Great Satan, Inc.

The rumors of UN poll watchers coming to the United States appear to be true, and Arizona has been spotted on the list of cities where UN poll watchers will be stationed.  If this list is accurate, The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) (a partner of the UN) will be sending 44 observers to locations throughout the US on Election Day to keep an eye out for “voter suppression activities by conservative groups“.  This OSCE published also shows that two UN poll watchers will be sent to Phoenix, Arizona – Aida Alzhanova from Kazakhstan (the country that could be the poster child for rigged elections) and Hans Kaboth from Germany.

The Attorney General in Texas has issued a statement that says, “The OSCE’s representatives are not authorized by Texas law to enter a polling place”, but how are Arizona’s officials planning to handle this UN invasion?

Jeff Flake, Representative for Arizona’s 6th Congressional District and candidate for US Senate weighed in on this issue last night during an NRA-ILA Grassroots Workshop in Arizona.  When asked if UN representatives would be monitoring the polls in Arizona, his response was, “It’s NOT going to happen.”  He then explained that they are not immune to Arizona’s election laws, and would need to stay at least 75 feet away from the polling stations on Election Day.

This morning, Arizona news and talk radio station, KFYI, was one of the first to report that Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett is warning these U.N. observers that “they are subject to arrest if they are in the polling places.”

We will have to wait until Election Day to see if these observers do indeed show up at any of the polling locations in Arizona.  If they do show up as planned, it will be very interesting to see if they decide to abide by Arizona law, or end up “observing” the interior of Tent City.

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Robb Allen has a great post about citizen engagement in legislation and how you need to be involved to get good laws, specifically good gun laws.  He notes that legislators aren’t experts on the issues they legislate.  That’s where you, the engaged and informed citizen, have a duty to write, call, or visit your elected officials.  Deeply flawed bills can be derailed by investing a little of your time in the process.  Stopping bad bills from becoming law is cheaper, easier, and safer than trying to overturn a bad law in our court system.

For instance, a politician trying to “do something” might be extremely uninformed about the standard magazine capacity for a firearm.  For the ambitious legislator, limiting magazine capacity might sound like a great way to “do something” about crime.  Making it a felony to possess a magazine that can hold more than ten rounds will prove that the politician is really serious when he/she/it is trying to do something about crime.  A courteous meeting with your politicritters could educate them about the range of standard capacities available, how the law will unjustly criminalize their voting base, negatively impact the poor, minorities, and women.

The alternative is; bad laws, a loss of rights, and hours wasted on internet forums complaining about how NRA let you down because they didn’t airdrop a team of lawyers and lobbyists in to rescue you from the city council/legislature/Governor your fellow citizens elected.  At the local and state level, it’s your job to engage your representatives!

Even if NRA has a lobbyist in your state, that lobbyist doesn’t have as much influence as large numbers of constituents calling a state senator, flooding a representative’s inbox with email, or overloading the governor’s phone system.

The NRA is the 800 pound gorilla for Federal gun legislation and elections.  At the state level in Arizona, the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL) and the Arizona State Rifle and Pistol Association (ASRPA) are our 800 pound gorillas when it comes to gun rights.  If your state has an NRA affiliate like ASRPA, or a comparable Citizens Defense League, you should join immediately.  In California there is CalGuns and Florida has Florida Carry.  Just about every state has a group fighting for their resident’s rights.

After you’ve joined a group that protects your rights, you need to participate as well.  These groups get a reputation as 800 pound gorillas because their members demonstrate that they are watching, voting, and dethroning bad politicians.

If you don’t interact in the process, you are dependent on a few dedicated volunteers and a generous individual or two to protect your rights and interests.  If you aren’t gaining ground in your state, it’s probably time for you to get involved.

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It’s been a few weeks since we returned from the 7th Annual Gun Blogger Rendezvous, and I think I have finally recovered from the non-stop, awesome shooty goodness that took place over the three days that we attended.  It was well worth the time and expense to fly out to Reno, Nevada, and we’ve already decided that this will be a must-attend event for us next year.

Our host, Mr. Completely, did an outstanding job of putting Gun Blogger Rendezvous together, and I’d like to thank him profusely for his efforts. All of the activities went off without a hitch (and there were a ton of them), and there seemed to be just enough time to get a bit of rest in between the many scheduled events and festivities.

The best part about Gun Blogger Rendezvous was not only having a great time with other bloggers/shooting enthusiasts, but also supporting a very worthy cause: Project Valour-IT.  Mr. Completely, once again, did an incredible job of putting together a fund raiser raffle with a prize table that rivaled many larger events I’ve been to.  We all dug deep in our pockets to give as much as we could – the ice bucket overflowed with medium to large bills, which brought a tear to my eye and made me feel very proud to know that we built that!

So, thanks again to Mr. Completely, the sponsors and all the attendees (and Robert) for putting up with me at the 2012 Gun Blogger Rendezvous, I enjoyed every minute of my time meeting, talking and shooting with everyone and I’ll be posting more about my favorite moments of GBR throughout the month.

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