THE APPLESEED; REDISCOVERING BASIC RIFLE MARKSMANSHIP

I know, I know. Every red-blooded American boy thinks he was born with a God-given ability to humble John Wayne and make 500-yard headshots on gophers. Well folks, I've been shooting for some time now and while I hate to break the news, it just ain't so. Yes, even I have missed once or twice.

Most of the people I know here in Montana, even the "rugged outdoorsmen" have a box or two of shells in their sock drawer. Once a year before hunting season, they go out and fire a few shots off the bench to check their zero. Then off they go to sling lead in the general direction of game animals.

The Appleseed teaches you (painfully, in my case) to get your butt off that shooting bench and learn to be stable, steady and accurate while shooting from real-live field positions. Part of the trick is the lost art of sling shooting. It is an amazing, lightweight marksmanship tool that's already right there on your rifle, ready to go.

I will be attending my third Appleseed in September. Even old dogs CAN learn new tricks at an Appleseed. Woof, woof. Since kids can shoot free, I'm working with the local American Legion shooting sports program and our church Youth Group to get some teen-agers to go one Saturday and learn real rifle marksmanship.

You don't have to have an M1/FAL/M1A, AR, whatever and a crate full of expensive center-fire rounds. You can use the trusty dusty old .22 Rimfire. It works better with a sling and peep sights, but the basic fundmentals work for ANY rifle.

It's not a competition. Nobody will laugh at you if you're ot already an Alvin York. There's no such thing as a dumb question. Everybody is there to learn something. I can't reccomend this program highly enough.

To learn about Appleseeds in your area, check with Fred at
http://www.appleseedinfo.org/smf/

DC City Council Says, "To Hell With Heller!"

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org

Monday, July 28, 2008

In open defiance of the Supreme Court's decision striking down the Washington D.C. gun control law, the City Council passed an"emergency" law that keeps in place almost all of the law that was ruled unconstitutional.

For example, though the Court ruled specifically that the city's ban on handguns violated the Second Amendment, most handguns still cannot be registered because D.C. bureaucrats classify semi-automatic pistols as "machine guns."

Even Dick Heller, who brought the case against Washington's gunban, was rejected when he tried to register his handgun because any "bottom loading" firearm is a "machine gun" according to the D.C. police.

Similarly, while the Court found that "the requirement that any lawful firearm in the home be disassembled or bound by a "trigger lock" is unconstitutional, the city kept in place the "lock up your safety" law unless the resident is in immediate danger.

The D.C. Council is thus rendering the Supreme Court victory for gunrights meaningless, while leaving residents defenseless.

Congress needs to repeal the District's gun control law to ensure that theSupreme Court decision is not a hollow victory.

According to Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the authority and responsibility to govern the District. It can simply repeal the District's onerous gun law.

Not surprisingly, however, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has no intention of allowing the D.C. gun ban repeal legislation to come to the floor, even though it is cosponsored by more than half of the members of Congress.

To free the bill from the Speaker's death grip, Representative MarkSouder (R-IN) has filed a discharge petition to bring the bill directly tothe floor. Rep. Souder needs 218 cosigners for the petition to be successful. There are currently 109 signers.

There are not many days left in this legislative session, so it is vital that the discharge petition moves quickly. Please contact your representative and urge him or her to support the repeal of the D.C. gun ban and to sign the Souder discharge petition. You can visit the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm to send your Reps. the pre-written e-mail message below.

----- Pre-written letter -----

Dear Representative,

The Washington, D.C. city council is making a mockery of the recent Supreme Court decision supporting the individual right to keep and bear arms.

Though the Court ruled the city's handgun ban unconstitutional, DC is still making it illegal to own most handguns. The Court also ruled that the District's gun lock and gun storage law violates the Constitution, but under the city's new "emergency" gun law, firearms must be kept inoperable unless there is an immediate danger to residents.

Representative Mark Souder has filed a discharge petition to bring a bill to repeal the District's gun laws to the floor for a vote.

Please stand up for the Second Amendment and sign the Souder discharge petition.

Sincerely,

WELCOME TO JIHAD UNIVERSITY, OLD CHAP

Link to this story offered without comment. It would seem to speak for itself.

Title: 1 in 3 Muslim students approve killing for Islam

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=70673

"Public Outcry" Over Mortgage "Crisis"

The so-called "mortgage crisis" doesn't come up in conversation very often in my circles, but when it does I usually hear things like, "Stupid bastards go hip-deep in debt buying houses they can't afford with interest-only loans." Living beyond ones means is what I believe people used to call it when personal responsibility was "in." Whatever you call it, I don't hear much sympathy for the "victims" of "predatory lenders" out here on the street.

But whenever I turn on my TV (unless I'm turning on the Disney Channel or Nickelodeon for my kid) all I hear about is the mortgage mess. Apparently Congress is buying into the hype that the media is creating and should be passing, any day now, a "bail out" of the people too dumb to read fine print. I am reminded of the "public outcry" for campaign finance reform and comprehensive immigration reform (amnesty), where the only people pushing for the crap were the media and the politicians themselves.

Maybe Congress is so anxious to "help" because in their hearts they know that they created this mess. They fiddled with the free market to encourage home ownership. They worked to keep interest rates artificially low. They leaned on lenders to give money to the poor and minorities who the lenders might not normally lend money to. Turns out there was a reason lenders didn't want to give them loans, namely they can't afford to pay it back! Congress "fixing" the economy is like having a squirrel monkey fix circuit boards with a soldering iron: They'll screw it up and somebody's gonna get burned.

Luckily for deadbeats everywhere, Congress already had a pistol stuck in the U.S. taxpayers' ribs, so stealing a little more to bail out bad borrowers is no problem. Once again (and as always) responsible taxpayers will have to subsidize the stupidity, sloth, and irresponsibility of some of their fellow citizens and the federal government. When Congress' new "fix" quickly becomes the next problem, they'll just hand us the bill for that too.

So what is a solution to the "mortgage crisis" that doesn't bend taxpayers over a (pork) barrel? Easy: Nothing! Congress should do nothing. Borrowers and lenders who acted irresponsibly will fall on their faces. Sucks to be them. Once Congress has finished doling out a healthy dose of nothing, they should begin to remove the regulations that they themselves put in place which artificially tip the scales of the marketplace. In other words, "BUTT OUT!" (Bob Barr says it a little more eloquently in this press release.)

I think it should be no problem to convince Congress to do nothing and look like the impotent asses that they are, especially during an election year. I will begin holding my breath... now.

Do as Al says, not as Al does

by Lorne Gunter, National Post
Published: Monday, July 21, 2008

On Thursday, former U. S. vice-president Al Gore delivered a major address calling on his country to abandon all fossil fuels within 10 years. By 2018, U. S. electricity and fuel should come entirely from "renewable energy and truly clean, carbon-free sources," he said. Tickets to the event encouraged attendees to "please use public transit, bicycling or other climate-friendly means" to reach the lecture hall.

So how did Mr. Gore and his retinue arrive? In two Lincoln Town Cars and a full-sized SUV that sat idling with the air conditioners blasting while the Gore party was inside.

It was 34 C in Washington. Al Gore can't be expected to get into an overheated vehicle after he's worked up a sweat telling others how to save the planet.

[Read full article here.]

Judges Are No Reason to Vote for McCain

by Bob Barr
Wall Street Journal

The judiciary is becoming an important election issue. John McCain is warning conservatives that control of today’s finely balanced Supreme Court depends on his election. Unfortunately, his jurisprudence is likely to be anything but conservative.

The idea of a “living Constitution” long has been popular on the political left. Conservatives routinely dismiss such result-oriented justice, denouncing “judicial activism” and proclaiming their fidelity to “original intent.” However, many Republicans, like Mr. McCain, are just as result-oriented as their Democratic opponents. They only disagree over the result desired.

Judge-made rights are wrong because there is no constitutional warrant behind them. The Constitution leaves most decisions up to the normal political process.

[ Read more ]

Quote of the Week

“These kids are malleable. They will follow the leader, they don’t think for themselves, and they are the last ones I want to say, ‘Here’s a gun, and here’s a beer.’ They are not adult; that’s why they’re in the military. They are not adults.”

—Candy Lightner, founder of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, speaking about various state proposals to allow 18-20 year old adults in the military to drink, Fox News, April 7 [Source: reason magazine]

OKIES FROM MUSKOGEE RE-DISCOVER THE 10TH AMENDMENT!

From an article by Walter Williams at http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=69688

Oklahomans are trying to recover some of their lost state sovereignty by
House Joint Resolution 1089, introduced by State Rep. Charles Key...

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the House of Representatives and the
Senate of the 2nd session of the 51st Oklahoma Legislature: that the State of
Oklahoma hereby claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the
federal government by the Constitution of the United States. That this serve as
Notice and Demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist,
effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these
constitutionally delegated powers...

Both parties and all branches of the federal government have made a mockery
of the checks and balances, separation of powers and the republican form of
government envisioned by the founders. One of the more disgusting sights for me
to is to watch a president, congressman or federal judge take an oath to uphold
and defend the United States Constitution, when in reality they either hold
constitutional principles in contempt or they are ignorant of those
principles.

State efforts, such as Oklahoma's, create a glimmer of hope that one day
Americans and their elected representatives will realize that the federal
government is the creation of the states. A bit of rebellion by officials in
other states will speed that process along.

Bawb sez of course everyone on the Federal tit will oppose this and if it flies FedGov will probably do a repeat of 1861 but, as Mr. Williams says, it does create a glimmer of hope. Gotta love Walter Williams. And Merle Haggard. Go, Okies, go!

GOD GETS SUED

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) -- Christian publisher Zondervan is facing a $60
million federal lawsuit filed by a man who claims he and other homosexuals
have
suffered based on what the suit claims is a misinterpretation of the
Bible.

The suit centers on one passage in scripture -- 1 Corinthians
6:9
-- and how it reads in Bibles published by Zondervan.

Whether
the federal civil rights suit will stand up in court is
unclear.

Bradley Fowler filed it. He says Zondervan Bibles published in
1982
and 1987 use the word homosexuals among a list of those who are "wicked" or
"unrighteous" and won't inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Fowler says
his family's pastor used that Zondervan Bible, and
because of it his family
considered him a sinner and he suffered.

Now he is asking for an apology
and $60 million.

"To compensate for the past 20 years of emotional duress and mental instability," Fowler told 24 Hour News 8 in a phone interview.

Somehow, I suspect that $60 million is a greater incentive to Mr. Fowler than his poor little hurt feelings. I'd also hazard to guess that this isn't his first bout with "emotional stress and mental instability".

All that aside, the last thing we need is for the black-robed tyrants of the United States "Justice" system to take a stab at this one. Those clowns have trouble with all kinds of simple phrases in plain English like..."prohibiting the free exercise thereof", "shall not be infringed", "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects." "nor shall private property be taken for public use", and "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution". Now they may have the arrogance to "interpret" the Word of God?

First off, the First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." This was defense against a state-mandated religion, like the Church of England, or just about any Muslim country you care to mention.

Notice that nowhere does the Constitution include the phrase "Separation of church and state." That phrase came from a personal letter from Thomas Jefferson, yet the Supreme Court used it to "interpet" the First Amendment in accordance with the "inentions of the Founding Fathers". Of course, that was a one shot deal. The intentions of the Founding Fathers are deliberately and, dare I say, maliciously ignored in the case of those other pesky amendments, like the rest of the First, all of the Second, the Fourth, the Fifth, and the Tenth.

But for just a moment, let's go along with the Big Lie of separation of church and state. Wouldn't the courts ruling on this case then be the ultimate violation of this precept? Of course, the Federal government has never been known for stricly applying its own rules to itself. Some animals are more equal than others.

As for the Word itself, 1 Corinthians 6:9 in the King James version reads: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind?"

Ironically for the deeply devout Mr. Fowler and his lawsuit, 1 Corinthians 6:7 says, "Now therefor there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another."

Since the passage mentioned in the lawsuit is too ambiguous for Mr. Fowler, here's where I should quote Leviticus 18:22: It's pretty clear on the subject. Alas, actually having Leviticus 18:22 in writing or quoting it is a "Hate Crime" in the city of Philadelphia. So much for the rest of the First Amendment. So, for all I know, I may have just sentenced our blog to death by Political Correctness and this may be my last post for having the audacity to quote Scripture. See ya'll in the lion's den.

Still Time To Comment On Right-to-Carry In Nat'l Parks

From NRA-ILA-

Department of the Interior Extends Deadline for Comments Regarding Right-to-Carry in National Parks and Wildlife Refuges Until August 8

Like a quarterback taking a knee in the fourth quarter, two of Congress's most ardent opponents of our Right to Keep and Bear Arms are trying to run out the clock on efforts to enhance your right to self-defense in our national parks and wildlife refuges.

For two months, we have been asking NRA members and gun owners to submit comments in support of allowing law-abiding citizens to carry their legally-owned firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges -- and tens of thousand of you have done so. The deadline to submit comments expired on June 30 -- or so we thought.

Rather than closing the proscribed comments period as scheduled and moving toward finalizing this federal regulation, U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and U.S. Representative Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona), succeeded in delaying the implementation of the final rule by bullying the Department of the Interior (their respective congressional subcommittees have oversight of national parks) to extend the deadline for comments an additional 30 days! In a letter to Secretary Kempthorne, Senator Akaka and Representative Grijalva asked that the public comment period be extended, citing the recent decision in the District of Columbia v. Heller.

In truth, however, now that the Supreme Court has affirmed that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right, it is more important than ever that we move toward final resolution on this matter and extend the most basic right of self-defense to law-abiding citizens visiting national parks and refuges.

The goal of their strategy is clear. Extending the public comment period amounts to a blatant and intentional stalling tactic; further pushing back resolution on this matter, possibly until after the election, into a new Administration. This needless extension will also allow opponents of carrying guns in national parks (like the Humane Society of the U.S. and the National Parks Conservation Association) to rally their troops to express their opposition to this commonsense proposal.

While we disagree with the decision to extend the comments period on this issue, it is now more important than ever that we give the anti-gunners what they profess to want-additional comments. Gun owners, Right-to-Carry permit holders, and all Second Amendment supporters must deluge the Department of the Interior with comments in support of this proposal! The new deadline for submitting comments is August 8, 2008.

Please submit your comments on-line at:

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=090000648053d497
(Select the icon next to "Add Comments")

Or in writing to:

Public Comments Processing
Attn: 1024-AD70
Division of Policy and Directives Management
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 222
Arlington, VA 22203

Please act today and forward this message and request to your family, friends, and fellow firearm owners!

--NRA-ILA

Republican Gun-Grabbers

Republican Gun-Grabbers
posted by Andrew Davis on Jun 26, 2008

McCain's tepid relationship with the NRA hasn't always been as smooth as McCain has tried to make it seem on the 2008 campaign trail. Today's ruling on Heller and the response from McCain almost seems laughable given the tongue-lashing McCain has received in the past from gun rights advocates.

From PBS:

In 2001, McCain’s work on an initiative called “Americans For Gun Safety,” drew criticism from the NRA, which called him “one of the premier flag carriers for the enemies of the Second Amendment,” in an article that appeared in the organization’s national magazine “America’s First Freedom” in July of that year."

Read the entire article here.

No More "Kind and Gentle" Rambo

There seems to be two trends in movies recently. One is making sequels to long dormant 1980's action movies, such as "Die Hard," "Indiana Jones," "Alien," and "Predator." The other trend is to scrub these films of profanity and gore so they can be marketed to the wider (and thereby more lucrative) PG-13 audience. Not so with the recent Rambo sequel. Rambo IV (actually just titled "Rambo") bucks the latter trend and is by far the bloodiest, most profane and violent of the Rambo series.

This installment finds ex-Green Beret John Rambo living peacefully in Thailand as a snake-wrangler (of all things) as well as operating a small riverboat. In neighboring Burma there is a genocidal civil war going on (true story) in which the Christian minority is being slaughtered by the Burmese army.

A group of Christian missionaries wants to get into Burma to help the oppressed Christians with bibles and medicine. They attempt to hire Rambo to sneak them into Burma on his boat, thereby helping them to "change the world" for the better. Rambo curtly refuses with, "F*ck the world." But Rambo's mind is changed by a good talking-to by one of the missionaries, an obligatory, Hollywood-issue, hot white woman that seems to find their way into even the remotest of third-world hellholes.

Rambo fights his way through river pirates (slaughtering them all to the man, of course) and drops the missionaries off in Burma. By the time he gets back to his hovel in Thailand the missionaries have been captured by the barbarous Burmese. Then he must smuggle a group of mercenaries, hired by the missionaries' pastor, into Burma to save them. Of course John Rambo can't just be a waterborne taxi-driver and soon finds himself involved in the rescue mission.

Most of the violence and gore comes not from Rambo himself but from the graphic scenes of genocide and ethnic cleansing by the Burmese army. This movie has more decapitations, disembowelment, dismemberment, and gang rape than you can shake a stick at.

But once Rambo gets his machine gun warmed up he spills his fair share of blood too. Trading in his old 7.62mm M60 for a vehicle-mounted .50 cal. MG, he really racks up the kills in the movie's climactic battle scenes. In the old Rambo movies the bad guys would usually just fall down amidst an eruption of dust when Rambo sprayed them with a machine gun. Using the more powerful .50 cal and plenty of computer special-effects allows writer/director Sly Stallone to repeatedly show the bad guys get blown in half, or their heads or limbs blown off by machine gun-fire.

I actually liked this film, despite the constant orgy of violence. It was a compellingly simple film and that was refreshing. You knew who the bad guys were, you knew Rambo was the reluctant hero, you knew the missionaries would get captured and you knew who would rescue them. This film doesn't stray from the basic Rambo movie formula, so it felt like a well-worn pair of sneakers. If you can stomach all the gore, it's worth renting.

Graphic from wikipedia.org

FBI CHIEF HAS NO ROOM FOR THAT PESKY CONSTITUTION

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with Newspeak, I will helpfully offer a running commentary on the idiotic quotes from Mr. High & Mighty.



http://www.bellinghamherald.com/354/story/455146.html

Jun, 30, 2008
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HARTFORD, Conn. -- FBI Director Robert Mueller on Monday criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, saying it may harm efforts to deter violent crime...

So, this elitist snob who took an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America" wants to deny Americans the right to exersize their Second Amendment Rights? It's easy to scoff at the peoples' right to self-defense when you cruise around in an armored limo surrounded by a gun-toting security detail. The only way YOU can deter violent crime is by being an unarmed victem of it.

As a former Marine who served in Vietnam, he said "I tend to believe weapons harm people and more often than not they harm the people carrying them."

Does this mean that Mr. Former Marine left his rifle back at base when he went out on patrols in Vietnam? After all, it was a greater danger to him than the VC/NVA. I have not researched Gung Ho's Vietnam service, but I would be willing to bet that he was probably, like Al Gore, a REMF rather than a combat grunt.

AP fails to mention that the head of the FBI has never been a law enforcement officer or field agent of any type; he was/is merely an East Coast Princeton elitist whose qualifications to head up the country's largest law enforcement agency include being nothing more than a law partner and attorney.

With his grandchildren going to college, Mueller said he hopes "those campuses will be weapons free."

That worked out so well at Virginia Tech. The campus will be weapons free, except for the criminals who intend to harm others. I guess Meuller wants his grandchildren to be easy target practice for any nut who decides to break the law.

He said college campuses and small communities could be "potential incubators of terrorism" even while major cities such as New York and Los Angeles remain primary targets for terrorists.

"The fact is we can't rule out any community in the United States as a potential incubator of terrorism," Mueller said.

There you have it, folks. He has met the enemy and he is us. We are all potential terrorists. Never mind those pesky Arabic Muslim actual terrorists who crash airplanes into buildings and who can swarm into this country to do harm via a wide-open border. Big Brother needs to keep his eyes on you and me, comrade.

Iowa News Roundup

Story 1: Statewide Disaster Fund Established

A special fund has been set up to collect contributions to help Iowans affected by the recent floods and tornadoes. According to their website, "The 2008 Iowa Disaster Fund has been created to receive contributions from individuals, businesses, and organizations to benefit people who have experienced significant hardship as a result of the storms and flooding of 2008. The fund is being launched with nearly $3 million in contributions from individuals and businesses. It is housed in the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation but will provide statewide assistance through grants to local organizations in the communities impacted by the natural disasters such as community foundations, American Red Cross, United Way and the Salvation Army."

For those wishing to help, contributions may be made on-line at http://www.desmoinesfoundation.org/page10002683.cfm. If paying by check, make it payable to "2008 Iowa Disaster Fund" and send to:

2008 Iowa Disaster Fund

PO Box 310239

Des Moines, IA 50331-0239

Story 2: Kristallnacht Arrives For Iowa Smokers

Today is the day that Iowa Health Nazis have arbitrary decreed to put their public smoking ban into force. No longer will Iowans be able to smoke in "public" places (and of course they include privately-owned property in their expansive definition of "public"). The ban does NOT affect smokers who choose to light up while hemorrhaging their rent money into the government's coffers via Iowa casinos, however. Even Nazis need dough!

I think smoking is stupid, because it kills you. Therefore, I don't smoke. So the new ban won't affect me, except for the fact that I will now be breathing in more cigarette smoke. Where I work, me and my non-smoking friends always spend our breaks sitting outside in a nice area with a picnic tables and a babbling, spring-fed brook nearby. Today the entire area was crawling with smokers trying to maintain the legal 15-foot distance (or whatever) from the doorway, and us non-smokers were sucking in enough second-hand smoke to lift a blimp. Thanks Health Nazis!