Orlando police say that a pair of would-be robbers chose a 37-year-old man as their victim because they thought he looked like an easy target. Apparently they forgot that Florida is a Right-To-Carry state. According to police, the armed duo approached the victim and said, "You know what's up," then threatened to kill him if he didn't give them money. Fearing they would spot his pistol, the man started emptying his pockets until the alleged robbers backed off a bit, then he drew his gun and fired. The assailants fled, but were apprehended by police shortly thereafter and charged with armed robbery. (The Orlando Sentinel, Orlando, PL, 12/15/05)
As he watched an intruder run from his living room and climb out a window, a 75-year-old man thought for a moment that the danger was gone. But police say that when he turned around, a second intruder was coming at him. The homeowner fired a handgun once, hitting and killing the intruder. "He reacted," said police Lt. Carl Fletcher. "That was his reaction to protect himself and his property." According to authorities, the man had been in the county jail 12 times in the past three years. His alleged accomplice was later arrested and charged with burglary. (Savannah Morning News, Savannah, GA, 12/15/05)
Police say that Kevin Doncaster was chatting with a grocery store manager when a man ran by and doused them with pepper spray. Figuring the attacker was stealing something, Doncaster chased him into the parking lot and was sprayed again. What Doncaster didn't know was that the man, armed with a Taser, had just forced a woman into a bathroom stall while her 2-year-old granddaughter watched. Several people came to her rescue and were pepper-sprayed by the assailant as he fled. Doncaster drew a handgun and told the man that if he sprayed him again, he would be injured. "He really wasn't expecting anyone to have a weapon except for himself," said Doncaster, who detained the man until police arrived. The suspect is charged with aggravated assault with intent to rape and murder. (Statesboro Herald, Statesboro, QA, 10/17/05)
A family received an abrupt awakening when three or four burglars forcefully entered the back door, setting off a security alarm in the homeowner's bedroom. Police say the homeowner, Brian Harper, then armed himself with a handgun and hid behind his bedroom door so he could assess the situation while his wife phoned police. One of the intruders spotted Harper who, recognizing he was in a threatening situation, fired several shots. The intruder, a convicted felon, was found dead in a nearby yard with a pistol lying near his body (The Collierville Herald, Collierville, TN, 12/22/05)
A 23-year-old woman was home alone when a man kicked in her door and entered the residence. According to police, when her dog started barking, she grabbed her 9 mm handgun from the nightstand and fired at the man as he entered her bedroom, causing him to flee the scene. "She kept a gun there to protect herself when she's at home alone, and it turned out to be a good decision," said Starkville, Miss., police Sgt. Bill Lott. The man, who got into a car with two other males, remained at large. It was unclear whether he had been shot, but no blood was found at the scene. (The Commercial Dispatch, Columbus, MS, 12/23/05)
Paul Thrift awoke to noises in his home and found that his electricity and phone lines were not working. According to police, he then confronted two brothers who had broken in using a boat anchor. When the intruders tried to enter Thrift's bedroom, he fired several shots at the armed older brother, critically injuring him. The younger brother, who was not shot, ran from the home, but was apprehended a short time later and asked if his brother was still alive. According to police, he told them, "Me and [my brother] were just riding around and [he] told me he wanted to go break into somebody's home." Thrift's wife said it was a terrifying ordeal, but hopes it will teach somebody a lesson about breaking into an occupied home. (Channel 4 News, Jacksonville, FL, 12/29/05)
Police still don't know the motive behind a bizarre incident in an apartment complex. Investigators say a man punched and broke a 6-ft. tall globe light in the courtyard. Shortly thereafter, he beat down an apartment door, waking Jason Smith and his wife, neither of whom knew the man. Smith, armed with a handgun, confronted the intruder and a struggle ensued. It ended when Smith fired his pistol, killing the man. (The Arizona Republic, Phoenix, AZ, 12/06/05) |
"We are going to take back our country!" It is the holy grail of U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) who, as the new Majority Leader, would lead the "F' Troop, the anti-gun rights politicians rated "F" by NRA. The likes of arch gun-ban advocate Michigan U.S. Rep. John Conyers would control every major committee in the Congress were they to become the majority. A few months ago, a victory for the "F' Troop might have seemed impossible to you, but with media-fed scandals rocking Washington, the national political dynamic has changed dramatically. In the 2006 elections, everything is up for grabs. To "take" the country, the anti-Second Amendment crowd will be targeting House seats of long-time NRA supporters, and they will be doing the same in the Senate, going after pro-gun-rights stalwarts with a vengeance. "We are going to take back our country!" That is the theme of U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, who intends to be president. With Hillary, the slippery phrase "take our country back" is an eerie reminder of what the United States was like when the Clintons controlled the country and attacked the Second Amendment every day. At an April 1999 media event demanding a long list of new "gun controls"—including backdoor universal firearm registration—self-proclaimed "co-president" Hillary Clinton joined her husband. Bill Clinton, in condemning the entire culture of peaceable firearm ownership to a cheering Rose Garden audience of the "who's who" of the antigun movement. No matter what Hillary may say in her new identity as a "centrist/she cannot rewrite the erosion of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms that was the everyday business of the Clinton administration. "Take back our country" means bringing back the Clinton gun ban— expanded well beyond semi-automatic firearms—this time with confiscatory powers like the Pelosi-supported ban in San Francisco. "Take back our country" means indelibly computerizing National Instant Check records as the basis for a national gun-owner registration scheme. It means closing down gun shows. It means redirecting federal enforcement to entrap and attack honest gun owners. "Take back our country" means a return to the federal government's official position that you and I possess no Right to Keep and Bear Arms, emphatically declared in this exchange between a federal appeals court judge and a Clinton Justice Department lawyer: The judge asked, "Are you saying that the Second Amendment is consistent with a position that you can take guns away from the public? You can restrict ownership of rifles, pistols and shotguns from all of the people? Is that the position of the United States?" The answer was an enthusiastic, "Yes ... Exactly." "Take back our country" means returning to the misuse of federal power in active support of lawsuits by greedy trial lawyers and big-city machine politicians to bankrupt the firearm industry. Remember the "deal" extorted by the Justice Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development under which a special private committee—including representatives of gun-ban special interests such as the Brady Campaign or the Violence Policy Center—would decide which guns could be manufactured for civilian possession and which would cease to be made? Remember the massive Clinton efforts of the Federal Centers for Disease- Control producing phony "studies" to bolster state and local gun bans under the notion that private ownership of firearms was a "public health" menace? Remember the taxpayer-supported networking efforts by the Clinton Department of Justice to develop a gun- ban movement that works"... to build a unified voice and alliance that can challenge and surpass the influence of the National Rifle Association and its allies in the arena of public policy and values"? Remember the Clinton administration's fawning attitude toward the United Nations and willingness to subvert American sovereignty? That is the America these people wish to "take back"—an America they would subvert until our rights are crushed. With all of the uncertainty in the nation's political landscape right now, it is important that NRA members get deeply involved in the electoral process unleashing our Second Amendment army race-by-race throughout America. We must preserve our pro-Second Amendment majorities in both houses of Congress. Volunteer in campaigns where your personal efforts will spell the difference and contribute to the NRA Political Victory Fund, so that we have a war chest to stop the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein and Hillary Clinton from gaining the power they need to turn Congress into their weapon to destroy our rights and liberty. |
We are going to take back our country!" That is the battle cry of anti-Second Amendment politicians determined to wrest control of Congress from the pro-gun majority we worked so hard to elect during the last four hard-fought election cycles. They want to seize power in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in this coming election. They want to use that advantage to occupy the White House in 2008, setting policy and a national agenda to destroy our Second Amendment rights.
Likewise, each of us also has the right to protect those we love. If you are a husband taking your wife to dinner, you should never have reason to be nervous walking her to the car at night. If you are a mother taking your kids to the store, you are entitled to know they're safe with you on the street. And that's exactly what Right-to- Carry is about. Thirty-eight states now have shall-issue Right-to-Carry, recognizing your right to protect yourself and your loved ones. But 12 states still deny you that right or severely limit it. This makes no sense because if Right-to- Carry had been the law in those states, approximately 1,500 murders each year would not be committed, 4,000 rapes each year would not take place, 11,000 robberies each year would not occur and 60,000 would-be victims of assault each year would instead be safe and unharmed. I'm grateful to have worked to pass Right-to-Carry in my home state of Arizona. The experience in Arizona and 37 other states shows that Right-to- Carry makes all of us safer. Ten years ago in Texas, the legislature debated Right-to-Carry. The opposition predicted blood in the streets and a return to the proverbial Wild West with disputes being settled by gunfights. Instead, the opposite happened. Since the law's passage, handgun murders have dropped 18 percent according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report. In just the first five years after passage, licensed Texans were 5.7 times less likely to be arrested for a violent offense, 14 times less likely to be arrested for a non-violent offense and 1.4 times less likely to be arrested for murder according to the National Center for Policy Analysis. My own passion for Right-to-Carry began when I was almost the victim of a home invasion. Instead of just being grateful I suffered no harm, I took action to make sure I could protect myself and those I love against an attacker. I took a gun safety class, bought a pistol and learned how to use it safely and responsibly. When the Arizona legislature was debating Right-to-Carry, I took up the cause. When it became law, I was in the first group of permit applicants. Most people acknowledge that you have the right of self-protection in your home. All Right-to-Carry does is secure the right of each of us to take that protection with us when we leave home. If life is so precious that we can protect it in our homes, it doesn't become one bit less precious when we walk out the door to go to work, to the store, to church or to mom's house to clean out the garage. If life is precious, we have not only a right but an obligation to protect it wherever we go. Many of you reading this are men who are big and strong enough to take care of yourselves and your loved ones if trouble comes along. But size and strength may not be enough against an armed attacker. And if you go down, those who rely on you for protection will be left vulnerable. And think about those of us who aren't so big or strong. What about a person of smaller stature? What about a person who's enjoying the later years in life? What about a person dealing with physical challenges? A petite professional woman has the right to not fear for her safety walking to her car at night after work. A hardworking mother has the right to keep her kids safe when she takes them to buy groceries. An older veteran in a wheelchair, who served his country with honor in World War II, Korea or Vietnam, should never have to worry about outrunning an attacker. The most fundamental purpose of government is to protect its citizens. By passing Right-to-Carry legislation, state governments help fulfill that obligation by securing our right to protect ourselves. And there is more—by reaffirming the right of peaceable gun owners to carry firearms for self-protection our government demonstrates that it trusts' the people it serves. A government that does not trust its citizens with the right of self-protection should not be trusted. If Right-to-Carry is already law in your state, work to reduce red tape and to expand reciprocity. If your state doesn't yet recognize this fundamental human right, convince your legislators that the citizens of your state are deserving of this protection and just as worthy of trust as those in the 38 states that have proven Right-to-Carry works! |
Of all the rights NRA fights for, few are as important as Right-to- Carry. You have the fundamental human right to protect yourself, to not be a victim and to not fear for your safety in your daily life.