by Greg Perry

Recently by Greg Perry: So You Want to Learn About Guns?

If I am ever caught with a concealed weapon in today's world, I want to have a permit to show I am legal. Otherwise, my weapon will be taken and I will be hauled off to jail and face expensive penalties.

I would not sell my soul to save money. But getting legal is not difficult and although I and probably you find the whole concept disgusting and draconian, I see it as the best thing to do.

If and when the day comes when we cannot carry legally, I will carry illegally. Because I love my family more than I fear the government. But In the meantime, l can pay their bribe and stay legal for now.

You and I buy marriage certificates, driver's licenses, pay property taxes year after year long after we have paid off our properties, we pay gasoline taxes, sales taxes when we purchase at the store, and so on ad infinitum. We could find ways around every one of those and our lives would be extremely annoying and almost certainly our wives would not be happy with us not driving, not buying anything, not being legally married, etc. So we already compromise daily by paying them their unjust money.

As much as I despise all of it, I do have a threshold of compromise and we all do.

So I compromise and pay the thieves their concealed carry permit fee. Because my life would be destroyed if I did not pay it and then I was caught carrying a weapon. So either way we pay them. I choose to pay to remain under their radar now so I am not their target if caught.

If and when confiscation begins, will we be the first contacted? Maybe, but I sure am not going to give them all I have then. Are you? I doubt it.

So I see being legal now means being able to live now and protect my family without being hauled off when found concealing a gun without a permit. And that is a compromise I choose to do.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

The Best of Greg Perry

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry Recently by Greg Perry: Dear Government: Don't Hate Me Because IAmHandicapped!

I’m surprised at the numerous beginning questions I get from new gun owners and wanna-be gun owners. In the past few years, people have rightly concluded that freedom in America is eroding faster than communism in Russia.

Lew Rockwell publishes many great articles for gun owners who want to advance their skills. I’ve now spent months in gun-training courses over the past few years so I love the advanced articles showing me new tactics and advanced arguments we learn from this site that teach us to paint gun control advocates into corners.

Still, the number of questions I get from newcomers grows weekly.

That is why I want to address some of their issues in the next few columns. I’ll make them all question-driven. I have saved some of the best questions from newcomers and I’d like to explore the answers here for others.

Some topics will seem extremely basic to the old gun handlers who’ve been around a while. But we often forget that newcomers are the long-term lifeblood of any group. We should encourage, educate, and train newcomers. That is one primary reason the Appleseed Project has grown geometrically in the past 5 years.

I want to eliminate all barriers that newcomers and those hesitant to own a gun might have. If you ever have the opportunity to take brand new gun owners shooting for their first time, watch their faces as soon as the first shot is fired. They take on quite interesting expressions indeed! No matter how hesitant and possibly fearful they are before pressing the trigger the first time, all that goes away after the first BANG. Their expressions take on a combination of quiet surprise, a slight smile, a slowly-creeping confidence, and the beginnings of an expression that clearly says: “That was… sort of cool!”

And they are hooked!

So have patience if the next few articles appear to be sort of basic. They are intended to be basic.

Will a Gun Go BANG If I Drop It?

Somebody recently wrote to tell me she wanted to know more about guns. Her problem was that she was clumsy and has always worried about dropping a gun. She told me that was a big reason why she never got a gun and learned to use it properly.

My first thought was this: “If that is all keeping you from protecting yourself, then you’re close to getting a gun!”

As Always, It’s All About Me

Enough about all of you, I want to talk about me!

Actually, I don’t. But let me say for those who know about me, they know that my ability to handle a gun without dropping it bodes very well for most people! In spite of the differences my hands as opposed to all you normal people’s hands, I have never dropped a gun in my life. Not a handgun, not a shotgun, not a rifle.

Having said that, you know today I will probably drop one…

But What If I Did?

But what if I did drop a gun, would it go BANG? The answer, as most answers, is not completely Yes or No. (But in almost every case the answer is No.)

First, let me get something out of the way – If you are shooting a gun, perhaps target shooting or practicing your draw or whatever, if you do start to drop your gun let it fall! Whatever you do, never try to grab a falling gun or in any way keep it from falling.

This is where problems occur! People chase after their dropped gun and a finger finds itself in the trigger guard as the weapon falls, and nothing good can come of that.

So let it fall. That is safest.

Various Combinations of Possibilities: Drop with Safety On and Hammer Down

I will walk you through the possibilities of dropping a gun in various states of gun readiness. All of the following possibilities assume that a round is in the chamber for a semi-automatic gun or that a revolver has a round aligned with the barrel.

If you drop a gun whose safety is on and whose hammer is down (not cocked), the gun just will not go BANG.

Is this guaranteed 100%? Basically. I suppose if you drop one from high enough, and it bounces off a cliff and hits rocks on the way down, gets bumped over and over, I suppose it’s possible one of the bounces turns off the safety and another bounce cocks the gun and another bounce perfectly hits the trigger… but really, in reality that is not going to happen.

By the way, a gun whose safety is on and whose hammer is down is said to be in Condition 2.

What if You Drop a Gun whose Safety is On and the Hammer is Cocked?

Basically the result is the same as before. A gun’s safety is extremely disabling to the weapon. Again, a bounce could push off the safety lever and the next bounce could cause the hammer to fall but in reality, that won’t happen.

A semi-auto handgun whose safety is on and the hammer is cocked is technically said to be in Condition 1. This is the state most 1911s are carried in.

By the way, revolvers have no safeties or levers to worry about – or to protect you. Revolvers are not as trigger-light as semi-autos. In general if you have not cocked the hammer, you can carry a revolver in a purse, pocket, wherever without too much worry.

What if You Drop a Gun Whose Safety is Off and Whose Hammer is Cocked?

In reality, the condition of a gun whose safety is off and whose hammer is cocked is ready-to-fire! (This is known as Condition 0.)

Some popular guns have another safety in the grip. 1911 guns are like this. For such a gun to fire, even if you press the trigger if the grip safety is not pressed in – which it always is in when you hold it for firing but never otherwise as it is spring loaded to stay out – even if you press the trigger that gun will not fire. The grip safety must be pressed in to go BANG. So dropping a 1911-style weapon is extremely safe. To go off, even with the safety off and the hammer cocked, both the grip safety and the trigger must be pressed at the same time before the gun fires.

Some popular guns such as Glocks have no safety switches but they have little levers on the trigger. To fire the gun, whether cocked or not, you must first press the little trigger lever and then pull the trigger. Such a gun just won’t go BANG when you drop it. The drop would have to somehow push the little level in and then pull the trigger at the same time.

Revolvers have no safeties but they are much harder to pull the trigger (relative to a semi-auto). If the hammer is cocked and you drop a revolver, it could very well go BANG if the drop knocks the hammer closed. Revolvers are often recommended for people who want a gun but do not know much about guns.

I disagree.

I believe people who want to carry guns for protection and to shoot them for target practice should learn how to use them, even if only in an afternoon class or two. A semi-automatic is more reliable and safer once you learn how to use the gun than a revolver is. If a semi-auto misfires and has a malfunction, you can almost always clear the malfunction. When a revolver malfunctions, you almost always have to take it to a gunsmith.

Drop Factors

Full disclosure: I have never studied weapons manufactures’ drop factors; I only know that they exist.

All makes and models of guns have “drop factors.” That means what height the gun can be safely dropped onto a hard surface before it goes BANG.

This information is not always readily available from all makers for all models of guns. Fortunately, though, manufacturers do not want lawsuits and they are very good about making the drop factor as high and reliable as possible for their own financial good and for their customers’ health.

I cannot tell you about specific gun drop factors other than the drop factor is higher than normal drop conditions. Dropping guns from the height we would typically drop them even with all safeties off and hammers cocked is not extremely dangerous. The only exception, again, which never dawned on me before writing this, would be a revolver with a cocked hammer. That could get tricky if it drops on the hammer no matter what their drop factor may be for that gun.

Until It Hits the Front Pages, Rest Easy

So – until you super-glue your gun to your hands, in general, your fears about dropping your gun is not a big issue. Think about it – If dropping guns caused major problems often, or even once in a while, we would hear about those issues more often in the news.

As much as the media hates guns and gun owners, stories of dropped guns shooting people would be on all the front pages if it was common. But this is something you just don’t hear much about. Fortunately!

For Absolute Beginners Only

If you don’t even know enough about guns to spell g-u-n, here’s a recording I once recorded for a family who were absolute beginners to guns. I think your family might learn a lot from it, especially if you’re brand new to guns. I may not be an excellent teacher but you’ll find that the material is quite good and it provides anyone a short intro to gun safety and what you can expect: http://bidmentor.com/wordpress/gun-rules/

If you’re new to guns, but you know your family needs to know how to use them, you need to start immediately. Are your freedoms getting more or less plentiful? We are fortunate that in the 47 or so fairly-free states that remain in the USA, we can still legally protect our family.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

The Best of Greg Perry

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry Recently by Greg Perry: Which Caliber Works Best for Self-Defense?

Doing John Stossel’s show last week caused me to come to new conclusions about the eADA (the evil Americans with Disabilities Act). The Americans with Disabilities Act celebrated its 20th anniversary in August. More precisely, America’s lawyers celebrated because they are the only ones who benefit.

First, the show’s subtitle was unintentionally misleading. "Good Intentions Gone Wrong." The flaw there is the ADA was not founded with good intentions. People were not kicking my crutches out from under me before the ADA was passed. People were not pushing my wheelchair into traffic before the ADA was signed into law. It took the Americans with Disabilities Act to break the backs of handicapped people and increase discrimination against us.

People never viewed the handicapped with disdain before the ADA. People actually hired the handicapped! Normal people admired the handicapped. People thought, "This person can overcome a physical challenge and still do the job? That’s a person I want to hire! That’s a person who shows fortitude!"

In addition, as Walter K. Olson so wisely states, handicapped people did not view themselves as victims of society when the liberals passed the ADA. (Spearheaded by George H. Bush and Robert Dole, two of the liberalist liberals the USA has ever seen — and not in the classic sense.)

It took major effort to turn a class of proud, noble people into victims who would take handouts from the government (Bob) dole.

Private Discrimination Today is Hidden

A man you might have heard about, Lew Rockwell, has been known to say that today’s handicapped people are "walking lawsuits." I take issue with that because many are actually rolling lawsuits.

An employer is not allowed to ask anything about a handicap. An employer is not allowed to ask if you need special devices. An employer is not allowed to ask about the extent is of your problem. Once hired you can come back with an EEOC or Department of Justice or one of the plethora of ADA lawyers around the country and sue your employer if he cannot afford to retrofit his place of business to accommodate you. It’s a great deal for the advocate and hey, it’s a business expense so who’s really harmed? (Oops, a bit of sarcasm just dripped onto my shoe.)

The reason that 10% fewer handicapped people today are working than before the ADA is precisely because of the problems the ADA causes employers across the country.

That type of discrimination is difficult to put a finger on (especially with my hands!).

It’s a hidden, sort of "soft" discrimination where the employment figures have dropped since the ADA’s inception.

Now if there was blatant discrimination against me by private businesses, I would tell you. If people didn’t hire me because I am handicapped, instead of not wanting me because they fear the ADA, I would tell you.

I Demand The Government Do This For Me Now!

And there is something I want the government to do to make me more equal. There is something I want Congress to do to make it easier for me to get around. I want the government to do exactly this: Stay out of my way and leave me alone.

See, I more easily trip over things that get in my way.

And there is something I want private businesses to do to make me more equal. There is something I want Wal-Mart to do to make it easier for me to shop in their stores. I want Wal-Mart to do exactly this: Whatever Wal-Mart wants to do to keep me as a customer. Because, see, if Wal-Mart doesn’t want me as a customer there is someone else who does. (Wal-Mart does want me as a customer.)

And if an employer doesn’t want to hire me because I am handicapped, maybe — just maybe — that employer cannot afford to retrofit his business to my special needs. Or… perhaps that employer hates the handicapped! Maybe he is a jerk.

But guess what? If someone doesn’t want to hire me then I certainly don’t want to work for him! My self-worth is more important than getting some ADA advocate to force that employer at gunpoint to give me a job. Why would anyone in his right mind want to work in that environment?

20 years ago, I considered going to Washington and lobbying against the ADA. I knew it would be a horrid law and would actually harm the very people it supposedly was designed to help: truly handicapped. And I knew it would be far worse and cost normal people time, money, and resources.

But I had absolutely no idea it would become the mammoth behemoth it is today. I kick myself for not lobbying against it. And for me… the idea of kicking myself has special meaning.

I Understand Soft Discrimination Against Me Because I Do It Too

I described the soft discrimination that takes place all across the country above. Employers are rightly fearful of the ADA and the lawsuits it brings whether they hire or don’t hire. I understand that discrimination. And guess what? One of the reasons I got out of the rental property businesses was because I feared having to rent to some handicapped person!

A law was coming down the pike in Oklahoma that I was supposed to install visual smoke alarms in all my places, the kind that has flashing strobe lights on them when they go off. Because how can a deaf person hope to hear a smoke alarm?

And guess what? If a deaf person wanted to rent from me before that law, I would have been thrilled to change out the home’s smoke detectors! But why install these ultra-expensive (then at least) visual smoke alarms when nobody I rented to had hearing problems?

I should have just ignored it and then hobbled into the courtroom when some ADA lawyer took me to court because I was so mean to handicapped people. Now that would have been fun!

I Am Blatantly Discriminated Against By One Group — and I Demand It Stop Now!

I do not at all concern myself with the soft discrimination. It’s not private business’s fault that they have to protect themselves.

But do you know what is not fun? What is not fun is the blatant discrimination I and every other handicapped victim in the nation experiences.

Today, the only organization that insidiously discriminates against me is the government.

And it is ruthless in its discrimination. And there’s nothing I can do except keep my mouth shut or the government will punish me, either by a brutal take-down arrest or by denying me an inalienable right.

Calling Everybody Within the Vicinity — Naked Handicapped Man Here!

I no longer fly when I have any other choice. If somebody else pays for my ticket I will fly. (I am not stupid.) But ever since the airports and TSA began treating customers like criminals, I said I will never again fly when there is any other option. And I haven’t.

Still there are times I must fly. Such as when Stossel’s show flew me to Manhattan for what turned out to be about a 1.5 minutes of on-air talking last week. Airfare, elegant hotel, my own personal driver, and more, all for 1.5 minutes of work? Let’s me think… okay, it’s a deal! Wait, just to be sure let me do a quick Excel spreadsheet analysis… okay, it’s a deal!

But guess who gets to strip in front of all the other passengers at the airport? Me. And unfortunately this is not something I get a thrill from.

"Mister, what is wrong with your leg?"

"Mister, come here and sit in this chair so I can frisk you more closely!" (TSA is nothing if not perverted.)

Big observation: No employer can ask me that question. But the government can. Are you beginning to see how compassionate the government is?

"You have an artificial leg? Don’t move!"

I thought I was being arrested the way he forcefully said "Don’t move!" (He brings back wipes and some device and fluid.) This all happens while my laptop, shoes, belt, and carry-on bag are leaving my sight and heading into a pile of people rummaging through things trying to find their items, and perhaps looking over mine too if they need a new laptop.

"We could go into a private room for this if you need to take your pants off" (In case you have forgotten, the TSA is nothing if not perverted), "or I can just raise your pant leg up. Here, that is easier."

So he begins doing just that. And it’s surreal. And I am trying to keep an eye on my stuff that I can no longer see. I say, "All my stuff is going way over there." And he replies with his highly-trained, razor-sharp skilled wit: "So is everybody else’s, don’t worry about it!"

TSA is nothing if not perverted and rude.

So in the middle of everybody, and let me stress, this was in the middle lane right in front of the metal detector other passengers all walked through and therefore all watched, he has my pants leg up as high as it will go and begins rubbing my prosthesis with gauze soaked in some fluid.

Have I mentioned how compassionate the government is?

He then leaves but not before saying, "Wait here!" Have I mentioned that TSA is nothing if not perverted and rude?

He comes back and says, "You’re free to go." Then he walks off.

The left always goes around saying we should say no to hate. I say no to saying no to hate. I hate the TSA. I hate the ADA.

You Want to Shoot a What?

It is my contention that if ADA advocates were honest — and they are not — they would require every handicapped person in the country to carry firearms.

I cannot make a fist like you normal people can. I can’t defend myself the way you normal people can. So having a firearm would make it more fair and fair is the ADA advocate’s favorite word. But you know the same people who love the ADA hate firearms. More accurately, they hate citizens who have firearms. So the ADA will never fight for handicapped people’s right to defend themselves.

That is why the government hates the handicapped so much that it works extra hard to keep guns out of our hands. The government is opposed to arming the handicapped… even the one-armed.

Unless you have been to a Motor Vehicles division recently, you would be shocked at how the government treated me when I applied for a gun permit. You would have thought Jesse James had been resurrected and was trying to go legal.

They first denied my fingerprints. Months after I had jumped through all their hoops, filled out all their forms, and paid them their bribe hush money to stay quiet while I carry my gun, about the time I thought I was about to be approved, they denied me. They said there was a problem with my fingerprints and that I would have to get them redone.

I finally found a human at the Department of Justice and… let me re-phrase that. I finally found a worker at the Department of Justice who works in the concealed carry approval division. I don’t recall if he was a state worker or a federal worker. He actually pulled up my file quickly and said, "Your fingerprints are bad."

I asked what did he mean by bad? He said that seven prints were missing and the three that were on the card were not clear.

I told him I was missing seven fingers and had only three fingers that were deformed. This is true: He said that was beside the point and I needed to go get my fingerprints done again before my application would be considered. I said a new set of fingerprints would result in the same card. He said that was beside the point and I needed to get my fingerprints done again for my application to be considered.

Have I mentioned yet in this sentence how compassionate our caring, non-discriminating government can be? I am so glad the ADA was passed because otherwise, they might have given me the runaround.

I asked to speak to his Supervisor. He sighed and gave me another number to call. (No, it was not a toll-free number this time.) I called. His Supervisor-ette answered. She was much more hopeful. She said she would call my state concealed carry division and that I was to go to my state capital and get my fingerprints done there and they would be accepted.

Get that? I would only have to travel 100 miles to my state capital and get my fingerprints taken in front of her bureau. Then they would know that my local sheriff’s department was not lying when my fingerprint card said I was missing 7 fingers. And for a guy with only one leg, isn’t it reasonable to ask me to travel 100 miles to go above and beyond what they require from all you normal people? Sure.

It’s so nice, it’s worth saying thrice: Do you see how compassionate our caring, non-discriminating government can be? I am so glad the ADA was passed because otherwise, they might have given me the runaround.

She assured me I would not be approved until I got myself to the state capital to be fingerprinted by government officials who were more official than the government officials who fingerprinted me the first time. It was actually my fault probably since I didn’t think to travel 100 miles to get them done in the first place. I am lazy and thought I could ask my local sheriff’s office to do them since that is what normal people who live in my county all do for their permit.

I went there. Their official officials fingerprinted me. A few weeks later, I had my permit.

Nevada Was a Repeat

I used to travel to Nevada quite a bit. So I needed a carry permit there and Nevada does not honor other state permits. On one trip I went, took their course, shot the required 50 rounds in front of an official trainer, filled out all the paperwork, and went to the Las Vegas Sheriff’s office to get my fingerprints done.

210 days later, I get a notice that my fingerprints are bad and I would have to get them redone.

I call them. They said they could not verify over the phone that I was handicapped so all I needed to do was travel to Nevada and get re-printed. I am not making this up.

I asked for a Supervisor. I promise you that I was ready to pit the Department of Justice BATF lawyers against the Department of Justice’s ADA lawyers and go to court. Because really, in that match it doesn’t matter who loses as long as one of them does.

The Supervisor said I would have to come to Nevada to get re-printed. I told her that I would contact a Department of Justice ADA official and give him her name and that she could convince him that I had to travel to Nevada. She put me on hold. She came back and said, "You will not have to be re-printed, we’ll send you the permit."

And a few weeks later it arrived.

See, nothing would have made her happier than for me to pay to travel to Nevada and go through it all again. Because nothing makes a government worker happier than to say "no" to a citizen.

Please Stop the Discrimination

As you can see, now that the ADA is 20 years old, I am only discriminated against in any real way by the government.

For readers of LewRockwell.com, that truly is no surprise to you is it?

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

The Best of Greg Perry

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry Recently by Greg Perry: A US Census Worker Came To My Home Today — PoorLady…

The smallest caliber on earth is the one in your hands when you’re being attacked.

The biggest caliber on earth is the one in the bad guy’s hands when you’re being attacked.

What caliber has good stopping power? The answer is that 100 Caliber is good for stopping power and a rocket-grenade launcher is not too shabby either.

But Seriously?

The best caliber is the one you will carry with you. If a full-sized 1911 .45 caliber sidearm is too much to lug with you everywhere, then you will go places without it. And the way the world’s chaotic randomness seems to work, you will have left that beautiful 45 caliber home the day the baddies hold up Starbucks with you in the path of the cash register.

So the most reasonable answer is this: The best caliber is the largest one you will consistently carry.

What About the Little .380?

Well, James Bond carries a Walther PPK which shoots .380. Who are we to argue with 007?

People often ask me about which caliber they should carry. The first rule of a gun fight is always have a gun! That is why owning a gun that is too large for you to have with you at all times is ridiculous. Carry the largest caliber you will carry consistently. If that is a .22, or .380, or .38 Special, or 9mm, or .40, or .45, then great — carry that!

Stopping Power

Many myths abound about caliber and stopping power. Most are just myths. Nobody would dare say a 9mm has greater stopping power than a .45 and yet many have been shot with a .45 and were hardly fazed and many have been shot with 9′s whose heart beat lasted less than a half second afterward.

A .22 right between the eyes turns off the lights far faster than a .50 caliber to the stomach.

I would rather be missed by a .45 than hit by a .22!

After the first rule — always have a gun — the answer for you is truly what are you comfortable with? A .380 has more recoil (“kick”) than a .45 shot out of a full-sized 1911. Can you handle the recoil? Do you have problems with one or more hands or arms that might make a difference?

In other words, there is no best caliber for everybody. And the larger caliber does not mean better. It all depends. So do what is best for you and when you do that you will have the best caliber for you. Stop getting caught up with caliber; get on the range and start practicing with whatever you have to carry.

The Arguments Will Continue If I Have My Way

One reason I am asked about caliber a lot is because I make fun of 9mms. I like to go around repeating things I’ve heard and sayings I’ve made up such as, “A 9mm is well and good until somebody loses an eye,” or “A 9mm is fine as long as you’re not trying to shatter glass or shoot through cloth.”

I’m a .45 bigot and I used to carry a .50. I like to tell people, “It doesn’t matter what caliber you carry as long as it begins with a 4.”

But I like to kick beehives as I walk by just to keep things stirred up too. When I’m having fun dissing “small” calibers it’s just to keep things stirred up.

And 9mm is my biggest joke target. (And .223′s, aka 5.56, the rifle caliber most-loved by foreign enemies of the United States. I’ll let you figure out why that is funny unless you own an AR-15.)

My Biggest Kept Secret

The biggest secret on earth (don’t tell anybody) is that I bought a 9mm for my wife to carry! I trust 9mm to be enough protect her.

The man I’ve learned most about guns from on earth, Gabe Suarez, carries only a 9mm. If it’s good enough for Gabe Suarez then I can’t say too much against it.

Considerations

I prefer a .45 because of the low recoil and the huge stopping power, but especially in the hot summers of Oklahoma concealing a huge .45 isn’t the easiest thing in the world. And yet, some drugged-up baddies can go a long time after being shot by anything less than a .40. Running at you with a knife, for example, inertia will keep many of them running towards you after you’ve put lots of shots through them. Very few can run towards you after a .45 round or two… and yet…

More and more baddies wear bullet-proof vests in their “businesses.” Hitting someone between the eyes is all well and good until you’ve seen how difficult it is to hit a moving target. The best thing we can hope for is a chest shot — or “center of mass” as they call it — and hopefully the baddie drops or we get a chance to put one between his eyes in the old “double tap” (more accurately known as a “deliberate pair” according to the Father of Modern Defensive Pistolcraft, Jeff Cooper who founded the world-renown Gunsite).

To be sporting you should always shoot two warning shots in the chest before putting one between his eyes.

And yet, all joking aside, any shot on any given day by anybody of any caliber might have no effect, partial effect, or full effect and one cannot predict what will happen. One can only make educated decisions ahead of time.

And always bring that gun to the gun fight. Since you are probably not a prophet who can predict when you’ll find yourself in the middle of such a fight, always have your gun.

Ammunition Quality Means As Much or More than Caliber

Whatever caliber of weapon you choose, get the best ammo you can find for your gun. Find a gun shop you trust and ask them for your top options. Routinely check out the gun magazines to see what new ammo has recently been tested for self-defense effectiveness. Don’t be cheap here! Don’t worry about paying a lot for each box. Practice with a few rounds to get a feel for the ammo every once in a while.

Then get lots of cheap ammo. By “cheap” I mean buy it by the case for a good quantity discount and places such as AmmoMan.com usually has great prices and free shipping. Practice with the cheap stuff but keep a spare magazine loaded with the good stuff to carry.

Keep your carry gun clean and well-oiled (not overly oiled). This is what you protect your family with. Practice with it.

If hitting a target out to about 15—18 yards is difficult with the weapon you choose to carry (18 yards and beyond can be difficult for smaller guns), your sights might need adjusting. Also, a Crimson Trace laser sight might be your best answer. Crimson Trace laser sights allow smaller guns to hit where you aim as long as you hold steady as you press the trigger (never squeeze… press back until it fires).

Once you determine the gun you will have with you and can shoot best, and once you get high-quality ammunition to carry, I would not worry further about caliber.

The Every Other Bullet Trick

Consider getting both hollow point and ball ammo if both are available in a high-quality ammo you select for carrying. If you stack your magazine so that every other round is hollow and every other round is ball, you have a great set of rounds on hand for various conditions.

Depending on layering of clothing and leather outer garments, sometimes hollow-points don’t penetrate. The ball ammo doesn’t always tear up the body enough to damage and stop big or drugged-up attackers.

By using both, you get the best of both worlds as you shoot to end the attack.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

The Best of Greg Perry

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry Recently by Greg Perry: You Just Bought a Gun? Whatever You Do, Don’tShootIt!

The US Senseless Bureau sent us the “short form” a couple of months ago. I answered the Constitutional question: How many people live at this address? I am such a nice guy that I felt compelled to fill out more than that to help them as much as I am able. So I also wrote the date in the date field.

The Forms Continue…

A couple of weeks after that we received the long form. Being a good American, I filled it out. “2″ people living here. And yes, I even put the date.

A few weeks later, we got a second long form with a notice saying we were sent that one because we never returned the first one. So being a good American, I filled it out. “2″ people living here. But since I am such an extremist, I decided not to put the date on that one. I can only be pushed so far you know.

The Calls Begin

A few weeks later we received a phone call from them but we were not home. They left a phone number and “case number” for me to give when I returned their call. I did not return the call. I figure I am too busy working for a living to pay 65% of our income in all the taxes and regulatory fees in life that I had no time or responsibility to return their call.

So they called again. We were not here. I truly would have answered and spoken to them if I had been here to answer the phone.

The Visits Begin

A week or so later, a note was left on our door stating a US Senseless “Worker” had been there but we were not home.

Today the doorbell rang. It was the US Senseless “Worker” and we were home!

(As an aside, I put quotations around “Worker” not because they are not working. Oh, if anything defines the term “government work” it is the US Senseless. But it’s a great term to emphasize to paint a picture of the Daily Worker newspaper published by the Communist Party. What a perfect name for both that paper and the US Senseless “worker.”)

The Interview

I asked her to wait a moment while I got my supplies. I shut the door and retrieved my portable digital recorder and a pen and paper.

I stepped outside — do not ever let a government “worker” in your home unless they have a warrant. (Dr. Gary North wrote a wonderful article about this a few years ago but I cannot locate it to give you the link. Calling Dr. North, can you help?)

I started the recorder and asked her for I.D. She showed me her US Senseless “worker” ID but I said I am familiar with driver’s licenses and asked for that. She went to her car and got it. I expected trouble at this point but she was easy to deal with. So am I but you already know I’m a pushover…

In front of her so there was no hint of doing anything sneaky, I wrote down her name, DL number, date of birth, and began writing down her address. She said she had moved and no longer lived at that address. Being a trusting man, I believed her.

She said, “Out of all interviews I have done you are the first one to ever ask me for ID. I think that is good.” I replied, “I think so too! I think anybody who is about to ask me a bunch of personal questions should first open her life’s vital details to me.”

I went onto say, “We have been reading horror stories about workers in your department doing horrible things to innocent citizens so one can’t be too careful these days.” She agreed.

“2″

She then asked me to verify the address she had for our home. She showed it to me and I agreed that was my address. What could be easier?

She asked how many people lived at our address. I said, “There are 2 people living at this address.”

She asked for the names of the two who live here. I said, “There are 2 people living at this address.”

She said, “I assume you are a male.” I said, “As you can see, I am really a male and there is absolutely never any question about that.” See, I didn’t think I needed to avoid an answer that has such an obvious answer already!

She asked if the other occupant was female and my wife or girlfriend. I said, “There are 2 people living at this address.” (I am always so polite. But you knew that already.)

She asked if anybody lived here who was Hispanic. Well, between you LewRockwell.com readers and me, nobody here is from Spain but I saw no reason to point that out to her. So I said, “There are 2 people living at this address.”

She asked me if there was any point in asking further questions on her form. I said, “Well, I never mind telling you there are 2 people at this address.”

She asked if I owned the home or rented. I replied, “Every home owner is forced by law to pay fees to have ownership and/or mortgage data recorded at the courthouse so the government will have that on record. Unless you will refund all the fees paid for this address then I would say that I would be thrilled if you would just get all that information from the records on file with your employer already.”

She looked through the rest of the form and said, “Is that about all I can do here?”

I said, “Well, according to your employer’s Constitution it is. But the 5th Amendment is such a nice clause, I can always mention it if you need more information.”

Although it was obvious she had no idea what I was talking about, still she said, “Well, thanks for being so polite.” I thanked her for being so polite as well and she went on her way.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

The Best of Greg Perry

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry Recently by Greg Perry: Smokey the Bear Had It Right

For some reason, maybe you recently bought a gun.

Perhaps you want to participate in the only sport endorsed by the Founding Fathers: shooting. Perhaps you think guns are easier to obtain today than they will be in the future so you didn’t want to risk waiting. Perhaps you wanted one more gun than you already had. (That by the way always seems to be our need, doesn’t it?)

Now what do you do?

If you are like most people, you can’t wait to shoot it. But stop right there! Shooting it is the last thing you should do!

Care Now Extends the Life Later

Resist the temptation to shoot your new gun. Resist the temptation to shoot a used gun you just purchased also. Instead, you can spend a few moments now that will pay dividends forever. You actually can extend the life of your gun and help to restore life to a used gun that might have some barrel problems before you take the first shot.

It matters not if your gun is a rifle or handgun. It matters not if your gun is brand new, fairly new, or old. Whatever weapon you purchased, you are about to make it a better weapon.

Lew Rockwell readers are perhaps the most familiar with the concept of pay now to reduce paying more later. When George W. Bush said he would save the economy with the TARP bailout, wise Lew Rockwell readers knew that the cure was far worse than the short-term pain we would endure if the economy crashed then instead of crashing later with TARP making the crash much worse. When Obama wanted to save the economy by taking control of the banks, car makers, and your family doctor, Lew Rockwell readers knew that whatever might happen without that government spending was highly preferred over the far worse outcome that the government takeovers will produce.

Keep that in mind as you read the rest of this article. Keep that in mind as you’re out there wanting to shoot a case of ammo in your new gun when I warn you not to… not quite yet.

It turns out that extremely simple cleaning of your barrel, in a systematic way for your new gun, extends the life and makes your weapon more accurate.

Before the First Shot

Some guns, such as the Ruger 10/22 rifle, can come from the factory with junk in the barrel. This junk might be micro shavings of steel or interior barrel coatings. Although the Ruger 10/22 is known for this, to be fair to Ruger perhaps they have changed their policy and they now thoroughly clean each and every barrel before boxing the rifle for sale. But I’ve not read of Ruger doing this. Why take the chance?

Actually, no matter what gun you buy, why take the chance?

That new Glock, XD, or 1911 pistol is ready to shoot out of the box, but why would you want to risk some fouling in the barrel of some kind when 5 minutes or less takes care of the problem?

And especially if your weapon is used, you truly have no idea what is in the barrel. You have no idea if the previous owner cleaned the barrel with something silly like WD-40 (which as a general rule, you never use on a gun). Or perhaps the previous owner shot extremely fouling ammo that left traces and residue not typically left by traditional store-bought or properly-reloaded ammo.

So do this before you shoot one round: Clean your gun’s barrel. It doesn’t have to be a deep cleaning. Just a standard, quick cleaning.

For the newbies, I’ll go through the process so you won’t fear doing too much or not enough.

Simple Cleaning is Quick and Easy

Get a cleaning kit that contains a brass brush sized for your gun’s caliber, cleaner or solvent (such as Hoppe’s #9), and gun oil. It is best if you always clean from chamber to muzzle so a cleaning kit from Otis allows this. Instead of a rod Otis offers a plastic-coated stiff wire onto which you can screw brushes and patch holders. With a rod you have to enter at the muzzle and go back and forth to clean your barrel which is not optimum. While at the store, pick up some dry oil (graphite based I believe) such as Remington Dry Lube.

First, insert a patch in your cleaning wire or rod and put a few drops of solvent on it. Run this through your barrel slowly. Then put the brush on your cleaning wire or rod and put a couple of drops of solvent on the brush. Run it through slowly. Depending on the brush and barrel, your brush might have a tendency to turn as you pull it out of the muzzle. Let it turn! It is turning due to the rifling inside your barrel.

Some argue you should not turn as you remove a brush because holding the brush firmly forces the brush into places it otherwise wouldn’t go. With guns there is always another opinion. Many will disagree and say this entire article is unneeded. So be it. Either do it and be safe or don’t, it’s your gun, but I always will clean before my first shot and follow the pattern I am about to explain to you immediately after the first shot. The cost is only a little time, extremely little cleaning fluid, and the return is enough to offset those small risks for me. I want my guns to work well.

Now that you ran an initial wet patch and brush through the barrel, start running a new patch through your barrel, over and over, until it comes out without any black or gray soil. Your barrel is now clean. This might be 2 patches or 20 patches. If you get close to 8 or 9 patches and they still bring out black, it might be worth running another wet brass brush through your barrel once more to loosen the extra gunk in there and then return to the dry patches until one comes out clean.

Here’s a tip you’ll thank me for later: Get a bore-snake for your caliber and run it through 2 or 3 times after the brush. Your patches will come out clean far sooner and your barrel cleaning time should be cut in half on the average.

Your Initial Cleaning is Only Step One

Now, you must shoot your gun — one time. Not twice!

Load one round and shoot it. Do not load more than one round! Do not insert a full magazine! One round means one round.

Semi-automatics always have a risk — albeit a low risk — of turning full auto due to improper handling and unintentional gunsmithing (or in some cases intentional gunsmithing). The first time you shoot a new or used semi-auto, never load more than 2 rounds or you risk your weapon shooting full auto. The risk is small but I know of no disagreements in the gun community on this possibility. When you are new to a gun you certainly don’t want the uncertainty of it turning into full auto the first time you pull the trigger.

So just load one round and shoot it. You’ll get to shoot more later.

Now clean your gun again! Yes, it’s a hassle. Yes, it’s the last thing you want to do. But it’s best for your weapon.

If you live somewhere you can walk onto your back porch and shoot anything you can pull a trigger on, you are as fortunate as I am. But if you must go to a range to shoot, it is a real hassle to clean your gun, go to the line and shoot one round, then clean it again! I hate it! And it requires you take all your cleaning stuff to the range with you. But isn’t a lifetime of better shooting worth this initial effort?

A Cleaning Pattern Emerges

Once you clean your barrel again after that initial shot, load two rounds. Not three rounds! This is where you will learn if your gun has the full auto problem. Load two and only two rounds. If your weapon is magazine-fed, put two in the magazine and only two.

Go to the line, rack the slide to load your first round, and shoot. If your gun is a semi-auto, the second round should load. Shoot it now.

If you have the full-auto problem, you will know when you shoot the first round! You will get a double-shot — quite a surprise. If this happens, put your weapon back in its box immediately and take it to where you bought it if from a store, or take it to a gunsmith if you bought it from an individual, and get it fixed immediately. Fortunately, as I said earlier, the odds of this happening are extremely rare. But it needs to be fixed. And by loading only 2 rounds you protected yourself and those around you from an embarrassing spray of bullets!

Assuming your gun worked properly, after you shot two rounds and cleaned your gun, load three rounds. Shoot three rounds. Clean your gun again.

Now load and shoot four rounds. Clean your gun again.

Now load and shoot five rounds. Clean your gun again.

Now you’re done! You can go to the line and shoot, shoot, shoot all you want. Your barrel is properly broken in. Old-time gunsmiths swear this procedure helps restore extremely used barrels too. Others disagree. But your time investment is so small, why not?

When Done at the Range

After your first day of shooting your gun, it’s time to start dreaming of the next gun you want to buy. Within a day or two, be sure and clean your gun fully. After a heavy shooting session, you want to clean your gun even if it’s an AK that seems to like being dirty. But for your new gun, at least you are finished with the shot one, clean, shoot two, clean, shoot three, clean, … pattern.

When cleaning after a heavy shooting session, you’ll want to clean the chamber. You possibly may want to clean the trigger assembly depending on how difficult or easy it is and how recommended it is to do so. Always check the manual for proper cleaning requirements. If your gun did not come with a manual, order one as they are all over GunBroker and even eBay.

When doing routine cleaning like this, your barrel could use a little oil. Put a couple of drops onto a patch and run it through your barrel once after cleaning your barrel. If it’s a while before you shoot your gun again, this helps keep rust out of your barrel that wants to appear there. Your chamber almost certainly needs cleaning and once you have brushed solvent there, you need to lubricate the chamber. The problem is that oil sure causes junk to build up quickly there when you shoot again. It’s best most of the time to use a dry lube such as Remington Dry Lube so the build-up doesn’t occur as badly but your chamber still gets lubricated.

But again, check your manual for proper cleaning instructions for your specific gun. Some require greatly different techniques and cleaning procedures. The great M1A for example, can have big problems with a too-lubed chamber.

Still, when breaking in the barrel for the first time, all guns basically will follow the initial barrel-cleaning procedure I outlined above: wet patch, wet brush, and dry patches, once, twice, thrice, and so on until five rounds are finished.

Restoring Your Own Gun Barrels

After you put 5,000 or 6,000 rounds down range with your gun, it never hurts to repeat the initial patterned cleaning once again. Many swear you help restore your barrel and extend its life.

When you press that trigger, you want your gun to go BANG and not Click. When your gun goes BANG you want your bullet to hit what you aim for. This barrel break-in procedure will help ensure that.

My only other advice for now is to keep your powder dry in the coming dark days….

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

The Best of Greg Perry

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry Recently by Greg Perry: A Rusty Old Codger Gets a ShinyNewGun

I have a fairly effective strategy for talking Hollywood and music stars into befriending me on Facebook. They will see at least one post of mine before quickly clicking Delete Friend to wipe me off their computers. Truth is divisive indeed!

Actually, I exaggerate. Surprisingly most of them remain FB friends longer than I expect in spite of me always spouting off my pro-freedom rhetoric that most of them despise. (I will tell you more about my Facebook interaction in another article.)

Last night one of the few big-star FB friends I actually do admire and respect went head-to-head with me. The mini-debate was friendly and he has not removed me from his FB friend list. I appreciate that. I won’t tell you who it is but who he is isn’t important anyway.

The importance is the implication of our discussion.

Silver Dollar City, Branson, Missouri

A major contributor to America’s anti-freedom, anti-family, gun-control movement is Peter Herschend, owner of the popular Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri as well as Celebration City, Dollywood, Stone Mountain Park, The Adventure Aquarium, and The Newport Aquarium.

Herschend has spent countless dollars fighting the Second Amendment. Several websites describe him as backing major “grassroots” campaigns against the right for citizens to own firearms. The wealth of this guy is admirable. His power is great. Yet, his push to take away guns from honest, taxpaying citizens is about as “grassroots” as George Soros’ “grassroots” effort to elect Al Gore, John Kerry, and then Barack Obama.

Silver Dollar City is promoted as pro-family. In general it is. There is not one family in the nation who would feel threatened by the content at one attraction or store or exhibit in the place. Looks are deceiving however. Before you enter the first gate, you see the No Guns Allowed on These Premises sign.

It turns out Silver Dollar City is potentially an extremely dangerous place for your loved ones. Protect them and keep them away from this and Herschend’s other properties. Branson, Missouri is a unique place for a vacation. Go and enjoy yourselves! But keep your family safe by keeping them well-away from Silver Dollar City where the lawbreakers know that visitors to the park are not unlike defenseless sheep in a pasture.

I do not need to explain more about this to LewRockwell.com readers. You are well aware of the dangers of a gun-free zone. You are well aware that gun-free is a synonym for (using Branson-speak) easy-pickins’.

Revisiting My Facebook Discussion

Last night, this famous gentleman added a pro-Branson post. He was encouraging all his FB friends to visit Branson. That was great. As I said, Branson is virtually all family-friendly. Sure it is Hicksville for the elitists but who cares about the elitists? Just go and enjoy the food and shows and attractions. Unlike Vegas (which I love too but for other reasons, all of which have to do with freedom), you won’t be shielding your little ones’ eyes every time you pass a billboard.

When I read his pro-Branson post I realized how few people know about Silver Dollar City’s massive anti-gun activities, funded by SDC money that good, honest, law-abiding citizens paid for through the gate admission. Now Herschend can do whatever he wants with his money! But at the same time, it is incumbent upon us to let others know what he is doing if his spending habits put us in danger. And they do.

So I replied with the following:

If only the owner of Silver Dollar city did not spend tens of thousands of dollars to prevent good, honest citizens from being able to protect themselves when he did everything in his quite complete power to block concealed carry in Branson and all of Missouri. It is dangerous now for families to be inside Silver Dollar City where he does not allow concealed carry for lawful citizens (only lawbreakers can carry there). Protect your family!

He immediately replied,

Greg, every time our families come to Branson, they want to go to Silver Dollar City…..they love it and have always found it to be very safe……

Herschend Would Love Fort Hood

The problem is this took place yesterday as the Fort Hood murder rampage news was still breaking.

Now it may be slimy of me to use the Fort Hood murders to explain the reasons for my agenda, but I guarantee you that the gun control advocates are going to try to find ways to twist it for their evil purposes.

So I replied with a simple explanation as to why the statement, “have always found it to be very safe…” was vapid.

I said: Until today, families who visited Fort Hood always “found it to be very safe.”

How Safe Are Police States?

When only the police have guns, that society is known as a Police State. In every society this has been tried, and failed, of course the military had guns too.

Remember when England stopped allowing their police (Bobbies) to carry firearms? How well did that turn out for them? I always said that if England was consistent — and it is not — then England should have removed all weapons from its military’s hands as well. They should be beacons to the world at removing guns from the equation. They should show the world that love and peace conquers all.

But they would never have allowed their military to go without guns because even the idiots who force these policies on their willing masses know that a gunless England would be invaded in about 25 minutes by one of several countries who would like nothing more than an easy takeover of that island.

One of the weakest but most-often-made arguments for gun control is that police should be the only ones with guns to protect the innocent. I do not have to remind LewRockwell.com readers that when seconds count the police are just minutes away.

But anyone with a single brain cell knows that the police cannot protect you. At Virginia Tech, only the police had guns and after the first wave of murders took place, the police stormed the campus. Later that day, the second wave of murders took place and still, only the police and the murderer had guns.

Not one police office’s gun stopped one murder at Virginia Tech.

And tragically, we saw that this week at Fort Hood.

One Bullet Could Have Stopped Many

There are good reasons why weapons are locked in armories at military bases when not being used for training. We can all understand that. Still, why are individual soldiers not allowed sidearms while performing day-to-day duties? I don’t know, but I will say I suspect there are good reasons for that too.

Still, the point was made at Fort Hood, wasn’t it? Until this week, you would have said that Fort Hood, the largest United States military base in the world, would be the safest place on the planet to walk peaceably!

But dozens were murdered and wounded. Dozens of soldiers who no doubt were skilled at shooting and who had the ability to take out a lone shooter are dead or maimed.

If only one of them had the means to shoot one bullet…

The Bottom Line: Only You Have a Chance to Protect Yourself

Please do not get me wrong. I am not advocating that the military change its on-base policy for carrying firearms. My point is this: If the largest US military base on earth is a dangerous place to walk around without a firearm, where thousands of highly-skilled shooters all around you can do absolutely nothing to protect you, why is Silver Dollar City safe?

Why is anywhere safe?

Smokey the Bear said, “Only you can prevent forest fires.” Well, only you can be responsible for your own protection. Only you can be responsible for your family.

Why would you ever advocate anything else?

If he was politically correct, Smokey the Bear would have said, “Only fire departments can prevent forest fires.”

When a fire breaks out at my house, I would rather stop it before it gets bigger. And we live in the middle of nowhere, and yes we have prepared our property with the means to extinguish fires wherever they may start.

We have also prepared ourselves not to call 911 when we are threatened.

Smokey never said rely on the fire department to prevent fires.

We live in a country run by politically correct Smokey Bears.

I miss the old Smokey.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

Greg Perry Archives

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

It is never too late to stop and smell the roses. It is never too late to learn to play the piano. It is never too late to read great, classic books. And it is never too late to blow the brains out of an attacker.

With Age Comes Wisdom

About six years ago, I met a gentleman who has since become one of my very best and true friends. He taught me a lot but one would expect that; he has the wisdom of more than 70 years.

He is a no-nonsense gentleman. He does not suffer fools lightly. He quotes Atlas Shrugged. He cares more about freedom and classic liberal ideals than he cares about either political party. He is open to new ideas and even changing his mind as long as he sees the reasoning and logic behind the arguments presented. In other words, he constantly hones his thoughts, abilities, concerns, and skills. He is open to expanding his already-vast knowledge base.

He is a man all of us should aspire to emulate.

After an already full lifetime of 71 years, three months ago he decided to get his concealed carry permit. This intrigued me because he is a man who admires firearms, can shoot straight, but is not one who typically enters any government building that he does not have to enter. The application, background check, and fingerprint requirements go against all he believes.

Given how well he influenced my life, I wanted to ask him a few questions related to his new concealed carry permit and the new handgun he now has with him. All of us can benefit from what a 71-one year-old gentleman has to say.

The following is a transcript of a brief interview we did over the weekend. As I re-read his responses, I realize how straightforward and clear they are. So often we obfuscate debates with $10-words and legalese. His words are clear enough for a 6-year-old homeschooler to understand (or a 16-year-old public school student.)

His words speak for themselves but you know me, I could not help but annotate with some extra thoughts along the way.

Happily, A 71-Year Old Newly Licensed Gun Owner Speaks Out

Q: Are you pleased that you got your Concealed Carry license?

A: Pleased is not the exact word that describes my feelings. I am ecstatic! I waited much to long to do this.

Q: Having not had a concealed carry permit for 70+ years, why did you finally decide to go for it?

A: I debated myself several years about getting the permit. Many people I know got them as soon as the law began allowing them.

I had convinced myself that I did not want to be in any more databases than was absolutely necessary. I did not want the Guvment to know I had any guns. Then a good friend of mine convinced me that having the permit was far too important for my personal and family safety to let my fear of the Guvment keep me from it.

[I wish you could hear him say Guvment! His state is Oklahoma, a gun-friendly state that still allows its citizens to protect themselves and their families. Getting caught with a gun without a permit, however, is a sure way to lose your gun and perhaps your freedom from incarceration. This gentleman obviously loves his family more than he fears the government so he decided he does not care if his name is on their books.-GP]

Q: Do you plan to carry a gun most places now?

A: I went to the sheriff’s office to pick up my permit last week. Since then I have armed myself whenever I leave the house about 80% of the time. I love it. I hope I never have to use it but if I do I will.

[It is far better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it.-GP]

Q: What gun do you now carry?

A: One of the first things I did after submitting all the Guvment paper work for my concealed carry permit was purchase a new handgun specifically designed for concealed carry. It is a Smith and Wesson, Model #442, a hammerless .38 special. When I carry this gun it is loaded with what I call splatter bullets, otherwise known as hollow point.

Q: What do you think our Founding Fathers would say if they knew you carried a gun?

A: I think they would be absolutely dumbfounded that I did not carry a gun for 70+ years. A gun is an expression of your freedom, a freedom that derives from our Creator.

[Colonel Jeff Cooper said a man can never truly be free unless he is armed.-GP]

Q: What do you think our Founding Fathers would say if they knew you needed a fee-based permission from the government to carry a gun?

A: Again, I think they would be dumbfounded. As they said in the Declaration of Independence, “…All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” They continued by saying, “…That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

In my opinion no rational body of the governed would consent to diminish their freedom by giving government the power to make it any more difficult to own and carry a gun than just to strap it on and go about your business.

Q: What does your wife think about it?

A: My wife now has her concealed carry permit and carries most of the time.

[Obviously, he has a fantastic wife.-GP]

Q: What do the nation’s current leaders think about you getting a license to carry a gun?

A: I am 100% convinced that our current leaders think it is horrendous that anyone would want to own, let alone carry, a gun.

Q: Do you think America is safer the more people who carry weapons?

A: Several years ago I purchased a book by John Lott entitled More Guns, Less Crime. No rational person can read this book and come to any conclusion other than this one: owning and carrying guns decreases crime. The why is self-evident. If a criminal intent on creating mayhem of any kind fears that he is not the only one with a gun he will be less likely to create that chaos.

Simple stuff really.

[Simple stuff, yes, which is why government employees at all levels cannot understand it.-GP]

Q: Some restaurants, stores, and “family” places such as Silver Dollar City have strict No Guns Allowed policies. How much safer do you feel when you do business with them?

A: I do not feel safer when I do business with them. In fact I decided that given a choice I will not do business with anyone that posts their entrance with a no guns allowed sign.

[If one must do business with an establishment that does not believe you have the authority to defend your own family, let the owner know in a letter that you will hold them and their insurance companies responsible for any crimes committed against you and yours while there. Send a copy to their insurance agent. This can have a great effect at changing such a deadly policy. ~ GP]

Q: Is the right to defend yourself given to you by man or do you see it as inalienable?

A: As our Founding fathers clearly said, freedom is derived from our Creator and is inalienable. I will go even further with this. In my opinion it is irresponsible for any person to fail to do all they can to protect themselves and their family.

Such is our duty.

Q: President Clinton’s Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders once said America needs “safer bullets.” Do any of your guns use those safe bullets in them?

A: Jocelyn Elders was not the brightest bulb in the room. [I believe he is giving her far too much credit.-GP]

I have no idea what a safer bullet is.

Q: If you ever must shoot somebody who attacks you or your wife, what do you think you will feel?

A: The first thing I will feel is slight recoil. Then relief.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

Greg Perry Archives

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

I shot my first living creature recently. Two living creatures actually.

They were alive before my shots rang out, then they were down and gone. “Rang out” is a poetic way of saying my shots blasted deafeningly because I used my trusty AK-47.

I do not train with my guns for target practice fun. Those who shoot only the most accurate, hand-loaded match-grade ammo from their expensive bench rests have a lot of fun and I say, more power to them. That is not me. I do not buy guns for their historical roles or their collectible values. I buy only what we need for defense and for other reasons related to living out here. Let me tell you, we live way out here.

I trained in case I ever needed to shoot a living thing. I never wanted the day to arrive. Now that it is behind me you must trust me when I warn you that you do not want the day to come for you. It is not pretty and it is not satisfying.

I would hope that my column’s readers would realize long before now I have no problem with hunting. I am all for it. I think it’s great. I am sure it is fun. I just don’t hunt. I never have. I have no desire to do so. Hunting is a skill every man should know and I realize that I may wish I had hunting skills some day. Life is full and we must choose where we put our time. Hunting is not where I put my time. Yet, I believe hunting can be satisfying and deserved prey can beautiful. (Tasty too.)

My shoot was not satisfying or beautiful. Yet the shooting was necessary.

Where We Live Plays a Part in the Story

By design, we live in the middle of nowhere. We moved here about a decade ago thanks to Gary North. Dr. North’s writings cost us a fortune that we have never financially recovered from but for which we have no regrets whatsoever. We have only gratitude, especially now that times are so precarious. We love being where we are. We would not be here if Gary North had not been so encouraging a decade ago.

We have friends who are concerned about the economy. They fear possible breakdowns of services in the city where they live about 30 miles from us. They fear Katrina-like looting and so on if times get tough. Are they paranoid? No more than I am. They asked me recently that if things got bad could they come out to where we are. The problem is the timing. If they were to come here, when do they leave their home? Even if problems begin to occur in the city they still want to remain in their home with their lifetime of possessions and family memories of course. Yet if the worst happens, it will be too late and they will never make it out of town.

My true answer to when to leave the cities is now, not then. I practiced what I preach 10 years ago. Well, I practiced what Gary North preached 10 years ago. (I think Dr. North moved back to the city. We stayed. I hope neither he nor we regret our decision some day. I am fairly certain we will not regret being where we are.)

I have absolutely no knowledge or prediction as to whether society will ever break down. Frankly, it doesn’t concern me too much. We live out here, peacefully, knowing neighbors for acres and acres around us in all directions far better than we ever knew our next-door neighbors in the city. I could barely spell tractor before we moved here — I am a recovering public school graduate after all — but now I ride one quite frequently. I would have laughed in your face if you said 10 years ago I would own a brush hog!

The Last Thing I Thought I Would Ever Harm is What I First Killed

The two live creatures I shot and killed were dogs. They looked like mutts. They were about the size of large beagles. These guys didn’t look mean. I bet if I walked out to them instead of shooting them they would have been friendly.

Let me tell you about me and dogs. Since I was a tot I have been a “dog person.” From the time I was 4, no more than a few months have ever passed that I have ever been without one or two dogs. I remember the day my parents brought my first puppy to me and I fondly recall all I have loved and lived with since. Two little white fluffy guys, Casper and Mozart, not only share Jayne’s and my home, they share our bed too (much to our chagrin at times…).

When I meet new people, if they have a dog I almost always know their pet long before I get to know them very well. When a friendly pup jumps up on me, I love it.

You can imagine that I wish my first pair of kills were non-canine.

I Killed Because Killing Is Sometimes Necessary

I told you about where we live to set up the reason for my shooting the dogs. In rural areas dog owners let their dogs run freely. I have never understood this.

As a dog owner I would never let my dogs roam the neighborhood because I would not want anything to happen to them. I would not, for example, want Casper and Mozart to be hit by a car. I certainly would not want them taken down by some guy’s AK-47.

As a neighbor I don’t appreciate that others let their dogs roam the rural countryside. The most tame, docile dog can bite as any mailman will tell you. (Lady mailmen will tell you that too.) The big problem is when two or more dogs, roaming the rural countryside, join up. The pack mentality sets in far too quickly. When this occurs, synergistic energy develops somehow and the pack can become ferocious whereas individually the dogs would remain completely docile and civilized.

We have neighbors (ones who do not let their dogs roam free) who go out to get their eggs each morning and have often found a missing or partial chicken in a stray’s mouth as he and his buddies run away jumping through the hole they dug under the chicken fence. My bride, Jayne, has been challenged in our own yard by German Shepherds that another neighbor lets out. Rabies is a problem with wild dogs given the critter population all around us.

A stray dog simply cannot be allowed to remain a stray. Not where we live. And there is no department in our town called Animal Control. Actually, there is no department in our town because the only government in our little township is a friendly Mayor who meets once a month with whomever wants to join him in the town’s only government building, a one-room little building that has one door, no bathroom, and four walls.

I have met Animal Control and it is me.

Stray Dogs Cannot Stay

Recently, Jayne looked out the back window and saw these two dogs eating from our cat’s food bowl. I have already given you my pet preference and it is Jayne’s also. Given the choice between a dog and a cat, any felines close to us had better watch their backs as we’ll choose dogs over them any day.

Having said that, there is one stupid cat who kept coming to our back door a few years ago. She would run from everybody but me. She did not know I have a sign above my reloading bench that reads, “Cats Fear My Name.” She did not know I refused to own a cat in my entire life. She did not know how much I despised the fact that she kept being friendly to me.

Fast-forward 5 years. That cat now has a heated house outside. A heated water bowl for the winter. Store-bought food, purchased with my hard-earned money. (I thought they were supposed to eat mice!) And in general she still only lets me pet her. Stupid cat.

Jayne told me that two stray dogs were eating from my cat’s bowl. That was a problem for them but it was not their biggest problem. Their biggest problem is their owners did not care enough about them to keep them from running loose. Their owners did not care that they team up with other roaming dogs out here and wreak havoc with chickens and neighbors. I would never shoot a dog for eating my cat’s food. Cats have lower-priority!

Recently, we yelled to scare away some dogs that were in our yard only to discover the next morning that those dogs had killed more chickens of our neighbors. Those particular neighbors homeschool (all good neighbors do) and have extremely young kids in their huge family. A pack of dogs would never hesitate to attack a toddler when they team up out here in the middle of nowhere.

While it is true that the decision to live here has advantages and disadvantages, we can control some of the disadvantages some of the time. We decided with full neighbor support that as a group we would work to control the stray dog population. If a stray comes onto our property, the rule of thumb is kill and bury him. Sure, if a dog has a collar and tag and shows no aggression we will use discernment. Most of the time, discernment means shoot first and ask questions never.

So that is what I did. Plus, an embarrassed part of me deep inside may also have been slightly — just slightly — concerned they would get my cat. Stupid cat.

Aim, Fire, Dig, Regret, Move On

I ran to grab my AK-47. I also snatched my ear and eye protection, something I may not have spent time doing if the stray intruders were more dangerous predators, humans, but when there is time for eye protection especially you should always take that time.

I opened the back door and the dogs were gone and the cat’s bowl was empty. (No cat in sight.) I quickly and quietly stepped to the edge of our porch and about 75 yards away the dogs were walking the side of our creek’s edge.

I brought the AK buttstock to my cheek, set the front sight on the first dog, and pressed the trigger. Just as Gabe Suarez trained me to do.

The dog flipped in the air while at the same time a yelp rang out. I do not know if the yelp came from the dog I hit or from the second one frightened by the shot. The second took off running. I put the front sight on him and pressed the trigger. Just as Gabe Suarez trained me to do.

The second dog went down. Two shots, two hits. 75 yards away. The longest shot I had ever taken with my AK was about 25 yards. A 75-yard shot for a rifle is not a huge challenge. It was my longest however, in the heat of the moment, with my heart racing, with the dog on the run after the first shot. Only AR-15 owners who have never shot an AK will gripe that the AK is not accurate. It is accurate enough to do the job. That job is a man-sized target out to 300 yards if needed. Or a fast-moving dog-sized one at 75. And my AK doesn’t malfunction — it always goes Bang when I press the trigger.

All this seemed to happen in the blink of an eye. I am sure I did not take a breath until that second dog went down. When I did take the breath, I lowered the rifle slightly and scanned for additional dogs just as I have been trained to scan for additional hostiles. Unfortunately, I heard yelping through my ear protection. One of the dogs had not died.

Two things then happened at the same time. I began running to the dogs as fast as I could and my heart began breaking for the yelper. I got about 20 feet away and put a head shot through each. The yelping stopped. My heart’s breaking had not.

I compartmentalize quite a bit in life. I completely had sympathy for those dogs while killing them. It was a job I had to do. It was a job I would do again today. That doesn’t make it any easier emotionally.

Our Lessons

If we still lived in the city we would still find strays in our yards once in a while. In the city, if ferocious ones appear, as happened to me about 15 years ago as I was walking to my car at the end of my own driveway, we do not have the freedom to handle the situation ourselves as I had to do with the two I shot. When seconds count, Animal Control is just hours away to paraphrase one of my favorite lines. Making the decision to move here a decade ago brought with it responsibilities such as the responsibility to shoot a stray or two when one invades our space. We owe it to ourselves and our neighbors to do just that.

Robert A. Heinlein once wrote, “When the need arises — and it does — you must be able to shoot your own dog. Don’t farm it out — that doesn’t make it nicer, it makes it worse.”

I have no doubt that shooting a stray dog is far easier than shooting one of my own. I hope to never find out but the reality is I may someday have to find out. Life brings challenges, most of which we do not want. If a stray dog ever attacks one of my dogs, my wife, or, yes, even that stupid cat, I have no doubt that I will feel no regrets about that kill. The same could be said for any living creature who attacks one of us. Colonel Jeff Cooper wrote a lot about post-traumatic stress and how it was a luxury of the late 20th century. He said that until the feel-good 1960s brought in the generation of don’t-worry-be-happy, it’s-you-not-me victim mentality, that in general neither soldiers nor law enforcement ever felt trauma after killing a hostile who was trying to kill him.

In spite of my having absolute certainty the only thing I will feel after shooting an attacker is recoil, I must warn you that you may feel some stress after making a kill that you were not forced under duress to make. Still, some shots must be taken.

I walked back and put the AK-47 away. I was grateful that I was taught to shoot well and that I own what I consider to be a most wonderful weapon, only one of three good things to come out of the ComBloc last century (the other two were also wonderful weapons against evil, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Ayn Rand). I grabbed a shovel and did the second-half of the job, burying the two. Digging the graves and dumping them in was harder than shooting, both physically of course but also emotionally. The blood was redder and in a far greater quantity than I would have imagined.

I have no deep lessons for you here, just my story. I do want you fellow gun owners out there to know that nothing prepares you for what I had to do. The next time I do it, the job will be just as difficult.

I am thrilled though that I am still free to do the job that must be done. Are you free enough to do what needs to be done where you live? If not, you have two options: move or acquiesce. Moving is harder and means you may have to handle a task you don’t want to do. But at least you will be allowed to do it.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

Greg Perry Archives

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

DIGG THIS

I was sad to see that AmmoMan.com, the best place on earth in my humble opinion to get ammo for the past several years, increased its prices 25% basically overnight Tuesday. AmmoMan is not alone as the news today was filled with stories about gun stores across the country running out of weapons and ammunition. The reason is obvious.

What was about $200 per case of 1,000 rounds Monday is now $249. I only checked the 7.62 stock but my friends tell me the higher prices are uniform elsewhere on all ammunition. I looked up the prices on some small pistol reloading primers I am selling on GunBroker.com right now and I was shocked to see that many mail-order companies are currently "Out of Stock" on them.

I woke up Wednesday morning without any more of a worry than I had when I awoke Tuesday morning. Was the election a death-knell for America? Well yes in many ways it was death for many things due to changes that will surely come, but as Becky Akers said so well, the sun still came up. Some eyes will be opened. Things will be worse than some predict and better than others predict.

A price will be paid by all of us.

I just wish it wasn’t the price of ammunition.

Don’t Panic!

Arthur Dent did not heed those words as often as he should have but if you want to be a good steward of your family’s resources as I want to be, then Don’t Panic.

No matter bad it will or will not get, the problems will not come for us in any immediate way. Certainly not so much so that we should accept a 25% hit on ammo.

The price increase may be greater as the next few days roll on. Here was the message atop the AmmoMan.com website today:

AMMOMAN.COM WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY NEW ORDERS FOR A DAY OR TWO WE ARE 2000 ORDERS BEHIND AND NEED TO CATCH UP WE WILL NOT BE TAKING PHONE OR FAX ORDERS WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE PHONES IT MAY TAKE UP TO 3 DAYS OR MORE TO ANSWER YOUR E-MAILS PLEASE BE PATIENT AND WE WILL BE WORKING SATURDAY AND SUNDAY TO CATCH UP WE WERE GETTING UP TO 800 ORDERS A DAY AND THAT’S JUST TOO MUCH FOR US THANKS FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING

If you live in a relatively free state that allows gun shows — and if you don’t, then why don’t you? — you should attend any and all shows the next few weeks to look for better prices on ammunition if you’re of the mindset that you should stock up now while you still can legally.

What Changed?

Absolutely nothing has changed for the immediate time frame.

This is what is happening all across the country: ammo sales are skyrocketing. Just as Clinton’s election was healthy for the gun industry, Barry’s election will be even healthier given the death and pestilence many see him bringing to America. Right now, weapon distributors are having a great Christmas. Ammo outlets are right now trying to restock with massive supplies of ammunition.

Their current big initial orders will die down once the initial shock for all of those blind Americans who actually thought Barry would not win is past.

My conclusion is this: ammo dealers will soon have massive stockpiles they cannot keep selling in the quantities these are selling this week. Prices will be back to $200 per thousand (for 7.62×39) or whatever you were accustomed to last week for your sought-after caliber very soon.

What Do You Do?

If I am wrong, then prices will go up. Your risk should not depend on what I say but how you perceive the situation.

Although I am focused on ammo right now, many of you are focused on weapons. As ammo goes, so goes the weapons that shoot ammo. I’m going to wait it out some before adding to my ammunition supply. I think prices will soften and soften quickly.

Prices will surely go back up again when Barry is sworn in but the rise will probably not be as dramatic as this week’s rise and prices will probably go back down quickly to more normal levels.

I am not a prophet! Still, as I’m telling you here I predict prices will go back down… for a while. Then they will go up for good until some unforeseeable change.

Will things get so bad that prices go through roof after he is sworn in? Of course. Will the Democrat Communists in the Senate put a 4,000% tax on ammo sales? You know the answer to that as well as I do; they sure want to.

Therefore, it is incumbent upon you to buy what you think you will need for the coming reckoning. But I suggest you do not rush into the current frenzy to pay today’s prices. I believe the market will pressure these prices down before prices finally go back up again perhaps forever.

But How Much Ammo Do I Need Anyway?

You need exactly one case more than you currently have.

That is always the answer for everybody in all times no matter what your current supply is by the way.

Good Days Ahead – Perhaps 30 to 60 of them Only Though, And Not All At Once…

I think we will see windows of good price opportunity when ammo suppliers see this current rush dwindle and they see their re-orders come in by the truckloads. If you worry about today’s ammo prices, stay on top of ammo web sites daily to catch the deals when they have to unload this extra supply. My conclusion of lower prices ahead is based on the laws of supply-and-demand, which are almost as reliable as the law of gravity. This is why I believe these current high prices are unsustainable.

I am open to correction if you see this situation differently.

If you think there is no turning back and that we need to buy ammo now no matter what the price I’m open to hearing what you have to say. But we are seeing worldwide commodity prices drop dramatically as the world economies are destroyed one by one by bail-out programs wrought by the Democrat Communists and Republican Communists (basically all but about one in Congress today), and their equivalents around the world.

I would love to hear if you think prices are the best today they will get in many years ahead and that they will never get better in the foreseeable future. But please give your reasonings; I have it on Good authority that iron sharpens iron.

In the meantime I’m looking for a good deal on 7.62×39 if you know of any. All I need is one more case…

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

Greg Perry Archives

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

DIGG THIS

A headline blazed across a recent issue of the local paper, "Food Stamp Recipients Found Selling Food Stamps for Cash."

My first reaction was, "Yes. Of course." I honestly did not understand why that warranted a headline. I had to read the article to understand this is a crime. I just figure even fat and poor welfare recipients can eat only so much and have leftover food stamp money every month. (I am not implying that everyone on welfare is fat and certainly many are not poor! But even those who are fat probably can’t eat all the food the government allows them.)

It turns out that food stamp recipients receive a spending allowance each month based on how large their families are, or at least how large they report their families to be. Plus, they don’t even get actual food stamps. A friend told me that food stamp credits are put on a debit or credit card and recharged monthly automatically. It’s like my credit card balance, it just keeps getting bigger, only I work hard to shrink it and food stamp recipients sleep and eat while theirs grow automatically.

I’ve since spoken with others and they seem to know all the above. This is all new to me. I don’t pay attention to the mechanics of the food stamp program. I do know that on the day he left the Senate for the last time, Republican Bob Dole said the food stamp program was one of his three proudest achievements while in office. (Brings to mind the recollection that Bonnie and Clyde were proud of several robberies they pulled at Texas banks.)

What Would Be Your Reaction?

If you saw these headlines, what would your reaction be: "Food Stamp Recipients Found Selling Food Stamps for Cash"?

After reacting "Of course," figuring that food stamp recipients cannot use all the government gives them, my next reaction was to ask myself who is buying the food stamps from them. No, can I be honest? My next reaction was asking myself, "Where I can buy these?"

I work to feed my family. Food stamp recipients don’t work to feed theirs. They obviously have too many food stamps. So if they will sell me food stamps for 50% of face value, I’d like to know where to stand in line with a handful of cash. We often scour eBay for gift cards that people are selling anywhere from 30% to 99% of face value. If you’re going to buy something at Sears anyway, then a $100 gift card that you pay $99 for is a free buck in your pocket, so why not? Many times we get far better deals on gift cards (for proof, I set up a link that shows you up-to-the-second gift card auctions for popular restaurants: http://www.bidmentor.com/restgc. Go ahead and splurge, part of your dinner’s basically on me!).

I’m used to buying gift cards at less than face value. Many people are used to selling them. I want to know what corner these food stamp guys hang out on. I’ll bring a fistful of cash.

I’ll Be Respectful to My Supplier

Back when they actually used food stamps, I recall being too smart for my pants when standing in line behind someone using them. I’d say something to the cashier like, "They didn’t even thank me for buying some of their groceries!"

The cashier would always look at me blankly having absolutely no idea what I was talking about.

I would never say something like that now. I’ve come to realize that I’m not actually angry at the people who receive the handouts. I am angry at the people who give them the food stamps!

If someone paid me more money not to work than to work, it would be idiotic of me not to take that deal. You can talk about pride all you want; I want to work for the highest bidder just as you do! Now if that work means I do what I want and I just don’t tell the government it is work, so much the better!

If you think food stamp recipients are wrong to receive them, I believe you need a change in your thinking also.

Where is the Real Crime Here?

Remember, I don’t blame those who accept food stamps. I blame those who give them.

A food stamp recipient is receiving stolen goods. That is absolutely true. The government steals money from you to give food stamps to them. But where is the real crime?

The real crime, or the greater crime I should say, is done by your government. The government not only steals your money, and gives some of it to food stamp recipients, but it keeps some as the middle man. Lawbreakers, I mean Lawmakers, such as Bob Dole, create laws like the food stamp program for their own good. They could not care less about the poor. More programs mean more money for the middle man (Lawmakers) and more votes for them too (from welfare recipients who want the program continued).

You read LewRockwell.com. How laws line the pockets of those who make them isn’t news to you. I do want you to start viewing this as a greater of two evils issue though. The greater of two evils, by far, is the one who gives welfare recipients their food stamps. I don’t respect the food stamp recipient who has the ability to work as most do. But I respect them far more than those who handout the handouts. They are the criminals.

The government says it wants to stop drug dealers and that will win our drug war. The government is the dealer of food stamps. Any politician who tells you he or she hopes fewer people have to depend on the food stamp program next year is lying. If they truly wanted to stop welfare, they would stop themselves, the dealers.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

Greg Perry Archives

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

DIGG THIS

I’ve written before about the little town we live in. It has one government building and that remains empty except monthly when members of the community get together to discuss their concerns. Everybody here lives on acreage. I can step onto my back porch and shoot any gun I want to shoot. I do that frequently.

When you think it can’t get any better, it gets better. Our town’s name is Winchester. Isn’t that just about the greatest name a town could ever have?

Let the Begging Begin

Those of us who live in Winchester generally love the idea of a town that is so small there is no government that extends beyond a mayor who meets at our little town’s one-room building monthly when community members meet. The problem is that we like things the way they are which means the government doesn’t like things the way they are. Our little town’s government works so well that larger government entities around us just can’t stand it. So they butt in. Well, no they ramrod themselves in and extract money from our pocketbooks.

The town next to ours does not have a cool name like Winchester. That town’s name is, appropriately enough, Beggs. Beggs hates the fact that Winchester wants to be left alone. Winchester residents are forced into residing in the Beggs’ school district. You know what that means, right? We must pay property taxes to support Welfare Kings and Welfare Queens, the parents who send their children to public schools.

To make sure those of us in Winchester remember our place, it’s illegal for us to use Winchester for our town’s name when we get mail. Government regulations require that the post office in Beggs "return to sender" any mail addressed to us that uses our proper, correct, and accurate town name Winchester. The government highway signs say Winchester. Our elected mayor is the mayor of Winchester. When we call the sheriff, fire department, or power company we must identify our town as Winchester. Even the government workers in Beggs agree we live in Winchester. But we’d better not get mail addressed to Winchester! We’ll be punished; we’ll go to bed without any mail for the day.

They make us say we live in Beggs when we get mail because when we fill out our property tax forms we therefore must write that we live in Beggs. Therefore, the Beggs school board gets to charge us for services never rendered.

Beggs, Borrow, and Steal

As is almost always the case in rural America, the nicest buildings in Beggs are the school buildings. After stealing money from its residents, and from surrounding towns such as Winchester year after year, many people just don’t have enough money to keep their own homes as nice as they’d like. After building the nicest buildings the teachers and school administrators want more. The insatiable teachers and school administrators always want more. When you rob Peter to pay Paul, Paul never complains.

Recently Beggs went begging for more.

Last year a Beggs school bond lost by 3 votes. Any time you see the word bond or levy or mill on a ballot that is code talk for tax increase. This tax increase vote that Beggs was begging for was $2.2 million to build a new football field and athletic facility. The proverbial three R’s in government schools today are far from Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic of days gone by. Today the new Three R’s are Ritalin, teacher Raises, and spoRts.

The school board came so close to victory they could taste it. They would never allow the community to have its way if the loss of money was by only three votes. They put the vote back on the ballot. Last month the tax increase passed. Free footballs for everyone!

Here are two rules of thumb: when a school bond vote passes, you will have less money for your family. When a school bond vote loses, you will have even less money for your family. Here is why: the school board will spend a lot more of your money to get the vote back on the ballot again. If you vote it down again they’ll just spend even more of your money to get it on the next ballot. It’s almost cheaper these days just to let them steal what they want the first time they request it.

A No Means Yes

If the original school bond vote had passed by 3 votes, how likely do you think the school board would have said, "Well perhaps that was a fluke. Maybe this bond isn’t the best use of our community’s funds." How often does an approved school bond vote ever get put back on the ballot in case the community decides they don’t want to spend the money anymore?

Never of course.

A loss of 3 votes? Nothing more than a delayed win.

We’re The Beggs Demons, We’ve Got Spirit

Our school’s team name… well, it’s not our school, it’s the Beggs school. Since legalized theft is the norm these days, even many Christian parents teach their children not to steal from others unless one steals to pay for the free daycare, Ritalin, phony environmental indoctrination, and footballs. Yes, as long as you steal from your neighbors to pay for footballs, theft is okay in many Christian homes I’m sad to say.

The Beggs team mascot and team name is Demons. Speaking of Christian parents, even the ones who steal from others by sending their children into that Synagogue of Satan say they don’t like the Beggs mascot and team name. They’d like to see it changed, perhaps from Demons to Angels. I do not want the team mascot and team name changed (and yes, I’m a Christian… a strong, hardcore Christian). To me, the only absolute truth that comes out of that place can be found in its name. As with the town name of Beggs, the name of Demons could not be closer to the truth in so many ways.

Emptying Voters’ Pockets and Kids Minds

My question is, why when a tax increase passes can it not automatically be put on the next ballot in case the people want to vote it down? Make tax decreases as simple as tax increases. Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

You and I cannot rally to get a tax increase voted down because we work for a living, we’d have to use after-tax family money for the campaign, and our daily lives get in the way. The school board can get a voted-down tax back on the ballot as often as it takes though, because as they wear down the populace to pass it, the invoices pile up until they ultimately steal the funds to pay for that campaign.

The Educated Society Is a Red Herring

"But don’t you want an educated society?" they ask as though the failure of the schools is the fault of you and me. If America were not statistically dead last in almost every educational subject compared to all other industrialized nations on earth, the educated society argument might have some merit. Before Dewey and Mann designed the government schools specifically to separate children from the moral upbringings of their parents, we had a highly educated America.

Jayne and I made a trek across the country a few years ago and read museum Civil War letters that children wrote to their dads fighting. In museums of the Revolutionary War, we were even more stunned at letters wives and children wrote to their battling men. A rich vocabulary, morality, respect, and insight were common in that home-educated society.

It took years of government schools and university-taught teachers to bring America to her knees educationally.

Do Not Steal

The number of independently-schooled students is now equal to the number of public school students in 25 states combined and the number is rising annually. If you want your child to attend government schools, shouldn’t you pay your child’s full educational fee instead of robbing your neighbors? The elderly living next door to you don’t have extra funds for every bond vote you want passed to give your children free footballs.

It’s your child; be responsible and pay your own bills.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

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Usually when two groups fight, Americans begin the ritual of rooting for their favorite teams. Offices start friendly betting pools, kids paint their faces, and eBay sees brisk ticket sales. In every case one set of fans goes home disillusioned, dejected, and despondent.

Not so here!

KLBJ Radio ran a story this week about Austin, Texas IRS Workers clashing with Homeland Security Police. Oh if only they had sold tickets to that one! Those of you who despise the IRS and those of you who despise Homeland Security — which basically means all Americans — would have paid the more than $4 per gallon to drive to that match, you know you would have.

The great thing about this Fiduciary Family Feud is that no matter who loses America wins! The IRS loses, super! Homeland Security gets clobbered, no problem. What if both departments come away scathed? It’s a tie, America wins, score one for the Gipper!

The Meaning of the Match

The clash began with Austin IRS employees who were represented by the Treasury Employees Union. By the way have you noticed that you no longer make your checks out to the Internal Revenue Service? The IRS angered and destroyed so many livelihoods over its first 90 or so years that they felt a name change would keep you at bay just a little longer before you completely revolted. That’s why a few years ago they began requiring that you make your checks out to the much friendlier sounding Department of the Treasury.

It was the Treasury’s union that began protesting Tuesday about unfair labor practices.

There are so many aspects of this story which are juicy that writing about it is like shooting fish in a barrel. For example, one of their gripes is if they got stuck in traffic they were fined for being late. Hello IRS employees! Heard of April 15th? How about a compromise where your employers let you come to work late once in a while and every 3 or 4 years you let us get our taxes mailed a little late without interest and fines?

The IRS employees say they have other gripes too. Well, welcome to the club.

Homeland Secures the IRS

About ten minutes after the IRS employees began their protest Homeland Security Police arrived and ordered the protesters to leave. Come on, you love this story, right?

Where is the poor IRS workers’ right to congregate and protest? Where is their freedom of speech? Oops; those police have guns don’t they? For years we’ve been saying that the Second Amendment makes the First Amendment possible. He who has the gun gets to keep his printing press and all that. When it’s only the police who have guns it’s called a Police State. The IRS workers faced a Police State this week. They lost. (You can see them lose by playing this video.)

It gets better — the IRS is told they must have a permit to be there! Gee, sometimes regulations can stranglehold people just trying to survive can’t they Mr. and Mrs. IRS Worker?

An IRS Worker is seen carrying a sign that reads, "Empower — Not Raw Power!" Not raw power? If there were a better definition of the Internal Revenue Service than "raw power" I am speechless to come up with one.

I’ll leave the following for you to write your own funny cynicism: an IRS Worker is actually holding a sign that reads, "Support Family Values!"

Here’s an even easier one: "IRS Not Family Friendly"! Couldn’t you think of hundreds of reactions to seeing an actual IRS Worker carrying such a sign?

A Solution to Our National Debt is Right In Front of Us

Let’s make this an annual event. Every May 27th, all across the nation, employees of the IRS and Homeland Security could meet in parking lots and have a rumble!

I bet Wal-Mart would let them use its parking lots and restrooms because we’d buy our pop, beer, dogs, and chips there for the tailgate parties. If they’d sell tickets for the events there’d be enough income to run our country and even all our wars which is nice because without all those IRS Workers at their collections desks there wouldn’t be a lot of taxpaying going on. Even better, HBO could offer a cut of pay-per-view sales to pay down the national debt for the exclusive right to televise the events.

Such a battle would become as American as July 4th fireworks. Our Founding Fathers could once more be proud that America had returned to her roots and tossed off her shackles for the second time in 200 or so years.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

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On April 19th I attended my first on-site rifle training course. I’ve had loads of pistol training but if you’re in a gunfight a knife is better than nothing, a pistol is better than a knife, but a rifle is best to have. A rifle can reach out and touch someone and do so far more accurately than the other weapons.

A few years ago I hired a gun trainer to come to my home and give me personal rifle training but it was the prone, long-distance kind of shot training. The problem is we have no "long ranges" where we live.

My class in April was close-range, combat rifle training using what many call a "carbine" rifle. A carbine shoots out to about 250-350 yards reliably. Some carbine-class rifles do better, some not as good, but the general carbine category is considered fairly short distances where you can easily see your targets without binocs.

Today, I want to convince each and every one of you to:

1. Master short-range combat shooting skills.
2. Do so with your mate by your side.

I don’t address this article to shooters. I address this to freedom-loving people who know little about guns, know they should know more about guns, but don’t know where to begin.

Shooting Short Distances

We live in a part of Oklahoma called "Green Country." That’s not some faux environmental label; it was called that long before the environmentalists invented Global Cooling as something we should pay to fix (the 1970s), and long before they then had to scramble to invent Global Warming as something we should pay to fix (the 1980s to present). Northeastern Oklahoma is called "Green Country" because of rolling hills of dense trees and numerous lakes all around us. When you think of Oklahoma you might think Grapes of Wrath—like dust bowl plains but that’s not reality in the eastern 2/3rds of the state.

Here, when you look outside, you see trees. Lots of trees. When you walk anywhere that’s not paved you’ve got to watch out for limbs poking you in the eyes. When you want to plant a garden you must cut down trees. So far, we’ve cut down about 75 trees around our home and I have my sights on about 30 more I’d like to take out within a year or so.

I love to cut down trees. It makes the environmentalists seethe with anger, it makes my property look cleaner, and I have it on good authority that a tree is never as happy as when it’s used as a piano or baseball bat or something else exceedingly useful.

In spite of the clearing we’ve done, the typical distance one can see from our home before dense trees close down the horizon is about 100 yards. When we shoot, a shot of 500 yards simply isn’t possible because there is no 500 yards within miles of here if you don’t count the highways. As much as I want sniper skills, and as moved as I am to attend an Appleseed Project course, the reality is that if I must ever use my rifle skills to defend myself, my wife, my home, or my neighbors, it’s close-range shooting that I will be doing.

We live in the middle of nowhere. You must drive a mile on dirt roads to get to our house. Our little township has only one municipal building and it stays empty except once a month when the residents meet to discuss local concerns. (Talk about small government!) I suspect the majority of you live in the cities, or at least live in towns with more than one mostly-empty government building. I suspect very few of you live 40 or more acres from your nearest neighbors with scores of trees between you.

In spite of our different living situations, mastering carbine-like rifle ranges is as important for you as it is for me. See, you may not have trees but can you look across your street and see more than 100 yards without houses and buildings impeding your view? Perhaps some Kansas and Wyoming residents can but for most people the reality is that if you ever need your rifle to defend yourself you will be doing so at short ranges. As a matter of fact, that’s the whole point of rifle defense; if you ever want to start a rifle fight, you prefer to be as far away from your target as you can with as a high-powered rifle and scope as possible, firing one-shot/one-kill and moving off point as quickly as you can before being spotted or shot back at.

Most of us never want to start a rifle fight. That means the odds are exceedingly great that we’ll be defending ourselves from 25 to 150 yards if the need ever arises.

It turns out that short distance rifle training is far different from long-range rifle training. You’d better have both but it’s probably more critical to put short-range training skills in your bag of tricks first.

Kalashnikov Kombat

I celebrated the historical April 19th by attending a 2-day combat rifle training class taught by Gabe Suarez. Maybe it didn’t exactly look like a celebration of the first volley in the American War of Independence though, because all 18 students came to train with Commie AK-47s.

I joke a lot in these articles about calibers and preferred guns. We all have our favorites and I’m always harping on the AR-15/M4/M16 owners (basically that rifle is what most American soldiers carry in the Middle East) because of its weak .22-like caliber that requires multiple enemy hits before taking down the target and that too often just ricochets off glass. When I write things like that, those of you with AR technology write back to correct all the ills of my words. (You never write much about what I say about the weak caliber though…!)

I prefer the AK-47 for several reasons. It takes under 4 minutes to learn to clean and operate as opposed to 3 hours to master cleaning and basic operation of ARs. The AK-47 works reliably when dirty and seems to work even better the more beat up and dirty it gets. (It’s Russian after all.) It uses a 7.62×39 caliber round which is basically a 30-caliber bullet. That bullet causes lots of hurt, more easily drops its target with a single hit, punches through brick and glass without a whimper, and is the round most often used by the enemies shooting back at American soldiers in the Middle East.

AK-47 ammunition is about half the price of AR-15 ammo. You can buy an old AK-47 online for $250—$350 and expect it to work.

Best of all, the liberals despise the rifle because it looks so mean. Try to get a bayonet for your AK because it really makes them furious.

What Is Your Excuse?

In that April 19—20 class, some of us showed up having never really touched an AK before. Gabe Suarez taught us to operate our AKs, shoot reliably from 25 to 100 yards (the most typical rifle defense range), transition to pistol when needed, move when shooting (because it’s far better to not get shot than to shoot your opponent) (shooting your opponent is a close second though), and shoot ambidextrously from left-handed and right-handed positions. By the second day we were shooting as much from the left-handed position as from the right which emphasized how vital that skill is to master as well as how simple it can be.

Simple is the key.

Is all this too much for you to want to do? Gabe’s 2-day AK class costs $400 so price is not an issue. Difficulty is not an issue because I can do it. The name of the game in a Suarez course is "caveman simple." Every single skill must be caveman simple or it’s tossed out.

Some of you know I have a few physical annoyances, namely a grand total of 3 deformed fingers and one leg. Caveman simple? Heck, combat AK rifle training is so simple even I can do it.

So, I ask again, what is your excuse for hesitating to get training that might save your life?

Gather and Prepare Your First-Response Team Now

Who do the odds say will be by your side if a situation breaks out? If you’re married your spouse is the person most likely to be at your side when a situation breaks out. In spite of Annie Oakley, gun training is overwhelmingly attended by men so let me address you. You are responsible, not your wife, for her safety. You are responsible for her falling into one of three categories:

1. Getting shot when the fight breaks out
2. Running when the fight breaks out
3. Helping you win the fight when the fight breaks out

See, she is part of your problem or she’s part of your solution. She can be your First-Response Team. So can your children if you have them.

Are you training and then training some more but you do not include your family? Sure you take them to the range maybe sometimes but do you take them to gun training classes too? If not, then your First-Response Team is incomplete and your family members are possibly casualties-waiting-to-happen. Last weekend, just thirty days after my 2-day AK combat rifle training class, I packed Jayne in the car and we drove to Houston to attend another AK combat rifle training class with Gabe. It was review for me (always good) and new for her. Our class had a whopping 28 students all armed with AK rifles, many of whom had never touched one before.

She went with major back troubles that broke out just the week before. We were not certain she could even pick up a rifle. Yet, the smell of gunpowder in the morning brings out the best in all of us. Jayne performed each and every drill and skill with as much — and often more — precision than anyone else. She was a trooper. Her previous rifle skills were zero. After last weekend, my Primary Response Team is skilled and ready: she and me.

Do you have children? How well can they wield a rifle if the time ever comes? Don’t want them to be in that position? Nobody does. Unfortunately good guys rarely get to pick the time and place for a gunfight. You can either set the odds up they will survive and help you survive or you can keep the current odds that they will be a burden in such a situation. The odds are stacked against you anytime you must respond to an attack. Do you want to stack the odds against you even further by making your children a liability?

In the 1990s, Clinton’s Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders said we should never give children toy guns. I tend to agree with that. Make sure you give your kids real guns and make sure everyone in your family can shoot. (Even a broken wristwatch is correct twice a day… although I doubt Elders was ever correct twice. You’ve got to give her this one even though it would appall her to learn why she was correct.) I think it was Boston’s Gun Bible that discusses what happens when we try to teach our wives shooting skills. You have less patience than you would with a stranger and she gets more sensitive than usual and the dynamic doesn’t usually go well. That’s why she needs to be by your side at a class.

Right now, the caveman-simple class is the hot one to take. That would be any class from Suarez International, and yes, I’m biased. But I have recent and firsthand knowledge so I have reason to be biased. More important, I have a wife whom I would trust by my side if tonight someone begins a fight so I have even better reason to be biased.

Today Isn’t Too Soon

My First-Response Team is in place. It’s insurance we hope we never need.

Jayne isn’t a gun gal who looks forward to shooting. She isn’t comfortable with guns any more than I’m comfortable with our oven. I’ve already told you about my physical annoyances. I’ve also told you about the major back and muscular pains that come and go on a regular basis with my wife.

Yet, Jayne was at my side at this weekend’s AK combat rifle training class. She loved it and she was dreading it before we went.

If you aren’t making plans for your wife’s training right now, I ask again, what is your excuse?

Get your first response team ready. Sign up now while you’re thinking of it. Like the price of 7.62×39 ammunition, class prices can’t stay this low forever. Even if class prices double tomorrow, though, how much is your most-likely First-Response Team’s life worth to you?

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

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“By the rude bridge that arched the flood, Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled, Here once the embattled farmers stood And fired the shot heard round the world.”

~ Concord Hymn, 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson

April 19th is coming up fast.

Throughout American history a lot happened on April 19th. Americans can associate much pride to that fateful date; sadly, Americans can also associate their share of shame.

Consider for a moment these tide-turning events:

• The Battle of Lexington and Concord at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts, began April 19th in 1775. This is the fight about which Emerson wrote so eloquently; it was the beginning of the Revolutionary War that resulted in America gaining her independence.
• Easter Sunday falls on April 19th more than any other date.
• In 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt abandoned the gold standard (and the Constitution).
• Exactly 43 years later, the same liberal open-minded Democratic President’s Executive Order 9066 that sent ethnic groups to prison camps was finally rescinded.
• The Bay of Pigs invasion took place in 1961.
• April 19, 1993 Janet Reno and her ATF soul-mates firebombed a child-filled church in Waco, Texas, slaughtering 81 women, children, and men, in the congregation so Americans could be safe from harm. While the church burned, Janet Nero played her fiddle.
• Exactly two years later, Timothy McVeigh bombed the Oklahoma City Murrah Federal Building murdering slightly more than twice the number of people Janet Reno murdered in Waco.

(I’ll leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine which of these April 19th events should be honored with pride and which should be shunned in shame.)

How Will You Celebrate April 19, 2008?

How do you honor important dates in history?

I prefer to honor pivotal dates by making a difference. I honor important historical dates and the memories of those who suffered on them by doing my part to make America better.

As an example, I honored last September 11th by purchasing a brand new M1A .308 caliber rifle. Lew published my 2007 tribute to 9/11 here.

If you’re like most Americans, not only do you do nothing to honor important historical dates, you are a recovering public school graduate who barely even knows important historical dates. I fall into that same category! Fortunately, I am a recovering public school graduate so take comfort in knowing there is hope for the hopeless.

On April 19th this year you can begin honoring those dates.

On April 19th this year you can begin a lifelong journey to make a difference so those who went before you didn’t labor in vain.

On April 19th this year you can feel more like a red-blooded, once-again proud, apple-pie-eating, flag-waving American and become the best citizen you could dream of being.

On April 19th this year you can invest in your country’s future spending virtually no money whatsoever.

Are you ready to get off the couch? Are you ready to put down that tattered copy of Atlas Shrugged? Are you ready to enter the Hall of Famers right alongside Patrick Henry?

Spend a Short Weekend at the Appleseed Project!

Riflemen are the means that brought about America’s independence. A pistol is a defensive weapon but it doesn’t win wars (unless you have an army of Sergeant Yorks and even when Sergeant York was in the Army there was only one of him; we haven’t had well-trained marksmen, in general, since). Hopefully you know how to use your pistol but as Boston T and others explain so well, when taking fire your pistol is what you use to get to your rifle which you should have had in your hands before the fight broke out.

If you own a rifle, you are a rifle owner. Most rifle owners (men and women) are not riflemen. Most rifle owners cannot hit a cantaloupe from 100 yards. If you can shoot your rifle, you are a rifleman. If you cannot, you are a victim. It’s worse to be a victim when you own a rifle than when you don’t own a rifle. At least the latter category has a poor excuse.

Most rifle owners are little more than victims waiting to happen when international forces begin patrolling American streets as they thought they would do back on April 19, 1775.

I’m not trying to belittle you. I am stating facts. To prove my sincerity, I am not going to hide behind my lofty words — I, too, am a victim. I doubt I can hit a cantaloupe at 100 yards. But that is going to change.

You can take an expensive rifle class. There’s a much better option, but taking an expensive rifle class would most likely not be a waste of money — it would be an investment in your future and the future of generations who come after you whom you then train. But you don’t need an expensive rifle class to be a rifleman.

Oh have I got a deal for you!

You only need a rifle — just about any will do. Remember that $100 SKS you bought back in the early 1990s and put under your bed thinking you’ll practice Real Soon Now? That’ll work fine. You will only need a few hundred rounds of ammo — and most of that can be out of one cheap box of .22 ammo you get at Wal-Mart (in free states) for $20 or so. You’ll need about $70 for expenses. (Most rifle classes cost $70 per hour). Finally, you’ll need to get yourself (and a carload of friends) to an Appleseed Project located all across America in less than 3 weeks from now on April 19th.

The purpose of the Appleseed Project is to raise up American Riflemen once again. The purpose is to gather a group of rifle owners — victims — on Saturday morning and turn them into Riflemen by Sunday afternoon. More than likely, this means you qualify. If you love your country and your freedom enough to cough up the sub-$100 fee, a box of .22 ammo, a couple of hundred rounds of a little longer-range ammo, and a couple of rifles (borrow a .22 and/or a longer-range rifle if you need to), you will be a Rifleman by April 21st.

This April 19th there will be fourteen Appleseed Project classes spread across America. Only victims who want to change their future need apply. You can find the closest one here. Load up a group of your friends, people like you and me who talk about our loss of freedoms but don’t really do much about it, and get to an Appleseed Project.

I Won’t Be There…

At the risk of sounding hypocritical, I won’t be joining you at an Appleseed Project event this April 19th. I have a good excuse but I envy those of you who care enough to be there.

I’m not playing hooky. Many months ago I signed up for a combat rifle class taking place in Alabama to celebrate April 19th this year. I signed up before I learned about this year’s April 19th Appleseed Project events. Face it though I’m still participating to become a better American and I’m honoring those who proudly worked to make this country better throughout the history of April 19ths.

My rifle class exclusively teaches how to use those commie-pinko AK-47 "assault rifles." AKs are those rifles that always work and whose 7.62×39 caliber ammo doesn’t bounce off glass the way finicky .223 pea-shooters do. Well-rounded and truly capable Americans want to keep his and her skills honed both at long-range rifle distances as well as short-range carbine-like distances out to about 300 yards. I’m working on the second area first just because I happened to have signed up and sent my money before I learned about Appleseed. You’ve got to admit, I could have a worse excuse to not practice what the rest of this article preaches.

Now even though I do like my AK more than fine wine, my first love of steel will always be that all-American M1A that is nipping at my heels anxious to be used at an Appleseed Project later this year. I’m hoping that a July 4th Appleseed is scheduled somewhere. What a way to glorify the honor of those who died for our freedoms. My second-preferred date would be September 11th.

My excuse for missing the April 19th Appleseed Project for absolute beginning red-blooded patriotic Americans isn’t a bad one. What is your excuse? Unless you’re at Gunsite, Thunder Ranch, US Shooting Academy, Front Sight, or with me at Suarez International, maybe you don’t have a good excuse to miss the April 19th Appleseed event closest to you.

Maybe it’s time to put your ammo where your mouth is.

Do You Promise to Do Your Duty?

Lew Rockwell-types are often portrayed in various ways as being un-American. I know you laugh at that considering how pro-Constitution you are while those who mock you would rather wipe their backsides with the Constitution than read its simple and clear words.

Each Appleseed Project taking place across the country on April 19th costs about as much as the tickets you paid for your family to see I Am Legend and A Scanner Darkly plus those Ayn Rand books you have on your shelves. The difference is that on April 21st, you will be able to hit a man-sized target at 500 yards, a skill that our American Revolutionary soldiers and almost every private citizen the first 200 years of our country’s history had by the time they were 12.

God willing and if the creek don’t rise, April 21st will be here in less than 3 weeks and so will you. Today you have two choices and the one you choose decides your stature on Monday, April 21st:

1. On April 21st you can still be part of a growing problem, you can still be wallowing in excuses, and you can still be rubbing the fabric down on that couch in front of your television.
2. On April 21st you can have newfound skills that will change your entire outlook, skills that will infiltrate your very being, skills that will inculcate your whole manner, and skills that will strengthen your character.

On April 21st you can be a better American, one who doesn’t just give lip service to our country’s fallen condition but one who actually did something about it. You will be that American, and a proud American, if on April 19th you take the simple and virtually no-cost step to become a Rifleman.

"A good shot must necessarily be a good man since the essence of good marksmanship is self-control and self-control is the essential quality of a good man." ~ Colonel Jeff Cooper

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

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I’m not surprised by California’s attack on homeschooling. I’m surprised people are surprised.

California despises freedom unless you’re an illegal Mexican (one who President Bush so lovingly calls "Guest Worker"). Even some LewRockwell.com readers have written me saying I should not use the term illegal Mexican. I don’t understand why not. When statistically 100% of illegal immigrants are Mexican why is it incorrect to call them what they are? I don’t hate Mexicans. Using such an accurate term helps pinpoint the problem instead of hiding the destruction it causes. Are we just going to start throwing away adjectives from daily usage now?

(For the sake of any now-confused public school English teachers reading this, an "adjective" describes or modifies a person, place, or thing in a sentence.)

It’s that hatred of freedom that enables California and its leaders make such a big push toward alternative energy and away from fossil and nuclear fuels. They actively seek to eliminate power facilities in their own state but they are the largest purchaser of electricity from other states. They buy electricity from you while screaming at your state’s leaders to get rid of the fossil fuels that generate the electricity they buy from your state.

They are such hypocrites on so many issues. They are such power-hungry control freaks. Why are people surprised they want to destroy homeschooling families?

The California Homeschool Problem

California wants all teachers of children to be accredited. "Accreditation" is code-talk for government-approved.

If you love your children enough to protect them then you homeschool your children. California says you should not be allowed to do that unless you’ve been accredited through the state in all subjects you teach your child. This is nothing more than a back-door approach to eliminating homeschooling in California.

I could go into all the reasons why that is so ludicrous but other LewRockwell.com writers have and will do a far better job at that than me. I just want to offer a proposal for you to consider.

If the accreditation requirement passes, here’s what I’d like to see happen: when a child comes home from a fully-accredited California government school with a grade that is below the median level, that child’s parents should immediately sue to school district for damages. Not only did that accredited teacher harm the child by not giving that child an adequate education, not equipping that child for success later in life, but the emotional harm to that child’s self-esteem will be rampant and only vast amounts of money paid to the family for counseling (and hopefully moving expenses to another state) will enable that child to overcome the burden of being sub-par. I would encourage such families to sue under the Americans with Disabilities Act as such a child will be disabled intellectually.

Now if you’ve read any of my writings, you know I’m the last to be lawsuit happy. Some of you know from my writings that I have more than a few issues against the Americans with Disabilities Act. But what do those in charge expect anyway, all authority and no responsibility? (Actually, yes they do expect that.)

Even in the very first Spider-Man comic book published in 1962 one learned the fateful line, "with great power comes great responsibility." The government school wants great power in California and they’re going to take it whether you want them to have it or not. So why shouldn’t you make them have the great responsibility that goes along with that power?

Don’t even wait for this homeschool situation to be resolved. Go ahead and sue them now! Let them know that a C— means big bucks for little Timmy and Sarah.

No, Lawsuits are Not the Real Answer

If you’re familiar with LewRockwell.com’s articles you already know that Lew’s site is great on examination, great on solution proposals, but light on calling to action. By that I mean, most articles don’t tell you to start a letter-writing campaign, most articles don’t tell you to call your congressman (they won’t listen to you anyway), and certainly most articles don’t tell you to start suing people.

A freedom-respecting site’s mindset simply doesn’t default to such call-to-actions. True conservatives and libertarians (the classic liberals) know that mass lawsuits are generally not the way to usher in freedom.

Public school lawsuits won’t usher in any freedoms either.

I really don’t want you to start suing your school districts. If you live in California I just want you to move. Now that would be the best thing you can ever do to help your family be more free. I know, I know, you have a good job, you love the weather, and your kids are learning Spanish anyway so why not stay — perhaps freedom is overrated…

You’ve got to admit that when you started reading this article and it turned the tables from the usual talk against this law to what one can do to hold the leaders’ feet to the fire it spurred a little passion in you didn’t it? You said, "Hey that’s right! What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. If they want to administer all education then let them be responsible for it when they fail. After all, they’re the ones who wanted this, not us." This is the mindset I want to encourage.

It’s Also True of the FDA

The FDA, the Federal Food and Drug Administration, successfully took the same power California’s school districts want. Consider a new drug. Instead of selling that drug to dying people at a low cost, a drug company has to spend millions of dollars and years of paperwork getting that drug through the FDA approval process. ("FDA Approved" is code-talk for FDA-bribed.)

Yet, if the drug is ever found to be defective or have gross, unexpected side effects, who is blamed? The drug company that made it. In a perfect world the drug company should be blamed. Liability for ones actions is the central problem in all this. The drug company made the defective drug, the drug company took the business risk to sell it, and the drug company should be liable for the damage if the drug doesn’t perform as expected.

But shouldn’t the FDA be held liable also? If not then what good is FDA approval?

I could re-word that. Shouldn’t the accredited teachers be held liable? If not then what good is the government accreditation?

In 1998, an AMA journal wrote that between 76,000 and 137,000 deaths in America are caused each year by prescription drugs. That number is now 175,000 and is the fourth leading cause of death in America. The numbers, therefore, are growing over time. Has the FDA helped America be safer from drugs? Or has the FDA hindered the drug companies so much in the FDA’s grab for approval (called bribe money, remember) that drugs are more dangerous than ever in our country’s history?

I would say that if you look at America’s miserable 30-year track record of education in all major subjects compared to all other industrialized nations on the planet, the Department of Education’s grab for power has caused more stupidity in America than ever before. Why do you let this keep happening?

What to Do?

Again, to begin the reversal, move to a different state.

To begin the reversal, vote against every tax increase, every levy, every mil, every single name they call higher taxes.

To begin the reversal, homeschool your children. Don’t be a Welfare King and Welfare Queen — parents of public-schooled children. If that last sentence just really offended you I’m only the messenger; you need to look at what you’re doing to your country and especially to your children. How can you teach your little boy not to steal and then put him on a school bus every morning paid for in part by your neighbor’s hard-earned tax money?

Let California have its accreditation without you.

When the government school system does something like this I rejoice. Those in the system expose their own evils when they go one step too far as they so often do. I love it when the public airwaves and websites are full of such stories. It was far worse throughout the 1900s when the usurped power of the government school system was growing without much public scrutiny. It got the way it is today slowly and without fanfare.

Its exposure for the failure that it is will only come about when it makes bold moves such as this. Only when the government tries to take over the role of loving parent and gets national exposure will a few people wake up and discuss the fact that the government has absolutely no business being in the education business.

As Marshall Fritz says so brilliantly, do you want the government controlling your children’s Sunday school? If not, then why is it okay for the government to control your children’s Monday school?

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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Your response to my article Get Good With Gun Gab was overwhelming to say the least. I received more emails about that article than any other to date. Most of the emails were extra pleasurable because you offered great lines of your own as well as told me about favorites you’ve heard in the past. I asked Lew if he would mind if I followed up once with a sequel article. Given the response of the first one he loved the idea so here you have it. Consider this the sequel.

Keep in mind why these lines are not just for fun. You must be ready to defend your right to carry. I don’t like to call my right to defend myself a second amendment right because doing so implies I didn’t have the right to defend myself before the Bill of Rights. As much as I love the second amendment, referring to that somewhat waters down the entire right for me. If the second amendment had never been penned, we still would have the inalienable right to defend ourselves and our families against those who would do us harm.

Feel free to save these lines and add more as you come across them. Not everybody who sent in a line gave me permission to use their name but I’ll credit the person who sent the line when I can. I’ll credit the originator if I know who said it first. If I attribute a quote wrongly, please send me a correction.

These Lines Are Just Pure Fun

• Gun control means using both hands.
• When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
• A man without a sword [gun] heaps up gold for the man who has a sword
• Why do I carry a 45? Because they don’t make a 46.
• The NRA compromises only when at all possible. — Johnny Rowland of The Shooting Show
• Gun control is OSHA for criminals.
• Never bring a knife to a gun fight but always bring a gun to a knife fight.
• Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he’s too old to fight he’ll just shoot you.
• When asked if he was expecting trouble because he was wearing his pistol, the old sheriff answered, “Nope. If I was expecting trouble, I’d have brought my rifle.”
• I was built for battle, not ballet. — Gabe Suarez (I think)
• Bumper Sticker: Warning! Driver carries less than $20 in ammunition.

Concealed Carry Related

• I’d rather have a gun and not need one than need a gun and not have one.
• It’s better to be judged by 12, than carried by six. (Referring to carrying where illegal to carry.)

Q: Why did you shoot him 9 times? A: Because 8 wasn’t enough and 10 would have been too many.

They Want Your Guns

• Never say “gun control” but instead, say “victim disarmament.” I’ve seen the visceral effect this has on our enemies in public. It’s as if somebody punched them in the stomach when they realize they’ve lost the moral high ground. — L. Neil Smith
• The victim disarmament industry is filled with people who would rather see a woman raped in an alley and strangled with her own pantyhose than see her with a gun in her hand. — L. Neil Smith
• I look at our public servants as just that — “the help.” And so I consider government gun grabbers just as I would a yard man or maid who had the audacity to demand my gun. — Mark Gilmore
• These people want our guns because they want to run our lives, and they don’t want to worry about getting shot when they try to do so. When you hear that they’ve confiscated my gun, then you’ll know I’m dead. — Walter Williams
• If slaves owned guns, would they be slaves? — Greg Josif
• The sophisticated and subtle tyrant will unarm his people, and store up their weapons, under pretence of keeping them safe. — Sir Walter Raleigh

Why do You Carry A Gun?

• Because a cop is too heavy.
• Because I think it is sociopathic to outsource my self-defense to others. — Bill Buppert
• Because cops do. [You'll get the expected follow-up question:] But isn’t a cop’s job dangerous? A cop’s job is dangerous because living is dangerous. If you haven’t noticed I’m as much alive as the average cop. — Peter W. Wickham, Jr.
• Because I’d rather carry a gun in than be carried out. — James Robert Rodgers
• Because I think my wife would rather bail me out of jail than have to identify my corpse in a morgue. — James Robert Rodgers

Q: Why carry a gun with 14 rounds (Springfield Armory XD45)? A: In case I’m attacked by 14 criminals.

Q: But if you carry a gun, why do you carry a knife? A: In case there’s a fifteenth. Peter W. Wickham, Jr.

Those Bad Guns!

• An “assault” is an action that only an animated creature can engage in; inanimate objects, by definition, can’t. — Peter W. Wickham, Jr.

Q: Do you think that you should be allowed to own a bazooka? A: I made one when I was 16, filmed myself using it, and showed the film in physics class for extra credit. That was when the country was much more free than it is now. (True story) — Charles H. Browne

In General

• An armed society is a polite society. — Robert A. Heinlein
• You can have freedom or you can have peace. — Robert A. Heinlein
• A good shot must necessarily be a good man since the essence of good marksmanship is self-control and self-control is the essential quality of a good man — Colonel Jeff Cooper
• Always fire two warning shots into his chest before you put one between his eyes. (paraphrased) — Louis Awerbuck
• The best we can hope for concerning the people at large is that they be properly armed. — Alexander Hamilton
• The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun. — Patrick Henry
• The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it. — Thomas Jefferson
• Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence… From the hour the Pilgrims landed to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security, and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable… The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good. — George Washington
• The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subjected people to carry arms; history shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subjected peoples to carry arms have prepared their own fall.” — Sarah Brady (Correction: Hillary Clinton.) (Correction: Adolph Hitler in his Edict of March 18, 1938)

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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Always practice your response when asked why you carry a gun or what you think of gun control. Through the years several writers and enthusiasts have written great sound bites you can use. Gun people love to exchange gun-related effective statements that are funny, cut to the heart of gun control’s evil, promote freedom and defense, or all of the above.

Being armed emotionally and conversationally is almost as important as being armed with bullets that fly out your gun’s muzzle. The left thinks it owns the arguments. To be honest, many times it does because those who believe in freedom are often so caught up in day-to-day productivity and trying to make ends meet for their families that they don’t take time to hone arguments well. Hence, they don’t defend their faith and ideals well. The left, often with no families or real jobs and no prospects or dreams for either have more time to master debate skills.

You don’t need to be a great debater. Just knowing a few good lines when faced with the opportunity to say them puts your opponents off guard. Just arming yourself with some of the following statements will make a big difference the next time someone asks you why you carry a gun or the next time someone asks why you think you need a caliber as big as a .45.

Below you’ll find gun-related statements, many of which you’ll love, some you may not understand depending on your perspective, and some you’ll disagree with. That’s all fine! Any of these that speak to you are super and ones you should memorize for an opportune time. Start a Word document and begin saving the ones you like best and add to it as you hear more good ones. Send me some of your favorites too!

Arm Yourself With These Lines

(If I don’t cite a source, either it’s a statement I wrote or one that was passed to me and I could not locate an original source.)

It used to be John Birch Society’s motto that "Truth is our only weapon!" Such a statement, while understandable, has problems. The truth is decisive and is a good weapon but it’s a passive weapon. You must be able to fight for your defense, your freedom, and ultimately perhaps fight to maintain control of your guns.

Have you noticed that lone gunmen never attack police stations or Israeli schools? (You might want to review, No Guns Allowed Signs Increase Murder.)

Every time our military has been in involved in any conflict, some of our own have been shot and killed. If trained military cannot 100% always successfully protect each other, how can we expect school security to protect us? How can we expect TSA workers (I use the term "workers" loosely…) to protect us? How can we expect typically bad shooters known as BATF or police officers to protect us?

Caliber-Related (Here’s Where Some Furious Emails Will Begin!)

• Paraphrased and Modified from Cooper’s description of the .25: "If you must own a 9mm, keep it in a box so you don’t accidentally load it. If you do load it, don’t shoot it. If you do shoot it don’t hit someone. Because if you do hit someone and if he ever realizes he’s shot, he’s going to be angry!"
• Nine-millimeters are all well and good until someone loses an eye.
• As long as one doesn’t get into a gunfight, a 9mm is just fine. ~ Mark Moritz
• Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun whose caliber does not start with a “4.”

Rules of Gunfighting

The absolute First Rule of a Gunfight, in Mark Moritz’ brilliantly enunciated aphorism, is “Have a gun!” The subsequent lines below help supplement that first rule:

1. Have a gun.
1. Preferably, have at least two guns.
2. Bring all of your friends who have guns.
3. Pack extra ammo
2. If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun… and a friend with a long gun.

When You Have to Shoot

• Anything worth shooting is worth shooting two times, more if necessary. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive. ~ Gabe Suarez
• (Revisited) Ammo is cheap and (your) life is precious — so be generous. And shoot your adversary to the ground. ~ Gabe Suarez
• “Why didn’t I shoot only once? There’s no additional paperwork for shooting someone twice!” ~ Firearms Instructor P.O.J.D., MOS debriefing after a shooting.
• "Why did I shoot him 7 times? Because 6 times wouldn’t have been enough and 8 would have been too many." ~ Massad Ayoob
• When asked, "Why do you need a gun with 17 rounds?" you should gently reply, "In case I get attacked by 17 bad guys."
• Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss.

(I believe the following all may have been said by Gabe Suarez.)

• If your shooting stance is good, you’re probably not moving fast enough or using cover correctly.
• Proximity negates skill. Distance is your friend. (Lateral and diagonal movement are preferred.)
• In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance or tactics. They will only remember who lived.
• If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading and running.
• Someday someone may kill you with your own gun but they should have to beat you to death with it because it is empty.

Winning the Fight

• Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose. ~ Colonel Jeff Cooper
• If you find yourself equally matched in a fight, you didn’t plan your mission properly. ~ Paraphrased from Cooper
• The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory in defense. The sword is more important than the shield and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental. ~ John Steinbeck
• Have a plan. Have a back-up plan, because the first one won’t work.
• Watch their hands. Hands kill. (In God we trust. Everybody else keep your hands where I can see them.)
• The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get. ~ Cooper
• A good general rule of thumb: Be polite. Be professional. But… have a plan to kill everyone you meet.
• Be courteous to everyone. Friendly to no one.
• Nothing handheld is a reliable stopper.
• Carry the same gun in the same place all the time. ~ Cooper

Freedom Related

• An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a victim.
• A gun in the hand is better than a cop on the phone.
• Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface.
• Gun control is not about guns; it’s about control.
• If guns are outlawed, can we use swords?
• If guns cause crime, then pencils cause misspelled words.
• Free men do not ask permission to bear arms.
• If you don’t know your rights you don’t have any.
• Those who trade liberty for security have neither.
• The United States Constitution © 1791. All Rights Reserved.
• What part of “shall not be infringed” do you not understand?
• The Second Amendment is in place in case they ignore the others.
• 64,999,987 firearms owners killed no one yesterday.
• Guns only have two enemies: Rust and Politicians. ~ Cooper
• You don’t shoot to kill; you shoot to stay alive.
• Dialing 911 — government sponsored Dial a Prayer.
• Assault is a behavior, not a device.
• Criminals love gun control — it makes their jobs safer.
• If guns cause crime, why do we want policemen to have them?
• Enforce the “gun control laws” in place, don’t make more.
• If you remove the people’s right to bear arms, you create slaves.
• The American Revolution wouldn’t have happened with Gun Control.
• If you know how many guns you own, you don’t own enough guns.
• You can’t make an appointment to have an emergency so always have your firearm. ~ Cooper
• Gun Inscription: Be not afraid of any man, no matter what his size. When danger threatens call on me, and I will equalize.
• Always fire two warning shots into your attacker’s chest area before putting a bullet between his eyes. Paraphrased from Louis Awerbuck
• Should be a required warning on every handgun: This handgun should only be used to enable you to get to your rifle which you should have had in hand before this firefight broke out.

Proper Responses to Why Do You Carry a Gun?

Q: Why do you carry a gun? A: In case I have to shoot somebody.

Q: Why do you carry a gun? A: For the same reason a policeman carries a gun.

Q: Why do you carry a gun? A: Don’t you?

Q: Why do you carry a gun? A: I’d rather be a gun owner than a crime victim.

Q: Why do you carry a gun? A: For the same reason I would never get on a boat without a life jacket.

Miscellany

• Brandishing is a crime, and it’s dangerous (to you) and foolish. The threat you face should catch at least two rounds before he realizes you have a firearm. Never brandish your weapon. ~ Cooper
• The Pacifist and the Gun: When the Quaker found the burglar in his living room filling the sack with the family silver, the Quaker declaimed with calm, respectful dignity, “Friend, not for the world would I harm a hair on thy head, but thee is standing exactly where I am about to shoot.” (From Gunsite Gossip)
• Bumper Sticker: Fight Crime — Shoot Back (From Gunsite Gossip)
• Quote from Blackjack Pershing: "If you know how to shoot, and are quite ready to shoot, the chances are that you won’t have to shoot." This is why trained, gun carriers are often the most calm people in a group.
• Engraved on Sir Walter Scott’s blunderbuss muzzle: "When rogues appear, my voice you’ll hear!" (with folding spring bayonet no less!)
• Waste enemies, not ammunition. ~ Mark Moritz
• Good shooting is 90% of killing power. ~ Finn Agaard
• Big brother is now here — and look, he is retarded. ~ Bob Bude
• Judging by Waco and the Weavers, the feds are almost one hundred times more likely to kill an innocent person than a guilty one. ~ Jack Buchnmiller
• The pen is mightier than the sword — except in a sword fight. ~ Eric Ching
• The stars and stripes have no place to fly over a country where you have no right to bear arms. ~ Matt Egloff
• A golf course is the willful and deliberate misuse of a perfectly good rifle range. ~ Paul Kirchner
• Hits vary inversely in proportion to the number of rounds in the magazine. ~ Ronin Coleman
• If no one is shooting at you, you have nothing to complain about. If someone is then shoot back. ~ Curt Rich
• A free man is never unarmed. ~ Cooper

Interesting how liberals/”compassionate conservatives” prompt for safety devices to be installed on cars, but are against safety devices on weapons (e.g. silencers, pistol grips, flash hiders).

They say "violence begets violence" as if that’s a bad thing in half the cases. In the words of Jeff Cooper, I would certainly hope that it does. Self-defense means meeting violence with an immediate, direct, and more violent response. This also holds true for nations, such as America, who attacked back and with the greatest force in WWII. The proper response for unprovoked and unjustified violence is harsher violence. Such a response neutralizes the threat (see Germany and Japan today) whereas a meek response to violence (Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq) produces a continued violent disrespect. (No matter your stance on the current Iraq war, this still holds true.)

If guns were the problem, then the military should not have guns.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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Not everybody reading this carries a gun. Several reasons exist for most freedom-loving Americans to still be disarmed.

Reason for Not Carrying a Gun #1: Your Locale

You live in a state where carrying a weapon is not permitted.

Why do you still live there?

You’re almost complicit in whatever danger comes your way. Move. Let your state fend for itself and it will die out. Once you leave, only the bad guys will have guns and they’ll shoot each other; the liberals won’t marry or have babies so they’ll die out; no productive citizens will be left to steal money from to give to non-workers so illegals and freeloaders will die out; eventually it will become a barren wasteland that good citizens can reclaim some day.

Fantasy? Yes but only because the good people still living there would rather acquiesce in the loss of their freedoms than move to a safer state. If you remain in a state where carrying a weapon is not permitted, but you fear the government more than you love your family, you’ll remain unarmed and you keep living there.

Reason for Not Carrying a Gun #2: Your Knowledge

You approve of the right to carry weapons but you don’t know anything about them. Perhaps they frighten you some. This is understandable and it’s good you don’t want the liability since you’re ignorant about guns.

So learn something! Gun classes are all around you and world-class gun-training schools are far less costly for a week of training than you think. If you convince yourself you cannot attend a gun class, you can still read or you wouldn’t be right here now so get Boston’s Gun Bible and begin your education.

Reason for Not Carrying a Gun #3: You’re a Hypocrite

You love to quote R&R (Rothbard and Rand) but you don’t put into practice what you preach because you’re not willing to defend your liberties or self when the time comes. (You’re worst of all by the way.)

Reason for Not Carrying a Gun #4: You Want to But Can’t

You understand weapons and know how to use them but carrying one concealed is difficult or virtually impossible given the way you must dress for your profession (such as physician or beautician perhaps).

I have no statistic to back this up, but I bet many reading this are in this fourth group. Carrying a weapon all day in all situations is extremely cumbersome, takes too much time to get used to, takes effort to locate a well-fitting holstering system, and gets costly trying several methods until you find one that works best. For the majority of us who’d rather slouch on a couch than jog in the fog, that extra tire under our ever-widening belt considerably increases the difficulty in carrying a weapon.

Too Many Carry Methods Simply Won’t Work

It’s true that lots of books and magazine articles have been written describing innumerable carry clothing and concealment methods but in general, for most of us, most ways stink.

I carry outside the pants, under a shirt, holstered at my right, strong side’s 3-o’clock position. I’ve done this for years. I love that carry position but I hate trying to conceal that position. I’ve been doing a lot of study lately on a better position and I’m beginning to believe that an appendix inside-the-waist carry is better. Inertia keeps me from wanting to switch but people whose wisdom I’m beginning to appreciate are starting to convince me that the appendix carry offers the most benefits. It conceals well and is far easier to draw from concealment than one might first think. I’ll keep you posted on what I decide.

By the way, tactical strategy dictates that in general, if you live in a state such as Arizona where you can legally carry an unconcealed gun (called open carry), you shouldn’t carry openly. When I attended what is considered the world’s finest training school, Gunsite Academy located in Arizona, I just had to walk into the local Safeway supermarket carrying openly. Just once. It was the most surreal feeling. The only one who cared that I had a Government Model 1911 strapped to my side was me — everybody else was used to it.

Once I got that out of my system, I won’t do it again. See, I don’t want the bad guys taking me out before they commence the ceremonies of murder, rape, pillage, and plunder. I want to be inconspicuous. I don’t want to wear a sportsman’s/photographer’s vest because those are known as "Shoot Me First Vests" and the bad guys know it. A fanny pack on a man who’s not an obvious tourist is another giveaway that the baddies had better take you out just in case.

Given a few missing fingers (seven at last count) and deformity of the ones I have left, I personally have a tremendous advantage if a situation breaks out. I’m the last person they think will be able to shoot a gun and I am the first person they will feel confident enough to turn their backs on. For you normal people, I’m sorry that you have to go through life in such a severely unsafe condition. If you’re a woman or smaller man, you have a similar advantage as I because bad guys won’t perceive you as a threat as much as they will the cop on duty, or as much as the cop off duty wearing the vest that announces to the world he’s armed.

So it’s a tactical advantage to look as unarmed as you can be while still being armed.

That makes deciding how you will carry a gun even more difficult. The easiest way is to just carry openly but you can’t in most states and you shouldn’t anyway. The next easiest way is to cover your gun with a vest but that make it far easier for the bad guys to separate you from the living before the fight even begins. The difficulty in carrying gets more and more difficult the more effectively you hide a weapon that is big enough to handle a threat that might come your way.

How Caliber Plays Into Things

The more effective the gun, the more magnified the problem becomes. A one-shot Derringer .22 is far easier to carry and less obvious than a full-sized Springfield 1911 in .45 caliber but which do you need in your hands most when a drug-crazed madman runs at you with a machete?

Well, the .22 Derringer is better if you have only it because you left the.45 in your bedside dresser since it was too cumbersome to carry. The gun you have with you when you need it is the best one to carry, not the biggest that you own, necessarily. Add to that, the gun you know best and shoot the best is better than the largest caliber weapon on earth.

So size isn’t everything when it comes to the weapon you carry.

Guess what the smallest caliber on earth is? It’s the caliber you have in your hands when the bad guy is shooting at you!

Guess what the largest caliber on earth is? It’s the caliber the bad guy has in his hands when he’s shooting at you!

So no matter what you do, you will always want and need something better when the fan gets hit. The perfect self-defense firearm will always be in dispute.

There is one thing never in dispute: having a gun is the first rule of a gun fight. (This also makes an excellent rule for a knife fight too.)

I Have the Answer

For those of you in group #4, the people who know how to use a gun and who want to carry but haven’t found a way that works for your situation, I recently discovered an answer. This answer works well and although I still prefer a gun on my person, I use this concealed carry method when I don’t want to carry on my person for whatever reason.

The answer is to carry your self-defense firearm in a purse or an appointment book that contains an easily accessible concealed pouch for your firearm. Neither of these is a new carry method. I take them a step further, however, to eliminate their primary disadvantage.

The number one reason why you should — before now — never consider carrying a firearm outside your person in a case like a purse or day planner is due to loss. There’s something about the human condition that the more valuable something is we’re carrying, the more likely we are to lose it. You’ll invariably walk out of the stall with the appointment book left on the back of the toilet. You’ll leave your purse in the seat beside you. It happens too much. For ladies whose purse is like an appendage on their bodies, stick a gun in there and all of a sudden the purse will be left where you shouldn’t leave it. You know it will happen, and it’s far worse to lose your money, credit cards, keys, and personal information when a loaded weapon is there too.

The disadvantage of carrying in such a way is you’ll be slower to draw your weapon when you need it. The fact that you have your weapon with you, whereas you may not have had to otherwise, certainly helps make up for your slow draw. Also, it’s incumbent upon you to be more aware of your immediate situation so you’ll react sooner than later if need be. The advantage of carrying concealed off your person in such a carrying case means that you’re free to wear whatever clothing you want to wear and your weapon will still be with you. This is a huge advantage and I’ve often carried this way when I would not be able to conceal a gun on my person. In the hot summer, you may want to go out in shorts and a T-shirt; how will you hide that Glock then?

Well, hide it in a purse (for ladies) or in that gun-ready appointment book but make sure you don’t leave it somewhere!

Obviously that is the answer but until now, that was unrealistic.

A while back, I heard of a tiny device that parents can pull apart and put one half in their pocket and hang the other half around a small child’s neck on a lanyard. The device, extremely inexpensive, is adjustable from 6 to 30 feet. Here’s what happens when you pull the device apart: nothing. Nothing happens until your child wanders further than the distance limit you’ve set. If you’ve set it for 10 feet and your child wanders 11 feet from you your device begins beeping! You’ll know right away if your child is getting away from you too far.

I love this device, the Child Guard Transmitter, for its intended use. Parents of toddlers in busy malls and elsewhere can finally glance away from their child and still know the child is close at hand.

I love this device for its unintended use too! It’s obvious where I’m going with this. Put one half in your gun-friendly purse or appointment book and wear the other half around your neck or in your pocket. You can go about your day without a care because the thing won’t beep. It won’t beep until you walk 6 feet from the bathroom stall where you left your gun!

Seriously, I cannot believe that others have not thought of this. If they have, I’ve never heard of it being used this way. I think gun owners all over the country should consider getting this device but especially you if you don’t carry now because you just haven’t found a way to carry and still wear your spandex aerobics pants.

Your Gun’s Intentions

Your gun was made to be comforting. Your gun was never made to be comfortable.

For those of you who hate driving with an uncomfortable carry method, for those of you who haven’t gotten to the gym for a while, for those of you who just can’t conceal your weapon due to the type of outfit you must wear for your line of work, the Child Guard Transmitter means that you no longer have an excuse. You can keep your gun with you and never fear that you’ll be describing its stainless steel finish to the Lost and Found department at the local shopping mall.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. He loves to combine his favorite hobby — guns — with his second favorite — online auctions — by teaching others how to buy and sell firearms, knives, and ammo in online auctions legally and easily! eBay may not respect your freedoms but the free market does. You can comfortably buy and sell weapons-related items in a simpler-than-eBay environment by getting his profit-boosting book, Guns Galore! How to Buy and Sell Guns, Knives, and Ammo in Online Auctions Easily Without eBay!

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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Only a few trends are encouraging these days:

Computer prices decrease as their computer power increases. That’s great.

Ultra-cool flat-screen, wall-mounted televisions are more abundant and less costly than ever. Glad I put off buying one before now.

Hollywood incomes are dropping like rocks since the strike. Couldn’t happen to a nicer group of people.

Some good trends are related to health and safety. You hear about most of them. As you know, heart attack victims are surviving far longer than ever. My father’s triple bypass in 1995 seems almost like a non-event today as he drives his truck to his rental houses daily to do what needs to be done (at age 72). Stroke deaths dropped an astounding 63% from 1970 to 2002.

A Trend That Hits a Bull’s-Eye

One trend related to health and safety that you may not know about is this: firearm-related accidents have steadily decreased since such record keeping began in 1903. Far more important and astounding is that for the past 10 years this drop was extra dramatic.

You might need to read that previous paragraph again.

Surely you knew all this already. I doubt Katie Couric would miss an opportunity to announce such news. Probably CNN has run this statistic on its scrolling ticker constantly since the details were released to the public. And you just know Barbara Boxer has repented of all the lies she’s told about guns and safety. Certainly, the pro-Republican (but not pro-right) FoxNews probably has aired 20 specials to educate the public about this good news for gun owners. Without a doubt, government schools across America’s great plains have begun educating students about shooting being a far safer activity than ever. To keep all her gun-loving voters, Hillary’s probably running on an Americans-Are-Safer-with-Guns platform.

What’s that? You didn’t know gun accidents are at an all-time low and have been decreasing both per capita and in percentage terms steadily for more than 100 years?

You know why you didn’t know this don’t you? The media and the politicians don’t want you to know this. Yet, the data that produces these conclusions comes from the National Safety Council. The NSC’s sole mandate is to "educate and influence people to prevent accidental injury and death." This group isn’t one you’d think would want to take up the NRA’s cause. The NSC encourages lots of laws and then more laws to promote safety in the workplace. The NSC loves to publish OSHA safety violations when they can find them. As a matter of fact, you can thank the National Safety Council for the fact that 3-foot ladders are no longer sold in America.

(It’s because 3-foot ladders aren’t tall enough to hold all the safety stickers and warning labels groups such as the NSC promote.)

(Yes, I’m joking about the 3-foot ladders. But if you’ve ever seen a ladder coated with the required warning stickers lately, you know it’s close to being true.)

"Everything in moderation" isn’t bad advice. It’s usually the things we do or crave in excess that get us in trouble, right? Overstating safety dangers has an interesting side effect. The more safety warnings they put on medicine bottles, especially over-the-counter medicines, the less people will read the label. Have you taken a cough syrup or something like that lately? You want to take it properly. You want to take it safely so you look at the label and instructions to find the proper dosage. Typically, I would bet most people start reading through the scores of finely-printed paragraphs that describe the dangers, the side effects, the problems with children taking the medicine, and you start skipping ahead trying to find the dosage, and you skip down a few paragraphs and the warnings are still being listed, and you look towards the end and realize it’s somewhere earlier in the text… and you look elsewhere in the instruction sheet and see you’re in the Spanish translation of everything, so you give up and take a spoonful or two of the syrup. You’re coughing too much to read the novel on the label or instructions. Yet, groups like the NSC want more and more text on everything you touch because they are basically bureaucrats who believe their words are important.

Safety is important. That is why putting too much safety verbiage on products such as medicine and ladders has the opposite effect from the intended one: too many warnings help to ensure that users of those products won’t read any of the warnings. They’ll glance at all the text and decide they’re too busy to be bothered so they just start using the product.

Fortunately the gun industry hasn’t plastered too many warnings on guns. Sometimes a rifle or shotgun barrel might have a stamped referral for the user to read the instruction manual’s safety guidelines but the gun makers don’t overdo it. Unlike the ladder industry, gun makers don’t think yellow and red stickers improve the look or effectiveness or safety of their products.

Reading through the NSC’s web site will make you sorry to be alive because you’ll be convinced that whatever you do next, whether it’s decorating for Christmas or eating your next meal, whatever you do you’ll die a horrible accidental death. So if the NSC’s data states that firearms accidents are at a 100-year low, you should take that data with more than a grain of salt. They seem to me to be run by the kind of people who don’t want to promote any good news about owning guns. Yet, the facts are facts and they were confident enough with the data to release it.

Man’s Favorite Sport Is Girls But Shooting’s Probably a Safer Sport

I didn’t know that firearm accidents are at a century-year low even though I stay abreast of news related to guns. I learned about this incredible study in the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s Industry Intelligence Reports, Volume 2, Number 5, 2007. If you cite the National Shooting Sports Foundation as your source when you pass along the gun-related safety statistics that are so low you will be stunned, any opposition hearing you will surely argue that anything the National Shooting Sports Foundation publishes is biased toward guns. And that may be somewhat true. But why are gun owners not allowed to hear anything but bias against guns everywhere they turn? Does the fact that the National Shooting Sports Foundation prints something change the truth about data they publish? Not at all. In today’s world, if you want to hear any good news about guns you’ll have to find it in some pro-freedom publication or web site because every other source will squelch the information immediately.

I suggest you use the original-source organization, the National Safety Council, as the basis for the figures you cite. You don’t have to state that the National Shooting Sports Foundation put the data into nice charts and easy-to-understand text. The data came from the NSC so quote them when you announce these findings to those on the left who hate your freedom but pass a copy of the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s publication to every freedom-lover you know so the news can spread. It has to spread this way because the major media is too busy trying to locate a gun accident to report good news about the lack of accidents.

The next time a politician wants to limit your use of guns once more, put the real data in front of them.

Consider these facts the NSSF states so eloquently:

1. In the past 10 years, firearm-related accidents in the home have dropped by more than 44 percent!
2. Over the past 9 years, the number of unintentional firearm-related fatalities for children 14 and under has decreased by 69 percent!
3. Firearms are involved in fewer than 1.2 percent of accidental fatalities among children 14 and under!
4. The number of unintentional firearm-related deaths has decreased by 40 percent — from 1,225 accidental deaths in 1995 to just 730 in 2005!
5. Accidental fatality rates involving firearms are at the lowest levels in history at 0.2% per 100,000 population!
6. Since 1903, the rate per 100,000 population of accidental fatality rates has declined by 94 percent!
7. Of firearms, fires, flames, smoke, motor vehicles, and ingestion of food or objects, unintentional fatalities in the USA from firearms had the largest rate of decrease in the past decade!
8. More people died from natural heat or cold in 2005 (the final year in the study) than by firearms!
9. The record-high year of firearm-related accidents was in 1930 where America experienced 3,220 incidents. In 2005 this number had dropped to only 730 in spite of the fact that the population grew considerably and the number of firearms present in America skyrocketed!
10. If you really want a safe sport, go hunting! In 2005, there were 808 non-fatal shooting accidents and 95 fatal shooting accidents out of 20.9 million active hunters (those who hunt more than once each year aged 7 and older). Cheerleading, Archery, Baseball, Boxing, Football, Hockey, Martial Arts, Mountain Biking, Mountain Climbing, Skateboarding, Snowboarding, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, Volleyball, Water Skiing, and Wrestling each had fewer participants and more injuries than hunting!

Let me offer two caveats. First of all, I have difficulty accepting the term accidental injury/death when it relates to guns. I accept only negligent injury/death. If the four rules of gun safety are adhered to (Will the BATF Seize Cheney’s Gun?) there will be no gun accidents. Whoever pulls the trigger is responsible for the placement of the bullet, intentional or otherwise. I’ll stick with the improper term accident for this article simply because that’s the wording used in the study.

In addition, I realize than a firearm-related injury is likely more serious than a tennis injury. Yet the fact that there were fewer tennis players than hunters but almost 19,000 more accidental injuries from tennis in 2005 means that the incessant harping we hear from the anti-gun, freedom-hating, America-loathing pundits is steeped in lies, untruths, and exaggerations. You knew that already if you regularly read LewRockwell.com but now you have some stone-cold facts to back up your beliefs.

Why Is Shooting A Safer Activity Than Fishing?

Several reasons have been cited for this incredible decrease of firearm-related deaths and injuries. I can offer some of my own. Since 1995, the first year of the huge decade of decrease in gun-related accidents, a huge number of states issued concealed carry permits. With those permits comes some required training. That training is not real training and I doubt the required class has been responsible for teaching Americans much about proper gun handling but being able to carry a weapon has spurred many to learn even more about using their guns elsewhere and become far more proficient and responsible than they otherwise would have.

Institutions such as Gunsite, Suarez International, Thunder Ranch, and the newly-opened mecca for gun training, the U.S. Shooting Academy, have seen a tremendous boom in business as more and more states offer concealed carry permits. People are learning to shoot not just to carry and not just for defense but also for the fun and sport of it. But institutions such as Gunsite never let a skill supersede any aspect of safe gun handling. The safety rules always come first without exception. If you take a class at a place like Gunsite, the odds of you ever committing a negligent discharge are about as slim as Rudy Giuliani honoring the second amendment.

Now if you carry or own a gun you should take a class from one of these institutions, but until you do lots of other resources are available on the web as well as books and magazines, where gun training and proper handling are described and taught. By the way, no matter how much or how little training you have, the very next book you should read is Boston’s Gun Bible. Every answer a novice or pro has is answered somewhere in Boston’s book and you’ll come away with far more than gun knowledge; you’ll have wisdom.

Although the idea of a lock on a gun is ludicrous in almost every situation, the free market has created many good solutions for the homeowner who wants to keep his or her firearm close with fast access but still off-limits to children who may be curious but are not ready to handle weapons. Little safes that fit under your bed or nightstand that can instantly open with the right fingerpress combination are incredible (Amazon has one of the best ones ever conceived here).

Gun Owners Are Calm

Not only has the increase in concealed-carry states reduced gun crime in those states, it has also reduced accidental injuries and deaths related to the firearm. Unlike the lie that almost every Hollywood production in the past 40 years has portrayed about Americans who own firearms, the gun owner who has the proper training and knowledge of how to use the gun are typically the calmest people you’ll meet. See, when you have a firearm and you know how to use it, and you practice with it, you know that if you ever must take action, you can. That assurance means you don’t have to boast to feel superior. You don’t have to test an opponent because you know your skill set. You have an edge. You have the ability to handle a life-threatening situation so you don’t allow situations to escalate as you might if you weren’t as prepared and confident.

That’s another reason the firearm-related injuries and accidental deaths have decreased. Gun owners are calmer and safer in general.

The father of the Modern Pistol Technique, the late Colonel Jeff Cooper, had this to say: "A good shot must necessarily be a good man since the essence of good marksmanship is self-control and self-control is the essential quality of a good man."

One can conclude from Colonel Cooper’s words that good men aren’t apt to spoil a vice-presidential hunting trip with a negligent discharge.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That’s because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you’ve ever considered eBay, you’ll make far more money when you read his profit-boosting book, eXtreme eBay — How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay.

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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What did you do this week on Tuesday, September 11, 2007, the 6th anniversary of the World Trade Center and Pentagon disaster?

Did you mourn the dead? Did you hug your family members? Did you watch the ceremonies on television? All three of those are good things to do. Well, on second thought watching the ceremonies on TV probably isn’t a great use of your time for a number of reasons that only those on LewRockwell.com would understand.

Celebrate Freedom

Tuesday, September 11, 2007, I celebrated freedom in the best way possible. It’s an eroding freedom. It’s freedon in a land where freedoms before 9/11 were dwindling and after 9/11 they began dwindling more rapidly. It’s a freedom where the airports treat you like criminals instead of customers. It’s a freedom where you are considered crazy if you want to protect your children from the government school system by keeping them at home where you can raise them in the way they should go. It’s a freedom where if you risk a bunch of money to build a building for your new business you are then forced to reserve the best parking spaces and bathroom stalls for people who may never ever be a customer of yours (think Gold’s Gym as a prime example).

Tuesday, September 11, 2007, I celebrated freedom in the best way possible. Although it’s an eroding freedom, we must admit that we’re still free in most states (California is an example of a state that despises freedom unless you’re Mexican). You’re reading LewRockwell.com and until it’s not allowed to exist, we do still have more freedom than many countries had throughout history. We still have enough freedom to turn the tide and restore the true freedoms that made America great, the years from our founding up to about 1914.

How I Celebrated Freedom in the Best Way Possible

Tuesday, September 11, 2007, I celebrated freedom in the best way possible. I bought a gun.

It’s not just any gun. It is the gun. I bought an M1A. A Springfield Armory M1A, a .308 caliber rifle. A rifle that shoots a bullet that has more energy after the bullet flies 300 yards than an M16/AR-15 has at its muzzle.

In other words, my real rifle’s bullet is still more powerful after it’s traveled 300 yards than the U.N.’s bullet the moment it leaves the gun. My M1A has far more than twice the distance of those little 22-caliber peashooters that the jackbooted thugs carry with them when they descend upon a nation to squelch the life from it. My rifle can really reach out and touch someone.

Are You a Rifleman Or a Victim?

I just love a guy named Fred who writes for Shotgun News. He has a web site where you can learn what it takes to become a Rifleman too. Thanks to Fred I now have a weapon that is usable. Thanks for Fred I have a weapon with which I can be a Rifleman. Thanks to Fred I now can defend my freedom if I’m ever called to do so by the situation.

It would just be great if I never have to defend my freedom. It would just be great if I have fun shooting the rest of my life at little targets I set up 400—800 yards down the field. It would be great if I never have to defend my freedom and my country’s freedom but I will immediately prepare to be able to do so if required.

Can you hit a man-sized target at 400 yards? That’s a primary, doable, easily-obtainable requirement to become a Rifleman. 500 yards isn’t too tough after that. This isn’t sniper school. This is old-fashioned Rifleman skills, the skills that Americans used to have in general and a skill that would be useful for our military if they got any real rifle training these days (most don’t).

Become a Rifleman. That is how you celebrate your freedom.

Step One Completed

Becoming a Rifleman is only step one in celebrating your freedom. Step two is forming a group of like-minded individuals. Step three is training others to become Riflemen. Yes, of course, women who wish should become Riflemen too; Annie Oakley could outshoot 9 out of 10 sharp-shooters of her day and a woman is often a good shot because she will follow instructions better than a man. That’s the thing about becoming a Rifleman. It’s not difficult. We usually make it more difficult than it is. Hitting a 400-yard shot requires only a little proper training.

Yes, you need to be able to shoot out to 400 yards or so with any standard rifle and any ammunition you find that works. I mean any real rifle, not some AR-15/M16 that the U.N. uses. That dart-thrower is effective for close urban quarters, and also for situations such as if the BATF needs to shoot children at Waco who try to flee flame throwers, but worthless in a Rifleman’s hands when distance is the key to winning the battle.

You don’t need "match grade" anything to hit a man-sized target 400—500 yards down the way. Heck, use an SKS if you have to because even they can punch through 450 yards in a pinch. Yes, you can become a Rifleman with a cheap SKS if you have to. You’ll eventually save enough to get a better rifle.

Go look at Fred’s site. Order his book, How to Become a Rifleman. Order some targets.

Even if you don’t have a real rifle yet (and I generally reserve the term real rifle for .308 or 30-06 caliber with only a few exceptions), get Fred’s book and order some of his skill-building targets. By the time you get through about 10 pages you’ll be looking for one of those real rifles, like the M1A or his proud daddy, the M1 Garand. By the time you read 10 pages of anything Fred writes, you’ll know your next goal in life is to celebrate your freedom by getting an M1A too.

A Nation of Riflemen Celebrate Freedom By Breathing

If we were once again a nation of Riflemen, we would be a free nation. Our freedoms wouldn’t be eroding away day-by-day.

The box on my new, 9/11 M1A says this: "Not allowed in the State of California."

Do you live in California? If so and you’re reading this, why haven’t you called the realtor yet? There are a lot of states that would benefit you. And perhaps you might just become a Rifleman and pay back some of that benefit. You might just train someone else some day to become a Rifleman. I realize I’m being caustic when I say what I’m about to say but I really say it because I really care about you: If you live in California, are you sure you respect freedom? Are you sure you would do everything in your power to protect your family when faced with the opportunity? I don’t know if you would but I’m a skeptic at heart. I’m not challenging your love for your family but I do challenge your willingness to do what is necessary to protect them from harm. Until you can open the box I opened this week legally in your own state, I’m not convinced you love freedom more than you love the security of the state.

For any of us, it is a lot easier to remember 9/11 by watching flowers laid on graves and watching debates on how the World Trade Center memorial should be designed. And it’s a whole lot cheaper than working extra hard to purchase a real gun. And it’s a whole lot less stressful than moving to a state where you can be an asset for your freedom for a change.

Are You a Rifleman or a Victim?

Fred is just great as some who order his book and follow it will learn. Fred says you’re either a Rifleman or a Cook. Fred is being kind; I’m not that kind. I say you’re either a Rifleman or a victim. Let’s hope the day never comes when I have to prove my Rifleman skills and let’s hope the day comes when many of you don’t get to prove how easy it is to be a victim. I am grateful I found out about Fred before I was forced to prove I was a victim.

I don’t know Fred. I assume Lew doesn’t know Fred. Neither Lew nor I make money if you order Fred’s book. Lew and I are better off if you do, however, because you might actually read it; and better still, you may even follow its advice to the letter.

I followed Fred’s advice to the letter.

More important, Tuesday, September 11, 2007, I followed Fred’s advice and bought my M1A.

It’s how I remembered 9/11 and celebrated freedom in the best possible way.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That’s because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you’ve ever considered eBay, you’ll make far more money when you read his profit-boosting book, eXtreme eBay — How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay.

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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Over the past few weeks, the media has plastered headlines with news of tainted imported Chinese-manufactured goods like toys coated with lead-based paint. Just this week, Mattel recalled 800,000 lead-tainted Barbie dolls and accessories. All made in China.

How dare those Chinese! They want to kill all of us!

The truth is, the Chinese don’t want to kill all of us because we are their customers. If you owned a store, would you want to kill your customers? Doing so doesn’t lend itself to good business practices. Sure, the Chinese are still red as a nation in many ways but capitalism is turning the tide powerfully. I’d say that the Chinese have made almost as big of a change away from communism and socialism towards freedom as America has moved from freedom to socialism in the past 2 decades.

I traveled throughout China in 1995. I hated it. Change was in the air but it was air filled with the heaviest pollutants I’ve ever experienced and I’ve traveled the globe a lot. The people actually seemed to be gray in their faces, not unlike the Terra-Cotta army we saw at Xian. Even the children had that gray, staring-through-you look. Years of mass oppression does that. In just the 12 years that have followed, I’ve seen pictures and videos from many towns we visited and the difference seems stunning. The infrastructure appears vastly improved, the available services are obviously superior, and they have dramatically moved toward a western-like feel in their outlook, in spite of the long way they still have to go.

Who’s To Blame?

China is not the primary culprit here.

Mattel is just one of the most recent examples of recalled Chinese goods so I’ll stick with Mattel for this article but the same applies to any and all companies who hire China-based manufacturing plants to make goods that will be sold here in the United States.

The term Chinese goods is bandied about in these stories. The problem is they are not really Chinese goods. They are Mattel goods.

In this recent Barbie doll case, Mattel is the primary culprit, or put in better terms, Mattel is the organization responsible for this recall. I’m not saying China didn’t use lead-based paint. I’m saying even if China put skin-absorbing cyanide in the Barbie dolls, Mattel would still be responsible.

Suppose Mattel built a plant in Nebraska and hired legal American workers to make those Barbie items. Further suppose one of the purchasing agents there, a direct employee of Mattel, decided to buy lead-based paint for the toys because the plant could show a higher profit margin and he could more easily keep his job. If that happened, Mattel would be proper in issuing a national recall of all affected items. Just as Mattel is proper in recalling the Chinese-made toxic items now.

The difference I believe would be the public’s perception. Everybody would perceive it as being an internal problem in Mattel. It would be a problem of quality control. If such an item were made and sold in Nebraska, it would be obvious that Mattel had a serious break-down in the quality control of its products.

Nothing changes just because Mattel outsourced the manufacturing to China. Mattel still has a breakdown in quality control.

Americans Seem to Blame the Chinese

Again, I’m using Mattel as the example only because it’s been so recently in the news. Many other companies have recalled Chinese-imported goods recently too. Mattel is probably not any better or worse than those others. I have not directly heard a Mattel spokesperson blame China directly and that’s not the point of this article. The point I want to stress is that Americans are blaming China in all the follow-up media segments about these tainted goods.

I hear an outcry in the media when they interview people on the streets about these defected, and often dangerous, goods. But the people’s outcry is typically aimed toward China or outsourcing.

The Bottom Line of Blame

Here is the full extent of China’s blame: If Mattel required lead-free paint to be used, and the Chinese plant used lead-based paint, then China broke a contract and is liable to Mattel for damages. It’s a contractual violation and Mattel needs to determine whether international courts should be involved, or whether Mattel just cancels the contract and uses someone else in the future. Either way Mattel should have its own people in place to monitor all manufacturing processes, all products of manufacturing, and Mattel should test all products made in its name. If Mattel doesn’t do that — either in China or in Nebraska — then Mattel is putting itself in the crosshairs of liability.

Lew Rockwell Readers Have Brains

It seems as though LewRockwell.com readers generally have more brain cells than the typical American. I believe that it’s in the best interest of national debate and of critical thinking in general when we correct a mistake we hear, especially when we hear someone improperly blamed for a situation.

The difference I’m describing here may not be huge. China may be responsible — well, they certainly are responsible for putting the lead paint in those toys — but China is not primarily responsible.

Mattel, the company that took the risk in hiring the Chinese, is the responsible party. The reason outsourcing to China is cheaper than outsourcing to Nebraska is not just because of the wage differences but also the quality differences. So if you do make the business decision to outsource to another country to save money, one of the expense decisions your company must make is to factor in costs of extra production and quality control. If you don’t put your own production controls in place before selling a product made anywhere on earth, you’ll very likely be interviewed on a news segment soon.

You’ll be explaining why those baby diapers were sold with waste products already in them before they ever touched a baby’s behind.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That’s because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you’ve ever considered eBay, you’ll make far more money when you read his profit-boosting book, eXtreme eBay — How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay.

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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They’re coming once again this year by the gas-guzzling carload! They are emails from friends and family, well-intentioned folk who want to make things better by doing something. They don’t understand cause and effect and they don’t understand freedom or economics but that’s often because they are recovering public school graduates.

A year ago, before May 15th, the emails pounded us then too. Each year they think they are part of an important movement to bring the gas companies to their knees.

Oh, my dear friends and family… They know not what they do. But they grasp onto whatever might work whether or not that grasping will be effective. They hate high gas prices as much as you and I. They aren’t going to take it anymore! They are going to boycott the gas stations tomorrow. No fill-ups for you!

We’ll Do the Opposite

As for me and my household, we plan to fill up both of our cars on the 15th. I will take both my parents’ cars to fill them up. In addition, I will have my 5-gallon fuel cans in my truck that we use around the home in the tractor and mowers and fill them up on May 15th too.

I want to do my part to help fix the damage that well-intentioned — and wrong — people who think this boycott is a good thing will do.

Sidebar: The Flywheel Movie

Not coincidentally, many of my friends and family are Christians. That is fine but the sad thing is that they consider themselves Republicans and conservatives too. They, in general, are not actually true and traditional conservatives. They’re a mish-mesh of people who like some Neocon ideas but not all of them, they like some John Birch ideas but not all of them, they are pro-gun (after all, they are my friends), generally want fewer laws and regulations, but they also think something should be done about the high gas prices and if the government won’t fix prices then we should.

I realize I sound as though I’m getting off the subject here but stay with me a few moments. An Alabama church produced a wonderful movie a couple of years ago named Flywheel. These were the same people who produced the Facing the Giants football movie last year. Flywheel was good family fare and had a strong Christian message that many of my friends and family understandably latched onto.

They did not latch onto the huge error in the movie though and that makes me sad. Flywheel was about a used car salesman. A man who lied and then lied some more to sell cars at prices the cars didn’t deserve. He would lie about the car’s history, he would lie about the car’s current condition, he would lie about how much he paid for the car, and he would lie about financing. Anything to make a sale and forget about the buyer once he or she drove off the lot.

The used car dealer had a conversion. He soon became a Christian and realized he was stealing from the very people he should be serving. So far, so good. The problem was, instead of focusing on the lies and outright fraud, you went the last half of the movie hearing about how he made too much profit on each vehicle and how he would never do that again. He would never charge more for a car than a normal, average profit. Whatever that is. He would never try to get the maximum dollar out of every vehicle that left his lot again.

If he were not agonizing in hell right now, Karl Marx would be so proud of the writers and Christian viewers who agree with that stupid thinking.

It was his lying and fraudulent misrepresentation about the cars that was wrong. That was his sin. His problem was not the fact that he bought cars at a low price and sold them for as much as he could.

And therein lies the problem with the gas-boycotting public.

If the car dealer would become truthful about his cars, and he ended up doing that, then all things being equal he would not have made as much money as before. That is true. And that would be good because profiting from fraud is wrong, it’s a breach of trust, it’s a breach of an implied trust contract.

The actual profit margin itself was not the sin and in a free market economy; he should be able to buy a product for as low as he can possibly buy it for and sell it for as much as he can possibly sell it for. Without the lies. Then, only when he is truly serving his customers in an honest, fraud-free fashion, would he be successful.

Back to the Gasoline — It’s the Same Response

Gasoline should be a market commodity.

Sellers should be able to sell gasoline at their top dollar and every intermediary between the ground and your tank should be able to charge the most they can charge — assuming they do not do so fraudulently.

Until Republicans and conservatives and Christians (not always the same in reality) learn to grasp simple market economics — as well I might add Biblical principles — that promote freedom of money, they will fail at such efforts. That’s right the Bible promotes free markets and nothing less. Jesus was a free-market Economist! He said a man should be able to do with his own money whatever he wishes. That also means company resources, including business capital and pricing which was the context of that very story. Obviously a man should not waste money that would otherwise have to be used to feed his family. He should not steal for money. Jesus was smart enough not to go into all those details to make His point.

There Is Someone We Should Boycott

If we want to make a difference in gas prices, then we should boycott those who do not use the free market to sell gasoline at prices the market will bear:

• We should immediately boycott all enviro-friendly companies who promote wind turbines and solar energy, both of which are highly governmentally-subsidized industries. Solar power and wind power are so dramatically inefficient that cities, companies, and individuals can only use those inefficient power-generating sources when you and I pay tax credits the government rewards them.
• We should immediately demand that all government-controlled intrusion into the fuel industry cease immediately. This means that tax subsidies to oil and gas companies should halt immediately and all subsidies to all the other fuel-based firms I mentioned above. We should put pressure, not just sending letters, but calling every congressman’s home and work day and night by the millions until they stop. It’s just as wrong to subsidize the coal and gasoline industry as the inefficient fuel industries. Subsidies ultimately harm the country and raise prices. How can we get a campaign of such massive calling? We’d have time if we weren’t busy designing mindless, ineffective boycotts.
• We should immediately require that all regulations put on refineries in the past 30 years be lifted by noon tomorrow. Again, this means calling, by the millions, congressmen and others in power such as the regulators. Call their homes, the places of business they frequent, and we should make their lives horrible, as they’ve made ours, until they stop allowing regulations — instead of Law — be the rule the land.
• We should immediately buy stock in the oil and gas companies. These are public companies. That means you and I can be owners of these Exxon and Conoco. If we do that then when they make profits our income goes up. It’s not some hidden bigwigs who only profit when a company earns money, it’s every shareholder. If a company is making extraordinary profits and we don’t buy even one share of stock, then we should not cry foul because someone else who did purchase a share has more money at the end of the year than we do.

If we insist on the boycott then we should have reversed the boycott in the 1980s. If boycotting gasoline now when we perceive that prices are high then we should have sent those companies money in the form of giving them a helping hand all those years they barely stayed alive such as in the 1980s when oil fell to $18 a barrel. Only someone who helped those companies financially when they had losses have the right to complain and boycott if the companies now have too much profit!

But I can hear the wheels turning in the heads of LewRockwell.com readers about that! Just what is "too much profit?" I promise you that Karl Marx would tell you they’ve had too much profit ever since they made more than 1 penny in profit. Conservatives have become exactly what they always used to despise — Socialists — who are envious when someone makes a lot of money all of a sudden. If the oil companies and gasoline distributors could have made runaway profits in the 1980s they would have! What changed? Not them! The governmental intrusion, the environmentalist blockage of domestic oil drilling, and the terrorist-like environmental blockage of new refineries — those are what changed and are new to today’s picture.

Lying and stealing and fraud should be illegal whether a company makes profits or not. Just because Exxon made more money last year than they ever have does not mean they did so wrongfully. They would sell their gas at higher prices if the market allowed them to but they would also lower their prices immediately if the market required them to do so! That is, if we had a free market.

We have no free market in the world of energy. The government regulators, most often driven by a steep minority of the population who are environmentally psychotic, control what happens in most instances.

Gas Companies Are Not Stupid

The gas companies were not stupid when they had years of losses, when oil was $18 per barrel! They were not stupid then. They simply did the best they could and made then the most money they could make back then.

They are making the most money they can make now too. Making money is not wrong. Making a lot of money is not wrong.

Market conditions are allowing them to finally make high profits.

There is no proof all the gas companies are in collusion with each other. There is no proof that the refineries are in collusion with each other. There is no proof that Arab oil nations are… well, actually they probably are in collusion with one another but they break agreements with each other faster than I change my socks. And why are they even in the picture? Why aren’t we tapping into our nation’s resources off-shore and in Alaska and elsewhere? It’s not because the drillers don’t want to and it’s not because they are fond of Arab oil nations. It’s because foreign oil is their only option at this time. Plus there are not enough refineries to refine what they do buy from overseas.

So a one-day boycott is going to make your local Conoco station lower their price at the pump? That is absurd and even though the emails you’re passing around make ridiculous statements such as, "it would take $2,163,302,190.00 out of the oil company’s pockets for just one day." You’re doing little more than rearranging the deck chairs as the Titanic sinks.

Guess what? Conoco does not really want Exxon to make a profit! And vice-versa! If Conoco thought it would get more customers by lowering its price by 1 penny, and it could afford to do that, Conoco would have already done that.

It’s called competition.

A personal note to my friends and family: I think an email campaign prayerfully urging the end to this boycott is immediately in order.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That’s because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you’ve ever considered eBay, you’ll make far more money when you read his profit-boosting book, eXtreme eBay — How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay.

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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The MyWay headline blazing its way down DrudgeReport.com reads, "Tech Gunman Bought Ammo Clips on eBay."

The writer, as is almost always the case when reporters report about gun-related stories, got it wrong. The Virginia Tech murderer did not purchase ammo clips on eBay (unless he wore hairclips). He purchased ammo magazines on eBay.

Please understand that accuracy isn’t often the goal when a reporter writes about guns. Nevertheless, using the incorrect term clip instead of magazine is common. Even many gun owners make this sloppy mistake. It’s just easier to use the one-syllable (and incorrect) term clip when using the correct, three-syllable term magazine takes time and effort.

Although it’s a pet peeve of mine to see those terms used interchangeably, that’s not the big problem with the story. The big problem is the story’s goal of telling the world that eBay allows its members to sell gun-related items. Perish the thought! Almost assuredly, the reporter’s agenda was to make it known that eBay sold gun-related items to bring more pressure for eBay to disallow such sales.

Do you think we’ll ever see a headline that reads, "Tech Gunman Bought Chains to Lock In Students At O’Reilly Auto Parts"? Not in a million years. That headline doesn’t promote an agenda. (I don’t know that O’Reilly sold those chains. I don’t know where the murderer got those chains because nobody’s going to write a headline that tells me.)

eBay and Guns and Supplies

I love eBay. A large portion of my career centers around eBay. As one of the early sellers on eBay I’ve seen eBay go through many changes. I write a syndicated newspaper column about eBay (past issues for one of the papers is here if you’re interested), I write books about advanced eBay selling techniques, and we run an eBay consignment business.

A few years ago eBay decided to stop selling guns and other weapons. I didn’t like that decision but eBay has every right to make it. Many gun enthusiasts stopped buying anything on eBay when eBay made that decision. I think those enthusiasts were short-sighted. In all likelihood, eBay made a business decision and nothing more. eBay decided it wasn’t worth the legal costs in today’s America to sell weapons. A victim’s family would likely sue eBay as though eBay hired the shooter and demanded that the weapon be used against the innocent.

When a victim’s family sues a seller that legally sold a weapon, that family has just committed a wrong somewhat like the one done to them: they have now, with premeditated and knowing intent, harmed innocent victims (the store’s owners and customers). Those families have turned into the thing they now despise most: the predator.

eBay didn’t want predators coming after them, turning eBay into a victim of the justice system. You can’t blame eBay. You could blame our welfare-mentality society, our constitution-hating lawyers, our leftwing politicians such as all Democrats and Republicans in the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government with the one lone exception of Ron Paul.

You should not blame eBay, however.

And by putting out the following headline, "Tech Gunman Bought Ammo Clips on eBay," the reporter likely wants readers to blame eBay in some way. Such articles increase pressure on eBay and other sites to rethink policies that sell weapons-related items.

Did Gun Control Work at Virginia Tech?

Perhaps you’ve heard of a brilliant thinker and author, Lew Rockwell. He recently wrote that it was a perfectly fine policy when Virginia Tech stopped permitting weapons on campus. Once you picked yourself off the floor and considered his point you must agree that Lew is correct. You should support the right of Virginia Tech to make that policy.

The moment Virginia Tech made that policy, then parents responsible for sending teens to Virginia Tech, and the adults attending classes there, had their own decision to make:

1. Keep attending and give up their right to self-defense and hope Virginia Tech and the police protect the school’s students
2. Keep attending but violate Virginia Tech’s policy by carrying a concealed weapon so you could more reliably protect yourself if needed, or
3. Find a school that lets its students carry weapons (those are few and far between).

If your decision was #1, then here’s the way it should work: you then concede your right to blame the school when a lone, psychotic murderer takes out your son or daughter. You lose the right to blame the school unless the school knowingly, in advance, knew the murders were being planned and did not stop them. You lose the right to sue the school. Well, you don’t lose the right and you know that Virginia Tech is going to be hammered with lawsuits, but in my opinion you should lose the right to legally challenge the school for not protecting your family member.

Nobody put — a proverbial — gun to your head and forced you to pay the tuition to attend Virginia Tech! You knew the rules, Virginia Tech made its decision, you made your decision.

Unless new discovery is revealed, the lawsuits from families that will probably take place against Virginia Tech will say that Virginia Tech did not provide security needed to guard the students. Well, guess what? No amount of security would guard the students. Nothing Virginia Tech could possibly do would ever be enough to protect every student. The moment you think that some institution will protect you is the moment you’re in for an eye-opening surprise someday.

The facts of this situation are still being discovered but some facts are certain and the freedom-hating, gun-control loving, hoplophobes do not want you to think this through: After the initial shootings, this murderer had two hours to go to the post office and to get those chains from who-knows-where. During these two hours the school’s security was on campus trying to figure out what was going on. The local police were on campus trying to figure out what was going on. No doubt, some FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies were on campus trying to figure out what was going on.

A zero-tolerance gun control policy was in effect on Virginia Tech’s campus. Also on campus were scores (perhaps 100 or more?) law enforcement officers and security, many of which carried weapons, and not one of those officers stopped any one of the 30 murders that would take place on that campus just two hours after the first shootings.

If you truly blame Virginia Tech for not protecting students from the second wave of murder then you should truly blame the local police, and any other of the hoards of law enforcement officers who were on campus. They did nothing to stop the following set of murders. Yet, they and the murderer were the only ones on campus who had weapons.

When only the police have guns, that is called a Police State. Among many problems of a Police State are:

1. Most law enforcement officials are woefully unskilled when they find themselves in a shootout. Case histories clearly show that dozens of shots can often be fired from their weapons that miss their targets. (The exception, especially for FBI and BATF agents, is they’ve proved to be excellent marksmen when shooting an unarmed mother holding a baby and they sure know how to incinerate a church in Waco when lots of women and children are inside.)
2. There will never be enough law enforcement officials to guard every citizen until there is a one-to-one ratio of officers, and even then refer to the previous point before trusting your safety to your assigned personal officer’s shooting skills.

Greed vs. Service

Back to eBay. I suspect eBay will implement more stringent weapons-related product policies. I hate to think that might happen but again, I don’t blame eBay.

I have read a lot of freedom-loving writers write about greed. The old line from the Wall Street movie, "Greed is Good!" is shouted from the mountaintops of Libertarians and those in similar camps.

I disagree. I believe greed leads to lawsuits that sue the innocent. I believe greed leads to our runaway welfare society. I believe that greed is the #1 reason why Welfare Kings and Welfare Queens (also known as parents of public school children) force their neighbors to pay for their own children’s education. I believe greed is why the legal and justice system parade wheelchair-bound people into courts to make a whole lot of money suing small businesses who cannot afford to spend $75,000 to remodel their bathrooms to conform to the evil Americans with Disabilities Act’s draconian requirements.

Greed does not produce a just wealth.

Service does!

When you provide a service to someone who wants or needs that service, whether it’s in the form of a product you sell or something you do for money, you are then serving others. It is there that you get more than the zero-sum gain found in greed’s tactics. It is when you serve someone, trying to put their needs above yours, that you ensure your best chance at success.

Suing Virginia Tech for failing to stop these murders is greed gone wild. If someone wants to put pressure on eBay for selling gun magazines, it’s greed of a different form: envy combined with a hatred of those who value their own right to protect their own freedom.

Sue eBay and Imprison Sean Connery

If eBay is partly to blame for these murders then so is Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig.

After suing these actors for every penny to their names then toss them in prison and throw away the key because James Bond carried a Walther pistol. One of the pistols the Virginia Tech murderer used was a Walther. You do the math.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That’s because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you’ve ever considered eBay, you’ll make far more money when you read his profit-boosting book, eXtreme eBay — How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay.

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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In the worst mass shooting in America’s history, more than 30 people were murdered and more than a dozen wounded from gunfire at Virginia Tech, an incident that plastered the news outlets for more than 24 hours after the incident. The shootings took place in two waves a few hours apart.

The school is getting heat that they didn’t institute a lockdown after the first wave of shootings. I say that the failure to perform an immediate lockdown could have saved some lives. More important than the lockdown, however, it was a different school policy that had nothing to do with lockdowns that encouraged this incident and gave the shooter confidence that he could take out a large number of students before he killed himself. It’s a school policy that is true all across the country.

Perhaps the Shooter Didn’t Understand It Was Wrong

I think I know what caused all this.

I bet that Virginia Tech failed to post a "No Guns Allowed" sign on their front gate. The shooter, failing to see such a sign, probably didn’t realize guns weren’t allowed on school campuses in America. As an aside, guns are not allowed in America’s post offices either.

Most law-abiding citizens who have gone through heinous background checks, been fingerprinted by their government, and waited months to get approved to carry a concealed firearm to protect their families know that even after all that, they are not allowed to carry guns onto school grounds or post offices. Without such a sign and without such a permit, however, how can a murderer without such a permit expect to know that guns aren’t allowed on those premises?

If only the school had the foresight to post such a sign. The shooter would have been deterred. Surely, a "No Guns Allowed" sign would mean those 32 or so dead people would be alive right now.

Locking Down Schools Incites Panic and Increases Casualties

Let me offer a scenario: Which is scarier: being in a building where you hear shots, or being locked in the building where you hear shots? The moment shots are suspected of being fired, a school’s first response is to go in lockdown mode. I propose that is a dangerous — no a deadly — situation.

How would you feel knowing you cannot escape from such a building? Now I realize this means each individual room is locked so a shooter cannot get through the door (as though a .308 or even something less powerful wouldn’t blast through a lock faster than Bill Clinton’s come-ons at a White House Intern Training Camp).

Put yourself into the shoes of the students in lockdown as they hear shots. Think about how helpless you would feel in spite of being in a locked room. Wouldn’t you feel safer being able to run outside to get as far away as you could? As someone who practices target shooting myself, I know how hard it is to hit a stationary target. Just a slight movement makes the job of hitting anything exponentially harder. (For public school math teachers reading this, I realize I need to explain the term exponential for you; that means it’s much, much harder.)

Listen closely because the following advice may very well save your life some day: if someone points a gun at you, or you realize you’re being shot at, your number one chance at staying alive is to move as fast as you can away from where you think the shooter is located. I don’t care if you have a gun yourself, don’t stand there and shoot back if you can move. A moving target is extremely difficult to hit.

Just because shots are coming from outside your locked room, even if you were ignorant of the fact that a lock or sheetrock on the walls isn’t going to stop a lot of ammo, how certain are you there is only one shooter? Remember Columbine? What if those two murderers had decided that one would remain undercover with weapons in a large backpack until the first shooter made a rampage through the building? The teacher and students locked in the room with the second shooter would sure have quite a nightmare when the second shooter decided to reveal himself with a few well-placed rounds.

My bride, a former public school teacher until I rescued her 17 years ago by marrying her, just told me this: Lockdown is nothing more than an attempt to keep collateral damage to a fixed number. It’s their (failed) hope that the maximum number of students who will die will be the number locked inside the room or hall with the shooter.

Lockdown, like metal detectors at the front doors of schools, is a sad admission that the entire system is a failure. Lockdowns are proof that those currently in charge, the Leftists, have absolutely no idea how to control crime. (By the way, I consider that the Leftists have primarily been in charge for more than 5 decades in America. Recent elections have done little to move us more to the Left than we already were.)

Insensitivity for the Victims’ Relatives and Friends

Lest you wonder if I’m being somewhat sarcastic, let me be extremely clear: I’m dripping with sickening sarcasm as I write this.

Lest you think I might be a little too insensitive to the parents and other relatives and friends of these victims, let me clarify who has the insensitivity to those victims: the Leftists in America. The Leftists who include Republicans and Democrats — such as George Bush Sr. who renounced his NRA membership shortly after being elected.

The Leftists in America are the ones insensitive to the parents, relatives, and friends of those murdered and wounded college students.

The Leftists in America created the rule that you cannot carry a firearm onto a public school ground or post office in America. The Leftists in America think that a "No Guns Allowed" sign will keep a willful murderer from taking a gun into that area. They are the open-minded Leftists… The Leftists whose minds are so open their brains have dripped out onto their shoes.

Political correctness and being on the social and political Left side of the spectrum isn’t just wrong… it’s deadly wrong. The lives of you and your family and your friends depend on you fighting against such policies with every fiber of your being. They are going to begin screaming stricter gun control any second now. You need to be louder, and earlier, demanding that more gun freedoms are given back to this country’s citizens.

What If Only One Thing Were Different at Virginia Tech?

I realize some of you have already opened your email and started sending me messages about how wrong I am about lockdowns being less safe than not using them. That is fine, I realize there are arguments to be made on the other side — not good ones in my opinion but they are there nonetheless.

But let me propose the following: instead of lockdowns, why not just remove the rule that says no guns are allowed on school grounds? Those without concealed carry licenses still cannot legally carry onto a school even if the schools allowed guns.

The only people you stop from carrying a gun into a school with rules like "No Guns Allowed" are those law-abiding citizens who have been trained in firearm safety and had a background check with permits. The only people who win from lockdowns are the murderers with the guns inside the locked cages called classrooms who now have what some from my state of Oklahoma might call "easy pickins."

If guns were allowed on school grounds — by those law-abiding citizens who are licensed to carry them just as is true at every Wal-Mart — then two things would likely be true now:

1. The murderer probably would have been dead sooner.
2. Some of those 32+ dead students may now be alive.

Many reading this despise the idea of concealed carry permits. I do too. But that is not my discussion today. That is not the point of this article. Many reading this despise the fact that public schools even exist. I do too. That is not the point of this article. Just because every government school in America should be closed before midnight tonight does not eliminate the immediate need of implementing a simple solution that would save lives.

The Real Solution

Lockdowns increase death tolls. But eliminating lockdowns will not solve the problem. Eliminating lockdowns only reduces the collateral damage that is sure to occur whenever a lockdown is present.

The real solution to reducing school murders is to remove the insane rule that keeps trained, law-abiding licensed citizens from carrying guns onto campuses and school yards.

Think back to major shooting incidents you recall over the past decade or so. They generally take place at locations where permit-holding law-abiding citizens are not allowed to take guns: post offices and schools.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That’s because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you’ve ever considered eBay, you’ll make far more money when you read his newest book, eXtreme eBay — How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay.

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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My previous article about Windows Vista (Is Vista Ready For You?) prompted a nasty and massive batch of emails from fans of Macs, Linux, and those jealous of Bill Gates’s wealth. That’s why in the future I’m going to stay away from risky topics. I’ll stick to simpler and far less controversial subjects such as gun control and the total destruction of children by the government school system.

(In that article I did promise a follow-up column or two giving new Vista users tips on how to make Vista work better for them. I never want to break my word to you. If you still need tips or if you want to flame me some more you can see the document I’ve put up on my auction site pages here for you, called Ten Great Vista Tips That Save You Time and Money.)

300 & 600,000

This week a new movie launches in theatres called 300. You’ll hear that it’s based on a comic book and graphic novel by Frank Miller. While that is true, it is also based on a historical event that Lew Rockwell readers should understand.

2,500 years ago a Persian Emperor named Xerxes roamed his part of the earth battling, conquering, and doing general emperor-like things to the armies and countries that got in his way. Xerxes thought his little Persian empire should stretch far outside its home territory, the area we know as Iran today.

Xerxes created a fierce fighting force of 600,000 well-trained men. It was a really bad "pit bull" troop. The kind of troop that didn’t like to sit around. The kind of troop that killed entire countries.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Greece

Xerxes wanted Greece. Greece was a historical marvel, a center of art, sculpture, architecture, commerce, and a former world-ruling empire. Just as all good Democrats and Republicans think today, Xerxes thought the best way to get his hands on all those goodies in Greece was to steal them from their rightful owners.

Greece knew the battle was coming. They took steps to prepare a defense for their country. The problem was that they had very little time to prepare.

A Spartan General and King named Leonidas took 300 fighting men and placed them and himself between Persia’s 600,000 advancing troops and the area where the larger Greek army was formulating a defense. That initial battle would be 300 men against 600,000. The odds didn’t look promising.

I’ll spoil it for you ahead of time. The 300 lost the battle.

That lost battle was significant however. Somehow, those 300 men held off the 600,000 invading Persians long enough for Greece to plan their defense, set up a stronghold front, and ultimately keep Persia’s Xerxes from his prize.

A Quick Time-Out to Help Public School Geography and History Teachers

If you teach geography or history in the public schools, you’re no doubt confused. You should know that Greece is a country in southern Europe. When a country is said to be southern, that means it’s lower than others on a map. Grease (spelled with an a) is the stuff in skillets that was one of the things that initially confused you about all this.

What you probably don’t know is that Europe is located east (it’s probably easier for you to think "to the right") of America across the Atlantic Ocean. Just go up to New York City and take a hard right; in a couple of thousand miles or so you’ll be getting close to Europe.

If you want to know more about Greece, Persia, and other things like geography and history, just ask any homeschooled student. He or she can fill you in on all the details that you’re lacking.

And now back to 300.

We’ll Protect You

Keep in mind that those 300 Greek men sent to hold off the invading 600,000-man Persian army did not win the battle. They lost. They really, really lost.

The 600,000 Persians knew that the little Greek army led by Leonidas wouldn’t be a problem. Just a minor stepping-stone on their way into Greece. Like any warrior, however, the Persian leader Xerxes knew it would be better to get the 300 men on his side than to expend the time and minor casualties to fight those 300 Greeks.

That’s why the Persian Emperor sent word to that small band of 300 Greek fighters with the following: we will spare every one of your lives. All you need to do is disarm yourselves. Put down your weapons and you will live.

It’s a lot like what the Third Reich told many in Poland and elsewhere right before they spent the next few years firebombing those who lay down their guns.

It’s a lot like Janet Reno told the wacky David Koresh and his church in Waco right before she firebombed and slaughtered all those children.

It’s a lot like what your government has been moving toward since the 1934 National Firearms Registration Act started the same ball rolling here.

"Give us your weapons. You don’t need them. We’re from the government. We’re here to help. We will protect you."

Molon Labe

When the 300 Greeks heard that all they had to do was to give up their weapons to live, they didn’t do what hundreds of thousands of Jews and other victims did 7 decades ago.

They didn’t do what millions of British have done in the past 2 decades, seeing an intense exponential increase in violent crime ever since.

They didn’t do what probably millions of Americans will do over the next few years as older generations who understand the importance of freedom, personal responsibility, and personal protection pass away.

What they did do was this: those 300 Greeks sent two words back to the 600,000 who requested their weapons.

"Molon labe."

Translation: Come and take them.

The Result of Molon Labe

Those 300 Greeks really got angry that the 600,000 thought they would just lay down their weapons and give up. Even though those 300 men died in battle, they were angry enough to hold off the entire 600,000 Persian army long enough to delay so that the full Greek army could assemble and prepare a defense that would keep Greece free from the Persian takeover. The 600,000 lost many fighters in both the battle against Leonidas’s 300 as well as against the Greek stronghold army they eventually had to face.

Many LewRockell.com readers will understand the importance of this battle. It took something special for 300 men to hold off 600,000 invaders long enough to give their fellow countrymen time to build a suitable defense, one that was probably the largest defense the little country of Greece had ever needed to assemble.

Real men (and real women) will not lay down their weapons along with their freedoms and give up. Not even in the face of 600,000 warriors.

A writer named Boston T. Party wrote a modern-day account of Molon Labe. His book, entitled Molon Labe appropriately enough, tells how a handful of Libertarian-like freedom lovers refused to lay down their weapons against the massive invading force called the United States Government. I wrote about one of Boston T’s other books called Boston’s Gun Bible in another Lew Rockwell article a few years ago (Don’t Bring Ayn Rand to a Gunfight). Some of you responded in a big way to that article. Some of you are now better trained with your weapon than you were. I’m grateful that my little column affected some of you in that way.

Support Your Local Gunfighters

I think you should go see 300 this weekend.

Is it a good movie? This is a movie preview but not a movie review because I have not seen the movie. I know the story, I’ve read the book, but I haven’t seen Miller’s story on the big screen.

I will see it. I will see it multiple times. I will see it today, its national release date, and I will see it again later in the week. I will take other people with me to see it. After a few weeks, I plan to see it again. I plan to buy the DVD.

Those are my plans. I’m realistic. There’s a great chance that Hollywood will change the historical message of this battle and remove all freedom-related aspects of the story. If that happens, I won’t see it a second time. Neither should you. But now that you understand the story you owe it to yourself to give the movie the support of at least one viewing. We should support those causes, and yes even Hollywood movies, that further our freedom in a just and right manner.

What is Your Response?

How will you respond when President Hillary or President Obama or President Giuliani gently tells you that your family will be safe as long as you get rid of those nasty guns that can accidentally fire and hurt someone (like what happened in Dick Cheney’s hands)?

I hope you will cry out, "Molon labe!"

If you don’t want to speak Greek, you can also say, "You can have my guns. Bullets first."

But as for me and my household, Molon labe says it perfectly.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That’s because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you’ve ever considered eBay, you’ll make far more money when you read his newest book, eXtreme eBay — How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay.

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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This week marks a major event in Microsoft history: the release of Microsoft Windows Vista. The next version of Windows is here. The one you’ve heard about for a year or more.

Much to Microsoft’s shareholder’s dismay, as well as manufacturers of all Windows-based computers, Microsoft failed to get the operating system out the door in time for the 2006 Christmas selling season.

This was a major problem for all involved.

Delay or Not, Here It Comes

Are you jumping for joy yet? Microsoft hopes you’ve already reserved a copy for every computer in your home as well as for every person in your family, extended family, and neighborhood block.

The naysayers were happy about the delay. Microsoft got its come-uppance by its failure. Not getting Vista out in time for Christmas truly was a problem. Having said that, Microsoft could have released it in time for the Christmas buying frenzy. If Vista had been released early, the version that would have arrived on your new PC would work fairly well — except for its serious flaws.

I’ve been running the pre-final release of Vista for a couple of months. I get the beta versions since I’m an author. (You know I’m not one to tout my own writing but if you want the best book that will ever be written for Vista, Amazon has greatly discounted for you my huge Teach Yourself Microsoft Vista All in One.) Throughout the writing process I’ve had some sleepless nights over the bugs in each generation of the beta version. As Microsoft released each beta version over the past year, Windows Vista got better and better. But Vista was never really good and fairly bug-free until the "final" version Microsoft released for sale this week.

Due to the bugs, Microsoft bit the bullet and delayed shipment. Financially, they would be far better off today if they had shipped in time for Christmas sales. They would be financially better in the short run that is. Users would be frustrated beyond belief at the problems that still plagued the Vista release right before the current and final version 1.0. Users wouldn’t trust Microsoft ever again (many don’t now) so Microsoft played it safe and took the financial hit. In addition, that hit was shared by manufacturers of any PC you may have bought in December for the holiday.

You benefited though. You get better software (less buggy) this week than you would have gotten in December. Also, you saved some money on that computer if you bought one because those manufacturers had to take an extra price cut to give you an incentive to buy then and not wait for this week’s PCs that Vista comes pre-installed on.

My View of Vista

If you want my perspective on Vista, I can tell you without hesitation. I like Vista. I love the disk-imaging backup program available as well as the greatly-improved entertainment software that enables you to manage pictures, music, and video with far more power and ease than before. Vista is far more secure than Windows XP. Yes, Vista will have security issues and so will any operating system. Vista goes a long way to ensure far greater security and it’s much more difficult for a rogue program to bring down your entire computer and operating system. (At the time of this writing, it appears impossible and let’s hope it stays that way.)

Vista is computer-hungry but if you purchased a medium-to-high powered computer over the past 2 years your hardware should be adequate. Some people will need to upgrade their graphics card to get the 3D-like Aero graphical interface that Microsoft hypes above all other Vista features. (Aero is nice to look at but not a must-have feature in the least.)

You Can Pay Hundreds Or Have Free Software

I suspect that many who read LewRockwell.com love Apple’s MAC OS X or the open source concept that Linux provides for PC users. I think those are great too! The open source software’s price is just right too; why pay hundreds for Windows and Office when you can have Linux and OpenOffice.org for a smile?

Well, for one thing not everyone can easily adopt and use Linux and OpenOffice.org in spite of how much better those programs get each year. Computers are, in 2007, still difficult for many to use. When you toss in a strange mix of operating system and almost-Office-like suite of programs, it adds just enough extra confusion to keep frustration levels too high for those users. In addition, the majority of the world does use Windows and Office, both Microsoft’s flagship products, and — yes — both with problems and high costs.

When using software, it’s like the videos you watch and the music you listen to. You want to have the format that most others have. Interaction would be made difficult if we all ran different flavors of software. Look how long it took Apple and PCs to begin getting fairly-accurate compatibility modes where one can run the software of the other (without real problems). Apple users had a better system but they paid far more for the software and hardware than PC users all those years. With ability comes cost and all the while the PC world just kept inching outward while users who comprise Apple’s core (I had to say that) remained a small part of the user pie.

Many Flavors of Vista and Many Cost Levels to Choose From

So how much is Vista?

It depends on which Vista you want. There are several.

Amazon has them all. In the following list I’ll provide the cost assuming you’re upgrading from Windows XP. Keep in mind that Microsoft has approved a multi-user deal and you can upgrade your purchase with an additional license for another computer in your home or office for a discounted price that runs about 2/3rds the cost of the first upgrade.

• Upgrading to Vista Home Basic will cost you $98.99 and is said to be "Designed for users with the most basic computer needs." This does not include you, trust me. Home Vista Basic is a stripped-down version whose reason for existence is beyond understanding. Forget Vista Home Basic and stick with Windows XP until you’re ready for one of the higher-level Vista installations that contain adequate features.
• Upgrading to Vista Home Premium runs you $152.99. This is a more full-featured Vista with Vista’s new graphical bells and whistles, integrated PC-wide search, Vista’s new photograph and music and video entertainment-related programs, and includes tablet and touch technology. Media Center, previously available only on computers designated as such, is now a part of Vista Home Premium so if your computer has a TV tuner card you can use your PC like an advanced PVR, recording and pausing live shows. Home Premium allows you to stream your digital music and video files to any computer on your home network with Vista so you can more easily watch and listen to your media from more than one room.
• Upgrading to Vista Business Premium runs you $191.99 and includes all the features of the Home Premium version as well as better data protection with a disk-image backup program that enables you to re-create a damaged hard drive to get you up and running far faster than a traditional back-up allows. If you’re a heavy home user you should consider Vista Business Premium for the disk imaging backup feature because it costs less to buy Vista Business Premium than the lesser-priced Vista Home Premium plus a disk-imaging program like Norton Ghost.
• Upgrading to Vista Ultimate gets you all the new bells and whistles possible. Vista Ultimate includes everything in Business Premium as well as advanced mobile-to-workstation communications, disk drive and file encryption for extremely secure data (a feature Libertarians will appreciate), and you get all this and more for a measly $249.99 (measly if your name is Bill Gates).

When you get any version of Vista you technically get all of them. All are available on the same DVD and only the packaging changes. When you register Vista and enter your package’s activation code the code determines which version becomes active on your computer.

The good news is if you upgrade and get an activation number for a more advanced version you don’t need to download anything or get a new installation disc. You’ll enter your new registration code in your current Vista version and Vista upgrades itself to the new level,

Get Vista, Then We’ll Talk

Over the next few weeks I’ll send Lew an article or two with tips that will help you get up and running on Vista much quicker than you may otherwise do. Also I’ll let you know how you can leverage the new Microsoft Office 2007. I’ve been using both for about a year and I know the features you want to learn right now and the ones you don’t need to touch because they are hype and little else.

I want you to have the stuff without the fluff. I’ll shoot as straight with you as I do with the .45 currently at my side.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That’s because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you’ve ever considered eBay, you’ll make far more money when you read his newest book, eXtreme eBay — How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay.

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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Give me a mean person any day and I’ll strike a deal on a handshake (and a signed contract).

Have you noticed who is almost always called nice? Whenever a serial murderer is found his neighbors always say, "He was such a nice man." I’ve had it with nice. I’m done with nice.

The frontal assault that anyone on the left typically makes of their enemy, always occurring when their enemy is correct, is that the person is mean-spirited. They will say he is mean instead of responding to the criticism itself. Liberals (comprised of Democrats and almost all elected Republicans except Ron Paul) say this to deflect the argument away from the point being made. For example, if I were to tell someone that they are stealing from hard-working, productive people when they send their kids to public schools, I would be called mean-spirited. The ultimate Welfare Kings and Welfare Queens — parents of public school children — tell me I’m mean-spirited because I say it’s wrong to steal.

If I were to tell someone that giving free food to the homeless encourages them to remain homeless, I would be called mean-spirited. (Most are homeless by choice.) Hunger is a great motivator and when a liberal removes that motivation they keep the person homeless longer. The left finds it far easier to toss someone else’s tax money at a problem than to do what is necessary to end the problem. Yet, the ultimate don’t-care socialists — homeless advocates — tell me I’m mean-spirited because I say they’re killing the homeless in slow-motion by keeping them homeless. I say you don’t give a wino a drink and you don’t buy him one either.

If I were to tell someone that the handicapped in this country would be better off morally and financially if the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) were eliminated by noon today, I would be called mean-spirited. I would be told that until I walk a mile in a handicapped person’s shoes that I have no right to speak on the subject. Of course, I would reply, "Don’t you mean u2018roll a mile in his wheelchair?’"

Those who only know me from my writing think I’m mean. I’m always glad to hear that. The problem is that those who know me in person think I’m really nice. I’ve tried to work on that character flaw for years without success. I still have a lot of years left in me. I’m going to try to correct that flaw because I don’t think it’s good that people who know me think I’m so nice.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That’s because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you’ve ever considered eBay, you’ll make far more money when you read his newest book, eXtreme eBay — How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay.

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

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Last week I strained something in my center chest area. Unlike most of the time when I strain something, I couldn’t pinpoint how and when I’d strained myself. I just know I had pulled something.

It hurt when I inhaled as a dull ache in my lower rib cage. I was able to function just fine but the pain was irritating.

So after 2 days of this, I called my doctor to see if he could help relieve the pain. With the next release of Microsoft Windows and Office coming out in a few months, I’m in the middle of a heavy writing schedule. Normally I’d ignore the pain but I needed to get full breaths and keep working while it healed.

My doctor refused to see me. Refused! He said I needed to go to the hospital right now. I explained that I’d pulled a muscle and it wasn’t my heart. He said go now.

Well, my first mistake is that I didn’t really make that call to his office. I had asked Jayne, my wife, to call. So when the doctor told her I was to go immediately there wasn’t going to be any debate because she began worrying.

His office said that St. Francis Hospital’s emergency room would be waiting for my arrival.

From Irritating to Unbearable

So we went. When we got there they immediately rushed me into their ER triage section and hooked up the EKG. I told them everything on the EKG would be fine because I had pulled a muscle and needed to get some relief so I could go back to work. They found nothing wrong with my EKG. So they said I needed medicine for my heart.

They gave me a nitro spray and a nitro patch which gave me a piercing headache. They made me stay there for hours on a hard stretcher bed in the heart ER. Every time they came in I said I pulled something. I said it’s not my heart. I said I wanted to leave. It’s then their nitro medicine really began to kick in. My head felt as if it was going to explode. The pain was so severe I began to get sick to my stomach.

They then did chest x-rays. My head hurt so badly from the nitro that I was in agony. I couldn’t breathe as easily as before because of the stretcher. My strain hurt far worse than before I arrived. I said I needed relief for the muscle I pulled. Every time they would do some test they would say it came back negative. Jayne was a wreck from worry.

I was a wreck from what they were doing to me. I may not even recall the exact order of things they did. But I sure vividly recall what they did and the results…

They said the chest X-ray came back negative. I told them it’s because my heart is fine and that I strained something and needed to relieve that strain so I could go home and work.

Since they didn’t find anything wrong with the X-ray they said I was perhaps not getting enough oxygen. They put a meter on me and said I was getting a 96% intake of oxygen, 100% was the maximum. The nurse said my oxygen level was as high as an athlete’s. I told her it’s because my heart was okay but I’d strained something.

Since the oxygen test showed I was getting plenty of oxygen, they put an oxygen tank on me. (This would make a good Monty Python skit wouldn’t it?) I kept asking how that was going to help the muscle I pulled. The oxygen burned my sinuses. I’ve never had oxygen before. I always figured it’d be nice. It burned my nostrils like matches.

They said they needed to run a full array of blood tests. They began drawing blood. It seemed like gallons of blood.

An hour later, they came in and told me that my blood enzyme tests for heart failure came back negative. I said it’s because I pulled something and I just want a little relief there. They said since the blood tests were negative they needed to admit me for more extensive tests.

I Give In

I was at that point hurting so much from the nitro medicine that I wasn’t talking much. They admitted me and drew more blood. When I finally got to sleep in the room out of sheer exhaustion from the nitro they came in loudly and said the extra blood tests they ran were negative. I said that’s because nothing is wrong with my heart, I pulled a muscle and I wanted some relief for that. (I am not making ANY of this up.)

Since the EKG was fine, and since my chest X-ray was fine, and since my oxygen level was fine, and since my blood tests were fine, they said that I needed a CAT scan. So they put an IV on me and shot me full of iodine. Have you ever had that done? Your entire body from the skin of your scalp to the bottom of your soles grows red hot when the iodine enters your blood vessels. They took me to the CAT scan room and pumped me full of rays for an hour.

They tossed me back in bed exhausted with my head still pounding from the nitro and still sick to my stomach from the nitro patch.

They drew blood every 6 hours during this to see if my enzyme levels would change to show heart failure. I said they wouldn’t show anything because my heart was great but I had pulled a muscle and I wanted something for that so I could breathe easier.

Oh, Maybe It’s My Perfect Blood Pressure!

They came in a little later and said that my blood pressure was as normal as an athlete’s. They said they couldn’t understand why my BP and oxygen would show such good readings with my chest pains. I said it’s because my heart is fine but it hurts when I breathe due to a muscle I pulled.

The doctor then came in and said the extended blood tests were still negative. I said it’s because my heart is wonderful and I pulled a muscle and I wanted to go home. He said he wanted to monitor me for a while longer. I asked again if they would do some muscle test to see which muscle I pulled so I could get a little relief when taking a breath. Neither he nor anybody else there ever answered or responded when I asked that 50—75 times during my stay at Camp St. Francis.

Finally, about noon the next day the doctor came in and said it must not be my heart and I must be right that it’s something I pulled.

The Hospital Says I Should See a Doctor

I asked him what could I do about my breathing pain due that muscle I pulled and he said there was nothing they could do but that I should see my own doctor…

I repeat, I am not making this up.

Then they released me. Feeling weak and hurting from the loss of blood they took, from the nitro medicine, from the hard bed, and from the searing heat in my hospital room. Aren’t hospital rooms usually cold?

My release day was Saturday so my doctor’s office wasn’t open. My pulled muscle was down to a dull ache, which is what that always feels like after 3 or 4 days. It slowly got better and now I can hardly feel it.

They Are Hunters — Their Goal is Not to Help the Patient

They didn’t want to fix me. They wanted a New Heart Patient.

They weren’t going to give up easily until they got a New Heart Patient.

The fact they never addressed my problem, even after admitting, finally, that I must have strained a muscle, further proves they don’t really care about making the patient better.

Why didn’t I just leave? Well, for one thing that nitro they pumped me full of after I’d been there an hour severely hampered my decision-making. Also, you must recall my wife is there with me and fearing the worst as loving wives can do. She told me when we were alone that I didn’t have to take their medicine. I knew that I could refuse. But then again, when these kinds of things happen, everything is so surreal. My usual belligerent self wasn’t functioning at my normal 100% belligerent capacity.

I know, I know, I know — I can hear the All-Wise, All-Knowing, All-Powerful Medical Profession screaming: “But what if it was your heart!” Yes, well, in general we know our own bodies. The fact that every test continued to confirm my story and completely negate their fears meant nothing to them. They continued and continued and never made me feel better and never showed any desire to do so. Their only desire was to find a New Heart Patient.

If, even at the end, they had done anything to address my pain, one could give them the benefit of the doubt for playing it safe.

They weren’t playing it safe. They were hunting. And I support hunting when it involves a .308, 30-06, or buckshot. I don’t support hunting when it involves making people feel sicker in order to build a new hospital wing.

With the government’s permission — perhaps even with their requirement via the FDA, Medicare, and Medicaid — most doctors and hospitals see patients as the intermediary between the insurance company’s check and themselves. The government hates monopolies when private businesses try to create them but the government loves monopolies when it furthers their causes such as state lotteries and the FDA approval process. Try to get a cash discount from a doctor some time. Their agreements with insurance companies and Medicare and Medicaid don’t allow cash discounts that would reward their honest and productive patients. As a matter of fact they charge more if you pay cash.

I don’t appreciate it. I really don’t want that hospital bill. I will have to pay it because I’m not an illegal Mexican. All I wanted was some advice from my own doctor on how to help this pulled muscle so that I could breathe a little easier. Since I wasn’t a New Heart Patient, I got punished with a bill for thousands of dollars, more pain from their inflictions, and even less trust in a medical community than I had before going in.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That’s because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you’ve ever considered eBay, you’ll make far more money when you read his newest book, eXtreme eBay — How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay.

by Greg Perry by Greg Perry

It is with sad regret that America celebrated the 16th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) yesterday, July 26, 2006. 16 years ago, in 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. Assuming you have masochistic tendencies you can watch a video of the signing here. At the signing they rolled out a bunch of handicapped people to make the signing look more justified than it would have appeared if just normal people had been there.

The law was strongly encouraged by fellow Republican Sen. Bob Dole, who took a prompt interest in the ADA from its inception perhaps due to the injury he sustained in World War II. In his final speech to the Senate in 1995, Dole proudly announced that the ADA was one of his three proudest accomplishments while serving in the Senate. The only accomplishment he listed as being more important to his career than the ADA was strengthening the United States Food Stamp Program. TurnLeft.com listed the ADA as a "rare nod in favor of liberalism by Mr. Dole." In retrospect, true conservatives have brought into question the site’s use of the term rare.

The video confirms this: the Americans with Disabilities Act has been called "Civil Rights for the Disabled." This implies that handicapped American citizens have been widely discriminated against. But you have to look long and hard to find where these citizens had crutches kicked out from under their arms before the ADA was implemented. People didn’t push wheelchair-bound crippled people into traffic. It took the ADA to create discrimination against the handicapped in America.

They’re More Equal Than You Are

The proponents of the ADA fought hard so that those with parking permits had equal access in parking lots. In other words, the handicaps have extra-wide parking spaces right next to building entrances which are available no matter how full the non-handicapped spaces get. The handicapped spaces must measure at least eight-feet wide, designated with the international wheelchair symbol, and be van-accessible. Vertical clearance of more than eight feet on the vehicular route into the space must be at least 98 inches also on the route to the space and along the route to an exit. (One must give the authors of ADA law credit for being extra verbose.) So where is the "equal" in "equal access"?

In a brochure written for business owners, the ADA states, "It is illegal to segregate people with disabilities in one area by designating it as an accessible area to be used only by people with disabilities." By their very own words, no accessible area can be segregated solely for use by the handicapped.

Why don’t you test how little the ADA’s authors meant this; park in a handicapped parking space some time without a permit.

So no area can be designated as a handicapped area because doing so would segregate (and separate) the disabled. Yet virtually every aspect of the Americans with Disabilities Act does just that. The ADA’s entire massive collection of rules and regulations states how areas must be changed, marked, and separated for those with disabilities. The very specifications of the ADA violate its own statement against segregation. Nobody cares.

Liberals used to love it when they created separate entrances for African-Americans. They loved putting up signs that designated restrooms and drinking fountains to be used by one race of people. The NAZIs, all liberals (obviously liberal in the modern sense, not the classic, libertarian sense), loved to separate Jewish people from the masses because it was so much simpler to murder them.

The murder of Jews isn’t a stretch for me to make. Our ADA lawmakers and ADA fans love to euthanize handicapped people. They love it.

Terri Schiavo’s only crime that brought to her capital punishment was that she was disabled. Where were the ADA attorneys and advocates when she needed them? I’ll tell you where they were. They were suing businesses they hunted down who violated the ADA’s obscure and conflicting and ambiguous building code requirements.

Where are the ADA attorneys and advocates when babies are aborted for the sole reason that they don’t have designer genes? I’ll tell you where they are. They are looking for their next meal ticket.

ADA advocates and ADA lawyers don’t care about the handicapped. They despise the handicapped. No matter which side of the Schiavo debate you found yourself on, and no matter which side of the abortion debate you are on, you will be hard-pressed to contradict the following: If the handicapped parking spaces of Schiavo’s hospice were 3 inches too narrow they would have shut that place down! If an abortionist’s entrance has no wheelchair ramp the ADA advocates will scream at the top of their lungs and threaten lawsuits! (They’ll probably only threaten; I personally doubt any ADA advocate would want to harm an abortionist’s business because it’s too easy to make money killing babies who would otherwise be born with, say, only 3 stubby fingers and one leg. As I was.)

The Unintended Consequences

I’ve written several times here on LewRockwell.com to show clearly how the ADA increases discrimination against the handicapped. But we shouldn’t be surprised at that. And we shouldn’t be surprised that government agencies and ADA advocates across the country threw anniversary parties yesterday to celebrate the ADA’s signing. They love it! The ADA is big bucks. It’s a lot of money, a lot of power, and a lot of press for them.

They celebrate even though handicapped folk are discriminated against far more now than before the ADA. You see this phenomenon in all aspects of governmental control and redistribution of wealth. For example, when the government takes over education and childcare, parents relinquish their own responsibility.

Consider also that when the government takes money to build museums from people who don’t want to see inside museums so that people who want to go to museums get in free. Those who want the museums should be the ones paying the bills, but the very opposite takes place. Certainly some private money pays for museums, but the public "endowments" come right out of the pocketbooks of many who care nothing for them. When the government punishes criminals with community service work such as cleaning alongside roads and highways, the public is less likely to pick up its own litter. (Only government would think it is good to train the public that a nice idea such as community service should be turned into a punishment.)

When the government takes over a free society’s traditional responsibilities, that now less-free society instantly begins to abandon its natural instinct to help those who need and want help. So when a small business owner sees a one-legged cripple hobble up to his door on crutches, he is far more likely today to think when he sees me, "Grab that $300 handbar and let yourself in. You’re now equal!" Before the ADA cost him a small fortune to remodel, he was far more likely to go help his customers who needed help.

The ADA Is a Complete and Utter Failure

In a stunning acknowledgement, the Center for an Accessible Society says this on their Web site: "In 1990, 70% of people with disabilities were unemployed, and the figure remains the same today [post-2000]." (www.accesiblesociety.org)

As I write in Disabling America: The Unintended Consequences of the Government’s Protection of the Handicapped, the "70 percent" figure does seem to exaggerate the number of unemployed disabled people in 1990, especially given the ADA’s fallacious origins. But even if it is accurate, the amazing admission that 70 percent are still unemployed is telling.

If the ADA has done absolutely nothing to help employ the disabled, then get rid of it. Today by noon. Stop the erosion of American freedom. The definition of "solution" has never been that a status quo problem remains in place. The ADA is a complete failure that continues its work to bankrupt America’s future and harm those who are truly handicapped.

Greg Perry [send him mail] is the pistol-packing author of more than 75 books. What he does best is teach others how to maximize their eBay income. That’s because he smashes his eBay competitors by implementing time-proven Direct Marketing techniques that others completely ignore. If you’ve ever considered eBay, you’ll make far more money when you read his newest book, eXtreme eBay — How to Quickly Apply the Most Powerful Direct Marketing Techniques in the World to Every Item You Sell on eBay.