Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Issue 37 August 2003 Welcome to the 37th edition of the monthly newsletter for http://www.savetheguns.com. SaveTheGuns.com is a Web site owned and operated by a former Certified Firearm Instructor. It is centrally focused upon basic firearm education, gun safety and the truth concerning guns, gun owners and curbing crime rates, while leaving the Second Amendment and the United States Constitution intact. Although we do have a number of foreign subscribers and nearly 5% of all visitors originate from outside the United States, SaveTheGuns.com and this newsletter is mostly focused on firearm related issues within the U.S.. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM QUOTES OF THE MONTH "I would look for justices of the Supreme Court who understand that our Constitution is a living and breathing document, that it was intended by our Founders to be interpreted in the light of the constantly evolving experience of the American people." Albert Gore Former Vice-President of the United States of America (Webmaster's Note: The notion that the Bill of Rights and the Constitution is alive and should change with society is the single most dangerous assault on freedom since World War II.) "Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us." Thomas Jefferson "To each of my Nephews, William Augustine Washington, George Lewis, George Steptoe Washington, Bushrod Washington, and Samuel Washington, I give one of my swords or Cutteaux of which I may be Possessed; and they are to choose in the order they are named. These Swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unsheathe them for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self defense, or in the defense of their Country and its rights; and in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands, to the relinquishment thereof." George Washington from his Last Will and Testament "Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the greatness and the genius of America . . . America is good. And if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." Alexis de Tocqueville ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM GUN SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH NEVER allow horseplay with a firearm even if you are certain it is unloaded. Horseplay with an unloaded gun is never a good idea. It can condition a child to respect a firearm less, and regard gun safety as less important. I have some personal knowledge regarding this month's gun safety tip. A distant relative of mine was a police officer and allowed his son to amuse himself with his unloaded service revolver and mimic shootouts in the home. One day he came home unexpectedly to change his uniform after ruining it during a footchase with a suspect. His son picked up the service revolver and he never made it back to his cruiser and his son had to grow up without a dad. Please don't ever allow horseplay with a firearm under any circumstances whatsoever at any time. Careless monkey business with a firearm is always inappropriate and inadvisable and should never be practiced. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEW OUTDOOR GEAR PAGE Dear www.SaveTheGuns.com members and subscribers to this newsletter: Please be aware that I have had to take certain measures to ensure the survivability of SaveTheGuns.com. In June of this year, total receipts from sales, memberships and contributions didn't even come close to paying the bills for SaveTheGuns.com. I am embarrassed to mention total June receipts were just $1.89. That is not a typo. I cannot continue doing what I am doing with monthly receipts of under $2.00. In response, I have decided NOT to cut services, products and labor, but rather to expand them instead. I have recently created a new Web page called "Outdoor Gear". It can be found in every navigation bar both on the left side of each page and the right side of each page. http://www.SaveTheGuns.com/outdoor_gear.htm I will receive a small commission for any of the one hundred ninety six (196) hand-picked outdoor gear items listed on this page. You can easily find many great items on this page!!! Anything from bumper stickers and SWAT T-shirts to Gerber Multi-Function Tools, Water Canteens and many G.I. Issue Products. PLEASE VISIT AND SEE IF THERE IS ANYTHING YOU NEED TODAY!! http://www.SaveTheGuns.com/outdoor_gear.htm (The page should load within 30 seconds.) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ AUGUST 2003 MINUTEMAN MONTHLY AIMING POINT Violent crime involving the misuse of firearms is a problem that needs to be addressed. Most solutions that originate from the Left side of the aisle involve focusing on firearms. Restrictions, Draconian regulations and outright gun bans are the "solutions" that seep and ooze from the liberal Democrats. What are some of the emerging efforts that I believe have some merit? ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ HOW CAN YOU HELP ME TODAY? Whenever you make a purchase at Amazon.com, be sure to use the Amazon.com search box in the left-hand border of every page at http://www.SaveTheGuns.com In addition, you can click on my CheaperThanDirt.com banner for your ammunition and outdoor gear purchases. Buying these items through the links and banners that I provide will help me meet my financial obligations. Thanks again, Marc ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THIS MONTH'S ISSUE In the year 2001, there were 2206 murders in the state of California alone. That is an average murder rate of just more than six (6) people a day. Granted is the fact that a high percentage of these were violent criminal convicts, shooting other violent criminals, but the human tragedy remains. It seems too often that pro-Second Amendment advocates and stalwarts don't offer any solutions that have the potential to help bring down murder rates, while leaving the Bill of Rights and the law-abiding honest gun owner out of the loop entirely. I am not speaking about "enforcing the gun laws already on the books", as many other pro-gun organizations do. Tens of thousands of these gun laws already passed, violate the original intention and very spirit of the Second Amendment's protection of our rights to own and carry the firearms of our choice. What I am speaking about supporting, are state-wide and federal efforts to focus prosecutorial efforts upon violent-prone criminals who choose firearms to commit crimes with. Projects such as these have been successful at curbing violent crime committed with guns, while leaving the lawful, upstanding and sincere firearm owner completely alone. Project Exile, Project Safe Neighborhoods and Project I.C.E. are such projects that I believe warrant the support of legitimate gun owners. These projects allocate additional resources, bring quick and certain charges and absolutely ensure prison time for felons caught with guns. These projects coordinate local, state and federal efforts and concentrate their focus upon violent felons who choose guns to commit their dirty deeds with. (Project I.C.E. stands for Isolate the Criminal Element and is the statewide Safe Neighborhoods project for the state of Alabama.) Let me make it clear that my support of these projects revolves solely around their concerted attempts to focus prosecutorial and judicial efforts on violent felons who choose firearms to commit their crimes with. I do not support projects that simply generally focus on gun control violations. It happens entirely too often that illegal firearm possession charges are plea-bargained or thrown out and the violent criminal never gets specifically punished for choosing to have an illegal gun in their possession. I believe that efforts like these have the potential to drastically reduce violent crime committed with guns, while leaving the spirit and original intention of the Second Amendment uninfringed. The Second Amendment was intended to protect the long known pre-existing Common Law right of individual Americans to own and carry the arms of their choice without any trespass or encroachment upon that pre-existing right from government entities. Oh yeah, it was also meant as a recognition that each state could assemble and train their own armed private citizens to come against a powerful central government gone awry. Projects such as Safe Neighborhoods, Exile and Isolate the Criminal Element (I.C.E.) do not, in my opinion, trample upon the pre-existing right to bear arms, or the eight hundred year old Anglo-Saxon tradition of an armed Citizenry or the basic human right to self-defense with a firearm. But, at the same time, they do indeed have the potential and the track record to be an effective tool in the struggle against violent criminals who choose firearms. These efforts are anti-violence and anti-thug in nature and are not anti-gun programs. As such, they receive my support. I hate and abhor violence and the evil human slugs that perpetrate it. Any group or individual who still chooses to infringe upon our right to bear arms and ignores projects that focus on violent criminals who choose guns, should be vigorously and strenuously opposed. I will continue to fully support efforts that keep government fingers out of my gun safe, while getting the violent criminal guaranteed additional prison time for choosing firearms. http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/alm/Press/press_release_local_PSN_returns_from_con f.htm (Project I.C.E. information) http://www.psn.gov/ (Project Safe Neighborhoods) http://www.nrawinningteam.com/hestexil.html (Project Exile Information) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Another answer to violent crime committed with guns is adding penalties to a crime where a gun is present, brandished, fired or used to injure. My proposal is that for any violent crime, where a gun is carried, brandished, fired or used to injure, there should be additional penalties as follows that should be added to the crime itself. During commission of violent crime... Gun Carried --add five (5) years Gun Brandished --add ten (10) years Gun Fired --add fifteen (15) years Gun Used To Injure --add twenty (20) years Example: Rob a retailer with a knife, get seven years, fire a gun at the very same robbery, adding fifteen makes it twenty-two years. If we add stiff penalties to a crime if a gun is used, then the incidence of firearms used in crime will naturally decline. This leaves law-abiding gun owners out of the loop and makes a difference. IS ANYBODY LISTENING TO ME???? WHO CARES ABOUT THE RESULTING PRISON OVERCROWDING, I SAY PUT 'EM IN SPOON FASHION, TEN TO A CELL. NOBODY CARES BUT THE ACLU. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> NOTICE Feel free to use anything in this newsletter for your pro-gun activities and postings. However, I do ask that somewhere in your material or Web page that you mention www.SaveTheGuns.com or create a link to the home page. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thank you for registering as a Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Recipient. If you don't want this newsletter or the legislative alerts anymore, just send me an e-mail with "Unsubscribe MMM" in the subject line to: info@savetheguns.com