It’s All Up To You

By Jeff Knox

Early voting has already started.  Getting out the vote is critical in any election, but especially so in mid-terms when there is no presidential race.  Whether it’s a matter of exposure or something else, for some reason people are less interested in voting when they’re not electing a president.  This year should get a better turnout than usual, but it still won’t be nearly as heavy as in presidential election years, and even 2012’s voter turnout was dramatically lower than it was for 2008.

Low voter turnout is a problem and an opportunity.  The problem is that it’s harder to get people motivated and voting during the midterms.  The opportunity is that the other side faces the same problem, so whichever side does the best job of getting their people turned out is the side that’s probably going to win.

I saw a poll today that should give Republicans something to worry about.  It was an unscientific poll of visitors to my friend Richard Viguerie’s website, ConservativeHQ.com.  The poll asked one question: Have you voted yet? 

It offered three possible answers:

1. No. 

2. Yes.

3. I don’t plan to vote in the 2014 midterm election. 

The response was rather startling, with 44% of respondents saying they had not voted yet, 32% saying they had already voted, and 24% saying they were not planning to vote.

Continue reading It’s All Up to You →

Sphere of Influence

By Jeff Knox

(October 27, 2014) The midterm elections are officially just a few days away, though in many jurisdictions voting has been going on for a couple of weeks already.  The balance of power in the US Senate is on the line and, along with the Senate races, there are hundreds of other federal, state, and local races to be decided – races that could have a serious impact on your personal health, wealth, and liberty.  So what are you personally doing about it?

Have you cast your ballot yet?  Have you donated to the campaigns of candidates you believe in?  Have you written letters to the editor, posted comments on Facebook, posted links to important articles, or called in to radio shows?  Have you attended or tuned in to candidate debates, volunteered for candidates, passed out literature in the park?  Whether you have done any, all, or none of those things, here are 4 things that you can do right now to make a difference in the outcomes of Tuesday’s elections:

1.      Get your own house in order.  Be sure that you have examined the ballot, investigated the candidates – all of them, from Senate to City Council – and studied any initiatives, referenda, bond issues, etc., and decided how you’re going to vote.  Then you need to be sure that everyone of voting age in your household has all of that information and casts informed votes.  You don’t want to find out after the election that your spouse, son, or daughter canceled out your vote through ignorance or indifference.  Make them notes to use when they vote.  They can choose to ignore your suggestions, but be sure they have your suggestions and clearly understand the issues and what’s at stake.

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Making the Grade

By Jeff Knox

(October 14, 2014) We in the rights movement have had a relatively easy go of things for the past 20 years or so.  Since the “Assault Weapons” Ban of 1994, the pendulum has been swinging mostly our way.  There have been a few stumbles and some close calls, as well as a whole lot of missed opportunities in that time, but in general, we’ve gained ground.  I fear that could be changing, and I fear this year’s elections could be a critical turning point.

My personal concerns were echoed in an email I received from the NRA this week.  In it, NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox declared that we are “within striking distance” of removing Harry Reid, Dick Durbin, and Chuck Schumer from control of the Senate, and replacing them with a “pro-Second Amendment majority.”  He goes on to point out that the deciding factor will be a few percentage points in a handful of close Senate races, and, of course, Cox followed up those statements with a suggestion that the best way to further these goals is with a generous donation to NRA’s lobbying division.

The problem is that NRA, like some establishment Republican groups, hasn’t been acting in line with their fundraising pitches.

We all know that Republicans must flip six seats to gain the majority in the Senate, and that, along with a couple of seats Republicans are at some risk of losing, there are only a handful of seats currently held by Democrats that Republicans have a chance at converting.  All of those races are expected to be close, and each of them is critical.  

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Do It Yourself Second Amendment

By Jeff Knox 

(October 10, 2014) Remember the hoopla a few months ago when a young, libertarian entrepreneur named Cody Wilson announced that he had constructed the first functional 3D printed gun?  And the growing outcry from the hoplophobes about “Ghost Guns” and 80% lowers?  Now Wilson and his company, Defense Distributed, has introduced a small, self-contained, computer controlled milling machine which can automatically finish an 80% lower in just a couple of hours.  The device has been dubbed the “Ghost Gunner,” in honor of State Senator Kevin DeLeon (D-CA) and his infamous, lunatic rant.  (If you haven’t seen it, look it up on YouTube.  Hilarious!)  The machine sells for $1500.00 and comes with everything you need to get started.

That’s got the professional hoplophobes of the Bloomies and the Bradys all in a tizzy all over again.  Wilson announced the release of the new machine just days after Representative Mike Honda (D-CA) introduced new legislation to require that all home-made guns be regulated in the same manner that commercially manufactured guns are – which, according to the same hoplophobes are completely unregulated…  But all of the hand-wringing and legislation writing is just further proof that these people really have no idea what they’re talking about.  They seem to think that guns are some magical creations forged in high-tech furnaces in Hell.  They clearly believe that making a firearm requires sophisticated machinery and highly specialized skills. 

Of course Shotgun News readers know just how ridiculous that belief is.  While “printing” the parts for an all-plastic, single-shot zipgun is a nifty concept, actually making a similar, but more durable and functional gun, from wood, pipe and nails is child’s play.  Most of us could accomplish the task in under an hour, using nothing but hand tools and junk from the garage.

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Guns in America: An Untold Story

By Jeff Knox

(October 3, 2014) We’ve all heard the old newspaper saying, “If it bleeds it leads,” and we understand that dramatic stories of blood and carnage are attention-getters and ratings-boosters.  The public likes a good horror story, and the news media know it.  Horrific murders, especially those involving multiple victims, are particularly good sellers.  It’s just a fact of life that the core business of media is to “sell papers,” and the advertising in them.  But the core mission of the media is supposed to be to inform the public – you know, report the news.  One area of that mission where the dominant media falls woefully short is in reporting on cases of armed self-defense – even when the actions of the defender clearly saved many lives – and one of the tactics they use when they do report these events is to set the hero apart as something other than a regular armed citizen.

When a worker at a food processing plant in Oklahoma went on a rampage, killing and decapitating one woman and stabbing another several times before being stopped by several shots fired by a senior executive of the company, the hero was repeatedly described as an off-duty sheriff’s deputy.  That hero, Mark Vaughan, was the Chief Operating Officer of the business, and all agree that had he not had his gun readily available, the terror rampage would have taken several more lives.  But painting his actions as those of an off-duty deputy is something of a distortion.  That characterization suggests that he wasn’t an armed citizen, but rather a cop just doing his job.  This helps them to preserve the fiction that only police are qualified and trustworthy enough to go about armed.  In fact, Vaughan is a Reserve Deputy in Oklahoma County; a volunteer position requiring only 11 hours of service per month.  While I don’t mean to denigrate that service, and I’m sure some of the training he received through that service helped, Vaughan was not acting as a deputy; he was acting as a concerned citizen and coworker.

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