Reese family finally headed to court 

Eighteen months after Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was murdered in Arizona by Mexican bandits using guns purchased through a US government program called Fast and Furious, we still don’t know who within the Department of Justice knew about the program, much less who authorized it.  Certainly there has been no serious talk about prosecuting any of the people responsible for assisting in the illegal sales of over 2000 guns to Mexican arms traffickers – guns that were subsequently involved in the murders of BPA Terry and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata, as well as possibly hundreds of Mexican citizens.   But while that investigation has dragged on, with Attorney General Eric Holder denying knowledge of the program, denying knowledge of who was involved, and denying congressional investigators access to tens of thousands of documents that might answer those questions, New Mexico gun dealer, Rick Reese and his two sons Ryin and Remington, have sat rotting in separate detention centers, jails, and prisons around the state accused of a similar crime involving some 30 guns.  The Reese family, including Rick’s wife Terri, ran a gun shop in Deming, New Mexico, and were arrested in late August of 2011 on charges of knowingly selling guns to Mexican smugglers, and various other related charges.  After spending 6 months in jail, Terri Reese was finally granted bail in March of this year, but Rick and the boys have been repeatedly denied bail on the pretext that they are flight risks or might try to engage in a Ruby Ridge type standoff.  The rationale for denying the Reeses’ constitutional rights is that Rick knows some people in Mexico, his home has a well and solar power, and there were guns and ammunition in their homes and businesses when they were arrested.  That’s right, guns and ammo in the home and business of a federally licensed firearms dealer (all of which were seized a year ago and have never been returned) is being offered as evidence that they can’t be trusted – and a judge bought it.  Well, there’s also the fact that Rick and Terri were involved with a local Tea Party group.  That’s probably reason enough right there.

Continue reading Guilty Until Proven Innocent →

On May 25, the  State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China published a report titled The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2011 as a counterattack response to a US human rights report that was critical of China.  The first thing on China’s list of US Human rights failures was our failure to adequately protect our citizens from crime and specifically the easy availability of firearms.  The report laments that, “The United States prioritizes the right to keep and bear arms over the protection of citizens’ lives and personal security and exercises lax firearm possession control, causing rampant gun ownership. The U.S. people hold between 35 percent and 50 percent of the world’s civilian-owned guns, with every 100 people having 90 guns.”  The same idiotic complaint we have heard from propaganda groups like the Brady Bunch and the Violence Policy Center for decades as firearms ownership has climbed sharply while crime has simultaneously gone down to record lows.

The report went on to attack the US over our failures regarding freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.  It pointed to select reports about the way the “Occupy” protests were shut down (with no mention of the illegal activities and unsanitary conditions involved), and critical essays from rights advocates like the Electronic Frontier Foundation complaining about government interference with the Internet.  Columnists warning about potential dangers in the Patriot Act and erosion of rights in the name of the “War on Terror” were presented as proof of the nations flagging commitment to individual rights of privacy and due process, as were examples of wrongful imprisonment, police abuses, and our overall prison statistics.

Continue reading Defending a Human Right →

Learning from Erik Scott’s Death

I received quite a lot of reaction from my previous column telling the story of West Point graduate and veteran Erik Scott, who was gunned down in front of a Las Vegas area Costco store in 2010.  Much of the response leads me to believe that I did not make my point as clearly as I had hoped.  My objective in that column was not so much to bring attention to a tragedy that happened 2 years ago, but to highlight how irrational fear of firearms can cause very dangerous situations for those of us who carry guns for personal protection.  Anyone who ever carries a gun needs to be aware of the threat represented by bigots and hoplophobes. 

Likewise, anyone who might encounter someone carrying either openly or concealed – which is virtually everyone who ever leaves their home –  needs to be aware that there are lawfully armed citizens all around.  With 49 of the 50 states having some provision for lawful concealed carry, and over 40 states having provisions for lawful open carry, there are now several million people in this country who might be lawfully carrying a gun on any given day – not to mention the thousands of off-duty and plainclothes police.  That means the odds of your seeing an accidentally exposed concealed firearm, or someone carrying openly, are pretty high in most states. 

Continue reading Erik Scott →

No justice for Erik Scott – gunned down for legally carrying a gun.

           Erik Scott was a West Point graduate with an MBA from Duke.  He served honorably in the Army and establish a lucrative career in real estate and as a sales rep for a medical device company.  He was 38 years old when he was gunned down in the portico of a Las Vegas area Costco store by officers from the Las Vegas Metro Police Department.  While it was 7 bullets from the only people we’re supposed to trust with guns that snuffed out Erik Scott’s life, what really killed him was an irrational fear of firearms – hoplophobia.

Scott and his girlfriend were shopping in the Costco when he was challenged by a store manager after Scott’s lawfully carried handgun was spotted as he squatted down to examine some merchandise.  He argued briefly with the manager about the store’s “No Guns” policy after identifying himself as a lawful Nevada concealed weapons permit holder.  Witnesses said Scott did raise his voice in obvious frustration over the policy, but that it didn’t seem like a big deal.  They saw nothing particularly threatening about the incident or the clean-cut, good looking young man.   The store manager seemed satisfied by Scott’s reassurances and was OK with him finishing his shopping.  But another store employee was already on the line with police, reporting an armed “Green Beret” acting erratically in the store.

Continue reading Hoplophobia Kills →

Taxpayer-Funded Anti-Rights Lobbyists

Cities around the country have created staff positions for professional lobbyists whose primary function is to drum up support for anti-gun legislation, ordinances, and regulations.  Part of these lobbyists salaries are being paid by grants from do-gooder foundations like the Joyce Foundation, but the balance of salaries, benefits, and support costs are being borne by you the taxpayer.

An associate of mine in Florida named Sean Caranna was doing some research for his grassroots rights organization, Florida Carry, Inc., when he came across something on the agenda of the Orlando City Council that he immediately recognized as a serious problem.  The item was for the renewal of a contract for a city employee.  That’s mundane enough, but the job title of this particular employee was “Mayors Against Illegal Guns Regional Coordinator,” and the job description is to “play an integral role in the coordination and planning of gun crime prevention and illegal gun-related initiatives, events, and media opportunities in the city and in the region”  (The full council agenda and detailed information can be found on the City of Orlando website).

Continue reading Anit-Rights Lobbyists →

Eric Holder’s Contemptible Behavior

Representative Darrel Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is publicly circulating a briefing paper and draft Contempt of Congress resolution against Attorney General Eric Holder over the Department of Justice’s stonewalling in the investigation into the gunwalking scandal known as Operation Fast & Furious.   True to form, Holder is shrugging off the threat and calling foul.  A lawyer for DOJ sent a letter in which he said the department “strongly disputes” the assertion that they have not been cooperating with Congress.  He pointed out that the DOJ has provided over 7,600 pages of documents to congressional investigators so far and allowed numerous department officials to testify.  He then cites Bush and Reagan administration arguments against releasing information about ongoing investigations to congress, and about releasing information about how members of the department planned for dealing with a congressional investigation.  He concluded by saying that it looks like Issa is more interested in political gamesmanship than working toward a mutually satisfactory agreement.

Those arguments ring hollow when you consider that Operation Fast & Furious was shut down, and the investigation started, a year and a half ago, and those 7,600 pages represent only about 10% of the documents Issa’s committee has subpoenaed.  The fact that DOJ has repeatedly made false or misleading assertions and then had to back-pedal when their duplicity was exposed, strongly suggests an active intention to cover-up certain aspects of the operation.

Continue reading Holder’s in Contemp →

Wrong turn leads to Mexican prison for Texas truck driver

A Dallas-based truck driver is in prison in Mexico and facing a possible 35-year sentence because he missed his exit and had no way of turning around without crossing the border.  Jabin Bogan was making deliveries in El Paso before heading on to Arizona when he missed his exit and found himself stuck on the highway leading into Mexico.  This is an easy and common mistake to make on the confusing highways of the El Paso area, but it can be a costly one as Bogan has discovered.  Near the border he says he “asked a cop” how to turn around and was told he would have to continue on a couple of miles to an exit.  The details of that part of the story are murky as US authorities say they have no record of a truck driver making such an inquiry of border agents.  They say that had Bogan asked at the US checkpoint they would have stopped traffic to allow him to make a U-turn on the highway.  Instead Bogan crossed the border and was stopped by Mexican authorities who searched the truck and found over a quarter of a million rounds of rifle ammunition. 

Headlines in Mexico and the US announced the largest detection and seizure of illegal ammunition in recent memory and strongly suggested that the shipment was destined for Mexican drug cartels.  That assertion was quickly denied by both Bogan’s boss and the ammunition dealer in Phoenix who had paid $100,000 for the shipment.  Dennis Mekenye, operations manager for Demco Freight, says the truck was equipped with a GPS tracker and when he saw it was in Mexico he called Bogan’s cell phone.  The driver told him about the missed exit and that Mexican authorities were searching the truck.  Shortly thereafter, Bogan was arrested.  The ammunition dealer in Phoenix, Howard Glaser, says he believes Bogan is a victim of confusing signs — just a hard working man who made a simple mistake.  He says the ammunition, 250,000 rounds of military surplus 7.62 NATO and 18,000 rounds of 5.56 NATO, was for commercial sale in the US only and that the suggestion that Bogan was trying to smuggle it into Mexico is ludicrous.  He says Mexican authorities should have recognized that an honest mistake had been made and sent the driver and his cargo back to the US and on to Arizona.  Bogan is now being held in a federal prison in Veracruz where he has been formally charged with smuggling military ammunition.

Continue reading Mexican Standoff →

How Fear Begets Tragedy

Why do tragedies like the death of Trayvon Martin occur?  Because atrocities like the murders of Bob and Nancy Strait occur.

Nancy Strait was 85-years old, mostly blind, and had been caring for her 90-year old husband Bob for over 65 years, when she was brutally raped and murdered.  A suspect named Tyrone Woodfork, who turned 20 a few days after the attack, was quickly arrested.  Police say that Woodfork and up to four accomplices broke into the Strait’s Tulsa, Oklahoma home during the overnight hours of Tuesday, March 13.  They beat Bob, breaking ribs and his jaw, and shot him several times in the face with a BB-Gun.  They also beat and sexually assaulted Nancy.  The couple was not found until the following evening.  Bob survived almost 2 months, but passed away on May 4.  His family says the real cause of death was a broken heart over the loss of his wife.  Nancy succumbed to her injuries the day after the attack.  Police say Woodfork was captured after an alert citizen spotted the Strait’s stolen car. 

The attack on Bob and Nancy Strait is all the more tragic because they were among the last and best of what we have come to refer to as “the greatest generation.”  After surviving the Great Depression, Nancy had left her small town home to go to the big city of Tulsa to work in a factory supporting the war effort.  Bob was serving in the 101^st Airborne Division and participated in the D-Day invasion.  Though he was wounded, he turned down a Purple Heart because he didn’t feel his injuries warranted the citation.  And even though he was eligible for VA medical care and other veterans’ benefits, he never took advantage of them because he felt that he had just done his job and his duty, and didn’t think further compensation was warranted.

Continue reading Tragedy Strikes →

Virginia Tech Mom Speaks Out

Yesterday was the 5^th anniversary of the tragic rampage shooting at Virginia Tech that took the lives of 32, wounded 17 more, and impacted all of us.  In the years since that horrific event there has been much said about the availability of guns, particularly on the campuses of America’s educational institutions.  Among the loudest voices have been some of the family members and victims of the Virginia Tech massacre.  Their personal tragedies and struggles make their feelings on the matter particularly relevant and moving.  Unfortunately, while some of these folks and their views have been embraced by the media and certain special interest groups, others have been muffled and not heard at all.

One voice is that of Holly Adams.  Her daughter, Leslie Sherman, was murdered that day.  Unlike others who have focused on the tools the murderer used that day in the commission of his crime – what they were, how he got them, and what laws might have prevented him from acquiring them, and thus, in their minds, would have prevented the tragedy – Ms. Adams points to the possibility that someone might have been able to stop the murderer before he hurt so many people.  Those Virginia Tech survivors and families who misguidedly call for constraints on the law-abiding as a means of controlling criminals, have been promoted as speaking on behalf of all of the families directly impacted by the tragedy.  That is a misrepresentation that Holly Adams would like to set straight.  On the anniversary of her daughter’s murder she sent a letter to Philip Van Cleave, President of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a grass roots pro-rights organization.  That letter is reprinted below.

Continue reading Virginia Tech Shooting →