Restore the Constitution Open-Carry Rally -- 19 April 2010 -- Fort Hunt National Park, VA

Pete at WRSA beat me to this, but I can tell you that among the speakers will be Bob Wright and me. Get set for fire and brimstone from the dais.

Mike
III

Restore the Constitution Open-Carry Rally -- 4/19/10 -- Fort Hunt National Park, VA

Details here;

essentials are:

Mission Statement/ FAQ’s

Mission: The mission of the “Restore the Constitution” rally is that it be held at a firearms carry-legal location as close to DC as possible and that it attracts as many participants as possible in order to underscore the seriousness and urgency of a simple message:

Restore the Constitution!

See the planning/networking site Muster Outside DC 4-19-2010 for updates and planning discussions on possible locations.

UPDATE, 1-20-2010:

When: 9AM-5PM, April 19th, 2010 (Monday)

Where: Ft. Hunt National Park, Northern VA

What: “Restore the Constitution” rally/ Muster Outside D.C.

Details: Staging area will be Ft. Hunt National Park, located about 12 miles south of DC. Participants will gather there, and a speaking program will be provided. From there, participants will have the opportunity to travel in small convoys up to Gravelly Point Park so they can “step up to the edge.” Gravelly Point Park is right on the Potomac, about a mile from the National Mall in DC.

Scope: 4-19-10 rally at Gravelly Point Park, Virginia 10:30AM to 5 pm, although park hours are from 8 AM to dark. Gravelly Point is, based on research so far, the closest carry-legal location to DC, although Ft. Hunt will need to be the initial staging area and rendezvous point. Participants can arrive at Ft. Hunt as early as 9AM to get started, and the main speaking program will begin at 10AM, as the convoys begin going back and forth between Ft. Hunt and Gravelly Point.

Updates: Go here for the latest.

Speakers: Under final confirmation; you will want to be there to hear these speakers!

Contact: Email danieljalmond2004@gmail.com to volunteer or for more information.

Where do we go from Gravelly Point? Here's a hint: All civil war is local.

"All politics is local." -- Tip O'Neill, long-time Massachusetts Congressman and Speaker of the House of Representatives.

"All politics in this country now is just dress rehearsal for civil war." -- Billy Beck, August 2009.

Both of the above statements are true. The fusion of these truths is also true:

"All civil war is local." -- Mike Vanderboegh, 19 April 2010.

The British Special Air Service has a creed: "Who Dares, Wins."

On the 19th of April, Daniel Almond and the happy few, the hardy band of brothers and sisters who rallied with him in Fort Hunt and Gravelly Point national parks in northern Virginia, dared and won.

We proved the concept. You can "shake your guns in the tyrant's face" lawfully, peaceably yet defiantly and get away with it without incident. So much of the run-up to this march was filled with folks who seemed to embody the dictum of foolishness I first learned from my grandfather: "When in peril, or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout." Some folks not only did that, but flapped their arms while doing it.

There's no point in singling out any individual in particular other than the LaRouchies, who are verminous barking moonbats on their best of days. In retrospect, it must be acutely embarrassing for them and their stooge, the bald-faced liar Walter Reddy of the so-called "Committee's of Safety" as well as those board-members of a certain organization who were spooked by them into withdrawing from the RTC rally after first committing to it.

(Their new theme song, Groucho Marx's "Hello, I must be going." -- "Hello, I must be going, I cannot stay, I came to say, I must be going. I’m glad I came, but just the same I must be going.")

There was no provocation.

There was no blood bath.

Nothing except an excellent proof of concept by a determined minority who did not take counsel of their fears.

If the LaRouchies are right (and they're not, not on this or any other thing) the British Secret Service is wasting their money on this alleged "Agent of the Queen of England."

In the brief after-action, those of us privy to the whole thing from start to finish rated it a 95% success against tall odds.

First, the publicity was astounding. In truth, "the whole world was watching." And we didn't just get reasonable treatment (defined as being quoted correctly and having our names spelled right, which is about as much as you can expect these days) from the foreign press but from the "state-run media" as well. This was not just accidental. There was considerable effort on RTC's part to give the press complete access to us before the event and to use those small contacts we had buried deep within the press corps to as great an advantage as possible.

Second, though the turnout was light, considering the disinformation campaign and the palpable fear that it whipped up in the folks who otherwise might have come, it was enough. As I told reporters that day, history is made by determined minorities and we demonstrated that we were such a determined minority.

Third, Daniel Almond's strategic vision was validated. The spectre of an "armed march on Washington," as it was characterized, following hard upon the Window War, seized the imaginations of the chattering class such as Rachel Madcow and Chris Matthews. This gave us an extra boost in publicity. By contrast, the March on Washington, which readers may remember I also supported, was a rather blase, humdrum event after the many such rallies and marches over the past nine months. The RTC rally "sucked all the oxygen" out of the press room for them, and 2AM organizer Skip Coryell (another fellow who committed to speak at RTC and then backed out) denounced the Virginia events as "a public relations nightmare" in USA Today. I can understand his frustration, though I do not agree with it, because,

Fourth, these rallies came at the end of a long spate of events centered in the nation's capitol. People on our side, from the Tea Parties to the Second Amendment activists, are just plain exhausted -- in body, in economic resources and, in some ways, in spirit. DC is at the end of a long logistical tail for most folks. We are in the middle of what will later be acknowledge to be a depression -- and yet people came. They came from California, for crying out loud. It was on a work day (and almost all of our folks work for a living) -- and yet people came.

Larry Pratt at Gravelly Point.

Fifth, the rallies created positive synergies among the participants. We return from these events having made personal links with folks, some from our own states, some from adjoining states. Leaders were revealed, first and foremost among them Daniel Almond, who emerges from this with the opportunity to grasp the mantle of a national leader in the Liberty movement if he so chooses. Other older leaders were highlighted, among them my old friend Bob Wright of New Mexico, whose two speeches on different topics and his leadership on the ground impressed many who had never heard him or seen him in action. I will be posting his speeches as soon as the links are sent to me. And other leaders of the Second Amendment movement also burnished their reputations simply by having the guts to speak when all others took counsel of their fears and fled. Among these were Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America and David Codrea of War on Guns.

Sixth, and last, despite all the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the peanut gallery, there was not only no violence from us, there was none from the counter-demonstrators, nor any from us reacting to them. (Although I must confess that the appearance of two anarchists at the press conference who sat in the back, took copious notes about the plans of the rallies but didn't ask a question, gave me some concern. Yet, when notified, the USPP predicted that they would not be a problem and they weren't.)

The strenuous efforts of Daniel and the volunteer marshals -- all the site recon and planning, the close coordination with USPP, and finally the superb execution on that day, proved that we could demonstrate armed without anyone getting stupid, rash, or worse, hurt. The spectacle of the Brady Bunch's Helmke standing at the fringe of the RTC rally at Gravelly Park, snidely insulting us, but at the same time desperate for publicity (perversely basking in our reflected glow), put the lie to his previous statements that we were a disaster waiting to happen. Ask yourself: If he really believed we were a danger, would he have risked his precious ass to be close to us? Not hardly. My coming over and bracing him was icing on the cake. He had already discredited his own meme by his mere presence.

So, we proved the concept, but all of us, exhausted afterward, agreed that we didn't want to do another one anytime soon. We are exhausted not only in body and mind but in money. No one funded us like Skip Coryell's march, unless you include the bills run up by several key RTC supporters that are coming out of their own pockets.

So, that said, let us return to the question: Where do we go from Gravelly Point?

Many folks, including Daniel, are still decompressing from the stress of the event, and that includes me too. But while I have my bloody feet propped up, I can still write and I'm thinking along the lines of Tip O'Neill's & Billy Beck's dictums: All civil war is local.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if Three Percenters and other Open Carry and Second Amendment activists started doing this in their local areas? Who doesn't have some federal park land available for a repeat of RTC in their state. And how many more could we attract to events that were within driving distance, that didn't require massive travel and hotel costs? What if we were able to pull off mini-RTC's in every state, fifty of them within, say, the next six months?

I will have more about this theme of "All civil war is local" in the coming weeks. But let us, in addition to the "We Are Everywhere" campaign, in addition to decorative messages of "NO!" on anything and everything, try to bring off local RTC's throughout the country.

All you folks who wished to be at Fort Hunt and Gravelly Point but couldn't because of timing or resources, this is your chance.

Mike
III

Just got back from a recon of Fort Hunt/Gravelly Point.

Summary: Good plan by organizers. Park Police obviously already at least partly up to speed with prepositioned fence barricades, etc. Two great spots. We will begin in the morning at Fort Hunt and then convoy with USPP escort to Gravelly Point. Camera shots at Gravelly Point will have the Capitol dome and the Washington Monument in the background across the river, and it is right underneath the flight pattern for Reagan National. Rachel Madcow should go flipping nuts.

I was able to contribute some observations on how collectivist counter-demonstrators / provocateurs might gain access to the sites (I used to be one myself, you know. "Hoi Chanh!")

Anyway, having walked the ground I am much more confident at Daniel's and Tom's plans. A lot of thought has gone into this.

And when they pull this off without incident, what then will be the excuse in retrospect for folks condemning it and not showing up?

Mike
III

Uncivil Disobedience to Feinstein's Intolerable Act. An armed march on Washington?

Gravelly Point Park, Virginia, 19 April 2010.

The gun control drums continue to sound and Diane Feinstein has graced us with the outline of her bill.

A summary of key provisions in the updated bill:

* Stops the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of more than 100 specifically-named firearms as well as certain semiautomatic rifles, handguns and shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.

* Stops the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of large-capacity ammunition feeding devices (magazines, strips and drums) capable of accepting more than 10 rounds.

* Protects legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by:

o grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment;

o exempting more than 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting and sporting purposes; and

o exempting antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons.

Even before I saw that, yesterday I replied to a question from overseas about how I saw the legislative fight shaping up. Here is my response, in part:

This time feels different as far as the legislative prospects for more restrictions go. There is an absolute WALL of media noise that doesn't even make a pretense of another perspective (even FOX has been swept along). The hysteria is unprecedented. Everything hinges on:

1. Will Boehner still be Speaker of the House next term? (if so, add twenty points to the antis side of the column) and

2. Will the NRA fold like a cheap suit like they did for GCA 68 and the AWB94? (Ditto).

The bill as introduced is said to grandfather existing weapons, but to ban further production and sale of Evil Black Rifles and their Kalashnikov competitors, seize control of private sales without NICS checksI wouldn't be able to gift a rifle to you without the Feds' approval in advance) and ban hi-cap magazines.

How then may we resist this? Mt Top Patriot left this comment below that would be an excellent warning of the rattlesnake's tail:

I have an idea involving taking action, in a peaceful lawful manner.

An open march, in full kit, across flyover land. Just guys and girls in marshal parade, carrying their muskets, mess and kit. Peacefully, simply, fall in fall out as you desire. No destination, no declared intent, no overt conscious message, just a gathering hoofing it along. Ask folks along the road if they would care to provide a place for the marchers to bivouac for the night in their field or yard. A quiet gathering, calmly exercising the Constitutional freedoms to assemble, bear arms, cross states lines, unmolested. Respectfully. Lawfully. Peacefully. One big long color guard. You are supposed to have armed protection for Old Glory when on parade.

I like it. Each state or municipality could contribute a portion of the escort, picking it up as it crosses into their area and dropping off as it passes out, only to be taken up by folks on the other side. It would take a smaller core group and much planning and coordination with local authorities, but I like it. It could end at Gravelly Point Park in Virginia across the river from Mordor on the Potomac. This should be done while the bill is still being considered, if possible.

Whatever bill passes, if it passes, and it contains any of the above we are obliged to disobey it -- obnoxiously and flagrantly. If they ban hi-cap magazines, we must make more, sell existing ones openly; if they ban private sales, we must hold our own no-check gun shows; if they ban even one type of semi-auto military pattern rifle, we must build our own "assault weapons" in contravention of the odious act. We must anger the powers that be to the point where THEY come at US. No Fort Sumters on our part. Let them kill us if they want to work their will upon us. After that, and only after that, it becomes the time of 4th Generation Warfare and One Hundred Heads.

And, although this is not the way to bet, if we make all that plain ahead of time, perhaps they will get the message and back off. May God grant it to be so.

"The Lexicon of Liberty" Bob Wright at Fort Hunt and Gravelly Point. Damn, but that boy can give a speech.

My thanks to Doc at Freedomizer Radio for this link to the first part of Bob Wright's Fort Hunt speech. Here's part two.

Here's his Gravelly Point speech. As far a speechmaking, Bob's got me beat by a country mile. Forward these far and wide.

Mike
III

I love this AP shot from Gravelly Point

AP caption: Don Syfrett of Dallas, Ga. , makes a phone call while demonstrating for first and second amendment rights at a "Restore the Constitution" rally at Gravelly Point Park in Arlington, Va, Monday, April 19, 2010.

19 April 2010: Bring Your Sidearms and Longarms To The Banks of the Potomac

Folks,

The write-up below is from Western Rifle Shooters.

Here's my two cents.

I will be speaking here. So, too, will Bob Wright. 19 April is a Monday, and so many folks will not be able to make that. Many folks also will not want to come, so close as we seem to be open conflict -- and we are but one unpredictable agency misadventure from that. These reasons I understand.

I am going because I believe it is the right thing to do, at the right time. I am going because the Beltway crowd will crap their pants at the sight of it. I am going because when I face my God I want to be able to say I did my best to avoid conflict in every manner that I could. I am going to help reclaim a right that the Founders took for granted. It will be in their faces. It will be seen by Leviathan as provocative. It will be the act of free men and women.

I am going.

Hope to see you there.

Mike
III

19 April 2010: Bring Your Sidearms and Longarms To The Banks of the Potomac

The latest on the April 19th "Restore The Constitution" rally on the Potomac:

As it stands now, [the above] is how I plan on attending the Restore the Constitution rally on 4-19 at Ft. Hunt and Gravelly Parks.

Pistol loaded, openly carried. Rifle unloaded, slung to rear. Bandoleer of magazines containing ammo. All in accordance with rules below. Please note that guidelines below are subject to final coordination with the Department of the Interior:

Participants and attendees are expected to know and abide by all applicable state and federal firearms laws. None of the information provided below is legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by reading or relying upon this information. If you have questions, then you are expected to know the applicable state and federal firearms laws before attending the event.

Anyone prohibited from possessing a firearm by state or federal law may not possess a firearm at this event.

Participants and attendees may not bring any firearm prohibited by state or federal law.

1. ALL rifles and shotguns carried by participants at this event are to be unloaded (chamber empty, no magazine inserted, no ammo inside the rifle or shotgun, no ammo touching the rifle or shotgun whatsoever) and slung to the rear or to the side, away from the hands.

Although the law does allow for carry of some types of loaded rifles and some types of shotguns in some circumstances, our guidelines are simpler and more strict due to the relative novelty of this event and the high level of attention it is likely to receive from law enforcement, government, and the media.

2. While we do ask that your rifles and shotguns be unloaded, you are perfectly welcome to carry ammunition and loaded magazines on your person if you so choose, so long as no magazines are actually inserted into rifles and so long as you are not prohibited from owning a firearm.

3. Open carry of a loaded pistol is allowed.

Concealed carry of a pistol is allowed for those with a valid Virginia concealed handgun permit or a concealed handgun permit from a state for which Virginia allows concealed carry in Virginia (See the Virginia State Police’s website for a list of those states; we do not vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of that list).

Anyone carrying their pistol openly or concealed cannot have in it a magazine capable of holding over 20 rounds and cannot have a pistol designed to accept a silencer or suppressor.

Participants and attendees are required to keep all pistols holstered. Participants and attendees are required to keep all rifles/shotguns slung over their shoulder, muzzle-down, unloaded, with the safety on, and with no magazine inserted. Brandishing of firearms is prohibited by Virginia law. Under Virginia Code Section 18.2-282, it is unlawful for any person to (a) point, hold, or brandish any firearm in such a manner as to reasonably induce fear in the mind of another or (b) hold a firearm in a public place in such a manner as to reasonably induce fear in the mind of another being shot or injured. Do not engage in any horseplay, demonstration of firing positions, or exchange of or other handling of firearms at Fort Hunt, Gravelly Park, or any other location or vehicle of transportation associated with this event.

By federal law, firearms are prohibited in federal facilities (defined by federal law as a building or part thereof owned or leased by the federal government, where federal employees are regularly present for the purpose of performing their official duties).

Do not transport a loaded rifle or shotgun in any vehicle on any public street, road, or highway during this event.

Participants and attendees are not to consume, possess, or be under the influence of alcohol or illegal substances at this event.

Again, these guidelines are, as of now, subject to final coordination with the Department of the Interior.

More info asap.

Spread the word!

From tomorrow's Washington Post.

The link is here.

The only dispute I have as far as accuracy is to refer to me as a "hero of the militia movement." Heroes are men and women who throw themselves on a grenade to save their buddies, stand up in the middle of enfilade fire to take out a bunker that is slaughtering their unit, or face off with a street thug unarmed to protect innocents. I have done none of those things, ergo, I am no "hero" to anybody.

I am an old fat scribbler with congestive heart failure, diabetic feet and a cane who runs his mouth more than many folks would like. I have done nothing heroic.

Mike

III

Militia movement will be packing heat at rally on the Potomac

By Ann Gerhart
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 19, 2010; A03

Daniel Almond, a three-tour veteran of Iraq, is ready to "muster outside D.C." on Monday with several dozen other self-proclaimed patriots, all of them armed. They intend to make history as the first people to take their guns to a demonstration in a national park, and the Virginia rally is deliberately being held just a few miles from the Capitol and the White House.

Almond plans to have his pistol loaded and openly carried, his rifle unloaded and slung to the rear, a bandoleer of magazines containing ammunition draped over his polo-shirted shoulder. The Atlanta area real estate agent organized the rally because he is upset about health-care reform, climate control, bank bailouts, drug laws and what he sees as President Obama's insistence on and the Democratic Congress's capitulation to a "totalitarian socialism" that tramples individual rights.

A member of several heretofore little-known groups, including Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership and Oath Keepers -- former and active military and law enforcement officials who have vowed to resist laws they deem unconstitutional -- Almond, 31, considers packing heat on the doorstep of the federal government within the mainstream of political speech.

Others consider it an alarming escalation of paranoia and anger in the age of Obama.

"What I think is important to note is that many of the speakers have really threatened violence, and it's a real threat to the rule of law," Josh Horwitz, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said of the program for the armed rally. "They are calling health care and taxes that have been duly enacted by a democratically elected Congress tyrannical, and they feel they have a right to confront that individually."

On the lineup are several heroes of the militia movement, including Mike Vanderboegh, who advocated throwing bricks through the windows of Democrats who voted for the health-care bill;Tom Fernandez, who has established a nationwide call tree to mobilize an armed resistance to any government order to seize firearms; and former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack, who refused to enforce the Brady law and then won a Supreme Court verdict that weakened its background-check provisions.

Those coming to the "Restore the Constitution" rally give Obama no quarter for signing the law that permits them to bring their guns to Fort Hunt, run by the National Park Service, and to Gravelly Point on the banks of the Potomac River. Nor are they comforted by a broad expansion of gun rights in several states since his election.

The brandishing of weapons is "not just an impotent symbol" but "a reminder of who we are," said Almond. "The founders knew that it is the tendency of government to expand itself and embrace its own power, and they knew the citizenry had to be reminded of that."

Countered Horwitz: "Our founders thought they got rid of political violence with the Constitution. That was its point. The basic idea of America is one person, one vote, equality."

Vanderboegh and Horwitz both said: "We have a fundamental difference in worldview."

April 19 is the anniversary of the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 and the government's final confrontation in 1993 with the Branch Davidian cult members in Waco, Tex. But Almond said he chose the date to honor the anniversary of the 1775 battles at Lexington and Concord that began the Revolutionary War, "and that is the only reason."

So-called open-carry rallies have been sprouting across the country. Hundreds gathered in Michigan, New Mexico and Ohio last week, and rallies also are taking place Monday in Arizona.

Where demonstrations were once solely about the Second Amendment, speakers now quickly link protecting gun rights to safeguarding all other liberties and decry the new health-care legislation as unconstitutional in its mandate that individuals must buy coverage.

On April 12 in Richmond, more than a hundred people, dozens sporting pistols, cheered when Philip Van Cleve of the Virginia Citizens Defense League called for replacing the "anti-Constitution, anti-freedom, anti-gun" leadership of the state Senate and when Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II reaffirmed his vow to be "aggressive in protecting the Constitution, as it was written."

There have been no accidental discharges or arrests at the open-carry rallies, according to a review of news accounts. The Fort Hunt rally, however, has caused particular consternation and alarm in the online world where gun-rights advocates plan, recruit and discuss strategy.

Oath Keepers, which in a year has grown to 20,000 online members, signed on early as an event sponsor but abruptly pulled out on April 12. "It had gotten to the point that it would be dangerous to attend," said board member Rex McTyeire, citing an escalation of threatening rhetoric online from some participants. "There are people out there willing to do anything to create chaos in an uncontrolled situation, and [the event] is wide open for disaster."

Organizers of another April 19 rally, the Second Amendment March at the Washington Monument, want it known that they have nothing to do with the Restore the Constitution muster. "We are a peaceful, law-abiding group that will follow all local and federal laws," the march organizers' Web site says. "That group is a separate entity entirely and is not at all associated," but at least two speakers are appearing at both rallies, including Larry Pratt, the executive director of Gun Owners of America, a key force behind the D.C. rally.

"It is our own fault that we are in this situation," Vanderboegh intends to tell those assembled, according to a draft of his remarks. "Each time these revolutionists of gradualism against the Founders' Republic took another bite out of the Constitution and shoved us back from the natural exercise of our God-given and inalienable rights, we have backed up, grumbling. We have not shoved back."

Gravelly Point, where the demonstrators will take turns going to from Fort Hunt, was chosen because it is as close to the District as they could get while carrying guns and also comply with local and Interior Department regulations.

When they stand on the river banks Monday and preach an activism that sounds to some like sedition, the armed demonstrators will have the full support of the federal government they fear, carefully detailed in the 26-page event permit, complete with the gun regulations of both Virginia and the Interior Department and a commitment to provide fencing, barricades and bike racks for the event.

"We handle tens of thousands of demonstrations of a First Amendment nature annually," said Dave Schlosser, spokesmen for the U.S. Park Police, "and we are handling this event no differently than any of the others. We assess what their needs are to allow us to facilitate a safe and successful demonstration so they can exercise their rights to free speech and free assembly without interference."

Late report from today's rally recon through Ft. Hunt and Gravelly Point.

After hearing the briefing of the USPP event commander and Daniel Almond's briefing of the marshal volunteers, I believe that it is likely that the worst danger tomorrow will be sunburn and mild dehydration.

I may be wrong, but it is evident that the USPP have ridden this horse many times before. They have an excellent bead on the anarchist OPFOR and much experience dealing with them. If participants from our side act with the discipline, class and quality of the marshal volunteers, there will be no major problems.

If this turns out the way I believe it will, there will be a "crap-ton" (official Blount County, Alabama, measurement) of highly embarrassed folks on both sides.

Hope to see y'all there.

0900, Ft. Hunt Park, on George Washington's old River Farm.

Mike

III

Restoration and a Coalition of the Willing versus the People's Front of Judea and the silly sods of the Judean People's Front Crack Suicide Squad.

Folks,

Reading some of the comments at Pete's site on the subject of "Restoring the Constitution" and others insulting Bob Wright here reminded me of nothing so much as this scene from the Monty Python movie Life of Brian:



The core of Pete's post:

To me, there are three important reasons to use the phrase "restore the constitution":

1) Lawfare Ambush KZ: I dare that SOB Holder to use the DOJ mechanism against anybody working or talking to restore the Constitution. I double-dog-dare that MF to do so.

2) PsyOps: When the .mil is sent by the NCA against their fellow citizens, I want each troopie to have to put their reticle on a fellow American standing for the same Constitution that the troopie is oathbound to protect and defend.

3) Paradigm Inflexibility: Many good and honorable people who will stand simply cannot bend their heads around a "return to the Articles" endstate at this time. They will evolve in their thinking, just as I have (hell, I was a freaking drug war prosecutor fifteen years ago -- talk about evolution!), and I can't ask them to both die and give up their core preconceptions right now.

If you have to put labels on belief, I am a Christian anti-federalist libertarian. In terms of crafting a coalition of the willing to defeat the armed onslaught of tyrannical federal collectivism, that is a small philosophical boat in a very large sea. It is a larger craft than some of these anarchist and New Confederate dinghies bobbing around, but small enough.

Thus, if I want to secure my liberty, I'm going to have to find a whole lot of people who agree with me on the big things and set aside for now the small things (and some not-so-small-things) that we disagree on. (Mind you, collectivism, especially racial collectivism, is definitely not one of those.)

Two comments to Pete's RTC post reflect my thoughts:

Atlas Shrug said...

Restore The Constitution = Horse

Refine The Constitution = Cart


Right now we are still trying to get the Horse calm and bridled, let alone hitched. Let's get him pulling the Cart before getting too side tracked on what's in the Cart, OK?

The Horse is the vehicle that we ride into Liberty on, the Cart is the vehicle that follows it.

Let's not get the Cart before the Horse.

Keep your powder dry,

Atlas Shrug

August 31, 2010 11:04 AM

daniel said...

I'm partial to the RTC message because, boiled down, it's simply a call for a group of people to adhere to what they already agreed to. It's easier to do that than the other alternatives (explain libertarianism, economics, philosophy, history through a megaphone or on a flyer or banner).

The RTC rallies obvious inclusion of 2A needing restoration is a good starting point, something that's easily understood and difficult to BS around.

We're here. We're armed. The document you swore to uphold says we can do this. If you try to disarm us, you are going against what you agreed to.

That being said, a list of usurpations, like Eric Stinnet's speed read at Gravelly, would work best to quickly articulate what exactly it is that we want.

And this one from Anonymous directed to Pat H. in response to his comments on Bob Wright:

There is no perfect governmental plan. There is no Heaven on earth. Humans will always be far from perfect therefore so shall be their best of plans. That includes yours.

The best we can do is try to get back to where things were most tolerable, most acceptable, least offensive to human liberty and freedom. That is where Mr. Wright is going with his words. I personally find everything right with that.

We know the Constitution wasn't perfect. It was written by imperfect men. Now let's get on with restoring all that was good about it and flush what isn't down the drain. I don't think we need a new imperfect plan to accomplish that.

More importantly, if some folks insist that they must fight for the Articles of Confederation (or some other view consistent with their own variety of anarchism, New Confederacy, whatever) or not at all -- that we all must agree with them on an end state before they take up arms -- then they will either not fight or if they do they will resemble nothing so much as this other scene from Life of Brian:

Of course such folks will complain that I am reducing their principled insistence down to farcical comedy. But given the grim reality, is that so unfair?

Folks, look at the bloody collectivist beast that is upon us -- the Leviathan that we will likely be called upon to fight in the near future. Is it "principled" to insist that everyone agree with you before you will resist? Is it "principled" to sneer at other folks such as Bob Wright who have been fighting this fight for 20 years at considerable personal cost? Or are such "principled" people merely seeking another reason NOT to resist?

The concept of restoring the Constitution and the Founders' Republic is the ONE idea -- and the ONLY idea -- that a successful fighting coalition to resist collectivism can be assembled around. Forget that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (put in there at the insistence of the anti-federalist) was at the time both a compromise and the greatest light-years leap forward in liberty ever codified. Did the Founders screw up in adopting it as it was, in part or in whole? I'll tell you there's things I wish had been in there.

So what?

We will have a chance to fix things AFTER WE WIN AND ONLY AFTER WE WIN. And at this point, it is by no means certain that we will win.

This is not glossing over anything, it is reality. If folks cannot exercise enough common sense to see that, then they will die alone or be enslaved because the rest of us anti-collectivists did not measure up to their high standards. They are, of course, free to do so -- leaving the rest of us to fight and to win against the same folks who would gladly see us all on boxcars, in camps or in a mass grave covered with lime.

For those of us who intend to win, we must redouble our efforts to get ready. And don't get side-tracked into these "How many Lysander Spooners can dance on the head of an Articles of Confederation pin?" discussions. It is time wasting and self defeating, perhaps intentionally so.

Of course there are apparently some who prefer to be ultra-principled even if they are defeated.

I'm not one of them.

How about you?

Mike
III

Thanks for noticing. "Gun-toting protesters voice violent thoughts peacefully."

Really.

Gun-toting protesters voice violent thoughts peacefully

By Dana Milbank

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

They came in camouflage and ammunition vests, carrying AK-47s slung over their shoulders and pistols in their hip holsters. They were in Northern Virginia, on the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, to stand on federal land and to voice violent thoughts.

They did this in a strictly nonviolent fashion, naturally.

"Let me hang out my shingle," Mike Vanderboegh shouted to the 75 armed men and women at Fort Hunt Park in Alexandria on Monday morning. Vanderboegh, leader of the "Three Percent" movement, a gun-owners' rights group, slammed down a brick on the stage bearing the Roman numeral III.

This was a reference to his call for his followers to "break the windows of hundreds, thousands of Democrat Party headquarters" after health-care legislation passed. Some of them did as they were told.

"I was trying to get the attention of people who are pushing this country toward civil war, that they should stop before somebody gets hurt," Vanderboegh said of his brick-throwing campaign. He then read the philosopher John Locke's words that there comes a time when people are "absolved from any further obedience" to their government.

The armed citizenry cheered. "This is what the other side doesn't understand!" Vanderboegh shouted. "We are done backing up! Done! Not one more inch!"

The 19th of April has acquired a unique mythology of resistance and violence: the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775, the Warsaw ghetto uprising in 1943, the sacking of the Branch Davidian compound in 1993, the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Now the date has a new significance as the moment when the militia movement went from the blogs and the backwoods, mustered across the river from the capital, and invited the world's media to come in and hear its warnings.

In a sense, it was good news: Better for militia leaders and activists in the "patriot" movement to be participating in a peaceful political protest than plotting in their basements over an issue of Soldier of Fortune. And the participation was weak; by the time the rally moved from Fort Hunt to Gravelly Point Park near National Airport in the afternoon, the 75 gun carriers were easily outnumbered by a journalistic mob that included representatives from Switzerland, France and Ireland. On the other hand, the event was a sign of just how confident the militia leaders are that their cause has moved, for the first time, from the fringe to the mainstream.

The Pew Research Center just released the results of a poll showing that 77 percent of Americans are frustrated or angry with the federal government. One manifestation of that is the 363 new patriot groups in 2009 -- a 244 percent increase from the previous year -- documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center. As militia leader Bob Wright from New Mexico put it to the crowd: "Two years ago, most of us were screaming at the TV, and our wives wondered why we didn't just shut up. . . . We've seen an entire change in our country."

The demonstrators brought their guns to Virginia from New Mexico, New Hampshire, Florida and elsewhere. Among the group was Tim Hammond, who carried two pistols, a rifle and plenty of ammunition as part of an all-black outfit that included a black tricorn hat. Hammond, who said he flew in from California, told another demonstrator he believes that President Obama is the antichrist.

"If he's not the antichrist, he's pretty close," the second man concurred.

"We're definitely in the end times," Hammond continued. "The rapture, in my opinion, has to be sometime this fall."

Soon after this, event organizers whisked Hammond off to make sure he had met the rules for participation, including the use of a "chamber flag" to show that the rifle wasn't loaded; those in compliance were given a yellow armband.

Though their words were ominous and menacing, the participants went out of their way to demonstrate their peaceful intent (a new law, signed by Obama, allows them to carry weapons openly on federal parkland). Wright brought his young granddaughter, Alyssa, who wore yellow hair ribbons and sang the national anthem for the crowd.

Vanderboegh said some participants were "pretty disappointed at how few people turned out here," but then likened them to another "determined minority," the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto.

He recounted for the crowd his successful calls for bricks to be thrown into Democrats' offices. "I hope to make them understand that the situation was coming to a fundamental break when people innocent and guilty alike were going to begin dying for their own stupid failure to comprehend the real situation that we are all in," he warned.

He then led the crowd in chanting what he called a Southern "battle cry" of "Oh hell no!" Explained the Alabaman: "When you hear it, where I come from, you know that somebody's going to get beat, stabbed or shot, and the guy that takes the beating, the knife blade, or the bullet undoubtedly deserves it."

David Codrea's Speech, 19 April 2010 and two excellent Examiner columns.

Here and here.

While this is his speech at the Second Amendment Rally across the Potomac in the District of Criminals, he -- like Larry Pratt -- also spoke at Gravelly Point Park with us.

Well, well. Somebody else has noticed the LaRouchies. And guess who's sitting at Alex Jones' table?

Mascot of the Lyndon LaRouche organization and, apparently, Alex Jones.

My thanks to Threeper Brutus for forwarding this piece at NewsWithViews.com by Tom DeWeese, entitled "Freedom Movement Faces Dire Threats From Within." It is in two parts and may be found here, and here.

A snippet:

This is a warning to the Freedom Movement: the growing anger and suspicion is being planted in order to destroy the most important grassroots effort in American history. Forces led by Lyndon LaRouche and, in my opinion, Alex Jones, are working deep inside our movement to see it implode into fights, caused by distrust and hatred.

Another snippet:

. . . This is right out of the LaRouche playbook of double-speak. The purpose is to get followers and gain access to a movement and discredit it in the process.

Alex Jones has even used his bully pulpit radio show to shout down anyone who seems to disagree with him. In February, 2010, he stormed into a Tea party rally in Dallas with bull horn in hand, shouting down the speaker who was in the middle of his presentation. He stopped the rally, pushed and shoved organizers who tried to quiet him. He then told his radio audience that he was shouting down agent provocateur- radicals who were trying to infest the freedom movement. Incredibly, he was describing his own tactics and blaming it on others.

Of course, his charges were simply not true. I personally know and work with the organizers of that rally; Catherine Bleish, Executive Director of the Liberty Restoration Project and John Bush, Executive Director of Texans for Accountable Government. I served with both of these passionate patriots in the Continental Congress 2009, held last November. Since then, they have spent almost every waking hour traveling to government-run fusion centers to investigate and expose possible violations and threats to personal privacy rights and government surveillance. They are outstanding and dedicated freedom activists – but Alex Jones chose to attack them. Why? Perhaps they are too effective in the cause of liberty. . .

The result of Jones’ attacks and LaRouche’s manipulations has been a growing paranoia among the freedom movement about who can be trusted. Jones presents himself as the perfect patriot, accusing other movement spokesmen of being traitors, “neo-cons,” and infiltrators if they don’t toe his line. That “line” entails acceptance of conspiracies, hate and suspicion and leads to discrediting the movement and ultimately to its own destruction.

And DeWeese doesn't even mention the recent brouhaha of the LaRouchies' stampeding of the Oath Keepers' board to withdraw from the 19 April Restore the Constitution march, the role of the Committees of Safety Walter Reddy, the denouncing of me as a British agent, etc.

As I said before, this is how the LaRouchies work. They are consummate intelligence gatherers, cunning tacticians and exhibit long-term strategic thinking in the placement of moles and agents provocateur -- all in support of a twisted worldview that makes sense only to them, and changes with the divinations of their Dear Leader's most recent bowel movements.

Pursuant to Reddy's denunciation of me and attempt to use me to kill the RTC rallies, on Wednesday ole bald-faced liar Walter received this message from Larry Pratt, who kept his nerve, refused to be stampeded and spoke eloquently at Gravelly Park:

Walter,

I must request that my name be withdrawn from the Committees of Safety Board of Advisers. I did not agree with your characterization of Mike Vanderboegh with whom I have worked for nearly 20 years. I hope that the time will come when you will make whole what was done to Mike.

Larry Pratt

As of this morning Walter Reddy has yet to remove Larry's name from his website. I am still awaiting word on whether Devvy Kidd or Edwin Viera intend to do the same.

Stinking LaRouchies. They are like the love children of the cult-of-personality Moonies and the Czarist secret police. As they say in Massachusetts, "bahkin' moonbahts," the lot of them. But they are barking moonbats with a wicked intelligence and sharp teeth. So tell me, why do we tolerate them and their provocations?

Alex? Walter? Devvy? Edwin?

That question is for you.

Mike Vanderboegh
III

Larry Pratt's Speech at Gravelly Park, 19 April 2010.

Thanks to Pete at WRSA for this link.

This is going to piss off a number of people -- thoroughly and completely. I help Paul Helmke with his next crusade. Try to figure out why.

This email is dedicated to General Sebastian Snowflake, chief NRA Internet apologist and leader of the Prag Army.

From: georgemason1776
To: brady
Cc: ken.melson
Sent: Mon, Nov 8, 2010 6:08 pm
Subject: ATF refuses to regulate 50,000 submachineguns and protects NRA members who own pistol grip shotgun "destructive devices."

ATTN: Paul Helmke
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
1225 I Street, NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20005
Brady Campaign Phone: (202) 898-0792
Brady Campaign Fax: (202) 371-9615

Dear Paul,

Since we met at the 19 April 2010 armed Restore the Constitution rally at Gravelly Point Park across from the National Capitol, your organization has fallen on harder times -- membership down, Democrats washed away in state and national races, donations flat. Paul, bubba, y'all need a new gig. And for reasons of my own which make perfect sense to me, let me give you a new washtub to bang -- two washtubs, actually -- which will bring you headlines and it is headlines you crave, no?



Paul, the ATF is falling down on the job you fervently wish they would do -- disarming the American citizenry, or, failing that, making firearm ownership as difficult and onerous as possible. There is a reason for this, as you may know -- the ATF Chief Counsel's Office has embroiled the agency in any number of bad cases and missteps over the last few years that they are desperate to keep quiet. The NFRTR -- the national machine gun registry -- is a shambles, causing prosecutions to be dropped or dismissed (see the Freisen case). The testing procedures (or lack thereof) are neither standardized nor defensible in court. Agency personnel who are honest enough to point out ATF failures are persecuted (see the dissident ATF agent website, CleanUpATF.org). Honest dealers and manufacturers who resist ATF decisions or testify against them in court are subjected to abusive, selective inspections and regulatory harassment in retribution (dubbed "Economic Wacos").

My understanding is that the ATF senior executives have even sought to avoid oversight hearings lest they be asked questions under oath about even one of these festering scandals. For the same reason, the Obama-Daley Chicago Gang's choice for ATF Director, Andrew F. Traver, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Division, will likely end up as a recess appointment because the Holder Justice Department doesn't want awkward questions asked under oath. Of course none of this has prevented the ATF from stumbling along, pretending to be omniscient and all powerful, complaining about lack of resources while at the same time wasting taxpayer money by giving away goodies at events like the recent IACP convention, including brightly colored ATF flip flip footwear (which I have posted a picture of on my blog) and -- it is also reported -- in the acme of poor taste, ATF official arson investigation matchbooks.

But really, is this any reason for them to be derelict in their duty as you see it?

If I may, let me inform you about two enforcement derelictions that I think will offend your hoplophobe sensibilities and cause you to demand an explanation of this agency which has so disappointed you.

Washtub #1: There are 50,000 unregistered submachine guns on the streets which the ATF refuses to regulate.

Let me draw your attention to the sworn testimony of one Richard Vasquez, ATF Assistant Chief, Firearms Technology Branch, in the case of United States of America v. One Historic Arms Model 54RCCS, etc., from a deposition on 10 September 2009, pp. 73-75.

Q: In Exhibit 1 which are the operating procedures that you wrote, there's a reference to two rulings, 82-8 and 83-5, do you recall that?
A: Do I recall the rulings or the reference?
Q: Well, first of all the reference.
A: Yes.
Q: Do you recall the ruling?
A: Yes.
Q: 82-8 if I remember had to do with some devices that were determined to be machine guns but that the ones manufactured before a particular date were not I guess treated as machine guns for purposes of transfer and possession, is that right?
A: Let me find it. (Reviews document.) Correct.
Q: What is the proper treatment of one of those firearms under that ruling if it's . . . I mean, I guess ATF considers it to be a machine gun but it's freely transferable without even a Form 4 if I understand it; is that right?
A: If it was manufactured before that date as an open bolt pistol, then ATF said we're not going to apply the machine gun classification to it.
Q: So I guess the conclusion is that means there's a, I don't know about sizes, but there's some bucket of firearms that are machine guns that aren't registered, don't have to be registered and are freely transferable without a Form 4; is that right?
A: Well, it is correct that they are no longer allowed to be manufactured.
Q: I understand. So we're only talking about ones that were manufactured before a particular date?
A: That's correct.
Q: But whatever number of those there are, they're out there?
A: Yes.

Paul, that number is in excess of FIFTY THOUSAND. Does that bother you at all? Think you might want to investigate that?

Now, for the second washtub you might want to thump.

Washtub #2: The ATF has ruled pistol grip shotguns to be destructive devices but has refused to enforce that ruling, allowing thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of people, including NRA members and hunters, to possess these without registration.

The November 2009 FFL Newsletter (found at http://www.nfaoa.org/documents/ffl-newsletter-2009-11.pdf) states that a "Pistol Grip Firearm" (generically, a pump action shotgun with a pistol grip) is not a "shotgun." An October 27, 2010, letter from the Firearms Technology Branch ruled that such a firearm, with a 17" barrel and 26-1/4" overall length, was not subject to the National Firearms Act.

As you are probably aware, a "destructive device" is defined as:

The term "destructive device" means (1) any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas (A) bomb, (B) grenade, (C) rocket having a propellent charge of more than four ounces, (D) missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce, (E) or (F) similar device; (2) any type of weapon by whatever name known which will, or which may be readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, the barrel or barrels of which have a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter, except a shotgun or shotgun shell which the Secretary finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes; and (3) any combination of parts either designed or intended for use in converting any device into a destructive device as defined in subparagraphs (1) and (2) and from which a destructive device may be readily assembled. The term "destructive device" shall not include any device which is neither designed nor redesigned for use as a weapon; any device, although originally designed for use as a weapon, which is redesigned for use as a signaling, pyrotechnic, line throwing, safety, or similar device; surplus ordnance sold, loaned, or given by the Secretary of the Army pursuant to the provisions of section 4684(2), 4685, or 4686 of title 10 of the United States Code; or any other device which the Secretary finds is not likely to be used as a weapon, or is an antique or is a rifle which the owner intends to use solely for sporting purposes.

Now I'm not trying to make your eyes glaze over, Paul, but it appears that ATF's recent decisions have rendered a "Pistol Grip Firearm" a Destructive Device, since it has been ruled not to be a "shotgun." This action has apparently created millions of unregistered Destructive Devices, currently possessed by millions of law-abiding gun owners who do not realize they now illegally possess unregistered NFA firearms.

With your help and the proper motivation, Paul, the ATF can make yet another set of rulings to clarify the legal status of the "Pistol Grip Firearm" in view of the massive scale of nonconformity with federal law. It appears there are only two solutions: (1) change the law to revert things as they were before ATF made the foregoing rulings, or (2) establish an amnesty period so millions of "Pistol Grip Firearms" can be lawfully registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR) system.

The ATF documentation and legal issues are available on the Internet as noted below.

So, Paul, bubba, are you just going to let the ATF get away with not doing their job?

Of course you may ask, why is this Vanderboegh character serving up these issues? Is it a trap? Well, it is certainly not a lie, Paul. Everything is as I have laid it out for you. And, as it is the truth, according to your lights the ATF is failing to do their job as you see it. Of course I believe that the entire federal firearm control regime since the National Firearms Act of 1934 is unconstitutional, that the ATF ought to be abolished and that their rules are deliberately arcane and clouded in obfuscation so they interpret them however they want. As it happens, these two examples prove both our points, depending upon which you believe to be true.

The question is, now that I have teed up these two balls for you, can you knock them out of the park for your own short-term gain to prove my long-term point?

Think of all the NRA members you could discomfit by doing so.

Can you really resist that urge?

Sincerely,

Mike Vanderboegh
The alleged leader of a merry band of Three Percenters
PO Box 926
Pinson, AL 35126

SOURCES:

http://nfaoa.org/resources.html

Then click on this tab: National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934, as amended

text:

ATF Letter Ruling means that a "pistol grip firearm" is a Destructive Device

In a section entitled "Pistol Grips and Shotguns" on pages 2-3 of its November 2009 FFL Newsletter (click here to read it, ATF stated that "A firearm with a pistol grip in lieu of the shoulder stock is not designed to be fired from the shoulder and, therefore, is not a shotgun." This statement arose from ATF's clarification that "Certain commercially produced firearms do not fall within the definition of shotgun under the GCA even though they utilize a shotgun shell for ammunition. For example, firearms that come with a pistol grip in place of the buttstock are not shotguns as defined by the GCA." The procedures for recording transfers of such firearms were published by ATF (click here to read them), and ATF advises they be described as a "pistol grip firearm."

Regulations involving pistol-gripped shotguns were included in the first regulations implementing the NFA, published in the INTERNAL REVENUE BULLETIN, Cumulative Bulletin XIII-2, July-December 1934, pages 433-440 (click here to read them). In particular, S.T. 772 states: "A so-called shotgun with a pistol grip, which fires a shot shell, falls within the class of 'any other weapon' . . . [i]f such a gun is capable of being concealed on the person." S.T. 779 addresses classification of a firearm that is "a single shot, single trigger, and single hammer gun with a pistol grip, and is chambered for shot loads. It is so compact that it may be strapped over the shoulder, either over or under the coat." S.T. 779 further states that "The test described by the [National Firearms] for determining whether a particular weapon comes within the classification of 'any other weapon' . . . is not the length of the barrel, but whether the weapon is capable of being concealed on the person," and that the foregoing gun met the definition of "any other weapon" under the NFA.
When the Congress amended the NFA under the National Firearms Act of 1968 (also known as Title II of the Gun Control Act of 1968), it defined a "destructive device," in part, as "Any weapon by whatever name known which will, or which may be readily converted to, expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or other propellant, the barrel or barrels of which have a bore of more than one-half inch in diameter, except a shotgun or shotgun shell which the Secretary finds is generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes." Source: 26 U.S.C, Section 5845(f). "Secretary" refers to the Secretary of the Treasury; however, the Attorney General began performing all functions of the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to firearms after ATF was transferred to the Department of Justice on January 24, 2003.

Until the November 2009 article, and a subsequent ATF Letter Ruling, so-called "pistol-grip shotguns" may have occupied a "gray" area under the GCA and the NFA. In 1960, the Congress amended the NFA to establish a 26" overall length requirement for a rifle or shotgun; a 16" barrel length standard for a rifle; and a $5 transfer tax for all "any other weapon" NFA firearms (click here to read it). Before the 1960 Act, both rifles and shotguns were required to have barrel lengths of 18" (there was no overall length requirement), and AOW transfers were $200. ATF adopted the 26" overall length requirement as a criteria for "concealibility" to uniformly implement the AOW standard. Consequently, since 1968, ATF viewed so-called "pistol-grip shotguns" under the 26" overall length requirement and manufacturers apparently presumed that an 18" barrel length was also required.

In response to a request for clarification of the law, ATF advised a firearms manfacturer in a letter dated July 20, 2010 (click here to read it): " . . . in an effort to achieve consistent application of the law, ATF utilizes 26 inches as the presumptive standard to determine whether a firearm is 'capable of being concealed on the person' [and] "barrel length is considered only to the extent that it constitutes a portion of the overall-length measurement of a firearm." ATF also stated "because the statute does not expressly indicate any overall length, a firearm measuring greater than 26 inches in length may properly be classified as an . . . AOW . . . if it otherwise satisfies the definiton of an AOW and there is evidence that the firearm in question was actually concealed on a person [italics in original."

In a letter dated October 27, 2010, ATF advised the manufacturer that installing a barrel approximately 17" in length in a firearm that was originally manufactured with a pistol grip in place of a shoulder stock, whose overall length is approximately 26-1/4", "is not a 'firearm' as defined by the NFA." (Click here to read it). The letter also states that if the submitted firearm "is concealed on a person, the . . . classification may change."
The foregoing discussion, played out in Federal District Court in a criminal case, might well cause millions of what ATF now terms a "pistol grip firearm" to be reclassified as an "Any Other Weapon" if any such firearms are concealed on a person. Such a reclassification could occur, for example, in a criminal case if a defendant is found guilty of concealing a "pistol grip firearm" on his or her person.

If one takes ATF's most recent correspondence on the issue at face value, it means that concealing a "pistol grip firearm" (regardless of its barrel length) on a person, could legally render it an "Any Other Weapon" subject to the NFA.

There are millions of such "pistol grip firearms" that have been lawfully owned by millions of law-abiding citizens for many years, and they are manufactured by a variety of firearms manufacturers. If these firearms were ruled to be NFA firearms, they would be instantly and involuntarily converted into illegal contraband. Moreover, under current law, there is no legal mechanism to enable their continued legal possession except by (1) registering them as NFA firearms during an amnesty established by the Attorney General, or (2) a change in the NFA law, which must be enacted by the Congress and signed by the President.

ATF has created a potential legal conundrum by clarifying that that certain "pistol grip firearms" are not shotguns, because apart from the "Any Other Weapon" issue just discussed, ATF has not acknowledge the fact that these firearms are most probably classifiable as "Destructive Devices." Again, taken at face value, a "pistol grip firearm" with a bore diameter larger than 1/2" in diameter is a "Destructive Device" under the NFA, unless the Attorney General determines that it is "a shotgun . . . generally recognized as particularly suitable for sporting purposes." By determining that a "pistol grip firearm" is not a shotgun, it is difficult to understand how current law would not classify such as firearm as a Destructive Device."

Bob & Bob Militia Radio.

Bob Wright (of Fort Hunt and Gravelly Point Park fame) and Bob Mitzel have a net radio show that runs Monday-Tuesday & Thursday-Friday from 2PM to 3PM Mountain and on Wednesday from 1PM to 3PM Mountain. Their call in numbers are 888-953-5911 & 541-787-4028.

Now we KNOW why Paul Helmke was at the 19 April Restore the Constitution Rally at Gravelly Point Park!

"Sorry, Paul, I don't have any spare change on me."

He was panhandling.

I guess they didn't get the memo. Brady Bunch calls embarrassing attention to ATF's lack of a director.

Me and Paul Helmke, 19 April 2010, when the desperate publicity whore was piggy-backing camera time off the RTC Rally at Gravelly Point Park, Virginia. Contributions to the Brady Bunch are in the toilet this year. (Pained look of crapping glass doesn't come from acting school.)


"Leave the gun. Take the canoli."

So, now comes the Brady Bunch blowing their vuvuzelas about
their latest chicken-little threat to civilization as they want it.


"Obama Endangers Safety by Not Naming ATF Head"

Whatever shall we do? Breathlessly, they stammer:

The year and a half delay by President Barack Obama in naming a director to oversee the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives has seriously weakened efforts to enforce Federal firearms laws, thus jeopardizing public safety and national security.

The President has left ATF leaderless even while armed extremists have attacked military posts, museums, political targets and even the Pentagon. Approximately 45,000 Americans have been killed by guns and 150,000 have been shot and injured since President Obama took office.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence today issued a report on the consequences of this lack of leadership on the gun issue by the President. The organization sent a letter to President Obama on June 10 stressing the importance of naming a Director for ATF, but has not received a response.

ATF officials are now facing a foreign policy crisis exacerbated by the nation's weak gun laws, as tens of thousands of firearms have flooded across America's southern border to Mexican drug cartels killing thousands and threatening that country's democratically elected government.

A foreign policy crisis?!?!? Great Horny Toads, Yosemite Sam! Is World War III about to break out? The Bradyistas continue:

"The failure to nominate an ATF director for over a year and a half is unprecedented and threatens our nation's ability to combat gun crime and trafficking that arms criminals and terrorists," the report states. "No other President has allowed this critical position to remain vacant for so long."

The ATF, part of the Justice Department, has not even had an Acting Director since November 2009, when Ken Melson was required to step down due to statutory limits on how long an Acting Director can serve. There have been rumors for months that someone might be appointed, but still no formal announcement has been made. Meanwhile, Congress is now debating legislation misnamed the ATF Reform and Firearms Modernization Act, which would severely limit ATF's ability to revoke the Federal firearms licenses of gun dealers who lose hundreds of firearms from their inventories without any record of sale."

Some have suggested that President Obama has shied away from making a nomination for fear of resistance from the powerful gun lobby," the report argues. "As Senator and Presidential candidate, Obama was a forceful advocate for reasonable gun laws, but as President he has been unwilling to show any leadership on the issue. President Obama has signed into law legislation allowing guns in national parks and shielding important crime gun data from public view, contrary to the positions he expressed before taking office. Whatever the reason for the prolonged vacancy, the practical result is that public safety is endangered, foreign policy is threatened, ATF is less able to 'enforce the laws on the books,' morale at the agency suffers, and important legislation that would keep communities safe remains in limbo." . . .

"The Obama White House's inaction and silence about the gun issue puts public safety as well as the nation's security at risk," Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke said. "Firearms are flowing into the hands of extremists who say they want to overthrow the government, and into the hands of drug cartel killers who want to destabilize our neighbors to the south. How can we enforce any of the laws on the books, which are already much too weak, when the agency most responsible for that enforcement goes over a year and a half with no leadership?"

OK, so here's the deal, Paulie. Here's your first clue: If the Obamanoids haven't appointed a new director it is because they've got what they consider pretty damn good reasons of their own for not wanting to.

Faithful readers of Sipsey Street will recall that our slippery fifth floor intelligence agent Waldo, ensconced tight as a tick on the command deck at the "Concrete Asshole of the Universe," reported that the Obamanoid Chicago Gang was vetting one of their own, Andrew F. Traver, for the top slot at ATF, being somewhat upset at finding out that their first choice, former Acting Director (and now Deputy Director) Ken Melson, was actually serious about cleaning out the Augean Stables at Federal Gun Cop HQ. Like the only honest piano player in the whorehouse, Melson's rectitude was not in keeping with the corrupt anti-firearm agenda-driven Chief Counsel's Office and their political bosses who meet in Charlie Schumer's favorite Chinese restaurant in DC, the Hunan Dynasty on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Of course, The Gang was upset to learn that we had advance word of the Traver vetting, and especially upset that we had zeroed in on his links to the virulently anti-firearm Joyce Foundation. That the Joyce Foundation is Traver's weak link in terms of Senate confirmation was underlined by visits to this and other websites by folks at DOJ computers using the search terms "Traver", "ATF"and "Joyce Foundation."

Current betting in the fifth floor restrooms at the Concrete Asshole of the Universe is that Traver will end up as another acting director, because the last thing the Obamanoids want is a confirmation hearing featuring the Van Jones of gun control right before the election. But, they absolutely need somebody in there to tell Ken Melson to get down off his high horse and quit trying to bring law, logic and system to the agenda-driven cowboys of the Chief Counsel's Office.

Paulie and the Brady Bunch must not have gotten the memo. The very last thing Eric Holder wants right now is for anyone to be reminded of the petard they have hung themselves on -- thanks to all of the Chief Counsel's Office machinations over the years -- by having all of it dredged out by unfriendly GOP senators at a permanent director's confirmation hearing UNDER OATH.

No way in hell will Holder receive the Brady screed kindly. In fact, that Paulie was clueless enough to even issue it is proof positive of how out-of-the-loop and impotent he has become since the Obama regime took power. And after spending all that money and time getting one of their own elected. Poor Brady Bunch. Poor Paulie.

Guess he'll have to content himself with pimping camera time at Open Carry rallies. He forgot he was dealing with The Gang.



"Oh, Paulie. . . Won't see him no more."

Ahh Paulie, won't see him no more. sound bite The Godfather sound bites

Mike
III

Later: Here's the whole screed.

Me and the Brady Bunch's Paul Helmke hanging down by the Potomac.

So, one of our Alabama guys comes up to me at Gravelly and says, "Did you know Paul Helmke is here?" "Paul?!? Wow! I always have wanted to meet him! Where's he at?"

So we traipsed over there and here he is, with my arm around him, posing for a picture (we got some hi-def video too, I'm told. Can't wait to see it.)

Note: The look on his face as if he is crapping glass is real.

Mike
III

Paul Helmke's deadly hypocrisy."The Brady Campaign to Ignore the Project Gunwalker Scandal." Pay no attention to the ugly reality behind the curtain!

"Major Strasser has been shot! . . . Round up the usual suspects."

Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have beliefs, opinions, virtues, feelings, qualities, or standards that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie. Hypocrisy is not simply failing to practice those virtues that one preaches. . . (A)n alcoholic's advocating temperance, for example, would not be considered an act of hypocrisy so long as the alcoholic made no pretense of constant sobriety. -- Wikipedia.

David Codrea brings our attention to a predictable hypocrisy by his headline: "Anti-gun groups silent on ‘Project Gunwalker.’" In his Examiner article, David rightly deconstructs the Brady Bunch's Dennis Hennigan as he declaims by loud silence: "Pay no attention to the ugly reality behind the curtain!"

Since 2006, 14 U.S. Custom and Border Patrol Agents have been killed, most recently Brian Terry, fatally wounded in December of last year with an AK-47. There is little doubt that more courageous federal officers will be struck down, with assault rifles trafficked from American gun shops. Perhaps the NRA bosses, and the House members they control, can explain to the families of the slain federal agents, and to those of the Mexican citizens who have lost their lives to drug cartel gunfire, the wisdom of depriving ATF of an important tool against gun trafficking. But please spare us the phony talk about the need to "enforce the laws on the books."

"Phony talk" indeed. If there's any explaining to do to "the families of the slain federal agents," it needs to come from the ATF, Eric Holder and the ideological supporters of citizen disarmament who seek to shield them from responsibility and retribution -- first and foremost among these last is the Brady Bunch.

David for one is having none of it:

Is it not in the interest of furthering the Brady’s purported goals to establish the truth in this? At least the ones they're willing to publicly disclose?

If not, Mr. Henigan, “please spare us the phony talk about the need to” give a Bureau that is so obviously broken even more power and authority before finding out exactly what’s wrong with it and fixing it. And “please spare us the phony talk about” how imposing even more restrictions on Americans who are already obeying “the laws on the books” is just the ticket for curing Mexico’s narcoterrorism woes.

Now Mr. Henigan surely knows, as does his boss Paul Helmke, the awful details revealed so far in the Project Gunwalker scandal. How could he not? Helmke is on my personal email list. Every time I have a Sipsey Street post about any ATF scandal -- especially Project Gunwalker -- he gets a copy in his in-box. Just as this Saturday morning he will be copied on this. (Hi, Paulie! Wanna come out and play?) And I never get a bounce-back. He must read each one, each new revelation, with all the horrified fascination of someone watching a slow-motion car wreck involving his children -- aghast, but unable to look away.

19 April 2010: Gravelly Point Park, Virginia. Paul Helmke and me in happier days. (Well, from the looks on our faces, at least I was happy. The headlines haven't been going in his direction these past few years.)

Yet as well informed as Helmke is, he has made no mention of the Project Gunwalker scandal. One would think from such studious ignorance that perhaps he will next change the name of his organization to "The Brady Campaign to Ignore the Project Gunwalker Scandal."

Knowing the real source of the weapon that killed Brian Terry, has he demanded the truth? No. He has continued to pimp a deliberate fiction. Thus does he spit on Brian Terry's grave.

Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, killed with a rifle that the ATF deliberately let "walk." Paul Helmke doesn't give a tinker's damn about the truth of his death, or he would be doing something about it.

Knowing that these weapons have surely killed many innocent Mexicans, has Helmke sought congressional investigation and intervention? No. What's a few more dead nameless, faceless Mexicans when you've got a lying meme to push?

More dead Mexicans. Paul Helmke cries crocodile tears over them too.

By his silence on Gunwalker, Helmke is declaiming: "Major Strasser has been shot! . . . Round up the usual suspects."

The usual suspects of course being American gun stores, gun shows and the armed citizenry.

Paul Helmke, by his repeated insistence upon ever more power and resources for the ATF in the advancement of his own citizen disarmament agenda, which has now shown itself to have all the moral rectitude and trustworthiness of a fireman caught setting deadly fires, has lashed himself and his organization to the wheel of that criminally-run agency's ship of fortunes.

When that ship sinks, Helmke's agenda drowns with it just as surely as a frantic rat that can't make it to a bit of flotsam.

And do you know what I say?

"Torpedo . . . Los!"