Tag Archives: The Knox Report

The Knox Update

NRA Director Endorsements

NRA Candidate Endorsements

 

(March 5, 2009) Every year about this time the NRA sends out ballots and voting information to all of their members eligible to vote (Lifetime and 5 consecutive year Annual Members.)  Each year we look at the candidates and offer our suggestions on which candidates we think will serve the best interests of the membership.  Here are those recommendations for this year in alphabetical order:

Scott Bach, John Burtt, Joe DeBergalis, Owen Mills, Don Saba, Bob Viden.

We recommend that members vote for no more than 6 or 7 candidates because the fewer candidates you vote for, the more weight your votes hold.

Here’s how we came up with these 6…

 

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The Knox Update

Bush Administration Out of Line in DC Gun Case

The Knox Report

From the Firearms Coalition

 

Bush Administration

Out of Line in DC Gun Case

 

By Jeff Knox

(January 15, 2008) Late in the day on Friday, January 11, the Solicitor General of the United States, an office appointed by the President and tasked with representing the Administration view in court, filed an amicus brief in support of the District of Columbia in the case of DC v. Heller now before the Supreme Court.  The brief includes thoughtful, scholarly review of the history and meaning of the Second Amendment, concluding that it refers to, and protects, a preexisting, right which has no militia membership requirement.  The brief then stresses the idea that, like other rights, the right to arms may be restricted by the government for a variety of reasons.  And that the Supreme Court should render a decision affirming the individual nature of the right to arms, but should reject the Circuit Court’s conclusion that the DC laws are a violation of that right.  The Solicitor General would have the Court send the case back down to the lower courts for them to determine which, if any, of DC’s laws cross the threshold of “reasonable restrictions” and are therefore unconstitutional.

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The Knox Update

Heller

The Knox Report

From the Firearms Coalition

 

Heller’s Up and Parker’s on Deck

 

By Jeff Knox

 

(November 28, 2007) The Supreme Court will review the D.C. gun ban case.  The case, originally known as Parker v. D.C. is now known as D.C. v. Heller.    The name change is a source of confusion, which we’ll explain momentarily.  Another matter of confusion is who’s behind the case.  It is often reported that this case is a project of the libertarian Cato Institute; that’s not true.  While several key players in the case are closely associated with Cato, the organization itself did not fund or sponsor the action.  It is true however that NRA was not happy about this case going forward but has filed a supporting amicus brief and recently began using it as a fundraising appeal.

The story so far:  Last March the Federal Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in Parker v. D.C. that the District’s rigid gun control laws violated D.C. citizens’ rights under the Second Amendment.  The court declared that the Second Amendment refers to an individual right, but left plenty of wriggle room by suggesting that “reasonable restrictions” do not constitute “infringement.”

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The Knox Update

Color Commentary: A Clarification

The Knox Report

From the Firearms Coalition

 

Color Commentary

 

By Jeff Knox

 

(November 13, 2007) Back in July I wrote a piece titled “The Color of Gun Control” in which I described some of the racist motivations which historically underlie gun control laws.  When that article was published in Shotgun News a month later and I re-read it, I was surprised to note a rather glaring error.  While I stand by the core premise of the article, that gun control is intrinsically racist, I think some corrections and clarifications are is in order.

What immediately caught my attention was reading my description of the Illinois Firearm Owner ID system as a local jurisdiction, permit to purchase style program.  The FOID is no such thing.  It is a non-discretionary program operated by the State Police under which any person wishing to own a gun in the state must apply through the State Police and pass a background check.  If their record is clear, they get the FOID with no further say-so from law enforcement.

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The Knox Update

Brady Bunch, Police Chiefs Call for More Firepower

The Knox Report

From the Firearms Coalition

 

Brady Bunch, Chiefs Call for More Firepower

 

By Jeff Knox

 

(November 7, 2007) The Brady Campaign Against Gun Ownership has renewed its old partnership with the virulently anti-gun International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) advocating increased police firepower and a renewal of the Clinton “Assault Weapons” ban.  Of course they blame regular gun owners and the politicians who allowed the 1994 ban to sunset for the need for more heavily armed officers.

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The Knox Update

Appleseed: Purpose Driven Riflery

The Knox Report

From the Firearms Coalition

 

Appleseed:  Purpose Driven Riflery

 

By Chris Knox

 

(October 22, 2007)  The Appleseed Project came to Phoenix this October.  It was my privilege to strap into a hard-kicking .30-’06 bolt gun, lay down on a concrete floor, and, fire well over 200 rounds into the teeth of an Arizona sandstorm.  It was among the most intense educational experiences of my life.  By the end of the day, despite the tough conditions, I knew that my shooting had improved, but more important, I had a new perspective on what it means to shoot a rifle. 

The Appleseed Project, a grassroots idea that seemingly came out of nowhere, has quietly grown nationwide and yet has stayed beneath the radar of the established shooting world.  Behind it is a club with the unlikely title Revolutionary War Veterans Association.   An Appleseed shoot is part history class, part rifle theory, and a whole lot of shooting.  Last year a thousand people participated in Appleseed shoots around the country.  This year’s goal is 2,000.  For 2008, it’s 4,000.  The longer term goal is to double the number of attendees every year. 

Nonetheless, Appleseed is not about shooting.     

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The Knox Update

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.

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