American Liberals say of our international enemies,in effect, that “You teach trust by trusting.”  The British Boy Scouts, the cradle of worldwide scouting, have just told their young members that they are not worthy of trust.  Oh, the theme isn’t new, Britain has draconian laws against gun ownership.  They don’t seem to trust their adults, either. (You know, the Great Unwashed, those commoners, those subjects, are so violent and unreliable.)

I guess the only thing that I can say to the British People is that I am so very sorry that you have surrendered your rights and your freedoms to an
upper class elite, who are now in a position to dictate to you how you will drink beverages, and whether or not you are allowed to defend yourselves against felonious assault. (See my previous posts under the Category “Foreign Gun Laws.”)

There is very little else left to say to the British. To American gun owners, Second Amendment advocates, and lovers of liberty: TAKE HEED! The slippery slope of our neighbors across the pond leads to the very bottom of the swamp!

Def Mech

It is possible that S. 2099 is a deliberate distraction from the many real threats to our fundamental, individual rights to self-defense against crime, tyranny, and genocide.  These real threats include, but are not limited to:

H.R. 45-Registers owners of handguns and semi-automatic firearms.  The bill appears to effectively ban access to or possession of any firearm by anyone under 18.  (See my post, “House Bill 45, the anti-gun rights campaign begins in ernest,” under the tag, “anti-gun Democrats,” 01-19-09.)

H.R. 2401-Transfers information from the notoriously innacurate no-fly lists to the National Instant Check System.  The late U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy was on a no-fly list. (See my post, “H.R. 2401: ‘No Fly, No Buy!’ ’Big Brother loves you,’ but isn’t good with names,” tagged “H.R 2401,” 08-14-09.)

H.R. 2159-Allows the Attorney General to strip you of your right to own a gun if you are “suspected” of being a terrorist.  This bill dovetails with H.R. 2401 above.  The AG thinks you are a terrorist, because you are a veteran, because you are against abortion, or because you oppose gun control.  Your name goes on the “no-fly” list as a suspected terrorist and immediately gets flagged on the NICS computer.  What was it that O’Henry said, “…beautiful and simple, as all truly great swindles are.”    

S. 843-Would almost certainly kill every gun show in the country by over-regulation.  As I read S. 843, in order to comply with the provisions of this act, a promoter would  need to register every single person in the show.  (I’m not an attorney.  I don’t even play one on TV.)  (See my post of 04-27-09, “S. 843 threatens your rights,” tagged “S. 843 (2009.”)

The so-called “CIFTA” Agreement, a “Convention” of the Organization of American States, endangers gun rights in this country on an on-going basis.  (See my post of 04-17-09, “OAS treaty threatens Second Amendment,” tagged “Foreign Influence.”)

Who could have perpetrated a hoax such as a 2009 version of S. 2099?  Oh, I don’t know, maybe the same folks who faked those fraudulent negative officer efficiency reports about President Bush. 

Advocates for individual rights in this country have already beaten back governmental threats to freedom this year.  Two of these threats were the attempted destruction of military surplus ammunition shell casings and an attempt by the Customs Service to declare knives that can be opened with one hand to be “switchblades.” (”Reports of military brass destruction could be bad news for reloaders and shooters,” 03-14-09, tagged “Another attack on gun owners?”) (’”Write Customs to stop proposed knife ruling,” 06-16-09, tagged “Knife Issues.”)

The real threats are real enough.  We can’t waste time and energy chasing after long-dead phantoms like 2099.  If you get an E-mail with this charade in it, reply to the sender that it is bogus.  Request that the sender forward your E-mail to everyone that got the fake message.  We can’t afford distractions from the vital business of defending our birthright of freedom.

Def Mech

Now, in their never-ending campaign to reign in the barbaric pub crawling inclinations of the “Great Unwashed,” otherwise known as British subjects or commoners, the Home Office is proposing to replace glass beer glasses with plastic ones.  There is obviously a crisis here.  According to a BBC report, about 5,500 subjects are the victims of glass attacks every year in England and Wales.  I’m sure the figures from Scotland were too horrible to report.

Professor Eugene Volokh of the Volokh Conspiracy estimated that this works out to about one attack with a glass or bottle for every 1,000,000 pints served, assuming all attacks are conducted with pint containers.  “If it only saves one pint…,” as the saying goes.

Where will it end?  I’m sure the Home Office has detailed plans to take away sharp-pointed scissors.  How about those deadly umbrella tips?  The Brits carry a lot of umbrellas.  Hard-soled shoes could be used to kick and stomp innocent commoners.  Maybe they should get rid of those hard soles, or is it hard souls? 

Belts!  Belts can be used as weapons.  Read Kipling’s stories and poems.  Belts can be used to strangle innocent commoners.  Forks have those sharp tines on them.  I don’t know if commoners should be allowed to have forks.

I’ve got it.  The British Home Office should force all commoners to wear soft-soled slippers.  No belts or suspenders for them!  It’s hard to assault somebody, if you are holding up your pants with both hands.  We won’t even talk about bra straps.  No scarves, feather boas, or eye glasses.  (You could cut somebody with the lenses.) 

All umbrellas must have rounded tips.  The subjects can use soft plastic spoons and drink from plastic sippy cups.  Wait!  Forget the sippy cups.  That projection on the top could be used to put out someone’s eye.  OK.  Just plastic cups without projections.

No chop sticks!  No ball points or fountain pens!  No shoe laces!  All pub and restaurant furniture should be bolted to the floor.  A thrown chair can be a weapon of mass destruction. 

Darts?  Darts?  Darts in a British pub?  Don’t even think about darts!  Have you seen the points on those things?  Maybe floppy darts with suction cups on the ends…

Who are we kidding here?  The Brits should just handcuff their subjects at all times or restrain them with those shock bracelets that deliver a taser-like jolt in the event of misbehavior.

I would laugh myself silly over the antics of our British cousins, if the Liberal proponents of American gun control didn’t think that the Home Office has the right idea.  Be afraid of the Nanny State.  Be very afraid.  Whether it’s gun control or socialized medicine, the Liberal statists want to control every aspect of your existence.

Don’t believe me?  Find out what happens to you in San Francisco, if you don’t sort your recyclables and garbage into the right bins. (See my post, “San Francisco proposes ‘Garbage Police.’  Am I psychic or what?” dated 08-01-08 tagged “San Francisco,”)

Def Mech

Mr. Koh has reportedly said that a civil society can not exist in the presence of an armed civilian population.  Given the threats posed to the Second Amendment by Obama’s other appointees, proposed laws in the Democrat-controlled House and Senate, and the CIFTA Treaty, we simply don’t need another anti-gunner in high public office.  

Def Mech

Here’s a newsflash!  An Associated Press story in the May 14th Denver Post on Page 2A carries the headline, “N. Europe still tops U.S. unwed births.”  Oh!  But unwed mothers are so cool.  You remember the old slogan, ”A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.”  Fine!  What has happened in many cases in this country is that either the poor slob of a biological father ends up paying for about two decades of child support, or we the taxpayers foot the bill.  I wonder how it works in Europe?  Oh!  Right!  They just take your back teeth in taxes.

British and European Liberals’ desire for control seems to know no bounds.  In England, they are collecting kitchen knives.  (See my posts under the Category: “Foreign Gun Laws.”)  In Germany, following the most recent school shooting, the government wants to ban paintball games.  Sooner or later, everyone in Europe except government officials, rich people, and rock stars will be wearing handcuffs or those new shock bracelets that can incapacitate the wearer by remote command.  

The other problem with “sophisicated Europe” is that in about one or two generations Europe will be Eurostan, a Muslim suburb.  The sophisticated, native Europeans are not having enough babies to maintain their oh-so-cool population levels.  Muslim immigrants don’t seem to have that issue.  Read Mark Steyn here for a brief discussion of the European population problem.

By the way, during the last century, “sophisicated Europe” spawned two world wars and numerous genocides.  Europe seems to be going the way of the Passenger Pigeon.  (That’s extinction for recent graduates of public schools where self-esteem is the most important subject.)  If we continue to emulate the ways of Socialist Europe with regard to gun control, economics, education, immigration policy, health care, and religion or lack thereof, I am afraid we will follow them in their sad journey toward the death of Western Civilization.

Gun control is just part of a larger pattern, but it is a very important part.  What are Liberals planning that is so terrible that they fear armed resistance?  Once Liberals turn the West into a dying, Socialist  prison camp, who will guard the guards?

Def Mech

A quick wrap up of ongoing and recent events:

HR 45 is still a threat to gun owners’ rights.  This bill registers owners of handguns and semi-autos with magazine wells, registers all future sales, appears to ban all possession of any firearm by a person under 18 (no exceptions), and may allow BATFE personnel to come into your home to inspect your gun storage arrangements.  (See my posts under the Category: “Registration.”)

S. 843 is a new threat on an old theme.  This bill is designed to “close the gun show loophole,” which in my opinion doesn’t really exist.  In any case this bill could very well “regulate” gun shows out of existence.  I don’t see how a promoter could meet the requirements of this bill without registering every single person who enters the show.  (See my posts under the Category: “Registration.”)

The OAS CIFTA Treaty remains a threat to gun owners in conjuction with AG Holder’s misinformation regarding the number of U.S.-made guns going to Mexico and supposedly “fueling” the endemic violence in that country.  (See my post, “OAS Treaty threatens Second Amendment,” under the Category: Foreign Gun Laws.”)  (See also, “Left overstates US gun impact on Mexican Violence,” under the Category, “Media Bias.”)

Homeland Security Chief Napolitano’s report linking gun rights advocates and other “right wing extremists” to possible terrorism dovetails with HR 2159, which is a retread of a bill introduced last year that allows the Attorney General to designate you to be a terrorist on the basis of hearsay information.  Once you have been so designated you can not legally own a firearm or board an airplane.  You may not have the right to confront your accuser and getting off the list in the case of a mistake may be very difficult.   

Governor Bill Ritter vetoed HB 1180, a Colorado bill that would have allowed concealed carry permit holders to use their permits to buy a gun without going through an additional background check.  Montana, Wyoming, and Utah are using this system without having a flood of blood in the streets.  (See my posts on HB 1180 under the Category: “Colorado State Issues.”)

On the positive side, the U.S. House and Senate just passed an amendment to a credit card bill that will support the Bush Administration ruling allowing concealed carry permit holders to defend themselves and others in national parks in states that recognize their permits.  We’ll see how this shakes out in Colorado.  Left-wing, Mainstream Media bias shock jocks are working overtime on this one.  Even Fox News aired a misleading, simplified version of the legislation.

Don’t get complacent, because we won this battle.  The above listed bills. the Obama record on guns, and his anti-gun appointments to key positions portend a hard road ahead for the Second Amendment, once the Democrats finish socializing the rest of American Society.

Look for a high profile shooting spree in the near future to boost the Left’s argument for more gun control.  (See my posts under the Category: “Conspiracy Theories.”)

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, “  Thomas Jefferson.

“Nothing in politics happens by chance,” (paraphrase) FDR.

Def Mech

As I read CIFTA, the U.S. Government would be pressured to outlaw ammunition reloading without a license.  A license could be required for the manufacture of grips, slings, sights, bipods, and recoil pads, which could be classified as “related materials,” which may be attached to a gun.

Under CIFTA, I believe the government, under the guise of “ensuring security” of affected items “in transit,” could set up highway inspection checkpoints and require permits for any movement of guns, ammunition or components, and grips, slings, sights, bipods and recoil pads.  Gun registration would be a real possibility with regard to the convention objective of “ensuring security.”

A good discussion of CIFTA can be found here.  There are news reports that the NRA “participated” in the OAS discussions of CIFTA.  The NRA denies participation in development of the treaty, but probably had some influence on U.S. negotiators.

Please contact your U.S. Senators and urge them to vigorously oppose ratification of this treaty.  With Justice Ginsberg and other Liberals talking about the desirability of having international laws and norms affect American policy, we don’t need this sort of foreign influence in our domestic discussions of our natural rights to armed self-defense against crime, tyranny, and genocide.

Def Mech

The report goes on to describe smuggling from other countries and desertions from the Mexican Army as other sources of firearms used in the epidemic bloodbath south of the border.  In spite of their draconian anti-gun laws, gang violence continues to tear the country apart.  (See my posts on Mexico under the Category, “Foreign Gun Laws.”)

Don’t look for the well-funded and ideologically-driven Left to abandon the Mexican situation as a springboard for more U.S. gun control.  In spite of the fact that we have about 22,000 gun laws in this country, Tom Diaz, of the Violence Policy Center, describes the U.S. “gun market” as “wide open.”

Def Mech

Last night, 60 Minutes ran a rant against U.S. gun smuggling into Mexico.  The problem is that some of the guns shown on the program were not firearms that are legally, commercially available in the United States.  It is these legally available guns that Eric Holder and the Obama Administration want to ban.

Can you say, “Bait and switch, Amigo?”  Common, legal semi-automatic firearms are apparently being misclassified as fully automatic military weapons.  In a conversation with Steven Schreiner, President of the Firearms Coalition of Colorado, I learned that the guns shown in the 60 Minute segment included an M-60 machine gun, which is legal in the U.S. only if you have a Class III Firearms License and pay a $200 transfer tax.  These machine guns are extremely rare and expensive in the U.S., and therefore unlikely to be smuggled across the border.

Also shown were U.S. M-16 rifles with grenade launchers.  While it would be theoretically possible to re-machine these military firearms, it would be much easier and more economical for Mexican gangs to obtain them from corrupt government sources and from gun runners  in Mexico or neighboring states.  The M-16 select-fire rifle that can be used in an automatic mode is in military and terrorist use in many countries in Central and South America.  The U.S. civilian version of the M-16 is the AR 15.  It does not fire full auto and is not available with a grenade launcher that accepts anti-personnel ammunition.  The 60 Minute piece showed obsolete M-1 type hand grenades.  Live grenades are not commercially available in the U.S. legal market. 

AK 47 “assault rifles” have been displayed in previous televion exposes of guns used in Mexico, according Schreiner.  Again, possession of any full auto firearm is heavily regulated and taxed by the U.S. government.  Any grenades or actual select fire weapons likely came from Mexican or foreign sources.  The AK 47 is probably the most common modern rifle in the world, since the old Soviet Union exported them wholesale in support of “people’s” revolutions.  Soviet satellite states also produced large quantities of these guns.

Venezuelan Strong Man Hugo Chavez has imported 100,000 AK-47’s and is planning factories that produce AK-47’s and ammunition.  There is no shortage of old Soviet-bloc and even new Russian arms, if you have the money to pay for them.  The drug cartels have the money.  (gunpolicy.org is not a Second Amendment-friendly site.)

Belt-fed Russian PK or PKM machine guns have appeared on previous TV programs about Mexican gang weapons.  They are also regulated, rare, and quite expensive in the U.S.  Former Soviet allies and socialist governments in South and Central America would have extensive access to these military weapons.

Schreiner said news reports indicate that Russian hand grenades are showing up in Mexico, along with Soviet-style rocket propelled grenade (RPG) launchers.  These long, slender, shoulder-fired weapons are used by armies and terrorists around the globe.  RPG launchers and ammunition are not coming from U.S. markets.

Let us remember that Mexico has absolute, draconian gun control laws that deprive virtually everyone in the country except the ruling class of the legal ability for self-defense.  I guess the drug cartels and violent street gangs didn’t get the memo banning guns.  See my posts on Mexico under the Category: “Foreign Gun Laws.”

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has issued a warning to federally licensed dealers against selling guns to persons without proper documentation.  If you want to privately sell a firearm, please make sure you know to the best of your ability that the buyer is legally eligible to buy the gun.  I would recommend checking the driver’s license and asking some questions.  You might get two forms of ID.  (This is not legal advice.  Just trying to help keep a few  guns out of the hands of gangsters and terrorists.)

It’s possible that some American firearms are being smuggled south across the border.  Given the availability of military weapons from other sources, I don’t believe that the U.S. is a significant source of Mexican violence.

 Don’t fall for the “bait and switch” tactic on the part of the Obama Administration.  Between South and Central American sources, the Mexican Police, and the Mexican Military, there are plenty of guns for the gangs.  Any guns coming from the U.S. would most likely be commercially available firearms, not the military weapons shown on 60 Minutes.  Again, Mexico has gun “control,” so there must be some “mistake” about the killings, kidnappings and murders south of the border.

Trying to fight the violence generated by MS 13 and other international gangs in this country and Mexico through American gun bans is like trying to fight a fire with a can of gasoline.  It’s exciting, but it doesn’t work very well.

Def Mech

First of all, an “Assault Weapon” is a select-fire military gun that can fire more than one bullet with one pull of the trigger.  The guns that Clinton “banned” and Obama wants to ban are not “Assault Weapons,” they are semi-automatic or self-loading firearms that fire one round with one pull of the trigger.

To get some idea of what Obama’s ban might look like, we can review a summary of  Democrat Representative McCarthy’s bill of last year, HR 1022.  Her bill contained the following anti-individual rights provisions.  (This list is not inclusive.)

2008 Semi-auto Ban Bill HR 1022                

• Bill is not clearly written
• Allows Attorney General to ban any semiauto ever used by police or military
• Presumes that gun used by military or police is not suitable for civilian “sporting purpose,” even if gun is used in sporting event-Orwellian language-really scary!
• Bans any semi-auto with a magazine well
• Bans by name: AR-15, Mini 14, Uzi, M-1 Carbine, Galil, Mac 10, AK, SKS, AR-10 and others
• Bans transfers by persons of magazines of over ten rounds with semi-automatic firearms (Bans magazine transfers?)
• Grandfathers guns currently owned, but registers all future transfers of semi-autos (Sets up confiscation)
• Bans importation of magazines of over ten rounds
• Bans semi-autos with pistol grips, threaded barrels, folding stocks, bayonet lugs, and barrel shrouds
• Definition of “grip” may be used to include any semi-auto firearm in the ban
• Ban includes semi-auto shotguns with magazine wells and “Street Sweepers”
• Bans semi-auto .22s with magazine wells
• Exempts .22s with tubular magazines of over ten rounds
• Annual report by Attorney General to Congress on use of semi-autos in crime (Sets stage for further restriction)
• Dealer or manufacturer must certify to Attorney General within 60 days that any high capacity magazine sold was made before the date of the ban

Remember that registration is a necessary precursor to confiscation.  Semi-automatic firearms were confiscated in New York  after the owners were “promised” that the registration lists would never be used to take away their guns.

“Conservative” pundit Charles Krauthammer said of the Clinton semi-auto ban, “The claim of the advocates that banning these 19 types of ‘assault weapons’ will reduce the crime rate is laughable…  Passing a law like the assault weapons ban is a symbolic…move…  Its only real justification is not crime, but to desensitize the public to the regulation of weapons in preparation for their ultimate confiscation.  De-escalation begins with a change in mentality.  And that change in mentality starts with the symbolic yielding of certain types of weapons.”  (Charles Krauthammer, syndicated Columnist, The Washington Post, 1996.)

Please contact your gun owning friends and neighbors and anyone you know that loves freedom.  Ask them to call, E-mail and write their elected federal representatives and senators in opposition to this deceptive scheme.

If you are a hunter, shotgunner, small bore target shooter,  or a collector of antique firearms, don’t think that you are immune from the gun-grabbing tendencies of this administration.  The Socialists pushing this dangerous agenda are using England as a model.  (See my posts on England under the Category: “Foreign Gun Laws,” on this site.)

If you have visited this blog in the past you already know that the British Olympic Pistol Team is forced to train in Switzerland, because their guns are banned in their home country.  That is the end game envisioned by the enemies of our individual right to armed self-defense against crime, tyranny, and genocide.

“Ask not for whom the bell tolls…”  Get politically active or lose your birthright of freedom forever.

Def Mech