Mandatory Storage Bill Sent to Senate Appropriations Committee! Senate Bill 49, which requires mandatory storage of all firearms, would force adults to store all their firearms under lock and key or face an undetermined misdemeanor penalty if a firearm is later used in a suicide or crime. This dangerous bill renders homeowners defenseless and gives criminals a clear advantage in home invasions. If passed, SB49 would add to the already cumbersome bureaucracy that affects gun shops, gun shows, or anywhere else firearms are sold, by requiring them to post a sign informing gun owners that they must lock up their guns. Please contact the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and respectfully urge them to defeat this dangerous legislation. Contact information for the Senate Appropriations Committee members can be found here.
Archive for the ‘Men’s Issues’ Category
Colorado Senate Bill 49
March 9, 2008Gun Control Claims More Victims
March 6, 2008Gun Control Claims More Victims
source: http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0711f.asp
by Benedict D. LaRosa, <!– put date below, before tag –>Posted February 27, 2008
Last year, Virginia Tech University successfully lobbied the state legislature to prohibit concealed-permit holders from carrying a sidearm on campus. At the time, university spokesman Larry Hincker commented,
I’m sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly’s actions because this will help parents, students, faculty, and visitors feel safe on our campus.
In June of last year, the university reemphasized its ban on carrying guns on campus by students, employees, and visitors. Last spring, it disciplined a student with a concealed-carry permit who brought his handgun to class. On April 16, 2007, 43 students and faculty members paid the price for such shortsightedness when a deranged student killed 33 and wounded the remainder with handguns.Despite claims to the contrary, this is not the worst school killing in U.S. history. On May 18, 1927, a disgruntled school-board member killed 45 people and injured 58 — most of them second-grade to sixth-grade children — when he set off bombs at Bath Consolidated School in Bath, Michigan.
In response to the Virginia Tech incident, gun-control advocates predictably demanded more gun-control laws. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), author of the latest assault-weapon ban making its way through Congress, which is a more draconian version of the Clinton 1994 assault-gun ban that expired in 2004, suggested that we need to talk about guns on campus. For once, I agree with Representative McCarthy.
The gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, a Korean national with permanent resident status, had filled out the required forms and undergone the mandatory background check and waiting period, proving once again the uselessness of such laws.
The problem at Virginia Tech was not that there were guns on campus — only the campus police and gunman were armed — but that it was a “gun-free zone.” As a result, there were not enough people carrying guns to neutralize the gunman once he began his rampage. He should have been outgunned after his first shots. To a criminal or deranged person bent on killing, a gun-free zone is a free-fire zone. As is obvious from all such incidents, the police arrive too late to prevent multiple killings.
That’s not to disparage the police. In most cases, they act aggressively and competently. But they are rarely the first to arrive at the scene of a crime. The first ones there are the perpetrators and their victims. That’s when self-defense weapons are needed, not after the damage is done.
Consider that in all such incidents, the shooters are not so deranged as to attack police stations, shooting ranges, or gun shows. They have enough presence of mind to assail unarmed people in gun-free zones because they will encounter no effective resistance. (The one incident in which an individual was foolish enough to threaten to kill hostages where guns were prevalent was at a shooting club in California in July 1999. The gunman was promptly shot by an employee, without harm to the hostages.)
Test my hypothesis. Was anyone carrying a gun killed or injured in the Virginia Tech shooting? Only one, the perpetrator by his own hand. All the other victims were unarmed. They were unarmed because of state law, university policy, the success of gun-control advocates, and a false sense of security. The gun-control lobby has succeeded in stigmatizing gun possession and training; influencing legislators to pass laws making it difficult for law-abiding people to purchase, carry, and use firearms; and convincing people that they can depend on the police to protect them. The students are also at fault for believing the lie that they are not responsible for their own protection in the face of common sense and history.
Handguns and self-defense
Handguns are self-defense tools. They are designed to protect people from those who would harm them. In many cases, merely the appearance of a firearm dissuades an attacker. When you prevent people from carrying self-defense weapons, you are making them easy targets.
Let’s look at some examples to illustrate my point:
How many more victims must be sacrificed on the altar of gun control? How many more Virginia Tech incidents must occur before common sense prevails? Blaming inanimate objects for criminal acts and legislating barriers to self-defense is foolish and self-destructive. The hostile atmosphere to gun possession and training fostered by gun-control advocates is costing lives. Frustration, pain, and other emotions shouldn’t drive legislation; reason should. Though we may not be able to prevent such incidents, we can limit the damage they do.
Instead of listening to gun-control advocates whose advice brings death and injury, we would do better to abide by the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared!
Benedict LaRosa is a historian and writer with undergraduate and graduate degrees in history from the U.S. Air Force Academy and Duke University, respectively. Send him email.
Flyfishing Colorado, one cool DVD
March 6, 2008NEW DVD FROM THE COLORADO DIVISION OF WILDLIFE A BIG HIT WITH FLY FISHERS
Fly fishers dreaming of the days ahead on Colorado lakes and streams can amplify their visions by immersing themselves in “Fly Fishing Colorado”, a new feature-length DVD from the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW).
More than two years in the making, “Fly Fishing Colorado” takes viewers on a year-round tour of fly fishing adventures spanning the entire state, from the loftiest reaches of alpine lakes to warm-water reservoirs, and all points in between. Anglers will get a first-hand look at the best fly fishing that Colorado has to offer, as seen through the lenses of DOW’s revamped video production unit.
Fly fishers can scroll through the pages of a weathered journal to find finicky trout rising to dry flies, or high-speed wipers ripping line from screaming reels. Experience the thrill of catching all three native trout species against a backdrop of spectacular high-mountain scenery. Share the underwater haunts of northern pike, and take a ride on a jet boat for a lazy drift down a gentle river.
The journal also reveals when and where to find a multitude of the famous, and the not-so-well-known insect hatches that occur on major rivers and backcountry streams. Be in the right place at the right time to find trout rising to green drake, blue-winged olive, red quill and pale morning dun mayflies.
Explore the stages of the Mother’s Day caddis hatch from start to finish, and discover the importance of widespread and prolific summer caddis hatches. And travel to mountain park reservoirs for famous still-water hatches and trophy-sized trout. Be there for the action when kokanee salmon, brown trout, and native mountain whitefish make spawning runs up golden corridors of rivers cloaked in the dazzling colors of autumn in the Rocky Mountains.
The journal also is packed with fly fishing instruction for anglers of all skill levels. There are techniques for fishing nymphs, dry flies, and streamers. Proven fly patterns are listed for all events.
“Fly Fishing Colorado” is a useful tool for anglers making plans and scheduling trips to coincide with fly fishing events that they simply must not miss. Viewers may play the entire movie (113 minutes) or select only the scenes that they want to see. An innovative menu allows the user to quickly navigate the monthly pages and all the highlights of the journal.
The DVD is also designed to recruit anglers. Anglers spend nearly $1.5 billion dollars a year in Colorado which is considered to be one of the premier fly fishing destinations in the world. Showing anglers what the state has to offer will help add to Colorado’s prestigious fly fishing reputation. Additional anglers in Colorado will mean more dollars for local economies, more license dollars for wildlife management and the continuation of the conservation ethic.
“Fly Fishing Colorado” is available for $22.00 at DOW service centers and at wildlife.state.co.us/wildlifestore/ , and coming soon to fly shops and sporting goods retailers.
Additional Information: For a copy of the cover art please contact Tyler Baskfield.
For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.
Colorado Politics: Locking up your safety
March 4, 2008COLORADO: Mandatory Storage Bill Sent to Senate Appropriations Committee! Senate Bill 49, which requires mandatory storage of all firearms, would force adults to put all their firearms under lock and key or face an undetermined misdemeanor penalty if a firearm is later used in a suicide or crime. This dangerous bill renders homeowners defenseless and gives criminals a clear advantage in home invasions. If passed, SB49 would add to the already cumbersome bureaucracy that affects gun shops, gun shows, or anywhere else firearms are sold, by requiring them to post a sign informing gun owners that they must lock up their guns. Please contact the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and respectfully urge them to defeat this dangerous legislation. Contact information for the Senate Appropriations Committee members can be found here.
Medal of Honor given to Sioux for heroism
March 3, 2008SOURCE : http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23456218
When, I ask, will my nation learn?
WASHINGTON – President Bush apologized Monday that the country waited decades to honor Master Sgt. Woodrow Wilson Keeble for his military valor in Korea, giving him the Medal of Honor more than 25 years after he died.
Keeble is the first full-blooded Sioux Indian to receive the nation’s highest military award. But it came almost six decades after he saved the lives of fellow soldiers. Keeble died in 1982.
“On behalf of our grateful nation, I deeply regret that this tribute comes decades too late,” Bush said at the White House medal ceremony. “Woody will never hold this medal in his hands or wear it on his uniform. He will never hear a president thank him for his heroism. He will never stand here to see the pride of his friends and loved ones, as I see in their eyes now.”
~snip~
A Sure-Fire Argument on the Second Amendment
February 24, 2008A Sure-Fire Argument on the Second Amendment
by Rick Lynch, <!– put date below, before tag –>February 18, 2007With the Supreme Court’s decision to examine the constitutionality of D.C.’s gun ban, the nation once again turns to an intense examination of the wording of the Second Amendment. One way to understand an amendment whose words have confused generations is to study its somewhat confusing text. But another way is to examine at whose request the amendment was written. For example, if 200 years from now constitutional scholars are trying to determine whether the Smith Tax Act of 2008 increased or decreased the taxes Social Security recipients paid on their retirement income, knowing that the act came into being as the result of pressure from AARP would pretty much end that debate. This, then, is a vital question when seeking to understand the Second Amendment. For if you know the context in which the Amendment was written, if you know for whom it was written, if you know who was clamoring for it and what were their concerns, then that can help settle any argument of individual rights versus collective rights. The Bill of Rights was written by Congressman James Madison to fulfill a promise made to the Anti-Federalists after pressure from that group had cost him a Senate seat — pressure brought to bear because of his opposition to amending the Constitution with a bill of rights. The Bill of Rights, then, as any history book will confirm, came into being to satisfy the single most suspicious, vociferous, and relentless foes of the new federal government. That is the all-important context in which the Bill of Rights was created. The Anti-Federalists, men filled to varying degrees with fear, mistrust, and loathing of the new federal government, insisted on a bill of rights as additional shackles imposed on that new government. Knowing that alone, knowing that the famous Bill came into existence only to please those most apprehensive of the new government, definitively ends any confusion or debate surrounding the meaning of the Second Amendment. There is simply no way on Earth the Anti-Federalists would have surrendered to the new and mistrusted government the right to own any gun they wanted at any time they wanted in any number they wanted. To believe differently, to believe that the Second Amendment actually gives the federal government the authority to regulate firearms, one must believe the absolutely unbelievable. One must believe that the Anti-Federalists, fearing and loathing federal power, compelled Madison to compose this laundry list of rights, this list of things over which the government was to have no authority and, very near the very top of the list, these people in fear of the federal government desired a clause that reads, “Despite the fact that Article I, Section 8 does not empower you federal government people to infringe our firearms rights, we hereby correct that mistake and surrender to you a right which we previously held, but wish now to give away.” We must further believe that James Madison was such a monumentally incompetent and abysmal writer that, when trying to give the federal government this new authority to regulate the private ownership of firearms, the last fourteen words of the Amendment read, “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” We must also believe that revolutionary American history conceals some hitherto unknown and utterly undocumented groundswell of public desire for gun control. Picture in your mind for a moment the rough-and-tumble individualist who gave birth to this nation, a man who had tamed a wilderness, fought Indian wars on and off for 180 years, and successfully faced down the world’s mightiest empire. Hold a picture of that man in your head for a moment and then try to imagine his being told that this new federal government would have the power to regulate his ownership of firearms in any manner it saw fit, including imprisoning him for possession of any firearm for any reason at any time. No honest or serious person could ever claim to believe that any part of the American electorate in the 1700s desired federal gun control, let alone the Anti-Federalists who forced the creation of the Bill of Rights.Rick Lynch is an author living in Virginia. He is finishing a book on constitutional issues entitled They Are Vicious. Send him email.
Kennedy Introduces A Handgun Ban In Congress…Again
February 24, 20081974, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said that the “manufacture and sale of handguns should be terminated. Existing handguns should be acquired by the states.” Since then, Kennedy has been the most anti-handgun member of the Senate, having introduced legislation to ban handguns, register handguns, license handgun owners, ban ammunition, authorize the Consumer Products Safety Commission to prohibit the manufacture of firearms and ammunition, and impose waiting periods on handgun purchases.
As we recently reported, on February 7 this year, ten days after endorsing another handgun ban supporter–Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.)–for president, Kennedy renewed his efforts to ban handguns by introducing S. 2605, a bill that seeks to ban the manufacture, importation, and transfer (sale, etc.) of any semi-automatic pistol that does not possess “a microscopic array of characters that identify the make, model, and serial number of the pistol . . . etched into the breech face and firing pin of the pistol,” and stamp both sets of characters into the cartridge case of a round of ammunition, when the round is fired. On the same day, Representative Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) introduced an identical bill, H.R. 5266, called the “National Crime Gun Identification Act.”
The Kennedy-Becerra bill is much more severe than the micro-stamping handgun ban passed in California last year. Where the California ban applies only to models of semi-automatic pistols that are produced after January 1, 2010, the Kennedy-Becerra bill would apply to all models of semi-automatic pistols.
Micro-stamping has repeatedly failed in scientific tests. Micro-stampings are easily removed. And most gun crimes cannot be solved by micro-stamping, or do not require micro-stamping to be solved. Additionally, most criminals who use guns get them through unregulated channels, thus micro-stamping may increase gun thefts, home invasions and other burglaries, and expand the black market in guns. Moreover, most guns do not automatically eject fired cartridge cases, only a small percentage of guns will be micro-stamped, and most violent crimes are committed without guns. Finally, micro-stamping would waste money—money that is better spent on traditional crime-fighting and crime-solving efforts.
SOURCE:
Lock up your safety, yet again
February 24, 2008Mandatory Storage Bill Sent to Senate Appropriations Committee! Senate Bill 49, which requires mandatory storage of all firearms, would force adults to put all their firearms under lock and key or face an undetermined misdemeanor penalty if a firearm is later used in a suicide or crime. This dangerous bill renders homeowners defenseless and gives criminals a clear advantage in home invasions. If passed, SB49 would add to the already cumbersome bureaucracy that affects gun shops, gun shows, or anywhere else firearms are sold, by requiring them to post a sign informing gun owners that they must lock up their guns. Please contact the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and respectfully urge them to defeat this dangerous legislation. Contact information for the Senate Appropriations Committee members can be found here.
2008 COLORADO BIG GAME
February 24, 20082008 COLORADO BIG GAME BROCHURE IS NOW AVAILABLEThe Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) 2008 Big Game Brochure is now available.
Hunters can obtain a hard-copy of the new brochure at license agents and DOW offices throughout the state. A printable version is available online at the DOW Web site (www.wildlife.state.co.us). Hunters who applied for a big game license in 2007 will automatically be mailed a copy of the new regulations.Changes for the 2008 season include the following:
Doe Deer Fees: License fees are reduced for doe deer hunting in specific units in the northwest portion of the state (units 11, 12, 13, 22, 23, 24).
Muzzleloading Restrictions: Electronic and battery-operated devices are illegal during muzzleloading seasons.
Muzzleloader Transport: There are new restrictions for carrying muzzleloaders on motor vehicles. Electronic ignition muzzleloaders may be used during rifle season, but must be unloaded when possessed in a motor vehicle.
Ranching For Wildlife (RFW): Most RFW licenses are now List A, which means you can only have 1 a year. Special population management, youth, mobility-impaired and donation RFW licenses are List C.
Mandatory Bear and Mountain Lion Inspection Changes: Hunters now must make sure their animal is unfrozen at the time of inspection. A new regulation also allows the DOW to extract and retain a premolar tooth for analysis.
White-tailed Deer Hunts: More hunts are offered for white-tailed deer this year in eastern Colorado.
Chronic Wasting Disease Transport Restrictions: Transport restrictions for hunters who harvest animals in CWD units have been eliminated.
Hunters are encouraged to apply for big game licenses online at the DOW Web site. By applying online hunters will save time and money over mailing in their applications. It is also much more difficult to make an error when applying online.
The DOW would like to remind big game hunters who are interested in applying for an elk, deer, pronghorn, moose or bear license that their applications must be postmarked before midnight of April 1.
Hunters who have questions regarding the application process can contact the DOW customer service center at (303) 297-1192
For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.
BATFE nominee Michael Sullivan
February 24, 2008Gun Owners of America’s Executive Director, Larry Pratt, today
blasted BATFE nominee Michael Sullivan as “unfit for office” —
characterizing him as being “as anti-gun as Ted Kennedy.”In a series of answers to interrogatories submitted by Louisiana
Republican Senator David Vitter, Sullivan revealed that:
* He would not rescind BATFE’s policy of revoking federal licenses
for simple paperwork violations not involving “criminal intent;”
* He would not back down on BATFE’s illegal and abusive policies of
harassing gun show attendees;
* He supports anti-gun legislation by New York Democrat Chuck
Schumer, but opposes pro-gun legislation dealing with interstate
transfers sponsored by conservative Republicans;
* He defends revoking a license of a dealer with a 99.96% accuracy
rate — a rate which is far better than BATFE’s.
In fact, in dozens of responses to questions posed by Vitter,
Sullivan refused to even feign a conciliatory tone.
“I didn’t expect pro-gun conservatism from Sullivan,” said Pratt.
“But you would have thought he would have been less obvious in his
efforts to repeatedly poke Vitter in the eye.”
GOA commended Vitter’s intention to continue to “hold” Sullivan’s
nomination. “If Republicans expect the Second Amendment community to
support their presidential candidate in November,” said Pratt,
“they
may want to reconsider packing a GOP administration with anti-gun
zealots.”
Conservative Libertarian Outpost 