Armed citizens respond faster than police

The text of my letter to the editor of the Cleveland Daily Banner (paywall), Cleveland, TN.

Regarding gun deaths, your two guest editorials in the April 11 edition tell only one side of the story and leave much out.

The commentary by Gary Riggins uses the tired phrase an epidemic of gun violence, when in actuality there is an epidemic of criminal violence in the United States, primarily in a few zip codes in blue cities. 

Here are some facts about gun deaths:

• One recent report indicates an average of 14.3 deaths in a mass shooting when the police are the first ones to arrive with a gun. Yet when an armed citizen is already there, the carnage drops to 2.3.

• Many of the gun deaths in other reports include criminals killed by police officers and by innocent citizens in self defense. 

Riggins errs when he states that the Second Amendment allows our citizens to own guns. It in fact guarantees a pre-existing right and was ratified because the Founders feared a despotic government and wanted the citizen to be armed like an infantryman. Just as computers and email have long since replaced the quill pen and the pony express, the modern musket has replaced the British Brown Bess.

Rules for Anti-Radicals - - a book review

Leftist radicals have a long history of using dirty tricks in order to win elections and move our society more and more towards socialism. In recent years the Democratic party has moved further and further to the left, leaving little chance to have meaningful conversations across the aisle. Many in the Republican party have also been all too willing to kowtow to the Democrats and compromise away our Constitutional rights, particularly the right to keep and bear arms, as enumerated in the Second Amendment (2A). 

Politics is an arena many of us in the conservative gun rights movement have little to no experience in and no idea where to start.

Enter Paul Valone

Valone has written the textbook on the subject. His Rules for Anti-Radicals - A Practical Handbook for Defeating leftism is an invaluable source for you if you want to get involved and be effective in restoring the right to keep and bear arms. If you are already involved,you will stlll learn from his experiences. I suggest getting the paper edition, because you will want to refer to it often, make notes in the margins, and use lots of bookmarks. 

Valone tells of his involvement in the gun rights movement beginning in 1994, and carries you up to very recent times in his odyssey. He tells of successes and failures, while overall progressing toward restoring the 2A. 

Not content to tell you what he and Grass Roots North Carolina  have done, he is sharing his methods with you. He even has several boilerplate plans in the appendices. These plans could be adapted to some of the situations where you live. 

For example, here is a partial excerpt from Appendix II of the book -

Issue Plan: 

Judicial Fairness Project “Defund Police”Mailings 

Using our super PAC, the Judicial Fairness Project (JFP), “defund police”petition mailers are intended to use the issue of individual and family safety to defeat North Carolina House candidates who also support gun control legislation. 

Objectives

Defeat seven leftist Democrat candidates who are gun control supporters and who signed a national “defund police”petition: . . . . The mailings will be timed to arrive just prior to the first weekend of early voting. 

Target Demographic 

Polls find roughly two-thirds of Americans oppose defunding police, . . . the target demographic for the mailings will be unaffiliated male voters who vote only presidential elections. 

Message 

Targeting the second level of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, mail pieces will stress that by signing a national petition to defund police, the candidate opposed has prioritized a radical leftist agenda over the safety of the recipient and his family. . . .

Delivery Method 

Mailers will be half page flats mailed at USPS Presort First Class rates using the mailing house bulk permit . . .

We all have choices in life. If you wish to make your involvement in the 2A more effective, you can do what many of us have done, learn by experience and mistakes, or move ahead on the curve by buying this book and applying the knowledge base that's already out there.

Full disclosure. The author supplied me with a digital copy of the book for this review.

Permitless carry comes to Florida

 John Richardson at No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money reports that Florida has become the 26th state to enact permitless carry. Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill today, to be effective July 1.

I reported about this time last year that Florida's bill was DOA. But Florida Carry and others continued the fight, and got it passed this year.

This new law still limits carry to concealed only, and not open carry.

Here are some predictions-

Blood will not run in the streets.

Bad guys will still carry, like they always did, without permits.

Good guys will still mostly exercise sound judgement in use of their defensive handguns.

Although I would have liked to have seen open carry included in the statute, it is a step in the right direction. Now Florida needs to rescind their purchase ban for young adults 18-20 years of age, a clearly unconstitutional ban.

Today the pits--

A civilized dialog

Author's note: Although originally published in 2016, this is still timely today. The arguments are always the same. There has been one dramatic change to the landscape since then; the Supreme Court Bruen decision. They agreed with the Founders. As Mark Walters of Armed American Radio says, “By design, we’re not here to debate anybody. AAR is NOT a news program. The entire premise of the show is based on my belief that there IS NO debate. That debate ended on Dec. 15th 1791.” 

****************

When dialogue no longer works

How many times have you heard a gun-banner say, “We need to have a conversation about _________ (fill in the blank: gun control, gun safety, universal background checks, etc.).”

Recently, I read a letter to the editor* of my local paper that included a similar statement;

“Through civilized dialogue, we can create viable solutions to make our community safer and a better place to live today and in the future.”

So, I decided to take up the challenge and initiate a civilized dialogue.

Read the complete story at AMMOLAND.

NOTE:

The referenced letter was published in the Knoxville News-Sentinel online May 31, 2016.

Vindicated in Tennessee

 Almost twelve years ago, I wrote about the discrimination against young adults when it comes to buying handguns. Today I learned that the Tennessee Attorney General has conceded (https://bit.ly/3XUvNnd) that this class of citizens can lawfully carry a handgun like older adults. 

These are not exactly the same, but closely related.

This case is Beeler v Long. (https://bit.ly/3QZVvo6):

 ...Defendant and his officers, agents, employees, and all others acting under his direction and control, are permanently enjoined from implementing or enforcing the Challenged Scheme to prevent individuals aged 18 years old to 20 years old from carrying handguns or obtaining permits to carry handguns on the basis of age alone....

https://youtu.be/eRDLaSG6csA?t=50

People with AR's don't get in cattle cars

So reads the inscription on T-shirts marketed by my friend Yehuda Remer, the PewPew Jew. Yehuda writes this at his blog in response to someone doubting his Jewishness, 

“First, I’m an Orthodox Jew. Have been my entire life. So, let’s put to sleep the notion that no one believes I’m actually Jewish. Secondly, I believe the Never Again means nothing if you’re not willing to do something about it. 

I wish more than anything that there comes a time when firearms are never needed. We can live in peace without worrying about anti-Semitic hate crimes or war. Unfortunately, that time is not now. We can try and take guns away from everyone, but criminals will find a way. Guns are part of the fabric of our nation. The only thing we can do currently is defend ourselves with firearms. Remember, we are our own first line of defense. 

My heart broke when the murders at Tree of Life occurred. I understand we will probably have differences of opinion and that’s ok. But I believe in the sanctity of life and I choose to protect mine, my wife and children’s lives, and those in my community at our synagogue with a firearm.”

One has to wonder why it is that many Jews are so opposed to personal weaponry.