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Stalking The Elusive Mistletoe
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"The Holiday Season is coming quickly upon us. Let me step away from the grim current events that have been the focus of this blog lately, and try to start cultivating a little holiday spirit. ..."

"On the range this past weekend, the Significant Other spotted some mistletoe in the treetops. ..."

"She set forth to stalk the elusive mistletoe.

"... there was a time when she would have scampered up the tree and harvested the pretty parasitic plant. Today ... she feels there is a standard of dignity to maintain. So, she brought a harvesting tool."

"To wit, her pet Remington 1100 Special Field LT-20 shotgun ... A few blasts ... later, she returned carrying her prey in her free hand." ...

The right to keep and bear arms is not based on 'sporting purposes'
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"The rabidly anti-gun Violence Policy Center's Josh Sugarmann has, predictably, joined his anti-gun cohorts in exploiting the Ft. Hood atrocity as justification for banning the FN Herstal Five-seveN pistol." ...

"Sugarmann, though, is either not confident in the chances of passing such a ban legislatively (attempts to do so have gone nowhere in each of the last two Congressional sessions--I have not, so far, noticed an attempt made yet in the current Congress), or simply lacks the patience to wait for such a process--he wants the Obama administration to simply bypass Congress, and ban the importation of these firearms by administrative fiat." ...

What�s wrong with Mexico: Corruption or American guns? Submitted by: Anonymous	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"The Washington Times reported today that a Washington bureaucrat believes banning semi-automatic rifles will save Mexico�s government. But he ignores the real problem threatening Mexico's sovereignty." ...

Absolved, Chapter 28. Nemesis: The Six Apostles
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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... "To: The Victors of the Recent National Elections
From: Your gun-owning constituents
Subject: The so-called 'Gun Show Loophole'"

"Congratulations. You have just been swept into power. Enjoy the feeling." ...

"The hubris derived from your own smashing electoral victory may incline you to listen to those voices demanding that you seize the moment for more gun control. If I may, let me explain the possible personal, unintended consequences of such an act to you."

"There are in your district, in your state and indeed all over the country, a great number of gun owners just like me. I suppose if you added us all up there at least a million or two of us. ..." ...

"We are the 'cold, dead hands' types ..." ...

All A(bove)board?
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"In the railway part of the attack, two of the terrorists indiscriminately fired at passengers with AK-47 assault rifles."

"That they retrieved from their checked-in luggage?"

"What? No?"

"They weren't even passengers on any train? They smuggled themselves, their AK-47s, grenades, etc., into the country on small boats that came ashore from the Arabian Sea?"

"So what the hell does this have to do with the Amtrak amendment? Nothing? Then why even bring it up?" ...
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David Codrea takes an "Authorized Journalist" to task.

Questions In A Quandary Submitted by: Bruce Krafft	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"Does denying guns to 'prohibited persons' ensure public safety?" "Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea has been writing a series of blogs about the slippery slope in allowing some people to have Constitutional rights, but not others. He asks some intriguing questions that require more than a knee-jerk, emotional response." ...

Patriots or Extremists? Growing up in a militia (video available)
Submitted by: Larry

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"If there's one thing militias and their critics can agree on, it's the fact that this pro-gun and anti-Obama movement is growing in the United States. That begs the question, 'who are these guys?'"

"We try to answer that ... by going home with the leader of a militia in Michigan."

"Lee Miracle may run training exercises for the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia once a month ... but he's just as busy at home. He and his wife Katrina have eight kids, and there are more than 20 guns in the house. ..."

"... The Miracle children are very much growing up in the militia. They take part in militia training exercises, including the weapons training."

"We were there when 13-year-old Megan fired off her shotgun ..." ...

Guns for gifts
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"The headline 'Guns for Gifts' caught my eye, but alas it isn't a Christmas wish list but instead another misguided attempt to disarm the bad guys. Pueblo Gang Alternatives ... is sponsoring a gun trade-in program where firearms are traded for Christmas gifts and food."

"Organizer Frank Arteaga said 'The shootings are getting really bad. ... The guns are out there.' Very true words, but swapping food baskets for pistols and guns doesn't really address the problem. A sheetrocker who earns his wages with his tools won't give them up for presents. He will use the tools to earn money to get the presents ... A criminal's gun is is his tool or his scepter of authority. He won't part with his 'working piece' for a food basket." ...

Heller Counsel Argues for an Originalist Revolution
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"Alan Gura, who successfully defended the individual right to keep and bear arms ... in District of Columbia v. Heller has now filed his brief in the case that seeks to apply that right to the states, McDonald v. City of Chicago. ..."

"The question presented in this case is: Whether the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is incorporated as against the States by the Fourteenth Amendment's Privileges or Immunities or Due Process Clauses. Remarkably, only 7 of the brief's 73 pages are devoted to the Due Process Clause ..."

"The rest of the brief is far more interesting, arguing for overturning the ill-fated Slaughter-House Cases, which eviscerated the Priviliges or Immunities Clause in 1873. ..." ...

Second Amendment Protects All Americans, Supreme Court Told
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"Gun rights advocates have sketched out arguments they hope will convince the U.S. Supreme Court that no state can be a Second Amendment-free zone."

"In a 73-page legal brief filed on Monday, the groups representing four Chicago residents asked the Supreme Court to overturn the city's extremely restrictive firearms laws ..."

"'It is unfathomable that the states are constitutionally limited in their regulation of medical decisions or intimate relations, because these matters touch upon personal autonomy, but are unrestrained in their ability to trample upon the enumerated right to arms designed to enable self-preservation,' says the brief, written by attorneys ... on behalf of the Second Amendment Foundation." ...

Will the Supreme Court Restore the Privileges or Immunities Clause?
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"Yesterday the petitioners in the landmark Second Amendment case McDonald v. Chicago ... filed their opening brief [PDF] with the Supreme Court. At issue is whether the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments, and whether it does so via the 14th Amendment's Privileges or Immunities Clause or its Due Process Clause. ... this case matters not just for Second Amendment rights, but for economic liberty as well ..."

"To that end, the petitioners have devoted the vast majority of their brief to carefully explaining why 'the right to keep and bear arms is among the privileges or immunities of American citizenship that states may not abridge.' ..." ...

Get the Facts About AR-15-style Rifles, Today's Modern Sporting Rifles: They're NOT 'Assault Rifles'
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"Whether you're a hunter, target shooter, own a firearm for self protection or don't own a firearm at all, the National Shooting Sports Foundation asks you to be informed about AR-15-style rifles."

"These rifles are often mislabeled 'assault rifles' or 'assault weapons.' They are neither."

Nevertheless, many hunters and shooters and the general public confuse AR-15-style rifles, which are civilian sporting rifles, with military rifles because they look similar to each other."

"'Groups wanting to ban AR-15-style rifles have for years purposely spread misinformation about these firearms to aid their cause,' said Steve Sanetti, president of NSSF. ..." ...

Glenn Beck appears to back gun rights for terror suspects
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"Sen. Chuck Schumer believes that a hole in federal gun laws allowed the the alleged Fort Hood shooter to purchase a gun. The top Democrat thinks that because the Joint Terrorism Task Force had probed Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan for possible terrorist ties he shouldn't have passed a background check."

"Although Hasan wasn't on the terror watch list some gun rights activists think even suspects being monitored for terrorist ties should be allowed to retain their gun rights and privileges."

"On Tuesday morning's FOX & Friends pundit Glenn Beck appeared to tell host Gretchen Carlson that he also backed such a stance: that there should be no new laws preventing people on the terrorist watch list to buy firearms ..." ...

Militias in America: Patriots or Extremists?
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"CNN recently aired a segment on the upsurge of so-called militias across the United States, focusing specifically on the Southeast Michigan Volunteer Militia, as they 'practice target acquisition' with high-powered semi-automatic rifles, run drills and practice first aid."

"This Michigan militia is one of hundreds of such groups across the country, and that number is growing. Some of the groups are unquestionably extremist, racist groups that promote hate and other radical ideologies that keep them out of mainstream America, fermenting on the edge of a more tolerant society. Despite common perceptions of militias in our country, an even larger number of these militias are made up seemingly ordinary Americans." ...

Second Amendment Brief Filed by Bellevue Gun Nuts
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"The question before the U.S. Supreme Court, as asked by Alan Gottlieb's Second Amendment Foundation of Bellevue in a challenge to Chicago's gun ban, is whether the right to keep and bear arms applies to all states under the Fourteenth Amendment's privileges, Immunities, or due process clauses."

"And the answer, filed yesterday in SAF's brief to the high court, is of course yes in the view of self-professed gun nut Gottlieb. The legal background is detailed in last week's SW cover story on Gottlieb and his group but, as SAF attorney Alan Gura indicates, Chicago's ban is going down since '... The matter is settled: the Second Amendment 'codified a right inherited from our English ancestors.'" ...

Guns should be sold with child-safety locks
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"Part of the joy during a holiday season involves family and friends gathering together. ... During this holiday season, and every day, child safety should be a number one consideration."

"According to a national survey, the [CDC] reported that one in three homes has firearms. This right to bear arms, while guaranteed by the Second Amendment, comes with important responsibilities for gun ownership."

"Although current federal law requires that all handgun purchases include the option of either a lock box or a locking device, a group of concerned citizens for child safety support legislation that requires all handgun purchases include specifically a child safety trigger lock for the gun." ...
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Submitter's Note: Since 15 times as many children 12 and under drown as are accidentally killed by guns, wouldn't our efforts be better directed to water safety?

A modest proposal
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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... "... chances are that a substantial proportion of U.S. gun owners have more than one weapon, so it's quite possible that fewer than 200 million Americans own those 260 million guns. That means there may be more than 100 million citizens left unprotected against their gun-owning fellow citizens."

"Surely everyone can agree that this is an outrage. Moreover, it is an outrage that Congress can easily fix ... All that is required is a bipartisan, pro-constitutional bill to extend the Second Amendment's protection of gun ownership to all Americans, whether they like it or not."

"Under such legislation -- let's call it the Gun Insurance Act of 2009 -- every American would be required to buy some kind of gun. ..." ...
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Submitter's Note: I am not sure I would require every household to buy a gun, but I would be willing to tax them for the extra police services they require by choosing defenselessness.

No right to these weapons
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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FULL TEXT BELOW:

When a man goes out and purchases two guns, one of them called a "cop killer" because the bullets can penetrate protective vests, he's not a terrorist. He is, according to many, a patriot who is exercising his rights under the Second Amendment.

Perhaps we need to reconsider our definitions of both "patriot" and "terrorist" and consider some boundaries to the Second Amendment. Just as there is no right to yell "fire," in a crowded theater, there should be no right to purchase a "cop killer" under a delusion of self-defense.

Mike Sims, Dallas
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Submitter's Note: So Mike wouldn't mind being gagged 24/7 because he might go into a theater and yell "Fire!" if he weren't, right? That is, afte3r all, the moral equivalent of what he is suggesting.

WA: Gun show loophole sees many weapons smuggled into Mexico
Submitted by: Nathan
Website: http://www.OutdoorsTrader.com

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... "Two days before a gun show at Central Washington State Fair Park, [ATF agents] Summers and Foreman warned that a large percentage of guns that are smuggled into Mexico come from gun shows in Eastern Washington."

"According to the [BATFE], Washington state is the No. 4 source in the country for illegal guns in Mexico."

"'Actually, it's just Eastern Washington,' Foreman said. 'When it comes to gun shows, this part of the state is wide open.'"

"Foreman and Summers cited a recent case when rival drug cartels got into a shootout in Tijuana. Fifteen of the 60 firearms -- many of them semi-automatic assault rifles and high-powered pistols like the FN Herstal -- recovered were traced back to the Tri-Cities, they said." ...

Sen. Burr: Legislation doesn't exempt veterans from Brady Act
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"Just as the public expects elected officials to read the text of bills before they pass judgment on them, your editorial board should do the same. Yet it is clear that you did not read S. 669, the 'Veterans' Second Amendment Protection Act,' before you published your editorial 'Guns and the mentally ill' (Nov. 16)."

"Here's the text of my bill in its entirety: 'In any case arising out of the administration by the Secretary of laws and benefits under this title, a person who is mentally incapacitated, deemed mentally incompetent, or experiencing an extended loss of consciousness shall not be considered adjudicated as a mental defective ... without the order or finding of a judge ... that such person is a danger to himself or herself or others.'" ...

Idaho boy, 11, kills black bear at his house
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"An 11-year-old boy shot a black bear on his family's front porch after he said it wouldn't leave."

"The boy was at his home near Driggs, just west of the Idaho-Wyoming border, with his younger sisters last Wednesday when the bear showed up."

"The youngster says he couldn't shoo it away, so he went and got his gun and shot it."

"Black bears in the area have prompted multiple complaint calls ..." ...

"Fish and Game doesn't plan on pursuing any claims against the boy or his family � and they issued them a permit to keep the bear."
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Submitter's Note: This is a great example of why mandating that guns & ammo must be kept locked up where kids do not have access to them is asinine.

Armed Pilots and Dead Terrorists
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"There are many lessons to be learned from the terrible events which happened on September 11, 2001. For the airline industry, a rude awaking into the new age of terrorism and an end to the previous threat of peaceful hijackings that pilots had been taught to deal with. The aviation community must adapt to fight the new threat."

"The FFDO (Federal Flight Deck Officer) program was implemented by the Bush Administration working with law enforcement, airline management and pilot unions. Pilots with guns were a way to augment the Federal Air Marshall Service ... Recent rumors indicate that the Obama administration will attempt to de-fund the FFDO program. I think it would be a huge loss to security and a big mistake." ...

Schumer proposes 'terror suspect tip-off act of 2009'
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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... "Still, Schumer is nothing if not crafty. He knows there is a motherlode of untapped paranoia to exploit here, and using twin threats of terrorism and guns is a time-tested and reliable tactic for spooking and stampeding the herd."

"And why stop with radical Islamic terror suspects? In truth, you can't, by law. So we need to include all those 'homegrown terrorists' Janet Napolitano warned us about in that DHS report on 'right wing extremists.' And then we need to stop gun sales to all those potential threats who have been scrutinized--especially those Oath Keepers...and maybe even you or me." ...

NY: Walmart turns to Wallkill police officers for in-store security
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"Plan on braving the crowds and hunting for Black Friday bargains at the Walmart on Route 211? You'll be doing so under the watchful eyes of town police officers." ...

"Wallkill isn't the only local municipality providing Thanksgiving police coverage for the nation�s largest retailer. Town of Ulster Police Chief Paul Watzka says his department will allow several officers to patrol Walmart on Route 199."

"The moves are at the retailer�s request, which also asked state police to provide coverage for its store in the Town of Monroe. State police declined the request."

"'For us, it's a dangerous precedent to set,' said state police spokesman Sgt. Kern Swoboda." ...

AR: NEVER ask the Police for �Help,� Continued
Submitted by: Larry

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"Officer Dustin Bradshaw of the Ozark, Arkansas Police Department 'had no choice' but to shoot a 10-year-old girl with a Taser and then arrest her, insisted Chief Jim Noggle."

"... When the emotionally troubled child had a tantrum, the mother, Kelly Hamlert, called the police. Bradshaw's official report claims that Hamlert told him to electro-torture the child if he 'needed' to."

"Some might recall that, just a few years ago, a Florida man ... was charged with felony child abuse and domestic battery when he used a home-made electric stun gun to deal with a misbehaving 14-year-old boy. One would think that a similar criminal charge would be filed against someone who electro-tortured a 10-year-old girl, albeit by proxy." ...

WI: Hunting Season in Wisconsin: Be safe and enjoy
Submitted by: Bruce Krafft

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"Here in Wisconsin we have a rich heritage of hunting, fishing and many other family-oriented outdoor traditions. During this year�s hunting season, our families and friends will come together to share yet another successful and safe experience in our bountiful woods, fields and streams."

"All of us remain committed to protecting our natural resources so we may enjoy these traditions for generations to come. Likewise, I am committed to protecting our Second Amendment rights. Our freedom to hunt carries with it the responsibility of being safe." ...