Quote of the Week, August 26 - September 1

Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government.

James Madison

C-FAM

While I am not Catholic, I've followed the work of C-FAM, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute, for the last twelve months.

C-FAM is a non-profit, non-partisan research and educational institute focusing on international social policy - and their mission, officially, "is to monitor the evolving international debate on social policy, and to assist governments at the UN and elsewhere to more deeply understand these difficult issues."

What that means is they highlight all the radical UN agenda, including the tremendous push for abortions and the World Socialists desire to impose gay "rights" on the entire world.

Every Friday, C-FAM's President, Austin Ruse, sends out an update on the organization's battles and victories. If you are interested, you can visit them on the web at C-FAM.org

Here is this week's update.

August 30, 2007 | Volume 10, Number 37
Dear Colleague,

C-FAM belives that one of the major engines pushing abortion at the UN and around the world are some of the governments of the European Union. C-FAM has determined that we will be focusing more of our attention on the European Institutions. Today we report on a Planned Parenthood abortioninitiative at the European Union.

Our reporter today is C-FAM policy analyist Maciej Golubiewski who is our chief EU strategist. Maciej is a multi-lingual Polish national who is finsihing his doctoral dissertation in internatinal affairs at Johns Hopkins University.

Spread the word.

Yours sincerely,

Austin Ruse
President

International Planned Parenthood Federation Launches a New Abortion Campaign in Europe

By Maciej Golubiewski

(BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – C-FAM) Using strongly anti-religious language, the European branch of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has recently issued a document entitled "Why We Need to Talk about Abortion" calling for the legalization of abortion in the European Union (EU). While acknowledging that the member states retain “ultimate responsibility” for abortion legislation, the IPPF-Europe urges the EU Commission and the European Parliamentarians to act “despite this mandate” to “drive the issues forward” and “keep them high on the political agenda.”

The IPPF document praises the European Parliamentarians and the Council of Europe for issuing two non-binding pro-abortion documents in recent years. The document quotes something called the "Van Lancker Report" of the European Parliament, which calls for unrestricted abortion rights in Europe. IPPF also mentions the EU Commission’s support for the conclusions of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD). Although the Cairo document makes no call for abortion, pro-abortion advocates claim that Cairo's call for "reproductive health" is synonymous with abortion, something the UN General Assembly never intended or voted for.

Throughout the text, the IPPF text targets the predominantly Catholic countries of Slovakia, Malta, Ireland, Portugal and Poland as specific examples where women are faced with “no other option than forced pregnancy,” unless they want to risk their lives through illegal abortion or to travel abroad to have it. “Unplanned pregnancy” is portrayed as a “shock,” leading to “clear-cut panic.” An aborted life is equated to an exercise of a woman’s right “to choose what to do with their bodies.”

The IPPF document also illustrates that abortion advocates believe that linking the pro-life cause with religion will help promote abortion rights. Slovakia is criticized for allowing doctors “conscientious objection” against performing abortion for religious reasons, IPPF has clearly taken sides in the debate about religious freedom in Europe. The IPPF document also includes a section called “Every abortion has a story” contains stories of women faced with an “unplanned or unwanted pregnancy” in six European countries. One story is of a Slovakian woman who aborts her child and is supposedly castigated by a Catholic priest during Sunday Mass, though there is no substantiation for such a claim. The story ends with her Catholic husband leaving her.

It should be noted that most countries of the European Union have more limitations on abortion than the United States where there is abortion on demand. Most European countries have fairly conservative gestational limits on abortion, and some EU countries ban abortion outright. While the European Institutions have repeatedly said that abortion lies outside their competence and should be left to the individual, this recent IPPF campaign shows that pro-abortion organizations consider the institutions of the EU as useful lobbying targets to put the “right to abortion” on the EU agenda.

Buy A Box of Ammo Day Update

Well, I took David Codrea's idea and put it into action. In fact, I went beyond buying a box of ammo. A bunch of guys from work - including two guys shooting for the first time - went with me to the range, and we popped off a few thousand rounds between us.

All was well until I pulled out the .454 Casull. Man that kicks hard.

The stats:

500 rounds .357 mag
500 rounds .38 spc
50 rounds .357 Sig
400 rounds .22 Mag
400 rounds .22 LR
200 rounds .40 S&W
1000 rounds .45 ACP
25 rounds .454 Casull

Between 12 guys - not too bad after a day at work.

This Gives a New Meaning to "Crossing Over Jordan"

Out of Israel:

The lower portion of the Jordan River is so polluted that the World Monuments Fund (WMF) has designated it an Endangered Cultural Heritage Site. The WMF, the leading international body for the protection of monuments, placed the revered river on its watch list of 100 endangered sites in June.

About 90 percent of the river's natural water flow has been diverted by Israel, Jordan, and Syria for domestic and agricultural use, with sewage flowing in its place, according to Friends of the Earth Middle East, an environmental organization with offices in Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority.

The upper Jordan, which is formed from three tributaries originating in Lebanon, the Golan Heights, and Israel, is considered clean and flows into the Sea of Galilee. Israel's large baptism center is located in this region.

Shall Not Be Infringed

From John Longnecker:

As always, I write for the Non-gun owner sovereign in America.

2008 Candidates, listen up – some of whom own guns or bodyguards. Or both!

If I had interested people stopping me on the street in response to my button, I'd reduce my answers to an intelligent few sentences. I could answer quite a few people this way.

Understand, also, that, in asking, many would want to learn more. I'd gladly make the time for them.

Looking at two recent polls showing popular interest in people having automatic weapons – 41% according to the CBS hit show The Power of 10, and a Zogby International Poll showing a 66% desire for no more gun laws – I'd say one thing: Americans aren't afraid of automatic weapons or even guns for that matter – they're afraid of abuses. Violent crime is an abuse and gun control is an abuse of process. Name your poison.

Reasonable people don't dislike guns, they dislike crime, and that includes the hundreds of thousands of the non-gun incidents of knifings, beatings, carjackings, rape, abductions of adults and abductions of children. Use of citizen authority can stop many, many of these. Why is it obfuscated and punished when non-gun violent crimes vastly outnumber gun violence? Because armed citizens can impeach the very concept of such go-nowhere anti-crime policies.

You've read my writing this before, and I'll post it again: The Founders did not need to anticipate weapons of the future, it was abuse of due process they feared in the government of the future, so they said that the force which backs citizen authority shall not be infringed. The word shall carries legal weight under our system – shall not makes the concept absolute.

There can be no such thing as a sensible gun law, because gun laws interfere with the force which backs the authority of citizens as supreme here.

Your citizen authority is an obstacle, so the move is on to dissolve it. Resistance to such adversity to the nation resides in intact families, privacy, how we educate our children, how we meet and handle violent crime and in other venues. Crime is an excuse for many of these strongholds of resistance to be eroded and pushed aside. No-fault divorce and rotten education content are as much a threat to citizen authority as gun control is.

[The trick is to suspicion and to criminalize more routine, honest behavior, including parenting, what we teach children as much as weapons and self-defense. As the Founders experienced, the PEOPLE wind up being criminalized. This constant moving of the goal posts was what the Founders fought and defeated. The rest of the citizenry who witness this today go along with it, not quite realizing that, sooner or later, they'll be next to be criminalized. RFID Chips and a National ID Card have quite a head start as two examples of this imposing suspicioning-of-all-citizens / criminalization trend undertaken by officials and hi-tech industries under color of fighting violence.]

Quote me on this: When it comes to fighting crime, no one can take your place as the first line of defense. The combination of personal authority and superior force trump anything officials can dream up as an absentee substitute, including hi-tech surveillance, no-fault divorce, punishing parenting, too many gun laws and no guns on campus.

If you had such an Ask Me About Shall Not Be Infringed button, what would you talk about, Guns?

Talk about Authority. Citizen authority.

And if they say those three words every liberty enthusiast loves to hear – take me shooting – commit to a date and make it your treat.

Because unwinding gun laws would begin to unwind so many abuses of due process, even for non-gun owners, the repeal of all gun laws would be good for the country.

Wow

I love riding my motorcycle, and I've had close calls on the road - but nothing like this...

Quote of the Week, August 19 - 25

"No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."

- Edmund Burke

Helping Our Soldiers

Do you want to send your support to a Soldier in harm's way,
but have no idea of what to send, who to send it to, or how to send it? Visit anysoldier.com.

Buy a Box of Ammo Day - August 28

David Codrea over at War on Guns advocates August 28 as Buy a Box of Ammo day, in response to VPC BS rallies.

It'd be nice unintended consequences for the Bradys if we could demonstrate a few percentage points of sales increases on that day because of this.

You can find more information here and here.

Out of Washington state:

Two pit bull terriers broke into a house through a pet door Tuesday and attacked a woman in her bed, mauling her badly, a Pierce County sheriff's spokesman said.

The woman was able to grab a gun and try to shoot the dogs, then break away from the attack and lock herself in her car, where she called 911, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.

[...]

Officers planned to talk to the dogs' owner.

Ya think?

Firefighters responded first, locking the dogs in the house, treating the woman and calling for an ambulance.

Officers "had to pepper spray and fight the dogs until they were detained. We almost had to shoot them on site," Troyer said.

Why not pull out the 12 gauge and get rid of them? What is the deal? They maul a lady, kill other animals, then the cops have to pepper spray them? Give me a break.

Guns is bad... ask The Guardian

What garbage.

Crossing the state line into Florida on I-75, one is greeted by a billboard reading, "Visitor Warning. Florida residents can use deadly force. Please be careful." Erected by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the sign is a reference to the fact that, for the last year and a half, Floridians have been allowed by law to shoot anyone they want.

Well, not just anyone. A citizen can use deadly force only if, in the words of the law, he or she "believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or to another person or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony." So breathe a sigh of relief. As long as you don't give anyone a reason to feel threatened, you're perfectly safe.

After all, our lives aren't worth as much as a criminal's.

Because the Legislature Said So

This commentary was written by Attorney Steve Dulan and featured in the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owner's newsletter. It's worth a read.

In a departure from our normal format, I'd like to discuss the recurring issue of the "why" behind firearms laws that comes up in so many of your questions that are submitted via the website. It is very common for a citizen to learn about some specific Michigan or U.S. statute that has to do with the regulation of firearms (sometimes the hard way) and then ask the question "Why is this the law?" The short answer that runs through my mind is a paraphrase of something that has probably been repeated by every generation of parents since humans invented language: "Because the legislature said so."

As the professor who teaches firearms law at the largest law school in the United States, and as someone who is often given the opportunity to discuss proposed laws with legislators and their staffs, I know that the real answer is more complex. Those of us who study law are often struck by the fact that most laws are basically responses to times in history when someone did something stupid or evil.

The history of gun law is no different. Someone does something horrible and a legislature reacts. The press essentially operates as a 4th branch of government by shaping public opinion, which in turn shapes voter behavior. Our elected representatives must respond to the will of the people, or find themselves looking for alternate employment.

For example., the first gun control law in the United States, the National Firearms Act of 1934 was passed soon after the repeal of prohibition, which had led to the rise of Al Capone and other famous gangsters, many of whom used "Tommy Guns" in the commission of famous crimes such as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre in the 1920's. Coinciding with the debate in Congress preceding the NFA, there was a second wave of "organized crime" including famous names such as: John Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson and Bonnie and Clyde. All of whom were killed during 1934 by agents of Mr. Hoover's new FBI.

The National Firearms Act created a tax of $200 on machine guns, silencers, and, short-barreled shotguns and rifles. (The law was framed as a tax act due to the complex relationship between the federal government and the States under our Constitution.) By the time the law was passed, prohibition had been repealed, Capone was in prison, showing the early signs of dementia brought on by syphilis, and the infamous bank robbers of the early 1930's were mostly dead, and the FBI had become a fairly effective, modern force in the war on crime. In other words, by the time the law responded to the perceived need, it was essentially obsolete. It is still in place, and machine guns and sound moderators are still stigmatized and prohibited outright in some states.

Many of the laws currently on the books in Michigan were similarly the result of previous legislatures responding to perceived threats, news accounts, or specific tragedies. In our democracy, the law is the result of debate, bargaining, and negotiation between legislators. As we're all aware, there will always be some legislators who are opposed to private ownership of guns. They either honestly (and erroneously) believe that taking away our gun rights will make us more safe, or, they are simply pandering to public opinion in an effort to appear to be doing something about public safety. The result is often bad law. Some of that law is still on the books. In fact, until recently, gun control law was a one-way ratchet that only took away rights, never moving towards freedom and common sense, only away from it.

The MCRGO has been on the front lines of the turn-around. We can be proud of the fact that the pendulum of law is swinging back toward common sense due to the efforts of the members and leadership of the MCRGO. The entire organization is working daily toward tying up the loose ends that still exist, some of them very significant. But, keep in mind that our success depends on electing the right legislators and county prosecutors and on being successful in debate and in court. Interest groups like ours, and legislators, must constantly prioritize and remember that politics is the art of the possible and that law-making is an imperfect process that sometimes results in an imperfect product. So, ultimately, the answer to the question of "why" a particular law is on the books does boil down to: "Because the legislature said so."

Steven W. Dulan, J.D. is a member of the Bar in Michigan and Colorado, a member of the Board of Directors of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners, an NRA Life Member, a former US Army Infantry Sergeant, a volunteer pre-deployment trainer of Squad Designated Marksmen for the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU), Professor of Firearms Law at The Thomas M. Cooley Law School and Honor Graduate of the III Corps Armorer's School at Fort Hood, TX.

Gun Control Hitting Michigan

Coleman Young helped screw up Detroit. Now Coleman Young II wants to continue his father's legacy and spread the trouble to all of Michigan.

State Representative Coleman Young II (D), age 23, son of the late Mayor of Detroit, has introduced House Bill No. 5079 which would require that all handguns sold by Michigan FFL dealers on, or after, July 1, 2008, would have to be "ballistically fingerprinted."

The states have been called the "laboratories of democracy" because one state can learn from another's public policy successes or failures. This bill shows that Rep. Young has not learned from the failures of other states, and has not yet learned the value of your tax dollars. HB 5079 would repeat the costly mistakes of other states in relying on junk science. Furthermore, it would create a new, very expensive bureaucracy that would probably cost millions of dollars before finally being cancelled as useless.

So-called "ballistic fingerprinting" is currently in place in Maryland and New York.

In theory, a database of images showing the microscopic marks left on ejected cartridge casings and fired bullets from each handgun sold might provide a useful tool for law enforcement agencies attempting to match such items found at crime scenes with specific guns and their last known registered owners. However, in practice, there is little or no benefit to law enforcement, while the expenses are enormous.

The Director of the Maryland State Police Forensic Sciences Division, John J. Tobin, issued a report in 2004, 4 years after implementation of the MD-IBIS (Maryland Integrated Ballistics Identification System). In it, he stated definitively that: "There have been no crime investigations that have been enhanced or expedited through the use of MD-IBIS. Guns found to be used in the commission of crime are not the ones being entered into MD-IBIS. The program has been in existence four years at a cumulative cost of $2,567,633."

He also referred to the New York experience with the same type of system: "The New York State Combined Ballistic Identification System (CoBIS)...has compiled almost 80,000 cartridge case profiles. There have been no hits reported by CoBIS. The annual budget for CoBIS is approximately $4 million."

In conclusion, Director Tobin said: "The Program simply has not met expectations and does not aid in the Mission statement of the Department of State Police. It is recommended that this Program be suspended."

In January of 2003, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer issued a report entitled: Feasibility of a California Ballistics Identification System. The report concluded that there are significant problems with the technology of such systems and referred to the failures of the Maryland or New York systems to provide any help at all to criminal investigations in their states. Significantly, the report also referred to a report by ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms), entitled: The Crime Gun Trace Reports (2002) National Report, which indicates that Ballistics Identification Systems should be considered operable if it generates a hit rate of about 15% after 2 years in operation. Both New York and Maryland have failed in this regard after expending millions of dollars over several years.

According to long-term, comprehensive research by Professor John Lott and others, the reasons for the failure of these systems are many:

1. Criminals rarely buy their guns in gun shops.
2. There is no such thing as "fingerprints" or "DNA" in a gun. There are microscopic tool marks that are subject to change over time, particularly during the "break-in" period when a gun is new.
3. Unlike human fingerprints or DNA, the microscopic tool marks on gun parts such as extractors, firing pins and bolts are very easy to alter with hand tools and common abrasives such as toothpaste.
4. The best available software misses matches or "hits" false matches up to 68% of the time.

While ballistics evidence can be very useful in solving crime. The type of matching that works is when human technicians are matching a known case or projectile to a known gun. Searching a huge database of images for a match is an entirely different process and the technology simply does not exist to create such a system that would help our police officers do their jobs any better.

HB 5079 would leave all details to the State Police and fails to consider costs or effectiveness: "The Department of State Police shall promulgate rules...that establish the type or types of records that are sufficient for purposes of this subsection." If it were to become law, this bill would squander large amounts of money, waste the time of gun manufacturers, wholesalers, and buyers, creating a new potential technical violation for all dealers to be concerned with, all without any probable benefit at all for the People of Michigan.

Sportsman's Day at the Capitol

For those readers who are Michigan residents:

Sportsman's Day at the Capitol is Wednesday, September 19, 2007. The event runs from 10am to 1pm and will be held in the State Capitol Building in Lansing, showcasing showcases the tradition, heritage and legacy of Michigan Sportsmen and Sportswomen. Everyone is welcome. Except GFWs and animal-"rights" protesters.

Pistol-Free Zones Are Killing Our Children

From MLive.com:

Michigan author Skip Coryell claims, "pistol free zones are killing our children."

In the former Orangeville native's latest book, Blood in the Streets, he shares his thoughts on school shooting incidents, like those at Columbine High School and Virginia Tech.

Referring to the Columbine incident, Coryell writes that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, "fired 188 shots, including 37 shotgun rounds and 151 9mm rounds, killing one teacher, 12 innocent students, and injuring 23 others. How did they do that? Why did no one stop them? How did they kill so many people?"

According to Coryell, "The answer is easy."

"It was like shooting fish in a barrel, sheep in a pen; the students, faculty, and staff didn't fight back; they were unarmed, both physically and mentally. They hid beneath desks, waiting for the police to come and rescue them. It didn't happen. They died. Society's promise had failed them. The promise of gun control was a lie."

In the book, Coryell quotes Ted Nugent, an ardent advocate of American's "right to bear arms."

"You mean to say that when an imbecile walks into a church, office, a day care center, or school, stumbling about, almost zombie-like, with gun-filled hands at his side, blabbering incoherently to his next victim, the reaction of grown men and women is to run, cry, whimper, and hide under a desk or pew? The sheeping of America' is nearly complete."

Coryell suggests that Americans become more like sheepdogs, to defend the innocent and fight criminals, than acting like powerless, unprotected sheep. If a criminal has no regard for the law, laws will not deter them, Coryell said.

He does not advocate vigilantism, but "when laws no longer serve the people, the people should work to abolish those laws," he said. "So, work hard to abolish counterproductive gun control laws, arm yourselves, train, stay alert, and when the bad guy comes knockin,' you start rockin'! It's the only thing that makes sense. Pistol-free zones, like high schools, universities, churches, and other public spaces, create an artificial geographical area where only criminals have guns."

Coryell said, legislators who advocate gun control and gun-free zones are announcing to criminals everywhere,

"You may rape, pillage and plunder with impunity," he said. "I find it an amazing tribute to God that he loves even anti-gun politicians. It's probably best that he's God, and I'm not."

The author said it is the "task of this generation to stand and fight, to resist, to restore sanity to our legal system."

For more information on Coryell and his published works, visit www.skipcoryell.com.

Quote of the Week, August 12-18

"Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."

G.K. Chesterton

From the "I Am a Buffoon" Files

That's a lot of work for two rolls of change:

A man accused of being the “Duct Tape Bandit” has gotten into a sticky situation.

The man, who had his head wrapped in duct tape to conceal his identity, walked into a liquor store on Friday, Ashland police said.

Shamrock Liquors store manager Bill Steele had some duct tape of his own, but his was wrapped around a wooden club that sent the robber fleeing, according to a report by WSAZ-TV in Huntington, W.Va.

Store employee Craig Miller said he chased the man to the parking lot, tackled him and held him in a choke hold until police arrived. A customer also helped, police said.

Kasey G. Kazee, 24, of Ashland, was charged with first-degree robbery, according to Ashland Police Sgt. Mark McDowell.

Kazee, in an interview with the TV station, denied he was the bandit who robbed the store of two rolls of change. He pleaded not guilty Monday and bond was set at $250,000.

Stop Crying Wolf

Stuff like this just leaves me shaking my head.

After cries of racism from some protesters, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy defended the prosecution of two black teenagers in the shooting death of a 38-year-old white woman.

"No charging decision in this office is ever made based on the victim or defendant's race, religion or ethnicity," Worthy said in a statement Monday afternoon.

For those of you who hail from areas other than Detroit, Kym Worthy first gained widespread attention in the early 1990s when she tried White cops accused of viciously beating a Black man named Malice Green, a man who died from his injuries. She succeeded in her prosecution efforts. She also held a Recorders Court position as a judge, which she surrendered to become the first Black person, and the first woman, to become Wayne County Prosecutor.

In other words, she wouldn't push the case if it were racist.

One punk was involved in an argument on July 30 in the city of Taylor, a community just south of Detroit. He, according to prosecutors, fired a gun into a crowd, killing an innocent bystander. The other punk is charged accessory after the fact to a felony.

Of course, there was a rally to declare these alleged felons were victims of racism.

The rally was publicized by controversial Detroit activist Adolph Mongo, who said in a statement that the defendants were victims of racism in a city where "locking up black men is a hobby for many white cops." Mongo did not return repeated phone calls seeking further explanation of his claims.

[...]

Ray Paige, the attorney for [the indicted shooter] said that his client was misidentified by police and possibly beaten. Paige would not offer further details.

That is a serious allegation. Beaten by the cops? You'd better have evidence to substantiate that one.

Taylor police did not comment Monday, but Worthy defended them: "In this case there is no evidence of misconduct by the Taylor Police Department -- in fact the opposite is true. They continue to investigate this case and on their own (are) discovering new evidence."

Of course, the accused are simply sweethearts.

Paige and Brown described their clients as decent student athletes on their way to college in the fall. [The accessory] plans to attend Kentucky State University, and [the shooter] is to head to Rock Valley College in Illinois, their attorneys said.

That may be true, but it doesn't mean they aren't guilty.

This stuff ticks me off on several different levels, but let me address only one facet: crying wolf happens everywhere, and it is ruining the country. If you cry "racist" often enough when it isn't true, people won't believe you when you cry it out in a true situation. When you cry "police brutality" falsely, people close their minds to the fact it may happen.

We aren't arguing about some White cop writing a suspect traffic ticket to a minority - we are talking about a murder.

I generally stand with the police. I do so because I have observed with my own eyes that most cops are genuinely working hard, and with valor, to make our communities safer. I may not always agree with their position (gun control is often a sore spot), but I have no question their hearts are in the right place. The police officers I know well are upstanding professionals and care about doing their job the right way every time.

But at the same time, I've seen a few bad apples, and I know that not every officer falls into the "good" category. I also know that the police are law enforcement officers nowadays, no longer peace officers. That means, they enforce the laws of the state - which may not be Constitutional or just. So I know abuses happen from time-to-time.

Every time someone cries wolf, a good cop is tarnished and a bad cop is in better position to get away with bad actions.

Quote of the Week, August 5-11

"If Hitler invaded hell, I would make at least a favorable reference to the devil in the House of Commons."

- Sir Winston Churchill after signing an unpopular pact with Joseph Stalin in 1941.

The staunchly anti-communist British Prime Minister signed this pact before the US joined the Allies after Pearl Harbor.

Mr. Churchill understood the UK wouldn't beat the Nazis without the help of the Soviets - who were fighting their own war against the Germans.

The pact was incredibly unpopular among the Brits, who saw Stalin as akin to Satan. Hence the quote.

A Reply From The NRA

A while ago I posted on NRA support for the NICS bill, co-sponsored by Carolyn McCarthy, D-NY, one of the most vicious of the anti-gunners in Congress.

I never heard from NRA about my response. I wasn't shocked... until today, when I received a response. It's a typical canned response, but I promised to share any response I received.

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your recent email.

The bill was originally introduced as HR 297. Pro-gun Congressmen asked that we help oversee the reconstruction of the bill to ensure no new gun control was added, and to help add pro-gun provisions. We were successful in both roles, and the bill was reintroduced as HR 2640.

When the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 2640, "The NICS Improvement Amendments Act," by a voice vote, some gun owners were confused as to the exact scope and effect of this proactive reform bill. Let's look at the facts.

H.R. 2640 provides federal funds to states to update their mental health records, to ensure that those currently prohibited under federal law from owning a gun because of mental health adjudications are included in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). For many years, NRA has supported ensuring that those who have been adjudicated mentally incompetent are screened by the NICS.

In several ways this bill is better for gun owners than current law. Under H.R. 2640, certain types of mental health orders will no longer prohibit a person from possessing or receiving a firearm. Examples are adjudications that have expired or been removed, or commitments from which a person has been completely released with no further supervision required. Also excluded are federal decisions about a person's mental health that consist only of a medical diagnosis, without a specific finding that the person is dangerous or mentally incompetent. The latter provision addresses very real concerns about disability decisions by the Veterans Administration concerning our brave men and women in uniform. Remember that one of the Clinton Administration's last acts was to force the names of almost 90,000 veterans and veterans' family members to be added to a "prohibited" list. H.R. 2640 would help many of these people get their rights restored. H.R. 2640 will also require all participating federal or state agencies to establish "relief from disability" programs that would allow a person to get the mental health prohibition removed, either administratively or in court. This type of relief has not been available at the federal level for the past 15 years.

This legislation will also ensure-as a permanent part of federal law-that no fee or tax is associated with a NICS check a NRA priority for nearly a decade! While NRA has supported annual appropriations amendments with the same effect, those amendments must be renewed every year. This provision would not expire. H.R. 2640 will also mandate an audit of past spending on NICS projects to determine if funds were misused in any way.

It is also important to note what H.R. 2640 will not do. This bill will not add any new classes of prohibited persons to NICS, and it will not prohibit gun possession by people who have voluntarily sought psychological counseling or checked themselves into a hospital for treatment.

So why the confusion?

First and foremost, the national media elite is irate that NRA has been able to roll back significant portions of the Clinton Administration's anti-gun agenda and pass pro-active legislation in Congress and in many states. They are desperate to put a "gun control" spin on anything they can. The only real question here is--given the media's long-standing and flagrant bias on the gun issue-- why are some gun owners suddenly swallowing the bait?

Second, some people simply do not like the NICS. In 1993, Congress passed the Brady Act, including a mandatory five-day waiting period, over strong NRA opposition. Due to NRA's insistence, that waiting period was allowed to sunset in 1998, once the NICS was up and running nationwide. Now that the NICS is in place, it makes sense to ensure that this system works as instantly, fairly, and accurately as possible.

Also troubling to many is the fact that Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) is a cosponsor of the bill. Carolyn McCarthy is among the most anti-gun Members of Congress. She has introduced another bill, H.R. 1022, which represents the most sweeping gun ban in history. But Rep. McCarthy is not the only co-sponsor of H.R. 2640. She was joined by some of the most pro-gun members of the House of Representatives in crafting this bill, including John Dingell (D-Mich.), Rick Boucher (D-Va.), and Lamar Smith (R-Tex.). A few years ago, when Congress passed a bill allowing airline pilots to be armed, one of the lead sponsors was anti-gun Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.). Sen. Boxer's support of that legislation did not cause gun owners to oppose it.

Finally, some people have asked why the bill passed on a voice vote. The reality is that there's nothing unusual about passing a widely supported bill by voice vote. Even so, the House rules allow any House member to request a recorded vote on any issue, and in practice, those requests are universally granted. Despite having that option on the floor, no representative asked for a roll call on this bill.

Some gun groups argue that the catch-all term "other lawful authority" would include doctors, psychiatrists, or officials of the Veterans' Administration. They claim that those individuals could take away gun rights. This claim ignores a basic rule of statutory interpretation, which is that when a general term follows a list of specific terms the general term will only be interpreted to mean the same kind of things. This is the rule of ejusdem generis--"of the same kind." The example in Black's Law Dictionary is that if you see the phrase, "horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, or any other barnyard animal," the term "barnyard animal" would normally mean four-legged, hoofed animals-no matter how many chickens, cats or dogs live in the barnyard.

Applying that rule here, "other lawful authority" would mean some kind of officer or panel that holds hearings like a court or mental health commission. It would not mean just any doctor that finds a patient is dangerous or lacks mental capacity. In the context of this regulation and statute, it implies a process created by a legislature, with due process protections such as the right to a hearing and right to be represented by an attorney.

And, as we have mentioned before, H.R. 2640 requires "relief from disabilities" as a safeguard for anyone who may have been unjustly adjudicated. H.R. 2640 is now pending in the Senate.

Rest assured that if the anti-gunners use this legislation as a vehicle to advance gun control restrictions, NRA will pull our support for the bill and vigorously oppose its passage!

Thank you again for your email. If you have any more questions or concerns, feel free to contact us at (800) 392-8683.

My Heart... Christ's Home

Over the years, I've read a lot of books. But few spiritual (by that I mean Christian, not New Age) books - with the giant exception of the Bible - have made a big impact on me. Sure, I glean ideas, gather nuggets of wisdom, etc. from many of them. But few have influenced an overwhelming change for the better in my life.

So it surprised me a few years ago when I came across this very short classic work by Robert Boyd Munger. I don't know how to give it justice with words - so why not read it for yourself. It is only a few paragraphs long, but it is one of the few writings that goes quickly beyond the intellect and affects the soul.

Enjoy.

My Heart... Christ's Home
By Robert Boyd Munger

One evening I invited Jesus Christ into my heart. What an entrance He made! It was not a spectacular, emotional thing, but very real. Something happened at the very center of my life. He came into the darkness of my heart and turned on the light. He built a fire on the hearth and banished the chill. He started music where there had been stillness, and He filled the emptiness with His own loving, wonderful fellowship. I have never regretted opening the door to Christ and I never will. In the joy of this new relationship I said to Jesus Christ, "Lord, I want this heart of mine to be Yours. I want to have You settle down here and be perfectly at home. Everything I have belongs to You. Let me show you around."

THE STUDY
The first room was the study-the library. In my home this room of the mind is a very small room with very thick walls. But it is a very important room. In a sense, it is the control room of the house. He entered with me and looked around at the books in the bookcase, the magazines upon the table, and the pictures upon the walls. As I followed his gaze I became uncomfortable. Strangely, I had not felt self-conscious about this before, but now that He was there looking at these things I was embarrassed. Some books were there that His eyes were to pure to behold. On the table were a few magazines that a Christian had no business reading. As for the pictures on the walls-the imaginations and thoughts of the mind-some of these were shameful. Red faced, I turned to him and said, "Master, I know that this room needs to be cleaned up and made over. Will you help me make it what it ought to be?" "Certainly!" He said. "I'm glad to help you. First of all, take all the things that you are reading and looking at which are not helpful, pure, good and true, and throw them out! Now put on the empty shelves the books of the Bible. Fill the library with Scripture and meditate on it day and night. As for the pictures on the walls, you will have difficulty controlling these images, but I have something that will help." He gave me a full size portrait of himself. "Hang this centrally", he said, "on the wall of the mind." I did, and I have discovered through the years that when my thoughts are centered upon Christ himself, His purity and power cause impure thoughts to back away. So He has helped me to bring my thoughts under His control.

THE DINING ROOM
From the study we went into the dining room, the room of appetites and desires. I spent a lot of time and hard work here trying to satisfy my wants. I said to Him, "This is a favorite room. I am quite sure You will be pleased with what we serve." He seated Himself at the table with me and asked, "What is on the menu for dinner?" "Well" I said, "my favorite dishes: money, academic degrees and stocks, with newspaper articles of fame and fortune as side dishes." These were the things I liked-secular fare. When the food was placed before Him, He said nothing, but I observed that he did not eat it. I said to him, "Master, don't You care for this food? What is the trouble?" He answered, "I have food to eat that you do not know of. If you want food that that really satisfies you, do the will of the Father. Stop seeking your own pleasures, desires, and satisfaction. Seek to please Him. That food will satisfy you." There at the table He gave me a taste of the joy of doing God's will. What flavor! There is no food like it in the world. It alone satisfies.

THE LIVING ROOM
From the dining room we walked into the living room. This room was intimate and comfortable. I liked it. It had a fireplace, over stuffed chairs, a sofa, and a quiet atmosphere. He said, "This is indeed a delightful room. Let us come here often. It is secluded and quiet, and we can fellowship together." Well, as a young Christian I was thrilled. I couldn't think of anything I would rather do than have a few minutes with Christ in close companionship. He promised, "I will be here early every morning. Meet here, and we will start the day together." So morning after morning, I would come down stairs to the living room. He would take a book of the bible from the case. We would open it and read together. He would unfold to me the wonder of God's saving truths. My heart sang as He shared the love and the grace He had toward me. These were wonderful times. However, little by little, under the pressure of my responsibilities, this time began to be shortened. Why, I'm not sure. I thought I was too busy to spend regular time with Christ. This was not intentional, you understand. It just happened that way. Finally, not only was the time shortened, but I began to miss days now and then. Urgent matters would crowd out the quiet times of conversation with Jesus. I remember one morning rushing downstairs, eager to be on my way. I passed the living room and noticed the door was open. Looking in, I saw a fire in the fireplace and Jesus was sitting there. Suddenly in dismay I thought to myself, "He is my guest. I invited him into my heart! He has come as my Savior and friend, and yet I am neglecting Him." I stopped, turned and hesitantly went in. With downcast glance, I said, "Master, forgive me. Have You been here all these mornings?." "Yes", He said, "I told you I would be here to meet with you. Remember. I love you. I have redeemed you at great cost. I value your fellowship. Even if you cannot keep the quiet time for your own sake, do it for mine." The truth that Christ desires my companionship, that He wants me to be with Him and waits for me, has done more to transform my quiet time with God than any other single fact. Don't let Christ wait alone in the living room of your heart, but every day find time when, with your bible and in prayer, you may be together with Him.

THE WORK ROOM
Before long, He asked, "Do you have a workroom?" Out in the garage of the home of my heart I had a workbench and some equipment, but I was not doing much with it. Once in a while I would play around with a few little gadgets, but I wasn't producing anything substantial. I led Him out there and He looked over the workbench and said "Well, this is quite well furnished. What are you producing with your life for the Kingdom of God?" He looked at one or two little toys that I had thrown together on the bench and held one up to me. "Is this the sort of thing you are doing for others in your Christian life?" "Well," I said, "Lord, I know it isn't much, but after all, I don't seem to have strength or skill to do more." "Would you like to do better He asked. "Certainly," I replied. "All right. Let me have your hands. Now relax in me and let my spirit work through you, I know that you are unskilled, clumsy and awkward, but the Holy Spirit is the Master Workman, and if He controls your hands and your heart, He will work through you." Stepping around behind me and putting His great, strong hands under mine, He held the tools in His skilled fingers and began to work through me. The more I relaxed and trusted Him, the more He was able to do with my life.

THE REC ROOM
e asked me if I had a rec room where I went for fun and fellowship. I was hoping He would not ask about that. There were certain associations and activities that I wanted to keep for myself. One evening when I was on my way out with some of my buddies, He stopped me with a glance and asked, “Are you going out?" I replied, “Yes." "Good," He said, "I would like to go with you." "Oh," I answered rather awkwardly. “I don't think, Lord Jesus, that you would really enjoy where we are going. Let's go out together tomorrow night. Tomorrow night we will go to a Bible class at church, but tonight I have another appointment." "I'm sorry," He said. "I thought that when I came into your home, we were going to do everything together, to be close companions. I just want you to know that I am willing to go with you." "Well," I mumbled, slipping out the door, “we will go someplace together tomorrow night." That evening I spent some miserable hours. I felt rotten. What kind of friend was I to Jesus, deliberately leaving Him out of my life, doing things and going places that I knew very well He would not enjoy. When I returned that evening, there was a light in His room and I went up to talk it over with Him. I said, “Lord, I have learned my lesson. I know now that I can't have a good time without You. From now on, we will do everything together." Then we went down into the rec room of the house. He transformed it. He brought new friends, new joys, new excitement. Laughter and music have been ringing through the house ever since.

THE HALL CLOSET
One day I found Him waiting for me at the door. An arresting look was in His eye. As I entered, He said to me, "There is a peculiar odor in the house. Something must be dead around here. It's upstairs. I think it's in the hall closet." As soon as He said this, I knew what He was talking about. There was a small closet up there on the hall landing, just a few feet square. In that closet, behind lock and key, I had one or two little personal things that I did not want anyone to know about. Certainly, I did not want Christ to see them. I knew they were dead and rotting things left over from the old life. I wanted them so for myself that I was afraid to admit they were there. Reluctantly, I went up with Him, and as we mounted the stairs the odor became stronger and stronger. He pointed to the door. I was angry. That's the only way I can put it. I had given Him access to the library, the dining room, the living room, the rec room, the workroom, and now He was asking me about a little two-by-four closet. I said to myself, "This is too much. I am not going to give Him the key." "Well," He said, reading my thoughts, "If you think I am going to stay up here on the second floor with this smell, you are mistaken. I will go out on the porch." Then I saw Him start down the stairs. When one comes to know and love Christ, the worst thing that can happen is to sense Him withdrawing His fellowship. I had to give in. "I'll give you the key," I said sadly, "but You will have to open the closet and clean it out. I haven't the strength to do it." "Just give me the key," He said. "Authorize me to take care of that closet and I will." With trembling fingers I passed the key to Him. He took it, walked over to the door, opened it, entered, took out all the putrefying stuff that was rotting there, and threw it away. Then He cleaned the closet and painted it. It was done in a moment's time. Oh, what victory and release to have that dead thing out of my life!

TRANSFERRING THE TITLE
A thought came to me. "Lord, is there any chance that You would take over the management of the whole house and operate it for me as You did the closet? Would You take the responsibility to keep my life what it ought to be?" His face lit up as He replied, "I'd love to! That is what I want to do. You cannot be a victorious Christian in your own strength. Let me do it through you and for you. That is the way. But," He added slowly, "I am just a guest. I have no authority to proceed, since the property is not mine." Dropping to my knees, I said, "Lord, You have been a guest and I have been a host. From now on I am going to be the servant. You are going to be the owner and Master." Running as fast as I could to the strongbox, I took out the title deed to the house describing it's assets and liabilities, location and situation. I eagerly signed the house over to Him alone for time and eternity. "Here," I said. "Here it is, all that I am and have, forever. Now You run the house. I'll just remain with You as a servant and friend." Things are different since Jesus Christ has settled down and made His home in my heart.

The Commies Attack

From Blogs for Borders:

Hey Guys,

We were attacked by goons over the weekend at a protest held in support of Ramos and Compean. The communist and socialist goons did over a thousand dollars damage to our equipment. Here's our report such as we could do with no video camera...

As always, thank you for your support!

Hiroshima

As Patrick over at Born Again Redneck reminds us, today is the 62nd anniversary of the A-Bomb.

It certainly was a tragic event. But it was also a necessary event.

My father, then a very young Marine, took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima. He has never talked about the battle to this day, other than explain that some of his wounds occurred during that awful battle.

By 6 August 1945, he had already been issued his winter gear for the invasion of Japan. The Marines were actively training for an invasion, expected to start in November (Operation Downfall). Military planners expected 50,000 - 100,000 soldiers/marines to be killed in the initial invasion, and about 400,000 wounded. They expected the fighting to continue for years (remember, Japanese soldiers were still coming out of jungles and surrendering in the 1990s).

Dad, and the Marines waiting to invade Japan, expected the invasion to be much worse than any planner let on.

On 15 February 1945, 30,000 Marines invaded Iwo Jima, a 7.5 square mile island, about 700 miles from Tokyo. These Marines faced approximately 23,000 Japanese military/naval personnel.

To make a long, gruesome story short, the island wasn't declared secure until 26 March. 25% of the Marines died in combat. 86% of the Marines were either killed or wounded. That's 26,000 casualties out of 30,000 men.

The Japanese soldiers fought to the death, literally almost to the last man. Out of 23,000 personnel, only 200 Japanese surrendered and survived.

Now take those odds and place them on the Japanese defending the homeland. And not just trained soldiers, sailors and airmen. They'd face civilians, including women and children. And if those civilians, regardless of their effectiveness as a fighting force, would not surrender - that means they'd be killed down to the last person.

Don't forget that during the invasion of Okinawa (March - June 1945), the US took more than 72,000 casualties, including 12,500 killed. The Japanese lost 66,000 soldiers killed, and civilians on the islands committed mass suicides rather than surrender. In fact, over 140,000 civilians died, most from suicide.

So was the A-Bomb a terrible thing? No question. It was awful. But there is no doubt an invasion of Japan would have produced more Japanese casualties than the A-bomb dropping.

Finally, to all those who say Japan was going to surrender anyway, remember this: it took 2 atomic bombs, PLUS the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan, to finally make Japan surrender.

Could Lurch Have Been A Republican?

Absolutely hilarious stuff out of Slate:

Time for another peek at the trove of Nixon-era documents acquired by the National Archives this summer. In April 1971, on the lookout for new talent, Nixon political operative Murray Chotiner spotted great potential in John Kerry, a young Vietnam veteran who attracted nationwide attention when he testified against the war before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In a memo to Attorney General John Mitchell, Chotiner wrote that Kerry "could be an excellent candidate" for the Republicans.

Chotiner speculated that Kerry's patrician background might make him sympathetic to the GOP. "[H]e is a Yale graduate and inclined toward the 'establishment,' " Chotiner noted, and "has no use for the Democrats as such." Chotiner further observed that during the hearings, when Kerry "was asked the direct question of how he'd voted in 1968," Kerry replied that he hadn't voted at all, but if he had, "he would have voted for Nixon."

Bush vs. Kerry - that would have been some primary.

John Kerry - did he vote for the Republicans before he voted against them?

Quote of the Week, July 29 - August 4

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

- Anne Frank

Anyone Know What's Wrong at MCRGO?

The Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners site is down. I wouldn't be too concerned except the error page displays this message: the account has been suspended.

ACLU Targets Jesus - Again

Out of Louisiana:

A small southern Louisiana town is the latest battleground for a classic First Amendment showdown over the separation of church and state, pitting a feisty judge with a painting of Christ in his courthouse against the nation's top civil liberties group.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued Judge Jim Lamz of Slidell, La., earlier this month for refusing to take down a portrait of Jesus Christ above the words "To know peace, obey these laws" displayed in a courthouse lobby. The judge says he believes the picture is legal, and the mayor of the city — the mayor and the town are also named in the lawsuit — called the ACLU "America's Taliban."

The case began when a man walked into the Slidell courthouse earlier this year and saw the portrait, which has hung there for a decade.

The man, who is insisting on anonymity because of the nature of the case, is named in the suit as "John Doe."

John Doe? If the picture of Jesus is so offensive that you feel the need to file a lawsuit AGAINST A JUDGE, couldn't you at least use your real name?

You can read the rest here.