Snowed In!

(Manassas, Virginia 7 Feb 2010) The Knox Family Compound in the Virginia hills is socked in with the same storm that blanketed Washington. The driveway is blocked, power is out and not expected to be back until as late as Tuesday. Oh, and more snow is on the way. The phones are also out with no estimate for a return to service. There's fuel in the generator to run the well pump and furnace fan and maybe get a news report. Internet and cable are fond memories. For now, there's little to do but wait it out. These days it doesn't seem so crazy to have a few cases of canned goods in the basement. And ammunition just follows out of that logic.

The Knox family has lived in the Washington area for over thirty years. It snows there every winter. And every time it snows, you'd think it was the first time. Meanwhile, Chris is braving the winter weather in Phoenix where the temperature barely got above 65. Each of us has a cross to bear.

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Here are the Headlines and News Notes. Longer columns follow.

The Iowa Controversy - Continued

(Manassas, VA, January 15) The Iowa Legislature started their brief 2010 election year session last Monday and fortunately, as of Friday, January 15th, NRA had still not filed their concealed carry reform bill. The NRA proposal first surfaced last November as a revolting collection of sloppily worded amendments to Iowa’s atrocious weapons laws. Thanks to the efforts of rights groups, including The Firearms Coalition and GunVoter.org, NRA made several revisions, improving their first proposal, yet still falling far short of a good bill. NRA’s current offering could be a barely tolerable fallback, assuming a good bill wasn’t possible, but the current political situation argues for stronger demands. While the latest version has a number of very good provisions, it also contains things that simply shouldn’t be there... (Read More)

An End to the Lautenberg Amendment?

The Federal Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit recently declared that the infamous Lautenberg Amendment, barring possession of firearms from anyone ever convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, is a violation of Second Amendment rights.

That’s good news, but don’t fire up the band just yet... (Read More)

Protecting Gun Shows

Anyone who does not hold an FFL and sells a firearm to someone he doesn’t know well is incurring a certain amount of liability. And, a bit of bad judgment could cause trouble not just for the seller, but for the rest of the gun owning community as well. There is no question that individuals have the right to buy, sell, and trade firearms between themselves without government infringement. But there are laws on the books and failing to know and follow them is just asking for trouble... (Read More)

Lessons from the Dark Side

Mike Bloomberg and his Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) caused quite a stir in the gun rights community recently when they released a poll declaring that gun owners and NRA members support the group’s gun control agenda. The poll was conducted by Frank Lutz’s company “Word Doctors.” The media gleefully reported the poll as indisputable fact while NRA and others cried “Foul,” pointing out flaws in the pollster’s methodology and challenging the results... (Read More)

NRA Pushing Bad Bill in Iowa

(**NOTE: Please click on title or "Read More" below to see full story with updates.)

It's been a long time since we have had serious issues with NRA actions, but their proposed concealed carry legislation for Iowa is simply bad and we're taking exception... (Read More)

Giving Thanks – At An Appleseed Shoot

Thanksgiving is a time for reflection on our blessings, including the blessings of liberty and on the sacrifices our forebears made for us. With that in mind, son Brandon and I wrapped up our Thanksgiving observations slung into battle rifles on the firing line at the beautiful, newly remodeled and re-christened Joe Foss Shooting Complex near Buckeye, Arizona. As I concentrated on sight picture, breathing and trigger control, I was truly thankful... (Read More)

Support Your Local Gun Shop

The day of the little Mom & Pop gun shop seem to be waning. Even small shops these days are sophisticated, computerized, professionally managed businesses, but those small shops are becoming harder to find. Faced with competition from the internet and mega-retailers like Wal-Mart, Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops, small, dedicated gun shops are finding it more and more difficult to compete. Throw in the added pressure of more frequent and more adversarial oversight by ATF, increased pressure from community zoning boards and taxing authorities, and major shortages in all sorts of guns and ammunition keeping dealer’s shelves bare for months in the midst of the worst recession in decades and it’s easy to understand why a lot of shops are struggling... (Read More)

Time to Eradicate VD

There has been a close association between sexually transmitted diseases and the military for as long as the two have existed, but the focus of this article is not Venereal Disease, but a different kind of VD that has shocked the military community and the nation. The VD which currently plagues the military and puts our soldiers at grave risk is the policy of Victim Disarmament which has been increasingly prevalent even as laws in the civilian world have been moving in the opposite direction... (Read More)

The "No Guns" Insult

How does it make you feel when you start to walk into a business and see a "No Guns" sign prominently posted? Are you angry? Offended? Indifferent? How do you react? Do you just turn around and take your business elsewhere? Complain to the management? Just ignore it and go on with your business? The members of the Virginia Citizens Defense League take "No Guns" signs as personally offensive and they let their offense be known... (Read More)

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The Knox Update

From the Firearms Coalition

An End to the Lautenberg Amendment?

By Jeff Knox

(Manassas, VA, January 7, 2009) The Federal Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit recently declared that the infamous Lautenberg Amendment, barring possession of firearms from anyone ever convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, is a violation of Second Amendment rights.

That’s good news, but don’t fire up the band just yet. The actual conclusion of the 7^th Circuit panel was not that Lautenberg violates the Second Amendment, but that prosecutors had failed to effectively argue that it does not. Rather than declaring the law unconstitutional and throwing the case out, the court reversed the guilty verdict and sent the case back to the lower court to give federal prosecutors another chance to build a case. Included in the decision are rather detailed instructions explaining what arguments the prosecution needs to make if they wish to prevail. Like a child’s game, the court said, “You forgot to say ‘Mother may I’ so try it again.” If prosecutors carefully apply the lessons laid out in the 7^th Circuit’s order, the case should result in another conviction that would then be upheld on appeal, but even that isn’t assured because the court didn’t only provide instructions to the prosecution, they also dropped a hint or two for the defense.