Quote of the Day – The Learned Sergeant (1/6/2016)

Obama has some real balls to speak of the better man Zaevion Dobson to a room of people who have had children die due to gun violence.

He just asked these people to see that our heroes die to protect their feelings. If my child is in high school and needs to confront someone when “gunmen start firing”, endangering people in the street, she will not need to serve as a human shield, but will be able to do so from a covered position with an AR-15 firmly seated in her shoulder by returning well disciplined rifle fire.

The Learned Sergeant – Facebook Post
1/5/2016


[I have nothing else to add. -B]

Quote of the Day – Say Uncle (12/21/2015)

Lost the political debate. Social media has made the debate on guns worse. For the anti-civil rights crowd. Look, Sparky, it’s working just fine. The good guys keep winning the gun debate exactly due to the internet.

Say UncleWhat a lack of educated grass roots has done
December 18th, 2015


[When your only methods of argument are to lie and provide disinformation, of course when information can more easily flow you’re going to lose the debate. In the immortal words, “You can’t stop the signal.”

The issue is they cannot hijack and control the narrative on the internet. Despite what they may think, that’s a feature, not a bug. -B]

 

Quote of the Day – Griffeath

If you ARE for denying people the right to own a gun or to get on an airplane because they’re on a secret government list, then it speaks poorly both of your intellect and your character.  

Seriously, that a sitting president would propose it, and people would follow it give me zero confidence the spirit that gave us Japanese internment is in the past.

  • J. Griffeath, Facebook Post, December 5th, 2015

 


[One would think we would have learned from that horrible chapter in history. However as that horrible black eye to American’s everywhere was championed by one of the lefts favorites, FDR, it should be no surprise that the left is more than willing to repeat the same behavior now.

We haven’t grown up, we haven’t changed, people are just as nasty and bigoted towards those they disagree with than ever. Worse is they’re more than willing to swing the power of the state to kill those they disagree with and see no moral problem with it. Keep your powder dry. -B]

Where the F*** is the NRA?!

Background

46f45fc1d77a6c0a37791ab4003e0e0aFor those of you who don’t know, a serious fight kicked off last January in Washington state. Lately I have volunteered my time to speak at gun shows and other events and let me tell you something, I am terrified. Out of the people visiting their local gun show you would expect at least 90% of the people to have at least heard about what’s going on, it’s more like 50%. Most have no real knowledge of either of the initiatives or their real legal impact and what it means for them as gun owners.

Recently gun owners accomplished a great feat in Missouri and everyone is all ecstatic, thing is strategically Washington has a lot of ground to cover and is quite likely to cause failures in other states. Not to mention they had no opposing ballot initiatives in their fight.

For those who don’t know, Bloomberg and his “Everytown” group have pledged 50 million dollars to aid in pushing Initative-594. Bloomberg has been stating he wants to crush the NRA, what better way when the NRA doesn’t even bother to show up, I’ll explain in a bit. Quite literally this is the biggest fight going on between gun owners and Bloomberg.

There is also an opposition bill, I-591, which Washington gun owners want to pass that will prevent the state from confiscating firearms under a declared emergency.


Current State of the Fight

Polling DataYardSignSTOPGUNblackfinal

First off, current polling data I’m getting through the grape vine, remember this fight began in January we’re 8 months in with 3 to go.

The news is, frankly, bad. We’re 8 months into a 11 month fight and running out of time. According to my sources, the numbers are running against us on the anti-gun I-594 stealth gun registration scheme, with voters polling over 2:1 in favor.

On I-591, the Gottlieb sponsored initiative banning gun seizures and forcing Washington to refrain from background checks at least until a consistent federal standard is passed is doing better – about half of voters polled support it. We can win 591 if folks get off their flabby… and start volunteering and writing checks.

The War Chests (The core data showing something’s wrong)

Our Side

Now lets talk war chests and who’s been providing support and where:

Data for the contribution statistics above can be seen here.

The good news is there have also been a pile of individual donors so the total contributions thus far are in the $1 million range.

What about those pushing for I-594?alt_pro594

What does it actually look like?

Total raised: $3+ million dollars, including a single $30k contribution from MAIG.

What about the NRA?

The NRA has showered this fight with a whopping, wait for it, $25,000. You read that right, MAIG has actually put more money into this fight than the NRA.

What’s being done with the war chests?

It isn’t always about how much money you raise, it’s about how you spend it. Here’s how each group, on our side of the fight, has spent their contributions to the war effort.


 

imgres-1

  • Created POGR
  • Created I-591/594 Campaign Art
  • Created I-591/594 Bumper Stickers
  • Created I-591/594 Yard Signs, currently in productions
  • Staff for the Washington Arms Collectors, Falcon, Knodel, and other gun shows regarding I591/I594

logo recreaction

  • Reference section regarding 591/594
  • Comped tables for anyone associated with POGR at any WAC show
  • Comp’d tables through CCKRBA for the NRA
  • Public Representation
  • Law Enforcement Networking*

*Quite honestly that is probably the biggest thing WAC, or anyone has done in this fight. You would think the NRA would have been able to do this but it was WAC. What am I talking about?

WACOPS declared support of I-591 noting that it protects background check uniformity, allows the background check debate to continue on the federal level and allows WA state standards to change if, or when, federal standards change.

At the same time WACOPS noted the many flaws of I-594 and made clear their opposition to the measure as an organization.


NRA-logo

  • Two field reps, who are forbidden to support I-591
  • No campaign materials
  • Outdated self-promoting material
  • Complete lack of coordination in working with any of the above for the common goal
  • A committee with an unknown name and no resources to actually be allowed to call itself such.

I wish I was making the above up but I am not. I have met both of the lovely young women who are working as field reps for the NRA, they expressed frustration at the way the NRA seemed to be dragging its feet. Even more importantly how they are restrained from being fully effective. The reps are being constrained from being effective by the NRA.


What exactly is the deal with I-591?591-594 Bumpersticker

If you are a Washington state resident you want it to pass, doubly so as it creates a very interesting legal problem if I-594 passes as well. This is a part of a legal chess game and honestly this all goes back to 2013 when I wrote this earlier article. Gottlieb saw 594 on the horizon and was trying to cut it off at the pass, destroy the Washington state pistol registry while really giving them nothing. The key to screwing our enemy is make them think they have a win when they actually get nothing. Well it was done so well that the NRA that sounded that alarm, portrayed Gottlieb as a traitor and move their residential members to have the bill struck down.

Now we find our selves facing 594, and 591 was created as a response to try to help gun owners, as usual though the NRA doesn’t like it, presumably because they didn’t come up with it and their committee to form a committee hasn’t come back with an agreement yet.

Interestingly the NRA doesn’t even seem to be really reaching out to their local members except to call up and ask for more money. Tell me, why would I give a contribution to the NRA to “Help fight Michael Bloomberg” when in the biggest ongoing battle with him you’re nowhere to be found? <- Seriously they called me last week wanting me to donate money and I was starting to dig up this information. I’m about ready to say I will not be getting the life membership I was thinking about getting this December as a birthday present, much less renewing.


Does the NRA hate Washington State?

It certainly feels that way. I have heard through the rumor mill that the NRA has a serious dislike for Gottlieb and they view this as a “let’s screw Gottlieb” moment. The catch is they’re screwing over every gun owner in the state of Washington over petty personal politics.

No one has been able to figure out why the NRA hasn’t endorsed I-591, it’s only a page long and so simple even a child can understand it.

If the NRA feels that 594 is too likely to pass so why bother investing in the fight, why not then endorse 591 to give the best possibilities in a legal challenge? Preventing a total victory for our opponents.


Tactical fallout:

There is, as with any battle, a list of tactical consequences that come with defeat and it is no different in this political fight. There are implications both nationally and locally.

First, despite the NRA seeming to think they do not have a dog in this fight, should 594 pass and 591 fail, MAIG, Every-town, and every other wholly owned subsidiary of Michael Bloomberg Inc. will declare this a victory over the NRA.  The NRA has been portrayed to be the big evil nasty villain that is impossible to conquer. This fight, the opposition may do exactly that.  That gives the opposition momentum. Momentum creates opportunity and allows for more losses.

Which brings us to similar types of initiatives being brought forward in Nevada, Arizona and elsewhere shortly there after should they win.

And then the local fallout.  Expect to see attempts for a semi-auto and magazine ban in the state of Washington most likely in 2016 when there is also a presidential and gubernatorial election and the Peoples Republic of Puget Sound will be out in full voting fury.


Conclusion:

There is no doubt this fight is a big deal. A bigger deal than most people realize.  Implications are reaching far and wide and it seems that the largest most effective group with the largest reach is sleeping at the wheel.

We have a fight on our hands, if you’re a gun owner in the state of Washington, be sure to educate your friends and family about I-594 and I-591, the implications and facts behind them.  If you’d like to volunteer in some way hit up this contact form.  If you’d like to donate to Protect Our Gun Rights, go here.

And I will say it again, “Where the F*** is the NRA?”  Feel free to ask that the next time they call asking for money.

*It should be noted that my main complaint here is that the NRA is more than happy to take my money but then is no where to be found when things actually go sideways. While some would say, “quit complaining and do it yourself,” well that’s exactly what I am !@#$ing doing. As such I’ll be taking my money with me, cause obviously I need it for the fight they’re not willing to take on.

Quote of the Day – LawDog (1/31/2013)

And when it comes down to brass tacks, the individual is the only person ultimately responsible for his — or her — own safety. Part of that responsibility involves being able to defend your own self, with appropriate tools.

Gun control is denying you those tools in exchange for the nebulous assurance that the police will “do their best”.

“Doing their best” oft involves putting a toe-tag on your corpse and finding the guy that killed you so that he can plea bargain his way out of an extended sentence, but that’s gun control for you.

LawDogGun-Free does not equal Violence-Free
January 30th, 2013


[First, go read his whole post and watch the linked video.  That is by far the best example I have ever seen to show the complete and utter failure that gun-free-zones are.

Lastly, those paragraphs are the central point of this debate and you either admit this harsh reality, or you pretend that unicorn farts do exist and you want the force of state to coerce others into giving up their tools for non-existent unicorn farts.

This is the world our opponents want.  This is the world many of our elected representatives want to force upon us.  Make no mistake, they want the strong to prey upon the weak and they want the state to have a total monopoly on force.  -B]

Fast and Furious, With Regards to the Cause

So if you didn’t read it, a couple of months ago I wrote a root cause analysis on the causes and reasons behind Operation Fast and Furious, also known as Operation Gun Walker.

Today Uncle posted a link to an article from CBS that stated the following:

ATF officials didn’t intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called “Demand Letter 3”. That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or “long guns.” Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.

Think about that long and hard. These individuals broke the law willfully with an intent to create “necessity” for their new violations of the law.  Their new violation of the law was the gun control they wished to implement itself as it is a blatant violation of the Firearm Owners Protection Act.

Many have attempted to vilify the gun shops in this case saying they should have just not sold the weapons.  What these people are refusing to acknowledge is the ATF, through their regulatory power, forced these shops to sell to people the would have otherwise not sold weapons to.

Seriously, go read the CBS article, it’s is yet further evidence that validates my conclusions in the root cause analysis.

To add the icing to the cake though, I am reasonably sure the White House was aware of this program given Obama is now exercising “Executive Privilege” over the material.  I have no doubt this was his “under the radar” efforts at gun control.  As Jennifer said, “no one died when Nixon lied.

Quote of the Day–Joe Huffman (06/19/2012)

What is extraordinary here is that Issa didn’t have Federal Marshalls rip his jacket and shirt off, tie him face down on the table, stuff a copy of the subpoena in his mouth, give him 30 lashes with a bull whip, then tell him there would a whipping every day at 9:00 AM until he fully complied or his flesh had been stripped off and his bones were polished clean.

Joe HuffmanExtraordinary Offer

June 19th, 2012


[Personally I think Joe’s response would have been way too kind.  Give me a bucket, a rat, and a blow torch.  Some assembly required.  If you don’t know how it works, don’t worry about it, it prevents you from knowing how mean, evil, and sadistic my mind can be towards those who willingly endanger my friends and family in the name of destroying my rights.*

Don’t worry Joe, it’s not cruel or unusual.  At the time the Bill of Rights was written lashing was still a standard punishment on the high seas.  In fact so was keelhauling which I think would also be a fantastic venture for Mr. Holder. –B]

*In my defense, I would feel bad for the rat.

Quote of the Day–Sebastian (06/08/2012)

How sad is it when your excuse is gross incompetence and negligence? Because both of those things are better than the likely truth of the matter.

SebastianPants on Fire

June 8th, 2012


[I’ve written previously on Fast and Furious and I must say that this latest development is anything but surprising. –B]