occur in areas that have been designated as gun free zones.

Schools became a popular target for shootings in the mid 1990’s, around the time that the Gun Free School Zones act of 1994 was enacted. In 1999, John Lott and William Landes published an extensive statistical study of multiple shootings incidents. They showed that mass shootings occur less often in areas where responsible citizens are allowed permits to carry concealed weapons. Have you ever heard of a mass shooting in a police station, a pistol range, or a gun show? Criminals always select a softer target for their acts of violence where they know citizens are unarmed, vulnerable, and where they know people cannot shoot back at them.

Some say we need tougher gun control laws and that allowing guns in selected areas is going to increase crime. However, reports show that crime increases in selected areas that require the citizens to disarm before entering. Citizens with CPL licenses abide by the law and disarm when asked to do so; but criminals with the intent to harm never follow the law and disarm.

Concealed weapon license holders are some of the most law abiding citizens in our state. Over the past five years 203,051 concealed weapon permits have been issued in Michigan and only 671 licenses have been revoked. That equals less than one percent (actually .34%) of all issued licenses that have been revoked.

As a State Representative I was elected to pass laws which protect the citizens of Michigan. That is why I introduced House Bill 4759 into the Michigan House of Representatives on May 15, 2007. This legislation would eliminate the above nine safe zones for all concealed weapon license holders.

I believe this legislation is imperative in protecting Michigan’s citizens. Currently, the bill has been referred to the House Committee on Judiciary and is awaiting a committee hearing. Good intentions do not necessarily make good laws. What counts is whether the law ultimately saves lives. Unfortunately, our current laws primarily disarm law-abiding citizens and not criminals.

--Representative Daniel J. Acciavatti

Quote of the Week, June 3 - June 9

"A kind word and a gun go a lot further than a kind word alone."

-Al Capone

Quote of the Week, May 20 - 26

Quote of the week

"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity"

- Don B. Kates, characterizing a Sigmund Freud passage

Quote of the Week, May 27 - June 2

"Talk low, talk slow, and don't say too much."

- John Wayne

Another War Against Israel?

From Arutz Sheva:

A Qatari newspaper, Al Watan, reported Friday that Syria is making concrete preparations for war with Israel, saying that the Syrian government has removed the Government and State Archives from the Damascus area. According to the paper, this move indicates preparations for war.

Syrian parliament member Muhammad Habash confirmed on Al-Jazeera Arabic world news satellite TV last week that Syria is indeed engaged in active preparations for a war with Israel. The conflict, said the Syrian MP, is expected to break out during the summer months.


Officials close to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reported Sunday that their efforts to begin negotiations with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad have gone unanswered. They also said that Mr. Assad’s failure to reply signaled that his claims of wanting peace were not honest and were meant to improve his own status in the international community.

Last week, the head of Mossad, Israel’s international intelligence agency, Meir Dagan, warned that Syrian President Assad was putting up a smoke screen by claiming he wants to open peace talks with the Jewish State.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has also raised the issue numerous times. “The IDF is preparing for an escalation on both the Palestinian and the northern fronts,” he said bluntly during a speech to the IDF Officers Training School earlier in the year.

The IDF held a large-scale exercise ten days ago simulating a Syrian invasion to Israel’s north. Infantry units, tank divisions and the Air Force took part in the exercise, which took place at the Shizafon IDF installation, in the southern Negev.

Asked about the exercise by Army Radio, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that the IDF was indeed preparing for the possibility of war with Syria, but said this does not mean that Israel would initiate such a war. "Our preparedness is not an indication of any decision by either us or Syria to go to war - these are purely defensive measures," he said.

Attention Michigan Hunters

Don't forget that applications to hunt during Michigan's Elk season open up today. You may apply anytime before July 15, 2007.

The results will be put on the DNR website on July 27.

See the Michigan DNR website for more details.

I'm Back

Sorry for the lack of posting - it has been a busy time at work.

Jay