Liberty Notes

February 2005

Kevin L. Jamison Esq.

I was invited to Governor Blunt’s inaugural. This appears to be in recognition of the work we all did (all of us) on the campaign. I have no opinion on his wife's choice in clothing and if I did it would not be worth listening to. I spoke to many of our new friends, and some of our old ones. The message was to hold the line on LTC, to take no risk that might result in gutting our hard-won rights. People in the Capital Building know what we did for them in the last election, and what we can do in the next one.

We have met with Joel Partridge, our new NRA-ILA representative. We will be working together to extend and defend our rights.

The first birthday of License To Carry will be celebrated on 10 March, 2005 between 9 and Noon in the Rotunda of the Capital Building in Jefferson City. There will be cake. Since this is Jefferson City, there will be clowns, just not as many as in previous years. There will be speakers and opportunities to meet legislators and cake. There are bills we will be supporting, and attacks on our rights we shall resist, but it will be a party.

The City of Baltimore is distressed that witnesses are afraid to testify against gangsters. The City of Boston also complains that gang members threaten witnesses. Police report that CDs and DVDs entitled "Stop Snitching" are circulated. In the trial of two gang members for killing a 10-year old girl spectators wore T-shirts that said "Stop Snitching. Witnesses have no confidence in the system's ability to protect them. Of course Baltimore and Boston try to guarantee criminals unarmed victims and discourage self-defense. The connection between these truths has not dawned on the City fathers and mothers.

A gentleman in St. Louis reports that he had to go out to his car at 2 AM. A group of suspicious characters approached him yelling that they wanted to talk to him. He drew his pistol, holding it at his side, and told them to keep moving; which they did; they were suspicious characters, not stupid. This incident will not be in the papers, it will not be reflected in crime statistics; which was the entire idea of LTC.

Some have asked if the gentleman might have been charged with brandishing. A prosecutor can charge anything, especially if convinced that all gun owners are evil, dangerous, and determined to brandish weapons. A local prohibitionist invariably accused us of brandishing guns at her in an effort to prove our masculinity; when no guns were present. To support a criminal charge, it must be in an angry and threatening manner. Holding the gun pointed down and not voicing threats should not support a conviction.

The September, 2004 issue of "Army" magazine has an article by Maj Gen Edward B Atkeson and Maj Gen James L. McCoskey entitled "The Need for a Modern American Militia. They argue that with large parts of the Guard and Reserve called up, there is a shortage of forces to "mind the store". They propose revitalization of the Home Guard system.

Bob Hanson has kept the WMSA treasury intact. He has done an excellent job of a task requiring meticulous attention to detail. He has also maintained the semi-professional standards of our newsletter. Few have been able to accomplish either, much less both tasks, while keeping an unfailing good humor. It makes me wonder what he’s up to.

There is a movie from (communist) China titled "The Missing Gun". A policeman wakes up from a binge to discover that his issue firearm is gone. His superiors have a fit telling him that ordinary people don’t know how to use a gun, there could be an accident, but a killer could shoot two, even three people with one bullet. A good enough movie by itself, but it points out the attitude of prohibitionists; that guns are so complicated that they are beyond the ability of an ordinary person and at the same time so powerful that wholesale slaughter is inevitable.

The Kansas City Star (a daily tabloid) of 3 January, 2005 reports that four years ago Kansas City police response times were "totally unacceptable"; now they are worse. Perhaps it will occur to the newspaper’s editors that this throws citizen on their own devices, like an LTC.

The National Institute of Justice (www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij) has a published "Status Report to the Attorney General on Body Armor Safety Initiative Testing and Activities". The report, which is longer than the title, was inspired by an incident in which an ordinary pistol round went through a police officer’s vest. This was not supposed to happen and tests indicated that ballistic vests loose their strength due to various factors or combinations of factors. One of these factors is humidity. The number of officers who sweat under their vests indicates to me that they might need to be replaced from time to time. Other reports indicate that vests which are not cleaned, or cleaned improperly loose their protective ability. Nothing is perfect.

The Kansas City Star (a daily tabloid) reported that a man in Portland Oregon shot a panhandler in front of a department store. I feared this would be used against us. Some internet research revealed that the shooter did NOT have a license to carry and in fact had a significant criminal record. In court they make witnesses swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; it would be nice if this was applied to newspapers.

I am informed of a man who, having no heirs, left his life insurance to the National Rifle Association. However, he left no will, so his collection of double rifles went to the state. Depending on the state, they might be auctioned off, or melted down. A person without a will allows the Missouri legislature to decide the disposition of his property, which should send people screaming to a probate lawyer.

During the first presidential race of which I have independent recollection, my family lived in a state which overwhelmingly supported the Republican candidate. I heard just enough support for the Democratic nominee to know that there was an opposing opinion. I asked my solidly Republican parents what we would do if, horror of horrors, the Democrat won. I was told that we would all get behind him. After the recent election I hear references to "your president" and strident voices insist that while other leaders, even terrorists might have a point of view, the current US president is not entitled to any measure of loyalty or support against outside foes. I approved of very little done by Bill Clinton. However, when he took action against foreign terrorists, I supported it, even when it seemed to be designed as a distraction from his personal problems.

Kansas City Missouri limits its residents to two bags of trash per week. Mom tells me that even during the war the government did not ration trash. Mom remembers the war. She considered the European Theater to be of secondary importance, if that, what with Dad fighting in the Pacific. Of such personal relationships are decisions made. In order to convince others of our cause we have to find in it some personal relationship for other individuals, one by one.

I saw a passing reference to Pvt George Horn of Troop D, Custer's 7th Cavalry. It appears that he went AWOL just before the battle of the Little Bighorn. The reference did not say what Private Horn felt about missing one of the historic battles of the Indian Wars.

A Johnson County Missouri party degenerated into a fist fight. The losers left and returned with allies armed with knives and clubs. The reinforcements attacked people in general killing one man. The battle ended when someone fired two shots into the air. The assailants considered the wisdom of bringing knives to a gunfight and withdrew. If there had not been someone with a gun, there would have been more casualties.

A Professor Drew Westen, and several co-conspirators, has written a study entitled "When Reason and Passion Collide: Emotional Constraint Satisfaction in Motivated Political Reasoning". The study, which is actually longer than the title, finds that when information meets bias, bias wins. The study takes people with a range of preconceived beliefs on a subject, presents them with evidence ranging from very weak to very strong and recorded their reactions to the information. People adamantly supporting the subject believed even very weak supporting information, and did not believe very strong opposing information. People opposing the subject believed very weak opposing information and did not believe very strong supporting information. We have seen this in ourselves. Studies repeatedly show that guns save lives; yet anti-gun bigots refuse to believe these studies and demand more proof. Anti-gun bigots are repeatedly caught lying about guns, and yet the media continues to quote them as if they were credible sources. In order to have moderately anti-gun people listen we must find the bias within their prejudices which works in our favor.

The prejudices of anti-gun bigots can be wacky. The NRA’s Wayne LaPierre debated an anti-gun zealot who said that civilian guns should be limited to single shot long guns, and only when hunting. Target shooters who miss their sport should get another sport. Mr. LaPierre showed her a picture of a woman being assaulted and asked if the woman should be allowed to defend herself, the bigot replied that women should live in a society that respects women. She did not give the address of such a society.

Some have complained that gun shows have too much "flea market" material these days. The MVACA shows hold the line at gun and military items, but other shows have admitted items not remotely related to our sport. The problem is attributed to the number of shows in this area. To make his rent on the hall, the promoter must accept anyone willing to pay for a table. If this is the price of saving gun shows, I can live with it. Also, I can do more of my Christmas shopping at these gun shows, my sisters were getting tired of green socks.

Neal Knox is dead. An avid target shooter and hunter he became the driving force for the Institute for Legislative Action and a friend of grassroots activists. Over the last thirty years he was part of every legislative battle, every defense, every success. He knew everyone and the back-story for every event in the history of the Movement. I often asked him to write a history of the Movement, he was finishing a book as he died, I hope it was the History. He was a friend; he is missed. Send contributions to the NRA-Institute for Legislative Action in his memory and to his Hard Corp Report at 7771 Sudley Rd #44 Manassas VA 20109 so that his work will continue.

A Chandler Texas woman was kidnapped at gunpoint in a Wal Mart parking lot. She was found killed near Stanton Arizona. The suspect was caught at a hospital with the victim's truck. It is believed that the suspect tried to rob an RV park, and that victim had shot back. The difference is an armed victim and an unarmed victim.

Jackson County is now issuing licenses to carry. This is a victory for us. The trick, as always, will be to keep it. Now only St. Louis City and St. Louis County refuse to issue licenses claiming funding problems. Any legislative attempt to correct the Hancock funding issue will be festooned with amendments to gut our rights. I fear that any such attempt will only hand them a stick to beat us with.

There are at least 14,000 Missouri licenses to carry. Because implementation of the law was delayed due to the lawsuit thousands of Missourians got Pennsylvania licenses in order to be ready on the first day the law went into effect. Since the law went into effect on a piecemeal county, by county basis, thousands more got other out of state licenses. At a guess, I would say that there are just as many people with out of state licenses and Missouri licenses, perhaps more.

We shall overcome.