There is a story told that after leaving the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was approached by a woman who asked what form of government the delegates had created. Franklin responded: “A republic, if you can keep it.” Keeping a republic is indeed a difficult task. The ideas set forth in our Constitution and by our Founding Fathers are constantly under assault from the media, larger government and our own misguided decisions.
— James M. Rodney, “Freedom in Fiction” [July 12, 2007
Pennsylvania Case Reveals How McCarthy Bill Could Threaten All Gun
Owners
— Troubling questions in HR 2640 still go unanswered
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
“For the first time [in history, HR 2640], if enacted, would
statutorily impose a lifetime gun ban on battle-scarred veterans.” —
Military Order of the Purple Heart, June 18, 2007
ACTION:
1. Even if you have already sent an e-mail to your Senators on the
McCarthy bill, please send another such as the one at the end of this
alert. Yes, you might have already taken action on HR 2640. But if
you (and many other gun owners like yourself) haven’t taken any
action recently, then NO ONE is taking action. After all, the NRA is
supporting this bill, so they’re not rustlin’ up the troops in
opposition to this massive gun control bill. Remember the
immigration fight — it took weeks of continued activism to kill that
bill. This fight may very well be the same.
2. Please try to get as many of your friends as you can to join with
you in this effort to kill the McCarthy bill (HR 2640). Now that
Senators are returning from their July 4th holiday, we need to get as
many gun owners as possible to remind them that HR 2640 is
unacceptable!
McCARTHY BILL COULD COME UP AT ANY TIME IN THE U.S. SENATE
Now that Congress returns to work this week, your liberties are in
jeopardy once again!
You will remember that before the Independence Day break, the House
of Representatives passed a McCarthy gun control bill (HR 2640)
without any hearings, without any committee action… they put it on
the Suspension Calendar and simply got a non-recorded voice vote.
An important part of the legislative process is to introduce a bill
in committee, to get both public and private observers to ask
questions, make recommendations and offer comments on the bill.
But for some reason, HR 2640 was not given this benefit. The bill
was rammed through the legislature with very few Representatives
present on the House floor… there was no recorded vote at all!
So it’s not surprising that, having skipped much of the legislative
process, there are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding HR
2640. In fact, these questions have only been magnified after an
offhanded, tongue-in-cheek remark made at the Harrisburg Community
College in Pennsylvania cost a man his gun rights for life in that
state.
Newspapers last month reported that Horatio Miller allegedly said
that it could be “worse than Virginia Tech” if someone broke
into his
car, because there were guns there. It is not clear whether he was
making a threat against a person who might burglarize his car, or if
he was simply saying that the bad guy could do a lot of damage
because of the guns he would find there. Nevertheless, Miller was
arrested, but not charged with anything.
The comment Miller made was certainly not the smartest thing to say.
But realize, we don’t incarcerate people for making stupid statements
in this country — at least not yet. Miller was a concealed carry
permit holder who, as such, had passed vigorous background checks
into his past history. Miller does not have a criminal record.
Regardless, the county district attorney did not like what he had
said, so, according to the Harrisburg Patriot News on June 20, “I
contacted the sheriff and had his license to carry a firearm revoked.
And I asked police to commit him under Section 302 of the mental
health procedures act and that was done. He is now ineligible to
possess firearms [for life] because he was committed involuntarily.”
Get that?
Pennsylvania is operating exactly the way Rep. McCarthy’s bill (HR
2640) could treat all Americans. You might be thinking, I’ve never
had a mental illness… I’m not a military veteran… I’ve never been
on Ritalin… hey, I have nothing to worry about under the McCarthy
bill. Right?
Well, think again.
DO YOUR VIEWS ON THE SECOND AMENDMENT MAKE YOU A POTENTIAL DANGER?
The Pennsylvania case shows how all gun owners could be threatened by
HR 2640. After all, did you ever tell anyone that the Second
Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights because the Founders
(such as James Madison) wanted the people to be able to overturn a
tyrannical American government?
Or, while you were watching the nightly news — and getting a
detailed account of all the crime in your area — did you ever make a
statement such as, “If someone were to break through my door, I’d
blow him away!”
Well, those kinds of statements will certainly make anti-gun nuts
think you’re a potential danger to yourself or others. So if you
make the local district attorney or police officer nervous, how
difficult would it be for him to get a psychiatrist (most of whom are
very left-wing) to say that you are a danger to yourself and to
others?
Or, would the district attorney even need to get a psychiatrist? One
of the outrageous aspects of the McCarthy bill is that Section 3(2)
codifies existing federal regulations. And existing federal code
says it only takes a “lawful authority” to
“adjudicate” someone as a
mental defective.(1) And another section of the bill makes it clear
this “adjudication” does not need to be made by a formal court, but
can simply be a “determination” — such as a medical diagnosis.(2)
Consider how significant this is. The BATFE has been quietly
attempting to amend the federal code by regulatory fiat for years,
but they’ve been somewhat restrained in their ability to interpret
these regulations because they are, after all, regulations (and not
statutory law).
But with HR 2640, much of the pablum that BATFE bureaucrats have
quietly added to the code over the years will now become the LAW OF
THE LAND — even though those regs were never submitted to a
legislative committee or scrutinized in legislative hearings or
debated on the floor of the House of Representatives.
When one looks at the federal regs cited above, there are a lot of
questions that still remain unanswered. What kinds of people can
fall into this category of “other lawful authority” that can deem
someone to be a mental defective? Certainly, it would seem to apply
to Veterans Administration shrinks. After all, the federal
government already added more than 80,000 veterans with Post
Traumatic Stress into the NICS system in 2000.
But who else could be classified as a “lawful authority”? A school
counselor? A district attorney? What about a legislator, a city
councilman or a cop? They are certainly “authorities” in their own
right. Could the words “lawful authority” also apply to them?
Do we really want to risk the Second Amendment on the question of
what the words “lawful authority” in 27 CFR 478.11 mean —
once they
have been “statutized” by HR 2640 and BATF is no longer under ANY
constraint and can read it as broadly as they want?
If the “lawful authority” thinks you pose a danger to yourself or
others (or can’t manage your own affairs) then your gun rights could
be gone.
In its open letter of May 9, 2007, BATFE makes it clear that this
“danger” doesn’t have to be “imminent” or
“substantial,” but can
include “any danger” at all. How many shrinks — using the
Pennsylvania standard — are going to say that a pro-gun American
like you, who believes the Second Amendment is the last defense
against tyranny, DOESN’T POSE AT LEAST AN INFINITESIMAL RISK of
hurting someone else?
As easy as that, your gun rights would be gone forever.
HR 2640 is Janet Reno’s dream. Does somebody make a politician
nervous? Get a prescription pad, get your friendly left-wing
psychiatrist to make the “dangerous” diagnosis, and it’s all over.
Expungement will be virtually impossible. Just turn in your guns.
FOOTNOTES:
(1) See 27 CFR 478.11.
(2) See Section 101(c)(1)(C).
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Supporters of the McCarthy bill are hanging
their hat on language which purports to help disqualified people to
get their rights restored. So GOA has built a special section on its
website that gets to the truth on this issue and informs gun owners
of the dangers in HR 2640. Please go to
http://www.gunowners.org/netb.htm to learn what the specifics of the
bill are, who its main supporters are, answers to claims made by
proponents of the bill, who faces the greatest risk of being
disqualified for buying a gun, and more.
CONTACT INFORMATION: You can use the pre-written letter below to
help direct your comments to your two U.S. Senators. Please visit
the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at
http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Senators the
pre-written e-mail message below.
—– Pre-written letter —–
Dear Senator:
The Military Order of the Purple Heart got it right when it stated
that for the first time in history, HR 2640 “would statutorily impose
a lifetime gun ban on battle-scarred veterans.”
The Military Order of the Purple Heart, which is chartered by
Congress, is urging the DEFEAT of HR 2640, the Brady-expansion
legislation introduced by anti-gun Rep. Carolyn McCarthy.
Despite what you may have heard elsewhere, this bill THREATENS gun
owners’ rights and represents one of the biggest gun bans in history.
A recent case in Pennsylvania shows how easily a gun owner can be
slapped with a LIFETIME gun ban, without any due process, based
solely on a mere accusation by a shrink or other “lawful
authority.”
For more information on this — and for a point-by-point analysis of
HR 2640 — please go to http://www.gunowners.org on the website of
Gun Owners of America.
All the background checks in the world will NOT stop bad guys from
getting firearms. Severe restrictions in Washington, DC, England,
Canada, Germany and other places have not stopped evil people from
using guns to commit murder.
Again, I hope you will OPPOSE the McCarthy bill (HR 2640). Thank
you.
Sincerely,
Often times I hear that Libertarianism is just another name for anarchy. If one takes the time however to learn about the philosophical foundations of Libertarianism it soon becomes apparent that it is far from anarchistic.
Let us look at the Right to Freedom of speech. It is said ad nausium that you cannot yell fire in a crowded theater. What if the theater is actually on fire though? Would not the ethical thing be to warn those present of the danger?
Without filling up this piece with countless examples to make my point I will go straight to the issue. The issue is that with rights come responsibility, it is as simple as that.
Public freedom of speech is not only allowed, but encouraged in American society. In private however, other rights come into play. Such as being safe in your places, as in your own home, church and so on. In other words, your right to free speech ends at the door, or portal, of private property. The property owner may allow you to speak, but he is allowing you to do so. You are not exercising a right when doing that, the owner is allowing you to give voice to your opinions. Don’t be surprised if you enter a church causing a disturbance during services and the Deacons toss you out on your head.
Of what are termed the “Inalienable Rights” of man, none is any greater, nor any less than any other.
“We are, heart and soul, friends to the freedom of the press. It is however, the prostituted companion of liberty… It corrupts, it deceives, it inflames. It strips virtue of her honors, and lends to faction its wildfire and its poisoned arms… It is a precious pest, and a necessary mischief, and there would be no liberty without it.” —Fisher Ames
Hence, any “Right” can be abused or mis-used. The Right to Self Defense, as outlined in the Second Amendment can obviously be mis-used. The Right to be safe in your property can be abused, and so on. They are inextricably intertwined. Your rights end when they infringe upon the rights of others.
A very good blogging friend has been castigated for having the flag of the Confederacy on his blog. It is his blog, he pays for it. It is not a racist symbol, and anyone that has taken the time to actually study what went into causing the American Civil War, as most people refer to the War of Northern Aggression, knows that.
My folks come from the area of Audrain County Missouri. That’s right, they were in the thick of things. From riding with Quantrils Raiders, and supporting Bloody Bill Anderson when ever they could. They fought for principles, not for the right to own other human beings.
For complete coverage go to: http://texasfred.net/archives/325/trackback/
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed new rules that would have a dramatic effect on the storage and transportation of ammunition and handloading components. The proposed rule indiscriminately treats ammunition, powder and primers as “explosives.”
The public comment period ends July 12. To file your own comment, or to learn more about the OSHA proposal, click here or go to http://www.regulations.gov/ and search for Docket Number OSHA-2007-0032″; you can read OSHA’s proposal and learn how to submit comments electronically, or by fax or mail.
Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Pl Suite 102
Springfield VA 22151
(703) 321-8585
http://www.gunowners.org
July 5, 2007
Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund has a chance to elect
GOA Life Member Dr. Paul Broun to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Broun made it into the runoff election following the June 19 special
election to fill the seat of recently-deceased Rep. Charles Norwood.
The runoff is scheduled for Tuesday, July 17. The winner
will immediately become the next congressman from Georgia’s 10th
district.
Broun has been an active sportsman and firearms activist for years,
and is currently a GOA Life Member. He feels very deeply about the
Second Amendment — indeed, about the entire Constitution. Working to
get rid of gun control laws is something that Broun believes in.
Please do what you can to help Broun win the special election on June
19. You can donate online by going to
http://www.paulbroun.com/111.html (a special section just for GOA
supporters). Or, you can write a check made out to Paul Broun
Committee and mail it to P.O. Box 7165, Athens, GA 30604.
If you happen to live in Georgia and think you can volunteer to help
Dr. Broun’s campaign, information is available at his main website:
http://www.paulbroun.com
We have a chance to put a true friend of gun owners in the House of
Representatives, so please donate what you can today. Time is of the
essence.
Thank you very much.
Track back URL: http://texasfred.net/archives/316/trackback/
This is an old story recently revisited. Read it, and think about what has been going on in the time that has passed.
FROM JOSEPH FARAH’S G2 BULLETIN
Author sees Islam’s 20-year plan for U.S.
Arab-American author outlines secret
20-year strategy to undermine country
A refugee from the Muslim Middle East thinks he has discovered Islam’s 20-point plan for conquering the United States by 2020 – a plan revealed in the latest issue of Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
Anis Shorrosh, author of ”Islam Revealed” and ”The True Furqan,” is a Christian Arab-American who emigrated from Arab-controlled Jerusalem in January 1967.
”The following is my analysis of Islamic invasion of America, the agenda of Islamists and visible methods to take over America by the year 2020,” Shorrosh says. ”Will Americans continue to sleep through this invasion as they did when we were attacked on 9/11?”
1. Terminate America’s freedom of speech by replacing it with statewide and nationwide hate-crime bills.
2. Wage a war of words using black leaders like Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Jesse Jackson and other visible religious personalities who promote Islam as the religion of African-Americans while insisting Christianity is for whites only. What they fail to tell African-Americans is that it was Arab Muslims who captured them and sold them as slaves. In fact, the Arabic word for black and slave is the same, ”Abed.”
3. Engage the American public in dialogues, discussions, debates in colleges, universities, public libraries, radio, TV, churches and mosques on the virtues of Islam. Proclaim how it is historically another religion like Judaism and Christianity with the same monotheistic faith.
4. Nominate Muslim sympathizers to political office to bring about favorable legislation toward Islam and support potential sympathizers by block voting.
5. Take control of as much of Hollywood, the press, TV, radio and the Internet as possible by buying the related corporations or a controlling stock.
6. Yield to the fear of the imminent shut-off of the lifeblood of America – black gold. America’s economy depends on oil and 41 percent of it comes from the Middle East.
7. Yell ”foul, out-of-context, personal interpretation, hate crime, Zionist, un- American, inaccurate interpretation of the Quran” anytime Islam is criticized or the Quran is analyzed in the public arena.
8. Encourage Muslims to penetrate the White House, specifically with Islamists who can articulate a marvelous and peaceful picture of Islam. Acquire government positions and get membership in local school boards. Train Muslims as medical doctors to dominate the medical field, research and pharmaceutical companies. (Ever notice how numerous Muslim doctors in America are, when their countries need them more desperately than America?) Take over the computer industry. Establish Middle Eastern restaurants throughout the U.S. to connect planners of Islamization in a discreet way.
9. Accelerate Islamic demographic growth via:
10. Reading, writing, arithmetic and research through the American educational system, mosques and student centers (now 1,500) should be sprinkled with dislike of Jews, evangelical Christians and democracy. There are currently 300 exclusively Muslim schools in the U.S. which teach loyalty to the Quran, not the U.S. Constitution. In January of 2002, Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Washington mailed 4,500 packets of the Quran and videos promoting Islam to America’s high schools – free of charge. Saudi Arabia would not allow the U.S. to reciprocate.
11. Provide very sizeable monetary Muslim grants to colleges and universities in America to establish ”Centers for Islamic studies” with Muslim directors to promote Islam in higher-education institutions.
12. Let the entire world know through propaganda, speeches, seminars, local and national media that terrorists have hijacked Islam, when in truth, Islam hijacked the terrorists.
13. Appeal to the historically compassionate and sensitive Americans for sympathy and tolerance towards Muslims in America who are portrayed as mainly immigrants from oppressed countries.
14. Nullify America’s sense of security by manipulating the intelligence community with misinformation. Periodically terrorize Americans with reports of impending attacks on bridges, tunnels, water supplies, airports, apartment buildings and malls.
15. Form riots and demonstrations in the prison system demanding Islamic Sharia as the way of life, not America’s justice system.
16. Open numerous charities throughout the U.S., but use the funds to support Islamic terrorism with American dollars.
17. Raise interest in Islam on America’s campuses by insisting freshman take at least one course on Islam.
18. Unify the numerous Muslim lobbies in Washington, mosques, Islamic student centers, educational organizations, magazines and papers by Internet and an annual convention to coordinate plans, propagate the faith and engender news in the media.
19. Send intimidating messages and messengers to the outspoken individuals who are critical of Islam and seek to eliminate them by hook or crook.
20. Applaud Muslims as loyal citizens of the U.S. by spotlighting their voting record as the highest percentage of all minority and ethic groups in America.
Shorrosh is a member of the Oxford Society of Scholars, has traveled in 76 countries, and is a lecturer and producer of TV documentaries. ”Islam Revealed” is a bestseller now in its eighth printing. His forthcoming 10th book, from which the 20-point plan is abridged, is titled ”Islam: A Threat or a Challenge.”
”The True Furqan” is also available for viewing on Islam-Exposed.org. Shorrosh’s new website is Focusing-on-Islam.com.
Banner that flew in Afghanistan is raised at Capitol
Javier Manzano © The Rocky
Cindy Dietz, right, mother of fallen Navy SEAL Danny Dietz, waits with state Sen. Steve Ward, holding flag, and Colorado State Patrol Trooper Mike Garcia for the start of Thursday’s ceremony honoring her son. “I don’t know what else to say other than we love him,” Dietz said.
By James B. Meadow, Rocky Mountain News
June 29, 2007
The American flag hung motionless in the hazy, breezeless sky, a solemn red-white-and- blue reminder of the man who had sacrificed his life for it two years ago to the day.
For the tourists who took photos and the strolling locals who paid no attention to them, it was a sleepy-quiet Thursday morning on the west steps of the state Capitol. Even the traffic below seemed more lulling than clamorous.
But for Cindy Dietz it was “a very hard day.”
On June 28, 2005, her son, Navy SEAL Danny P. Dietz, was killed on a mission in Afghanistan.
On June 28, 2007, a star-spangled banner that had once flown over Bagram Airfield – Dietz’s base – in that faraway Asian land was hoisted up a 35-foot flagpole that sat on a hill not very far from the Littleton neighborhood where he was born and raised.
Moments before Colorado State Trooper Mike Garcia raised the flag, Cindy Dietz had said softly, “I’m honored. It’s so special to me that this flag was flying over Danny’s base. And now it’s flying in his home state.”
Later, she would overcome her sadness. Summoning up composure and grace, she would stand before the media and say, “Two years ago, my oldest son was killed in Afghanistan.”
A soft hesitation, then, “I don’t know what else to say other than we love him.”
Joining her for the occasion were Danny’s brother, Eric, and his grandmother, Dolores Gilmer, along with a smattering of public officials.
Among them was state Sen. Steve Ward, who not only represents the Dietzes’ district, but who, as a Marine Corps colonel, was stationed at Bagram for two years himself. It was Ward who obtained the flag for the Dietz family.
“He was a brave man who died tragically and heroically,” said Ward, alluding to Petty Officer 2nd Class Danny Dietz being posthumously awarded the Navy Cross – the nation’s second-highest military honor – for his bravery in the face of fierce combat.
The same flag that honored -Dietz will be used Wednesday at the July Fourth dedication ceremony of a statue of him that will be held in Littleton’s Berry Park extension.
But Littleton Police Chief Heather Coogan wasn’t thinking a week ahead as she watched the ceremony.
“This demonstrates that we have so many fine young people who have such a strong sense of duty, honor and patriotism,” said Coogan. “Being here to watch this just feels absolutely right.”
After a long minute, Garcia slowly began lowering the limp flag.
But halfway down, a quicksilver breath of wind caught it. And suddenly, for several blinks of the eye, there it was, spread against the sky: a 3-foot-by-5- foot piece of red-white-and-blue cloth that represented something for which a Colorado warrior was willing to give his life.
If you go
• What: Dedication of the Danny Dietz Memorial Sculpture
• When: 11 a.m. Wednesday
• Where: Berry Park extension, 5507 S. King St., Littleton
• More info: littletongov.org
LAW OF THE LAND
Trial will debate 2nd Amendment rights
Defendant is accused of having ‘militia’ weaponry
——————————————————————————–
Posted: January 6, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
A lawyer whose client is on trial for having “militia” weaponry says he’ll ask questions and raise arguments about the 2nd Amendment, and then let the judge rule whether or not the Bill of Rights can be discussed in a federal courtroom these days.
A federal prosecutor in the Arkansas case against Hollis Wayne Fincher, 60, who’s accused of having homemade and unregistered machine guns, has asked the judge to censor those arguments.
But lawyer Oscar Stilley told WND that he’ll go ahead with the arguments.
“I’m going to ask questions, what else can I say?” he said. “There is a 2nd Amendment, and it means something, I hope.”
“His (Fincher’s) position is that he had a legal right to bear arms that are suitable and customary to contribute to the common defense. If it’s a militia army, it’s what customarily would be used by the military suitable for the defense of the country,” Stilley said.
The objection to constitutional arguments came from Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy Johnson, who filed a motion several days ago asking U.S. District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren to prevent Fincher and Stilley from raising any such issues.
“Yes, that is correct – the government does not want to allow the defense attorney to argue the law in Mr. Fincher’s defense,” Michael Gaddy wrote on Freedom Watch.
“If a defendant is not allowed to base his/her defense on the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, we are certainly doomed. If we allow these criminal acts perpetrated on law-abiding citizens to continue, we might as well turn in all our guns and scheduled a fitting for our chains,” he wrote.
“Yes, Hollis Wayne Fincher goes on trial on January 8th – but so does our Constitution, our Liberty and our right to own firearms. If Mr. Fincher loses this battle, we all lose,” he said.
Fincher, a lieutenant commander with the Militia of Washington County, is accused of having three unregistered machine guns and an unregistered sawed-off shotgun.
Stilley said his client believes no one has a right to use weapons to hurt somebody else, just as “you can’t use words to injure. You can’t yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.”
He said whether the gun is a .22 caliber used for “plinking,” or a cape buffalo killer, you cannot put it in a position where it’s pointed at someone and pull the trigger.
It’s about responsibilities that accompany the rights outlined in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights, he said.
The motion seeking to suppress any constitutional arguments will be handled by making his arguments, and letting the government make its objections, and then letting the court rule.
The motion from the federal prosecution indicated the government believes Fincher wants to argue the gun charges are unconstitutional, but it is asking that the court keep such decisions out of the jury’s hands.
The government also demanded to know the items the defense intends to use as evidence, the results of any physical examinations of Fincher and all of the witnesses and their statements.
Fincher was arrested Nov. 8 and has been held in custody since then on a bond of $250,000 and other conditions that included posting the deed to his home with the court and electronic monitoring.
Police said two of the .308-caliber machine guns, homemade versions of a Browning model 1919, allegedly had Fincher’s name inscribed on them and said “Amendment 2 invoked.”
There have been laws since 1934 making it illegal for residents of the United States to own machine guns without special permission from the U.S. Treasury Department. Federal law allows the public to own machine guns made and registered before 1986 under certain conditions.
Comments posted online with an area newspaper offered some support for Fincher’s side of the case.
“When the government decides that your spare bedroom [can be regulated] as greatly affecting interstate commerce and makes you put a homeless person or work release prisoner in that spare room, then you’ll understand why property not actually affecting interstate commerce should not be regulated on by the feds,” said Lawful Machine Gun Owner.
DKSuddeth noted that the commerce clause, cited as support for gun regulations, should be studied. “Take a very close read on how the commerce clause is used by congress and the decisions that the courts have made. You do realize that using the commerce clause, congress can regulate ANYTHING that you may wish to grow on your own personal property?”
Another observer cited the statements attributed to Tenche Coxe, a government official during the 1790s. “Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? … Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American.”
Another observer, this one a critic who called himself “Blah Blah Blah,” added the other perspective. “You give us a clear picture of why the government wants to limit arguments in the case. You guys cannot quit talking. And you insist on quoting every dead white guy in history.”
Fincher, in a letter from his jail cell that was published on a blog, said he was doing fine.
“I am doing OK here in jail. It’s not where I want to be, but it’s where I am and I try to make the best of it,” he wrote to family and friends. He said the conditions were tolerable.
“We can attend in house church a couple times a week, sometimes more. I talk to other prisoners about their need for Jesus to save them. Some take heed and are willing to listen and some go to their cells and pray,” he said.
Authorities said the arrest culminated an eight-month investigation that included having a undercover agent attend meetings of the militia. The investigation was collectively conducted by the ATF, FBI, Washington County Sheriff’s Department, Fayetteville Police Department, Springdale Police Department, Arkansas State Police, Arkansas State Bomb Squad and the Madison County Sheriff’s Department.
According to criminologist and researcher Gary Kleck, an estimated 2.5 million Americans use guns for defensive purposes each year, with one in six believing someone would have been dead if they had not resorted to their defensive use of firearms.
By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
The government is using paperwork errors as small as the abbreviation of a city name to shut down some of the nation’s longest-serving gun shops, and 2nd Amendment advocates fear the right to bear arms will mean little if there’s no way to obtain a gun.
“No good deed goes unpunished,” Larry Pratt, of Gun Owners of America, told WND while confirming that as recently as 15 or 20 years ago, there were 250,000 licensed gun dealers in the United States.
Today, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told WND, there are 108,381, and if more cases involving dealers such as Red’s Trading Post of Twin Falls, Idaho, develop, that number will plummet quickly.
Ryan Horsley, a spokesman for Red’s, which has been in business 71 years, said the store has been battling over its license because of rules infractions such as a missing poster for more than six years.
Red’s manager Ryan Horsley
He’s launched an online petition asking Congress to intervene and halt the “blatant targeting of law abiding dealers.” It also seeks a “fair, constitutional and speedy appeals process” and has attracted thousands of signatures.
His company also has a federal lawsuit pending against the ATF over its announcement that Red’s firearms dealership license was being withdrawn.
Attorney Mark Geston said the case asks the court to review the statute and the “propriety” of the decision that was made.
Horsley said the reason Red’s is facing a revocation is – at most – insignificant paperwork mistakes.
“Imagine having your driver’s license revoked because you did not completely spell out the word ‘no’ when answering a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question on your application five years ago,” his petition asks.
He told WND the inspectors begin with efforts to locate any petty violation they can, usually clerical mistakes. “They list these errors as ‘willful’ which Congress set in the wording to protect FFL dealers,” he said. “The dealer’s Federal Firearms License is then revoked and the dealer must enter an appeals process which is extremely unfair.”
He said essentially the appeal of a ATF decision goes directly to the people who originally made the decision.
“This is the equivalent of being in court and having the prosecuting attorney act as an adviser to the judge,” Horsley said. The result forces the business, if owners want to continue operating, to sue in federal court.
Pratt told WND, “the power that has enabled ATF to take away people’s licenses to do business” continues unabated.
Pratt said many gun dealers were closed down when Congress allowed local municipalities to recommend denial depending upon the location of the gun dealership.
The founder of Red’s, “Red” Kinney, and son Jesse
And he noted a family gun business that had been operation in Baltimore, Md., for years was attacked because of the “wanton, repeated crime” of abbreviating Baltimore as “Blto” on the “teeny, tiny spaces on the forms provided by the teeny, tiny little minds.”
The agency holds, he said, a “continuing animas against gun owners and dealers.”
The inspectors have no handbook under which to operate, and the absence of such written procedures allows them to be arbitrary and capricious.
Horsley described to WND his experiences with those very actions.
The ATF inspection of Red’s in 2000 discovered various paperwork violations, he said, just shortly after he arrived to take over the store, mistakes such as a customer failing to write down the county in which he lived.
In 2001, “they couldn’t find any violations,” he told WND. A few other minor problems were found later, including a failure to put up a poster.
“I wasn’t alarmed because this agent … had told us we were one of the best small gun shops he’d ever seen,” Horsley told WND.
Then early in 2006, “We get a letter that ‘We’re [ATF] revoking your license,'” Horsley said. “I just came unglued. I couldn’t believe it.”
After an expensive appeal process within ATF, he ended up with the same result, and sought out a lawyer for the federal court challenge.
During the appeal process, the penalty had been delayed, so the store could continue its business. But once the federal court challenge was filed, the ATF announced that the store now was a “threat to public safety” and no longer would be able to acquire firearms.
Horsley told WND he still was allowed to sell whatever he had, but couldn’t purchase more stock. His stock plummeted from 1,000 guns to 160 and two workers were laid off before an emergency run to federal court obtained a ruling from U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge that allows the store to continue operations – for now.
The judge found “the ATF speaks of violations found during the inspections of 2000 and 2005, but fails to reveal that additional investigations in 2001 and 2007 revealed no violations or problems.”
The judge also noted the ATF was exaggerating the situation by “double counting” some violations.
Horsley said the key issue is that the inspectors make the determination that any errors were “willful.” He said the first inspection results in a warning for whatever clerical errors are found; then the next inspection makes the assumption any errors are willful, even if none of the original mistakes was repeated.
Horsley said one inspector told another – in front of a store worker who noted the exchange, that, “We’re going to keep doing this until we find something.”
He said the number of gun dealers dropped from 1994-2005 by nearly 80 percent and revocations are up nearly six times from 2001-2006. The ATF declined to share information on cases with WND, citing the confidentiality required in an open investigation.
But on a blog on his store’s website, Horsley described one situation that happened just a few weeks ago:
The ATF came in yesterday at about 10 a.m. and stayed until around 6 p.m. attempting to find violations to submit to the judge. They did give us a pass on one of the violations. A customer wrote his middle initial instead of a full middle name. We let them know that the customer does not even have a middle name and only an initial. They still told us they would let that pass. So, I am overflowing with gratefulness right now.
I questioned Linda Young (the Area Supervisor) on the last violation that we did not have our records in PERFECT alphabetical order, stating that if you wanted to read the policy literally then we should have to keep all of our records in full alphabetical order and not separated by year despite this being the way nearly all records are kept by dealers. She agreed and then stated that she had the authority to overrule procedures and policies. When I brought up the issue that [an] ATF Inspector … advised us to keep them in the previous order that we were cited for, she then stated that inspectors did not have the authority to overrule procedures and policies.
Why was [the inspector] not cited or suspended for providing us incorrect information? We were cited for a violation on incorrect information.
He continued: “This is not just happening to us though and is becoming a common trend throughout the United States … Why would we honestly put our license, reputation and over 70 years in business in jeopardy? We would never condone illegal activity, we have always gone above and beyond what is asked of us and will continue to do so.”
Horsley’s store, meanwhile, has paid about $70,000 in legal fees so far to avoid his only other option – to lock the doors and go away.
And Pratt said such actions – and expenses – are common.
One dealership in Texas already has paid about $600,000 in fees and expenses to fight to retain its license. That case started with the complaint that bullets from a shooting range near the store were polluting groundwater – even though no test ever had been done to confirm that.
Meanwhile, the publicity campaigns and stunts arranged by high-profile activists opposed to guns continue to muddy the water by making unsubstantiated allegations about gun dealers, they noted.
Jesse Jackson recently appeared at an anti-gun rally outside a gun shop in the Chicago area, a shop that has been targeted multiple times. The protesters have claimed weapons sold at the store have been used to commit murder.
“We must turn our mourning into marching,” Jackson said. He was joined by the mother of Blair Holt, 16, who died in a gunman’s rampage on a bus.
“To all those people watching me: It could be your child next. So, you better stand up and do something now,” said Annette Holt.
Jackson compared gun retailers to the insurgency in Iraq.
“These guns are killing police, civilians, they’re killing our children,” he said. “In Iraq, they’d call that an insurgent’s base.”
Rebecca Hazen, however, had a different view. She and her husband for years had run Blue Lakes Sporting Goods, also in Twin Falls, and competed with Red’s. They shut down after their firearms license was revoked just a few months ago.
“No government agency should have the right to take away our right to do business,” she wrote. “Without a gun license, we had no reason to continue our business… I believe government has been unable to take guns from the hands of citizens or sue gun manufacturers out of business, so they will use government agencies to revoke licenses one at a time until there are no stores to buy guns.”
“I encourage every gun owner to step forward and let their senators and congressmen know how we feel about the ATF’s power to revoke licenses and close up businesses. The ATF should be stopped before there are no guns left to buy. Let your voice be heard,” she wrote.
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