politics – Page 2 – Odd Stuffing

Crime Without Consequences

There used to be a time when politicians ran on agendas of being “tough on crime”. They knew how much safety and security meant to their constituents and how crime – everything from simple thefts to violent assaults and homicide impacted peoples lives. They understood that the best way to handle those who broke the law and discourage the next potential criminal was to punish these criminals, swiftly, severely and with certainty. And then there’s California.

If you have any question about who our elected officials in California are concerned about, look no further than the latest set of bills signed into law and those waiting in the wings. I’ll give you a hint; it’s not you – the law-abiding citizen.

California politicians haven’t cared about law and order for a long time. Propositions 47 & 57 which reduced many crimes to infractions and took away the threat of serious penalties for such “non-violent felonies” as Assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer; Battery with serious bodily injury; Solicitation to commit murder and Rape/Sodomy/Oral Copulation of an unconscious person or by use of a date rape drug, clearly show the Governor and legislature’s preference on protecting the criminal instead of the victim.

In March of this year, California’s Governor pardoned five ex-convicts who were facing deportation due to their criminal convictions. Among the convictions were auto theft, illegal drugs, domestic violence, obstructing a police officer, kidnapping, robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Then of course the pardon of the man who was convicted of murder in 1994 for shooting a gang rival and was facing deportation.

Also in March the California Supreme Court issued an administrative order that opened the door for the Governor to legally commute the sentences of every inmate on death row. The Governor used to have to get the concurrence of a majority of the state Supreme Court to issue a commutation or clemency when the individual concerned has two other felony convictions. This new administrative rule – which nobody seems to know what case prompted it – removes that condition.

With the Governor’s signature, California has proudly become the first state in the nation to eliminate the bail and will free so-called “non-violent” suspects within 12 hours of being booked. In lieu of bail, suspects will be gauged under a county-by-county defined risk-assessment system. While effectively eliminating the bail bond industry, the costs of implementing the new system are estimated at up to $2 billion. Of course more state jobs will be added to the public payroll and less people will be incarcerated while awaiting trial, a win-win for the state bureaucracy.

Oh but that’s not all… The Governor Jerry Brown signed a law that restores the voting rights of convicted felons serving time in county jails, on probation or under community supervision – but not those in state or federal prisons. But fear not hard-core felons, no doubt your time will come too.

So, what about you and your desire to NOT be a victim of crime? The California legislature has determined that if you want to carry a concealed firearm, you should have more training. Under the new law a minimum of eight hours of training on firearm safety, handling, and technique. Assembly Member Todd Gloria said “Since I introduced AB 2103, we have seen a persistent amount of gun violence in our nation and it’s become extremely difficult to ignore the link between gun violence and the number of guns in our communities.”

So while the State of California doesn’t issue concealed carry permits like many other states do, they are willing to set the standard for the cities and counties that do issue them. And now by mandating a full eight hours of training – generally starting at $100 and more depending on location, that bar is moved just a little bit further out of reach of those who are already struggling to cover all the other associated costs. And as evident from the author of AB 2103, their goal is to reduce the number of firearms in the community by targeting those carried by law-abiding citizens.

Right now the State of California, along with far too many communities who what to make their own political statement, are far too busy criminalizing the distribution of plastic drinking straws, mandating only milk or water be served to children in restaurants and making sure our youth get a good night sleep by legislating no middle or high school can start before 8:30 am than to tackle the hard issues of jobs, homelessness, mental health, public safety and the impact of all the new taxes they continue to enact on businesses and their employees.

Criminals – the people who break the law – don’t do so by accident. They make a conscious decision to steal someone else’s property, to break into cars, homes and businesses, to rob, rape or murder their victims. Crime is a given natural occurrence in society; it’s a choice to break the law at someone else’s expense.

If you somehow find the need to be a little more “fair” to these criminals, how about a little tough love? How about telling them that if they don’t want to lose their freedom, if they don’t want to go to jail, if they don’t want to pay fines, if they don’t want to be subject to the penalties society makes for people who do things like this, maybe – just maybe they shouldn’t commit the crime.

How about just telling them: STOP BREAKING THE LAW ASSHOLE!

Bob

#oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #GunControlFails, #CaliforniaGunControlSchemes, #CrimeAndPunishment, #SwiftSevereCertian, #SoftOnCrime, #SoftOnCriminals, #StopBreakingTheLaw, #mewe, #medium, #oddstuffing.com

Gun Shows and Gun Culture

You would think it would be enough for the gun control zealots to legislate, license, register, restrict, or outlaw firearms, ammunition and the law-abiding firearm owner to within an inch of their very souls, but that just isn’t enough. They want to eliminate anything to do with the horrors of “gun culture” from our communities and from our minds, because THAT is what will make everyone safe! Welcome to the beginning of the end of gun shows.

What is the latest and greatest in vogue gun control scheme out here on the (extreme) left coast? Getting rid of gun shows of course! It’s all the rage out here in California. Local, county and state politicians are jumping on the bandwagon to stop gun shows from operating in publicly owned venues. Why? Duh… guns. If it has anything to do with firearms in any way, shape or form, they want to get rid of it.

Where is this going on? San Diego County, Santa Clara County and the State of California for the Cow Palace in Daly City… among others. Politicians backed by “local activists” are making the case that banning gun shows will somehow make everyone feel safer.

For a hint at the logic, here are the comments from State Senator Scott Wiener who is backing SB221, a bill that would specifically bar the historic Cow Palace from hosting events that would involve the sale of guns or ammunition.

“Our country is awash in guns, and schoolchildren are dying,” said Wiener. “We need fewer guns, and we need to stop the proliferation of guns whose only purpose is to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible. We should not have gun shows in the heart of the Bay Area. The Cow Palace gun shows should have ended a long time ago. Better late than never.”

And just to add a little bit of incentive, the budget for a new roof for the 1940’s era Cow Palace is being tied into the proposal.

If you think this sounds like a solution in search of a problem, you would be correct. Gun shows at venues around the state must follow all local, county, state and federal regulations, which they do to a tee. The widely spread myth of a “gun show loophole” has long since proven to be nothing more than a means to cause fear in the eyes of the uninformed public to get them to support more “common sense gun control laws”.

What is really going on is an assault on gun culture. And their definition of gun culture is anyone or anything that sees firearms in a positive way. Or, the way they look at it, unless you see firearms as something that should be completely banned from civilian ownership and use, you are part of the gun culture problem.

Law-abiding citizens legally own roughly four (4) million firearms in this country. The reasons they own them are as varied as our nation. There is no one profile of a “gun owner” in the United States, people from every walk of life, every race, every religion, every political affiliation in every corner of the country own them and use them responsibly each and every day.

These good people buy everything from new and used firearms, ammunition and accessories all the time. The firearms industry itself makes up about $ 31.8 billion of the U.S. economy, and that was in 2012.

Have you ever been to a gun show? If you have, you know what’s there. For those who haven’t, it’s a fascinating collection of new and used just about everything you can think of. Gun shows can fill entire convention centers or just a small meeting hall in a basement.

Overwhelmingly gun shows are populated by small vendors and companies with some kind of a niche in the market. You can find everything from new and used firearms from just about every corner of the globe. If you are looking for historic military firearms (weapons of war in gun control speak), you’ll find them from every military conflict, from every side of the conflict. You’ll see hard to find magazines and parts from out of production firearms that nobody else may ever have. You’ll find more accessories than you knew existed, some innovative, some a little strange. You’ll also find hats, mugs, jewelry, clothing, commemorative pins, patches and coins, crafts and creations as well as fishing gear and self-defense training programs mixed right in together.

I went to a gun show just this weekend and as usual, I was amazed at the variety of what you can find there. I saw a range of items from blunderbuss to modern sporting rifles, and everything in-between. I saw an original Red Rider BB Gun, an actual World War II FP-45 Liberator and custom hunting rifles that cost more than a luxury SUV. I saw books, I saw rare and hard to find parts, I saw custom crafted accessories I’ve never seen before and I saw ammunition I didn’t think still existed.

But as fascinating as the items on the floor were, I was more interested in the people. Despite what the gun control zealots tell you, I saw a cross section of the community. I saw old and young, men and women, wealthy and not so well off. I saw elderly in wheel chairs and kids in strollers. I met some wonderfully knowledgeable people who knew WAY more than I know about firearms, and a few blowhards that are better at talking than actually knowing things.

In other words, when you go to a gun show, you’re going to find a room or rooms full of people who see the positive benefits of owning firearms, each in their own special way.

This is what the politicians are trying to stop. People conducting legal commerce, acting in accordance with every law, rule and regulation tossed in to make their lives a little more expensive and harder. They are trying to stop people from learning, sharing knowledge, innovations, ideas and a little bit of bullshit along with legal firearms and accessories.

In 1997, the U.S. 9th Circuit found that a Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors’ ban on selling guns at county-run venues to “avoid sending the wrong message to the community relative to support of gun usage,” violated the First Amendment rights of gun show promoters. While seemingly an important ruling, this hasn’t stopped communities and the State of California from continuing to work on banning gun shows and/or gun sales in the name of “public safety”. After all, this is the 9^thCircuit and Constitutional rights are always in flux.

Gun shows are not, and never have been a public safety issue in California, or anywhere in the country. They are however a demonstration of the positive side of gun culture, which makes them a prime target of the gun control zealots in our community and the politicians they support. It’s just another NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) argument against legal commerce and politically incorrect thinking.

I choose to think incorrectly.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #GunControlFails, #GunShow, #GunCulture, #PoliticallyIncorrectThinking, #mewe, #medium, #oddstuffing.com

A Legitimate Reason?

There seems to be a growing trend where anyone who owns a firearm has to justify their need to own it. Simply wanting one or being guaranteed the right by the Second Amendment isn’t a valid reason. Self-defense is no longer a good enough reason. In the mind of the gun control elitists, you have to have a “legitimate reason” to justify why you “need” to own a firearm, and according to them, there will never be a legitimate reason. But guess what? That’s not the way the Second Amendment works.

Recently in Monterey, California, a probation search of a felon’s rented room at a residence produced an inert practice hand grenade, among other illegal items. Based on this, the police department obtained a search warrant for the remainder of the house. That search turned up, among other illegal things, 112 firearms and more inert practice hand grenades. The owner was arrested for charges of illegal assault weapon possession, improvised explosive devices and maintaining a drug house.

All well and good, and I have ZERO problem with the convicted felon or the home owner – a former police officer and relative of the Panetta political family – being arrested. By all accounts both were breaking the law with the drug possession and deserved to have their asses carted off to jail.

My problem is with the characterization from the Monterey Police Department who said, “We obviously have a large quantity of firearms and evidence. We are trying to track down where these items came from, what is the reasoning behind them, and is there a legitimate reason for possessing this quantity of firearms.”

Following the arrests was the requisite photo op of all the firearms laid out on tables for the press to click and spread. The two so-called “assault weapons” were ones that met the California definition based on their “evil features”. Still, the press reported the man “faces charges related to keeping an arsenal of illegal weapons and operating a drug house.”

This case is just one of so many examples of the police and the press portraying anyone with more than one firearm as a dangerous gun nut. It doesn’t matter if it’s two firearms and a dozen rounds of ammunition in a parking garage or 1200 firearms and seven tons of ammunition from a dead man’s house, the implication is if you own multiple firearms and more than a few rounds of ammunition, it’s an arsenal, stockpile or weapons cache and there is no valid reason for it other than planned illegal activity.

While the press and social media are spinning fables of sinister plots being created at every kitchen table, let’s deal with a few facts. While we do, keep in mind firearm ownership is often a very private topic and a lot of people are unwilling to disclose their ownership to anyone conducting a survey, especially in today’s hyper-politically correct society.

The latest estimate of privately owned firearms in the United States is about 400 million for a population of 327 million – a little more than one for each US resident. Of course not everyone owns a firearm and the estimates as to how many do ranges from 25% to over 50%. The average number of firearms owned is estimated to be between four and eight. Fortune Magazine even came up with the term “super owners” who have anywhere between eight and 140, with the average of 17.

Ignoring the obvious preliminary question of why people own a firearm at all (see the Second Amendment), why do people own multiple firearms? The reasons vary from each firearm having a distinct purpose such as conceal carry, target shooting, hunting large, medium, small and flying game, home defense, plinking, practice, competition, disaster prep, etc. etc. etc.) to a simple love of shooting and collecting. And then, there is the one reason that trumps every other, because they can and they don’t have to justify it to anyone.

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is unique in the world. No other country guarantees the right to bear arms the way we do. Some countries do grant the right to possess firearms, but more often than not there are serious restrictions on that right, or privilege as they see it. Most common are restrictions on the type of firearms that can be owned (shotguns vs. rifles vs. pistols), the number that can be owned, the legally allowed calibers (most common is no military calibers) the amount of ammunition that can be purchased and possessed in one year (i.e. 50 rounds of handgun ammo/year), the storage requirements (locked, unloaded in residence, stored in a gun club / government safe or ammunition kept at a different premises). Carrying firearms in public is generally restricted to the military, police, government officials and VIP’s.

If laws like these make you bristle at the mere thought of them, then it’s time to start looking around at what’s happening in our own country. City by city, state by state, gun control zealots are chiseling away our right to own and bear arms. Every little infringements brings us closer to a time when our “right” is sold back to us as a “privilege” that very few will be able to afford or access.

In some states, restrictions on the ability to even purchase or own a firearm already exist. Restrictions on the type of firearms you can own already exist. Restrictions on the caliber of ammunition you can have already exist. Restrictions on the number of firearms you can purchase in a given time frame already exist. Restrictions on how firearms are stored and whether or not they are allowed out of the home and where they can be transported to already exist. Restrictions on who can carry a firearm in public, and where they can go already exists. And in each of these cases, the gun control elitists are working to make the rules for law-abiding citizens more restrictive, more expensive and further out of reach for everyone – except themselves.

And how do they sell these so-called “common sense gun control” measures to the unknowing? By portraying everyone who owns firearms, or heaven forbid multiple firearms, as dangerous gun nuts. When they showcase criminals with multiple firearms they imply only dangerous, violent druggies, thugs and terrorists have THAT many guns and THAT much ammo. When they refer to any number of firearms as an arsenal, a stockpile or a weapons cache, they are trying to shift the narrative of what the law-abiding firearm owner is and paint them as the next potential active shooter.

Well guess what? Millions upon millions of regular, law-abiding firearm owners know the difference. Whether they own one, eight, 17 or a couple of hundred firearms each, they know they are not only among the safest, more responsible, law-abiding citizens out there, they know the fact that they do own firearms is a deterrent to violent crime. They know they are responsible for their own and their family’s safety, day in and day out.

So if you don’t think it matters who you vote for this year, then just go ahead and turn in your firearms now and trust your personal safety to the people who want to disarm you, but are doing nothing to disarm those who are preying upon your family.

And the next time someone asks if you have a legitimate reason for having ‘so many guns’, just look them straight in the eye and say – because I can.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #Constitution, #BillOfRights, #SecondAmendment, #GunControlFails, #ALegitimateReason, #safety, #security, #family, #BecauseICan, #mewe, #medium, #oddstuffing.com

Your Life Is Not Worth Defending

Every so often we get to hear politicians non-wordsmithed views on a given topic. Away from the speechwriters and handlers, their comments lend insight into how little they really care about their constituents. Thus was the reply of Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, the non-voting representative of Washington DC, to a question of allowing District residents to defend themselves with concealed carry permits in the wake of the shooting of Congressional members in Virginia.

The delegate’s at times laughing response on July 10, 2017 was:

“The city has taken the position that the best way to defend yourself is not to be armed. So, your notion…is an insult– quite an insult to the wards that have greater crime. They have not come forward to me and say, ‘Congresswoman we want to conceal and carry.’ So, I suggest that you approach the people you’re talking about.”

Washington DC has among the strictest gun control laws in the nation. It was the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller which overturned the District’s complete ban on handguns and the requirement that lawfully-owned rifles and shotguns be kept “unloaded and disassembled or bound by a trigger lock” when in the home. How strict was the law? The subject of the case, Dick Anthony Heller, a licensed special police officer for the District of Columbia was allowed to carry a firearm for work in federal office buildings, but was not allowed to have one in his own home.

What exactly was the District saying? Is it that the officer who is trusted enough to protect employees and visitors in a federal office building with a firearm isn’t trustworthy enough to protect his own family and home with one? Or is it what and who is being protected? A federal building and federal employees are worth protecting but an individual’s home and family isn’t.

Time and time again, gun control elitists have made it clear there is a caste system in place here. There are people worth protecting with firearms (them) and there are people who are not (everyone else).

Politicians and the economic elite work tirelessly to eliminate your right to self-defense, while simultaneously exempting themselves from any new restrictions they come up with. They say you don’t need a firearm to protect yourself while they are surrounded by heavily armed men and women who are expected to lay down their lives to keep them safe. In the Heller case, they denied the very people who are protecting them the right to protect themselves, right along with everyone else.

Concealed carry permits are now technically possible to obtain in the District, thanks to years of lawsuits and legal decisions against them. However with each step forward, the District raises the bar for demonstrating sufficient need even higher and enacts more costly, time consuming and discriminatory administrative practices to keep them from actually being issued.

So what does the District’s position on unarmed defense mean? It means you have a population with no effective means to fight back against armed perpetrators. That’s right, I said armed perpetrators. For all the effort the District puts into disarming law-abiding citizens, they still have yet to make an impact on those who are actually committing the crimes. Washington DC consistently ranks on the list of highest murder rate and highest violent crime rate in the nation. In other words, a District of victims.

I have no idea where Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton lives or what she has for personal security. Outside her secure federal workplace, her minimum Congressional salary of $174,000 is certainly sufficient to provide her a safe lifestyle. However that lifestyle sets her far above and apart from the average District resident she is supposed to be representing. I also don’t question that nobody is asking her for concealed carry permits. Like all good elitist politicians, no doubt she keeps herself surrounded only by those who think the same way she does.

Now take a look at your own congressional representation and see if they are doing the same thing. Are they working to keep you from defending yourself while enjoying the security and benefits of the office you elected them to? Is your life worth defending to them?

Bob

#oddstuffing, #SecondAmendment, #2A, #BillOfRights, #SelfDefense, #DCGunLaws, #mewe, #medium, #instagram, #oddstuffing.com

To Serve Man

Ever since individuals came together to form societies, they have called upon some of their members to serve the public interest. Those who have heeded the call have provided everything from basic services like water and roads to safety and representation in larger groups. Public service was considered a calling and was never considered a lucrative life since they were paid by some kind of tax or assessment on the people they served. But what happens when those who serve do so for their own greed?

Every so often we’ll see a story about someone who has been living in the wilderness alone. These few hardy individuals are probably the only ones who are able to do everything for themselves. The rest of us rely on public servants for the essentials of modern living and beyond. For that mutual benefit, we pay a portion of our own earnings in the form of taxes. The more people, the more taxes, the more services needed and supported.

Our representative government used to be made up of citizen volunteers who served part time while continuing their regular jobs or businesses. When you look at our nation’s agricultural background, you can understand why legislative sessions traditionally run in the fall/winter months vs. the spring/summer growing seasons. Many state level governments continue to meet part-time and some not every year.

Somewhere along the line, the system was changed and those who serve are now taking the public for everything it can bear. Instead of representing the interests of the community they serve, they seem to primarily represent their own interests. How? They specifically exempt themselves from the laws they create for everyone else. They ignore rules, regulations and laws that do not meet their own immediate needs and create others that help them retain control and power.

If you need a current example, look no further than the California Legislature. The latest budget bill includes new requirements for qualifying a recall petition for ballot, specifically intended to help delay the recall vote of a member of the ruling party. This same budget bill even expands California’s list of persons prohibited from owning firearms. But then California is notorious for finding inventive new ways of sneaking law changes without public input or comment, a fact Second Amendment supports are well aware of. So-called ‘gut and amend’ laws completely change a bill at the end of the legislative cycle to bypass public hearing and comments. Rules for comments during hearings are suspended or ignored when dissenting opinions are brought up. Dramatic changes to statutes are submitted as administrative ‘file and print only’ regulations.

And what of our legislators themselves? Gone the way of the Dodo are the part-time, representative members of the community. Replaced now by full-time, professional politicians who have precious little in common with the people they are supposed to represent. This is especially true at the Federal level where our members of Congress enjoy salaries, benefits, retirement packages and perks of employment very few of their constituents can even dream of let alone acquire.

Our President campaigned on a platform to fix the federal government in a number of ways, including to “drain the swap”. A laudable goal, but I don’t believe he quite understood how strong the Swamp Side is. At the first sign of a sump pump, I fully expect the residents of the swap to simultaneously declare their swap a protected wetland as well as a National Historic Landmark. The residents, as the swamp’s indigenous inhabitants and preservationists of the swamp’s native culture, would be immune to any outside drainage.

This is of course our own fault. All of us, as the citizen, the taxpayer and the voter, have allowed the system to become so bastardized, so blatantly corrupt and so unaccountable to anyone. It didn’t happen overnight, but slowly, one little piece at a time so nobody would notice. Does all this sound familiar 2A supporters?

Can it be turned around? Can we return our government to the hands of the people? I’d like to believe so, but it’s going to take a lot more people caring about their country to make it happen. Even if we can’t drain the swamp, keeping it from getting any bigger would be a step in the right direction.

What happens if we don’t get involved? One of these days we’re going to wake up and realize they’ve really been writing a cookbook.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #toserveman, #corruptgovernment, #secondamendment, #draintheswap, #2A, #itsacookbook, #twilightzone, #mewe, #medium, #instagram, #oddstuffing.com

Race, The Final Frontier

We live in a wondrous age with more personal rights than any time in history. No longer are we bound by the circumstances we are born into. More than any other nation, we are the land of opportunity and anyone can become anything they aspire to be. We can change everything about ourselves with one notable exception, our race.

Just think about the options you have in your life here. You are not bound by your geography, you may move about freely. You are not bound by your social class, you may rise to any status you desire. You can learn any skill, vocation or trade that you want. You are free to choose your religion. You may change your physical appearance. You may change your name. You may change your gender and your sexual preference. Physical or mental disabilities do not determine what you may do or accomplish in your life. Yet somehow, our race is the one attribute seen as forever fixed in place.

Again, we have marches and protests for the rights of <insert race>, where others are not allowed to join and support them in the name of unity. We have schools purposefully re-segregating education, facilities and ceremonies by race. It is considered “cultural appropriation” for any race to use another’s traditions, fashions, symbols, language, food or music in their own lives.

All of this is completely opposite of what our nation has grown to become. People have come here from every other region, every other country to make this nation, this melting pot, their home. In doing so, they have brought their culture and their way of life with them. They adopted portions of what they found here and the nation adopted portions of what they brought with them. This exchange and integration of cultures is what has made our society as strong, rich and vibrant as it is.

Yet when arguing about race and that newest, uber-politically correct craze “cultural appropriation”, we hear it is not appropriate for certain individuals to do ‘something’. They are either not the right race, or not <insert race> enough. In reality, unless you are from one of the few remaining uncontacted tribes, your DNA is likely made up of a number of different cultures. Whether determined by some arbitrary geo-political line on a map, continent or hemisphere, we are all a combination of peoples.

So what is the appropriate level of racial purity to allow you to partake in a cultural tradition? Is it 50%? 75? 90%, 99.99%? What if your physical appearance is from the lesser percentage of your DNA? Are you still allowed to participate in the majority DNA culture? Do you need to get a ‘cultural acceptance’ license that proves you are the race you claim to be?

In 2008 when the first African-American United States President was elected, I honestly believed this would finally move our country past race as a determining factor for anything. But instead we have seen the opposite. It is sadly ironic that this President who – on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom – spoke from the very same location as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr did during his “I Have a Dream” speech – significantly contributed to the reversal of those 50 years of racial acceptance and progress as a nation.

I parodied the Star Trek quote here as the show is credited with the first interracial kiss on American television between Captain Kirk and Lt. Uhura in 1968. For the time, this was considered both shocking and ground breaking. Today, when this episode plays in reruns; we just see two people kissing.

For the crew of the Enterprise, space was that final frontier to conqueror. For us, it is race and not only have we not conquered it, we have managed to move backwards in time. I don’t know what the answer is, but I know what it is not. It is not segregation and calling for special rights, privileges and areas based on race. EVERY race deserves to be proud of the heritage and celebrate it openly, but never, EVER at the expense of others. If we truly want to be a nation of equality for all, we all need to pull our heads out of our collective asses and dismiss race as a consideration for anything.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #nodiscrimination, #notculturalappropriation, #equalityforall, #alllivesmatter, #mewe, #medium, #instagram, #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

A New Hope

At the risk of serious reprisal from the Empire (Disney) as the new Star Wars movie is about to be released, today I present – A New Hope.

Firearm owners around the country have been living in dark times. Self-proclaimed ‘gun safety’ elitists have been attacking the very foundations of our freedom, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They have been slowly but surely whittling away our Second Amendment rights in the name of “common sense gun safety measures”.

Nowhere has this been more evident than here in California. Every year, new draconian legislation is pushed out upon the citizenry with the promise to make them safer. Every year the rights of law-abiding firearms owners are restricted a little bit more. Every year Second Amendment rights are eroded a little further. Yet every year the rights of criminals are expanded, more criminals are released early from prison, crime gets worse and we are less safe in our homes and communities.

But now there is a new hope. While the 2016 general elections were a mixed bag of results for many, firearm owners are feeling a little safer knowing an outright repeal of the Second Amendment, or having it effectively gutted by executive order, legislative action or judicial activism is NOT the priority of the incoming administration.

One of the most critical elements of hope will be the appointment of a new Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, replacing Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Scalia, who advocated originalism in constitutional interpretation, wrote the majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller. This ruling found an individual right to own a firearm under the Second Amendment. This ruling, which simply confirmed the right Americans have understood and exercised since the founding of our country, is based on the original meaning of the words at the time the Bill of Rights was written. As such, Justice Scalia’s replacement with a strong supporter of the Bill of Rights is a critical appointment in the struggle to retain our rights.

But with hope comes caution. The Heller decision was only 5-4 in favor and still left many questions unanswered. The Supreme Court has also been reluctant to take on new Second Amendment cases since District of Columbia v. Heller and the related McDonald v. City of Chicago. Even with the strongest case there is no guarantee the Court will either accept it or rule in a way firearm rights advocates hope for. Each case is heard and decided on its own merit and could pass or fail at any time regardless of the makeup of the Supreme Court.

We must also realize the United States Supreme Court is the final stop, the last court of appeal. Appeals here mean cases have already been through all other courts and this is the absolute last chance for them to be overturned. What we should be doing is stopping the laws before they are implemented in the first place. Repealing a law, ordinance or regulation is ALWAYS going to be more difficult, more costly, more time consuming and more risky than stopping it in the first place. Once our rights have been stripped away, it is much harder to get them back.

During this last election, a group of elitists took advantage of a contentious national election to put their money into vulnerable states where they could spend millions creating a false narrative to further their agenda. With this they gained important ground to base their next level of infringements upon. Each gain they make costs law-abiding citizens their rights.

So while we have hope with the incoming national administration, legislative branches and with the highest court, our rights in some state and localities are being systematically eroded. Each one of these infringements need to be fought, and fought vigorously. At the same time we need to stop the flood of new and diabolical ways that are being devised to strip away rights and make us all more unsafe.

Every elected seat, at every level, in every jurisdiction counts. Every race is local and every vote counts. If you don’t think the people who have been taking away your rights aren’t already working on the next elections, you are wrong. They most certainly are and we should be too.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #anewhope, #constitution, #billofrights, #secondamendment, #2a, #pleasedontdeathstarmyhousedisney, #mewe, #oddstuffing.com

Odd Stuffing Star Wars Parody

Vote Early, Vote Often

Ahh, the end of the election season. Never is there more information being pushed at us from all angles than by people demanding our vote. We get commercials, snail mail, email and banner ads in all our browsers and social media. We have billboards, banners and signs of all shapes and sizes along our drive home. We get knocks on our door, we get calls on our phones, we get everyone we know pushing an agenda that, if we had any ‘common sense’ at all, we would wholeheartedly agree with and vote the way they want us to. If the past two years hasn’t made you want to move to that little off-grid cabin in the woods, nothing will.

First, let’s set things straight about the news media. There is no such thing as impartiality any more. The days of being able to trust what you hear on the network news died with Uncle Walter. Everyone has an agenda or angle to push. Consider this when you see only glowing, positive stories about one side of an issue, and hateful, negative stories about the other side. Just look at the photos of candidates they publish. Supported candidates have nicely composed and dignified looking pictures. Opposition candidates look like they’re about to sacrifice a goat. That’s not journalism, that’s just supermarket tabloid trash. I’d like to think we are better than that.

Then there are the so-called ‘truth’ sites that claim to expose what’s really going on in whatever it is they oppose. More times than not, it’s an isolated fact or opinion that’s expanded upon with more and more conjecture until the end result is SPECTACULAR!! If this is true, then this must be true, which makes this true and this true and this true! I call this compounding idiocy and it seems to be the driving force behind too many stories.

Of course, there are the satire news outlets that take a snippet of real news and turn it into an entertaining parody. Taken as intended, they are pretty damn funny. Sadly, some of our elected officials and professional journalists have been duped into believing these stories are true and shared them as facts that prove their particular point of view. I suppose that in and of itself is even more amusing than the original spoof.

The good news is tomorrow is Election Day. Nationally we’ll be choosing a President and Vice President, as well as the direction of our Supreme Court for at least the next two generations. We’re choosing the majority rule of our Senate and House of Representatives. Closer to home we are deciding everything from Governors, state representatives, county and city council members, school, fire, water and everything else boards. We’ll be deciding on what we want to be taxed on, and how much and what will be legal and illegal in our states and home towns.

Arguments about the Electoral College aside; our vote is the single most important part of our representative democracy. This is how we hold our government responsible for what they do. If we don’t make an informed decision about what we are voting for, or worse – don’t even participate; we are giving up our say in our country and our lives. Every vote in every election really does count.

In the final 24 hours before voting begins, you can expect a litany of sensational stories and last minute pleas to sway your vote. A lot of it will be crap meant to inflame our emotions and distract us from what is really important. If you look close enough, and generally in the opposite direction, you’ll find what you really need to pay attention to.

For those of you who have already voted by absentee or mail in ballot, I thank you. I may not agree with what you voted for, but I respect you for actively participating. For those of you who will be headed to the polls tomorrow, know that stepping into that voting booth and making your selections is the cornerstone of the American democratic system. It is a privilege envied by many around the world who do not have this right.

Lastly, even though the Cubs have just won the World Series, this isn’t Chicago in early 1900’s. Vote early, but please vote only once.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #2016elections, #gunvote, #voteearlyvoteoften, #ivoted, #mewe, #oddstuffing.com

Gun Control Equals Discrimination

Here is my bold statement of the week. If you believe in gun control, you believe in discrimination.

The whole concept of gun control is to keep guns out of the hands of someone else. In order to do this, you have to have people WITH guns in the first place. These chosen people will be the only ones allowed to have guns. You, as someone who won’t have guns, will be safer because only THEY will have guns. At least that’s what you’re told.

So what’s wrong with this progressive utopian dream? Well, to start off with gun control only takes firearms from the lawful citizens. It never has and never will take firearms away from criminals. Remember, the definition of criminal is someone who doesn’t obey the law. Why in the world would you believe adding more laws about not owning firearms would take firearms away from people who don’t obey the law in the first place? Guns are their tools of the trade and, with lawful citizens not being able to own firearms, it makes their job all the easier.

If you think new gun control laws are going to make it harder for criminals to get them, think again. Smugglers move tons upon tons of drugs and goods into and out of this and every other country every day of the week. Firearms of every description are already part of program. Don’t believe it? Take a look at how many firearms the London UK police or law enforcement in Australia seize every day. These aren’t World War II relics someone dug out of grandpa’s old Army footlocker. These are state of the art, modern semi and full automatic firearms being brought in to feed the criminal demand. How is making this a little bit more illegal than it already is going to change this?

And let’s take a look at who is promoting this gun control agenda, a close-knit group of politicians and ultra-wealthy elitists. The political gun control extremists have police and federal agents to protect them 24/7. At home, traveling or making appearances in public, law enforcement officers we pay for guard them. The economic elite employ private security companies drawn from the ranks of the best police, federal agencies and the military. They are well trained and well armed to keep the elite safe. These are the people telling you you will be safer unarmed.

Who isn’t safer with more gun control? You and everyone else that can’t afford the privilege of having armed security protect them. Your publicly sponsored protection is the law enforcement agency of wherever-you-are-at-the-time. They will respond to your call for help after something bad has happened to you as quickly as possible, anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more.

The more economically disadvantaged you are, the less likely you’ll be able to defend yourself and the more likely you are to be victimized. Firearms, or any force multiplier for that matter, are costly. Add in ammunition and training and you’ve got a very expensive entry point into self-defense. Now add in the additional government imposed transfer, license and permit fees, special “gun violence prevention” fees and “anti-gun violence” taxes on ammunition and you’ve essentially priced the right to effective self-defense out of the hands of people who need it the most.

Politicians often say they ‘stand with the people’ when in reality they stand with them just long enough to ask for their money and votes – and only at arms length with their armed security in between. Once the election is over the closest the ‘people’ get to them is seeing their motorcade speed by on the way to meet with the other elites.

You are responsible for your own safety at home, at work, traveling, shopping or out for a walk with your family. Allowing a group of political and economic elite to take away your right to self-defense, a privilege they enjoy and will never give up, is wrong. Being wealthy or politically connected shouldn’t be the deciding factor in whether or not you can defend yourself.

Your safety, your life, your family’s life may mean nothing to them but it means everything to you. If you aren’t fighting to defend your rights today, you may not be able to defend your life tomorrow.

Bob

#oddstuffing, #guncontrolequalsdiscrimination, #gunvote, #2ndamendment #mewe, #oddstuffing.com