RKBA

“An Open Letter from Colleen Lawson, McDonald v Chicago Plaintiff“

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Dear Legislator:
Could you please help me decide which of my kids lives to save? Here’s the problem:

Last night yet another of my kids found himself on the goodbye end of a robber’s gun as the robber slowly counted down
 
“5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . ”
 
I know you politicians told us “if it saves one life, then keeping guns away from law-abiding citizens is the right thing to do!” but I’m having a little trouble figuring out which life is the one to be saved. I’ve had most of these kids for 20 years or more, and I’m rather fond of them all.
 
My kid last night? It was his third time facing armed robbers in Chicago, in Illinois. Can you tell me how many times is just right and how many times is too many?
 
The one last night was in a convenience store at the time. He and his friend had gone into the store to buy soda, and they hid as the robber stuck his gun in the face of the store clerk and began counting down.
 
Do you give classes in hiding? Wait, that can’t be right, cause many kids get found anyway, and it’s not always easy to stay quiet if your heart is thudding and you’re afraid. Maybe you give classes in what kids should do if they find themselves around guns. No, that’s not right. State Sen. Annazette Collins proposed that idea, to keep kids safe and deglamorize firearms, and she was roundly trounced for the idea.
 
[. . .]


Read the whole thing.

(The author’s Facebook page is here.)

March 10, 2011: Illinois Rally for Concealed Carry

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From the Illinois State Rifle Association:

Last year the ISRA won McDonald v Chicago. This year, with your assistance, it will be concealed carry!
 
We need your help, now more than ever. We need everyone concerned with firearm rights in Springfield on March 10th for our Gun Owners Lobby Day, (IGOLD)! Each year we have built on the success of previous’ years events and this year promises to be the biggest and best ever IGOLD. We are growing towards 10,000 people! Don’t sit home, we need you there!
 
With the major wins of Heller v DC and McDonald V Chicago, added into the recent midterm elections, the political tide is changing, but as close as we are, we can’t get concealed carry legislation passed in Illinois without your help. We need you, your friends, your relatives, anyone that agrees with you that “It’s Time” for concealed carry in Illinois. In 48 states private citizens currently enjoy the ability to carry a defensive firearm outside their home. Wisconsin, where it is legal to openly carry firearms, has a new Governor and their legislature has made it clear that they will pass concealed carry this session. That will make 49 states where the concealed carry of firearms for personal defense is legal. “It’s Time” that Illinois ends its ban on the ability of its honest law abiding citizens to carry the same firearms. Criminals have had the advantage long enough as they have been carrying concealed in Illinois for ages! The law abiding should not be put at a deadly disadvantage because of convoluted political rhetoric.
 
Join me in Springfield on March 10th. Once you get there, (buses are available from all corners of the state), we’ll show you the who, what and where you need to know to effectively lobby your own state representative and state senator!
 
I’m looking forward to seeing you there and with all of your help, this will be the year that Illinois joins the rest of the country in celebrating the Second Amendment’s right to carry!
 
Continue below this letter for important IGOLD information.
 
Respectfully,
 
Don Moran
President
Illinois State Rifle Association
www.isra.org


Read the whole thing for more information about this event.

Hidden Agenda

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An op-ed in Time magazine seems to be a refutation of claims to a growing terrorist threat from Muslims in the United States, but uses that pretext to push one of the Left’s most cherished and discredited agendas.

The author does get a few things right, pointing out that those of the Islamic faith here in the US are more integrated and moderate than anywhere else in the Western world. He also states that the vast majority of wannabee Jihad Johnnies are disgruntled loners that act without backing from any terrorist organization. The only time he goes off the rails is when he handwaves the horrific attack carried out by Major Hasan at Fort Hood in 2009. It wasn’t terrorism because Hasan wasn’t shooting civilians, you see!

That single gross and deliberate distortion of the issue aside, the author does make a pretty good case for his premise that claims concerning an ever escalating level of terrorism from the Muslim population in the US are overblown. But, even though he is very clear that a significant threat has yet to emerge, he is very clear as to what should be done about it.

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Gratitude

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Looking at Christmas cards. Seeing pictures of Mary and Joseph on the road, or in the stable with the baby. They did not get into the inn. They had to make the most of very rough conditions. Some thoughts occurred to me so I decided to share.

Even if they had gotten into Herod’s palace, or even somehow became the guests of Caesar himself, what I have here is unimaginably superior. In my modest house (it’s old, and it’s drafty, and it’s not that big) I have: insulation and central heating, hot and cold running water, flush toilets, electric power, telephone, internet, cooking gas, refrigerated and frozen food, medicine as needed in the cabinet, more than sufficient clothing, a piano, and 5,000 or so books. I can communicate with anyone I want to anywhere in the world instantly. I am within walking distance of two pharmacies where I can get antibiotics if needed. I and my children are a short drive away from emergency medical care. Dentists and physicians know about germs, and soap, and can give me anesthesia. If I had to, I could get in my car and drive anywhere in North America in a matter of hours or days. If I absolutely had to, I could get on a plane and go almost anywhere in the world within hours or at most days. This is wealth beyond the wildest dreams of Caesar, or Herod, or Charlemagne, or Louis XIV, or Queen Victoria.

There is no immediate prospect of a hostile group or gang, or my own rulers, driving me out of my home, taking my stuff by force, or murdering me or my family. If I have a dispute, I have enforceable rights, though the system is far from perfect. I am in no immediate danger of attack for practicing my religion. I can possess lethal force to defend myself and my family. I can vote, speak, publish, protest, petition, assemble, meet and organize to have an impact on the government I live under, without much likelihood of personal danger. Political disagreements, even over matters of great consequence, rarely lead to blows. This is a level of freedom and security which has been known to a tiny fraction of one percent of the people who have ever lived.

I have gratitude to all who came before us and gave this to us. And there are many defects and failures and challenges ahead for us, and much of what we have could be lost, and some of it is in the process of being lost. But we have it good, and even better things are within our grasp. Let’s keep it going.

At Least Hit What You Shoot At

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Chicago’s experiment in blaming others for their incompetent self-governance continues with this result:

It has been a violent weekend in Chicago: in a 30 hour period, 25 people were shot, and one man died from his injuries.

I guess it’s the Texan in me but I found myself morally offended that with all that lead flying only one of those numbnuts managed to hit a center of mass. If you’re going to abuse your basic right to self defense the least you could do is have the good grace not to spray and pray (especially in a crowded urban environment!)

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