Liberty Notes
18 June 2006
K. L. Jamison
We have one year and five months until Hillary Clinton officially starts her presidential campaign. I only mention this to remind our members that things can get worse, and quickly.
I saw one of the movies about Flight 93, the flight in which the passengers rose against the terrorists and saved either the White House, or Capital Building. One scene showed the passengers’ charge up the aisle to attack the terrorists. It is only a representation of what must have happened, no one survived, the cell phones recorded little, and the evidence was smashed to pieces with the plane. This charge will live in history with the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg, and the Rangers up the cliffs at Normandy. In those charges the men were professional soldiers, veterans who had trained together. On Flight 93 they were citizens who had never met before. Militias come in all sizes and types.
I read of an incident in which a citizen’s gun came to the attention of authorities. It had been stolen some years ago, before being sold to the citizen. The citizen was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen property. He was soon released, but it was a bad night. The fact of his arrest will appear on official records. Without a corresponding disposition he may find it difficult to pass a NICS check.
The May, 2006 issue of Small Arms Review recounts a rare shooting test. It appears that at the end of WW II a veteran tossed two loaded 1911 magazines in the bottom of his footlocker, and never touched them again. Sixty years later his heirs unearthed the magazines and determined to test the notion that if magazines are kept loaded, they weaken the spring. The test proved that the magazines functioned flawlessly. Expert opinion is that well-made springs and properly heat-treated magazine feed lips will not deform if the magazine is left loaded. Paul Brammer tells me the story of two 1911 magazines that had been loaded in 1918 and fired 39 years later, flawlessly. The important consideration is quality construction. Another important consideration is maintenance. Rust will defeat the best-made magazine, even stainless steel.
At the last general membership meeting a lady chased her toddler into our meeting. I told her that the child was welcome to join us if he felt so strongly about it. The lady, a good mother, asked what kind of organization we might be. I told her, and she said that she had always wanted to learn to shoot, but that most shooting groups were like Jethro of the Beverly Hillbillies. I told her that Sheila could vouch for us; some may need more vouching than others. I gave her some information; I should have asked for her phone number, but I am not very good at that.
A reporter interviewed Sheila after she was elected President. She asked if there had been any backlash from our guys over electing a woman president. Actually, it has never been mentioned. The only attribute we look for in a president is being crazy enough to do it.
Our meeting place has been changed to the National Guard Armory, just a few minutes east of the location we have been using in the Trails West Library on 23d street in Independence.
A client of mine is charged with assault. At a preliminary hearing he appeared in decidedly casual attire. I advised him to wear a suit and tie for the trial, he asked if that was necessary. Well, we were trying to convince the judge that he was a responsible, respectable member of society, someone who respects the rules and conventions of society, someone who is like the judge, who wears a suit and tie in court. Yes, it is necessary.
I hear that there is no emergency plan to evacuate Kansas City. The emergency planners cannot envision a natural disaster which would require an evacuation. Let us hope that nature also has a limited imagination.
One of the objections to appointing a General to run the CIA is that the agency is a civilian agency and should not be run by a military officer. The CIA has run private armies in Cuba, Laos, Tibet, Indonesia, Viet Nam, Nicaragua, and for the most part done so badly. Having a general on board might not have improved those adventures, but it could scarcely have gone worse.
A news program showed an X-Ray of a duck which appears to show that the duck had eaten an alien. This should put off an invasion; even our ducks can kill them. It’s all about the message.
The Kansas City Star interviewed various religious leaders about the morality of assassinating Hitler. A Lutheran minister had been part of a plot on Hitler’s life and this inspired the question. An astonishing number said that assassinating Hitler was NOT justified. Some qualified this saying that it was permissible to pray for the success of our young men in killing masses of German young men, but not to pray that the snake’s head be cut off. I do not agree. War is a terrible thing, and once begun it must be won as quickly as possible, and if that means the death of a named party, then “Aim small, miss small.”
The question of assassination came up after the death of terrorist leader Abu Musad al-Zarqawi. One pundit says that the enemy leader’s death is no reason to rejoice. Some claim that a better leader will emerge after his death. This was an argument in the movie “Munich”. In that movie no matter how many terrorist leaders the Israeli team killed, they were replaced and the replacements were worse. Perhaps they were. During WW II there was an assassination attempt on Rommel, and a successful attempt on Admiral Yamamoto. In each case the question was who was likely to replace the man, and how good a replacement would he be? When killing terrorist leaders, there is the additional consideration; the message. The message is always the same; we can find you, we can kill you. This tells the rank and file, and population that the terrorists are not as powerful as they claim.
The Colorado Supreme Court was presented with the question of the constitutionality of Denver’s ban on “assault weapons” and CCW. Due to a resignation on the court, the vote was 3-3, so the ban stands. On such hair triggers rest our rights.
I saw a map of neighborhoods where animal control most frequently gets calls for dogs running loose. It is very like the map showing murder locations, and the one showing poverty, and the one showing poor health care, and the one showing any other social problem.
Science Fiction anticipates we will find answers to our social problems beyond the stars. The questions are here, we shall have to find the answers here.
After the hurricane the people of New Orleans were left to defend themselves. As soon as authority began to assert itself, the police chief ordered that all guns be confiscated; “confiscate” is a dollar word for “steal”. The NRA and Second Amendment Foundation cooperated to stop the seizures and won. The guns were ordered returned. Then New Orleans claimed that they had no stolen guns, then that they can’t find the stolen guns, then that they did not have procedures to return the stolen guns. Now, the police chief has said that if another hurricane hits, they will again steal guns. Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty.
Why do you carry a gun? This question is often answered with the macho bluster that some believe society expects. I carry a gun for the same reason I carry a spare tire, a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit, a handkerchief. Different emergencies call for different emergency equipment. The idea is not to hurt someone, but to prevent someone from getting hurt. This question was addressed in the “Guncrank Diaries” column of the July/August issue of American Handgunner magazine. This column is at www.americanhandgunner.com, where the site prompts “search” type in “Lizzie”. Little Miss Lizzie was forced to watch as her mother was brutally attacked. Later her well-meaning school warned the children about “bad men”. This brought the memories back and she ran to her neighboring gun nut and asked if he would protect her “When the bad mens come?” She said when they came, not if. Anyone not willing to repel boarders for that little girl is just not worth having around. So the answer to “Why do you carry a gun?” is “for Life, Liberty, and Little Miss Lizzie.”
The most recent attempt to discredit John Lott’s More Guns Less Crime research is to claim research fraud. An editorial in the KC Star, (a daily tabloid) claims that no one has been able to replicate Professor Lott’s results. It claims that researchers who took his data found quite the opposite. It further claims that he invented his data. These are all lies. It is true that persons who picked and chose in Professor Lott’s data and manipulated the figures managed to achieve an anti-gun result. This is not research. Real researchers who have taken his data, the most complete analysis of crime factors ever done, have confirmed his result. The opposition has realized that they can lie faster than we can tell the truth. They realize that the media will not dwell on their lies when caught. The latest lie is to claim that Professor Lott lied. This is staggering genius. It is also evil. Not once when the opposition has been caught lying has the media asked why they have to lie. If they have a case, why do they fabricate studies over and over again. In the O.J. Simpson case a prosecution witness was caught in a minor lie, not even relevant to the case, and the prosecution case was over.
A researcher with the John Glenn Institute, has written a book claiming that the founders wrote the Second Amendment so that people could have guns, but only to exercise their duty to join the militia. This is presented as a new argument, but it is not, it is the same old claim that the Second Amendment provides an absolute Constitutional Right to join the National Guard. This would be a very peculiar right, very oddly expressed.
I listened to an audiobook of The Pirate Coast. This book focuses on an incident in the Barbary Wars. The Sultan of Tripoli, among others, raided the shipping of countries that did not pay protection money. We paid protection, he wanted more, we said no, he seized Americans and demanded ransom. His port was blockaded and an imaginative officer discovered that the legitimate sultan had been deposed and was living in Egypt. He was a useless bastard, but he could be our useless bastard. The officer proposed supporting the deposed sultan against the usurper with the understanding that there would be no more tribute and no ransom. Seven Marines were detailed to invade Tripoli; they thought that was plenty and would provide a good line for the Marine Hymn. They allied with the deposed sultan’s few followers, Christian mercenaries from a variety of countries, and defeated every force brought against them. The usurper sultan was on the verge of bankruptcy and military disaster when American diplomacy stepped in to save him. The usurper sultan did not show his gratitude and another force had to be raised to go back and do it over again. There is a lesson there, but few seem inclined to learn it.
I am informed that a power point presentation can be done on an Ipod. I’ve seen power point presentations; they are much like slide shows. My question was “What is an Ipod?” I was told that it is like a PDA, which led to the obvious question. I was then shown a small plastic box with keys and a screen. I am still not clear on why they are essential equipment. I have seen some of these plastic boxes with keys so small that the daintiest finger would mash three at a time. I am told that a “stylus” is used to press the keys of these plastic boxes. At one time a stylus was used to write on clay tablets; this must mean something, I’m not sure what.
We shall overcome.