All posts by Chris Knox

The Knox Update

Wild West

The Knox Update

From the Firearms Coalition

Arizona Returns to Wild West

Blood Runs in Streets…

By Jeff Knox

(Manassas, VA, 12 August 2010) On July 29 the new Constitutional Carry law in Arizona went into effect removing all requirements that a lawful gun owner obtain permission of the state before carrying a firearm concealed.  Just as the folks from the Brady Center Against Guns and the Violence Policy Center had predicted, virtually everyone in the state has either been killed or seriously injured by gunfire in the ensuing two weeks and drug and outlaw biker gangs are running rampant since the police can no longer ticket them for unlicensed carry of concealed weapons.

In other news: Dewy Wins, Elvis Presley is alive, and Martian spacecraft have attacked New York.

In the real news: After implementation of the new Constitutional Carry law in Arizona no one has really noticed any change.  Certainly there has been no surge in firearms related violence, accidents, or general stupidity.  What a totally unsurprising result.

Meanwhile, Dennis Hennigan of the Brady Bunch is breathlessly telling his 12 readers over at the Huffington Post about an unfortunate mistake made by an NRA certified firearms instructor in Florida who broke several rules of firearms safety and NRA instructor guidelines resulting in an unintentional discharge injuring a student in the foot.  Of course Hennigan doesn’t mention that there are thousands of firearms instructors teaching tens of thousands of classes every month and that an incident like this is so incredibly rare as to be virtually unheard of.

Hennigan uses the incident to reinforce general hoplophobia (irrational fear of weapons) in hopes of his small organization maintaining some relevance as more and more Americans realize that gun control simply doesn’t work and law-abiding, armed citizens are not a threat.  In desperation Hennigan points to expanding concealed carry recognition around the country as well as increased utilization of open carry laws as serious threats to the public.  There are CHILDREN in some of those public places and who knows what might happen when someone has a gun…

He goes on to point out that training to obtain a concealed carry permit is generally minimal and that in most states no training or permit is required to carry a gun openly. (Oh My!)  But those facts are good evidence that responsible gun owners who carry concealed or openly, with or without mandatory training, pose no threat to their fellow citizens.  Untrained, unlicensed open carry has been the law of the land in most places for the better part of the past 230 years and it hasn’t been a problem.  Hennigan suggests that if a highly trained firearms expert like an NRA certified instructor can make a mistake resulting in an injury to self or others, then all of those minimally trained “gun extremists” out wandering the streets with their gats and “Dirty Harry” attitudes must be a serious threat to public safety.  In reality, law-abiding citizens who choose to legally carry for self defense have a remarkable record of responsible, lawful behavior.  Concealed carry permit holders – in states with mandatory training and those without – have lower rates of crime and stupid gun mistakes than do highly trained, sworn law enforcement officers.

Another consideration, that instructor in Hennigan’s article was handling a loaded gun when he let off the shot, something that doesn’t happen when the gun is in its holster where it belongs – and where it would stay if it weren’t for fear-mongering hoplophobes like Hennigan insisting that legal carriers remove their guns here, unload their guns there, disassemble their guns before proceeding through this zone, etc.  When it comes to fear of unintentional discharges – not to mention concerns about guns being stolen – it is laws which force a legally carried gun off of the law-abiding carrier’s belt or purse and into a glove box or trunk which generate the greater risks.  Training requirements, permit fees, and “No (legal) Guns” zones are generally much more about discouraging gun owners and making carry more difficult than they are about safety.  A responsible, law-abiding permit holder is not more likely to do something stupid with his gun in a school, library, or church than he is anywhere else and a criminal or lunatic bent on mischief is not likely to be deterred by a “No Guns” decal on a door.

#  #  #

Those serious about protecting and defending the Constitution and the right to arms should be planning to attend the upcoming Gun Rights Policy Conference being held this year in the belly of the beast, San Francisco, California on September 24 – 26.

Mix and mingle with gun rights leaders and attend outstanding presentations from the most influential thinkers in the movement.  For more information, click on the GRPC link at www.FirearmsCoalition.org.

Permission to reprint or post this article in its entirety is hereby granted provided this credit is included.    Text is available at www.FirearmsCoalition.org.    To receive The Firearms Coalition’s bi-monthly newsletter, The Knox Hard Corps Report, write to PO Box 3313, Manassas, VA 20108.

Copyright © 2010 Neal Knox Associates – The most trusted name in the rights movement.

The Knox Update

Evil & Stupid

The Knox Report

From the Firearms Coalition

Evil + Stupid = Bipartisan

By Jeff Knox

We are now just a couple of months from the midterm elections and the political gamesmanship has begun to heat up.  It was former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson (a Republican) who declared that in America we have the Evil Party, and the Stupid Party, adding that he belonged to the Stupid Party.  For those committed to restoring and protecting the rights of gun owners, the labels are broadly accurate.  While there  absolutely are Democrats who are personally committed to individual rights, the Democrat Party itself is not only opposed to gun rights, they lie about it.  There are two basic policy positions for Democrats on guns and they both start with politicians declaring, “I strongly support the Second Amendment.”

Members of the first group are generally part of the “Blue Dog” caucus, representing rural areas.  Most of them are hunters and gun owners who actually believe that they support the Second Amendment, but they also tend to support their party on what they call “reasonable restrictions” on gun ownership and possession – reasonable restrictions which are clear violations of the Second Amendment.  Under no circumstances does their support for the Second Amendment trump their obedience to Party Leadership either.  Granted, the existence of “pro-gun” Democrats probably helps to reduce the amount and severity of gun control proposals introduced or advanced in Congress, but it’s been a long time since a “pro-gun” Democrat broke party discipline to help pass a pro-rights measure, defeat an anti-rights bill, or block confirmation of a rabidly anti-gun presidential appointee.

The other group of Democrats who “strongly supports the Second Amendment” are those who are simply lying.

John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama fall into this group.  Even notoriously anti-rights Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has claimed to support the Second Amendment.

There might be a few Democrats who haven’t been able to bring themselves to declare support for the Second Amendment, but the official party line is broad support for the constitutional right, while interpreting it in the narrowest terms, and doing all they can to undermine and dismantle it.

Appointing and confirming Federal Judges and Supreme Court Justices who are hostile to the Second Amendment – or any other part of the Constitution – is a travesty and an unforgivable sin, yet we see Democrat Senators who claim to be staunchly pro-gun like Tester and Baucus of Montana, Casey of Pennsylvania, and Webb of Virginia, casting votes for the likes of Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.  (The Kagan vote is expected within days of this writing.)

Republicans, on the other hand, are generally supportive of the right to arms, but few of them have any more understanding of the issue than do the Democrats.  They definitely lack the resolve and the backbone to vigorously oppose the Democrats’ attacks on the Constitution and the President’s appointments of radical extremists to the courts and high level government positions.

Under the new Democrat power structure the President will be able to simply declare his desire and his minions in the various bureaucracies will fulfill his wishes – without all of the mess and smell of going through Congress.

The next such bypass could directly impact shooters as the EPA is considering a petition to ban all traditional, lead-based ammunition from hunting and possibly even target shooting.  The petition claims that raptors such as Bald Eagles are eating remains of game animals and contracting lead poisoning from remaining bullet fragments.  The fact that there is no scientific evidence to back up this claim is unlikely to interfere with enacting a lead bullet ban because doing so would help further two fundamental objective of Democrat leadership: making the “environmental movement” happy, and making it harder, more expensive, and more troublesome to own and use firearms.

If Republicans don’t discover some spine soon and start fighting Democrat assaults on our system of government and our way of life, the voters might be so frustrated and fed up that they shift to third-party candidates or not to bother voting at all.  Either way, that would leave Democrats in control and the destruction of the Constitution would be accelerated.

The Republic is in grave jeopardy and the “leaders” in Washington are either participating in its destruction or uselessly wringing their hands.

Chris's Blog

Appleseed Makes NY Times

Appleseed Makes NYTimes

The New York Times Magazine has published a feature story on the Appleseed Project.  Not surprisingly, the article focuses pretty closely on the closest thing to an extremist the author could find.  I knew the story was in the works and expected a hit piece, but it takes a surprisingly level tone.  Nonetheless, even the relatively mainstream American cross-section of opinion from flyover country that is a strong consensus among Appleseeders is pretty strong stuff for the rarefied climes of lower Manhattan.  It will be fun to watch for fall-out.  Meanwhile, the Appleseed Project continues to grow.

Jeff's Blog

Prediction on NRA’s Folly

NRA’s Folly Growing

When the Supreme Court overturned another major section of the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Law, Democrats were indignant.  How dare the Court suggest that the Constitution overrules the will of the Congress?  As a result, Democrats in the House and Senate immediately introduced new language intended to slip past the Court’s ruling and they were determined to pass the measure before the November elections primarily so conservative groups like the TEA Party would have difficulty holding individual politicians responsible for their votes on pork, spending, and taxes.  The bill, like its predecessor, is mainly an incumbent protection act designed to make it harder for special interest groups to target particular politicians over votes or other actions.

One major obstacle proponents of the bill faced was strong opposition from one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington – the NRA.  In an unprecedented maneuver, sponsors of the measure – at NRA’s suggestion – added language exempting certain large, established organizations from the provisions of the bill.  The description of who was exempted fit only a small handful of organizations, including NRA.  Once the legislation no longer applied to them, NRA withdrew their opposition to the bill – much to the dismay of their state affiliates, individual members, conservative organizations, and other gun groups – and the bill subsequently squeaked by in the House by a vote of 219 – 206.

Now the measure goes to the Senate where it is championed by avowed NRA hater and consummate dirty political schemer Chuck Schumer.  Early reports suggested that opposition to the NRA deal from several Democrat politicians might scuttle the bill.  I postulated on that idea myself, but that was before I had a chance to think the matter through.  Upon reflection, here is what I expect to happen next:

Schumer – who heads the Democrat Senatorial Election Committee and is a very likely successor to Harry Reid as Democrat Leader if Reid is defeated as expected in November – will push the measure and quickly capitulate to “pressure” from Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) to remove the language exempting NRA from the bill.  The Senate will pass the measure without the NRA exemption.  That will take the bill to a conference committee made up of representatives from the House and Senate – all hand-picked by Schumer and Nancy Pelosi.  The Committee will agree to the Senate version, or a slightly different version which does not exempt NRA, and the bill will be pushed back to the House for an up or down vote.  It will pass by a narrow margin and be signed by President Obama.

The other possibility is that Schumer will convince Feinstein and Lautenberg to support the version with all of the exemptions.  The advantage of the “compromise version is that the only way the act could be effectively stopped after passage is with a lawsuit.  Since all of the largest organizations are exempted from the bill, there are few organizations who would be constrained by the law who also have the resources to fund an aggressive lawsuit.

The bill is written to go into effect immediately upon the President signing it and, since it will be next year before the specific regulations implementing the law will be completed, political groups will be taking an enormous risk if they do any electioneering that might be covered in the law.  That means that unless this can be stopped in the Senate or blocked by a lawsuit, all new, small, or midsized groups will be effectively muzzled leading into the all-important November elections.

The NRA’s management made a huge mistake backing away from their opposition to the DISCLOSE Act and its passage will do serious harm to the Republic and to NRA.

Right now the primary focus must be on stopping this bill in the Senate.  Readers are urged to contact their Senators and let them know that they consider a vote for this bill a vote against the First Amendment.  NRA members should also contact members of the NRA Board of Directors and tell them that they want NRA to step up and fight this legislation.

If this fight goes badly as I expect it will, we are going to need as many angry NRA members as possible to try to make some changes at NRA.  Quitting the NRA in protest does nothing but reduce the clout of those of us who want to try to make changes in the organization.  You can’t fix it if you’re not a member.

The Knox Update

NRA and Free Speech

The Knox Report

From the Firearms Coalition

NRA and Freedom of Speech

By Jeff Knox

Note: The bill discussed in this article passed the US House on June 24 and is now headed to the Senate.  Contact Senators to express opposition. – JK

A Firestorm was ignited this week when it was announced that House Democrats had carved out an exemption for the National Rifle Association in proposed new federal campaign law legislation and that NRA was no longer going to oppose the bill.  The new campaign legislation is a response to the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. The Federal Election Commission. In that case the Court held that groups like NRA could not be blocked from mentioning a candidate’s name during the 60 days prior to an election.  The proposed legislation – which is still only available in synopsis form – would tightly regulate the political speech of any corporation (most non-profits and political organizations are corporations) and require extensive recordkeeping and public disclosure of contributors names.  Such disclosure is particularly hard on gun rights organizations as our members tend to be vehemently opposed to having their names put on lists – particularly lists identifying them as likely gun owners.

NRA has long been a leader in defense of constitutionally protected political speech and they had stepped up in opposition to this latest threat.  Unfortunately, rather than stand strong on principle of liberty and the rule of the Constitution, NRA suggested to the bill’s sponsors that as long as the proposed legislation did not apply to NRA, the association would withdraw their opposition.  Good for NRA, but bad for every other group and the Constitution.

Continue reading NRA and Free Speech →

The Knox Update

We Should All be GunVoters

The Knox Report

From the Firearms Coalition

GunVoter: The Issue is Freedom

By Jeff Knox

There is confusion within the conservative community – and even among some gun owners – over what exactly the gun rights argument is all about.  Similarly there is confusion among some GunVoters about the goals and objectives of the conservative movement.  The simple answer for all of those confused people is that it is about freedom, individual liberty, and the rule of law.

Continue reading We Should All be GunVoters →

The Knox Update

Criminal Heroism

The Knox Update

From the Firearms Coalition

Heroes Snared in Gun Restrictions

By Jeff Knox

(Manassas, VA, June 3, 2010) With a decision expected from the Supreme Court later this month, the importance of the McDonald case challenging Chicago’s handgun ban was brought into stark relief last week when an 80-year old Chicago resident used a handgun to stop a violent home intruder.  Reports indicate that the intruder broke in through a back window of the octogenarian’s home in the early hours of May 26 and then fired on the homeowner who promptly returned fire, killing the intruder.  Police and prosecutors said the shooting appeared to be justified and that no charges would be filed in the slaying, but there was some question as to whether the homeowner – the crime victim in this case – might be charged for possessing a handgun in his home, a violation of Chicago’s strict handgun ban.

Continue reading Criminal Heroism →

The Knox Update

Wronged in Charlotte

Rights and Wrongs in Charlotte

By Jeff Knox

(Manassas, VA, 20 May 2010) The 139th NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits was held last weekend in Charlotte, North Carolina and it was a record-setter with over 70,000 in attendance, including three representatives of The Firearms Coalition, my brother Chris, sister Shan, and myself.  Due to scheduling conflicts and airline delays the three of us converged on Charlotte at about 4:30 Friday afternoon, just in time to get cleaned up for the Grass Roots North Carolina “Gala for Gun Rights and Second Amendment Symposium.”  The event was held at the Marriott, Charlotte City Center and I was one of the speakers along with Joe Tartaro of GunWeek and the Second Amendment Foundation; John Lott, author of More Guns, Less Crime; US Senator Richard Burr; and Alan Gura, lead attorney in both the Heller and McDonald cases.  GRNC was kind enough to allow Chris to set up a table in the back of the room where sales of his book, Neal Knox – The Gun Rights War, were brisk.  Chris donated a portion of the proceeds to GRNC.

Continue reading Wronged in Charlotte →

The Knox Update

National Training Week

The Knox Update

From the Firearms Coalition

National Training Week

By Jeff Knox

National Training Week, July 4 through 11, is set aside in conjunction with Independence Day to remind people that liberty and independence are closely tied to responsible possession of firearms.  Every American owes a debt of thanks to our forebears who saw fit to enshrine the right to arms in our Constitution and to use that right to defend our liberty for the past 234 years.  National Training Week is an opportunity to exercise that right and to share it with others.  There are endless reasons for getting involved: Manufacturers, resellers, and range operators can grow their businesses by promoting this event and then making firearms, ammunition, training, and shooting facilities more affordable and accessible leading up to and during this special week.  It is an ideal time for ranges to host the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s First Shots program and for clubs to invite the public to Open House days.  Firearms enthusiasts get an excuse to burn through some of that ammo that’s been stacking up and dust off those neglected guns.  It’s also a great time to ask a friend and coworkers to go shooting and introduce them to the fun and history of firearms.

Continue reading National Training Week →

The Knox Update

VOTE!!!

The Knox Update

From the Firearms Coalition

Your Duty to Vote

By Jeff Knox

(Manassas, VA, April 29, 2010) I propose that the “firearms fraternity” begin placing as much emphasis on voting and voter education as we do on safety and safety education.

Unintentional firearms injuries and fatalities have dropped by some 60% over the past 20 years while the number of firearms in circulation has more than doubled.  These amazing results are not due to government programs, laws, or regulations.  They are a result of education and an almost universal acceptance of and insistence on adherence to the basic rules of firearms safety.  Gun owners not only practice firearms safety, they advocate for it and expect it from others, and they shun anyone who fails to abide by the rules.  The improving firearms safety record is a stellar example of positive peer pressure.  We in the firearms fraternity need to extend that success into the realm of voting.

Gun owners should see voting in every election, and having a general understanding of the candidates’ positions regarding rights, as a core obligation for themselves, their friends, and their family.  Those who do not vote – regardless of their excuse or rationalization – should be seen as letting down their brothers and sisters in arms.  They are failing in their obligation as citizens, and empowering the enemies of liberty.  In short, GunVoters need to look at gun owners who don’t vote with the same incredulity that they would look at a person who recklessly waves a gun around with a finger on the trigger.  Excuses like “My vote doesn’t matter” should be received with the same disdain shown when someone says “Hey, it isn’t loaded.”

Continue reading VOTE!!! →