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.]