Liberty Notes

16 April, 2005

K. L. Jamison

We have two years and seven months to prepare for Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the presidency.

By the time this is printed, I will have moved my office to 2614 NE 56^th Terr., Gladstone Missouri 64119. This is only a mile away from where I am now. A block north of Antioch Shopping Center is Englewood road, then comes Antioch Plaza, a group of medical offices where my dentist waits for me. Then there is 56^th Terrace. My office is just off Antioch, there is an old gas station on the northeast corner, now simply a car repair shop. My office is the next building to the east. It has a circular driveway, a new water line, new plumbing, a new roof, a new furnace, new air conditioner, new rugs (except for the room with the hardwood floor), a new chemical treatment killing entire nations of termites, new windows doors and frames, some new electrical work, new landscaping, and new phone system. There is room in the back to bury me so I can be near my money; although frankly, I like Hunter Thompson’s idea of having my ashes fired from a cannon. There have been some people who have expressed a desire to shoot me; it would be their last chance.

In other death news, Johnny Cochran has died, and the huddled masses around the pearly gates now have a skilled advocate to argue for them. In the fullness of time, I shall approach those gates, and a murmur will go through the crowd “Where’s Johnny Cochran?”

My son is a sports nut in the same way I am a gun nut. He would probably subscribe to “Sports Illustrated” even if it did not have a swimsuit issue. I consider it my fatherly duty to monitor my son’s reading on a yearly basis and this year it turned out to be the swimsuit issue. It turned out to be the swimsuit issue last year, and the year before as well. This indicates that there are coincidences, or events are controlled by some unknown variable, or something. I notice that sportswear this year includes bathing suits that are painted on, and in one case made of snow. These materials would appear to defeat the purpose of a bathing suit. There must be other factors involved.

My assistant got a fortune cookie which predicted that she would receive a promotion at work. The only other job in the office is mine. I am worried.

A sporting magazine reported a case of a cowboy who roped a grizzly bear. It is no good asking why he wanted the bear, the cowboy immediately forgot, being preoccupied with getting rid of it. He spent more time that I would have saving his rope; this is the type of situation which calls for knives, and .500 magnum revolvers.

I have a copy of a lease from the Champlain Apartments at 8001 Campbell, Kansas City Missouri. The lease has an amendment entitled “House Rules”. This amendment declares the property a “Weapon Free Zone” and prohibits residents from possessing any weapons including firearms, BB guns, bows, and fireworks. This rule is new and cannot affect existing leases. Because this is a privately owned property, they CAN contract to violate the Second Amendment, the government cannot. In the context of these “no weapons” signs, this is a bad sign. We may need to concentrate of discouraging these signs.

At the last General Members meeting, we continued the tradition of asking members what specific projects they want WMSA to accomplish. This has been valuable to the organization; many good ideas have come forward. Our president was out of town, and Vice-President Sheila Stokes-Begley took command. This was the first meeting she had run. She was asked why the sky was blue, and does this mean it is controlled by the United Nations? She told me to shut up and sit down or she would unleash the Hounds of Hell on me. Sheila runs a boarding kennel near Harrisonville, and boards the Hounds of Hell when the Devil is on vacation. At such times it is not wise to get on her bad side.

Something about the Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination strikes me. We always hope for a movie of a shooting to tell us what happened. The most examined film of one of the most notorious shootings of all time has provided more questions than answers. This film has been reviewed frame by frame, and all it tells us is that a shooting consists of scores of actions per second, too fast and too subtle for the human eye. What we must also realize, is that the famous film only covers the victim. There was at least one other player, and at least one other film would cause as much examination and as many questions as the one of the victim. Still, eyewitnesses to shootings are thought to have seen, absorbed, and understood all there is to see.

(From Winston Churchill) Once upon a time, all the animals in the zoos decided that they would disarm, and they arranged to have a conference to arrange the matter. So the Rhinoceros said, when he opened the proceedings, that the use of teeth was barbarous and horrible and ought to be strictly prohibited by general consent. Horns, which were mainly defensive weapons, would, of course, have to be allowed.

The Buffalo, the Stag, the Porcupine, and even the little Hedgehog, all said they would vote with the Rhino. But the Lion and Tiger took a different view. They defended teeth, and even claws, which they described as honorable weapons of immortal antiquity. The Panther, the Leopard, the Puma and the whole tribe of small cats all supported the Lion and the Tiger.

Then the Bear spoke. He proposed that both teeth and horns should be banned and never used again for fighting by any animal. It would be quite enough if animals were allowed to give each other a good hug when they quarreled. No one could object to that. It was so fraternal and that would be a great step toward peace. However, all the other animals were very offended with the Bear, and the Turkey fell into a panic.

The discussion got so hot and angry that all those animals began thinking so much about horns and teeth and hugging when they argued about the peaceful intentions that had brought them together, that they began to look at one another in a very nasty way. Luckily the keepers were able to calm them to be back quietly to their cages and they began to feel quite friendly with one another again. (Winston Churchill October, 1928).

It comes to my attention that some FFL holders believe that they are exempt from the permit to acquire (PTA) process. This is wrong. Under 18 U.S. Code section 927 says that FFL holders are not exempt from state law. Missouri law under RSMo 571.080 states that the PTA system “shall not apply to the acquisition of by or transfer of concealable firearms among . . . retailers of firearms for purposes of commerce;”. This section only exempts transfers for commercial purposes. If a dealer receives a gun into inventory for resale, no PTA is required. Some claim that an individual FFL taking a gun from inventory for his personal use is not a transfer. I do not agree. The statute requires a PTA if a person “buys, leases, borrows, exchanges, or otherwise receives” a handgun. The “otherwise receives” language indicates an all-inclusive requirement. I would say that an entry under the “disposition” section of the FFL bound books from inventory to personal use is a transfer. I met a fellow this past week who insisted that he knew the law on this subject, but refused to read the statute when it was placed in front of him. He was, to put it nicely, as wrong as he could possibly be. Not only wrong, but that most dangerous species of legal commentator, one with no credentials to have a legal opinion, and who refuses to learn.

I spoke to a Jackson County woman who held a Utah license to carry. She was approached by a group of men who demanded that she take them to the location of another man. She did not know the location of the man they sought, and said so. One man drew a pistol and said that she was coming with them. She drew her pistol, and instead of talking about it, shot him. The wounded man and his crew considered the better part of valor and then the better part of running like scalded cats. The lady went about her own business believing the matter to be over. The wounded man went to the hospital, which was and is required by law to report gunshot wounds. The police arrived and questioned the bad guy. The bad guy might have said, “we tried to kidnap this lady but she didn’t want to be kidnapped and shot me.” However, instead he said that some crazy lady shot him for no reason at all. The second thing a license holder must clip on in the morning is a cell phone. The first person who calls the police is almost always considered to be the victim. The other person is almost always arrested. The self-defense incident does not end with the bad guy on the ground or in retreat. It ends with the prosecutor declining to prosecute. The second lesson the incident teaches is that one does not draw a weapon to talk about it; don’t talk, DO. The lady “drew against the drop” and won because she knew that her gun was not a conversational aid. It would have saved her trouble if she had called the police immediately afterwards.

We are a Rock and Roll nation; loud, free form, of infinite variety, and a little annoying. Learn to live with it.

On 15 April, 2005 I gave blood, it seemed appropriate. I always wear a Movement button and bring a gun magazine. If I don’t meet another gun nut the other people there should know that we are part of the community. It makes it harder for the opposition to demonize us. It pays to represent. WMSA has “Guns Save Lives” buttons, get them, wear them.

As these columns indicate, we have a limited amount of time to prepare for the 2008 elections. The campaign will soon be upon us and we must recruit activists and raise money in order to prepare. Just because we won the last election does not mean we will win the next one.

We shall overcome.