High School Indoctrination Halted

Eric over at Learn about Guns single handedly put a stop to a school system trying to indoctrinate eleventh graders against firearms.

Great job Eric! This is the kind of grass roots activism that can not be ignored. It makes me wonder what is being taught as gospel in other school systems.

30 Days- Gun Nation

Got 42 minutes and 32 seconds? Pia is a gun control activist from a suburb of Boston Massachusetts who just wants guns taken off the street. "In this day and age, the only people who need guns are police officers and soldiers. Those are the people here to protect us, and I don't see why anyone else needs a gun," she says. "It a killing machine, that's what it's for, to kill people." Her views were ignited by the death of her therapist and friend to what she calls "gun violence."

Pia agrees to live at gun owner Ken's home for thirty days. Ken is no Zumbo. He is a black rifle loving gun enthusiast. He spends quality time with his son Zach teaching marksmanship and the responsible use of firearms. Pia also agrees to work in a gun store, assist at a gun show, and learn to shoot. When she first shoots an O/U shotgun at a clay pigeon, the response is overwhelming.

Along her journey Pia meets Doug and Judy Stanton. Doug Stanton defended his wife and family from a vicious stalker who had already shot several people when he showed up at the Stanton's doorstep intent on murder.

Ever try to convert an anti-gun person to gun acceptance, and then gun ownership? You will never do it if you fail to understand their fear or if you ridicule their emotional responses. If you have 43 minutes, watch this video, and be better prepared the next time you try.

The Best of Times

"They are the last bastion, the last gathering place, of a free people."

That is the way it was for years, indeed decades. That's the reason why the opposition is so rabid about closing gun shows down. If the free people can not gather, they can not meet. If they can not meet, they can not organize. If they can not organize, they can not resist.

Except now, there is the internet. It is the worst of times and the best of times.

Give the Sipsey Street Irregulars a look.

On Mumbai

From Sebastian D'Souza, the picture editor and photographer at the Mumbai Mirror, who took this photo of a killer in action that flashed around the world:

"I only wish I had a gun rather than a camera."

I'm sure Sebastian is not the only one. Regarding the police on the scene, he relates ""At one point, I ran up to them and told them to use their weapons. I said, 'Shoot them, they're sitting ducks!' but they just didn't shoot back."

Ever argue whether a CCW could defend against terrorists? "I only wish I had a gun rather than a camera." Strong words from an unarmed man who could have done so.

"The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not coming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable."
~Sun Tzu

Cook County Gun Control Phone Poll

From the Illinois Rifle Association:

Larry Suffredin and his cohorts on the Cook County Board are up to their old tricks again.

In order to justify passage of gun control ordinances designed to close all gun shops and ban and confiscate most guns owned by citizens of the county, the Cook County Board is conducting a telephone poll where callers can vote for or against the gun control ordinances.

Like everything else in Cook County, this poll is probably rigged. So, it’s very important that you do the following:

1. Call 1-312 -603-6400 and select Option #1 when prompted. At the next prompt, select Option #1 again. Then, when prompted to vote on the gun control ordinance, press #2.

2. You should also forward this alert on to all your gun owning friends and have them vote too.

3. You should also post this alert to any and all Internet bulletin boards or blogs to which you belong.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A RESIDENT OF COOK COUNTY TO VOTE!

Let’s beat Suffredin at his own game! And, save your guns.

Looking at Conquest

It has happened. What Syd so succinctly dubbed the Electoral Apocalypse has occurred. Gun rights advocates lost in the 2008 election. What do we do now? Where do we go from here?

First, accept defeat with dignity and grace. We must do that. An individual or a group is not characterized in how they achieve victory, but rather in how they accept defeat. We were whooped. Our asses are on a silver platter in front of us. But we do not have to eat. We must determine how this happened and not allow it to happen again.

I was not surprised that some of my readers would be bemused at my using a MSNBC widget to keep up with the 2008 Presidential election results. But what better way to assess the situation than observing the opponent? The bias that we have seen in the mainstream media will be exposed as they turn on their anointed superhero of 2008. By 2010, Barack Obama will suffer many more slings and arrows than George W. Bush ever did. The mainstream media is not about providing information. They are about power. The power to get someone elected, and then the power to tear them to shreds. Who the President is matters little to these power mongers. Since they felt the taste of power in the taking down of Richard Nixon, they have systematically tried to dismember every President that has held office, whether they helped him achieve that office or not. Barack Obama will not survive this onslaught. His followers are too fickle.

Barack Obama cannot possibly fulfill all the deluded promises his devoted followers obviously believe he made. He will not buy anyone gasoline, and he will not pay their mortgage. No FEMA cards are going to be available for the economically and socially ignorant. His inability to become the Sugar Daddy to millions of denizens who feel they have been disenfranchised by the Great Right Wing Conspiracy of Hate and Intolerance will cause them to toss him aside with the contempt of a crackhead tossing aside a baggie full of baking soda when the reality of the illusion sets in. Barack Obama will no doubt be remembered as the most ineffectual and perhaps the worst President the United States ever elected. Two years from now, Obama will no longer have the power base he has mobilized. We must preserve our rights until then.

Gun owners were soundly defeated in this election. Two of the most vehement gun rights abolitionists ever to achieve office are now headed for the leadership of this country. We must examine why this happened.

Gun owners have allowed themselves to be divided. We must not allow ourselves to be conquered. We must accept any one who wants to legally own and use a firearm, regardless of race, creed, religion, or sexual orientation. The gun abolitionists can not vote against gun rights when over half their constituents own guns and vote for their own human right to self defense. The gun abolitionists can not vote against gun rights when those rights are inextricably tied to human rights and civil liberties.

There is a reason that gun abolitionists want to preserve hunting. Hunters are easily marginalized. They do not represent a majority of the vote. The same is not true of people who have a need for self preservation and self determination. Those people constitute the entire strata and constituency of the voting public. They cannot be marginalized. We must introduce them to the purpose and true meaning of the second amendment. I know that meaning, most of my readers know that meaning, but did QJ know that meaning? He does now, and it is something he will vote to preserve.

Gun rights are about self protection, not hunting. We must never allow our opponents to paint us as a group of big game hunters again. We are not just hunters. We must stand up and say who we are. We are mothers and fathers. We are Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Independents. We are black and white, yellow and brown. We are gay, straight, bisexual and asexual. We are Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Agnostic, Atheist, and we live in every state in the Union. Our education ranges from doctorates from Harvard and Stanford to GEDs achieved while fighting in the streets of Baghdad. A dusty pick-up truck with a gun rack inside the rear window is not necessary to be one of us. We have one common goal. That goal is the preservation of our right to self defense. That right, that need, is universal. We must never allow ourselves to be portrayed as ignorant rednecks with tobacco juice drooling down our unshaven chins again.

So I challenge each gun owner reading this. Take an Obama supporter to the range. Teach them to shoot. Teach them about the second amendment. Take away the political left's power to destroy our rights through the ambivalence of others. If we fail, our enslavement is inevitable.

Got AR?

With the prospect of another assault weapons ban on the horizon if Obama and Biden get in office, what are you doing to hedge your bets?

Are you quickly counting your nickels for an AR?

What is your local gun peddler doing? Is he ordering them up and claiming they are hard to get?

Well, America's favorite firearms parts source, Brownell's, is offering a web based video series on how to roll your own AR. They are offering these videos for (get this......) FREE! The video series gives the builder all the information necessary to confidently order build an AR-15 from scratch. It is divided into more than 50 segments that allow you to watch just the part you need without fast forwarding or rewinding through a huge file.

Brownell's is also offering the same series on pdf files for you to download.

You can also order an AR-15 catalog from the site, or by phone at 1(800)741-0015, just mention code #PEK.

Remember that, the next time you shop for parts.

Ageism, Sexism, or Worse?

In all of her 81 years, Alvina Vansickle had never owned a firearm. For whatever reason though, in her autumn years, she decided to no longer live unarmed. She drove to Charlie Steele's gun shop in Lewes Delaware last August with a decision to use all legal means to protect herself if necessary.

Her choice was conservative. Her choice was appropriate. A 22 caliber Taurus revolver.

She had never committed a felony. She had never committed a misdemeanor. Hell, she had never received a traffic ticket. When the call was placed to the Delaware state police for approval of the firearms transaction, the sale was halted. State Police Superintendent Thomas MacLeish has stated that the sale was halted due to the customer's age and gender.

That is bad enough, but there is more........... Sgt. Benjamin Nefosky, who heads the firearms approval unit stated he searched seven years of firearms transaction records to see if Vansickle had ever bought a gun before. She had not.

The official position in Delaware is that all paper records of firearms transactions are shredded after 60 days. Obviously, the electronic records are not.

Ms. Vansickle's application was eventually approved. Ten days after she made it, and only after an interview of herself and the seller. A normal delay is three days.

Superintendent MacLeish said the initial call taker "was concerned this individual never purchased a weapon before. Age and gender caused her to take caution. I believe there was caution taken on behalf of the call taker. It was done without malice."

So, a lawful citizen's constitutional rights were violated, but since it was done through suspicion without malice, it's all hunky dory? I just wanted to make sure I understood that correctly.

The Second Amendment

The Electoral Apocalypse

The Electoral Apocalypse
The 24/7 Gun
What if Your Girl Friend Doesn’t Like Guns.

Give it a listen. Syd's back. Courtesy of Front Sight Press.

Another Shooter is Born

There is compelling evidence that the origins of gun control in the United States is racism. It is a shame that even today, many responsible black citizens are brainwashed by the established minority advocacy organizations that are vehemently anti-gun. Like all my students, I refused to take QJ shooting until he could recite the Four Rules. Yesterday, he approached me and spouted them off, and we went to Wal-Mart to buy a bulk pack of Federal 22 Long Rifle ammo.

QJ was rather amazed that he could just buy ammunition, a question of whether it was for a handgun or a rifle, a few bucks, and we were on our way to familiarizing him with the pistol he would shoot in the morning. QJ felt the need to learn to use a gun for self defense. We had talked about him getting a CCW permit, and set that, along with effective skills and marksmanship with a firearm as his goal.

Last night I thought about how strange it was that QJ did not know his rights guaranteed by the Constitution. He is a good and productive American. He had served, a proud Air Force man. He had defended the ideals enshrined in the US Constitution. Yet he had not taken advantage of them himself. He simply was unaware that he could.

We met at McDonalds this morning, and discussed his goals and the Four Rules again over egg mcmuffins and hash browns. We also discussed the safety rules governing the range. I had stuffed my stainless Ruger MKII in the range bag, and I planned to put QJ on my usual program of learning to shoot.

I started QJ out at seven yards, and at first he was very stiff. He wanted desperately to do things right, to not violate any range rule. His head was swarming with thoughts. But as he shot, and watched other people shoot, he became more comfortable and loosened up. Then he had an epiphany. He realized that he must align the top of the sights as well as place the front sight in the notch of the rear. Suddenly, he was in the black, then blasting a ragged hole, and he was hooked.

He was obviously feeling more empowered. During a cold range break I suggested that QJ might want to place a 22 pistol that I knew about at Neil's Pawn Shop on layaway. "That way you can come back and shoot on your own time, you won't need me," I told him.

"Sure, I'll buy it if it's a good deal, but I want to keep it at your house," he responded.

"What?!! Why?"

"I don't want it in my house until I have the papers to be legal," he stated firmly.

"Q, you are not a felon or a nutcase. You are a free man. This is a free state in a free country. You don't need to have 'papers' to own a gun and keep it in your home," I informed him.

"Really?"

"Really. This is your birthright QJ, you are an American. There are some politicians who would take away your right to own a gun if they could, but you can help gun owners keep them out of office and preserve these rights for everyone if you wish."

We shot some more, reinforcing the basics. Finally QJ was ready. "We will have to go by the ATM," he said.

We walked into Neil's Pawn Shop together, and we asked to see the Browning Buckmark under the counter. It was in like new condition, although the plastic box was missing. Neil was wanting $219 for it. "New shooter discount?" I asked. Neil smirked. He knew the price was fair. QJ placed the pistol on lay away, and we talked a bit more in the parking lot. QJ was still trying to mentally grasp what had just happened. The wheels in his head were spinning at breakneck speed, gaining traction in freedom and leaving the shackles of imagined oppression behind.

Welcome to the free world Q, it is now up to you to help us keep it free.

An Appeal to Reason(s)

Dear Xavier:

I saw on your blog that you were getting frustrated with Blogger. I just wanted to send you a note expressing my appreciation for you sharing your knowledge on your blog. I have been reading your blog for years. It is the first one I check on my daily round of the Internet. I have learned a lot from reading your thoughts.

After shooting competitively for many years and teaching friends and family informally, I decided to become an NRA-Certified Instructor in April of this year so I could teach even more people responsible gun ownership. I'm now certified in Pistol and Personal Protection in the Home. Before the year is out, I will be certified in Personal Protection outside the Home as well. Next year I will add Shotgun for good measure. This past weekend I taught my first CWP course.

I thought it might cheer up your day to know that four more responsible citizens will soon join the ranks of CWP-holders, partly because you inspired someone you have never met through your blog. Many more are soon to follow. Please keep sharing your thoughts.

Also, if you ever visit Columbia, SC, please let me know. I'd be honored to show you around.

Cheers,

a reader from SC

A day or two ago I received an email from a reader that I have asked to publish here. Permission was granted.

While the issues I am still having with blogger are unresolved, and the internal strife at The High Road is on my mind, there are more important issues at hand. At this time in the history of the United States, gun owners face a turning point concerning who we place in office as president. This presidential election has the power to irreversibly impact the rights of gun owners, both with the power of Presidential veto and through placing a blatant anti-gunner in office as the President of the Senate. At present there is a 2 or 3 vote pro-gun majority in the US Senate. We do not need a confirmed vote against us as a tie breaker.

The next US President will likely appoint at least one, perhaps three Supreme Court Justices who will consider the meaning of the second amendment in upcoming legal battles. The narrow SCOTUS majority for gun owners shown in Heller v DC could be overturned by a single appointment. At least three appointments are likely. Justice John Paul Stevens is 88 years old. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 75. Justice Antonin Scalia is 72. Gun owners in the United States could be irrevocably affected for the next fifty years, perhaps forever. Gun rights could be erased as a generation of gun owners die off stripped of their firearms, leaving an apathetic progeny that has never experienced the right to keep and bear arms.

This is a crucial time. There is much at stake, and it goes beyond blogs and forums for gun owners. This is not a time to be bickering or fighting among ourselves. This is a time to solidify our vote and make damned sure that the right to keep and bear arms is preserved. The only way to do that is by force multiplication. We must build our numbers. Each gun owner has one vote. We must educate each other on the impact of our votes, and we must convert more people to law abiding voting gun ownership.

This email gives me hope. You will notice in the small group of students a bald man not unlike myself. A black man. A woman. A young man. A wide strata of people who only wish to defend themselves from harm. Gun ownership and the desire to be safe extends across all lines. It is a universal human desire and an absolute human right. We must not let the right to keep and bear arms disappear because we were too stupid to see beyond other issues. Without the right to keep and bear arms, the government is no longer restrained by the people. The government no longer is controlled by the vote. It becomes a monster and it will eventually enslave the very citizens it should serve.

A Recipe for Marksmanship and Maturation

When a person asks me to teach a them how to shoot, the first step is that I require them to memorize the Four Rules. This request performs two functions. First, it gives them the minimum knowledge needed to be safe with a firearm. Second, it demonstrates that they are serious about learning. It is a simple test of willingness and open mindedness. If they balk at learning the Four Rules prior to going to the range, then I will not instruct them.

Once they can recite the Four Rules, we get together with an unloaded Ruger MKII, usually at the new shooter's home to provide them with a comfortable environment. I do not bring ammunition, only the first gun they will shoot. I demonstrate how to hold and operate the firearm, how to check the chamber, and how to make a safe weapon. I focus on safety and responsibility as well as the basics of handling the gun. I assess the student's anxiety level, which at times may be quite high. I want them at ease handling a firearm. We talk about eye dominance, and I check them to see which eye is strongest. I draw a diagram to illustrate the basics of sight alignment, and I allow them to dry fire the pistol, with the expectation that the gun will be handled safely. When it is not, we back up and start again.

I ask them why they want to learn to shoot. Almost always, the reason is self protection. I explain that a person must be willing to take a life to save their own if they are to successfully employ a firearm in self defense. I make it clear that the time to come to that epiphany is well prior to an attack. Realizing the need once an attack commences is often futile. If the person has a pressing specific need, I try to help them towards a more immediate solution, explaining that gun skills develop into a means of effective self defense over time, and that a firearm is not a magic wand to make bad guys go away.

I explain that to realize the benefit of a handgun in saving ones life, the shooter must be able to hit what they intend. I explain that that a shooter who is unable to hit their target may as well be tossing lit firecrackers at their attacker. They have a noisemaker, not an effective tool to stop an attack. Marksmanship matters. Only then do we go to a range and load a weapon.

I prefer to use my four inch stainless Ruger MKII as an initial training tool. The low noise and recoil of the pistol allows the new shooter to concentrate on marksmanship. I recommend double hearing protection and safety glasses to prevent bad habits such as flinching from the beginning. The cheap 22 caliber ammunition allows the new shooter to learn on the cheap.

I like my stainless Ruger because I do not have to worry too much about it getting knocked around. The single action trigger allows the new shooter to achieve success faster. The pistol is well balanced, very "pointable," and reliable. I do not want my burgeoning shooter to have to fight equipment. I take only the Ruger MKII with us to the range. I shoot with it just as my student does. I do not want to give the impression that they are shooting a firearm that I would not. I emphasize that I return to basics with the Ruger anytime I feel myself slipping. I also emphasize that good marksmen are not highly skilled in tricks. Superior marksmen simply perform the basics better and more consistently than other shooters.

I have the shooter shoot at paper plates from a distance of about 15 feet, building confidence as we go. I keep a close watch on muzzle and trigger discipline, and am firm and clear with my corrections if need be. I teach sight alignment, and then flash sight pictures. Rather than focus on precision, I concentrate on the new shooter's ability to hold the sights on target while squeezing the trigger. This ability is fundamental to marksmanship. I place the paper plate targets on a cardboard backing. The goal of the first range lesson is two fold. I look forward to the new shooter conquering their fear of the handgun, and I expect them to be able to get all ten rounds consistently on the paper plate. I have a printout of the "Wheel of Corrections" handy so self motivators can refer to it themselves. Sometimes we shoot at the wheel of corrections itself.

If the new shooter tires before they reach their goals, we stop. I want to keep it fun. I am as much interested in building confidence, a joy of shooting and competence as I am in building marksmanship at this point. I never want the training to become drudgery. If I find the new shooter to be a prodigy or a hard charger wanting to just shoot and shoot, I will set up multiple targets or I will increase the distance to keep them challenged.

Only when the new shooter is hitting their target consistently with a MKII will I discuss another firearm, and never on the first range session. I make the point over and over again if necessary that it is not the gun that matters, but what the shooter can accomplish with it. I refrain from shooting very much myself. I am there because my student wants me to instruct them, not to demonstrate what an accomplished pistolero I am. The instruction is about them, not me.

To determine which direction the training will take, I again talk with and listen to my student after the initial range trip. I have found that many new shooters, influenced by Hollywood, shun revolvers. I present the revolver as a viable option for self defense, one with it's own advantages over a pistol. We discuss the merits of various platforms. I talk about the role of the handgun's weight in absorbing recoil. We discuss the need to stop an attack immediately through incapacitation. I explain the role of a significant caliber in performing this task. The next choice will be an slight increase in caliber, a double action trigger, or perhaps both. If the student feels ready for a change, I allow the shooter to hold, manipulate and learn to operate their next choice of handgun away from the range, without ammunition, the same as before.

If the student decides on a revolver, I move them to a Smith & Wesson Model 17 and we continue to work on trigger control. Eventually they will move towards a four inch .38 special, and then to a .357 magnum or a snubbie revolver, depending on their needs.

If the student chooses a pistol, a full sized 9mm double action gun is the next step, possibly with a .40S&W or a .45ACP in the future. At this point, I want the shooter to learn to control the double action trigger. Again, I focus less on sight alignment, and more on smooth trigger control. By now, the student should have sight alignment down. We continue as before, with double hearing protection and paper plates at 15 feet, increasing the difficulty through distance if necessary. I usually see the marksmanship evaporate, and I must remind the student to concentrate on the basics they acquired with the Ruger MKII. If their confidence starts to slip, we return to the Ruger to regain it.

During this range trip, I again keep the number of firearms available to a minimum, requiring the student to work with their new choice or revert back to the Ruger. I want the new shooter to be able to clear the hurdle of a different trigger or a larger caliber, but I want them to be able to take the basics they learned and apply them to achieve competence and confidence. I reiterate that it is their skill with the basics that makes for effective marksmanship, not a magic weapon. After this session, I encourage the new shooter to grade their progress and reassess their goals. This independent introspection is fundamental in maturing as a shooter. We talk about the best tool for the job. If they want a firearm strictly for home defense, I propose a shotgun for consideration. If they want to swap from a pistol to a revolver or vice versa, we plan on doing so for the next session.

After this point, the instruction becomes much too individualized to provide a guide. The student has taken control of their own learning, and I allow them to set the direction and progress. I encourage the student to begin thinking about obtaining their own handgun. I will bring multiple firearms to the range for them to try out. I am open at this time to allow the student to try out a 1911 or a Glock. I will allow them to go up again in caliber if they want to see what a specific round feels like. By this time, the student is no longer a new shooter. They have become a person in control of their own destiny and they only need guidance as to how to fulfill their individual needs. They are now one more advocate for the right to keep and bear arms.

Todd G's thoughts

Hoplophobes Voted Down in Mishawaka

A weapons ban proposed in Mishawaka Indiana by Mishawaka Mayor Jeffrey L. Rea and City Attorney Cory Hamel has been voted down, 5 to 4. The ban would have prohibited guns, knives and pepper spray from the Mishawaka City Hall, the police station, the Battel Center, and Mishawaka Utilities main building.

The mayor and city attorney were the only two people in a large crowd to speak out in favor of the ban at a packed city council meeting tonight. They became concerned and proposed the ban after a man exercising his right to open carry entered the city hall with a holstered gun and a billy club. No overt threats were made, but the mayor and city attorney still felt threatened enough to propose the ban. "What we're trying to do is prevent people who walk in with no agenda, but while he's inside with a gun, gets irate and may do something drastic," claimed Hamel.

Among the large crowd in attendance was State Representative Jackie Walorski, one concealed carry permit holder among many. Walorski says she always carried her concealed gun, even at the state house, but a computer printed sign taped to the door of the Mishawaka City Hall compelled the state representative to be unarmed in order to attend the meeting. "We have a Castle Doctrine that says wherever your castle is; house, car; and you have a threat on your personal space, you have the opportunity in this state to defend yourself," said Walorski.

Walorski and the rest of the crowd told the City Council that taking away law abiding citizens' right to bear arms will do nothing but put everyone in danger. They pointed out if a person wants to commit murder, they will. Prohibitions will not stop the acts of criminals. An illustration of that cold reality was the killing of five people at a city hall meeting in Kirkwood Missouri, including police officers and city officials.

The vote against the weapons prohibition for law abiding citizens in Mishawaka Indiana was close. Five to Four. There was possibly one swing vote, although nobody can know for certain. What is certain is gun owners and concealed carry permit holders packed the council meeting and presented their case in a rational manner against appeals to emotion by the mayor and city attorney. They won. They won because they were there, because they showed up, and because they spoke out. Threats to concealed weapons holders come in all forms, both criminal and legal. We must know how to effectively combat both.

30 of 32

Courtesy of Oleg Volk

Now available on a T-shirt. Wear it for $14.99

Gun Fetishists

Mike gets it right on target.

Agendas and Common Sense

It really came as no surprise to most gun advocates. The US Supreme Court. 5 to 4. The Washington DC gun ban struck down. The second amendment solidly defined as an individual right. ¤POOF¤*˜¨¨ The notion of the right to gun ownership being somehow tied to a militia as a collective right to be enjoyed by National Guardsmen was shot full of holes as surely as an IDPA target in front of Rob Leatham.

What the Supreme Court's ruling on District of Columbia, et al. v. Dick Anthony Heller means to gun owners will be up to them. Historically, a biased mainstream media has misinterpreted the second amendment. Gun owners can likewise expect them to misinterpret the meaning of DC v. Heller. Expect them to continue to cling to believing "shall not be infringed" means "walk on me if I do not resist." Even as the Supreme Court's ruling was released, the mainstream media has splashed a video of an anti-gun Presidential candidate's take on the implications of the historic ruling.

"You know, I have said consistently that I believe the second amendment is an individual right, and that was the essential decision that the Supreme Court came down on, and it also recognized that even though we have an individual right to bear arms, that right can be limited by sensible reasonable gun laws," claimed Barack Obama, "The DC law, according to the Supreme Court went too far, and now the key is going to be for us to come together and say people do have an individual right, and there's nothing wrong with common sense gun laws, background checks keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, those who are mentally ill, and creating what I think is the common sense belief among people that we can uphold our traditions with respect to firearms and prevent the senseless killings that we see on the streets of so many American cities."

Some will say that District of Columbia v. Heller was about Washington DC and the right to own a firearm in the district. Others will say it was about the right to own an assembled firearm in the district. District of Columbia v. Heller was about much more. It has reverberating implications across American society. Expect the Supreme Court's ruling to be painted many different colors, with many different brushes, in the months to come. As politicians are forced to change their platforms, simply to maintain political viability when confronted with the paradox of their unconstitutional stance against the rights of American citizens, their agendas will be exposed. Expect the talking heads of the mainstream media to do the same. Ideas die hard, even wrong ideas. I do not believe that any of them realize just how broad reaching this ruling is. The defining of the meaning of the second amendment, after so many years of debate with those who seek power through oppression, is a reaffirmation of the ideals the United States was founded on. The government is founded for the people, by the people and it serves the will of the people. The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed by the second amendment to prevent this ideal from becoming twisted, masquerading as "common sense" and being used against the people.

Common sense to one man is often not common sense to another. Indicative of this is the fact that many people cited the now defunct DC gun laws as common sense laws. Senator Obama is on record as advocating the abolition of the right to own handguns, any handguns, to the point of confiscating them from their rightful owners. He is also on record as advocating the repeal of concealed carry legislation that was hard won across the nation on a state level. Nay.....Senator Obama's common sense is not the common sense shared by commoners. His common sense is the same elitist fear of the common man's ability to depose him from his lofty perch that he sneers at the common man from. His "common sense laws" are only a foil to gain what is on his hidden agenda. That hidden agenda is one of power, control and oppression. But Obama is not alone. His agenda is shared by all who seek to strip the common man of his ability to protect himself. Fortunately, the Supreme Court upheld the common man's right to own and carry a firearm not only for self defense, but also so that he might again rise up against an oppressive government and regain the liberty endowed to all men by their creator. That is the ultimate protection, and the greatest fear of the elitist firearms abolitionist.

More

Predators

Courtesy Oleg Volk

Defenseless?

Courtesy of Oleg Volk

Postive Presentation of CCW Class

Armed But Not Dangerous
On a cold and early Saturday morning, the class at Scarlet Oaks in Sharonville begins the usual way. Students take their seats and the instructor introduces himself. Then he makes an announcement: "No guns today."

"Did anyone bring their gun in?" he asks. Nobody raises a hand. Good. The shooting starts Sunday morning. A few plan to bring .22 revolvers. A man with a neatly trimmed gray beard says he and his daughter will use .38s. Others mention Colts, Smith & Wessons, a .32 Beretta. A big man across the room says he's bringing a 1911 Colt .45, and he's not talking about malt liquor.

"That's a man's gun," says the instructor, retired FBI agent Dennis R. Lengle.

I don't have a man's gun. I don't even have a woman's gun or a "mouse gun," which is what serious shooters call .22s. I don't have any gun at all. But the Great Oaks Police Academy Concealed Carry Course has a great deal. For $25, I can rent a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver and get 200 rounds - cheaper than cartridges alone.

There's a 20-something couple in the back, but most of my classmates are 40s and 50s, I'd guess. A man in bib overalls wants to legally carry the gun he uses on his farm. A husband and wife own a business. One man tells me his kids are grown and he's interested in shooting. Another guy says during a break that he worries about being mugged when he goes for walks. He says he has no doubt he'd use a gun if he has to.

But a few hours later, after we've been through the legal minefield and gritty details of what "controlled expansion" hollow-points do to a body, someone half jokes, "I'm not so sure I want to do this anymore."

I understand.

The course is excellent. We start by naming the parts of a cartridge, a revolver and a semi-automatic pistol, then move on to 25 true-false questions on dozens of topics. "Being armed is a tremendous responsibility," it says. True.

And while police cadets open fire at the indoor range across the hall, making muffled bangs like someone pounding a file cabinet with a ball bat, Lengle targets safety, safety and more safety.

He tells true stories of stupid gun tricks by trained lawmen who shot the carpet in their office, or put a 9mm round into their neighbor's car - through their own house and the garage next door. Lengle has our attention. During the state-mandated 12 hours of instruction, all 17 students are riveted.

In cover and tactics, Lengle warns that a doorway is a "vertical coffin," a "fatal funnel" for anyone silhouetted in its frame. If an intruder ignores warnings and keeps coming, "immediate incapacitation is your only goal."

And that requires accuracy.

So Sunday morning we go to the range. I start out jumpy, but get the hang of it and pass all the tests, hitting paper outlines of bad guys from five, 10, 15 and 20 feet.

Safety is drilled in as loud and clear as that booming 1911 Colt, which barks with deep authority, even through ear protection. Everyone passes. Nobody gets hurt. From what I can tell, legal concealed carry is nothing like the anti-gun crowd made it sound when Kentucky and Ohio passed laws in 1999 and 2004. There are no cowboys. No wild shootouts. No blood in the gutters, as gun-banners predicted. Just law-abiding adults who want to exercise their Second Amendment right to self-defense.

As we're leaving, classmate Jim Hansel, who lives "out in the country," tells me about the night he woke up to a break-in. He called 911, told his son to take cover and waited on his couch with a shotgun. He warned he would shoot, but the guy kept coming until the cops arrived, 40 minutes later. "He had seven outstanding warrants for automatic weapons use," Hansel says, shaking his head.

Now Hansel has a certificate to get a concealed carry permit from his county sheriff. "It gives me knowledge and confidence," he said. "Most people are afraid of guns because of what they don't know."

If every gun owner took a class like this, we'd all be safer. But meth-heads, crack junkies and street muggers don't take classes. They don't get permits or certificates like the one Lengle gave me Sunday. They just grab a "nine" and use it against defenseless victims. Each month another concealed-carry class graduates from Scarlet Oaks. And the bad guys are a little less sure their next victim is defenseless.

By Peter Bronson, Cincinnati Enquirer

E-mail pbronson@enquirer.com or call 768-8301.

Thank you Peter!