That’s what they call us citizens who believe in the basic right to preserving life and property. The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun.
~ Patrick Henry, "Gun Nut"
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An “Ain’t That the Truthism”: Oh how the difference in one generation! In conversation with a family member the other day, he remarked that “his father-in-law, who lived in Detroit, used to sleep on the front porch in his hammock on hot summer nights, with no doors ever needing to be locked.” “Nowadays,” as he commented, “I live in the “safer” suburbs, and sit here in my robe at night, with locked doors and a loaded 9mm on the coffee table.”
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Gun Free Zones: Home Depot got its butt kicked. This used to be the link to what appeared to be its new “gun free zone” policy. No more. Once again, while seeing gun owners as second-class citizens, some clueless, corporate eggheads at Home Depot thought they’d start a new policy banning concealed weapons carry in Home Depot stores in Michigan and Minnesota. Oh sure, it is private property, and Home Depot can do what it may, but the politically incorrect, second-class citizenship status accorded to gun owners must be fought on non-violent grounds. And the gun owners of America have the power to do it.
If you want to ban guns somewhere, anywhere, let me give the noodleheads some advice: don’t do it in Michigan. Study your demographics first. Know your demographics. Such knowledge would tend to steer you away from Michigan, a haven for plucky, blue-collar non-sheeple. The Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners bulletin board reported that a slew of protests — from Michiganders — done endeth up at Home Depot corporate HQ, and they immediately backed off and rescinded any such policy. $$$$$ speak loudly, indeed. Almost every Home Depot here in Michigan has a Lowe’s right next door. And, hello?, but the same kinda folk that tend to carry concealed guns tend to do their own home improvements and shop at Home Depot. Demographics matter when messin’ with that corporate bottom line.
First off, many protestors got emails back from Home Depot corporate customer service stating that they in fact had a no-gun policy, but then, when things became more clarified within HQ, and corporate bosses actually started communicating with one another, they ultimately released a statement saying that any individual who is legal to carry may do so in any Home Depot store. Word is that a single store in Minnesota may have started the ball rolling, and may have violated corporate policy in doing so.
From the MCRGO bulletin board: “All the signage that has been put up by managers are down or will be down shortly, and that includes Minnesota, Michigan, and other states. The national policy will be as it was before this blow-up (and this has been approved by the CEO, Mr. Nardelli). Home Depot will not discriminate against legal concealed weapons holders. In other words, if you are legal, you can carry concealed on their premises. Customer care will supposedly be sending out new emails to parties that have been told otherwise. Home Depot admits a lack of communication with its employees regarding this issue, and it has been rectified from the store managerial level on up. Home Depot was amazed how networked this movement was concerning this issue.”
Don’t be amazed HD; the Feds are taking everything else, and they won’t be taking our guns anytime soon. I dare you to tell these people they can’t have their guns. Gun owners are the least docile people on the planet, thank goodness. Live and learn.
- Boston’s Gun Bible: By Boston T. Party. If you don’t have this book, you don’t have the book that every gun owner — who takes seriously the right to self-defense — should have. This is not a “guns are cool, man” puff book. It is a book for the Patrick Henrys of our times. It is a book for the technical gun owner. This is a book that has the courage to discuss citizen disarmament, gun acquisition, the politics of guns, the Feds and guns, women and guns, and preparing for tyranny. You NEED to own this book. Oh yeah, I know the author, so I’m biased. But there ain’t nothing better on guns than this little Bible. Tell Boston I sent you.
Also see Richard Poe’s The Seven Myths of Gun Control: Reclaiming the Truth About Guns, Crime, and the Second Amendment and John Lott’s books.
- The National Coalition for People Control: The Mother Jones Communists, one of many players in the people control movement, once said that gun ownership is merely a "romantic thing," and that the Feds help was need for a quickie divorce:
The romantic myths attached to gun ownership stop many people from thinking of them as a consumer product. As a result, the standard risk analysis applied to other potentially dangerous products — pesticides, prescription drugs, or toasters — has never been applied to firearms.
Indeed, guns and toasters. Having one can get you toast, and not having the other can get you toasted.
- The ACLU: Remember that these guys support you wearing a swastika down Main Street, but they do not support your right to defend your life.
Unless the Constitution protects the individual’s right to own all kinds of arms, there is no principled way to oppose reasonable restrictions on handguns, Uzis or semi-automatic rifles.
The ACLU supports US vs. Miller, a 1939 Supreme Court case, and they state that:
The individual’s right to bear arms applies only to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia. Except for lawful police and military purposes, the possession of weapons by individuals is not constitutionally protected. Therefore, there is no constitutional impediment to the regulation of firearms.
The ACLU specifically acknowledges, "The national ACLU is neutral on the issue of gun control."
- The Statistics: "It doesn’t seem like there’s a specific problem out there." So says Sgt. Greg Zarotney, of the Michigan State Police Executive Division. Haven’t scholars like John Lott and Richard Poe been saying that for a long time? Michigan is a great proving ground for responsible gun ownership under "shall issue" laws. In Michigan, 103,827 people are licensed to carry concealed handguns, as of October 2003. The state has yet to resemble a scene from The Quick and the Dead.
To quote Richard Poe, "a study by the Media Research Center released in January 2000 showed that television news stories calling for stricter gun laws outnumbered those opposing such laws by a ratio of 10 to 1. When it comes to guns and gun rights, we are hearing only one side of the story. Small wonder that few Americans are equipped to debate the issue intelligently."
Well, with authors like Poe, Lott, and Boston T. Party, do let the intelligent debate begin.
