Sipsey Street Irregulars' Mike Vanderboegh, who along with National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea, broke the "Project Gunwalker" story, recently offered a sinister hypothesis:That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.Okay, so Texas is a border state. But what if this is bigger than anybody ever thought? What if this is not about exaggerating the border problem, but the entire problem of criminal access to firearms all across the country?[More]
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:
Perhaps having become cognizant of this little problem, CSGV seems now to be very reluctant to talk about Weber, with multiple attempts on my part to get them to do so being met with (rather clumsy) attempted evasions. Geez--facilitate the rise to power of one egomaniacal, genocidal madman, who starts the most devastating war in all of history, and suddenly all your friends turn their backs on you. [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
John Pierce/Minneapolis:
That's right: to BATFE leadership, the nameless, faceless (and countless) dead in Mexico--and Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry (who was armed with beanbags), and quite possibly Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent Jaime Zapata--were "eggs" that the BATFE had to "break."That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
In fact, as objections from field agents mounted, a supervisor sent out an email telling them that, "If you don't think this is fun you're in the wrong line of work." It should, evidently, be fun to "break some eggs." [More]
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David Codrea/National:
The legislative efforts to block the Madigan FOID data dump have hit a snag, with HB 7 falling one vote short in a committee vote yesterday. House rules allow for another try at some point in the future, and the bill's sponsor, Representative Ron Stephens (R-102nd District), has vowed to bring it up again in the coming weeks.That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
In the meantime, Illinois residents need to talk to the committee members:
Chairperson: Elaine Nekritz D
Vice-Chairperson: John E. Bradley D
Republican Spokesperson: Jil Tracy R
Member: Michael G. Connelly R
Member: Dwight Kay R
Member: Lou Lang D
Member: Sidney H. Mathias R
Member: André M. Thapedi D
Member: Arthur Turner D
Member: Ann Williams D
Member: Michael J. Zalewski D
Also, the Illinois GOP has started an online petition to demand protection for the confidentiality of FOID data. [More]
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David Codrea/National:
The HB 7/SB 27 legislation has a laudable goal, and Attorney General Madigan (who supported the continuation of Chicago's handgun ban in the McDonald case, and whose father, Michael Madigan, is the Speaker of the House in the Illinois state legislature, and a longtime, fervent advocate of "gun control") has clearly decided to make such legislation necessary. On the other hand, perhaps it's past time to aim much higher. Perhaps, indeed, it's time to acknowledge the sordid truth of where the FOID came from, and of what the real motivations behind implementing it were. We've touched on that a couple times before, with a quote from Raymond Benwood's excellent look at the history of the FOID . . . [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
David Codrea/National:
Hmm . . . 17 new gun laws? Very ambitious, but then again, yesterday was the 17th anniversary of the law's effective date, so really, the number has to be 17. Next year, presumably, we'll need 18 more "common sense" infringements on that which shall not be infringed, and in fact, that number would, presumably, have no dependence on whether none of this year's 17 proposed laws are put in place, or if all of them are. [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:
And in fact CSGV's twitter feed is right now advertising this "retro" T-shirt, showing a revolver with a red slash through it. It would seem, in other words, that CSGV, while supposedly "embracing the self-defenders," hopes to help finance its agenda of forcible citizen disarmament . . . oops, I mean "counter-Insurgency," by selling propaganda advocating the banning of what the Supreme Court describes as the American people's choice for "the quintessential self-defense weapon."That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Self-defenders, it seems, should defend themselves from having that "embrace" inflicted on them. [More]
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Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:
The total number of successful traces in the five-year period spanning from 2005 to 2009 is 18,585. 80% of that would be 14,868. Far fewer than "60,000 guns," and the five-year period is longer than is usually cited by those who think Mexican drug war violence should justify more infringement on that which shall not be infringed in the U.S. Remember, by the way, that a Joyce Foundation-funded study claims fewer than 3,000 guns from the U.S., over the last four years. [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Rob Reed/Detroit:
That role became more visible Tuesday, when he appeared on FOX News, to be interviewed by Megyn Kelly, about opposition to President Obama's nomination of rabidly anti-gun Andrew Traver to be the next BATFE director. During that interview, Mr. Pratt suggested that the reason Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has indefinitely postponed Traver's confirmation hearings is that the administration has no desire to allow any senior BATFE officials to be put on the stand, under oath, where they could (and would) be asked some very uncomfortable questions about "Project Gunwalker"That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
The far-left (they call it "progressive") Media Matters took outraged exception to Mr. Pratt's having the temerity to raise such a taboo subject . . . [More]
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:
Somehow, I neglected to get involved with People of the Gun when the project first came about. As David mentioned yesterday, the folks behind it would like more people to become aware, and join in, and I'm happy to make whatever contribution my small talents will permit.
Give 'em a look, join up if you haven't already, and look for some good deals on ammo.
Alchemy refers to a medieval quest for an elixir or kimia (Old Persian word for such an elixir, the concept for which was later arabicized as the word alchemy) capable of turning copper and other base metals to gold.. . .
In corresponding with one's senators in order to urge them to investigate, it's useful to frame one's arguments with some thought into what motivates them. With Senators Durbin and Kirk, for example, remember that both of them are enthusiastically on board with the idea of appointing rabidly anti-gun Andrew Traver as BATFE director (as FOX News' Megyn Kelly so insistently pointed out yesterday). Perhaps they would be interested to know if it is true, as has been very plausibly suggested, that the indefinite postponement of Senate consideration of that appointment is directly related to the "Gunwalker" scandal. Senator Durbin, by the way, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, would be an especially useful convert to the cause of investigating "Project Gunwalker." [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:
So, to those who support bans of "assault weapons," large magazines, and .50 caliber rifles, or believe that gun ownership should be tightly regulated, with licensing and registration, it would seem to be fair to ask, "Who's side are you on?" Mr. Ungar? Messrs. Goddard? [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
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Mike Stollenwerk/DC:
Congressman Boren's amendment passed with strong bipartisan support, with 41 Democrats voting for it, and only two who call themselves "Republicans"--Peter "72-Acre Constitution-Free Zone" King (R-NY), and Brian Bilbray (R-CA)--voting against.That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Of course, the forcible citizen disarmament cheerleaders are not happy. The Washington Post article quotes John Feinblatt, whom the paper descrbies as "a chief aide" of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but whose role seems actually to be closer to NYC taxpayer-supported full-time Mayors Against Illegal Guns spokesman, as calling the amendment a "dangerous, anti-police measure." [More]
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Liston Matthews/Knoxville:
Residents of Missouri's 1st Congressional District might ask Rep. Clay why he would like to send them to prison for 10 years, for having an 11-round magazine that they cannot prove they owned prior to the proposed law taking effect, but thinks it's just fine for police (and retired police) to own something for which the only purpose "is to kill a lot of people very quickly." [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Steve D. Jones/Fort Smith:
Professional victim Colin Goddard has managed the alchemists' dream of turning the lead of the four bullets with which he was shot, into the gold of a paid position on the Brady Campaign's (shrinking?) staff, but he will never succeed in transmuting advocacy for the Consittutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms into "oppression," or "terrorism;" or the suppression of that right into a courageous and principled resistance to despotism. [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
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Paul Valone/Charlotte:
Notice that "may grant" in there? They don't have to grant the license (or renewal), even if the applicant meets every requirement. The state could, if it chose, shut down every handgun dealer within three years, which would, if the private sale ban bill passes, shut down all legal commerce in handguns (and even handgun repair) in Illinois. Since federal law requires that all handgun purchases take place within the purchaser's state, even crossing state lines would not be a (legal) alternative. [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Richard Nascak/Ft. Myers:
Quite a few gun bills have been introduced in the state legislature, including six concealed carrry bills, and several state "preemption" bills (which would prevent individual municipalities from implementing and enforcing gun laws more draconian than the state's), on the pro-rights side; and magazine bans, "assault weapon" bans, .50 caliber bans, dealer licensing requirements, and private sale bans, on the anti-rights side. [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Mike Stollenwerk/DC:
In the U.S., there is some reason to believe that the police and military would show the same kind of restraint that the Egyptian military has. That reason (discussed here before) is the existence of the Oath Keepers, who have vowed not to obey any unconstitutional orders infringing on the liberty of the people. Still, while liberty in America is safer with the Oath Keepers than it was without, there is no reason for freedom loving Americans to "perform without a net," and relinquish 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.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
David Codrea/National:
We saw this "Suspect Person Database" in the letter Senator (Attachment 4) Chuck Grassley sent to Attorney General Eric Holder (that letter brought to us courtesy of National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea and the Sipsey Street Irregulars' Mike Vanderboegh). As Thomasson says, buying a pair of AR-15s for ones' twins would not become illegal due to this proposed rule change, but the fact of that purchase would be used as an "investigative tool." Suddenly, the entirely legal--and entirely harmless--act of buying a couple guns becomes grounds to be put under federal investigation. [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
David Codrea/National:
The "666" and "Mark of the Beast" in the title of today's column are not really intended as a theological reference--it's just a handy coincidence that "six hundred threescore and six" happens to be the number of firearms going to Mexico that BATFE's operation seems to have "lost" (just as part of "Operation Fast and Furious") Again, from Sen. Grassley's letter . . . [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:
The Brady Campaign had big hopes for the Obama/Biden administration. From their breathlessly enthusiastic endorsement, to their "We Win, They Lose. Now, Let's Get To Work" post-election gloating, the Brady Campaigners were thrilled.That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Until they weren't. And weren't some more. And then really weren't. [More]
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David Codrea/National:
Remember, now, that according to the "collective rights" interpretation, the Second Amendment exists only to protect the states' power to raise and equip militias, without interference from the federal government. Now, when a state proposes to do that, the CSGV screams about the lack of "federal oversight or control."That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
. . . The CSGV is perhaps the only U.S. "gun control" group to openly call for a government monopoly on force. Now, though, it seems as if even that's not enough. Not only do they want a government monopoly on force, but it must be a federal government monopoly. [More]
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:
About this "emergency" that the "ATF recognizes"--one would hope they "recognize" it, since they seem to be, in large part, creating it. New allegations, in fact, raise the possibility that the number of guns trafficked across the border, as part of a BATFE operation, may actually be "as high as 3,000."That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
That, readers may remember, would be greater than the total number of "crime guns" from the U.S. recovered in Mexico, over the last four years, according to numbers cited in a report issued by the rabidly anti-gun Joyce Foundation. [More]
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Sean McClanahan/Des Moines:
If that is correct, and if the Joyce Foundation funded study's numbers are as well, the BATFE has sanctioned the trafficking of a quantity of guns that amounts to more than 2/3 of the number that can be traced back to the U.S. over the last four years. And the Obama administration wants to expand the BATFE's funding--especially the operations in Mexico--and look who is rumored to be the BATFE's next attaché to Mexico. [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Here's the latest from my fellow GREs:
Mike Stollenwerk/DC:
And that brings us to the title of today's column. If, as a growing-by-the-day (hour?) body of evidence indicates, "Project Gunrunner" is intimately linked to the sinister "Project Gunwalker," whereby the BATFE approves some trafficking, including the trafficking of the rifles used to kill Border Patrol Officer Brian Terry, could an increase in the BATFE's budget, tied in large part to an expansion of "Project Gunrunner," not be seen as an expansion of a program--by the U.S. government--that helps arm the Mexican narco-thugs? [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
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:
David Codrea/National:
At a time when the White House is wisely considering reducing the amount of money it throws down the black hole of federal gun law enforcement. I wonder how much the federal government would have to spend on this "stand[ing] up," in order to please Mayor Bloomberg. [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
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:
And while we're swinging that big axe, should we not, perhaps, pay particularly close attention to how much money we toss to an agency notoriously rife with manifold instances of grotesque misconduct? In fact, both the Washington Post and Paul Helmke claim that the BATFE program most threatened by this budget cut will be "Project Gunrunner." In light of the newest allegations of unpardonable, unforgivable misconduct in the running of that operation, shouldn't its termination be seen as desirable, even without the monetary savings? I am not, readers will note, even getting into a discussion of how one would find Constitutional justification for the BATFE's existence in the first place. That's for another time. [More]That's today's St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. Please give it a look, and tell a friend.
Charlotte Gun Rights Examiner
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