Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Issue 39 October 2004 Dear Minuteman Monthly Subscribers, I'm baaaaaack, It has been a harrowing year for me. Moving my family from the People's Republic of Massachusetts to the state of Maine, has been an adventure all to itself. We moved to the picturesque foothills of the White Mountains in the recreational lakes region of Southwestern Maine and we love it here. All things considered, it has been a good year. It has been a pretty good year for the Second Amendment also. The anti-gun groups are constantly laying off employees and their available funds are shrinking. The "Million Mom March" anti-gun group has rallies that feature a few dozen people holding misspelled handpainted signs...how utterly pathetic. The unconstitutional Clinton-Reno semi-automatic ban of 1994 that banned the manufacture of 180 models of firearms, based solely on their "menacing" appearance has bit the dust. Now that we have some momentum in getting anti-gun laws repealed, I think we should keep on going in that direction and actively work on other legislation. One that I think we should work hard on is repealing the law banning most firearm possession in the District of Columbia. Since 1976, Washington D.C. residents have been unconstitutionally disarmed and it should end as soon as possible. We can do it and we should... H.R. 3193 and S. 1414 are U.S. House and U.S. Senate bills that would do just that. Please contact your House Rep and your two Senators about this issue. There are already over 228 co-sponsors!!! This unconstitutional ban should also be killed and allowed to rest in peace. Let's return the human right of self-defense back to D.C. residents!!! We have had many victories, but we cannot rest upon our conquests. There is still a mountain of work to do. There are more than 20,000 federal, state and local laws and ordinances that I believe are openly unconstitutional that need to feel the cold steel of freedom and liberty. We can continue this fight and hold onto our momentum, only if we keep the White House on the side of freedom, independence and personal responsibility. Yes, I know that George W. Bush gave some support to the Clinton Semi-Auto Ban, but remember Senator John Kerry was MY senator for nineteen (19) years. I personally communicated with him or his office more than a few dozen times and have come to the inescapable conclusion that Senator John Kerry is not fit for public office, let alone the presidency. John Kerry will raise our taxes, cut military and intelligence spending, abandon the war on terrorism and he will try to restrict gun ownership again. Instead of fighting terrorists in the Middle East, we might be fighting them in our own cities. Yes, I know that a better president would be a Libertarian or a Constitution Party candidate, but being realistic, like I always am, this is a two party race and John Kerry would put America in a hole. Not only is he a two-faced liar, who has at least ten positions on every issue and changes them according to whom he is speaking, but he is one of the most anti-gun United States Senators I know of. Like I said, he was my own U.S. Senator since 1984 and I joined the Bush-Cheney 2004 Campaign, and that says a lot. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> LET ME END THIS FIRST SECTION OF THE MINUTEMAN MONTHLY BY SAYING THAT NOW, WE HAVE FULLY FIVE PERCENT (5%) OF OUR COMMERCIAL AIRLINE FLIGHTS COVERED BY EITHER ARMED AIR MARSHALS OR ARMED PILOTS. BOY OH BOY, THE TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION (TSA) IS DOING SUCH A GREAT JOB IN TRAINING OUR PILOTS AND GETTING THESE 35,000 DAILY FLIGHTS PROTECTED... BOY OH BOY, I'LL TELL YOU, HOW PROUD I AM OF THEIR DECISIVE AND QUICK ACTIONS. HECK, WE COULD HAVE MOST FLIGHTS COVERED AND PROTECTED BY THE YEAR 2060 AT THIS RATE.... C'MON YOU BONEHEADS IN THE TSA, GET WITH IT HUH? MAYBE WE SHOULD PUT THE TSA ON THE REALITY SHOW CALLED "THE APPRENTICE AND YELL AT THEM, NOSE TO NOSE AND SAY "YOU'RE FIRED"!!!!!!! www.TSA.gov/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM QUOTES OF THE MONTH The Japanese leader Tojo once said that the reason Japan never invaded the mainland of the United States was because "there would be a rifle behind every blade of grass." {That is what the Second Amendment is all about ladies and gentlemen.} "Civilized people are taught by logic, barbarians, by necessity, communities by tradition; and the lesson inculcated even in wild beasts by nature itself. They learn that they have to defend their own bodies and persons lives from violence of any and every kind by all means within their power." Marcus Tullius Cicero Roman Philosopher "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 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH I know I have had this one before, but it is worth repeating...many, many times over. There is a natural tendency to place the index finger inside the trigger guard of a firearm and just rest it there. This natural tendency must be avoided. You should condition yourself to place your index finger alongside the frame of the gun, somewhere above the trigger guard. The vast majority of accidental deaths are due to this erroneous placement of the trigger finger while handling the firearm. This is one of the three basic rules of safe gun handling. Keep that finger away from the trigger until you have properly acquired your target and sight picture, have disengaged any safeties and are ready for the trigger squeeze. There is no other time that it is appropriate to have your finger on the trigger. If you will observe someone who really knows their firearms, you won't see them touch the trigger until they are ready to launch the bullet at the target. So many times you see this mishandling of a gun on television and in the movies. We have seen it so often, that the trigger seems like the place for the index finger to be, but it must be avoided unless you are getting ready to fire the gun. This is especially true for the untrained child who might get all of their gun handling knowledge from the television and the movie theater. STAY SAFE. ABOUT ONE CHILD A WEEK DIES IN AN ACCIDENTAL DISCHARGE BECAUSE THIS RULE IS NOT OBSERVED. IT'S IMPORTANT GUYS AND GALS, PLEASE FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER TO OTHERS. YOU MIGHT SAVE A LIFE THIS MONTH BY DOING SO. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Did you know that I made a "Let's Go Shopping" page at: http://www.savetheguns.com/let's_go_shopping.htm Here you will find links to thousands of items from Air Soft guns to Wireless Phones. Christmas is coming ladies and gentlemen. There are only twelve weeks left until Christmas!! Shop now and feel better about how prepared you are this year. http://www.savetheguns.com/let's_go_shopping.htm Please pass this link onto to others. www.SaveTheGuns.com makes a small commission for every sale on this page. Please help me out... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OCTOBER 2004 MINUTEMAN MONTHLY AIMING POINT First let me apologize for the length of this newsletter, but I have a lot to say to you this month. Hey, it has been a while... I promise, next month's issue won't be as long. I wanted to do an "aiming point" on this issue sometime last year, but I thought it would make me seem a bit alarmist or like a scaremonger, but I feel like it is the right time now to approach this subject and I want to do it gently at first. In private, in speaking to others personally, I would use hushed tones to say what I am about to say. I leave people with nodding heads, when I discuss this issue. Now that it has happened again, I feel I must say something in more of a public forum. If you have flown on a commercial airliner lately, you would notice vastly increased security in most airports over what we had prior to 9/11/01. There is increased security everywhere you look, national monuments, government buildings and our nations ports and borders have gotten a security upgrade too. I got to thinking sometime in 2003; where are we vulnerable? What would drive us absolutely mad with rage if it was mercilessly attacked. What have we overlooked? There must be a target that terrorists have in mind... It has happened before, many years ago. And now, it has happened again. And that is why I am approaching the subject now. Think about it for a moment before reading on... What is the most precious, priceless and dear thing to us? Is it something that remains completely unprotected and vulnerable? Here it goes... it happened in Israel many years ago. Members of a terrorist group got into a school full of children and mercilessly killed many of them. It happened again just recently in the area of Beslan, Russia, did you miss it in the news??? Our children are the most precious thing we have and our schools are not secure and completely 100% disarmed, unprotected and vulnerable. After the massacre of school children in Israel, they decided to place armed guards at every school and there has not been another such attack, God be praised. The massacre at Belsan Russia resulted in more than 350 deaths, including 156 children, perpetrated by an Islamic extremist group with no concept of morality, righteousness and ethics. If we were to go to pick up one of our children at school, most often the front doors are not locked, a rear door or delivery bay is open or the school is in some way vulnerable to unwanted entry. Even if the front doors are locked and monitored, it would only take a moment for a determined terrorist to figure out a way in. The fact remains clear and evident, our schools are vulnerable and completely devoid of protection. In fact, in most, if not all cases, firearms are not allowed on school grounds under any pretenses. I am not attempting to play the role of a scaremonger here, ladies and gentlemen. I am a true American, standing proud and unafraid against anyone I consider an enemy. But since it has happened recently and it was done by an extremist Islamic terrorist group and children were specifically targeted, it would be completely irresponsible and negligent for me not to say where I think we could be vulnerable. Nearly all our nation's school systems are gun-free zones. In such an emergency as I suggest could happen, what would the school do? Yes, of course, they would call the local police. Essentially, they would be calling properly trained men and women that carry guns. I will end this Aiming Point in the October issue of the Minuteman Monthly by leaving you with just questions: Now that the subject has been broached, what can we do? What should we do, if anything? Should we prepare for such a thing? How much freedom are we willing to sacrifice for security? How likely or unlikely could such an event be? How can we increase our school's security to help prevent what happened in Israel and in Beslan, Russia? Should we push for legislation that mandates security updates for our vulnerable school systems? Should we simply just allow lawfully licensed and trained teachers and school administrators to carry concealed firearms in school? Please consider what I have said here. I pray that I am way off base here. I pray that the vulnerability I have discussed will remain that, just a vulnerability. Let your elected officials know your concerns and let them decide what to do if anything. That is what we pay them for isn't it??? See you next month. Marc Richardson www.SaveTheGuns.com http://www.savetheguns.com/let's_go_shopping.htm P.S. Make certain that you are registered to vote on November 2nd. Remember the 2000 elections. The major cities will show up and vote for the anti-gun candidate. Rural America must show up and vote for the pro-freedom candidate of your choice. ******************************************************* ******************************************************* As usual, you may post, forward, print, quote or otherwise use this newsletter as you wish, as long as you mention where you got the information somewhere in your project, report or speech or article. 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