You all have seen how the local news has treated the Chicago shootings with the posts copied from the Chicago Tribune. This is how the subject is treated on KABA. You will notice that the Trib called it a search warrant, while the KABA report made it a "sting". I note that one reader wishes that the wounded cop will get gangrene and die. She may get her wish. Any comments?

Leroy

1. KeepAndBearArms.com offers its prayers and sincere best wishes for the speedy recovery of Detective Airhart, our gratitude for his actions in helping to remove a public menace, and our condemnation of the violent criminal who shot him. Anyone who wishes that a law enforcement officer be shot while arresting a violent felon who has robbed a bank is encouraged to look deep into his or her own heart to discover the source of such anger and direct it more appropriately.

2. A "sting" is an undercover police operation to catch criminals; the officer in the story disguised himself as a deliveryman, that is, went "undercover". Use of this term is both accurate and non-derogatory. "Sting" is a word commonly used BY LEOs themselves, and unless there is some rule or law somewhere that reserves the word only for police officers, we support people in using the word when it fits.

3. It was not "Angel Shamaya's take" on a cop shooting. The KeepAndBearArms.com site has provisions for interested persons to submit news stories, including the introductory commentary. Based on #2, above, we did not perceive use of the word "sting" as inflammatory or judgmental -- and we remind our Newslinks Submitters that picking your own title for any Newslinks submission is entirely up to you, even when police officers get upset by its accuracy.

4. The KABA notice at the bottom of the site clearly states: 

"In no way are Keep And Bear Arms .com or any of its agents responsible for the actions of our members or site visitors. Also, because this web site is a Free Speech Zone, opinions, ideas, beliefs, suggestions, practices and concepts throughout this site may or may not represent those of Keep And Bear Arms .com."

That FREE SPEECH ZONE statement has been there since April of 2000 -- plenty of time for our critics to have found and read it.

5. While KeepAndBearArms.com does caution posters against vulgarity and prefers that they refrain from using it, and also has developed an inclusion statement to preclude bigotry, it cannot take the position that it will not present ANY offensive materials or that it will present or withhold information based on who may or may not be offended. Comments posted require an email address, so you can provide appropriate feedback to those making comments that offend you.

6. In this particular case, we feel that the comments by the poster could have been worded more effectively -- some of them much more effectively.  But we hesitate to step in and censor this type of posting for a couple reasons: 

First, we are hesitant to suppressing expression in a "Free Speech Zone". We will leave Free Speech Censorship to our critics, should they wish to police the expressions of others in their own forums.

Second, we believe we are performing a vital public service by providing a forum where gun owners can present their unvarnished views, and that these views need to be understood by those who would infringe on our rights. In this case, the anger and frustration appear rooted in Mayor Daly's war on our fundamental and inalienable rights, and the enthusiastic participation by the Chicago law enforcement establishment. We respectfully submit that it is understandable how some people will direct their hostility toward the primary agents of enforcement of such laws, and sincerely hope that exposing the level of their expressed anger will help various oath-breaking public servants understand that continued pressure will only make things worse. Perhaps that knowledge may help defuse the situation, and motivate political leaders to seek resolutions to problems of societal violence and crime that do not infringe on the rights of peaceable citizens.

In short, KABA neither writes, endorses, nor censors comments posted by readers. The comments left by KABA members and readers are their OWN opinions; they do not speak for KABA. In fact, when we designed our Newslinks System, we purposely designed the Comments section such that we could not edit or delete comments easily. Though at times we've considered adding an admin editing feature, we have not done so and have no means at present to remove the Free Speech Expressions of our site's visitors and members.

7. That some will be offended by the speech of others has always been the dilemma posed by the First Amendment. It is one of those two-edged swords that are the price of freedom. KABA regrets that some have been offended by the actions of a poster to its "comments" section, and hopes that most will agree the benefits of such a forum cannot be realized without occasional sharp conflict. We have also discovered that when critics speak directly to the poster who offer offensive language or attitude, much more can be accomplished toward unity and understanding than when critics vent in public forums such as the one where our above critic posted his condemnation.

8. KABA's entire purpose is to promote civil liberty through RKBA, and the reason for running the news article was clearly presented in the subhead: 

"In 'gun free/no CCW' Chicago, Police have been dropping like proverbial flies in gunbattles with violent suspects the past few weeks." 

KABA runs similar articles for the same reason, with the subject being shootings of private citizens in 'gun free/no CCW' jurisdictions.

Send reply to: <lpyle@2ampd.net>
From: "Leroy Pyle" <lpyle@2ampd.net>
To: "2ampd \(E-mail\)" <2ampd@egroups.com>
Copies to: "Angel Shamaya \(E-mail\)" <Director@KeepAndBearArms.com>
Subject: More Angel Shamaya's KABA "news"
Date sent: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 12:03:33 -0500

Angel thinks that the police are the criminals, here. Maybe you were on to something, Dennis & Jess. Care to comment?

Leroy 

[THIS IS THE ORIGINAL POST SENT OUT AS 'EVIDENCE' BY THE ABOVE CRITIC:]

Articles: 8/31/2001
Virginia Police & DA entrap/arrest 5 "Gunrunners"
http://www.nydailynews.com/manual/news/latest/latest4.asp (8/31/2001)  

[KABA NOTE: The article has since moved to this location: http://www.nydailynews.com/2001-08-30/News_and_Views/Crime_File/a-123567.asp?last6days=1.] 

Submitted by: BlackSnake
blacksnake@keepandbeararms.com

There are 2 comments on this story Post Your Comments https://www.keepandbeararms.com/news/kabanews/post_comments.asp?nl=552288285327 

5 month Op spent $83,150 on 107 guns w/1,100 rounds of ammo. All were "bought by relatives and friends" of 5 arrested, accused of selling at a Bronx housing project (Smells like a setup to me, but I could be wrong)...

KABA NOTE: We do not believe any law prohibiting people from selling guns to other lawful people is constitutional. And though this article suggests that the people selling and/or buying the guns are horrible human beings, we do not trust the media to report accurately. It could be that these folks simply need to protect themselves in their own homes from the criminals who've been empowered by the gun bans. Therefore, in this case, the criminals are THE POLICE WHO STOLE THESE GUNS FROM THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNERS.

[THESE ARE COMMENTS BY READERS:]

Comments Submitted by:
MISTER50@KEEPANDBEARARMS.COM  (8/31/2001)

THE VIRGINIA STORY SMELLS LIKE A STING BY THE POLICE AND THE DA WHO IS PROBABLY TRYING TO MAKE A NAME FOR HIMSELF NOW FOR A RUN AT A HIGHER OFFICE. YOU KNOW MORE POWER.

Comments Submitted by:
JohnRRich@compuserve.com  (8/31/2001)

Note that these guns came from a state which has a "one gun a month" law, restricting multiple purchases. That did not stop these smugglers from obtaining multiple guns and selling them elsewhere. So much for the effectiveness of such schemes...

 

1. When you see the words "KABA NOTE", it is not a good idea to assume that those words come from Angel Shamaya. In fact, they often do not. KeepAndBearArms.com was launched by Angel Shamaya, but we have evolved into a collaborative effort of a growing number of Directors, Advisors and activists whose input is directly considered and applied -- including in KABA NOTES.

2. Those words did happen to be from Angel Shamaya -- and he stands by every word, to the letter. Anyone who wishes to contest him in an open forum is invited to give it their best shot. Such an exchange could include any of the following:

• an exchange of rebuttals to be published on this website,
• a radio debate on any of a number of radio shows that offer internet broadcast and can offer the widest possible listenership,
• an online chatroom where questions and answers are exchanged and where the public is invited to attend,

or through any other medium that allows for an open debate where the underlying issues can be addressed and made public as a means of resolving the conflicting belief systems involved. Until such time as responsible and intellectually honest rebuttals are submitted through proper channels, any additional talking behind our backs in public forums will be taken as a refusal to debate in public born of an inability to do so.