Posts Tagged ‘Law’

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Pending legislation that affects your freedom and liberty

January 7, 2010

The goons in swamp town are always up to something, and it most often means a loss of freedom and liberty for you and I.

Here is an updated list courtesy of N.A.G.R. See the sidebar for a link to the homepage.

Updated 11/06/2009

NAGR Oppose
or
Support		 Bill Number Sponsors Subject (check bill for official full title) Location
(where is the bill, as of update)		 Status
Support H.R. 17
Rep. Roscoe Bartlett [R-MD]
 Citizens’ Self-Defense Act of 2009 House Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 45 Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 House Introduced
Neutral H.R. 197 Rep. Cliff Sterns (R – FL) National Conceal Carry Reciprocity House Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 257 Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) National Lock-Up-Your-Safety Storage Law House Referred to Committee
Support H.R. 442 Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) Amnesty for veterans to register N.F.A. machine guns House Introduced
Neutral H.R. 495 Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX) Cracking down on Mexican Gun Running House Introduced
Strongly
Oppose		 H.R. 623 Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) Increase sentencing guidelines for firearms convictions House Introduced
Strongly Support H.R. 642 Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) Codify recreational shooting rights on Federal Land House Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 675 Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) Grant Department of Defense authority to execute warrants, make arrests, and carry firearms. House Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 808 Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) Establishing a Department of Peace House Introduced
Oppose H.R. 834 Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) Exemption Law enforcement for criminal prosecution for using firearms to commit a crime House Referred to Committee
Support H.R. 1074 Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) Reform FFL laws to make it easier to buy and sell firearms legally across state lines. House Referred to Committee
Oppose H.R. 1105 Rep. David Obey Omnibus Funding Bill, including appropriations for Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms House PASSED
Support H.R. 1620 Rep. John Boozman (R-AR) Expands certain permit holders’ reciprocity House Referred to Committee
Support H.R. 1684 Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) Extends 2nd Amendment Rights to National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges House Referred to Committee
Strongly Support H.R. 1923 Rep. Phil Gingrey (R – GA) Requires BATFE to video tape the examination and testing of firearms and ammunition. House Referred to Committee
Oppose H.R. 2159 Rep. Peter King (R – NY) Allows the Attorney General to place domestic “terror” suspects on a “No Guns” List House Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 2324 Rep. Michael Castle (R – DE) Close down Private Sales (Gun Show “Loophole) House Referred to Subcommittee
Strongly Oppose H.R. 2401 Rep. Carolyn McCarthy Put the so-called “no fly list” names in the NICS database and prevents them from buying firearms House Referred to Committee
Support H.R. 2547 Rep. Jerry Moran (R – KS) Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act House Referred to Sub-Committee
Neutral H.R. 2780 Rep. Thomas Rooney (R – FL) Definition of restricted Federal buildings House Referred to Commitee
Oppose H.R. 2847 Rep. Allan Mollohan (D-WV) Appropriations bill for Department of Justice and the BATFE. House Passed House
Oppose H.R. 2924 Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) Establish commission to conduct anti-gun study on popular culture. House Referred to Committee
Strongly Support H.R. 3021 Rep. Ron Paul (R – TX) To Repeal the “Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1995” and its amendments House Referred to Committee
Strongly Support H.R. 3022 Rep. Ron Paul (R – TX) Repeal the Brady Bill and the 2005 Trigger Lock Law House Referred to Committee
Neutral H.R.3781 Rep. Betsy Markey (D-CO) To use certain restricted Federal funds to build Federally owned shooting ranges House Referred to Committee
Support H.R. 3789 Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) To allow the checked-baggage transportation of firearms and ammunition on Amtrak Trains House Referred to Committee
Neutral S. 160 Sen. Joe Liberman (D-CT) Grants extremely limited gun rights to D.C. citizens Senate Passed Senate
Neutral S. 205 Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) Cracking down on Mexican Gun Running Senate Referred to Committee
Support S. 371 Sen. John Thune (R – SD) Expansion of resident permit reciprocity. Senate Referred to Committee
Support S. 556 Sen David Vitter (R – LA) Firearms Transfer Improvement Act Senate Referred to Committee
Support S. 669 Sen. Richard Burr (D-SC) Protects veterans 2nd Amendment rights from pernicious mental adjudication Senate Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose S. 843 Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Closing the so-called “gun show loop-hole” Senate Introduced
Neutral S. 845 Sen. John Thune (R – SD) Expand Concealed Carry Reciprocity Senate Referred to Committee
Support S. 941 Sen. Mike Crapo (R – ID) Reform and modernize the BATFE and their testing procedures Senate Referred to Committee
Oppose S. 1132 Sen. Patrick Leahy (D – VT) Extends concealed weapons privileges to “law enforcement” officers of the Amtrak Police force. Senate Referred to Committee
Strongly Oppose S. 1317 Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) Allows the Attorney General to place domestic “terror” suspects on a “No Guns” List Senate Referred to Committee
Support S. 1638 Sen. Roger Wicker (R – MS) Allows citizens to transport firearms, locked and unloaded on Amtrak trains Senate Referred to Committee
Neutral S. 1789 Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) To use certain restricted Federal funds to build Federally owned shooting ranges Senate Referred to Committee

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Posted in Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Hunting Fishing and the Great Outdoors, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 4 Comments »

Legalized Prostitution : The U.S. Senate and Congress

December 24, 2009

Legalized prostitution comes in many forms, and the attention whores that makeup a majority in the Senate and Congress are no different than the crack whore’s on Colfax Avenue in Denver.

Whether the pay off is in a lighter sentence, or approval from their pimp I see little difference between an honest prostitute and a politician that sells virtue period. But? They can have their uses, and just like a street cop using a confidential informant a politician can be used toward the greater good when surrounded by evil. Read on:

Gun Owners of America Wins a Skirmish on ObamaCare

— Trumpets recent victory to be grateful for this Christmas

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102
Springfield, VA 22151
703-321-8585
www.gunowners.org

“Score one for the Gun Owners of America ….” Slate, December 20, 2009

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

You guys have a lot to be thankful for this Christmas. Our efforts together in lobbying against ObamaCare have netted some positive gains, and that has the political left up in arms.

The writers at the ultra-liberal Slate magazine are beside themselves that an organization like the Gun Owners of America was able to move the Senate to include protections for gun owners.
According to Slate on December 20:

Score one for the Gun Owners of America, a lobby group positioned well to the right of the National Rifle Association…. [T]o pacify GOA, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (who represents the gun-loving state of Nevada has inserted into his “manager’s amendment” a section titled “Protecting 2nd Amendment Gun Rights.” It states that no wellness program implemented under health reform may require disclosure or collection of any information relating to gun ownership.

Medical information has already been used to deny — without due process or trial by jury — more than 150,000 military veterans the right to buy firearms.

Senator Reid tries to appease Gun Owners; leaves naysayers out on a limb

In the face of all this abuse, Senator Reid was pressured by GOA and his constituents into making a face-saving move. He wanted to silence the pro-gun community’s objections, so he took steps to strip the bill of any gun rights concerns.

But what a delicious irony this created. Prior to Senator Reid’s Second Amendment “fix,” many Senators had been telling their constituents for months that there were no Second Amendment concerns in the ObamaCare legislation — and now, Senator Reid left them out on a limb.

“There is no mention of ‘gun-related health data’ anywhere in the Senate’s health reform bill, and there is nothing in the bill that would result in any such data being reported to the government,” said Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) to one constituent. “I support the Second Amendment and will continue to uphold the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms.”

Senator Casey supports the Second Amendment? What a laugh! Has Senator Casey seen his voting record on the GOA website? This year, he’s voted wrong on gun issues over 70% of the time.

Then there’s Democrat Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico: “It is my understanding that there is no discussion within the Senate concerning firearms in relation to health care.  Please be assured I will keep your comments in mind as the Senate debates comprehensive health care reform.”

Senator Bingaman, will you really keep the views of your constituents in mind? If so, then why did you vote for the ObamaCare bill? After all, more than 60% of the American people oppose it!

To listen to these and other liberal Senators, you would think there were no Second Amendment concerns in President Obama’s signature piece of legislation. But then, lo and behold, Senator Reid included language in his substitute amendment that totally undercut these Senators’ excuses.

GOA lobbying saves gun owners from bureaucratic mischief

Slate then goes on to lament the other victory that GOA scored:

[G]un owners also won another provision forbidding private insurers participating in the bill’s exchanges from charging higher premiums, or denying coverage, or denying wellness discounts on the basis of gun ownership. Unlike the previous section, this one doesn’t place a restriction on what government may do. It places a restriction on what the private sector may choose to do on its own. It inhibits that most holy of right-wing sacred cows: free enteprise [sic].

The socialists at Slate magazine hate free enterprise so much, they can’t even spell the word correctly. It’s reminiscent of the Fonz from Happy Days trying unsuccessfully years ago to get the words “I was wr-wr-wrong” out of his mouth.

Yes, it’s true that GOA won a victory in this area. But GOA’s opposition to the “wellness” regulations was not driven by an effort to help big business, as it was totally driven by opposition to GOVERNMENT REGULATION that would impinge upon gun owners.

Every draft of the ObamaCare legislation on Capitol Hill would give Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius tremendous regulatory power. And in early versions of the Senate bill, the anti-gun Sebelius could very well have mandated that gun ownership is an activity so dangerous that your insurance coverage needed to be suspended.

The Reid “fix” prohibits companies from charging insurance premiums that would impinge upon “lawful” gun owners, but this will leave millions of gun owners in the cold — specifically, those honest Americans who cannot legally own firearms in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

Slate, of course, didn’t pick up on these loopholes in the Reid compromise, but then, you can’t expect a liberal cheerleader for the Obama machine to be overly careful about analyzing a Democrat-sponsored bill.

So the bottom line? Yes, thanks to your constant pressure, Gun Owners of America won a skirmish in the battle against socialized health care and gained some protections for gun owners.

But also remember that the ObamaCrats never really had our interests in mind and that they never really solved all the Second Amendment problems in the health care bill. Again, even with the Reid “fix,” it’s still possible that ATF agents could troll through your medical information and send that data to the FBI, who in turn, could use it to deny honest Americans their right to keep and bear arms — similar to the 150,000 military veterans who have now lost their gun rights.

The Senate is expected to vote on final passage of the ObamaCare bill tomorrow. The bill is expected to pass, but the fight is far from over. So please stay tuned, as Gun Owners of America will continue to keep you abreast of the latest developments.

Thanks again for all your activism this year. It really makes our job a whole lot easier.

Have a Merry Christmas!

————————————

Not a member yet of Gun Owners of America Please activate your membership for 2010 by going to http://gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm and joining the only “no-compromise gun lobby” in Washington!

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Posted in Czar Wars, Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, Men's Issues, mysandry, News, Non Compos Mentis, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 2 Comments »

What’s that Smell?

December 23, 2009

Dave Kopel’s latest newsletter (see the link on the blog roll) unloads yet again with logic and reason. Bits and snips, with links below.

To subscribe to this free e-mail newsletter, please send a request to:
kopelnewsletter@liberty.seanet.com

Aiming for Liberty

David Kopel
Merril Press
December 4, 2009
http://www.amazon.com/Aiming-LIberty-Present-Freedom-Self-Defense/dp/0936783583/davekopel-20/
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Aiming-for-Liberty/David-B-Kopel/e/9780936783581/?itm=2

Videocast on Aiming for Liberty

Dave Kopel with Jon Caldara
Independent Thinking, KBPI 12, Denver
November 27, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=EB5652D760AC2EAB
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaJgIjxmFdQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mymokhfqhJk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud36zktV3F8
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=EB5652D760AC2EAB

Dave and Independence Institute President and program host Jon Caldara discuss his new book on this KBPI television broadcast, now available on YouTube. Part 1 is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaJgIjxmFdQ, Part 2, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mymokhfqhJk and Part 3, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud36zktV3F8. The playlist with all three is here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=EB5652D760AC2EAB

New Law Review Articles by Kopel

The Right to Arms in the Living Constitution

David B. Kopel
Cardozo Law Review de Novo, Forthcoming; U. Denver Legal Studies Research Paper No. 09-34
December 17, 2009
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1524103

“This Article presents a brief history of the Second Amendment as part of the living Constitution. From the Early Republic through the present, the American public has always understood the Second Amendment as guaranteeing a right to own firearms for self-defense. That view has been in accordance with �lite legal opinion, except for a period in part of the twentieth century.”

The Keystone of the Second Amendment: Quakers, the Pennsylvania Constitution, and the Questionable Scholarship of Nathan Kozuskanich

David B. Kopel with Clayton E. Cramer
Widener Law Journal, Vol. 19, 2010, forthcoming
December 19, 2009
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1502925

Kopel and Cramer examine the historical underpinnings of historian Nathan Kozuskanich’s claim that the right to arms in the 1776 Pennsylvania constitution only guaranteed a right to serve in the commonwealth’s militia.

Kopel on the Health Bill

Health Bill and Gun Ownership

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 24, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/24/health-bill-and-gun-ownership/

Dave responds to a putative rebutal of his concerns that the Government’s expanded role in health care may lead to ‘wellness programs’ that preclude firearms ownership.

Is the Senate health plan anti-gun?

Susan Ferrechio
The Washington Examiner
November 24, 2009
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/71875287.html

Ferrechio’s article includes Dave’s concern that a government putting itself in charge of people’s health may decides that habits such as firearms ownership are prohibitively expensive.

What’s that Smell?

Dave Kopel
America’s 1st Freedom
December, 2009
http://davekopel.org/2A/Mags/ACORN.htm

“Nearly everyone has heard of the corruption-plagued organization ACORN. Yet many gun owners are unaware of the organization’s strong anti-gun activities and ties.”

Missouri Court Upholds Statute Against Gun Possession While Intoxicated

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 20, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/20/missouri-court-uphelds-statute-against-gun-possession-while-intoxicated/

“In the 1979 case People v. Garcia, the Supreme Court of Colorado dealt with a similar statute. The ruled that the statute only applied to ‘actual or physical control.’ So if a person is drunk in his living room, and owns a gun which is stored in his downstairs closet, the statute would not apply. The Missouri decision is consistent with the Colorado standard, since Richard actually was possessing the handgun.”

Bloggingheads TV on Moses as the essential American hero

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 10, 2009
http://tinyurl.com/ybn3ton

Dave here agrees with Bruce Feiler’s argument, in an interview on Robert Wright’s BloggingHeadsTV, that Moses is a figure of great interest as an exemplar to some of America’s most influential leaders.

United States v. Skoien

United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
November 18, 2009
http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/tmp/TL1FFWAJ.pdf
PDF files require Adobe Acrobat Reader or similar software.

The decision refers to Dave’s work on Heller on p.7, note 2.

Another Good Night for the Second Amendment

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 4, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/04/another-good-night-for-the-second-amendment/

“In sum: A bad night for advocates of gun show restrictions. Another fine night (as were election nights 2006 and 2008) for Democrats with A ratings from NRA. And good news for Second Amendment advocates in blue New Jersey and purple Virginia.”

Will the Arms Trade Treaty Provide Effective Embargos on Human Rights Violators?

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 2, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/02/will-the-arms-trade-treaty-provide-effective-embargos-on-human-rights-violators/

“Thus, the ATT might, at most, lead to more nominal embargos of arms; but nothing in an ATT can have greater force in international law than a Security Council order already does. Accordingly, the ATT will be of little or no use in achieving its purported objective. To the contrary, the ATT may be positively harmful, since it will probably declare a ‘right’ of governments to acquire arms. This ‘right’ could be used to claim that arms embargos outside the ATT system (e.g., unilateral embargos by the US, or the EU) are violations of international law.”

The Most Important Right to Arms Vote of 2009

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 4, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/04/the-most-important-right-to-arms-vote-of-2009/

“Repeal of the Canadian registry would, accordingly, be of tremendous global significance. Repeal would also shatter the claim by the Canadian gun prohibition lobby that gun control in Canada is an irreversible ratchet.”

Kopel on McDonald v. Chicago

The Kopel Amicus Brief

Brief Summary of the Kopel Brief

David B. Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 23, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/23/kopel-brief-in-mcdonald-v-chicago/

Here is a brief summary of the complete amicus brief, linked below, that Dave has written for the case of McDonald v. Chicago

Amicus Brief in McDonald v. Chicago: On Behalf of the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, Et Al.

David B. Kopel
Independence Institute; Denver University, Sturm College of Law
November 22, 2009
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1511425

Here is a link to the full text of Dave’s brief on this important post-Heller case.

McDonald v. Chicago

Dave Kopel with Jon Caldara
Dave Kopel’s Second Amendment Podcast
December 1, 2009
http://audio.ivoices.org/mp3/iipodcast353.mp3

Kopel and Caldara discuss Dave’s completed amicus brief and the importance of this case.

JoshCasts: Interview with Dave Kopel on McDonald v. Chicago

Dave Kopel with Josh Blackman
Josh Blackman’s Blog
November 23, 2009
http://joshblackman.com/blog/?p=2540

Here’s a podcast in which Law Clerk and Blogger-Tweeter Josh Blackman interviews Dave about the McDonald v. Chicago brief.

Dave’s Blogging on the Other Briefs in McDonald v. Chicago

Congressional brief in McDonald v. Chicago

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 23, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/23/congressional-brief-in-mcdonald-v-chicago/

Here is Dave’s reaction to the Congressional brief filed in the McDonald case. “Counsel of Record is former Solicitor General Paul D. Clement. Much of the brief recapitulates the lengthy historical record of congressional action (including but not limited to Reconstruction) to protect the individual right to arms from federal or state infringement.”

Academics for the Second Amendment brief in McDonald

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 23, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/23/academics-for-the-second-amendment-brief-in-mcdonald/

“Well before Reconstruction, the Second Amendment was considered to be mainly a guarantee of a right to own and carry guns for personal protection. Back in 1998, I wrote a hundred-page article, The Second Amendment in the Nineteenth Century, 1998 BYU Law Review 1359, which focused mainly on cases and treatises. Olson/Hardy/Cramer have gone further, and brought forward extensive evidence about the understanding of the public and of elected public officials.”

McDonald amicus: Don’t trust Fairman and Berger

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 23, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/23/mcdonald-amicus-dont-trust-fairman-and-berger/

“Erik S. Jaffe has written a very interesting brief for the CalGuns Foundation. In short, the argument is: ‘Charles Fairman’s and Raoul Berger’s Work on Fourteenth Amendment Incorporation of the Bill of Rights Is Deeply Flawed, Inaccurate, and Should Not Be Relied Upon by this Court.’ ”

Cato brief in McDonald v. Chicago

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 23, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/23/cato-brief-in-mcdonald-v-chicago/

“An outstanding brief, as one might expect. The bulk of the brief (21 pages, comprising Part I) shows that from the Founding Era into through the framing of the Fourteenth Amendment, national citizenship was paramount to state citizenship. Part II briefly argues that Slaughterhouse violated canons of constitutional construction such as by interpreting the Privileges or Immunities Clause to make it nothing more than a reiteration of the Supremacy Clause.”

Institute for Justice brief in McDonald v. Chicago

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 23, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/23/institute-for-justice-brief-in-mcdonald-v-chicago/

“The most important part of the brief is Part III, which begins: ‘To enslave a class of people requires three basic things: destroy their self-sufficiency, prevent them from fighting back, and silence any opposition.’ The brief then goes on to argue that the the Court should resist suggestions that it hold that the Privileges or Immunities clause makes the first eight amendments applicable against the states, but does nothing else.”

McDonald amicus briefs: Academics, Congress Redux, and California District Attorneys

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
November 25, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/11/25/mcdonald-amicus-briefs-academics-and-congress-redux/

“The new Kates-Ayers brief begins with a survey of the 17th-18th century philosophical view, with which the American Founders agreed, that self-defense was among the most fundamental of all rights, that it was also a duty, and that the right necessarily implied the right to use arms in self-defense.”

Privileges or Immunities Extravaganza

David Kopel
The Volokh Conspiracy
December 21, 2009
http://volokh.com/2009/12/21/privileges-or-immunities-extravaganza/

“The Question Presented by the Court asked if the bans should be considered unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process clause, or under the Privileges or Immunities clause. There’s been plenty of interesting scholarship recently on Privileges or Immunities. Here’s a guide to some of the most important articles.”

More of Dave’s Podcasts on the Case

Interview with Alan Gura

Dave Kopel with Alan Gura
Dave Kopel’s Second Amendment Podcast
December 7, 2009
http://audio.ivoices.org/mp3/iipodcast358.mp3

Here is Dave’s lengthy (50 minutes) interview with Alan Gura, the lead attorney in the Heller case, now involved in McDonald v. Chicago.

McDonald v. Chicago: Is the 2nd Amendment Incorporated in the 14th Amendment? An Explanation of the Basic Constitutional Issues in the Case.

Dave Kopel with Jon Caldara
Dave Kopel’s Second Amendment Podcast
December 7, 2009
http://audio.ivoices.org/mp3/iipodcast349.mp3

Dave and Jon Caldara discuss Dave’s early work on his amicus brief, and the issues and precedents at stake in McDonald v. Chicago.

Stephen Halbrook Christmas Special.

Dave Kopel with Stephen Halbrook
Dave Kopel’s Second Amendment Podcast
December 17, 2009
http://audio.ivoices.org/mp3/iipodcast362.mp3

Kopel interviews Stephen Halbrook, the leading legal defender of the Second Amendment over the last three decades. 53 minutes.

More available at the sidebar link!

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

Federal gun regulator accused of damaging Metairie hotel room

December 15, 2009

Hat Tip to Texas Fred for the heads up on this. Regular readers know that I support LEO’s to the hilt. But, there always has to be an exception to make the rule or so the saying goes.

That exception, is the BATFE. The only agency dedicated to the destruction of The Bill of Rights. During the Clinton years Explosives were added to the responsibilities of the notoriously rogue agency. One can only guess that Clinton did that in order to lend an air of legitimacy to the group of maniacs that brought you the Ruby Ridge travesty and the Waco Holocaust.

I am on record as having stated that any thing that is legitimate that they do, should, on a federal level be performed by the FBI. No, the FBI isn’t perfect, but compared to BATFE? The FBI wins hands down when it comes to acting ethically.

Moving BATFE from the IRS to DHS hasn’t changed much…

Read about this HERE

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | Comments Off on Federal gun regulator accused of damaging Metairie hotel room

Bloomberg And Lautenberg : What a pair of losers

December 5, 2009

The treasonous master minions of the fight against liberty and freedom are back at it.

Two Against Two: Bloomberg And Lautenberg
Pair Up To Violate The Second And Fourteenth Amendments
Friday, December 04, 2009
Is your name the same as, or similar to, that of someone on the FBI’s “terrorist watchlist?”  Or, have you been erroneously placed on the watchlist?  You can’t find out because the FBI won’t say exactly why people get watchlisted, won’t say who has been watchlisted, and therefore doesn’t offer watchlisted people the chance to clear their names immediately.  In fact, small children, federal air marshals, military personnel who have fought terrorists overseas, the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, members of Congress, and many other good Americans have even been stopped from boarding commercial aircraft for this reason.  The government has reported that there were 700,000 names in the watchlist as of April 2007, and the ACLU estimates that the number has since risen to 1.3 million.

Obviously, these people are not all terrorists.  However, politicians who hate the Second Amendment know that some of the good Americans who are erroneously on the list, or who get incorrectly flagged by the list, are gun owners.  And, because the FBI won’t reveal its watchlisting criteria, those politicians think that more gun owners can be placed on the list over time, by like-minded bureaucrats making arbitrary determinations about who ought to have guns.

One such politician is Michael Bloomberg, whose hobbies include being mayor of New York City and raising intellectually deficient complaints about gun laws.  Never one to concern himself with the facts when there is a chance to get his name in the paper, Bloomberg recently claimed that the recent murders on Ft. Hood would have been prevented if the FBI hadn’t been required to erase NICS-approved gun purchase records after 24 hours.

Mischaracterizing events related to the Ft. Hood murders for political reasons shows disrespect to the lives that were lost there and is crass to the extreme.  That said, the reason that the FBI didn’t know about the Ft. Hood suspect’s gun purchase is not that his NICS record was erased after 24 hours.  Rather, it’s that he wasn’t on the watchlist in the first place, as NICS checks the list and alerts the FBI if a listed person tries to buy a gun.

Another such politician is Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), author of legislation Bloomberg supports (S. 1317, H.R. 2159 in the House), which would allow the Attorney General to stop watchlisted people from buying guns through NICS.  It would also prevent those people from contesting their rejections in a full and open hearing in court. Obviously, that scheme would violate not only the Second Amendment, but also the Fourteenth Amendment’s protection against deprivation of liberty without due process of law.

This week Lautenberg introduced a separate bill (S. 2820), calling for NICS firearm transaction records to be retained for 10 years on a person suspected of being a member of a terrorist organization. That, however, is a smokescreen for another provision in the same bill, to retain NICS records of approved firearm transfers for 180 days for other gun buyers.

While Lautenberg introduced S. 2820 in the wake of Ft. Hood (with terrorism fresh on Americans’ minds), gun control supporters have wanted NICS records retained for longer than 24 hours since NICS’ inception.  Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), a co-sponsor of the Lautenberg bill, argued in favor of a 180-day retention back in 2001.  After all, the Brady Act, as passed by Congress, required that NICS “destroy” the records of approved firearm purchases.

Along with the Lautenberg bills described above, gun control supporters are concurrently campaigning for a law to force all private gun sales to be run through NICS.  Connecting the dots is a simple task. The goal shared by gun control supporters and by government entities for whom no amount of knowledge about American citizens is too much, is to incrementally increase the amount of information the government possesses on gun owners who, through no fault of their own, end up on a secret government list.

Please call your U.S. Senators and urge them to oppose S. 1317 and S. 2820.  You can call your U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121.

SOURCE

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Posted in Czar Wars, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 3 Comments »

RMGO Newsletter

December 5, 2009

CSU to ban self defense, Denver CCW Class Dec. 14th and Ft. Collins Jan. 11

Colorado State has been rattling it’s empty saber scabbard for years about a “No Firearms Policy”, but this week the (bad) idea reached a fevered pitch.

After the CSU Faculty Council (read: Liberal, freedom-hating professors) recommended to CSU President Tony Frank to ban firearms on campus, the student government quickly stood on the side of freedom and asked Frank to leave the policy as it is (i.e. permit holders, including students, can carry).

Then, Larimer County Sheriff Jim Alderden, himself first elected as sheriff solely due to the concealed carry issue (the previous RINO sheriff had refused to issue permits), publicly told CSU that his office (which controls the only jail in the county) would not enforce any ban on permit holders, wouldn’t participate in detaining any valid permit holders, and his jail would not hold them.  He also added that he didn’t think CSU had the legal authority to enforce a ban that is contrary to state law.

And, despite a barrage of letters and calls from State Legislators, citizens and CSU Alumni, the CSU Board of Governors today recommended to President Frank (who makes the final decision) to ban all firearms on campus.

Understand that there are a few different issues here:

1. Banning faculty and students, via employment contracts and student code of conduct contracts, is an end-run around the state policy, and may or may not be legal.

2. Banning all firearms on campus, even with a permit, is a much longer step.  And clearly, this is not legal, as Colorado law doesn’t allow that, and even a liberal judge (the Meyers decision in 2004) ruled that Denver couldn’t make it’s own concealed carry rules, despite being a “home rule” city.  How, then, could a taxpayer-funded public university?

Colorado University’s Board of Regents voted many years ago to make their campuses “gun free”, but CU’s Regents are constitutionally created, and elected.  CSU has nothing of the sort.  So unelected bureaucrats are making policy in direct and flagrant opposition to Colorado law.

Did the Colorado legislature, in 2003’s SB24, intend to have permit holders walk on campus armed?

As the only professional pro-gun lobbyist to endure the 9-year battle for “Shall Issue” concealed carry in Colorado, RMGO Executive Director Dudley Brown made it clear that this issue was addressed, routinely.

“This issue was addressed routinely, and though the NRA tried many times to include campus-carry bans, the legislature rejected it,” said Brown, a gun lobbyist for the last 16 years.  “The final bill, passed in 2003, explicitly allowed permit holders to carry on campus, but apparently some bureaucrats believe their students should be defenseless.”

“Virginia Tech, Columbine High School, and every gun free zone sends one message: it’s a Criminal Safezone, where citizens are defenseless,” Brown said.  “We’ll fight this ban in court, as it is clear that liberal academia isn’t going to stand for freedom.”

RMGO pushed CSU to recognize the right to carry in 2001, and has been on the leading edge of the issue ever since.

Concealed Carry Class to be held in Denver (Englewood, actually) on Dec. 14th, and Ft. Collins on Jan. 11th

Click on the registration link below to get signed up for these classes, but hurry; space is limited, and they fill up fast.

Class Date Location Registration
December 14th, 2009 Englewood Inverness Hotel Register Here
January 11th, 2010 Fort Collins LaQuinta Inn Register Here

Click here for a full description of these classes.

E-mail us at RMGO.org

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Supreme Court Schedules Major Gun Rights Case

December 1, 2009

This almost seems like one of those spam blast things that were going around some time back. The Chicago Gun Rights Case has the date set, and I must have received ten emails about it.

Read about that HERE

Would someone tell me please just how this will do anything, anything at all to stop the maniacal Eric Holder from putting you on some list? A list that you don’t know that you are on, and have no way of getting removed from? The new Lautenberg abomination will allow for just that, and not a whole lot is being said about that right now.

Lautenberg’s treason just continues on. This purveyor of mysandry and destruction of the Constitution needs to be stopped if this nation is to survive at all.  Him, and all his ilk need to be tossed out of office on their collective ears.

A good old fashioned Tar and Feathering would not be out of the realm of reasoned response.

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Posted in Domestic Violence, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Hoplophobia, Law, mysandry, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | Comments Off on Supreme Court Schedules Major Gun Rights Case

Navy Seals Charged for being Navy Seals!

November 24, 2009

Few things get me angrier than when our military get shafted for doing their jobs! Then, when I first read this, I was literally so angry that I couldn’t post!

So, courtesy of the immutable TexasFred…

Navy SEAL’s Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist

Navy SEALs have secretly captured one of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq — the alleged mastermind of the murder and mutilation of four Blackwater USA security guards in Fallujah in 2004. And three of the SEALs who captured him are now facing criminal charges, sources told FoxNews.com.

The three, all members of the Navy’s elite commando unit, have refused non-judicial punishment — called an admiral’s mast — and have requested a trial by court-martial.

Ahmed Hashim Abed, whom the military code-named “Objective Amber,” told investigators he was punched by his captors — and he had the bloody lip to prove it.

Now, instead of being lauded for bringing to justice a high-value target, three of the SEAL commandos, all enlisted, face assault charges and have retained lawyers.

Full Story Here:
Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist

This is one of the most incredibly ridiculous stories that I have ever seen.

It’s not that I don’t believe it. I do. It’s that these SEALs would be brought up on ANY kind of charges because a murdering son of a bitch named Ahmed Hashim Abed got a bloody lip in the process of being captured.

Assault charges? Against our Navy SEALs? Am I the only one that sees the unbelievably PC hand of the Obama administration at work here? Am I the only one that sees the biggest appeaser to ever inhabit the White House doing his thing? Or, maybe, having it done at his behest?

Matthew McCabe, a Special Operations Petty Officer Second Class (SO-2), is facing three charges: dereliction of performance of duty for willfully failing to safeguard a detainee, making a false official statement, and assault.

Petty Officer Jonathan Keefe, SO-2, is facing charges of dereliction of performance of duty and making a false official statement.

Petty Officer Julio Huertas, SO-1, faces those same charges and an additional charge of impediment of an investigation.

OK, there will be a few *do-gooders* that aren’t going to like what I have to say, but, that’s OK, I can live with it.

Once upon a time, this piece of garbage would have been brought in beat ALL to hell and back, he would have been kept alive, but just barely. He would have been interrogated and once the desired information was extracted, he would have been unceremoniously disposed of.

But, that was before we forgot how to fight wars. That was before we lost the definition of the word VICTORY! That was before we had our warfighting strategy dictated to us by the likes of Nouri al-Maliki and Hamid Karzai. And it was long before we became the WUSSIES that are more concerned with the RIGHTS of WAR CRIMINALS than we are with the safety of our own people!

FoxNews.com obtained the official handwritten statement from one of the three witnesses given on Sept. 3, hours after Abed was captured and still being held at the SEAL base at Camp Baharia. He was later taken to a cell in the U.S.-operated Green Zone in Baghdad.

The SEAL told investigators he had showered after the mission, gone to the kitchen and then decided to look in on the detainee.

“I gave the detainee a glance over and then left,” the SEAL wrote. “I did not notice anything wrong with the detainee and he appeared in good health.”

I am taking this Navy SEAL at his word. Anyone have a problem with that?

United States Central Command declined to discuss the detainee, but a legal source told FoxNews.com that the detainee was turned over to Iraqi authorities, to whom he made the abuse complaints. He was then returned to American custody. The SEAL leader reported the charge up the chain of command, and an investigation ensued.

Read the above blockquote again, read it very carefully. He made his abuse complaint to IRAQI authorities. Now, I am NOT a conspiracy theory kind of guy, my regular readers know that, but suppose Ahmed Hashim Abed actually was in great condition when he was turned over to the Iraqis? Suppose they conspired to make the SEALs look bad and punched Abed in the mouth in an effort to make that happen? It is not out of the realm of possibility.

Suppose a Navy SEAL actually DID punch Abed? Do you really care? I know I damned sure don’t!

I sure as hell don’t, and further I think he should have punched this bastards ticket, unless he is a water boarding candidate. And no, I have no problem with using that mind trick on people like that!

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Posted in Editorial, Opinion, Education, Law, Men's Issues, Military Science, mysandry, News, Non Compos Mentis, Politics, War, Warfare, Wordpress Political Blogs | 8 Comments »

Storm Warnings: Yelling fire

November 16, 2009

American balkanization is going full steam. The regional separatism that is unfolding before our eyes is telling. Even the terminology is getting twisted. The term “Redneck” is just one example. It originated in the Appalachian region, and defined union workers. Not exactly your right wing terrorists as the DHS likes to call anyone that disagrees with them, and that is not a communist or Muslim.

Anti liberty forces propagandize without bothering to note facts. Just today a WordPress blog that is anti liberty made a post about veterans and made it appear that those veterans were mentally incompetent, as defined by law. When, in fact, that statement was made by none other than the Brady Bunch. A group that has become notorious for being less than truthful.

These not so United States are being torn asunder. There appears to be little middle ground where differences can be hashed out that will be acceptable to all party’s. These things range from States Rights, to abortion, to taxes, gun control, the drug war, and beyond. Lets not forget Man Made Global Warming while we are at it.

These same arguments are all to often clouded with red herrings that further cloud issues. Be that gay rights, property rights, special rights for special groups, and racism to name but a few.

It used to be said that we are a nation of laws, and not of men. Yet, when law is used to belittle others, then respect for the law evaporates.

1984 has come and gone, yet newspeak is all the rage it seems. Most especially in the Senate and Congress. Are these concerns simply yelling fire in a crowded theater? If so, then what if the theater is in fact on fire? Do you allow those people to just burn alive?

As the song says, if you cannot stand for something, then you stand for nothing at all, or something like that.

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Posted in Economics, Editorial, Opinion, Education, Gun Control, Historical Quotes, Hoplophobia, Immigration, Law, Men's Issues, mysandry, News, Politics, Wordpress Political Blogs | 6 Comments »

California: Amicus Brief Filed in Millender v. County of Los Angeles

November 4, 2009

I’m sure that I will raise the ire of many law and order folks with this. The Bill of Rights is an entire package, and when you weaken it anywhere, you weaken the entire thing, including the concept. And please, don’t come here and post about not yelling fire in a crowded theater. If the damned thing is actually on fire then you have a civic duty to inform your fellow theater patrons that the damned place is in fact on fire and needs to be evacuated…

Tuesday, November 03, 2009
On October 22, 2009, the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the California Rifle and Pistol Association (CRPA) filed an amicus (friend of the court) brief in the case of Millender v. County of Los Angeles, et al. (07-55518).  The case is pending en banc hearing before a 12 judge panel in the Ninth Circuit United States Court of Appeals.  A copy of the brief is posted at www.calgunlaws.com. No right is more clearly established under the Fourth Amendment than the right not to be subject to search and seizure under a general warrant (i.e., a warrant not based on probable cause and not particularly describing the place to be searched and the person or thing to be seized). Furthermore, as the Second Amendment makes clear, firearms are lawful to possess and may not be seized without probable cause to believe that a specific firearm was used in a crime.

The NRA/CRPA amicus brief challenges the ability of law enforcement to write over-broad “general” search warrants which allow police to seize any and all firearms an individual may possess, even when police only have “probable cause” to search for a particular firearm.  Far too often police seize legal firearms collections even when most of those firearms are not alleged to be part of a criminal offense.  This is sometimes driven by a political motivation to increase gun seizure statistics so police can seek increased funding.

This deprivation of property often results in damage to the firearms and inevitably causes the owner to incur significant expense and legal fees in retrieving the firearms. The purpose of the NRA/CRPA brief is to convince the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to publish a binding precedent to prevent these search and seizure abuses in the future.

SOURCE

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