Shall Not Be Questioned – Page 1669 – The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State …

Carolyn McCarthy Hates Due Process

H.R.1168:

To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to extend the firearm and ammunition prohibitions applicable to convicted felons to those convicted in a foreign court.

I’ve always said fighting these people is about a lot more than guns. Removing someone’s liberty based on the actions of a foreign court violates our right to due process. McCarthy is not just anti-gun, she apparently has no issues with suspending due process and subjugating our legal system to foreign powers. This one has 5 cosponsors who I wish you could see so I could tell you who else is violating their oath to uphold the constitution.

But if that’s not enough for you, there’s H.R.1167:

To increase public safety and reduce the threat to domestic security by including persons who may be prevented from boarding an aircraft in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and for other purposes.

On the no fly list? Lots of people are and we don’t know why or how to get off. Now you won’t have any second amendment rights either. Foreign citizens already can’t by a firearm legally; that’s reserved for citizens and permanent residents. So who is this meant to affect?

Carolyn McCarthy is violating her oath of office by crapping all over the constitution she promised to uphold. It’s time for the Congresswoman to revisit some wisdom from James Madison in Federalist 51:

If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

Emphasis mine. Due Process is one of those obligations set on government to oblige it to control itself, and the second amendment is the last resort of auxiliary precautions. How can Carolyn McCarthy support these things and still claim to be serving our country and upholding her oath of office? I’d really like to know. I’m disappointed more of her constituents aren’t asking.

More on HR1022 – McCarthy AWB

Gun Law News has the dirt on HR1022.Â It looks like it’s more like California’s ban rather than a renewal of the federal ban.Â TheÂ bill still has no cosponsors, which is good news.Â Let’s keep an eye on it, and keep asking why the people of New York’s 4th Congressional District keep sending Carolyn McCarthy back to Congress despite her complete ineffectiveness as a legislator.

Glad Remington Doesn’t Act This Slowly

According to David Codrea, the FAA has retracted its collective rights statement.Â How long ago was it that we pointed this out?Â Â The sad part is, they probably acted with light speed in government terms.Â It’s good news though, because it means it was the FAA not being aware of the administration’s position, rather than the administration deliberately retreating from the earlier position.

My Letter to Remington

I’m a firm believer when a company goes to bat for you, it’s nice to say thank you.Â I sent this to Remington a few minutes ago:

Dear Remington,

I want to thank you for your support in the recent controversy over Jim Zumbo’s unfortunate comments that were derogatory the AR-15 shooting community.Â While I hope we can find some way to heal the wounds between our community and Mr. Zumbo, I was glad to see Remington so quickly distance itself from his statements.

I often buy Remington ammunition for my AR-15, and will be sure to continue doing so, and will encourage others to do so as well.

Thanks Again,

Sebastian

I think it’s especially important since so many of us jumped the gun and went after Remington over the whole Zumbo thing when they were merely mentioned incidentally.Â Sometime soon, I’m going to head up to Cabela’s and buy some Remington .223.Â Everyone else should be nice and pick up some too as a thank you to a company who’s willing to stand with us on taking the second amendment seriously.

Speaking with The Enemy

I’ve decided to e-mail the Brady Campaign and get the real story on the MySpace profile. Go take a look, because there’s a lot of choice stuff being said there, that if actually coming from someone associated with them, is definitely quite revealing as to how far they are willing to take it.

Despite the fact that I despise the Brady Campaign, we’d all be pissed off if someone in our community was printing outrageous stuff masquerading as an NRA spokesperson, so I think in the interest of fairness, we should try to find out the truth behind this MySpace user. I know these folks aren’t always fair with us, but I think if we need to consistently take the high road. It helps build our credibility as a community.

So when the Brady’s respond, I’ll post it. If they don’t, I’m going to take that as a statement that they don’t really wish to distance themselves from these statements, in which case we can all feel free to quote away. They claim they will respond within 72 hours. The clock ticks ;)

UPDATE: The Bradys have responded. They are not associated with the MySpace Blog.

Eating our Own

When controversy erupts within our community, we need to not be so quick to eat our own. Early on there were many ill considered calls for boycotting Remington, even though they merely got an incidental mention from Zumbo. I think putting pressure on Outdoor Life was appropriate, but I have to admit I’m somewhat disappointed that Outdoor Life has responded by taking the Zumbo Blog down.

While I think that Zumbo’s statments were assenine, and the apology not quite enough to make up for the damage somegthing like that can do to us, I pretty strongly look down on trying to erase history. You can’t take stuff back on the Internet. That’s why we’re so angry about this.

I don’t want to see Zumbo lose his writing job, or have his blog taken down, because, as much as I’m upset over his statements, I genuinely believe they were based completely on ignorance, rather than on malice. Let Zumbo continue his blog. In the coming days, we can see where his heart really is on the issue. We’ve given him his baptism by fire into the blogosphere, and now let’s see which side he’s really on.

Cabela’s Also Reconsidering Zumbo

Folks, I have to tell you, I think we have some real allies out there in the industry who are willing to go to bat for us. This from Cabela’s forums:

While Cabelaâ€™s believes everyone has the right to express their own opinions, we strongly disagree with Jim Zumboâ€™s February 16 posting on his Hunting with Jim Zumbo blog on Outdoor Lifeâ€™s Web site.

Throughout our 46-year history, Cabelaâ€™s has firmly supported all aspects of shooting sports. We strongly support the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States and the right of every U.S. citizen to purchase, own and enjoy any legal firearm of their choosing.

While we fully support Mr. Zumboâ€™s First Amendment right of free speech, we believe his opinions on this matter are counter to those shared by Cabelaâ€™s and many of our customers. Cabelaâ€™s Legal Department is currently reviewing contractual obligations and commitments regarding our sponsorship of the Jim Zumbo Outdoors television show.

Wow. This on the heels of Remington severing ties is pretty serious. I think we all need to go to Cabela’s and buy some Remington ammunition or maybe a shotgun, or something, pronto.

Back in Pennsylvania

I’ve returned from my three day weekend at an undisclosed location.Â Time to catch up on the blogosphere, and happenings, and see if I have anything to ~~bitch about~~ say.

More Tyranny of Public Health

Do you like salty food?Â I do.Â Apparently that really upsets the American Medical Association:

We know what you’re thinking: Yawn. Well, wake up. Our national “salt tooth” is so bad that the American Medical Association recently asked the FDA to remove sodium from its list of food additives generally recognized as safe.

That’s right folks, the AMA thinks salt is so bad for you, they want the FDA to regulate it as an unsafe food additive.Â Nevermind the fact that it’s been used in food for thousands of years.Â It’s for your own good, you see.

I hope everyone can join me in telling the AMA to go to hell and mind their own damned business.

Hat Tip:Â Nobody’s Business

An Assault Weapons Ban To Worry About

I wrote a few days ago about not getting too worked up over McCarthy’s latest attempt at being a bitch, since the bill hasn’t even gotten any cosponsors yet. But there is an assault weapons ban out there we need to pay a lot of attention to. From Pro-Gun Progressive we have this out of Maryland [UPDATE – oops, forgot the link in the orignal post]:

Senate Bill 43, â€œAssault Weapon Ban of 2007,â€ sponsored by Senator Michael Lenett (D-19), will be heard by the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee on Tuesday, February 27 at 1 P.M.

SB43 would designate specified firearms, including many semi-automatics as â€œassault weapons,â€ prohibit persons from transporting possessing, selling, offering to sell, transferring, or receiving a specified â€œassault weapon(s),â€ and require the Handgun Roster Board to compile and maintain a roster of prohibited specified â€œassault weapons.â€

Maryland is an important battleground state. What I mean by that is that it’s a state that the anti-gun folks would dearly love to lock up and put firmly in their column, but it’s not quite there yet. The antis have, pretty solidly, CA, NJ, NY, and MA. They have a more tenuous foothold in IL, MD, CT, RI, and HI. IL and MD are the ones to watch out for though, because those are the two states that they are pushing hard to move into the “firmly anti-gun” column, and this assault weapons ban is meant to wrap it up for them there.

The demographics don’t favor us holding onto Maryland: it’s a suburb of DC and has Baltimore. The rest of the state can’t outvote the urban dwellers. In addition, Elrich is no longer there with his veto stamp. It’s important that Maryland not be given up without a fight though. If you live in Maryland, talk to the Maryland State Rifle and Pistol Association and see if there’s anything you can do to help out. At the very least, show up in Annapolis on the 27th.

This law is BAD. It’s worse than California’s ban in many ways. It’s important that it not be allowed to pass. For those of us outside of Maryland, it should be noticed that the law has no FOPA exception and demands the police seize and destroy any weapon they find on you. So once you get the charges dismissed in federal court, after spending some time in jail initially, you can kiss your rifle goodbye.