Then They Came For Me

First they came for the communists,
  and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
  and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
  and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
  and there was no one left to speak out for me.

- Martin Niemöller, German pastor and theologian, 1946

Some of us have learned the lesson, and are speaking out.

David over at Musings Over a Pint wrote today about the movie For Greater Glory, about the Cristeros War in Mexico, which started in 1925.

If you are worried about government intrusion into the affairs of religious groups, especially the Catholic Church, you should check out his post.

The lesson - if we don't speak out against injustice at any level, against any group, then we shouldn't  expect anyone to speak out against injustice done to us. You can pick your own example.

So, Why Do You Carry A Gun?

I get asked that often, and most times I politely explain that I do so to protect myself and my family.

We live in a Southern town, where the idea of gun ownership is never questioned, except perhaps in the negative, as in "What do you mean, you don't own a gun?" In fact, as you probably know, city ordinances in Kennesaw where I live require every home to have a gun. When I moved in the neighborhood ten years ago, the second or third question, behind where did I grow up and where do I go to church, was what kind of guns do I own. We then compared the guns we were carrying. It was nice.

But at dinner a few weeks ago with some fellow bloggers, Sean Sorrentino, whose profile as a gun blogger exposes him to that question many times more often that I, quoted Tam* and gave a more tacit explanation:

Because F**K YOU, that’s why.

Thanks to the Second Amendment, we don't have to give anyone a reason why we own guns. I give one to people who ask nicely, because I want to be a good ambassador of gun ownership.

There are those, however, who oppose guns, gun ownership, gun portrayal, gun media, gun owners. And, as Jay G said in an expansion of this thought on his site:

For those whose minds are slammed shut like a steel trap, "BECAUSE F**K YOU THAT'S WHY" works just fine...

Sad that we have to answer that way, but they don't seem to understand any other reason.


* Edited. Thanks Sean.

The First Death Knell for "May Issue?"

Alan Gura and the Second Amendment Foundation won another battle today, as a Federal judge ruled that Maryland's "may issue" concealed permit law, which required that citizens show a "good and substantial reason" why they need a gun for self defense, is unconstitutional.

Quoting U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg:

“A citizen may not be required to offer a ‘good and substantial reason’ why he should be permitted to exercise his rights. The right’s existence is all the reason he needs.”

Amen.

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How long until the other "may issue" states' laws go by the same way?

I am reminded of when I received my first concealed carry permit in Alabama. After everything was set, the Sheriff stuck his head out from his office, and looked me over, and approved the permit.

I didn't think much of it at the time, because I didn't know much about "may issue" and "shall issue" permits. But now I know that Alabama is a "may issue" state, meaning, the Sheriff has the last word on who does and does not get a permit. I guess I got lucky.

Of course, I'm white, which may have been a lot of the luck I needed.

It's Starbucks Appreciation Day

Send them some love, because they care.




Cool custom heart courtesy of Acme Heart Maker.

Starbucks Appreciation Day 2

As reported by Sebastian and others, the National Gun Victims Control Action Council is holding another boycott of Starbucks, on February 14, because of their policy of allowing customers to follow whatever local laws say about the open carry of guns in their stores.

As a result, Sebastian is proposing a second annual Starbucks Appreciation Day on the same day. I plan to visit my local Starbucks with my wife, and thank the manager for their refusal to yield to the anti-gunners.

I encourage you to do so, too, and report your impressions here.

Justice At Long Last?

As soon as I felt your gun I should have took two steps back, pulled my Glock 40 and just put 10 bullets in your ass and let you drop. And I wouldn’t have lost any sleep.

Canton, Ohio Patrolman Daniel Harless

Daniel Harless, whose embarrassing and inexcusable treatment of motorist and concealed carry license holder William Bartlett during an incident in the early morning hours of June 8, 2010, has finally been fired as the result of the investigation by his department.

There's not really a whole lot I can add to this story. The whole thing was caught on the police dashboard camera, and the Ohioans for Concealed Carry (OFCC) made sure it was posted on Youtube.

The judge hearing Bartlett's case eventually through out all charges against him. Harless's hearing was then delayed several times because of the stress Harless was undergoing, caused in no small part, no doubt, by the publication of videos of other incidents he was involved in.

Here is the dash camera footage, with commentary by the OFCC. I should note that the video contains some language that Harless uses that may be shocking to some.


Video (c) 2011 Ohioans for Concealed Carry

Kudos to the OFCC for their work on this!

A Girl and Her Gun: An Open Letter To The Anti-Gun Folks

A powerful read, from the blog A Girl and Her Gun: A Girl and Her Gun: An Open Letter To The Anti-Gun Folks.

Too Many Victims

In response to the Brady Campaign's marking of the anniversary of the Tuscon shootings, Joe Huffmann produced this video showing a real solution to the problem.

Thanks Joe!

The Case for Concealed Carry on College Campuses

My daughter is a third year student at Georgia Tech. In the past year, I can't count how many robberies have been reported on campus. There was even a rape of a student on campus right before a football game.

As the new legislative session approaches, the time has come to fight to change Georgia law to allow licensed Georgia Weapons License holders to exercise their right to carry concealed on campus.

It won't be an easy task. Georgia Tech has a stated policy from 2010 advocating leaving the law where it is. But the arguments they list in this policy, as well as the statistics they quote, are taken right from the Brady Campaign, and they are easily refuted.

Here is the heart of the issue: when people hear that we want to allow concealed carry in campus, they immediately assume we want to allow every college student to carry a gun.

But the law guiding concealed carry on Georgia, and in every state that allows it, limits licenses to those 21 years or older. So, students younger than 21 would not be allowed to carry in any case.

In fact, the majority of those who would be eligible to carry concealed on campus would not be students at all, but faculty and staff? How many of them would be carrying guns? Who knows?

A criminal, like the one who shot up the Virginia Tech campus in 2007, doesn't care about the law. They are are going to break the law in any case, either by robbing someone at gunpoint, or by shooting someone. What does breaking one more law matter to them?

It turns out that the main deterrent to an armed attack on campus, as it is anywhere, is the unknown. The criminal, who doesn't care about breaking gun laws in the commission of other crimes, does care about being shot in the commission of that crime. And since they don't know which of their intended victims or bystanders might be able and willing to fight back, they choose not to attempt the crime at all.

Please join me in supporting Students for Concealed Carry on Campus and Georgia Students for Concealed Carry on Campus.

I Humbly Yield the Floor

A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.

Shane (1953)

Every death at the barrel of a gun is a tragedy. Whether an innocent victim is killed by a criminal, or that criminal is stopped by a law abiding citizen, or a group of gang bangers end up shooting each other, the resulting death could have been avoided, if one goes back far enough in the process.

One of the chief failings of the anti-gun crowd is their refusal to assign responsibility in this tragedy to those who are to blame. They choose to believe that, somehow, the gun - the tool - was at fault, and if all guns were eliminated, then the tragedies would cease.

Make no mistake, they will speak of "easy guns" or "illegal guns" or "assault weapons with high capacity clips and a shoulder thing that goes up," but what they really mean is all guns. Even the recent history of gun control in countries like England and Australia shows that.

Every time I read an anti-gun diatribe, I am tempted to write about it, and cite the truth - that the vast majority of gun deaths are due to criminals. You don't know how many draft posts I have saved, that are in this vein.

I forget exactly what I was reading today, but it was the same tired claim that "gun violence" could somehow be solved by more gun regulation. All I know is it got me to sounding and acting like Lewis Black - cussing and jabbing my fingers at the screen.

Fortunately, the next blog I read calmed me down. And for that reason, in matters related to who and what is to blame for "gun violence," I humbly yield the floor to Sean Sorrentino.

Many gun bloggers, like myself, choose to remain somewhat anonymous. For me, it's because my side passion might interfere in other areas of my business life, where, frankly, it should have no bearing at all.

When you meet Sean, though, he will be wearing a badge in the shape of the state of North Carolina, that says his name, and under that, An NC Gun Blog.

Sean deals frequently with legislators, anti-gunners, and pro-gun people alike, and, as he told me, he wants them to know where he stands.

I salute Sean not only for his forthrightness, but for his blog. The subject of his blog, more often than not, is to show you who the perpetrators of gun crime in North Carolina are, and what they have been up to all their life.

Sean tells you about the criminals and their records in a very civil manner. He doesn't name names, he doesn't throw stones. He just shows you the truth.

As a quasi-aside, Sean doesn't just write about guns, he shoots very well, too. He was my training partner in Knoxville earlier in the year.

So, in lieu of ranting, in the future, I will just point to An NC Gun Blog. Sean says it better than I can.

What We Are Up Against

I was reading my normal morning blog fix today, and I was reminded by Joe Huffman of some statements not so long ago.

This is what we are up against:

I think -- you know, we can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans to legitimately own handguns and rifles...

Bill Clinton
March 1, 1993


And we should -- then every community in the country could then start doing major weapon sweeps and then destroying the weapons, not selling them.

Bill Clinton
October 1, 1993


Banning guns is an idea whose time has come.

U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden
November 18, 1993


Banning guns addresses a fundamental right of all Americans to feel safe.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein
November 18, 1993


We're here to tell the NRA their nightmare is true!. We're going to hammer guns on the anvil of relentless legislative strategy! We're going to beat guns into submission!

U.S. Rep. Charles Schumer
November 30, 1993


If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up every one of them, Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in, I would have done it.

Diane Feinstein
February 5, 1995

My family ask me why I get so vociferous when I talk about the Second Amendment and my right to keep and bear arms. This morning I printed these quotes out, so I can let them read it for themselves.

Robert Woodall on HR 822

HR 822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity act, passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday by a vote of 272 to 154. This bill requires states to recognize the carry permits issued by other states.

Many have expressed surprise that Rep. Rob Woodall, Republican of the Georgia 7th District, voted No, despite being a proponent of the Second Amendment. But Mr. Woodall explained his position clearly on the floor of the House.



At first I thought his position was a cop-out, but I find it a well reasoned and lucid explanation.

Unfortunately, it's based on fantasy and wishful thinking.

It assumes that all the states enforce and apply the Second Amendment, so we must enforce and apply the Tenth Amendment and allow them to continue to do so. The problem is that all states don't apply the Second Amendment. In fact, some actively oppose it. The purpose of HR 822 is to enforce the Second Amendment explicitly rather than implicitly.

Just about every Amendment since the 13th has included the phrase "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation" or similar language. Before that, it was understood that Congress would enforce the Constitution with appropriate legislation. That's the Congress's job.

All HR 822 does is enforce the Second Amendment with appropriate legislation.

Doing that with the Tenth Amendment is another issue for another time.

HR822 Redux

Yesterday I posted an open letter to my Congressman, Dr. Phil Gingrey, urging him to vote for HR822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act.

I fully expect him to do so, since he is a co-sponsor.

I did not, however, give much guidance on how you can contact your Member of Congress to urge them to do the same. I assume my readers are capable of using the Interwebz to find such things.

Barring that, the website Congress.org has a nifty app that allows you to enter your zip code and fins out who your elected officials are. Please avail yourself of this service if needed.

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As an aside, please don't let this be the only time you contact your representative. I make it a point to write or email my Congressman and my Senators at least monthly.

Keep your letters and emails short and to the point. Don't ramble.

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I am proud to live where I live. Our Congressmen in the past have included Larry McDonald, Newt Gingrich, and Bob Barr.

But I'm reminded of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gobachev's rule: "Доверяй, но проверяй."

Trust, but verify.

An Open Letter to Congressman Phil Gingrey

Congressman Phil Gingrey, MD
119 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Gingrey:

I know you support the right to keep and bear arms guaranteed in the Second Amendment. Currently, the consistent exercise of this right for lawful self defense is hindered by a patchwork of state laws governing the issuance of concealed carry permits. While my Georgia Concealed Weapons License is recognized and honored by 24 other states, there are many who do not honor it, because of differences in the ways the laws are written in those states.

I am writing you to urge you to vote YES on HR822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, which comes before the House for a vote in the next couple of days. This bill would level the playing field for the licensed concealed carry of firearms, by mandating that all states which issue such licenses honor licenses from all other states, in much the same way as states honor each drivers' licenses from other states. This bill will go a long way to helping keep travelers and visitors safe.

Thank you for your attention to this important bill.

Yours,

XXXXXX XXXXXX

Kennesaw, GA

PLEASE write or call your Congressman today and urge them to support HR822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act.