The Sentinel

While sending out hat tips to David, he also noted yesterday that Lou Dobbs of CNN (yeah, you read that right) has put online all four parts of the coverage his news team did on the David Olofson case.

If you are not familiar with this travesty of justice, you should be. Watch and see a governmental bureaucracy run amok.

David Codrea is doing a real-time blog interview with historian and author, David E. Young, today, Monday, May 12. Mr. Young has written very influential works incliuding The Origins of the Second Amendment and The Founder's View of the Right to Bear Arms. Mr. Young was cited no less than 37 times in the various amici curiae briefs to the SCOTUS regarding the DC v. Heller case, including the brief the VCDL cosigned.

Public questions will be accepted in the comments section at a time to be announced sometime Monday.

Update: The floor opened for questions at 9:00 AM. I somehow missed the announcement.

Going by the site meter, the article on Four Legged Predators the other day generated a fair amount of interest. Rick T. in comments posted that there are 17 Counties in the Commonwealth that are offering bounties on them. According to the article Rick linked, some claim that bounties do not work.

Because coyotes are considered nuisance animals in Virginia, they may be hunted on any day of the year except Sunday. Seventeen counties in Virginia currently have bounties on the animals.

The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors considered a bounty in 2005, when several farmers complained about coyote predation, said County Administrator Clay Goodman. Supervisors contacted Fox for more information, and he discouraged a bounty.

"Preventive coyote removal is effective at certain times of the year based on biology and behavior of coyotes," Fox wrote in a memo to the board. "Bounty systems rarely if ever achieve this attention to detail."

Fies also discourages bounties.

"They don't work. They've been around for 150-plus years out West, and there's not a single documented case of a coyote bounty resulting in long-term reduction of coyote problems," he said. "It's basically a waste of taxpayer money, and it sends the wrong message to the public that they're doing something to reduce coyote numbers when they're actually not."

He added that it would be hard to reduce a coyote population because of the coyote's "density-dependent reproduction" cycle. Females may not breed one year but then decide to breed the next if the population is down.

I could not find a comprehensive list of what counties are offering bounties but below is what I could find. As you can see, the list is not exhaustive. I linked what could be confirmed by first hand accounts, county documents or newspaper articles. Those that are not linked are mentioned in other reports and could not be confirmed. Y'all help me out in the comments with this and give me some more data to post if you know of any. I'd like to see this list completed. Links would also be helpful.

I strongly encourage you to shoot all coyotes if it is on safe and legal grounds. If you can pick up some cash for doing so, all the better. They can be devastating to pets, domestic stock, wild game and even, and most importantly, children. They are an invasive species to our ecosystem.

The DGIF has an info sheet out on them. It, in part, reads:

Thirdpower at Days of Our Trailers takes a look at the rapid demise of the Million Mom March on the Mother's Days at the beginning of this decade. He do that number crunching voodoo that he do so well.

A decrease of 99.974% BTW if we go by Paul's inflated numbers.

...

Almost makes you feel sorry for them.

If "almost" is defined as "never".

I was hoping I had a picture of my own Mom shooting in the backyard but, alas, I did not.

But, for the viewing pleasure of everyone who's ever had a mother, I offer you a fine compilation compiled by Laura Browder at VCU (the only university in the State Code that prohibits carry on campus) about women in advertizing of firearms and accessories through history in this great nation. Click here and enjoy!

And I thought everyone might get a kick out of this:

The VCDL has never lifted its boycott of Smith & Wesson products. "What boycott?" some of you may be saying. Well, this one:

NOTE: THE NEW OWNERS HAVE DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO FIX THE EGREGIOUS AGREEMENT THE PREVIOUS OWNERS SIGNED WITH THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION. OUR CALL FOR A BOYCOTT OF SMITH & WESSON STILL STANDS!The Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. is calling for all supporters of the Second Amendment to vote with their pocket books, and refuse to purchase any products from Smith & Wesson. This boycott is the only viable course of action against a corporate management which has agreed with the Clinton administration to impose regulations on the American people which they could not get from our elected representatives. Smith & Wesson has agreed to impose on its dealers requirements that they not sell guns at gun shows when private sales occur without a background check, even though such sales would otherwise be lawful. Further, each sale of Smith & Wesson firearms must include a written certification that the purchaser has obtained training in the safe handling and storage of firearms.

[More at the link - CK]

It's too bad, really. They have always made a very good quality revolver and they're American owned. <sigh>

Now having said that and unequivocally urging you to consider Ruger or Taurus when wheelgun shopping, I would note that some of you probably already own S&W revolvers or may have purchased one in recent years. If you follow the internet discussions you may have found a controversy that reignites from time to time over the internal locks S&W installed in later models.

Tam at View form the Porch gives a run down on the failures: the myths, the realities and the unconfirmable.

Remember, I'm just someone who worked in the retail firearms sales and repair industry from 1993 to 2007 and who has owned probably close to a hundred S&W revolvers, including three with the dreaded internal lock. My opinions are no more valid than anyone else with a keyboard and an internet connection:

Give her a read.

From Fox's now off the air 1/2 Hour News Hour - Gun Control

An oldie but a goody brought to you by the miracle of YouTube.

[Didn't I just say last night I wanted to hear about the Saslaw dinners? Ask and ye shall receive! A new alert hit the email box today. -CK]

From Philip Van Cleave

Finally, the wait is over!  Here is the article that was written by a reporter who came to the various luncheons and a dinner in the Fairfax area that were attended by VCDL members.

Over 100 gun owners participated in the meals, which happened every weekend in April.

EM Dave Vann came up with the idea of having a reporter cover the meals in order to document that Senator "Banjo" Saslaw was out of touch with reality when he made condescending remarks on the Senate Floor earlier this year about gun owners being kicked out of any restaurant in NoVA where they might try to eat while open carrying.

There were a lot of pictures taken at the events that will be on the Internet soon.  We also had a video made by member Matt Gottshalk of McGee Digital Media that we will post as soon as it is available.

Since the last meal was a dinner with almost 100 reservations and was being held in his district, we had asked Senator Cuccinelli if he wanted to attend and speak to the group.  Unfortunately, he was speaking at the Virginia Conservative Leadership Conference that same night , so he had ex-Delegate Dick Black, a strong supporter of our right to keep and bear arms, speak in his stead.

Senator Saslaw couldn't resist showing his elitism, yet again, as he takes another swipe at gun owners.  Saslaw even manages to insult police officers when he says:

“What normal person walks around with a gun on your hip? Something’s wrong in your life if you feel compelled to carry a gun as part of your daily routine"

The News Advance changed the headline of the story and the featured picture.  The AP's headline was "Guns in Restaurants, like Peanut Butter and Jelly" and the AP photo was of VCDL members in a restaurant.

Here is the article:
[Please use the link to read the article in its entirety. - CK]

Guns in restaurants draw stares but little outcry

 By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press Writer
Published: May 9, 2008

RESTON, Va. (AP) — The patrons at Champps, an upscale restaurant and bar chain, were eating ribs and drinking beer on a recent Saturday when customer Bruce Jackson stood up and made an announcement: He was armed, and so were dozens of other patrons.

The armed customers stood up in unison, showing off holstered pistols and revolvers. Jackson said a word or two about the rights of gun owners to carry firearms in Virginia, then thanked everyone for their attention and sat down.

And the diners returned to their burgers and Budweisers.

The Virginia Citizens Defense League organized the dinner at Champps to prove a point: that the presence of armed customers in northern Virginia restaurants would elicit little more than shrugs.

Click here to read the entire text in the archive

Click here to sign up and start receiving VA-ALERTS in your email

Please remember Mrs. Sailorcurt today as she is having spinal surgery.

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. - James 5:16

Update: All went well.

We spend much time discussing the two-legged mutants, vermin, and goblins in our society, but let's not forget that our seat at the top of the food chain is protected only by our use of tools. Out of California we see:

A coyote grabbed a 2-year-old Lake Arrowhead girl by the head and was trying to carry her away when her mother ran to the rescue, ending at least the eighth incident in which an Inland child has been bitten or threatened since July.

Those Wiley son-of-a-guns are here in the Commonwealth, too, brothers and sisters, and they are a bold bunch. In that last link it is stated:

The VCDL encourages you to exercise your right to open carry in the Commonwealth in order that our fellow Virginians can become more desensitized to seeing law abiding firearm owners going about their daily business with self-defense preparedness. In fact, since the Restauarant Ban fiasco in the last few months, VCDL members and others have taken to increasingly wearing arms openly into restaurants to show their displeasure at Governor Kaine's bigotry and hypocrisy.

I wish I was hearing more about the Saslaw dinners. Adam at apocryph.org reports that the meal on April 26 was rather uneventful. I guess that's why we aren't hearing much, huh?

I'll admit, I don't open carry very often. That will probably change as I just got my holster from High Noon for my CZ P-01. It took months for them to complete (the fair and lovely Margie ordered it for me for Christmas!) and this thing is awesome. Elegant sidearm, handsome holster, hot looking Marschal grips - yeah, that's motivation!

But in the meantime, day to day, going to work with customers coming into the office, dropping off and picking up the kids at school, and generally running whatever errands I have, does not lend itself well to open carry. So I tuck in the IWB (inside waistband) and out the door I go.

There've been a number of articles on concealed carry lately - no particular reason that I know of, other than the increase in permit applications, but it's a good topic for those who practice it.

First out of the Centennial State, the Denver Post published an article on the "controversy" surrounding concealed carry. The article is fairly presented, in my opinion, and worth a read.

A church elder hoping to feel less helpless should another gunman open fire in a sanctuary; a retired woman wanting backup on long rural drives; a burly, bearded man who thinks the world is getting crazier; a disabled man and his concerned father, seeking protection from street vultures.

Shooting expert Doug Hamilton's pupils at Cherry Creek's Family Shooting Center cut a wide demographic swath, but all were eager, attentive and sincerely awed by the power and responsibility a concealed-carry permit confers on the gun owner.

For all the freaking out the antis do over gun ownership, the concealed carry laws seem to be the closest thing to what they claim they want - competency tests, extensive background checks, public records. They still go into hysterics whenever a restriction is loosened (like fingerprinting), however, with the "blood in the streets" argument, yada, yada, blah, blah, zzzzz...

Really, obtaining permission to exercise a Constitutional right is rather distasteful to many of us, but, being law-abiding people, it's what we do anyway. It's a compromise (of principles?) the VCDL would like to see rolled back and Vermont or Alaska style carry adopted. It's one of the issues about which our PAC asks prospective state level Representatives. (Go to the home page and look for the second item from the bottom if you want to see the whole questionnaire.)

Anyway, here's some of the other reports from around the web concerning CC:

Xavier at Xavier's Thoughts gives us the "Five Rules of Concealed Carry."

Squeaky at Squeaky Wheel Seeks Grease recognizes a need for quality clothing and holsters for IWB.

Breda at The Breda Fallacy got her CLP (yay, Breda!) but she ain't going for the new wardrobe thing. She's looking for alternatives.

By the way, Breda got a very admirable accolade from the Buckeye Firearms Association who asked her permission to use some of her writings on their site! You never fail to impress, Breda!

...in (gasp) the Roanoke Times!

Bradford Wiles, a graduate research assistant in the human development department at Virginia Tech, wrote a very well structured letter to the editor that bears mentioning. Contrast this letter to Donald Harris' piece I wrote about the other day.

Bradford Wiles carefully lays out and constructs his arguments and wraps them up in his summary paragraphs:

Gun bans do not mean guns disappear. Criminals do not abide by the honor code. The police are not readily available to protect you. The Second Amendment declares an individual right to keep and bear arms.

These are truths that the gun control advocate disregards. Please consider the assumptions for their argument when deciding your own position.

To my thinking, this is definitely the way to win.

Now, I will not deny that there is a place in the debate concerning revolution. I wrote a fellow blogging internet friend of mine and asked him to comment on my entry the other night and in part he stated:

I do not off-hand dismiss using any tool in the kit, because to do so limits options.  Besides, we don't always control what is introduced into an argument, so we need to be prepared for all of them.  So I would advocate learning how to use all the tools, and how to select the right one for the job.

For an audience like the Roanoke Times must have, Mr. Wiles chose the right tools. Bradford, here's a big ol' VCDL SALUTE going out to you!

Speaking of the Pretenders...

There are a slew of botched 911 incidents in the news this past week. As I type this, the Missing Pretty Coed Hour (On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, FOX News) is talking about that poor young woman in Wisconsin whose call was ignored by a 911 operator back in April and so she wound up dead.

Then, of course, there's the dispatcher who fell asleep (folks, I couldn't make this stuff up) in Memphis while a woman's home was being broken into.

But our brothers and sisters in arms at the Buckeye Firearms Association have a doozey of a tale to report.

A store owner, who happened to be a CHL (Concealed Handgun License) holder answered a silent alarm at his business a half hour after he had locked up. He catches the guy in the place and is forced to draw his sidearm on a very uncooperative assailant. Finally he verbally forces the guy onto the floor with gun aimed and does what a citizen is supposed to do. He calls 911.

You have to see the story to believe this operator's attitude. There's video, synced with the 911 tape, of the incident showing how far back this guy retreated without firing. He quite obviously did not want to shoot the goblin. He just wanted the police to get there and handle the matter with due process.

Do you have a permit for that gun, sir?", she continued, hopefully referring to an Ohio concealed handgun license, since no permit is required to own a handgun in Ohio.

"Yes I do," he replied, "and I'm on my own property."

"Ok, well, you need to answer my questions and stop being brief to me," she scolds. "What is your name?" The store owner replies with his name.

The assailant is down, he's up, he advances, finally, he dashes out the side door and escapes. This operator reminds me of one of those "real men of genius" beer ads.

The 911 operator even tells one of her coworkers who was to finally relay the information about 4 minutes into the call, "Obviously I've got an emergency situation, I have a gentleman with a guy at gun point." (That's at 5:15 on the YouTube video.) Yeah, that's clear on who the bad guy is, huh?

Really, go check it out by clicking here. WARNING: The video contains some profanity as you may well expect of the situation at hand. The summary text and commentary on the linked page is clean.

By the way, I first read about this one at David's, too.

Table of Contents

1.  Problems for Virginia workers in Tennessee
2.  Bad info in article quoted in previous VA-ALERT on PIN codes
3.  VCDL to have a Richmond membership meeting on Thursday, May 29th!

Click here to read the entire text in the archive

Click here to sign up and start receiving VA-ALERTS in your email

We're going to make this a regular feature on the blog when an alert comes out. Thanks to J. Tyler Ballance for the inspiration and Philip Van Cleave for the practical solution. I just stood in the way being difficult - CK