A background check before CHECKING OUT a gun show? This is guilty until proven innocent on steroids and a Constitutional violation of epic proportions.
Folks, it’s become perfectly clear that this isn’t about reducing gun violence, it’s about restricting as many of your Constitutional rights as possible. I can’t help but ask myself why President Obama and his band of anti-rights, gun grabbers want to make it as difficult as possible for responsible and law abiding citizens to even look at a firearm? I’ll let you decide for yourself, but I can’t come up with an answer that isn’t truly terrifying.
Gabrielle Giffords’ husband and anti-rights activist, Mark Kelly, recently drew a great deal of (earned) criticism for purchasing an AR-15. Well, make that ALMOST purchasing.
The President of Diamondback Police Supply just made the following statement on their Facebook page:
Statement of Douglas MacKinlay, Owner/President, Diamondback Police Supply Co., Inc.
“While I support and respect Mark Kelly’s 2nd Amendment rights to purchase, possess, and use firearms in a safe and responsible manner, his recent statements to the media made it clear that his intent in purchasing the Sig Sauer M400 5.56mm rifle from us was for reasons other then for his personal use. In light of this fact, I determined that it was in my company’s best interest to terminate this transaction prior to his returning to my store to complete the Federal From 4473 and NICS background check required of Mr. Kelly before he could take possession this firearm. A full refund was sent to Mr. Kelly, via express mail, on Thursday of last week.
The Sig Sauer rifle will be donated to the Arizona Tactical Officers Association where it will be raffled off to generate funds the association can use to purchase much needed tactical equipment for the organization’s members. The A.T.O. A. represents the SWAT and Special Response officers of the state’s law enforcement community who regularly place their lives on the line to protect the residents of this state.
Additionally, Diamondback Police Supply will make a $1295.00 contribution (the selling price of the M400 rifle) to the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program that teaches children, in pre-K through 3rd grade, four important steps to take if they find a gun. The emphasis of the program is on child safety, something that is important to all of us and at the core of the current debate on gun control,” stated Douglas MacKinlay, Owner/President, Diamondback Police Supply Co., Inc.
Mr. Kelly left Diamondback Police Supply with no choice – if they had completed the transaction, they would have been in a heap of trouble and quite possibly lost their Federal Firearms License. Perhaps Mr. Kelly will better acquaint himself with the tens of thousands of existing gun laws before he attempts his next stunt.
Also, kudos to Diamondback Police Supply for their generosity in supporting the Eddie Eagle GunSafe Program, it’s a great program and that money will be well spent.
Arizona’s newest (and most “progressive”) Congressional Representative has been noticeably absent in the current debate on gun rights since she was sworn in earlier this year. That’s now changed, and she’s finally responding to her constituent’s letters. I just received her response to one of the many emails I’ve sent regarding gun rights, and I’ve posted it below. Looks like she’s going to try and play both sides – not surprising, considering the number of Republican and Democrat gun owners in her district.
Dear Ms. XXXXXX,
Thank you for contacting me to share your views on the issue of gun violence. I appreciate you taking the time to make me aware of your position on this very important issue.
I believe strongly in the Second Amendment and that it guarantees individuals the right to own and bear arms. I also believe that it’s time for Congress to have a serious discussion on how we keep our kids, schools, and neighborhoods safe. This means discussing how we care for the mentally ill and how expanding universal background checks can be most effective.
I recognize that only a small minority of those afflicted with mental illness may ever become violent and believe that we can strengthen mental health services to help minimize that possibility. At the same time, we can and should prevent access to guns for the small minority of the mentally ill who are dangerous.
We cannot let politics get in the way of doing the right thing for our kids, families and the millions of responsible gun owners. As a former social worker at Sunnyslope and Shaw Butte Elementary schools in Phoenix, I understand the importance of this issue and am committed to having a discussion with all sides of the debate to pass legislation that helps protect all Americans. Should legislation regarding this issue be considered by the House of Representatives, I will keep your views in mind as we work on this complex and important subject.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me. I encourage you to visit my website at http://sinema.house.gov for up-to-date information, press releases, and other information.
Sincerely,
Kyrsten Sinema
Member of Congress
Thank you for the response, Ms. Sinema. If you’re serious about having that “discussion with all sides of the debate”, I am more than willing to have that discussion with you at any time, any place. You know how to reach me.
A 2nd Amendment rally was held in Phoenix, Arizona today, the ‘Day of Resistance’ rally, put on by the Phoenix TEA Party. This rally was well attended, with a crowd of 1,500 according to event organizers. Compare that figure to the showing at Congressman Matt Salmon’s office during the Obama For America/Organizing For Action’s National Day of Action in support of gun control. Coincidentally, Congressman Matt Salmon was a featured speaker at today’s pro-gun rally.
Phoenix ‘Day of Resistance’ rally at the Arizona capitol. Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu speaking (visible on the right).
Much of the crowd was armed with revolvers, semi-auto handguns, AR-15s, and/or various other rifles. Despite the large number of armed individuals present, only two law enforcement officers were spotted at the rally. One Arizona Department of Public Safety officer who used his car to enforce closing the street in front of the capitol, providing safe passage for all of the pedestrian traffic. The other law enforcement officer was Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, another featured speaker at the rally. As commenter Zermoid noted over at Shall Not Be Questioned, “The fact they felt they needed more cops for an anti rights rally than for a pro gun rally (where alot of the people were probably packing) says ALOT!”
Three local news stations were there to cover today’s event too. I haven’t watched any of the coverage of today’s event, but I have no reason to believe it will be any different than the coverage of last weekend’s pro-rights rally.
President Obama’s OFA campaign machine, recently renamed Organizing For Action, called for a National Day of Action in support of laws that would limit your right to self-defense, ban guns and magazines, and devote your tax dollars to the creation of anti-gun propaganda. I was curious what an anti-gun rally looked like, so I headed over to a planned location today for a better look.
From the Arizonan’s For Gun Safety mailer:
a number of rallies at local Congressional offices to promote the President’s Plan to Reduce Gun Violence, including Universal Background Checks, a Ban on Assault Weapons and High Capacity Ammunition Magazines, a National Gun Trafficking Law, and Research on Gun Violence by the Centers for Disease Control.
Here’s a photo outside of Congressman Matt Salmon’s Gilbert, AZ office, 15 minutes into the big protest.
I kept looking around for this protest, because surely it would be a large gathering, based on the amount of time the media provides to anti-rights groups and their anti-gun agenda. Surely, the balance in viewpoints the media claims to strive for would indicate that this should be a big rally, dwarfing the turnout for the pro-Second Amendment rally held at the state capitol last weekend.
I counted six police officers outside watching the building, which is five more than I saw at last weekend’s pro-gun rally, so I had to be at the right place. The officers were keeping a close eye on me, probably because of my snazzy GUTNTAG seasonings T-shirt. As I was leaving, I finally spotted a group of people gathered on a balcony at the same building where Congressman Salmon’s Arizona office is located. I can’t be certain these six to ten people were protesters, or just office workers outside on a smoke break, as they didn’t have any signs. If they were exercising their right to petition an elected official, I wasn’t about to interfere with their rights.
So there you have it, that’s what an anti-rights/anti-gun rally looks like in Arizona. Keep this in mind when the news media gives equal, or greater, amounts of airtime to anti-gun groups in the name of “balance”.
A truly grassroots 2nd Amendment Rally was held at the Arizona Capitol last Saturday. Turnout estimates for “High Noon at the Capitol” have ranged from a crowd of 400 people at any given time, to more than 1,500 total based on the number of hand outs distributed.
A producer must have decided the story needed to be more dramatic and scary, did some editing, then ran the story again. The edits turned it into a “Gun Rights/Anti-Obama Rally” about “a small army, armed with hundreds of assault rifles, pistols, and shotguns took to the front lawn at the capitol today”.
ABC15 Reporter, Steve Kuzj, was a good guy and ran a fair story. Please send him a thank you note if you get a chance. Trusting in Mr. Kuzj’s good nature, Jacqueline elected to discuss gun rights, the Sandy Hook shootings, and what should be done to reduce violent murder. The reporter was initially confused about the rally, since he had an announcement that claimed it was supposed to be an Anti-Amnesty rally. He also noted that he would need an opposing view for “balance” in the story, but that there were no anti-rights people counter protesting. Unfortunately, the two or three anti-gun/anti-rights activists in Arizona were busy, so he had to use Facebook comments for balance. It must have been challenging to find a few anti-gun quotes that didn’t include personal attacks, profanity, or delusional thinking.
KPHO CBS-5 did a drive-by hit-piece about an “Impeach Obama Rally”. When contacted by rally attendees about the deceptive story, KPHO adamantly argued that their story was correct. Eventually, they provided a link to an ALIPAC (Americans for Legal Immigration PAC) Facebook event page as the source for their story. Unfortunately, nobody actually organized their national event and only 350 people even “Liked” the event page. Even worse for KPHO, it appears the Washington based ALIPAC planned their event for 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM EST (9:00 to 11:00 Arizona time), while the 2nd Amendment Rally was from noon until 2:00 Arizona time. Yes, a local news station “covered” the story of armed people at the capitol by looking at the wrong event page on Facebook and “constructing” the rest of the story. On the KPHO Facebook page, they blamed the gun-rights rally organizers for the story.
it was presented to us as a rally to “Impeach Obama”. The initial information we received said nothing about gun rights. We expected a few dozen people and weren’t even sure we were going to cover it. It was a surprise to see all those people there and the biggest issue was the 2nd amendment. We would not have even known about the event except for 2 viewers who sent us the first info with links to an Impeach Obama Facebook page. No one involved in the gun rights issue bothered to tell us about the rally. Next time perhaps they will.
I guess KPHO doesn’t believe it is their job to publish accurate stories.
Despite what the “media” and anti-rights, gun-control proponents would like you to believe, women are a big part of the firearms community. There were plenty of women at the Second Amendment Rally at the Arizona Capitol yesterday, and here are just a few of the lovely ladies of all ages that came out to show their support for gun rights.