Kimberly? Who Is Kimberly?

I just received this text from a number listed as being in Charlotte, North Carolina. Obviously, I'm not Kimberly nor is that the name of anyone in our extended family. Hmm.

The next question I had was who is David Wilson Brown and where is he running for Congress. I consider myself politically aware on both local, state, and national politics but the name just didn't ring a bell.

Shame on me! Brown is the Democrat nominee for the NC 10th Congressional District which I just happen to live in. He is opposing Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10) who is currently the Chief Deputy Majority Whip.

So I go to his website to check out his position on the issues. It is what one would expect.

School vouchers, against.

"Women's Health", pro-abortion and free contraceptives.

Jobs, ignoring the fact that we are at almost full employment, he calls for a new WPA/CCC (Works Progress Administration/Civil Conservation Corps). Shades of FDR and the New D

Taxes, it is our patriotic duty.

Religious freedom, for except when it goes against his sacred cows.

OK but what about gun rights? When a politician refers to "gun safety", you know they mean gun control. It sure as hell isn't about the Four Rules or training.

The Second Amendment provides the right to bear arms, but some are quick to dismiss the “well-regulated” part. We need common sense gun regulation that enforces current law and adds further safeguards to keep guns out of the wrong hands. Recent polls show 94% of Americans are in favor of background checks for all gun purchases. This needs to happen immediately. The gun show loophole must be closed. We need to encourage responsible gun ownership that comes with safety training. There must be a way that responsible gun owners can continue to own and use their weapons while still maintaining reasonable control on the dissemination of firearms to those who should not have them.

Given Brown has raised $40,00 +/- versus McHenry's $2.7 million and has a mere $3,550 cash on hand, his only chance is to have a great grass roots network. As that text indicates, I think that is kind of doubtful. However, when an anti-gunner is figuratively shooting himself in the foot, you don't correct him.

Just In Case You Haven't Seen This

Mayor Nancy Vaughn of Greensboro, NC announced after the Parkland murders that she would seek to end the Greensboro Gun and Knife Show held semi-annually at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Greensboro City Council was in agreement. The only problem is that they didn't have the authority to do that.

So they invited citizens to make their voices heard - assuming it would be anti-gun - during the public comment period on the April 3rd meeting. I think they heard more than they expected but not exactly what they wanted. You can see the full hour plus long video of the meeting here.

Andy Stevens of Grass Roots North Carolina spoke. Just as importantly so did Mark Robinson. What the latter had to say has gone viral. You can see both of their comments below.




Mr. Robinson's comments begin at about the 4:40 mark. His comments have been aired on Fox News, Facebook, and the list goes on. The number of views from various sources now totals in the millions.

Share this video with your friends. Everyone needs to see it.

UPDATE: A.P. Dillon at LadyLiberty1885 blog has more on the Greensboro City Council meeting including video of a couple of the March for Our Lives kids. Dillon notes that they repeated many false claims.

Which is more dangerous?

There is a movement among some politicians to reduce the voting age from 18 to 16. Some municipalities have actually done this. I even read an editorial from a University of Kentucky law professor stating that students from Parkland High School show why this is a good idea. It doesn't matter that this students are being scripted, used as props, and are coached what to say.

In a free society, I think having immature, easily swayed young minds pull the voting lever is a recipe for disaster. As Michael Bane said the other day, think Lord of the Flies.

Yet these same politicians and pundits want to raise the age at which one can purchase any long arm to 21 years old.

You tell me which is more dangerous.

I know what I think.

What They Really Mean

Since the Parkland High School shootings, you have heard all manner of politicians from the president on down saying that we need to raise the age to buy a semi-automatic rifle to age 21. They along with the media have painted a picture that wants you to believe one thing when the reality is totally different.

I was 18 when I purchased my first firearm. It was a Ruger 10/22 similar to the one shown in the meme. I paid $55 for it at a long ago closed discount store called Best Products. I used my savings from mowing lawns and my job as a school bus driver.

"Without Even Notifying The Police"

You might respect anti-gun politicians a little bit if they brought reason to the debate. However, given the statement below from Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in response to the introduction of The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2015, there is little chance of that happening.

“This bill is a menace to New York and would allow potentially dangerous people from other states to carry concealed weapons in our grocery stores, movie theaters and stadiums, without even notifying the police,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told the Daily News.

“It is a nightmare for our law enforcement officers and the community, and I will fight this legislation tooth and nail.”

Imagine that.

People would actually enter a grocery store without even notifying the police that they are carrying concealed.

The horror.

Chicago Hit Job On World Shooting And Recreational Center

You shoot trap or skeet. You live in the 'burbs. You aspire to a Perazzi or Krieghoff custom shotgun to go with your Beemer. You don't particularly care for the NRA as all they care about is protecting those mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals and their evil black rifles. Besides, Mayor Bloomberg and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have always said they are only after the illegal guns and that they respect American sporting traditions like trap and skeet.

Sorry to intrude on your dream world but you might want to think again.

Fox 32 News out of Chicago has just done a nice hit piece on the home of the Grand American - the World Shooting and Recreational Center in Sparta, Illinois. They are saying it is an expensive boondoggle that has cost and continues to cost Illinois taxpayers millions of dollars.

Chances are you've never heard of the World Shooting and Recreational Complex; which is too bad, because you almost certainly paid for it. In fact, Illinois taxpayers kicked in tens of millions of dollars for the downstate tourist attraction. The problem is, it isn't attracting a lot of tourists and it continues to lose money.

And who is leading the charge to get rid of it? None other than Illinois State Senator Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) who is one of the leading gun prohibitionists in the Illinois General Assembly.

"The state must live within its means. Fund what works. Get rid of what doesn't," Kotowski says. "Should we be in the business of making sure that we have sport shooting competitions, shooting competitions should the state government be in that business whether it makes people feel good or not? I think we should be in the business of educating our children."

Unfortunately, the World Shooting and Recreational Center is also being targeted by the free-market leaning Illinois Policy Institute. They have consistently called for the state's spending on it to be cut. They call it a "giant white elephant" in the Fox 32 report which can be seen below.

It should be pointed out that the World Shooting and Recreational Center hosts more than the Grand American and skeet and trap shooting competitions. There are regular SASS, IDPA, and USPSA pistol competitions held there. You can also shoot trap, skeet, and sporting clays most days of the week when competitions are not being held.

Would the World Shooting and Recreational Center be better served by being in private hands? Maybe. That said, the attack on it now by Dan Kotowski and others is a backdoor attack on shooting in general. If they can limit places to shoot, they will make it harder to exercise our Second Amendment rights.

Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News

High Capacity, Standard Capacity, Or Reduced Capacity

I had a thought provoking comment left the other day by a John Ryan that bears repeating. It was in regard to an infographic I had posted by the American Preppers Network that discussed "high capacity" magazines.

We have to be better at getting the right terms out there. Especially getting them to the talking heads on our side ( they are making lots of mistakes). Otherwise hyperbole wins the day. “Standard capacity” is the winning term. They are proposing “reduced capacity”. “Reduced capacity magazines” diminish a persons ability to defend themselves. 10 is a random # made up out of thin air.

If we meet them on the terms they set, talking about “ high caps don’t save that much time” we lose because nobody ( other that shooters) wants to follow that. We, as proponents for the preservation of the 2nd, have to make sure our arguments are not just convincing to us, but to lay people as well.

“Standard capacity” is what a pistol was designed for. It’s what a rifle was designed for. Artificially limiting that capacity harms a persons right to self defense as codified in Heller. Spread this rationale around.

The Browning Hi-Power was one of the first pistols to use a double-stack magazine. The magazine size was 13 rounds. That was the size of magazine that the pistol was designed to use. Likewise, the ubiquitous Glock 17 was designed to use a magazine containing 17 rounds. Hence, I presume the name.

I think Mr. Ryan is absolutely correct. We have to take charge of the discussion and to do that we need to be more precise in our language. We cannot let the media or the gun prohibitionists continue to dominate the discussion with the emotionally laden term of "high capacity". There are good, solid reasons one needs standard capacity magazines in the non-military, non-law enforcement world and we should be making them daily.

Was She Really A NRA Operative In Disguise?

Kinde Durkee and her firm are long-time campaign consultants and treasurers for many California Democrats. As the New York Times says,

For almost 15 years, Kinde Durkee has been one of the go-to accountants for Democratic candidates in California. She and her firm kept track of expenditures and contributions and made sure that candidates and party committees’ campaigns complied with California’s tangled election finance laws.

Her firm, Durkee and Associates, proclaims itself an accounting and business management firm specializing in campaign finance.

Durkee and Associates is an accounting and business management firm that specializes in political, non-profit and small business accounting and financial management. Since 1972 we have worked for 5 presidential campaigns, 4 gubernatorial campaigns, numerous senate, congressional, state and local candidates, initiatives, political action committees and many non-profit associations and small businesses. Our proprietary reporting software handles electronic filing to both the Federal Election Commission and the California Secretary of State.

Unfortunately for all these campaigns and candidates that put their money in her hands, she is now the Bernie Madoff of California politics. Durkee was arrested on September 2nd by the FBI for stealing money from the campaign coffers of Assemblyman Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim). It is estimated that she stole almost $700,000 from his campaign accounts to use for personal purposes. Durkee, pictured, below also had control of an estimated 400 campaign accounts.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the FBI complaint included charges that Durkee used campaign money to pay her American Express bill:

one of the checks she paid to American Express was for $16,855, which in turn went to charges at Amazon, Baskin-Robbins, Turners Outdoorsman, Decker Surgical, Ariel's Grotto at Disneyland, TIVO and Bixby Animal Clinic, among others.

A number of anti-gun politicians may have had their campaign war chests wiped out by Durkee. In addition to Assemblyman Solorio, NRA-rated F and who voted this year to ban unloaded open carry (AB 144), they include such leading California Democrats as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (F-rated), Rep. Susan Davis (F-rated), and Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-rated). To make matters even worse for them according to the San Francisco Chronicle, they don't know how much she has taken.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's $5.2 million re-election war chest may or may not be "wiped out" by a trusted - and now arrested - treasurer, campaign officials for California's senior senator suggested Tuesday.

Bill Carrick, Feinstein's top campaign consultant, said First California Bank, which holds the campaign funds for Feinstein, Reps. Loretta Sanchez and Susan Davis and others involved in Kinde Durkee's alleged fraud, will not allow anyone access to the accounts without signing a release that indemnifies the bank against lawsuits.

Given the financial harm she has done to leading anti-gun politicians in California, one could only hope that she also handled campaign finances for certain anti-gun politicians in New York, Massachusetts, and Illinois!