Courage and Guns

Do you have the courage?

Courage and Guns

by Michael Gaddy


"One of the ordinary modes, by which tyrants accomplish their purposes without resistance, is, by disarming the people, and making it an offense to keep arms."

~ Constitutional scholar and Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story

I was somewhat surprised in the email responses to my article here at the number of inquiries from would be first-time gun purchasers asking for advice on firearm selection, training and concealed carry permits. Obviously there are many in the freedom crowd out there who has yet to arm themselves.

I believe that many first-time gun buyers have a tendency to put the cart before the horse. Many long-time gun owners fit in the same category. Before one purchases a firearm for defense of life and property, it is imperative they realize one must first possess the courage to use this tool of liberty, up to and including deadly force. The firearm should never be the source of that courage. An inanimate object is a poor substitute for character.

True courage is in short supply in this nation’s gun culture. Supposed strong advocates of the Second Amendment routinely vote for politicians with anti-gun voting records because they are members of their chosen political party.

Authors of books on the rights of citizens to keep and bear arms routinely vote for the same anti-gun politicians. One in particular emailed me that he could not support Ron Paul in the 2008 election because he was "unelectable." This author then spoke of having to "hold his nose" when he voted for John McCain. Great courage, this one!

The majority of gun magazines routinely carry many more articles on firearms for "military and police" than they do for Joe Citizen. An editor for one of these magazines chastised me in an email for having the audacity to suggest his publication support Ron Paul for president because he too saw him as "unelectable." He opined that those who would vote for Ron Paul were actually helping the greater of two evils get elected. When I asked him whom he would vote for if his choices were Stalin or Hitler, he replied that it would never come to that in America. I promptly cancelled my subscription to his magazine. Cowardice and ignorance in the same package is hard to support.

Then there are those bastions of liberty in the pro-gun crowd who question why anyone would want to own an AK-47 or any other of those dastardly assault weapons. They contend there is no "legitimate" reason to own one. Let me make this as simple as I can: I own a legal AK-47 and several other assault weapons so I can assault the tyrant who seeks to deprive me of my rights granted by my creator, or any other criminal who attempts to take that which is mine, or harm me and those I love. Simple enough?

From past experience I know I am going to catch a lot of flak for my opinion of concealed carry laws, because I believe them to be another form of registration. Gun owners who claim they are totally against "registration" of firearms have no problem in registering themselves as gun owners. Most egregious is their paying the state to bestow on them the rights they already possess as free men.

If the true purpose of the Second Amendment is to provide the means to resist a tyrannical government, where is the logic in begging and paying that same government to allow us to possess the weapons to protect ourselves from their tyrannical pursuits? Groveling at the feet of tyrants is no reflection of courage.

Not only do concealed carry permit holders place themselves in a database available to all bureaucrats whose goal is to disarm everyone, they place themselves in the database of all law enforcement agencies. How convenient it must be for the cop who runs your drivers or vehicle license number to immediately know you are armed, what you drive, where you live, and in some cases, what type firearm you have.

Next on my list of things to anger the average gun guy is my total disdain for the organization that presents itself as the true champion of the right to keep and bear arms: the NRA, better known as the National Republican Association – Oops, sorry, National Rifle Association. Author and American Patriot L. Neil Smith, eloquently states his reasons for not trusting the NRA here.

If you are a potential owner of a new firearm, or possess several, please reexamine your commitment to liberty or give your weapons to a true patriot now rather than the tyrant when he comes for them.

Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who comes near that precious jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. When you give up that force, you are ruined.

~ Patrick Henry

January 8, 2009

Michael Gaddy [send him mail], an Army veteran of Vietnam, Grenada, and Beirut, lives in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest.

Copyright © 2009 LewRockwell.com

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All that Shimmers is Gold

Great Video regarding Gold:

All That Shimmers is Gold (click here to watch video)

The safe haven status of gold is starting to shine brighter and brighter, according to Jurg Kiener, CEO of Swiss Asia Capital. He explains his bullish outlook on the precious metal to CNBC's Oriel Morrison.

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Don't count on law enforcement to protect you

The following article reminds me of the saying, "a gun in the hand is worth more than a cop on the phone" (this is in reference to dialing 911). Notice how the guy in the article called his armed relatives instead of the police for help.

For Middle-Class Pakistanis, a Gun Is a Must-Have Accessory

With Kidnappings and Violence on the Rise, Demand for Weapons Permits Grows

By PETER WONACOTT
WSJ.com

LAHORE, Pakistan -- After escaping kidnappers who chained him to a bed for 25 days, Mohammad Javed Afridi pressed Pakistani law enforcement for swift justice. The police offered him something else: temporary permits for four automatic assault rifles.
[Mohammad Javed Afridi]

Mohammad Javed Afridi

Since Mr. Afridi's ordeal ended in mid-October, police in his hometown of Peshawar, in northwestern Pakistan, haven't made an arrest in his case. They raided the kidnappers' hide-out, but the captors got away, a senior Peshawar police official says.

So the cops allowed Mr. Afridi to arm himself against future abductions. The 35-year-old journalist now carries an AK-47 to work and back home to his wife and five children. Relatives rotate duty as his bodyguards. If his car is again stopped by armed men on a dark road, Mr. Afridi vows to shoot first.

"I'm not going through that again," he said in an interview in this city in northeastern Pakistan.

Guns have long been part of Pakistan's traditional culture, especially in the rugged northwestern part of the country. Handed down through generations, rifles have been used for hunting and for firing celebratory fusillades. Now, however, modern assault rifles and handguns have come into vogue among middle-class Pakistanis, and gun registration has jumped.

This proliferation reflects many urbanites' dwindling faith that the country's new civilian government can protect them. Over the past year, Pakistan has endured the assassination of popular political leader Benazir Bhutto, a spreading Islamist insurgency and the bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel. November's deadly terror attacks in Mumbai, allegedly carried out by 10 Pakistani militants trained here, further frayed nerves.

But more than heightened terrorist threats, many Pakistanis fear the surge in violent kidnappings, extortions and robberies that target those who look like they might have money. The 11,758 murders recorded in the first 11 months of 2008 were the highest in Pakistan in at least a decade, say Islamabad police, who compile nationwide crime statistics.

"People buy weapons because they're insecure," said a senior Interior Ministry official. "No need denying it."

Arms licenses are issued by numerous Pakistani agencies. Local authorities and police hand out permits for weapons that can be used only within their states. The Interior Ministry licenses nonautomatic weapons that can be carried across borders between Pakistan's states. The prime minister's office gives clearance for automatic assault weapons that can be used throughout the country.

Firearm licenses issued by the Interior Ministry rose sharply in 2008. Licenses for 12-gauge pump-action shotguns, used by private security guards and also duck hunters, more than doubled over 2007, according to ministry figures compiled through year's end. Over the same period, the ministry granted 47% more licenses for 30-bore pistols and 53% more for 9mm handguns.
[Pakistani police in July with arms and ammunitions seized in Karachi. Rising violence has prompted many middle-class families in Pakistan to seek weapons permits.] AFP/Getty Images

Pakistani police in July with arms and ammunitions seized in Karachi. Rising violence has prompted many middle-class families in Pakistan to seek weapons permits.

The ministry's chief spokesman didn't respond to requests for comment about the surge in gun licenses.

Some middle-class Pakistanis have appealed to politicians for help in obtaining licenses. On a recent morning at the Interior Ministry's Arms License Issuance Center in Islamabad, a scrum of applicants waved papers in clerks' impassive faces. One man carried a letter from a member of Pakistan's National Assembly, the country's top lawmaking body, asking that officials facilitate shotgun and pistol licenses for nine of his supporters.

Others say the government isn't doing enough to get arms in the hands of those who need them. "Criminals don't have licenses, so why do we need to get a license?" asked Tariq Rana, who on a recent day was buying an illegal 12-gauge shotgun after he was robbed of his cellphone, watch and cash the night before. "I couldn't get an arms license because I don't know any politicians."

Many licensed arms are sold in the military city of Rawalpindi, a half hour outside Islamabad. Down the street from the city's Liaquat National Bagh -- the park where Pakistan's first prime minister was assassinated a half-century ago and where Ms. Bhutto was killed last December -- small arms shops, their walls lined with shotguns and long-barreled pistols, are scattered amid mom-and-pop stores.

"A gun can be your friend," said one gun-shopper, Sifarish Khan. A few years ago, the government clerk was shot in the hand by his brother-in-law after an argument. He shows off a scar in the webbing between his fingers. Having a gun, he says, is like having loyal defenders at his side. "More bullets, more friends," he says.

Weapons purchased legally in the Rawalpindi shops are typically 10 times as expensive as those readily available on the black market in Northwest Frontier Province and its capital, Peshawar, a historical hub for weapon smuggling from Afghanistan. But urban Pakistanis tend to shun the illegal arms bazaars in an area known for tribal codes, bandits and Islamic insurgents.

Islamabad-based lawyer Muhammad Ali Saif, who comes from the country's northwest, says he wants an assault rifle for protection when he goes home on visits. He's no stranger to firearms. In the early 1980s, Mr. Saif says he was shot in the stomach fighting invading Soviet soldiers in Afghanistan. Mr. Saif has since publicly criticized his former Taliban comrades, however, and defended unpopular former President Pervez Musharraf in several court cases. The prominent lawyer says he won't feel secure until he's toting a weapon that matches those carried by potential assailants.

Mr. Saif submitted his AK-47 application to the prime minister's office eight months ago, and continues to wait for approval. He says the licensing process has become too politicized. "The AK-47 is a sign of privilege and prestige, which the government wants to confine to top-level officials," he said.

The prime minister's office didn't respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, Mr. Afridi, the journalist, is trying to get over the kidnapping that spurred a desire to carry his own weapon.

On the evening of Sept. 24, Mr. Afridi was driving home from his job as a reporter for a national newspaper. On the road, a group of young men motioned him to stop his Toyota. When he didn't, they fired a bullet that went in the passenger-side window and exited near his head. Instinctively, he braked. The men piled into his car, he said, and pressed a pistol to his temple.

The gang took Mr. Afridi to an abandoned house outside of Peshawar. They demanded a $100,000 ransom from his family, but gradually reduced the price for his release.

As negotiations dragged on for weeks, his guards relaxed. They gave Mr. Afridi scissors to trim his moustache. Eventually, he used the scissors to pick the lock that chained him to his bed. On Oct. 18, Mr. Afridi escaped out a window, leaving clothing and a sleeping cap lumped in the bed to fool his guards.

Mr. Afridi determined where he was and telephoned for help -- not to police, but to heavily armed relatives. Guns and revenge, he notes, are both part of the Afridi clan's tribal culture.

Mr. Afridi later used a map from Google Earth to direct police to the hideout, but they failed to find his kidnappers there. The senior superintendent of police in Peshawar, Kashif Alam, said the suspects escaped to a neighboring tribal region beyond their jurisdiction. Treating the episode as "a special case," Mr. Alam added, police gave Mr. Afridi four one-year permits to carry assault weapons.

The licenses were sufficient to arm a few cousins and an uncle. Now when he goes out on interviews, Mr. Afridi says, at least one of his relatives waits in the car for him, a Kalashnikov on his lap.

His family already had the assault weapons, he said, so it was only a matter of receiving clearance to carry them. "I don't even like guns," Mr. Afridi said. But he added: "We've become targets. Every wealthy person in Pakistan is a target."
—Waseem Ahmed Qadri in Islamabad and Khalid Kheshgi in Peshawar contributed to this article.

Write to Peter Wonacott at peter.wonacott@wsj.com

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Willem Buiter warns of massive dollar collapse

Willem Buiter warns of massive dollar collapse

Americans must prepare themselves for a massive collapse in the dollar as investors around the world dump their US assets, a former Bank of England policymaker has warned.

By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor, Telegraph
Last Updated: 3:05PM GMT 06 Jan 2009

The long-held assumption that US assets - particularly government bonds - are a safe haven will soon be overturned as investors lose their patience with the world's biggest economy, according to Willem Buiter.

Professor Buiter, a former Monetary Policy Committee member who is now at the London School of Economics, said this increasing disenchantment would result in an exodus of foreign cash from the US.

The warning comes despite the dollar having strengthened significantly against other major currencies, including sterling and the euro, after hitting historic lows last year. It will reignite fears about the currency's prospects, as well as sparking fears about the sustainability of President-Elect Barack Obama's mooted plans for a Keynesian-style increase in public spending to pull the US out of recession.

Writing on his blog , Prof Buiter said: "There will, before long (my best guess is between two and five years from now) be a global dumping of US dollar assets, including US government assets. Old habits die hard. The US dollar and US Treasury bills and bonds are still viewed as a safe haven by many. But learning takes place."

He said that the dollar had been kept elevated in recent years by what some called "dark matter" or "American alpha" - an assumption that the US could earn more on its overseas investments than foreign investors could make on their American assets. However, this notion had been gradually dismantled in recent years, before being dealt a fatal blow by the current financial crisis, he said.

"The past eight years of imperial overstretch, hubris and domestic and international abuse of power on the part of the Bush administration has left the US materially weakened financially, economically, politically and morally," he said. "Even the most hard-nosed, Guantanamo Bay-indifferent potential foreign investor in the US must recognise that its financial system has collapsed."

He said investors would, rightly, suspect that the US would have to generate major inflation to whittle away its debt and this dollar collapse means that the US has less leeway for major spending plans than politicians realise.

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Guns & Ammo...

For your consideration...

Buy, Buy, Buy
by Michael Gaddy
LewRockwell.com

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, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretence, raised in the United States. A military force, at the command of Congress, can execute no laws, but such as the people perceive to be just and constitutional; for they will possess the power, and jealousy will instantly inspire the inclination, to resist the execution of a law which appears to them unjust and oppressive.

~ Noah Webster

While we stumble along economically with bailouts, buyouts, and poor sales in almost all sectors, two products in America are seeing dramatic increases in sales: guns and ammo. People who never owned a gun before are buying; people are buying multiples of military style weapons and ammo is being bought by the case instead of by the box.

Many explain this away as folks simply worried that Obama will move to ban certain firearms, especially those referred to by the ignorant as "assault weapons," I believe the motivation to buy firearms and ammunition goes much deeper.

More and more Americans are becoming increasingly aware of the storm that is brewing on the horizon, a storm driven by the possibility of a complete economic collapse.

The more astute are reading the handwriting on the wall: military combat units being assigned for stateside duty to quell domestic disturbances, a militarization of law enforcement, and the fear of what will happen when the state is no longer able to provide monthly checks to the millions currently living on government handouts labeled as "entitlements."

A strong possibility exists, when the checks stop, those who no longer have will seek to forcibly take from those who do. The scenes from New Orleans after Katrina have not disappeared from the public memory.

Regardless, legislation has been pre-planned and is now in place to be implemented just as soon as we have another tragedy involving a criminal idiot with guns.

Most are unaware that Congressional representative, Carolyn McCarthy from New York, introduced H.R. 1022 in February 2007. This draconian, unconstitutional piece of socialist baloney would ban a multitude of firearms currently available, including the Ruger 10/22, one of the most popular .22 caliber rifles on the market. .22 caliber rifles are commonly used for small game hunting, plinking and target practice; none are in use either in the military or law enforcement as the caliber is considered too small and underpowered for use on targets larger than small game or predators; a fact that somehow escaped the intelligence of Ms. McCarthy. Proof positive that politicians don’t really care what type of weapon you have; it is the simple fact they do not want you to have any weapon at all.

Representative McCarthy’s husband Dennis was shot and killed by Colin Ferguson on the Long Island Railroad in December of 1993. Her son, Kevin, was also seriously injured.

The logic that has escaped Ms. McCarthy is: if her husband had possessed a weapon, he could have possibly saved his life and the lives of others that fateful day. Instead, those who were prohibited by the laws of the state from protecting themselves were hopelessly slaughtered and maimed by a madman who cared not about those laws, and thanks to the liberal laws of New York, is still breathing good air.

Ms. McCarthy won election to congress based on her anti-gun position. Ironic, is it not, that one can be elected to congress by proposing laws contrary to the constitution and then take an oath pledging to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic…"

McCarthy reportedly was inspired to run for congress because her predecessor, Congressman Dan Frisa, supported the Constitution and voted against an assault weapons bill. Leave it up to New Yorkers to defeat those who support the constitution and elect those who seek to destroy it.

Comrade McCarthy displayed her true colors when she filed a lawsuit against the Olin Corporation, makers of the ammunition used by Ferguson, but never filed suit against Ferguson himself. Obviously, McCarthy sought to profit from the death of her husband and the injuries to her son by accusing the manufacturers of an inanimate object of the crimes. Of course the company who manufactured this inanimate object had much "deeper pockets" than Mr. Ferguson, the person who actually loaded the ammunition into a firearm and pulled the trigger, killing six people and wounding nineteen. Thank goodness her frivolous lawsuit failed.

Americans are purchasing firearms and ammunition in record numbers, not because they believe 2009 will offer unusually good duck hunting, but because they fear the fallout from the coming economic storm and the state’s reaction to that fallout.

The larger question is: how many of those who have gone out and purchased firearms and ammo will actually use them? I believe a large number would bring those weapons to bear against criminals who would steal and threaten their families and property, but, how many would use them against the criminal state as it moves to seize their weapons, as was done in New Orleans, when the next "emergency" occurs, be it an economic meltdown or terrorist attack?

Rest assured, there will be a great majority who will not stand against tyranny. Those who have "gone along to get along" and those who have continually voted for the "lesser of two evils" will capitulate and surrender their weapons, as cowards normally do. They will rue the day they failed to support those who stood for liberty such as Ron Paul. Remember, they were offered liberty, but chose instead to support the status quo, because, in their eyes, liberty could not be elected.

Those among us who are afraid to be free will surrender their guns, their families, and their freedom to tyranny. Do not place your freedom or trust in their hands or depend on them to cover your six.

January 5, 2009

Michael Gaddy, an Army veteran of Vietnam, Grenada, and Beirut, lives in the Four Corners area of the American Southwest.

Copyright © 2009 LewRockwell.com

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U.S. to get New Currency by June, 2012

When Jim Sinclair speaks, I listen. He is predicting a currency collapse or hyperinflationary event resulting in a new currency by June, 2012. I recommend reading his post and all the posts by Alf Field in their entirety:

A gift from Jim

Jim's comments on Alf Field's Gold Price Predictions

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A sign of the time, safe sales up

Just remember to hold most of your funds in gold & silver if you want protection from inflation.

A sign of the time, safe sales up
News 4, Tuscon, AZ

In these troubled financial times, locksmiths say that safes are flying off the shelves. Nationally and locally sales are up. However, choosing the right safe is the difference between keeping your valuables safe and being an easy target for burglars.

Bruce Fairchild who owns Bruce's Safes Unlimited in Tucson, says his sales are up 30%.

"I have a lot of people coming saying they're pulling out cash and they want to hang on to cash because they're not sure which direction the country's going to take," Fairchild said.

That's why some safe owners like Gavin Douglas, say locking up your valuables is more important than ever.

"People steal everything they can get their hands on, as quickly as they can and now with the bad economy it's even worse," Douglas said.

However, choosing a safe can be tricky. Some safes are a lot easier to break into than others, giving buyers a false sense of security.

Fairchild says look for a burglary safe. Many consumers incorrectly purchase a fire safe which isn't designed to prevent forced entry. He says you need a safe with thick plate steel. Also look for one with a drill resistant hard plate, meaning they can't drill into the lock. Lastly, look for a safe with top and bottom locking bolts.

Fairchild says talk to a professional and make sure you bolt your safe to the ground.

"Because if someone gets a safe out of your house, they can go close their garage door and they can work on it until the cows come home," Fairchild said.

Also, the more it's hidden the better.

"Out of sight out of mind, again, is one of your best deterrents," Fairchild said.

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