Minuteman Monthly Issue 18 January 2002 Hello and welcome to the 18th action-packed issue for January 2002. As most of you know, the Minuteman Monthly is the monthly Internet periodical for http://www.SaveTheGuns.com. Happy New Year to all my faithful visitors and readers. 2001 was a monumental year for SaveTheGuns.com. We had about 40,500 visitors for the year who visited a total of about 88,800 pages. We started a membership drive in the last quarter of 2001 and it has been gaining the attention of gun owners from all over the world ever since. Together, we fought incessantly against gun control efforts all year and won nearly every single one of them. 2002 will be a challenge that exceeds the challenges of 2001 and I need your help and support more than ever. Soon, I will be asking for a volunteer from every state in the United States to keep an eye out for legislative alerts and newsworthy tidbits from their state and send them to me. By myself, I cannot possibly hope to keep apprised of all the happenings in each state without your help. Please be ready to volunteer to be the SaveTheGuns.com "point man" or "point woman" in your state. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Gun Safety Tip Of The Month The Gun Safety Tip Of The Month for January 2002 is to always keep the cylinder open on a revolver or the action open on a semi-automatic when passing a firearm from one person to another. This makes it easy to see that the firearm is unloaded and it shows to others that you are very conscientious and concerned about gun safety. It also clearly demonstrates that you know what you are doing when you are handling a firearm. Keeping the action open on any firearm when transferring it from one person to another also makes any accidental discharge completely impossible. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Gun Safety First Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, firearm purchases are up more than 20% in the United States. Let's continue to make certain that accidental discharges continue their decline. The latest statistics for gun safety are in and they are encouraging again!!! Accidental deaths related to the mishandling of a loaded firearm are down another 25%. They are down 58% since the year 1990!!! WHAT A SUCCESS STORY!!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!! Please send your family, friends and neighbors to my safety pages. http://www.savetheguns.com/safety_rules.htm http://www.savetheguns.com/for_kids_only.htm <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Quotes Of The Month "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin In case nobody has noticed, the anti-gun crowd has had a divide and conquer philosophy for decades now. They attack the paramilitary semi-automatic rifle owners, and the hunters stay silent. They attack handgun ownership and the shotgunners don't lift a finger. They now are attacking .50 caliber BMG rifles and gun shows. I can't afford a .50 caliber and don't own one. I can't remember the last time I went to a gun show either, but I remain standing firm on the FRONT LINES. HOW ABOUT YOU? <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Are you still just a subscriber to the Minuteman Monthly? Why not become a contributing member? Do you have our "SELF DEFENSE IS A HUMAN RIGHT" bumper sticker yet? You can get yours with your one year commitment to SaveTheGuns.com for just $20.00. Or you can simply purchase one directly for $2.85. http://www.savetheguns.com/bumper_stickers.htm Not only do you get a bumper sticker and membership button, but I will custom design pin-on button for you at your request. There is no minimum quantity for custom made buttons. I can even make a custom made button from a photograph. Please tell your gun club officers about my custom made button program. I will gladly make custom buttons for gun clubs and events. E-mail me with any questions that you may have about membership. info@savetheguns.com Become A Member Today http://www.savetheguns.com/membership.htm <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> This Month's Issue The 18th issue of the Minuteman Monthly is going to focus upon the year ahead of us. The coming months will certainly be the most important months that the pro-Second Amendment movement has seen in quite a few years. First and the most important issue I want to address is Election Day 2002. Election Day 2002 which will occur on Tuesday November 5th, will be the single most important day of 2002. The stakes are very, very high. Are you going to bet that law abiding gun owners will show up at the polls in droves? Or will you work very hard to make certain that gun owners do their part on November 5th? There are 34 United States Senators, 36 State Governorships and copious amounts of essential state and local offices up for grabs that will impact the Second Amendment, concealed carry issues, gun shows and general firearm ownership issues for years to come. CONTROL OF CONGRESS HANGS IN THE BALANCE, WHAT WILL YOU DO TO TIP THE SCALES? ARE YOU READY? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ United States Senators Kennedy (D) and Schumer (D) have filed a bill that will give government agencies full access to all NICS firearm purchase records. According to the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986 and the Brady Law, these records must be destroyed. Don't allow our own government to compile firearm ownership records like the Nazis did in the 1930's. This could open the door to future confiscation of privately held firearms. Let's keep this door shut. Firearm purchase records are already available to law enforcement for specific investigations. The general firearm purchase records of law-abiding citizens should be destroyed after the purchase is made. CONTACT THESE TWO (2) SENATORS TODAY senator@kennedy.senate.gov senator@schumer.senate.gov ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Many of the Members and Minuteman Monthly Subscribers come from the great state of Illinois. As many Illinois citizens are aware, they have yet another anti-gun candidate for Illinois Governor, Rod Blagojevich. Please be active in shutting this man and his campaign down. Please find time to work for pro-gun candidates wherever and whenever you can this Summer and Fall. Rod Blagojevich has not seen a gun control bill that he doesn't like. Why not take the time to tell him to concentrate his efforts on criminals and not on the law-abiding gun owners of this nation. Rod.Blagojevich@mail.house.gov Soon, we will be working hard to help Illinois join the 33 other states who allow concealed carry of handguns. Each state that has become a "right to carry" state has seen a drop in violent crime. Let's do it. Will you help, or just sit there and watch? ************************************ ************************************ HOW YOU CAN HELP THIS MONTH I have had quite a few people tell me that they want to help out, but don't really have any ideas. Here are a few ideas that I came up with for this coming year. * Join a local gun club and be active in it. * Join or renew your membership to the National Rifle Association. * Join your NRA State Firearm Association. I have the link to your State Firearm Association at http://www.savetheguns.com/state_firearm_associations.htm * Write a few pro-gun editorials to your local and statewide newspapers. * Get your gun club to rent a bus to drive elderly people or those without transportation to the voting booths on November 5th. It won't cost that much and the benefits are eternal and tangible. * Tell your state's Democratic leaders that gun control should not be a part of the Democrat Party's platform. Gun control affects only those who obey it!!! * Write a few letters to your states' Governor's Office and its legislative leaders and express your opinions about gun control. * Call into radio talk shows on "open topic days" and argue against more gun control laws. Promote my solution to curbing gun use in crime. Years of freedom deprivation must be added to a crime where a gun is used. Carry a gun during a violent crime... add Five (5) years to the crime's penalty. Brandish a gun during a violent crime... add Ten (10) years to the crime's penalty. Fire a gun during a violent crime... add fifteen (15) years to the crime's penalty. Hurt OR kill someone with the gun during the commission of a violent crime and add twenty (20) years to the subscribed penalty of the crime. Adding very harsh additional penalties to the commission of crimes where guns are used is one of the only solutions to curtailing their use in crime. ____________________________________ ____________________________________ Special Request A few days ago, I lost most of my address book because of a catastrophic error. I lost the information that tells me which state all of you belong to. If you are a resident of the United States, please use the following e-mail address. In the body of the message, please just type your name and your state and send it to me. You may leave the subject line blank. address_book@savetheguns.com If you are a resident of another country, you may disregard this message or you may use the same address and state your country of residence if you wish. ____________________________________ ____________________________________ Feel free to forward, print, post, quote, promote or otherwise use this newsletter to help SAVE THE GUNS. Because of the donations and memberships of dedicated pro-gun citizens, SAVETHEGUNS.COM can continue to operate through Summer 2002. Please help me keep SAVETHEGUNS.COM online at least until Election Day 2002. BECOME A MEMBER OR DONATE TODAY. http://www.savetheguns.com/membership.htm http://www.savetheguns.com/donations.htm In December alone, I have had 743 hacking attempts blocked and over 25 viruses blocked by my State of the Art firewall and anti-virus software. Can you help me pay for this protection? ____________________________________ ____________________________________ Thank you for registering as a Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Recipient. ________________________ If you don't want this newsletter anymore, just send me an E-mail with "Unsubscribe MMM" in the subject line to: info@savetheguns.com Thanks, Marc Owner/Founder www.savetheguns.com