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AN AMERICAN WARNING
Because you should know!
January 2008 - Posts
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While the gun-banners keep arguing that the U.S. needs to be more like England when it comes to firearms, they're ignoring the reality of life in Great Britain: dangerous streets and defenselessness for those who obey the law.
The latest evidence that England's gun ban only disarmed the good guys comes from Liverpool, where BBC Radio host Shelagh Fogarty went to find out if residents in her old neighborhood feel safe.
She got her answer when a gang member drove by and pointed a gun at her. Fogarty says if it weren't for the fact that a police siren fired up nearby at that same moment, she'd be dead today. Dead in gun-free England, where the government banned handguns more than a decade ago.
Apparently England's drug gangs and street thugs didn't get the memo, because they're still armed. In fact, violent gun crime continues to climb in the UK. Residents aren't safe and everyone knows it. Even the British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith says she doesn't go out at night because she doesn't feel it's safe. That's life under a gun ban. The criminals have the upper hand, and even powerful politicians cower in their homes.
Talk to any Brit who used to be a gun owner, and they'll say, "Don't let it happen to you." They're right. There are many threats to our freedoms this year, but each one is also a chance for us to safeguard our freedoms. Gun owners must rise, and stand united, and prevail. Or England is our future.
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Nadine Teter is a hero. She might not think so, but she's an inspiration to me. The California resident refused to be a victim in October of last year, when a man broke into her home and charged her.
Nadine used her firearm to defend herself, wounding the intruder who had chased her through her home and out into her backyard. The shots finally forced the intruder to flee. A short time later, both he and his accomplice (his own mother drove the getaway car, by the way) were arrested by police.
Now the pair has been convicted for their crimes, and will soon face sentencing. And Nadine says she's glad she was able to defend herself. She told the media in Santa Clarita, California, "You're looking at him or me. My life or his life. I was not going to get raped. I was not going to get murdered. There was no way-and I didn't."
I hope the politicians in San Francisco hear this story. After all, they're still trying to ban residents from owning handguns. And if you live in San Francisco, you might ask your local leaders why they want you to have fewer rights, fewer choices, and less safety than women like Nadine Teter.
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Some Democrats in Pennsylvania are putting Governor Ed Rendell on notice by sending a public letter to House Democratic leaders. The letter, by 22 Democrats, says they will not put up any votes on gun control legislation.
State Representative Nick Kotik, of Allegheny County, told the House leadership about gun control, "These are not priorities with me, and they're not priorities with a lot of my colleagues."
So will Ed Rendell, who's been pushing for the state legislature to pass a gun control package, listen to his fellow Democrats?
I'm not going to hold my breath. It seems Governor Rendell is determined to get gun control one way or another, instead of taking steps to seriously address Philadelphia's violent crime problem. Steps that really work, like putting more cops on the street, more prosecutors in the courtroom, and more violent criminals behind bars ... for a long, long time.
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Could it be that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg reads this blog?
How else can you explain that, shortly after I wrote some questions for the presidential candidates, Mayor Bloomberg has some questions of his own. But like the mayor himself, his questions are misleading.
He'll ask about microstamping bullets, for example, but won't point out that the technology is easily defeated and won't help solve any crimes.
He'll ask about the Tiahrt Amendment, but won't mention that the Department of Justice, the ATF, and the Fraternal Order of Police (among many law enforcement groups) support the legislation. He also won't mention that his misuse of ATF trace data led to a warning by the Department of Justice that told Bloomberg he was putting active law enforcement investigations at risk by engaging his little “sting” operations outside of his jurisdiction.
If candidates want to answer Bloomberg's survey, that's up to them. But they'd better educate themselves about the issues, because Bloomberg's not going to give them the real story.
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Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether D.C.'s gun ban is constitutional, many of the political types who've been obliged to support the thirty-year failure are washing their hands of it.
Former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey has sure changed his tune when it comes to his support of the D.C. Gun Ban. Back when he was a political appointee in D.C., Ramsey supported the D.C. Ban. But now that he's headed to Philadelphia, he says handgun registration would suffice.
Of course, Ramsey is still calling for a ban on semi-automatic rifles, so it's not like he's suddenly become a Second Amendment believer. Still, it's more evidence that the D.C. Gun Ban has never been about crime. It's always been about politics, as usual.
But elected officials shouldn't play political games with the lives of their constituents. D.C. had plenty of chances to get rid of the ban, but they chose to fight for this irrational law all the way to the Supreme Court.
In a few months, we'll see what the justices have to say. But in the meantime, don't be surprised to see more politically motivated politicians like Charles Ramsey back off their previous support for the ban in the District.
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A few months ago, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and many of America's firearms manufacturers announced plans to grow NRA membership before the 2008 presidential elections.
These sporting goods manufacturers have united in a variety of projects to build the NRA family. For example, Ron Coburn of Savage Arms decided to offer free NRA memberships to all his employees. As you can imagine, there are now a lot of new NRA members in Massachusetts.
Savage Arms isn't the only manufacturer doing things like this, and in the weeks to come, I'll be telling you what some of the other manufacturers are up to in terms of helping build NRA ranks.
In the meantime, I want to thank Savage Arms for their role in helping make NRA stronger than ever in 2008. And you can do your part, too- by signing up new members or giving memberships. Together we can make sure the politicians hear us gun owners loud and clear on Election Day.
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While politicians in Pennsylvania continue to throw temper tantrums, trying to pass more gun control that won't do a thing to cut violent crime, they're ignoring the wisdom of some of Philadelphia's finest and most senior law enforcement. Some Pennsylvania politicians would rather propose one crazy gun-control scheme after another.
But retired police Chief Inspector James Fox is telling politicians the truth about crime in Philadelphia, and his suggestion isn't crazy at all. If you want to reduce crime, you don't need gun control.
As he puts it:
"Cops know better than anyone just how poorly the criminal justice system is performing today. They see it every time they risk their lives to take down an armed thug who is back on the street before the ink dries on his arrest paperwork. They keep arresting the same people over and over again, and watch as judges treat them with kid gloves.
Let's try enforcing the current laws, sentencing gun-toters to full prison sentences- and making prisons a place they won't ever want to go back to.
That's what cops want to hear when anyone speaks in their name."
Now that the politicians have heard this message, do you think they'll actually listen? That might be too much to hope for.
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While the nation's media has been busy giving another madman the attention he so desperately wanted, they're not telling you about another story ... one that shows the truth about the Right to Carry and its potential to stop killing sprees.
In Colorado a few days ago, a madman came to a suburban church, shooting innocent people on a Sunday morning.
He found what he was looking for: plenty of easy targets. But he also found something he wasn't looking for: an armed citizen. A female member of the church, who was a volunteer for their security staff, stopped the killer cold.
This woman, a Right-to-Carry permit holder in the state of Colorado, was able to respond before the police could hope to get there. We'll never know how many lives she saved as a result.
I doubt the media will give much coverage to this woman. They'd rather spend endless hours giving us the latest snippet of information about an evil person instead of covering the actual hero. And I think that makes the media part of the problem.
Columnists like Jon Friedman and Michael Mayo are pointing out the obvious: it's time to stop feeding the egos of mass murderers. As long as the monsters in our midst get the media attention, instead of the heroes, we can't expect much to change.
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With California's nutty gun laws, it's easy to forget that there are still plenty of places in the state where the Second Amendment is alive and well. But not every left-coast town is as anti-gun as San Francisco or Los Angeles.
In Bakersfield, California, for example, Sheriff's Sgt. Ed Komin talked to the local media after a homeowner used a firearm to scare away an intruder.
He told the reporters, "Certainly when the homeowner was threatened by what appeared to be a gun coming up toward him, it would be appropriate and prudent—and that's the thing to do, is to use deadly force to protect yourself. That's the appropriate and legal thing to do."
Common sense in California, can you believe it? A big thanks to Sgt. Komin for telling it like it is, not how the anti-gunners would like it to be.
Too bad you probably only heard it here.
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I've seen a few big-city police chiefs complain that we need more gun control laws lately. While it's not surprising, these calls for semi-auto bans and the like aren't going to do anything to make our streets safer.
No, we know what works. It's just a matter of doing it.
Take Minneapolis, Minnesota, for example. Violent crime in that city dropped 13 percent in 2007, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune-and it wasn't because Minnesota passed any gun control laws. Instead, the city put more cops on the street and started cracking down on juvenile crime.
In north Minneapolis, where violent crime is higher than in other parts of the city, law enforcement officials say residents are taking ownership of their community-they're standing up to criminals and those who support them.
Gun control isn't crime control. It never has been, and it never will be. If you want to get tough on crime, that means getting tough on the criminals, not law abiding gun owners. Minneapolis is seeing the benefits of going after those who prey on the innocent. Let's hope other cities do the same in 2008.
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A lot of attention has been focused over the past few days on Jeanne Assam, the church member and volunteer security guard who stopped an attack at a Colorado church. But I was also impressed by an armed citizen story from Miami, Florida, that isn’t making headlines—even though it should.
Seventy-four-year-old Jorge Leonton was on his was home from the bank a few days ago. He stepped out of his car and was immediately confronted by four men. One grabbed him, put him in a headlock, and began to choke the life out of the elderly man.
As Leonton struggled to breathe, he tried to warn the robber that he was prepared to defend himself. When the criminal didn't listen, Leonton drew his legally owned firearm and shot his attacker.
The other three men fled, and the 74-year-old was left shaken and breathless, but otherwise unharmed. His wife, Margarita, says she doesn't think her husband would be alive today if he wasn't a Right-to-Carry permit holder. I think she's probably right.
You'll never hear Jorge Leonton's story on the nightly news, unless you live in the Miami area. But his is one of the thousands and thousands of armed citizen success stories that happens each year in the United States.
Despite what some in the media say, a good guy with a gun can make a big difference.
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I'm glad Charlie Merrill had his gun in Indianapolis a few days ago.
And I bet the grocery shoppers at Buck's IGA are happy Charlie's a gun owner, too. In fact, I'd say the only person not happy about Charlie Merrill's gun ownership (besides the gun-banners) is 19-year-old Dwain Smith, the man police say tried to rob the IGA grocery store where Charlie Merrill was shopping.
Merrill was in the checkout line when a man came into the store, pulled a gun, and put it up to the head of an employee. That's when 51-year-old Charlie Merrill pulled his legally owned firearm and told the would-be robber to drop the gun.
The armed robber dropped the gun, put his hands behind his head and waited for police to arrive. Merrill, a Right-to-Carry permit holder in Indiana, made sure the man didn't get away. When officers arrived, Smith was taken into custody, and Merrill went on his way.
Yes, I'm glad Charlie Merrill was there to stop this crook. And to those who say Right-to-Carry doesn't cut crime ... try telling that to the employees and shoppers at Buck's IGA in Indianapolis.
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