Greetings from Michigan.
It’s still Winter . . . .
Back in early January, David posted about his shotgun class and showed a picture of a Mossy 930. Unbeknownst to me, a little seed found some fertile soil in my brain matter and after some appropriate germination time, I found myself running around (well, driving) the local gunny store circuit and checking out semi shottys. A bit more than a week after David’s post, I had added another 12 ga. to the brood . . . .
This is not really an actual Lincoln quote. Instead, it was composed by James Algar for the Animatronic Lincoln in the “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” attraction at Disneyland:
The world has never had a good definition of the word liberty, and the American people, just now, are much in want of one. We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. What constitutes the bulwark of our liberty and independence? It is not our frowning embattlements, our bristling sea coasts. These are not our reliance against tyranny. Our reliance is in the love of liberty, which God has planted in our bosoms. Our defense is in the preservation of the spirit which prizes liberty as the heritage of all men, in all lands everywhere. Destroy this spirit, and you have planted the seeds of despotism around your own doors. At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some trans-Atlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined could not, by force, take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, that if it ever reaches us, it must spring from amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we ourselves must be the authors and finishers. As a nation of free men, we must live through all times, or die by suicide. Let reverence for the law be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap; let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in primers, in spelling-books, and almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation; and let the old and the young, the rich and the poor, the grave and the gay of all sexes and tongues and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly at its altars. And let us strive to deserve, as far as mortals may, the continued care of Divine Providence, trusting that, in future national emergencies, He will not fail to provide us the instruments of safety and security. Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by the menaces of destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.—Abraham Lincoln
Will likely blame the Republicans
I’m bookmarking this. It’s also going on the sidebar under Firearms Links, along with the .308 Ammo Aggregator link I promised I’d add long ago.
On the topic of hard times (aka: Grid Down) when you have more bullets than beans
I’m good, not great on both Guns and Food, but I’ve had a simple policy for years. We can Trade, I might even Sell, but Looters get removed from the Business Cycle ASAP.
Another commentor at Rob’s place neamed Steven followed Les’ comment with something I’ve written about here many times before.
Sure, Ann Coulter is fun to listen to when she’s tearing apart the pro-government arguments of the left.
But when she ignores the liberty-minded arguments of those who actually DO want government out of their lives, she outs herself as just as much an idiot as those who would regulate how much soda you can buy and what kind of car you should be allowed to drive.
Behold
So, because I think the drug war kills far more people than it helps and militarizes our police forces, and because I don’t believe the government has any business holding contracts between individuals for sexual relations, I am just a pussy who wants to impress my progressive friends?
Why am I not surprised?
In Washington State, you Concealed Pistol License is tied to your driver’s license. When your name is run through the computer systems used by the various municipal, county and state constabularies, a link appears that connects them directly to every gun you have ever purchased from an FFL in Washington.
It is called the Washington Handgun Registry. That second form you fill out after your 4473 divides up into multiple carbon copies, one of which is sent to the state which ties you to the firearm forever (since it doesn’t cancel out if the gun is resold through an FFL later).
During traffic stops I make it a point to hand over my driver’s license, vehicle registration, proof of insurance and my CPL so as to garner some good faith between the armed government official and myself. I know some folks say this is dumb, but because the person in the car with the flashing lights already knows that I have a CPL before I come to a complete stop, I figure I’ll let them know they have one less thing to worry about for the duration.
So far, Washington State has not used their list for mass confiscations of firearms. However, they do whip it out to confirm the surrendering of firearms in situations such as Domestic Violence or felony convictions.
For some reason, Alan Gottleib of the Second Amendment Foundation believes he can get the state to throw this list out.
“First you should know that I do not support Washington House Bill 1588 as it is currently written.
“My support for a state universal background check bill must include a substantial victory for gun owners that includes, but is not limited to repealing, prohibiting and destroying the current state handgun registration system and the data base of several million records of gun owners and their firearms that include the type of handguns and the serial numbers.
“This would be a huge victory for our gun rights. We would be the first state to repeal a gun registration system. Think about that and what it means for your privacy as a gun owner and the fact that we all know historically that registration leads to confiscation.
“In addition, if you have a carry permit you will be exempt from additional background checks. No checks would be required for transfers between family members. If you are a member of an organization like the Washington Arms Collectors that does a background check for membership, you would be exempt from additional checks to buy a firearm at their gun shows.
“There are other inclusions that must be made as well that are good for our rights and freedom that need to be in a final bill to have my support.
“My guess is that the gun grabbers will not go along with these provisions and kill the bill. If they do the “blood†so to speak is on their hands, not ours.
“There are other smart, tactical, political and morally justified reasons why I have taken this position that I do not want to make public at this time. We do have enemies and I am not going to telegraph our strategy to them by spelling out our battle plans.
“I enjoy winning our freedoms more than the fight. I wish I can say that about some of my critics who have pre-judged without knowledge what it is that I am doing.
“Anyone who knows me knows that for the past forty years my efforts have expanded and protected our right to keep and bear arms from local city councils all the way to the United States Supreme Court.â€
Alan Gottlieb
Good luck, Alan. Don’t fuck this up.
