Archive for Politics

Colorado Springs/Pueblo Recall: VOTE and Tip the Scales in favor of America!

/ September 4, 2013 / 3 comments

Screen Shot 2013-09-04 at 12.44.43 AMJohn Morse and Angela Giron campaigned on the promise that they would focus on jobs and the economy. What they actually did was lead an extreme partisan war against the 2nd Amendment – against the wishes of their constituents. The outcome of the drastic gun control measures has been downright outrage from a large number of citizens of Colorado, and beyond the recall in Pueblo and Colorado Springs, these bills were even the catalyst for a portion of Northern Colorado rallying a succession campaign.

Voters in Pueblo and Colorado Springs will decide on September 10th whether to recall their state senators for gun legislation passed during the 2013 legislative session. Only residents within their districts in Colorado Springs and Pueblo get to vote.

This is the state I grew up in.  I lived out in a small town on the plains, the kind of town that was full of hardworking people.  People who take care of their families and pass the values of self-reliance down to their children. This is the state of which I remain a citizen. If the elections were held in the district I am registered in, I would fly to Colorado this week just to vote if that was required. 

Have you ever tweeted, posted on FB, or had a passionate conversation with a friend about your gun rights? Do you live in one of the affected districts? This is your moment to make a statement. This is your time to tell the world the American voices will be heard! If every single person pro second Amendment gets out and votes, you will be able to recall these two senators.  You CAN do this.  If you are willing and able to accomplish this feat, you will again be able to vote for either party (I know that we have firearms enthusiasts on both sides) and I have a feeling that anyone in Colorado for the foreseeable future will think twice about voting for gun control.  

When you throw these two people out of office who were more interested in appeasing the fat cats on the east coast in the face of the horrific shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary than pausing to find common sense solutions that really might make a difference, like helping single mothers get their mentally ill sons health care, you will tip the scales.  You will start a snowball rolling that is going to gain momentum across the country. We have the power, we are the people. 

All you have to do is the one thing that people are and have been willing to die for:  VOTE.

Category: Politics /

California: You are running out of time – contact your State Legislators NOW!

/ September 3, 2013 / No comments
Contact Senator Cathleen Galgiani at (916) 651-4005, by fax at (916) 651-4905 and by e-mail at senator.galgiani@senate.ca.gov.

Contact Senator Cathleen Galgiani at (916) 651-4005, by fax at (916) 651-4905 and by e-mail at senator.galgiani@senate.ca.gov.

State Senator Cathleen Galgiani is a key vote to stopping several anti-gun bills and one anti hunting bill. She MUST hear your OPPOSITION to these bills TOMORROW, September 4. It is CRITICAL that you express your opposition during this final stretch of the 2013 legislative session in Sacramento. Contact information for Senator Galgiani is provided below. 

Assembly Bill 711 would make California the first state in the nation to prohibit the use of ALL lead ammunition for hunting.  Extensive research has shown that traditional lead ammunition does NOT pose a health hazard for hunters.  Please communicate the following facts Senator Galgiani as reasons to OPPOSE AB 711: 

Assembly Bill 48 (Skinner) bans the sale of parts and repair kits capable of converting magazine capacity to greater than ten rounds.  This bill also requires that any person who purchases 6,000 rounds of ammunition within a five-day period be reported to local law enforcement.

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Assembly Bill 169 (Dickinson) bans the sale and transfer of all lawfully acquired firearms that were never, or are no longer, on the California roster of approved handguns.

Assembly Bill 180 (Bonta) repeals state firearms preemption by allowing the City of Oakland to enact ordinances that are more restrictive than state laws concerning the registration or licensing of firearms.

Assembly Bill 231 (Ting) expands the law relating to the storage of firearms.  This bill does nothing to reduce California’s violent crime problem and only turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals whether or not anything harmful actually happens, and regardless of whether there was any misconduct on the part of the gun owner.  Ultimately, AB 231 is a misguided proposal that imposes unprecedented liability on those who choose to exercise their fundamental right to keep and bear arms.

Screen Shot 2013-09-03 at 10.08.25 PMYou MUST also remind your family, friends, fellow gun owners, sportsmen and Second Amendment supporters that they must contact state Senator Galgiani also urging her to OPPOSE the above listed bills. The Golden State needs all its law abiding citizens contacting their state legislators to save the Second Amendment.

Contact Senator Cathleen Galgiani at (916) 651-4005, by fax at (916) 651-4905 and by e-mail atsenator.galgiani@senate.ca.gov.

Read more via NRA-ILA | California: Contact NOW State Senator Cathleen Galgiani — a Key Vote to Preserve California’s Hunting Heritage and the Second Amendment Rights.

 

Category: 2nd Amendment, Politics /

Understanding the Two New Gun Control Executive Actions

/ September 2, 2013 / 14 comments

Screen Shot 2013-09-02 at 2.21.09 PMLast Thursday, at the ceremonial swearing-in for Todd Jones as head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Vice President Biden announced two new Executive Actions that the President planned to take.

One of the Executive Actions would be a policy ending a government practice that lets military weapons, sold or donated by the U.S. to allies, be reimported into the U.S. by private entities. The White House said the U.S. has approved 250,000 of those guns to be reimported since 2005; under the new policy, only museums and a few other entities like the government will be eligible to reimport military-grade firearms.

The other proposed Executive Action is aimed at stopping those who would be ineligible to pass a background check from skirting the law by registering a gun to a corporation or trust. The new rule would require people associated with those entities, like beneficiaries and trustees, to undergo the same type of fingerprint-based background checks as individuals if they want to register guns. Watch the VPs remarks here:

I do not know enough about gun trusts to comment on that action, and the other action regarding importing our own weapons back into the country, with government approval (as the VP stated), these can only be transferred to private citizens via FFLs, which means the properly imported weapons would end up in the hands of citizens who obtained them legally. The people who will really be harmed by this are the vast community of gun collectors. As with other gun control actions, you’ll notice that Biden only said how many firearms changed hands via these two methods, but he did not say how many deaths were caused as a result of these programs (either the gun trusts or importing our own weapons back into the country.) That is a slick trick, the stats he used were craftily used to scare people. During the last year, there have been record breaking numbers of firearms sales, of all kinds. This is 100% because of this administrations war against guns, in spite of the actual crime statistics, and in spite of the Constitution.

A friend of mine, Savage1R, who is also a contributor on WeLikeShooting.com and has an excellent and informative YouTube Channel made a very easy to understand YouTube Video about these actions. After I watched his video, I finally understood the Gun Trust Executive Action, and as I figured – it is just as ridiculous as the rest. Watch his video on the Executive Actions and then let me know what you think about it.

The only way we are really going to get all of their gun control efforts “under control” is to pay attention, and vote them all out of office.

Category: 2nd Amendment, Gun Rights, News, Politics / Tags: , , , , , ,

I Don’t think this is good PR: Colorado gun rights group to protest at Aurora Theater Memorial

/ July 18, 2013 / 5 comments

Screen Shot 2013-07-18 at 8.58.03 PM

Gun-rights advocates are planning a rally at the same park where a group will read the names of gun violence victims on the anniversary of the Colorado theater shootings, prompting a state lawmaker to call the move “a slap in the face.”  Both start at noon. State Parks spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said the groups were issued permits for locations that are within sight of each other, but she didn’t know the distance. She said park rangers and law officers would be present to keep the peace. Read more via MiamiHerald.com. 

The Remembrance ceremony is sponsored by Mayors against Illegal Guns (funded by New York City Mayor Bloomberg), so I do understand the reason that Rocky Mountain Gun Owners (RMGO) plans to do a simultaneous protest, the only problem is that the general public who does not care one way or another will not see it that way. The Denver Post has advertised the Bloomberg sponsored Remembrance ceremony and they did mention that it is sponsored by Bloomberg’s group, MAIG. Still, they made it seem like it was THE memorial. To the uneducated public, this will look like the RMGO are insensitive, as the media will only mention the pro gun rally on the TV News.  A quick Google search will show you that nearly all the articles about this event include a title about the insensitivity of gun-rights groups. Some battles are better fought another way. The best thing these pro-gun people can do is stuff envelopes, register like minded voters, get petitions signed, work social media and make phone calls to get the word out about the next chances to vote these people and their laws out of our lives!

To the person who does not care about guns at all, the Bloomberg sponsored ceremony will look like a respectful way to remember the victims of the Aurora Theater Shooting. The RMGO group will look like they are taking advantage of a situation and like they are using poor taste, no matter what. I am actually a fan of most of the things RMGO does, I follow them, I am a Colorado resident, but this will be spun as poor taste and I believe will do more harm than good for the perception of gun owners in Colorado. There are other ways. They should quietly attend a different memorial, they could call for volunteerism among their ranks to make the world a better place for a day, they could all just stay home and do nothing for that one day and they will end up ahead. Even though I agree with their agenda 100%, this is not the way, this is not the way at all.  Do they have public relations representatives within their organization?  Or maybe they hired Paula Deen’s PR people.  I hope they rethink this, just the fact they thought of it looks bad.  This is my opinion, what do you think?

P.S. Remember that when they call themselves “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” they don’t just mean the guns that are currently illegal.  They have every intention of making the firearm you already lawfully own illegal as well. 

Category: 2nd Amendment, Gun Rights, News, Politics / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

New Missouri law allows schools to teach gun safety to first-graders

/ July 16, 2013 / 6 comments

Screen Shot 2013-07-16 at 6.56.32 AMAlong with math, science and social studies, gun safety could soon be part of the first-grade curriculum in some Missouri public schools. A new measure that advocates for such classes for first-graders was signed into law last week. But the idea has prompted worry from some parents and experts about the role and effectiveness of gun safety programs in a classroom setting. “I don’t have a gun. My family doesn’t have a gun. There is no reason for them to be teaching about gun safety when there are children with parents like me,” Aimee Patton, a Kansas City blogger and mom to a 6-year-old girl, told CNN in a phone interview. Read more via CNN.

While I truly believe that gun education, as in how to use a gun, should be taught only by experienced, well-trained people, and the decision to teach a child how to use a gun should 100% be up to the parent, teaching a child how to safely react when they encounter a gun is really no different than teaching them how to react when there is a fire or “stranger danger” situation. With all the accidental deaths in the news, deaths that are caused by children shooting themselves or accidentally shooting other young friends or siblings, how could this be a bad thing? Especially for children who live in homes without guns. These children may not understand that a firearm should always be assumed to be loaded.  Something like the Eddie Eagle program simply teaches kids:

If you see a gun:

  • STOP!
  • DON’T TOUCH.
  • LEAVE THE AREA.
  • TELL AN ADULT.

I have not witnessed the actual training taking place, and have not reviewed the curriculum for Eddie Eagle, but one of the criticisms in the article is that there is no “Practical Application” training included. All a teacher would have to do is spend about 15 minutes role playing with a toy gun. They know how to call 911, they know where to go for a fire drill, there is no reason a child couldn’t be taught to NOT touch a gun. It seems to me that children in homes with no guns would be the most likely kids to touch a gun if they found one (though it may be less likely they would find one.) Should they come across a gun, it seems they would be much more curious about it and more likely to touch it since the odds are that their parents never educated them about a firearm.  If you never see one, you never play with a toy gun, you can’t make a paper gun, you can’t bite your pop tart into a gun, when would the teaching moment ever arrive in a child’s life? Cops and Robbers, Cowboy vs. outlaw games we all played as children helped us work out the difference between good and evil, but it also gave our parents a reason to talk to use about gun safety.

I guess the parents who don’t have guns and the School districts who won’t even let a “Pop Tart” gun exist would rather just pretend that guns do not exist at all and then pray and hope with all their might that their children never happen across one of the 300,000,000 guns out in our society. Yep – hope is a great plan.

For me, I have and will continue to talk to my children and train them in gun safety, and as they grow – the proper use of a firearm.

Full Disclosure:  I am the mother of a first grader.

Category: News, Politics / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

New App “Gun Geo Marker” Targets Gun Owners

/ July 15, 2013 / 3 comments

Screen Shot 2013-07-15 at 10.15.23 PMFrom the NRA site: This week’s outrage comes to us from a rather unlikely source:  the Google Play app store.  The new app is called the Gun Geo Marker, and encourages users to “geolocate dangerous guns and owners” in their communities.

The app could enable thieves to target and steal firearms from law-abiding gun owners, while conversely advertising that other residences are “gun free” and therefore easy targets for criminals. Read more via NRA-ILA.

————-

I did go to the developer’s website, and they have listed the following guidelines for “Marking” someone as a dangerous gun owner:

Try to keep the following warning signs and guidelines in mind when determining if a local gun owner may present a threat to your children or your community. While the remainder of the guidelines are fairly obvious cases for marking if true, it is important to remain clear headed about your assessment and avoid misunderstandings. Users of the Walkingtools Gun Geo Marker hold the responsibility for the quality of the information the system presents while remaining anonymous so try to be as clear about your concerns as possible.

  1. Unlocked, loaded, or carelessly stored weapons
  2. Dangerous Gun Owners to include 1st time gun owners who have not take a gun safety class.
  3. Places with an unsafe gun culture
  4. Uncertain Situations
  5. The general guideline is that you should mark any location about which you have a gun related concern, while trying to provide enough extra information for others to make their own determination about safety.

There is A LOT more information and suggestion about who to “mark”. The developer’s site spends a lot of time encouraging people to not mark safe gun enthusiasts or safe hunters, but the guidelines (especially the #5 general guideline) outline that anyone could be marked.

What do you think?

Category: 2nd Amendment, Good vs. Evil, Politics, protection, Safety / Tags: , , , , , ,

Cold Dead Hands: A 2nd Amendment Anthem

/ July 15, 2013 / No comments

Screen Shot 2013-06-20 at 8.48.15 PMWatch this video titled, Cold Dead Hands, written by Jennifer Lawson and Bo Dottley. Jennifer is talented and she has a great voice. I love that she is a lady rocking on her guitar singing about the Second Amendment, a subject near and dear to my heart! Get the word out about this song.  You can watch it below on You Tube or you can buy it on iTunes. Support those who share our beliefs!

Cold Dead Hands

Simple man, simple ways, blue collar, American made
Fear the Lord and love my family
You better not tread on me cause in the name of Liberty
You know I’m gonna fight til the bitter end

Like a mighty oak I’m gonna stand my ground
You can bet your butt I’ll never lay these pistols down

Cause this fight ain’t just about freedom, it goes a lot deeper than that
It’s about the blood our brothers shed so you can have a place to hang your hat
And if you try and take em you’ll cross that line I’ve drawn in the sand
You can have my guns when you pry em from my cold dead hands.

Just a worn out Sweet 16, it’s loaded up with memories
One of these days I’m gonna pass it on
Handed down with pride you see it’s my grand daddy’s legacy
Ain’t a man alive gonna take it away

If he were here today let me tell you son
He’d walk through hell before you ever took his guns
CHORUS

Now I lay me down to sleep, 12 gauge by the door I keep
It’s there to protect my family
Just remember it’s our right to keep and bear so we can fight
Against the thugs and government tyranny

And as long as Uncle Sam stands his ground, 
You can bet your butt we’ll never lay these pistols down
REPEAT CHORUS

Category: 2nd Amendment, Beauty, Girl Power, Patriotism, Politics, Sassy / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Jim Carrey Apologized for Calling AR-15 owners Names

/ July 7, 2013 / One comment

Screen Shot 2013-07-07 at 10.24.56 PMI have to give Mr. Carey kudos for apologizing to those of us who own and love AR-15s, AK-47s, AR-10s, etc. Well, he apologized to “Assault Rifle” fans. I do not think anyone here is actually a fan of the term assault rifle, but I think he meant those of us mentioned in my first sentence. He does not believe that one needs a modern rifle, and because those are his beliefs, we made a parody video called “Cold Dead Hands” and then refused to promote his new film due to the violent nature of the movie. He also tweeted and made his opinion about those of us who own a modern rifle, although for some reason he keeps calling it an assault rifle.

This is my main problem with the people who argue for more gun control, they get really really mean and nasty instead of discussing the facts and educating themselves so they could listen to our side and then propose their ideas, but in ways that might actually stop the Sandy Hook shooter or the Theater shooter. Trust me, I do not want those men who caused so much devastation to get a gun, car, fertilizer, pressure cooker, gasoline, or anything else they might use to commit mass murder. Mr. Carrey and I are actually on the same side – be both want the violence to end. We simply disagree on the best way to stop it. I will never be ok with removing my right to have equal (or as equal as possible) firepower to that a criminal could get their hands on.

Thank you Mr. Carrey – I accept your apology. Now, how about a day at the range. I’d love to have a real, face to face, discussion of the facts. I am sure you come from a far different perspective than I do and If we were to remove emotion and talk, maybe we would find we have more in common than you believe.

Here is the actual “Tweet” from Mr. Carrey:

 

— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) July 7, 2013

 

He followed up with this “Tweet”:

 

 

Here is my response to him:

 

— HeelsandHandguns (@HeelsandHandgun) July 8, 2013

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Category: News, Odd, Politics, Sassy, School Shootings / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Separate Mental Illness Solutions from Firearms Politics and We Might Get Somewhere

/ June 10, 2013 / No comments

Screen Shot 2013-06-09 at 11.48.54 PMI read an opinion piece on a Salt Lake News site. If it was biased in one direction or the other, the author was subtle enough to allow an open minded discussion. It caught my interest, because I can see this really is the only answer. There are so many acts of violence, and too often inexplicable shooting rampages like the one in Santa Monica. While I have been waiting for them to identify the shooter, I had no doubt that when they did, some history of mental illness would be found. In every single mass shooting, the shooter has had serious mental problems, and most have been on SSRI medication as well. We will see if that is true of this Santa Monica shooter in the days to come.

The politicians decide the answer to this is to impose serious regulation upon all of society. If they would spend as much time, energy, and funding trying to fix the mental care health system – ensuring that those who need help have access to help, they might actually impact the violence.

This opinion piece said basically said, as long as the two issues, mental illness and gun violence are entwined, there will never be a solution for either.  They must be dealt with independently – only then is there a chance for change. What do you think?

Read more here:  In our opinion: Keep the issues of gun violence and untreated mental illness separate.

Category: Politics, School Shootings / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Taya Kyle (Chris’ widow) Sticks to Her Guns on 2nd Amendment

/ June 2, 2013 / One comment
Taya and Chris Kyle

Taya and Chris Kyle

“A gun didn’t kill my husband, a man killed my husband,” Taya Kyle, 38, told The New York Post. Chris Kyle — credited with 160 confirmed kills during his 10-year career as a Navy SEAL was shot in February at a Glen Rose, Texas, gun range after ex-Marine Eddie Ray Routh allegedly blasted him and another man at close range, killing both.  The mother of two has steadfastly defended the rights of gun owners. She recently rallied gun enthusiasts at an NRA convention in Houston to continue to defend the Second Amendment, said she owns a Smith & Wesson pistol and even aims to take up hunting soon.  “Unfortunately, it’s a hot issue and people like to make it into a bigger picture that’s not an accurate picture,” she explained. “The majority of ways guns are used every day are very positive. Her husband wrote the bestselling memoir “American Sniper” and was penning a new book, “American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms,” at the time of his death. It will be released June 4. He was so lethal he had an $80,000 bounty placed on his head by insurgents in Iraq and was nicknamed “Al-Shaitan Ramad” — “The Devil of Ramadi.”

His past is never far from his wife’s mind.

“For somebody like me, who can feel vulnerable, it is nice to have an added element of protection because there are people who are motivated to do evil,” she said. “That’s not going to change. If you’re going to do evil, you are going to do it — and . . . I’d like to be able to protect myself.”

Her husband’s alleged killer, Routh, 25, was reportedly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and Kyle was trying to help him through it. Taya doesn’t buy that Routh was suffering PTSD.

“People who have PTSD don’t talk about it. They don’t use it as an excuse. They carry guns and they do good work and love their families,” she said. “They struggle, but it doesn’t change their character.”

She said Routh’s upcoming trial would shed light on the alleged killer’s motives, but declined to discuss how. “Chris has a lot of experience with guys with PTSD — hunting, shooting and healing. For that reason alone, there was no reason not to take him to the range — there’s a lot more information Chris would have needed to not to make that decision.”

Taya said she’ll be promoting the book in her husband’s place. And the spotlight will soon grow even brighter. Steven Spielberg will be directing a movie based on “American Gun,” and Bradley Cooper will be playing Kyle — an actor he approved, Taya said.  Read the original article here.

Category: News, Politics / Tags: , , , , , , ,
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