And the list came from where?

From NRA-ILA:

In Border States, BATFE Asks: "May We See Your Guns?"

NRA-ILA has recently received several calls from NRA members in border states who have been visited or called by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In some cases, agents have asked to enter these people's homes, and requested serial numbers of all firearms the members possess.

In each case, the agents were making inquiries based on the number of firearms these NRA members had recently bought, and in some cases the agents said they were asking because the members had bought types of guns that are frequently recovered in Mexico.

This kind of questioning may or may not be part of a legitimate criminal investigation. For example, when BATFE traces a gun seized after use in a crime, manufacturers' and dealers' records will normally lead to the first retail buyer of that gun, and investigators will have to interview the buyer to find out how the gun ended up in criminal hands. But in other cases, the questioning may simply be based on information in dealers' records, with agents trying to "profile" potentially suspicious purchases.

On the other hand, some of the agents have used heavy-handed tactics. One reportedly demanded that a gun owner return home early from a business trip, while another threatened to "report" an NRA member as "refusing to cooperate." That kind of behavior is outrageous and unprofessional.

Whether agents act appropriately or not, concerned gun owners should remember that all constitutional protections apply. Answering questions in this type of investigation is generally an individual choice. Most importantly, there are only a few relatively rare exceptions to the general Fourth Amendment requirement that law enforcement officials need a warrant to enter a home without the residents' consent. There is nothing wrong with politely, but firmly, asserting your rights.

If BATFE contacts you and you have any question about how to respond, you may want to consult a local attorney. NRA members may also call NRA-ILA's Office of Legislative Counsel at (703) 267-1161 for further information. Whether contacting a local attorney or NRA, be sure to provide as many details as possible, including the date, time, and location, agent's name, and specific questions asked.

Is this guy for real?

Fair warning now, the clip is almost 10 minutes long so grab a cup of cocoa and then don't blame me when it squirts out your nose makes your keyboard all sticky.

I'm tempted to borrow the famous "Teh Stoopid" from who ever created the term, but that would be kinda insulting to "Teh Stoopid".

I honestly can't tell if this guy is an anti or a pro-gunner trying to make antis look bad. The only thing I do know is that he needs to stop sniffing his finger; it kinda creeps me out.

For your viewing pleasure.

Will We Hear Outrage?

Democrats attached a completely unrelated amendment to the war spending bill.

I'm sure we'll be hearing how wrong this is on Huffpo and Daily Koz any day now.

Week?

Month?

*crickets*

Thank you for your cooperation

In 1968, Chicago passed an ordinance requiring the registration of all firearms. This is what people received who complied.


Yet crime rates continued to climb.

Since registration worked so well in reducing crime, Mayor Jane Byrne and her Alderman allies stopped any further sales or registration of handguns in 1982.

Yet crime rates continued to climb for another 10 years .

In 2008 Aldermen rewrite the laws to allow themselves to re-register when they forgot to while otherwise innocent people are thrown to the wolves for the same offense.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Low Level Terrorism

Just to add to the many monikers I've accumulated by being a firearms rights activist, I can now add this one:

A written exam administered by the Pentagon labels "protests" as a form of “low-level terrorism” — enraging civil liberties advocates and activist groups who say it shows blatant disregard of the First Amendment.

The written exam, given as part of Department of Defense employees’ routine training, includes a multiple-choice question that asks:

“Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorism?”

— Attacking the Pentagon

— IEDs

— Hate crimes against racial groups

— Protests

The correct answer, according to the exam, is "Protests."

Let's count how many Gov't agencies we can be stereotyped by.

O-Day +148: More is Less

War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.

Walls of the City has an excellently researched post on how the Obama administration is fudging the numbers on the economy.

Tweaking the Numbers

Chicago is touting a drop of 7.9% in crime in comparison to the same time period last year. Looking at the numbers shows the usual 'fun with statistics' that is so common along w/ numbers changing. Beyond the fact that the majority of the drop is in motor vehicle theft, let's take a look at a few others"

Between January and May, murder is down 11.4% in comparison to last year. Sounds good right? Yet last month (April) it was down 18.7%. This change is due to the 47 murders in Chicago in the month of May, 4 more than in May of '08. There is also one less murder listed on the '09 report than on the '08.

Criminal Sexual assault from Jan through May reported 579 incidents on the '08 report but the '09 report shows 608 for the same period. That would be an increase of 6% instead of the 1% shown.

So in one month, Chicago went back on par with '07. If the levels remain stable from now on, they're looking at over 450 murders (mostly gang related) in their 'gun free' paradise. If May's trend continues, they could easily equal or even break last years spiked numbers.

I'm sure it's all due to those right-wing extremists shooting up the neighborhoods like Jesse "hymietown" Jackson thinks.

AHSA Back out of the Closet.

Well, they had their chance. With all of Ray Schoenke's talk of 'consultant based language' and a 'change in leadership' at the American Hunters and Shooters Association, they continue to be nothing more than a hit group against the NRA. Ray continues to use the same rhetoric as Helmke and Sugarmann, heads of the two most active national anti-gun groups. One wonders where the paid AHSA protesters were at the convention this year.

Even w/ all their talk of 'the NRA does nothing for hunters or shooters', not one supporter has been able to show me a SINGLE thing that the AHSA has done at all. Besides endorse long-time anti-gun politicians that is.

Ah, well. No great loss. Real gun groups have been getting more new members each month than the AHSA has fooled in the entire three years of its existence.

Google Searches are Fun

Seven months ago I made a post about another anti-gun organization claiming "they weren't after our guns". Really they weren't. They just quote bogus statistics and receive support from a bunch or organizations that ARE working towards the elimination of private ownership.

Well their chief talking head, Laura Eshelman, Googled her name today and discovered the post so she (assuming it's really her) decided to reply in typical anti fashion:

Oh, give it a rest. You guys are always so darn uptight and angry- perhaps while you're ranting and raving about liberty restrictions, you should consider lobbying for marijuana legalization. It's been proven to be effective in many cases for stress reduction; I'm sure it would make even the most virulent of you gun nuts a little bit nicer (and less likely to get pissed off and shoot innocent people).
-Laura Eshelman

Funny that instead of replying to the cited and sourced criticisms, she resorts to stereotyping and insults. No surprise really. It's all they have.

I'm sure she would really love for us to 'take a rest' because it would give them a chance to return to the echo chambers they once enjoyed. Discourse is anathema to them.

Feel free to stop on by anytime Laura, I always appreciate such 'progressive' posts from my opposition.

BTW, pro-gun, pro-legalization.

Oh, The Irony. It Burns.

Since you're the ones funding the violent radicals on your flank, you need to stop sending them money. Since you know far more about their activities than any one else, you need to be the ones who turn them in. Since you're the ones who make heroes and martyrs out of them, you need to be the ones who call them out as criminals. Until you do this -- consistently, wholeheartedly, and responsibly -- we can only conclude that these assassins are operating with your support and approval...

Now this doesn't come from 'rightwing' extremists talking about Muslims like we heard following 9/11, that would be stereotyping and wrong. Instead it comes from our favorite "Social Futurist" Sara Robinson, via War on Guns, blaming all 'conservatives' for the actions of a few deranged psychopaths. Then it's perfectly acceptable to stereotype. Those of you who read Smallest Minority will remember her previous loonbat tirades.

I wonder if Sara would apply her above statement to 'liberals' and the terrorist actions of 'left-wing' domestic terrorists like ALF and ELF which are financially supported by PETA?

Oh but that's different.

I wonder if she has ANY clue how close she really is to those 'right-wing conservatives' she wholeheartedly and so regularly condemns?

Ah, the 'tolerance' of the 'left'.

Gun Control Laws in Action

JACKSON, Miss. -- Seven of 11 pistols stolen from a police department in the Mississippi Delta have been recovered in Chicago, federal prosecutors said Wednesday in court papers.

How many Federal, State, and Local laws were violated?

• Stolen (Charge of receiving stolen firearm)
• No FFL transfer over interstate lines (Federal law)
• No FOID (state law)
• No waiting / cooling off period observed (State law)
• Pistol in Chicago (Chicago law)
• Firearm in Chicago not registered with CPD on a yearly basis as legally required. (Chicago law)
• Magazine capacity over 10 rounds (Cook county and Chicago law)
• Background check as required by FOID act? (State law)
• Any gun safety locks? (State law)
• Possession of a firearm by a Felon
  
• Machine guns against the law to possess in the State of Illinois

And in a similar case:

Thieves broke into five U.S. Forest Service Police vehicles as the officers slept at an Albuquerque hotel, taking off with several high-powered rifles, laptops and radios.

So by the logic of Mayors Bloomburg and Daley, this is clear evidence that requirements for firearm possession are not strict enough on law enforcement and need to be strengthened immediately. I'm sure just one more 'common-sense' and 'reasonable' law would have stopped these incidents in their tracks.

Right?

H/T to Illinois Carry.

PSH Alert

In Illinois, I am technically breaking the law if I walk down the hill to visit my In-Laws after target shooting w/ my rifle slung or handgun holstered. HB 182 amends that by rewriting the law to include the legal dwellings of other people as long as I have their permission.

According to the claims of Joyce Puppet (notice how that name keeps popping up) Legal Community Against Gun Violence Ownership, this bill is a defacto Concealed Carry bill and will allow me to go into practically any building I want with any gun I want and the owners and police can't do squat. These are the examples they give:

A domestic violence offender, who is a prohibited purchaser and not allowed to have a gun, calls his friend to come over to his house with his gun to intimidate his partner.

A drug dealer selling drugs out of his home has armed bodyguards to avoid being charged with unlawful possession.

A young adult throws a house party, friends come over carrying guns, and it quickly gets out of control.

Now which side uses fear mongering and hysteria again?

Illinois residents who haven't messed themselves need to contact Gov. Quinn to make sure the anti's message isn't taken at face value. Call 312-814-2121 or click here to send email.

Probation Violations

In DC, a scumbag w/ a history of violence walks into the Holocaust memorial and kills an officer. Gun Free zone. Prohibited person out on the streets. The usual 'reasonable, common-sense' things that keep not working.

In Chicago, two 'children' aged 20 and 21, both prohibited persons with a long history of violence and criminal activity, in a 'gun free zone', murdered a Chicago police officer.

The 'fun fact' about this one? The alleged shooter had been in court just two weeks prior on his THIRD, yes THIRD, parole violation.

The judge let him go home.

What can you say to that?

No Friends of his Own

In Josh's latest dance reveling in the use of a gun in crime to push his agenda, Josh Sugarmann of the Joyce Foundation puppet (and memberless) Violence Policy Center, attempts to take a dig at the number of firearm advocates present online:

"LaPierre's head-bobbing apologists (see comments below) "

What Josh is really upset about isn't the fact that someone was murdered using a gun, but the fact that practically noone supports his cause of trying to take away firearms from those NOT out committing crimes w/ them. The 'comments below' are almost universally in support of firearm rights and oppose his attempts to ban guns in any form. Nevermind the fact that only about 1 out of 20 firearm owners are NRA members, he's upset that, over the last few months, the NRA has signed up more NEW members than he's gotten dollars from his Sugarmann daddies at the Joyce Foundation.

Poor Josh. Seems he will continue to be a sad clown.

Management Training

Teaching individuals to shoot safely is a primary activity of all firearm activists. One of the dangers we face, though, is WHERE to take them as a primary activity of the anti's is to close as many ranges as possible through legislation, litigation, and outright harassment.

So the NRA, in association w/ the NY Rifle and Pistol Assoc. , are offering a forum on how to start up a club or association.

“Running a range or a gun club is like running any other business,” said NRA National Clubs & Associations Manager, Elizabeth Bush. “You have to gather information, make improvements, and communicate with the public. Instead of spending a few weeks trying to find the answers on your own, spend a few hours with us and get all the answers you need.”

Dangerous Grannies

They need to be taken down.


Police Officer Shoots 72-Year-Old Texas Woman With Taser During Traffic Stop

Wonder if he got a DNA sample as well.

That just ain't right.

We've all seen the PSH talking points concerning National Park Carry so there's no need for me to rehash them all. But one of them hit kinda close to home and something happened last night that was a stark reminder that 4-legged critters have their own code and can crop up when you least expect them.

I get home from work yesterday and let the dog out so she can mark the fence post in her own style of doggie blogging. Typical. I turn on the radio and start doing the dishes as NPR explains the finer points of just how bat-shit crazy Kim Jong Il is.

About an hour later, Chako(Chay-ko) walks back in through the open door dripping wet from the river and I notice she has something in her mouth. Again, typical...I don't give it much thought. In case you're wondering, she's 50% Black Lab and 50% Pitbull, which simply means she'll run through water in order to bite you. I jest a bit, she has the temperment of a lab with the strength of a pit. As I'm finishing up the dishes, she's crunching down on what sounds like bone. Now I become curious.

Walking into the living room, Chako tries to hide what she has. She fails. What do I find in the jaws of my dog?

The head of an alligator.

I should probably remind you at this point that I live in Oregon. Last time I checked, gators weren't one of our native critters.

My best guess is that it was a Spectacled Cayman, which is legal to own as a pet but not advisable. I've known a few folks who have bought Caymans as cute little babies and got rid of them any way they could once they realized that they tend to grow up. I surmise that's what happened here. Someone bought a baby and let it loose once it reached a certain size.

From snout tip to the center of the eye sockets measures 5 inches. The rows of teeth measured 2.5 inches apart. My best conservative guesstimate is that this little fella was approximately 4 feet long nose to tail.

I can't be certain if my dog came across it alive and ripped the head off or simply brought home an opportunistic chew toy, but it showed no signs of decomposition and smelled like something just pulled from the river(ya, I gave it a sniff, deal with it).

So the next time someone postualates, "What are the chances of you encountering a bear while in the woods?"

Feel free to ask them on my behalf..."What are the chances of a mixed breed dog encountering an alligator in Oregon, ripping off its head and dragging it into your living room for supper?"

I've now had the pleasure of experiencing both.

What to invest in?

This is something I've been preaching for a while.


Good ol' Denis Henegin even makes an appearance.

I even found the video linked on the Brady Bunch web site.

Contraction vs Expansion

While the national Brady Bunch is reduced to focusing on individual states, state firearm organizations are expanding to promote national initiatives.

The Illinois State Rifle Assoc. has established a National PAC to "elect those who support the 2nd Amendment, and work even harder to un-elect those who do not."

How the mighty have fallen.

Quote of the day

Four-and-a-half months into his Administration, it sounds like there is a difference between Candidate Obama and President Obama.

-Paul Helmke

No sh!t sherlock. Candidate Obama was saying anything (while at the same time saying nothing) to get elected. President Obama now has to face the political realities of Washington DC (which he had little experience in having started his campaign mere months into his Senatorship) and trying to KEEP his party and himself getting elected.

Obviously, as is his SOP, that includes throwing all those minorities like gays and gun controllers under the bus when his promises become inconvenient.

Poor Paul, I guess MikeB was right. The Brady Campaign does have the political savvy of schoolchildren if they thought a politician was out for anything but his/her own electability.