Neal's Soapbox A place where I can bitch to my hearts content.
Sorry Folks, But This Is Getting Way Out Of Hand
Posted on February 3, 2014 by Neal Knox
In a way it is funny, but then again it is also kind of sad, but since I
began writing 15 some odd years ago I find myself right back where it
all started for me, discussing the issue of gun control. I have to tell you,
I am getting awfully damned fed up with people and their almost manic
phobia regarding guns. Let me explain why I call it a manic phobia.
This morning before I headed off to work I read an article on an ABC
website about how to ask other parents if they keep guns in their homes.
It seems some parents are so afraid that their little child is going to go
to a friend’s house and find a gun and accidentally shoot someone or himself.
There is so much wrong with this that I hardly know where to begin.
First of all, if you are that afraid of guns, you are most likely passing
that fear on to your child. Secondly, kids are naturally curious about things.
If they see a gun and have never been shown one, or taught how to
respect them for what they are, of course if they see one they may
pick it up and ‘play’ with it.
I grew up with guns all over our house. My dad kept loaded revolvers
on the end tables in the living room, loaded guns in his dresser in the
master bedroom, and loaded rifles in the closet. The difference was
that I was taught from an early age what guns were and that they
were not toys to be played with.
When we have a society that doesn’t teach our children about the safe
handling of firearms, but have TV shows, movies, and video games
that all contain people using guns, then what do you expect the kids
to do when they come across a real gun? I blame the parents of these kids,
not the owners of the guns.
We have all read the news stories about kids being suspended from school
due to this so-called zero tolerance for anything resembling a firearm.
First there was 7 year old Josh Welch who was suspended for chewing
a Pop Tart into the shape of a pistol. Then there was the 6 yr old
Silver Spring boy who was suspended for pointing his finger like a gun
and saying “pow” and then there was 7 yr old Christopher Marshall,
a Virginia boy, who was suspended for pretending a pencil was a gun
at school. God forbid these kids had made a rubber band gun and shot
at each other like we used to do in school.
By our schools doing this to kids what message are we teaching them?
Honestly, if any kid today was to do half the stuff I did as a kid it
wouldn’t surprise me to see Homeland Security called in and the child
detained as a terrorist. It’s absolutely ridiculous!
I can recall walking through the parking lot of my high school and
seeing pickup truck after pickup truck with shotguns and hunting rifles
in the rear windows. Can you imagine the panic were that to happen today?
To paraphrase a quote from the Joker in The Dark Knight, “I mean,
what happened America? Did your balls drop off?” Why this manic fear of guns?
A gun is only as dangerous as the person who is handling it. You put a
gun on a table and leave it there and no one, and I mean NO ONE is
going to get hurt by it, but one person who has never been properly
trained on how to handle firearms pick it up and then you are asking
for trouble.
According to statistics there are many other things that cause far
more deaths in this country than firearms. From the National Vital
Statistics Report in the year 2013 tobacco caused 577,512 deaths,
medical errors caused 212,882 deaths, alcohol abuse caused 117,249
deaths, vehicle accidents caused 45,852, drug abuse 27,838, and then
firearm homicide was at 11,821.
Now don’t get me wrong, eleven thousand deaths is nothing to be
proud of, but consider that for every one person killed by a firearm,
four where killed in vehicle accidents, ten from alcohol abuse, 21 by
doctors making mistakes in their treatment, and 57 from tobacco products.
Yet there is no outcry from harsher laws regarding the ownership of cars,
for the consumption of alcohol and tobacco, and certainly nothing
regarding restricting visits to your doctor. So again, why this fear of guns?
Yet we have people like Bob Costas, who acts as announcer during NFL
football games, calling for more severe gun laws, yet football games
are notorious for alcohol consumption, and alcohol kills far more people
in this country than do firearms, but you don’t hear Bob Costas calling
for a ban on Budweiser…do you?
You might not like guns. You might not like that I, and millions of
other Americans have guns, but we have the Second Amendment
which protects our right to own them. Knowing that there are that
many guns out there in the hands of millions of people might scare you.
Getting back to the Second Amendment, our Founders put it there
for a reason. It wasn’t so that we could go hunt deer as you frequently
hear the anti gun lobby proclaim. It wasn’t so that we could go to the
range and shoot at paper targets or empty beer cans. It wasn’t even
so that we could protect ourselves from burglars, rapists, and other
criminals. It was so that we could protect ourselves from a government
that might one day grow too big for its britches and try to rob us
of our other rights. In that manner the Second Amendment is a doomsday
clause should all other methods of redress fail.
In the landmark case of Miranda v. Arizona, the Supreme Court ruled,
“Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be
no rule making or legislation which would abrogate them.”
In the case of West Virginia Board of Education vs. Barnette, (1943)
the Supreme court ruled, “The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was
to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy,
to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to
establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts.
One’s right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press,
freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not
be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.”
It does not matter what our lawmakers today say, or even what the
Supreme Court says today about our right to keep and bear firearms.
In the case of State v. Sutton it was ruled, “When any court violates
the clean and unambiguous language of the Constitution, a fraud is
perpetrated and no one is bound to obey it.”
So even if the almighty Supreme Court upheld a law banning our right
to keep and bear arms, it is a natural right, it is an inherent right,
[part of the very nature of something, and therefore permanently
characteristic of it or necessarily involved in it], and it is an
unalienable right, [incapable of being alienated, that is, sold and
transferred. Black's Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, page 1523].
As former Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black once said, “It is my
belief that there are ‘absolutes’ in our Bill of Rights, and that they
were put there on purpose by men who knew what the words meant
and meant their prohibitions to be ‘absolutes.’”
So, when the Second Amendment says that the right to keep and bear arms
shall not be infringed, it means just that, SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.
It doesn’t matter if guns give you the heeby jeebies, get over it
because the truth of the matter is that those of us who understand
what the Founders meant and intended when they put the Second Amendment
into the Bill of Rights, have no intention of ever letting a bunch of pussies
take our guns away from us because they are scared of them.
[All emphasis has been added by David.]
I gave u your 1OOOth reply on this thread, Rex!
David
Guns, medical marijuana collide in Illinois rules
By CARLA K. JOHNSON, AP Medical Writer | February 5, 2014 |
CHICAGO (AP) — Guns and marijuana don't mix, according to federal
authorities, even if the gun is a legally held firearm and the drug is
recommended by a doctor.
That interpretation of federal law is turning up in Illinois' draft
medical marijuana regulations to the frustration of patients and caregivers.
As the state launches its first medical cannabis program, firearms ownership
is overshadowing other issues such as the $150 proposed annual fee
for patients and how new medical conditions would be added to an
approved-for-use list.
"People aren't yelling at me about the $150. They're yelling at me
about this issue," said Chris Lindsey, legislative analyst for the
Marijuana Policy Project, a national group that supports legally
regulated marijuana.
Lindsey said he believes it's the first time a state agency anywhere in
the country "has pointed to a state law and decided that patients may
not be able to possess a firearm." Karmen Hanson, medical marijuana
policy expert for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said
she's not aware of any state laws that address firearms ownership
among medical marijuana patients or their caregivers.
Some Illinois patients will continue to use marijuana illegally rather
than give up their guns, said Julie Falco of Chicago, who speaks
openly about how she has used cannabis to control her pain from
multiple sclerosis.
Brian Hilton of Arlington Heights is one of them. He's a gun owner who
wants to use marijuana legally to control pain from a spinal cord
injury, but he's reconsidering applying for a medical marijuana card.
"I would be forced to surrender my gun rights, and that would put my
family at great risk," said Hilton, who makes a living repairing musical
instruments. "I would rather keep my weapons and stay underground."
The dispute centers on 93 words out of 48 pages of rules proposed by
the Illinois Department of Public Health. The wording, in effect,
advises gun owners they'll be in violation of state and federal law if
they're approved for a medical marijuana card and don't give up their firearms.
It says gun owners who obtain medical marijuana cards "may be
subject to administrative proceedings by the Illinois State Police if
they do not voluntarily surrender" their firearms owners ID cards or
concealed carry licenses.
Caregivers, too, who apply for medical marijuana cards would be
required to certify they understand they "may not possess firearms
under relevant state and federal laws." It's still unclear how any of this
would be enforced.
Sandy Champion of Somonauk owns guns and plans to apply for a
caregiver card so she can legally obtain marijuana for her husband,
Jim, who has multiple sclerosis. She has no plans to use the drug herself.
"I'm not giving anything up until I'm told I have to," Sandy Champion said
"but if I have to choose between owning a gun and giving Jim his
medicine, I'm going to choose giving him his medicine."
The Illinois Department of Public Health referred questions about the
issue to the Illinois State Police.
Monique Bond, a state police spokeswoman, cited the federal Gun
Control Act and the state's Firearm Owners Identification Card Act
as the legal basis for the wording in the draft rules.
"We are bound by federal law," Bond said in an email, adding that the
federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
interprets marijuana use to include possession and argues that "this means
all persons (patients and caregivers) are prohibited" from gun ownership.
ATF spokesman Thomas Ahern confirmed that is the current
interpretation. He said federal law allows no exceptions, even if
medical use is sanctioned by state law, which ATF spelled out to
firearms dealers in a 2011 open letter.
Lawyers drafting the current regulations "believe that federal law
requires them to write the rule this way," said state Rep. Lou Lang,
a sponsor of the medical cannabis legislation who also sits on the
committee that will vote on the rules, but he called the deference to
federal guidance shortsighted.
"If we were worried about federal guidelines, we wouldn't have
medical marijuana at all," Lang said, adding he'll work to get
the provision removed.
In Oregon, the issue landed in the courts when sheriffs in two counties
withheld concealed handgun licenses from medical marijuana users.
The Oregon Supreme Court ordered the sheriffs to allow the gun licenses.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal, a decision hailed
as a victory for gun owners and medical marijuana users.
Gun rights groups in Illinois aren't saying much.
"We don't have a position on it," said Todd Vandermyde of the NRA.
The Illinois State Rifle Association is looking into the issue, said
executive director Richard Pearson. "I think it will be a few years
before this gets worked out," Pearson said.
Illinois' medical cannabis program was established by the Legislature
as a four-year experiment and has been called one of the strictest
programs in the nation. Manteno resident Mike Graham, a longtime
supporter of the legislation, said he's worried the firearms restriction
will hurt the program's viability by discouraging patients from applying
for marijuana cards.
"They're allowing law enforcement to dictate a medical program,"
Graham said of state health officials.
The health department is asking for public comments on the draft rules
by Friday. Rules for dispensaries and cultivation centers still are being
drafted by other Illinois agencies.
[All emfasis has been added by David.]
Government endeavors to rape the citizenry
out of their Constitutional Rights to ingest whatever thay please
OR
to relinquish the Constitutional Right to defensively fight back
against violent attack.
GOVERNMENT IS CRIMINAL,
IN RAPING THE US CONSTITUTION.
Last night we scored a major victory against the gun lobby in Colorado!
A Colorado state senate committee voted down a bill that would have repealed Colorado’s new background check law. Thousands of Coloradans spoke up in support of their state’s common-sense, life-saving law. It's a testament to the progress that's possible when the 90% of Americans who support background checks stand up and fight for what's right.
One more reason to vote OUT the republicans...
@RexRed,
This will come back to haunt them in November. We already kicked out 2 of the leaders of the gun control laws, and would have kicked out a third if she hadn't quit her job. That is 3 of Colorado's strongest gun grabbers getting fired by the people. You still want to claim they have the support of the majority?
@RexRed,
RexRed wrote:Last night we scored a major victory against the gun lobby in Colorado! [BALONEY!!!]
A Colorado state senate committee voted down a bill that would have repealed Colorado’s new background check law. Thousands of Coloradans spoke up in support of their state’s common-sense, life-saving law. It's a testament to the progress that's possible when the 90% of Americans who support background checks stand up and fight for what's right.
One more reason to vote OUT the republicans...
IF u are
against the freedom to fight back against violence, Rex.
That bill never had a chance: too many Democrats. That killed it.
The Republicans were only grandstanding, for the moment. It was only a joke,
until after we get more freedom-loving legislators elected.
David
Blonde loves her cute little 5.7mm P-90 submachinegun.
She is prepared for self defense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbk7UqLiOFM#t=68
SECOND AMENDMENT FOUNDATION ‘DELIGHTED’
THAT ITS COURT WINS PAVED WAY FOR NEW CHICAGO RULING
7 Jan 2014 | News & Releases
BELLEVUE, WA – Monday’s federal court ruling that a ban on gun sales
in Chicago is unconstitutional cited three significant Second Amendment
Foundation court victories, and SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb
is delighted that his organization’s legal work “paved the way.”
“While this was not our case,” Gottlieb said, “Monday’s ruling by
District Court Judge Edmond E. Chang would not have been possible
had not SAF legal actions broken important new ground over the past
3 ½ years since our June 2010 Supreme Court victory in McDonald v.
City of Chicago. We are very pleased at the outcome, and that
Judge Chang cited McDonald, and also our Ezell v. City of Chicago
and Moore v. Madigan victories in reaching his decision.”
The lawsuit that resulted in Monday’s ruling was brought by the
Illinois Association of Firearms Retailers and three private citizens,
Kenneth Pacholski, Kathryn Tyler and Michael Hall.
In his 35-page decision, Judge Chang noted that “certain fundamental rights
are protected by the Constitution, put outside government’s reach,
including the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense under
the Second Amendment. This right must also include the right
to acquire a firearm…”
[All emfasis has been added by David.]
Brad Pitt said in a recent interview with British magazine Live
(in response to more gun control following the Colorado movie shooting),
“I absolutely don’t believe you can put sanctions or shackles on what is made.
Nor do I want to pretend the world is different than what we witnessed that night…
America is a country founded on guns. It’s in our DNA. I feel better having a gun.
I really do. I don’t feel safe, I don’t feel the house is completely safe,
if I don’t have one hidden somewhere. That’s my thinking, right or wrong.”
Pitt also recently built a $400,000 shooting range
as a wedding gift to fiance Angelina Jolie.
Angelina Jolie, an avid shooter has several times expressed her support
of the Second Amendment.
In 2008, Jolie told the U.K.’s Daily Mail, “I bought original, real guns
of the type we used in ‘Tomb Raider’ for security. Brad and I are not
against having a gun in the house, and we do have one and yes, I’d be
able to use it if I had to … If anybody comes into my home and tries
to hurt my kids, I’ve no problem shooting them.”
Joe Perry of Aerosmith
Perry recently spoke at length about his support for the Second Amendment
in an interview with Fox News.
Perry says, “I have always been fascinated with guns. I grew up in America
so granted, it is part of our heritage and it is written into the laws of
how this country is run,” he said. “I’ve been fascinated with all kinds
of weapons my whole life, and as I have been able to afford to acquire
pieces, here and there I started to collect.”
Miranda Lambert
The country star told Self.com earlier this year that she’s packing heat.
Lambert said, “I carry a weapon. I got a death threat a few years ago
and was really scared. But I don’t want bodyguards. I am my own security.“
Johnny Depp
Depp recalls fond memories about shooting as a kid and plans
to teach his children to shoot.
Depp says, “We would just go out and line up a bunch of cans and
shoot with rifles, handguns and at times, submachine guns,” Depp admits.
“When I was a kid it was a controlled atmosphere, we weren’t
shooting at humans – we were shooting at cans and bottles mostly.
I will most certainly take my kids out for target practice.”
Clint Eastwood
This list obviously wouldn’t be complete without Dirty Harry himself.
Eastwood once said, “I have a very strict gun control policy: if there’s
a gun around, I want to be in control of it.”
Eastwood is a tireless supporter of the Second Amendment and
a supporter of the NRA and other pro gun liberty organizations.
James Earl Jones
Jones once said, “The world is filled with violence.
Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should
also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose.”
@RexRed,
Quote:I have always been against most guns... What can I say... I just don't like them.
A friend once showed up at my door with a samurai sword, he said, "Isn't this cool?" I said, "well you ain't coming in here with that! You planning on slashing your way though a jungle today?"
Some people are just plain stupid...
I remember playing cowboys and Indians as a kid and now it seems completely out of touch to the way I am... But these play guns and arrows were purposely targeted towards small children when I was growing up. Some people just never grew up...
I don't even like pro wrestling and boxing. I do like sports but these sports I think cross a certain line, quite comparative but to a lesser degree than gladiator sports did in Rome. Decadence...
I do like gymnastics, ice skating and ballet. I am being serious... I don't care what people think of me because of these opinions. Sports should have some "class"...
Men and women beating the **** out of each other for a piece of gold or monetary rewards is in my opinion retarded. Old Greek style wrestling is fine to me though but this modern wrestling is just plain dumb.
If I was in law enforcement or had security issues than maybe but I am not in that situation so the point is moot. I guess necessity is the word and most people don't really have a necessity. If I lived in the country and had a serious rodent or animal pest problem I might have necessity for some of these implements. Even then there are clever ways of dealing with animal pests.
I don't even really like gun people per se, other than the military, provided they are not completely obsessed with guns. There is such a thing as going overboard... And... background and psychological tests are done on all military personnel before they are allowed to join the service... I have said my peace. I plan to post gun literature here that reflects my own personal opinions. I am sure others will post their pro gun crap here too, oh well. I do believe in the second amendment but with tight restrictions...
Ask yourself, is there really a middle ground with violence? I don't think so...
As I should had been born male, you should had been born female.
I personally believe you are younger in age than I. A part of me wants to believe you are no threat. A part of me.
I may be saying too much. Because. I have an uncomfortable feeling with you. I don't like it.
Bruce Willis
The action star said in a 2000 interview with USA Weekend,
“Everyone has a right to bear arms. If you take guns away from legal gun owners,
then the only people who have guns are the bad guys.” Even a pacifist, he insists,
would get violent if someone were trying to kill her. “You would fight for your life.
You’d use a rock or tear one of these chairs out of the floor.”
@RexRed,
Rr to h20 man:
Quote:What a ******* hypocrite you are toilet water.
Why the hell would you call that man a hypocrite when you yourself would kill an innocent new born child? Or you would have one else do it for you which is just as bad.
I call you pathetic, shitty, a sorry piece of ****, a ******* hypocrite, else similar,.. good for nothing being who has no love. I've seen some of your crazy ass posts. That was enough for me to get a good understanding as to who you are, the person you are.
As I think to myself ******* despicable.
Storyleak: A man who fled Cuba’s communist regime in the 1960s
blasted Oregon lawmakers Thursday during a public hearing on
proposed gun control legislation. Manuel Martinez, who narrowly
escaped Cuba in 1962 after being imprisoned for opposing Fidel Castro,
passionately defended the Second Amendment in front of Oregon’s
Senate Judiciary Committee, comparing the state’s attempts to pass
gun control to moves made by his former government.
“Don’t sell me this. A very powerful man tried to sell me this 50-
something years ago, I didn’t buy it,” Martinez said. “This is Marxism,
plain and clear.”
LIVE FREE or DIE!
New Hampshire defeats gun control legislation!
After a flurry of floor votes that included division votes and recorded
roll call votes, the New Hampshire House of Representatives voted
House Bill 1589 “inexpedient to legislate” today, meaning this
egregious anti-gun bill which would have imposed “universal”
background checks on even private transactions was defeated.
HB 1589 was an extreme proposal which would have mandated
background checks for all transactions at gun shows and on private
sales conducted through newspaper or internet ads, even going as far
as to virtually eliminate gun transfers between family and friends.
This misguided legislation would have done nothing to prevent
or reduce violent crime.
76-year-old fells stun gun wielding robber,
The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C. 02/10/14
Posted on February 12, 2014
76-year-old Charles Petit was walking from his Lincolnville, S.C. home
to his vehicle parked in the driveway when a 25-year-old criminal
armed with a stun gun attacked the elderly homeowner and
attempted to rob him. Petit responded by drawing a .38-caliber revolver
and shooting the attacker, killing him.
Following the incident, Petit was hospitalized for an injury to his face
suffered during the altercation. A local business owner who knows
Petit described him to a local media outlet as “a prince of a fellow,”
and added, “I’m glad to know he wasn’t hurt any worse than he was.”
(The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C. 02/10/14)
