MARCH 2010

EVERYONE'S A WINNER ON GUN TALK!

THIS IS WHAT WE LIKE TO HEAR!

"Monday 02-22-10 I arrived home after work around 2:00 p.m., leashed up my dog, jumped into my truck and drove the 4 miles up the hill to the entrance to Joshua Tree National Park. Showing my pass to the Ranger I then drove to Hidden Valley Camp ground. Buster (my Basset Hound) and I repeated our familiar walk we have done many times in the past, talking to the 'Snow Birds,' climber's from up north getting their climbing gear ready for the next days climbing adventure telling them, 'have fun and be safe.' Walked by the friendly Ranger exchanged 'Hellos' and 'Have a good Day.'

"We headed back to my truck. Sitting in my truck thinking about our walk...nothing different than any of our other walks I have done in the past. Only two things that were different: I was carrying my 1911 concealed on my hip (I have a CA CCW) and for the first time in the last 15 years that I have been climbing and hiking in this park I was exercising my second amendment rights as an American. No gun fights, no blood in the camp grounds and no shooting of any wildlife. Just the same old beautiful Joshua Tree National Park.

"Oh, I forgot to share my experience with Dury's Guns with you. I sold three handguns to Durys (to finance a training class at Thunder Ranch this August - Well worth the three guns I don't shoot that often). Anyways Dury's is awesome! Fair price, great service, quick turn around, and very friendly folks. Thanks, Tom."

--Tony, in California

Last Monday was the first day you could legally carry a gun into the National Parks. There are some restrictions -- you can't carry into the buildings. This is just the latest in a string of successes we have enjoyed in regaining our gun rights.

The now-famous Heller decision by the Supreme Court confirmed what most gun owners already knew -- the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to own guns. But, that guarantee applies only against the federal government. States and cities can still restrict your gun rights. That's what the city of Chicago does with its gun ban, and that's what this case is about.

The McDonald case challenges the Chicago gun ban (visit www.chicagoguncase.com), and is designed to get the U.S. Supreme Court to "incorporate" the Second Amendment in line with the 14th Amendment. All that means is that when we win (as I expect we will) this case, all 50 states and all cities will be forced to accept that the Second Amendment applies to them, too. Note, the case will be argued on March 2. We will not have a decision until a few months later.

However, even when we win, it will be just the beginning of many legal battles to establish what this really means. The Heller decision did not wipe out all gun control laws, and neither will McDonald. Gun rights groups already have a plan for a series of legal challenges over the next few years. Each one will push back the restrictions on our rights. As they like to say, "It's a process." For the first time in my memory, things are moving in the right direction.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Here's a suggestion. There will be newspaper stories about the McDonald case being argued before the Supreme Court. This would be a great time to send in a letter. Many editorials will say that states and cities should be able to pass their own gun laws, and that SCOTUS should not take away that ability (they will even call it a "right," which it is not).

You, on the other hand, can do a comparison between the Second Amendment and the First Amendment, and ask how the paper and the public would react if the state decided to clamp down on free speech, saying that the states and cities should be able to control who can speak and what they can say.

Then, watch them squirm.

Our television series, "Guns & Gear," runs on Versus, but it runs for only half a year. Last year was the first season, and we had great ratings -- so much so that it was immediately the largest shooting show on television. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's on Versus, the largest network carrying a pure shooting (as opposed to hunting) show.

G&G ran in the third and fourth quarter of last year, and we are now producing the 2010 season, which will air in the second half of this year. You can, of course, still watch the segments from last year at www.gunsandgeartv.com.

You've seen Ryan Gresham doing the range segments on Guns & Gear TV. Well, last Friday, he was in a class with Tiger McKee, working on AR-15 skills, which means malfunction drills. I was shooting still photos and video.

This is where a class like this really shows its worth. Malfunction drills with an AR can be a bear! From a simple "tack-rack" to having to pull the magazine and shove your fingers into the mag well to unstick rounds that are jammed, all the way to having to bang the stock of the gun on the ground to dislodge a stuck round, there's a lot to know and do.

Watching Tiger at work is really fun, in the same way that you enjoy watching any professional who is truly good at his job. He gives you just what you need, at the right time. He pushes, but not enough to frustrate -- well, not to much. If you are not frustrated at some point, you aren't being pushed enough.

If you are in the eastern part of the U.S., you might want to consider training with Tiger. Visit www.shootrite.org for his web site.

RATHER HAVE MY CHILD DIE THAN USE A GUN?

If you were having trouble understanding anti-gun people, this will not help. A high school math teacher named Doug Van Gorder wrote a letter to the Boston Globe decrying the idea of having self-defense guns in schools. In part of his letter, he shows what can surely be described as one of the most telling views into the minds of gun banners.

"But as a progressive, I would sooner lay my child to rest than succumb to the belief that the use of a gun for self-defense is somehow not in itself a gun crime."

So, he views the use of a gun for self defense as a crime, and he would rather have his child die than see a good person (assuming this applies to the police, also) use a gun to save a life.

I simply have nothing to add to that.