Greetings! It has been too long since I have communicated through this newsletter. I hope to be back on track and more active in the future. Here are just a few things to think about that touch on topics from guns to Christmas.   Jess

This may be a bit out of character for me, but I suggest you buy whatever ammo, magazines and firearms you can now while the price is low. I expect the rhetoric to increase dramatically as the election gets closer, causing panic buying and price increases. Also, the President has pledged to take unilateral action in his last year.

Note:

• Prices are down now.
• Common firearms and ammo are available.
• The market is not saturated (Black Friday record sales show that).
• So, all this adds up to: This is the best time to buy!

Folks, the National Rifle Association needs your help. Of the approximately 125 million gun owners in the U.S., only about 4% are members. The NRA is vilified by news media and labeled as an enemy by presidential candidates. Why? Because the NRA is the foremost voice protecting our 2^nd Amendment rights. The enemies of liberty and your freedom to defend yourself want to silence the NRA so they can have their way. I want the NRA stronger with an even louder, clearer voice. Please help me.

If you are not a member, you can join at discounted rates using the link below. If you are a member, you can renew or expand your membership. Rates, which have been unchanged for years, will go up in 2016 as the NRA ramps up for the election cycle. Join now, save money and get in the fight for your rights.

One more thing. The link shows a life membership for $750. That is discounted from the regular rate of $1000. Don’t delay though; the normal life membership increases to $1500 after the first of the year.

Here’s the link:  https://membership.nrahq.org/forms/signup.asp?campaignid=XI012357

Church security is an ever-increasing challenge. One of the leading experts on the mental and physical aspects of violent attacks is coming to the Fort Wayne area in October to conduct the Sheepdog for Churches seminar. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman has an impressive resume and will bring his Christian perspective to the issue of church safety. Use this link to mark the date and find out more about the seminar and the presenter. Sheepdog for Churches

Firearms training is only seen as important by those who know there are things they do not know. You may have a firearm, but that will not protect you. Using it properly and effectively may help you. Firearms are tools and every tool requires a skill set. Do you know the difference between cover and concealment and when to use them? Do you know when you are allowed to use deadly force (Indiana law is specific)? Do you know the proper grip for using a handgun effectively under extreme stress? If any of this small sample of questions shows a gap in your training, then there are things you can learn to better care for yourself and your family. Contact my friend Greg. Spring will be here soon, and so will a new class schedule. You will learn and you’ll have fun shooting. Here is his email: mailto:gremcc@att.net

Politics are getting nastier and more interesting. The Democrat nominee seems to be wrapped up, but there will be plenty of fireworks ahead. The Republican field is narrowing, and there has yet to be a primary or caucus. The media is largely untrustworthy, and you should view wire service reports without a name attached as especially questionable. I have a Facebook page where I try to post things that are informative. Find some way to get reliable information. This next election will shape the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) for the next 20 years. That is a frightening and motivating thought. Here is the link to the FB page: Patriot Prayer League

Merry Christmas! The Lord of all who came to this earth as a baby and who is returning as a King has all history, yours and mine, in His hand. He came that first time at the perfect time, because His timing is always perfect. It is now and it will be tomorrow. This Christmas, rejoice that He has all things in His hands.  Galatians 4:4-5  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

It is crunch time and we must be active.  Though I’m tired of dealing with this and you are probably tired of reading about it, we must work harder the next few days.  We can win this.  Here is the short version.

A cynical and ghoulish Senator Feinstein had her bill ready for a year while she waited for some crazy person to commit an atrocity.  Her bill and all the others (including the “compromise”) would not have stopped any of the recent mass shootings.  THOSE LAWS TARGET HONEST PEOPLE.

We must not let Congress operate this way.  They must stop this reactionary, useless action, response that targets honest citizens, and begin to deal with real causes and criminals.  Today they are targeting honest gun owners; tomorrow it will be faith groups, churches, businesses, you name it!  WE MUST NOT STAND FOR IT!

Below are the phone numbers for our Indiana Senators.  Call them today and everyday till this threat to American Civilization is over.  Tell them you are tired of being targeted by Congress.   It takes only a couple minutes.  You owe it to your kids.  I’ve also included a notice from the NRA on the recent “compromise”.  LET’S ROLL!

Senator Coats: 202-224-5623       Senator Donnelly: 202-224-4814

Yesterday marked the unveiling of a “deal” in the Senate to expand background checks for commercial gun purchases. …, it is vital that you remain informed of NRA’s stance on topics such as this. Frequent www.NRAILA.org to stay up to date on the latest news, straight from NRA.

Don’t Stop Now!

The gun banners are counting on you to run out of steam.  Don’t give them the satisfaction.  Keep communicating with your Representatives.  Here is a link. Ruger Advocacy

Rope-A-Dope: What they are really after is Firearm Registration!  You will begin to hear more and more about “Universal Background Checks”.  Every bill suggested for this contains registration or a “database”.  The banners may well concede they cannot get an AWB and push for a “compromise”.  Don’t fall for it!  There is only one reason they want a database; are you ready? Confiscation!  Registration is the real cherry they are trying to pick.  When you write your Representative tell them NO, on universal background checks.

Magazine Bans: Dave Kopel gave some insightful and powerful testimony before the Senate last week.  You can view his testimony here.  I encourage you to check it out; it might help you be better informed.

What is a high capacity magazine?  Technically, it is probably one that contains more rounds than the magazine designed for and that came with the firearm.  So, a Glock 17 has a 17 round magazine, an AR15 type firearm has a 30 round magazine.  These are standard capacity.  Do not call them high capacity!  When your favorite store or vendor sells a standard capacity magazine, make them call it that.  Again; a standard capacity magazine is one that came with the firearm, and, or is in common use with that firearm.

NRA:  After their press conference the National Rifle Association was pilloried by the press and anyone with a keyboard or microphone.  The problem for the critics is that most of America agreed with the NRA.  Have you noticed that the things they suggested have gained steam and mental health and school security strategies are being studied and adopted all across the country?  The NRA is taking the hits, but they have set the parameters for the debate.  Hats off to the NRA, keep it up!

Are you member?  Here is a terrific deal on a life membership: Follow this link to Tom Gresham’s page and you can get an NRA life membership for only $300.  That’s a savings of $700.  Thanks Tom!

Follow the Patriot Prayer League here.  Twitter hash tag #ppl

Till later.

Happy Wednesday All;

Here is a brief, mid-week update.

DON’T STOP CONTACTING YOUR REPRESENTATIVES:  It is important they continue to hear from us, for at least 10 more weeks.  Your liberty and that of your children depends upon it. No new gun laws!

Here is another site to make it easy to contact your elected officials.  Click the link on the right, fill in your contact information, hit submit a couple times and you’re done for the week.  It is also OK to call and send post cards.  http://www.ruger.com/micros/advocacy/

Senator Reid and the Nuclear Option:  For years the Senate has needed a super majority of 60 votes to end debate and bring a bill to a vote.  It has been part of Senate rules for both Democrats and Republicans.  Senator Reid wants to change that, so bills can be rammed through without debate, filibuster, or amendments he deems inappropriate.  Here’s the catch; it takes 60 votes to change the rules.  He doesn’t have 60 votes, so he is planning on suspending (breaking) the rules and having a simple majority vote on changing the rules.  Breaking the rules to change the rules!  Brilliant!

Brief history lesson:  Our government was established with competing interests and branches so each could be a check on the other.  The Legislative is to protect its turf from the Executive and vice versa.  The States are to protect their interests from other states and the Federal government.  “Gridlock” was designed into the system to protect our rights and keep government in check.  “Gridlock” is good!

Contact Harry Reid and Indiana’s Democrat Senator (their contact info is in the above link) and tell them to protect the integrity of the Senate and maintain the rules.

Later this week, the Patriot Prayer League will be up and running.  Go here to sign up for the Facebook  page of #ppl.

Till later,

Well, the President made his emotional announcement about guns, complete with children as props, and signed his Executive Orders.  We will sort the orders out later.  First; here are a couple more pressing issues.

This Saturday is Gun Appreciation Day.  Here is a link with more information.   http://gunappreciationday.com/  I encourage you to participate, there are lots of options, for you and your friends.  It might be great to have a Gun Appreciation Shoot, put on a pot of chili and challenge everyone to write their Representatives and join the NRA.  These are good folks and I’ve sent them some money. One of the key sponsors is the Second Amendment Foundation.  You may not have heard about them, but they were the major funders and brain trust behind the two recent, favorable SCOTUS decisions.

This coming week Senator Feinstein will introduce her sweeping new gun ban.  It will ban future ownership and eventually all ownership of the vast majority of semi-auto firearms.

The 70 year old M1 Carbine this youngster is competing with is on her ban list.  Don’t think she and her friends will stop there.  Think about it, how much difference is there between a double action revolver and a semi-auto pistol?  One trigger pull, one shot.  The time to draw the line in the sand is NOW.  Contact your representatives and tell them, “No new gun laws, 20,000 is enough!”   Go here and click on the link on the right to write your Representatives.  http://www.nraila.org/

Be on the look out!  In a few days I will post info on the Patriots Prayer League.  There are practical steps we can use to turn our country around.

Just came across this!  Ever encounter confusion about the Assault Weapon term?  Go here for all your answers, hardware and political.  http://www.assaultweapon.info/

As you may know, since the SandyHook murders there has been a call for stringent gun control.  I have included part of an email from Tom Gresham below that will explain what you can do to make a difference in this issue and the future of our country.  THIS IS NOT JUST ABOUT GUNS! Though guns are important, the freedom they represent is more important.  You may remember the quote about “clinging to guns and religion”.  I believe that statement is rooted in a philosophy of anti-freedom and the effort aimed at guns today will move on to religion tomorrow.  Enough intro, here is the excerpt.  Don’t forget to check out the links.

I’m asking you to commit to contacting your two senators and your one representative in the house once a week for eight to 12 weeks. (If your reps are strongly anti-gun, I’ll have advice for you in a minute.) Simple. Easy. Quick. Once a week. Three contacts. For eight to 12 weeks.

The message is simple.

1.  We won’t stand for scapegoating.

2.  No new gun laws.

3.  Remove the phony “gun free” zones which enable killers to go unchecked.

4. Work with us or we will work to retire you.

I’ve worked with a number of smart and experienced people on these “talking points,” and I’m convinced that offering any suggestions to Congress is a recipe for losing. Some have asked me to supply sources of information to back up their counter-arguments to gun control. Honestly, I think that’s a waste of time.

I don’t want to convince them we are right. I want to convince them we will hurt them politically if they vote the wrong way. That’s the way Washington, DC, works. Bare knuckles and 2x4s.

The Democrat party lost control of Congress in 1994 because they voted for the Crime Bill and the “assault weapon” ban. President Clinton said in his 1995 State of the Union address that many lost their seats in Congress by voting for gun control. He was right, and he didn’t care. It didn’t cost him his job.

We must remind both Democrats and Republicans alike that we can and will send them home if they vote for any form of gun control law.

Once a week for . . . oh, call it 12 weeks.

To find the contact info for your elected representatives, visit the NRAILA‘s website (http://nraila.org/get-involved-locally/grassroots/write-your-reps.aspx).

“But I Live In California”

Yep, there’s no point in writing Diane Feinstein. She’s on her way out, and she wants a gun ban as her legacy. So, what to do?

Write Senate president Harry Reid. Tell him 1. Do not let a vote on gun laws come to the floor, and 2.  Do not allow a rule change to allow a filibuster to be ended with a simple majority vote. The latter, you should say, is a vote against gun rights.

Below is my response to an editorial in our local paper about guns and finding common ground.  The link to the editorial follows before my reply.  My original reply had to be edited because of length.  http://www.kpcnews.com/opinions/our_view/kpcnews/article_1da8c493-e16c-5729-a3c7-b8e2e868fd5b.html

The full length reply is below.

Letter to the Editor:

Your attempt at finding “Common Ground” in the December 23^rd “Our View” is commendable, though the ground you claim to be common to both is always given by one side.  Compromise seems to always mean yielding fundamental rights to an increasingly intrusive government.  I have only limited experience with the mental health issues you address, so I will confine my comments to the points you made about firearms.

You state that gun ownership will never be banned, yet banning a particular type of firearm is in fact a ban!  Restricting a subset of the population from ownership is also a ban.  Both have been done in the past.  Your comforting promise is shallow.

You believe that it is better to prevent gun violence than resist the perpetrators. Well intentioned, but a fantasy.  It is a false construct that under even minimal scrutiny fails the test of practicality.  If you believe what you wrote, I suggest you leave your keys in your car and your door unlocked.  We have laws and programs against theft; and according to your theory, theft is thus prevented.  If on the contrary, there are still evil people, thieves and worse, then perhaps you should lock your home.  Firearms are used millions of times annually to defend life.  A gun is a tool of last resort, but many believe their life is worth defending.  If you do not, you are free to make that choice.  If you are not willing, when capable, of defending yourself, I suggest you refrain from calling the police or anyone for help.  Do not presume they think more highly of your life than you do.  By the way, please remember to remind that police officer who is confronted by a violent individual armed with a knife, a ball bat or even a large rock, that preventing violence is better than doing battle.

I agree that gun owners should be trained.  I am an instructor; how have you helped?  I volunteer my time; what do you do?  Have you taken a course in firearm safety or hunter education?  Are you aware that each year tens of thousands of young people are trained in firearms safety by scouting programs, church groups, and 4-H?

You also state that violent criminals should not have access to guns. That is already the law.  As a matter of fact, your access to firearms can be lost by committing non-violent crime.  Instant checks are already done in the manner you suggest.  These checks cannot, however, detect people who might commit crime or who might become mentally unstable.

In your effort to claim common ground, you throw the National Rifle Association under the bus.  The NRA is the largest firearms safety organization in the world.  It trains private citizens and Law Enforcement professionals.  The NRA has pioneered crime prevention programs and worked to preserve hunting rights in all 50 states.  It has influence in Washington because it is a grass-roots organization with millions of members and affiliate organizations in every state.  The Brady Campaign, on the other hand, might have 50,000 members and gets most of its money from foundations.  It is the Brady organization that has a disproportionate influence because it does not represent voters, but elitist social engineers.

The “common ground” that most Americans stand on is personal responsibility.  Over the past several years, responsible Americans have legally purchased hundreds of thousands of firearms and used them responsibly for hunting, target shooting and self-defense.  You seem to imply these law-abiding folks are somehow guilty by association, connected to deranged murderers by their tools.  You use inflammatory language like “carnage in our schools” and compare alcohol use with a fundamental right granted by Natural Law and guaranteed by our Constitution. You suggest things that already exist to convince your readers that not enough is being done.  You fail to mention the 20,000 or so gun laws already on the books in the United States.  You forgot that every firearm manufacturer must serialize his product and that it is tracked from the factory door to the end user. You failed to mention that the target of choice for these murderers, be it a theater or a school, is a place where armed resistance is prohibited.  You forgot that almost all of these cowardly killers stop when confronted with armed resistance.  You can do better. If you truly seek common ground, come over here and stand by me; I’ve moved far enough already.

A call to Christians on Patriot’s Day!

First, let’s quickly tackle the concept that religion and government don’t mix. Government in its most basic form is an agreement between neighbors on how to best get along.  Agreements without morality are useless.  They will not be kept, and they cannot be enforced.   Further, morality must be based on something higher than human conception or it will degenerate into whose ideal of morality is best.

The Founders understood this when they framed this country.  Four times God is mentioned in the Declaration of Independence.  He is mentioned as Lawmaker, “laws of Nature and Nature’s God”; Creator, “endowed by their Creator”; Supreme Judge, “appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world”; and Protector, “reliance on the protection of Divine Providence”.

These are not cheap uses of religion to garner favor with the simple, but statements of fact based on the Judeo/Christian faith the colonies and Great Britain both held.  The Founders were saying we answer to God, your God, not a king.

Unlike the Colonies, we have the opportunity to express ourselves with the ballot.  It is our solemn duty, purchased with the blood of patriots, to use that ballot to protect our liberties and our faith.  Remember, the Founders believed liberty was an endowment from God, not a privilege received from a king or government.  If you believe that, then your duty before God is to protect the liberty of which you are a steward.

The popular concept today is to depend upon government of one form or another rather than to depend upon God.  Do not be deceived into thinking that an all-providing government can co-exist with the God of the Bible.  Repeatedly throughout scripture, we are warned against placing our trust, our faith, or our hope on any person or thing.  The Creator God is the only One worthy of our devotion.  As believers we must not yield in this either by coercion or force.

This great experiment of freedom and self-government rests in our hands. There is no time to be neutral; it is too late for that.  We must regain the spirit of the Founders or lose our liberty.  The momentum of big government must be stopped.  We must reject a gospel that focuses on our temporal needs and follow the Lord in selflessness and sacrifice.  Our churches must raise the call for Godly, Christian citizens.  Before God, I pray we will all pledge to pass to our children an America not bound with an intrusive and overburdening government, but an America with greater freedom than we received.   Be it so, Lord Jesus.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died on March 24 in 1882 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  The following poem conveys his love and respect for his country as well as his confidence in its Godly foundation and the hope it offers to the world.  Let us join his prayer for our great land.

O Ship of State

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!
We know what Master laid thy keel,
What Workmen wrought thy ribs of steel,
Who made each mast, and sail, and rope,
What anvils rang, what hammers beat,
In what a forge and what a heat
Were shaped the anchors of thy hope!
Fear not each sudden sound and shock,
‘Tis of the wave and not the rock;
‘Tis but the flapping of the sail,
And not a rent made by the gale!
In spite of rock and tempest’s roar,
In spite of false lights on the shore,
Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!
Our hearts, our hopes, are all with thee.
Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears,
Our faith triumphant o’er our fears,
Are all with thee, -are all with thee!

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity, and the other the ‘divine right of kings’. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, ‘You work and toil and earn bread, and I’ll eat it.’ No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king, who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle…”

Abraham Lincoln; October 15, 1858

The old principles cannot be denied or escaped.  Whatever the guise it is shrouded in, it is enslavement to take from one what he would not give.  To say the other needs it more is no argument except for arbitrariness.  If he needs it, let him ask of him who has.  Let him who has give, and encourage charity in his heart.

When he who has produced is stripped of the fruit of his labor, he will have no incentive to produce more than he needs.  His slavery will be complete because it has taken his heart, his will.  Now, the source of production being destroyed, we are all deprived and without remedy will sink into despair.

Let us resist the tyranny of bad ideas, overthrow them in our own minds, and assail them wherever we can.  The force of truth and right will prevail if applied with diligence and consistency.