More People “Prohibited” by SCOTUS

The Supreme Court of the US came down with a decision in March that effectively expands the base of people prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms in this country.  In a unanimous decision in the case US v. Castleman, the Court ruled that the law banning possession of firearms by anyone ever convicted of any crime of violence against a spouse or significant other – often referred to as the Lautenberg law – applies not only to crimes labeled as “Domestic Violence” or to such crimes that involve what an average person would consider actual violence, but also to things like pushing, shoving, or grabbing, even when no harm was intended and no injury sustained.

Many states have intentionally drawn a distinction between minor contact among family members during an argument, and violence intended to harm, intimidate, or control.  Those states’ common sense approach to the matter has now been overruled by the Court, and convictions for charges like simple assault in cases like a woman slapping a cheating spouse, or a man pushing his way out the door to get away from an argument, will now include the mandatory loss of firearm rights for life – even if the incident occurred decades ago.

What the Court did not rule on, is whether it is a violation of the Second Amendment to have a lifetime loss of firearm rights based on a misdemeanor crime.  The Court noted that this case did not adequately address that point and that this decision does not attempt to answer that question.  They said the Second Amendment question will have to be decided in some future case.

Continue reading Overturn Lautenberg →

Would You Stand Up for Rights?

Have you ever participated in a rally at your state capitol?  Have you marched into your elected servant’s office and demanded a clear answer on where exactly they stand on issues that are important to you?  Have you ever stood with thousands of like-minded individuals demanding that your voices be heard and your rights protected?

Sadly, the majority of Americans never have.

You’ll have opportunities to stand up for your rights all over the country in the coming months, and I hope you’ll make it a priority. We’ve posted a listing on our website of some upcoming rights rallies that you can – and should – be involved in.  We’re working to keep this list updated and complete, so if you know of a rally not on our list, please let us know.

To get noticed, rallies need bodies.  If it’s a “gun violence prevention” or anti-voter ID rally, it needs 10 or 20 people to get media attention.  If it’s a gun rights or anti-tax rally, it needs 10 or 20 thousand to garner the same attention.  An April 1 rally in Albany, New York offers an excellent example of that.  News reports talked about activists from both sides holding simultaneous rallies.  They referred to “thousands” in attendance for the two rallies, but didn’t make it clear that the thousands were there in support of rights, and that only a handful were gun control supporters.  Later in one news report they referred to the anti-rights rally and said that “dozens” were in attendance – and even that was an exaggeration.

Continue reading Defend the 2nd Amendment →

America’s Gun Culture

The media and gun control advocates often talk about the US “gun culture,” as if those of us who own and appreciate guns are some sort of deviant cult.  The reality is, America’s gun culture is part of the dominant American culture; it’s the hoplophobes, with their irrational fear of firearms, who are out of sync with the social norms of most of the country.  America’s gun culture is as normal and mainstream as its belief in God.  Naturally, there may not be quite as many people going to church or the range as in days past, but God and guns are still part of everyday America, and are deeply ingrained in our heritage.  Those who retch in fear and disgust at the thought of a gun – who preach disarmament as a religion – are like the activist atheists who demand that every trace of God be removed from schools and all other aspects of public life. 

Polls and personal experience tell us that the vast majority of Americans believe in God.  Some are more active in their faith and some are less faithful in their acts, but most at least believe in something, even if they just call it spirituality.  The majority of those who doubt the existence of God – or even those who are sure that He doesn’t exist – still respect, appreciate, and accept others’ belief in God as normal and good.  They might not understand or agree with religious people, but they don’t see them as abnormal or harmful.  Typically the atheist’s or agnostic’s only conflict comes when others’ religious beliefs encroach on their own liberties.  Examples include “blue laws,” such as bans on hunting on Sundays or laws against personal, sexual choices.  Those types of disagreements can sometimes be intense, but even the majority of people involved in them are not advocating that religion or religious people be banished – that the “God culture” is somehow incompatible with American life.

Continue reading Guns in the United States →

Twenty Years of Brady Law Failure

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is touting the 20^th anniversary of implementation of the Brady Law, requiring that buyers at gun shops pass a background check before every purchase.  They’re marking the anniversary with a “report” extolling the program’s success and promoting their current target: criminalization of private firearm transfers.  The catch phrase for that campaign is “Finish the job.”  The problem is that the job will never be finished.  The Brady’s solution for failed gun control laws is always additional restrictions on guns, and those “steps in the right direction” lead directly to bans, registration, and confiscation – as happened in the UK, Australia, pre-war Germany, the Soviet Union, etc., and as is currently happening in “baby steps” in California, New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

The Brady Law is a dismal failure, despite the Brady’s loudly trumpeted claim of 2.1 million firearm purchases blocked over the past 19 years.  While that number sounds impressive, it is meaningless in real terms of reducing violent “gun-crime.”

Federal prohibitions on gun ownership are extremely broad.  Anyone who has ever been convicted of any felony – violent or not – is prohibited from ever possessing a gun or ammunition – or employing anyone who possesses a gun or ammunition – for life.  Same for anyone ever convicted of a violent misdemeanor against a domestic partner – like slapping a cheating boyfriend – even if the incident happened decades ago.  The lifelong ban also applies to anyone ever dishonorably discharged from the military.  People who legally, under state laws, use medical marijuana or marijuana-based extracts for treatment of pain or side-effects of chemotherapy are also prohibited from guns and ammunition.  Legal recreational marijuana users in Colorado and Oregon are also subject to the ban.

Continue reading The Brady Campaign →

California Forcing Guns Off the Market

California has long been on a sickening, spiral path toward flushing all individual rights down the toilet.  Few states have such a powerful and overreaching state government and nowhere is that overreach more apparent than in the state’s gun laws.

Back in 2000, California legislators instituted a system supposedly intended to protect the state’s citizens from cheap, poorly made, unreliable handguns – you know, the kind poor people can afford and that you would prefer criminals to have as opposed to accurate and reliable ones.  They called them “junk guns” and said they should be banned because they were disproportionately being used in crime.  Instead of trying to make a list of “evil features” like they’ve done with “assault weapons,” the legislature went the opposite route, creating a roster of approved, “safe” handguns, and banning as “unsafe” any handgun that is not listed on the roster.

In order for a gun to be included on the roster, it must be submitted to a panel of “experts” who test and evaluate it in accordance with a long, convoluted list of criteria.  Gun companies are charged for this “service,” and must pay thousands of dollars for evaluation of each model and variation they wish to sell in the state.  Even cosmetic features such as a gun’s color and finish are included in this requirement, resulting in idiotic situations where one gun is declared “safe” while an identical gun of the same make and model is listed as unsafe simply because it has a nitride, rather than a blued finish and the manufacturer didn’t pay to have the nitride version evaluated.  In the real world this would be called extortion.

Continue reading Where have all the guns gone? →

Anti-Hunting Extremists are Boneheads

On Thursday, November 14, the US government crushed nearly 11,000 pounds of raw and carved ivory seized over the last 25 years from smugglers and illegal dealers.  The value of the huge pile of ivory is inestimable as many of the carved pieces are works of art.  Nonetheless, it would be safe to assume that the collection was worth well over $10 million dollars.  Small ivory figurines routinely sell for around $500 apiece, and prices have been escalating due to stricter regulation and enforcement of ivory laws. 

Ivory is a tricky subject.  While walrus tusks and whales teeth are often called ivory, true ivory comes from only one source; the tusks of elephants.   Elephants are amazing creatures that roam the wilds of Africa, parts of Asia, and India.  In many areas, wild elephants have been driven to the brink of extinction by loss of habitat and poaching.  As the largest land mammals on the planet, elephants need a lot of space, food, and water.  Human encroachment on elephant lands means that the land can’t support herds of the same size that they once did.  During droughts and famine, when elephants would historically migrate to other ranges, they now often have no place to go because man has taken over their fallback areas, consumed the resources, cleared the forests, planted crops, or erected barriers such as highways or residential areas across travel routes.  As with all wildlife in conflict with humanity, elephant survival is dependent on humans finding a way to restore some semblance of balance.

Continue reading Anti-Hunting Extremists →

Every year about this time, the NRA sends out ballots to voting members to choose about 25 of the organization’s 76-member Board of Directors.  Each year I sift through the nominees and offer suggestions as to whom I believe will best serve the membership.  This year I am endorsing just two nominees: Anthony P. Colandro, an outspoken and colorful range owner and firearms instructor from New Jersey, and Tracie L. Hill, a leading expert on Thompson sub-machineguns and author.

The main reason I am endorsing Colandro and Hill, aside from their credentials, is because the official NRA Nominating Committee didn’t.  Both these candidates were nominated only by petition of the members.   While the Nominating Committee slate includes many worthy candidates, I think it’s good to throw an outsider into the mix now and then.

Let me say that the NRA Board of Directors is, for the most part, a stellar group of dedicated and impressive individuals with a broad range of backgrounds, interests, and abilities.  There are very few of them that I do not hold in the highest regard.  Most have solid backgrounds in support of the Second Amendment, impressive credentials in the shooting sports, and have proven themselves as diligent workers and supporters of the organization’s goals and the membership’s best interests.

There are, of course, a few who I just don’t get along with, many whom I wish would be more aggressive setting policy and leading, rather than being led by staff, and some who I feel are more focused on their own agendas than NRA’s.  I won’t call out specific individuals because I don’t see that as serving any useful purpose.  The fact is that NRA elections are essentially a closed course and there’s little chance of seriously impacting them. 

Continue reading Knox Endorses Colandro and Hill →