Knife Rights Needs Our Help In New York

New York City is not only one of the most anti-gun jurisdictions in the country but also one of the most anti-knife. Their prosecutions of honest citizens for "gravity" knives is over the top. There is a bill in the New York Senate that would correct many of these abuses by clearly defining both switchblades and gravity knives. A correct definition would eliminate prosecutions for having your average lock-blade knife.

Knife Rights is urging that anyone who lives, works, or merely visits New York to contact Sen. John Flanagan who chairs the Senate Rules Committee and ask him to schedule a vote on S6483A.

Their alert is below:

New York URGENT ACTION ALERT 

CALL or EMAIL TODAY to Schedule S6483A for a Vote

 

The next hurdle to getting Knife Rights' New York Knife Law Reform bill (S6483A) passed to end the widespread persecution of those carrying pocket knives in New York City is to get the Senate Rules Committee to pass the bill so it can be voted on by the full Senate.

If you live, work or travel in New York and New York City, please CALL or EMAIL the Chairman of the Rules Committee, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, TODAY and simply deliver the message that you are "calling/writing to respectfully request that Leader Flanagan please schedule S6483A for a vote" and then thank him. Please be POLITE and RESPECTFUL. 

CALL Majority Leader Flanagan TODAY at: 

518-455-2071

EMAIL Majority Leader Flanagan TODAY at: flanagan@nysenate.gov

Again, please be POLITE and RESPECTFUL, just deliver the message: "I am calling/writing to respectfully request that Leader Flanagan please schedule S6483A for a vote," and then thank him. That's it, keep it short and simple and above all BE POLITE and RESPECTFUL.

If Emailing, use the SUBJECT: Please Schedule S6483A for Senate Vote

If you call, they may ask you the city and state where you live, for their call record. If you email, include your city and state. In either case, if you live out-of-state, explain how you work in, or travel to, New York / New York City.

S6483A adds clarifying bias-towards closure exclusions to the state switchblade and gravity knife definitions, similar to that included in the revision to the Federal Switchblade Act that Knife Rights helped pass in 2009. This clarifying exclusion should prevent the bogus Gravity Knife arrests and prosecutions of honest law-abiding individuals in New York City who are carrying common folding knives, tools that are legal to carry everywhere else in the U.S.

Neither Gravity Knives nor Switchblades have a bias towards closure found in common folding knives to keep the blade safely closed in the pocket. Only in New York City has the NYPD and District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. abused the state's gravity knife law to prosecute those carrying simple pocket knives by claiming they are illegal Gravity Knives.

The City's Village Voice newspaper found two years ago that there had been as many as 60,000 gravity-knife prosecutions over the past decade! You can read the Village Voice article at: http://bit.ly/1MiJbvv

Hundreds of innocent pocket knife carriers are being arrested every week!

Meanwhile, our Federal Civil Rights lawsuit against New York City and District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. over these unconstitutional arrests and prosecutions continues with a trial date now scheduled for June 16, which will be just over five years since the lawsuit was filed. The quicker solution is to get S6483A passed.

#Gunvote - Correcting The Record

Hillary Clinton and the gun prohibitionists are on a jihad against the Protection of Legal Commerce in Arms Act. They have been willfully mischaracterizing it as a total exemption from liability by the firearms industry. In fact, it only protects the makers and sellers from the misuse of their products by criminals and contains six enumerated exceptions to the qualified civil liability protections in the law.

The NSSF has released a YouTube correcting Hillary. It is worth two minutes of your time.

Interesting Infographic On Trapping

If you've read this blog for any amount of time, you know I love a good infographic. I came across this one from BassProShops on trapping. I think trapping is one of those lost outdoor skills that could prove essential in a TEOTWAWKI situation.

The infographic below does a good job on outlining the types of traps available plus their pros and cons.

"Outgunned From Day One"

Since we are talking about things Irish today, I thought this interview with a curator of the National Museum of Ireland was appropriate. In it, Lar Joye, the curator of Irish military history at the National Museum of Ireland, talks about the Mauser (Howth) and Lee Enfield rifles and other weapons used by the volunteers and the British during the 1916 Rising.

The centennial of the Irish Rising will take place on April 24th.

You can see the video of the interview here.

The Howth Mauser is also known as the Mauser Model 1871 or Infanterie-Gewehr 71. It was a single shot 11mm black powder rifle.

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig

Or, Happy St. Patrick's Day.

The Irish Times has published a list of 14 sayings in Irish that most of us will have no clue on how to pronounce. I include myself even though I did take a class in Irish at UNC many, many years ago.

The following is a list of handy seanfhocail you might use, with suggestions for when you might use them. Chances are those around you will not understand what you are saying. And as the old saying goes: Beatha teanga í a labhairt (the life of a language is to speak it).

Is lia gach othar i ndiaidh a leighis (every patient is a surgeon after he is cured). Listening to a punter on the tube talking loudly about his morning after cure.

Ar mhaithe leis féin a bhíonn an cat ag crónán (the car purrs only for its own benefit). On hearing a colleague talking loudly about his latest success.

Déan mórán agus can beagán (do a lot and say little). Advice for the above.

Ní dhíolann dearmad fiacha (just because you’ve forgotten a debt, it doesn’t mean you no longer owe it). When someone “forgets” it is their turn to buy the next round.

Siúlach scéalach (chatty traveller). When someone next to you volunteers story after story after story.

Sceitheann fíon fírinne (in vino veritas). To be used at the staff Christmas party.

Tógfaidh dath dubh ach ní thógfaidh dubh dath (a garment can be dyed black but a black cloth cannot be dyed any other colour). It is easier to defame someone than to restore their reputation. To be used the day after the Christmas party (see above).

Bíonn caora dhubh ar an tréad is gile (even the brightest flock has a black sheep). There is always one! To be used at kids birthday parties.

Cuir síoda ar ghabhar is gabhar fós é (put silk on a goat, it will still be a goat). Friday night fashion.

Tarraingíonn scéal scéal eile (one story always leads to another). A good motto for journalists.

Is minic bréag ar aonach (there are many lies at the fair). To be used in the presence of salesmen everywhere.

Má chailleann tú uair ar maidin beidh tú á tóraíocht i rith an lae (if you lose an hour in the morning you’ll be looking for it all day). Obey the alarm clock!

Is ait an mac an saol (life is strange). When you hear Irish being spoken in a far-flung land.

Is binn béal ina thost (silence is golden). What you say to someone when you realise they are speaking ill of you in Irish.

NRA "Strongly Opposes" The Nomination Of Merrick Garland

The National Rifle Association released the following statement this afternoon concerning the nomination by President Obama of Judge Merrick Garland to fill the late Justice Antonin Scalia's seat on the US Supreme Court.

SCOTUS Nomination: Merrick Garland

“With Justice Scalia’s tragic passing, there is no longer a majority of support among the justices for the fundamental, individual right to own a firearm for self-defense. Four justices believe law-abiding Americans have that right – and four justices do not. President Obama has nothing but contempt for the Second Amendment and  law-abiding gun owners. Obama has already nominated two Supreme Court justices who oppose the right to own firearms and there is absolutely no reason to think he has changed his approach this time. In fact, a basic analysis of Merrick Garland’s judicial record shows that he does not respect our fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. Therefore, the National Rifle Association, on behalf of our five million members and tens of millions of supporters across the country, strongly opposes the nomination of Merrick Garland for the U.S. Supreme Court.” Chris W. Cox, executive director, NRA-ILA

ü Merrick Garland’s record on the Second Amendment is unacceptable to anyone who respects the U.S. Constitution and an individual’s fundamental right to self-protection.

ü He is the most anti-gun nominee in recent history. This should come as no surprise, given President Obama’s disdain for the Second Amendment.

ü He has consistently shown a complete disregard of the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

ü Garland’s history of anti-Second Amendment rulings support the conclusion that were he to be confirmed he would vote to overturn Heller.

o   In 2007, he voted to give D.C. a second chance to have its handgun ban upheld after a three-judge panel struck it down. At the time, this was the most significant Second Amendment case in America.

o   In 2004, Garland voted against rehearing another Second Amendment case (Seegars v. Gonzales), effectively casting a vote against the individual right to keep and bear arms.

o   Justice Scalia was the author of Heller v McDonald. Heller affirmed that the Second Amendment is an individual right. The Heller decision stands in the way of gun-control supporters’ ultimate goal of banning and confiscating guns.

o   If Heller is overturned, the Second Amendment for all intents and purposes would cease to exist.

o   In 2000, Garland voted in favor of the federal government’s plan to retain Americans’ personal information from gun purchase background checks despite federal laws prohibiting national firearm registration and requiring the destruction of these records.

o    Judge Garland weighed in on several significant firearms-related cases, including Parker, Seegars, NRA v. Reno,. He voted against the rights of firearm owners on each occasion.

ü The examples of Garland’s disdain for the right to keep and bear arms go on and on, including  in a major case upholding the then-existing Clinton “assault weapons” ban against a constitutional challenge

ü It’s almost certain that Garland agrees with Hillary Clinton when she said “the Supreme Court is wrong” that the Second Amendment protects an individual right.

ü In his nomination, President Obama has again placed partisanship and antagonism towards gun owners above the higher callings of his office.

ü If Garland is confirmed, Obama would be taking America back in time to an era where Supreme Court justices uphold the anti-gun policies of the president. Obama is hoping Garland will overturn the Supreme Court precedent that stands in the way of confiscatory gun control, like the gun ban and confiscation programs implemented in Australia.

SAF On Garland Nomination

The Second Amendment Foundation has a vested interest like we all do in making sure that Justice Scalia's replacement doesn't undue his work. To that end, they immediately came out against President Obama's nomination to fill the seat, Judge Merrick Garland.

From SAF:

Garland Nomination Should Be Rejected!

BELLEVUE, WA – The founder of the Second Amendment Foundation today said that the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the U.S. Supreme Court by President Barack Obama should be rejected.

SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, reacting to this morning’s announcement, was blunt: “This is not a good nomination and Judge Garland should not be confirmed.”

President Obama nominated Garland, who is the chief judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, to fill the seat left vacant by the untimely death of Justice Antonin Scalia, author of the landmark 2008 Second Amendment ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller. Scalia was considered a giant on the court and one of its finest conservative voices.

On the other hand, “Judge Garland voted to grant an en banc hearing to Heller after the three judge panel struck down the District of Columbia’s gun ban law. The only reason to do so would be to overturn the pro Second Amendment ruling. That was hostile to gun rights.”

Writing a few days ago in the National Review, Carrie Severino observed, “Garland has a long record, and, among other things, it leads to the conclusion that he would vote to reverse one of Justice Scalia’s most important opinions, D.C. vs. Heller, which affirmed that the Second Amendment confers an individual right to keep and bear arms.”

“Just as Second Amendment advocates have feared, President Obama is trying to change the court’s makeup to destroy the individual right to keep and bear arms,” Gottlieb stated. “This administration has done everything it can to erode the Second Amendment, and turn a right into a government-regulated privilege.

“Those of us on the front lines of the Second Amendment battle have warned for the past eight years that the right to keep and bear arms can live or die on a single vote,” he said, “and nothing makes that more clear than today’s nomination. I hope the Senate, if it takes up this nomination, promptly rejects it.”

Direct numbers for your Senators can be found here. It is time to start calling if you want to preserve your gun rights.

Blaser F-16 - Phenomenally Beautiful Video

The German sporting arms maker Blaser sent out a release today regarding their new over-under shotgun called the F-16. It is a very nicely made shotgun with nice lines and beautiful wood. With prices ranging from $3,795 to $4,195, the shotgun isn't cheap.

However, what grabbed my attention is the Vimeo video that accompanied the release. If you like slow motion videography, it has some of the most beautiful scenes imaginable. You see not only the clay breaking but the pellets AND the wad hitting it. Watch the video below and see if you don't agree.




The ALL NEW Blaser F16 from Blaser USA on Vimeo.