The Wandering Minstrel

I ordered three copies of “In Search of the Second Amendment” last week. The shipment promptly arrived in my PO Box just two days after I placed the order.

I sent the extra copies to my sister and our nephew, both living in California and both gun owners. The Better Half and I will start viewing our copy this evening.

I only recently found out about this DVD although it was released in December of 2006. We will post a review after we finish watching the video. We’re going to watch it a bit at a time over several days.

In Search of the Second Amendment is a documentary film on the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. It was produced and directed by American author and attorney David T. Hardy. He argues the individual rights model of the Second Amendment. Hardy also discusses the Fourteenth Amendment.

Ordering details and reviews may be found on the “In Search Of The Second Amendment” website here.

Last night I was browsing on the USA Carry website when I discovered that they have set up their interactive map to allow you to select more than one state where you have a CCW permit. Since The Better Half and I have both Arizona (as residents) and Utah permits, we found that there are thirty-nine states where our permits are honored.

The difference of having the Utah permit only allows for us to carry in two additional states - Washington and Minnesota. Unless our travel plans happen to include these two states (which they currently do not), we’re probably going to let the Utah permits expire in 2013. Hopefully, HR 822 will get moving again and if it passes, then it won’t matter.

The usual anti-gun contingents of the northeast and on the left coast continue to deny you of your Second Amendment rights. Clickable image for the fine print.

UPDATE: Readers DrJim and Crotalus point out that I did not comment on the black hole of 2A freedom: Illinois is the only state in the union that denies the right to concealed carry to its citizens. Say, isn’t the Obamination from there?

I am currently reading “America Disarmed: Inside the U.N. and Obama’s Scheme to Destroy the Second Amendment” written by Wayne LaPierre. I downloaded a PDF file (~1.6Mb) containing the electronic copy of the book. Click on the following link to download your copy:

The foreword, written by Chris Cox, summarizes the intent of the United Nation’s so-called “Arms Treaty” to subvert our American Constitution, specifically, the Second Amendment.

In 2009, the United States joined 152 other countries in endorsing the United Nations Small Arms Treaty, a resolution designed to disarm America and others across the globe.

Specifically, the resolution establishes an international conference to be held in 2012, where leaders from various countries—many of which have deplorable human rights records—will craft an international scheme to severely restrict our right to own a firearm.

As Professor Larry Bell detailed in a popular column for Forbes magazine in early 2011, this global agreement will surely pave the way for gun bans, mandatory gun registration, and eventually, the confiscation of civilian-owned firearms. President Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the U.N. all claim that the only purpose of the treaty is to fight terrorism and international crime syndicates. Americans should not be fooled.

According to Professor Bell, should the U.S. Senate ratify the treaty it will almost certainly force America to:

• enact firearms licensing requirements, creating additional bureaucratic red tape for legal firearms ownership;
• confiscate and destroy all “unauthorized” civilian firearms;
• ban the trade, sale, and private ownership of all semiautomatic firearms; and
• create an international gun registry.

Bell also notes that the treaty will override our national sovereignty and, in the process, give license to the federal government to assert preemptive powers over state regulatory powers guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment. You can see why gun control activists in the United States have been lobbying for this treaty for a long time.

Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, the preeminent expert on the inner workings of the global body, recently told me there is no doubt that the U.N.’s real agenda here is domestic firearms control:

“After the treaty is approved and it comes into force, you will find out that it has this implication or that implication and it requires the Congress to adopt some measure that restricts ownership of firearms,” Bolton warns. “The [Obama] administration knows it cannot obtain this kind of legislation purely in a domestic context…They will use an international agreement as an excuse to get domestically what they couldn’t otherwise.”

Emphasis added. There is another page of Cox’s foreword that I did not include. The Smashwords license for the .PDF copy states:

Thank you for downloading this free eBook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to Smashwords.com to discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support.

From the American Rifleman:

In 1976, Col. Jeff Cooper founded the American Pistol Institute, which became Gunsite. Here, Cooper preached the Modern Technique of the Pistol and purveyed what might be considered his personal motto: D.V.C. D.V.C. is an acronym for three Latin words; Diligentia (accuracy), Vis (force) and Celeritas (speed). Cooper believed that a balance of speed, power and accuracy defined the Modern Technique of the Pistol, and that the .45 Auto cartridge was the best fit in this formula.

Ammo image from Oleg Volk. Poster by The Wandering Minstrel.

I have been proud to hold a Distinguished Life Membership (senior, veteran) for several years. The Better Half and I took advantage of a discount on the cost of a regular life membership. Just before the holidays, we received an offer to upgrade to Endowment Life Membership. We took advantage of this discount as well.

We believe that if all gun owners/enthusiasts were to support the NRA and head to the polls next fall, we would be able to defeat the Obamination. Even though the slate of Republican candidates is only marginally acceptable to Second Amendment supporters, any one of them would be better than the Obamination. We can’t risk having the Obamination for a second term when the Supreme Court of the United States is likely to have a vacancy. If the Obamination were to appoint another Kagan or Sotomayor ultra-liberal justice to replace a Constitutional justice it would surely be a disaster for the Second Amendment and other Constitutional rights.

Do what you can to get the Constitution back on track.

From NRA Member Services:

What’s happening RIGHT NOW in Washington, D.C. could spell disaster for YOUR guns and YOUR Second Amendment rights!

Hundreds of gun-ban politicians, political appointees and bureaucrats are now writing regulations, casting votes and passing laws that could all but eliminate your right to own a gun. Their agenda starts with licensing, registering, fingerprinting, inspecting and cataloging every firearm, firearm owner and firearm transfer in the United States …

… And it ends with an outright ban on your guns!!!!

Only you can stop the anti-gunners and prevent the obliteration of our Second Amendment rights by joining NRA today.

Before heading to the range last Friday for target practice, we stopped at the Gun Trader to renew our family membership to the Wickenburg Sportsmen’s Club. The renewal was quick and practically painless; we filled out the application and signed the waiver forms and paid our $75 2012 family membership fee. We used to pay about $400 for two yearly memberships at the indoor range near our old house in California. We like this range better at less than one-fifth of the price.

There is another CCW class coming up a week from Monday that will include a range orientation refresher for members. We’re planning to attend and ask some questions about some of the bays and how to use them, where to get target stands and so forth. We’re looking forward to participating.

Last week I got John Lott’s “More Guns Less Crime” in the mail. I have not started on the book yet, but plan to read it over the next couple of weeks.

We read Dr. Lott’s blog on a daily basis and read his articles in the media from time to time. He has an easy-to-read style and we get a lot of information about politics, guns and more from his conservative viewpoint.

This latest edition of More Guns has an additional ten years of case data since the initial published book. I look forward to getting more information about this interesting topic.

The Better Half and I had a discussion about HR-822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, as we drove across the California Desert yesterday. I told her that I think there is a good possibility of the measure being signed into law.

HR-822 passed in the House of Representatives yesterday, with only a handful of whiny RINOs voting against it, and the usual anti-rights Democrats, of course. Now the bill goes to the Senate where I believe Harry Reid, who wants to make up to the NRA and regain their endorsement, will put it on the agenda for the upper house. I believe the Senate will pass the bill (probably with changes) and return it to the House where they will evaluate and approve any changes.

Now, as for the Obamination to sign the bill into law, just remember that this in an election cycle. He will sign it to deflect the Fast and Furious issue and then say to the voting public “See, I’m not against guns and the Second Amendment, See?” Yes, he is that much of a whore.

Of course, that’s my opinion, I could be wrong.