GRE Round Up, Oct. 29

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:

• Arkansas politicians show their fear of the Second Amendment

Liston Matthews/Knoxville:

• Tennessee Firearms Association Knoxville Chapter

David Codrea/National:

• Is anti-gun Chuck Schumer poised to become Senate Majority Leader?

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• High stakes for gun owners in Tuesday’s Senate election

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms
  

Framed: The campaign to portray gun dealers as criminals

So, in other words, gun dealers are just supposed to know a prospective customer's criminal history--even when the mandated NICS check turns up nothing that would mandate blocking a sale. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 28

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Dan Bidstrup/Denver:

• Self defense and revenge

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:

• Some Iowa Sheriffs are hitting the panic button over the new firearms law

David Codrea/National:

• Gun grabber exploits product recall to advance semi-auto ban agenda

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Yet another problem with a DOC-supervised felon

Chris Woodard/Tucson:

• Korean M1 Rifles and carbines. A scam of epic proportions.

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms
  

Divide and conquer: CSGV's strategy to disarm us piecemeal

So, in other words, CSGV has never renounced its call, under its old name, to ban all handguns, and is a member organization of an international gun ban group whose director has called for the banning of nearly all hunting arms, and yet CSGV's executive director wants to "embrace" those who own guns for self-defense or sport. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please drop by, and tell a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 27

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Paul Valone/Charlotte:

• The checkered past of NRA-endorsed Rep.Hugh Holliman and what it means to YOU

Liston Matthews/Knoxville:

• Tennessee Governor's race, the final week

David Codrea/National:

• Bloomberg’s New York City gun laws continue to endanger the 'law-abiding'

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Accidental shooting triggers revival of ‘safe storage’ debate

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms
  

CSGV says only the government can protect you from . . . the government

What the book doesn't talk about there is that the authority to enact such sweeping powers was codified in the Weimar Constitution in Article 48. Horwitz's reticence on that little detail is perhaps not too surprising, given the fact that Article 48's insertion in the Weimar Constitution was largely the work of Max Weber--the very same Max Weber cited so frequently and so admiringly by Horwitz in explaining why the government must have a monopoly on force. Well, the Nazi government certainly had that. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 26

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:

• Ottumwa Chief of Police Clark still confused

David Codrea/National:

• New Jersey to 'relax' gun laws?

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Vet denied gun rights while illegals campaign for Murray

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms
  

The REAL reason CSGV hates the right to keep and bear arms--it works

In other words, Horwitz seems to be arguing that the gun rights movement is an important reason that politicians still need to even pay lip service to the idea that the Constitution places limits on what the government can do. That seems like the best advertising gun rights advocacy could possibly get. What we need now is more of it, so that those who seek to be our public servants are forced to go well beyond mere lip service to Constitutional ideals. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 25

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Paul Valone/Charlotte:

• A response from the NRA?


• Mike Easley: The smoking gun in his own words


• Flawed NRA ratings plague North Carolina races

David Codrea/National:

• Will 'fusion center' accept 'militia enthusiast's' challenge?


• Gas for guns program may yield unintended consequence


• Their own criteria demands NRA oppose Reid

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Why gun rights activist Gottlieb was right about Nov. 2 elections

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms
  

Otis McDonald endorses Bill Brady for Illinois Governor

Mr. McDonald is one of many in Chicago's African-American community who resent Illinois' policies of mandated defenselessness. In a closely-fought election, any inroads a Republican candidate can make, into a demographic that Democrats have long considered reliably theirs, is potentially important.

The people of Illinois are waking up to the evils of forcible citizen disarmament and mandated defenselessness. It is long past time that those who seek to represent them wake up, as well. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Hope you find it worth a look, and worth telling a friend about.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 22

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

David Codrea/National:

• Why has Phoenix banned gun safety ads?


• NRA-PVF changes GA candidate's grade and issues endorsement!

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Sportsmen gearing up for vote; how this relates to the Juan Williams outrage

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms
  

Inter-American Arms Treaty back in the news again

Actually, since unlicensed assembly of ammunition is currently entirely legal in the U.S., it would seem that Mr. Koh is playing a bit fast and loose with the truth. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 21

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:

• Ottumwa retreats, while Gardner complains

Liston Matthews/Knoxville:

• Accidental firearms discharges

David Codrea/National:

• Why did NRA give pro-gun candidate an 'F'?

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Olympic Park tragedy underscores guns in parks issue

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms
  

Hear son of 'Defiance' hero speak in St. Louis

A bit over a year ago, I wrote about the death of Marek Edelman, last survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943. Reading about his strength and courage in fighting the Nazis inspired my life membership in Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership--a group dedicated to not allowing Americans to forget the horrible dangers of a people submitting to forcible citizen disarmament.

Now, St. Louis is to be visited by the son of another hero of armed Jewish defiance of Nazi evil. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Hope you find it worthy of your time, and of telling a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 20

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Paul Valone/Charlotte:

• Why the NRA is bent on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

• Safer Streets 2010: Which gun laws to repeal first?

David Codrea/National:

• Should gun owners have their heads examined?

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Mid-term election IS about gun rights; John A. Nosler, in memory

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms
  

Who let the thugs out? IL Gov. Quinn, who also wants to keep you unarmed

The thing is, thanks to a new law (legislation introduced, by the way, by Quinn's gubernatorial opponent, Bill Brady), we can see that prisoners are still being released early, on the website run by the Illinois Department of Corrections. It should be noted that the web page contains a disclaimer: [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Hope you give it a look, and tell a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 19

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

• Safer Streets 2010: Breaking the chain of a scorched earth policy of revenge.

David Codrea/National:

• How can New Jersey imprison a gun owner who broke no laws?

Dave Workman:

• Idaho governor pulls off gloves on wolves

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms
  

Also . . .

David Codrea will be Doc Bean's guest tonight on The Watchmen (5:00 pm-6:00 pm PST/8:00pm-9:00pm EST), when they'll be talking about the Korean surplus rifle story and more.

Click here to listen live. I understand you can also chat while the show is in progress.

The toll-free call-in number is 1-888-953-5911, but they do request those who have "free" long distance to please call 1-541-787-4028.

Blame the perpetrators for violence--not the TV they watch

If we are to be held responsible for what crazy people do, inspired by what they think we're saying, what can be safely said? By that standard of responsibility, the dog owned by the neighbor of David Berkowitz shares in the responsibility for the "Son of Sam" murders. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 18

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:

• Ottumwa considers an anti-gun ordinance

Liston Matthews/Knoxville:

• Wisconsin knife decision affirms Second Amendment

John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

• Safer Streets 2010: I don't see gun control on the republican platform.

David Codrea/National:

• Mine accident brings to mind hypocrisy of anti-gunners

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms

Gun rights and marijuana reform--strange bedfellows, or match made in heaven?

It is time we realize that the War on Guns and the "War on Drugs" are part and parcel of the same war--the War on Liberty. It is time we cease allowing ourselves--both "conservative" advocates of the Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right to keep and bear arms, and "liberal" advocates of the right to makes one's own choices about what substances one puts in one's own body--to be divided, and thus easily conquered. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Give it a look? Tell a friend?

GRE Round Up, Oct. 15

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:

• Rules of the road for comments


• Report from the DPS public hearing on 10/13/10

David Codrea/National:

• Gun owners must consider more than NRA grades

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Wisconsin ruling affirms importance of SAF’s McDonald case

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms

A Wisconsin judge who 'gets it' about the right to self-defense

Helmke and Sugarmann both point out that the Supreme Court's Heller and McDonald decisions dealt only with keeping a handgun in the home, and not with carrying firearms in public. That is true, as far as it goes. However, since the Second Amendment has now been found, as a point of settled Constitutional law, to protect an individual right, and that this right is protected from violation by not only the federal government, but state and local governments as well, apparently the Brady Campaign and VPC are arguing that this protection applies only to the "keep" part of "keep and bear arms." That is an odd, and seemingly untenable, position to try to defend. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Give it a look? Tell a friend?

GRE Round Up, Oct. 14

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

David Codrea/National:

• Guns in the news

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• ‘Unjustified shooting’ report good cause for reflection by police, gun activists

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms

Mexican drug cartels not getting THOSE through any 'gun show loophole'

Is the U.S. arming the drug syndicates? I suppose the evidence supporting that assertion is starting to mount--but the problem will not be addressed by more restrictions on gun shows, or on what firearms American citizens may purchase. Perhaps it is time to close the State Department Loophole. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 13

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:

• Another domestic violence victim falls to a false "protective order"

David Codrea/National:

• Not all 'crime guns' have been used in crimes

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Pierce Co. prosecutor gets it right, ATF gets it wrong

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms

Are 'buybacks' exploited to pad 'crime gun' statistics?

Nearly every gun "buyback" of which I am aware (and certainly all of the really big ones, like those listed above) are administered and run by the police, meaning--you guessed it--every gun surrendered for a gift card, or whatever the inducement of the day--goes into "police custody." Instant "crime gun"--no crime necessary. Many "buybacks"--even those where it is promised that there will be "no questions asked" involve a check to see if the gun was used in a crime. But even a negative return on that check (which presumably includes the BATFE's "eTrace") will result in one more tally in the "crime guns" column. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 12

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Liston Matthews/Knoxville:

• Bring home the M1's

David Codrea/National:

• ATF: Surplus Korean firearms imports 'pose a threat to public safety in the U.S.'

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Inquest proper in questionable police shootings

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms

BATFE works to price the poor out of the self-defense market

In other words, this "threat to public safety in the U.S." is apparently a function of firearms becoming more affordable, according to the BATFE. In still other words, we are apparently to believe that "public safety" requires the disarming of the poor. This is a theme I have discussed often in the past, in such articles as "Disarming the poor," "Delaware Public Housing Authority's attempt to disarm the poor," and "Legal self-defense in Chicago: the poor need not apply." [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 11

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:

• Constitutional amendment proposed

John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

• Safer Streets 2010: Answering TIME Magazine's Locked and Loaded, Part II . . .


• Safer Streets 2010: Carlsbad Shooter Subdued By Private Citizens.

David Codrea/National:

• What do Balinese dogs have to do with 'gun control'?


• Most Congressmen in monthly survey fail on Second Amendment


• Will posting comments here put YOU on the government's watch list?


• Should you have a legal duty to retreat from an intruder or attacker?

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Guns are the litmus test of freedom

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms

Brady Campaign's favored (apparently) response to tyranny--sit there and take it

What's most telling, though, I think, is that anyone who denies that it is legitimate to resist, by force of arms, a tyrannical government, can only be arguing that resistance to tyranny is not legitimate. In other words, we are, apparently, expected to sit here and take it. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 8

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:

• Girl hunters showing off

John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

• Safer Streets 2010: Answering TIME Magazine's Locked and Loaded

David Codrea/National:

• Bigotry against gun owners on display at street fair

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Study the ‘Castle Doctrine’ debate in PA, it has a familiar ring

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms

BATFE to be silent about percentage of Mexican 'crime guns' traced

In an interview, [Deputy Director Kenneth] Melson said the ATF would no longer release such figures "because these percentages have been misused, misinterpreted, for political agendas on both sides of the gun issue.

I don't know about "both sides," Deputy Director Melson, but I certainly agree with your assertion that the figures have been misused for a political agenda. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. I hope it's worth your time--if only for the chuckle I hope you get from the photo caption.

GRE Round Up, Oct. 7

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:

• The other Senate candidate

Liston Matthews/Knoxville:

• The Book of Two Guns

John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

• Safer Streets 2010: Contempt for America from the impairment deniers.

David Codrea/National:

• Texas police theft illustrates futility of total 'gun control

• What's to debate when anti-gun advocate has criminal past?

• Does Dan Lungren really deserve an NRA endorsement?

Dave Workman/Seattle:

• Is ‘hunter orange’ requirement responsible for accidents?
• Madison, WI newspaper compares gun rights to civil rights…huh?

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

• Albuquerque Libertarian
• Cochise County Libertarian
• Conservative
• Michigan Firearms

Why Court should protect hate-filled 'church,' and why gun owners should care

In the end, remember, our possession of guns offends the gun-haters, just as Westboro Baptist's hate speech offends people with any decency. The fact that it's entirely reasonable to be offended by their verbal toxicity, and entirely unreasonable to be offended by the exercise of the Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms, is immaterial. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Hope it's worth your time.

So, does Europe have a 'terror gap,' too?

But wait a second--I thought passing laws to close the so-called (mythical) "terror gap" was supposed to protect us from just the kind of danger that has Europe so worried. It's almost as if no one really expects all the gun laws to pose much of an obstacle to aspiring jihadists who want to get guns. [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Why the silence on what percentage of Mexican 'crime guns' are traced?

The only plausible reason for not sharing that little detail is that the percentage is low enough that it hurts the case the gun-haters are trying to make, rather than helps it. And that leads us to one more question, although it's an elementary one--why doesn't the BATFE trace a very high percentage of the seized guns? What plausible answer to that question can there be, other than that a large proportion of those guns have never been on the U.S. commercial market, and thus tracing them would undermine the case the gun-haters are trying to make? [More]

That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Hope to see you there.

Brady Campaign just can't stop fudging the numbers regarding Mexican 'crime guns'

Days of Our Trailers notes that the Brady Campaign's Dennis Henigan is apparently mathematically challenged, judging from his latest Huff 'n' Puff Post piece (not to mention factually challenged, and we cannot forget his unfortunate Constitutionally challenged condition).

I made an observation:

Says Henigagn:

Huge numbers of guns are involved. According to a new report, U.S. Firearms Trafficking to Mexico, by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the University of San Diego Trans-Border Institute, of 75,000 firearms seized by the Mexican government in the last three years, about 80%, or 60,000 firearms, came from the United States.

Wrong. If you read the report itself, and then check the footnoted references, you will find that the report derives its "80%" figure from this Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/20/AR2010052002911.html

What that article says is quite different: "Calderón said his government had seized 75,000 guns in Mexico in a three-year period and found that 80 percent of those whose origin could be traced were bought in the United States."

80% "of those whose origin could be traced."

Quite a difference. The sleight of hand of ignoring the "whose origin could be traced" part has from the beginning been a key component of the strategy of those who want to use Mexican crime to justify yet more restrictive gun laws in the U.S.

One of the authors of the "report" Dennis cited challenged my assertions:

Dear 45superman,

I beg to differ. I am one of the authors of the report you refer to and know first hand. If you check the other source the author gives, from the Washington Times, it says more directly that of the 75,000 firearms seized around 80 percent of them came from the United States. In addition, I have heard from several ATF officials and other U.S. government officials that the 60,000 figure (total amount of U.S.-origin firearms seized by Mexico from 2007 to 2009) I use is fairly accurate. The reason ATF knows this is that Mexico has been providing a lot more firearm trace requests. As of May 2010, ATF had information on 69,808 firearms recovered in Mexico from 2007 to 2009, which is tens of thousands of firearms more than it had information on as of June 2009. While it's important to continue ask ATF for exact data, it's also important to fully recognize that Mexican DTOs are using U.S.-origin firearms on a massive scale and something needs to be done to stop their easy access to firearms in the United States.

Colby Goodman

Um . . . not so fast (modified to correct a bad link):

Mr. Goodman, I stand by my original contention. The Washington Times seems to have used less carefully accurate wording than the Washington Post (in that the Post included the "of those that can be traced" qualifier, and the Times did not).

I have ascertained this by going to the text of President Caldeón's address itself: http://bit.ly/coXs8m

There, we find this: "Just to give you an idea, we have seized 75,000 guns and assault weapons in Mexico in the last 3 years, and more than 80 percent of those we have been able to trace came from the United States."

As for your anecdotes about what you "have heard from several ATF officials and other U.S. government officials," come back to me about what they say under oath.

Tell a lie often (and loudly) enough . . . and we'll still hammer you for it.

Update: David Codrea has more.