STATEMENT FROM THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION ON H.R. 5175, THE DISCLOSE ACT

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

The National Rifle Association believes that any restrictions on the political speech of Americans are unconstitutional.

In the past, through the courts and in Congress, the NRA has opposed any effort to restrict the rights of its four million members to speak and have their voices heard on behalf of gun owners nationwide.

The NRA’s opposition to restrictions on political speech includes its May 26, 2010 letter to Members of Congress expressing strong concerns about H.R. 5175, the DISCLOSE Act. As it stood at the time of that letter, the measure would have undermined or obliterated virtually all of the NRA’s right to free political speech and, therefore, jeopardized the Second Amendment rights of every law-abiding American.

The most potent defense of the Second Amendment requires the most adamant exercise of the First Amendment. The NRA stands absolutely obligated to its members to ensure maximum access to the First Amendment, in order to protect and preserve the freedom of the Second Amendment.

The NRA must preserve its ability to speak. It cannot risk a strategy that would deny its rights, for the Second Amendment cannot be defended without them.

Thus, the NRA’s first obligation must be to its members and to its most ardent defense of firearms freedom for America’s lawful gun owners.

On June 14, 2010, Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives pledged that H.R. 5175 would be amended to exempt groups like the NRA, that meet certain criteria, from its onerous restrictions on political speech. As a result, and as long as that remains the case, the NRA will not be involved in final consideration of the House bill.

The NRA will continue to fight for its right to speak out in defense of the Second Amendment. Any efforts to silence the political speech of NRA members will, as has been the case in the past, be met with strong opposition.

And my 2 cents: Egotistic Whining Freeloaders need not apply. Do your own lobbying.

In Massad Ayoob’s blog, the question of an American Mumbai seems to be flying with authority.

I live very close to an elementary school and my nightmare has always been Beslam. I hope neither takes place.

Although earlier rains have begun to erode the new berms:

Other than the humidity engulfing everything like invisible fly paper, the sun was the enemy.

Today:
Miami International Airport
Lat: 25.78 Lon: -80.32 Elev: 35
Last Update on Jun 12, 5:53 am EDT
Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Partly cloudy, with a high near 92. Heat index values as high as 103. North wind at 7 mph becoming east. Chance of precipitation is 30%

But still I will do some shooting. IDPA Match beckons and I have new shooters coming to the club.  If I am not blogging back by Monday, you’ll probably find me in the nearest ER draped in ice and plugged full of fluids.

On June of last year, a masked armed robber went inside a Burger King in Miami and got his ticket to the other side by a customer with a concealed weapons permit. The citizen himself was wounded in the exchange and in a very amazing and possibly spur of the moment emotional outburst, Miami police spokesman Jeff Giordano said that the citizen was a good Samaritan. “There were a lot of people inside the Burger King; he may have saved lives. It was a brave act.” he was quoted. The Good Samaritan was identified the man as 45-year-old John Landers, a photographer by trade and well liked by peers and neighbors.  Landers was wounded and had to be taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital to be treated….. and that was the last anybody heard of this issue.

15 months later I find out that Mr. Landers, shot 4 times in the chest, arm and hand, is still recovering from his wounds and he has not been cleared yet of the shooting. His weapon is still in the hands of the police who refuse to return it unless a court order is issued and he still has another year till the DA becomes unable to press charges is any are forthcoming according to them.

I think it was Massad Ayoob said that you don’t win a gun fight, you survive it. This shows the truth of that statement, specially when the legal mongrels decide to make your life miserable by keeping you in legal limbo.

Correction:

I was explained the following:

As to the outcome, Miami PD presented their investigation to the SAO who ruled the homicide justifiable. However since there are accomplice/s, information of sufficient value to warrant an arrest would lead to a felony homicide charge and place the guy in the center of a homicide trial as a star witness. He acted in the manor any of us sympathize with however he is not clear of the legal system. And as (XXX) mentioned, he is still healing from his wounds which, were made with a .380. The civil aspects of this can expose him to jeopardy for I think 2 years (lawyers please correct me if I am mistaken).

He is lawyered up and is properly following the advise to avoid discussing the incident and living a low profile life while trying to get back to normal.

Some months ago I promised a review of EOTac Vickers Duty Gloves. I ordered a pair and had the misfortune to find out that my hands are mutant. They are too big for the the standard Large size and too small for the Extra Large.  So I felt I could not do a review on the gloves since whatever failure might not be the product but my “They Came From Outer Space” appendages.

Back in January when the temperatures in South Florida came very close to freezing (Yes they did),  I bought a pair of Hatch BGs170 ShureShot gloves. I was deluded into thinking that they would be enough to protect my hands from the cold but that was the case only if the temps remained above 50 which many nights did not. I finally took them to the range yesterday and used them to shoot my AKlon who loves to beat, scratch and burn my hands every chance it has. I know understand why people use gloves to shoot an EBR: First time I did not burn my hands or destroy my index finger trying to rack the bolt or scrape the silly while operating the safety. The ShureShot gloves held pretty good even when I had a senior moment and grabbed the rifle by the barrel immediately after emptying a 30 round magazine. I did not feel that I had lost any great amount of either dexterity or sensitivity, the leather is supple (I never used this word before but it looks good)  and the glove fit my mutant hands quite well after a some three days of 8-hour usage. The one issue I had one with the gloves was the excess material left inside the gloves past the stitching. It kept bothering me like crazy till I carefully removed the offending leather with a very sharp blade and being careful enough not to but too close to the stitch. After surgery was done, the gloves were perfectly comfortable. They also passed the heat test: even though I was wearing them under the South Florida sun under Turkish Bath conditions, my hands felt fine without any trace of heat or sweat. The hook and loop closure (Velcro for those in Hialeah) is generously wide and secure plus makes adjustment easy. They have survived pretty good my absolute lack of care and I have the feeling they will hold regular abuse at the range. The one thing I did not test  was shooting a handgun with them and that is because I realized that it requires a bit more manipulation. I rather do some dry fire and reload practices than just go and try them with a loaded handgun in a range full of people.

So, they are a good investment and you can find them out there for under $30. For the casual user, you can’t go wrong and that’s my humble opinion.

Disclaimer: I am not some Tactical Guru or widely recognized trainer or some former something or another in the military. I am just a fat old shooter with a limited budget and who likes to examine things.  That is all, carry on

Stolen shamelessly from Blackfive.