Minuteman Monthly Newsletter Issue 52 November 2005 Welcome to this month's issue of the monthly newsletter for www.SaveTheGuns.com. Many people I have spoken to and a couple of personal friends have had their homes broken into and at least two firearms have been stolen from each of these homes. These firearms, once stolen, get funneled into a darkened world of uncertainty and possibly into a world where they may be used during the commission of a violent crime. According to the United States Department of Justice, 39.2% of firearms actually used during the commission of a crime come from the illegal narcotics trade, illegal street sales and through the burglaries of homes and firearm retailers. We, as lawful, honest and upright gun owners can and should do our part to discourage the burglary of our homes and the theft of our cherished firearms. This month's issue of the Minuteman Monthly Newsletter is about hardening the exterior of our homes and thwarting the stealing of our firearms. How would you feel if one of your prized handguns was stolen and weeks later was used to kill an innocent and vulnerable unarmed elderly couple? As firearm owners, we should take this subject very seriously. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ QUOTES OF THE MONTH FOR NOVEMBER 2005 "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -- David Hume (1711-1776) Scottish philosopher, historian and economist "A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law." -- Justice John Marshall (1755-1835) US Supreme Court Chief Justice "Useless laws weaken necessary laws." -- Charles-Louis de Secondat (1689-1755) Baron de Montesquieu "The number of laws is constantly growing in all countries and, owing to this, what is called crime is very often not a crime at all, for it contains no element of violence or harm." -- P. D. Ouspensky (1878-1947) Source: A New Model of the Universe, 1931 "While the people have property, arms in their hands, and only a spark of noble spirit, the most corrupt Congress must be mad to form any project of tyranny." -Rev. Nicholas Collin Fayetteville Gazette (N.C.), October 12, 1789 "No free government was ever founded or ever preserved its liberty, without uniting the characters of the citizen and soldier in those destined for the defense of the state.... Such are a well regulated militia, composed of the freeholders, citizen and husbandman, who take up arms to preserve their property, as individuals, and their rights as freemen." State Gazette (Charleston), September 8, 1788 "After review of your website, http://www.savetheguns.com/, it has been determined that you must completely remove any PayPal logos from your website. If you would like to sell any promotional items that are not in violation of PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy you will need to put them on a new website." Notice From PayPal.com to SaveTheGuns.com October 14, 2005 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SAVETHEGUNS.COM GUN SAFETY TIP OF THE MONTH Never look down the barrel of a potentially loaded gun. Leave that to an episode of the Three Stooges. There is no way to tell if a gun is loaded by looking down the barrel anyhow. Don't do it, it's not that funny. Checking the barrel for powder, lead and copper deposits while cleaning the gun is ok, as long as the action is open and you're completely certain it is unloaded during the cleaning process. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NRA MEMBERSHIP There are so many benefits to becoming a member of the National Rifle Association that I simply don't have the room here to list them all. Please go to my "NRA Membership" page at http://www.savetheguns.com/nra_membership.htm, to learn more and use the direct links provided. Be sure to give an NRA Membership to a loved one or a friend for the coming Christmas season. You can go there right now and get your Christmas shopping done early, by using the following link right now: http://membership.nrahq.org/default.asp?campaignid=XR017807 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MINUTEMAN MONTHLY AIMING POINT FOR NOVEMBER 2005 First of all, before I begin, please scroll back up and re-read my last quote for the month from PayPal.com. If you have a PayPal account, I cannot accept PayPal anymore for voluntary donations or promotional items. If you want to help keep www.SaveTheGuns.com online for another year, you're going to have to get out your checkbook and an envelope or use my Amazon.com PayPage: http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P3GXU3PIEM5ST1 Now, let's discuss efforts to harden the exterior of your home and help prevent your firearms from being used during the commission of a violent crime. Even if your home is left completely open to the wind in a high crime area, if all your firearms are locked into a high quality, pick-proof gun safe, which is securely bolted to both the wall and the floor, your guns will probably be quite safe from your average home invader. Only the top pros in the burglary field can get at your guns from a secure high quality gun safe. I have listed quite a few gun safes for sale on my "Safety Rules" page and there's more to come. http://www.savetheguns.com/safety_rules.htm That being said, let's talk about preventing the burglary in the first place. Homes without an electronic alarm system have a much higher rate of break-ins than a home with an alarm system in place. Having a good burglar alarm vastly reduces the chance of thugs staying in your home for a long enough time to find everything they want. Motion sensing lighting for the exterior of your home is a good idea. Burglars want to work as undetected as possible. Having a blinding flood light illuminate their handy-work, will make many of them run for cover. They're stupid for sure, but they don't want to be caught either. Individual window alarms or glass-break sensors for your alarm system are a good idea. Hiding the alarm system panel is also a good tip. You might find that some burglar wants to take your alarm system apart and the control panel should not be easy to find. Many home burglars will be deterred by a dog. A dog's sense of hearing and smell is quite acute and a dog's bark brings quick notice to a possible intrusion, allowing the home owner precious seconds to respond to a threat. However, please be aware that if your dog has not been attack-trained by a professional, it's best to view your dog as a burglar alarm with fur and a wet nose. Make certain that your house number is clearly marked both on your home and your mailbox. But NEVER put your name on your mailbox. A burglar can look up your phone number and stand outside your bedroom and call you to see if anyone's home. I have recently seen a number of homes using an LED display on their house with their street address on it. The street address can be seen from hundreds of feet away and can bring help much sooner. Install locks on all your windows or get devices that allow the windows to open only to a few inches, especially if you're not going to be home. Install dead bolts on all exterior doors. Single cylinder dead bolts with a deep throw are fine, but if you have glass in the vicinity of the lockset, you should consider a double cylinder dead bolt, which requires a key to open even from the inside. The reason for this is obvious. If you have a single pane of glass keeping a burglar from opening a door and gaining access to the home, they'll simply cut the glass and lift it out almost silently and then turn the deadbolt and gain entry. Don't forget about second floor windows. If you're only locking ground floor windows, you're missing a major entry point. An open second floor window is how a friend of mine lost two shotguns, a couple of months ago, which prompted me to write this article. If you're moving into a new home or new apartment, make sure you have all the locks rekeyed. You never know who might have a key to your new home in the neighborhood. If you lock yourself out of your home often, give a key to a well trusted neighbor. Don't hide a key to your home outside. Experienced burglars know all the common hiding places for keys. Don't think that hiding a house key under the doormat is very clever. Your exterior doors should be solid core doors and preferably encased in steel or some other metal. Be very careful about considering ornate exterior doors with lots of glass. Go for security first and eye-pleasing design second. If you can, you should consider placing some kind of security bars over removable air conditioner units. You don't want a burglar taking out your removable AC units to gain easy access to your home and your guns. Sliding glass doors are one of the first things an experienced burglar will focus on. Make certain to put aluminum or wooden rods inside the track of the sliding glass door. If you have any type of access to your home through the roof, be sure that they're secure as well. Open skylights, dormers and second floor windows are common entry points. Treat your garage door like any other exterior door to your home and make sure it's also secured with a dead-bolt of some type and install it according to the instructions. You should also consider changing your garage door opener code if possible. Some savvy home burglars will stockpile garage door openers and use them on your home to see if you still have the original door opener codes on your garage door. Keep bushes and all shrubs trimmed low and neat. You don't want a burglar to be able to stand behind a big bush unnoticed to work on entering your home at his leisure without being seen. For God's sake, don't leave ladders out in your yard. That gives them easy access to second or third floor entry points, or even your roof. If you have a large tree in your yard, make sure than there are no limbs that allow access to your second floor windows or your roof. On my "Electronics" page, I have links to video surveillance products for you to consider. One of them even allows you to see what's going on in and around your home from the Internet. http://www.savetheguns.com/electronics.htm You should photograph all your valuables. Record their serial numbers, engrave them with a driver's license number, but not your Social Security number. For firearms, you should log their manufacturer, model, caliber, serial number, barrel length, any identifying marks and take some good clear photographs. The investigating police officer will be impressed with your preparation and forethought, should a gun get stolen. While on vacation, have a trusted neighbor get your mail and newspaper and use a light timer for the house. Be creative with the light timers. If all the lights in your home go out at exactly the same moment, exactly on the hour, that's a telegraphed message that nobody's home. Set the light timers to go off about five to eight minutes after the hour and have light timers throughout the house turn on and off as if someone was moving about the house toward a bedroom. Be creative when using light timers and don't telegraph to the entire neighborhood that nobody's home by having lights go off at the same time in non-adjacent rooms. Leave your shades in normal positions when you're not home. If you're going out of town for a while, have someone pay attention to your yard as well. Do everything you possibly can not to telegraph the fact that nobody's home. If all the window shades and curtains are drawn shut in your home, that's a clear message to burglars that you're not going to be home for a while. Nosy neighbors aren't such a bad thing, when you consider it in the context of preventing home burglaries. Get to be friendly with your neighbors. They can be very helpful if someone is "casing" your home or arrives while you're away. If you come home and there's something out of the ordinary, such as an unexpected broken window an open door or a cut window screen, don't go inside, but rather call the police from a neighbor's house or from a cell phone. I'm sure I've missed many good tips to prevent your firearms from being stolen and put on the black market. Investigate this issue thoroughly. You might want to consider a book called "The Truth About Self Protection" by Massad Ayoob. It's available through a link on my "Books and Videos" page: http://www.savetheguns.com/books_and_videos.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MY ONLINE STORE PAGES I have links to electric generators on my "Emergency Supplies" page. I have six pages of highly recommended books and videos on the subjects of concealed carry, firearms, armed combat and self defense. I have links to the best titles in firearm and fishing magazines found anywhere. Please use the Magazine City banner advertisement on my "Magazines" page. On my "Emergency Supplies" page, I have an advertisement banner for a company called Nitro-Pak, whom I've just affiliated with in October. I know for certain that you can find something on Nitro-Pak.com to purchase for Christmas. They are a colossal supplier of everything imaginable for emergency preparedness. Go see their Web site now, by using their banner ad. I have a Nitro-Pak ad at the top of every page as well. http://www.savetheguns.com/emergency_supplies.htm Take time this month to get some Christmas shopping done on your computer. Don't waste time by going to the mall with a scrap of paper and a few ideas, use my "Online Store" instead. It's much easier and you won't be using a tank of gas to shop for Christmas either. http://www.savetheguns.com/online_store.htm I make a very small commission for any items that you purchase for which I've created a link to. Right now, these products are the only thing keeping www.SaveTheGuns.com online. If you can afford it, please send me a generous contribution to help keep this effective Web site online. Help me "break even" this year!!! http://www.savetheguns.com/contributions.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ As usual, you may use anything I've written here in this issue of the Minuteman Monthly Newsletter or on www.SaveTheGuns.com, as long as you give me credit somewhere. You may post, forward, blog, print, distribute or otherwise circulate this newsletter as long as you don't claim that you wrote it yourself. 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