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.
Can you be in favor of gun ownership and national gun control at the same time? You apparently can if you are a career politician like Brian P. Stack, Mayor of Union City and State Senator of New Jersey. He writes:
I am in favor of law abiding citizens who wish to responsibly purchase and own a firearm.
He then adds:
I encourage federal legislators across the nation to put politics aside and sign a uniform gun bill into law. Give our law enforcement officers a fighting chance. Let’s take the guns that are purchased in Florida off of the streets in Union City, Jersey City, Newark and New York City.
So in other words a law abiding citizen would be highly restricted from where they can buy a gun. And yet this doesn’t address that many criminals buy illegal guns on the black market and would continue to do so.
But of course a good politician knows to support all sides of an issue and the center.
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.
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
Imagine if a lobby group could destroy your business? Well, this is what is happening in California. This past weekend, The San Jose Mercury News in a single story noted two upsetting events. First:
Just weeks after Pinole banned home gun sales, news that an online firearms business is operating from a Pleasant Hill condominium has gun control advocates calling for city leaders here to take similar action.
“It creates a public safety issue for the neighborhood, and that’s why Pinole is against it and that’s why we’re against it,” said Karen Arntzen, a Pleasant Hill resident and a member of the Contra Costa Chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
The fact that the Brady Campaign can “PREVENT” someone from doing business in their own home is disturbing. But let’s consider this other fact noted in the story:
Pleasant Hill waded into the firearms regulation fight last year after the Brady Campaign raised concerns about a gun store that opened across from Diablo Valley College. Planning commissioners ultimately rejected a proposal to require a use permit for new gun stores because they didn’t believe it addressed any existing public safety issues.
Let’s review this again… the Brady Campaign tried to stop a gun shop from opening because it was near a college! What’s next banning gun stores anywhere near residences? Or any other businesses? This of course is the goal the Brady Campaign has in mind.
But let’s make this point… how many bars are near college campuses all over the country? Yes, we know there have been a few tragic shootings but consider the number of alcohol related deaths, date rapes and accidents that result from just a night at the bar. And yet… if anyone called for all bars to banned near campuses there would be outrage!
Was it really necessary for New York news site Gothamist to mock Steven Holper, the blind gun collector from New Jersey who recently won his right to have his firearms collection returned? Here is how Gothamist saw it:
So justice is blind, but still has the constitutional right to carry guns, especially if her friends at the shooting range testify that she has “incredible” aim, as Hopler’s friends did to CBS.
It then concluded the story noting:
Now that Hopler has his guns back, he should consider finding a Russian waitress, heading down to Honduras for some gambling, and really having a time of it: (video to Warren Zevon’s song “Lawyers Guns And Money”)
How about next time mocking handicapped children Gothamist?
