The story of Lt. Augustine Kim is upsetting to say the least, but it is a sad tale of the poor treatment our soldiers often receive. Emily Miller, writing for the Washington Post, noted Kim’s story:
After being injured on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, Lt. Augustine Kim spent the night in a D.C. jail for possessing unregistered guns.
Mr. Kim was transporting his firearms from his parents’ house in New Jersey to South Carolina when he stopped at Walter Reed in Washington for a medical appointment in the summer of 2010.
After being pulled over, handcuffed, arrested, thrown in jail overnight, his guns were confiscated by the city.
In the end, the platoon leader felt forced to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge, which was later dismissed, but the District still refuses to return to him $10,000 worth of firearms and parts. The national guardsman will deploy to Kosovo this summer. The city should return his property before he leaves to serve our nation overseas for the third time.
Time and time again the media and pretty much every anti-gun zealot suggest that President Obama hasn’t pushed for gun control, or has shown any anti-gun stance. Fortunately our friend Dave Workman compiled just a few examples:
During his first term, President Obama has:
Appointed anti-gunners Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court, where they could influence Second Amendment rulings for several years.
Appointed liberal anti-gunners to lower federal courts, where most gun rights cases will be decided because the high court is under no obligation to accept every gun case for review. Their rulings could govern gun rights for several decades, because these judicial appointments are for life.
Reversed standing U.S. policy on the proposed international Small Arms Trade Treaty.
Appointed avowed anti-gunner Eric Holder as attorney general – whose performance was discussed in this column earlier – gave us the Operation Fast and Furious cover-up scandal. Holder will forever be remembered by Northwest shooters as the man who wanted to “brainwash” people against guns, as this column discussed.
Let his bureaucrats push through a multiple sales reporting requirement on long guns in four southwest states because of the gun trafficking scandal.
Blocked, by executive order, importation of thousands of surplus M1 rifles from Korea. (Remember what Clinton advisor Paul Begala once told a reporter: “Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Kinda cool.”)
Attempted to nominate an anti-gun bureaucrat to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
A common refrain from anti-gun types is “only the police and military should have access to guns.” Time and time again we see how well that would work as guns are sold by police, stolen from off-duty police officers and even simply lost. But this week Stars and Strips dropped a bombshell, noting nearly $2 million worth of guns and gear were stolen and sold to gangs – not only in the United States but around the world. The story noted:
A wide-reaching investigation by military and civilian authorities has uncovered a criminal conspiracy within the Armed Forces to steal and sell nearly $2 million in guns and combat gear to gangs in the U.S. and foreign countries including China, military officials have confirmed.
It added:
With cooperation from Marine and Navy officials, NCIS has been able to conduct 66 investigations involving 47 active duty Marines and sailors to include enlisted and high-ranking officers and 21 civilians who are now in various stages of prosecution.
Tax dollars wasted and criminals with military grade hardware. Who Guards the Guards indeed!
WND is reporting that a police officers in two California cities have confiscated firearms and then failed to return them – even after the suspects were cleared. An anti-gun types think only the police should have access to guns. The story noted:
A pair of California cities and the state’s Department of Justice are facing a federal lawsuit today because, plaintiffs claim, the police confiscated firearms during investigations but now refuse to return them – even after the subjects of the inquiries were cleared of any wrongdoing.
The story added:
(Douglas) Churchill’s firearms were confiscated by the San Francisco Police Department in January 2011 as part of an investigation, but the district attorney dismissed charges less than a month later. Nonetheless, police refuse to return seven of Churchill’s weapons – including a Remington .22-caliber rifle and a Winchester 20-guage shotgun, among others.
Police, court documents suggest, are relying on a letter from the California Department of Justice instructing the police not to return firearms unless the alleged owners can present “proof of ownership,” though the same letter admits the state may have no official records for “long guns” like Churchill’s Remington.
In Churchill’s case, however, police officers presented him with a receipt for the firearms they confiscated. Churchill’s attorneys argue that’s good enough and the police need to return the weapons they took.
This is highly disturbing because it could allow the police to seize guns and then demand that “proof of ownership.” We know what this is – backdoor gun control.
The Passaic County Sheriff’s Office spent more than $20,000 buying back 282 guns from residents in Paterson in an effort to rid the city’s most dangerous streets of firearms, officials said Tuesday.
First, is there any evidence these guns were the “city’s most dangerous” – more likely these were in closets and under beds. But wouldn’t $20,000 have been better spent on paying for tips and programs to help the community instead?
Much ado about nothing is our thought when we saw the outrageous LA Times headline: “L.A. gun buyback yields rocket launcher, assault weapons.” As expected this was borderline yellow journalism, as noted in the introduction:
A $2,000 pair of pocket pistols and a military rocket launcher — sans rocket — were among the 1,673 firearms that Los Angeles residents traded in for gift cards in the city’s gun buyback this weekend.
So a “military rocket launcher – sans rocket” is worthy of a headline? There is nothing illegal about owning a deactivated rocket launcher and there are collectors of these things, but the headline almost implies that this was something ominous.
We’re also curious if those $2,000 pocket pistols will be scrapped with the other 1,671 firearms?
This week LAist.com reported on this past weekend’s gun buyback, and offered a gallery. From some of the photos it seems that what was “bought” was a lot of parts and junk. The story noted:
More than 600 weapons were turned in during the first hour Los Angeles’ fourth gun buyback program. The program allows owners to trade their weapons in for a gift card for groceries without having to answer any questions. Police check the guns to see if they were reported stolen, and if not they’re melted down. So far over 6,200 weapons have been bought back by the city’s program.
This is a sad tale too… how many potentially valuable or even historically significant firearms have been melted down?
Few organizations have more strongly proclaimed their disdain for our right to keep and bear arms and self-protection.
According to a recent FoxNews.comop-ed piece by acclaimed author and scholar John R. Lott, Jr., in April alone, the George Soros-backed Media Matters ran no fewer than 32 articles on its website attacking NRA.
And Media Matters hasn’t limited its vitriol to NRA; it’s been attacking Lott as well. According to the article, since January 2011, Media Matters has criticized Lott in 25 pieces.
Media Matters’ latest hit-job, “John Lott Continues Media Tour In Defense Of ‘Kill At Will’” (http://tinyurl.com/7nwbnou) attacks Lott and “stand your ground” laws, in a feeble attempt to make political hay in the wake of the Trayvon Martin case.
Media Matters and the anti-gun media would have you believe that guns are evil. They don’t want you to own guns and they don’t want you to use them. As such, we can expect them to play fast and loose with the truth when they report on our issue, and we can expect them to continue their vilification of guns, gun owners, and pro-gun laws.
NRA always has and always will advocate the passage and preservation of self-defense laws. That’s what really matters.
About:
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org
