Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Issue 62 September 2006 If you've been around the fight to preserve our right to keep and bear arms for while you'd have become accustomed to some of the hollow arguments from the gun ban crowd. One of the classic arguments of the gun ban crowd is that "we're not after the guns of the good guys". They say that they just want to help bring down rates of violent crime. Occasionally you'd even see anti-gun politicians put on camouflage and blaze orange and head out into the field for a photo opportunity. Then Hurricane Katrina came along... ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM QUOTES OF THE MONTH "Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters." -Daniel Webster "No man's life, liberty or fortune is safe while our legislature is in session." Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) US Founding Father "We have never stopped sin by passing laws; and in the same way, we are not going to take a great moral ideal and achieve it merely by law." Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), 34th US President, WWII General "Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges." "(The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.)" -- Cornelius Tacitus (55-117 A.D.) Source: Annales, 1st century A.D. "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws, but conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." -- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), US civil rights leader ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM IS YOUR NRA RECRUITER! When you need to renew your membership in the National Rifle Association, all you have to do is go to my "NRA Membership" page and use my convenient link. You don't have to call anyone. You don't have to send in a paper application and you don't have to navigate through the WebPages at the NRA's Web site. http://www.savetheguns.com/nra_membership.htm Did you also know that you can easily give an NRA Membership as a gift? Please keep this in mind as the Christmas shopping season is quickly approaching. Give an NRA Membership for Christmas this year!! Yes, it's early to think about Christmas shopping, but it's only 12 weeks away! TODAY'S NRA... FOUR MILLION STRONG AND COUNTING!! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM GUN SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH As many of you know, I became interested in teaching gun safety over twenty years ago. But most of you don't know that there was a tragedy in my extended family. There was a deadly firearm accident more than thirty years ago in my in-law's family. A family member was unintentionally killed by his own young child and this child is now a full grown adult having to live with the fact that he killed his own father. The mistake that was made is one of common sense. My hope is that you would never consider doing this... The child was allowed to play around with a firearm as long as his father first assured that the gun was not loaded. The child's cowboy and indian "horseplay" with an unloaded firearm eventually led to the unfortunate death. He was a police officer. After chasing down a suspect into a swamp and apprehending him, he went home to change his uniform. He put his duty belt on the table as he went to change. He was met in the doorway by his son wanting to play cowboy and indian and that was one of the last things he saw. Do not allow horseplay with any firearm at anytime! Horseplay with a firearm will condition a child to disregard gun safety as being important. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MINUTEMAN MONTHLY NEWSLETTER AIMING POINT The aiming point for this September newsletter concerns last year's devastating Hurricane Katrina. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that Hurricane Katrina took a heavy toll in life and property. But how aware are you about the liberty that was lost as well? New Orleans Police Chief and Deputy Police Chief decided that no resident was going to be able to possess a firearm in the city. Many lawfully owned firearms were confiscated by both state and federal agents in New Orleans. Let me quote New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass and Deputy Police Chief Warren Riley. These quotations came during the Hurricane Katrina fiasco in New Orleans Louisiana. "We have individuals who are getting raped, we have individuals who are getting beaten.." "Little babies [are] getting raped" "In the annals of history, no police force in the history of the world was asked to do what we were asked." "There are a small percentage of people who terrorize every major American city, ... They have low morals and prey upon the weak. These are criminals. They were housed with law-abiding citizens who they could take advantage of." "We are definitely in control of this city, ... We've been almost crime free for the last four days." "What we're doing is trying to make the best of a bad situation, and we need people to cooperate..." "...only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons." "No one will be able to be armed. We are going to take all the weapons." Of course firearm confiscation goes directly contrary to the words and spirit of the Second Amendment. This is especially true when law enforcement and emergency personnel cannot or refuse to respond to pleas for help. Basic services such as telephone, power and access to emergency help completely broke down. In this atmosphere of helplessness, the only thing that residents of New Orleans could rely upon was themselves and their own rugged individualism. Help was not available. Crime was running out of control. The response of law enforcement was to begin firearm confiscations of law abiding citizens. This was completely unacceptable!! Most of us were steaming mad that residents were left helpless and without the ability to defend themselves. If our beloved Second Amendment protects anything at all, it protects the rights of law abiding citizens to keep firearms for the purposes of self defense and defense of their families during dire emergency situations where law enforcement and local emergency personnel are unavailable or have abandoned their posts to loot at Wal-Mart... Since then, many states have passed legislation prohibiting firearm confiscations during emergency situations like Hurricane Katrina. There was an amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (HR 5441) called the Vitter Amendment to prohibit appropriation of funds toward such an illegal firearm confiscation on the federal level. The Vitter Amendment would prohibit the confiscation of lawfully owned firearms during such emergencies. However, to at least sixteen (16) United States Senators, this common sense legislation was not a good idea. The United States Senators who voted against the Vitter Amendment were essentially voting for government agencies to have the power to confiscate lawfully owned firearms during declared emergencies. These following Democrats voted to allow the federal confiscation of lawfully owned firearms during declared emergencies. EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM IS A DEMOCRAT. HOW WILL YOU BE VOTING IN NOVEMBER? Each and every United States Senator listed here below has openly, boldly and defiantly violated their oath of office to "...preserve, protect and defend the Constitution." This is a serious violation. Are we going to stand by while the following Senators in the Senate of the United States regain power in November's election? Will you sit idle while the following senators regain their former power and sit in powerful committee seats? What can you do to ensure that this doesn't happen? Would you like to see Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House of Representatives and be third in line for the presidency of the United States? The sixteen senators who have violated their oath of office in this latest vote. (of course some of these people violate their oath of office nearly every day... Akaka (D-HI) Boxer (D-CA) Clinton (D-NY) Dodd (D-CT) Durbin (D-IL) Feinstein (D-CA) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Kennedy (D-MA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Levin (D-MI) Menendez (D-NJ) Mikulski (D-MD) Reed (D-RI) Sarbanes (D-MD) Schumer (D-NY) These senators through their vote, told you that your guns are a problem during emergency situations. They said that you don't have the right to defend your homes when emergency services are not available. By the way, I thought I would mention that Senator John Kerry (D) MA, voted against the Vitter Amendment and would have been added to the above list of shame, but then, under the watchful eye of C-SPAN, he changed his vote... Back in the late colonial days and the early years of the newborn United States of America, these sixteen U.S. Senators would be dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night and they would probably be tarred and feathered by roving gangs of angry citizens. I only ask that you go to www.senate.gov and get their phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses and street addresses and write them, fax them and call them and tell them that their vote violated the Constitution of the United States which they swore an oath to uphold. When calling or writing, make sure you mention it was the Vitter Amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (HR 5441) that would prohibit firearm confiscations during declared emergencies. Tell them that confiscation of privately held firearms during emergency situations is completely unacceptable and their vote against this amendment was unacceptable as well. These above anti-gun Democrats can no longer claim that they're not after the guns of law abiding citizens. They can no longer claim that they're just trying to prevent violent crime. They are indeed after YOUR GUNS. By their vote, they have boldly declared that law abiding gun owners are a problem. Will you respond? I guess that's the real question isn't it? http://www.savetheguns.com/contributions.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Statement from Chris Cox on NRA's Lawsuit Against the City of New Orleans Today, in a landmark victory for NRA and law-abiding gun owners, Judge Carl J. Barbier of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana denied the City of New Orleans' motion to dismiss NRA's lawsuit against the city and held that the Second Amendment applies to law-abiding residents in the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans. Straining the bounds of credibility and reflecting the true sentiment of anti-gunners, the City of New Orleans contemptuously argued that the Second Amendment does not apply to residents in the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans. NRA first filed suit after reports surfaced indicating that, following Hurricane Katrina, firearms were confiscated from law-abiding New Orleans residents. Former New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass issued orders to confiscate firearms from all citizens, under a flawed state emergency powers law. With that one order, the one means of self-protection innocent victims had during a time of widespread civil disorder was stripped away. NRA filed suit in federal court and won a preliminary injunction ending all the illegal gun confiscations. After the City of New Orleans failed to comply with the court's ruling and dishonestly claimed that the gun confiscations never occurred, NRA filed a motion for contempt that included an order directing all seized firearms be returned to their rightful owners. After denying the illegal confiscations for months, on March 15, 2006, Mayor Nagin and the New Orleans Police Department finally conceded in federal court that the seized firearms were stored in two trailers. The city then agreed in court to a process by which law-abiding citizens would be able to file a claim to receive their confiscated firearms. However, few firearms were returned because the NOPD never notified gun owners how to claim their guns, and turned many away citing impossible standards for proof of ownership. Today's ruling sets the stage for a continued legal fight in which NRA will be forced to expend additional resources to fight back the anti-gunner's blatant and shameful attempts to ignore the Second Amendment. The case will now move to discovery and pre-trial preparation. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Anti-Gun Retailer Handout Have you ever been to a retail store while lawfully carrying a concealed handgun and you see a sign on the window that says "Firearm Carry Prohibited On Store Premises" or something similar that says if you're carrying a firearm, you're not welcome here? http://www.savetheguns.com/images/NoGunsHere.gif Right-click and print out the following poster that I made and hand it out to them. Hopefully it will print out correctly on your printer. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Google has banned my Web site from search engine listings once again because it seems that they don't like what I have to say. I guess I'll have to rely on you to forward this newsletter and my Web site address onto to others. Thanks, Marc Richardson Owner/Founder www.SaveTheGuns.com "Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American..." Tench Coxe To opt-out of further e-mails from www.SaveTheGuns.com simply reply with "Unsubscribe MMM" in the subject line.