Mission statement:

Armed and Safe is a gun rights advocacy blog, with the mission of debunking the "logic" of the enemies of the Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms.

I can be reached at 45superman@gmail.com.You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/45superman.

Monday, January 31, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 31

Here's today's roundup, combined with yesterday's since I don't generally do one on Sunday, so some folks might not have looked for it.

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:


John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

'Sporting purposes' requirement must go

Here's the thing, though: none of that matters. The Supreme Court's Heller decision, while hardly a cause for unreserved celebration among those of us who believe that shall not be infringed means what it says, does at least make clear that "sporting purposes" have nothing to do with the right guaranteed by the Second Amendment . . . [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 30

I don't usually do a roundup on Sundays, but wanted to get David's breaking news out quickly.

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:


John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

David Codrea/National:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Friday, January 28, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 28

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:


David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

What will the Obama administration's 'gun control' agenda look like?

Such abuses of executive power sound right in line with the Obama administration's approach to getting around that pesky Second Amendment in the Bill of Loopholes, er . . . Rights. Obama's State Department has already, at the BATFE's request, blocked the return to this country of hundreds of thousands of M-1 Garand rifles, M-1 Carbines, and M1911 pistols. The Obama Justice Department wants to exceed the Gun Control Act of 1968, and impose the requirement on gun dealers to report multiple long gun sales, as well as handguns. And now, the BATFE has arbitrarily declared that certain shotguns should no longer be imported, because they are not particularly suited for sport. [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 27

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Mike Stollenwerk/DC:


John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Are they nuts? The dangers of increased mental health scrutiny for gun purchases

Since the accused shooter in Tucson was never ordered by any court to receive mental health care, because of a determination that he posed a danger to himself or others, the NICS system, even "improved," posed no obstacle to his purchase of firearms. So, now we're told that NICS needs to be "improved" again, apparently this time without any court determination of danger. [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 26

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:


John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

No mention of 'gun control' in State of the Union--but it's still on the agenda

Obama is skilled at political calculus, though, and has seen that making the forcible citizen disarmament lobby happy isn't at the moment worth fighting the "gun lobby" (that's you, me, and millions of other American gun owners who will not back down). The first opening he sees (the next atrocity, perhaps bloody enough for the forcible citizen disarmament lobby's purposes) will bring the gloves off.

Our gloves can come off, too. [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 25

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:


John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

The future looks . . . dim

Chadwick Bowman is a senior at Colorado State University, studying sociology and journalism (a budding "Authorized Journalist"--he'll fit right in), and is ready to set America straight on the topic of guns.

I can confidently say that as young man living in America, I have never been in a situation where I look back and say “wow, good thing I had my gun.”
Well sure--if you haven't needed a gun by the time you've reached your early 20s, guns are clearly without a valid purpose.

I guess we should be thankful that he's not a history major:
The Second Amendment and the Bill of Rights were adopted in 1751; it is now 2011 [got the current year right, at least--the blind squirrel finds an acorn!].
And that's not just a typo--he continues in this vein for a while (my emphasis added):
The issue is this: The Bill of Rights and the Constitution were written in an era that we are so far removed from, it is ridiculous that we still abide by the same social norms that were accepted in the mid-18th century.

If folk from 1751 were present today . . ..
Am I being picky? I mean, are dates all that important? He's only off by about 40 years.

The bigger problem, of course, is that he seems to think that rights become obsolete at some point. I mean, let's spot him the 40 years--hell, give him a hundred and forty--if the Constitution and the Bill of Rights both dated from 1651, would his First Amendment right to proudly display his idiocy be any less valid?

Evidently, because rights apparently do have an expiration date:
“But Chadwick, it’s in the Constitution, so therefore it’s the American standard.” It’s not. We’re in a different time. Today, we tweet, abuse credit cards, watch “Man v. Food” and smoke marijuana, which my Grandma says “turns your brain into a sponge.”
Well, if absorbency is a sponge's defining characteristic, you seem to have proven your Grandma wrong, Chadwick, because you seem to have managed to keep your brain blissfully empty. If, on the other hand, she meant that it renders a brain useless for standard brain-like functions, such as thought, you would seem to be a superb example by which her point can be illustrated.

And yet Chadwick would presume to lecture us on "logic":
The logical concept is to separate everyone from their guns.
Start with me, Chadwick--I want you to.

And now we get to Chadwick's mighty climax:
The Democrats need to do what is right in this situation. This is one of those scenarios in American politics where the smartest, most intuitive citizens need to force legislation upon the people, even when it is not the popular choice. The leadership roles that Congress and the President have taken oaths to uphold need to make decisions that are blatantly and obviously the correct ones, which will make for a safer country. A safer country, even when many citizens do not have the intellectual abilities to understand that it is the safest choice for them.
The thing is, Chadwick, that the beauty of the Second Amendment is that it protects the people's means of stopping even those who think of themselves as "the smartest, most intuitive citizens" from forcing anything on us.

Molon labe, punk. I'll be waiting.

Oh, and how dare you speak of the President's and Congresspeople's oaths (this mysterious, non-existent "oath to uphold leadership roles"), a few short paragraphs after denigrating the one thing they are oath-bound to uphold?

Update: David has more.

Update 2: The Pistolero brings up a very important point:
One wonders if our budding Authorized Journalist has any clue of the implications of what he's advocating here.
Also, see Pistolero's take on this.

By the way, he has been taking a lot of heat in the comments over the "1751" thing. Just in case he does a bit of revisionist editing (and "moderating" comments), I took the liberty of getting a screen capture:

(click to enlarge)

Bloodthirsty: 'Gun control' lobby requires victims; the more the merrier

"It's an ill wind that blows nobody good" is a proverb with particular applicability to the gun rights/"gun control" debate. A mass shooting--an event that any decent person would certainly classify as "ill"--is, to the forcible citizen disarmament lobby, an opportunity to exploit. Long before Rahm Emanuel famously said, "You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things . . . " the gun prohibitionists had taken this concept to heart. [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Monday, January 24, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 24

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Rob Reed/Detroit:


David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Using Tucson to push Traver confirmation?

No permanent director since 2006 . . . hmm. Something about that year tickles something in the back of my mind--what could it be? Oh yeah--that was the year violent crime in the U.S. peaked, and has been precipitously falling ever since (see the graph in the sidebar).

I oughta write a book: "Less Unconstitutional Gun Law Enforcement Agency Administrative Bureaucracy, Less Crime." Catchy, isn't it? [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Friday, January 21, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 21

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

David Codrea/National:


Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Did Constitutional carry facilitate Tucson shootings?

That's in New York City. Cosmopolitan, sophisticated New York City, in the liberal, tolerant northeast (or so we're told). Should we expect a less racially discriminatory application of "stop and frisk" (never mind the Fourth Amendment) in Arizona, described by Pima County's Sheriff Dupnik (who is another vocal critic of Constitutional carry) as a "mecca for racism and bigotry"? [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 20

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Rob Reed/Detroit:


Richard Nascak/Ft. Myers:

David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Magazine ban effort ramps up, along with volume and heat of rhetoric

The gun ban lobby is, of course, ecstatic about getting some attention for one of their perennial wish list chart-toppers, with the Brady Campaign, the Violence Policy Center, and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence all putting out press releases, releasing "studies," and talking to anyone who will listen. Given the attitudes of the mass media, they're getting their audience.

The video in the sidebar shows MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell getting particularly fussy and strident with Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ), over the magazine ban issue. He gets so fussy, in fact, that he seems to have had some problems with logic and accuracy. [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 19

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Mike Stollenwerk/DC:


David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

'Project Gunwalker': Another angle from which to bring the heat

And now we get to my idea for one more angle from which we can bring some pressure to bear. As David asked, regarding the allegations that the BATFE is actively complicit in smuggling firearms to Mexican drug syndicates, without the Mexican government's knowledge or consent (of course), "That would make this an international law enforcement incident, would it not?"

So let's bring Mexico, and Mexico's diplomats, into the loop. Here's the Mexican embassy's contact information . . . [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 18

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Liston Matthews/Knoxville:


John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

'Respect' for 'different gun cultures'; contempt for 2nd Amendment activists

Anyway, Mr. Bard apparently believes that if these two cultures really, really focus their will on trying to understand and respect each other's point of view, some kind of accommodation can (somehow) be reached--although he has very little in the way of nuts and bolts details to offer about this rainbows and unicorns vision of his.

Even without such details, it is rather apparent that he is urging participants in the debate to compromise--blissfully unconcerned, evidently, with the fact that in a debate about fundamental human rights, the word "compromise" can be nothing more than a doomed attempt to slap a disguise of honor on abject, contemptible surrender. [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Monday, January 17, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 17

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Mike Stollenwerk/DC:


Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:

David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Sen. Boxer would expand California-style 'gun-control' nationwide

Why should St. Louis area residents care about California law regarding defensive handgun carry permit issuance? Because United States Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) wants the federal government to overrule the laws of all 50 states, and export California's system nationwide (meaning, I suppose, that the feds would only be overriding 49 states' laws). From the Los Angeles Times . . . [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Friday, January 14, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 14

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

David Codrea/National:


Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Prominent columnist says 'violent talk' protects gun rights

What I find perhaps most interesting about Dionne's assertion is that it's almost directly reciprocal to the claim Josh Horwitz, of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and Casey Anderson made in their book, which we discussed here, where they argued that Second Amendment advocacy is "a threat to the entire progressive movement" . . . [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

I might have to stop making fun of 'Authorized Journalists' who are clueless about guns

The cluelessness of "Authorized Journalists," in any discussion about guns, is well known in the gun blogosphere. From pictures of an old Iraqi woman holding up unfired cartridges that France's AFP claimed were "bullets" fired by U.S. troops at her house:


. . . to references to the magazine (or "clip") in an officer's "service revolver," it wouldn't be so offensive, if these paragons of purveyance of information didn't so consistently advocate for more infringements on that which shall not be infringed, while presenting themselves as being knowledgeable enough to be taken seriously.

However, perhaps I should give these poor "Authorized Journalists" a break, and start grading them on a curve. As it turns out, even a 25-year BATFE veteran (and former chief of BATFE's Washington D.C. office), and current New York City Sheriff, thinks "service revolvers" use magazines.

You could sit through this entire excruciating 14+ minute Rachel Maddow video, or skip all that, and see it in this 41-second clip, featuring Sheriff Edgar Domenech (formerly of the BATFE):


The standard issued magazine that I carried was 12 rounds, and one in the chamber, so as a law enforcement federal agent, the maximum capacity I had with my service revolver was 13 rounds . . .
I'd like to say "unbelievable," but it's not, really.

GRE Round Up, Jan 13

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:


David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Magazine bans and unintended consequences

A less talked about unintended consequence of such bans is that with magazine capacity restricted, prospective gun buyers have less incentive to choose small calibers, which by simple virtue of using smaller cartridges, can more practically use magazines with capacities of 15, 20, or 30 or more rounds. Instead, it makes sense to choose larger, and arguably deadlier, calibers. Some have, in fact, made a compelling case for the argument that the renaissance in popularity of the venerable M1911 pistol, in .45 ACP, was in large part helped along by the 1994 "assault weapons" ban, and its 10-round magazine capacity limit, which made 9mm handguns less attractive. [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 12

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

John Longenecker/Los Angeles:


David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Rep. Peter King would surround himself with 72-acre Constitution-free zone

Basically, he wants a circular "gun free zone," with a 1,000 foot radius, centered on him wherever he goes. The area of such a circle would be just over 72 acres (or 29 hectares, for those who prefer the metric system). Within that circle, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall be infringed, if Rep. King gets his way. [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 11

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:


Liston Matthews/Knoxville:

David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Area lawmaker thinks Tucson shooter was 'forced' to kill, by 'negative rhetoric'

Senator Wright-Jones is the first, to my knowledge, to imply that seeing a map marked with cross hairs could "force" someone to commit mass slaughter, but she is far from the first to implicate "negative rhetoric" as being at least partially to blame.

That distinction might have to go to Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, who by Saturday evening, held a press conference blaming "vitriol" for senseless violence. [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Monday, January 10, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 10

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:


Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:

John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

David Codrea/National:

Sean Caranna/Orlando:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Tucson aftermath: Here come the gun laws

Well, that didn't take long. Within a day of a deranged lunatic's murderous shooting spree in Tucson, we are being told that for our "safety" in a world polluted with such thugs, we need more restrictions placed on our ability to defend ourselves from them. So far, the "there oughta be a law" (or, preferably, a bunch of laws) crowd seems to have identified three fronts along which to advance new encroachments on liberty: hardware ban-type laws, expansion of "prohibited purchaser" lists, and restrictions on "violent rhetoric." [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Friday, January 07, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 7

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

John Longenecker/Los Angeles:


David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Obama's renomination of Traver for BATFE director is gun rights opportunity

And that's why Traver's renomination should be seen as an opportunity for gun rights. Senate confirmation hearings would give Senators the opportunity to ask all kinds of uncomfortable questions, which would have to be answered under oath (not that "under oath" is much of a guarantee of integrity, when dealing with the BATFE). [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Thursday, January 06, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 6

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

David Codrea/National:


Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Mark your calendars, Illinois gun owners; March 10 is the day

It's that time of year again: time for gun rights advocates in Illinois to set aside a day to let Springfield know that shall not be infringed isn't a suggestion, and it's definitely not a request. That day is March 10, and the event is Illinois Gun Owners Lobby Day (IGOLD). From the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) . . . [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 5

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

David Codrea/National:


Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Prominent nationally syndicated columnist calls for despotism in gun regulation

No, when he talks about taking gun regulation out of the hands of politicians, he intends to put it into the hands of the unelected bureaucrats of the BATFE. The lying, corrupt, incompetent BATFE. But even if the BATFE were a paragon of crime fighting virtue, no nation can claim to be free, with a representative government that serves the people, if the laws are made not by the people's elected public servants, but by unelected apparatchiks. [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 4

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Mike Stollenwerk/DC:


Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:

David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

East St. Louisans on their own against criminals

The idea I'm getting at, of course, is that the people of East St. Louis are even more on their own than before, in terms of protection from criminals. Really, though, the fact that the police force there is now to be spread even more thinly serves only to more plainly illustrate the universal truth that we, as citizens, are ultimately responsible for our own security--no matter where we live. [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.

Monday, January 03, 2011

GRE Round Up, Jan 3

Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:

Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:


John Longenecker/Los Angeles:

David Codrea/National:

Dave Workman/Seattle:

Also check out these other Liberty-oriented Examiners:

Urge Congressman Issa to investigate BATFE

That sounds good, but we need to make sure that Rep. Issa's idea of "everything" includes an intensive probe of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), and the numerous . . . irregularities (to put it politely) that seem to bedevil that agency with such, er . . . regularity. For example . . . [More]
That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.