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Election 2012: Which candidates really believe like those that send them to foggy bottom do?

January 8, 2012

We often see in candidates the populist notion, or action that shows them to be followers of the wind. Bill Clinton being the most famous of those that rule by polls. Polls can, and are twisted by those that put the damned things together. Like statistics, they can always be manipulated to show whatever bias the pollster wishes to convey to further their position. Be that the NRA (full disclosure I am a Life Member.) or NOW.

However, answering questioneres about a subject can provide insights into a candidate. What follows is from an email from a pro gun advocacy group, NAGR, with a link following so that you may join or donate to the cause should you choose to do so.

With the Iowa caucuses just a few days behind us, and with New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada choosing their Republican candidates soon, I wanted to write to you and give you a quick update on the NAGR Presidential Survey program.

As you know, NAGR has mailed every candidate for President an official NAGR Gun Rights Survey.

Ron Paul is the only remaining Republican candidate who has returned his survey 100% in favor of gun rights.

Over the last few weeks and months, I’ve asked you to call the campaigns of Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry to demand that each candidate return their gun rights survey 100% in favor of the Second Amendment.

Believe me, your calls worked. Repesentatives from each of those campaigns called NAGR offices, demanded we instruct our members and supporters to stop calling and to send them a survey.

Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry were hurt severely in Iowa because they stonewalled gun owners by refusing to return their surveys, and I think the longer that Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney ignore gun owners, the more it will hurt them as well.

Each candidate has the NAGR Presidential Survey in hand. However, we didn’t stop the calls, and we won’t. Each of the remaining candidates needs to know that gun owners have a powerful voice and we will assume that silence is a sign that they are hiding an anti-gun position.

I have serious concerns about Romney, Santorum, Gingrich and Perry. It’s their records that worry me.

Let me take a minute or two right now to remind you about the positions of the four Presidential candidates who have so far refused to return their National Association for Gun Rights Presidential Survey.

Mitt Romney:

So far Mitt Romney has refused to respond to his NAGR gun rights survey, perhaps because when Mitt Romney was Governor of ultra-liberal Massachusetts he signed a bill to ban an entire class of firearms.

Would he do the same thing — or even worse — as President of the United States? His record indicates that he would.

Mitt Romney supports the Brady Registration Act, mandatory 5-day waiting periods, mandatory firearms ID cards, the Federal Feinstein Gun Ban (so-called “assault weapons ban”) and he signed the Massachusetts Semi-Auto Ban in 2004.

He even went as far as to say that he supported Massachusetts’ tough anti-gun laws: “We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them… I won’t chip away at them; I believe they protect us and provide for our safety.”

And to throw fuel on top of Mitt Romney’s anti-gun fire, he received the endorsement of John McCain this week, who himself has recorded promotional commercials for anti-gun groups hell-bent on restricting our Second Amendment rights.

Rick Santorum:

If you’ve watched any of the Presidential debates, you’ve noticed that Rick Santorum claims time and again to be a “fighter” who has “led on conservative issues.”

Rick Santorum’s record on the Second Amendment, however, tells a different story.

In the 90s, he voted to support the Lautenberg Gun Ban, which stripped law-abiding gun owners of their Second Amendment rights for life, simply because they spanked their children or did nothing more than grab a spouses wrist.

He voted for a bill in 1999 disguised as an attempt to increase penalties on drug traffickers with guns… but it also included a provision to require federal background checks at gun shows.

In 2000, Santorum voted to force pawn shops to require a background check on anyone coming into the store to sell a firearm.

And then he voted with gun-controlling Democrats Dianne Fienstein and Frank Lautenberg to mandate locks on handguns in 2005.

But worst of all, Rick Santorum has a storied history of bailing out anti-gun Republicans facing reelection.

Rick Santorum came to anti-gun Arlen Specter’s defense in 2004 when he was down in the polls against pro-gun Republican Pat Toomey. Specter won and continued to push for gun control during his years in the Senate.

He also supported and openly campaigned for anti-gun New Jersey governor, Christine Todd Whitman.

It certainly appears that Rick Santorum has no regrets about his past anti-gun record. Worse, it appears he’d be happy to continue along this path as President.

Newt Gingrich:

For those who have followed Newt Gingrich’s career, the revelation that he talks out of both sides of his mouth won’t be a surprise.

Despite claiming to be pro-gun, Newt Gingrich’s reign as Speaker was downright hostile to our Second Amendment rights.

Newt supports the Brady National Gun Registry, a national biometric thumbprint database for gun purchasers, the Lautenberg Gun Ban and the “Criminal Safezones Act.”

Newt doesn’t think the Brady Instant Gun Registry goes far enough — he wants thumbprints:

“I think we prefer to go to instant check on an immediate basis and try to accelerate implementing instant checks so that you could literally check by thumbprint… Instant check is a much better system than the Brady process.” — June 27, 1997

Gingrich may claim to be pro-gun . . .

But his record indicates otherwise, and his refusal to answer his NAGR survey should give any Second Amendment supporter cause for concern.

Rick Perry:

Texas Governor Rick Perry has received an earful from NAGR members over the past several months for refusing to return his Candidate Survey.

His strategy seems to be to tell gun owners “trust me” while keeping completely silent on what he would do about our gun rights if elected President.

Over the years, gun owners have learned that this is a failed strategy.

George H.W. Bush ran as a pro-gun candidate for President in 1988, but when elected, things changed.

First, he signed an Executive Order banning the importation of so-called “assault weapons.”

Not only that, but it was under President Bush that “Operation Triggerlock,” which dramatically increased funding and power for the BATFE, was implemented.

Of course, as Governor of Texas, Rick Perry did make some minor improvements in state law for gun owners.

It is, however, one thing to act pro-gun as Governor of a state like Texas and quite another to be a pro-gun President of the United States.

Please keep up the pressure on these four Presidential candidates who continue to stonewall gun owners.

Give each campaign a call and demand the candidates return their National Association for Gun Rights Presidential Survey — at once:

Mitt Romney: 857-288-3500

Rick Santorum: 603-518-5199

Newt Gingrich: 678-973-2306

Rick Perry: 855-887-5627

You and I know that we have the most anti-gun President in the history of our country right now in the Oval Office . . .

. . . but perhaps even more dangerous would be a Republican with a proven anti-gun history cutting backroom, anti-gun deals.

National Association for Gun Rights

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, States Rights, Wordpress Political Blogs | 5 Comments »

Year in Review for 2011; Gun Owners of America

December 21, 2011
“In the 35 years since its foundation, the GOA has maintained its staunch opposition to any form of gun control, often taking a harder stand than the NRA.” — Ben Garrett, award-winning journalist, newspaper editor and blogger
With your help, Gun Owners of America was able to accomplish quite a bit in 2011. We thank you for your support, which makes this e-mail and web service possible. In order to continue serving you into the next year, we hope that you will please consider either:
2. If you are already a GOA member, giving a gift membership to GOA to your family and friends during this holiday season.
As we approach the Christmas holidays, we certainly have a lot to be thankful for. Here’s a partial list of what we accomplished together this year.
January
* One of the first acts of the Congress in 2011 was to read the Constitution aloud, for the first time in history, on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte led the effort in the House and credited GOA for helping make it happen.
“I want to thank Gun Owners of America for early support of the idea to read the U.S. Constitution on the House floor and for taking the lead to rally the grassroots in support of the Read the Constitution effort,” Goodlatte said.
Of course, reading the Constitution is one thing, abiding by it is another. And that is a battle GOA brings to Capitol Hill on a daily basis.
*GOA began a year-long effort to call attention to Fast and Furious. This operation that was run out of the Justice Department helped criminals buy guns “legally” from American gun stores -­ with the hopes that the ensuing violence would drive calls for more gun control.
February – March
* GOA began warning its activists that anti-gun Democrats might try to attach gun control restrictions on a bill to reauthorize funding the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). These proposals included a ban on high capacity magazines; restrictions that would end gun shows; and, potentially, a provision stripping millions of gun owners of their rights by placing them on “watch lists” without any due process of law.
GOA worked on the Hill by putting pro-gun amendments into the hands of certain Senators. Our efforts to counter these disastrous proposals with pro-gun initiatives backed the gun grabbers into a comer and stymied their plans.
*GOA and its activists won temporary victories when the House voted to repeal the anti-gun ObamaCare law and to adopt the Boren-Rehberg amendment — which would defund ATF’s latest gun registry.
Gun Owners of America contacted every member of the House of Representatives prior to winning the votes on ObamaCare and Boren-Rehberg. Sadly, both of these victories were temporary, as the Democrat Senate refused to go along.
* GOA began a national campaign to defeat restrictive legislation introduced by New York Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D). Her bill, HR 308, would resurrect the ban on high capacity magazines which passed during the Clinton administration — but later sunset in 2004. (GOA will spend the year mobilizing gun owners against this threat, and can thankfully report that, by year’s end, her bill has remained bottled up in committee.)
April-May
* After President Obama nominated Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, GOA worked hard to alert Senators to his extreme, anti-gun record. Like many radical progressives, Liu believes that while our Second Amendment rights might have been necessary in the 1700s, they are no longer needed today. Thanks, in large part, to Liu’s radical views on the Second Amendment, his nomination was narrowly defeated.
* Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) tied the Senate in knots for more than a week fighting for a GOA­backed amendment which would have protected 4473’s and other gun records from blanket searches by the ATF under the so-called PATRIOT Act.
Because many leaders in his own party refused to back him, Sen. Paul was not successful this time, but he put a marker down that gun rights would not be violated without a fight from the pro-gun community.
Sen. Paul thanked “Gun Owners of America for their strong support of my amendment to protect the privacy of gun owners.”
June – August
* GOA activated its grassroots members in opposition to S. 679, the Cover-up Protection Act — a bill that would exempt hundreds of federal appointees from Senate confirmation, thus allowing the President to stack his administration with flaming anti-gunners.
This battle underscored the power of the grassroots — and the effect that phone calls and emails can have upon their elected officials. After hearing from thousands upon thousands of GOA’s activists, Capitol Hill staffers confided to GOA that key Senators reversed course and decided to add amendments which would require the most important Presidential appointments to still be approved by the Senate.
* The crescendo over the Operation Fast and Furious debacle continued to build. Dubbed as Obama’s Watergate, Fast and Furious highlights the extent that his corrupt administration will go to demonize gun owners. GOA has spent the first half of the year educating the media and the grassroots over Fast and Furious — and for its part, CBS and Fox News lead the media in covering this fiasco.
September
* GOA began to energize its grassroots in favor of concealed carry reciprocity bill introduced by Georgia Rep. Paul Broun. His bill (HR 2900) will allow law-abiding gun owners to carry out­of-state without requiring them to possess a concealed carry permit in the state they are visiting.
*Gun Owners of America briefed an important case before the U.S. Supreme Court earlier in the year — and, in September, we won! The Court handed down its decision in Bond v. United States, where the U.S. government had made a “federal case” out of a domestic dispute involving a Pennsylvania woman who injured her neighbor.
There was absolutely no reason why the federal government should have been prosecuting Carol Bond, as opposed to the local authorities. So GOA got involved with the intent to help drive the federal government back into the parameters as outlined in the Constitution — a result which will, most definitely, benefit gun owners.
October- November
* In late October, GOA began pressing hard for congressmen to start petitioning for Eric Holder’s resignation. Within a week, the number of Representatives calling for Holder’s resignation rose to more than two dozen — and the number has since doubled to more than four dozen.
* The Obama Administration issued regulations earlier this year requiring agencies to lie to the public under certain circumstances. GOA alerted its grassroots in October to these regs and urged Congress to defund the administration’s ability to enforce them. The Administration pulled the regulations within the week.
* In November, Gun Owners Foundation won a Supreme Court case in defense of a gun owner in Virginia. Russell Ernest Smith had been wrongfully convicted of “willfully and intentionally” making a false statement on his 4473 form when purchasing a firearm. But GOF believed that the government’s argument against Smith was specious.
So Gun Owners Foundation prepared its amicus brief and submitted it on behalf of Mr. Smith. GOF was the only group making the case that Smith’s conviction should be overturned. After waiting several months for the verdict, the Virginia Supreme Court announced its verdict … and Smith emerged victorious.
What’s both interesting and exciting in this case is that, in overturning Smith’s conviction, the judges used an argument that GOF had made — an argument which his own lawyer did not even make. GOF is clearly making an impact upon the courts in defense of gun owners’ rights!
* Concealed carry reciprocity legislation passed on the floor of the House by a 272-154 vote. Representatives had two bills to choose from — although the weaker bill passed. The battle now moves to the Senate, where GOA will work to amend the legislation with the provisions of HR 2900, the “constitutional carry” friendly bill.
December
* GOA worked hard this year to stall (or defeat) the nomination of anti-gun judges. One of Obama’s picks who stalled out was Caitlin Halligan, a judicial nominee with a history of anti­gun activism. But with most of the nation focusing its attention on the upcoming holidays, GOA had to call the troops into battle after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid tried to ram through Halligan’s confirmation in early December.
* The response of Gun Owners of America members to the GOA alert was overwhelming and played an important role in defeating the confirmation of Halligan. On the Hill, Gun Owners of America briefed Senate offices right up to the time of the vote about the danger of confirming Halligan. Thankfully, in a procedural maneuver known as a “cloture vote,” Reid fell six votes short of getting the needed votes to move the nomination forward for a final vote.
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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Immigration, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, States Rights, Wordpress Political Blogs | 3 Comments »

Grilled Holder for lunch? Fast and Furious; Dead Americans and dead Mexicans. All for political gain.

December 13, 2011

Nearly a year ago I posted here about Operation Gun Runner, also known as Fast and Furious. I speculated at the time that the real reason for this botched operation was not for any noble cause. Nope, it was to justify the passing of ever more restrictions on your inalienable rights. Well, I suppose that the usual suspects had to come up somehow with a justification for their ninety percent lie…

The government’s “gun walking” scandal heated up a Capitol Hill hearing this week.

Attorney General Eric Holder appeared before the House Judiciary Committee for an oversight hearing on the Department of Justice, but Operation Fast and Furious dominated the discussion.

Holder, as he has already done numerous times in testimony before Congress, coninued his practice of stonewalling and deflecting blame for the failed scheme that led to thousands of firearms “walking” across the border into Mexico and into the hands of violent drug cartels.

Committee members grilled Holder on misleading Congress, not dealing appropriately with the individuals who called the shots on Fast and Furious and, even worse, for using the guns that the government allowed to “walk” to Mexico as an excuse for greater gun control in the U.S.

Fast and Furious Leading to More Gun Control

From his opening statement, Rep. Daryl Issa (R-CA), a chief congressional investigator looking into Fast and Furious, made clear that gun control, not crime control, is really the main objective of the Obama administration.

Rep. Issa pointed to recent ATF regulations to register many long-gun purchasers in southwest border states:

The idea that regulations, without any approval of Congress, to create databases in the southwestern states…clearly shows that, in fact, this administration is more interested in building databases, more interested in talking about gun control than actually controlling [the Fast and Furious guns].

Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), a strong ally of gun owners, further pressed the point, assuring Holder that:

If the American people learned that the motivations for [Fast and Furious] was somehow to make a case to deprive them of their Second Amendment rights or to make a case to further the Department’s ability to further regulate gun rights within the United States, that would make them very angry.

Rep. Franks went on to read from an email between Mark Chait, ATF Field Operations Assistant Director, and Bill Newell, ATF’s Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious.  Chait wrote:

Bill – can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same [licensed gun dealer] and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.

The demand letter Chait was referring to is a regulation (which is in violation of federal laws protecting gun owners’ privacy) requiring more than 8,500 firearms dealers in four states to report multiple sales of long guns to the ATF.

In other words, the Justice Department helped to create a huge mess, and is now seeking more authority to regulate firearms to clean it up.  At the same time, the Department has taken no action to hold anyone accountable within the government.

No Accountability at ATF

Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) questioned the Attorney General about holding specific people responsible for the government’s actions.

“Who is the person in the United States government that made the decision…to facilitate the guns going to Mexico,” Rep. Poe asked Holder, who claimed not to know.

After the hearing, Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren brought up that question to committee member Steve King (R-IA).

“Whoever was so stupid to authorize this operation…is still sitting there with the Justice Department because no one will tell us who the one is with such flawed judgment,” Van Susteren said.

King replied that, “If Eric Holder will not identify that person or answer that question, you have to wonder if Eric Holder isn’t the person.”

Holder remains defiant, and has rebuffed calls to step down or to fire those involved.

GOA Petitions Congress to Get ATF off the Backs of Gun Owners

 

President Obama and his Attorney General are clearly going after American gun owners, and they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal of more gun control.

Eric Holder should be fired immediately for his mishandling of Fast and Furious, and then further investigated for possible criminal wrongdoing.

 

But there needs to be more done, which is why GOA is urging Congress to take firearms out of the ATF’s jurisdiction.

The Fast and Furious scandal is not an isolated incident, but just the latest in a long string of abuses by the agency.  As far back as 1982, a Senate committee noted that ATF “has trampled upon the second amendment by chilling the exercise of the right to keep and bear arms by law-abiding citizens.”

But even in light of its many documented abuses, the agency has continued to grow in its budget, personnel, and mission.

This rogue, unconstitutional agency is dedicated to infringing on Americans’ fundamental right to keep and bear arms. And left unchecked, they will regulate it right out of existence.

If you haven’t already signed the petition, please do it today.  Citing a long string of agency abuses, it asks the Congress to exercise its constitutional authority to get the ATF out of the firearms business.  The petition goes directly to your Representative and two Senators.

The ATF has abused the rights of gun owners for far too long.  If enough Americans make their voices heard, we can do away with this unconstitutional agency.

So please, click here to sign the petition today, and then help spread the word.

SOURCE

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 6 Comments »

Grilled Holder on the menu..? Democrats commit murder to further agenda

December 10, 2011

The government’s “gun walking” scandal heated up a Capitol Hill hearing this week.

Attorney General Eric Holder appeared before the House Judiciary Committee for an oversight hearing on the Department of Justice, but Operation Fast and Furious dominated the discussion.

Holder, as he has already done numerous times in testimony before Congress, coninued his practice of stonewalling and deflecting blame for the failed scheme that led to thousands of firearms “walking” across the border into Mexico and into the hands of violent drug cartels.

Committee members grilled Holder on misleading Congress, not dealing appropriately with the individuals who called the shots on Fast and Furious and, even worse, for using the guns that the government allowed to “walk” to Mexico as an excuse for greater gun control in the U.S.

Fast and Furious Leading to More Gun Control

From his opening statement, Rep. Daryl Issa (R-CA), a chief congressional investigator looking into Fast and Furious, made clear that gun control, not crime control, is really the main objective of the Obama administration.

Rep. Issa pointed to recent ATF regulations to register many long-gun purchasers in southwest border states:

The idea that regulations, without any approval of Congress, to create databases in the southwestern states…clearly shows that, in fact, this administration is more interested in building databases, more interested in talking about gun control than actually controlling [the Fast and Furious guns].

Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ), a strong ally of gun owners, further pressed the point, assuring Holder that:

If the American people learned that the motivations for [Fast and Furious] was somehow to make a case to deprive them of their Second Amendment rights or to make a case to further the Department’s ability to further regulate gun rights within the United States, that would make them very angry.

Rep. Franks went on to read from an email between Mark Chait, ATF Field Operations Assistant Director, and Bill Newell, ATF’s Phoenix Special Agent in Charge of Fast and Furious.  Chait wrote:

Bill – can you see if these guns were all purchased from the same [licensed gun dealer] and at one time. We are looking at anecdotal cases to support a demand letter on long gun multiple sales. Thanks.

The demand letter Chait was referring to is a regulation (which is in violation of federal laws protecting gun owners’ privacy) requiring more than 8,500 firearms dealers in four states to report multiple sales of long guns to the ATF.

In other words, the Justice Department helped to create a huge mess, and is now seeking more authority to regulate firearms to clean it up.  At the same time, the Department has taken no action to hold anyone accountable within the government.

No Accountability at ATF

Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) questioned the Attorney General about holding specific people responsible for the government’s actions.

“Who is the person in the United States government that made the decision…to facilitate the guns going to Mexico,” Rep. Poe asked Holder, who claimed not to know.

After the hearing, Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren brought up that question to committee member Steve King (R-IA).

“Whoever was so stupid to authorize this operation…is still sitting there with the Justice Department because no one will tell us who the one is with such flawed judgment,” Van Susteren said.

King replied that, “If Eric Holder will not identify that person or answer that question, you have to wonder if Eric Holder isn’t the person.”

Holder remains defiant, and has rebuffed calls to step down or to fire those involved.

GOA Petitions Congress to Get ATF off the Backs of Gun Owners

 

President Obama and his Attorney General are clearly going after American gun owners, and they will stop at nothing to achieve their goal of more gun control.

Eric Holder should be fired immediately for his mishandling of Fast and Furious, and then further investigated for possible criminal wrongdoing.

 

But there needs to be more done, which is why GOA is urging Congress to take firearms out of the ATF’s jurisdiction.

The Fast and Furious scandal is not an isolated incident, but just the latest in a long string of abuses by the agency.  As far back as 1982, a Senate committee noted that ATF “has trampled upon the second amendment by chilling the exercise of the right to keep and bear arms by law-abiding citizens.”

But even in light of its many documented abuses, the agency has continued to grow in its budget, personnel, and mission.

This rogue, unconstitutional agency is dedicated to infringing on Americans’ fundamental right to keep and bear arms. And left unchecked, they will regulate it right out of existence.

If you haven’t already signed the petition, please do it today.  Citing a long string of agency abuses, it asks the Congress to exercise its constitutional authority to get the ATF out of the firearms business.  The petition goes directly to your Representative and two Senators.

The ATF has abused the rights of gun owners for far too long.  If enough Americans make their voices heard, we can do away with this unconstitutional agency.

So please, click here to sign the petition today, and then help spread the word.

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Immigration, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 5 Comments »

Gun Runner get’s really Fast and Furious

December 6, 2011

A rogue agency, lead by rogues, populated by rogues? Just what do people expect? Any truly legitimate duties assigned to them should be turned over to the FBI. Like that will happen under the epic failure known as obama.

The congressional investigation into the gunrunning scandal known as Fast and Furious is in full swing this week, with the House Judiciary Committee to hold a round of hearings on Thursday.

More and more reporters in the mainstream media are now taking a closer look at the scandal, which GOA first began alerting members to in January.  Under the program, thousands of guns purchased with federal tax dollars were allowed to “walk” into Mexico, at which point they disappeared into the hands of violent drug cartels.

Just this week, the New York Times reported that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is involved in an enormous, multi-million dollar money laundering scheme aimed, like Fast and Furious, at Mexican drug cartels.

But neither program has resulted in significant arrests (not to mention convictions) of drug kingpins, and no cartels have been brought down after several years of activities by agencies spread across the federal bureaucracy.

One former DEA official expressed frustration to the Times, noting that, “My rule was that if we are going to launder money, we better show results.  Otherwise, the D.E.A. could wind up being the largest money launderer in the business, and that money results in violence and deaths.”

This news infuriated Rep. Darrell Issa, the powerful chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, who announced that his investigation will be expanding to include the activities of the DEA “money-running” scandal.

In a blistering letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Rep. Issa takes Holder to task for arming drug cartels with thousands of firearms, and bankrolling their operations with millions of American taxpayer dollars—perhaps, even hundreds of millions of dollars.

Issa wrote to Holder that the DEA revelation “again calls your leadership into question.  The managerial structure you have implemented lacks appropriate operational safeguards to prevent the implementation of such dangerous schemes.  The consequences have been disastrous.”

With every news report, more and more information leaks out from a Justice Department that seems intent on stonewalling and misleading the Congress.  GOA is keeping the pressure on congressmen to call for Holder’s resignation and to pursue possible criminal wrongdoing by government bureaucrats.

GOA leaders will be attending Thursday’s hearing and will be briefing the media on this burgeoning scandal.

It is also important to continue to remind the politicians that, according to the testimony of many current and former ATF officials, one of the goals of Fast and Furious was to bolster the case for more gun control laws here at home.

SOURCE

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, States Rights, Wordpress Political Blogs | 3 Comments »

Which old Witch?

December 5, 2011

Harry Reid Attempting to Ram Through Another Judge

 

With the help of tons of emails from Gun Owners of America members that poured into the Senate earlier this year, a gun-hating Obama judicial nominee had been kept from coming to the floor for a vote.

 

But thanks to good old Harry Reid, who likes to pretend he supports gun rights, that nominee is coming up for a vote on Tuesday.

 

Using his power as Majority Leader, Senator Reid made a procedural move last week to force a vote on Caitlin Halligan, formerly the solicitor general of New York and an avid leader in the effort to destroy firearms manufacturers using frivolous litigation.

 

Click here to send your Senators a pre-written letter.

 

Reid scheduled the on Halligan vote for this Tuesday, December 6. Consider it an early Christmas present for his anti-gun pals.

 

Gun Owners of America began in February briefing Senate members on the dangers of confirming Halligan to a seat on the D.C. Court of Appeals — sometimes called the second highest court in the land.

 

As New York’s solicitor general, Halligan was one of the chief lawyers responsible for New York’s baseless and politically motivated efforts to bankrupt gun manufacturers using frivolous litigation. In so doing, Halligan proved that she places liberal political activism above fealty to the law.

 

Halligan’s public hatred for firearms was only matched by her zealotry inside the courtroom. In a speech on May 5, 2003, Halligan called for “handgun manufacturers [to be held] liable for criminal acts committed with handguns.”

 

Certainly, no other manufacturer of another item — whether it be cars, baseball bats, or anything else — would be held liable for the criminal misuse of its product. And, as Halligan well knows, the application of that principle to firearms would surely eliminate the manufacture of firearms in America.

 

After attempts of legal extortion of the firearms industry were repudiated by a bipartisan vote in Congress, Halligan’s office did not let up on attacking gun rights, signing a brief calling for New York courts to declare the federal Gun Makers’ Protection Act unconstitutional.

 

Finally, Halligan, in written testimony submitted to the Senate in connection with her nomination, attempted to conceal the extent of her anti-gun animus.

 

Halligan’s failure to provide information that would clarify her statements, thus keeping her testimony from being misleading, constitutes “fraud” against the Senate. As such, the only role she should play in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is the role of a defendant.

 

But, of course, none of this matter to Harry Reid. He already did his part getting two strident anti-gun Obama judges onto the Supreme Court, and now he’s doing what he can to pack the Appeals Courts with radical leftists as well.

 

We have to stop this Reid/Obama court-packing scheme. Please act now, as the vote is scheduled for this Tuesday.

 

Click here to send your Senators a prewritten email message.

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, States Rights, Wordpress Political Blogs | 1 Comment »

Some thoughts on term limits

December 5, 2011

Like everything, term limits has it’s pros, and cons. Back in the day I helped the Libertarians spearhead the term limits law in Colorado, and yes, it got co opted by the Republicans. This was one time however when the Utilitarian came out in me.

We cleaned out so much dead wood and big government, I am the world types that I thought we had reached near political heaven…

That lasted about a handful of years and then we had to come to grips with the fact that now we didn’t have the quantity, nor the quality of freedom loving people willing to take a pay cut to serve in the Colorado legislature. (It barely paid minimum wage.)

Tabor was passed along with other laws that actually repealed laws that restricted the liberty and freedom of the people of the state. Private property laws were also reinforced. But then the inevitable happened.

I posted this in response to a thread over at Texas Fred’s. There are times when something appears to be the absolute best solution to a problem. Only to find out later that it really just backfired.

My wonderful adopted home was invaded. By miscreants from my actual home state, New York City, Chicago, and so on. Those people Californicated Colorful Colorado. Leftest of the worse sorts were elected, and most if not all the gains that had been made in the cause of freedom were abolished, or made toothless. Laws were passed that would insure that freedom loving people would have a difficult time getting elected, and gerrymandering reached heights that make the firestorm about that in Texas look like a schoolyard spitting match! Laws that take away your rights forever for less than felony behaviors or severe mental illness got their starts in Colorado during this time. Calling taxes something other than taxes started there as well.

And getting anyone elected that thought otherwise in any place besides conservative strongholds became all but impossible.

My point in all this is to remind everyone that most things in life have a double edged sword effect, and term limits is right there with all the rest of the unintended consequences.

How often must people be reminded that the grass is not always greener on the other side of the hill?

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Posted in Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Hunting Fishing and the Great Outdoors, Immigration, Law, Local Politics Colorado, mysandry, News, Non Compos Mentis, Politics, States Rights, Wordpress Political Blogs | Comments Off on Some thoughts on term limits

Anti-gun Republicans Raising Funds in NYC

December 2, 2011

Birds of a feather sure do flock together.

 

So it’s no surprise that the country’s most anti-gun Republican mayor, Michael Bloomberg, invited the U.S. Senate’s most anti-gun Republican member up to his New York City residence for cocktails and a fund raiser next Monday.

 

Senator Dick Lugar of Indiana never met a gun control bill he didn’t like, and his F-rating from GOA is well-deserved.

 

Bloomberg, of course, founded the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Bloomberg, conveniently, thinks virtually all guns should be illegal. So MAIG is simply yet another gun prohibition organization.

 

While Bloomberg and Lugar may get along fine, his Republican primary opponent, Richard Moudock, is reaching out to gun owners throughout the state.

 

The Indiana Republican primary for senate is one of the most important races in the country for gun owners, and we don’t have to wait around for November to hand the anti-gunners a massive defeat.

 

The May 8th primary features two candidates who are diametrically opposed on the Second Amendment:

 

Dick Lugar does not agree that the Second Amendment protects an individual right.

 

Richard Mourdock believes the message of the Second Amendment is clear: “shall not be infringed” is a restriction on federal power to regulate gun ownership.

 

Dick Lugar doesn’t trust the people with firearms, so he supports banning semi-automatic rifles that he erroneously calls “assault weapons.”

 

Richard Mourdock understands that gun bans don’t stop criminals, but only hamper the ability of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves.

 

Dick Lugar believes you should submit to a waiting period before you purchase a handgun, hence “enjoying” a little time to “cool off.”

 

Richard Mourdock believes that it’s the Congress that should “cool off” and stop passing bill after bill that ignores the Constitution.

 

Perhaps worst of all, Dick Luger supports UN efforts to pass the small arms treaty, a treaty that could impact every gun owner in America. Dick Lugar was the ONLY Republican Senator NOT to come out in opposition to the treaty.

 

Richard Mourdock will never vote to hand over any authority to the UN.

 

 

This Senate election is particularly important in the event that Barack Obama manages to win another term. If Obama is reelected, Dick Lugar means one more vote for anti-gun Supreme Court justices, the small arms treaty and other anti-gun legislation.

 

The choice for Senator could not be more clear.

 

Make no mistake, however, Dick Lugar will be hard to beat. He’ll have almost unlimited money pouring in from the party establishment in Washington, and he’ll be calling in favors everywhere.

 

But Lugar can be defeated with the help of tens of thousands of gun owners and sportsmen from across the country.

 

Richard Mourdock, currently the State Treasurer of Indiana, is virtually tied with Lugar in the polls. This is our chance to defeat a politician who has been a thorn in the side of gun owners for more than three decades.

 

So please visit Richard Mourdock on the web at http://www.richardmourdock.com and chip in a few bucks to help his campaign. Lugar is spending millions of dollars, so please do all you can to help the Mourdock campaign go toe-to-toe with Lugar.

 

We don’t have to wait until next November to start beating the anti-gunners. Please help to get things rolling in Indiana today!

 

Sincerely,

 

Tim Macy

Vice Chairman

 

P.S. Dick Lugar has been voting against gun rights for more than 30 years. His opponent, Richard Mourdock earned the support of GOA-PVF for his strong stance for your gun rights. Please visit Richard online today to make a financial contribution.

 

 

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, States Rights, Wordpress Political Blogs | 2 Comments »

Newtered; And the race tightens…

November 23, 2011

Newt Gingrich blew a hole completely through his foot. Again. Look candidates, illegal immigration is a major issue. Newt seems to think that pandering to a political correctness model that includes way too many people is an acceptable thing to do. I said it earlier this year that compromise with your fundamental values is not acceptable. This, combined with his half baked ideas about gun control, have made him an easy “NO” vote.

What will it take for these so-called “leaders” to figure out that we the people simply do not want a load of lawbreakers or their progeny here? Don’t we have enough home grown criminals?

What will it take for this same group of elites to figure out that we don’t want them messing with our fundamental and inalienable rights?

That is even when they, in their majesty, deem it to be for our very own good! We reserve certain things, such as the right to fail, unto our selves. Keep government out of our lives to the greatest extent possible while maintaining order and social discipline. Is that too much to ask..? It worked fairly well for most of our history.

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Posted in Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Immigration, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, States Rights, Uncategorized, Wordpress Political Blogs | 2 Comments »

Newts, political witchery and such…

November 22, 2011

From an email I received, and it is on target, no adjustments needed!

I know I don’t have to tell you, but politicians often say one thing but do the complete opposite — especially if they think no one is looking.

Newt Gingrich is the poster child for these sort of “flexible” principles.

I’ve been around the block a few times (I’m about to start my 20th year as a gun rights lobbyist) and dealt with literally thousands of candidates and politicians, but no Republican politician has managed to support and vote for anti-gun legislation and still proclaim that he is “pro-gun” more effectively than Newt Gingrich.

Don’t be fooled by his rise in the polls; Newt Gingrich has a long history of supporting gun control …

… and he has blatantly refused to return his National Association for Gun Rights Presidential Survey.

With more than three decades as a public figure, Newt is the quintessential political chameleon, shifting his views to reflect whatever is popular with the Washington, D.C. chattering class.

Make no mistake, while Newt may talk a solid conservative game, his record is that of a typical Inside-the-Beltway politician who will cut ANY compromise or make ANY deal with anyone for his own political or personal gain.

While Newt used the institutional gun lobby as a mouthpiece to convince millions of gun owners nationwide that “as long as he is Speaker, no gun-control legislation is going to move in committee or on the House floor,” he was working behind the scenes to pass gun control.

In 1996, Newt Gingrich turned his back on guns and voted for the anti-gun Brady Campaign’s Lautenberg Gun Ban, which strips the Second Amendment rights of citizens involved in misdemeanor domestic violence charges or temporary protection orders –- in some cases for actions as minor as spanking a child or grabbing a spouse’s wrist.(1)

Gingrich even called the anti-gun measure “reasonable,” and predicted that it would sail through his Republican-controlled House of Representatives with little trouble.(2)

The Lautenberg Gun Ban is one of the Congressional Republicans’ worst betrayals of gun owners, and those complicit in its passage deserve nothing but contempt from gun owners.

This gun control measure ranks right up there with the Brady Registration Act as the most aggressive gun control in America, denying hundreds of thousands of would-be gun owners the right to self defense.

Gingrich also stood shoulder to shoulder with Nancy Pelosi to pass the “Criminal Safezones Act” which prevents armed citizens from defending themselves in certain arbitrary locations. You and I both know that Criminal Safezones don’t protect law-abiding citizens, but actually protect the criminals who ignore them.(3)

As you can see, Newt Gingrich is no friend of gun owners, or small government conservatives. He simply can’t be trusted, and his record reflects his contempt not only for the truth, but his own integrity and the integrity of the very people he’s asking to vote for him to be the most powerful man in the modern world.

This is the same man who railed against the Obama bailouts of Fannie and Freddie Mac while receiving more than $1.5 million from Fannie Mae as a “consultant”(4) while his firm also raised $37 million to pass healthcare insurance mandates.(5)

 

He’s also the same man who sat next to Nancy Pelosi and insisted global warming was a man-made problem in need of a government-mandated solution. Now that he’s running for the Republican nomination, he doesn’t believe in global warming and calls the TV ad he did with Pelosi “inexplicable.” Please click here to watch the video.(6)

I’m concerned, though, that Newt’s snake-oil act is catching on.

It’s time for gun owners and liberty-minded, small government activists to hold Newt’s feet to the fire.

That’s why I need you to call the Gingrich campaign headquarters right now at (678) 973-2306. Demand that Newt Gingrich apologize for his past support of gun control, and make a dramatic turnaround statement of support to repeal the gun controls he’s supported.

Tell his campaign that you expect Newt to not only apologize for his past support of anti-gun measures but also to reveal where he stands on international gun grabs like the UN “Small Arms Treaty” and domestic anti-gun schemes like the banning of .50 caliber rifles.

Demand he quit stonewalling gun owners and return his National Association for Gun Rights Presidential Survey — at once. You and I both know that election season, when they’re begging for the votes of gun owners, is one of the best times to lobby candidates and politicians.

With Republican presidential primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina mere weeks away, it’s vital that gun owners know where the Republican candidates for President stand on important Second Amendment issues.

Newt’s record is as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. With a horrible voting record on Second Amendment issues, gun owners just don’t know which side Newt’s on.

Please call the Gingrich campaign headquarters right now at (678) 973-2306. Demand that Newt Gingrich apologize for his past support of gun control.

For Freedom,

 

signature

Dudley Brown

Executive Director

 

P.S. Newt Gingrich’s anti-gun record is too important — and dangerous — to ignore. That’s why I felt compelled to inform you.

His support for numerous gun controls is in direct contradiction to his current campaign statements.

Call the Gingrich campaign headquarters right now at (678) 973-2306. Demand that Newt Gingrich apologize for his past support of gun control.

The National Association for Gun Rights is working day and night to keep gun owners like you up-to-date on the presidential candidates’ records — please consider contributing to the effort by chipping in $15 or $20.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1996/roll455.xml

Associated Press, “Gingrich Favors Handgun Ban for Domestic Abuse Convicts,” Deseret News, Sept. 16, 1996.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1996/roll455.xml

http://www.freep.com/article/20111117/NEWS07/111170448/Newt-Gingrich-paid-least-1-5-million-consulting-Freddie-Mac-official-says

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/gingrich-think-tank-collected-millions-from-health-care-industry/2011/11/16/gIQAcd72VN_print.html

The National Association for Gun Rights is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, single-purpose citizens’ organization dedicated to preserving and protecting the Constitutionally protected right-to-keep-and-bear-arms through an aggressive program designed to mobilize public opposition to anti-gun legislation. The National Association for Gun Rights’ mailing address is P.O 7002, Fredericksburg, VA 22404. They can be contacted toll-free at 1-877-405-4570. Its web address is http://www.NationalGunRights.org/

Not produced or e-mailed at taxpayer expense.

To help the National Association for Gun Rights grow, please forward this to a friend.

To view this email as a web page, please click this link: view online.

Help fight gun control. Donate to the National Association for Gun Rights!

NAGR

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Posted in Domestic Violence, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, States Rights, wordpress, wordpress blogs, Wordpress Political Blogs | Comments Off on Newts, political witchery and such…

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