All Nine Yards

Today I took my brother-in-law, Scotty, to the range to break in his Mossberg 500 and new Diamondback DB9 9mm.  The Mossberg was, well… a Mossberg; it was flawless and he was rewarded with a nice sized shoulder bruise and ear-to-ear smile.  I also put my shotgun through its paces.

The Diamondback was the star of the show today.  I couldn’t get over how shootable the little 9mm was.  Don’t get me wrong here, it’s snappy.  But not unmanageable by any stretch of the imagination.  For a Rule #1 gun, this fits the bill.  I’ll need to find something to cover the trigger for pocket carry, but I think I’ve found a more powerful replacement for my NAA .22 Mag.

I would defiantly like to see a slide stop on the gun but that really is not necessary for its intended use.  This is not a range gun, it is there to save your life…  Nothing more.

Accuracy was just fine.  Reliability was 100%.  It is a true pocket 9 that I could trust.

I’m sold.

20 round pmag showed up on my door today. I almost forgot ordering it.

This weeks legal action is highlighted by new work to get an honorably discharged combat vet his guns back after they were taken by a Florida police department.  He was having a bad night and called a veteran’s assistance hotline for someone to talk to.  Instead of finding the sympathetic and understanding ear of a fellow vet, the VA hotline worker got the police to come and throw him in the funny farm.  The police officers also seized his firearms, bows, arrows, ammo and LBV.

One talk with the shrink was all it took for the doctor to determine that the vet was never a threat to himself or anyone else.  It was simply a veteran having a bad night.  Most combat vets seek out someone understanding to talk to about their experiences from time to time.  I have… it helps.

Now the police department refuses to give this man who has stood watch for our defense his guns back despite numerous previous court decisions and instructions from the Florida Attorney General that all instruct that his property should be immediately returned.

If you guessed that this is going to court, you were right.  We added a new consulting attorney to our cadre of capable Florida Carry legal resources who will be assisting in the case.  Details soon.

My brother-in-law just bought a Diamondback 9mm because his Shield was “too big to carry”. I feel some measure of personal failure because I have not spent enough time training him in CCW. That said, I can’t wait to shoot the little 9.

I am convinced that we will win Norman v. State and get open carry recognized as a right in FL.  I need a good open carry holster.

http://floridacarry.org/images/stories/norman/Initial%20Brief%20Norman%204DCA.pdf

Florida’s ban on the open carrying of firearms, is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution as well as Article I, Sec. 8 of the Florida Constitution, Declaration of Rights. The current ban was passed as an ill-conceived emergency measure, without committee hearings or time for deliberations. It was passed in the wake of sweeping reforms to Florida firearms law, and in response to manufactured hysteria, that the unlicensed carry of firearms into so-called sensitive places would cause untold harms.

While the rights of Floridians to keep and bear arms have long been recognized, so have attempts to prevent certain classes from being armed. These regulations were well recognized as applying only to certain races. These suspect regulations, in addition to having a questionable history, as drafted also infringe on the fundamental individual rights of citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves, their families and the State.

More on the case at: http://www.floridacarry.org/litigation/21-statecourt/70-norman-v-state

In January the Florida Attorney General’s Office filed an extraordinary petition to the Florida Supreme Court in an attempt to prohibit the 4th District Court of Appeals from exercising its jurisdiction to review the conviction of Dale Norman and the questions certified by the trial court about the constitutionality of Florida’s ban on Open Carry.  This action was taken by the AG’s office after it lost a protracted legal battle attempting to keep the case from being heard by the Court of Appeals.

Today the FL Supreme Court ruled:

The petition for writ of prohibition is hereby denied because petitioner has failed to demonstrate that a lower court is attempting to act in excess of its jurisdiction. See Mandico v. Taos Constr., Inc., 605 So. 2d 850 (Fla. 1992); English v. McCrary, 348 So. 2d 293 (Fla. 1977). Any motions or other requests for relief are hereby denied.

This victory clears the way for the 4th DCA to fully review the conviction of Mr. Norman and the constitutionality of Florida’s Open Carry Ban.

Similar Open Carry Bans laws have previously been found to be unconstitutional in multiple other states.  Mr. Norman’s attorney is Florida Carry, Inc. Lead Counsel Eric J. Friday.  Mr. Norman’s brief on the issues of this case will be filed with the 4th DCA by Monday, April 22, 2013.

Action Needed – Florida Bill to Protect Right to Self-Defense

Florida Carry Bill to Protect People Who Act in Self-Defense from Prosecution
Florida Carry needs your help!

Florida Carry has submitted a “Defense of Life, Home, & Property” bill to the Florida legislature for consideration. In the Senate, this bill is called SB 1446 and is being sponsored by Sen. Thad Altman. On the House side, the bill is called HB 1047 and is being sponsored by Rep. Neil Combee.

The bill comprises two main initiatives. The first is a defensive display provision, aimed at decriminalizing the act of displaying a firearm in order to deter an assailant. Currently, a law-abiding citizen who refers to, shows, or draws a firearm in an attempt to scare off an attacker faces arrest and prosecution under Florida law. As many firearms instructors will attest, shooting one’s attacker in clear cut self-defense situations often results in less of a legal liability than scaring him off by displaying the firearm. This has resulted in the unwarranted “shoot first” reputation Florida has garnered in the anti-gun press.

Dr. Gary Kleck, noted researcher at Florida State University has found that in the majority of defensive gun uses, the gun is never fired. Upon the sight of an armed citizen, the criminal most often flees. However, Florida prosecutors have made this a crime. They have argued that the display of the weapon was an aggravated assault, and because the criminal was not given a chance to actually injure a victim and thus display his criminal intent, the display of a firearm was not lawful self-defense. When the victim displays a firearm, the criminal retreats, calls 911, and proceeds to tell his version of the facts first, while the citizen is still calming down from the threatening encounter. The state attorney reviews the case, and because no violence actually occurred between the parties, because of the defensive display, the state charges the real victim with a crime. The absurd result here is that incidents that could be prevented by the defensive display of the firearm instead lead to a shooting, and possibly a death. Florida Carry’s defensive display language will allow persons who have the right to use force, but not necessarily deadly force, the ability to display their firearm in self-defense. Such a change by the Legislature will avoid some self-defense shooting cases and turn them into cases where no shots are fired, or at most a warning shot is used to protect the innocent. Then a person will not have to deal with the mental toll of taking a human life in order to avoid charges for aggravated assault.

The second initiative is an exception in the 10-20-LIFE sentencing mandate for cases in which self-defense is found to be the intent of the accused. While the intent of 10-20-LIFE was to discourage firearm use in criminal enterprises, it has been used very differently. Prosecutors now seek to apply 10-20-LIFE even when there is no other underlying crime. This means that a person who attempts to act in self-defense, but is judged later to have not done so properly, or made some other mistake, is treated not as a law-abiding citizen who showed a weapon mistakenly, but as a person with the criminal intent to use a weapon to further their crime. These laws also increase the felony level of the offense charged based on the fact a firearm was used, even if it is used in a case of good faith self-defense.

The other problem with the current minimum mandatory laws is the imposition of an enhanced sentence based on the number of rounds a gun’s magazine holds. This is another example of unintended consequences. The law was passed in large part to stories of combat drug traffickers who were using larger capacity magazines. While there is no clear evidence of this happening except in the movies, the legislature felt that the use of larger magazines by criminals should allow for a sentencing enhancement. The additional penalty is twenty years instead of three. Florida Carry’s bill simply restores sentencing discretion to the presiding judge under very limited circumstances involving evidence of self-defense and clarifies language defining “unlawful activity” by which a person’s sentence could be subject to mandatory minimums and a denial of their right to self-defense.
The bill sponsors and Florida Carry asks our members and supporters to write, send e-mails, and call their state representatives to urge the widest possible support of HB 1047. Please help us help you. Call or write as soon as possible in order to move this bill along through committee assignments so it meets the full House before this year’s legislative session comes to a close. Particularly ask that the chairs of the committees to which the bills have been assigned allow the bills to come before the committees so that they may be considered.

E-mail Helper (feel free to cut, paste, and edit to suit)
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cynthia.stafford@myfloridahouse.gov,
Richard.Stark@myfloridahouse.gov,
greg.steube@myfloridahouse.gov,
Linda.Stewart@myfloridahouse.gov,
Charlie.Stone@myfloridahouse.gov,
dwayne.taylor@myfloridahouse.gov,
perry.thurston@myfloridahouse.gov,
john.tobia@myfloridahouse.gov,
Victor.Torres@myfloridahouse.gov,
carlos.trujillo@myfloridahouse.gov,
charles.vanzant@myfloridahouse.gov,
jim.waldman@myfloridahouse.gov,
barbara.watson@myfloridahouse.gov,
Clovis.Watson@myfloridahouse.gov,
will.weatherford@myfloridahouse.gov,
alan.williams@myfloridahouse.gov,
john.wood@myfloridahouse.gov,
ritch.workman@myfloridahouse.gov,
dana.young@myfloridahouse.gov,
Carl.Zimmerman@myfloridahouse.gov

SUBJECT: Support HB 1047 – Support Defense of Life, Home, & Property

Dear Representative,

This e-mail is to express my support for House Bill 1047, Defense of Life, Home, & Property. As a law-abiding and responsible firearms owner, I believe that Florida’s reputation as a “shoot first” state is completely unwarranted, and I should not face arrest and prosecution for choosing not to shoot an attacker. Nor should I face mandatory minimum sentencing for simply attempting to defend myself. I respectfully ask that you wholeheartedly support this bill.

Please take the time to read this bill, and urge its immediate scheduling in committee. The goals of the bill are to prevent the needless taking of life and to protect law-abiding citizens from being prosecuted and sentenced unjustly. These are worthy goals which protect Floridians like me, and I support them. Please join me in support of this good bill.

Please support HB 1047!

Respectfully yours,

<your name>

About: Florida Carry, Inc. is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the fundamental rights of all Floridians to keep and bear arms for self-defense as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I Section 8 of the Florida Constitution. Florida Carry stands only to represent our supporters, members, and the over 7-million gun owners of Florida. We are not beholden to any national organization’s agenda that may compromise that mission.

Florida Carry works tirelessly toward striking down ill-conceived gun control laws that have been proven to provide safe havens to criminals and be deadly to law-abiding citizens.

Florida Carry, Inc.
www.FloridaCarry.org
Phone: 850-270-7486
Fax: 678-359-9816 ###
Donate
or
Join Now!

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi stands up for the Right to Bear Arms

via Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi stands up for the Right to Bear Arms – Orlando gun rights | Examiner.com.

After my mostly failed attempt to make things much more dangerous-er, I decided that the flaw must have been that the pistol grip and adjustable stock only make guns more dangerous.

So I started out with one of the most popular sporting shotguns ever made.

All decked out in Realtree hunting camo, this must have been the shotgun that everyone in Washington keeps telling me they won’t be messing with.

The the non-adjustable stock and round fore-grip pop off with no tools in about a 1/2 sec.
Well, that’s covenant…  Easy cleaning and replacement of the plastics.  The shotgun itself remains the same.  just nothing to hold on to it with now…

That could be a problem.  Better put the furniture back on.

Hey, wait, where did these come from?  Oh NO!  It’s a pistol grip, an adjustable stock, and an angled fore-grip!  Keep them away!  Help, Police!  ATF, CIA, Someone!!!  Help!

Well, now I’ve gone and done it.  Even if I pop the fore-grip, the adjustable stock, and the pistol grip back off of my shotgun…  I’m screwed…

You see, even if I take this:
and make it look like this again:
The gun ban proposals will still treat it like this:
Because these more ergonomic parts were in the same room with it once:Even if they never touched it, if you own both the firearm and any one of the ergonomic parts, you’re a criminal if the legislation proposed in DC gets passed.  It’s called ”Constructive Intent”.

Of course, it’s all functionally still just this:
No matter how you rearrange the furniture.

People keep telling me that pistol grips and adjustable stocks make things much more dangerous and must be banned to save “the children”…  So.  I conducted a series of tests to confirm this wisdom.

My doctor tells me that salt is bad for me…
Now it’s really bad I guess…  IDK, Tastes the same.

Sometimes I really wish I could change channels faster.  Especially when I get around the Soap Opera Network, MSNBC, and Current TV…  I’m told that pistol grips allow you to operate things much faster.  So, I tried it out.
This didn’t work at all…  I think it’s actually slower now.  Hurmp…

Maybe it only works to make dangerous things more dangerous…  With all the talk about Bayonets, I know what to do!
Well, this is just completely unwieldy now.  Why isn’t this working?!?

Maybe I need to combine one thing politicians are trying to ban with another thing they are trying to ban.
Right?

SUCCESS!!!  He is now clearly displeased!

I present to you a United States Senator Breaking the law.

There is no exception to Florida’s Open Carry Ban law for this.  He should be prosecuted.*

790.053 Open carrying of weapons.—

(1) Except as otherwise provided by law and in subsection (2), it is unlawful for any person to openly carry on or about his or her person any firearm or electric weapon or device. It is not a violation of this section for a person licensed to carry a concealed firearm as provided in s. 790.06(1), and who is lawfully carrying a firearm in a concealed manner, to briefly and openly display the firearm to the ordinary sight of another person, unless the firearm is intentionally displayed in an angry or threatening manner, not in necessary self-defense.

Merriam-Webster’s Definition of ERGONOMICS:

1: an applied science concerned with designing and arranging things people use so that the people and things interact most efficiently and safely.

Gun Banner’s Definition of ERGONOMICS:

1: Features of “Assault Weapons” which by their inclusion will cause law-abiding people to mentally “snap” and go on a murderous shooting spree with a weapon of war.

2: Features of any firearm that allow a person to hold it safely.  After all, touching a firearm has no purpose other than to enable mass murder.

Florida Carry and over 27 other State and National organizations form “National Coalition to Stop the Gun Ban”

When the 1994 “Assault Weapons” Ban was proposed many gun owners thought that the bill had no chance of passing. They were shocked that the bill actually became law. Sen. Feinstein is at it again with a legislative proposal that will be published as early as today. Her new ban is even more restrictive than the 1994 ban.

We are beginning to see supposedly pro-gun Republicans and Democrats waiver on the issue. There is an excellent chance that the new ban will pass the Senate leaving us with one chance to stop it in the House. We hope you agree that absolutely no “compromise” on our fundamental right to keep and bear arms is possible. This bill can’t be amended in to something acceptable, it must be stopped outright.

Florida Carry, in conjunction with other State and National groups, has formed a national coalition to defeat the Obama/Biden/Feinstein gun and magazine ban proposal.

Over 25 state and federal organizations have so far joined the “National Coalition to Stop the Gun Ban,” including all of the groups listed below;
The objective of the coalition is to kill the proposals. Period. Not to “compromise” by saddling gun owners with restrictions and whining “It was the best we could get.” Nothing less than the complete defeat of the Obama/Biden/Feinstein proposals will suffice;
All coalition members have agreed that “compromise” is not an option; AND
Coalition members launched with a coordinated “Open Letter to Members of Congress”, coordinated press releases and membership alerts.

http://www.usrkba.org/images/An%20Open%20Letter%20to%20Congress.pdf
National Organizations:
The Firearms Coalition
Gun Owners of America
Rights Watch International
Second Amendment Sisters
USRKBA.org

State-level organizations:
Arizona Citizens Defense League
Arkansas Carry
Florida Carry, Inc.
Grass Roots North Carolina
Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance, Minnesota
Gun Owners of California
Gun Owners of Maine
Gun Owners of Utah
Gun Owners of Vermont
Michigan Gun Owners
Montana Shooting Sports Association
Nebraska Firearms Owners Association
New Hampshire Firearms Coalition
New Jersey 2nd Amendment Society
Oregon Firearms Federation
Peaceable Texans for Firearms Rights
Shooters Committee on Political Education, NY
Utah shooting Sports Council
Virginia Citizens Defense League
West Virginia Citizens Defense League
Western Missouri Shooters Alliance
Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
“The National Coalition to Stop the Gun Ban will work to defeat all proposed federal gun control and to punish any congressional representative who supports it. We find absolutely nothing about Senator Feinstein’s proposal to be acceptable: Not banning guns, not registering guns and gun owners via the National Firearms Act, not registering private gun sales via the National Instant Check System, and most certainly not expanding BATFE police powers which are already being abused.
“’Compromise,’ as our opposition defines it, is a process in which freedom-loving Americans lose slightly less than under the original proposal. Consequently, in the most egregious attack on Second Amendment freedom in our history, we will not ‘compromise.’”
Draft Mail Helper (feel free to cut, copy, paste, and edit to suit)
Please don’t change the subject line.
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TO: <Go to http://www.house.gov/representatives/#state_fl to contact each Florida Rep.; then to http://www.rubio.senate.gov/ and http://billnelson.senate.gov/ to contact our Senators>

SUBJECT: Stop the Gun Ban!

Dear <Legislator>,

Florida Carry, Inc. has helped to create the “National Coalition to Stop the Gun Ban”, a coalition of over 25 national and state organizations which continues to grow with each day. Today, you received an “Open Letter to Members of Congress” from Florida Carry and coalition members.

The underlying goal is to defeat all gun control proposals being foisted on the American public by President Obama, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and others. Coalition members have agreed that in this most egregious attack on the Second Amendment, no compromise is possible. The proposals must be stopped outright.

Any legislator who supports such measures will be subject to coordinated actions of coalition members. I want you to know that I support the National Coalition to Stop the Gun Ban, will monitor its alerts and recommendations, and will actively work to defeat hostile legislators in all future elections.
Please help support the law abiding gun owners of Florida and the United States by just saying “NO!” to all gun and magazine ban or registration proposals.

Respectfully yours,
<your name>

During the frenzy of Christmas present opening today a 20 round box of M193 5.56 mm ammo came spilling out of my stocking.  Those rounds are now on 10 round clips sitting in an ammo box until I’m ready to use them.  I also got a really nice Dominican cigar that is now sitting in my humidor.

20 rounds isn’t even enough to fill a standard AR mag, but with a buying frenzy going on it got me thinking about what gun ban proposals we have coming in the national and state legislatures.  The story of JFK sending his Press Secretary out to buy 1,200 Cuban cigars right before the Cuban Trade Embargo went in to effect also came to mind.

Today was the first time I ever viewed ammo as a commodity rather than just a supply of rounds on hand.