March 3, 2006

"...1) Stop!!

 

    2) Don't Touch.

 

    3) Leave The Area.

 

    4) Go Get An Adult..."

 

 

            -Core Premise of the Eddie The Eagle

             Gun Safety Program For Kids, for those

             times they find a gun while not supervised

             by a competent adult.

 

 

 

To All,

     Perhaps this training mantra could be impressed on the minds of the Political Classes for every time they are faced with voting for a risky gun control scheme. Think of all the careers it could save from the harm of self-inflicted injury...

 

Know When To Fold 'Em:

     Ed Ortega covered the recent Rumble In Glendale in a March 1, 2006, article over a proposal to ban the last gun show in Los Angeles County.

 

     Mayor Rafi Manoukian had previously asked Glendale City Attorney Steve Howard to draft an ordinance designed to block gun shows from using any city-owned property and venues.

 

     Mayor Manoukian's rationale (to this day, no less) for the proposal is that he feels that it conveys a "bad message" to the various students attending Glendale Community College to have a gun show at the Civic Center just across the street (That said students are normally of legal age to buy long guns at least, one would have thought that Hizzoner would have let them make their own choices rather than hack away at civil liberties).

 

    But one thing that Mayor Manoukian did not count on was the vigilance of local NRA activists, Member's Council Volunteers, and the natural "cussedness" of those who support the Second Amendment in the Fool's Golden State.

 

     Firstly, NRA Legal Counsel (Chuck Michel, of Trutanich and Michel) exchanged "educational materials" with City Attorney Steve Howard (He sent him the standard "nasty-gram" declaring intent to sue, along with a copy of a recent development in the case of Nordyke v. King that made the Mayor's idea an expensive proposition at best.).

 

     Secondly, phone trees, email lists, and even the Server From Hell were utilized in getting the message to the Glendale City Council that gun-owners "care".

 

     And thus, with barely a week's public notice on the local bulletin board, the evening meeting started with a room largely filled with citizens dedicated to the Second Amendment (Most Glendale City Council meetings are quiet affairs, usually with the Council and staff outnumbering the public in attendance.).

 

     After dispensing with the more essential issues before the Council (eminent domain, re-hires for necessary city services, needed construction projects for the City Parks and Recreation Department), Mayor Manoukian finally called for the discussion of the idea of banning the gun show.

 

     First to the plate was the newly-enlightened City Attorney, who had to reverse course and advise for a postponement until such time as all the legal issues were settled (Like when after the current slate of pols are termed out, either by time, higher office, or voter action.).

 

     After a succinct comment by the Mayor that he had not intended to involve the City in useless and costly litigation, Councilmen started coming out of the woodwork in opposition to the ordinance on a variety of grounds.

 

     Councilman Bob Yousefian made a statement that he stood for the Second Amendment, in the belief that people have a right to own guns.

 

      Strike 1 against the proposal.

 

     Councilman Dave Weaver took an even more forceful stand for the right to keep and bear arms, noting that he would not vote for this bill then, nor in the future.

 

     Strike 2 against the proposal.

 

     And then Councilman Ara Najarian, after declaring his opposition to the proposed ordinance, moved to bring the ordinance issue to a conclusion through a final vote.

 

     Strike 3 against the proposal.

 

     With this turn of affairs, well before any public speakers were heard at the lectern, the ordinance for all intents and purposes was "toast".

 

     Of course, speakers still had a chance to voice a range of opinions (The one lone voice that appeared to support the ordinance appeared more confused than anything else.).

 

     But when all was said and done, Mayor Manoukian ended up pulling his own ordinance from consideration rather have it go down in a recorded vote.

 

 

     The lesson of the failed Glendale Gun Show Ban is one that is familiar to firearms activists nationwide. NRA staff and volunteers were able to mobilize Second Amendment supporters in a quick and decisive manner so as to defend some of the most important aspects of the Bill of Rights on short notice. And in the end, pro-gun forces "rode to the sound of the guns" and won the day. The vanquished once again was the same kind of politician who succumbs to the siren sound of Left Wing political correctness. Hopefully Mayor Manoukian will remember this day, and forbear from advocating gun control schemes ever again.

 

 

Link at:

http://www.glendalenewspress.com/front/story/
39263p-58497c.html

 

 

Works:

     Ralph Peters wrote an article in the March 1, 2006 edition of the New York Post regarding the kinds of "hearts and minds" activities that are being carried out by the U.S. Military in Iraq.

 

     In these days of what Limbaugh calls "The Drive-By Media", what is generally going unreported in Iraq is effective interaction between the so-called "occupation forces" of the U.S. of A and local citizens previously mistreated by the Butcher of Baghdad.

 

    But where Saddam and certain high UN "poobahs" had written off the poor of Risalah, the members of the 4th Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division are making a difference by building sewage treatment systems and distributing hard-to-get school supplies.

 

     Without article's like Peters', stories such as these have been the province of talk radio and a host of "mil-blogs". But in any case, they put paid to the exaggerated hyperbole of the Moveon.org types who view American troops more as Totenkopf than as liberators. Perhaps if Ramsey Clark's of the world would spend more time digging sewers, and less time shilling for fascists, this world would be a better place all around.

 

Link at:

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumni
sts/64406.htm

 

 

Voting With Their Feet:

     Heather Gach wrote yesterday at Quad-Cities Online about a group of high-quality gun manufacturers who are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

 

     It seems that Illinois is trying to ban assault weapons, and a number of famous names would be forced either to downsize massively, or re-locate to a more appreciative state.

 

     Gach reports that House Bill 2414, by State Rep. Edward Acevedo (D-Chicago), would make it illegal to manufacture, possess, or transfer military-style semiautos, certain types of attachments, and .50 caliber target rifles.

 

     If it passes, such companies as Springfield, Les Baer, Armalite, and Rock River Arms would most likely move out of state. This, in turn, could cost Illinois some 750 or more manufacturing jobs, and around $ 150 million dollars in economic activity.

 

     It seems pretty clear that certain politicians in Illinois feel that they have more than enough high-paying manufacturing jobs in state. If it is true that they can afford to lose them to the likes of South Dakota, or Texas, or even Nevada, then perhaps the manufacturers should consider relocation sooner rather than later. In that way, Mayor Daley's cronies can reap what they have sown that much sooner.

 

Link at:

http://qconline.com/archives/qco/sections.cgi
?prcss=display&id=278257

http://www.wlns.com/global/story.asp?s=4570318

 

 

Respectfully,