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BOWLING
FOR BALONEY: PART ONE Yes,
Michael Moore Is Evil By
Larry Swickard
Perhaps I should be honored when students ask me my opinion about
an historical event. But I am filled with chagrin that so many young
people derive their historical knowledge from movies. Not only that, but
many cling to and defend Hollywood's cinematic drivel as if it were
gospel. From Oliver Stone's Platoon, to Michael Moore's Bowling For
Columbine, it seems that for many people as long as something appears on
the silver screen then it must be true. The fact that adults indulge in
such self inflicted ignorance doesn't bode well for the future of this
republic. I am aware that I have expressed this lament before. But no
sooner than I finish explaining to students, friends, and colleagues that
Hollywood's historical treatments are typically fictional entertainment
masquerading as truth, someone pipes up, "But didn't you see. .
.?" The latest example was Bowling For Columbine. Many of my students
and their parents accept it as gospel. I am reminded of George Orwell's
lament that "We have sunk to such a depth that the restatement of the
obvious has become the first duty of intelligent men" (Walter
Williams, "People Not Roadblocks To Prosperity," Human Events,
April 23, 1999, p-17). Up
to this point I have avoided writing anything about Michael Moore. My
reluctance stems not from love of Hollywood. On the contrary, after living
in California for many years, and witnessing the pernicious influence of
stars and celebrities, who seem so ignorant about so much, on the
political process at the State level, I have nothing but disdain for them.
Michael Moore is a cinematic charlatan. Nothing he has done, from Roger
And Me to Bowling For Columbine represents honest work of any value. His
films deserve no greater position than to view the sky from the inside of
a dumpster. I didn't want to give Moore any recognition. But I have been
pestered for the past year by people who have seen Bowling to the point
that I can no longer remain silent. The record must be set straight. I
tried to staunch the uninformed adulation for Bowling by pointing out that
Moore is the intellectual and moral equivalent of an angry spoiled
adolescent scribbling nasty epithets about teachers on school bathroom
walls. He is a middle-aged teenager masquerading as a man and suffers the
terminal pubescent dread of not being trendy, cool, and in tune with the
pop-culture herd. Some of my students responded to my declaration with the
look of a deer staring at on-rushing headlamps at night. Perhaps a few
have spent too much time behind the Cannabis Curtain. In a moment of
exasperation I blurted out that Moore is a wannabee sixties radical Commie
toad suffering from paranoid delusions of persecution and he likes it.
When this too failed to unlock the frozen hypnotized deer look I decided
it was time to start from square one and explain what is wrong with
Michael Moore and Bowling. N.R.A.
Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre has long chronicled the hypocrisy
and leftist agenda of Hollywood's stars. For example, Hollywood turned the
novel, The Basketball Diaries, into a movie. In Hollywood's rendering, we
find the lead character, clad in a black trench coat, walking the halls of
his high school armed with a shotgun to kill his classmates. But this
scene doesn't even appear in the novel! The Columbine killers Harris and
Klebold, who watched this movie, considered it "noteworthy."
LaPierre also notes that the novel Jurassic Park could be considered
neutral to mildly "pro-gun." But in the hands of
multimillionaire leftist film maker Steven Spielberg, the movie took on a
somewhat anti-gun message. Spielberg, who owns an extensive gun
collection, also produced Schindler's List. But in Spielberg's hands, the
movie leaves out the fact that Schindler was an avid gun collector and
stockpiled guns and hand grenades for Jews to use in self defense against
the Nazis. Spielberg also spent $100,000 dollars "revising" E.T.
so that the F.B.I. agents that surround the extraterrestrial's spaceship
are not armed as they were in the original version. He did this to placate
child star Drew Barrymore who has become fanatically opposed to all
weapons. Sylvester Stallone, who made his fortune with such violent films
as the Rambo series is also against the private ownership of firearms (at
least for the lumpen). While in London the local press asked for his
reaction to the murder of actor and comedian Phil Hartman in California.
Stallone observed that life in America was "pathetic" and still
in the "Dark Ages," (as opposed to Europe) and nothing would
change until the American government went door to door and collected every
handgun. Stallone, of course, owns a 24,000 square foot mansion in Miami
that features and indoor shooting range (Wayne LaPierre, Guns, Freedom,
And Terrorism, Nashville, Tennessee, Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2003, pp.
199-201).
Michael Moore has taken on prominence because he has become
Hollywood's leftist bad boy. He yells in public what the Hollywood elite
say at their private cocktail parties. His mission is to demonize the
N.R.A., American
gun owners, and Middle America. Bringing down the Bush Administration
would also be a huge feather in his cap. The fact that Moore hails from
the far left is not in dispute. He praised the Clinton Administration's
gun point forcible return of Elian Gonzalez into the waiting arms of
Cuba's communist dictator Fidel Castro. Moore's position had nothing to do
with parental rights. He, like many in Hollywood including Chevy Chase and
Robert Redford, greatly admire both Castro and the political system in
Castro's "worker's paradise." Moore observed that at least in
Cuba Gonzalez could finally obtain the excellent and free medical care and
excellent education that is unavailable in the United States (James Hirsen,
Tales From The Left Coast: True Stories of Hollywood Stars And Their
Outrageous Politics, New York, New York, Crown Forum, 2003, pp. 69-70).
Moore is also embraced by Hollywood for his abrasive personality and
willingness to promote their wild eyed grassy knoll conspiracy theories.
Moore is one of the left's standard bearers in constantly beating the drum
that people who are politically conservative are so because they are
intellectually inferior to liberals. This college dropout often and loudly
impugns the intelligence of former President Reagan (who graduated from
college with a major in economics) and other conservatives. He claims that
going from Reagan to the two President Bush's' represents a
"depletion of the political gene pool" (Ann Coulter, Slander:
Liberal Lies About the American Right, New York, Crown Publishers, 2002,
pp. 33, 125-128). Following the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001,
rather than condemn the terrorists, Moore lamented that they had struck
the wrong cities. After all, Moore pointed out, New York and Washington
D.C. had gone for Gore not Bush in 2000. In addition, he asserted that the
United States has killed tens of thousands of people around the world
through tax-payer supported terrorism. In other words, the United States
not the terrorists were the bad guys. One can only surmise that he would
have popped corks on the bubbly had the terrorists attacked Omaha or
Cheyenne instead. In addition, Moore's book, Stupid White Men, is endorsed
by radical leftist Irish poet Tom Paulin who refers to the Israeli Army as
the "Zionist SS" (Ann Coulter, Treason: Liberal Treachery From
the Cold War to the War On Terrorism, New York, New York, Crown Forum,
2003, pp. 222, 251, 287). Moore
attempts to pass himself off as a champion of the common people. But this
is mere hypocritical symbolism. His idea of being a "regular
guy" is to falsely claim he is from Flint, Michigan, wear sloppy
clothes and a baseball hat, and avoid encounters with a shaving razor.
This is Hollywood's image of what its like to be from Middle America. In
reality Moore lives in a $1.27 million dollar Manhattan penthouse, sends
his daughter to a private school, is chauffeured around with bodyguards in
limousines, and treats his employees like slaves (Laura Ingraham, Shut Up
And Sing: How Elites From Hollywood, Politics, and the U.N. Are Subverting
America, Washington, D.C., Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2003, pp. 64, 81,
88). Moore
has made his biggest splash with his "fraudumentary" Bowling For
Columbine. The film was first screened at the Cannes Film Festival. The
Europeans loved it and gave Moore a standing ovation. The French bestowed
all manner of awards
on Moore. Back in the United States, Hollywood was so enthralled with a
film that trashed both the N.R.A. and Middle America that they awarded
Moore's fraudumentary an Oscar for Best Documentary. But the truth is that
Moore's film is a lie built upon elaborate and deliberate deceptions (Ingraham,
pp. 104-105). Remarkably Americans flock to Hollywood films, spending
their hard earned cash, that trash Middle America and its values. It is
your money that makes possible the lavish lifestyles of those that hate
you. In part two I will begin a close examination of Moore's film. |
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President's Corner By Kevin Jamison EVERY ELECTION / THIS ELECTION Every election I have
written that the upcoming election was critical; and I was right.
Every election has been critical to protecting and expanding our
rights. This election, is the
one all others have been leading to. We
have passed License to Carry and defeated the extension of the “assault
weapon” ban because we elected the right people.
To preserve these victories requires one more push.
This push requires everyone. In
1999 many people assumed that Proposition B would pass, and did not bother
to vote. This made it easy for
them to steal the election from us. This election is to
protect our gains, to provide four years in which we can organize and
recruit without major attacks. A
Bush victory will provide one crucial element.
There are Second Amendment cases creeping through the legal system.
It is widely accepted that the next president will appoint three
(3) Supreme Court justices. NRA
Board Member Jim Supica asks us to imagine the sort of judges Senator
Kerry will appoint. We cannot
afford a headline “Major Second Amendment Ruling!
Decision by Chief Justice Janet Reno; Concurring Opinions by
Justice Hilary Clinton and Justice Charles Schumer”.
A president Kerry would appoint these people, or people quite like
them. From past experience, we
know that President Bush will appoint persons likely to be sympathetic to
the Second Amendment. When
these Second Amendment cases reach the Supreme Court, they must find
justices willing to listen. Kerry claims
that he is a hunter, but advocates a ban on all semi-automatic shotguns.
He tried to pass an amendment which would ban 30-30 and 30-06 rifle
ammunition. He has never voted
with us, and never missed an opportunity to vote against us.
Not only is he anti-gun, but he thinks we are too stupid to notice. Many of our people
voted for Claire McCaskill in the primary in order to punish Holden.
The reality is that she hates us more than he does, and worse, is
better at it. In 1992 she made
a series of statements claiming that any 12 year old could go into a gun
shop and buy an AK 47 “no questions asked”.
I confronted her on this, showed her the law, and she continued to
tell this lie. She is
promoting her history of prosecuting methamphetamine cases.
Her last case as prosecutor was a meth case; I was the defense
counsel. She had nothing to do
with that case until the morning of trial, when she found out there would
be cameras in the courtroom, suddenly she was lead counsel.
My client had two charges against him, there was meth all over his
house, we did not try to defend it. McCaskill
lost the other charge, which was shooting at a police officer in the
raiding party. She is proud of
her political audits, which have detracted from the auditor’s duty as a
financial watchdog. She is
flash, no substance. As
governor we can expect her to prevent the financial fix for LTC, and
increasing restrictions on car carry, out of state licenses, and where one
might carry. We will find
resistance to reforms of the permit to acquire handguns system.
We may find money earmarked for conservation and hunting and
fishing purposes diverted to more politically correct destinations. If we loose these
elections they will crush what we have gained.
Call WMSA Director Gary Davis and volunteer to work for the
campaigns. Every little bit
helps. One more push and we
can pass on our rights to our children. And on that
note I remain Your Obedient
President K. L. Jamison |
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Liberty Notes By Kevin Jamison It is a Very good day for Liberty.
The “assault weapon” ban has expired.
That is not the last we shall hear of the subject, but a good first
step.
WMSA Vice President Derek Ward missed the last Board meeting.
He had some people over at his house to plot a coup against me.
I offered to buy the pizza, but he had it all covered.
I learned about the value of deterrence at an early age.
When I was three, I carried a plastic dinosaur in my back pocket, a
triceratops, the one with three horns on its forehead.
Mom spanked me for some imagined offense, and without any due
process of law. Her hand
landed on the horns of the triceratops.
Forever after she hesitated to spank me until I emptied my pockets.
Fifty years later Mom is working in my office, and I keep a
triceratops handy. The August 22, 2004
edition of Star Magazine has an article on the second anniversary of the
massacre at Conception Abbey. A
man with two rifles and no discernable motive killed two monks and wounded
two more. When the massacre
started the first thought of one monk was to get a monk who had hunting
guns. There is a cartoon which
asks what first thoughts a person in a massacre might have.
Now we know.
I have represented a wide variety of persons.
I have defended moderately evil child molesters and drug dealers;
there are many worse clients, they have not called me.
The other night I defended a drunk driver; I obtained a good result
for him. He thanked me for my
efforts and drove away. As I
watched his bumper retreat it occurred to me, I’ve kept a Kerry
supporter out of jail.
A local clerk shot and badly wounded a shoplifter.
He used a gun that did not belong to him, which he was not trained
to use; in fact, he had never fired a gun.
He said that he shot at the shoplifter’s car and hit the
shoplifter instead. He had no
concept of the legal limits of lethal force.
He pled guilty to second degree assault and was sentenced to four
years in prison. He may be
released after 90 days “shock time”.
The judge said that he should “at least see the doors of
prison.” He has been in jail
for a year waiting trial, which is very much like prison. Revised Statutes of Missouri § 115.133.
Qualifications of voters 1. Except as provided in subsection
2 of this section, any citizen of the United States who is a resident of
the state of Missouri and seventeen years and six months of age or older
shall be entitled to register and to vote in any election which is held on
or after his eighteenth birthday. 2. No person who is adjudged incapacitated shall be
entitled to register or vote. No person shall be entitled to vote: 3. Except as provided in federal law or federal
elections and in section 115.277, no person shall be
entitled to vote if the person has not registered to vote in the
jurisdiction of his or her residence prior to the deadline to register to
vote. So, this means that felons can vote once they finish
parole. If they can vote, we certainly must.
The St. Gabriel Possenti Society has lapel pins promoting the
Patron Saint of hand gunners. In
1860, the Saint, politely, asked a group of bandits to stop raping and
killing and burning and looting. Getting
no response, he snatched a revolver and repeated the request.
One of the bandits asked what he intended to do with the gun, the
saint indicated a lizard running across the road, and took off its head
with a snap shot. He asked if
there were any more stupid questions.
And there were none. As
a boy the Saint ran a pedophile off at knifepoint.
Good Catholic kid. Contact
the Society at PO Box 2844, Arlington VA 22202 www.possentisociety.com
(202) 543-3363.
The Missouri Sport Shooting Association has contributed $500 each
to WMSA, Gateway Civil Liberties Alliance, and Second Amendment Coalition
of Missouri for use in voter education.
My youngest son, my treasure, my jewel, my joy (one of them) has
run away to college where he is learning to be a world-famous sports
writer. The university appears
to have world-famous sports writer courses.
This is a career path that will get him into games for free.
He already knows a great deal about sports.
He is in a fantasy football league.
To me fantasy football is when the cheerleaders play.
I gather this is not how it really works.
A Pensacola Florida man was shooting dogs.
While holding down a dog the animal squirmed around and put his paw
on the trigger shooting the man in the wrist.
Self-defense.
One of the senior Ayatollahs in Iran is quoted as saying that
“The source of all human torment and suffering is the liberal democracy
promoted by the West.” It
appears that his objection is that our political tradition offers a
choice. He demands that all
accept his political and religious edicts without choice, without
question, and with mandatory enthusiasm.
In America one can reject all popular culture and create such
religious or political community as is favored.
The Islamofascists believe their faith so fragile that it can be
shattered by a woman’s hair, by a song, by a question.
This is a shame, I know many Moslems who are more confident of
their faith. We have endured
religious zealots of this sort in Christianity. There is a Chinese proverb
that if you put a monkey in a cage, he cannot show himself more clever
than a pig. In a country of
forced devotions, one cannot tell who is really devout from the
politically expedient.
Independence operates a low income housing project.
Part of a 25 page lease forbids residents from possessing firearms,
even broken ones. They blame
HUD for this provision. Missouri’s
Constitution gives an absolute right to own firearms, one local government
cannot infringe, even if it takes HUD money.
I’m representing a resident who is resisting eviction for the
high crime of believing that poverty does not erase his rights.
The NRA has provided me some legal work from similar cases.
On 5 September, 2004 WMSA had its 15th Anniversary Picnic.
Members and their families enjoyed the afternoon with food,
fellowship, and shooting. There
were pistol contests of various types organized by Vice President Derek
Ward. Chief Safety Instructor
Tom VanEyck conducted tests on new shotgun ammunition “Safetydisc”,
which replaces buckshot with a column of discs.
Both types of ammunition went straight through mock-ups of interior
walls, even exterior walls. Tested
in clay we found that they made equivalent wound cavities, however the
safetydisc broke up into small fragments and did not over-penetrate.
The safetydisc did not open up a pattern like buckshot, so that one
can be more accurate with it. A French TV crew joined us. They
are doing a documentary on the US elections and wanted our opinion.
I believe they got it too. President Bush may be
only 80% on our side, but that beats his 100% against us opponent.
Disregard what they were doing in uniform 30 years ago.
Compare their record of public service in the last 20 years.
Bush has helped us. Kerry
has never missed a chance to hurt us. The most terrifying commentary on a Kerry presidency appeared in the catalogue of Old Town Station. It imagines a Second Amendment decision by the US Supreme Court “Decision by Chief Justice Janet Reno, concurring opinions by Justice Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer”. If these three were not appointed to the Court by Kerry, persons very like them would be. There are Second Amendment cases moving toward the Court. If Kerry gets to appoint even one justice, we will loose our chance for a good decision. President Bush may be only 80% our side, but Kerry is 100% against us. President Bush has done things for gun owners, Kerry voted against us on every possible occasion. Kerry even came off the campaign trail to try to outlaw 30-30 and 30-06 hunting ammunition. In a very tight race such as this one, we have to mobilize all of our people. Everyone must vote. Vote absentee, take a vacation day, give up a day’s hunting, make sure you vote. Everything else can be done some other day. We have ONE DAY to save our future. Call the campaign to man phone banks, volunteer to drive people to the polls. This is the big one. |
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John Kerry 2nd Amendment Supporter?? "Former Chief Justice Warren Burger...voiced the opinion that 'The notion that registering gun purchases somehow violates the Constitution is unmitigated nonsense.' I concur with Chief Justice Burger and will continue to endorse the Brady Bill." —John Kerry A letter to a constituent collected by the
National Rifle Association, July 19, 1993 (reprinted in Human Events,
August 30, 2004, p-S9)
"We don't need to be a party that says we
need to be the candidacy of the NRA. We stand up against that...I've
fought the NRA from Day One and I've been on their list since Day
One..." —John Kerry The Des Moines Register, November 1, 2003
Kerry has voted in favor of the Feinstein
semi-auto ban, voted to ban private sales of guns at gun shows, voted yes
on a Senate proclamation to officially praise the Million Mom March, voted
to ban firearm ownership for those under 18, voted in favor of federal
registration of firearms, voted for the Brady Bill, and voted in favor of
a federal prohibition of concealed firearms permits for self defense. Source: Human Events, August 30, 2004, page S9.
"Liberty has never come from
the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of government.
The history of liberty is the history of resistance. The history of
liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power,
not the increase of it." -- Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) 28th US President Speech, 1912 "We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the
Mount... The world has achieved brilliance without conscience.
Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants." --General Omar Bradley (1948) The main goal of schools now is to
prepare our children for a total government-orchestrated society. — Debbie O'Hara "The human race divides itself
politically into those who want to be controlled,
and those who have no such desire." -- Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) |
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WMSA Celebrates 15 Years First,
since it was a potluck picnic, there was a lot of excellent food. The
Board's own Derek Ward & Darren Pack were manning the grill for
hotdogs. Everyone visited with old friends and new. Representative
Rex Rector and his beautiful, gracious wife Debbie from the 124th District
were there. For those that may not know, Rex is been a very good friend to
our cause. It is highly likely his opponent in this years race will not
be. The WMSA presented Rex
with a check, to help in his re-election bid. Other
visiting politicians and dignitaries included Jerry Nolte from the 33rd
District, Ms. Patterson in the 5th US District , Chris Byrd who is running
for Attorney General and Tim Oliver, yes, THE Tim Oliver, and a member of
the Jasper County Sheriff's Department who was interested in the Safety
Disc demonstration. An
unexpected surprise was a French Film crew in attendance. They were
present during the testing of the new safety disc shotgun ammunition. They
spent some time listening to President Kevin Jamison's explanation of the
difference in a regular shotgun shell and the new safety disc, which is
based on the old Cowboy dime loads. When the Safety Disc shell was fired
clay chunks flew everywhere, believe me. The shotgun shell tended to
create more craters in clay. Tom VanEyck had created some safety boards to
fire the shells into, the safety disc made more individual holes, the
shotgun shell created two big holes. Shotguns were supplied by our
gracious President, Kevin Jamison & his associate Maxwell. A lot
of fun and competition sprang up during the matches.
The first place winner of the John Kerry Flip-Flopper" and the
bowling pin shoot was the Boards own Brad Alpert. Second place went to
"Blazing" Jeff Griffith, WMSA member. Gene, a WMSA member has discovered the
ultimate in Concealed Carry rigs. Something that will NEVER be suspected
of being a concealed carry item. is a genius! Yep, that's a Glock. The
fanny pack clearly proclaims "Million Mom March" So is Gene good
or what! Everyone had a great time at this milestone in
our history, we have much to be grateful for as we look back at what the
organization has been through to accomplish it. |
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A Woman's View By Sheila Stokes-Begley FIRE
No, not lik ready, aim, fire. Like we don’t yell “fire” in a
crowded theater. The kind that devours your house, treasured belongings
and lives without a second thought. Yeah, that kind of fire.
I heard the comparison not long ago between a gun, and a fire
extinguisher. You may not ever need one, but if you do need it, you need
it really bad, and right now. So let’s look at fire extinguishers and
guns, with a “MMM” attitude. First, to the hysterical, whinny, “there are just so many kinds, and things I would have to remember. No one could ever really use one in an emergency, the bad guy would just take it away from you.” There are 5 classes of fire extinguishers. A: for wood, trash, paper. B: for liquids, oil, gasoline, thinners. C: for gases, methane, butane, propane D: flammable metals E: Electrical fires, transformers, switch boards. You need to know what kind of fire extinguishing method to use on what type of fire. For example, don’t use water on an electrical fire. Water conducts electricity. Yet, that doesn’t seem to stop people from having fire extinguishers in their homes.
Second, guns are just so dangerous, too dangerous to have around.
The result of a CO2 burn from the CO2 contained in a fire extinguisher is
comparable to a 3rd degree burn, that is the most severe of the burns,
affecting the underlying nerves. One web site calls them powerful weapons.
In addition to the damage that can be caused by spraying someone with one,
just think of the dandy amount of damage that one could do if you clocked
somebody with it! And can you just imagine what could happen if some
toddler got hold of one? My lord! If they were looking in the funnel and
activated it? Or what is some upset teenager got a hold of one, and in a
fit of anger sprayed it at his parents! Oh, this is just NOT safe at all! Third, the supposition that the anti-gunners seem to have that carrying a concealed weapon will suddenly turn law abiding citizens into raging maniacs. Or almost as much fun, that the gun will suddenly jump from where it is carried/stored and kill someone. Obviously, fire extinguisher have the same effect on people. There was a fire captain in Belton (I am NOT dogging the fire department, but this is a good example as ever was). He became “inflamed” that the editor of the local paper made a less than complementary comment about his spouse, who happened to be a city counsel woman who wasn't doing her job. So did he write a letter to the editor? Well, not really. What he did do, was take a newspaper full of dog poop to the Newspaper’s office and THROW it at a young lady who worked there as a graphic artist and had nothing what so ever to do with the editorials. Obviously, being around all those fire extinguishers warped his little brain. Fourth,
the police/fire department/sheriff’s department (basically fill in the
blank, everyone else is responsible for my safety but me) will protect us.
I recently watched a special on the September 11th attacks. At the time,
and it may still be policy, the method of fire fighting in high rises was
called something like fight in containment (don’t hold me to that) but
what it meant was, you do NOT evacuate the building. You just evacuate the
floors where the fires are, and fight the fire there, rather than having
all these people streaming out of the building. So, when people tried to
leave the building after the first plane hit, they were sent back to their
offices by the police & fire department. Yep, they were sent back into
the building. Are we SURE we want to blindly follow orders all the time?
So, as we can clearly see, fire extinguishers are a HUGE safety
threat, not only to physical safety, but mental stability as well! I
can’t believe 60 Minutes hasn’t done a report on this
Yet! This is earth shaking! I will be sending this article to Dan
Rather! Guns and Fire extinguishers both can clearly be used in a manner
inconsistent with good. They can both prevent or cause damage. You need to
be aware of basic safety and have knowledge of the article used. We need
to get legislation under way to protect people from themselves. After all,
it’s for the children. Sheila Stokes-Begley |
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Board of Director Meeting Minutes The
September 7, 2004 BOD meeting convened at Kevin Jamison's office at 18:32
with Kevin Jamison, Esq. presiding. Present were Dean Johnson, Bob Hanson,
Mark Pursell, Larry Swickard, Derek Ward, Esq., Brad Alpert, and Darren
Pack. We were later joined by Gary Davis and Tom Van Eyck.
Kevin said a letter of thanks had been received from the veteran's
home regarding our $100 contribution. He also mentioned a request that had
been received from Jim Guest for us to sponsor a sporting clays fun shoot
at Boot Hill, LLC in Hamilton, Missouri. Mr. Guest is running for state
representative.
Derek said a shoot is being held at Pigeon Hill near St. Joseph on
October 9 and Kevin suggested we might want to set up a table and recruit
new members.
Mark mentioned it might be beneficial to set up a table at Pioneer
Gun Club during the upcoming annual public deer rifle sight-in.
Kevin commented that the WMSA picnic, held on September 5 at
Crossfire Shooting Range, was a success. Kevin was complimentary of the
excellent test targets Tom had constructed that simulated housing
materials. He noted major pistol calibers easily defeat interior and
exterior walls, and he suggested we perform additional testing next year.
Kevin suggested posting pictures of the French television crew on our
website.
Kevin said we were to receive a $500 contribution from MSSA.
A discussion ensued regarding setting up tables at various upcoming
gun shows. Kevin said we need to sell more raffle tickets to support the
legal defense fund and also prior to the November elections, and he asked
that 500 more tickets be printed. An idea was floated that perhaps we
could sell the tickets via gun shops, but Kevin asked that WMSA members be
mailed 5 tickets each to sell.
A discussion then followed about the mailing costs of sending out
the raffle tickets to the membership and various ways of keeping these
costs to a minimum. Dean said he spoke with two members at the picnic who
just started a print shop and he will visit with them again about our
printing needs. Kevin then tasked Dean with finding the easiest and least
expensive way to handle the raffle ticket bulk mailing. Kevin also asked
Derek to create an illustration of the shotgun with a short note to
members attached.
Kevin then discussed the need to give political contributions to
friendly, pro-gun candidates. After much discussion among the board, the
following donations were approved:
Susan Phillips $300
Lou Ann Ridgeway $300
Jerry Nolte $200
Jason Brown $150
Catherine Hanaway $300
Chuch Heiss $200
Chris Byrd $100
Doug Ervin $150
Gary Dusenberg $125
Sheriff to be named (replacing Larry Crawford) $125 Kevin
noted the September 13 sunset of the assault weapons ban and said we would
send out a press release endorsing President Bush upon the anticipated
expiration. He also mentioned Section 8 housing restrictions imposed by
the City of Independence upon public housing residents that preclude the
ownership of a firearm. Kevin said WMSA would send out a press release
regarding our opposition to this policy. There
being no further business to discuss, the meeting adjourned at 20:04 |
|
General Membership Meeting Minutes of WMSA September 15, 2004 Trails West Branch, KCPL The September General Membership meeting began at 7:08 PM., with
Mr. Kevin Jamison, Esquire, WMSA President, presiding and conducting the
meeting. Kevin began by stating that keeping the right to carry concealed in
Missouri and keeping the assault weapons ban from being re-enacted depends
heavily on the outcome of both state and national elections.
He noted that John Kerry is very negative towards the rights of gun
owners despite his efforts to appear as a friend of gun owners and as a
sportsman himself. Kevin said
that Claire McCaskill, the democratic candidate for governor of Missouri
is also very negative towards gun owners and towards concealed carry as
well. Kevin told the group
assembled that, in 1992, McCaskill was quoted as saying that “any
twelve-year-old could walk into a gun shop and buy an AK-47”.
Clearly, that was not true then, nor is it now.
Kevin reminded all
present that it is very likely that the next elected U.S. president would
appoint three U.S. Supreme Court justices and that it is very important
that President Bush be re-elected. He
told the membership present that the organization, “Sportsmen For
Bush” will send out information and bumper stickers.
The telephone number was given as (703) 647-2759.
He stated that, in a close election, the only important thing is to
be sure to get out and vote and reminded those in attendance to be sure to
encourage family members, such as youth attending college away from home,
to apply for and vote an absentee ballot.
It was noted
that on Saturday, September 18th, help would be needed in Clay county to put up signs.
Those able to help were asked to meet at 9:00 A.M. at 249 W. Mill
St. in Liberty, Missouri. Especially
needed were pickup trucks. On another topic, Kevin said that he has a current client who lives in public housing who was required to sign a twenty-five-page lease. One of the terms of the lease was that the tenant could not have any weapon on the premises. Kevin is representing the client because Kevin feels that such language in a contract violates the client’s Second Amendment rights and is unconstitutional. He mentioned that the client was due to be evicted from his/her living quarters on September 28th for failure to abide by this unconstitutional language in the lease contract. Regarding campaign signs for Matt Blunt for Governor, Kevin related that he had learned that the Blunt campaign had stated that no signs would be placed until October 1st, at least in cities. Gary Davis made mention
of the fact that there would be a parade on Saturday the 18th in Blue Springs and that
any help at the parade would be appreciated.
It was noted by Kevin
that the ten-year-old “Assault Weapons” ban had expired earlier this
week. Any cartridge magazine
previously stamped “for law enforcement only” was now legal to be
owned and possessed by any citizen. Now,
all citizens can purchase magazines of any capacity—the prior limitation
to a legal maximum of ten rounds has now expired.
A brief discussion was
held as to what the NRA was likely to do now that the “Assault
Weapons” ban has expired. The
membership was reminded that those who are NRA members should consult
their October membership magazine issues since a voter guide will be
included in the October issue. Kevin
noted that he participated in a meeting recently where NRA officials
requested local ratings, by grassroots gun rights organizations such as
ours, on which candidates should receive NRA endorsement.
Thus, Kevin feels that the ratings should be more realistic this
year compared to previous election year’s NRA endorsements.
Kevin implored all
members of WMSA to make one more big push to help candidates with
donations and labor prior to November’s general election.
It was noted that Jeanne Patterson, the U.S. Fifth Congressional
district’s Republican candidate, was in attendance at WMSA’s recent
picnic. It was further noted
that a film crew from France attended our picnic, taking footage and
interviewing some in attendance. It
is our understanding that this program will be broadcast in France and
that it will be shown in the U.S. at some undetermined future date. No further business appearing, the meeting was adjourned at 7:34 P.M. |