LulzSec AZ release shows US Military grenade launchers ended up in the hands of “criminal elements” near Mexico-US border

Private documents recently exposed by hacking group LulzSec have illustrated that selling weapons to foreign entities, especially drug gangs, will inevitably come back to bite us in the ass later.  But of course we have to constantly be meddling in the affairs of Central/South America because our own government wants to keep shipping in massive quantities of drugs.   This is at the root of the problem.  There is too much money being made.  (Read Dark Alliance by Gary Webb, watch “The Mena Connection,” for starters)

From an ATF internal memo to AZ law enforcement:

“Numerous recoveries by Mexican authorities of M203 style 40 mm Grenade Launchers as well as a variety of 40mm high explosive (HE) ordnance, from criminal elements on or near the International Border with the United States.”

So basically, AZ Police better watch out because the Federal Government is selling guns, including .50 cal and grenade launchers to narco gangs south of the border (See here and here)

This is the war we should be fighting- guarding the border against grenade and machine gun attacks by drug gangs which have already claimed the lives of police and border patrol agents.

Important 2nd amendment quotes

Via What Really Happened

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms. . . disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. . . Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” — Jefferson’s “Commonplace Book,” 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764

– Thomas Jefferson

– William Grayson

- James Madison

- Alexander Hamilton

- Thomas Paine

- Elbridge Gerry

- Patrick Henry

- George Mason

- Patrick Henry

- George Mason

- Patrick Henry

- State Gazette (Charleston), September 8, 1788

- Rev. Nicholas Collin, Fayetteville Gazette (N.C.), October 12, 1789

- Pennsylvania Gazette, February 20, 1788

- Noah Webster An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, Philadelphia, 1787

“Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves? Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birthright of an American . . . . The unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.” — The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788

“As the military forces which must occasionally be raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow citizens, the people are confirmed by the next article (of amendment) in their right to keep and bear their private arms.” — Federal Gazette, June 18, 1789

- Samuel Adams, Debates of the Massachusetts Convention of 1788

“… whereas, to preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them…”

- Richard H. Lee, Additional Letters from the Federal Farmer 53, 1788

- James Monroe

- Pennsylvania Gazette, April 23, 1788

- Thomas Jefferson, in letter to William S. Smith, 1787

Founding Fathers on the Second Amendment

GEORGE WASHINGTON (First President)

“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the people’s liberty teeth keystone… the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable… more than 99% of them by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference. When firearms go, all goes, we need them every hour.” (Address to 1st session of Congress)

“On every question of construction (of the Constitution) let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” 12 Jun 1823 (The Complete Jefferson p.32)

“No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” (Jefferson Papers, p. 334, C.J. Boyd, 1950)

“The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” (Thomas Jefferson Papers p. 334, 1950)

“And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms…The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” Letter to William S. Smith 13 Nov 1787 (Jefferson, On Democracy p. 20, 1939; Padover, editor)

“The few cases wherein these things (proposed Bill of Rights) may do evil, cannot be weighed against the multitude where the want of them will do evil…I hope therefore a bill of rights will be formed to guard the people against the federal government…” (letter to Madison 31 July 1788, The Papers of James Madison, Hobson & Rutland, p.11:212)

“I have a right to nothing which another has a right to take away.” (letter to Uriah Forrest, 1787, Jefferson Papers, 12:477)

“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the limits of the law,’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual.” (letter to Isaac Tifany, 1819)

“I ask, Who are the militia? They consist now of the whole people, except a few public officers.” (Jonathan Elliot, The Debates of the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, [NY: Burt Franklin,1888] p.425-6)

“Forty years ago, when the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised…to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually, by totally disusing and neglecting the militia…” (In Virginia’s Ratifying Convention, Elliot p.3:379-380)

“The militia may be here destroyed by that method which has been practiced in other parts of the world before; that is, by rendering them useless – by disarming them.” (Elliot, p. 3:379-80)

“I consider and fear the natural propensity of rulers to oppress the people. I wish only to prevent them from doing evil.” (In Virginia’s Ratifying Convention, Elliot p.3:381)

“Arms in the hands of citizens (may) be used at individual discretion…in private self-defense…” 1788(A Defense of the Constitution of the Government of the USA, p.471)

“But it ought always be held prominently in view that the safety of these States and of everything dear to a free people must depend in an eminent degree on the militia.” (his first Inaugural Address, 1817)

“And that the said Constitution be never construed to authorize Congress to infringe the just liberty of the press, or the right of conscience; or to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms; …or to prevent the people from petitioning , in a peaceable and orderly manner; or to subject the people to unreasonable searches and seizures of their persons, papers or possessions.” (Debates of the Massachusetts Convention of 1788, p86-87)

“Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation.. (where) ..the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” (Federalist Papers #46)

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”

“They [proposed Bill of Rights] relate 1st. to private rights….the great object in view is to limit and qualify the powers of government…” 8 June 1789 (The Papers of James Madison, Hobson & Rutland, 12:193, 204)

“To these (federal troops attempting to impose tyranny) would be opposed a militia amounting to near half a million of citizens with arms in their hands.” (Federalist Papers #46)

“A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves…and include all men capable of bearing arms.” 1788 (Federal Farmer, p.169)

“To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them…” 1788 (Federal Farmer)

“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, citizens and husbandman, who take up arms to preserve their property, as individuals, and their rights as freemen.”

“The great object is, that every man be armed…. Every one who is able may have a gun.” (Elliot p.3:386)

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.” During Virginia Ratification Convention 1788 (Elliot p.3:45)

“I am not well versed in history, but I will submit to your recollection, whether liberty has been destroyed most often by the licentiousness of the people, or by the tyranny of rulers. I imagine, sir, you will find the balance on the side of tyranny.” (Elliot P.3:74)

“My great objection to this government is, that it does not leave us the means of defending our rights, or of waging wars against tyrants.” (Elliot, 3:47-48; in Virginia Ratifying Convention, before Bill of Rights)

“O sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if, to punish tyrants, it were only sufficient to assemble the people! Your arms, wherewith you could defend yourselves, are gone…” (Elliot p.3:50-52, in Virginia Ratifying Convention demanding a guarantee of the right to bear arms.)

“Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” (Respectfully Quoted, p. 201, Suzy Platt, Barnes & Noble, 1993)

“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom in Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed….” (An Examination of the Leading Principles of the Federal Constitution, Webster1787)

“A people can never be deprived of their liberties, while they retain in their own hands, a power sufficient to any other power in the state.” (Webster, p.42-43)

“Little more can reasonably be aimed at with respect to the people at large than to have them properly armed and equipped.” (Federalist Papers #29)

“Who are the militia? Are they not ourselves. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American…(T)he unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people.” (Freeman’s Journal, 20 Feb 1778)

“As civil rulers, not having their duty to the people duly before them, may attempt to tyrannize, and as the military forces which must be occasionally raised to defend our country, might pervert their power to the injury of their fellow-citizens, the people are confirmed by the next article in their right to keep and bear their private arms.” (introduction to his discussion, and support, of the 2nd Amend) “Remarks on the First Part of the Amendments to the Federal Constitution” Philadelphia Federal Gazette, 18 June 1789, pg.2

“The militia, who are in fact the effective part of the people at large, …will form a powerful check upon the regular troops…” (Coxe, An Examination of the Constitution of the United States of America p.20-21)

“The burden of the militia duty lies equally upon all persons;” in Congress, 22 Dec 1790 (Elliot, p423)

“Last Monday a string of amendments were presented to the lower house; these altogether respect personal liberty…” (in letter to Patrick Henry)

“The people are not to be disarmed of their weapons. They are left in full possession of them.” (Elliot, 3:645-6)

Founding Fathers on the Second Amendment

Anti-gun/freedom/liberty Quotes

MORE QUOTES

Everyone on Liberty

CAPTAIN JOHN PARKER (Commander, Lexington Militia Company)

“Every man of you who is equipped, follow me..Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon. But if they want to have a war, let it begin here.” Lexington, MA, 19 April 1775, as British troops approached on their march to Concord to implement gun control (Mine Eyes Have Seen, Goldstein 1997 & Quotes for the Military Writer, U.S. Army Command Information Unit, Library of HQ TRADOC)

“Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

“If in the opinion of the people the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this in one instance may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.” (farewell address)

“A free people ought not only to be armed but disciplined…” (Papers of the President, p.65, Richardson, ed)

“Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.” (Letter to Du Pont de Nemours 24 April 1816)

“When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.”

“If ye love wealth more than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may your chains set lightly upon you, and posterity forget that ye were our country men.” 1776

“The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.”

“Millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible. …The battle, is not to the strong alone; it is the vigilant, the active, the brave. …Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.” Excerpts of speech made before the Virginia House of Burgesses, 1775

“Are we at last brought to such a humiliating and debasing degradation, that we cannot be trusted with arms for our own defense?…. If our defense be the real object of having those arms, in whose hands can they be trusted with more propriety, or equal safety to use, as in our own hands?” (3 Elliot, p. 168-9)

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”

“…arms like laws discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe…Horrid mischief would ensue were the good deprived of the use of them.”

“Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption for authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters.”

“A people who mean to continue free must be prepared to meet danger in person…” (22 Dec 1790, Elliot p.4:411)

“…the whole history of mankind proves that so far from parting with the powers actually delegated to it, government is constantly encroaching on the small pittance of rights reserved by the people to themselves and gradually wrestling them out of their hands…” (The Maryland Journal, 28 March 1788)

“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” Speech to House of Commons, 1787

“Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could only do a little.”

“The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion.” 1784

“…but a million armed freemen, possessed of the means of war, can never be conquered by a foreign foe.” his first Inaugural Address, 1829 (total popular vote for his election was just over one million)

“Both Oligarch and Tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of arms.” (Politics, Aristotle p. 218)

“The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” (17 September 1859, speech in Cincinnati, OH)

“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards out of men.”

“No clause in the Constitution could by any rule of construction be conceived to give to congress a power to disarm the people.” (Rawle, A View of the Constitution, p. 125-6, 1829)

“The strength of the Constitution lies entirely in the determination of each citizen to defend it. Only if every single citizen feels duty bound to do his share in this defense are constitutional rights secure.”

“Certainly one of the chief guarantees of freedom under any government, no matter how popular and respected, is the right of citizens to keep and bear arms…The right of citizens to bear arms is just one guarantee against arbitrary government, one more safeguard, against the tyranny which now appears remote in America but which historically has proven to be always possible.” (22 October 1959)

“If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed, if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not so costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance for survival. There may be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no chance of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves.”

“In Germany, they first came for the communist, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a communist. Then, they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew…Then they came for the Catholics. I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up.”

“Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found out the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; …The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” 1857

“A right delayed is a right denied.”

“The militia is the natural defense of a free country against sudden foreign invasions, domestic insurrections, and domestic usurpation of power by rulers. The right of the citizens to keep and bear arms has justly been considered, as the palladium of the liberties of the republic; since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of rulers; and will generally…enable the people to resist and triumph over them.” (Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States, p.3:746-7, 1833)

“Constitutions are checks upon the hasty action of the majority. They are self imposed restraints of a whole people upon a majority of them to secure sober action and a respect for the rights of the minority.” (22 August 1911)

“As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such a twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air– however slight– lest we become the unwitting victims of the darkness.”

“Fear of assassination often produces restraints compatible with dictatorship, not democracy.”

“I cannot agree with those who think of the Bill of Rights as an 18th century straitjacket, unsuited for this age…The evils it guards against are not only old, they are with us now, they exist today.” (The Great Rights, Cahn ’63, p 44-45)

“For the saddest epitaph which can be carved in memory of a vanished freedom is that it was lost because its possessors failed to stretch forth a saving hand while there was still time.”

“Those who won our independence by revolution were not cowards. They did not fear political change. They did not exalt order at the cost of liberty.” (Whitney v. California, 1927)

“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding.” (Olmstead v. United States, 1928)

“It would be strange to find in the midst of a catalog of the rights of individuals a provision securing to the states the right to maintain a designated ‘Militia.’ Dispassionate scholarship suggests quite strongly that the right of the people to keep and bear arms meant just that . There is no need to deceive ourselves as to what the original Second Amendment said and meant.” A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law, Princeton University Press

“[T]hey [the Founders] feared that some future generation might wish to abandon liberties that they considered essential, and so sought to protect those liberties in a Bill of Rights.” A Matter of Interpretation

“The Constitution Protects us from our own best intentions.” (U.S. v. Printz, 1977)

“The Second Amendment similarly appears to contain an express limitation on the government’s authority. If the Second Amendment is read to confer a personal right to ‘keep and bear arms,’ a colorable argument exists that the Federal Government’s regulatory scheme, at least as it pertains to possession of firearms, runs afoul of that amendment’s protections” (U.S. v. Printz, 1997)

“Today, as always, the people, no less than the courts, must remain vigilant to preserve the principals of our Bill of Rights, lest in our desire to be secure we lose our ability to be free.” (James Madison Lecture, NY University, 1962)

“They will never outlaw all of your guns at once. But every ‘reasonable’ control they can impose without your resistance gives them one more bit of leverage to make gun ownership for you and your children and your grandchildren as difficult as possible.”

“The advice on self-defense that I received after [my] assault was ‘Don’t get a gun. It will only add to the violence.’ Never having been exposed to guns before, this seemed to make sense — until I was attacked again.”

“…the only background check I’d support is one on politicians.”

“Gun control has not worked in D.C. The only people who have guns are criminals. We have the strictest gun laws in the nation and one of the highest murder rates. It’s quicker to pull your Smith and Wesson than to dial 911 if you’re being robbed.” The Washington Post

“Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.” (My Autobiography, p. 446)

“What should we think of a gentleman, who, upon hiring a waiting-man, should say to him ‘my friend, please take notice, before we come together, that I shall always claim the liberty of eating when and what I please, of fishing and hunting upon my own ground, of keeping as many horses and hounds as I can maintain, and of speaking and writing any sentiments upon all subjects.’ (A) master reserves to himself…every thing else which he has not committed to the care of those servants.” [editor's translation: Bill of Rights not needed; repetitive]

“False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; …The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm those only who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Can it be supposed that those who have the courage to violate the most sacred laws of humanity, the most important of the code, will respect the less important and arbitrary ones, which can be violated with ease and impunity, and which, if strictly obeyed, would put an end to personal liberty — so dear to men, …and subject innocent persons to all the vexations that the guilty alone ought to suffer? Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man. They ought to be designated as laws not preventive but fearful of crimes, produced by the tumultuous impression of a few isolated facts, and not by thoughtful consideration of the inconveniences and advantages of a universal decree.” On Crime and Punishment, p.145 (1819) originally published in 1764

“…most attractive to Americans, the possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave, it being the ultimate means by which freedom was to be preserved.” (Shalhope, The Ideological Origins of the Second Amendment, p.604)

“I blame the deaths of my parents on those legislators who deny me my right to defend myself.” (Both her parents and 20 others were killed by a mad man in the Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, TX, 1991. TX law prevented her from carrying her handgun into the restaurant, so she left it in the car)

“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing he cares about more than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature who has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”

“Who can protest an injustice but does not is an accomplice in the act.”

“The tank, the B-52, the fighter-bomber, the state controlled police are the weapons of dictatorship. The rifle is the weapon of democracy….If guns are outlawed, only the government will have guns. Only the police, the secret police, the military, the hired servants of our rulers. Only the government and a few outlaws. I intend to be among the outlaws.”

Those who disagree with the previous quotes

BRITISH MAJOR JOHN PITCAIRN (Commander of Advance Guard of British forces marching to Concord, MA)

“Disperse you rebels; damn you, throw down your arms and disperse.” (order to American militiamen at Lexington, 1775)

“We can’t be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans to legitimately own handguns and rifles…that we are unable to think about reality.” (USA Today, 11 March 93, pg. 2A)

“The last time I checked, the Constitution said ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’. That’s what the Declaration of Independence says.” Reuters News Agency ([Editor's note: actually those words are in neither of those documents, but part of The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln]

“I don’t think the American people are there right now. But with more than 200 million guns in circulation, we’ve got so much more to do on this issue before we even reach that. I don’t think that’s an option now. But there are certain kinds of guns that can be banned and a lot of other reasonable regulations that can be imposed.” when asked of the possibility of a federal law banning handguns, interview in Rolling Stone magazine, 9 Dec 93, pg. 45

“We’ve banned these guns ['assault' weapons] because you don’t need an Uzi to go deer hunting, and everyone knows it.” Weekly radio address, 15 Nov 97, the Roosevelt Room, the White House

“We are taking the law and bending it as far as we can to capture a whole new class of guns [to ban]” (Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct 97, Mr. Cerda was named as a “White House official who specializes in gun control.”)

“The current state of federal law does not recognize that the Second Amendment protects the right of private citizens to possess firearms of any type. Instead, the Second Amendment is deemed to be a collective right belonging to the state and not to an individual. Accordingly, the Second Amendment is interpreted by this administration as prohibiting the federal government from preventing a state government from forming or having a state recognized militia force. With this understanding in mind, the source of citizens’ authority to possess a handgun has never been particularly identified in American law.” In a letter written on behalf of President Clinton

“Gun registration is not enough.” (Associated Press 10 Dec 93)

“I’ve always proposed state licensing…with some federal standards.” (ABC’s “Good Morning America” 10 Dec 93)

“[Assault weapons] are used on school yards, at airports, in bank lobbies, on trains, in traffic and in front of the White House. They have no legitimate sporting purpose, and you won’t find them in a duck blind or at the Olympics.” (The Washington Times, 22 March 96, A4)

“What we have got to do is make sure that before a person possesses a gun, they have exhibited by test that they know how to safely and lawfully use the weapon and by experience that they are capable of doing that.” (Associated Press, 29 Mar 99)

“I want to make it as hard as possible. Gun owners would have to be evaluated by how they scored on written and firing tests, and have to pass the tests in order to own a gun. And I would tax the guns, bullets and the license itself very heavily.” (Mother Jones magazine, Jan/Feb ’94)

“Armas para que?” (“Guns, for what?”) (response to a Cuban citizens who said the people might need to keep their guns, after Castro announced strict gun control in Cuba)

“I have made it considerably tougher for residents to get handgun permits.” (in his book Safe and Sane, 1984)

“…we could tax them [firearms] out of existence.” (Washington Post 4 Nov 93)

“My bill…establishes a 6-month grace period for the turning in of handguns.” (Congressional Record 10 Nov 93)

“The second article of amendment (Second Amendment) to the Constitution of the United States is repealed.” (U.S. House Joint Resolution 438 introduced 11 March 1992 by Congressman Owens, D-NY)

“If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up every one of them ‘Mr. and Mrs. America, turn ‘em all in,’ I would have done it.” (60 Minutes episode, CBS) [Sen Feinstein holds a CCP]

“If it were up to me, we’d ban them all [firearms].” (CNN Crossfire 9 Dec 93)

“Kennedy said he favors an outright ban on handguns, but doubts its palatability in the current political climate.” (Providence Journal, 4 Jan 99)

“We’re going to have to take this one step at a time, and the first step is necessarily – given the political realities – going to be very modest. Right now, though, we’d be satisfied not with half a loaf but with a slice. Our ultimate goal – total control of all guns – is going to take time…..The final problem is to make the possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition – except for the military, policemen, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs and licensed gun collectors – totally illegal.” (New Yorker Magazine, p.57-58, 26 Jul 76)

“There is no personal right to be armed for private purposes unrelated to the service in a well regulated militia.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 6 June 97, pg. 6)

“We have a tremendous opportunity to take a giant leap forward in our fight to require gun licensing in this country if Initiative 676 succeeds, there’s no question but that we will have created enormous momentum for a national gun licensing law.” (HCI fund-raising letter, Oct 97, speaking of Initiative 676 in WA)

“I don’t believe gun owners have rights. The Second Amendment has never been interpreted that way and every court case that’s ever come down has shown that.” (“Guns in America: Part III”, Hearst Newspaper 1997, By Holly Yeager)

“To end the crisis [of gun violence], we have to regulate -or, in the case of handguns and assault weapons, completely ban -the product. We are far past the [point] where registration, licensing, safety training, background checks, or waiting periods will have much effect on firearms violence.” (Mother Jones Magazine, Jan/Feb 94, article titled “Reverse Fire”)

“Under such a plan (proposed by Sugarmann, where ATF would have total say on legality of guns) would result in an immediate ban on the future production and sale of handguns and assault weapons” (Mother Jones Magazine, Jan/Feb 94, article titled “Reverse Fire”)

“the semiautomatic weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion ..[that] anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun – can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons.” (“Assault Weapons and Accessories in America” [Washington, DC Education Fund to End Handgun Violence and New Right Watch] Sep 88, p. 26)

“We endorse a handgun ban. I will tell you that right now. We absolutely endorse that ban and we are absolutely vocal about it.” [answering: "What is your ultimate goal?"] (Talk Show Front Page on WVLK AM 590, Lexington, KY, 3 Dec 97)

“If you’ve got to resist [an attacker], your chances of being hurt are less the more lethal your weapon. If that were my wife, would I want her to have a .38 Special in her hand? Yeah.” (Health magazine, Mar/Apr 94 )

“There is no reason for anyone in this country, anyone except a police officer or military person to buy, to own, to have, to use a handgun.” (USA Today 16 Jan 92)

“We will never fully solve our nation’s horrific problem of gun violence unless we ban the manufacture and sale of handguns and semi-automatic assault weapons.” 29 Dec 93

“A bill requiring all handguns to be given to the government will be introduced Tuesday by Sen. John Chafee.” 1 Jun 92

“Why should America adopt a policy of near-zero tolerance for private gun ownership?…who can still argue compellingly that Americans can be trusted to handle guns safely? We think the time has come for Americans to tell the truth about guns. They are not for us, we cannot handle them.” 28 Dec 93

“The claim of the advocates that banning these 19 types of ‘assault weapons’ will reduce the crime rate is laughable…Ultimately, a civilized society must disarm its citizenry if it is to have a modicum of domestic tranquillity…Passing a law like the assault weapons ban is a symbolic — purely symbolic move in that direction. Its only real justification is not to reduce crime but to desensitize the public to the regulation of weapons in preparation for their ultimate confiscation…De-escalation begins with a change in mentality. And that change in mentality starts with the symbolic yielding of certain types of weapons. The real steps, like the banning of handguns, will never occur unless this one is taken first, and even then not for decades. (The Washington Post, 5 April 1996)

“The plain fact is that the United States is now hostage to a harrowing epidemic of gun violence, and the Brady bill won’t do much to change that. The National Rifle Association has been saying this all along, and the NRA is right. The NRA has also argued that a waiting period won’t prevent criminals from getting guns. And it’s right about that, too. Enactment of the Brady bill will, however, represent a victory of some political significance – a visible defeat for the tenacious lobbying power of the NRA. Thus the limited scope of the Brady bill was justified as a necessary first step toward breaking the NRA’s power – a way to demonstrate that politicians could support a moderate version of control and survive.” (Rolling Stone, article entitled: “A Pistol-whipped Nation – Pass the Brady Bill – then ban handguns”, 30 Sep 93, pg. 31)

“I have not one doubt, even if I am in agreement with the National Rifle Association, that that kind of record keeping procedure (gun registration) is the first step to eventual confiscation under one administration or another” in a 1975 hearing before the House Subcommittee on Crime

“We must reverse this psychology (of needing guns for home defense). We can do it by passing a law that says anyone found in possession of a handgun except a legitimate officer of the law goes to jail- period! (1981 article)

“as long as authorities leave this society awash in drugs and guns, I will protect my family.” (1988 article titled “At Least They’re Not Writing My Obituary”, after shooting an unarmed trespasser with an unregistered handgun)

“Men possess handguns in order to compensate for sexual dysfunction.” [her husband is among NYC elite that has been issued a permit to carry a concealed handgun]

“The only way to make America safe: go house to house and confiscate every gun.” (Access Hollywood, 8 June 98)

“Their movement [2nd Amendment supporters] is so well grounded in the Constitution, it’s 200 years old. Our movement is probably 20 years from reaching its peak.” (Reuters)

“Maybe we brought out the extremist vote with this one.” (The News Tribune, Tacoma, WA 6 Nov 97, after their ballot measure requiring gun licenses was defeated 71% – 29%)

“Those now possessing weapons and ammunition are at once to turn them over to the local police authority. Firearms and ammunition found in a Jew’s possession will be forfeited to the government without compensation Whoever willfully or negligently violates the provisions will be punished with imprisonment and a fine.”

Do 90 Percent of the Guns Used in Mexican Drug Crimes Really Come From America?

Friday, April 3rd, 2009
The Agitator

From Hillary Clinton to Diane Feinstein to Bob Schieffer to the New York Times, gun control proponents keep repeating the claim that 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico’s drug war were sold in the United States.

William La Jeunesse and Maxim Lott say it just isn’t true. As it turns out, the 90 percent statistic actually concerns only those guns Mexican authorities sent to the U.S. for tracing. Since the U.S. really has no means of tracing guns not manufactured in the U.S., Mexican authorities don’t bother sending U.S. officials guns that were obviously manufactured elsewhere (generally guns that lack a U.S. serial number, or don’t show signs of once having had one).  So the 90 percent figure isn’t surprising, and it isn’t really alarming. It means that 90 percent of the guns Mexican authorities thought were probably made and sold in the U.S. were indeed made and sold in the U.S.

But that’s not what gun control proponents have been saying.  They’ve been saying nine of 10 guns used in all Mexican drug crimes came from the U.S. That number, La Jeunesse and Lott report, is closer to 17 percent.

The report explains that most of the weapons used by Mexico’s drug cartels are actually illegal in the U.S. Even if they weren’t, it makes little sense to suggest drug cartels are going through the hassle of sending thousands of “straw buyers” across the border to legally purchase guns in America when more powerful black market weapons are available from Russia, South America, China, and Guatemala without the bureaucracy and risk of registration. The L.A. Times hinted at as much in an article a couple of weeks ago, but seemed to miss the obvious connection that if the cartels are arming up with black market weapons unavailable in the U.S., the 90 percent figure trumpeted by U.S. politicians probably isn’t correct.

Here’s the other thing: According to one Mexican official, 150,000 Mexican soldiers have defected in the last year, taking their government-issued M-16s with them. Those guns are ending up in the hands of drug dealers. The U.S. is also continually sending more money and arms to Mexico to support President Calderon’s military crackdown on the drug trade, but we send all of that aid knowing the high rate of defection among both soldiers and Mexican police officers, and the high rate of corruption and high percentage of Mexican officials on the cartels’ payrolls. One firearms expert told LaJeunesse and Lott that some guns…

“…are legitimately shipped to the government of Mexico, by Colt, for example, in the United States. They are approved by the U.S. government for use by the Mexican military service. The guns end up in Mexico that way — the fully auto versions — they are not smuggled in across the river.”

In other words, not only are U.S. politicians flat wrong when they say that 90 percent of the guns used in Mexico’s drug war are coming from U.S. gun dealers recklessly selling legal American guns to cartel straw buyers, they’re ignoring the fact that a not-insignificant number of the guns used by the cartels likely came from the U.S. government, in the form of the drug war aid.

Yet the federal government’s strategy, as outlined by Hillary Clinton last week, is apparently to harass legitimate U.S. gun dealers while sending more weapons and money to the Mexican government. More power for the government, less freedom for the citizenry. Seems about consistent with politicians’ solution to most problems.

George Washington: Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself

“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the people’s liberty teeth keystone… the rifle and the pistol are equally indispensable… more than 99% of them by their silence indicate that they are in safe and sane hands. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference. When firearms go, all goes, we need them every hour.”

-George Washington, 1st session of Congress

Please also see: important-2nd-amendment-quotes

MIAC report labeling Libertarians, Ron Paul supporters as terrorists has been retracted.

C4L sent this message today.  This is a small victory for freedom loving americans, but do not think for a second the overall agenda of these federal fusion centers has changed.

Click here to download a PDF of the report

March 28, 2009

Dear Friend of Liberty,

Although it sometimes seems that freedom is shrinking everywhere we turn, the fact is a powerful grassroots stand can still stop Big Government bureaucrats in their tracks.

That is exactly what happened to the Missouri Highway Patrol this week after being forced by your vocal outrage to retract the incendiary Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) report.

This report identified peaceful, freedom-loving Americans as possible security threats, simply for supporting Ron Paul or opposing tyrannical government.

Faced with an overwhelming public outcry, Missouri officials quickly started backpedaling, removing references to Ron Paul and Campaign for Liberty.

Then, just hours before Dr. Paul’s plane touched down in St. Louis to lead our Celebration of Freedom rally Friday night, the Missouri Highway Patrol officially retracted the entire offending document.

The Missouri Highway Patrol will be performing an investigation into the origin of the report.  Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder has even called for the suspension of the Director of Public Safety until those responsible have been identified.

Click here to read the news report.

It is no surprise that oversight and accountability are in short supply at the MIAC, a Big Government “fusion center” combining federal, state and local agencies into an unconstitutional mess of a bureaucracy.   But government disorganization is no excuse for making political profiling and persecution into official policy.

This victory for the grassroots freedom movement, coupled with this weekend’s Campaign for Liberty Regional Conference in St. Louis, marks a great moment for liberty in Missouri and all of America.

This week we saw that politicians still respond to the voices of their constituents.

This week we saw that freedom can triumph over tyranny when we unite to take a stand.

In Liberty,

John Tate
President, Campaign for Liberty

P.S. This week Campaign for Liberty showed that freedom-loving Americans will not be silenced by political persecution.  We successfully fought for the retraction of the MIAC report, and we met in St. Louis to celebrate freedom’s victory over tyranny.

Please click here to donate so that Campaign for Liberty can always afford to stand up against tyranny in all its forms.

A short history lesson on gun control

In 1929, the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

In 1911 Turkey established gun control.
From 1915 to 1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, a total of 13 million Jews and others who were unable to defend themselves
were rounded up and exterminated.

China established gun control in 1935.
From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend
themselves, were rounded up and exterminated

Guatemala established gun control in 1964.
From 1964 to 1981, 100,000 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Uganda established gun control in 1970.
From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, ere rounded up and exterminated.

Cambodia established gun control in 1956.
From 1975 to 1977, one million educated people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.

Defenseless people rounded up and exterminated in the 20th Century
because of gun control: 56 million.

It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by a new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by their own Government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than
$500 million dollars. The first year results are now in:

List of 7 items: Results of gun control

Australia-wide, homicides are up 3.2 percent.

Australia-wide, assaults are up 8.6 percent.
Australia-wide, armed robberies are up 44 percent (yes, 44 percent)!

In the state of Victoria alone, homicides with firearms are now up 300 percent. Note that while the law-abiding citizens turned them in, the criminals did not, and criminals still possess their guns!
While figures over the previous 25 years showed a steady decrease in armed robbery with firearms, this has changed drastically upward in
the past 12 months, since criminals now are guaranteed that their prey is unarmed.

There has also been a dramatic increase in break-ins and assaults of the ELDERLY. Australian politicians are at a loss to explain how public safety has decreased, after such monumental effort, and expense was expended in successfully ridding Australian society of guns. The
Australian experience and the other historical facts above prove it.

You won’t see this data on the US evening news, or hear politicians disseminating this information.

Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws adversely affect only the law-abiding citizens.
Take note

The next time someone talks in favor of gun control, please remind them of this history lesson. With guns, we are ‘citizens’, without them, we are ‘subjects’.

During WWII the Japanese decided not to invade America because they knew most Americans were ARMED!

If you value your freedom, please let those that legally own firarms keep them. If you do not like them, don’t own one..

The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory in
defense.. The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is
more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental.
SWITZERLAND ISSUES EVERY HOUSEHOLD A GUN! SWITZERLAND’S GOVERNMENT TRAINS EVERY ADULT THEY ISSUE A RIFLE. SWITZERLAND HAS THE LOWEST GUN
RELATED CRIME RATE OF ANY CIVILIZED COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!!!
IT’S A NO BRAINER! DON’T LET OUR GOVERNMENT WASTE MILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLARS IN AN EFFORT TO MAKE ALL LAW ABIDING CITIZENS AN EASY TARGET.

You and I Can’t Buy the Guns Mexican Cartels Own

The Administration is Not Dealing Straight With Us on Mexico’s Gun Problem

GunNewsDaily
Ralph Weller
March 1 2009

Let’s set things straight right up front. Yes, some guns are being smuggled into Mexico from the U.S. Most are handguns. But, handguns are being illegally trafficked from state to state and from the U.S. to Canada. It should come as no surprise that guns are smuggled into Mexico. But, the problem being portrayed by the U.S. media and our government is not as it seems. You see, Mexico doesn’t allow ownership of most firearms, so ordinary Mexican people seeking self-protection will find a way to get them into Mexico. As for the drug cartels operating in the border towns along the U.S., they have other sources for their weapons and have become the prime supplier within Mexico.

I worked in Mexico in a border town for about five years. It was far enough from San Diego County in the Sonora Desert of Mexico that commuting several hundred miles daily was impossible. So, for a few years I lived in the city and commuted home periodically on some weekends. As crime grew out of control, I eventually moved into a place on the U.S. side and commuted daily in and out of Mexico for my own safety.

I stayed in Mexico for a Mexican holiday my first year. I don’t recall the holiday. Normally, I would leave Mexico for a holiday, but it was in the middle of the week and one day was not long enough to come home. All I know is that on that particular Mexican holiday, Mexicans love to fire guns into the air. That evening as I sat on the balcony of my hotel, the gun fire that erupted in celebration was quite unbelievable. It was so intense I backed off the balcony and watched the festivities from a couple three feet in the room. We’re talking war-like firing of weapons, it was that intense.

As I listened that night to the gun fire, I was somewhat shocked at the amount of fully automatic gun fire. It wasn’t sporadic. It was continuous throughout the city. For a country that bans guns I thought, how in the world did they get their hands on all these full-auto weapons? Clearly what sounded like M16 fire was prolific along with 7.62 x 39 AK autos with a smattering of smaller caliber full-autos, most likely 9mm. Gun fire can be heard in most American cities on New Years, but I’ve never heard full-auto weapons being fired, at least not in the San Diego area.

The next day I went into work and sat down with a trusted senior Mexican manager. I looked at him and said, “I thought guns were illegal in Mexico.” He chuckled and said, “So you stayed in town last night?” As the conversation progressed, it became clear that guns are as common in Mexico as tamales at Christmas. Everyone he knows, including himself, own at least one gun. And, it matters not whether it’s a semi-auto or fully automatic, they’re all illegal, so why stop with semi-autos? Though clearly illegal in the states in most instances, a lot of Mexicans have more firepower in terms of military weapons than we can only dream of owning here.

As time went on, parties in the city at middle class Mexican homes become a way of life. Most Mexican managers in the plant knew I was a gun wonk. As it turns out, they couldn’t wait to invite me over to their place on a Friday night to show me their collection. Semi-autos, some very high-end Sigs and other European handguns were not uncommon along with piles of old revolvers. I thought I had seen everything in the states, but in Mexico it’s not uncommon for people to own full-auto military rifles. Everything from an M16, UZI machine pistols and the most popular, select-fire AK47 military rifles. These are not the so-called “assault weapons” you can buy at the local gun shop in the U.S., but full select-fire military-issue rifles. Now, I know you want to know and are dying to ask; Did I see any U.S. military-issue weapons stolen from the U.S. military? Not a single one was marked with U.S. military markings. Everything was marked with additional foreign markings on the receiver, including M16 rifles, or they had nothing at all. I saw firearms manufactured in Europe, China, Russia and South America along with U.S. manufactured weapons. I saw rifles that looked familiar with no place of manufacture, no serial number or manufacturer’s logo. The information was not removed, it was never there to begin with. I can only assume they came from illegal arms manufacturers in India or Pakistan that produce copies of weapons. It was obvious that none of these firearms came from a U.S. gun shop in Tucson or San Diego. You couldn’t buy them from a gun shop in the states if you tried.

It seems Mexicans have a rich heritage of firearms ownership prior to the ban in 1968. Despite the laws against owning them, they ignore it. Most Mexicans will say they need it for personal protection of themselves and their family. The other reason is they don’t trust the government or local law enforcement. If they have to use it in their home for self-defense, whether they end up in jail is all dependent on how much money they can come up with, or who they know in the government. It also depends on who they shoot. But, given the alternative with high crime rates, most middle class Mexicans willingly and without reservations take the risk.

Despite being able to own .22 caliber pistols or rifles, Mexican law requires them to be stored at an approved firing range. Where’s the firing range I asked many times? No one knew of one. Where’s the gun stores in town to buy legal guns? Gun stores? No one ever recalled seeing one anywhere in Mexico, let alone their city. I’m sure somewhere, maybe in Mexico City you might be able to buy a gun, but not in this city of almost 1.5 million residents. And the gun traffickers know it.

Where do ordinary Mexicans get their weapons? Most buy them from a ‘friend’ or a friend of a friend or cousin or uncle. Where the friend gets them is not talked about. But, it seems that drug cartels in Mexico are heavily involved in gun trafficking of military weapons and related hardware. And, who are these ordinary Mexicans? They range from people who work in factories as managers and senior managers, government workers, doctors, dentists and anyone with the financial means to buy a firearm. I even ran into a couple of government bureaucrats, one a lawyer for the federal government who owns firearms. He confirmed that people he knew in the government, some very highly ranked bureaucrats and politicians all own illegal firearms. The other works for the Mexican equivalent of the IRS. It’s a way of life in Mexico. It seemed to me that you aren’t in the ‘in-crowd’ in Mexico unless you own at least one firearm. I was amazed at the whole thing after believing for years that gun ownership in Mexico was non-existent. That is hardly the case.

All this flies in the face of news articles published by the U.S. media in the last week or two. Mexico’s gun problems are a direct result of gun runners buying “assault weapons” in the U.S. and taking them into Mexico to arm drug cartels, says the U.S. media and government. That is a bunch of government and media nonsense. The cartels aren’t arming themselves from U.S. gun stores with semi-auto AR15 and AK47 rifles. They’ve moved on up. Not to completely dismiss arms moving into Mexico from the U.S., but it is not as it seems when the U.S. media tells the story. The firearms moving across the border are semi-auto rifles and handguns sold to middle class or wealthy Mexicans seeking personal protection from criminals that have no connections in Mexico with gun runners. For the most part the wealthy in Mexico are targets of criminal elements, so they have no intention of connecting up with them to buy a self-defense firearm. You’re better off buying a weapon from someone within the Mexican government than buying it from the criminal element, namely a drug cartel.

Cartels buy their arms from countries around the world, most any place where military weapons can be purchased on the black market, or from countries wishing to destabilize North America. They arm themselves from a worldwide black market of full auto military weapons including grenades, land mines and RPGs. They also “procure” their weapons from the less than savory from within the Mexican military.

The drug cartels can easily afford to fly their weaponry into Mexico using their own fleet of aircraft on to remote airfields, or land them on remote Mexican shores from their fleet of vessels. They do it with drugs all of the time. Drug cartels buying semi-auto AR15 or AK rifles from U.S. gun dealers is viewed as a joke by Mexico’s drug cartel, most Mexicans, and unfortunately by the Mexican government. The only people fooled by all the political rhetoric are Americans listening to the likes of Attorney General Eric Holder and other anti-gun politicians.

Mexico has a gun problem, just like they have a drug problem and both the U.S. and Mexican governments are trying to place the blame on U.S. gun owners. U.S. gun owners aren’t the problem. Mexico is the problem. The government is corrupt from the lowest level law enforcement officer shaking down American tourists for traffic violations, to officials and politicians highly placed within the Mexican government, including elements within the military. Everyone knows it. Everyone in Mexico knows it. Every law enforcement official in the U.S. knows it, and everyone in our government knows it. And anyone who has worked for any length of time within border cities and lived in the local community knows it. This is taking a Mexican problem, blaming the U.S. by turning it into a crisis in order further an agenda, and Eric Holder and President Obama knows it and they are taking advantage of it.

The next time you see a news report of illegal full-auto weapons and grenades being found here in the U.S., you know where they came from. It wasn’t from a gun store in Tucson or Phoenix. The administration is right that gun trafficking along the U.S./Mexico border is a problem. Not only do we have drugs and illegal aliens coming in our southern border, but we also have military arms and explosives coming into our country illegally as well. That’s the issue and our government is being disingenuous in its argument.

This AP news report published today is typical of what is going on. It is disgustingly biased and flat wrong: AP report for Detroit Free Press

Don’t believe me and what I say? See what the Latin American Herald is saying about a recent arrest of cartel members and their weaponry in Mexico. No, the items listed weren’t purchased at a gun store in Phoenix or Tucson. Grenades and RPGs are illegal in the U.S.: LAH Story

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