I’ve written about H.R. 1022 and H.R. 297. What these two proposed pieces of legislation have in common is that they are both designed to further infringe on our 2nd Amendment rights. These rights are guaranteed in the Consititution. But, if you listen to the rhetoric issued forth by such luminaries as Nancy Pelosi, Carolyn McCarthy, Charles (Chuckie) Schumer, Diane Feinstein and others of their ill bred ilk, they each say that they “support” the 2nd Amendment (yeah, right) and they have nothing against hunters.

Their alleged support is an outright lie. Unless you stop and think that they support it as long as they can control it by THEIR interpretations and place limitations on it. It is their contention that the Consititution is a “living, breathing” document and must be ‘modernized’ to fit in with today’s world. To quote, once again, the famous phrase of Col. Henry Potter, “horse puckey.” That’s like saying the rules of a basketball game should change to “balance” out talent levels of teams, and the scoreboard.
Hunting is NOT about the Second Amendment. While it is one use of firearms, the Second Amendment is not about hunting.

For the law abiding firearm owning community, it is about maintaining the Constitutional RIGHT to “keep and bear arms.” Yes, bad things have happened by people involved in criminal acts while they had a firearm. But please keep in mind the term “criminal acts.” Everyone of us is appalled at the atrocities that are carried out by these criminals, and each of us cringe with each one, knowing full well that the politicians and media will cry for more and more gun control laws to be passed. But these people have an agenda to undermine the Second Amendment. They want full and complete control over the people, apparently forgetting that we, the people, ARE the government, and that they are merely representing us. A question I have for them is have they forgotten that?

Okay, let us assume that they do manage to pass more and more restrictive firearms laws. Will that solve the dilemma? I can answer that with one word….NO. Criminals will merely scoff at those new laws, and continue to do what they do. Will they attempt to confiscate firearms from law abiding citizens? Probably not, as much as they would like to. But do not ever forget that the ones who want to take our guns, have armed protection around them almost 24 hours a day. These protective services are not there to protect them from law abiding citizens, but rather from criminals, and those who would commit criminal acts.

To highlight this difference, Sen. Jim Webb, (D-VA) gave a loaded pistol and two loaded magazines for said pistol to an aide prior to arriving at the airport to take a flight somewhere. His aide, Phillip Thompson, took the pistol and magazines and stuck it in his briefcase. Thompson was arrested after a scanner found them in his briefcase. He was immediately arrested for carrying a concealed weapon in Washington, D.C. That is a big no no. During the subsequent investigation, Sen. Webb denied giving the gun to Thompson, but would not say whether it was his gun or not.

Charges against Thompson for carrying a concealed handgun have recently been dropped, according to U.S. Attorney, Jeff Taylor. The reason for dropping the charges was Mr. Taylor saying “After reviewing and analyzing all of the evidence in the case, we do not believe the essential elements of the crime of carrying a pistol without a license can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.” More than likely he was under pressure from Sen. Webb to drop the charges. However, if I tried to take a gun into the Capitol Building, I would have been prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. So you see, there are two sets of rules. One for them and a completely different set for the rest of us. Does Sen. Webb have a permit to carry a concealed weapon in the District of Columbia OR Virginia? We’re not likely to find that out. And why, in a “gun free zone” would the Senator find it necessary to carry a concealed handgun? Isn’t it, afterall, supposed to be safe since it has some of the most stringent gun laws in this country?

We must continue to write, call, fax, and email our senators and congress people. We also need to examine their voting records on such matters, and NOT send them back to Congress to perpetrate this continued assault on our freedoms. Every gun owner in this country is in jeapordy of becoming the newest “criminal” class if we don’t.

Other news……

I found out yesterday that the plantation I’ve been dove hunting on for the past 17 years has closed me out. The owner and I have been good friends for longer than that, but after the past two seasons he has endured some dead livestock, and what I call “slob” hunters trespassing on his property. He apologized to me profusely, saying that if he let me, then others would “demand” access to his land. I understand his position, so I am now applying for a “lottery” hunt on a WMA located about five miles south of where I have been hunting.

Everyone have a great day…..

John

The gun grabbers are at it again. The point of the spear on this one is Sen. Charles Schumer, (D-NY) and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, (D-NY) Schumer is leading the charge in the U.S. Senate, pushing the bill introduced by Mrs. McCarthy. This has been expected by the shooting, gun owning community within 30 seconds of hearing of the tragedy on the Virginia Tech campus. Assisting Mrs. McCarthy in the House of Representatives is a FORMER board member of the NRA, Rep. John Dingell (D-MI).

It has been noted in the press that Rep. Dingell has been in ‘negotiations’ with the leadership of the NRA concerning wording and application of H.R. 297. The outcome of this “negotiation” has yet to be made known, but another national group, Gun Owners of America” put out an email bulletin yesterday to it’s members that Schumer, Dingell, and McCarthy are attempting to get this legislation passed WITHOUT a vote. The GOA goes further saying that his legislation will treat gun owners worse than terrorists!

Below is a cut and paste of what GOA has to say about this.

Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408

http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm

“Another gun rights group, the Gun Owners of America, is adamantly
opposed to the [McCarthy-Dingell] legislation. It said the measure
would allow the government to trample privacy rights by compiling
reams of personal information and potentially bar mentally stable
people from buying guns.” — Associated Press, April 24, 2007

The provision that would probably lead to the greatest number of
‘fishing expeditions’ is that related to illegal aliens. Federal law
prohibits illegal aliens from owning guns. The bill requires all
“relevant” data related to who is in this country illegally. But
what records pertaining to illegal aliens from the states would be
relevant? Perhaps a better question would be, what records are not relevant?

It appears to me that these legislators cannot get this passed through normal means, by a vote, which would show on their voting record, thereby subjecting them to voter scrutiny, so they are trying a ‘backdoor’ move to get it into law. So much for the “democratic” process. If this gets made into law, our Congress should be looked upon as worthless, putting their viewpoints over those of their constituents. They apparently believe that they are smarter than us, know more than we do, and consider themselves better than us. They have forgotten that they are supposed to represent us, and vote OUR will, not theirs.

All the while, they mouth the platitudes about “not being against hunting.” When you hear them utter those words, alarm bells should be ringing loudly in your ears. The Second Amendment is not about hunting. It is about the right of the people to own, keep, and bear arms. Just what is it about the wording that they don’t understand? “…the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” That is a direct quote. It makes me wonder what amendment they’ll want to do away with next? Freedom of speech? No..wait a minute, they’ve already done harm to that with the McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act. And sadly, that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Okay, so all the work we did with Jim Zumbo, the flood of phone calls, emails, faxes, and letters sent to our so-called “representatives” may have helped to slow down H.R. 1022 may have gone for nought. Now we need to bombard, literally and figuratively, with communications concerning H.R. 297.

Further, if you do not belong to the NRA, join now. Same goes for the Gun Owners of America and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF). Individually, we cannot win this, but by being part of a larger group, we can. If we don’t, I can only repeat those words spoken by the late Charlton Heston, “from my cold, dead hands.”

It’s that time of year. Trees are budding and leafing out, the temperatures are warming, as is the water temperature, and the bug to get out on the water for some fishing is taking hold of most everyone.

Hopefully, you will find these tips for a safe boating experience helpful, and not lead to a day of cursing your boat, motor, or other equipment, or worse.

Check your boat out completely before even hitching the trailer to truck. This includes the fire extinguisher, floatation devices, wiring, batteries, running lights, motor mounts, and gas cans or tanks.

Check out your trailer. Make sure tires are in good shape, inflated properly, wiring harness is good, lights are good, wheel bearings properly greased, dolly jack is in good working order, and the coupler functions as designed. In some states, not only does your vehicle have to have an inspection sticker, but so does your trailer. Make sure all stickers needed are current, and have the registration papers for vehicle, boat, and trailer with you. Papers for the boat should be aboard whenever you are on the water. Ziploc sandwich bags make great waterproof ‘containers’ for them

Okay, all is well and good, boat has been checked, trailer has been checked, and you are ready to launch it. Now for your on the water checklist. Make sure you have the following items aboard with you. Again, a charged and up to date fire extinguisher. One that is marked ABC, which will handle all fires. Signalling devices such as a freon horn…okay, environmentally correct COMPRESSED AIR horn, a flashlight (or two) and fresh batteries. A first aid kit. These come in real handy especially if you are going to fish or ski and not just ride around. A Coast Guard approved floatation device for every passenger. Don’t get macho and say “I know how to swim.” Lots of people who knew how to swim have drowned. A large trash bag to stash all your ‘trash’ like sandwich wrappers and drink bottles and cans. Don’t be littering on the water.

Now you’ve launched and are on the water. Observe all warning signs. Observe all “no wake” signs. Throttle back when passing moored or anchored boats. A large wake can capsize them. Do to them what you would want done to you. Also, check on fuel from time to time, and if you are on a large or long body of water, you’ll need to start your return trip when you still have just over half the fuel you started with.

Keep an eye on the weather. Storms can blow up quite rapidly, and those type of storms are almost always accompanied by lightning and high winds. Should you be caught out in a situation like this, find a sheltered cove out of the wind if possible. If that isn’t possible, turn into the wind and throttle back to the point that you are just barely making headway into the wind. If you turn broadside, you will roll in the troughs of the waves, and take on water. If you nose down wind, you will more than likely take water over the stern, and if your pump fails, you will sink. Then you will swim.

If the weather is bad enough that you have to beach it to ride out the storm, do not hang out in the shelter of tall trees. Ever heard of lightning. Before the days of marine band radios, CB radios and cell phones, I always left word of where I was launching, how long I would be gone, and an estimated time of arrival home. Today, that is still not a bad idea, though a cell phone would be good to have also.

Boating is fun. Fishing is more fun. Take your time, observe safety standards, exercise common sense, and go have fun.

John

The tragic occurrence at Virginia Tech proves that each of us is responsible for our own safety. Governmental institutions like college and universities are not geared, nor do they wish to accept, responsibility for protecting their students. This point was brought home eight days ago.

We can only work on the hypothesis that if one or two people in one of the classrooms had been carrying a concealed weapon the shooter might have been stopped. Sadly, it is something we’ll never know, but the shooter Cho Seung-Hui KNEW that he was going to be unopposed when he set his plan into action.

The process to get a concealed carry permit is, for the most part, a bit arduous. First, you have to take a class, taught by a certified instructor. Cost of this, depends on where the class is held, who the instructor is, and what other services they offer as part of their instruction. My class fee was $85.00.

Classroom time, depending on state, can be as little as four hours, and as much as eight hours, sometimes more. Then you have to take a written exam, and pass it. Then comes the shooting session, where you have to qualify by marksmanship. When those steps are completed, you aren’t even half way there yet. You will be issued a certificate by the instructor that you have met all requirements to enter into the actual process of applying for, and receiving a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

The next step is getting the application, filling it out, having a picture made at the sheriff’s office, fingerprinting, and when you get all that done, you make out a check for $140.00 and send it in to the state police. A full background check is then run, including your driving record, a criminal background check, and if all is right, you are issued a state concealed carry license, complete with your picture on it. It is as valid an ID as a driver’s license. Total time for the state police check and mailing time, both ways, is 6 weeks on average. Only those with no criminal record will receive a CCW permit.

You are also issued a list of the rules and regulations of where you can carry, and where you cannot carry. Bars, government buildings, that includes federal, state, county/parish, and local. You cannot carry, legally, in a post office. You cannot carry within a 1000 feet of a school. They are all declared “no gun zones” or “gun free zones.”

You also cannot just whip out your firearm and brandish it. That will lead to the revocation of your license, and in most states, is considered a felony, and will lose your right to even own a firearm. And no right thinking person would consider doing that and jeapordize their constitutional rights and risk the fine and probable jail time. In essence, having the license to carry a concealed weapon places a heavier burden on the individual to follow the laws than those faced by the average citizen.

On top of that, you have to re-qualify every four years. Shooting only. But that is another $35.00 for the instructor and range time with “qualifying” targets. Then it is another $100 for the four year renewal of your license.

I have heard some people complain about the money that they have to spend in order to carry a concealed weapon. My response is usually, “what is your life or safety worth?” It is a valid question. What IS your life worth?

I am fortunate to live in a gun friendly state, well, excepting New Orleans where guns were CONFISCATED by law enforcement from law abiding citizens who were depending on those firearms to protect themselves and their property and neighbors in the days immediately following Hurricane Katrina. And everyone said that something like that would never happen in this country. Well, it did, and that is an extremely sad statement.

I cannot depend on the police to protect me, or my family. Anywhere, any time, all the time. There aren’t enough police officers to have one assigned to each of us merely for protection. And on top of that, it is not their job to protect us, irregardless of the “to serve and protect” painted on the side of their patrol cars. Their job is to apprehend criminals AFTER they have commited a crime.

The gun control crowd has insisted that “gun free zones” are the way to ‘protect’ people. They are not. They create an area where no one can protect themselves, depending on someone else to do that. I call them potential ‘killing fields.’ This is what happened at Virginia Tech, where even the campus police are unarmed. So much for safety there.

They also insist that we should allow law enforcement to come to our aid, by utilizing that governmental instituted ‘dial a prayer,’ 9-1-1. Depending on where you live, response to that call could be a matter of a few minutes, to a long, long time.

I am responsible for my safety. You are responsible for your safety. The gun grabbers continue to mouth and espouse their feel good pablum that they can protect us and keep us from harm if we just do what they say. In the immortal words of Col. Henry Potter, “horse puckey.”

I have never had to use my carry weapon. I hope I never have to. But I am prepared to if it comes to where it’s them or me. Oh yeah…one more thing…Ted Kennedy’s car has killed more people than my guns.

I have friends that are graduates of Virginia Tech. Nice folks, and are tremendously saddened by what happened there this past Monday. I read the names and home towns of those who were mercilessly gunned down, hoping against hope that I did not know anyone who died that day. I didn’t, but the nephew of a friend of mine was killed. I have offered my most sincere condolences to him, and said prayers for him and his family.

The tragedy that occured at Virginia Tech is almost incomprehensible. The screaming from the gun control advocates that this could have been avoided was expected. Their argument is simple….no one should have guns. Well, almost no one. Of course, as either celebrities or politicians, they operate in a world where THEY personaly do not have to rely on themselves for their own protection. They have “people” who have guns that provide them with protection from “bad people.”

Rosie O’Donnell has railed against guns for years. Remember when she verbally attacked Tom Selleck on her television show, and called him about everything but a murderer? She blames her depression on the Columbine killings. She now uses the television show, “The View” to continue to spew her emotionally based argument that no one should have guns. Well, almost no one. She does have private security guards, who are armed, to protect her and her family.

Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), who has been the subject of a couple of things I’ve written here, came out almost immediately calling for stricter and more comprehensive gun control. Her sentiments were echoed, and reinforced, by Diane Feinstein, (D-CA) who, oddly enough, has a permit to carry a concealed weapon in California.

What is atypical is that the governor of Virginia, who is also a democrat, stated that anyone who used this time (immediately after the shootings) to argue for more gun control should be ashamed of themselves. They should be utilizing this time to pray for the families of the victims, and work towards healing the Virginia Tech community and family. Harry Reid, (D-NV), who is the Senate Majority Leader, echoed the governor’s remarks.

It has been reported that the purchases made by the killer were entirely legal. All forms filled in, signed, and NICS check made, all according to the rules. The purchase was approved, and finalized. However, other ‘rules’ come into play here. Virginia has a right to carry law. It has been deemed “lenient” by the politicians who want more gun control, and their minions in the media. The Virginia Assembly made another “rule” when they said that those legal gunowners and holders of a CCW permit were not allowed to carry a firearm on any campus in the state.

Now this begs a question. How many lives might have been saved if just one or two CCW holders had been carrying their firearm that day? Has the law of ‘unintended consequences’ caught up with the gun control crowd? Think about it for a moment…they are the ones who created a gun free zone. By doing so, they created the arena in which carnage of this type could happen, since no one there has, legally, the opportunity to defend their life, or anyone elses. Is the state of Virginia legally liable for the tragic loss of life at Virginia Tech? After all, they pledged by their votes, to create an atmosphere free from violence, no guns allowed.

Perhaps Cho didn’t know about the law. Or perhaps he did know about the law, and chose that place because he knew that he could what he wanted without fear of anyone stopping him. I do know that he accomplished his goal. I do know that the police cannot be everywhere at once. I do know that I am responsible for my own safety. Sadly, it is apparent that others do not feel the same. Once again, we need to keep the Virginia Tech family in our thoughts and prayers.

Without wanting to seem callous in light of what has happened, we need to continue to work to keep our 2nd Amendment rights from being further eroded by the liberal politicians and media. These forces have stated that they do not want to ‘interfere’ with hunters guns. I find that ludicrous since H.R. 1022 would ban ‘hunters guns.’ They want to emulate Great Britain which has so severely limited gun ownership that their Olympic pistol team has to travel to Switzerland and other countries to practice.

If you are not a member of a pro-gun organization, it is time to join up. The NRA, Gun Owners of America, National Shooting Sports Foundation, and others are our strongest combined voices to preserve our rights.

It is a terrible day. 32 students at Virginia Tech are dead at the hands of what can only be described as a lunatic. Why he did it, we can only guess. But we can offer prayers and good thoughts to the families of the victims and to the survivors of this horrendous act. As members of the gun, hunting, shooting, and collecting fraternity, we are all stunned at the carnage produced by this person.

However, we should all be very aware that the anti-gunners are going to come after us and will stop at nothing to remove our guns, a Constitutional right. In fact, they started within four hours of the announcements of the savagery at Va. Tech. Both CNN and ABC News are currently running polls on their respective web sites. The question they are asking is almost identical. “Do we need more gun control laws to prevent this from happening in the future?” The ABC poll will let you vote, and give you up to date results. However, the CNN poll will not register your vote if you vote “no.”

The “talking heads” are also now starting to talk about more restrictive gun control. Their thinking, combined with the anti-gun politicos, is that more gun control will eliminate these despicable acts of pure cowardice in the future. It won’t.

Schools are declared gun free zones. Anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who wants to do what this coward did know that they are facing a group of people who have no way to defend themselves. It is a target rich environment. Literally. They will face unarmed people, and the only ones on campus that are armed are the police. And they can’t be everywhere at once.

Virginia has some liberal CCW laws. If one or two students had been allowed to carry a concealed weapon, how many lives might have been saved? By Virginia law, anyone with a CCW permit can carry in a bank, private business, and just about anywhere except governmental buildings, post offices, and bars. The VT Board of Regents, however, is the controlling body over the university, and while it is legal to carry concealed weapons in most of the rest of the state, permit holders are banned from carrying a concealed weapon on the VT campus. Should they bear part of the burden for this tragedy? Will they re-think their position in light of what happened? Who knows? Probably not.

What is happening is the talking heads and politicians are, for the most part, blaming the gun. They are not blaming the person who actually planned to do this, for whatever his reason was, but rather the gun, and the size of the magazine capacity. What rubbish. A loaded firearm, irregardless of type or caliber, does not fire itself.

A friend of mine who lives in North Carolina recently wrote the following in a letter to the editor of his local newspaper. He sums up a bit more succinctly than my ramblings on the subject. And please note that this was written well before the horror of Virginia Tech.

The Myth of Gun Control

The sad truth of the matter is that when a one of these cowardly individuals decides to strike out at society we have given him the perfect hunting grounds. We put our most precious and innocent in a defenseless position where they can do little, but hide or run for their lives. We expect the school staff to protect and nurture our children at the same time denying them the tools to do so. Sometimes I think it is we who are the madmen for placing our children in such a vulnerable position. Placing an armed officer or two in the school may ease our fears, but given the campus sizes and student populations that we have developed for financial reasons, a full platoon of armed guards would likely not be able to cover every classroom or common area. Besides, we really don’t want our kids going to school in a prison environment do we? To me the solution seems pretty obvious. Just as the Concealed Carry Law has allowed hundreds of thousands of citizens to defend themselves and lowered the violent crime rate substantially in all but the gun ban areas, so too would the attacks on our children become a thing of the past if every willing teacher would receive training and the right to carry a gun at school. Not all teachers would want to take part in this, but that is ok. The madmen are not going to know who is or who is not armed and that uncertainty will convince them to find some other way to express their madness. Perhaps in frustration for lack of easy victims they will shoot themselves and save us all a lot of grief.

We all need to say a prayer for the fallen and their families. Do what we can to support them in their time of grief, and help them all to get their lives together. At the same time, we need to do everything we can, individually and as a group, to protect our Consitutional rights. It was not a gun that did this, but rather a person who used a gun as his tool.

Sometime back I posted here that I was re-doing a Remington 597 22 LR semi-auto. This included getting rid of the “tupperware” stock it came in from the factory, as well as a few other things. Well, it is finished, and ready to go send a round or nine down range.

Call me old fashioned, but there is some magic chemistry between ordnance steel and wood that I find beautiful. With the advent of ‘engineered’ materials and the subsequent use of them as stocks for rifles and shotguns, I guess it seemed inevitable that there would be a clash. This happened with me. I understand the synthetics ability to weather the climate better, but they are so ugly! At least to me. So, when I got the opportunity to “restore” one to a wood stock, I took advantage of it.

Style wise, the Remington 597 is similar in appearance to the Ruger 10/22. Well, the bare action and barrel. Unlike the Ruger, I have found my Remington to be inherently accurate out of the box, and other than the trigger being a bit rough, like it a LOT better than the 10/22, and have no need to change out the barrel or other components needed to turn it into a tack driver.

So, now I’m going to walk you through the steps I took to dress it up and get it where I like it.

Having hit that point some years back where glasses became necessary for me me to see properly, all my rifles with the exception of one are scoped. I have no need of open sights, so they had to go. Ended up with five threaded holes in the barrel. Plug screws didn’t look good, and were either below the barrel surface, or just slightly above. What to do now. I ended up cleaning the oil from the screw holes with alcohol, then filled the holes with JB Weld. Good stuff. After letting it cure for 48 hours, buffed it down to match the contour of the barrel using one of my wife’s emory boards. She doesn’t know I did it, so please don’t tell her.

Now the action and barrel on the Remington are painted, flat black, and in the course of buffing the JB Weld down, of course I removed a bit of the paint. My initial reaction was to simply touch it up. Not good…it was not a match, in either color or texture. So…..I removed all the paint from the barrel, taking it down to bare metal. After polishing it up a bit with some 400 grit emory cloth, I heated the barrel to approximately 130 degrees with a heat gun and applied a flat grey high heat primer. It looked pretty good that way, but when I dropped the barreled action into the pepper laminate stock, it just didn’t look right. So, after another coat of primer, I sprayed it with some new tough paint from Rustoleum. It is a flat black black that when dried and cured resembles a Parkerized finish. I let that sit for 48 hours and put another coat on it and left it to dry.

In between the metal work and paint sessions on the barrel, I was sanding and hand rubbing a Boyds Pepper Laminate stock I bought about 8 months ago. Eight coats of TruOil and lots of handrubbing with 0000 steel wool, I finally got the lustre right, well, for me anyway, and installed a 1″ thick recoil pad to get the LOP right for me.

After the paint had cured, I reassembled the trigger group into the action, lubed everything up and pinned it into place. With that done, I dropped the barreled action into the newly finished stock and bolted it down, re-attached the scope, and took a few pictures of my new short range squirrel and varmint rifle.

Here are a few pictures of the before and after…..

BEFORE This is the Remington 597 in factory new form.

AFTER

The scope is a Bushnell 4x wideview, mounted with Weaver rings on a Weaver picatinny rail. Rifle will shoot 1/2″ groups at 50 yds. with Remington Golden Bullets. Group opens up to just under an inch at 100 yds.

The finish on the barrel is an experiment, and I will let you know at a later date how it holds up. Now the squirrels, rabbits, armadillos, raccoons, and other small varmints need to maintain a safe distance. LOL

Happy shooting….

John

I just left a meeting held by Sen. David Vitter, (R-LA), Bobby Jindal, (R-LA), Wayne LaPierre, and Chris Cox. Wayne and Chris talked about the illegal confiscation of firearms from law abiding citizens in the tumultuous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by the police of New Orleans. This act, perpetrated by Eddie Compass, Chief of Police, and Mayor Ray Nagin was the FIRST time this has happened since the Constitution was written and ratified.

Vitter and Jindal, both from the New Orleans area, are the ones responsible for the federal legislation that was attached as an amendment to a Homeland Security Bill, and and expressly forbids confiscation of firearms following any type of disaster, and states that every person has a right to defend themselves, family, and property.

I was able to ask a question that concerned Carolyn McCarthy’s proposed legislation, specifically, H.R. 1022. Chris Cox answered the question by saying that many members of both houses of Congress have been swamped with mail, email, faxes, and phone calls concerning this legislation, and are already at work to defeat it should it make it out of committee and onto the floor for a vote. I was heartened to hear this, and while we have gotten the politicians attention, we need to keep the heat on them, and continue to contact them concerning H.R. 1022.

To emphasize the broad sweep of this legislation, Mr. Cox turned and pointed to the wall full of rifles and shotguns behind him on the wall and stated that the legislation in question would ban almost every long gun there. I should note at this time that the meeting was held at Lorant’s Sporting Goods store in Shreveport. It was amazing that not a lot of people there new about H.R. 1022 when I asked the question, but they do now.

After the meeting was over, I was able to speak with Chris Cox one on one and asked if he knew anything about Diane Feinstein being a Deputy U.S. Marshall. He said he didn’t know, but he would check and see if they had a published list of such. He does now have the web address for the Nutria News as well as my email.

This event was covered by the local media, both television and print, and all four principals were interviewed at length on camera. It should be on the local news at both 5:00 and 10:00PM. Hopefully it will be positive coverage for the gun owning public, the NRA, and Sen. Vitter and Congressman Jindal. Several local politicians and elected officials were there also, but stayed in the background, thankfully.

I will keep an eye on the local news this evening, something I don’t usually do, but tonight will be different.

Remember, keep up the good fight and continue to contact your elected members of Congress concerning H.R. 1022.