NRA ok's packing at Dallas meeting

The NRA meeting this year in Dallas will once again recognize the right to carry, as has been the case for the last several meetings. Here, with a link to the NRAAM site, is their official statement.

Firearms Policy for the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits

Crowd at the NRAAM in Nashville, 2015

During the 2018 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, lawfully carried firearms will be permitted in the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and the Omni Dallas Hotel in accordance with Texas law.  When carrying your firearm remember to follow all federal, state, and local laws.

With the recent display of a billboard stating "Kill the NRA", members in attendance may wish to consider carrying their defensive firearms.

Other things to consider when traveling to Dallas-

If you drive, be sure you are aware of the carry laws in states you pass through. Two sources for information are Handgunlaw.us; and an app called Legal Heat, available for Android or Apple.

If you fly, be sure and follow the guidelines of both your airline and the TSA for checking a firearm in  your checked baggage, never in carry-on.

TSA guidelines are available HERE.

Each airline has its own rules, too. Southwest rules are HERE.

Part of Delta's policy states, "All firearms checked as baggage must be picked up at the Baggage Service Office upon arrival at your final destination. ID will be required to claim your checked firearm." It has been reported that Delta puts zip ties on luggage that contains a firearm, so don't expect to have access to your firearm until after you gain access to a tool to remove the zip tie. Maybe a cheap multi-tool should reside in an outside pocket of your checked bag.

A case such as THIS, with a combo lock (no key to lose) would work well for the handgun. I suggest a second one for the ammo, in the same luggage.

One last thing, if your plane has an emergency landing in New York or New Jersey, and you take possession of your baggage that contains a firearm, DO NOT attempt to re-check that luggage to continue your flight. Rent a car and stow that locked baggage in the trunk and drive to Philly. Why, New York and New Jersey WILL put you in jail. If you find this strong suggestion hard to believe, do your own research.

They want to kill the NRA?

From NRA FB page

So now someone wants to kill the NRA? Do they know who the NRA is? Do they not understand that the NRA is not just a group of leaders in suburban Washington?

No, the NRA includes their neighbors, maybe some of their friends, their doctors, ministers, store clerks, and literally millions of Americans as well as other liberty lovers around the globe.  "The NRA" also includes many people who have an affinity for the organization, although they are not dues-paying members.

Are you a member of this second group? Have you been thinking about joining, but have just not gotten around to it? As an NRA recruiter, I can offer a reduced membership cost for about three more weeks.

Current pricing is shown in this chart:

One-Year ($40) - $30
Three-Year ($100) - $85
Five-Year ($140) - $100
Life ($1,500) - $600
Distinguished Life ($750) - $500
Junior Life ($750) - $500

You can join (or renew) by clicking this LINK.

The NRA is not a perfect organization, but is among the most effective. At this time, with the left and the media (but then I repeat myself) mounting a campaign against guns, now is the time to join.

Arming school staff

A Facebook acquaintance posed this question regarding arming and training school staff to protect their students: "Another thought... should we turn our schools into potential war zones with all these teachers carrying firearms... what kind of message does that send to our children and what does that say about the quality of life here in America?"

GFZ sign at a VA Center

I had to respond this way: The schools already are worse than a war zone, where (generally) adult combatants fight.

They are canned hunts created by government, wherein the students are the prey, and the predator enters virtually unopposed, with up to ten or fifteen minutes before the police arrive. After the police arrive, there is another time lag before medics can enter to treat the wounded and save lives.

I am less interested in what kind of message is sent to the children, and more interested in mitigating carnage when the predator arrives.

Many peaceable Americans arm themselves, then go about their daily business, interacting with one another in businesses, stores, and churches. No one knows necessarily who they are, because most have their weapons concealed.

One thing they don’t do, is place NO GUNS ALLOWED signs in their front yards. Accordingly, most burglars are careful to try to avoid the ‘hot burglary’ option, because they understand that they have a good chance of getting shot. They prefer unoccupied houses.

Likewise, human predators prefer locations where they assume their victims will be unarmed. Schools, synagogues, and churches are often their preferred killing fields (btw, many churches are now providing their own internal security).

That is the state of life here in America and in much of the world. This means we have three choices when it comes to our schools. We can remain at status quo, a recipe for more disasters (head in sand); we can implement airport type security, a very expen$ive proposition which is simply not going to happen in most jurisdictions; or we can provide appropriately trained school (http://fastersaveslives.org/) staff with the ability to be more than human shields.

That’s just the way things are."

So there you have it. Three choices...

1. Status quo

2. Expensive airport security

3. Trained and armed staff

The fix suggested by the left can be simplified by just saying, "one more gun ban".

Who is going to do that nationwide? I don't believe Congress will. An attempted ban/confiscation of semi-auto rifles would see a large non-compliance in the gun world.

From Massad Ayoob's blog:

"Simply banning and confiscating AR15 rifles and other guns with magazines of significant cartridge capacity is the demand once again. Let’s see, fifteen million guns to be confiscated. The cheapest for which one can be bought is about $700. That’s $10.5 billion in compensation that would be due to their legitimate owners…and it grossly understates the cost, because so many AR15s carry four-figure price tags. (Hey, gun control rabble-rousers – you weren’t planning on confiscating property legally purchased and responsibly owned by American citizens without compensation…were you?)

And where will the funding come from to send our nation’s 800,000 law enforcement officers to more than a hundred million homes to find and confiscate these guns? And what tragedy and bloodshed and shattering of rights might arise from that?"