Free Market America: "If I Wanted America to Fail"

By Free Market America.

NRA Opposes Nomination of Traver to head ATF

As if we didn't already have enough problems from the ATF/BATFE - Obama has nominated anti-gun Traver to head it.

From the NRA-ILA:

Statement from Chris W. Cox, executive director, NRA Institute for Legislative Action

The National Rifle Association of America strongly opposes President Obama's nomination of Andrew Traver as director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). Traver has been deeply aligned with gun control advocates and anti-gun activities. This makes him the wrong choice to lead an enforcement agency that has almost exclusive oversight and control over the firearms industry, its retailers and consumers. Further, an important nomination such as BATFE director should not be made as a "recess appointment," in order to circumvent consent by the American people through their duly-elected U.S. Senators.

Traver served as an advisor to the International Association for Chiefs of Police's (IACP) "Gun Violence Reduction Project," a "partnership" with the Joyce Foundation. Both IACP and the Joyce Foundation are names synonymous with promoting a variety of gun control schemes at the federal and state levels. Most of the individuals involved in this project were prominent gun control activists and lobbyists.

The IACP report, generated with Traver's help, called on Congress to ban thousands of commonly owned firearms by misrepresenting them as “assault weapons,” as well as calling for bans on .50 caliber rifles and widely used types of ammunition. The report also suggests that Congress should regulate gun shows out of existence and should repeal the privacy protections of the Tiahrt Amendment -- all efforts strongly opposed by the NRA and its members.

Traver also participated in an extremely deceptive NBC Chicago report in which he referred to "the growing frequency of gang members and drug dealers using heavy caliber military-type weapons" and described them as if they were machine guns: "Pull the trigger and you can mow people down." Traver and his agents provided the reporter with a fully automatic AK-47, with which she was unable to hit the target. He then said that stray bullets are "one of the main problems with having stuff like this available to the gangs."

As the Agent-in-Charge of Chicago’s BATFE office, Traver knows that fully automatic firearms are not available through normal retail channels -- the opposite of what was implied in the report.

An agency involved in the regulation of a fundamental, individual right guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution should not be led by an individual with a demonstrated hostility to that freedom. For that reason, the NRA strongly opposes Andrew Traver to head the BATFE and urges President Obama to withdraw this ill-advised nomination.

--NRA--

Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen's group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation's leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military.

Go Vote Today!

Don't forget to go vote today if you have not already mailed in an early ballot! It is critical that we all raise our voices! Tell all your friends to go vote also. If you don't vote, don't complain!

Register to Vote!

Are you registered to vote? Registration is easy, and can be done on-line in most States. Register to Vote Today, or risk loosing our Nation! There is no excuse for apathy.

Teachenor Clark: Never Gonna Stand For This

Must have song for all Patriotic Americans: Never Gonna Stand For This - Teachenor Clark (available on iTunes):

Restoring Honor 8/28

I'll be in Washington DC tomorrow on Saturday 8/28 to attend the Restoring Honor Rally. I'm really looking forward to being surrounded by fellow Patriots. If you're going to be there with us, send me an e-mail & let me know. If you can't be there in person, you can watch the event live over the Internet from 10 AM to 1 PM EST (7 AM to 10 AM PST). Zero cost for attendees - all funding came from donations and charitable auctions. All proceeds left over go to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a foundation that benefits the children of Soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice while fighting for the freedoms we all enjoy.

Restore Honor!

Update 1: It is estimated that over 500,000 Patriotic Americans showed up to the rally. See photos of the crowd, and watch the entire event archived on C-Span.

NC: Open Carry Restore the Constitution Rally

My kind of rally!

Krista Branch: I Am America

Great song by Krista Branch: I Am America

Stand with Arizona Rally

Video from the May 29 2010 Stand with Arizona Rally I attended this past weekend. Video filmed & edited by Rick Coplin. Great speeches from American Patriots! Video is in 6 parts, each part begins with a portion of our National Anthem (playlist will continue to each video automatically):



Don't forget to attend the Phoenix Rising Rally this Saturday on June 5th.

NSSF Response to Mexican President's Call to Ban the Modern Sporting Rifle

The NSSF has responded to Calderon's Call to Ban the modern sporting rifle:

NEWTOWN, Conn -- Following calls by Mexican President Felipe Calderon that the United States re-institute a ban on modern sporting rifles, or so-called "assault weapons," the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) -- the trade association for America's firearms industry -- issued the following statement:

"While we respect the work of President Calderon to willingly take on his country's powerful drug cartels, we are disappointed that he, in the name of security, would urge our Congress to reinstitute a failed ban on so-called 'assault weapons.'

"Let's be clear, semi-automatic rifles, demonized as so-called 'assault weapons,' are not machine guns but modern sporting rifles that are used every day by law-abiding Americans for the shooting sports, hunting and home protection. Since 2004, when the Clinton/Gore 'assault weapons' ban expired, modern sporting rifles have fast become one of the most popular types of firearms for law-abiding Americans to purchase.

"Firearms that Congress would label "assault weapons' are functionally no different than any other semi-automatic civilian sporting firearm. They shoot only one shot per trigger pull, no spray firing as some allege, and use the same ammunition as other guns of the same caliber. What differentiates modern sporting rifles from other guns is cosmetic; for example, the type of stock on the firearm.

"According to the Department of Justice, so-called "assault weapons" are rarely used in crimes (less than 2 percent). Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has established that banning firearms and ammunition have no effect on crime levels.

"Some 29,000 firearms were recovered in Mexico in 2008, of which approximately 5,000 were traced to U.S. sources. That means more than 80 percent of the firearms recovered in Mexico were not traced to the United States. Furthermore, according to the ATF, those firearms traced were originally sold at retail not recently, but on average 14 years earlier. This is completely inconsistent with any notion that a flood of newly purchased firearms are being illegally smuggled over the border into Mexico. And let's not forget, no retail firearms sale can be made in the U.S. until after a criminal background check on the purchaser has been completed.

"In recent years as many as 150,000 Mexican soldiers, 17,000 last year alone, defected to go work for the drug cartels - bringing their American-made service-issued firearms with them. It has also been well documented that the drug cartels are illegally smuggling fully automatic firearms, grenades and other weapons into Mexico from South and Central America. Such items are not being purchased at retail firearms stores in the United States.

"Even more, investigations and regulatory compliance inspections by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) into firearms trafficking along the Southwest border have confirmed that firearms retailers are law-abiding businessmen and women who are playing a key role in detecting and deterring illegal purchases of firearms. As part of a Project Gun Runner Impact Team firearms trafficking operation, more than 1100 firearms retailers were inspected by ATF. Of these inspections only one retailer license was revoked. One.

"Members of the firearms industry take seriously the criminal acquisition and misuse of their products. This is why our industry supports the Southwest Border Violence Reduction Act of 2009, sponsored by Sen. Bingaman (D-NM) and Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (D-TX), and will continue to work cooperatively with law enforcement. For nearly a decade our industry has partnered with the ATF in a national campaign called Don't Lie for the Other Guy that makes the public aware that it is a serious crime to illegally straw purchase a firearm. The program also helps ATF to educate firearms retailers to be better able to detect and prevent illegal straw purchases. It is our hope that Don't Lie will once again receive grant funding from the Department of Justice – a move that would allow NSSF and ATF to further expand this worthwhile program. For the last year, Don't Lie has been financed entirely by members of the firearms industry.

"Again, we applaud President Calderon for taking steps to stop the cartels when past Mexican administrations paid only lip service and allowed rampant corruption to fester. Still, it is wrong for anyone to blame the Second Amendment and America's firearms industry for the problems Mexico is currently facing.

"Sacrificing the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans will not make Mexico safer – especially when the sacrifice is rooted in unfounded allegations and hyperbole. President Calderon would be doing both his country and ours a favor if instead of pushing for already failed crime-control measures, he used his time in the United States to call for proven methods to combat criminal acts, such as putting more cops on the street and more prosecutors in the court rooms.".

Satire: Ray Stevens on Illegal Aliens

Ray Stevens explains what happens to illegal aliens who sneak into various Countries. The obvious conclusion: Come to the USA!

Buz Mills: Stand up for Arizona and 2nd Amendment

I really like this message from Arizona Gubernatorial Candidate Buz Mills:

Buz Mills is an NRA Board Member and will be attending the 2010 NRA Annual Meeting this weekend. He is inviting everyone to stand up for Freedom and the Second Amendment by signing his petition.

American Uprising

Nice montage video including some Tea Party footage. Uprising by Muse as background music:

"They will not force us! (to buy healthcare insurance)
They will stop degrading us! (they call us tea baggers?)
They will not control us! (we will not hand over our guns!)
And we will be victorious!" (at the polls this November!)

Don't Tread on Me!

Like the rattlesnake the American People bite back when provoked. Politicians will feel our bite when we throw out Progressive Democrats & Progressive Republicans at the ballot box this November!

AZ: 2nd Amendment Lunch at Capitol

A week from today on Monday April 19th come and join freedom loving Americans from all over for a Second Amendment Lunch and Rally at the Arizona Capitol at noon. Bring your family, bring a lunch, and bring your favorite firearm in your favorite holster in celebration of our right to bear arms.

Celebrate America. Celebrate Freedom. Enjoy a lunch.

You can RSVP and invite your facebook friends to join us via event links here or here.

Nugent: 'New Independence Day' in November

Ted Nugent on the upcoming 2010 elections:

Tea Party Responds to Keith Olbermann

I've been to multiple Tea Party events myself, and I can vouch for the fact that it is a diverse group of Americans from all backgrounds and ethnicities. Keith Olbermann obviously has never been to such an event himself.

Ray Stevens: We The People

Excellent music video from Ray Stevens. How can you go wrong with the lyric "Hey Congress: You vote Obamacare, we'll vote you outa there! We the people have awakened to your tricks"

NRA Online Advisory Panel

The NRA has formed an NRA online advisory panel. Join in and share your opinion. After you sign up, you can take their 2nd Amendment Spectrum poll to see where you stand on the spectrum. You'll also be able to see how your stand compares with those of your elected representatives. I scored a 100%. Where do you fall on the spectrum?

There is also an online forum where you can join discussions on the issues. More details:

The NRA Online Advisory Panel

A few weeks ago, we launched a brand new service -- the NRA Online Advisory Panel -- a community of our most active and loyal supporters.

As a part of the Advisory Panel, you have the opportunity to engage with other NRA members, take weekly polls and surveys, compare Members of Congress, track federal legislation, and more. This is your chance to make your voice count. NRA wants to know what you think and what gun owners are concerned-or excited-about in your part of the country.

Thousands of NRA members have already joined and the community is growing every day. If you haven't already visited this new web site, please be sure to do so soon.

To find out more and to sign up to become a member of the NRA Online Advisory Panel, please visit: http://nra.civicscience.com.

Copyright 2010, National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action. This may be reproduced. It may not be reproduced for commercial purposes. 11250 Waples Mill Road, Fairfax, VA 22030 800-392-8683

Rivoli Revue: USS of A

Ron and Kay Rivoli of Rivoli Revue have a number of great music videos. This one is called USS of A. One of the lines in the song is "we better stand together one & all or our constitution is gonna fall" - I couldn't agree more!