Eric Garner - Death by Cop

This is nuts.  How did the NY cop get off?????

Can you say NYC is corrupt as they come?  Just look at Bloomberg and you can see that. . . no to mention all the other folks that were unarmed and not doing anything violent that they have killed in NYC.

Personally I don't see how this guy got off other than he is a copy in NYC so he is above the law.

I also don't think this has anything to do with Fergerson MO.

Lets look at the facts -

Fergerson:

• Cop is injured
• Criminal attacked him in his car and left evidence to prove this
• Criminal was being sought for a violent robbery shortly before he got shot and killed
• He rushed the cop and was acting aggressive.

NYC case:

• Non violent crime - selling untaxed cigarettes
• No weapons involved
• Video shows he had his hands up
• Cops pile on him and choke him out as he repeatedly says he can't breath
• Cops violated own rules using a choke.

Folks this NYC cop should be facing charges.  Is it disgusting that he is not and I hope the Feds go after him and that Mr. Garners family has a good lawyer to go after NYC.

Morning Talking Heads - what color is the sky there?

I don't normally watch the political talk shows but I left it on this morning and had a good laugh at how badly they are pushing for the Democrats.

First they are all over diverting us from looking at the handling of Ebola or the Terror Attacks in Canada and NYC.  They know that if folks start looking at self defense and defense of the county the GOP will win votes on them.  They know if folks start thinking about taking care of their family in dangerous times the GOP will win votes. . .. they need to convince folks that there is no danger.  Ignore what is going on in the world because BIG GOVERNMENT can protect you and is protecting you. . . . . . Except it isn't.

They won't make the hard calls to go after radical Islam in our country.  And more importantly right now they won't stop flights from Ebola areas and they won't quarantine folks coming from those areas.  The most laughable excuse I have heard so far is it would "hurt the African economy".  The more realistic answer I have heard was a nurse who went there whining about how it was an inconvenience to her to be held for 3 weeks to make sure she was not infected.  Sorry you went there now you pay the bill to protect those of us who stayed home.

The other great line I kept hearing is it was all about gridlock and we hate everyone in DC.  Totally ignoring how Obama himself has called this election all about support for his policy's.  They are also totally ignoring our failing and floundering economy and so many people out of work and no end in sight.  Add to them all the Illegals Obama wants to bring in to compete for jobs that our kids and the lower class are trying to fill and it should make you sick.

Sure I want to see folks voted out in DC, but not all of them. . . I want to see Harry Reid replaced for holding up all those bills in the Senate that he won't bring to a vote because the GOP thought them up.  I am sick of Obama making illegal law with his pen and not facing Impeachment when Nixon was small time compared to today and was booted out (rightly).

I am sick of them blaming the bid money on the GOP side and ignoring the fact they get just as much and some say a bit more big money on their side too.  I am sick of the Dems voting to stop jobs, support illegals, and destroy our standing in the world with their bumbling foreign policy that has done noting to fix things and made them much worse.

They keep spending and spending and ignoring we don't have the money.  Time to put real conservatives in power that respect our Constitution.  Time to shrink the .gov and stop turning our police into another branch of the military.  Time to get the .gov out of the marriage business and the GOP better learn this one.  Gay Marriage is not the end of our world, and please show me where our Constitution gives the .gov any say in marriage. . . . thanks.

Yes it is time for a change folks, we need to put more TEA folks into power and we need to move our country away from the failure of Socialism and the Democrats failed big government power grab.  Time to bring jobs back to the USA folks.   Time to get Religion out of our government too folks and admit that our Constitution needs to be brought back front and center of our government.

Another School Shooting

Well here we go again.

It is all about the school shooter and nothing about the facts.

Folks this was not a standard wacko who wanted to shoot people in a nice safe gun free zone.

He only shot specific people then himself.  He had a plan and he knew exactly what he wanted to do.  He waited until they were all together at lunch then shot his targets.  All of them were known to him, some family.

When will we stop focusing on inanimate objects and start looking into WHY?  He was supposedly bullied by these kids.  He had posts (Twitter I think, maybe Facebook) about his troubles but no one did anything.

Folks no matter what the media tells you this was not a normal shooting.  Sure, we have a kid with a gun he can't legally have in a gun free zone shooting kids.  He could have kept going.  He could have sprayed the room. . . no.  He only shot at one table of folks he knew that he had issues with.

So I will wait and see what facts will come out.  I bet this story will be burred rather quickly as it does not fit in their plan to disarm innocent folks.  Just like they ignore the hatchet attack in NYC and don't really say much about the car attack and shooting in Canada because they are all tied to Radical Islam attacks.

When will we wake up folks?  The world has changed, it is much more dangerous than it was, and that danger is much more random.  These Radicals are going to hit everywhere, not just the bad parts of town you can avoid. . . They want to cause fear and the fools who will use random shootings to disarm us are playing right into their plan.

Ebola and Obama

So now what?

We have a POTUS that has time and again shown he can't do anything but fundraise.  He has no idea how to deal with a crisis and we have a bunch of them.

ISIS is taking over a good chunk of the middle east and still growing while he can't get anyone together to stop them in the time he has to be effective to do it

Obama is seen as weak by the world and ignored

We have illegals spilling over our southern border bringing with them disease and ISIS infiltrators (4 caught so far). . . . our kids are now getting sick with the new bugs that the Illegals have brought in and Obama has spread around the country as he lets the Illegals stay instead of immediately sending them home.  Now we have kids with Polio like symptoms and unknown how to cure . . .  thanks to the Illegals.

And now EBOLA.  We have the first case that was caught HERE because we have not shut down travel from the hot spots and now someone came here with it. . .  and died but not before infecting others.

This is insane!  Only doctors should be going there and no one should be coming back without sitting in quarantine long enough to show clear. . . But no, Obama is all about image and nothing about facts.   So now we have to deal with Ebola here in the USA.  And they STILL refuse to shut down the travel. . .  . Every case of Ebola was preventable in the US. . . . remember that.

Remember all of this in November when you vote folks.  We need new folks in DC that know what they are doing.  The gang of Dems in there now have screwed us pretty good but we can still fix this if we put in the right people for the job.

Warren Tolman wants to be AG of MA

This guy should scare us all.

I watch his ads on TV and see how out of touch he is yet because he is a Democrat he may actually win in MA.

Why is Tolman running on the past?  Where are his plans for what is currently facing our state?  Where is his plans to cut corruption in the state government, to go after the criminals, to go after the EBT fraud we are paying for?  Where are his plans to protect the taxpayers from all of this?  Where are his plans to protect the people of our state from any kind of corruption, political or otherwise???

Lets look at the facts he is running on:

-  Parents died of smoking so he pushed laws on tobacko makers to tell folks it is not good for you. . .  something we have all known since I was a kid. . . ignoring the fact this is an addiction (my dad died of smoking) and needs to be treated as such.  All the laws in the world won't help, you need to get them treatment to get off the smokes . . . and he totally ignores the fact the people smoke BY CHOICE.  No one made his parents start smoking, no one made my dad start smoking. . . . but he wants to tell us how to live.

- Abortion clinic shooting he is all over in the news is 20 years old.  He is living in the past.  We have not had any problems with shootings in MA since, and unlike the rest of the country that has spent the last 20 years relaxing gun laws and seeing crime go down MA has added more gun laws and seen crime go up.  He does not get it.  You want to make it safer in MA get rid of gun control.  If you support gun control you support criminals safety and that is the fact.  Why is he not looking at the criminal madman that shot up the place and why he was loose on the street?  No, he wants to go after lawful gun owners, shown to be some of the most laws abiding folks in any area. . .

- Smart guns. . . there is no such thing.  If this tech worked wouldn't the cops and military be using it?  This is fiction.  Smart guns will only get lawful gun owners shot or killed as criminals won't follow the law, they don't.  Cops are far more likely to have their gun taken and used against them by a criminal but they refuse to have smart guns. . .

Look at the facts.  You are violently attacked and pull a smart gun out to protect yourself and your kids. . .

• You have dirt on your hands, gun won't work
• Your wife takes your gun cause you are hurt,  it won't work for her
• You are injured and have blood on your hand, gun won't work
• Battery is dead, gun won't work
• Electronics break due to use, gun wont work

So when the smart gun fails, and cops, military and gun owners know they will. . . you will be helpless to defend yourself or your kids.  This is what he wants.

Add to this that they tried to pass a new massive gun control bill in MA this spring/summer and the outcry was amazing.  The bill that became law is now pro gun with all the major and most of the minor gun control stripped out of it and new wording put in to protect gun owners rights.

Tolman is out of touch with Massachusetts folks and out of touch with our country, time for him to get out of politics.

Low Capacity Mags can get you killed

Here is a great story on how a lawful gun owner saved himself and his friends. . ..

Go read it HERE

Attacked by a mob and he won.  Violent gang members not kids, remember that. . . .

This is why you may need more than 10 rounds that they want to restrict you to.  Low capacity magazines will get lawful gun owners killed.  Just a matter of time.  But they don't care about that, they don't care about you as a gun owner.  Gun owners are bad, we are free and they can't deal with it.  That they are putting us in danger with mag restrictions is not an accident it is part of the plan.

No Gun? Use a bomb

Here is a great story from MA.

We have all the gun laws you could want but they still want more.  Lawful citizens are abused all the time when they try to get a permit for a gun.. . . . they keep telling us lawful gun owners are the problem you see.

They tell us if we take away all your guns then you will be safe. . .  .

Ya right. . .

Meanwhile the pro civil rights folks have been pointing out time and again that criminals don't follow the law and will still get guns or find a new tool to use. . .

Well here is your proof, he could not get a gun so built a bomb. . . . Oh and by the way bombs are illegal too. . . .

It is all about control folks it has nothing to do with safety.

Open letter to the Mass Legislature on Guns

I wanted to contact you again to try to explain a bit further the problem gun owners have now with the current ability of the chiefs to limit permits.

If you want more info on this a quick google of “Mass gun permits per town” brings up many article including ones from the Boston Globe about how mixed up our permitting process is.  Here is a link to a map showing how where you live makes a huge difference as to your ability to get a gun permit : http://www.hubflyer.com/wp-content/uploads/macitytowngun.png This is hardly treating everyone the same under the law.  Also please note most of the state is green on the map which are towns that respect our rights and issue permits.  It is those few red towns that are the problem and are rejecting or restricting permits to people that have passed the background checks and have a clean record . . .

I know the claim is that the chiefs want to restrict folks who may cause harm – we all want that.  If that is what they did I would still expect to see a fairly even distribution of permits issued all over the state as most people are not a problem.

That is not what we have.  There was a recent WBUR post on this where the Chief of Police in Boston outright state people of Boston don’t need rifles or shotguns.  He says nothing about harm or injury or anything else other than he does not think they need that right so won’t issue permits.

I am an NRA and State Police certified instructor in MA.  I have had a number of reports from people in my gun club and at class that the town I grew up in – Scituate MA – has gone from issuing permits to carry to not issuing.  People that have had carry permits for years now get restricted to target and hunting just because a new chief of police has been hired in the town.

Please tell me how that makes sense?  Your right to carry has been taken when you have done nothing wrong and have had that carry permit for years.

The other point of this is by putting restrictions of “Target and Hunting only” on a pistol permit which is what normally happens in these cases only means you can’t carry concealed.  You can still buy the same guns and ammo that you could with an unrestricted license.  If you are dangerous (as the proponents of this rule say) to the point they want to restrict your license why are they issuing it at all?  If I have criminal intent I can still get what I want on the restricted permit. . . .

This is why gun owners are so against letting the FID be up to the Chief.  I have seen no data that the current ability of the Chiefs to restrict pistol permits has made us any safer, but it is being abused.  For a select few towns and cities lawful citizens with clean records are being refused permits to carry because the Chief can while if they lived in the next town over there would be no issues.  Why should they be allowed to do this with the FID too?

What gun owners want is a fair law.  Every city and town should have to issue you any permit you ask for unless you are a prohibited person.  I agree we don’t want the guy down the street that the cops get called on every weekend for domestic disputes to get a permit.  But don’t leave that up to the Chief, put it in writing – make it the law.  We need a hard list that we can all reference that says “this is what a Prohibited Person is”.  And the Chiefs need to be told that if an applicant for any permit is not on that Prohibited Person list they must issue the license.  This is the only fair way to address this. 

Thank you for your time.

MA Permit issuing problems. . .

One of the interesting sticking points on getting an otherwise rather good bill passed into law here in MA is a small number of police chiefs (who are anti-2A) want to change the FID (our lowest form of license, rifles only no high capacity) from shall issue to Chiefs Option. . . by small I mean something like 12 of the states 300+ Chiefs. . . . .

Here in MA they think it is fair now for the Chief to have a say in your getting a pistol permit and this would expand it to any permit.  Most Chiefs do not abuse this but a small number do . . .

Today you apply for your permit and if you have passed the class and have a clean record you can get an FID no questions or ask for a pistol permit.  If the Chief wants he can limit or deny your pistol permit – end of story.  He does not have to tell you why and can use any excuse he wants.  What this has led to is a new Chief takes over in a town and folks that have had carry permits for years with no issues suddenly are refused.  You can sue but the cost is on you to get your permit and they can deny you again when you renew. . .

Does this sound like a fair way to handle a right?  How would you like it if an official in town could suddenly tell you that you can’t vote anymore and no reason is given?  You can sue to fix it but we can deny you next election if we want and you have to sue again. . .

This is crazy.  The fix that was rejected said that Chiefs would have to list in writing the reason for refusal and it was spelled out what they could refuse for. . . and an appeals process was to be worked out. . .  That was not good enough.

To make this worse it is a small few Chiefs that make them all look bad.  Most have no problems with permits and issue them if you have a clean record.  Just another great example of how you can abuse the power of you .gov position in MA. . . .

Thank God I have one of the good Chiefs in my home town - we have a great group of police and they respect our rights. . . . but if he retires who knows. . . .

Mass update on Senate Gun Bill

You can get the details from GOAL HERE

Overall GOAL has been working overtime on this and finally MA gun owners are waking up. . .

We started with a VERY anti-gun bill in the House a few months back but thanks to GOAL and the gun owners of MA getting involved we have a very different bill now.

The Senate just passed their version of the House bill this week and it looks good for gun owners.  A lot of things have been fixed and this is actually a step forward for gun owners in MA.

You can read more on all the stuff in this bill on the GOAL link above but lets just say "Let's get this passed before someone screws it up!"

There is a lot of good stuff in there for gun owners and for our schools.   This bill may actually help make our kids safer . . . which is good for our state.

To think back in 1998 the original bad version of this bill would have sailed through no problem and become law. . . . today is a new day in MA.  Gun owners are now active in voting and in politics and they have noticed.  If we want to protect our rights it is up to us folks.

There is still a lot about MA gun laws that we need to change to get back to our Founders dreams of "shall not be infringed" but that is for another day.  The fact that we are turning the tide at all in MA should be noted and celebrated folks!  This may be a small step forward for lawful gun owners but it is a step FORWARD!  IN MA!  One step at a time folks. . . . we are winning this.

Calfornia Gun Laws that Work! for the criminals. . .

News today is that in good old California the home of all that great gun control and assault weapons bans there was a robbery. . . . with guns. . . well assault weapons actually. . . and hostages and death. . .

You can get the CNN take on it HERE

And all that is left to do is pray for this poor womans family and children and hope they get the support they need to get througth this. . . . while the news folks spin it and distort the facts.

Basic facts:
Bad guys were gang members
Three hostages taken and one who was a mother of two was killed when used as a shield
Bad guys had AK style rifles which are illegal in CA

Anyone want to bet none of the guns were acquired legally?
Anyone want to bet all the robbers were prohibited people and did not have gun licenses?
Anyone want to guess how hard it was for them to get guns and ammo? 

Anyone want to bet how long it takes to have the same idiots dancing in the blood of this poor woman and blaming the NRA and gun owners for this event?


Folks gun control does not work.  It takes away our civil rights and the only folks it makes safer are the criminals. 

In CA the criminals know they have nothing to fear from the sheep.  Unless they run into a cop they will be the only ones in the area with a gun and they will be running the show. . . . and as the news shows us time and time again this is a losing combination for the lawful citizens of the area.

WAKE UP!  Tell your reps at all levels that enough is enough!  No more gun control!  it is time to start dismantling the crap laws we have in place now and put the advantage back on the side of the law abiding citizens of this country and taking away the advantages the criminals have.

Please Please Please tell your rep you support lawful gun ownership.  They need to hear it over and over because as you can see from the news report they are being fed a line of bull by the anti-gun/anti-civil rights folks who live in a fantasy world.  I would love to live in their world where common sense works and there is no criminals or violence. . . but I don't I live in the real world and I have a family to protect.  I can't afford to pretend I live in their world.

MA Gun bills

Well the House put together a good bill. . . would fix a lot of stuff, keep us safe and protected gun rights. . . .

Now the Senate is getting in on it and they have a mess.  Not as bad as the original House bill that was fixed but a mess none the less.  Once again it is very anti-gun and the folks writing it clearly don't understand or own guns.

So GOAL is still fighting to fix it and we need your help.  More info HERE

Please call or email your Senator NOW and let them know you want them to protect our gun/civil rights and vote against the bill as written.  It can be fixed.  Better yet they could just adopt the House bill and as good as it is it could use a few tweaks it would not take much to fix it.  It is much better than the Senate bill.

Time to call and write folks. 
Thanks - we can win this.  We are doing very well in protecting our rights even here in MA, keep it up!

One Daughter shoots the other wants to be an Archer. . .

I spent yesterday afternoon down at Reedy's Archery here in MA with my younger daughter.  She does not like shooting much but is quickly learning to love archery.

My gun club does an intro to archery "class" every Friday night so that folks can come down and try it out.  So we did. . . . I think she is hooked.

She had enjoyed the few classes we have gone to.  We then went to an Archery Open House at the Holbrook gun club and got taking with a few Pro's there . . . got me sold on her getting her own bow so that she will have one that fits her and is consistent. 

The club bows are good, but you never know how they are sighted, or what weight they are set at . . .  ect.  So it is hard to get good at things. .  .

On to yesterday. . .

The folks at Reedys were great.  I went in and explained that I wanted a good bow for a starter without breaking the bank. .. . They got us set up with a bow that can easily be adjusted for draw and weight as she grows. 

They then took her to the indoor range and taught her how to use it and started to sight it in.  We must have been there a good hour or so shooting so she could get a good feel for the bow.  I probably don't have to tell you they made the sale. . . . it is on lay away until tax day here in MA so I can save a few bucks.

The nice part is we can go down and use it when we want on their range until we finish paying it off. . . and they are great at teaching her how to use it too.

These guys just blew me away with the service.

If you live in MA and don't mind the drive to Middleboro I can't recommend them enough!  Great folks to buy from and know their stuff.  They had both long bows and compound for the archers, crossbows and bit of black power stuff but the real focus is on the archers with two indoor ranges you can use.  Range time as $10 an hour if you already have the equipment and just need to have a place to shoot.

Two thumbs up for Reedy's

Behind The Lines

Now we wait to see what the Mass Senate will do with the new gun law.

It has been a long couple of months and a bit depressing for me.  This was a long fight and I think we won, don't get me wrong but for a while there it looked like the gun grabbers would win once again in MA. 

I was rather bummed out that my hobby and the teaching I enjoy so much would become a memory as they were going to put so many things in the way of gun ownership that it would be legal in name only. . . . I was starting to think about if it was time to give up. . .while at the same time sending emails, calls and faxes to every House member I could to stop this bill.  I was at the State House for the hearings and I was visiting with my rep to stop this all.

And thank God I was not alone in this. . . . after months of fighting for our rights we won. . . the new law is nothing like what we started with and that is still sinking in.  I could see gun ownership was growing in our state with every class I taught, but it was something else to see us all band together to make a difference and protect our rights.  This is a great thing to see.

In the rebound I am now getting caught up on my gun mags and reading all the stuff that was too depressing to read a few weeks ago.  It was bugging me to read this stuff as I realized most of our country did not have to deal with the insane gun laws we do and the crazy folks wanting to pass more. . . but I think even MA is starting to wake up to the failure of gun control.  How else do you explain that even here new gun laws really are not gaining any ground?  All the gun grabber parts of the latest bill were tossed.  It is now actually a rather good bill with lots of stuff in it that the pro gun side has been asking for for a long time now. . . .

I think we have turned the corner.  We need to keep fighting for out rights and let them know we are watching their every move but we are winning and we need to remember that.  We are winning, but the fight is far from over.  The anti-rights folks are on the ropes, we need to finish this.

Mass Gun Law Updates

This has been an incredible week for me here in Ma, the home of gun control. . . .

 A few months back the commission the state had formed after Newtown came back after 18 months of study and town meetings to put forth a major anti-gun bill.  Their suggestions clearly showed they did not listen to the people and simply wanted to make guns much harder to get in MA without any regard to whether or not any of their ideas would make us safer.

I attended the Homeland Committee meeting on the bill and is was disgusting to watch.  They told us we needed more gun control because 400+ guns had been found at crime scenes that were purchased legally (suggested they were straw purchases) yet when asked if the legal owners had been questioned as to what happened to the gun, if it had been stolen or sold and to whom they knew nothing. . . they did not KNOW!  They wanted to make anyone who had been convicted of a Misdemeanor that had the potential of a one year sentence listed as prohibited from owning a gun – for the record if you went swimming in a public water supply in college you would be prohibited. . . .

Here are a few of the other changes:

-        List every gun you own ever license renewal
-        Redesign our license training – State police would set up the class – NRA classes would not pass
-        Make FID (the only shall issue license here) up to the chief if you get it
-        List Suicide numbers on you license
-        Set up studies of GUN suicides
-        Make person to person transfer illegal – must go to an FFL
-        And it goes on.

Well the gun owners of MA really stepped up on this one. . . .

 I am told the weekend before the Homeland Security committee vote we actually shut down the switchboard with the calls.  The emails, faxes and visits flooded in. . . but they passed it anyway and it went to the Ways and Means committee. . .

Things got worse for our reps as the flood of opposition continued to grow. . . .

Well a few days ago the Ways and Means folks released a new bill in place of the old one and it passed the house. . . .  The new bill had almost everything gun owners objected to stripped out of the bill.  This was a big win for us here in MA.

The new bill did the following:

-got rid of the Class B license (very few have it and we don’t need it)

-Made the FID up to the Chief of Police’s discretion BUT now if you are rejected for a license you must have the reason given to you IN WRITING.  They are also setting up a commission to set what a chief is allowed to use as a disqualifier.  The can’t just say NO anymore.  This is also a win as we are now restricting the chief as to what they can refuse you for, and making them list it in writing and be accountable for it.
-they made it so any voluntary mental health help you get cannot be held against you on a permit application
-Any mental health issues that you do get refused for you can appeal in 5 years
- We are joining the national NICS background system which is good I think
- They are setting up a web page for personal sales so you can run a background check yourself on the person you are selling your gun to.  No FLL needed
 
They also added in a lot of school stuff such as police officers in the schools and suicide prevention which I think are both good things.

So we have gone from a horrendously anti-gun bill to one that I think is OK, and actually rather good for us all.

To top it all off the night of the vote I was contacted by my Rep before the vote.  She wanted to talk to me in person to see if I liked the new version of the bill and should she support it. . . . She was very concerned that gun owners support the bill before she would support it. . ..

This is a huge change for MA.

Now we will see what happens in the Senate here but overall I am amazed at how far we have come in this state with our support of gun owners.  We still have a long way to go but things are obviously moving in the right direction.

New Mass Gun Law Proposed

Here is an open letter to the Mass State House:


I wanted to take a moment to write you on the new gun laws that are being discussed to “Prevent Gun Violence”.

I attended the hearing at the State House on Tuesday and it was good to see a very strong turn out to speak against this law.  To sum it up this law is trying to do too many things and infringes heavily on lawful gun ownership in this state while doing very little if anything to prevent crime or increase gun safety in MA.  Mass gun laws are already very confusing, convoluted and hard to understand for a lawful gun owner, this will not help.

A few key points that are a big problem:

List all guns you own to renew a license:
So if they state does not have the same list I do what happens?  What about folks that move into state and were told they did not have to register them?  What about guns inherited years ago?  What about lost paperwork at the state level?  This seems like a set up to entrap gun owners who have tried to follow our mess of gun laws.  Will there be any way to check what the state thinks I have and let me fix any errors without legal issues?

One year NON VIOLENT minor misdemeanor convictions disqualification:
So anyone who did something dumb like swimming in a public water supply or tossing something onto the field at Fenway in college is now banned FOR LIFE from their right to own a gun?  This is crazy these folks have done noting to show they are a danger to anyone in owning a gun.

No private transfers:
 All transfers in this state are from LICENCED
person to LICENCED person.  They have had a background check already and have to file the right forms with the state to record the transfer. . . there is no “gun show” loophole in MA law now.  Gun dealers will not want to lose time processing this paperwork when they should be selling their own stuff and dealing with customers.

Straw Purchase laws:
these are already on the books, we need to enforce existing laws, not make new ones.

Make FID license “may issue” non “Shall Issues”:
We already have problems with different towns having different rules as to who is suitable to get a permit for a pistol and many law abiding citizens have had their rights denied for no good reason beyond the chief does not want to issue the permits.  In my neighboring town of Scituate they have a new police chief and people who have had carry permits for years are now being denied permits.

Let the State Police determine training for a license:
This would remove current requirements for instructors to have been certified to teach by the NRA or other recognized group and replace it with what?  The NRA is a recognized expert in gun training and safety that is used as a reference by everyone from the military and courts to insurance companies.  Why would we want to go to some other form of training?  The NRA has been doing this successfully for years all over our country why start over?

I could keep going but I know many of these points were already brought up while I was at the hearing.

The last point I want to bring up is the speed at which this is being pushed through.  This has been studied for 18 months or so and they came up with a badly flawed bill.  Why are we not taking the care and time to fix it?  This bill should be broken up into parts – Permits, Mental Health, and Criminal Justice.  This law affects our basic Constitutional rights both at the state and federal level.  It should not be rushed but slowed down so we can all review the laws, and fix what needs fixing.  When I hear we need to pass it now I wonder what is being hidden in it. . .  .

I ask that you vote against this bill as it stands.  This is a huge imposition on lawful gun owners and infringes on our rights without doing anything to prevent crime or make us safer.  This bill is not good for Massachusetts.

Thank You

Massachusetts is at it again - New Gun Laws they want

So yesterday our great state came out and told us what they want to do next to keep us safe. . . .

Make it harder on lawful gun owners and do NOTHING about criminals.

Someone please tell me how any of this makes any sense?
They want you to list every gun you own at every renewal.  (gun registration that is possibly illegal)
They want to make all permits at the will of the Police Chief even though there is proof that is abused and folks denied permits who have spotless records
After waiting a year and then some to publish the bill they want it passed in a week or so. . .

I am sure there is more to come too.

So far NOTHING has been said about how we are going to deal with criminals.

We may make more criminals out of legal gun owners but we won't go after the real criminals.  Remember every time you renew a permit in MA you have a background check run.  And historically gun owners are the most law abiding folks around. .  . but somehow we are the problem and not the criminals. . . I don't get it. . .

So you know that gun you inherited from Gramps?  I hope you properly registered it or you will be a criminal when you list it at renewal time. . .
That gun Dad gave you as a kid to hunt?  Same problem if it was not transferred properly.
Did you mail in your transfer papers on that gun years ago?  Hope they actually got the letter. . . .
You do know they lost a ton of records back in 1988 in a flood right?  Ya they don't talk about it or admit it either. . .

How about the Chiefs choice?  Some towns respect our rights some don't.  I am lucky mine does and we can get a permit.  The next town over just got a new chief and folks that have had unrestricted permits for 20 years are now getting restrictions because he can.  I was told one wife got told she could not have a licence to carry because her husband had one so she didn't need it. . . . and that is all it takes in MA to have your rights stripped away.

I don't care how small the town the Chief does not know everyone and if your record is clean he/she should not have a say in issuing a permit to you for a CONSTITUTIONAL right!

I hope we can get the word out and stop the madness.  More attacks on our freedom do not stop crime.  Sadly MA is one of the few states bucking the trend and crime is still going up since our last great gun law went through in 98 even though overall the county is showing less crime. . . .

Gun Control does not work. . . the big question is how to prove it to the gun grabbers.  To them it is not about common sense it is a religion.  Don't bother them with facts, they know it works no matter what the FBI crime data shows. . .  .

Wish me luck, I am going to need it . .  . I can't wait until I can more out of this state but for now family ties me here. . . .

Another Shooting in CA

UPDATES
So it looks like the parents called the cops weeks ago over the videos their little darling had posted threatening people and suicide.  But when the cops show up they don't show them or tell them about the videos so the kid plays nice and the cops let it go. . . .  Shouldn't that make the parents responsible for this mess in some way shape or form?  Had they not withheld evidence from the cops six people might be alive today. . . . yet they have the balls to call for MORE gun control even though they could have stopped this and didn't?
Story on this HERE

This makes me sick folks.  I would love to see them get sued by one of the families their kid ripped apart for letting this happen.

So here we go again.  The left will dance in the blood and call for more gun control even though this very shooting shows it does not work. . . .

Facts so far:
The shooter is another liberal who came from money and a gun free home
He legally purchased the guns in very gun unfriendly CA
He was known to have mental issues
He had been reported as having issues recently to the copy by HIS PARENTS and was investigated and let go
He posted crap on YouTube that should have been a tip off and his parents saw it
He STABBED three people to death to start this off
Then drove around hitting folks with his car as he shot at people
He killed three more shooting then killed himself

And what is the first thing I hear on the news. . . some parent blaming the NRA. . .

WHAT THE FUCK FOLKS???

This kid did this in GUN FREE CALIFORNIA folks.  They have every gun law the liberals want on the books and it did nothing.  Heck he didn't even use a gun to kill the first three people.

This is a mental health issue and a parenting issue.  He should have been locked up a while ago.

This is the problem with this generation of kids.  They are taught they should always win, no one should lose and you should never have to feel bad.  So when he couldn't get a date his first thought is not how do I fix me it is how do I get payback for them not giving me what I want.

SICK

We are bringing up an entire generation that thinks they should always get what they want. . . and if they don't they have the right to strike out any way they want and make you pay for them not getting their way.

Gun laws or knife laws or any other laws will not stop this crap.  What will stop this crap is if we wake up and teach our kids you don't always get what you want.  Your team may lose, you may not make the team, you may not get the date. . .DEAL WITH IT!

We are raising a generation of entitled shits and now we are paying the bill.

Time to wake up America!  Time to go back to teaching our kids basic values, the value of human life, and how to not be a self centered piece of crap.

Who is Buying DC?

Started to dig into this today after reading that the Dems will be pushing the evil of the Koch brothers again and how they are buying our government .  .  . . . so I commented that the Dems are worse and got the eventual PROVE IT response to my post. . . so I did.

And I figured I would share it here too.

I got this from Open Secrets.org so you can go there to look at the data yourself and see how they can spin things.

First how does it look when you take the Top 100 spenders?

Lets start with saying that the Koch folks are number 51. . .

If you look at how things break up just by what % each entry spends on each party and take an average you get the following:

Dems get 53%
GOP gets 47%

Not looking too bad but the Dems still get more if you look just at percentage donated. . .

Where this jumps out is if you look at how that adds up in real hard cash:

Dems get $49.7 million
GOP gets $47.9 million. . .

So now tell me who is being bought in DC???  I don't think it is the GOP - it may be close but either way you look at it the Dems take in more donations.  Even if you call it even that still says the Dems should not be throwing stones, they are bought and paid for just as bad as the GOP at BEST.

On the Road to Becoming a Gun Instructor

I spent last night at the gun club teaching again. . . .

Although this was a bit different than the standard MA class I have been doing once a month with a team of instructors.  Last night we put on a class for folks that already had a permit and wanted to get better at shooting.  It started out with an email to the members that basically said "Hey you new to shooting?  Have a new gun you want to learn?  Want a free night with an instructor to go over the basics and help you with your own gun?  How to clean  your gun?  Come on down!"

It got a good response overall but once a date was set we only had a few folks actually show.  I think we will have to do it every so often so folks can take advantage of the class as everyone is so booked up these days.  (That and it is getting nice out after a nasty winter here)

So . . . when time came to do the class we had four folks show up and we had one on one instruction with them.  This worked out very well.  I spent an hour or more with a gentlemen who has had a permit for a year or so and just got his first pistol back in December, a nice new M&P 9mm. . . . which worked out great as that is my standard carry gun = )  He was new to shooting overall and just soaked it all in.  I remember asking him if I was dumping too much info on him. . . "feel free to tell me to slow down" I said . . . He quick answer was keep it coming!  The enthusiasm was great to see and he commented that even if he couldn't fix it all now he still wanted to hear about it so he could work on it later.  A great student to have!

This was an informal class in that we did a real quick review of the safety rules then hit the range.  The lest us go over proper shooting stance and grip then get to some shooting.  With the ability to work one on one I could stay with this guy and make corrections as we went along.   It also let him ask questions not only on his shooting but a bit on carry issues since he is looking to eventually carry.  We did stick mainly to the basics, grip, stance, sight picture and such so we could keep enforcing a few changes he needs to make in his grip.  He was shooting a great group by the end, with most shots in a 4" area and a few out to maybe 6". . .  it got a bit worse later on but I chalk that up to muscle fatigue after an hour of shooting, not his skills

I have to say I found it very rewarding to see the improvement in his shooting.

I am also  pleased with my own progress as a teacher.  I will always have things to work on but still, a year ago I had taught a few friends and family to shoot - the basics, but that was about it. . . . Now I am an NRA Certified Instructor, I have taught 8 group classes at the club with other instructors, and a few personal classes to help folks get certification and a Mass licence.  I have taken a few classes - reloading for pistols, carry concealed, action shooting and I have a NRA coaching class coming up.

I know I am just starting down this road but I like where it is going.  So much more to learn, but the great thing about the shooting community is so many folks willing to teach you and answer questions!  I have yet to meet someone I can't learn something from either watching them, talking to them, or by teaching them and answering questions.  What a great ride.

Why Gun Control Will Never Work

I am constantly amazed that folks think gun control is a viable option. . .  Please folks all it takes is a short bit of history and you will see prohibition has never resulted in good things.

Lets start with the big on:  Alcohol Prohibition. . .  with a short bit of time on Google you come up with these info. (from Wikipedia)

Alcohol Prohibition was tried over and over at the star of the last century. . . .

• 1907 to 1948 in Prince Edward Island,^[5] and for shorter periods in other provinces in Canada

• 1907 to 1992 in Faroe Islands; limited private imports from Denmark were allowed from 1928

• 1914 to 1925 in Russia and the Soviet Union

• 1915 to 1933 in Iceland (beer was still prohibited until 1989)^[6]

• 1916 to 1927 in Norway (fortified wine and beer also prohibited from 1917 to 1923)

• 1919 in Hungary (in the Hungarian Soviet Republic, March 21 to August 1; called szesztilalom)

• 1919 to 1932 in Finland (called kieltolaki, "ban law")

• 1920 to 1933 in the United States

You will note each one of these experiments also has an end date. . .  it did not work.

Here in the US we can see what we got out of the deal.  Crime went up, corruption grew, and we got introduced to the likes of Al Capone and the gangs that ran moonshine and alcohol and controlled it.  It brought us murder, drive by shootings and the gangsta era of fame and fortune. . . .

It also brought the US it's first gun laws as the .gov tried to reign in this madness.  None of it worked and eventually defeat was admitted and it was repealed.

Next we can look at Drug Prohibition in the USA. . .

1973 we get the DEA
1982 the CIA and folks get in on drug control and we have what is called the "war on drugs" in the USA

What has that gotten us?  Does anyone think you can't get drugs today?  

We have drug lords and gangs controlling the supply, and killing each other over their territories.  Innocent folks are killed in the drive by shootings too. . . ..Folks are getting drugs mixed with who knows what and doses that they don't know but they snort, smoke or shoot it anyway and many end up dead from the overdose.  

Crime has gone up as addicts steal to support their habit and rehab is a mess.

Yet the drugs keep coming into the country.  I bet any high school kid knows where to get some. . . .

So now they want to ban guns. . . 

Somehow that will magically make them all go away.  

I love how the folks that back gun bans totally ignore the basic facts I have presented above.  Criminals will still get guns and us them against good people to get what they want.  They will get them smuggled into the country without a problem, look at the drugs we have now.

So please folks, lets stop this now.  Tell the gun grabbers and the anti-gun folks that you live in the real world and you know it won't work.  I don't know what color the sky is in their world but it sure ain't blue.

Fact is gun sales have been going up at a record pace for 6 or more years now. .  and yet violent crime continues it's 20 year drop. . . you are safer today than you were 20 years ago or more. . .

How can that be?  simple.  The news media is no longer neutral and no longer reports the facts.  They are entertainment and they support the liberal big government agenda.  They bombard us every news cycle with crime and shootings to make it look like crime is up and to support gun bans. . . 

The real questions is Why?  What does the media and the liberals/socialist have to gain from this??? that is easy - CONTROL.  A disarmed populous is easy to control.  You can see it in how we responded to the Boston Bombings last year.  Folks had their rights trampled on as they went house to house looking for the bombers.  Folks were herded out of their homes with hands up like criminals.  they lived in and around Boston where guns are all but banned even though that is Un-Constitutional.  So they had no choice - they could not defend themselves from the Bombers or the State so they did what they were told, had guns pointed at them and behaved like good little sheep.  It was sickening. . . .

Fight for your rights folks.  Prohibition never works and history has shown it often if not always leads to more crime not less, and more government control of our lives.

Upgrade Your M&P Thanks to Apex.

I recently purchased two Apex upgrades for my full size M&P 9mm from Amazon.  You can see all the stuff Apex has available on their website HERE.

The first is the Apex Tactical M&P 9mm / .357 / .40 Duty/Carry Trigger Action Enhancement Kit that I got from Amazon HERE.  This is a new set of springs, a hardened sear and new striker block.  If you have some mechanical ability and access to YouTube you can do this work yourself or you can have a Gun Smith do it, but I did the work myself.  It was a fairly straight forward install and took about an hour to do all the work as I went very slow to be sure I was doing it right.  

Be warned that you do need a 1/8 in. punch, and you will have to be comfortable removing the rear sight (need a drift that won't mar the sight) on the slide to make this upgrade.  I used a laser bore sight to get the rear sight back on and aligned in my workshop so I didn't have to play with it on the range.  I checked the sights with the laser before I did any modifications so I knew what I was looking for when I put it all back together again

I also installed at the same time the Apex Tactical Specialties RAM S&W M&P 9/40/357 W/O Thumb Safety Trigger Reset Assist Mechanism RAM also from Amazon HERE.  This little add on gives you a click when the trigger gets to the reset point.  It makes it easier to feel this reset and get that follow up shot without riding the trigger all the way back to its rest position.  Since I had the sear assembly out of the gun anyway it was the perfect time to do this upgrade too.

The end result was a trigger that was a bit lighter, but was MUCH smoother to use.  Gone was the hard gritty feel of the original trigger I was use to.  It was much easier to keep the gun on target and I think the results speak for themselves.  

I should have taken a few photos of the kits but you can see them at the links.  They come with a few extra parts to help in the re-assembly of the gun when you are done and they do help making it much easier to put the rear sight back on and getting the trigger group back in and pinned in place.

Before the upgrade I tended to shoot low left and just outside the black. . . . here is the first target I shot at about 25 feet:

Here is a view of the target from the firing line.

And the target after the first five rounds. . . 

I have to say I am very happy with the upgrade.  Now I have to get use to the new feel of the trigger, it is like having a new gun again almost.  The accuracy is better, the feel is better, and it is easy to the gun back on target.  I think the original heavy trigger was part of the problem with my low left shots.

Here are a few photos of my tests at the 50 ft mark (end of the range):

 Here is the target at the end of the range

And the results after 10 rounds. . . not to bad even if I did drop a few low. . ..

To finish up my tests and to get a bit more familiar with the new trigger I did two more targets at the mid range again:

Still shooting a bit left, but now I am in the black.  I think the left thing is me, not the gun and I am working on it. . .

So two big thumbs up for the folks at Apex in making a great upgrade for your Smith M&P.  If you have one I would highly recommend this upgrade whether you do it yourself or have someone do it for you.  I think you will find the improvement in the trigger feel, reset, and weight is well worth the about $115 it cost for the parts. 

Go get the upgrades, you won't be sorry!

Cliven Bundy Stand Off

So the Fed and Harry Reid have backed down.

In what is looking like a land grab by the Fed to give it to a China business that had Reid's backing they tried to take over the Bundy ranch and take his cattle. . .

Lucky for the Bundy's word got out (not through the MSM, they are very quiet on this) and things did not go well for the Fed.  Instead of another Ruby Ridge we had patriots show up and make a stand with the family and put a stop to this. . . .

The Fed has backed off and will return the cattle it took.

Now we need to watch and see.  Are they really done or is this a ploy to get it out of the news and spotlight so they can silence him without anyone seeing.  They tried to make it a no fly zone to keep the local news out but it was too late.

This is what we have come to folks.  The Fed stomping on our rights and trying to hide it.

We should all take notice of this and remember in November.  We can stop this now with our vote before it comes to violence.  It came way too close for comfort this time.  Both sides were armed and the Fed was seen tazering folks.

VOTE in November and kick out the big government folks in DC.  It is time we take things back and follow our Constitution.  Time to shrink the Fed and it's power over our lives.  GO VOTE and REMEMBER in November.

School Stabbing Attack

OK, more news has come out since my last post.

Seems the safety officer and assistant principal are the ones that stopped this kid and it was the assistant principal that tackled him.

I am sorry to hear they had to resort to that and did not have pepper spray or a tazer to use on him without having to get close enough to get stabbed themselves.

I wish I could say I was surprised at how fast this has faded from the news but I am not.  This kid did not use a gun and by luck or Gods help no one was killed so the media will drop this ASAP as it does not fit their narrative.  This attack was just the first, their will be more, and each one will learn from the last just watch. . . sad but true.  We have done nothing to fix this problem and they are not talking about doing anything to fix it. . . .

All reports on the kid say he was nice, quiet, and no one expected anything like this from him.  He came from the perfect family. . . all of this is why the news dropped it.  This is the perfect example of why all their great ideas won't work.  No license needed for the knives, no background check to catch him. . . nothing they want to subject us to un-Constitutionally would have done a damn thing to stop this. . . .

What the hell are people thinking. . . .

Who needs a gun when you have a Knife Attack?

School knife attack. . .  20 injured, 7 life threatening. . .

When will we learn.  Disarming teachers and telling the world that no one can defend themselves in a place is asking for trouble. 

I pray for the kids, and I want to know what the attacker was thinking and why. . . and I am scared at what the politically correct idiots will come up with next for their fix as yet again we are shown that banning weapons in the schools is not stopping crazy folks from hurting and trying to kill our kids.  YOUR WEAPON FREE ZONE FIX IS WHAT IS CAUSING THIS!

All I can say to the hoplophobes who will all congratulate themselves that a gun was not used is to shut the F up.  Seven kids may still die and all may have lifelong problems because your screwed up thinking caused this mess.  One security guard, cop or teacher with a weapon (a gun preferred for their safety) could probably have prevented this.  We will see when the facts come out if that is true, but I would rather have the guard than not. .  . no guard means for sure no one can stop it.

UPDATE - security guard is one of the injured. . . guess he had no way to disarm or otherwise stop the attack such as a weapon, lethal or not. . . hope they post more facts on this.  Even pepper spray may have helped but it does not work on everyone.  . . 

These nuts look for a place to go where they know no one can fight back. . .  that is where they attack, and have time and time again.  Only one attack since the 1950’s has not been in a gun/weapons free zone.

When will we learn?  When will we tell the politically correct hoplophobes to shut up and sit down while the grownups fix their mess.  Time to get rid of any kind of weapons free zone.  Time to let teachers fight back and give them the ability to defend their kids and themselves if they want to take that responsibility.  I do not want to force anyone to carry a weapon who doesn’t want to – But I am sick of us disarming those willing to defend helpless kids from the acts of madmen.

IDPA and Action Shooting

Took a class at my gun club last night on Actions Shooting. . .

It is their own version of IDPA with slight modifications to the program due to the safety rules at the club like no loaded weapons in holsters. . .

Anyway I must say I had a great time.  I tried a class from Boomstick Firearms a bit back that I talk about HERE and that got me started.

The goal of IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Association) is to practice real world skills you may need in a self defense situation in the real world.  Now it is still a sport and we don't want anyone to get hurt so there are limits to what we can do, but it is much more than just standing there shooting paper.

The biggest changes I noticed was shooting and moving and multiple targets.  The goal is not a perfect bulls-eye but to hit the "man" shaped target in the A or critical zone to score.  Again this is not for pinpoint accuracy but self defense accuracy.  They then did some moving forward and backwards while shooting.

Now some of this was familiar to me as I did a few years playing paint ball in my day which was also a great force on force way to train  . . . especially since many of the players I played with were either ex-military or cops. . .

Anyway I hope to go to a few of their training classes and see how it goes.  I may even try an event or two and see how I do on the score front.  No better way to fix my ego about thinking I can shoot than to do a competition or two with the experienced folks to show me how little I really know.

More later. . . but I think I may be hooked. . . .

First One on One Class

Finally had the stars align and my friend and I both had a free day to do the Pistol Class for his Mass LTC.

I have done a number of classes at my gun club as part of the team, each of us teaching a part of the course but this was the first one on one class I have done.

While a bit intimidating at first it was fun.  I found once I got things going it went very smoothly after all the time I have spent at the club classes.  I had a few hiccups with one of my demos videos on how the various types of rifles and pistols work but that was minor looking back at it.

The overall class ran about 4.5 hours with the shooting part included so not too bad.

I am amazed at how natural the class felt, and how much my nerves have gone away since teaching it.  I think it was like a right of passage or something, I did my own class, it went well, and my friend is now going for his LTC here in MA.

I can see what I want to work on for the next class.  I need to get my videos under control and maybe do a bit more practice with the NRA posters boards to really clean it up but over all it went well and I think I am now well on my way as an instructor.

Boomstick Pistol 101 class

Spent last night at the gun club with the guys from Boomstick Firearms Training for their Pistol 101 course - which was an intro to action or combat type shooting. . . . If you want the quick review then this is it - If you can take their classes!  They have a web page you can go look at HERE

There were 12 students and three instructors from Boomstick there.  They started with going over the safety rules then went into the basics.   They worked with us very closely as we stepped through the following drills:

• Stance
• Drawing from a holster safely
• Re-holstering safely
• Standard slow reload with press check

After going over this with empty guns and doing corrections they broke us up into two groups of six so that each instructor worked with two students at a time and we worked on the drills with live fire in the range.

Once we had that down good they moved on to dealing with a few more complex issues such as:

• Trigger Reset
• Scanning the area after you shoot
• Quick or combat reloads
• Switching from center of mass to head shots

we did most of the drills at about 3 yards, with some back at 5 and then 7.

This was a great class - I know I picked up a lot from this class and would love to take more classes from these folks.

If you get the chance you need to take these classes.  These guys are great teachers, work well with the students as a group and as individuals and you can tell right away they know their stuff.  They were very good at keeping things firmly under control so you felt safe every moment of the class.  They were also good at pushing you to push yourself but safely. . . I know I was shooting much faster than I thought I could at the end and still getting good hits and completely safe.  they helped me with my grip, stance, and holster work and I came out of this feeling much better about my ability to hit my target if I need to.

By the end of the class everyone had had a great night, I think we all picked up a few pointers (some of us more than others) and we were all asking about other classes they offered.

If you are in the Eastern Massachusetts area you need to check theses guys out.

9 yr old Boy killed in Boston

Very sad news today.  A 9 year old kid was killed by accident when his 14 year old brother shot him.

Folks this was in Massachusetts where we have some of the toughest gun laws in the country. . . and not one of them stopped this.

Facts so far:
The two kids were not in school that day for some reason
The 14 year old had a hand gun and was playing with it
The 14 year old had a negligent discharge killing his brother
No one else in the house knew of the gun

So we have multiple laws broken ending up in the death of a child by accidental shooting.

Things to consider:
A 14 year old cannot have a pistol permit in this state (or anywhere in US)
He could not legally buy the gun
He could not legally own the gun
It was not stored safely
He obviously did not know how to handle the gun

So where did he get it?  Probably off the streets in Boston.
Why did he have it?  We don't know
One kid is now dead and his brothers life ruined - heck the whole family now has to deal with this.

If you really want to prevent this kind of tragedy in the future then kids need to be taught gun safety.  Period all stop.

We want to prevent this kind of tragedy going forward then we need to make sure every kid knows not to play with guns.  Not to handle the gun, and to tell a parent.  Kids need to hear over and over from a young age that guns are not toys, that they need to tell a adult when they find one and never to point them at anyone.

Until we are willing to add gun safety to our schools just like we teach drug awareness then we are not serious about saving these kids.  A gun is not a magic talisman, it is a chunk of metal that does nothing without a human doing it.  Time to stop the liberal agenda and put some reality back into things here - time to teach kids about gun safety.  How many more kids will we let die because the left is afraid of guns and education?

Open Letter on the Mass Gun Committee Report

Dear Representative

Now that the long awaited report on guns in Massachusetts is out I have to say like many I am disappointed at the end result of months of work.  GOAL does a great job on answering this report and you can read that at: 

http://goal.org/newspages/report-response-2-6-14.html

Personally I have a few issues I would like to point out(sorry for the long email):

1 – Suitability – they don’t want to define it.  This is the problem with our current system as there is no standard and who is considered suitable differs from town to town.  Not a just way to deal with a RIGHT.  This needs to be taken away from the whim of the town Police Chief and spelled out so all citizens are treated fairly.  If you are not a criminal or otherwise prohibited person you should have no problem getting a permit of any type as it is your right to have one.

2 – They are staying with the 10 round limit on magazines.  This should be removed.  In NY state they lost the court case on their 7 round limit as the judge found it to be an arbitrary number with no facts backing it’s choice.  The same can be said for a 10 round mag limit.  This limit is not followed  by criminals and only puts a burden on the law abiding citizen.  Police don't have this limit and when they need it back up is a radio call away.  Citizens don't have that support why do we have the limit?

3- Removal of the 90 day grace period to renew licenses.  This shows how disconnected this committee was from the real issues in our state.  The state has been unable to meet it’s own law for a 40 day process to issue a license or renewal.  We got rid of this grace period once before and many people had issues as they applied for a renewal but the state did not process it before their existing permit ran out.  Even with the 90 day grace period folks are facing this problem.  We need this grace period until the state can live up to the law and process permit applications on time.

4 – Consistency with Federal Law would be good.  We need to share who in MA is a prohibited person for mental or legal reasons.  Then the existing background check program would work much better.  As part of this we also need to get rid of the “approved Roster” lists for pistols we have in this state.  It does nothing to promote safety as the guns we restrict are sold all over this country without issues, some are even carried every day by our own police.  This approved roster only burdens law abiding gun owners and raises the cost of a gun without doing anything to stop the criminals.

5 – Gun trafficking.  We are all against this but if we would just enforce the laws we already have on the books at the state and Federal level this would not be an issue.  We do not need more laws here to burden law abiding citizens.

6 – Mental illness.  This is a very hard one.  What constituts an illness  that will strip you of your rights?  I personally feel we need to be very careful with all of our rights.  To be striped of your rights should require an impartial court ruling and must have an appeals process to prevent abuse.  We cannot let this snowball into anyone with ADD or who sees a Psychologist for any reason cannot get a permit.  Doing this will scare people away from seeking the help they may need and do nothing to prevent problems.

Thank you for taking the time to review my issues with this report.  Sadly it does not look like the committee really understands the current gun laws in our state and the issues we have enforcing them now.

 As I said when we talked last month all lawful gun owners want to prevent gun crime but we need to do it in a way that does not trample our rights.  Being free has some inherent risks and I would rather be free and deal with armed criminals than live in a police state.  Either way the criminals will always find a way to get a gun.  They have no problem getting drugs into our country they can and do get guns.

Please support our effort to clean up our gun laws and take the red tape off of the law abiding gun owner while punishing the criminal use of guns.  We don’t need new gun laws in Massachusetts, we need to fix the ones already on the books.

Thank You