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Liberty Notes Respond to It is a good day for Liberty. I have been reviewing another book Enduring What Cannot Be Endured, by Dorothy Dore Dowlen, McFarland & Co, Jefferson, NC (2001). The title is a trifle melodramatic, however. The author was 16 when the Japanese invaded her home in the Philippines. Over the next four years she became a Lieutenant in the Army, a nurse for the Guerrillas, a prisoner, an escapee, an orphan, a wife, a widow, and a mother. She may be forgiven the hyperbole. Evading a Japanese offensive, she and her husband fell in with a jungle tribe who followed a rich cultural tradition of killing outsiders. Her husband's pistol was within reach, and her first experience with guns saved her life. Having observed the process, she was able to disassemble the pistol for cleaning, and put it back together again. Proceeds of the book go to an orphanage in the Philippines, so it is valuable on many levels. I was at the Immigration office, and heard a South African complain that when he came into the country on a tourist visa, the officer asked his destination. "Kansas City", he said. "Impossible", declared the officer, "No one goes to Kansas City on vacation!" He was allowed into the country, but required to appear at the Kansas City Immigration office, and prove that he was having fun. Fortunately, we have an amusement park called Worlds of Fun. During the NRA convention, you may notice what appear to be spikes, or lightening rods, or perhaps hair curlers on the towers above Bartle Hall. Do not ask about them. The City Council thinks they are art, the rest of us are too embarrassed. If you go by the Nelson Art Museum, you may notice a shuttlecock the size of a truck on the lawn. If you ask "What damn fool spent obscene amounts of money for that nonsense?", everyone will know that you are a tourist, because if you lived here, you would Know. If you know any vegetarians, bring them to Kansas City, we have barbeque, we can help them. During the Convention, you may want to spend some time on the Missouri seacoast. Missouri has always had an ocean, only now we call it Kansas. I represented one of these guys with federal charges for felon in possession. We had to plead guilty. This is the Project Exile/Project Felon/Ceasefire program (now called by the later name). There are commercials with Johnnie Cochran saying that if caught, even he could not help. It did not make me feel better. The guy's car broke down, and he and his friend got out, the friend said "Here, I don't want to get caught with this gun", so the guy with the felony record took it. This is the second time I have had a client following such a conversation. I asked the court to release the gun to me as part of my fee. The prosecution, as a matter of local office policy, opposed this. They claimed the gun was "contraband". Legally, contraband is any object which is illegal simply by existing or by existing in the possession of a person who is not supposed to have it. Untaxed cigarettes are contraband. Alcohol in the possession of juveniles is contraband. A Ruger semi-auto is not contraband in the hands of a near-sighted and unshaven attorney. The federal magistrate bought the prosecution argument, so I appealed it to Circuit Judge Wright. I said that I wanted to use it in my "Missouri Weapons and Self-Defense Law" class, and offered the 2 hour 45 minute tape in evidence. The judge didn't want to spend that much time on the tape and ordered the gun released to me (as soon as I get a permit from our new sheriff). I argued that the feds were spending a great deal of money advertising felon in possession charges, and I was going to do so for free. We are seeing abuse of the Project Exile and NICS programs. These are programs the NRA encouraged to get prosecutors to focus on real crimes. It seems that some of them think that we are real crimes, simply by existing, contraband as it were. The State Guard Association of the United States has a web site www.sgaus.org. Its mission is to foster and support the militia concept in the Constitution of the United States of America. It only recognizes state guards organized by state or local governments. It has some good information. The Civil Air Patrol, the Air Force Auxiliary, web site, is www.capnhq.gov. The Special Forces Association web site, is www.sfahq.com. The commander of Special Operations Command called us the Special Operations strategic reserve. However, if you see me being called up, you know we're in trouble. The Kansas City chapter of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) had a speaker on Bioterrorism. The director of the Kansas City Health Dept flashed a list of "patriot/hate" groups. He seems to have gotten this list from the FBI, and was under the impression that they had been investigated. Yes, the 51st Militia was listed. By the way, if someone offers you smallpox, decline. On 12 April, 2001, our L*E*A*D*E*R, Gary Davis appeared on a labor program on KKFI at 91.5 FM. The subject was why union members, in great numbers, voted freedom first. Most of the participants were vocally on our side. A Union representative tried to paint the NRA as a tool of big business because "92%" (he said, and he may be right) of its contributions went to Republicans. Gary pointed out that we do not care about party affiliation; we support people who support us. The Democratic Party has a policy of being anti-gun, we can hardly be expected to support people who hate us. The Union representative made some claims of anti-gun actions by Republican presidents, most of which were simply untrue. He clearly knew nothing about the issue. This is too bad, if the unions and the gun nuts got together, we would be unstoppable. The union rep said that George W. Bush is a tool of big business and intends to destroy unions. If he is a tool of big business, George W. does not need to destroy the unions, it has already been done. Under the Clinton administration, American manufacturing jobs have gone overseas. Under NAFTA, factories can move to Mexico, produce goods, and transport them (in trucks owned by Mexican companies) to the US, and sell the product for less than it can be made for here. Products are made in the Peoples Republic of China, by prison labor, in violation of US law, or by military facilities, imported here under the PRC's "most favored nation" trade agreement, and sold for less than they could be made for here. This makes goods cheaper for the rest of us, but union jobs are lost. Yet, the unions supported the administration which made this possible. The unions supported AlGore who wanted to abolish the internal combustion engine. The unions can gain the power to organize government workers, Americas biggest work force, but only by turning their backs on their traditional manufacturing members. My sister gave me a book concerning a vampire killer. This killer does not live in a Van Helsing/Buffy sort of world. In this book, vampires have civil rights, unless they feed on humans, which is where our heroine comes in. I have often considered how the law would treat vampires. If they are people, they have rights, if they are dead, they are property (although in Missouri they can be elected to office), if they are "creatures of the night" they might be an endangered species (and cannot be killed). The Kansas City Star (a daily tabloid) published an "As I See It" editorial claiming that Proposition B decided concealed carry licensing for all time, and that Lott's book More Guns Less Crime is based on "estimated statistics" (his quotes) and was funded by an ammunition company. This fellow claims to have read the book, twice. I got a reply printed. If Martin Luther King had listened to such advice, the Voting Rights Act would not have survived the first march in Selma. Aside from vote fraud, the only thing that Proposition B proved, was that the opposition could lie faster than we could tell the truth. Lott's book relies on hard evidence from every county in the country, and was NOT funded by an ammunition company. Anyone who has read the book once, much less twice, knows this. The University of Chicago Law School decided to fund his study with funds from a grant given by the Olin Family Trust (not the ammunition company) some thirty years ago. The slanders against Lott's book are more heinous when one realizes that he thought that he would find more crime and accidents in states with licenses, and was surprised to find the opposite. The appearance of my editorial, and Gary on the radio, is not a fluke. Many letters to the editor came first. The more people who write letters, call in to radio shows, or drop a work in the ear of people at work, the better chance we have of getting our message out. Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership has a valuable document on its web site (www.jpfo.org). "Raging Against Self Defense A Psychiatrist Examines the Anti-Gun Mentality" by Sarah Thompson M.D. The good doctor discussing the mind set and thinking process (such as they are) of the prohibitionists. The doctor finds that the prohibitionists fear that they will commit murder, and project this fear onto their neighbors. The doctor provides a valuable technique to communicate with these prohibitionists. A gentle approach is called for, a direct challenge will not work. Ask them why they think their neighbors might murder them. Ask what they could do to prevent their neighbors from committing murder. What could they do to prevent murder once all guns are banned? One small thought at a time is what is called for. Gary Davis has been awarded the NRA's Grass Roots Activist of the Year award. The presentation will be at the Convention 18 - 20 May, 2001. Another reason to attend. The Kansas City Star (a daily tabloid) has an unannounced policy of not accepting classified ads for "certain" guns. A police officer whose department is changing guns tried to sell his old automatic, the Star refused because he mentioned 15 round magazines. His girlfriend placed an ad for the same gun, but pled ignorance of the magazine capacity. It is their newspaper, but their inability to provide a definition for "certain" guns indicates that it is an arbitrary criteria. It is critical that everyone contacts [sic] their legislator and demand that the concealed carry licensing bill (HB 853) be passed. The Republican Senators could pass it, but are not making it enough of a priority. They do not realize they are a majority, they are afraid of controversial issues. However, they got elected on our issue. It is time to do what they hired on for. Tell them we cannot continue to mobilize votes for them if they do not give us something. I found a blaze orange tie, which is the gun safety color. Sometimes it looks red. It must be a conspiracy of unparalleled proportions to change the color of my tie from time to time; and for what monstrous reason? In other sartorial news. In the "Missouri Weapons and Self-Defense Law" video, I advocate keeping guns and accessories in women's purses. They have mysterious compartments which fit ammunition, flashlight, and handcuffs (perhaps on purpose, I'm not sure). They can be bought at garage sales for pennies (I found a dollar in change in the bottom of one). The prohibitionists will have trouble claiming that I have macho Rambo fantasies when I carry my gun in a purse, pink if at all possible. Our Vice President, Randy Farr (AKA Vice-Gary) was at a second-hand store, and found a pink purse for me. I am secure enough in my masculinity to carry my .45 in a pink purse. You can be secure in your masculinity when you have a .45 in your pink purse. I am told that a south sea island nation is hiring American lawyers. The pay is good, even by American standards. The housing allowance buys a house on the beach. For that money, I'd be willing to litigate coconut cases with headhunters. But, Gary says what I want, what I really really want, is to stay here and do gun cases; that's our Gary, the lost Spice Girl. When in the Navy, Dean Johnson's assigned weapon was a BAR. In case you were wondering why his ship was never boarded. We shall overcome. |