Kansas' concealed carry law took effect January 1,2007. On January 19, two armed men burst into a gas station owned by Dean Yee. According to police, they twice demanded money from Yee while holding him at gunpoint. A customer inside the store, however, had a concealed-carry permit. He shouted for the robbers to drop their weapons. When they refused, he shot one suspect before the other fled. Station owner Yee feels lucky to be alive."1 would have been shot in the chest;' he told 27 News. Kansas Sen. Phil Journey, (R-Haysville) added, "Hopefully this will put other criminals and thugs on notice that Kansas is a different state today than it was just 20 days ago:' (The Topeka Capital-Journal, Topeka, KS, 01/23/07)
Raymond Hill's 12-year-old daughter woke him up with startling news: two people were trying to break into their home. Police say Hill loaded a AO-caliber handgun and went downstairs, where he saw one of the suspects removing a screen from the rear window. The suspect continued trying to break in, and Hill shot and killed him. Police nabbed the second suspect as he attempted to flee on a bicycle. (Las Vegas Review-Journal, Las Vegas, NV, 01/24/07)
Isaac Wilson pulled over to take a cell phone call when a career criminal approached. The man pointed from inside his clothes with what Wilson thought was a gun. He then told Wilson to get out of the car. They traded places, and then Wilson ordered the carjacker to get out. Police say the carjacker rushed toward Wilson acting as though he had a weapon. "That's why I pulled my gun;' says Wilson. He shot his assailant once. The suspect was listed in fair condition at the hospital. (WTHRI3 News, Indianapolis, IN, 01/26/07)
When two armed men approached a residence and flashed a handgun, the fearful person inside let them in. The resident's compliance only emboldened the intruders. Police say a shot rang out, and a relative in an upstairs apartment hurried down with a rifle. He shot both suspects, killing one and causing the other to flee. The wounded suspect was apprehended at the hospital. Authorities in Schenectady, N.Y., say it was the fourth case in two months in which a would-be victim shot an intruder. (Albany Times Union, Albany, NY, 01/20/07)
Police say a man and a woman were getting into their car outside a Wal-Mart when an attacker shoved a pistol into the man's stomach and demanded the keys. The woman pulled a pistol from the glove box and fired five shots at the carjacker, who dropped his pistol and ran away. He was arrested at a hospital where he sought treatment for a gunshot wound. "We're kind of hailing (the man and woman) as heroes;' said Richland County, S.C., Sheriff Leon Lott. The suspect stands accused of committing nine additional armed robberies in less than a month. (The State, Columbia, SC, 01/17/07)
The safety of his mother and nephew was all 22-year-old Phillip Mendoza could think about after six armed men invaded their home. Mendoza snuck into a bedroom and grabbed a shotgun. “1 knew they had my mom with a gun and my little nephew,” he recalls. Police say one of the intruders kicked open the bedroom door and Mendoza fired a load of buckshot, critically injuring the suspect. Then another intruder appeared in the doorway and Mendoza fired again, killing one of the men. The other intruders and the wounded suspect fled. Two were apprehended. (The Tucson Citizen, Tucson, AZ, 01/04/07)
Sonya Dople and her boyfriend, Charles Green, were getting ready for dinner when two masked men burst inside with a BB gun. Police say the men held the gun to Dople's head and forced her to the ground. That's when Green came around the corner, pointing his gun at the intruders and demanding their departure. When they refused, he shot one of the suspects and they fled the home. "If we hadn't had the gun and [Green] hadn't done that ... we could've been dead today;' said Dople. (WATE6 News, Knoxville, TN, 01/11/07) |
Don't believe for a minute that this so called mayor's campaign is anything but another step toward a ban on the private, legal ownership of firearms. Closely coordinating with gun-ban groups, Bloomberg continues to use the federal courts to empower him and his growing cadre of big city machine politicians from across the country to destroy or alter and control all legitimate firearm commerce in America-top to bottom. With enactment of the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act- and with the enactment, five years in a row, of an amendment prohibiting gun ban politicians from misusing sensitive federal Law enforcement "trace data" to fuel their lawsuits-NRA members and our allies in Congress moved to block misuse of the courts. We put the brakes on schemes designed to bankrupt America's firearm industry. Big city lawsuits were deemed moot, trumped by the new law. But not in New York. Not with extremist Mayor Michael Bloomberg. And not with U.S. District Court Judge Jack B. Weinstein. Bloomberg-despite the ban on predatory legal action-has filed many new lawsuits, this time against small businesses with very limited legal resources in numerous states. As a result, Judge Weinstein has now bestowed upon New York City the power to oversee 24/7 the daily lives and commerce of people in other states who run federally regulated firearm businesses. New York trial lawyers and gun-ban bureaucrats have literally taken over the day-to-day business of those small dealers sued by New York City. They are doing so through Bloomberg's hand-picked court-appointed "Master"-a trial lawyer with professional ties to the Violence Policy Center (VPC). The VPC is a major player in Bloomberg's lawsuits and aims to remove all handguns, semi-autos and unregistered "intermediate sniper rifles" (read, accurate hunting rifles) from private hands in America. With all of this, Bloomberg's rubberstamp media effort-amplified by the taxpayer-paid PR staffs of 150-plus big city mayors and the total resources of every gun ban group-promotes the big lie that this campaign is merely aimed at what they call "illegal guns." Never forget that to Bloomberg's hand puppets at VPC and the Brady Campaign, and to his axis in Congress-like U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy - "illegal gun" means your guns and my guns, all - hated category by hated category. Cheap guns, expensive guns, accurate guns, semi-autos, little guns, big guns-are all guns owned by peaceable Americans that these politicians want to turn into "illegal guns." I said Bloomberg's court ordered gun-ban schemes are part of a step-by-step plan. New York's senior U.s. Senator, Charles Schumer, elevated to the number three leadership position in the Senate, is working in tandem with Mayor Bloomberg in efforts to give mayors, greedy lawyers and gun-ban groups new and reenergized powers to destroy the firearm industry-all under the cover of the big lie, "stemming the flow of illegal guns." As a first order of business, Schumer introduced S. 77-a broad attack on legitimate firearm commerce that includes a grant of permanent open access to internal federal law enforcement data on gun sales for political purposes. On the House side, the first real test for new legislators elected on their yet unproven support for Second Amendment rights will come when Congress, once again, takes up Rep. Todd Tiahrt's (R-KS) amendment keeping federal firearm "trace data" confidential except for use in bona fide criminal investigations. That proven legislation, banning access by trial lawyers, gun-ban groups and politicians to "trace data,” fully protects the legitimate law-enforcement use of firearm information collected by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) for federal, state and local agencies. Every time it has come up, the Tiahrt ban on public release of this classified internal law enforcement information has received the support of BATFE and of major law enforcement groups like the Fraternal Order of Police. Every year, it has overwhelmingly passed the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. The Tiahrt Amendment must be preserved. Write, e-mail or phone your member of Congress and U.S. senators. Tell them this issue has nothing whatsoever to do with "illegal guns," and everything to do with stopping the planned destruction of lawful commerce in firearms and ammunition. Despite what the media, Bloomberg, the gun-ban groups and their cadre of big city mayors say, a vote against Tiahrt is a vote for gun control and will not be forgotten or forgiven. |
For well over a year and a half, New York City's billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has pursued a relentless disinformation campaign trying to convince the public that federally regulated firearm dealers in far-flung states are responsible for the unlawful acts of illegally armed, violent criminals who freely roam his mean streets. His big-lie mantra is built around the phony phrase "illegal guns."
As you've seen by our striking new web portal, www.nra.org, the NRA is reaching out in innovative ways to make use of the Internet. I'm also personally carrying our message into entirely new environments, to audiences who may not know the breadth and depth of NRA and our activities. And I'd like you to join me. Last year's elections were a painful reminder that we are currently a nation divided, despite our common values. Though we have many friends on both sides of the aisle, this makes the going more challenging. In such an environment, the question becomes how to reach the American people with our message and priorities and how to bring them to support NRA and its mission of protecting our Constitutional freedoms. The reality is that most people in America are with us. Polls consistently show that more than 70 percent of Americans know and believe that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right. Polls also show that most people support the NRA in opposing further restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. The challenge is getting the message out. The mainstream media doesn't give us a fair shake, and it costs a great deal of money to go on television or radio. Every dollar we spend on those media outlets is one less dollar available for our members' shooting, hunting and gun safety programs. NRA has always been able to do a lot with a little and wise use of our resources is always part of the equation. But the methods and means of communicating with folks have changed dramatically because of the Internet. On the World Wide Web, millions can be contacted for free. Information can be easily shared, along with links to follow up with more in-depth material for those who are interested. During the years that I've served as an officer of your NRA, I have worked to build relationships with leaders of other organizations friendly to the NRA's cause. Some of these people are among the leaders of this new online media to which most of us now have access. As we have built these relationships, some have invited me to provide material for their readers. I've accepted those offers to help spread the mission of the National Rifle Association to new friends who are not yet part of our organization. The first two of these websites, worldnetdaily.com and townhall.com, have millions of daily visitors. Many of these people are gun owners and the vast majority of them share our concerns for our constitutional liberties, our American heritage and our nation's future. But not all are NRA members. Providing NRA's message through these outlets enables us to reach a new audience, inform them of our issues, speak to their issues where we have common ground, and ask them to join with us. These websites have their own issues and their own concerns. Some of these you will agree with, others you may not. That's fine. We all share a love for freedom and for America, and that's a good basis to begin a dialogue. These are only the first alternative media that I'm using. Others will follow. I encourage you to direct your web-using friends to these online columns, which will also link back to the NRA website and extend an offer for membership and to sign up for our e-mail alerts. This is also a great way to showcase your NRA's brand-new web presence. The NRA has totally revolutionized our website. It takes advantage of the latest technologies to allow us to provide you with news, speeches, interviews and other interactive materials. This site is one you can be proud to show others. Please go to www.nra.org today to see what we now have to offer. Become familiar with what's there. Encourage your friends to visit the site as well. And come back often. I invite you to join me in trying to reach out with the pro-freedom message of the NRA. With our new online resources, feel free to e-mail the link to friends. Talk up what the NRA is doing on the blogs, and direct people to the site. The NRA is expanding in entirely new directions, and these expansions give you tools to reach others. With every person we reach, we can potentially turn a vote, get someone to take a fresh look at firearm ownership, or consider how they can help preserve the 'great American tradition of hunting. We don't need to persuade everyone. But in reaching so many millions-and what's more, reaching them for free-we are bound to persuade some. And in a nation that is so closely divided, some is all we need. Check out the website today, and look for my columns and articles online. Let's go talk with America. As you've seen by our striking new web portal, www.nra.org, the NRA is reaching out in innovative ways to make use of the Internet. I'm also personally carrying our message into entirely new environments, to audiences who may not know the breadth and depth of NRA and our activities. And I'd like you to join me. Last year's elections were a painful reminder that we are currently a nation divided, despite our common values. Though we have many friends on both sides of the aisle, this makes the going more challenging. In such an environment, the question becomes how to reach the American people with our message and priorities and how to bring them to support NRA and its mission of protecting our Constitutional freedoms. The reality is that most people in America are with us. Polls consistently show that more than 70 percent of Americans know and believe that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right. Polls also show that most people support the NRA in opposing further restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. The challenge is getting the message out. The mainstream media doesn't give us a fair shake, and it costs a great deal of money to go on television or radio. Every dollar we spend on those media outlets is one less dollar available for our members' shooting, hunting and gun safety programs. NRA has always been able to do a lot with a little and wise use of our resources is always part of the equation. But the methods and means of communicating with folks have changed dramatically because of the Internet. On the World Wide Web, millions can be contacted for free. Information can be easily shared, along with links to follow up with more in-depth material for those who are interested. During the years that I've served as an officer of your NRA, I have worked to build relationships with leaders of other organizations friendly to the NRA's cause. Some of these people are among the leaders of this new online media to which most of us now have access. As we have built these relationships, some have invited me to provide material for their readers. I've accepted those offers to help spread the mission of the National Rifle Association to new friends who are not yet part of our organization. The first two of these websites, worldnetdaily.com and townhall.com, have millions of daily visitors. Many of these people are gun owners and the vast majority of them share our concerns for our constitutional liberties, our American heritage and our nation's future. But not all are NRA members. Providing NRA's message through these outlets enables us to reach a new audience, inform them of our issues, speak to their issues where we have common ground, and ask them to join with us. These websites have their own issues and their own concerns. Some of these you will agree with, others you may not. That's fine. We all share a love for freedom and for America, and that's a good basis to begin a dialogue. These are only the first alternative media that I'm using. Others will follow. I encourage you to direct your web-using friends to these online columns, which will also link back to the NRA website and extend an offer for membership and to sign up for our e-mail alerts. This is also a great way to showcase your NRA's brand-new web presence. The NRA has totally revolutionized our website. It takes advantage of the latest technologies to allow us to provide you with news, speeches, interviews and other interactive materials. This site is one you can be proud to show others. Please go to www.nra.org today to see what we now have to offer. Become familiar with what's there. Encourage your friends to visit the site as well. And come back often. I invite you to join me in trying to reach out with the pro-freedom message of the NRA. With our new online resources, feel free to e-mail the link to friends. Talk up what the NRA is doing on the blogs, and direct people to the site. The NRA is expanding in entirely new directions, and these expansions give you tools to reach others. With every person we reach, we can potentially turn a vote, get someone to take a fresh look at firearm ownership, or consider how they can help preserve the 'great American tradition of hunting. We don't need to persuade everyone. But in reaching so many millions-and what's more, reaching them for free-we are bound to persuade some. And in a nation that is so closely divided, some is all we need. Check out the website today, and look for my columns and articles online. Let's go talk with America. |
