Terri Reese Finally Released on Bail

(30 March) Terri Reese has finally been released to a halfway house in Albequerque, NM.  As noted in previous updates (below), a judge had approved Terri’s bail on condition that she reside at a particular Albequerque halfway house while awaiting trial, but there were no beds available at the halfway house at the time so she was forced to remain in jail.  Space finally became available in late March and on March 30 Terri was allowed to leave jail for the first time since she and her family were arrested last August. 

Meanwhile, a judge rejected Ryin Reese’s appeal for bail saying that because Reese has friends in Mexico, he is a flight risk.  The judge also advanced the Reese’s trial date from October to July.  Normally defense attorneys prefer to delay trials as long as possible, but since the Reese’s have been in jail since August and there appears to be little chance that any besides Terri will be aforded bail, the strategy seems to be that earlier is better.  The civil forfeiture trial, in which the feds are attempting to claim virtually all of the family’s worldly goods, has not yet been scheduled.

Rick Reese, his wife Terri, and their two sons – Ryin, 24 and Remington, 19 – were arrested in August of 2011 on charges of knowingly selling guns and ammunition to illegal buyers for Mexican drug cartels.  All of the family members have plead not guilty to the charges.

Bail Approved for Terri Reese

but She’s Not Out Yet.

(27 February) Correcting my previous report, Terri Reese has not yet been released from jail.  The judge granted bail on Friday evening (2/24) but Terri will not be released until an appraisal and title search can be completed for the property being put up to secure her bond.  Bail was set at $2 million and she will be released on a $100,000 bond.  Family and friends are stretching to cover that so it could limit the possibility of finding the money necessary if any of the other Reeses are ever granted bail, but for now the good news is that Terri should be released by the end of the week or early next week if everything goes relatively smoothly.

We’ll keep you posted as we learn anything new.  Meanwhile, here is how you can help:

The Reese Family Railroad

Civilians targeted while gunwalkers walk

          (17 February) The investigation into the ATF/DOJ Gunwalker scandal code-named Fast & Furious has passed the one-year mark.  During that time Congressional investigators have put barely a chip in the stone wall established by Eric Holder and his Justice Department.  So far, fewer than 20 percent of the documents requested by Congressional investigators have been produced by the DOJ.  There have been a couple of resignations and a few reassignments, and one Justice Department official has refused to testify on Fifth Amendment grounds, but so far there hasn’t been the slightest indication that anyone involved is going to spend a single day in jail.

In contrast, a family in New Mexico has languished in jail for almost six months.  They have been denied bail, their assets have been seized, and threatened with civil forfeiture.  They have yet to be convicted of anything. 

I’ve written previously of Rick Reese, his wife Terri, and their two sons, Ryin and Remington.  They were arrested without incident last August in Las Cruces, New Mexico on charges that they had knowingly sold guns and ammunition to smuggled to Mexican drug cartels.  While I don’t personally know the Reese family, I have spoken with a number of people who do.  The Reeses are by all accounts, well respected and liked within the Deming/Las Cruces area where they had lived for over 20 years, running a successful gun store for the past 17.  Rick Reese had planned to retire from the business and close the store at the end of 2011 in order to make a run for sheriff of Luna County.  Son Ryin was in the process of opening a store of his own in Las Cruces.  The family was asked to come down to the ATF offices to discuss Ryin’s application for a Federal Firearms License – where they were arrested.  Requests for bail have, so far, been denied on the grounds that they are flight risks and a threat to the community.  The government has also announced their intent to move forward with a civil forfeiture hearing to claim virtually everything the family owns as “ill-gotten gains.”

Continue reading Reese Family Update →

Rights Movement Looses Stalwart

The Firearms Coalition Looses Friend

           Major Reginald Shinn (USAF) Ret. passed away February 2, 2012 in Sacramento, CA at the age of 92.  

He served in the United States Air Force (Army Air Corps) during WWII in the Pacific Theater as a Navigator/Bombardier between March-September 1944, flew 50 combat bombings, eight low-level missions.  He was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses and six Air Medals.

          After the conclusion of the war, he was assigned to Germany and served under General Curtis E. LeMay. Served during the Korean War as a flight instructor. In 1949, he was part of the top-secret mission of the Lucky Lady II – the first airplane to circumnavigate the world non-stop.  He also served with the 54th Weather Recon. Sqd. as part of the “Typhoon Chasers,” who actually flew into the centers of typhoons.  He obtained his law degree (St. Mary’s and San Antonio LLB, Juris Doctor 1958) while in the Air Force.  He served four years USMCR while attending High School.  Retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1962 after 20 years with the rank of Major.  After his retirement from the Air Force, he worked for the Internal Revenue Service as an estate and gift tax attorney.  He eventually retired at age 87 after some 45 years of service.

Continue reading Maj. Reginald Shinn – R.I.P. →

Advertising Ban is a Political Statement – Intentional or Not

        Something is seriously wrong at Fox Sports, an affliction of political correctness that apparently affects the entire Fox Network.

          In response to overtures by gun companies to sponsor TV coverage of Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, events, Fox Sports has declared, “Absolutely no firearms, ammo, hunting or knife companies will be permitted as sponsors in any Zuffa-promoted events.” Zuffa, LLC. is the parent company of the UFC and is credited with transforming Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, contests from shady, regional tough-guy brawls into a recognized and respected multi-million dollar sporting category.

          At this point Zuffa has yet to weigh in directly on the controversial Fox policy, but a company representative explained the ban on firearms advertising isn’t just at Fox’s sports division.

          Fox Networks Group Senior Vice President of Communications Scott Grogin explains, “I can confirm for you that none of our national broadcast or cable networks accepts advertising from firearms/ammunition manufacturers or distributors.”

Continue reading Martial Arts Battle: Fox Sports VS. Gun Rights →

           We are all susceptible to the occasional knee-jerk reaction.  We hear something and immediately jump to a position of opposition or support with little or no evidence to support the position.  Sometimes such gut responses are correct and are subsequently validated by additional information, but often they are completely off base. 

As a Second Amendment advocate I run into a lot of jerking knees and gut feelings that can be very difficult to overcome.  They usually hit me as questions – like “why should anyone be allowed to have a gun like that,” or “why should anyone be allowed to have a gun in a church – library – school – bank, etc.”  There are typically two parts to my answers to such questions.  First I point out that, as the person exercising a constitutionally protected, fundamental right, it is not I who carry the burden of proof – it is the person wishing to restrict my rights.  Therefore the questions should be; “what justification and authority exists for banning this type of gun, or prohibiting firearms possession in this location.”  Because these questions come from gut feelings, most people asking them are completely blind to the bias implicit in the questions, even when it is pointed out to them.  So the second part of my answer tries to apply some logic and proven historical facts to the issue.  Of course, if the person is more committed to emotion than reason, there is little hope of swaying them, but, if a person is willing to suspend their emotions and let fact supercede assumptions, there is a chance I can make a convert.

Continue reading Shun Knee-Jerk Reactions →

Every year, voting members of the National Rifle Association (those with 5 or more years of consecutive membership and those with Life or higher-level memberships) are asked to participate in the governance of their organization by voting for a third of their 76-member board of directors.  And each year, due to a long and tumultuous personal and family relationship with the organization, I am asked to make recommendations among the candidates.  This year I am calling for voting members of the association to “Bullet Vote” for one candidate:  Mrs. Maria Heil.  There are certainly other candidates on the ballot whom I feel have been, and/or would be, good directors, and members who value my guidance should also feel free to vote for other worthy candidates, but I don’t believe any of those candidates needs my endorsement to win a seat.  Mrs. Heil has an impressive record in Pennsylvania and with the Second Amendment Sisters, but is not well known among NRA members.  I think she would be an excellent addition to the NRA Board and hope that my endorsement might give her the nudge she needs to be elected. 

Due to the way NRA elections work, the only real competition in the election is for the last few positions, and the vote totals for those marginal candidates are often within just a few votes of each other.  That means that just a few extra votes for a candidate can make a big difference, and voting for more than just a few candidates – especially voting for several who are expected to be in the bottom dozen vote-getters – can dilute an individual ballot and cost their favorite a seat.

Continue reading NRA Board Elections Continued →

Guns are Booming

You wouldn’t guess that the nation’s economy is in the doldrums by looking at the activity on the floor of the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas this week.  This is the week of the annual SHOT Show, when tens of thousands of members of the firearms and outdoor sports industry make a pilgrimage to Las Vegas to attend the industry’s biggest trade event.  Sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), SHOT stands for Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade.  It is where manufacturers, importers, dealers, wholesalers and distributors, get together to examine wares, make connections, and do business – lots of business. 

As I’ve been making my way around the acres and acres of the exhibit hall, talking to old friends and meeting new folks, there are two things that are very clear: Business is good, but people are concerned about the future.  It has been suggested that Barack Obama should receive the title of Firearms Salesman of the Year for the past three years, but you find little interest in extending his tenure.  Sentiment runs high (and high is an understatement) in favor of Mr. Obama being held to a single term.  Nonetheless, there is much concern about the Republicans’ ability to deliver a candidate who can defeat him.  The consensus seems to be almost as opposed to Mitt Romney as they are to Obama.  Romney’s enthusiastic support for an “assault weapons” ban when he was Governor of Massachusetts leaves gun owners mistrustful of him.  Nor is the idea of a Republican controlled Congress with Romney in the White House an especially reassuring prospect, since politicians tend to stand with their president.  Several pointed toward the tragic murders in Tucson when Rep. Gabriela Giffords was wounded, and suggested that had Romney been President at that time, a ban on magazines over 10 rounds would almost certainly have been enacted.  Republicans seem to excel at shooting themselves in the foot – particularly when they control both Congress and the White House – and the gun industry has noticed.

Continue reading 2012 SHOT Show →

Tripping over NYC’s Stupid Gun Laws

        The closing days of 2011 brought a rash of collisions between otherwise upstanding citizens and New York City’s infamous gun laws.  On December 16 Mark Meckler, a prominent California Tea Party leader, was arrested at LaGuardia Airport as he attempted to check luggage containing his unloaded, cased, handgun in accordance with TSA, FAA, and Delta Airline rules.  Then on December 22, fourth-year medical student Meredith Graves was arrested at the 9/11 memorial when she asked a security guard where she could check her pistol in an attempt to comply with a “No Guns” sign.  That case echoed a September case in which Indiana jeweler, Ryan Jerome, also tried to comply with a “No Guns” sign at the Empire State Building by asking a guard to hold his gun.

These are just the latest examples in a long stream of incidents that serve to demonstrate how gun laws snare the law abiding.  Each case is unique, but virtually every case of an otherwise law-abiding citizens running afoul of draconian gun laws – in New York or elsewhere – falls into one of the following broad categories:

• ●Ignorance:

Both Meredith Graves and Ryan Jerome thought they were complying with the law when they attempted to surrender their sidearms for safekeeping.  They saw the signs and tried to obey.  Unfortunately they didn’t see any “No Guns” signs when they crossed into New York.  They should have known better.

Ignorance is a dangerous thing.  There are several web sites which feature interactive gun law maps.  For more detailed information, I recommend GunLaws.com, where my friend Alan Korwin offers the most comprehensive collection of books about owning, carrying, and using guns at home or away, anywhere in the country.

Continue reading More NYC Gun Laws →

Fewer Stupid Gun Laws

 I wasn’t among the estimated 2 million or so people who found a gun under the tree this Christmas, not because I didn’t want one or because my wife doesn’t love me, but because of stupid gun laws and an aversion to spending extra money to satisfy those stupid gun laws. 

I’m frugal by nature and that inclination has gotten more pronounced with the current economy and future uncertainties.  But this Christmas my friends at J&G Sales made me an offer I didn’t think I could refuse.  They lowered the price on their P64 pistols to just $149.95!  The P64 is a Polish knock-off of the famed Walther PPK carried by James Bond, but with a little more power.  I just had to have one and my wife agreed so it was settled.  That’s when the stupid gun laws kicked in.

In order to take advantage of the great deal from my friends in Prescott, I had to either drive up there or call and have the gun shipped to a dealer closer to my home in the Phoenix area.  Driving up to Prescott takes about 2 and a half hours each way and would burn close to $50 worth of gas.  Having the gun shipped down to a local dealer would add a $22 shipping charge plus a $35 transfer fee from my local dealer.  Either way I would have to fill out paperwork and get approved through the NICS “instant” background check system.  My sister, who lives in Prescott, could have gone down to J&G and picked up the gun for me except that’s illegal.  If she were buying the gun for me as a gift, that would be OK, but if she were to buy it on my behalf or with the intention of selling it to me, that would be considered a “straw purchase” and she could face 5 years and $50,000 in penalties.

Continue reading All I Wanted for Christmas Was →

Presidential Hopefuls are Human

With less than 11 months until Americans go to the polls to elect the next President, and early Primaries and Caucuses underway, the prospects for “Hope and Change” are not looking promising.  Certainly plenty of promises are being made, but those promises, and the politicians making them, are long on brag and woefully short on substance or credibility.  While I represent a single-issue organization and use the right to arms as a primary litmus test of any politician’s qualifications, I also look at broader issues beginning with understanding and support for the rest of the Constitution, understanding of liberty-based economics, and their ability to effectively express their understanding and support of these things in such a way as to engender confidence and garner support from the voting public.  Mr. Obama has proven that his qualifications in that regard are limited to saying things that elicit support from certain segments of the population (most notably mass media), but virtually all of his policy positions and personal values are in conflict with my own beliefs and the vision of our founding fathers.  Unfortunately, the choices on the Republican side fall seriously short as well.  

My brother and close collaborator, Chris Knox, and I have been hashing through the candidates, their philosophies and histories, and likely election scenarios for months now in hopes of finding a candidate to whom we can, in good conscience, offer our endorsement.  There isn’t one.  Every candidate we have examined has glaring flaws in their records or beliefs which we simply cannot endorse. 

Continue reading 2012 Primaries →

Attention Lamestream Media…

          To all of those “reporters” and pundits at ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CNN, the New York Times and all the other Times, the Boston Globe, the Spokane Spokesman-Review, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Arizona Republic, all of the Tribunes, Stars, and Ledgers;

Let me make something perfectly clear: The NRA is not the Gun Lobby.  Neither is the NSSF, nor the GOA, nor even The Firearms Coalition, nor the hundreds of grassroots and activist organizations or the thousands of local gun clubs.  I am the Gun Lobby.  Whenever you talk about the Gun Lobby, you are talking about me.  All those groups and entities work for me, but they are not me, and they do not necessarily speak for me.  My power does not derive from my personal wealth nor financial support from the industry that serves me.  My power comes from the fact that I am one of tens of millions who understand that individuals have the right and the obligation to protect themselves from criminal assault, and that no one — not the government, not the media nor anyone else, has the right to decide what, when, where, or how I responsibly exercise that right and obligation.  We – each of us – are the Gun Lobby, and we’re not going away, We’re not backing down, and we’re not giving in – not one little bit.

It infuriates me when I hear “reporting” and editorializing about “the powerful Gun Lobby” and “the intransigent Gun Lobby” and sometimes even “the evil Gun Lobby,” as if we were a handful of rich fat cats in safari shirts sitting in a mahogany-lined room full of leather, stuffed animals, and cigar smoke plotting how to increase our profits by increasing crime.  We are the people!  We are the 80 to 90 million people in this country who own guns and the tens of millions more who do not own guns, but fully support our right to do so.

Continue reading I Am The Gun Lobby →