Gun Rights Policy Conference

Second Amendment Sisters ^ | 9/29/03 | Roberts

[pabianice]

Here are some notes from the Gun Rights Policy Conference held last weekend. These notes are well done and was writtten by someone on the Pink Pistols discussion list who attended the conf. I added the link to Dr. Timothy Wheeler for you to save and use when the time comes.

Lynne Roberts

Massachusetts State Coordinator

1-877-683-1717

www.2asisters.org

----------Forwarded message ----------

Just a few thoughts about the 18th Gun Rights Policy Conference held in Houston over the weekend:

First it was good to spend some time with folks committed to the right to keep and bear arms. I'd also like to thank the conference sponsors and organizers for putting on the conference and picking up most of the tab. For me, all I had to pay was parking.

Some salient points brought out during the conference:

*The gun rights movement has good momentum at this time along a number of fronts. More favorable concealed carry laws should be forthcoming.

*The international community through the auspices of the UN is working very hard to eliminate civilian firearms ownership worldwide. As such, the Gun Rights conference passed a resolution that would seek a constitutional amendment that would say that no treaty or agreement would serve to reduce eliminate or otherwise diminish rights specified in the US Constitution.

*Should the Supreme Court elect to hear the case of Silveria v Lockyear the outcome is a crap shoot. Conversely, the ACLU and the anti's are running scared and thinking the same thing.

*Richard Davies of the Armed Pilots Alliance was able to graphically illustrate how unarmed pilots could be taken in the cockpit. He asks that you contact your representatives and senators in order to get TSA off the dime and start training armed pilots. He also suggested that passengers "vote with their feet" regarding not having armed pilots in the cockpit.

*Dr. Timothy Wheeler of the Doctors for Gun Ownership said that if any doctor starts to ask you about the guns you have in your home, to contact him via his email and let him know. He described such an incident as a "boundary violation," said that the ownership of guns in the United States "is normative behavior," and that he will make sure the doctor's hide is "tacked to the barn door" as an example.

....Dr. Wheeler's site is at www.claremont.org/projects/doctors and his email address is drgo@adelphia.net

*Some recent scholarship tends to indicate that the wording of the second amendment are two independent phrases which faced some heavy editing. The folks reporting on this said that the 2a is both an individual and a collective right, describing it as "a musket on the mantle and a cannon on the green;" concept. Put another way, there was an individual right to own firearms, and a collective right to own crew-served weapons.

I was able to spend some time with some folks in the forefront of the gun rights movement, people involved in the bare knuckles politics areas. As usual, egos, some end-runs, and backstabbing in some state legislatures is the order of the day, as well as in the national arena. Any time the name Karl Rove came up, the nicest thing I heard about him was "someone should take that guy out back and bitch-slap him."

The other stuff said about Rove is unprintable. I therefore surmise that any problems in the White House re RKBA is not necessarily coming from the Oval Office.

Per one of the senior NRA members from New York, the city of New York is willing to *suspend* it's gun laws for the duration of any NRA convention held in New York. The reason is that NYC wants to $25-million or so dollars the NRA convention brings into the city. NRA has said no.

NYPD has requested that airlines who have passengers traveling with guns who might land in NYC to let them know. Southwest Airlines told NYPD no.

Professor John Lott was at the convention, and met with just about anyone who wanted to talk with him. Two items of interest: (1) a local (Texas) resident pointed out that based upon just newspaper reports, and also knowing the size of police departments, he was able to estimate that Texas LEO arrest rates are somewhere between 2-3 per cent, meaning that LEO's commit more crimes than do CHL holders. Lott's ears perked up at that information, and he was going to investigate it further. (2) The first 15 states to pass concealed carry laws generally did not restrict CHL holders from bars and clubs. Lott said that to his knowledge, there is no greater club or barroom shootings with CHL holders than with other state who restricted CHL holders from entering bars and clubs. He said he "will look into" publishing some data on the subject separately, though he did say that the information was actually in the data of his first book, "More Guns, Less Crime."

The 2004 meeting will most likely be in the Washington DC area as it is an election year.

[pabianice]

Let's "nail some grabber hides to the barn door."

[Joe Brower]

[LTCJ]

The other stuff said about Rove is unprintable.

What the heck is it with Rove? And more to the point, what the heck is up with those who keep him around? His grand strategy seems to be: do away with the Democrats by making them redundant.

[Dan from Michigan]

Good notes there. Unfortunatly, something last minute came up and I had to cancel out.

[Dan from Michigan]

The other stuff said about Rove is unprintable. I therefore surmise that any problems in the White House re RKBA is not necessarily coming from the Oval Office

Rove needs to remember who got him the win in the first place, and that without us, he'll be going back to Texas.

[Redbob]

"Rove needs to remember ...that without us, he'll be going back to Texas."

But Dan, that's just not a threat!
Maybe if you told him he could be sent to Michigan if he keeps screwing up...
<grin>

[El Gato]

"a musket on the mantle and a cannon on the green;" concept. Put another way, there was an individual right to own firearms, and a collective right to own crew-served weapons.

Even that cannon was often privately owned. In other cases it was owned by the militia of the town, not by the town itself. The militias were organzied by town and township, but not part of the government of the town, directly. They did often have what in a corporate context would be called "overlaping boards", meaning those who lead the town also lead the militia. But that was only the general rule, and sometimes things were quite different.

Certainly the cannon on a Privateer were owned by the master, or the owner(s) if they were not one and the same, of the ship. This is as authorized by the "letters of marque" provision in the Constitution. So I do believe the right to own crew served weapons is also an individual one, however it may be exercised jointly (since by definition it takes more than one person to operate the beast anyway).

[fire_eye]

What the heck is it with Rove?

He's in thrall to Bush, but believes in nothing himself, other than polls.

It's Bush you need to ask about. He said during his campaign that he supported renewing the AW ban. That was unnecessary - he could have just said that we needed to study the effect of the ban before renewing it, or any number of other things, if he wanted to avoid supporting it without giving Feinschumer & Co. anything substantial to whine about. But he came out in support of it.

Rove is just another whore like "Doggy Dick" Morris - but neither he nor anyone else in the Bush administration would dare to support anti-gun measures without Bush's approval.

[Dan from Michigan]

Maybe if you told him he could be sent to Michigan if he keeps screwing up...

ROFL. Now THAT'S a threat....to Michiganders!!!

[neverdem]

Great Find.

Any suggestions on how and where to save this story so that you can remember you still have it and where to find it.

[elbucko]

Any time the name Karl Rove came up, the nicest thing I heard about him was "someone should take that guy out back and bitch-slap him."

And hopefully knock some sense into him. The way to reelection is not through caving into gun control. A local U.S. Representative, Steve Kykendahl (sp), voted for the AWB in the mid 90's. He served one term from a fairly liberal district.

Why vote Repub if the candidate is going to vote like a Dem in office? Why should a Dem vote for a Repub that acts like a Dem, when the Dem can vote for a Dem? When the Republican Party, at local to federal level, answers these questions for themselves, more Republicans will get elected. Remember the "Contract with America"?

[elbucko]

*The international community through the auspices of the UN is working very hard to eliminate civilian firearms ownership worldwide. As such, the Gun Rights conference passed a resolution that would seek a constitutional amendment that would say that no treaty or agreement would serve to reduce eliminate or otherwise diminish rights specified in the US Constitution.

It is my understanding that it is unconstitutional to reduce, eliminate or otherwise diminish rights specified in the Constitution already. To do so, for any federal officer, would be a violation of their oath of office.

[Puppage]

do away with the Democrats by making them redundant

They do that just fine all by themselves, no?

[Richard-SIA]

Yet, doing so is routine!

[Travis McGee]

Ping!

[Badray]

bump and ping

[Badray]

Here is another report that I got via email:

This weekend I traveled to Houston with Steve and Celeste Adams to attend the annual Gun Rights Policy Conference sponsored by the Second Amendment Foundation and over a dozen other pro-rights groups. Much to my pleasant surprise, the Libertarian Party was one of the supporting organizations. Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) was there to speak to us after dinner on Friday evening. The audience responded with an enthusiastic standing ovation, and I waited in line with dozens of other people in order to have my photograph taken with him. If the other 534 members of Congress respected the Constitution and voted as he does, there wouldn't be a need for people to gather from around the country to defend the Bill of Rights. He is one of the few people in Washington who truly represents the best interests of all Americans. I strongly urge you to support him by sending contributions whenever you can. You can visit his website at http://www.house.gov/paul/

On Saturday morning each attendee was given an eight inch stack of books and magazines, and there were enough refreshments in the lobby to feed George Washington's army at Valley Forge. The conference was very well organized, and speakers were kept within minutes of the agenda. All of the speakers hold impressive credentials, however might have fallen asleep before lunch unless you were as serious about guns as John Wayne and me. The first speaker to invigorate the crowd with a passionate presentation was Wayne LaPierre, Executive VP of the NRA. It was precisely the type of speech most of us had come to hear; one that got your blood boiling, and made you wonder what else you could do to support the Second Amendment. Most of the other speakers were sincere, but not very exciting.

My favorite speaker was my friend and fellow Texan, Jerry Patterson, who currently serves at the Texas Land Commissioner. Jerry is occasionally referred to as the "father of concealed carry in Texas" because of his never ending support of that issue. He started by telling us that Wayne LaPierre's presentation made him feel like Elizabeth Taylor's fifth husband. "I know what I'm supposed to do, but I'm not sure how to make it exciting." Jerry wanted to tell us something that we didn't already know, so he decided to share a personal story that he swears is true. After returning home after an early morning run, he saw several people chasing a man in his direction. He quickly learned that the man had just robbed a bank, and was now running through his back yard and jumping the fence. Winded but quick witted, Jerry ran into the house, grabbed his gun and mobile phone, then jumped on top of the barbecue grill near the fence so he could report on the criminal's escape. Several squad cars arrived moments later, followed by a police helicopter circling overhead. Even though things appeared to be under control on the ground, the helicopter pilot radioed to ask, "Who's the nut in red gym shorts standing on the grill and waving a gun?" Jerry's campaign manager spent no time spinning the event into media coverage that Jerry claims helped him win the election. My favorite moment of the weekend occurred when Jerry told the crowd that rights are not granted by the Constitution. I applauded the idea reflexively, but was the only one to do so. Jerry spotted me in the second row and announced to the crowd that "Michael Badnarik taught me that". Nothing he could have said would have honored me more. (Thanks, Jerry.)

Saturday night we were treated to a wonderful buffet reception, and I took the opportunity to hand out a few of my campaign flyers. Sunday morning one of our speakers was Eric Croft from the Alaska House of Representatives. Mr. Croft said he was proud to visit the second largest state in the union, and the audience groaned. He told us he had met a hunter from Texas who who bragged that he had 200 pounds of venison in the freezer. He responded that a friend of his had recently caught a 200 pound halibut. He also said that Alaskan fisherman are familiar with five pound bass from Texas - because they use them for bait. All of his jokes were very well delivered, and also warmly received. We learned that Alaska is the most recent state to pass what is known as "Vermont Style Carry", meaning that people can carry a weapon openly or concealed without filling out any government paperwork. (Hurray for Alaska!) He told us that he had been working with several representatives on a more moderate concealed carry bill because they didn't feel a more aggressive bill would get enough votes to pass. Still, he was bothered by the idea of asking for permission to exercise a right so he devised a separate bill intended to be the start of a long process toward more gun freedom. Everyone was surprised that a Vermont style law would pass at all, much less on the first vote. I consider this an indication that Libertarian candidates should stand by their principles, rather than compromise their ideals by acquiescing to a more gradual approach.

There was one aspect of the conference that concerned me very much. This concern was shared by several others, including one speaker to mentioned it from the podium. As you looked around the crowded room, it was evident that the average age was 50 years or older. There were no young adults participating in the conference, something that is viewed as a very bad sign. If we cannot get young people excited about shooting, there will be fewer people to defend the Second Amendment as the participants in this weekends event gradually die out. The only evidence that there may young people to take up our cause was an award presented to the STUDENTS FOR THE SECOND AMENDMENT. Damaso Torres was there to accept the award on behalf of the San Antonio based group, and he reported that there are now similar organizations in seventeen states. I certainly wish them well, but I know that occasional meetings by college students are not enough. If you or your friends have children who are in their early teens, please do what you can to get them involved in shooting. They will be the one who defend the Bill of Rights in the future.

I am very pleased to report that AUSTIN, TEXAS is the first city in the Lone Star State to formally oppose the Patriot Act! Last Thursday night after a meeting with the public that lasted almost to midnight, our City Council voted 4 to 3 to oppose federal violations of our rights. Three of the members abstained from voting because they felt it would exceed their jurisdiction to vote on a federal issue. I consider that a political cop-out because "it is their right, it is their DUTY, to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security." If you would like to read the entire resolution, it can be found at http://www.deveritas.com/AustinBORDC/docs/AustinResolution.pdf however the essence of Austin's resolution says:

WHEREAS, the City of Austin and its citizens are governed by the United States Constitution which includes the Bill of Rights, and the Texas State Constitution;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That local law enforcement continue to preserve and uphold residents' freedom [ ] even if requested to [ ] infringe upon such rights by federal or state law enforcement agencies acting under powers assumed by the USA Patriot Act by Executive Order;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That our Federal legislative delegation is petitioned to actively [ ] work for the repeal of any and all portions that violate the guaranteed civil liberties enumerated in the Bill of Rights;

Following closely on our heels, the City of Chicago is now the largest city to formally express opposition to the Patriot Act. It should tell you something when a city with Draconian gun laws acknowledges that the Patriot Act goes too far in violating your rights. For those who have heard a lot about the Patriot Act, but haven't taken the time to research it yourself, you can visit either of the following websites to educate yourself on just how bad it really is.
http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot/
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/Surveillance/Terrorism_militias/20011031_eff_usa_patriot_analysis.php

Time is running out on this month's Cass County Internet poll. I have been in a close race with Gary Nolan this month, frequently jumping ahead by as many as seven votes. Right now I find myself twenty votes behind, and I need a last minute comeback in order to win in September. If you haven't already done so, please visit http://cass.molp.org/polls.htm to cast your vote for me. If you absolutely insist, you can send an eMail to all of your friends asking them to vote for me, too. Keep in mind that you can vote for me again on Thursday because it will be the start of a new month, and a new poll. The Badnarik for President campaign is gaining momentum, and I am making plans to travel to as many state LP conventions as I can. Naturally, I won't be able to travel anywhere for free. I am doing my best to represent you, but I will be much more successful with a little financial backing. Please visit my website and make a PayPal contribution so I can rally the troops before the National Convention in Atlanta.

Lighting the fires of Liberty, one heart at a time!
http://www.badnarik.org

Michael Badnarik

To join my Wildfire Brigade, please visit http://wildfire.rockhoward.com or call (512) 296-4476

send contributions to:
Badnarik for President
P.O. Box 841
Buda, Texas 78610

[Badray]

ping for another report in my previous post

[Travis McGee]

That guy from Alaska sounds like a real hoot! 200 pound halibut!

I wish I was there, where is next years 2A conference going to be held?

[Badray]

He was a hoot. And a good guy.

He also said that there was talk a few years back of splitting Alaska into two states, but they didn't do it because it would have made Texas the third biggest state and they didn't want to embarass Texas. He got in some great fun hits at Texas.

Next year is in DC. Actually at the Crystal City Gateway Marriott in Arlington VA, I think. Lord willing, I'm there. It's only a 4 hour drive for me.