James Shema, owner of Shema's Outdoor Sports in Merrillville, Ind., knew immediately he was in a deadly situation. A man entered his store with a sawed-off shotgun and ordered Shema, his wife, Kathy, and three customers to drop to the floor. As Shema moved toward the floor, he grabbed a ,40-cal. handgun he kept behind the counter and fired two shots at the robber. The wounded gunman fled the store and was soon apprehended by authorities who found him bleeding in the back seat of a nearby SUV. Shema said he just did what he had to do. "When he came in here with a shotgun and no mask on his face I didn't think he planned to leave survivors," Shema explained. (The Times, Munster, IN, 07/29/04)

Roy Rhodes had closed his shop and was returning home just after midnight when he was attacked from behind by two armed men. One or possibly both men fired at Rhodes, who suffered a gunshot to his leg. Rhodes returned fire, killing one of the robbers. The other gunman was later arrested and charged with aggravated assault. (Waycross Journal-Herald, Waycross, GA, 07/22/04)

A young man was coming out of a bedroom m his grandmother's house in Gulfport, Miss., when he encountered two men who had entered the home. One of the intruders struck the young man on the head. The grandson said that after he fell he grabbed a gun that was hidden under the bed and began firing at the two men, who then left and drove off in a gray Oldsmobile. No one was injured at the house, but at least one victim of the home invasion had been tied up with duct tape, police at the scene said. (The Sun Herald, Biloxi, MS, 07/27/04)

Lisa Hansen awoke one morning when she heard someone moving around inside her house. She then heard someone run up her stairs and attempt to open her bedroom door. "I waited to listen to see how many footsteps I heard," Hansen said. Upon determining there was only one person in her house, Hansen grabbed her cell phone and reached for a gun she keeps under her bed. She ran out of the room, confronted the burglar and held him at gunpoint until police arrived. The would-be burglar turned out to be a teenager who lives in the neighborhood and who had done some lawn work for Hansen previously. The teen said he had only entered her home because he saw a man in there, but Hansen did not believe the explanation. Police later discovered Hansen's cousin's checkbook in the boy's pocket. (The Spokesman- Review, Spokane. WA, 07/09/04)

Two Tennessee women responded to a knock at their door at about 1:30 a.m. and saw two masked men standing outside. The women, who are cousins, ran to an upstairs bedroom as the men kicked in their back door. Police spokesman Don Aaron described what happened next. "As one of them [the intruders] came to the doorway of the bedroom where the two women were hiding, the older cousin, who had retrieved a pistol from a nightstand, fired one time. The intruder was hit and died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head," said Aaron. The other intruder fired twice but neither woman was injured. The deceased intruder was identified as Maurice Wilson who had been charged with 38 offenses in the past three years, Aaron said. (The Tennesean, Nashville, TN, 07/19/04)

An East Oakland, Calif., market employee thwarted a robbery attempt at the 3M Market early one Saturday. The alleged robber, identified as David Mosely, was wounded in his head and back, and left the store. Police were called to a nearby apartment to investigate a call about a man covered in blood, but did not locate the suspect when they arrived. Mosely was arrested a short time later when he attempted to steal a car. He was charged with attempted robbery and taken to the hospital. (The San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco, CA, 07/25/04)

A Pacific Beach, Calif., resident heard someone breaking into his home at 1:52 a.m. Fearing for his wife and young child's safety, the homeowner retrieved a gun and fired at the intruder who suffered a wound to his ankle and fled the scene. Police apprehended the suspect, took him for medical treatment and then to jail. (The San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego, CA, 07/12/04)

“It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; but you can’t fool all the people all the time.” Abraham Lincoln

Those words were never more appropriate than right now, with John Kerry's breathtaking bit-lie campaign in full swing across rural America - a Presidential campaign embracing what he cynically calls "the right to bear arms" and featuring his phony attempts to pass himself off as a "hunter" and "gun owner"-all designed to fool hunters and firearm owners into a kind of amnesia about his decades-long anti-Second Amendment record.

In the weeks before the November election-as hunting seasons get underway-NRA members must do everything we can-one on one-to make sure that no fellow hunters and no firearm owners are fooled any of the time.

We can only do it with the truth.

John Kerry, the self-appointed "hunter," gets a 100 percent seal-of-approval from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), an organization that believes, "If we could shut down all sport hunting in a moment, we would." Kerry garners a 100 percent rating from Fund for Animals that rants. "Hunting is cruel. It is deceitful. It is socially unjustified. It is ecologically disruptive. Fund for Animals opposes hunting in all its forms."

As for Kerry, the self-proclaimed "gun owner," just look at his lifetime record of 51 anti-Second Amendment votes in the U.S. Senate, On key votes, each and every time John Kerry has had a chance to stand up for the average citizen's right to own guns, he's been on the wrong side. Standing proudly, thumbs up, with Dianne Feinstein, Chuck Schumer and Teddy Kennedy, Kerry has more than earned his "F" rating from NRA.

Kerry's long-time disrespect for you and our Constitutional rights goes beyond floor votes. Under the guise of "reasonable restrictions" on firearms, Kerry is a prime co-sponsor of S. 1431, which would give government bureaucrats power to ban your ownership of "any firearm" that has ever been "procured" for the military or Federal law enforcement. So, under his definition, a Kerry Administration would ban our Winchester Model 12s, or Mossberg 500s, or Ithaca 37s, or Remington 870s, or Remington 700s or even our Model 94s.

Kerry's lowest-of-the-low grades on our right to keep and bear arms are mirrored by the praise and endorsements he receives from gun-ban groups like the Brady Campaign (Handgun Control, Inc.) and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (National Coalition to Ban Handguns). At this very moment, these extremists are aggressively using the courts to take down the Second Amendment once and for all.

In March, Kerry (not to mention his running mate John Edwards) broke his perfect missing-in-action record of being a Senate no-show during the current Congress to attack NRA members and cast a series of anti-gun-rights votes-most designed as "poison pill" amendments intended to kill legislation ending the unfair, predatory lawsuits designed to bankrupt the firearms industry.

Among his "poison pill" votes, Kerry endorsed amendments to close down gun shows, extend the Clinton gun ban and ban virtually all center-fire ammunition, ending deer hunting for millions of Americans. If that amendment by Kerry's idol Teddy Kennedy had become law, even .30-30 Silvertips would have been banned!

As a final snub to gun owners and hunters, Kerry voted to keep firearm industry lawsuits alive-lawsuits brought by fat-cat trial lawyers and gun-ban extremists-lawsuits bleeding out the firearm industry, creating soaring prices for consumers of firearms and ammunition, and curbing vital contributions to wildlife conservation programs funded by hunter-supported excise taxes.

John Kerry's vote to kill that legislation kept stride with the goals of mega-rich Washington trial lawyer John Coale, who boasted to the New York Times that, "at some point soon a critical mass will be reached where the costs alone of defending these suits are going to eat up the gun companies." Coale, who has so far raised $100,000 for the Kerry campaign, recently told a web-based law journal, "Kerry has just about a perfect record on issues that interest lawyers and trial lawyers ... ."

For all his media posturing with shotguns and blaze orange, there you have the real John Kerry: a perfect record for greedy trial lawyers; a perfect record for gun- ban groups: a perfect record for animal "rights" radicals. A perfect disaster for our future Freedom.

I guarantee that during this hunting season-in the days before the election-each of us will run across friends and acquaintances who will have been conned. We must open their eyes to the truth 10 see past Kerry's blaze orange "camo;" see past his lies on the Second Amendment.

Please, reproduce This column and pass it on to your family, friends and co-workers. Every American hunter and gun owner must see that John Kerry is no more a supporter of the Second Amendment than Michael Moore is a supporter of George Bush.