Liberty Notes15 March 2006
by K. L. Jamison
We have one year and 8 months before Hillary Clinton begins her presidential campaign.
Anna Nicole Smith continues her 11 year quest to inherit her husband’s estate. He was an 89 year-old billionaire and she was a 27 year-old topless dancer when they married. In a common estate situation, it is claimed that she used her feminine wiles to marry him for his money. If we are to accept this argument we must believe that he used his money to marry the lady for her feminine wiles. If both parties knew what they were doing I call it their business and will not consider which party had the more reprehensible motivation. This sort of thing can be minimized by writing a will. A well-written will clearly distributes the author’s gun collection and prevents a lifetime’s work being broken up or distributed to unappreciative relations who will use the guns for experiments in growing rust. There is no substitute for a will written by a lawyer. Various stationary stores sell “do it yourself” will forms. These are touted as a means to saving money. When they don’t work, and they won’t, the author will be dead and unable to correct the situation. Keeping lists or placing tags on the objects to be left to favored heirs are not satisfactory. Such accounting will throw the matter into probate court, where a judge will decide who gets what under rules prescribed by the Missouri legislature. This prospect should send our members screaming to the nearest probate lawyer. I do not write wills myself, but I can recommend John Sanderford at (816) 453-5440.
We are frequently warned that self-defense is a bad idea, because it encourages citizens to fire back indiscriminately and inevitably injure innocent parties. A 20 November, 2005 shooting at the Tacoma Mall in Washington state belies this argument. An individual with an extensive criminal background carried a semi-automatic rifle and pistol into the mall, and opened fire. Several armed citizens were present but did not fire because they did not have a clear shot. One armed citizen, Brendan McKown, holstered his gun and told the killer to put down his rifle. McKown was shot for his trouble, but the killer stopped shooting and police convinced him to surrender. The case reminds us to look for a clear shot when the worst possible thing happens, and maneuver to get a clear shot when necessary.
On 10 February, 2006 the Missouri Southern District Court of Appeals handed down State v Thomas K. Smith. Mr. Smith had been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole and appealed on the grounds of self-defense. Mr. Smith had killed a Mr. Allen, an armed meth user who had made insulting and aggressive comments to and about Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith testified that Mr. Allen threatened him with a rifle. He responded with a shotgun. If this had been the whole of the case it would have been open and shut self-defense. However, in the aftermath of the shooting Mr. Smith did everything wrong. He fled the scene, did not report the incident, hid the shotgun, and lied to the police. When he did give a statement it was muddled from the stress of the shooting and made it look like he was still lying. The WMSA “Stay Out of Jail” card stresses that you must call 911 and confine yourself to “He tried to kill me. I was never so scared in my life. Send an ambulance.” Any further statement should be through a lawyer. One may not be criminally charged, but there is a very good chance of being sued. Bernard Goetz was acquitted of criminal charges, but lost a $43 million lawsuit. This has also happened in Missouri and will continue to happen until criminals are prohibited from suing people they have unsuccessfully attacked.
Winchester has gone out of business, and Winchester products have gone through the roof. Lee at GUNS Unlimited was at the Shot Show when the announcement was made. In the time it took him to walk the twenty feet to the Winchester booth, everything in their inventory was gone. Before the announcement Lee had a nice used 1894 Winchester on the rack for $325. He still has it for $325. Many have jacked up the prices on these rifles. I cannot blame them for making money where they can. It is nice to see people who just want to do business with us. Of course, if you go into Lee’s store, you will have to admire his pictures of his African safari; nothing is without cost.
I saw photos of a Louisiana National Guard unit celebrating Mardi Gras in Iraq. They held a parade and other festivities. Reviewing the visible name tags on uniforms it was apparent that the unit was composed of Cajuns. It was nice to see French names in the war. These were all good Americans, any excuse for a party.
Jesse Jackson claims to be concerned about security of US ports. He says that port deal was a bad idea. However, he thinks that chasing down terrorists before they can get to US ports, skyscrapers, aircraft, offshore oil wells, bridges, trains, and schoolhouses is also a bad idea.
The November, 2005 issue of “Military Illustrated” recounts the last battle in Britain. This was a 1747 shootout between a citizen militia and a local gang. The gang had begun to abuse the local residents, and a retired Corporal organized a militia. The gang noticed the militia’s perfunctory training and attacked the town, badly. In their retreat some gang members were captured. Witnesses now had the confidence to appear against the gang and Order crept out of the corners where it had been hiding.
Brazil defeated a referendum which intended to ban all guns. Drug gangs supported the gun ban, which gave the electorate pause.
WMSA member Bob Foreman convinced the Big V Country Mart to remove their “no guns” sign. The Smithville, Missouri store put up the sign in early 2004 and removed it when Bob Foreman convinced them that LTC holders do not brandish their guns. The store owner reports a number of favorable comments on the removal by customers. Other members who want to do their bit can download “No guns No Money” cards from www.Learntocarry.com and print them out at any Kinkos or have a low key conversation with the offending store owner. Invoking visions of shootouts requiring armed intervention is not a successful tactic. This raises fears we want to erase. Do as Bob has done, tell the owner that LTC holders are certified good guys. It sometimes helps to tell the owner that by prohibiting the means of self-defense, he becomes responsible for the safety of all customers in his store. Store owners have been told by insurance companies that they need to worry about accidental discharges. Accidental discharges are almost unknown among LTC holders. People have protected themselves after leaving businesses and thus prevented lawsuits for inadequate security.
The annual Gun Rights Rally was held on 23 February, 2006 in the Rotunda of the Capital Building in Jefferson City. I am still president of Missourians for Personal Safety which puts on the Rally. Zac Bauer was in charge of the Ceremonies. He came to me the morning of the rally with concerns that something might go wrong. I told him that no matter what happened, at any time during the day, it would be his fault. I told him that if he had any questions he should ask the surviving members what the phrase “off with his head” means. Thus motivated Zac did a great job running the event. Door prizes were interspersed between speakers and all ran smoothly. A number of legislators came down to meet the NRA Vice President John Sigler was the keynote speaker. He focused on the “Castle Doctrine” bill currently under consideration in the legislature. This bill will clarify the right of self-defense in one’s home. This should not even be a question, unfortunately it is. Conservative Lady Sharp Shooters sent a speaker, as did GCLA, Sheila, the new president of WMSA spoke, as did I. Tim Oliver received the Liberty Award for his generous and selfless work with the Legal Defense Fund. In this election year we are funding our programs with captured enemy material due to the efforts of Tim Oliver. I discovered that one must lean in to the microphone in order to be heard. The acoustics in the Rotunda leave a great deal to be desired. The Missouri Sport Shooting Association set up a table and signed up four new members. Before the program got started I estimated 125 people in attendance. After the event started two different people estimated we had 200. The Associated Press estimated that we had 100 people, so maybe we did have 200. After the Rally we swarmed out to remind our legislators how effective we are. WMSA President Sheila Stokes-Begley and I met with the representative and senator who are sponsoring the Castle Doctrine bill. We discussed future hearings. The prospects look good.
I briefly spoke to Rep Brian Munslinger who is carrying the bill to abolish or reform the Permit To Acquire (PTA) system. Currently a PTA must be purchased from the sheriff before acquiring any handgun from anyone, even private parties, even by inheritance. The person acquiring the handgun is then run through a redundant NICS check. Rep. Munslinger said that his bill has not been scheduled for a hearing. This is a bad sign. We shall not give up. We made some progress on this bill last year, and we shall make more this year, and next year if necessary. Our yearly Rally serves to remind legislators that we shall never go away.
My speech at the Rally concerned Missouri’s unnecessarily complex Castle Doctrine. Currently if one finds an intruder breaking into one’s home one must first determine exactly where the intruder is. If he is completely inside or completely outside, one cannot shoot. Only if the intruder is in that magic Goldilocks moment where he is passing through the exterior of the house can one shoot. If the intruder is inside one must determine if he is attacking or simply enjoying the ambiance. This gives the advantage to the intruder. One must remember that a criminal can move 21 feet from a standing start in as little as one second. This analysis is unnecessarily complex. I compared it with Missouri’s “Living Will” under which one may sign a statement available from the Bar Association’s web site stating that one does not want to be kept alive by artificial means. I have no quarrel with simplifying law however, if one wants to prevent death by artificial means, by acting in self defense, a complex analysis must be performed in a nanosecond while adrenaline pounds through ones veins.
I have testified for two different castle bills so far. One committee questioned if anyone had been criminally charged or sued for an act of self-defense. I knew of clients who had suffered both. The other committee questioned the wisdom of assuming that people who break into your home are hostile. They presented a number of highly unlikely scenarios in which an intruder would not be a threat. It is frustrating to deal with people who are detached from reality; at least lunatics have an excuse.
I learned from an Immigration officer that men in Mexican Army uniforms, driving a machine-gun mounted Hummer with Mexican Army markings was seen escorting drug runners in the United States. The media also carried reports and it is evident that persons disguised, and armed, as Mexican Army, or corrupted elements of that Army have escorted drug runners into the United States. Yet, we hear more about the dangers of Ranch Rescue mounting observation posts along the border.
The Kansas License To Carry bill passed with 29votes in Senate, where it needs 27 to overturn a veto, and with 90 in House, where it needs 84 to overturn a veto. The bill seems more restrictive than Missouri’s. For example we could not carry in Kansas on our Missouri licenses unless the Kansas Attorney General places Missouri licenses on the approved list. The fee for licenses will be $150. It appears that a training program will be written by the state. There is hope that the bill will overcome the expected veto and we have seen in other states that the most objectionable parts of such bills can be repealed. However, there are still “Chicken Littles” claiming that the sky will fall, although it has not fallen in any other state which has adopted similar laws. One police chief warned that persons will carry guns and think they are protected, and wind up dead because of this belief. The chief did not cite a single instance where such a thing has occurred. The chief should be forgiven for this omission; he is hampered by the fact that no such incident has occurred. It is irritating that the same lies predicting violence, lies told and refuted in every other state, are now being told in Kansas. The media repeats these lies without question
We shall overcome.