June 2014 – Page 5 – Shall Not Be Questioned

NRA’s Upwards Trends

It was reported last month that NRA Annual Meeting was one of the fastest growing conventions or trade shows in the country, but I wanted to provide longer term trend information. Unfortunately, I found I had a gap in my reports since I started attending NRA’s Annual Meeting and had to wait on the numbers to present an accurate report. I just received those numbers and made a pretty little chart for you all to see how we’ve been trending.

NRAAnnualMeeting04-14

Keep in mind that that the bottom line in this chart is 40,000 people, and the lowest attendance documented here is still more than 54,000. While the number of attendees from Houston to Indianapolis dropped, the end of the 10-year span is still reflective of a 23% increase in members coming out. Even within the same city, both repeat cities have seen double digit increases in turnout. That’s pretty impressive.

Obama Praises Gun Confiscation in Australia

Apparently Obama did a Tumblr presentation today where he praised Australia’s forced confiscation of all semi-automatic rifles as a model that the United States should follow. But remember kids, the left and the media tell us that we’re lunatics for believing anyone is coming for our guns. This is yet another example of gaslighting from the left. They tell us they aren’t after our guns, and that we are paranoid about it, but then Obama says something like this:

Couple of decades ago, Australia had a mass shooting, similar to Columbine or Newtown. And Australia just said, well, thatâ€™s it, weâ€™re not doing, weâ€™re not seeing that again, and basically imposed very severe, tough gun laws, and they havenâ€™t had a mass shooting since.

Our levels of gun violence are off the charts. Thereâ€™s no advanced, developed country that would put up with this. This is what Australia did, and this is what Obama wants to bring to America. This is not hyperbole. This is not paranoia. This is what he advocated!

Just a reminder of exactly what President Obama is endorsing, from this rather old segment from NRA News…

Tuesday News Links 06-10-2014

My time is short and is only going to get shorter in the next few weeks, but I have some news items piled up that I need to get rid of:

Las Vegas Shootings & Other Spree Killers:

Tam has some commentary on the Las Vegas shooting, or more accurately, the media reaction to it. They couldn’t have asked for a better narrative making couple than those two.

Brady is trying to make hay of the fact that they were looking for guns on Facebook.

Dave Kopel: The history of magazines holding 11 or more rounds.

More jerks blaming me (and you) for what other bozos do. The same jerk notes the mass shooting stopped with pepper spray. OK, then why don’t we take guns away from cops then? I advocate carrying pepper spray, but it’s a terrible risk depending on spray to stop an active shooter.

Bearing Arms: The Humility of a Hero. Pepper spray is probably your next best thing, but it should be kept in mind that a) it takes a bit to start really affecting the attacker, and in these situations seconds count, b) it doesn’t affect everyone the same way and c) a sprayed person is still capable of employing deadly force even after the spray takes effect, if that person is sufficiently determined.

Again, this is an argument for taking guns away from the police too.

Clayton wants to know why their neighbors just didn’t call the police.

The shooters were apparently kicked off the Bundy Ranch, but you’ll probably be reading in the media that they were at the Bundy Ranch, so of course are connected.

The male shooter in the Las Vegas incident was already a prohibited person.

Not Really News:

Bill Maher is still a jackass.

The Clintons never supported the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

SAFE Act not making New York any safer.

Seattle shooter had mental health problemsÂ that were noticed, but no one did anything.

Those Crazy Anti-Gunners:

Obama’s nominee for Surgeon General has seemingly gone silent. Of course, CSGV tries to play the race card.

Brady to tap Hollywood in a continuing search for relevance.

Idaho professors looking to OC rifles to class to protest the law which allows firearms in schools. Knock yourselves out. No skin off my back. You’re the ones who look ridiculous.

Same ideas, different decade. If the media has enough reason to write about gun policy the probability approaches near certainty that some moron will write that the gun control movement just needs to try something new, and then propose a bunch of ideas that have already been tried and failed.

Chuck Schumer doesn’t even know who wrote the Bill of Rights. To be fair, most university graduates probably don’t either, but they also aren’t using the Bill of Rights for toilet paper in the Senate bathroom.

General Gun News:

Century lays off 41 employees because Obama isn’t allowing reimportation of M1s.

NPR:Â Guns kept people alive during the Civil Rights Movement.

Shannon Watts is pushing a petition to bring down on Target. If our side can’t out noise them, I think they’ll win. And unlike their other wins, which never included a policy change, this one will. Once she gets one retailer to bite, how long before another does? She’s claiming 10,000 signatures.

The son of Kermit Gosnell, the infamous abortion doctor, was shot when he invaded the home of two students one of whom was armed.

Judge tells ATF to stop making it up as they go along.

National Reciprocity & Pennsylvania Votes

A few years ago, I decided to make a note of which lawmakers sought or ran on NRA’s endorsement who initially refused to step up and support national reciprocity. After people reported calling the offices of the mysteriously missing potential co-sponsors, several stepped up and signed on.

While looking at the Pennsylvania angle again for this year, imagine my surprise when I found some key names left off of the sponsors list – again.

These are the members of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation who support the bill:

Rep. Mike Kelly (R)
Rep. Tom Marino (R)
Rep. Tim Murphy (R)
Rep. Scott Perry (R)
Rep. Keith Rothfus (R)
Rep. Bill Shuster (R)
Rep. Glenn Thompson (R)

I might add that Rep. Rothfus actually didn’t have the NRA endorsement last time around. He had an A rating, but with the incumbent Democrat’s record, it was issued to the incumbent.

These are the members of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation who sought & received NRAâ€™s endorsement in 2012 against anti-gun opponents who are not on that list:

Rep. Lou Barletta (R)
Rep. Charlie Dent (R)
Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R)
Rep. Jim Gerlach (R)
Rep. Pat Meehan (R)
Rep. Joe Pitts (R)

For 2014, Rep. Gerlach is retiring, but the others will be on the ballot. Reps. Dent, Barletta, and Pitts are expected to be pretty safe, so I’m surprised that they are not willing to help their law-abiding license holder constituents. In fact, Charlie Cook has all three of those seats, plus Rep. Meehan, in the “Solid Republican” category as not really competitive.

In 2014, I find it hard to get excited by candidates who don’t even think that law-abiding citizens who undergo regular background checks still can’t be trusted with firearms. If you live in any of these districts, it might be good to let them know that you noticed they wanted your vote in 2012, but that they won’t even get on board with national reciprocity.

Opportunity for More Olympic Shotgunners

According to this article, there are only about 30 international-style trapshooting ranges open to the public in the US. Fortunately for enthusiasts in Wisconsin, they are now home to the latest one.

I think this is great news because I’d like to see more Olympic shotgunners from the United States. Because the traditional version of trap shot here isn’t like the international version shot at the Olympics, we don’t really do as well on those sports as one would expect with a wider gun culture. I hope that an expansion of these ranges will help change that.

I know that some recreational shooters assume that Olympic competition style is boring, but I’m not sure that’s true.

Target Weighing Sweeping Gun Ban

An online outlet claims that Target is apparently paying attention to gun control groups and seriously considering a sweeping ban on firearms except for law enforcement.

This broad ban may end up being a formal policy change that could even result in stores posted. The reasons are likely due to the fact that they were targeted by the gun control groups and then someone, likely a shoplifter based on the evidence released so far, left a gun behind in the toy aisle of a Target store in South Carolina.

Because of the combination of events, Target is getting a lot more media than other outlets ever received on this issue. I would strongly suggest that if you don’t want Target stores posted, call them at 1-800-440-0680 (menu choice 2 for “store experience”) and let them know that as a lawful gun owner, especially if you carry concealed, you would appreciate it if they didn’t ban guns because a criminal misused one. Feel free to fill their email box as well at Guest.Relations@Target.com.

I will say this to Target:

I will be seriously grumpy if I have to stop spending money with you because you tell me that the gun I lawfully carry concealed isn’t welcome. I would disclose how much I spend on bags and jewelry there, not to mention the very pretty peacock cards that I’ve been sending out like crazy lately, but then I’d probably have to answer to Sebastian on that issue. Just know that I’m definitely a contributor to your bottom line, as well as a lawful gun owner. Regardless, I will vote with my wallet if you tell me that I am not welcome in your stores just because I own and lawfully carry a firearm.

UPDATE: It looks like the local grassroots are also taking notice and asking people to call in/email their opposition to a sweeping anti-gun policy.

UPDATE II: This is my favorite graphic so far. Share to your likeminded friends lists, folks.

Concealed Carry Holder Called “Hero” by Police

We’ve been busy with family lately, and we’re just now catching up on the news of the weekend. Included with that is the news of what happened in Vegas. Interestingly, catching up on the story after the police have had time to investigate a bit more, you see different information from what is often left out of “breaking” coverage. One is that the victim at Wal-Mart was a concealed carry holder who actually successfully confronted the male shooter, but didn’t realize that he had a partner in the crime.

From the report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, police say that the concealed carry holder confronted the male shooter while the female shooter was pushing a shopping cart. She then slipped behind the concealed carry holder and shot him at close range, unfortunately.

â€œHe had no idea the wife was walking behind him,â€ the police official said of the murdered man. â€œThis guy (Wilcox) was not some idiot with a gun. â€œHe had no idea the wife was walking behind him,â€ the police official said of the murdered man. â€œThis guy (Wilcox) was not some idiot with a gun. To me, he was a hero. He was trying to stop an active shooter.â€â€

Pennsylvania Official Firearm

The process of getting an official state firearm designated is moving along after a PA House vote this week. The bill now heads to the Senate for votes, though I didn’t see anything about it on their calendar.

While it’s not exactly priority legislation for gun owners, it is at least of interest to gun owners in the Keystone State for reasons beyond the fact that CeaseFirePA is opposed to it and complaining in the media about it.

The reasons for choosing the Pennsylvania Long Rifle as the state firearm are outlined in the bill:

Pennsylvania’s gunmaking tradition has played an important role in the development of the United States of America. During Pennsylvania’s early history, settlers placed chief reliance on their rifles for sustenance, security and survival. The Pennsylvania Long Rifle, a unique firearm that was different in principle and outline from any other weapon in the world, was developed by skilled gunsmiths in the Moravian communities of Christian’s Spring, Northampton County, as well as by artistic riflemaker Martin Meylin, in Willow Street, Lancaster County.

The Pennsylvania Long Rifle was the first truly American firearm and, due to its exceptional accuracy and range, was considered the greatest achievement in the development of firearms during the 18th century. Playing an important role in the early years of the Industrial Revolution in Pennsylvania and New England, the Pennsylvania Long Rifle was also instrumental in the American fur trade and was carried west and south by frontiersmen as they set out to expand the boundaries of the nation.

The Pennsylvania Long Rifle has been lauded for its beauty and craftsmanship, as well as the ingenuity of the skilled gunsmiths who crafted it. The color combinations, carvings, engravings and graceful slenderness of the Pennsylvania Long Rifle cause it to stand alone and remain unchallenged as a primary example of early American art.

Future generations deserve the right to appreciate the heritage of this long-barreled rifle, born to artistic gunsmiths in the communities of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Perhaps the only interesting “analysis” out of this is that we can compare the votes of 16 lawmakers who were opposed to recognizing a freakin’ muzzleloader that carries the state’s name as the state firearm, but who would get on board with naming a state airplane – the Piper J-3 Cub. These are 16 lawmakers who weren’t opposing wasting time on frivolous votes designating silly “official” recognitions; these were 16 lawmakers so opposed to the idea of a simple muzzleloader being recognized that they voted against it. And yet they wonder why we don’t trust that they’ll stop at seizing our semi-auto rifles?

70th Anniversary of D-Day

There are quite a few neat things that have popped up to honor the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. One that stuck out to Sebastian was this collection of “then and now” photos from the Normandy beaches.

On Twitter, Charles C. W. Cooke has been sharing a fantastic collection of historic photos from the invasion. This is one that stuck out to me.

A plasma transfusion. pic.twitter.com/E1tFIjhM5f

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) June 6, 2014

From NRA, Life of Duty has a piece where 94-year-old paratrooper John Perozzi visit the invasion site. He was shot during the invasion and still carries that bullet in him today, yet he recovered and went on to fight again, including at the Battle of the Bulge.

I have been interested in the BBC’s posting of current British celebrities reading BBC News scripts from June 6, 7, & 8th.

I know there are many other tributes online today, and I’d love to see any favorites from readers today in the comments.

Are Companies Really Changing their Policies?

A reader e-mailed yesterday about something very interesting:

I saw you post about you eating at Chili’s and I was concerned that Brinker the parent of Chili’s would apply their policy change to Maggiano’s Little Italy which they also own. So I called their corporate office today, and the woman I spoke to in customer service said that they did not change their policy and if I am in compliance with the laws of where the Chili’s or Maggiano’s is than I am good to go. Seems like this is a lie being pushed my MDA. I asked about franchise locations of Chili’s and she told me they need to follow corporate policies.

So as many had suspected, there has been no actual policy change. I suspect what Watts has been doing is shaking these companies down for a press release, and then using that to declare victory to her supporters and to the media.

But before people start arguing then this is all much ado about nothing, it’s still:

A huge cultural loss, because companies are more than willing to hand Watts talking points to make the rifle OC issues go away.
Still being used by Watts to energize and grow her organization and reputation.
Being used by the media to bring shame down upon all gun owners because of the actions of a small handful of attention grabbers.

Watts would also love, I’m sure, to get an actual policy change. She would no doubt also love to convince one of these companies to post. Even if we’re not talking disaster of epic proportions yet, if the nonsense continues, that will be the result at some point. We already have the wrong kind of media becoming enamored with Watt’s organization, to the point of writing glowing puff pieces about it.

A lot of the currency of our movement is the demoralization of theirs. There are plenty of people in this country that wouldn’t let you even own a rifle for hunting. What’s kept the gun control movement down since the 1990s is most of those people thought it was a lost cause, because everyone was telling them it was. Even the Clinton’s acknowledged what the NRA cost Democrats in the 1990s.

With every victory they attain, they are convincing a lot of those people that gun control is possible. It doesn’t matter if it’s a fabrication. It doesn’t matter if policy is not actually being changed. Perception is everything, and Watts is very good at managing perceptions. There will always be an enthusiasm gap between our side and theirs, but they have immediate and friendly access to the media, the entertainment industry, and academia. Our sideÂ starts off out of the gate at a disadvantage, because we don’t have any of that. All we have is each other.