A California woman was playing the role of getaway driver as her gang-member son looked for a home to burglarize, according to police. When the suspect found a target, he broke the lock on the screen door and began yelling at the female occupant. The burglar gave chase as the woman fled to the backyard, but she halted his advance with three rounds from a .38-caliber revolver. The intruder ran back to his mother, and the homeowner phoned police. When the suspects failed to locate a hospital, the "mother of the year" flagged down a sheriff's deputy. The deputy, however, was responding to the victim's 9-1-1 call and apprehended mother and son. (Los Angeles Daily News, Woodland Hills, CA, 10/19/06)
Police say Rodney Hendrick and his wife were sleeping when a 24year-old man smashed a front door window, waking the couple. Mr. Hendrick went to investigate, armed with a .3S7 Magnum revolver, and found that the suspect had left. Foolishly, the suspect soon returned and lofted a brick at the front door, knocking it open. He entered the residence, and Hendrick fired a single shot. The intruder died at the scene. (Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV, 10/20/06)
Dan Brown believed a pair of burglars had been casing his auto repair garage. "Someone had to have been watching us because they came right after I left;' he said. Police say two thieves confronted Brown's wife, who was alone, and demanded money. Instead, she grabbed a pole used to prop up car hoods and used it to strike the biggest intruder, who then hit her on the head as she ran toward the shop's office. "She got there and pulled out the gun we keep in the drawer for protection;' Brown said. The suspects promptly fled. Mrs. Brown has since applied for a concealed-carry permit. (Tribune Review, Pittsburgh, PA,09/26/06)
Customers were browsing the shelves at a food store shortly before closing time when three men entered the building. Police say the men waited for the customers to leave before announcing an armed robbery. Once they emptied the store's coffers, the robbers took all store employees to the back of the store and bound them with duct tape. With a gun aimed at his head, the store manager, who has a concealed-carry permit, freed himself and drew a AS-caliber handgun. The manager fired several times, striking his assailant twice. The injured robber died while the other suspects fled. "In my opinion, if this man had not had a gun, my concern is that they would have executed these people;' county prosecutor William Forsyth said. (Grand Rapids Press, Grand Rapids, MI, 10/18/06)
A man was exhibiting strange behavior, hurling insults and threats randomly at passersby. Police say he then began focusing on a single pedestrian. He threatened the man's life, then pummeled him with a volley of punches and kicks until the man fell injured to the ground. The assault victim, a concealed-carry permit holder, retrieved his handgun and fired once at his assailant, who died at the hospital. "He was down there, minding his own business. There is nothing to think he was anything but a random target;' said Seattle police spokeswoman Deb Brown. (The Seattle Times, Seattle, WA, 10/08/06)
Police say a man confronted Rose Ann Kozlowski and her 14-year-old son at their home, then bound them with neckties in the master bedroom, held them at knifepoint and threatened their lives. The intruder began ransacking the home for jewelry and other valuables, which he placed in the family's SUV. Meanwhile, Kozlowski managed to free herself and untie her son. She retrieved her husband's revolver, handed it to her son and locked the double doors to the bedroom. The incensed intruder pushed at the doors, partially opening them as he waved his knife. The teenager aimed his father's pistol toward the opening between the doors and squeezed the trigger. The armed robber dropped dead. (Caller-Times, Corpus Christi, TX, 10/11/06)
According to authorities, a man accosted a husband and wife one evening after they returned home from their business. "It appears he either followed them or was waiting on them to get out of their vehicle;' said Sheriff George H. Payne, Jr. The man struck the husband with a gun, then fired several shots at the couple. The man's wife, a 73-year-old grandmother of four with two great-grandchildren, grabbed her handgun and fired back. The suspect fled to a hospital, where he died. "I want people to know you have the right to protect yourself, especially from a robber that's shooting at you;' Payne said. (The Sun Herald, Biloxi, MS, 1 0/18/06) |
With Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) taking power as Speaker of the House, and with committee chairmen like arch anti Second Amendment foe John Conyers (D-Mich.) at the helm of the Judiciary Committee, and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) running the Government Reform Committee, I have no doubt we will be facing serious legislative threats from gun-ban groups pressing the House of Representatives in the weeks and months to come. Although the one-seat Democratic margin in the Senate represents a lesser shift, some of our worst enemies -like Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.)-will hold aggressive power as the majority. Already, gun-ban groups like the Brady Campaign and Violence Policy Center, and Michael Bloomberg's coalition of urban mayors are demanding that the new Congress roll back the hard-earned pro-Second Amendment victories we have won since the end of the dark days of the Clinton era. Under the guise of what the Brady Campaign calls "common-sense gun laws;' they would renew the power of urban mayors and urban-state governors to sue lawful firearm commerce into oblivion. They would remove recently enacted civil liberties curbs on government agencies and give free passes for abuse against ordinary citizens. And they would reinstitute a more malevolent form of the Clinton gun ban. They would do all that were it not for the National Rifle Association and millions of pro-gun rights voters. Immediately following the elections, the Brady Campaign was crowing that it was a "national momentum shift" ... "that creates opportunities for passage of common-sense gun proposals:' Common sense? Let me define that with the Brady's own oppressive list. There is no attack on our rights that they don't hail as "sensible.” Gun bans? You bet, including single-shot, bolt-action target rifles! And never forget that the Brady Campaign was responsible for the confiscation of legally registered guns from law-abiding citizens in California. And the Brady Campaign hails enactment of handgun design requirements for imprinting ammunition - a junk science, backdoor ban on virtually all handgun designs today. Where the Brady Campaign and its axis see the election as "a wave of positive results for supporters of sensible laws;' I say that's just bunk. The political reality is something else. Don't get me wrong, the months to come will surely test everyone of us. With this election, we have moved from a position where NRA supporters in the House and Senate called the agenda. With committee power shifted to control largely by "F"-rated Congressmen and Senators, they will be calling the shots. But in the history of the modern NRA, we have produced positive results regardless of the party in power. The L.A. Times, in a post election analysis, warned that in "demanding what they consider their due: a set of ambitious - and politically provocative - actions on gun control ..., “ pressure groups were endangering the new Democratic majority which, in large part, was won by putting forth candidates who were solid on issues like gun rights. The Times story quoted the Brady Campaign as claiming, "Guns are a tricky issue, but the elections show there's nothing to be afraid of.” But the word The Times used to describe gun control for the new majority was "radioactive:' In a sense, the fact that "gun control" has become such a dangerous issue, especially for rural state politicians, is a great testament to the power of individual NRA members and to just how much influence you have had on the electoral process, including this last election. Thank you one and all for what you have accomplished and for the stand you must take in the weeks and months ahead to preserve our hard-won legislative victories from extremists who now control the reins of power. In working to ·get his one seat majority in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer hand-picked candidates who were solid Second Amendment supporters. The strategy was to cancel out the pro-gun vote. It will prove to be a double-edged sword. Although he got his narrow majority, he got something else-a number of new pro-gun-rights Senators whom we hope will be true to their word. And keeping these new Senators and Congressmen in the pro-Second Amendment column is our job. You and I and all freedom-loving Americans need to make sure that for the new Congress, any support for any gun control will indeed prove "radioactive:' |
In the days immediately following the November elections, I spoke with thousands of NRA members from across the nation and am heartened by your thoughtful reaction to the radical change in Congress. Far from any sense of gloom, pro-gun voters are expressing a rededication to the core values of our cause, and a reaffirmation of the fighting spirit that defines the National Rifle Association. We must again prove we can meet any challenge with victory.
My family experienced a tragic loss a year ago, and hunters came to my aid. My cousin, an experienced pilot, was flying his 17-year old daughter home to California from a family fishing trip when their single-engine plane disappeared in mountainous northeastern Nevada. His wife and children were' devastated and our family scrambled to launch a search and rescue mission. When the Civil Air Patrol's search found nothing, my friends at the Arizona Game & Fish Department put me in touch with their counterparts at the Nevada Department of Wildlife. Nevada DOW was spectacular. They issued an immediate press release asking sportsmen to be on the lookout for the plane. They provided us, without charge, a list of hunters who had drawn permits along the plane's probable flight path, and our family mailed thousands of flyers. We hoped against hope that we would find our cousins, though we worried about the treacherous terrain along the route. Countless hunters fanned out through the region as the elk hunting season started. My brother-in-law, who worked the ground search with local law enforcement, said that every hunter they met had our flyer in hand. Days later, an experienced elk hunting guide on horseback who had seen our flyer miraculously discovered the wreckage of my cousin's plane in a densely wooded section of the Jarbridge Wilderness area called "God's Pocket:' The details of the crash scene made it clear-to the everlasting sadness of my family-that there were no survivors. This terrible loss to my family, especially of my beautiful young cousin Claire, is still difficult to bear. But in our grief, we were so grateful to the Nevada Department of Wildlife, the Elko County and Humboldt County Sheriffs offices and countless hunters who cared enough to help my family in our time of need. As NRA president, it's part of my job to work with state wildlife agencies and to spend enough time in the field to learn what hunters need and how NRA can meet those needs. But as much as I love hunting, my personal loss gave me a whole new appreciation for hunters, millions of whom are NRA members. Hunting is one of the richest and most honored traditions we have, and it is a true American passion. Every year millions of Americans leave the warmth and comfort of hearth and home, wearing blaze orange like a uniform, and plunge into the great outdoors. Hunting hones the mind and the body. It increases our endurance to carry our gear over long distances and pack out the game animal we harvested. It quickens the eye to look for that familiar shape or a glimpse of movement, usually from a prey that is all-too-well camouflaged in its natural environment. It takes quiet patience to wait for a clear shot, and a steady hand to make that shot count. More than that, however, hunting provides quality time for families. Many a man was taught life's lessons as a boy trekking through the woods with his father or grandfather, or at the lodge or around the campfire. And plenty of women (myself included) also treasure memories of their first hunt. The spirit in the American heart that gives us the drive, focus, imagination and ambition to achieve what we do is the same spirit that millions of hunters show in the wilderness. Most of us don't need to hunt for food. Meat comes packaged in the local store. You can get it fast and without getting cold or wet. But we choose to hunt. This is proof positive that the pioneer spirit is alive and well in the hearts of American hunters. We still climb mountains, descend into valleys, forge streams and plunge into thickets to enjoy the beauty of creation and partake of the bounty of the natural world. That is the American hunter. As painful as my own personal experience was, it's just one example of the difficult challenges that so many people face in the wild parts of America. And so, too, every day hunters across the country help strangers and those in need, just as they helped me. So to every hunter reading these words, I offer you my deepest gratitude and most sincere respect. You are the heart of the NRA, and I thank you. |
In coming months I'll talk about the new reality we face with both chambers of Congress under Democratic control. But this holiday season, I want to pay tribute and say a personal thank you to NRA's largest constituency: hunters.