Category Archives: Gun Rights

The irony boggles my mind

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From the Brady Bunch we discover the Brady Campaign Director To Be Honored By Rev. Jesse Jackson And RainbowPUSH Coalition:

Jennifer Bishop, Program Director for Victims and Survivors at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, will be honored by Reverend Jesse Jackson’s RainbowPUSH Coalition this Mother’s Day weekend. 

The organization is recognizing several women whose work has furthered peace, justice, and civil rights around the world with the “Odds Breakers and Dream Makers” award. 

“We’re very proud that Jennifer’s work on behalf of the victims of gun violence is being recognized by Rev. Jackson and the RainbowPUSH Coalition,” said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign.  “This award appropriately recognizes Jennifer, but also serves to inspire the countless volunteers around our country who are fighting for sensible gun laws to keep all Americans and their families safe.”

“Eighteen years ago my sister, her husband, and their unborn child were murdered.  Every day, this nation loses 80 people to gun violence, eight of them children,” Bishop said. “I am so grateful to our great allies at RainbowPUSH who work every day at the community level to try to prevent such tragedies.”

summary of the Brady Campaign’s recent activities in Illinois is available at
http://www.bradycampaign.org/illinois/.

# # #

As the nation’s largest, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence, the Brady Campaign, with its dedicated network of Million Mom March Chapters, works to enact and enforce sensible gun laws, regulations and public policies. The Brady Campaign is devoted to creating an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.

Recognizing women whose work has furthered civil rights? Wow! How can they say that and not be ashamed to the point of suicide? What if the last sentence describing the Brady Bunch mission statement said:

The Brady Campaign is devoted to creating an America free from black violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.

As I have said before, “Never forget that the anti-gun bigots are the KKK of the 21st Century. Look for opportunities to make that point. Make belonging to the Brady Campaign the equivalent of a membership in the KKK because it’s true.”

Pool on how long before these are banned?

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Someone should start a pool on how long before these guns (and a kit for making your own, paper, AK-47) are banned. After all, it is the U.K.

H/T to John, via Xenia, for the links.

Doing no harm

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Both the ATF and FBI are banned by the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution so it’s rare that I can be happy about their actions. But at least some of their time is spent doing things that don’t cause innocent people harm. From the WaPo we discover the FBI, ATF Battle for Control Of Cases Cooperation Lags Despite Merger:

In the five years since the FBI and ATF were merged under the Justice Department to coordinate the fight against terrorism, the rival law enforcement agencies have fought each other for control, wasting time and money and causing duplication of effort, according to law enforcement sources and internal documents.

…

At crime scenes, FBI and ATF agents have threatened to arrest one another and battled over jurisdiction and key evidence. The ATF inadvertently bought counterfeit cigarettes from the FBI — the government selling to the government — because the agencies are running parallel investigations of tobacco smuggling between Virginia and other states.

There is lots of other good stuff to be found in the article, for example:

Some question whether the ATF can survive. “It just doesn’t make sense to have two agencies . . . responding anytime a bomb goes off,” one Justice Department official said.

One could claim that if we can get rid of one then we are half-way there. But that isn’t the way it really works but I will agree it’s a good start.

Quote of the day–Alan Gottlieb

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This trial is supposed to be held in a federal court, not a kangaroo court. What’s next, a request that Judge Weinstein not allow defense witnesses or rebuttal? Why not just dispense with the trial altogether and lynch Mr. Wallace from the limb of a tree out in Central Park?

…

Apparently, in Mikey’s world, a fair trial is one in which a defense attorney is muzzled, and the defendant is already guilty until proven innocent. Bloomberg missed his calling. Instead of being mayor of an American city, he should have been the administrator of a gulag.

Alan Gottlieb
Founder of the Second Amendment Foundation
May 9, 2008
Bloomberg outrage: Asks judge to ban 2nd Amendment references!
New York Sun article on the topic.

Quote of the day–Dennis A. Henigan et al

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Once the right to keep and bear arms is separated from its long-established tether to a militia purpose, it is unclear what legal standard gun laws would need to survive constitutional challenge. There is little doubt, however, that recognition of a broad private right to be armed will create a new presumption against the constitutionality of gun laws, whereas currently there is a virtually absolute presumption in favor of their constitutionality. Guns would achieve a specially protected constitutional status imposing unique limits on the legislative authority of the elected representatives of the people that would apply to no other dangerous products. Ironically, regulation of guns, the only publicly-available consumer product designed to inflict lethal injury, would be required to meet a higher constitutional standard than regulation of cars, lawnmowers and other dangerous products capable of inflicting lethal injury, but not designed to do so.

Dennis A. Henigan et al
Director of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence Legal Action Project
Some time after March of 2007
Second Amendment Fantasy–The Brady Center’s Critique of the Parker v. District of Columbia Decision
Emphasis in the original.
[Henigan et al overlook two important points:

  1. Federal regulation of cars, lawnmowers, etc. is prohibited by the 10th Amendment.
  2. Regulation of a products unintended consequences is much different than that for which it is designed.

Ignoring the first point for today and concentrating on the second point a little thought will reveal the regulation Henigan supports is much different than that of cars and lawnmowers.

A regulation requiring a self-propelled lawnmower to turn itself off when the operator releases their hands from the controls would be analogous to something like requiring a gun to tolerate being dropped without discharging. Which, if it were done by a state legislature, I wouldn’t pick a constitutional fight over. A regulation which restricted self-propelled lawnmowers to government employees is analogous to the type of restrictions Henigan advocates.

Beyond the above points the 2nd Amendment specifically protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. So yes, assuming the Heller (formerly Parker) decision goes our way, guns would achieve a specially protected constitutional status imposing unique limits on our government. This was the original intent of the 2nd Amendment.

Therefore a more succinct response to Henigan et al would be, “And your point is?”–Joe]

I almost used this exact paragraph from here as my QOTD but decided to look around some more and save that for some other time. I then saw this exact paragraph while visiting here and again was sorely tempted. As I continued to wander my RSS feeds revealed Sebastian and Kevin eliminated my backups. Either it is a conspiracy against me or great minds think alike. I’m inclined to think the later because Say Uncle has the same complaint as I do.

Quote of the day–Barack Obama

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We’ve got to tighten up our gun laws. I’ve said before we should have a much tougher background check system, one that’s much more effective and make sure there aren’t loopholes out there like the gun show loophole.

Barack Obama
April 25, 2008
Laws alone can’t stop violence: Obama
Chicago Sun-Times
[I’m probably just bitterly clinging to my guns, but it sure doesn’t sound to me like Mr. Obama thinks of the 2nd Amendment as right. After all, I don’t hear him talking about background checks for books and the “book show loophole”. There is other stuff in the same article that makes it very, very clear where he stands on the gun issue. I’m going to remain very bitter about him being a public servant instead of behind bars as a felon.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Chris Rock

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Never go to clubs with metal detectors. Sure it feels safe inside. But what about all those niggas waiting outside with guns? They know you ain’t got one.

Chris Rock
[The same thing applies with schools and other “gun free zones”.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Alan Gottlieb

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Legal theatrics that deflect attention from the failure of Bloomberg’s administration to prevent crime while pursuing an agenda of victim disarmament are all flash and no substance and the people know it. Judging from today’s appeals court ruling, so do the courts.

Alan Gottlieb
April 30, 2008
SAF CHEERS FEDERAL COURT REJECTION OF BLOOMBERG LAWSUIT
[I’m frequently told it is because of a personality “defect” that I expect people to obey the law instead of openly disobey. Even though the 2nd and 10th Amendment are so blatantly violated that you would think I would get a clue and not have those expectations of our public servants. Still occasionally those servants who believe themselves to be masters get their wrists slapped and that is a good thing. Not as good as being sent to prison for violation of 18 USC 242 as they should be but it is better than letting them get away with it entirely as is usually the case.–Joe]

Triangle of Death marches through our parks

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I received another wheelbarrow full of cash and notification from the Apex of the Triangle of Death that our National Parks may soon turn red with blood as shoot outs between visitors…

Sorry. I think I was channeling the VPC for a moment there. Here is the real story:

The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), through the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, today issued a proposed rule to amend regulations prohibiting firearms in National Parks and Wildlife Refuges. The National Rifle Association (NRA) led the effort to amend the existing policy regarding the carrying and transportation of firearms on these federal lands.

“Law-abiding citizens should not be prohibited from protecting themselves and their families while enjoying America’s National Parks and wildlife refuges,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist. “Under this proposal, federal parks and wildlife refuges will mirror the state firearm laws for state parks. This is an important step in the right direction, and we applaud efforts to amend the out-of-date regulations.”

Quote of the day–Andrew L. Schlafly

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Other commentators have likewise observed that “gun control is an essential precondition for genocide.” Jay Simkin, Aaron Zelman, and Alan M. Rice, Lethal Laws 9-12 (Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership: 1995). Children are as much the victims of genocide as adults, and a right to bear arms protects both against that horrendous evil. Armed citizens are less likely to submit to removal and murder of their children, and their dictators are less likely to try.

Andrew L. Schlafly
February 7, 2008
Brief for amicus curiae association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc. in support of Respondent.
[I’m consumed by Boomershoot from now until Monday. I didn’t have any unused quotes from previous Boomershoots but this is Why Boomershoot.–Joe]

Chicago people are slow learners

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9 people killed in 36 shootings over the weekend in Chicago:

Nine people were killed in 36 shootings over the weekend in Chicago, reflecting what some community leaders say is a deadly breakdown in discipline among gang members after a crackdown over the past few years put many of their leaders behind bars.

[…]

The shootings included drive-by attacks, and one case in which someone shot up a plumbing supply store with an AK-47. At least 14 of the shootings were gang-related, according to police. As for the rest, the only thing they can say for sure is that three had nothing to do with gangs.

[…]

Around the country, a number of cities, including Boston, New York, Los Angeles and Dallas, are not reporting surges in gang violence.

So, Mayor Daley, how is that handgun ban working out for you?

You would think the lessons of alcohol prohibition would not have to be retaught for recreation drug and gun prohibition. But for some reason that isn’t the case and Chicago appears to be the natural epicenter of demonstrating this lesson. What seems so odd to me is that it is taking so much longer to learn the lesson this time. I guess people in Chicago are just slow learners.

Quote of the day–Chris Rock

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Much like rock ‘n’ roll, school shootings were invented by the black man and stolen by the whites.

Chris Rock
[I don’t know if there is any truth to this or not but I still think it is funny. Another thing for whites to feel guilty about.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Ben LaBolt

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Obama’s eight years on the board of the Joyce Foundation, which paid him more than $70,000 in directors fees, do not in any way conflict with his campaign-trail support for the rights of gun owners.

Ben LaBolt
April 2008
Obama linked to gun control efforts
Spokesman for Obama’s presidential campaign in a statement issued to Politico this week.
[I say Wayne LaPierre’s years as the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the NRA would not in any way conflict with support of a national ban on handguns. And David Duke’s time as a Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and his founding of the National Association for the Advancement of White People do not in any way conflict with his support for the rights of blacks.

I can only think of two alternatives:

  1. LaBolt thinks people will believe this even though he knows it isn’t true
  2. LaBolt believes this himself

Either way he has crap for brains.–Joe]

Quote of the day–Greg Hamilton

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The WA/BC border is one of the most significant entry pts for terrorist that our country has, as well as for illegal materials.

Canada is a significant staging ground for terrorists of all brands.

Besides building their own networks, all type of terrorists will use smuggling routes and the in-place smugglers themselves, to move people and materials.

[…]

As the masses sleep, we and our allies have prevented quite a few attacks bigger than Sept11. and probably hundreds of small ones. We CAN’t talk about them because doing so means the “journalists” and lawyers, etc. will know HOW we stopped the attacks and that tool will no longer be available. The only way to keep the evolutionary cycle in our favor is Operational Security of our techniques.

Greg Hamilton
March 24, 2008 2:48 PM
Insights Training Discussion Group
[It’s an interesting dilemma. And it goes much further than what is obvious at first glance. If you were to arrest and prosecute them then only the first one or two attempts would be unsuccessful. The methods of detection would come out in the trial(s) making it much more likely subsequent attempts would work. So what can you do? Put a sack over their head and ship them Club Gitmo on a military plane in the middle of the night? Put a bullet in their head and feed them to the sharks and crabs? But what about due process? Yeah, they are terrorists. But what if President Obama declares the NRA to be a terrorist network? Do NRA members then get the same treatment?–Joe]

They knew and they did it anyway

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Xenia’s boyfriend, John, pointed out to me the MP3s of debate on the recent New York gun bans. I mentioned the .50 caliber ban in my QOTD the other day.

From reading the bill one would assume they were totally ignorant of guns. But as I listened to the debate I found they carefully and accurately informed the sponser and others that rifled shotguns would be covered by this poorly written bill. The sponsor said it wouldn’t. When pushed on this the sponsor changed the subject. When asked “How many crimes were committed with .50 caliber rifles?” And again she repeatedly changed the subject. The truth does not matter to these bigots.

Listen for yourself.

School shooting incident data

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The other day I posted about the number of school shooting incidents before and since the law making schools “gun free zones”. A commentor wanted references so they could use the stats in a paper they were writing. I wrote to Jeff Knox at Firearms Coalition asking if he could share the references with me and he responded with the following:

Joe,
Those statistics were compiled by my sister Shan.  Here is how she answers the question:
Our article was about the impact of the gun-free school zones, so death tolls are
limited to that criteria.  There was an error in the stats – it should have been 14 prior to
1990 and 79 post 1990 (80, now)  – I accidentally messed up on the numbers.  There were two
shootings at “Cleveland Elementary School” in California – one in Stockton, one in San Diego. 
I must have knocked one out, thinking I was duplicating it, so the before figure should have been 13,
but in researching this today, I came across another one that wasn’t included in our original findings,
so the actual pre-1990 figure was 14. 
 
The post-1990 figure should have been 79 – there was a shooting in DC which wasn’t included –
I don’t know why.  The killer was acquitted of murder, so maybe it wasn’t showing up as a
homicide in the FBI stats.  There has been one additional fatal school shooting at a Washington
State HS since our report, bringing the total to 80.
 
Since the Crime Control Act of 1990, There have been a total of 80 gun homicides
in school shootings perpetrated by killers who illegally carried firearms onto
elementary or secondary school grounds, or fired onto school grounds,in violation of
the 1990 law.  The number is actually higher – there have been several firearms suicides
comitted in schools, but we only counted suicides concurrent with homicidal school shootings. 
Those weren’t included in the FBI report we looked at, but they should rightly be included,
since they still spotlight the gun-free zone” fallacy. 
 
There’s what appears to be a complete list – which includes the suicides and a lot of other info, at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school-related_attacks and also at
http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/crime/school_violence/school_shootings.html
 
There have been additional people killed on college campuses and post-
secondary institutions during that time, but those places weren’t included in our figures,
because they weren’t included in the gun-free school zones provisions.
 
There have also been many, many more people wounded, or killed by other types of weapons.
 
I was using the FBI uniform Crime Reports, but there’s a pretty
full list on wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_shooting  For some reason,
it doesn’t include Laurie Dann, or details of Oakland Elementary, and a few others
which I’ll list later.

Shootings in elementary and secondary schools in the US prior to 1990 – 
 
Cleveland Elementary San Diego, California, January 29, 1979  (2 killed)
Parkway south JH, Saint Louis, MO  Jan.20, 1983  (2 killed)
Goddard Junior high , Goddard, KS  Jan. 21, 1985: ( 1 killed)
Hubbard Woods School  (Laurie Dann) Winnetka, IL  May, 20, 1988 (1 killed)
Oakland Elementary – Greenwood, SC – Sept 26, 1988 (2 killed)
Cleveland Elementary Stockton, California, January 17, 1989 (6 killed)
 
For post-1990, the list is too long to type, but  the Wikipedia link –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_shooting  – has a list of
most US shootings, but also includes post-secondary schools.  It did not include
the fatalities for East Carter High ,  Grayson, Kentucky, 1993 (2)
 
It also did not include:
Wauwatosa West High School  December 1, 1993 Wisconsin (1)
Fayetteville, Tennessee, May 19, 1998 (1)
Lew Wallace High School Gary, IN, Mar 30, 2001 (1)
Lake Worth Middle School , Lake Worth, FL  May 26, 2000 (1)
Ballou Senior High School.  Wash, DC, Feb. 2, 2004 (1)
Henry Foss High School Tacoma, Washington, January 3, 2007 (1)
 
Hope this helps!
Shan

Quote of the day–New York State Assembly

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The 50-caliber weapon is one of the most dangerous weapons in the U.S. military’s arsenal.

New York State Assembly
BILL NO A02772A
[As they have defined 50-caliber weapons this wasn’t true even 200 years ago, long before AC-130s, B-52s, cruise missiles, ICBMs, and tactical nukes. I can’t imagine what alternate reality these people live in. I can only conclude they have mental problems. How did these mental cases get elected to office? Are the majority of people in New York State suffering from some sort of mass delusion?–Joe]

A good first step

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It’s a start. Now she should get the Feds to arrest the city council and mayor on charges of violating 18 USC 241 and/or 242:

Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham says the city’s newly enacted gun control laws are unconstitutional.

Wal-Mart support of the oppressors

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Chris Cox of the NRA has this to say:

“Today’s announcement by New York City (NYC) Mayor Mike Bloomberg comes as no surprise to National Rifle Association (NRA) members across the country. None of these joint Wal-Mart/Mayor Bloomberg initiatives will lower crime, because they ignore the real cause of crime — criminals.

Mayor Bloomberg has long confused his NYC mayoral podium for a national bully pulpit from which he feels entitled to push his personal gun control agenda outside NYC. Now, instead of trying to impose his philosophy on other cities and states, Mike Bloomberg has set his sights on our country’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Bloomberg proves his disdain for individual firearm ownership, and his assertion that only the privileged should own a firearm and should have the right to defend themselves and their loved ones.

NRA will continue to oppose any scheme that puts burdens on law-abiding Americans and not on criminals.”

Sebastian is pretty pissed but counsels restraint when writing your letters to corporate headquarters.

Here is what really got to me:

Creating a record and alert system to record when a gun sold at Wal-Mart is later used in a crime. If the purchaser of that gun later tries to buy another gun at Wal-Mart, the system would alert the sales clerk of the prior buy and could refuse to make the sale.

Retaining the recorded images of gun sales in case law enforcement wants to view them later as part of an investigation.

Have they ever heard of “due process”? The RKBA is about to be declared, by the highest court in the land, as an individual right guaranteed to not be infringed. And yet if I bought a gun at Wal-Mart and someone stole that gun from me and used it in a crime Wal-Mart would hold that against me if I tried to buy another gun. Why stop there? Why not do the same for knives and baseball bats?

How about flashlights? I’m sure burglars need flashlights when they are sneaking around someone’s house in the middle of the night. What if Bloomberg put pressure on Wal-Mart to keep flashlights out of the wrong hands? Would Wal-Mart cave to him about that? Or would they offer to insert their finest four D-cell flashlight someplace where it would help him find his way out of his cranial rectum inversion problem?

What would happen if some KKK member in political power put pressure on Wal-Mart to “retain the recorded images” of blacks/Jews/Gays that made purchases “in case law enforcement wants to view them later as part of an investigation”? This is no different. Guns are just as legal to sell and own as claw hammers, baseball bats, and kitchen knives. For Wal-Mart to single out gun buyers as a special class of people worthy of extra scrutiny and suspicion is deplorable. They are supporting the oppressors of essential freedoms and should be treated the same as those that would collaborate with the KKK.

Wal-Mart management would do well to remember K-MART.

Quote of the day–Chris Cox

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I’m not surprised by this. They know that its bad politics to be on the wrong side of the gun issue. The political graveyard is full of gun control supporters and they are trying to avoid the same fate.

Chris Cox
April 13, 2008
NRA Lobbyist: Despite New Rhetoric, Clinton’s “Name is Synonymous With Gun Control, Like Rosie O’Donnell”
[Say Uncle has a good take on the same topic.–Joe]