The last line of Colonel Cooper’s last column was a quote from Bertha Calloway, "We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails." We cannot change the hatred against us, but we can win our fight in spite of it.

The 6 March, 2007 "Dateline NBC" program was titled "To Catch a Predator". One such capture was a man working as a police officer. This is disturbing enough, but not unknown. The man carried several guns in his car, including an AR 15, and several hundred rounds of hollow point ammunition. It was said that the hollow point ammunition was designed to penetrate police bullet-resistant vests. Hollow-point ammunition does not and can not penetrate bullet-resistant vests. We are faced with refuting such authoritative lies.

My sister directs a diabetes clinic where people walk in with doughnut crumbs on their shirts and demand that she fix their diabetes. In such cases her first orders are to administer multiple enemas so as to remove the patient’s head from his hindquarters so that she can explain the concept of the operation. A certain degree of personal responsibility is called for. In 1925 Dr. Sweet defended his Detroit home from a racist mob and was tried for murder. Clarence Darrow was asked to take the case. The Great Advocate asked the emissary if Sweet had actually shot at the mob. The emissary waffled, finally admitting that Sweet might have fired. Darrow took the case reasoning that he would fight for people who fought for themselves, but not those who would not fight for themselves. No one will fight for us; we have to be in the fight ourselves.

Jesus was asked the essence of Jewish law and replied "You shall love the Lord . . . All the rest is commentary." And yet there is commentary. In fact if all the commentary on the law was placed end to end the project would never be completed. I am often told that the Second Amendment invalidates one law or another. The Second may be the essence of the law, but the commentaries still exist, until the court says otherwise. The devil is in the details.

In the January Concealed Carry Magazine Boris Karpa asks, "What have you done for Freedom today?" It doesn’t have to be something big, a dollar saved in a coffee can for the next election, a letter to the editor, a letter to the legislature, working a table at a gun show; it all ads up.

Jeff Cooper is quoted as saying "The most pervasive and least condemned form of dishonesty is not doing the best you can."

A woman in Stafford, Virginia was convicted of maliciously throwing a missile, a cup of ice. Could have gotten two years, she got probation instead, and a felony record. Boys in Johnson County, Kansas were charged with assault after they threw snowballs at a snowplow. The driver was cut around the eye, indicating ice or gravel in the snow. There must have been something about this past winter which has made prosecutors intolerant of ice and snow crimes.

It is reported that a home invader in Johnson County, Kansas forced the wife into bathroom saying it was going to be a long night. She told her husband to "get the gun". The intruder then lessened his grip and she escaped. The family didn’t have a gun, now they do.

The Star (a daily tabloid) of 1 March, 2007 page E-6 advises on how to survive a mugging. They do not mention guns, except to warn that a certain mugger had a reputation for using a gun at the first sign of resistance. It is the Star’s opinion that guns are only bad, never good (unless in the holster of the security guard at the newspaper’s entrance). The article warns against pepper spray or stun guns. It claims that muggers are aware of these measures and guard against them. It advises that people keep their keys handy for use as weapons. It appears that muggers know all about peppergas and stun guns, but have never heard of keys.

The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ruled that the Second Amendment is an individual right. It will take me some time to evaluate the decision, but it is landmark stuff. The fact that it is the D.C. Circuit is significant. This circuit encompasses the seat of power and is more prestigious. It deals with more cases regarding the nature of government power. Striking down the District’s long-standing gun ban is the doorway to a major change in the legal treatment of the Second Amendment. What lies on the other side of the door is the big question. The opposition may ask for consideration by the full circuit and may take it to the Supreme Court. Once we establish that we have this right, we then must prove the extent of the right. We are a long way from the end.

Anti-gun whiners complain that the judges were in collusion with the NRA, that it overturns 70 years of legal decision, that the Supreme Court has ruled on the matter. None of this is true. The Supreme Court has never ruled authoritatively on the Second. In 1939 the court ruled that it could not take judicial notice that a sawed-off shotgun was not a militia weapon. This was the Miller case that the opposition claims is the definitive decision, which did not even have an attorney for the defense argue the case. In the 70 years since Miller, courts have made vague reference to the decision involving matters not mentioned in the decision simply because it is a Supreme Court gun case. This vague reference as a substitute for legal reasoning is alarmingly common. Since the Emerson decision we have begun to get reasoned, well-researched decisions involving the Second. We can thank the NRA’s Civil Rights Defense Fund for funding legal challenges and encouraging law review articles.

Once we establish the extent of our right to keep and bear arms, we shall have to protect it. A federal judge in New York City found the City’s panhandling law to be unconstitutional. Fifteen years later, the City is still arresting and convicting people under the unconstitutional law.

Ann Coulter is roundly condemned for implying that Presidential Candidate Edwards cannot be discussed without using the word ‘faggot". The remark is unworthy of her, but in the same week Bill Maher said that more people would live if Vice-President Cheney died. There was little or nothing said about the various hopes that the Vice-President would die.

Speaking of hate crimes. A high school girl was mocked for her Mormon beliefs, and retorted with, "That’s so gay", a dismissive youth euphemism the precise meaning of which escapes me. The girl was punished for homophobia; her classmates’ religious intolerance was tolerated. Hate crimes are tolerated if they are politically correct hate crimes.

Scientists of some stripe or another report that chimpanzees have made spears and used them to hunt small animals. Making tools, let alone weapons, has long been the definition of the human race. This may require inviting the chimpanzees to join the United Nations where they will not be noticed, or perhaps a peacekeeping force somewhere.

During my physical exam last month I told the doctor that I was hallucinating. I saw visions of the Democrats taking over Congress, of Nancy Pelosi being third in line for the Presidency, and of anti-gun Republicans competing with anti-gun Democrats for the presidency. The doctor told me I was not hallucinating, all those things really happened. Rats.

After consultation with other activists, it has been decided that there will be no Gun Rights Rally in Jefferson City, in light of the much larger gun rights rally in St. Louis. People normally involved in the Gun Rights Rally are working on the NRA Convention as well as campaigning to pass Castle Doctrine reform and to end the Permit to Acquire system. There is only so far we can stretch. There will be a grass roots activist workshop sometime in May. This will train activists in working for gun rights in the legislature. There will be similar workshops during the NRA Convention; however, we have unique circumstances in Missouri and want to pass on what we know.

An outdoors writer named Jim Zumbo wrote a column expressing his disdain for semi-automatic paramilitary firearms. One of the founders of WMSA could not understand why anyone would want a paramilitary rifle. The difference is that our founder understood that the haters are coming for ALL of our guns. Mr. Zumbo endorsed giving up semi-automatic rifles in the belief that this would satisfy the haters. There was the predictable reaction. Mr. Zumbo’s column was pulled and he went to rehab, of sorts. Ted Nugent took him in and explained the concept of the operation to him. Mr. Zumbo has published an abject apology stating that he now understands the connection of paramilitary rifles to his guns. His treatment may have seemed harsh, but we must stick together. If we turn on each other, the haters will have their work done for them.

A woman in the Albany, NY airport declared her handgun to the ticket agent, who turned her into the police, who arrested and searched her. Since the arrest caused her to miss her flight, she had to buy another ticket; she was then searched AGAIN. This sort of behavior has been infamous in New York City and Newark, New Jersey airports, appears to be spreading. The day I read this report I had been advising a gun owner who travels for his work. I warned him about the New York and Newark airports and had a powerful memory of a passage in Black Like Me. The book recounts a white author’s experiences in the South after dying his skin black. As he traveled, real African-Americans warned him what to do and not do, what places to avoid if at all possible; and now it is my professional obligation to warn my clients in the same way.

Buddhist monks in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia are plagued with stinging red ants, to the point that one worshiper was put in the hospital. As pacifists, the monks cannot kill the ants. One tried to vacuum up the insects and free them elsewhere, but this was ineffective. If it had been effective it would only have send the ants to plague someone else. I respect the faith of pacifists, but their superior morality only serves to provide nourishment for evil. In the end they need someone to exterminate their ants.

Adam Petrie was been denied a PTA by the Jackson County Sheriff because he refused to answer questions which are prohibited by statute. He also refused to sign a "mental health" authorization which is as broad and deep as the sea, and not authorized by statute. At trial the judge was not asked to overturn the law, just find that Adam was qualified for a PTA. On examination, the Sheriff’s Deputy in charge of PTA’s testified that she knew that Mr. Petrie was qualified; if he had any disqualifiers, even those covered by the objectionable questions, it would have shown up on her computer. As for mental health, she has computer access to the Missouri Department of Mental Health and court probate records. She never uses the authorization. So, the questions are not only illegal, they are unnecessary, but Adam must be a good little subject and answer them. The judge ruled that Adam is qualified for a PTA, but he must answer the questions because there might be some speculative person somewhere who might be caught by the forbidden questions. He asked if we understood this. I said that we did not. We have to ask for reconsideration, but the next stop is the Court of Appeals.

On 21 April, 2007 Old Town Station will auction off my 35-year collection of guns, knives, bayonets, swords and other weapons and accessories. Some still bear the original price tags, which indicates how often I have been able to shoot them. A number of pieces are unique many are unusual. Some came out of cases I have done. Those that do not have a story behind them, I can make one up for a small fee. The Old Town Station catalogue is quite a wish book; call them at (913) 492-3000 for a copy.