(Manassas, VA, 5 June 2007) The antics of New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg, rather than raising questions about the integrity of federally licensed firearms dealers, should be raising questions about the expectations and legal liabilities placed on those dealers. Current law appears to require a dealer and all of his employees to be skilled mind readers, able to accurately determine the relationship, intentions, and honesty of each of their customers. The penalties for poor psychic abilities can be personally and professionally devastating, including up to 10 years in prison and a quarter-million dollar fine – for each count! It is time for gun-voters to demand some relief for these beleaguered businesses.
Category Archives: The Knox Update
Join The Club
(Manassas, VA, May 30, 2007) Sick and tired of paranoid and elitist politicians restricting guns for the law-abiding in hopes of curtailing criminals and currying votes?
Join the club.
Bothered to see shooting ranges being shut down and chased farther out of town by McMansions and town house communities?
Join the club.
Sometimes feel like you’re the only person around who understands the importance of the Second Amendment and the responsibility of gun ownership?
Join the club.
Personal Note of Thanks
(Manassas, VA, May 15, 2007) As I approach my 47th birthday, the same age my father was when he was fired from NRA in 1982, I’d like to step away from the news for a moment to thank the readers of this column and share some personal perspectives. Continue reading Personal Note of Thanks
Mind Games
(Manassas, VA, May 8, 2007) On April 30, the Governor of Virginia signed an Executive Order requiring any ruling by a judge or magistrate which says that a person could be a “threat to himself or others” must be reported to the Virginia Crime Statistics Database and shared with the federal government’s National Instant Check System. This would mean that any such person would lose their right to purchase, own, or possess a firearm for the rest of their life (or until a court restores their rights – something that sounds reasonable, but simply never happens.)
No one would suggest that it is sensible or prudent to make it easier for mentally unstable people to acquire firearms. Arguments against increased limitations on access to firearms by the mentally ill can not help but seem – well – crazy. Unfortunately, just because something seems sensible on its face does not mean it truly is sensible and just because an argument is difficult to make does not make it wrong.
Ending Massacres for Good
The Knox Report
From the Firearms Coalition
Ending Massacres for Good
By Jeff Knox
(Manassas, VA, April 17, 2007) Thirty two students and faculty members of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University were brutally murdered on April 16. The story attracted massive media attention all over the world. Not the worst school massacre in U.S. history, but the most deadly school shooting (the worst used bombs not guns). In the aftermath, a serious concern is the history says such highly publicized criminal acts generate copycat crimes; the greater the media coverage, the more copycats, and they may take years to act. Every parent of college students in the United States, and every student, needs to be thinking about that fact and devising action plans.
No gun control law, no campus alert system, no increased police presence, buddy-system walking plan, or emergency call-box can stop a killer committed to the idea of immortalizing himself through murder. The only gun law which might have mitigated the carnage at Virginia Tech was a law rejected at the urging of school administrators in the past two sessions of the Virginia Legislature: a law forbidding state colleges and universities to prohibit lawful firearms possession on their campuses.
Not “Allowed”
(Manassas, VA, March 13, 2007) When I was six years old my family moved from Wichita Falls, Texas to Sydney, Ohio so Dad could head up the creation of Gun Week newspaper. One of the first things we noticed upon arriving in the land of the Yankees was that the people up north talked funny. Not only did they have odd accents and strange pronunciations, they had different words for things and used terms that were not common where we came from.
One word in common usage in Ohio which, while not completely foreign, was still odd to us, was the word “allow.” Rather than saying, “My mom won’t let me.” Or, “I’m not supposed to.” Ohio kids would say “I’m not allowed.”
The Bloomberg Dilemma
The Knox Report
From the Firearms Coalition
The Bloomberg Dilemma
By Jeff Knox
(January 5, 2007) New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is at it again. He recently filed federal civil suits against 12 more federally licensed firearms dealers in South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. In his well-publicized effort to “stem the flow of illegal guns” into New York, Bloomberg hired private detectives to enter gun shops around the country to covertly video gun dealers making “questionable” sales. He then files civil suits charging the dealers with knowingly and recklessly contributing to New York’s crime problems by selling guns to crooks. These suits are intended to either drive the targeted dealers out of business or to force them to agree to oversight by a court-appointed “special master” that essentially opens their books to the New York City mayor’s office. Dealers can expect Bloomberg’s antics to continue for the next couple of years, as the city’s $800,000 contract with the detective agency runs through 2008.
Flying with Guns
The Neal Knox Report
From the Firearms Coalition
Packing For Unfriendly Skies
By Neal Knox (updated 05/08 by Jeff Knox)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 10, 2004) – Flying with a firearm in your checked baggage is more complicated than it used to be, but it’s usually not the nightmare some think.
The important thing to remember is that making a mistake involving a firearm in an airport can result in serious consequences – and it doesn’t have to be you that makes the mistake.
There are plenty of people working for airlines and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) who, whether through fear, malice or simple ignorance, can make traveling with a gun harder than it should be. If one of them makes a “mistake” it could be you that pays the price.
Simply notifying a ticket agent that there is an unloaded firearm in your bag – as you are required by law to do – can result in pandemonium. I recall a case several years ago where a man declared a legal shotgun at Washington National Airport and found himself surrounded by a SWAT team. Not a comfortable position.