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

The bill will now go to the House.  If the House does not concur with the Senate version, which it probably won’t, the bill will go to a conference committee to try to work out the differences.  This could be a dangerous situation, since the committee may try to go beyond the scope of the original bill and add dangerous amendments. 

There is an RK gun show at the Crown Plaza Hotel at 1-70 and Chambers just north of Denver on April 18th and 19th.  (This is the old Crossroads Show.) 

The CBS hit piece on Americans’ right to self-defense from crime, tyranny and genocide apparently followed an NBC attack on 04-10-09.  We can expect an increasingly shrill crescendo of anti-Second Amendment rhetoric until at least after the anniversary of the Columbine killings.  There may be anti-NRA demonstrations at the Phoenix convention in May.

Why do I say that the CBS piece was biased?  Let’s look first at the timing of the piece to fit in with the annual, anti-gun rights, spring barrage.  The annual Columbine mourning and the upcoming annual NRA Convention provide ample targets for this sort of propaganda.

Next, let’s look at the structure of the segment.  It was a typical “advocacy journalism” set up.  The story opened with the implication that guns cause mass murders and that people buying guns is not a good thing.  The producers bring on a “straw man,” in this case the head of a Virginia gun rights organization.  Then, the presentation closes with a sound bite from anti-gun California Senator, Diane Feinstein, intimately associated with the first ban on semi-automatic firearms during the Clinton Administration.

You will notice that the pro gun-control side of the argument got the first and last slots in the segment.  It was designed this way, so viewers will tend to remember the anti-gun message.  The pro-gun rights “straw man” was “rebutted” by the closing arguments.

The “straw man” did mention that just one legally-armed student might have aborted the Virginia Tech Killings, which occurred in a “gun free criminal safe free fire zone.”  However, that statement was effectively drowned in the much more extensive coverage given to the anti-gun side of the argument.

Keep in mind that the producers controlled every minute aspect of this “news” report.  They just “happened,” to photograph some Nazi swastika flags at the gun show during the interview with the “straw man.”  These flags are normally displayed in conjunction with displays offering collections of war trophy Nazi memorabilia.  The casual observer of the “news” story probably wouldn’t know this, nor even consciously be aware that he or she was being led to associate the flags with the “straw man.”  Get it!  “Gun shows and gun rights are tied to Nazism!”  Excellent job of unconscious psychological persuasion!  Pavlov, not to mention Lenin, would be proud.

Let’s look at the advocates for the various sides in this “news” story.  There was one pro-individual rights advocate interviewed.  There were five pro-gun control viewpoints presented, including interviews with a wounded Virginia Tech student, the relative of a person killed in the Virginia Tech Massacre, an anti-gun law enforcement representative, and Diane Feinstein.  Illinois anti-gun Senator Dick Durbin got in his two cents for “sensible gun laws” in a sound bite.  Five to one aren’t bad odds  in a “news” story?

You will note that there were no persons interviewed or quoted who had employed firearms for self-defense, even though Dr. Gary Kleck estimates that up to 2.5 million defensive uses of guns occur every year.  You wouldn’t know it from this report.

Language is also telling.  The report misidentified semi-automatic, or self-loading firearms, as “assault weapons.”  ”Assaults” are bad things, right?  By pejorative labeling of commonly owned guns, the producers can shape the perceptions of viewers in the desired direction.

Real “assault weapons” are capable of fully automatic fire.  The guns shown in the news story are not.  You have to pull the trigger every time to fire a round from a self-loading firearm.  With a full-auto weapon, you pull the trigger and the gun will fire multiple rounds.  Advocates for more gun control typically deliberately blur this distinction.

In the segment, advocates for individual rights were called “The Gun Lobby,” which has a “stranglehold” on Congress.  Private sales of firearms at gun shows without background checks are referred to as “The Gun Show Loophole.”  (Ooh! Doesn’t that make you want to close that pesky “loophole,” register all gun sales, and force those nasty “gun lobby stranglers” back under the rocks from which they crawled?)

Never fear!  Even though the police are currently “outgunned” by drug dealers and gang bangers armed with their “gun of choice,” the “assault weapon,” Diane Feinstein will pick the time and place to push her gun control legislation and save us all from ourselves.

It’s extremely interesting to me that criminals and gangs didn’t seem to have a lot of interest in semi-automatic rifles, until the news media began hyping the idea that self-loading firearms were “guns of choice.”  I suppose the media had to point out to the gangsters what guns they should be using.

According to the CBS report, a recent poll indicated that “only” 49% of Americans currently favor stricter gun control laws.  After a few weeks of this kind of “news” reporting, the numbers will probably rise.

Now, I don’t object to the fact that CBS and “60 Minutes” producers have opinions on the issue of gun control.  I would just like them to express their opinions as opinions, and stop calling them “news.”  I would also like Mainstream Media pundits to clean up their language on the debate and stop trying to shape public opinion against gun owners.  Silly me!  That’s what advocacy journalism does! They have to make the world a ” better place”, a place like Chicago, or Oakland.  (See my posts under the Category: “Gun Law Failures.”)

Def Mech

There is a slight chance that gun show checks on private sales could be ended.  Please contact members of the Joint Budget Committee to voice polite support for ending checks or shifting them to the NICS.

The elaborate metal detector security system at the State Capitol is also possibly on the chopping block.  NRA information indicates that Colorado is virtually the only state with such elaborate protection for “The People’s House.”  Please ask Committee Members to “take down this wall” between the public and the state leadership.

A unanimous vote would be required for any action on the above issues.  The committee members and their numbers are:

Senator Keller: 303-866-2585

Senator Tapia: 303-866-2581

Senator White: 303-866-2586

Representative Pommer: 303-866-2780

Representative Ferrandino: 303-866-2911

Representative Marostica: 303-866-2947

You can E-mail the legislators and find their mailing addresses by going to the state legislature’s web site here.  Please also contact your state senator and representative to urge them to support the above cost cutting proposals.

Def Mech

HB 09-1180 was restored to its original purpose in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday, 03-16-09.  This bill would allow Colorado Concealed Carry Permit Holders to use their permits in lieu of background checks when buying guns from dealers and at gun shows.

Steve Schreiner of the Firearms Coalition of Colorado was in the hearing and called in the information to the NRA.  The NRA-ILA has an alert on their website and has sent it out to subscribers of their E-mail alerts.

Several nearby states successfully use this system.  (See my previous posts on HB 09-1180 under the Category: “Legislation.”)  Please contact your Colorado State Senators and Representatives and ask them to support this bill.

Def Mech

While this situation may be music to the ears of those who want to see the American People disempowered and disarmed, a twenty-four hour wait is unacceptable to anyone who supports compliance with Colorado’s law requiring background checks for all sales at gun shows.  Shows in this state typically last two days.  Many firearms dealers come from out of town, as do many gun show patrons.  It is not practical for these parties to wait hours for a government-mandated “instant check” through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

When the CBI instant check system effectively breaks down, as it did on February 1st, numerous people are denied their fundamental, constitutionally recognized right to purchase a firearm for self-defense from crime, tyranny, and genocide.  Coloradoans must find a solution to this problem.  It may be time to stop doing checks through the CBI and go directly to the National Instant Check System.

Def Mech

The two young men, one of whom had long pink and purple hair, obviously believed Obama, when he said that he supported the Second Amendment and that he wasn’t going to take any one’s guns.  I have trouble with that rationale, since Obama has never voted for individual self-defense rights, as far as I can tell.  He has sponsored anti-gun legislation, made anti-gun rights statements, and favored gun bans in Chicago and Washington, D.C.  He picked anti-gun Joe Biden as his running mate and appointed anti-gun Emmanuel and Holder to key positions.  I hope the young men are right about Obama.

The reluctant voter opined that Obama will be too busy with economic issues, health care legislation, and foreign policy problems to tinker with the Second Amendment.  This gun show visitor anticipates a deepening oil crisis as seasonal consumption increases and supplies dwindle.  I have trouble with this belief as it relates to the Second Amendment.  There were at least fourteen anti-gun bills in Congress in 2008 that can be renumbered and effortlessly reintroduced for the approval of the Democrat-controlled House and Senate and the Signature of “The Chosen One,” if he decides to pay the likely political price for such actions. (See my post, “If Obama wins, you lose legal gun rights. He only has to sign the bills.” 10-30-2008, Category: “Elections.”)

The loquacious Liberal, so affectionately nicknamed, because he was willing to talk about the issues, felt that pro-gun rights organizations serve only as promoters of gun and ammunition makers and dealers.  It is his view that no one is going to try to take guns away from American Citizens.  Like many Liberals, he displayed a remarkable ignorance of the history and science of the debate on individual liberty.  He was unaware of the research by Gary Kleck out of Florida on the estimated 2 million defensive uses of firearms every year in response to criminal attacks.

He was also unaware of gun confiscation in New York, New Jersey, and California.  You can’t blame this individual for not being aware of these issues, since they are seldom if ever mentioned in the Liberal-controlled Mainstream Media.

He also didn’t believe in the NRA and Firearms Coalition of Colorado characterizations of the often draconian and unrealistic elements in many anti-gun rights bills.  I personally read many of the bills and have concluded that the NRA and FCC descriptions are usually spot on.

This gentleman was also skeptical about any sort of centrally-controlled plan by rich and powerful people to put Obama in the White House and establish a permanent Liberal dynasty in American politics.  He politely accused me of paranoia.  I responded by saying that my paranoia doesn’t mean there isn’t a threat.  I hope I am merely paranoid.  The Constitution and the country are much safer, if I am only paranoid.  I urged this man to read The Shadow Party by Horowitz and Poe.

The loquacious Liberal was upset over gun crime.  I assured him that honest gun owners support prosecution of illegal gun use.  I should have mentioned that NRA-certified instructors do most of the police firearms training in America.  I neglected to mention important scientific studies, which indicate that gun control laws don’t seem to reduce crime and that guns don’t cause crime.  (CDC Study, NAS Study, Small Arms Study) I did mention to him that Prohibition corrupted the police, fostered widespread disobedience of the law, and promoted the rise of criminal gangs made wealthy by black market alcohol sales.  He agreed that we do not seem to be winning the War on Drugs.

This man did understand that gun control isn’t working in Mexico.  He admitted that gun control divides citizens into classes-those that may legally defend themselves and those that may not.  Strangely, he didn’t seem to be bothered by the distinction.  He did seem to have some sense that the Individual Rights Movement has as a goal the prevention of tyranny.

All of these people apparently believe that a Democrat Party funded by George Soros, Move on, the Joyce Foundation, the Bell Campaign, the Brady Campaign, and the Violence Policy Center will not seriously try to weaken the rights recognized by the Second Amendment.  The four seem to think that the Party with 14 draconian anti-individual rights bills in Congress will somehow forget about the goals embodied in those proposed regulations.  The gun show patrons in question must think that the Obama Transition Team’s four point anti-gun agenda will somehow get lost in the political shuffle.  Maybe it’s all just rhetoric and window dressing. (My post, “Anti-gun Obama takes off the mask!” 11-08-2008, Category: “Elections.”)

You know, I hope those four are right.  I would like nothing better than to be able to report at the end of Obama’s first term that there were no attempted infringements of the natural, fundamental rights of the American People to armed self-defense against crime, tyranny, and genocide.

I hope I’m wrong.  I hope the NRA, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Gun Owners of America, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, the Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition, and all the other Second Amendment civil rights organizations are mistaken.  Unfortunately, I don’t expect to be surprised, given the records and pronouncements of Obama, Biden, Schumer, Pelosi, Boxer, Feinstein, Dodd, Holder, Emmanuel, et al.  Too many leopards would have to change their spots.

Def Mech

The research found that the so-call “Gun Show Loophole” (private sales without background checks between individual citizens) did not impact murder and suicide rates in the month after the shows that were studied. Admittedly, one study doesn’t necessarily provide conclusive proof, but 3,400 shows seems like a decent sample size.

Evidence contines to mount in support of the intuitive conclusion that restricting the rights of honest citizens doesn’t have a beneficial effect for society with regard to the felonious use of firearms. This is not surprising to objective, serious students of the fundamental, individual right to armed self-defense against crime and tyranny recognized by the Second Amendment.

Had this study come out favorable to gun control, you probably would have seen it in the Mainstream Media. By the way, the “Ruler-Elect” wants legislation to close what seems to be the non-existent “Gun Show Loophole.”

Def Mech