It is a myth, not a mandate, a fable not a logic, and symbol rather than a reason by which men are moved.
Irwin Edman
[This is something everyone who hopes to change the actions of others must keep in mind. And on the flip side those who are moved must be constantly on guard against least they be moved to inappropriate action, hope, and change. I regard Edman’s observation as generally true and in most cases as a human weakness.–Joe]
If you’ve got a gun in your house, I’m not taking it. Even if I want to take them away, I don’t have the votes in Congress.
Barack Obama
September 5, 2008
Obama: ‘I’m Not Going to Take Your Guns Away’
Wall Street Journal
[This was brought to my attention via an email from the Apex of the Triangle of Death. Ms. Apex of the Triangle of Death also pointed out this was almost a Diane Feinstein moment.–Joe]
High winds with ice pellet storms. For me, that was uncommon for the Boomershoot but not the worse I have experienced at the Clinic so take it as it was. The winds we had offered an excellent opportunity to practice our wind doping and we learned our lessons and gained some confidence that we could stay on top of such winds well enough to hold IPSC size steel targets as long as we could see them. Such conditions were extreme but I doubt anyone will forget the experience or more importantly, how the Clinic shooters dominated these conditions. I am sure firing in 25 – 30 MPH winds and ice pellet storms will be something the shooters won’t soon forget.
Eugene Econ
Boomershoot 2008 Precision Rifle Clinic After Action Review
[I remember seeing a young woman at the clinic who had arrived from Austin just the day before. She was bundled up in winter clothes and the only skin exposed was part of her face which was getting pelted with ice pellets. I asked her, “Are you having fun yet?” She said she was. At the time I thought she was probably a very good liar but she signed up for Boomershoot 2009.–Joe]
That’s the TSA: Not doing the right things. Not even doing right the things it does.
Bruce Schneier
September 1, 2008
My LA Times Op Ed on Photo ID Checks at Airport
[What he says is accurate but he doesn’t go far enough. If he were to say “That’s the government…” it might be a little too far but not so much that that I would quibble about it.–Joe]
There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California.
Edward Abbey
[Ain’t that the truth.–Joe]
Despite the increasing presence of Democrats such as Brian Schweitzer, Russ Feingold, Jim Webb, and Bill Richardson who are embracing our Second Amendment rights, it seems that gun policy for the Democratic Party is still being dictated by the likes of the Brady Campaign and the Violence Policy Center instead of by Democrats themselves.
Isn’t it time our party found its own voice on gun legislation?
Doesn’t our party deserve better than to be snared by the pitfalls of the past?
Standing at that podium, Obama could have made one small change to his acceptance speech without compromising his own core values: “Don’t tell me we can’t guarantee the right of law-abiding Americans to own AK-47s while keeping them out of the hands of criminals.” A small change in wording, true, but one that would have added a new dimension of clarity to Obama’s gun policy.
Right Democrat
August 31, 2008
Tester says Obama is no threat to gun rights
[As a libertarian with a focus on the right to keep and bear arms I wish the Democrats would see the light and stop being so divisive on this issue so I could move on to other issues. It’s a specific enumerated right and gun restrictions don’t reduce crime so why do they keep trying to further infringe on our rights? The cynical see it as a desire for power and a need to remove guns from society to achieve their goals. I’m not sure what to think about their motivation but I do know Barack the Savior Obama uses weasel words on the gun issue and cannot be trusted.–Joe]
The good looks came from my mother’s side. And of course witchcraft.
Xenia Huffman-Scott
August 27, 2008
Referring to the looks of herself and her sister Kim in their back to school pictures.
The lines are being more clearly drawn on the gun issue. One day after Senator Obama made it clear that he thinks assault weapons should be banned in a remarkable portion of his speech, here Senator McCain selects someone who is not only proud to be endorsed by [the NRA], an opponent of that ban, but apparently is pretty enthusiastic about the guns themselves.
Dennis Hennigan
Legal Director for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Newsweek: On the Hunt–Sarah Palin, a moose-hunting, lifetime NRA member guns for D.C.
[You got that right Dennis. So what this means is this election is going to have a significant component that is about the right to keep and bear arms. The contest in November will be about those that recognize a specific enumerated right and those that want to infringe upon it. It will be between the Brady bunch, the Violence Policy Center, and a handful of lesser known (and knowledgeable) groups composed of a few 10s of thousands of members versus the NRA, GOA, CCRKBA, and dozens of other pro freedom organizations with several million members. Not everyone agrees with me but I think it’s game over man, game over. There is still work to be done in the trenches until November but some of the generals are going to be planning for a Sarah Palin/Bobby Jindal ticket in 2012.–Joe]
Agree with me or not, the Second Amendment hinges on the necessity of a militia (National Guard or Reserve) for the protection of our country; not as an excuse for anybody with a few extra dollars, a chip on the shoulder, or a grudge, to become an armed vigilante.
Elliott Greenblott
August 30, 2008
Letter to the editor of Brattleboro Reformer
[Ironically he goes on to compare the Heller decision to the Dred Scott decision. In the Heller decision the right of the people to bear arms and throw off tyrants who would make us slaves was confirmed. But the Dred Scott decision said certain people were slaves and could not sue for their freedom. And his basic underlying assumption that the “armed vigilante” was the conclusion of the Heller decision is totally without foundation. I can only conclude he has mental problems.–Joe]
Take it from me, if it had ended differently, we would not be bogged down in Iraq, we would have pursued bin Laden until we captured him. We would not be facing a self-inflicted economic crisis; we would be fighting for middle-income families. We would not be showing contempt for the Constitution; we’d be protecting the rights of every American regardless of race, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation. And we would not be denying the climate crisis; we’d be solving it.
Al Gore
August 28, 2008
[Notice he doesn’t say anything about protecting the rights of gun owners so one has to wonder why he doesn’t think his idea of registering all gun owners, support for the so called “assault weapon” ban, and restricting the right of free association at gun shows didn’t show contempt for the Constitution. Would registering all homosexuals and outlawing gay bars not meet his threshold for “showing contempt for the Constitution”?–Joe]
He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave.
William Drummond
1585-1649
[Also attributed by some to Lord Byron. Regardless, I would like to add that those that insist we should not reason wish to be our slave masters.–Joe]
If you ask any good sniper, he will tell you that making the kill is better than sex. If you offer this sniper an opportunity to shoot 12 enemy soldiers or hop in bed with a Playboy Playmate the sniper will choose to make the kills first–then he will want the girl too.
Hans Halberstadt
From Trigger Men: Shadow Team, Spider-Man, the Magnificent Bastards, and the American Combat Sniper, page 53.
[This is a very interesting book. Taken out of context this quote is a little on the scary side. It sounds like the mind of a sociopath but it is more about stopping the enemy before he or she kills a teammate or an innocent. Still it is soboring. I’m really enjoying this book because it explains the role of the sniper in our current war and how important their precision fire has become even, or perhaps especially, in an urban environment.–Joe]
Woke up this morning in Arlington VA (I fly back to AZ this afternoon), opened the motel room door, and this was the view.
The firemen say a room on the next floor burned up. After two trips thru the shoot house, this really isn’t that exciting. Hmmm, a motel fire. Be careful not to trip over the hoses while getting some coffee to wake up.
David Hardy
August 26, 2008 4:46 AM PST
This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
Frederick Douglass
1857
[Very appropriate for gun rights activists. But what is even more interesting to me is where I found it. I found it in an anti-freedom blog post. I read it and it just didn’t seem right. So I looked it up and found what you see above. The anti-freedom person used this one:
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them.
What a difference the context makes! As always, they have to lie and obfuscate in their attempts to win. To be fair he did supply a more complete one in the comments when called on it. But initially he stripped out the lines that make our point better than his.–Joe]
You have the potential to be a world class shooter.
Todd Jarrett
August 22, 2008
To me while on the Blackwater range. He was making a joke for the video being made for Michael Bane’s television show.
I learned more in the last three hours than I have since I’ve been shooting.
Say Uncle
August 22, 2008
Referring to instruction from Todd Jarrett while being taped for Michael Bane’s television show.
[I had told him, several times, that professional instruction would make a big difference. Not that he ever disagreed with me. But it’s nice to hear him confirm what I had been saying. This is not to say that his shooting was particularly bad. Just that you learn a lot from someone who knows what they are doing and how to teach.–Joe]
This is like Disneyland for guns.
Tamera K.
August 22, 2008
While touring Blackwater.
[A few hours later Caleb said, “This is like Disneyland for gun nuts.” I asked if he had heard Tamara say something similar earlier. He had not. I think Sebastian also said something similar while on camera with Michael Bane. It’s really can’t be adequately described in less that 1000 words and/or several dozen pictures. Being less articulate I just say, “Awesome”.–Joe]
Law enforcement?
TSA employee at SEATAC
August 21, 2008
After seeing my STI Eagle 5.1 with Kramer IWB holster, five full capacity magazines with leather mag pouches, electronic ear muffs, 200 rounds of handloads, and eye protection in a customized travel case.
[He must not know much about guns or he would have known that no police department would spend $2000+ on issue handguns for their officers. It irks me some that his inclination would be to believe that high end guns would most likely belong to “the special ones.” Perhaps my telling him “No” will help correct that belief.–Joe]
Women are at a severe disadvantage when confronting a likely stronger male assailant. In general, women simply do not have the upper body strength and testosterone-driven speed to effectively defend themselves without help. A firearm, particularly an easily manipulable handgun, equalizes this strength differential and thereby provides women the best chance they have of thwarting an attacker. Even more statistically likely, a firearm in the hands of a threatened woman offers the deterrence empty hands and an often unavailing 911 call do not.
M. Carol Bambery
Brief of amicae curiae 126 women state legislators and academics in support of respondent.
[They are at a particular disadvantage if they are 85 years old and the assailant is 17 years old. But if the woman has even a .22 caliber single action revolver then she can make the assailant dial 911.–Joe]
Whether we make it, or not, the human race has got to keep up its well-earned reputation for ferocity. If the slugs taught us anything, it was that the price of freedom is the willingness to do sudden battle, anywhere, any time, and with utter recklessness. If we did not learn that, well–“Dinosaurs, mover over! We are ready to become extinct.”
“Sam”
Page 338 “The Puppet Masters” by Robert A. Heinlein
[Excellent book. And I think the above quote applies to more than just invading aliens who wish to have us as slaves. There are lots of terrestrial predators than periodically need to be put in their place if we are to keep our freedom.–Joe]