Category Archives: Gun Rights

Quote of the day—Chad Prather‏ @WatchChad

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Help me understand why you want a guy you’ve been calling Hitler for over a year to collect all your guns.

Chad Prather‏ @WatchChad
Tweeted on February 17, 2018
[That is a reasonable ask. But I’m pretty certain Prather knows the answer. The people calling Trump “Hitler” are projecting. They know they wouldn’t be at risk if gun were confiscated. But they know they are at risk when attempting to implement their political goals. They are planning for the future when they regain political power and implement their “(final) solution”.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Ronald Reagan

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In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.

Ronald Reagan
January 20, 1981
Inaugural Address
[It was true then and it is true now.

Government create the victim disarmament zones. The solution to the problem is to remove government from the problem.—Joe]

Quote of the day—LucasJackson

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We’re 17 children closer to the Australian solution. Unfortunately because of the pervasive gun cult of tiny-handed cowards, we’re not close.

LucasJackson
February 14, 2017
Comment to The Latest: Student: Suspect in school shooting ‘weird kid’
[It’s another Markley’s Law Monday.

This idiot thinks what they did to gun owners in Australia is plausible. It has neither legal or practical plausibility.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Bess Kalb @bessbell

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If you feel like you need an AR-15 you are not mentally fit to own an AR-15.

Bess Kalb @bessbell
Tweeted on February 15, 2018
[Don’t ever let anyone get away with telling you that no one wants to take your guns.

Just as gun owners have predicted. Mental competency tests are a very dangerous path to go down.

A better way to think of this is that if someone thinks this makes sense or will ever be tolerated it proves they aren’t fit to participate in discussions of our specific enumerated rights.—Joe].

Quote of the day—Joe Nocera

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The person who made me aware of the poll was Ralph Fascitelli, co-founder of LodeStar Firearms, a new smart-gun company. LodeStar has engaged the legendary German gun designer Ernst Mauch to develop a 9-millimeter smart pistol, which will use a radio frequency to connect gun to owner.

Joe Nocera
February 16, 2018
Gun Companies Need This Gun-Control Measure
[Ralph Fascitelli is a co-founder of a firearms company? Wow! He is also on the board of Washington Ceasefire.

Sorry, Ralph. I know you have been told this, I was there when John Urquhart, King County Washington Sheriff, told everyone in the room, “Smart guns aren’t ready for prime time.” The LodeStar approach doesn’t address the deficiencies pointed out by Urquhart. Your company is going to fail.

There are at least three other issues which will ensure the failure of Fascitell’s company.

The first is Fascitell has long been an advocate for limiting magazine capacity to no more than ten rounds. His company is targeting, in part, law enforcement. Even if they could get over the many reliability hurdles pointed out by Urquhart, law enforcement is not going have much interest in a low capacity handgun.

The second is gun sellers know that if they put one of these guns on the shelf for sale it will trigger New Jersey’s law that within three years any gun sold in the state will have to have “smart gun” technology before it can be sold. They claim this law will be repealed in early 2018. But that isn’t going to help. Everyone with two brain cells to rub together knows that there will be several other states, probably including New Jersey, which will pass similar laws if such a gun had even a fraction of a percent of the market share

The third is that many gun control people don’t want guns to be less likely to be used by your kids or unusable if taken from you during a self-defense situation. They want people to have that fear. They want people will be less likely to purchase a gun and, if purchased, less likely to take it out of the safe. It’s the same argument used by some people against sex education. That argument goes, “It good that young people are afraid they will have unplanned pregnancy and/or catch a life threatening disease. This will help prevent them from having sex, period.”

While there are some applications where “smart guns” won’t be serious impediment to their use, the number one reason people, and the only reason law enforcement purchase guns, is for self-protection. There hasn’t been a “smart gun” design concept yet that doesn’t make the gun far less desirable than a standard gun. Building a product that is less desirable and more expensive than established competitors is not a winning strategy.

I have to conclude Fascitelli is delusional and/or has an evil plan of some sort. Being on the Board of Washington Ceasefire causes me to be inclined toward both.—Joe]

Full dependence on the government enables evil

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From the FBI today:

FBI Statement on the Shooting in Parkland, Florida

On January 5, 2018, a person close to Nikolas Cruz contacted the FBI’s Public Access Line (PAL) tipline to report concerns about him. The caller provided information about Cruz’s gun ownership, desire to kill people, erratic behavior, and disturbing social media posts, as well as the potential of him conducting a school shooting.

Under established protocols, the information provided by the caller should have been assessed as a potential threat to life. The information then should have been forwarded to the FBI Miami Field Office, where appropriate investigative steps would have been taken.

We have determined that these protocols were not followed for the information received by the PAL on January 5. The information was not provided to the Miami Field Office, and no further investigation was conducted at that time.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said:

“We are still investigating the facts. I am committed to getting to the bottom of what happened in this particular matter, as well as reviewing our processes for responding to information that we receive from the public. It’s up to all Americans to be vigilant, and when members of the public contact us with concerns, we must act properly and quickly.

“We have spoken with victims and families, and deeply regret the additional pain this causes all those affected by this horrific tragedy. All of the men and women of the FBI are dedicated to keeping the American people safe, and are relentlessly committed to improving all that we do and how we do it.”

Good security depends on multiple independent layers. Law enforcement is one layer. Threat intelligence is another. In this instance law enforcement failed. This is how it should have gone down.

Denying access to the protected assets is another. This requires more than signs and stern words. It frequently requires people with guns. This is something the political left is fine with if the protected asset is a bank, government building, celebrity or politician, but it the protected asset is a common person and especially the children of a commoner then they go hysterical and demand even less physical security. This is clearly some sort of insanity and/or evil and should be treated as such.

Quote of the day—Maj Toure‏ @MAJTOURE

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Because for govt to do so, it acknowledges firearms as a legit tool for defense from tyranny. In doing so on practical levels it empowers the populace. If I want dominance, I can’t have young minds that aware. Gun control, is about PEOPLE CONTROL. #StayWoke #BlackGunsMatter

Maj Toure‏ @MAJTOURE
Tweeted on February 15, 2017
In response to Valerie @swannoir27 who said, “It’s always seemed obvious to me, we could protect our schools. Why aren’t we?”
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Viscount Halifax

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He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.

Viscount Halifax
1940
Referring Winston Churchill’s speech in the movie The Darkest Hour.
[For Valentine’s Day Barb and went to this movie (she chose it). It is a very good movie.

Mobilize the English language and send it into battle. This what gun owners need to do. It is either that or face our own darkest hour and/or a bloody war.

I have often thought something like that is what I was doing. I try look at things, change the point of view, and articulate a vision which makes obvious we have the high moral high ground, we should always attack, and we must always make our enemies defend.

But I had never articulated it even one tenth as clearly and succinctly as Halifax did in the movie. The movie inspired me. Henceforth, I will make better use of words. If these words are properly crafted into powerful weapons of war we can win the battles needed to defeat the forces of evil in this country and avoid a war of bullets and blood.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Phil Murphy

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Good news, we have among the smartest, most progressive gun laws in the nation. That’s a fact. It’s also a fact that they can be stronger. There’s no reason why we can’t strengthen them.

…

There’s a myth out there that if you strengthen gun safety laws you somehow chip away the Second Amendment. I don’t believe that … This is not a zero sum game.

Phil Murphy
Governor of New Jersey
February 13, 2018
Gov. Phil Murphy talks gun safety at South Jersey roundtable
[From the perspective of wondering what color the sky is in his universe I would like to hear him answer the question, “What sort of law do you believe would ‘chip away the Second Amendment?’”

I am of the firm belief that the only thing which will stop the New Jersey slide down the gun control slippery slope is hitting bottom with a complete ban on all firearms and/or the arrest and prosecution of their politicians.—Joe]

Reining in the Washington Governor’s Emergency Powers

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Washington State emergency powers need to be respectful of the right of the people to keep and bear arms. Firearms Policy Coalition has a form letter to sign and send to your state Senator:

Proposed floor amendment 545 to SSB 6006 repealing the unconstitutional power to arbitrarily ban firearms possession during a declared state of emergency would bring state law into compliance with current case law on the matter. Laws and declarations similar to Washington State law concerning citizen possession of firearms during a declared state of emergency have been found to be unconstitutional.

The fact our state has never acted on this emergency “power” to restrict the lawful possession of legally owned firearms has left it on the books, unchallenged, as a litigant would lack standing on this unused law.

A relic of the 1960’s, laws of this nature were enacted to empower the government against those that may choose to exercise their freedoms clearly outlined in the Bill of Rights and the Washington State Constitution.

In addition, in upwards of 600,000 Washingtonians are extensively background checked and legally certified to carry firearms by the State of Washington. Is it to be assumed that this imagined “emergency power” also extends to these individuals? If so, it would be a stunning reversal for the state to summarily revoke these licenses in such an action. There would surely be both legal and political consequences for elected officials and the state if such an action were to ever occur.

During a declared emergency when 911 response resources would surely be stretched thin, citizens would likely be on their own to defend themselves and others. As recent geological research has outlined, Western Washington is one of the world’s most dangerous earthquake zones. A large earthquake could separate citizens for days or even weeks from vital emergency services.

Tell your representative support SSB 6006 if it is amended by calling at 1-800-562-6000 and then send them an email today!

Click on the link above, fill in a few items, then click the submit button to send a very quick email.

Quote of the day—Jayjaybe

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It’s an individual hazard derived from an obsolete premise.

Jayjaybe
February 11, 2018
Referring to the 2nd Amendment in a comment to The showdown over the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act
[I’m pretty sure they lack any SCOTUS rulings to back up that assertion.

This is what they think of the specific enumerated right to keep and bear arms.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Patricia Eddington

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Some of these bullets, as you saw, have an incendiary device on the tip of it, which is a heat seeking device.

So, you don’t shoot deer with a bullet that size. If you do you could cook it at the same time.

Patricia Eddington
Assembly Woman D-NY
July 2007
[Via a tweet from Firearms Policy Coalition.

See also:

I can be pretty creative if I try. But even if I was given weeks to try I don’t think I could come up with some of the crazy things the anti-gun people say.

I used to listen to a morning D.J. on the radio which regularly featured stupid stuff that people said and did. It had a soundbite of something like, “Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense.”* The things these people come up with illustrate the truth of that statement.

At times it’s mind boggling that our enemies are this stupid and yet after the fifty years I have been aware of the battle they still haven’t been defeated.

But does does explain why they push for “smart guns”? Do they recognize they are too stupid to use them without technological assistance?—Joe]

* Mark Twain said something similar.

Quote of the day—Eileen McCarron

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But too many guns in society is a root problem that spreads in many directions, including causing the deaths of law enforcement officers. The gun is such a lethal object, and it gives so much power to people doing wrong to use against someone trying to stop them.

Eileen McCarron
President of Colorado Ceasefire Legislative Action
February 6, 2018
How to end line of duty deaths in Colorado?
[Don’t ever let anyone get away with telling you that no one wants to take your guns.

McCarron fails to mention that a gun gives power to innocent victims defending themselves. One must conclude that McCarron does not want people have such power to defend themselves. This being a specific enumerated right it then, obviously, follows that McCarron is conspiring to deny people this right and 18 USC 241 applies. I look forward to her trial.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Lucia Guzman

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We keep doing our best about moving some bills forward to rid our area of more and more guns, but we’re kind of locked in here, not being in the majority.

Lucia Guzman
Senate Minority Leader, D-Denver
February 6, 2018
How to end line of duty deaths in Colorado?
[Don’t ever let anyone get away with telling you no one wants to take your guns.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Andrea Stewart-Cousins

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There are things that are very, very good and have worked, and we can’t just stop,

Andrea Stewart-Cousins
New York State Senate Minority Leader
February 6, 2018
New York Democrats renew call for gun control laws
[These sound like the words of a drug addict.

I guess it shouldn’t be surprising. Power is a very potent drug. And like other recreational drugs it tends to be destructive to both the user and innocent people near the addict.

The people of New York should intervene and remove her from power.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Frank Jackson

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We are reminded, through senseless tragedies, of the need to remove and keep weapons from the hands of those who should not have them.

Frank Jackson
Cleveland Mayor
January 31, 2018
Ohio Supreme Court rules against Cleveland’s efforts at local gun control
[Perhaps Jackson had a preconceived solution and, at best, a poorly defined problem statement when he started on this ill fate journey down the gun control path.

A better problem statement is:

Violent criminals with weapons are murdering innocent people.

This lends itself to a much larger solution set. Many of those possible solutions will get support from pro-gun people. For example:

  • Teach well behaved people how to defend themselves and other innocent people.
  • Increase police and prosecution resources to make criminal activity more certain of incarceration.
  • If, through due process of law, it can be determined that someone is a near certain violent threat to others keep them incarcerated and/or treat them until they are no longer a threat.

It bugs me that people say convicted felons, domestic abusers, or people on the terror watch list are too dangerous to be allowed possession of a firearm. Yet, they are allowed to be in public and purchase knives, baseball bates, gasoline, matches, drive cars and fly airplanes. People should be categorized as one of the following:

  • Low risk and have a right to be in public unsupervised
  • Moderate risk in need to be under some level of supervision while in public
  • High risk in need of incarceration
  • Extreme, permanent, risk and should be put to death (Ted Bundy who escaped several times, and was a committed serial killer when in public, would qualify)

Criminal control, not object control.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Cody Wilson

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Gun control is not dead, gun control is undead. We just keep killing it but it keeps coming back.

…

The handgun is at the center of what is protected in the Heller decision. So, whereas, AR-15’s may not ever be backed up by the Supreme Court, there’s no way of getting around, right now, the protections that the Supreme Court gave to the handgun. And so this is the core of the Second Amendment liberty as it’s currently understood.

Cody Wilson
Director of Defense Distributed
February 5, 2018
Want to Make an Untraceable Handgun at Home? Cody Wilson Can Help.
[For certain values of “understood”.

These are interesting times we live in.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Aharon Grossman

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Carrying makes you a sissy.

  • If somebody bumps you walking down the street while you are carrying, you show extra restraint and let it go.
  • If someone whistles at your girlfriend while you are carrying, you smile and shrug it off.
  • If two guys are in a scuffle and you are tempted to jump in to break it up, you don’t.
  • If somebody gets in your face about your inconsiderate parking, you use you best verbal judo to de-escalate the situation.
  • If things do get real hot, you’ll find yourself yelling, “I don’t want any trouble.” so that all the bystanders and their cellphone cameras can hear.

Aharon Grossman
January 18, 2018
Answering the question, “What should I know carrying a concealed firearm?”
[Or, in other words, “An armed society is a polite society.”—Joe]

Random thought of the day

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Have you ever noticed that “progressives”, with their claims the 2nd Amendment only protects muzzle loaders, are less than tolerant about progress in firearm technology?

Illegal hands

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As I was reading this article I started out thinking this is another example of people creating a problem statement to arrive at their desired solution. While this is true, I ended up laughing at ambiguous wording:

Hopkins study evaluates BPD tactics for gun control

…

Beilenson said there was a 45 percent reduction in repeat offenses. He added that the biggest problem was simply the number of guns in Baltimore.

“[There are] literally as many guns as people in Baltimore, mostly in illegal hands,” he said.

We have sometimes wondered when they would get around to banning sticks, stones, feet and hands. Perhaps Beilenson thinks some hands are already banned.