Napolitano: Illegal Immigration Not a Crime?

DHS: Napolitano recently stated on CNN that Illegal Immigration is not a crime:

Napolitano: “. . . yes, when we find illegal workers, yes, appropriate action, some of which is criminal, most of that is civil, because crossing the border is not a crime per se. It is civil. But anyway, going after those as well.”

The fact is, crossing the border without authorization is a crime. The statute reads: “Any alien who enters or attempts to enter the United States at any time or place other than as designated by immigration officers . . . shall, for the first commission of any such offense, be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 6 months, or both.”

Pirates Attacked the Wrong Ship

If I were captain of a boat I wouldn't be caught dead out on the High Seas without at least my handgun & my AR-15.  It isn't the same as the full auto rifles the Pirates are using, but I'd wager that my semi-auto AR-15 and even my handgun is miles ahead of a measly old water hose that most of the ships these days are using as their only means of defense against Piracy.  It is no wonder Piracy is on the rise - with so many countries making it illegal to be armed for your own defense the Pirates are finding easy prey all over the place. 

1500 passengers & crew members of the Italian MSC Melody are thankful that Captain Ciro Pinto was smart enough to arm the security members of his crew with something other than a water hose, much to the surprise & dislike of the Pirates who recently attempted to take it hostage.  After realizing the crew was firing back, the Pirates quickly decided to go find easier prey.  I can only hope more captains out there will follow the example of Captain Ciro Pinto.  Piracy can only flourish while the Ocean is full of easy prey.  Don't be easy prey.  Be smart.  Be ARMED.

Swine Flu

Due to the fact that our Southern Arizona border is with Mexico I've been keeping an eye on the Swine Flu news courtesy of Glenn Beck.  It includes a map of suspected & confirmed Swine Flu Virus cases.  You may find this Swine Flu Q & A usefull as well.

Update 1: Pandemic Flu Preparation Checklist, & Swine Flu info from the CDC.  Thanks Dave!

AZ: Legislative Update

Legislative update from AZCDL:

Non-budget legislation in Arizona remains at a standstill while the Legislature continues to hammer out the 2010 budget.

Waiting for a House Third Read vote before being transmitted to the Senate is HB 2439, the AzCDL-requested CCW training reform bill.

Waiting to be placed on the House Committee of the Whole (COW) calendar are HB 2474 and HB 2177.  

HB 2474 prevents any private or public employer, property owner, etc. from banning any person from keeping a firearm in a locked vehicle in a parking area on the property, with specific, limited exceptions.  

HB 2177 allows a person with a valid concealed weapons permit to possess, transport or carry a weapon within a game refuge.  

In the Senate, non-budget bills have still not been assigned to committees while they continue working on the 2010 budget.  Stuck in this legislative limbo are several AzCDL-requested bills, including SB 1270 (Constitutional Carry) and SB 1243 (Defensive Display).

On a positive note, there was a pro-rights ruling this week from the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit covering Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.  The case was Nordyke v. King.  You can find the ruling on AzCDL’s “Educational” page: http://www.azcdl.org/html/educational.html .  Federal cases can be found near the bottom of the page.

In Nordyke, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the 2nd Amendment is “incorporated” through the 14th Amendment.  This means that the Second Amendment is a right protected at the state and local levels for residents in the states under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit.  

Here in Arizona, the impact of Nordyke will be minor since the Arizona Constitution protects your right to keep and bear arms in Article 2, Section 26: http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/const/2/26.htm

However in California, the impact could be significant.  California has no protection for the right to keep and bear arms in their constitution.  This new ruling means that Second Amendment rights are protected in California.  It might help to eventually invalidate some of their gun laws and provide footing for becoming a "shall issue" state.

The case that triggered the ruling was brought on behalf of a gun show promoter (Nordyke) that wanted to use county property to hold a gun show.  Despite the “incorporation” ruling, the rest of the ruling went against Nordyke.  The Ninth Circuit ruled that since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in D.C. v. Heller that guns can be banned from "sensitive" government buildings, the county was within its powers to ban the gun show.

Stay tuned!  When critical legislation moves, we will notify you via these Alerts.

Don’t forget to stop by AzCDL’s table and visit with our volunteers at the gun show this weekend, April 25 & 26, at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix.  If you renew your membership at the gun show, we knock $10 off the cost of your membership.  It’s like getting into the gun show for free!

These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization.  

AzCDL – Protecting Your Freedom

http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html 

Copyright © 2009 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved

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AZ: Another Dumb Thug

A thug grabbed a money bag from an armored car driver & ran off with it.  Unfortunately for the thug, it was an EMPTY money bag.

I love thug stories with happy endings.

Earth Day: The Free Market Rules, Communism Drools

The Heritage Foundation has a special report for earth day: Free Markets Better for Earth.  

Mac Johnson shares 7 ways for Conservatives to celebrate Earth Day.

H/T to Conservative HQ.

2nd Amendment Incorporated in 9th Cir.

Yesterday the 2nd Amendment was incorporated by the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, arguably one of the most liberal Federal courts in the nation.  Arms & the Law has a nice analysis.  It is a good first step (currently is only binding in 9th circuit although other courts can reference it) toward incorporation of Second Amendment Protections to all State & Local Governments via the Due Process clause of the 14th Amendment.  Full decision here.  

Relevant Excerpt from page 29:

[12] We therefore conclude that the right to keep and bear arms is “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition.” Colonial revolutionaries, the Founders, and a host of commentators and lawmakers living during the first one hundred years of the Republic all insisted on the fundamental nature of the right. It has long been regarded as the “true palladium of liberty.” Colonists relied on it to assert and to win their independence, and the victorious Union sought to prevent a recalcitrant South from abridging it less than a century later. The crucial role this deeply rooted right has played in our birth and history compels us to recognize that it is indeed fundamental, that it is necessary to the Anglo-American conception of ordered liberty that we have inherited.17 We are therefore persuaded that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporates the Second Amendment and applies it against the states and local governments.18

More from: SAF, David Kopel, Volokh, & Anthony Martin.

Debate: Wayne LaPierre Vs. Ed Rendell

Wayne LaPierre & PA Governor Ed Rendell debate Gun Control on CBS "Face the Nation".  Rendell calls for Gun Bans & 1 gun a month laws:



Related Washington Times story.

One question for my friends in PA: Where did you dig this guy up?  Hopefully you can get rid of him during the next election.  Consider replacing him with someone who understands the restraints on government powers built into the Constitution & the Bill of Rights.  For the slower minds like Ed it is even called the Bill of Rights, not the Bill of Needs.

As far as his lame comparison to how much trouble you can get into for shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater when no fire exists - we already have the same restraint on guns.  I can carry my gun into a crowded theater but I can't wave it around or threaten people with it, much less fire it.  Unless I'm using my gun to defend human life and all of the legal requirements for the self defense justification are fully met.  Even then I'd be fully liable for any innocent life affected by my actions.

Tea Parties Across The Nation

Carolyn Criss put together a compilation video with photos of the Tea Party Protests with a message to the mainstream media:

Loved it!  Thanks Carolyn!

NRA-ILA Grassroots Alert

This week's NRA-ILA Grassroots Alert.

CIFTA: Inter American Arms Treaty

Sebastian has a nice writeup on what is wrong with the old CIFTA (Inter American Arms Treaty) that Obama wants the Senate to Ratify.  Obama also wants to re-instate the expired gun ban but he admits he doesn't think he has the votes for it.

Obama is using lies in an attempt to garner suspport for CIFTA.  It would be a good idea to contact your Senator & let him or her know you are against it.

The NRA has come out against CIFTA.

Update 1: Lou Dobbs:

Obama: Liar or Idiot?

The title may offend past or present Obama Supporters but I've racked my brain & I can't come up with any other explanation for Obama to repeat the already clearly refuted FALSE claim that "More than 90 percent of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States"

There is no way for him to not know that he is being a deceitful liar.  No, in my opinion Obama probably isn't an Idiot, which only leaves the option of Liar.  What do I think of liars?  Well for one, they are an abomination Proverbs 12:22 (Old Testament, King James Version):

^"aLying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal ^btruly are his ^cdelight."

This isn't his first lie, and probably won't be his last.

Atlanta Tea Party: John Rich Performing Shuttin' Detroit Down

Live at the April 15th Atlanta Tea Party John Rich Performed Shuttin' Detroit Down

Phoenix Arizona Tea Party

I really enjoyed attending the Tea Party Protest here at our Phoenix Arizona State Capitol today. I don't know exactly how many people were there, but I know it was in the thousands and the entire area was PACKED with people who like myself are concerned about the out of control spending we've been seeing out of DC lately. Below are some photos I took of the event with my phone. Look for an update to this post later with audio I recorded while at the event.

Phoenix Arizona Tea Party 4/15/09

Update 1: Some video from the event:

Update 2: Video of some of the speakers at the event (I'll update this list as I find more)

• Barry Hess
• Ernest Hancock
• Compilation of excerpts from select speakers
• Unknown: 1, 2, 3 

All She Wants to do is Tax Tax

Because today is the day many of us are forced to mail our checks to the IRS I thought this song about Senator Barbara Boxer would be appropriate for  my mood:

See you today at the Tea Party!

Right Wing Extremists

I've always considered myself to be an American.  However, I recently found out from Napolitano and the Department of Homeland Security that instead I'm probably a Right Wing Extremist.  Why is that you might ask?  Simply due to the fact that I support constitutionally protected freedoms & liberties such as the right to keep & bear arms.  Napolitano even attacked our honored veterans.

Napolitano, your efforts to divide our Country into squabbling groups you can rule over will only lead to Americans Uniting under the common cause of freedom & common sense.  The firmer you tighten your Fascist grip, the more resolute you'll find We the People become, slipping out of your slimy power hungry fingers.  You will get a small glimpse of our resolution tomorrow during the Tea Party Protests.  I'll be there, as will many of my friends accross the Country, standing in defense of our Freedoms and our American Way of Life.

AZ: HCR 2024 - Claims Sovereignty Under 10th Amendment

From AZCDL:

HCR 2024 is scheduled to be debated in the House Committee of the Whole (COW) on Tuesday,  April 14, 2009.

HCR 2024 stipulates that the state of Arizona claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment to the Constitution over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution.  It states that this resolution serves as both a notice and a demand to the federal government to immediately cease and desist mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.  It demands that all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply, under threat of civil or criminal penalties, or sanctions or requires states to pass legislation or otherwise lose federal funding, be prohibited or repealed.

 

HCR 2024 requires the Arizona Secretary of State to transmit copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate of each state’s legislature, and each member of the Arizona Congressional Delegation.

We urge everyone to contact your Representatives and politely ask them to support HCR 2024 when it is debated in the COW on Tuesday, April 14, 2009.  You can find your Representatives here:  http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp 

Stay tuned!  When critical legislation moves, we will notify you via these Alerts.

Copyright © 2009 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved.

Watch it Live today @ 1:30 PM or as Archived afterwards.

Sometimes You Get What You Ask For

A thug interrupted a AA meeting, pulled out a gun & yelled "Gimme what you got!"

Instead of a pile of wallets, he got lead:

. . . A robber who walked into the Columbia downtown Alcoholics Anonymous center, pulled out a gun and demanded money was killed in a burst of gunfire from an AA visitor’s gun, police said.

"Gimme what you got," witnesses quoted the robber as saying when he entered the AA building at 2015 College St. in Five Points about 10:48 p.m. Saturday. They said he brandished a .25-caliber handgun.

At that point, as one AA visitor dropped something on the floor possibly his wallet another AA visitor pulled out his own pistol and shot the robber "multiple times," police said . . .

Let this be a lesson to thugs everywhere - you should always be careful what you ask for, especially when you are not in a so-called gun free zone, more aptly named a self defense free zone.

Don Kates: Gun control restricts those least likely to commit violent crimes

Don B. Kates wrote a great article titled Gun control restricts those least likely to commit violent crimes:

The March 21 murder of four Oakland police officers by Lovelle Mixon, a convicted felon wanted for a recent parole violation, epitomizes the futility of “gun control,” or the banning and restricting of gun ownership for law-abiding adults. Using the officers’ tragic deaths to further an unrelated agenda — stripping away the Second Amendment rights of honorable citizens — is both harmful and distracting.

Mixon was not an anomaly. Felons commit over 90 percent of murders, with the remainder carried out primarily by juveniles and the mentally unbalanced . . .

Notably, only 15 percent of all Americans have criminal records, yet more than 90 percent of murder suspects have a history of crime . . .

Naïve, well-meaning people often respond to such facts with, “Still, wouldn’t this be a better world without guns?” After many years of studying guns as a highly effective method of self-defense, I reply, no, the world would be immeasurably worse off without the only weaponry that gives the weak a real chance against predators. After all, there was a time, hundreds of years ago, when there were no guns. Without guns for self-defense, survival was measured by the strength of men’s arms, as women, children and the elderly huddled in terror, escaping only by abject submission to their predators . . .

Don B. Kates is a research fellow at the Independent Institute in Oakland and a criminologist and former professor of criminal and constitutional law.

Check out the full article.

More Proof that Gun Free Zones Disarm Victims, Not Criminals

John R Lott wrote a great article with yet more proof that Gun Free Zones disarm victims, not criminals: "Gun-Free Zones are a Magnet for Attacks like the tragedy in Binghamton"

If a criminal is unwilling to obey critical laws against criminal activities such as assault or murder, why would they bother to obey a gun free zone law?

Update 1: How to quickly stop mass shootings like Binghamton NY

Guns Recovered From Mexico Crime Scenes Traced to US - around 17%

It turns out that the now infamous 90% stat we've been hearing about lately from the likes of Clinton, Feinstein, and Hoover is actually closer to 17%.  About 17% of guns recovered from crime scenes in Mexico are ultimately traced by the ATF as coming from the US.  

There's just one problem with the 90 percent "statistic" and it's a big one:

It's just not true.

In fact, it's not even close. The fact is, only 17 percent of guns found at Mexican crime scenes have been traced to the U.S.

So exactly where did the misleading 90% stat come from?

What's true, an ATF spokeswoman told FOXNews.com, in a clarification of the statistic used by her own agency's assistant director, "is that over 90 percent of the traced firearms originate from the U.S."

But a large percentage of the guns recovered in Mexico do not get sent back to the U.S. for tracing, because it is obvious from their markings that they do not come from the U.S.

"Not every weapon seized in Mexico has a serial number on it that would make it traceable, and the U.S. effort to trace weapons really only extends to weapons that have been in the U.S. market," Matt Allen, special agent of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), told FOX News.

Yet another example of anti-gun Politicians distorting the truth in an attempt to gain support for their desired gun bans.

Watch the Fox news report here.

Update 1: Obama is also quoting the lie.

Liberty Tube TV: Gun Controlled

Well done production by Liberty Tube TV looking into the right to keep & bear arms in a segment titled Gun Controlled:



See full episode here.

H/T to Paul Valone.