Déjà Vu, All Over Again: "More Guns, Less Crime"--Bradyites weep

The NRA-ILA reports what the criminals already know and what the gun grabbers refuse to know, that more armed citizens means less crime.

Paul Helmke and Dennis Henigan -- spokesmen for the beleaguered Brady Campaign these days -- are old enough to know what a phonograph record is, so for their benefit we'll put it this way:  At the risk of sounding like a "broken record," gun ownership has risen to an all-time high, and violent crime has fallen to a 35-year low.  Coinciding with a surge in gun purchases that began shortly before the 2008 elections, violent crime decreased six percent between 2008 and 2009, according to the FBI. This included an eight percent decrease in murder and a nine percent decrease in robbery. 

Since 1991, when total violent crime peaked, it has decreased 43 percent to a 35-year low. The murder rate, less than half what it was in 1980, is now at a 45-year low. Throughout, the number of guns that Americans own has risen by about four million a year, including record numbers of the two types of firearms that the Brady folks would most like to see banned -- handguns and the various firearms they call "assault weapons."

I'm certainly doing my part. My most recent N.C. Concealed Carry Handgun class was the biggest group I've had since I started teaching about a year ago, 12 people, and half of them were women. Plus it was about equal racially, half black and half white.

Crime knows no racial or sexual boundaries. As they used to say out West, "God created men, but Col. Colt made them equal."

"Don't Tread On My Gun Rights" yard signs available from NRA-ILA

I gotta get me one of these from the NRA-ILA for my yard. I'm hopeful this fall's elections will open up a huge can of whoop ass on the leftwingnuts in power, leading up to the "End of an Error" in November 2012.

Praise the Lord and pass the Gun Rights signs.

I'd rather have one of these from Sig Sauer, but I guess I'll have to settle for the signs since I can't buy all the guns I want: Sig P226R 9mm Gadsden "Don't Tread On Me" w/N.S.

I love the smell of napalm and burning Bradyites early in the morning

I was on the road Monday when the decision was announced, but I gotta give an attaboy to the NRA-ILA for the victory for gun rights in Chicago.

Fairfax, Va. -- The National Rifle Association of America today praised the U.S. Supreme Court's historic decision in another landmark Second Amendment case. In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that the Second Amendment applies not just to Washington, D.C. and other federal enclaves, but protects the rights of all Americans throughout the country. The opinion in McDonald v. City of Chicago brings an end to the nearly 30 year-long handgun ban that the city has imposed on its law-abiding citizens.
"This is a landmark decision," said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. "The Second Amendment -- as every citizen's constitutional right -- is now a real part of American constitutional law. The NRA will work to ensure this constitutional victory is not transformed into a practical defeat by activist judges defiant city councils or cynical politicians who seek to pervert, reverse or nullify the Supreme Court's McDonald decision through Byzantine labyrinths of restrictions and regulations that render the Second Amendment inaccessible, unaffordable or otherwise impossible to experience in a practical, reasonable way."
As a party to the case, the NRA participated in oral arguments before the Court in March. The NRA persuasively argued that the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment and that handgun bans, like those in the City of Chicago and the Village of Oak Park, are unconstitutional under any standard of judicial review. This same view was shared in friend of the court briefs by a bipartisan group of 309 members of Congress from both chambers, 38 state attorneys general, and hundreds of state legislators. Public opinion polls show that it is also shared by the overwhelming majority of the American people.
"This decision makes absolutely clear that the Second Amendment protects the God-given right of self-defense for all law-abiding Americans, period," said Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist. "Ironically, while crime in Chicago runs rampant and lawmakers there call on the National Guard for help, Mayor Daley has insisted on leaving the residents of his city defenseless. Today's opinion puts the law back on the side of the law-abiding. We will be watching closely to make sure that Chicago abides by both the letter and the spirit of the Supreme Court's decision." 

And what do it mean? Wayne LaPierre and Chris Cox tell us.

Today marks a great moment in American history. This is a landmark decision. It is a vindication for the great majority of American citizens who have always believed the Second Amendment was an individual right and freedom worth defending.
The Supreme Court said what a majority of the American public believes. The people who wrote the Second Amendment said it was an individual right, and the Court has now confirmed what our founding fathers wrote and intended. The Second Amendment -- as every citizen’s constitutional right -- is now a real part of American Constitutional law.
But, Supreme Court decisions have to lead to actual consequences or the whole premise of American constitutional authority collapses. Individual freedom must mean you can actually experience it. An incorporated freedom has to be a real freedom.
The intent of the founding fathers -- and the Supreme Court -- was to provide access. Words must have meaning.
The Supreme Court has now said the Second Amendment is an individual freedom for all. And that must have meaning. This decision must provide relief to law-abiding citizens who are deprived of their Second Amendment rights.
We are practical guys. We don’t want to win on philosophy and lose on freedom. The end question is, can law-abiding men and women go out and buy and own a firearm? Today the Supreme Court said yes – anywhere they live!
This decision cannot lead to different measures of freedom, depending on what part of the country you live in. City by city, person by person, this decision must be more than a philosophical victory. An individual right is no right at all if individuals can’t access it. Proof of Heller and McDonald will be law abiding citizens, one by one, purchasing and owning firearms.
The NRA will work to ensure this constitutional victory is not transformed into a practical defeat by activist judges, defiant city councils, or cynical politicians who seek to pervert, reverse, or nullify the Supreme Court’s McDonald decision through Byzantine labyrinths of restrictions and regulations that render the Second Amendment inaccessible, unaffordable, or otherwise impossible to experience in a practical, reasonable way.
What good is a right without the gun? What good is the right if you can’t buy one? Or keep one in your home? Or protect your family with one?
Here’s a piece of paper – protect yourself. That’s no right at all!
Victory is when law abiding men and women can get up, go out, and buy and own a firearm. This is a monumental day. But NRA will not rest until every law-abiding American citizen is able to exercise the individual right to buy and own a firearm for self defense or any other lawful purpose. 

I love the smell of napalm and burning Bradyites early in the morning.

N.C. Right-to-Carry gets boost from Legislature and Governor

More good news on the self-defense front. North Carolina now has a new law in effect which stops slow-moving local sheriff's departments from depriving concealed-carry permit holders of rights.

Until this new law, if you applied for renewal of your carry permit and it expired before the local sheriff's office got its paperwork done, sorry Jack, you gotta go through the whole process again, take the state-law class, reapply as if you haven't already been a lawful carry citizen. No more.

The NRA-ILA reports the good news.

On Friday, July 17, Governor Bev Perdue (D) signed the Right-to-Carry permit renewal improvement bill into law (House Bill 1132).

HB 1132 will now ensure that if a Right-to-Carry permit holder applies to his or her sheriff for renewal of a permit within 90 days of the permit's expiration, and the renewal application is not approved or denied by the expiration date, the permit will remain valid until the renewal decision is final. HB 1132 will also require sheriffs to notify permittees when their permits are about to expire. Finally, should a permittee fail to apply to renew a permit before the expiration date, the permittee may apply within 60 days following the expiration of the permit, and ask the sheriff to waive the requirement of taking another firearm safety training course.

My permit doesn't expire for two more years, but I'm glad I won't have to worry about it running out. Bravo, state legislators and Gov. Perdue!