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Starbucks Same Store Sales Up 7% in Defiance of Brady Campaign Attacks
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"For months the Brady Campaign has engaged in a relentless attack against Starbucks. The reason? Starbucks refused to cave in to the Brady Campaign demand that Starbucks violate the civil rights of law abiding citizens."

"At the height of the worst Depression since the 1930s, with unemployment at 17.9% (when all categories of unemployment are included), in a business driven solely by discretionary consumer spending, Starbucks stellar results for the quarter say a lot about its ethics and business practices. In standing up for its customers' Constitutional right to keep and bear arms, its customers stood up for Starbucks privilege to stay in business." ...

Editorial continues 'sedition' theme, along with a good dose of race baiting
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Monday, we looked at a discussion on 'The Chris Matthews Show,' in which two of the guests accused Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and Rush Limbaugh of coming close to 'sedition' in their criticism of the Obama administration."

"Today, it's 'BuzzFlash' editor Mark Karlin ... His purveyors of 'sedition' are the participants in the two gun rights rallies Monday, in and overlooking Washington D.C." ...

"Not one word, you'll note, about what was said that was 'seditious' ('thinly veiled,' or not). Interesting, is it not, that Karlin finds objections to the infringement of Constitutional rights to be 'psychotic'?"

"Then, he gets to the race baiting:" ...

April 19 a day to fly flag proudly
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"If you've been following the April 19 gun rights rallies in Washington DC and Virginia, you couldn't help but notice how the anti gunners and the media all made hay out of implying the date was chosen to somehow commemorate the Oklahoma City bombing. Reporters asked it of rally organizers. One asked it of me (my responseif it had been held on the 15th with the Tea Parties, we'd be accused of celebrating the sinking of the Titanic)." ...

The year of the Second Amendment
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The year 2010 may be the 'year of the Second Amendment'."

"Open carry protests, marches and get-togethers are taking place all over the country. The Brady Campaign for Handgun Violence is going apoplectic over large corporations allowing customers to enter their place of business with an openly displayed handgun. The Supreme Court seems ready to rule the Second Amendment applies to the states and local governments. Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign is meeting with gun owners (are lions laying with lambs?)."

"And an ever-increasing number of states are easing restrictions on gun carry." ...

Safer Streets 2010: American Militias, Part V
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"What the American Militia is and isn't begins with education of kids in what the Founding Fathers defeated and what they did not want any more of. Abuse of due process was very high on the list."

"Today, many officials support Militia within the meaning of the second amendment, including those states who invoke the tenth amendment to get out from under the very same thing the Founders experienced. This is significant in impeaching those haters who smear everything Americans stand for. In describing militias as anti-government, they open the door to one thing: education of the electorate, and right about now, Americans are searching for answers." ...

Protesters Bearing Arms
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Participants of the Restore the Constitution rally came to Virginia this week with a long list of grievances. And they came bearing arms. Concerns ranged across the political spectrum, with protesters opposing everything from the federal requirement to purchase health insurance and the surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act to Social Security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ultimately, their open-carry rally ... called for less government intrusion and a reduced amount of spending."

"'Most of us are libertarian, and we have libertarian concerns,' said Andrew Graves, who traveled from Vermont ... 'We want smaller federal government. We want the federal government to play by the rulebook, the rulebook being the Constitution.'" ...

What's missing is the rest of the Second Amendment
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"In 'No conundrum for conservatives' (My View, April 19), Walter G. Bilowz concludes by quoting from the Second Amendment, 'the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.' And then asks, 'Am I missing something?'"

"To which I answer, 'Yes, the first and controlling part of the Amendment': 'A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state. ...'"

"Until the most recent decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the first part of the amendment clearly restricted 'the right to keep and bear arms' to the need of a 'well regulated militia' ...

"Unfortunately, Justice Scalia and Mr. Bilowz conveniently ignore this prior restriction."
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Submitter's Note: Justice Stevens and the three other dissenters also "ignore this prior restriction" when stating in their dissent: "The question presented by this case is not whether the Second Amendment protects a 'collective right' or an 'individual right.' Surely it protects a right that can be enforced by individuals. But a conclusion that the Second Amendment protects an individual right does not tell us anything about the scope of that right."

Blacks, the Media, & the Tea Parties
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"I am exhausted. I returned home after performing at tea parties in 42 cities, from Searchlight, NV to Washington, D.C., in nineteen days while on the Tea Party Express III tour. I'm black conservative singer/songwriter, entertainer, author, and spokesperson Lloyd Marcus."

"I wish to share with you how the liberal mainstream media has dealt with my participation on the Tea Party Express III tour."

"Liberal mainstream media all but call me an Uncle Tom. Their reports imply that I am a token black too stupid to realize that I am being used by the tea party movement. In typical liberal mainstream media arrogance, they are totally blind to the blatant racism of their reporting." ...

NY: Robbers Run When Citizen Shoots Back
Submitted by: NYSRPA-PVF
Website: http://www.nysrpa-pvf.org

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"Police are looking for two men they say tried to rob a 61-year old man on his way home from the store Wednesday night only to have him shoot back with his own gun."

"The attempted robbery and retaliation occurred just after 11:15 p.m. on Tubman Way in the city."

"Police said when the two approached the victim, one grabbed him and the other pulled a knife. The victim quickly pulled his own gun and fired at the suspects. His gun is licensed and legally registered, police said."

"The suspects ran away." ...

Video: When Seconds Count Submitted by: Rick Schwartz Website: http://www.weprotectyourkids.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Oftentimes, when the police are minutes away, seconds count. Self-defense isn't a privilege. It's a right. See why and comment here: http://pjtv.com/v/3431

CA: Don't we have important things to work on? (third letter)
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"I just can't picture some would-be robber parading around with a visible firearm just before he walks into a convenience store to rob it. Why are we making laws about things that aren't a problem? Don't our lawmakers have more important things to work on, like California heading towards bankruptcy?"

"In all my 50-plus years living in California, I have never ever seen a citizen walking down a city street or a neighborhood with a pistol on their hip or a rifle on their shoulder with one exception. Every fourth Saturday in Old Town Temecula, you'll see me and all the other Old Town Temecula Gunfighters ..." ...

"Congresswoman Lori Saldana needs to spend her time more wisely. It is my right under the Second Amendment ..." ...

PA: Westmoreland commissioners allow guns in county parks
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Westmoreland County Commissioners voted yesterday to change an ordinance to allow guns in all county parks."

"Commissioners Tom Balya and Tom Ceraso, both Democrats, said they had no choice but to amend the county's 1974 parks ordinance so it concurs with state law that allows firearms in public places, including parks."

"'We would be foolish to try to keep an ordinance on the books that would not pass muster in court,' Balya said yesterday after a handful of county residents both for and against the proposed ordinance change addressed the commissioners." ...

CA: Gun bill overreacts to an overreaction
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Second Amendment advocates have held a series of provocative events in the past few months to protest what they see as an erosion of their right to keep and bear arms."

"And, as if on cue, liberals in the state Assembly are working hard to prove them right."

"Assemblywoman Lori Saldana, a Democrat from San Diego, introduced a bill early this month that would ban handgun owners from openly carrying holstered, unloaded firearms, as state law has long allowed. ..." ...

"... so far the dangers of the 'open carry' crowd exist only in their opponents' imagination. The protests while ill-mannered and intimidating to many have peacefully made a political statement, and Saldana's reaction only proves their point ..." ...

GA: Gun Carry Bill Gets Whittled Down at State Capitol
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"A bill to clear up exactly where people can and can't take guns in Georgia is gradually running out of ammunition at the State Capitol."

"The basic idea behind Senator Mitch Seabaugh's (R-Sharpsburg) SB 308 was to let property owners themselves decide who can bring a gun on their property."

"But now his attempt at clarity has gotten a little confusing, too."

"First of all, any Georgians may have a gun in their home, business or vehicle without any type of permit or license."

"But to take a gun anywhere else legally, they have to go through a background check and get a Georgia Firearms License."

"Those license holders are the ones this bill covers." ...

OH: SB239 (Restaurant/Car Carry) & SB247 (Restoration of Rights) scheduled for proponent testimony in Senate committee
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The Senate Judiciary on Criminal Justice Committee, chaired by Sen. Tim Grendell (R-18), has scheduled a hearing on Wednesday, April 28 at 10:15 AM in the Senate Building's South Hearing Room."

"The committee will hear further proponent testimony on SB239, ... to allow citizens who hold a valid concealed handgun license (CHL) to carry a firearm in restaurants, and to reduce burdensome restrictions regarding how a license holder must transport a firearm in a car. This will be the third hearing for SB239."

"The committee will also hold its first hearing for SB247, which will align Ohio law with federal statutes regarding the restoration of rights to Ohio firearms purchasers. ..." ...

Federal Air Marshal Charged With Raping Woman in Airport Hotel
Submitted by: jac

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"A federal air marshal has been charged with raping a female escort at gunpoint in a Seattle airport hotel while wearing his badge, the Seattle Times reported."

"... Settles is being held on $250,000 bail on a charge of first-degree rape, accused ... of using his government-issued firearm to threaten her ..."

"Settles, 30, was in town ... on official business but called an escort service ... initially agreeing to pay the woman $180 to perform a dance in lingerie ..."

"But when the woman emerged from the ... bathroom, she found Settles naked, wearing only his badge and brandishing his gun ... Settles claimed to be a U.S. Marshal and told the woman she had to do whatever he ordered." ...

State-sponsored assassinations: A time to KILL
Submitted by: Larry

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"State-sponsored assassinations are back in season. Targeted snuff jobs of state enemies are on the rise from Dubai to Dagestan, from Yemen to Waziristan. Even the United States returned to the practice this week when US president Barack Obama ordered the assassination of a US citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki,the radical Imam who after 9/11 moved from Virginia to Yemen, from where he now inspires such people as the Fort Hood shooter and the would-be underwear bomber. He was pushing the limits of President Gerald Ford's 1976 executive ban against assassinations." ...

IA: Video- Elderly Woman vs Intruder Submitted by: Anonymous	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
FULL TEXT BELOW: Beatrice Turner, 89, met a would-be burglar in her living room with a loaded gun and foiled the robbery. KCCI reports. ------- Money quote: "This is a .22 ...and the police reloaded it for me." KABA Note: Good for the police!

NJ: Teen accused in 5 slays invisible to state squad
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"An accused killer charged with gunning down five people in Jersey City had been wanted by authorities since January, when the state parole board issued an arrest warrant accusing the teen of failing to meet his parole obligations."

"Yet even as 19-year-old Shiquan Bellamy remained in the neighborhood where he had lived for years, allegedly selling drugs on the street, the New Jersey State Parole Board's fugitive unit couldn't find him." ...

CA: Fellow officers shaken by gun death of deputy's daughter, 3, at home
Submitted by: Anonymous

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... "In the garage with her father, Placer County Sheriff's Deputy Ken Skogen, 3-year-old Kalli got her hands on a .40-caliber pistol and shot herself."

"Arriving police officers found the toddler in her mother's arms inside the home. ..."

"Shortly before 8:30 p.m., Kalli was pronounced dead."

"Roseville police continued their investigation Wednesday, releasing few new details about the circumstances surrounding the incident, except to say the gun was not the deputy's service weapon."

"Police said it appeared to be an accident; they noted, however, that does not rule out the possibility of criminal prosecution for failing to properly secure a handgun from a child's reach, as required by California law." ...
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KABA Note: A horrible thing to happen to a family; almost as horrible is the fact that authorities are even contemplating charges.

PA: Phila. Police Officer Charged with Indecent Exposure
Submitted by: jac

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"A Philadelphia police officer is under arrest for indecent exposure, after a six month investigation into an incident in the city's Kensington section."

"... officer Joseph Harvey was on duty, conducting what he called a 'pro-active' investigation, in a private home near Kensington and Somerset. According to DiLacqua, a woman in her early 20's was also in the home and at some point she and Harvey were alone together."

"'Officer Harvey committed a sex act on her; he exposed himself.'"

"DiLacqua says Harvey is also charged with false imprisonment and /official oppression:"

"'He was acting on duty, displaying a badge and a gun and she was certainly, we believe, not free to leave that room.'" ...

WA: Local computer security expert investigates police practices
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"A drunken street golf game with foam balls has led to a serious civil rights issue, pitting computer geeks against police practices."

"Eric Rachner, a Seattle cyber security expert and one of the golf players, wasn't satisfied when the city dismissed charges against him after a possibly illegal arrest for refusing to provide identification."

"Rachner discovered through sleuthing that police had withheld video-recorded evidence in his case."

"Rachner also hired Seattle attorney Cleveland Stockmeyer to look at his case and probably others where arrests might have been illegal or where police claimed to have destroyed valuable arrest videos that weren't, in fact, erased." ...

MA: Police turn up heat on civilian flaggers
Submitted by: Larry

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"Lynn Williams, a construction worker in a yellow vest, was standing in the middle of a South Boston intersection, holding a sign warning drivers to slow down, when police showed up and ordered her to stop, she said."

"'They threatened to arrest me,' she said. 'Wasn't that nice of them?'" ...

"The incident Tuesday was the latest flare-up in an increasingly tense dispute between the [BPD] and the [MADoT] over the use of civilian flaggers at city construction sites overseen by the state."

"... police in Boston and elsewhere, who can earn huge amounts of money working at construction sites, have argued that public safety is better served by having officers, rather than civilians, working the jobs." ...
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H/t to The LRC Blog.

CA: Yolo probe absolves deputy of holding gun to child's head
Submitted by: Anonymous

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"Yolo County sheriff's officials said Wednesday they had investigated claims by a Dunnigan couple that a deputy put a gun to their 9-year-old daughter's head and had concluded it never happened."

"'There was absolutely no evidence ... that this took place,' Sheriff Ed Prieto said."

"The girl's father, Santiago Ochoa, stood by his family's story that a deputy had pressed a gun to his youngest daughter's temple as officers executed a search warrant at their rural home in June." ...

"Prieto launched the investigation after the family's claims surfaced in February. He said he found the charges shocking but almost impossible to believe."

"'I never heard of a complaint where an officer stuck a gun to a 9-year-old's head,' he said." ...

WY: City of Sheridan hires a police chief from Detroit that breaks the law and misplaces his gun
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"David Codrea the National Gun Rights Examiner regularly writes about an elite class of citizens called the ONLY ONES, and this unaccountable behavior has been turning up here in Wyoming as you will soon find out"

"The Sheridan Mayor and City Council recently hired a police chief that didnt know where he had placed his gun, or at least that is what Richard Adriaens said about the incident. This came to light when he tried to get through Airport Security with a gun in his briefcase."

"As Chief Adriaens was going through the TSA baggage check the agents found a firearm, this happened to Adriaens while employed as the Gillette Police Chief, and ... Chief Adriaens broke the law and didnt even get a slap on the hand." ...

WY: Sheridan Police harass gun rights activist, terrorize his family during swat style confrontation
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"The Sheridan police are either unable to make proper judgment calls, or they believe in extreme authority opposite of constitutionally protected rights, you decide"

"It was Sunday after spending the weekend in Sheridan for the local Tea Party, we were leaving the hotel to head back home, while driving only 100 yards away, there were two police officers coming up the hill on foot carrying AR-15 rifles."
"
As we approached them they stopped my vehicle and the officers yelled 'put up your hands' to myself, wife and my little girl, then I was ordered to step out of my vehicle. (while armed of course)" ...

CA: Standing for rights (third letter)
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Responding to the April 11 letter (Orwellian Two Minutes' Hate?) to the editor advising us to avoid Starbucks because they will not prohibit legal open-carry, I can only remark at his astounding ignorance and naiveté."

"Seems Rosa Parks must now (by the writer's criteria) be categorized as an 'unstable loony' for standing up for her constitutional rights."

"Because that is exactly what advocates and practitioners of legal 'open-carry' are doing standing up for their Second Amendment rights."

"Looking at history, one observes that one of the first things fascist regimes do is disarm the citizenry. Even the British did it to the Irish and Scots. ..." ...

WA: Sno County Council gets it right 'sorta'; Seattle judges have it wrong
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Wednesday saw the Democrat-dominated Snohomish County Council finally do the right thing, repealing a 1970s-passed parks gun ban that was unenforceable anyway since it was nullified by the 1983 passage of this states landmark preemption statute."

"But in doing the right thing, the council also adopted with a straight party-line split vote a motion to lobby the Legislature in January to water down the state preemption statute so local governments can adopt their own gun laws. Evidently, Council Chairman Dave Gossett (one of the Democrats) doesnt get it about preemption. That statute is all about not allowing local governments to create a patchwork of conflicting gun laws. ..." ...

AZ: I said 'Carrying,' not 'Pointing!'
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Earlier this week, the state of Arizona made a great move to honor the portion of the second amendment that is above. Yes, earlier this week, Governor Jan Brower signed the law that now makes it legal for citizens of Arizona to carry concealed fire arms without a permit. This now makes Arizona the third state, along with Alaska and Vermont, to allow their citizens to do so. I believe that this is a good step in the right direction to help keep order in our society." ...

ID: Why do local commissioners have beef with militias?
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Since election day is only a little more than a month away I thought it might be in order to review a couple of pertinent points with regards to the constitution and the oath of office of elected officials."

"They promise to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States before taking office. This being said the question should be asked why our commissioners took such a firm stand against the second amendment ..." ...

"The reasoning for the militia was to keep from having a standing army which a power hungry president could use against its own people or to send to some far off land to do the work of special interests such as 'protecting' the oil fields in Iraq." ...

AZ: Dupuy needs to brush up on Constitution
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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"Tina Dupuy, are you serious?! Your column mentions nothing about the Constitution of the United States. When was the last time you read it?"

"... it is the responsibility of the citizens of this country to convey messages to our elected officials."

"It sounds as though you are not only jealous of the 'Tea Party,' but also resent the 'oldies,' as you call us. Most of the 'Tea Party oldies' own guns and know how to use them."

"... I would be willing to bet you know nothing about guns, nor the right of local citizens to protect/defend themselves, the Second Amendment, nor the reason for the American Revolution."

"So who is enjoying exercising freedom, as well as being safer - the gun owner or the unarmed person?" ...

OH: LTE: Newspaper opinion on concealed handguns is antiquated
Submitted by: Bruce W. Krafft

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... "Your continued bias against law-abiding Ohio citizens having the basic right to carry a concealed handgun to protect themselves is once again manifested in the News Journal's March 21 editorial, 'Tweaking conceal, carry increases danger.'"

"The new proposal seeks to simplify the current, complicated protocol as to how guns are legally carried in an automobile and to allow properly licensed patrons to carry a concealed handgun in a restaurant that serves alcohol so long as the armed citizen doesn't drink." ...