I-594, the Political War and Educating Outsiders…

I had a request come in last week to be a guest host on 2AToday to talk about I-594 and I-591, Washington political history, and basically provide a solid overview to educate people on the situation, especially those outside of Washington.

The creator worked his tail off and got it posted at BF 30 this morning.

There will be a part 2 follow on episode for after the election where fallout and the political horizon will be discussed.

While you may not live in Washington so you have no ability to vote on the initiatives I highly recommend you listen. I didn’t do this  just because of Washington politics. There is more going on that many people realize and we’re already seeing the glow of smoke on the horizon. We’re in a fight whether you like it or not and I suggest finding out what’s going on from people currently on the front lines before you find yourself in a middle of a political war zone with no clue what’s going on.

You will notice I broke out the “It Can’t Happen Here” category, because I suspect we will be hearing a lot of it in the near future.

Open Mouth Insert Hoof… Nick Hanauer

So I knew about this over the weekend and was marinating on it waiting to see what the other side bothers to do if anything regarding the events of last Friday.

While many may think I am talking about the school shooting in Marysville, I am not. Quite honestly I’m getting sick of people working to exploit tragedy for political gain. Which brings me to the events I am talking about…

nick-hanauer_tweet

To the right is a real screen shot from Nick Hanauer’s Facebook Friday while in the wake of tragedy.

Now many who read this blog are from outside of the state, are not fully familiar with the ongoing legal battle, much less exactly who Nick Hanauer is.

Who is Nick Hanauer?

Nick Hanauer is a leading I-594 proponent and heir to the Pacific Coast Feather Company. To say that Nick Hanauer has had his hand in the development of I-594 is to put it mildly as he had a significant role to play in funding the initiative from the start.

Not only does he fund the initiative but he is heavily involved in Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility being their primary funder and founder.

WAGR…

Well after Friday it is obvious that WAGR is merely a xerox of every other gun control organization we have seen that is not about the things they claim but are really about exploiting tragedy for their own political gains.

Why has WAGR not immediately made a public announcement distancing itself from Nick Hanauer? Could it be because they love his money over their principles? Could it be because deep down they agree with Hanauer’s statement? Honestly I don’t think it could be put any better than a response I overheard at the fun show over the weekend:

What a ludicrous, insensitive and quite frankly, vile, comment!  I find it
offensive and morally reprehensible.  WAGR should publicly disassociate
itself from Nick Hanauer (and return the blood money they have received
from him)

That ladies and gentleman is the cold hard truth and the most basic demonstration of exactly what the other side is. They are so desperate for money that they are willing to swim with scum and villainy the likes of which would make most good-hearted people vomit.

We however will never see WAGR respond, much less distance itself from Hanauer, and never in a million years return his money. Our opponents are too desperate and honestly rely on tragedy to fuel their funding.

We hold events to raise money for charities outside the shooting sports not to mention charities within from time to time. Name one event organized by CSGV, WAGR, or the Brady Campaign where they were raising funds for anyone other than themselves. At Boomershoot we’re regularly raising money for Soldiers’ Angels.

So let me ask one real simple question, who do you really think is trying to make their communities better? The people screaming for more violence so they can capitalize on tragedy. We on the other hand get together for a weekend and say, “Hey lets help some other people while we’re at it.”

This is why we win…

Why We Win…

So if you are thinking about sending money to WAGR, you might want to think again and find a better choice.

Liars, Thieves, and Cheats

So I came in to work the show this morning and was informed of this insanity:

Screen Shot 2014-10-25 at 10.18.42 AM

It has been a good while since I’ve done a good fisking, shall we?

Myth #3 – Gifts of firearms are exempted. Nowhere in the text does it imply that all firearm gifts are exempted. To imply that anyone assumed that makes *them* look not too bright. Any responsible gun owner should WANT it to be known whether a specific gun was transferred to someone else or not. Why? Because while you may have given it to someone you “think” would never use it in the commission of a crime, the fact of the matter is, you don’t know. You couldn’t know. How many times do you see friends and family members shocked and incredulous over what the people they have known their whole lives end up doing? How many times do you hear interviews with family members who say “I just can’t believe he did it. He was always so easy going. I don’t understand where that came from.”? Do you really want to be the person who “gave” your gun to a would be assassin regardless of the fact that you think “they would never do that”?

Gifts are exempted in very limited circumstances. I can give a gift to my mother but not mother-in-law. There is no straight exemption of gifts and to claim otherwise is deceptive and misleading. Here is the exact wording on gifts:

  • (a) A transfer between immediate family members, which for this subsection shall be limited to spouses, domestic partners, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, first cousins, aunts, and uncles, that is a bona fide gift

If you were really about increasing the knowledge to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands, why not a public background check number or an indicator that is printed on all drivers licenses. While that has other issues it’s certainly a fair cry better than the monstrosity you’re trying to sell.

Myth #6 (loaning a gun to a friend for repair) and Myth #8 handing a firearm off to a student…etc. Yeah, this is a real bummer because most people want to have friends and family fix their guns or teach them how to use them properly. Seriously? If you were a responsible gun owner, you SHOULD want these things done by a professional. Someone licensed to do so. Not uncle Joe.

Difference between an amateur and professional is whether or not you are paid and nothing more. I am an amateur radio operator and let me tell you, there is nothing amateur about us. I’ve had law enforcement park next to me because I will have comms when they don’t. I have the tools and training to change barrels and do other work on firearms however that is not my everyday job. So I should not be allowed to do work I enjoy for friends and family despite my training?

Further there is no exemption for “professionals” except for gunsmiths who have an FFL. Let me repeat, there is no exemption for certified trainers or at a professional training event. The only exemption that may help is as follows:

  • (f) The temporary transfer of a firearm (i) between spouses or domestic partners; (ii) if the temporary transfer occurs, and the firearm is kept at all times, at an established shooting range authorized by the governing body of the jurisdiction in which such range is located; (iii) if the temporary transfer occurs and the transferee’s possession of the firearm is exclusively at a lawful organized competition involving the use of a firearm, or while participating in or practicing for a performance by an organized group that uses firearms as a part of the performance; (iv) to a person who is under eighteen years of age for lawful hunting, sporting, or educational purposes while under the direct supervision and control of a responsible adult who is not prohibited from possessing firearms; or (v) while hunting if the hunting is legal in all places where the person to whom the firearm is transferred possesses the firearm and the person to whom the firearm is transferred has completed all training and holds all licenses or permits required for such hunting, provided that any temporary transfer allowed by this subsection is permitted only if the person to whom the firearm is transferred is not prohibited from possessing firearms under state or federal law; or

There is no definition of what an authorized range is. Also many loaner weapons used in firearms training are owned by the instructor and not the range. Further you will not there is no exemption for instructors handling firearms owned by students. The only other line that comes close is “practicing for a performance” but that pertains to drill teams, not training.

Not to mention that deep down is economic elitism and discrimination as you are require additional money to be spent when honestly they may know someone who is perfectly capable of fixing their firearm or offering training.

Myth #9 – I can loan a hunting rifle to a friend during hunting season. Again, nowhere in 594 does it state that.

You can only loan a rifle in a very specific set of circumstances:

  • (v) while hunting if the hunting is legal in all places where the person to whom the firearm is transferred possesses the firearm and the person to whom the firearm is transferred has completed all training and holds all licenses or permits required for such hunting, provided that any temporary transfer allowed by this subsection is permitted only if the person to whom the firearm is transferred is not prohibited from possessing firearms under state or federal law;

What this means is if you wander within 150 feet of a road, or cross a stream or any other area where hunting is not legal you are committing a misdemeanor the first time or a felony the second. It is only legal as long as you are in the hunting area. You better get the firearm back before you reach your truck.

Myth #10 – I keep a rifle in my truck and occasionally allow my daughter to drive this vehicle on our property – this can’t be a crime? All I can say is this…if you think it’s ok to drive around, unsupervised, with a weapon, then you really aren’t a responsible gun owner.

Myth #10: You have never lived in a rural area have you? I regularly drove around my friends rig with his rifle in the back while helping with their farmland. Under this it would be crime, not to mention I regularly drove around my uncles truck as a minor, with a rifle. Why would I have a rifle? To shoot coyotes and other predators that prey upon livestock. But such a well-rounded and educated person such as yourself knew that there are predators out there right? Because me trusting the person I’ve given the keys to my truck and is acting to protect my property is irresponsible? WTF?

So there, I have backed up my case by citing the initiative text and if you think I’m wrong, here’s a past supreme court justice from the state of Washington on the subject.

Maybe you should leave the interpretation of the law to professionals instead of amateurs.

And since you’re a “gun owner” I’m more than happy to meet up with you at West Coast armory so you can get some practice with your firearm, if it exists. I will pay your ammo and range fees, my treat.

Ladd Everitt – Safety for Gay Bashers!!!

I’ve said it before in a nice long post, if you don’t know why I get angry and will go into a rant like what is about to follow, go read the post.

So why a friend forwarded me this article this morning I didn’t think much of it, until I hit the end.

Ladd Everitt, communications director for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said that hate crime is an issue our federal government has taken very seriously, pointing out the Hate Crimes Prevention Act passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama in 2009. 

“The law contains explicit protections for members of the LGBT community,” he said. “If groups like Pink Pistols are feeling targeted or under threat, it might be from members of their own community in the pro-gun movement.”

Because people who are so willing to beat the crap out of someone over sexual orientation actually give a crap over some “hate crime” bill. Get real boy wonder. If felony assault or attempted murder charges don’t already phase someone the extra gravy of a “hate crime” charge isn’t going to matter.

Like a restraining order, a law merely a piece of paper and doesn’t physically stop anyone from doing anything. Know what works great to stop someone who hates your race, your sexual orientation, or any other thing about you from physically assaulting you?  A 230 grain hollo-point center of mass. Repeat application until said assailant has stopped his attack on you.

The idea that people who are active in this community, who most of which are devout in securing the civil rights of all, is just complete bull crap. The idea of telling someone who may very well be assaulted over their sexual orientation, “Don’t worry about it, there are hate laws in place. You may die but we’ll send him to prison” just makes me sick. If someone wants to take responsibility for their own self-defense who is that petty tyrant to chastise them, look down on them, or otherwise disparage them. Ladd is nothing more than a sniveling coward who preys upon those who fall victim to evil in this world. Ladd needs evil to triumph to continue his assault on the rights of innocent people, it’s why he is the most evil of evils.

Heaven forbid a person be allowed to choose to exercise their right of self-defense, to say no with such conviction no harm befalls them but hell rains down upon the aggressor.

Then again this is the same asshat that called Joe Huffman and me the most offensive.

Lastly I have numerous friends who are very out of the closet and very active within the community. I have yet to personally see an incident of bigotry against them by the community personally, much less anything even approaching what you claim.  Even then even after years in the community they’ve only run into one or two and they were quickly dealt with and everyone else around was equally pissed off at said individual.

Here’s a direct quote from one of them:

That sorta bigotry particularly offends me both as bigotry per se AND with its wild departure from reality – I have been largely open in the 2A community and with but one or two exceptions received naught but support…

So Ladd, do the world and go fornicate with a rusty chainsaw you bigoted ass. Because quite honestly the only way you can come to some off the deep end conclusion such as yours is if you yourself would try it.

The Worthlessness of Background Checks…

So this came across my inbox today via Sean and my immediate though was of I-594.

According to an Executive Summary “on the investigations the Oregon State Police (OSP) is conducting regarding denied firearm transactions through the Firearm Instant Check System (FICS) Unit”   of the 331 “denial” investigations only 8 people have been arrested. That’s a total of only 2.41% of the people denied!

And of course, there is no way of  knowing how many of the people taken into custody were arrested for actual offenses and how many were victims of the same sloppy record keeping that kept most of the other 97%  from completing transfers.

Honestly this is not surprising to anyone who is actually active in this community or works with the facts on the subject. Doubly entertaining is when you also consider that criminals need not take part in this system since that would require them to self incriminate.

I am one of those who has received a NICS denial, got a couple of them actually while the state took it’s time updating records associated with a felony charge. But I hear you cry, how do you know you were legal? Because the prosecutor who charged me ordered the firearm I was carrying the day of the wreck returned to me.

So let’s think about this, what does an overly broad definition of transfers, where any handling of a firearm can be classified as a transfer get the other side?

The answer is simple, it makes firearm ownership so dangerous and precarious that very few will want to exercise their rights. Further even fewer of those will be willing to risk felonies to educate others. Not to mention the costs of attempting to stay within the bounds of the law given transfer fees and the use tax involved.

Vote NO on I-594. Don’t let the 1% confuse you in to vacating your rights.

Sweat the little stuff

I’ll start with a little background on what prompted this post. Yesterday was an especially frustrating day at work. It wasn’t so much that there was any terrible thing that happened, but it was more of the same little frustrating things. Yesterday hit some of my team members especially hard which in turn hit me hard since I’m the project manager. In reality, it’s not really any different, good or bad, than it was a few months ago, but these types of things are cumulative and at times exponential. I’ll come back to this later.

This got me thinking about how relatively little things in the past have added up to bigger things. If we look back to the events of April 19th, 1775, it could have just as easily been just another day in colonial America, but it wasn’t. Individually, the events of Lexington Green, the North Bridge, and Miriam’s Corner don’t add up to a revolution, but tensions had been building for the better part of a decade leading up to this. For years, the colonials had been dealing with and pushing back on the Intolerable Acts, and once the Regulars started the powder raids, it really kicked things up a notch. The key point here is that the events of April 19th add up to more than the sum of their parts because of all the relatively little things that preceded them.

This brings us to a question that is often asked but never answered. Where does that put us today? The truth is that we really don’t know. The colonials couldn’t have told you April 18th that tomorrow they would become Americans, and I can’t tell you today when things will change for us, but I believe that tensions are high and the powder keg is not far from being lit. Our version of the events of April 19th could be just around the corner, or it could be years away, but a relatively small chain of events could happen at any time. It could have been Ruby Ridge, Waco, or the Bundy Ranch, and it could just as easily be in my home state with the seemingly imminent passing of I-594.

My hope is that your take-away from this is that maybe we should sweat the small stuff a little more. I don’t mean you should stress about every little thing that happens, but you should be aware that those little things can add up to more than the sum of their parts. In your work life, remember that all the little things can add up be they good or bad. Saying hello to everyone and little complements can really make it a much more positive place just like the opposite is true. In the rest of your life, be just as aware of the small things because you never know what the next Miriam’s Corner is going to be. Stay vigilant and maybe sweat the little stuff a little bit more.

~BSB

Apologists, Syncophants, and Surrender Monkeys

imgresSo the last piece related to the NRA had two distinct responses. There was a third type but that was largely only done by a single individual and he was the exception more than the rule.

The first type of response was simply that of agreement and relaying that they had encountered similar issues within fights in their .

The other, largely the source of this blog post was blindly defensive of the NRA without actually discussing any of the issues why, there was one exception as noted above. Which brings me around to the post title.

What was I really focused on?

It appears that the crux of my complaint was missed or oblivious to people so let me lay it out here:

Why should I donate money to an organization who is not working to defend my rights in the fight with is going to have the largest impact on ME?

Think about that for a second, they called asking for money but are no where to be seen in the 591/594 fight. End result I am spending my personal time and effort doing what they aren’t.

The response from others:

There were people who left comments to the effect of:

It’s just so much easier to bitch about the NRA than get off your ass and do something for yourself though.

Or the ever entertaining:

The gun culture will be destroyed when your last neuron stops firing from blood loss. Apparently, people like Barron, are cowards who will obey gun laws, gun confiscation,etc. If you have and love guns, you need to understand and be prepared to do the unthinkable if it comes down to it. I would hope that the gun culture in Washington will only be destroyed when there is physical death and destruction of every gun loving resident in that great state and not before that point. I guess people in New York and CT have harder balls than people i Washington.

That last comment is by someone who obviously is not familiar with the legislation and what it’s actually doing. Not to mention this seems like the rantings of someone perpetuating the “deranged knuckle-dragging stereotype.” I’d also like to point out that the goal of combat and war is not to die for your cause or principles, it’s to make the other poor bastard die for his. I-594, while certainly creating a system of backdoor gun registration, does much worse. I-594 makes felons from those who engage in instruction, sport, and education with its overly broad definitions. You’re right, the gun culture will die with my last breath because I was effectively prevented from bringing new people into the sport.

Where it all comes together:

The biggest gold mine was Facebook:

Screen Shot 2014-08-16 at 10.59.18 AM Screen Shot 2014-08-16 at 10.59.33 AM

First, a quick reminder, let’s I wrote the post. Now lets rip apart those arguments shall we?

The NRA is working to elect pro gun candidates in every state. That’s a very bold statement, that would mean they’re working to elect pro gun candidates right here in Washington since it’s every state. Let’s look at the PDC shall we?Screen Shot 2014-08-17 at 8.44.34 PM


The reason that the I-676 numbers are specifically called out is because the argument is the NRA is supporting candidates right?  We quickly discover that by far the biggest contributor to elections in Washington since 1998 isn’t the NRA but WAGOAL. By a ratio of ~1.5 to 1. But lets see exactly where the NRA is spending our donations.Screen Shot 2014-08-17 at 2.01.17 PM

So it seems the NRA has a solid covering, but what is interesting is some of those candidates aren’t in serious battle areas. They are already very “red” and quite pro-gun as it’s the more rural parts of the state. Interestingly though Pam Roach, who is quite honestly one of the most gun friendly people up for reelection, is in a heated showdown to retain her seat has only a single contribution from the NRA this year. Know what’s interesting about that? She is quite literally in the middle of some of the most gun unfriendly territory in the state. So explain how the NRA is going to be helping pro gun candidates, when it seems their philosophy is to fire a shotgun at the wall and hope that something sticks. If you have limited funds, one should make sure to maximize the effect from what you do spend. Same goes for residents, comparing the NRA to say WAGOAL in terms of supporting candidates, I’m sending my money to WAGOAL.*

WAGOAL may look light on this years donations to political candidates, however they have contributed heavily to the 591/594, where normally they would be focused on candidates not an initiative battle; which when taken into account easily moves them to twice what NRA has contributed this election cycle, even with the NRA’s shell campaign.

What changed?

In 1997 the NRA committed, quite heavily I might add, to defeating I-676.  As you can see above the NRA brought over $2 million into the fight. This time we get crickets.

We get a lack of commitment on an opposing initiative that would help secure a legal challenge in the even I-594 passes. We get a battlefield of restraints our local representatives are constrained by. Ultimately I see the process of engineering for failure.

So how do I view this overall?

When you criticize the NRA or question the notion that the NRA is the “gun owners best friend and can do no wrong” mentality, you get excuses. Sort of like the battered spouse crying “Sure he beats and rapes me but he protects me from all these other things! He’s a good provider!”

Others see that parallel with the NRA’s relationship to gun owners. They claim that the NRA is fundamentally opposed to any idea that didn’t originate in Virginia, that the NRA is unwilling to work with other pro-gun organizations and that the NRA is the first to claim credit when things go well – and shift the blame with equal vigor.

These same people who then tell us that the NRA response to I-594 and I-591 is precisely what we should expect – a token effort or a shell campaign opposing I-594 so that NRA “leaders” in Virginia can claim victory if I-594 is defeated, and that “well, we tried” should it win. That we should be unsurprised when the NRA dismisses I-591 as irrelevant – as, after all, not only was I-591 not born in the depths of the NRA halls of Virginia, it was homegrown. After all, nothing good EVER happens when gun owners think for themselves and take the lead. That is the modern NRA – not the NRA of 1997, still equipped with a spine and marching into the fight with $2,000,000 in their pocket.

Objectively it almost seems as if there’s actually two different NRA’s.  There is local NRA and field reps trying to find ways to be effective locally — whether that is testifying to the legislature or standing behind a booth at the fair, working a gun show, or any other task an activist must do.

Then we have the second NRA, sitting on the pocketbook – dismissive and uninvolved, a bureaucratic multi-headed monster in Virginia that works against those local representatives. The body that coughed up a total of $25,000 late in the game, in a seeming act of self-serving symbolism.

Representing that NRA we have Brian Judy, an NRA Senior State Liaison, has worked tirelessly within the dysfunctional ball field the Medusa of Virginia created in the Washington initiative battle and was fantastically effective during the Legislative Hearings in Olympia. Judy literally crushed the opposition without blinking an eye and did it effectively, without reserve, with an educational tone that nailed the subject at hand.

The NRA serves a purpose – but I seriously wonder how much they are really self-serving versus actually serving gun owners. They were helpful during the national fight January 2013, but at the same time they stabbed Washington State in the back – was that two NRA’s working to cross purposes?

Maybe it’s time to start working on solid local leadership we can depend on – if we cannot depend on the NRA of Virginia.

*Note I do not represent or claim to represent WAGOAL and could care less where you send your money. I am merely providing the information as an educational service. Do with it as you please.

Area of Operations
Why should I donate money to an organization who is not working to defend my rights in the fight with is going to have the largest impact on ME?
The representatives local to the state of Washington.

Quote of the Day – Karl Denninger (8/15/2014)

A very large number of black people aren’t rioters and thugs just like a very large number of white people don’t go around pointing machine guns at people and kidnapping them.  The common thread among all of those who don’t do the nasty things is that they’re not criminals, and have an inherent civil right to resist violence attempted against their person — a right that is constantly under assault by those who do commit the evil acts, whether they happen to have magical blue suits on or not.

Karl Denninger – Let’s (Properly) Rewrite A News Story

August 14, 2014


[First go read the whole thing, it’s absolutely worth it and illustrates one of my biggest problems with law enforcement and how they’re treated. Here’s an illustrative picture of exactly what he’s talking about.

Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man

K, all read up? Here is another recent incident:

image33

That woman is pointing the firearm at another person, her finger is on the trigger. There is no question that woman is committing assault with a deadly weapon.  However thanks to the fact she’s a police officer in the LAPD this has just been kicked to internal affairs and she will at most get a slap on the wrist.

Think about that for a second. A cop can do this:

checkpointguns3

and it’s perfectly acceptable and OK. Never mind rule 2. Cops evidently are exempt and when they point a gun at someone it is NOT a threat of deadly force, it’s just them doing what cops do. This is NOT acceptable in a free society and should not be tolerated. The problem is, who’s policing the police. That’s right, they’ve made it us vs them and that’s why Ferguson has turned into a battle ground. If I heard there was a militia rolling that way tomorrow it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

If you aren’t questioning the militarization of law enforcement compare it now to 20 years ago. This crap needs to stop.

Besides, when cops behave like the above is it any surprise that innocent unarmed people are shot? The rules exist for a reason. -B]