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Abbreviations used in VA-ALERT: http://www.vcdl.org/help/abbr.html
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1. VCDL supper meeting in Roanoke on Tuesday, February 25
2. Democrats takeover the Senate - not pretty
3. ABC News does another hit piece on guns
4. VCDL Shenandoah gun show coordinator's 5-year-old to have open-heart surgery on Feb. 7
5. .22 LR recall!
6. Homeowner Injured
7. [CA] Calif. DOJ to start keeping long gun ownership records [VIDEO]
8. Member questions Colorado Government's motives
9. Armed robbery at the State Theater in Falls Church, VA [VIDEO]
10. Will Supreme Court hear case of 2nd Amendment rights nullifying 4th Amendment rights?
11. State knife carry laws: Know your rights
12. Top five pro-gun moments in 2013
13. 'Duck Dynasty' family launches gun line
14. [CA] Let's take a peek into leftwing gun culture
15. [OH] Why do you need a gun at a laundromat?
16. [NY] Sheriffs ignoring gun laws are following Obama's example
17. [CT] Gun owners wait in line to do something you hope you never have to [VIDEO]
18. [NC] Cherokee County allows employees to carry guns at work
19. [TX] SWAT team Deputy killed serving "no knock" warrant
20. [CT] Viral photo giving some gun owners chills
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1. VCDL supper meeting in Roanoke on Tuesday, February 25
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From Board member Al Steed Jr.:
There will be a VCDL SUPPER MEETING on Tuesday, February 25 at:
ODD FELLOWS LODGE
2615 ORANGE AVE NE (460 EAST)
ROANOKE VA 24012
The location is behind and above COMMANDO SUPPLY, just EAST of GUS NICKS--(from Roanoke--TWO miles EAST OF I-581, just past the BP Station on the RIGHT--next door to White Tire---driveway to the LODGE is on the LEFT side of COMMAND SUPPLY)
Fellowship starts at 6:30 PM--A FREE HOT DOG SUPPER will start at 7 PM. LOCAL members are asked to bring a dish to share with others.
PHILIP VAN CLEAVE will be our speaker. The supper meeting is open to the public. Come out and enjoy an interesting evening! YES--we will have door prizes ---you MUST be present to win!
PLEASE NOTE---This meeting replaces the February 18 Supper Meeting.
PLEASE RSVP to al@vcdl.org with numbers in your party who plan on attending so proper food and seating may be prepared.
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2. Democrats takeover the Senate - not pretty
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The special elections resulting from two Democrat state Senators winning statewide office and one of those Democrats becoming the Lt. Governor, have turned control of the Senate over to the Democrats. And the Democratic leadership in the Senate is decidedly anti-gun (we warned you of this possibility if gun owners didn't vote in the elections back in November).
Normally the Senate would not reconfigure itself until the next full election of the Senate (in two years). But the Democrats decided to "fix" that rule and reconfigure it NOW. And they have done so, changing committee assignments and changing the balance of power in those committees. They also gave ONE senator the power to kill any Senate bill that the House modifies in any way. That's something I've never heard of before.
So from this point and for the next two years, the Senate is going to be problematic for those who like their freedom and liberty.
Here are some articles on the takeover:
From fox news.com: http://tinyurl.com/kave23s
Virginia GOP calls Dems' Senate takeover 'outrageous power grab'
Published January 29, 2014
In what Republicans called "a Virginia version of Harry Reid's nuclear option," Democrats in the state legislature invoked new rules giving them control of all state Senate committees.
With Democratic Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam casting the tie-breaker Tuesday, the evenly split Senate was reorganized on a 21-20 vote.
Republicans branded it "a day of outrageous power grabs." They maintained that the existing Senate rules and organization governed for a four-year term, coinciding with the Senate election cycle.
"It is a partisan game to advance a radical agenda without accountability to Virginia voters," said state Sen. Tom Garrett.
"The new Senate rules subvert the Virginia Constitution by creating a veto and vesting it in the chairman of the Rules Committee," he told Watchdog.org.
"It is no overstatement to say that (the Democrats') creation of a super senator in the form of the Rules chairman makes John Edwards (D-Roanoke) far more powerful than even the lieutenant governor."
Garrett, a former commonwealth attorney from Louisa County, said Edwards "can singlehandedly pull any Senate bill from the purview of the full body and kill it in a party-line vote without having the accountability and transparency of a floor vote on the record."
Democrats say they're merely doing what Republicans have done when they held a majority. [PVC: Not true. Republicans took control in a normal Senate election year. This grab was during a special election and included the new provision for a single Senator to kill certain bills.]
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From the dailyprogress.com: http://tinyurl.com/kqz8dnx
Democrats realign state Senate; GOP calls method 'anarchy'
BY RAY REED The (Lynchburg) News & Advance
RICHMOND —Democrats, using what they described as the same methods adopted by Republicans two years ago, resumed control of the state Senate on Tuesday, asserting what's sure to become a stronger role in Gov. Terry McAuliffe's push for Medicaid expansion.
Sen. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, said Democrats, who now hold a one-vote majority on the strength of Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam's tie-breaking powers, trashed years of Senate tradition by rewriting its rules.
"We are in a time of anarchy, I think, as far as Senate rules go," said Newman, who's been a senator for 18 years. He lamented the decision to reorganize the body by a simple majority vote.
The old rules required a two-thirds vote, Newman said, and now the rules can be changed anytime an election shifts a single Senate seat.
An election recount in the Norfolk area Monday confirmed Lynwood Lewis had, by 11 votes, won a seat that gave Democrats a 20-20 split in the Senate.
Democrats said they didn't break any new ground by rallying around Northam, because Senate Republicans organized the body two years ago on the strength of former Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling's tie-breaking role. Bolling broke ties more than 30 times the past two years.
"We did what they did. We didn't do anything different" in the reorganization, said Sen. Richard Saslaw of Fairfax, who is once again the Senate majority leader.
Sen. Tom Garrett, R-Louisa County, said the party-line reorganization included a power grab, in which Democrats gave the Senate Rules Committee the ability to review any Senate bill amended in the House of Delegates. The old rules sent a House-amended bill straight to the Senate floor, bypassing all committees.
Saslaw said the rule change was driven solely by the Byron tactic, which he'd seen used only once in 38 years, and which likely will be rarely used now.
Saslaw said he expects the Senate version of the state budget will include Medicaid expansion, just as it did last year before a conference committee struck the expansion.
Garrett said he thinks the new rule can be used on the budget bill, allowing it to be heavily influenced by a party-line vote in committee.
"We have a super senator," Garrett said. "If you have this power, aren't you going to be tempted to dust it off and use it occasionally?"
Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico and chairman of the Democratic caucus, rejected the "super senator" label, calling it "rhetoric on the other side."
The new chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, John Edwards of Roanoke, can request a House-amended bill be routed to his committee, McEachin said, but all of that panel's members will have a vote on what happens to the measure.
Both Newman and Garrett greeted the loss of their seats on key committees philosophically, saying it was to be expected, although Garrett said the loss of his seat on the Courts committee was painful.
Two of its casualties probably will be his bills that would have punished lawmakers or public employees who use their positions to retaliate against groups that hold beliefs they don't share, Garrett said.
The Finance Committee gained three Western Virginia Democrats in the reorganization: R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County; Edwards; and Philip Puckett, D-Tazewell.
Newman also yielded chairmanship of the Transportation Committee to Deeds.
Newman's seniority on the Transportation Committee, and his party alliance with former Gov. Bob McDonnell, were influential in advancing plans for the still-unbuilt Western Bypass of U.S. 29 in Albemarle County.
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3. ABC News does another hit piece on guns
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Diane Sawyer and ABC News did a hit piece on guns Friday night called "Young Guns." While they did show a couple of cases when someone used a gun to defend themselves, the show was greatly lopsided.
ABC News put two Cricket rifles, a pink one and one with multiple colors, on the ground in a playground where some young girls were playing and filmed what the girls did when they found the guns. The girls thought the guns were toys (who leaves a brand new real rifle laying in a playground?) and proceeded to point them around, pretending they are "bazookas." The arrangement broke a Florida gun law about allowing children under a certain age to have unsupervised access to firearms. But Diane Sawyer and ABC News are above the law, right?
They also had children show the cameras where their parents had hidden guns - some of which were disabled, but not locked in a safe.
As a firearms instructor I do tell my students that hiding a gun with young or irresponsible children in the house is not good enough. Putting guns in high places won't prevent a determined child from climbing up and finding them, as a police officer in the piece found out the hard way with his son.
Guns should be locked in a safe to prevent unauthorized access. That is, except for the gun you should have on you for self-defense, even when at home.
The show makes it sound like young children are being killed left and right by guns left unattended in the home. In reality for young children it is extremely rare. For example, out of millions and millions of homes with guns, only 1 six-year-old child was killed with a gun in 2010. Children killed by drownings, falls, poisoning, and other such things are way more common.
Diane Sawyer suggests you ask your neighbor about guns before your child should go over to the neighbor's house to play. I would suggest instead that you ask if your neighbor has a swimming pool, where they store their medicines or drugs, if they have any stairs that a child could fall down, if they have any rope laying around, etc.
Dana Loesch takes on ABC's "Young Guns" in a video (thanks to member James Durso for the link):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSk1UkqBx58&feature=youtu.be
And this article debunks the statistics on "children with guns." As usual, "children" in ABC's quoted statistics include 18, 19 and 20 year-olds, which are where the largest number of deaths occur and which frequently are gang-related MURDERS.
From crimepreventionresearchcenter.org: http://tinyurl.com/keh5tvo
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4. VCDL Shenandoah gun show coordinator's 5-year-old to have open-heart surgery on Feb. 7
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From VCDL Shenandoah gun show coordinator David Sayen:
To those of you who have continued to take an interest in my son Andrew by offering prayers and moral support I wanted to ask that you continue to keep him in your prayers.
His mom and I will be flying with Andrew out to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN on Tuesday February 4th in the afternoon. Over the course of the week he will undergo blood work, EKG, echo cardiograms, chest x-ray, and a bunch of other things in preparation for his open heart surgery on Friday Feb.7.
He will be the first surgery of the day and will likely stay sedated for up to 48 hours. After that he will be in the hospital for 7-10 days followed by 6-8 weeks of recovery at home. He is fortunate that his surgeon Dr. Joe Dearani is internationally renowned and an expert at this specific operation (septal myectomy). However, his mother and I are wrestling with a lot of emotions as we prepare to make this journey.
It is a great comfort to know that there are people standing with us in prayer and sending well wishes. We cannot express in words how much that means to us! Andrew knows he is having "heart surgery" to help him and looks forward to his first airplane ride. The Mayo Clinic has helped us to set up a website for those who wish to follow Andrew's progress. The link is
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/andrewsayen
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5. .22 LR recall!
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Possible overcharged lots of .22 LR ammunition from Winchester:
Symbol Number: S22LRT
Lot Numbers: GD42L and GD52L
Details:
http://www.winchester.com/library/news/Pages/s22lrt-recall.aspx
Thanks to David Custer for the link.
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6. Homeowner Injured
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Who needs to carry a gun while at home?
Member Charles Proffitt emailed me this:
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From FairfaxCounty.gov: http://tinyurl.com/npx629b
Homeowner Injured
By Fairfax County Police Department
Public Information Office
December 21, 2013
News Release: 13/354/0168/EJA/(7)
West Springfield Police District - On Friday, December 20, at 3:47 p.m., officers were called to the 9500 block of Parsonage Lane for a stabbing. The 37-year-old homeowner found an unknown man in the garage. The suspect allegedly stabbed the victim and fled. The male victim was transported to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries. The helicopter and K-9 units assisted in the search for the suspect who has not been located.
The suspect is described as Hispanic in his late teens and approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall. He was wearing a green sweatshirt with a blue undershirt.
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7. [CA] Calif. DOJ to start keeping long gun ownership records [VIDEO]
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Member Bill Albritton emailed me this:
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This smells like the Yugo SKS situation all over again.
Once people registered their YUGO SKS (with a grenade launcher on the muzzle), California gave the owners 30 days to turn them in or get them out of the state.
From LosAngeles.CBSLocal.com: http://tinyurl.com/n7hfhar
Calif. DOJ to start keeping long gun ownership records
December 27, 2013
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) -- A controversial gun control measure passed by California lawmakers in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting is set to take effect next week that will retain information on rifle and shotgun purchases statewide.
Starting Jan. 1, the California Department of Justice will require gun dealers to register all long-gun purchases with the state, which was previously compelled by law to destroy such information within five days.
Currently, the state only retains handgun purchaser information.
Introduced by former Democratic Assemblyman and current Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, Assembly Bill 809 (PDF) was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in October 2011 after it received overwhelming support from LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and dozens of other police chiefs statewide.
While supporters of the measure hope the legislation will keep firearms out of the hands of people legally barred from owning a gun in California, critics fear people who legally own guns will targeted simply for leaving a paper trail.
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8. Member questions Colorado Government's motives
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Member Jason Hancock started the new year with an observation and a good question.
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Is anyone other than me making the connection that Colorado's government is giving Coloradans dope while trying to take away Coloradans' guns? This point ought to be hammered as often as possible by those of us who support and defend the Second Amendment. It makes a great rhetorical question: Why is the government so happy to dope us up while taking away our guns?
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9. Armed robbery at the State Theater in Falls Church, VA [VIDEO]
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Gee, what a surprise. Criminals armed with guns rob a gun-free business!
Member Dave Custer emailed me this trio of stories covering the New Year's Day armed robbery of the State Theater in Falls Church, VA. WUSA9 reports the basic story:
"Falls Church police say two men entered The State Theater just
before 7 Wednesday morning. They showed a gun to one of the
employees. Then they got away with cash."
Dave also provided a link to the State Theater policy banning guns at their shows. The policy reads:
"While we make no political statement about the law here in
Virginia, we are exercising our option to ban all weapons,
whether registered, concealed, open or antique, at our shows.
The only exception to this rule is on-duty police officers or
other on-duty state or federal agents who are required to carry
a gun as a condition of their job."
Politics aside, the State Theater's management appears to have created a gun-free zone that one criminal found appealing enough to add "armed robbery" to his New Year's resolutions.
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Robbers hold up State Theatre after New Year's Eve bash
From WTOP.com: http://tinyurl.com/kksrgcp
State Theatre in Falls Church robbed [VIDEO]
By Hatzel Vela
From WJLA.com: http://tinyurl.com/kc34wuf
2 wanted for robbery at Falls Church State Theatre [VIDEO]
From WUSA9.com: http://tinyurl.com/kvxcpws
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10. Will Supreme Court hear case of 2nd Amendment rights nullifying 4th Amendment rights?
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Member Bill Albritton emailed me this:
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From GodfatherPolitics.com: http://tinyurl.com/ktxs3v5
Will Supreme Court Hear Case of 2nd Amendment Rights Nullifying 4th Amendment Rights?
By Dave Jolly
December 27, 2013
In 2006, police in Collin County, Texas forcibly invaded the home of John Quinn without knocking or announcing who they were or why they were there. They had obtained a warrant for Quinn's son on drug related crimes. County police believed that John Quinn owned guns, one of which may have been an AK-47 and that those guns were in the house at the time of the raid. Fearing a possible dangerous confrontation with firearms, they chose to ignore the Fourth Amendment rights of search and seizure and executed a no-knock raid on the home.
When police suddenly and unannounced burst through Quinn's door, he thought he was being attacked by intruders and instinctively reached for his firearm, which he legally owned. The police then reacted and shot and wounded Quinn. When the search had been conducted, police found less than one gram of cocaine, but charged Quinn with possession.
Quinn filed a lawsuit against the police claiming that the no-knock raid was an illegal search and seizure, a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. If the police had knocked and announced themselves, chances are Quinn would not have been shot. The Rutherford Institute took up Quinn's case claiming that his exercise of his Second Amendment rights should not be an excuse to violate his Fourth Amendment rights.
So far, all of the lower courts and courts of appeal have rejected Quinn's defense. John W. Whitehead, President of the Rutherford Institute commented about the case, saying:
"Whatever the issue might be, whether it's mass surveillance,
no-knock raids, or the right to freely express one's views
about the government, we've moved into a new age in which the
rights of the citizenry are being treated as a secondary concern
by the White House, Congress, the courts, and their vast holding
of employees, including law enforcement officials. The disconnect,
of course, is that the Constitution establishes a far different
scenario in which government officials, including the police, are
accountable to 'we the people.' For it to be otherwise, for
government concerns to trump individual freedoms, with government
officials routinely sidestepping the Constitution and reinterpreting
the law to their own purposes, makes a mockery of everything this
nation is supposed to stand for--self-government, justice, and the
rule of law."
Whitehead and the Rutherford Institute have now petitioned the US Supreme Court to hear their case of Second Amendment versus Fourth Amendment. In their petition, they argue:
"...in the absence of any evidence of actual danger to police, the
legal possession of a firearm, as guaranteed by the Second Amendment,
is not sufficient to justify allowing police to override the Fourth
Amendment's protection against unannounced "no-knock" home invasions
when executing warrants."
If the US Supreme Court refuses to hear the case, then police across the nation will be able to use this case, Quinn v. State of Texas, to say that they felt threatened every time they go to serve a warrant on anyone who legally owns a firearm. I could see Obama's Gestapo agenda use this against every legal gun owner, using trumped up charges to conduct no-knock raids and confiscate our guns. This has already happened once after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and could easily happen again everywhere.
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11. State knife carry laws: Know your rights
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Member James Durso emailed me this:
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From KnifeUp.com: http://tinyurl.com/nt8f4l8
State knife carry laws: Know your rights
The US is based upon federalism and, for that reason, laws are created at the federal, state, and municipal level. With regards to knife law, this makes things particularly tricky since a certain knife can be legal in one state and illegal in the next as well as legal in one county and illegal in the neighboring county. The infographic below highlights where certain knives are legal and illegal at the state level. This article goes on to explain some common misperceptions about knife law in the US.
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12. Top five pro-gun moments in 2013
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Member Walter Jackson emailed me this:
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From Breitbart.com: http://tinyurl.com/njbh7sb
Top five pro-gun moments in 2013
By Awr Hawkins
December 30, 2013
Despite the never ending gun control push by the Obama administration, Senate Democrats, and gun control organizations during 2013, there were huge pro-gun moments.
Breitbart News has compiled what we believe were the top five from 2013.
Number five on the list is the lopsided win NRA-backed Virginia delegates secured over delegates backed by Michael Bloomberg and Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) on November 5. Out of 67 delegate races, NRA-backed candidates won 65.
Number four on the list is the signal Chambersburug, PA, residents sent on November 5 when they voted Mayor and MAIG-member Pete Lagiovane (D) out of office and replaced him with Darren Brown (R). Throughout the campaign season Brown assured voters that one of his first acts as Mayor will be to get Chambersburg "off the [MAIG] list."
Number three is the way sheriffs throughout the country stood against gun control and literally refused to enforce new gun laws. This started with Jackson County Kentucky Sheriff Denny Peyman who spoke up in January during the intense federal gun control push following Sandy Hook. Said Peyman, "My office will not comply with any federal action which violates the United States Constitution or the Kentucky Constitution which I swore to uphold."
Throughout the year Peyman's sentiments were echoed by hundreds of sheriffs throughout the country. They were most recently re-emphasized by Weld County, Colorado, Sheriff John Cooke who made clear that his office has not and will not enforce Colorado's new gun control laws.
Number two in our top five list is the successful Colorado recall movement that tossed state senators John Morse (D-Colo. Springs) and Angela Giron (D-Pueblo) out of office for heaving gun control upon Coloradans.
The September 10th recalls drew people from all demographics, including many of the young voters whom the Obama campaign once targeted and energized to support Obama. The success of the recalls sent a signal that the people want politicians to leave their guns alone.
The number one pro-gun moment in 2013 was the April 17 defeat of Senator Joe Manchin's (D-WV) gun control bill. Democrats' efforts to get that bill passed were shameless, relentless, and unsuccessful.
They were outsmarted and outmaneuvered by the NRA and a passionate, pro-gun citizenry that ultimately proved more effective than Democrat talking points or Bloomberg's billions.
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13. 'Duck Dynasty' family launches gun line
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Member Bill Albritton emailed me this:
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From Breitbart.com: http://tinyurl.com/mexeq35
'Duck Dynasty' family launches gun line, including 'military-style rifles and pistols'
By Awr Hawkins
January 2, 2014
Duck Dynasty's Robertson family is teaming with Mossberg to launch a line of shotguns, .22 rifles, and a pistol.
The line of guns is branded Duck Commander, and includes nine different shotguns, two semi-automatic rifles and a semi-automatic pistol.
According to CNN Money, the "guns will come in a 'waterfowl pattern' camouflage design."
The Duck Commander shotguns will be complimented by "military-style" .22 rifles and a AR-15-based .22 pistol.
The .22 rifle is on an AR-15 frame and is a Duck Commander version of the Mossberg International 715T rifle. CNN Money described it as having "some of the features of an 'assault rifle.'"
Mossberg's motto is, "Built Rugged. Proudly American." Sounds like a perfect fit for the Robertson family.
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14. [CA] Let's take a peek into leftwing gun culture
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From gopusa.com: http://tinyurl.com/mal6vvr
Let's take a peek into leftwing gun culture
by Carla Marinucci, San Francisco Chronicle
January 2, 2014
Marlene Hoeber is feisty, tattooed, transgender, a self-described feminist, a queer activist -- and a crack shot with her favorite "toys," guns of just about every kind.
One thing she's not -- and proud of it -- is a member of the National Rifle Association.
"We make ourselves a special place where we don't have to hear about the 'Kenyan Muslim socialist' in the White House," said Hoeber, a biotech equipment mechanic who says she's politically "somewhere around Emma Goldman," the turn-of-the-20th century anarchist.
Instead, Hoeber -- whose array of firearms includes an M1 carbine rifle from World War II and a custom-made .44-caliber pistol -- and other left-leaning gun lovers have their own organization: the Liberal Gun Club.
A good thing, says Hoeber, since she would never consider joining any club that has "Grover Norquist on the board," as the NRA does.
It's unlikely that Norquist, the conservative organizer, would find much to like about the liberal group that boasts more than 1,000 members nationally, including a recently formed Northern California chapter with about a dozen members.
The Liberal Gun Club backs a wide-open interpretation of the Second Amendment that lets law-abiding citizens possess just about any type of gun. But that's where its similarity to the NRA ends.
"If I walk into a gun store with an Obama T-shirt -- which I wouldn't wear, because he's too conservative -- I don't fit," joked Eric Wooten, a longtime California Democratic Party activist and member of the Liberal Gun Club.
Wooten and Hoeber have banded together not only to reinforce their love of a sport and a hobby, but to flex political clout from the left side of the spectrum.
NRA's 'reactionary politics'
The NRA is "a valuable organization" that has helped educate people about the safe use of guns, Hoeber said. But in recent years, its leaders "have attached themselves to reactionary politics," she said.
"I can't put money into a group that gives campaign contributions to people who (say) how terribly wrong it is to walk down the street holding my girlfriend's hand," Hoeber said.
Club members enjoy hanging out with like-minded leftist "gun geeks" put off by what Hoeber called the "current antics of the gun culture."
The group's members are generally "consistently left of the contemporary Democratic Party" but include "Clinton and Obama supporters, and even Reagan Democrats," Hoeber said.
And she insists there are many politically liberal folks in California who are eager to shoot, learn marksmanship, buy and collect guns -- or even own guns for self-protection -- except "they think gun people are people they want nothing to do with."
The group, through its website, www.theliberalgunclub.org, has ramped up membership efforts and also plans on forming a nonprofit advocacy group to speak out on gun legislation.
The club praised Gov. Jerry Brown when he vetoed seven gun-control bills in the last legislative session, including one by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, that would have required gun owners to register their low-capacity rifles as assault weapons if they had detachable magazines. New sales of such weapons would have been banned.
More regulations on lawful gun owners "are overprescribed political placebos that fail to cure ... the root causes of violence," the gun club said in a position statement. Instead of "window-dressing 'solutions' like so-called 'assault weapons' bans and magazine capacity restrictions," the group argued, government should back "mitigation for violence prevention: stronger mental health care, addressing poverty, homelessness and unemployment."
The group also views monetary disincentives to gun ownership, such as ammunition taxes, as "class barriers" blocking the poor from exercising their constitutional rights.
For Hoeber, gun ownership is a political act.
"I have really strong feelings about my distaste for the state having the monopoly on force -- and about my distrust of the police," she said.
Gun-control advocates, she said, show "the same kind of faith-driven disconnect" as antiabortion activists. "It's an incremental chipping away of rights that has a lot in common with the antichoice movement," she said, "the argument that 'we're just trying to protect the children.' "
Even background checks go too far for most members of the Liberal Gun Club.
Wooten says requiring lawful gun owners who have already passed background checks to go through the process again for additional purchases is burdensome and unnecessary -- "kind of like having to take a driver's test every time you change cars."
Guns and socializing
The liberal gun owners meet every few weeks in ranges around Northern California to shoot together, try out each other's weapons and socialize.
But they also relish the opportunity to educate the public on firearms and gun safety, and happily give visitors the opportunity to learn the basics alongside experienced shooters.
"We're the NPR of gun clubs -- without the tote bags," said Walter Stockwell of San Jose. He said he joined the club to improve his marksmanship among people who view the world like he does.
On a recent Saturday, club members showed up at the Chabot Gun Club in Castro Valley with an array of weapons that might horrify most of their left-leaning friends.
On display was an AK-47, one of the most widely used guns in the world -- or what Hoeber laughingly called "the rifle that turns peasants into rebels."
There was also Hoeber's M1 carbine, considered an assault weapon under California law because it holds more than a 10-round magazine. It was a favorite of 1960s leftist revolutionaries such as the Black Panthers, and Hoeber said she bought it partly because "I live in Oakland -- and the Black Panthers are important part of our history."
Members also took target practice using a semiautomatic Ruger 10/22 rifle, a Winchester rifle dating from 1892, a .357 Magnum and an AR-15 rifle.
Hoeber's childhood love of such guns has morphed into collecting, tinkering and even making her own bullets.
"I grow my own vegetables; I bake my own bread," Hoeber said. She makes her own ammunition "for the same reason ... cost savings, more control and higher quality."
For years, she said, she thought "there's got to be somebody else out there" with her political views who shared such passions.
Isolation among liberals
Living in the Bay Area, it took a while to find them. She and other members acknowledge that left-leaning gun lovers are one group that's still very much "in the closet."
Larry, a retired Episcopal priest who declined to give his last name for publication -- he's worried about what friends and co-workers may think -- says he found the club "the same way everyone else here did: I Googled 'liberal' and 'guns.' "
The Liberal Gun Club is "the only place that would have me," he said with a laugh, while loading his weapon. "A lot of us here have been kicked out of other gun forums because of our liberal views."
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15. [OH] Why do you need a gun at a laundromat?
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Member Bill Albritton emailed me this:
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From Breitbart.com: http://tinyurl.com/mkyarw4
90-year-old laundromat owner pulls gun, robber flees
By Awr Hawkins
January 3, 2014
On December 30th, a 90-year-old laundromat owner in Dayton, Ohio, sent a robber fleeing by reaching into his pocket and pulling out a gun instead of the cash the robber was expecting.
According to Yahoo News, George Hicks was sitting in the office of his laundromat when a man in a hoodie walked in and demanded money. Hicks stood, reached into his pocket, pulled out a silver semi-automatic pistol, and told the robber he was going to "blow [his]... brains out."
That was all the robber needed to hear.
Said Hicks, "I got up, I had my gun in my hand, and he [ran] out the door."
When reporters asked Hicks if the foiled robbery scared him, he said, "Why get scared? I've got the gun and he's running."
Hicks said he "fully [expects]" to see that very robber or another try his luck at holding up the laundromat again. However, he says there's no reason to worry because "he'll be ready."
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16. [NY] Sheriffs ignoring gun laws are following Obama's example
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Hilarious! What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right Mr. President?
Member Walter Jackson emailed me this:
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From EagleTribune.com: http://tinyurl.com/k469ebc
Sheriffs ignoring gun laws are following Obama's example
By Taylor Armerding
December 29, 2013
By now, you have probably heard the disturbing news out of California, Colorado, Florida and New York that a somewhat random cohort of sheriffs is refusing to enforce some federal gun laws, arguing that they are constitutionally vague.
But, in case you hadn't, the New York Times noticed, by golly, and spread the word earlier this month in an overwrought, nearly 2,000-word account of this ominous lurch toward sedition. The Times quoted various sheriffs who contend that those laws are confusing, in some cases unenforceable, and may not be constitutional.
Who do these sheriffs think they are anyway, deciding on their own whether they should enforce the law?
New York's Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared that the refusal of a couple of sheriffs to enforce his state's Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act (SAFE), which mandates universal background checks, could set "a dangerous and frightening precedent."
Well, yeah, it could, if the precedent of refusing to enforce existing laws or unilaterally modifying them had not already been set, multiple times, by the leader of Cuomo's party, President Obama.
From the fever swamps of the left, the Daily Kos website scolded the sheriffs for "breaking a public trust."
"They should remember that they are meant to be the servants of the law, not its masters," one of their writers huffed.
Ah, yes, servants of the law. Such high-minded, self-righteous devotion to the law would be touching if it weren't so, uh, selective.
If you've been paying attention, you know that the Daily Kos, other leftist organizations, members of Congress and President Obama openly support exactly what they are condemning here, when it comes to other issues.
In their view, the law, as written, doesn't really matter anymore if they perceive it as inconvenient, immoral, too nationalistic or anything else they find personally objectionable. The law is no longer what it says but what they want it to say, or what they decide to enforce.
I think the whole problem for the sheriffs is a failure of marketing. They need to take a page from the advocates of illegal immigration. They should simply describe the areas where they will not be enforcing certain gun laws as "Sanctuary Cities." [PVC: ROTFLMAO!!!!]
How American is the concept of sanctuary? I mean, it says it right there on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore." And, of course, what it meant to include was, "and don't worry about abiding by our immigration laws."
The sheriffs need to make sure that they conflate legal and illegal gun ownership. They should contend, ceaselessly, that anybody who opposes illegal gun ownership is opposed to gun ownership in general. Because that is the mantra on immigration: Anybody who opposes illegal immigration is "anti-immigrant."
That means the sheriffs need to scrub troublesome words like "law" and "illegal" out of any discussions of the issue so they don't muddy the narrative.
Anybody packing heat illegally will simply be described as "lacking proper documentation" for the right to carry his or her weapon. Why should the absence of a few slips of paper matter?
If the sheriffs get any grief from the public or other government officials, they should follow the example of our elected leaders. They should say there is a need for "comprehensive firearm reform" that will provide a "pathway to gun ownership." Everybody who is breaking the law every day in the meantime gets a pass because Congress can't get its act together, which is to say that Congress hasn't passed the kind of legislation the sheriffs want.
They should follow Obama's lead and hold press conferences to say, "We can't wait" for Congress to act (the way they wish), so they will act in Congress' stead.
And, yes, all of this would be both dangerous and absurd.
Those who are complaining about the sheriffs are correct. The Daily Kos is correct to assert that government officials should be "servants of the law," not its masters.
But why are they surprised? When this kind of conduct comes from the top, it trickles down. That is the really dangerous, frightening thing.
It is not just that the president decided, on his own, that he would not enforce laws on immigration, marriage and other issues that he had sworn an oath to uphold. He won't even enforce the law he fought to pass -- his signature health care law.
By most estimates, Obama has now modified that law at least 14 times without the consent of Congress. While he and his acolytes regularly remind opponents of Obamacare that it is "settled law," they ignore, delay or modify its provisions to grant waivers to favored groups or delay any that are politically inconvenient.
One of the most recent -- and mind boggling -- was the announcement that those with canceled insurance plans would now be allowed to buy cheaper, so-called "catastrophic" plans - the exact kinds of plans that have been banned by the law and ridiculed as "substandard."
In this country, the rule has always been: If you don't like the law, work to change it. The president and his party have changed that to: If you don't like the law, ignore it.
They can't really blame the sheriffs for following their example.
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17. [CT] Gun owners wait in line to do something you hope you never have to [VIDEO]
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Member Bernard F Brzostek Jr. emailed me this:
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From ConservativeVideos.com: http://tinyurl.com/ku3lrzt
Connecticut gun owners wait in line to do something you hope you never have to
December 27, 2013
There are only five more days until the new gun laws go into effect for our state, that means a dash to register assault weapons or high capacity magazines. A long line of gun owners stood outside of the Public Safety Building in Middletown all day Thursday to register firearms. Specifically, anything the state considers an assault weapon or a high capacity magazine must be registered before Jan. 1, 2014. "If they were trying to make them illegal, I'd have a real issue, but if they want to just know where they are, that's fine with me," said Charles Gillette, who was registering magazines. "I understand why they're doing it, but I don't think it's constitutional," said Scott Boccio, who was registering guns.
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18. [NC] Cherokee County allows employees to carry guns at work
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The gun-rights movement in North Carolina continues its forward movement. They have made great strides in recent years.
Member Judy Waters emailed me this:
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From digtriad.com: http://tinyurl.com/k4tbu3j
Cherokee County allows employees to carry guns at work
By Jon Ostendorff, Asheville Citizen-Times
January 2, 2014
MURPHY -- Cherokee County leaders are taking North Carolina's expansion of gun rights a step further by allowing legal concealed weapons in most all county offices.
Anyone, including county employees, may carry a concealed handgun with the proper permit.
Guns are still prohibited inside the courthouse, schools and the jail, said David Wood, chairman of the Board of County Commissioners.
But in offices ranging from the social services to the tax appraiser, they will be allowed, he said.
Wood said the five-member board decided in December to repeal the county's 1995 ban on carrying a gun inside government buildings after the state expanded the right to carry in places such as bars and at parks.
"It's a big deal when it comes to Second Amendment rights and county commissioners don't have any business doing legislation at a local level with such important issues," he said.
Cherokee County is not alone, nationally.
In Michigan in August commissioners in Jackson County west of Ann Arbor allowed county employees to carry licensed concealed weapons to conform to state law, according to WLNS-TV.
In Kansas last month commissioners in Harvey County
north of Wichita also allowed workers to carry concealed
guns after they provided county human resources managers
with a copy of their permits, according to
The Kansan newspaper.
In Kentucky in January state law changed to allow open
carry in any city-owned building and concealed carry in
some places, like firehouses, according to USA Today.
The county is also not alone in North Carolina.
Henderson County employees may carry legal concealed weapons on the job with permission from County Manager Steve Wyatt.
Wyatt said he's approved "a couple" since commissioners allowed the practice about 4 years ago.
Workers must fill out an application and provide a copy of their concealed weapons permit. They also must tell Wyatt why they want to carry a gun at work.
Mostly, he said, those who have been approved are women and there is a safety concern that drives the approval.
"It's a heavy responsibility for them and for me," he said.
Haywood and Buncombe in counties do not allow workers to carry guns, officials said.
Alamance County, between Greensboro and Durham, also repealed its 1995 ban on concealed weapons in most county buildings in December, said County Manager Craig Honeycutt.
The public is allowed to carry concealed guns in any building except the courts and workers may carry everywhere except in county vehicles. That's so a gun won't accidentally be left in a glove box, Honeycutt said.
The move by Cherokee County is a good decision, said Paul Valone, president of the gun rights group Grass Roots North Carolina.
"I think it is a great step forward and something that many of our people, who are county employees, have been asking for for quite some time," he said. "They are no less subject to criminal predation than anyone else."
Valone said county employees, like social workers, often find themselves in dangerous situations and might need a gun for self-defense.
Concealed carry permit holders must complete classes on gun safety, he said. They also learn about the legal use of deadly force in self-defense.
Valone said the permit holder would likely be held liable for using a gun while on the job, not the county government. As of September, there were 375,628 concealed carry permit holders in the state, he said.
The state's anti-gun violence group disagreed with the county's decision.
"I think it's a really bad idea," said Gail Neely, executive director of North Carolinians Against Gun Violence.
She's also a guardian ad litem, someone who volunteers to advocate for children in court. She's had to visit many troubled homes, similar what a social worker might encounter.
"It would be just as likely for someone to overpower me and take my gun and use it against me," she said. "And it would hinder the relationship. It doesn't say I am here to help, let's sit down and talk."
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19. [TX] SWAT team Deputy killed serving "no knock" warrant
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"No knock" warrants are bad news, getting both police and innocent citizens killed. The 4th Amendment isn't in the Constitution for nothing.
Member Gil Sanderson emailed me this:
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From WesternJournalism.com: http://tinyurl.com/kuhevnd
SWAT team Deputy killed serving "no knock" warrant
By Doug Book
December 30, 2013
On December 19th, a sheriff's deputy was shot and killed during an attempt to serve a "no knock" warrant near Sommerville, Texas. Just before 6:00 A.M. an 8 member SWAT team broke through the door of Henry Goedrich Magee to serve a warrant which would permit the team to search the mobile home in which Magee and his pregnant girlfriend were living. Reacting to the pre-dawn, forced entry Magee grabbed a rifle propped against a bedroom door frame and fired at the unidentified intruders, killing 31 year old sheriff's deputy Adam Sowders. No one else was injured and Magee was taken into custody. He is being held on $1 million bail and has been charged with capital murder, punishable in Texas by life in prison without possibility of parole or death by lethal injection.
These are the broad facts of the case as first reported by a number of print, radio and TV sources. The following additional information has been made public during the past few days:
1.) The "no-knock" warrant was issued at the request of Deputy Sowders who was proceeding according to information provided by an investigator who told the officer that Magee "...was growing marijuana and possibly had stolen guns, as well as other drugs inside his home." According to Magee's attorney, Dick Deguerin, four weapons were recovered by police; 3 legally owned by Magee, one legally owned by Magee's mother. Also according to Deguerin, the only drugs found in the home consisted of a small number of marijuana plants, constituting "...a misdemeanor amount." The warrant itself was signed by District Judge Reva Towslee Corbett. As a copy has yet to be made available, it's not known whether the warrant was for a drug search only or also for a search for firearms.
2.) According to the AP, "Magee has been arrested twice for driving while intoxicated and twice for possession of marijuana." The Bryan-College Station Eagle writes that Magee "has a felony and misdemeanor drug conviction." According to Texas law, a resident with a felony arrest may own a weapon IF 5 years have elapsed since the felony conviction or end of parole. The weapon must be kept at the individuals home. None of the sources make it clear if this statute applies to Magee.
3.) Speaking for his client, Deguerin told the media that Magee and his girlfriend were awakened by the sound of "explosives" which seemed to be going off near the front windows and a loud banging on the front door. Magee claims he did not know that law enforcement officers were responsible for the noise or the break in.
4.) A spokesman for the Burleson County Sheriff's Office said she "...did not know if or how deputies announced their entrance into the home." None of the deputies were wearing body cameras and it is unknown if dashboard cameras on police vehicles were operating.
It's a safe bet that a mountain of additional information will be forthcoming should Magee stand trial. But based upon the information that has been released, should Henry Magee have been charged with capital murder? In fact, should he face a murder charge of any kind? IF the SWAT team (as it was called by Texas Ranger Andres de la Garza) entered without identifying its members as law enforcement officers, did Magee have an absolute right to shoot, given that he feared for his life, that of his girlfried and of their child? Must officers accept any risk which goes along with the serving of a "no knock" warrant, the purpose of which is to confuse, intimidate and catch suspected criminals off guard?
It is perhaps a tragic irony that Deputy Sowders himself requested Judge Corbett issue the no knock warrant which might have contributed to his death. With prior arrests for drunk driving and possession of marijuana, it's difficult to imagine that such a warrant would have been issued at all. Assuming Magee was not engaged in criminal activity as yet unreported, shouldn't SWAT team tactics be reserved for individuals with far more extensive records, or suspected of more serious offenses?
Countless articles have recently been written about the "Militarization" of police departments across the U.S. If police are preparing for "war" against the American public, it seems likely that shoot-outs between citizens and officers could become all to common.
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20. [CT] Viral photo giving some gun owners chills
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But, it turns out that only a small fraction of the hi-capacity magazines in Connecticut have been registered, creating a bureaucratic crisis there. More on that in a future Update.
Member Rollin Reisinger emailed me this:
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From TheBlaze.com: http://tinyurl.com/kaaaozo
'Looks like Weimar Germany': The viral photo out of Connecticut that's giving some gun owners chills
By Jason Howerton
December 31, 2013
A now-viral photo showing a long line of Connecticut residents waiting to register their guns and ammo is circulating across the Internet -- and it's sending chills down the backs of some gun owners.
Viral Photo Shows Long Line of Connecticut Residents Lining Up to Register Guns, Ammo
Connecticut gun owners are rushing to register certain firearms and ammunition that will be considered illegal contraband in the new year.
Under a wide-ranging gun control law passed after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, they have until Tuesday to submit the paperwork with the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.
"Holy crap. Looks like Weimar Germany," Twitter user @votermom said of the photo.
"Another disgusting picture from Connecticut . . .men waiting in line to register guns with the government," user @chipwoods commented.
"First, they came for the guns," @PaulRReyes added.
"Life is too short to live in a state that does this to its residents," Twitter user @lancemfisher declared.
And there are plenty more comments where that came from.
State police say they've had people lining up early in the morning to turn in applications to keep high-capacity magazines that hold more than 10 rounds and guns considered assault weapons under the new law.
While the Connecticut Citizens Defense League believes the law is unconstitutional, it has been reminding gun owners of the deadline to make sure they don't become felons on Jan. 1.
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VA-ALERT is a project of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc.
(VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization
dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to
Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right.
VCDL web page: http://www.vcdl.org [http://www.vcdl.org/]
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