gun control – Page 2 – Odd Stuffing

Gun Safety Laws – IT’S A TRAP!

Every time I hear about another round of so-called “gun safety” laws, I tend to go full Admiral Ackbar. What is it about gun control, gun confiscation and gun elimination groups coming up with “gun safety” laws that make me nervous? Perhaps it’s that they have nothing to do with safety and everything to do with control, confiscation and elimination.

A recent case in Massachusetts highlights the issue. Massachusetts law requires all firearms to be secured in a locked cabinet or with a trigger lock when not “carried by or under the control of the owner or other lawfully authorized user.”

Based on a tip, police obtained a search warrant for the house of a 65-year-old male who lived alone and had “dozens of improperly secured firearms inside”. 98 mostly vintage firearms including shotguns, rifles and pistols, including Mauser bolt-action rifles and lever-action Winchesters, were seized during the search along with cases of ammunition. According to police, “Most of the items were improperly stored, strewn about his home”. Also seized were five “military grade ordnance shells” reportedly from a Naval Depot that closed in 1962 and several brass grave markers from the cemetery across the street from the residence. Following the seizure, the town’s police chief proudly boasted, “All the weapons are out of the house, the neighborhood is safe,”

For the sake of today’s argument, let’s skip over the grave markers and the so-called “military grade ordinance” which were reported to have gun powder in them, but didn’t have to be disarmed before being removed, a.k.a. probably demilitarized collectables with a little bit of residue, and deal with the subject of the search, unsecured firearms.

How did this happen? Most likely someone visited this person, obviously a collector of classic arms, and reported it to police who obtained the warrant. Seized were all the “improperly secured” firearms as well as those that were properly secured AND all ammunition on the property, secured or otherwise. Note: Massachusetts law also places restrictions on the amount of ammunition you can legally possess, with and without a special storage permit. None of the reports I’ve seen indicated he had more than the allowable amount of ammunition, just “cases” of ammo.

So what is a properly secured firearm in Massachusetts? Apparently one that is stored in a locked cabinet, has a trigger or gun lock on it or is under the person’s direct control. Typically direct control means being in the same room with it. Your firearm on the kitchen table would not be under your direct control if you are upstairs in a bedroom. It doesn’t seem to matter if your house is a locked, alarmed, has 24-hour video surveillance or otherwise inaccessible to anyone but you, the house itself is not considered “secure”.

The theory behind the so-called “gun-safety” storage laws is that they prevent thefts and suicides. Well, yes and no. Having a state-approved trigger lock or cable on a firearm isn’t going to prevent its theft since you just take it with you. Even full sized safes can be cut open or, as they are in many cases, moved out of the house to be opened later, even if they are bolted down. Trigger locks or cables may slow down the curious toddler, but any age above that is going to figure out how to get it off. And if you already have access to the firearm and locks, well… how is this going to prevent suicide?

Many states mandate some form of locked storage. More recently, municipalities have jumped on the gun control bandwagon and mandated their own stricter versions, including requiring firearms be unloaded with ammunition stored separately.

First off, proper firearm storage is critical for everyone who owns firearms; it is the single most important aspect of responsible firearm ownership. Those who rely on their firearms for self-defense inside their home are especially acute of this.

One of the things we discuss in basic firearms classes is safe storage in the home, but most importantly is that it is not a one size fits all solution. What constitutes “safe” may be look radically different for someone who has children vs. someone who lives alone. There are a wide variety of security products designed for rapid accessibility combined with high safety, but these options become progressively expensive as the features increase and may be out of reach for everyone.

We often think of our homes as our castles, our private domain where we are protected from the outside world, including government interference. We believe that as long as we are safe within our walls, nobody will bother us. However this case in Massachusetts, and many others like it, illustrate otherwise. Under the guise of “gun safety”, it is just another tool to be used to take firearms from the otherwise law-abiding citizen.

Whenever you hear someone proposing more “gun safety” laws, rules to “make you safer”, think about what happens when you don’t measure up to someone else’s one-size-fits-all standard, even if it doesn’t make any sense in your situation. You might want to think about whom we allow inside our castle walls as well.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #SecondAmendment, #billofrights, #firearmsafety, #guncontrol, #gunconfiscation, #mewe, #medium, #instagram, #oddstuffing.com

The Future of Gun Control in California

Like many who support the Second Amendment and live in an anti-Constitution / anti-firearm state, I tend to keep an eye on what is happening in the state capitol. Every little bit of gun control legislation brings us closer to their goal of complete civilian disarmament. So why I wondered are there so few gun control bills pending this year? The answer to what will be enacted in the future is what was proposed in the past.

Sure, there are a few pending slaps in the face like expanding the ‘one handgun per month’ limitation to ‘one firearm per month’ – which would include party-to-party transfers. I’m sure we’ll also see a few “gut and amend” surprises towards the end of the legislative session. Just enough to keep the pro-rights groups engaged in the here and now. But compared to past years, there seems to be very few new bills. Why? Remember, California is in this for the long haul, whittling rights away one-by-one. Last year’s Gunmageddon was only the setup for what is to come.

One previously proposed bill was for all center-fire, semi-automatic magazine fed long guns to be classified as so-called “assault weapons”. Why isn’t it being pushed now? Simple, the new bullet-button assault weapon law doesn’t go into full effect until the beginning of 2018. At that time, all bullet button firearms must be registered as “assault weapons”, have their evil features removed, be removed from the state or turned in to law enforcement. Since they have not published the administrative rules for this yet, law-abiding firearm owners are trying to decide whether to register their evil featured firearms or go featureless without the regulations to guide them.

My prediction is that in 2018 this dilemma will be solved for us. After the deadline for registering all bullet button firearms has passed, all center-fire, semi-automatic magazine fed long guns will then be classified as “assault weapons”, with the same mandatory registration or remove rules. As horrific as that sounds, rimfire will most likely be added to the “assault weapon” category following that like they are in other states. Only when the most comprehensive list of registered “assault weapons” is compiled will the final step be taken – the outright ban of all registered “assault weapons”.

What, did you expect they’d keep their promise that if you registered them you’d be able to keep them? Did you forget about all those pre-ban standard capacity magazines they said you could keep – and you now need to get rid of by July 1, 2017?

And if you thought Proposition 63’s and / or SB 1235’s ammunition buying license and background checks were bad, what it enables is worse. Previous proposals to limit the amount of ammunition you could purchase would have been impossible to enforce before. With a new central database of all ammo purchases, adding a limit will be a breeze and just another “common sense” restriction. These laws also enable limiting you to purchase ammunition for only those firearm calibers you have registered with the State. This helps to achieve the full gun registry the State wants AND limits the ammo you can buy to only what the State knows about.

California and other anti-firearm states have learned from their mistakes and are systematically restricting and eliminating our rights one piece at a time. Every law, every regulation, every rule is now designed to be built upon by the next level of Constitutional infringements.

Welcome to the future of gun control in California.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #guncontrol, #secondamendment, #constitution, #gunrights, #mewe, #medium, #instagram, #oddstuffing.com

Of Governments & Guns

I’ve never quite understood government’s fascination with gun control. Having lived most of my pre-California life in Vermont and Texas, the People’s Republik of Kalifornistan’s obsession with eliminating personally owned firearms confounded me. Under the notion that understanding the problem is the first step to solving it, I’ve developed my theory of governments and guns.

Big governments don’t just dislike guns; they hate them. They hate them so much, they don’t want you to have them. But it is a contradictory opposition. They don’t completely oppose guns, only the ones they don’t have. It is of course all about power and control.

To understand this relationship, I needed to step back and look at the goal of big government. From what I’ve seen, the goal is simply to be bigger, the bigger the better.

Why have a 10-person department when you can have 100? If a one million dollar budget is good, a 10 million dollar one is even better. If there is something you can do that isn’t being done now, do it! It doesn’t matter if the actual need isn’t there, is duplicated, triplicated or more elsewhere. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t actually work or people don’t want it. It doesn’t matter if it can be done cheaper and better by someone else. And it certainly doesn’t matter if doing it causes more problems than it creates, you can always create a new solution to the problem you just created! The more budget and personnel you have, the more power you have.

But that is only half the equation. The other half is controlling as much of peoples lives as possible. How does a government do that? Easy, you try to solve any problem you can think of, even if it’s not really a problem or – and this one is key – if you were the one who caused the problem in the first place. The more “solutions” you can provide services for, the more control of lives you can achieve. Every aspect of your waking life can be subjected to the state’s control. Once you get a hook in somewhere, it’s easy to increase or adjust the control to your desired effect through additional administrative regulations. The devil is always in the details.

So where do guns come into this equation? Simply put, firearms allow individuals to control one of the most basic elements of their lives; their own personal safety and the safety of their families. Eliminate the ability of individuals to defend themselves, and they become more reliant on the state.

If you want to see what happens when you eliminate lawfully owned firearms, look no further than the failed social experiments in the United Kingdom and Australia. After declaring virtually every lawfully owned firearm an unacceptable public safety risk – since everyone with a firearm is on the verge of a shooting spree at any time – and regulating the remaining ones nearly out of existence, defending yourself from violence was essentially outlawed. What was the result? Increases in violent crime and more helpless victims. And what of the guns? The criminals still have them; they never bought into this whole disarmament thing. And being criminals, they can always get more. Don’t believe it? Take a look at how many firearms are recovered from criminals by the police in the UK and Australia every single day.

So where does a disarmed public turn to for help? Since personally owned firearms are no longer an option, remember – every firearm owner is a threat to public safety in the eyes of the state; they turn to the government. As crime goes up, the public demands safety. This means more taxes for more police, more courts, more prisons, more victims programs, more rehabilitation programs, more drug programs, more education programs, more administrators, more regulators… more government.

The government will never and can never be there to protect you, only scoop up the pieces into to a long plastic bag. Disarming law-abiding citizens only turns them into law-abiding victims. When we allow our right to defend ourselves and our families to be stripped away, relying solely on the government to provide for us in every situation, we give up more than our safety and security, we give up our freedom.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #secondamendment, #guncontrol, #biggovernment, #safetyandsecurity, #mewe, #medium, #instagram, #oddstuffing.com

More Gun Control, Cali Style

As if last year’s Gunmageddon laws and Prop 63 weren’t enough for California, they are back at it this year proposing even more draconian gun control measures which do nothing to fight crime or increase public safety, only punish the law abiding. As evidence, I give you Senator Anthony Portantino’s SB 497 changing the limit of one handgun a month to one firearm a month.

The Senator’s rational is this will close a so-called “loophole” by including long guns in a monthly buying limit. He argues there is no reason why someone would need to buy more than one long gun each month. The direct quote: “This is not the Wild West,” he said. “California’s in the 21st century, and you shouldn’t be able to walk into a gun store and come out with an arsenal.”

Here is my very personal reason why I oppose this.

My wife is the director for our county’s Women on Target program. For those of you who don’t know about NRA’s Women on Target, it is a program dedicated to providing women with a safe, friendly and fun introduction to recreational shooting. The program here is a small one; this will be its third year with three to four events per year. It is a 100% volunteer, bootstrapped effort. With materials from the Women of the NRA and together with a training company that offers its resources, our local range providing the facility and a local restaurant providing lunch for the participants and the many volunteers – oh yes, the wonderful volunteers! Men and women from the community who provide their time, expertise and kindness to help local women of all ages learn about firearms and safety.

Previously the program was able to borrow the firearms needed to run the clinics from friends and families. Now California says the only way you can loan a firearm to anyone other than a small list of immediate family members is for the loaner and loanee to go to the local gun shop, pay $35, the state mandated fee for a party-to-party transfer, and wait ten days just like a normal firearm purchase. Getting it back to the original loaner is $35 and ten more days.

Since borrowing under these circumstances is cost prohibitive and time consuming, and having a hodgepodge of whatever the instructors and volunteers can bring isn’t effective for education, it means acquiring them. The good news in this situation is a very generous grant pending from the Northern California Friends of the NRA. However since firearms in California must be registered to an individual, not a company, trust or non-profit, the plan for the program is for firearms to be registered to my wife. That way if she is ill, traveling or otherwise unable to attend a clinic, as one of the volunteers I can still ‘borrow’ them for the event using the family loaning exception.

On the list of pending purchases are 13 firearms, eight of them handguns. Under the current one handgun a month law, even splitting registration between the two of us will take four months, eight months if they are all in her name. Under the proposed one firearm a month law, seven months split, 13 months if they all are registered to her.

This Women On Target program isn’t the only one impacted. Even long running training and educational programs that have enough firearms still need to be sure the registered owner is with the firearms during training to not run afoul of the new loaning laws. Acquiring replacements or additional firearms puts them in the same position of having to wait months to years to replace or expand inventory.

It is already illegal to buy a firearm for someone else. It is already illegal to give someone a firearm without doing a legal transfer. It is already illegal to use a firearm in the commission of a crime, to say nothing about committing the crime in the first place and the host of other crimes that come along with it. How is making legal purchases illegal, going to make anyone safer?

If California spent their time and money enforcing the laws already in place, punishing those who break those laws and keeping them incarcerated instead of letting them out early to prey on the public, instead of creating new laws targeting law abiding citizens, the crime rate would actually go down.

What California is doing is obvious and inevitable. Each incremental, “common sense” gun control law that further restricts only the activity of law abiding citizens is another step towards the eventual goal of no firearms in private hands in California.

So congratulations California! You’ve made it more difficult to teach women in our county about safety and responsible firearms usage, as well as categorizing my wife’s volunteer educational activity as amassing an “arsenal”.

Welcome to Gun Control, Cali Style.

Bob

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Firearm or Tomahawk?

A news story from my former home state of Vermont last week highlighted how a homeowner successfully used a tomahawk to fight back against a homeless man armed with a rifle who broke into his house. Major kudus to the homeowner for using the tools at his immediate disposal. However, I question the media outlets that choose to publish this story, but never report on successful, law-abiding citizens using firearms to defend themselves.

Granted this was an interesting story due to the unusual choice of self-defense weapon. There are scattered stories every year from around the country of people defending themselves with everything from a katana to a frying pan. Again, major kudos for anyone who takes care of business with whatever they have at hand. The problem I have with these unique news stories is they are used by the anti-gun extremists to prove the point that the average citizen does not need firearms.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for using improvised weaponry in a pinch when your life is on the line. But is that really what you want to bet your life on? Sure, some very highly trained people can slay their enemy with a MRE spoon, but there aren’t a lot of instructors training the proper use of a modern tomahawk for self-defense.

For many law-abiding citizens in this country, the home defensive weapon of choice is a firearm. The right choice between a handgun, rifle and shotgun depends on a number of factors, but a firearm allows even someone with a very small stature to effectively defend themselves from the largest home invader or invaders.

There are an estimated 350 million legally owned firearms in the United States. With record sales in 2015 and 2016, that number continues to grow. And while the number of criminal uses of firearms is closely tracked and often exaggerated by the media and gun control lobby, the number of defensive uses of firearms barely gets a mention. The gun banners contend defensive firearms use does not happen at all or the incidents are statistically insignificant. However, the best estimates indicate there are between one to two million lawful defensive uses of firearms – outnumbering felonious uses by 30 to 80 to one. In the majority of lawful defensive firearms uses, the firearm is not even discharged.

I will admit that a firearm is not always going to be the best defensive choice for everyone. While I have seen men, women and children (yes, under adult supervision) of all sizes, in all physical conditions, from professional athletes to those confined to wheelchairs, use firearms effectively, there are some who simply may not have the physical strength or agility to use one safely.

There are also those who do not wish to use firearms because they do not want to take a life. They would prefer to use a “less deadly” option such as a knife or bat. While I would never criticize or disparage anyone who does not wish to take another human life, I would also point out that knives or baseball bats are considered deadly weapons and are just as capable of taking a life as a firearm. In fact, they are used far more often to kill in this country than the so-called “assault weapons” the gun banners are trying to outlaw.

My point for all this is simple. Your choice of what you defend your home and family with, or what you use to defend your life and the lives of your family outside your home, should be yours and yours alone. You should be able to choose the tool that best meets your needs, which you can train with and be confident in using in every situation.

Your choice should NOT be made for you by someone who believes you should use a tomahawk instead of a firearm.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #secondamendment, #2A, #righttobeararms, #tomahawk, #mewe, #medium, #instagram, #oddstuffing.com

As California Goes…

You’re probably familiar with the saying: ‘As California goes, so goes the nation.’ It is the notion that things started in California will spread and be adopted by the rest of the nation. While certainly true in some areas, there are others where California really needs to get with the times and join the rest of the nation, especially when it comes to the Second Amendment.

To be fair, California has initiated a lot of good. As a center of technology with many great universities, the sixth largest economy in the world and roughly 12 percent of the nation’s population, one would hope the state would contribute significantly to the overall good of the country. However being a leader in one area does not make you a leader in all. Sadly California is going in the opposite direction when it comes to the Second Amendment.

To say that California doesn’t like firearms is a massive understatement. California seems to HATE firearms. But wait; let me clarify that a bit. California seems to HATE personally owned firearms. It has no problem at all with firearms owned by the state or used to protect those in political office or the economic elitists. It’s just everyone else they don’t want to have firearms.

In my now 20+ years of living in California, I’ve seen a slow but steady incremental approach to eliminating the rights of private law abiding citizens to own, carry and use firearms. Each new law enacted is labeled as a “common sense” or “gun safety” measure to increase “public safety”, but sadly as we’ve seen, do nothing to impact crime or criminals, only the law abiding. They only serve to bring the state closer to a total ban on civilian firearm ownership.

Let’s be really clear on the whole criminal vs. law-abiding citizen thing. The definition of a criminal is someone who does not obey the law. A law-abiding citizen on the other hand, does obey the law. So when a law is created which only restricts or redefines otherwise lawful behavior as illegal, it will do nothing to impact criminals. It only serves to remove the rights from those who obey the law in the first place.

So what is California bringing to the safety-for-the-public table?

California has redefined many felonies to misdemeanors to help keep criminals from being incarcerated, turning the state’s criminal justice system into a catch and release system, increasing crime in much of the state.

California has redefined crimes such as assault with a deadly weapon, rape of an unconscious person, human trafficking involving sex act with minors, drive-by shootings and assault with a deadly weapon on peace officer as “non-violent” felonies eligible for early release.
California has added more previously legal firearms to the banned “assault weapons” list due to “evil features” which do nothing to increase or decrease a firearm’s lethality. Those currently possessed must be registered in order to be retained – at least for now.

California has banned previously grandfathered standard capacity magazines, what they define as “high-capacity”, which now must be disposed of.

California has made it so anyone wishing to purchase ammunition in the state will need to pay for a separate ammo buyer’s license and have a background check for each and every purchase.

And what does California have to show for it? Some of the highest levels of crime in the nation; rivaled only by those areas where gun control of the law-abiding is also a priority.

It’s time for California to look at the rest of the nation and learn. California needs to learn that continuing to restrict Second Amendment rights does nothing but turn law-abiding citizens into victims. Being a leader means you must recognize when you are wrong and that good ideas can come from anywhere. It’s time for a new proverb: As goes the nation, so goes California.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #secondamendment, #gunrights, #asgoesthenationsogoescalifornia, #firearmrights, #CCW #mewe, #medium, #instagram, #oddstuffing.com

That New Gun You Can’t Have

We all do it. We get a new hunting, sporting or firearms magazine and lo and behold, there is a new gun we simply HAVE to have. It’s newer, has better ergonomics, improved safety features, more reliable, more comfortable to shoot, more accurate, now available in the caliber we always wanted and in a color or texture we had only dreamed of. We MUST have it!!

But wait… We can’t have it. We live in a state where there are restrictions on what we can own. Restrictions put in place by people who disagree with our right to bear arms and who will use everything in their power – and paid for by our tax dollars – to make it more difficult for us to purchase firearms and ammunition while working to eliminate the ones we already own.

In California, one such restriction is the Roster of Handguns Certified for Sale. Reportedly initiated to protect the California consumer from unsafe “Saturday Night Specials”, it is fast becoming a defacto ban on handguns in California. Beginning in 2001, so called “safety standards” for handguns were adopted by the State and have been steadily added to over the years. The required features are supposed to enhance safety because California consumers can’t be educated or trusted to safely operate a firearm without them. Requirements for the Roster include drop testing, magazine disconnects, loaded chamber indicators, melting point tests and now, micro-stamping. It is of course okay to own non-roster guns if you had them before or you move into the state with them. Those are safe enough for California.

The trend started in California and has now spread to Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York and the District of Columbia. All have very specific requirements and none are the same. All are said to be for our own safety when in fact they are doing the exact opposite.

California’s requirements are now the most stringent with the addition of micro-stamping. For those who are not familiar with it, micro-stamping is the process of laser engraving a unique code, which is not the serial number, on the firing pin and chamber of a semi-automatic pistol. The intent is this code will then be transferred in two places on the ejected casing and can be used to trace the pistol that fired it. The technology is extraordinarily expensive and has been shown to be ineffective. It is unreliable, easily removed with a 30 second application of a light abrasive material, wears out quickly and can simply be replaced by a non-engraved part. There are no firearms using this technology and no firearm manufacturer has adopted it or has any plans to. But the State of California is not deterred by any of these facts. It is now required for all new handguns added to the Roster, none of which will ever be made.

They tell us the good news for consumers in California is firearms that are currently on the roster that don’t meet the requirements can remain as long as the submission fees are paid. However if just ONE component changes, the entire firearm must be recertified to the new requirements.

How specific is the Roster? Make, model and caliber, but also any variations such as color are considered a separate firearm. Some models are specified to the exact product SKU. Change the grip panel and it’s a different SKU. A Gen 3 Glock 19 in OD, on the roster. A Gen 3 Glock 19 in FDE, not on the roster. Of course none of the Gen 4 models are approved nor are the exact same Gen 3 models manufactured from the exact same parts in the USA vs. Austria.

California’s current Roster contains 736 models. Of this, over 200 are simply variations such as color, which further reduces the number of models available for purchase. And the list is declining each and every month as obsolete, no longer manufactured firearms are dropping off. Combine this with California’s ban on so-called “assault weapons”, restricting the type of long guns that can be owned and the subset of firearms that can be legally purchased in the state is dwindling fast.

Of course law enforcement is exempt from the Roster. And not just for work related handguns, but for all handguns. Something they want to buy for the family to go plink with? A-Okay! It’s almost as if the State purposely wants to put law enforcement families in danger by allowing them to purchase known unsafe handguns (massive sarcasm implied).

Why do I bring this up today? This week begins the annual NSSF (National Shooting Sports Foundation) SHOT (Shooting Hunting Outdoor Trade) Show in Las Vegas. Manufacturers, wholesalers and dealers from around the world will be showing off the latest and greatest technology in all things firearms and the shooting sports. Even though they will be showcasing the latest, greatest and safest firearms ever made, most won’t be available to you in your gun-restricted state. You’ll just have to settle for the few remaining outdated models – until they don’t make those any more.

Then what will you do?

Bob

#oddstuffing, #secondamendment, #righttobeararms, #unobtainium, #NSSF, #SHOTSHOW, #mewe, #medium, #oddstuffing.com

Firearm Owners’ Resolutions for 2017

The New Year is finally offering firearm owners hope for the survival of the Second Amendment. With an incoming administration and Congress who are NOT actively looking at repealing, restricting or otherwise minimizing the Bill of Rights, firearm owners are taking a deep sigh of relief. This is good. A lot of people worked very hard to make this happen. But the celebration and rest time is over and it’s time to get back to work.

Whereas we may be feeling more secure at the national level and with the prospect of a Constitutional jurist being seated on the United States Supreme Court, the gun-grabbing elitists are now shifting their fight to a different battleground. They are now working on local and state infringements by spreading their misinformation campaigns in the traditionally liberal population centers.

As the usual rhetoric continues and we are labeled as domestic terrorists and haters by those who destroy private property and attack our law enforcement officers in the name of peace, tolerance and inclusiveness, we need to rise above. We must be better than the prejudiced stereotype they manufactured for us and show the nation what we stand for.

Here are some New Year’s resolutions:

The Four Rules

Live by the four basic firearms safety rules like your life and everyone else’s depends on it. Live them everywhere, everyday in every situation.

Treat all firearms as if they were loaded.
Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
Never place your finger on the trigger until your sights are on target and you have made the decision to fire.
Know your target, what is in front of it and what is beyond it.

Take the High Road

Be polite, respectful and non-emotional whenever you discuss firearms and the Second Amendment. It is an emotional topic for many but a screaming, name calling match never accomplishes anything. Remember, only the part with a Second Amendment supporter losing control will be seen in the evitable viral video.

Join

If you haven’t joined one of the state or national organizations fighting for your Second Amendment rights, do it now. These organizations are critical to protecting and furthering our rights and there are many battles to be fought this year.
2. Donate

For each firearm you purchase during the year, donate to one of these state or national Second Amendment groups. Pick a percentage that works for you or simply donate the value of a box of high quality ammo for the firearm you purchased. If everyone gives a little, we can make a huge difference.

Training

Take a firearms class. It doesn’t matter how high speed-low drag you are; firearms skills are perishable. If you haven’t done actual training with a qualified instructor for a while, it’s time to get back on the firing line. Anyone can pick up a firearm and pull the trigger. We must clearly demonstrate we are the ones who take our right to bear arms seriously and responsibly.

Take a medical aid class. Likewise, if you haven’t taken first aid, CPR or trauma care since you were in the Scouts, it’s time for a refresher. Times have changed and your life or the life of someone you care about could very well count on you knowing what to do in an emergency.

Take a friend to the range.

We all have friends that shoot and friends that don’t shoot. The shooters will always go, so ask one of your non-shooting friends if they’d like to come with you. Instruct them on safety and the mechanics of shooting and help them with their first shots. You’ll help to break down some barriers to understanding and you might just get someone else hooked on the shooting sports.

Volunteer

Get out in your community and lend a hand. There are opportunities all around us for needs large and small. It doesn’t have to relate to firearms. In fact doing something other than firearms is actually a positive thing. When the community wants to know what kind of people we are, it shouldn’t always be about firearms. We are all well rounded, complete people interested in travel, food, art, the environment and international politics (etc. etc. etc.) as well as being gun nuts. The more everyone sees us as a part of the everyday community, the better off we all are.

The fight for our rights will be shifting closer to our homes and will involve our family, friends and neighbors like never before. More than anything else in the coming year, we need to be the best example of what a law-abiding, safety conscious, firearm owning, Second Amendment supporter really is.

Let’s make 2017 a year where we lead by example.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #constitution, #billofrights, #secondamendment, #2A, #FirearmOwnersResolutionsfor2017, #2017, #leadbyexample, #mewe, #oddstuffing.com

They DO Want To Take Your Guns!

The gun grabbing elitists’ favorite saying is always “Nobody wants to take your guns”. These are the same folks who also say, “I support the Second Amendment”. The problem is, it’s just not true.

Before we dive into the latest set of lies and infringements on our rights, let’s take a look at what they want to take away… all firearms they do not personally control. In other words, any that are not owned by the government or their personal protection details. They simply do not believe the civilian population should own firearms.

A little preface about firearms. They are not consumable products. They are finely crafted, complex and durable machines. They are designed to reliably and accurately propel a projectile towards its target. The target is solely based on the intent of the person using it. A firearm has no will of its own. It can be used for hunting, sport, recreation, self-defense and enforcing the law – as well as for evil.

I make the special note that firearms are not consumable goods as many of us have firearms that have been passed down from father to son or daughter for generations. It’s not at all uncommon to have firearms well over a hundred years old that are still operational and as mechanically sound as they were on the day they were created. Firearms destined for the next generations can be individual specimens or part of considerable collections. It is very common for an owner to expect to pass on his or her firearms to their children when the time is right.

Let’s also take a look at the trend in firearm ownership. The most conservative estimates say there are roughly 350 million personally owned firearms in this country. For the past 19 months, inquiries to the NICS background check system have set new records. While not an actual count of the number of firearms sold, it is the best indicator of consumer demand for firearms. While some of this may rightfully be attributed to fears about the 2016 Presidential election, the Black Friday background checks – AFTER the elections – also set a new record. Americans are not rejecting personal firearm ownership; they are choosing to buy more.

Now let’s look at the newly enacted laws in California. Previously safe and legal firearms are no longer safe or legal to own – unless you pay a fee and register them as a so-called ‘assault weapon’. Among the list of draconian regulations your new ‘assault weapon’ must comply with, you will no longer be able to sell, transfer or pass it down to your descendants. Of course, you can alter it to remove the cosmetic features that make it too deadly to own and de-register it, making it transferable – at least for now.

Since the rules for ‘assault weapons’ have changed numerous times already, there’s nothing to guarantee your featureless rifle won’t be considered a nontransferable ‘assault weapon’ next year. Oh, and that firearm you built yourself and dutifully placed a new state issued serial number on? You can’t sell, transfer or pass that one down to your descendants either. There’s no deregister path there. It’s just plain nontransferable.

What are your options for your non-transferable firearms? Sell them to someone out of state OR take them to your local police department and turn them in for destruction. And no, they won’t pay you for them. Simple right?

So how is this not taking my guns away? Until the State of California changes it’s mind and says I can no longer posses my so-called ‘assault weapon’ or self-built firearm, I can keep them myself. But I can’t sell them, I can’t transfer them and I can’t pass them down to my children. These are not pieces of property that are used up and discarded; they are pieces of our American heritage and family heirlooms no different than grandfather’s pocket watch or grandmother’s thimble collection. Why does the State of California have the right to determine what is passed on to the next generation and what is not?

The gun-banning elitists are continuing their long con game on the American firearm owner. But continuing to impose incremental ‘common sense gun safety’ laws that do nothing to improve safety and only take rights away from the law-abiding, they are working to eliminate firearm ownership within a single generation.

As optimistic as we are, California may be a lost cause. So many rights have been taken away for so long that it will be very difficult, if not impossible to get them back. The only hope rests with the next Supreme Court striking down some of these constitutional infringements.

Of course, appeals are the hard way. We need to stop these laws from being passed in the first place. Every elected seat at every level counts, now more than ever because they really do want to take your guns.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #2A, #SecondAmendment, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #nobodywantstotakeyourguns, #theyreallydowanttotakeyourguns, #mewe, #oddstuffing

No Need To Have A High-Capacity Magazine?

Fresh off the razor thin victory (50.45% to 49.55%) of Question 1 – universal background checks for firearms in Nevada, the anti-gun forces are ready to start the new year with their next gun control push, banning so-called ‘high-capacity’ magazines.

It’s worth noting Question 1 was sponsored by the national anti-gun / anti-rights groups at the cost of over $20 million. It was passed by one county and one county only, Clark County; the home of Las Vegas. Like so many areas around the country, a densely populated urban area has claimed the moral high ground for senseless laws.

What exactly is a ‘high-capacity’ or ‘large capacity’ magazine? According to the anti-gun elite, it’s any magazine capable of holding more than 10 rounds. Why 10? There really doesn’t seem to be any logical rational behind it. They point to the revolvers that typically held six rounds and say semi-automatic firearms are just a new deadly phenomenon.

Of the states that currently have bans on ‘high-capacity’ magazines, most have the limit set at 10, a couple at 15. New York, in a late night knee-jerk reactionary legislative session, set theirs to seven. You can still purchase and possess a 10 round magazine in New York, but you can only put seven rounds in it – unless you are at a shooting range.

What the fringe call ‘high-capacity’ magazines, the rest of the world knows as standard capacity. Standard magazine capacity has increased over the years as technology has improved. An original standard capacity Colt 1911 magazine holds seven .45 ACP rounds. Today a standard capacity Glock 17 magazine holds 17 9 mm rounds. Standard capacity for rifles and shotguns ranges from as little as three to 30, or more. Standard capacity depends on the size of the ammunition and the firearm it is made for. Just as technology has advanced cars, telephones, printing and every other aspect of our lives, firearm technology has advanced too. Capacity increased a whopping six times from the single shot muzzleloader to a six shot revolver. Today, semi automatic, magazine fed firearms are by far the most popular firearm for sport and self-defense.

Back in Nevada, the anti-gun elitists, emboldened by their victory in November are queuing up their next Second Amendment rights infringement. Clark County, Nevada’s Sheriff Joe Lombardo is now leading the fight to ban ‘high-capacity’ magazines in the state. Commenting: “I’m a very avid hunter, I was in the military myself, and there’s no need to have a high-capacity magazine for any practical reason,” He also came up with a new gun control fallacy: “It’s also not uncommon for guns to jam during magazine change-outs.”

It is very unfortunate that a veteran law enforcement officer and former US Army Lieutenant would take a stand like this. Instead of working to protect the rights and security of the residents of his state, he is working to make life safer for criminals. But as we are seeing more often these days, many chief law enforcement officials are politicians first, law enforcement officers last.

The photo that accompanies this article is from a Fremont CA home invasion burglary on August 28, 2016. It shows five armed men coming into the house, one carrying a handgun with a magazine extending below the pistol grip. Fortunately, the residents were not home at the time. Even if the resident was armed with a California 10 round magazine, he would most certainly have been killed in this encounter. In this burglary the homeowner was able to call the police while watching the burglary on the home cameras. Unfortunately they left before the police arrived and were not caught.

Burglaries and robberies with multiple armed attackers are far more common than ever. Yet the anti-gunners say you have no need to have a ‘high-capacity’ magazine. Apparently you have no need to stay alive either.

So exactly how will a ban on law-abiding firearms owners having standard capacity magazines make everyone safer? It won’t. Shockingly, criminals get the tools of their trade by criminal means. If it’s not available here, it’s available from somewhere else in the world. Everything from drugs, watches, handbags, cars and people are smuggled into this country every single day. Yes, guns are smuggled into this country too.

Limiting the ability of law-abiding citizens to effectively defend themselves under the guise of making everyone safer implies everyone who buys a firearm with a standard capacity magazine is the next mass shooter in waiting. The vast, Vast VAST majority of the 350 plus million personally owned firearms in this country are owned and utilized lawfully. They prevent crime and defend their owners an estimated one to two million times per year in the United States, with defensive uses of firearms outweighing felonious uses by 30-80 to one.

Nevada has only to look at what has happened in California to see their future. A ban on ‘high-capacity’ magazines with a grandfathered clause for currently owned ones will only be the first step. Then, a little time in the future, a new law will outlaw those grandfathered magazines as well. It will be just one in a long series of ‘common sense’ gun control measures which will do nothing to stop or prevent any crime, just systematically eliminate firearms from the law-abiding community.

Despite the ongoing optimism of the few remaining patriots in the state, California may be a lost cause. But Nevada doesn’t have to be. It’s still early in the game and if the Second Amendment supporters there get their act together now, they may be able to save their rights from being flushed down the toilet.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #gunrights, #standardcapacitymagazines, #highcapacitymagazines, #Nevadagunrights, #mewe, #oddstuffing.com