Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Issue 63 October 2006 I have had probably more than just a couple of thousand discussions with those who lean toward supporting gun control legislation. Perhaps that's a bit too conservative an estimate. Anyway, usually the discussion, while sometimes heated, ends up concerning our responsibilities as gun owners. What do you think your responsibilities are as a law abiding gun owner. See what I have to say about it in this issue... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM QUOTES OF THE MONTH "That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." George Orwell (1903-1950) Author of many books including 1984. "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves." Abraham Lincoln "No arsenal, no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women." Ronald Reagan "But to ban guns because criminals use them is to tell the innocent and law-abiding that their rights and liberties depend not on their own conduct, but on the conduct of the guilty and the lawless, and that the law will permit them to have only such rights and liberties as the lawless will allow. ... For society does not control crime, ever, by forcing the law-abiding to accommodate themselves to the expected behavior of criminals. Society controls crime by forcing the criminals to accommodate themselves to the expected behavior of the law-abiding." -- Jeff Snyder Source: "Who's Under Assault in the 'Assault Weapon' Ban?", American Rifleman, October 1994, p. 53; excerpted from the Washington Times, August 25, 1994 "People constantly speak of 'the government' doing this or that, as they might speak of God doing it. But the government is really nothing but a group of men, and usually they are very inferior men." H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American Journalist, Editor, Essayist, Linguist, Lexicographer, and Critic +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM GUN SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH Of course we all have heard the most basic of gun safety rules. They always include eye and ear protection. But how many of us actually follow this advice? My own father-in-law had a Class III machine gun permit and was a Range Safety Officer for countless machine gun shoots over the years. Only after much prompting by myself and the club did he consent to use ear protection. What can I say? He's both Irish and French. :-) As for myself, as a kid, I used to take out my Ruger Mark II Government .22LR pistol and see how fast I could get through a ten round magazine and I almost never had glasses on. That was until a hot piece of gun powder landed on my eyeball and seared the surface of my eye. Let's not be stubborn about eye and ear protection guys and gals. You don't look less than macho with them on. In fact, it makes you look smart. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NRA PAPER APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE I need your help distributing NRA Applications! Most gun owners who aren't members of the National Rifle Association are either not aware of the benefits available to them as a member or have never been given an application. I need you to commit to a task for me. Can you use the following link and print out a few dozen NRA Membership Applications and put them where people can find them? Put them in your favorite grocery store, gun shop, gun club, bulletin board or sporting goods retailer. I have the feeling that we could triple the number of members of the NRA if we simply got these applications out to the public. Please feel free to print as many of these as you wish and place them on countertops and bulletin boards wherever you can. Oh yeah and please ask for permission first from store management. Maybe you could see how your favorite retailer feels about private gun ownership while you're at it. http://www.savetheguns.com/National_Rifle_Association_Application.doc Please print and distribute this application to friends, family and co-workers! Please also be aware that if you renew your NRA Memberships through me instead of going directly to the National Rifle Association, I make a small commission that really helps me out!!! http://membership.nrahq.org/default.asp?campaignid=XR017807 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MINUTEMAN MONTHLY AIMING POINT FOR OCTOBER Almost without exception when I present the pro-Second Amendment argument to someone who is "on the fence" or even well on the gun control side of the issue, it almost always ends in a discussion of the gun owner's responsibilities. When I discuss this issue with an anti-gunner I try to focus on many facts. First is the fact that the Second Amendment was introduced to Congress one hundred fourteen (114) years before the National Guard was even formed. Secondly I focus on the fact that those who are willing and inclined to commit heinous acts of violence with a firearm do not concern themselves with obeying laws that regulate firearm commerce. Thirdly I mention the actual sources of firearms that were used during the commission of a crime. According to the United States Department of Justice, 39.6% of the guns possessed or used during the commission of a crime came from FAMILY AND/OR FRIENDS OF THE FELON. 39.2% were obtained through unlawful and illegal sources, such as ON THE STREET, THROUGH THE ILLEGAL DRUG TRADE AND THROUGH ROBBERIES AND BURGLARIES. 8.3% were purchased fraudulently through a LEGITIMATE AND PROPERLY LICENSED RETAIL OUTLET. 3.8% were obtained fraudulently through a PAWN SHOP. 1.0% of the guns used or possessed during a crime were purchased at FLEA MARKETS OR YARD SALES. 0.7% of them were purchased at GUN SHOWS. This study is ongoing and comes out with new percentages every year. But for the most part they closely follow these percentages pretty closely. Gun control laws only affect two (2) classes of citizens. First they affect legitimate firearm retailers who have to abide by reams and reams of forms, applications and reports. These usually have to go to the BATFE and their own state's Department of Public Safety. Secondly, gun control laws affect law abiding gun owners. When looking at the above percentages you'll see that 12.1% of firearms used in a criminal act are obtained at retail or through a pawn shop. 87.9% of guns used in crime are well outside the reach of gun control laws to begin with. Furthermore, the 12.1% of guns used in crime are obtained through false identification and falsifying documentation. Therefore, gun control laws are very ineffective as anti-crime tools, as if we didn't know that already... Now, once I present this evidence to a gun control fanatic they almost always try to close the argument with discussing what they think are the responsibilities of legitimate gun owners. What do you think they are? Here's what I think... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FOURTH QUARTER CONTRIBUTIONS WAY SHORT OF GOAL My goal for 2006 was to gain contributions of $6000.00 to purchase some new updated equipment and supplies and expand my ability to be effective. I've managed to receive $180.00 so far. I'll need $5820.00 in the last quarter to meet my fundraising goals. If everyone who gets this message does something, I'll make it. I knew it was a lofty goal, but I was getting 25,000 visitors every month... http://www.savetheguns.com/contributions.htm Contribute by credit card right now before you forget by using this link to my Amazon.com Pay-page. http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P3GXU3PIEM5ST1 Thanks in advance for keeping me online and active!! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ YOUR SIX RESPONSIBILITIES AS A LAWFUL AND HONEST GUN OWNER Number one, you have a responsibility to help protect and defend your rights under the Second Amendment. If you're a firearm owner and you have not responded to government attempts to restrict and diminish this right, you have already missed the boat. I was at a function the other day. I had my NRA Recruiter cap on and my NRA Recruiter polo shirt. I began playing pool (eight-ball) with a young man that I had just met. He asked me what "NRA" meant. I looked at him incredulously and said "The National Rifle Association". The worst part was that this young man owns several firearms and had no clue at all what the National Rifle Association is or what we do. This young man is not meeting his primary responsibility as a firearm owner at all is he? Protecting and defending the Constitution as it pertains to the right to keep and bear arms is your primary responsibility as a gun owner. The largest and most effective organization that helps you with this primary duty is the National Rifle Association. If you're not a member yet, get out your credit card and use the following link. It's just $25.00 a year for a limited time. http://membership.nrahq.org/default.asp?campaignid=XR017807 You can even give an NRA Membership as a gift for the upcoming Christmas/Hanukah season through this link. {Please be aware that I make a small commission when this above link is used to renew your NRA Membership. This is a direct link to the membership renewal page. Please use this link to renew your memberships. It's a small amount, but it helps to keep www.SaveTheGuns.com online and active.} Many gun owners have a negative feeling about the NRA, thinking that they compromise too much. I really don't think that's the case. I think it's really common sense to have some kind of point-of-sale records check for gun purchases. It would be nuts to make it easy for a violent convicted felon to purchase a handgun at retail without any safeguards in place. A violent felon should not be free to simply fabricate paperwork at a firearm retailer and walk away with a new handgun. The National Rifle Association supports this common sense law, as do I. It's not that burdensome to have a records check. You have to have your credit checked to purchase anything with a credit card and this isn't much more burdensome than that. Secondly, I believe you have a responsibility toward gun safety. If you have children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, younger siblings or cousins and most of us do, then you have a solemn duty to guarantee that your firearms are not used to accidentally harm them. Some gun owners use gun safes, locked pistol boxes or trigger locks. Other gun owners simply use proper firearm safety education with their kids and think that's enough. I would say that most of us probably use a combination of secure storage and proper gun safety education. Nevertheless, your second responsibility is toward gun safety. Let's fact the facts here. If a loaded firearm is mishandled, someone can die and it happens on average two or three times a day in the United States alone. Thirdly and I'll probably take some heat for this one... You have a responsibility to make certain that your firearms are never used to commit a violent crime. Let me explain before you give me a slap upside the head. You should not be held legally, criminally or civilly liable if one of your guns is stolen and used to commit an act of violence. However, I believe you have a responsibility to curtail the likelihood of it happening. According to the Bureau of Justice, about 7,000 crimes are committed each year by juveniles who take a firearm from their own home and use it to commit a crime with. If you have a child in your home whom you cannot control, your firearms must be inaccessible. If you have a child in your home who is prone to getting in trouble with the law, you have a responsibility to make certain that your guns don't find their way to a crime scene. What about general home security? If you leave your guns in a glass case that's right next to your front door and your front door is always unlocked and also made of glass, you could be doing a better job with this serious responsibility. If you have a decent firearm collection I implore you not to display it in it's entirety completely unsecured, readily visible and available to anyone who walks into your home. Keeping your gun collection in plain site and completely unsecured, while leaving your home open is simply tempting fate and I strongly advise against it. Not only do I believe you have a responsibility to lock your doors, have deadbolts on them, no glass panels within reach of the lock, trimmed shrubbery, ample lighting and so forth. But you also have a responsibility in transferring your guns to others. If you put up a firearm for sale and someone pulls into your driveway in an out-of-state vehicle, smelling of alcohol, sporting a dirty wad of $5.00 bills and has the demeanor of a pit bull on crack, you have a responsibility not to sell that gun to him or to at least have a records check done through your local gun dealer. I'm not against private sales of firearms by any means. But I do believe that you have a responsibility not to sell one to an adolescent who is addicted to narcotics or to someone who is acting suspiciously or someone that you immediately have a bad feeling about. Obviously if you know the prospective buyer has been in trouble with the law before or has a bad reputation, you should refuse the sale as well. Up here in Maine, just a couple weeks ago, a licensed private investigator sold a personal handgun to a guy that drove up here in a car with out-of-state Massachusetts plates and a suspicious demeanor. Two weeks later, his handgun was used in a murder near Boston. Just use common sense and if you have reason to suspect any wrongdoing on the part of a prospective gun buyer, just simply ask that a local gun dealer do a records check to relieve your mind. If he vehemently objects or you never see him again, it's probably for the best. Fourth, I would say that as a law abiding firearm owner, you have a serious responsibility to know your state and federal firearm laws. It is not a valid excuse before a judge to explain that you didn't know about a particular law. Fifth, in my opinion you have a responsibility to practice with and be efficient with your firearm, especially if you're going to carry it concealed in public. Sixth and lastly, you have a responsibility to involve your children and grandchildren. This last responsibility is probably more important than all the rest of them. If we do not involve the next generation with our firearm hobby and our thoughts about the importance of firearm ownership and how it relates to freedom itself, all might be lost in a few decades or less. The best way to involve your children is to take them out shooting and have them clean the guns with you afterward. The second best thing to do is to get them a Junior NRA Membership that comes with Insights Magazine. I'm not saying this simply because I'm an NRA Membership Recruiter, but it's a great idea for this upcoming holiday season! http://membership.nrahq.org/default.asp?campaignid=XR017807 Anyway, to recap, here is a six point list of things that I believe are your responsibilities as law abiding gun owners. ***Protect and defend the Second Amendment ***Gun safety knowledge and safe practices ***Don't sell your gun to a felon, ever. ***Know your state and federal firearm laws. ***Practice and be efficient, especially if you carry in public! ***Involve your kids and grandkids by taking them with you, having them clean your guns and getting them a Junior NRA Membership. STAY INFORMED~~~STAY UNITED~~~STAY ACTIVE~~~STAY SAFE +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ As always you may print, post, blog, distribute, forward or otherwise use this newsletter as long as somewhere you mention that you got it at www.SaveTheGuns.com 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.