following no quarters

No Quarters has a little thing on his blog about things he's done, it looked interesting so here is mine, bolded activities are what I've done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drinkI was the bartender, what can I say
02. Swam with wild dolphins
.03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Hugged a treeit was that or fall out of it
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports gameDaytona 500, Feb of 1980
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagnesomething i'd like to take back
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch all the time
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse and fell off once
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you (photography)
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head regularly
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

Here is a 'only ones' for the 'only ones' carnival

We're the 'only ones' that can have our guns stolen from our home.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The Denton County sheriff found out first hand that no one is immune to crime.

Someone broke into the home of Sheriff Benny Parkey on Thursday.

Thieves stole guns and a computer from his home.

Shame on them, don't they know they are supposed to go to virginia and new hampshire, where lax gun laws allow them to get easy firearms access?

Texas Citizens Defense League

I'd like to take this small opportunity to announce the latest in the gun rights movement, the Texas Citizens Defense League. This is a grassroots organization, based loosely on the Virginia Citizens Defense League, mobilizing to further liberalize the gun laws in the state of Texas by pushing for open carry. Visit the website, become a member, and join in the furtherance of our natural right to keep and bear arms.

http://www.txcdl.org/

some hope for justice

Radley Balko, who runs a blog called the agitator, has followed very closely a case that happened in Mississippi in Dec. of 2001. The Cory Maye case hasn't been followed as closely as it should have been by mainstream media, and that could be for alot of different reasons, but none of that truly matters if anyone were to look closely at the case.
Cory Maye shot and killed Prentiss police officer Ron Jones during a drug raid....that was supposed to be performed on Mayes neighboring duplex occupant, Jamie Smith. You can follow a lot of the Cory Maye case on Radleys site at the following link....http://www.theagitator.com/archives/cat_cory_maye.php

I'm glad that Judge Eubanks could come to a decent decision and hopefully this will be the start of clearing Cory Mayes name and getting him back to his daughter.

Assinine comment of the week

The New York Times printed an article on the 7th about their feelings on expanding the right to self defense. The assinine comment belongs to Paul A. Logli, president of the National District Attorneys Association.

“They’re basically giving citizens more rights to use deadly force than we give police officers, and with less review,”

Let's be real Paul. Officers use deadly force way more often and have so little review as to be nothing more than a write off by the powers that be. For proof of this, all you have to do is go to radley balko's web blog at theagitator.com.
Radley has written an article on the rising paramilitarization of police raids and how they result in needless violent deaths of suspect, officer, and, worst of all, innocent people. Read the article Here.

Radley has also put together a interactive map on almost 300 examples of botched police raids and their locations, circumstances, deaths/injuries, and aftermath of the raids. Go Here for that interactive map.

The bottom line is police officers, as a general rule, are held blameless when a suspect or innocent is shot during a raid, botched or not, making Mr. Loglis statement the assinine comment of the week.

Injustice in Arizona

A grave injustice done to a man who legally defended himself now faces prison time for it.

Harold Fish, a retired Arizona high school teacher, was convicted on June 14 this year of Second Degree Murder in a convoluted case of self-defense and now faces a prison sentences of 10 to 20 years.

Fish was just completing a hike in the rugged and remote Mogollon Rim country of Eastern Arizona when several large and apparently vicious dogs approached him in an aggressive manner. Fish's response was to deploy his 10mm Kimber and fire a shot into the dirt between himself and the animals - a seemingly reasonable response to the threat posed.

Unfortunately, the dogs' owner, who was making his way toward the commotion, apparently thought Fish had actually shot one of the dogs and in a rage charged down the trail toward Fish screaming threats and obscenities.

Any reasonable person would react the same way in this situation. With an immediate threat to ones self, a reasonable person would shoot to stop the threat, which includes deadly and lethal force.

In a deadly altercation, that level of skill and training can mean the difference between walking away and being carried, but in this instance it could be that very training which has destroyed Harold Fish's life. Had Fish had less training he might have attempted to shoot his attacker in the leg or the shoulder like they do in the movies. Or he might have tried to use the gun as a club or dodged like a football player as the attacker charged down on him. Had he taken such action - contrary to his training - he might not be in this situation today - and he might very well be dead or crippled. Instead, Harold Fish did exactly what he had been trained to do; in that brief moment, gun in hand, vicious dogs in the area, with limited mobility on the steep trail, a heavy pack on his back, and a large enraged man screaming death threats charging down upon him, Harold Fish had few options; he faced his attacker, gave verbal warnings, and at the last possible moment, since the crazed man made no indication of second thought or hesitation as he charged directly toward the still smoking muzzle of Fish's Kimber, Fish obeyed his training and pulled the trigger.

What would standard police training require under the same scenario? One of these same dogs had previously threatened an officer to the point that the officer had drawn his gun; what would police training dictate if in the next moment Grant Kuenzli had violently charged at that officer? It would dictate that the officer do exactly what Harold Fish did; fire at the center-of-mass of the attacker to stop the attack.

The initial reports from the Sheriff's Office indicated that the shooting was clearly a matter of self-defense and that no charges would be filed, but news reports of an "unarmed man" being "gunned down," and a loud outcry from friends of Kuenzli started the wheels of injustice slowly turning. A charge of Second Degree Murder was presented to a Grand Jury and an indictment was handed down. A variety of possible scenarios, options, and alternatives were presented in court and the press with the bottom line being that Harold Fish didn't have to kill Grant Kuenzli. In the end, the jury agreed and Harold Fish was found guilty of Second Degree Murder and might well spend the rest of his life in prison because he obeyed his training.

Media bias and anti self defense 'experts' (read that as leftist groups like the brady campaign and handgun control groups) portrayed a simple case of self defense as cold blooded murder and may put a man behind bars for most of his life. This is the mentality we have to deal with squarely in order to perservere.

If Harold Fish is able to get a new trial, let's hope that his defense team (assisted by the NRA's Civil Rights Defense Fund) will call a number of expert witnesses and ask the simple question, "What would a police officer be expected to do in a situation like this?" and that the jury will respond accordingly.

We'll all hope and pray that Harold receives a new trial with an impartial jury this time, one that can understand what defending yourself is all about.

Thanks goes to Jeff Knox, of the Knox Report, and Wayne Smith, of ConcealCarry.org for bringing this to light.

democratic tyranny

On May 17, 2001, AG John Ashcroft made a statement. That statement was that the Second Amendment was a right belonging to an individual and that is how the Department of Justice would now interpret it. Well, we all remember the uproar by anti-gun groups like the Brady Campaign and the Violence Policy Center, but one thing should stick out like a sore thumb or a wart on the nose. That one thing is that this was a major shift in supreme court precedent, historical precedence, and justice department policy that had gone back for over 65 years. It was actually 66 years, but I guess saying 'over 65 years' makes it sound better. Lets take a look at that date, 66 years ago from 2001.

It was 1934 and Franklin Delano Roosevelt has been president for 2 years. Along with FDR's 'new deal' administration, the government also passed the National Firearms Act of 1934. The National Firearm Act of 1934 was enacted as a reaction to the behaviors of gangsters of the era. It was passed as tax legislation to discourage ownership without an outright prohibition. Why no prohibition? Because it would be unconstitutional maybe?

It should also be pointed out that FDR was a New York State Senator when the Sullivan Act was passed. The Sullivan Act is a New York state law that requires a permit to carry or own any gun small enough to be concealed. Because the permit is issued by local law enforcement, it provides a great deal of local control on firearm availability. This act was later amended in 1931, when FDR was Governor, to require finger prints and photographs.

Also passed during FDR's presidency, and with democrat majorities in both houses, was the
Federal Firearms Act of 1938. FFA38 was based upon the Interstate Commerce Clause of the Constitution. It was implemented in Title 15 of the US Code. Why did these two acts have to be passed under tax legislation and the commerce clause? Because the Second Amendment was still a constitutional right belonging to an individual!!!!

Now it should also be duly noted that these acts were passed with the intent to prevent crime and ensure that 'criminals' weren't able to obtain firearms. Sound like a familiar argument? It should since we hear it on a daily basis from the many anti-gun groups and most democrat politicians, as well as a few republicans. These were also considered 'common sense' gun laws.

The next major piece of 'Gun Control' legislation was The Gun Control Act of 1968. The GCA of 1968 was passed as a delayed reaction to the assassination of President Kennedy. Also known as the "Omnibus Crime Bill and Safe Streets Act of 1968", it repealed FFA38 but reenacted provisions thereof. In the process, gun law was moved from Title 15 to Title 18 of the US Code. Title 15 is 'commerce and trade', which is where the FFA resided for 30 years. As 'OriginalIntent.org tells it - 'Despite the law operating just fine for 30 years, someone deemed it no longer proper to have the law contained within Title 15. Want to guess why? That's right - the government's jurisdictional limits were far too easy to ascertain when the law was within the "Commerce and Trade" title. If it wasn't moving in interstate or foreign commerce, then the US didn't have jurisdiction over it! However, by moving the Act to Title 18, and thus disconnecting the Act from the Title of "Commerce and Trade", there are few clues left to the law's original intent and its Constitutional limitations.'
For a more thorough explanation of how the government was able to pull this off, visit Original Intent, Chapter 44.

All of the gun control legislation, so far, has been done by Democrat Presidents with Democrat Majorities in the legislature and as we will see, it only gets worse as time goes on. During these last few decades numerous court cases traveled through the judiciary process, alot of them with second amendment violations as the crux of the argument. This is where the 'collective right' theory of the second amendment being a 'right of states to form and maintain militias' and not an individual right started, in the courts. Remember, that since the 'new deal' of FDRs administration and a majority of democrats in congress, it was easy for democrats to fill judicial slots with judges aligned with democrat party ideology, such as gun control. It should be easy to see why we have so many decisions by circuit and appellate courts that have effectively conditioned a large portion of the population to believe such drivel.

In 1982, the US Senate put forth a report on the Second Amendment, which concluded that the Second Amendment is the right of an individual to keep and bear arms. This was done after an extensive study of historical documentation and analysis. Were any of these Gun Laws repealed or ruled unconstitutional? That answer would be no, but in 1986 there were some changes made.

FOPA, or the Firearm Owners Protection Act, also known as the McClure-Volkmer Act, significantly amended GCA68, providing gun owners some positives and some negatives. This removed several minor restrictions, mainly mail ordering long guns and discontinued record keeping for ammunition purchases, but it had some serious negative effects as well.

The Hughes Amendment

The restrictions on full-auto firearms are a result of the Hughes Amendment (99th Congress, H.AMDT.777). The amendment prohibited the general public from possessing fully-auto firearms manufactured after May 19, 1986. Rep. William Hughes (D-N.J.) proposed the amendment late in debate and at night when most of the members of the House were gone. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), a long proponent of gun control, was presiding over the House at that time and a voice vote was taken. Despite the fact that the bill appeared to fail, Rep. Rangel declared the amendment approved and it was incorporated into House Bill 4332. Once passing the House, H.R.4332 was incorporated in its entirety into S.49. The Senate passed the final S.49 on April 10, 1986 by voice vote and it was signed by the President on May 19, 1986.

So, using questionable tactics, a handful of Democrats, AGAIN, undercut and infringed upon an individual right to keep and bear arms.

In 1994, the Assault Weapons Ban was signed in to law by President William Jefferson Clinton, a democrat. The AWB can be read about Here. Amazingly, after a 10 year sunset provision expired, we no longer have this as federal law, although several states have implemented their own.

So now that we understand fully why the brady bunch and VPC are upset about AG ashcrofts remarks, I have to wonder what the 'precedent was for the years PRIOR to 1934. But i'll save that for tomorrow.