Minuteman Monthly Issue 16 (November 2001) Minuteman Monthly Subscribers, Please find time to read this newsletter to the end. Thank you for playing a role in the pro-gun rights movement. It is very important to be active where it counts. **************************************** This Month's Gun Safety Tip I do not subscribe to the Elmer Keith philosophy that every gun in the home should be loaded at all times. Never simply "Hide" a loaded gun in your home. If you choose to keep a firearm ready for use in a home defense situation, there are plenty of options you can utilize to make sure you have ready access to a firearm but your children do not. These devices include single handgun lockboxes with a simple combination lock that can be easily operated in the dark or a handgun box that reliably reads your fingerprints to allow access. Or a cable lock with a readily accessible key. Or a magnetic device called a Magna-Trigger that was mentioned in a past month's issue. Anything more complicated than that would make a defensive firearm useless in the event of an attack in your home. It is also essential that access to a firearm in the dark be practiced a few times a year. Practice with an unloaded gun of course. Quick and unencumbered access to a security firearm in the dark is a fundamental aspect of a total home defense plan. Obviously a police officer living alone in his home would have different considerations than someone with 25 grandchildren. Carefully consider your access to a defensive firearm while limiting access to very young children and irresponsible adults. **************************************** This Month's Quote Of The Month "Every American is a soldier and every Citizen is in this fight" President George W. Bush **************************************** Membership http://www.savetheguns.com/membership.htm To meet the unprecedented challenges that have presented themselves due to the September 11th attacks and the War On Terrorism, coupled with increased Web site traffic and drastically declining contributions, http://www.SaveTheGuns.com has instituted a membership drive. If you are already a Minuteman Monthly Subscriber, you will still continue receiving this newsletter and the alerts associated with it. You don't have to become a member. If you choose to stand shoulder to shoulder with SaveTheGuns.com and help us meet these upcoming challenges, I would be very appreciative. Two (2) years have passed since I started SaveTheGuns.com. All the while we have seen Web site traffic grow enormously. Our pages are being visited to the tune of over two thousand five hundred (2500) pages each week. We have done this at no cost. We have seen nearly fifty thousand (50,000) visitors and only seven (7) of those have sent a contribution. I am not saying this to complain, but rather to demonstrate the growing need for maintaining a sustained membership drive with a more steady flow of income to offset the expenses incurred at SaveTheGuns.com. Not only that, but my wife is going to shut me down if I don't start to make this effort profitable. Just Kidding of course. :-) **************************************** **************************************** I want to speak to two (2) major subjects in this issue. The first has to do with current anti-gun efforts in the United States. The second subject I want to explore is on the current war on terrorism and my thoughts on it. ______________________________ Unwarranted Attacks On Airguns Anne Brown was appointed as Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in 1994 by Bill Clinton. She has served longer than any other person as head of this commission. She is going out with a totally unwarranted attack on airguns. Her actions could very well lead to a recall of nearly every airgun in the United States which numbers over 100 million. She has announced a lawsuit against Daisy Manufacturing, because a child mistakenly thought an airgun was unloaded and pumped up the airgun, took the safety off and shot it at his friend's head thinking it would be a harmless prank. The child that was hit was permanently disabled to some degree. The Consumer Product Safety Commission should not attack an entire industry because of the thoughtless and careless acts of a child. Chair Ann Brown E-mail: abrown@cpsc.gov Phone: 301-504-0213 Commissioner Mary Sheila Gall E-mail: mgall@cpsc.gov Phone: 301-504-0530 Commissioner Thomas H. Moore E-mail: tmoore@cpsc.gov Phone: 301-504-0290 Fax number for the above three Commissioners: 301-504-0124 ___________________________________ Unwarranted Attacks On .50 Caliber Rifles Representative Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) vows to introduce another round of legislation to ban the possession and sale of .50 caliber rifles. Even though there is not a single documented case of a criminal using a .50 caliber rifle to commit a crime with. Tell him to leave .50 caliber rifle owners alone. He dislikes this rifle simply because of the looks and capabilities of the venerable .50 caliber rifle. Rod.Blagojevich@mail.house.gov ___________________________________ Unwarranted Attacks On Surplus Military Arms Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) has introduced anti-gun language to S. 1438 that would allow the U.S. Government to demilitarize or confiscate privately owned military firearms such as the M1 Garand or the M1911s owned by so many U.S. Military veterans. The language has recently changed on this bill, but the danger is not over. Take time to e-mail this anti-gun Democrat. senator2@levin.senate.gov ___________________________________ Upcoming Attacks On Gun Shows The Democrat's central theme to their relentless attacks upon lawful gun owners are unfounded assaults on gun shows in America. A recent federal study showed that so few firearms used in crime came from gun shows, that it was not possible to report them as a separate category. I will keep you informed on these upcoming attacks if you accepted my alerts when you registered as a Minuteman Monthly recipient. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> *********************************** >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Next Subject: Our War On Terrorism "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." Thomas Jefferson Our Constitutional freedoms are what is being attacked. The terrorists are not simply trying to destroy buildings and take lives. The very heart of America is at stake here. We need to shake off the dust and rust of sixty (60) years of living in peaceful serenity within the borders of America. There have been wars of choice for us in the past. We chose to fight in places like Vietnam, Korea, the Gulf War and Kosovo. These were wars that we chose to fight. We are now fighting a war where our choice has been taken away from us. The War On Terrorism is a war defending freedom, liberty, independence and the great experiment of self-government. The price of freedom that we enjoy is indeed eternal vigilance in protecting it. The American way of life has been attacked and liberty will be defended. I think it is obvious by now that we really must tighten up national security measures. But while tightening up these measures, we must always have one eye on the Bill of Rights. "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759 As a nation, America must be more aware and more vigilant than we were in the early days after Pearl Harbor. I encourage everyone to increase their levels of awareness on a daily basis. The United States is the land of the free and the brave. Let us put away the aroma therapy candles and put on the breastplates of bravery worn by our parents and grandparents in the 1940's. We have become soft over the last 60 years. The time has come to harden our resolve so that freedom's heart will forever beat in the United States of America. ______________________________________ Final Note In the past month, I have sent out an alert concerning the Petition To Enforce The Second Amendment To The Constitution of the United States. This petition is meant for United States Attorney General John Ashcroft and asks him to defend the Second Amendment in regards to the unending wave of Draconian gun control laws in the country and specifically in California. Please visit the petition's home page, print the petition and go get some signatures. http://www.keepandbeararms.com/petition/ ______________________________________ Thank you for registering as a Minuteman Monthly Subscriber. Please forward this newsletter out, print it and post it at the mall and your local supermarkets. I know you guys are forwarding this newsletter out, because I constantly receive "Unsubscribe" requests from people who are not even subscribed. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!! Thank you for registering as a Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Recipient. ________________________ If you don't want this newsletter anymore, just send me an E-mail with "Unsubscribe MMM" in the subject line to: info@savetheguns.com Thanks, Marc Owner/Founder www.savetheguns.com