Simon says "NO GUNS!"

 You probably heard about the mass shooter who was stopped in 15 seconds by hero Elisjasha Dicken. More details on the chain of events will surely be released as law enforcement completes their investigation. 

Simon Property Group, owner of Greenwood Park Mall, has long posted their properties against weapons. Depending on the state, their weapons ban may or may not carry the force of law. In Indiana, according to several sources, their ban does not carry the force of law; whereas Tennessee bans do, if properties are properly posted. 

In view of the fact that Mr. Dicken was almost universally praised for his heroic action and remarkable marksmanship, I reached out to  Mr. David Simon of Simon Property group, urging him to reconsider their ban. After receiving no reply to an email, I sent Simon a snail-mail letter, reproduced below.* To date, I have not received a reply from him. . . .

I decided to contact Simon Property Group through their web site to a) clarify their weapons policy, and b) ascertain if there is any thought to changing the policy. My correspondence, edited for brevity is included below.**

Teaching New Gun Owners to Cheat and Survive

From my friend Rob Morse at slowfacts:
2020 is unusual. We added millions of new gun owners each month. Gun ownership has been increasing, but this year is remarkable. We bought firearms when government failed. We saw the police withdraw because of an epidemic. We saw courts put criminals back on the streets. We saw government officials overwhelmed by protests, riots, looting, and arson. We realized that we are on our own to defend ourself and the people under our care. Continue reading here.

Marion hammers dissidents

Marion Hammer, former president and ye olde guarde leader, takes dissenters to task at the NRA.

She says, "Those who didn’t get an assignment might want to consider whether or not they want to help us save the Second Amendment or continue on a course detrimental to NRA and our mission. "

Read John Richardson's commentary and Hammer's full diatribe HERE.

I will comment only on the statement quoted above. The way it is written as an either/or statement implies that if you are not with them, you do not support the 2A.

To the contrary, I want to restore the 2A as originally intended. Not retreat while feigning victory.

No red flag laws
No more bans
Yes national reciprocity

Marion, NRA will change. Either self directed, or imposed from outside.

FSNB Bank changes gun policy

When we moved to Cookeville, TN, we decided to open an account locally. One option was the FSNB branch located in Walmart. But, there was a problem. FSNB was posted. We decided to bank with another local bank.










Each time I walked by the FSNB in Walmart there was that sign, so I decided to write to FSNB about their ban-

Thursday, June 06, 2019

John Davis, Chairman of the board, President, and CEO, FSNB Bank

Dear Mr. Davis:

I recently saw your sign at the FSNB branch in the Walmart in Cookeville, TN. That sign prevents honest, permitted citizens from doing business with you. Many of us do business with Walmart each day. We (permitted citizens) have, at significant personal expense, gone through training, had criminal background checks done, and been issued a permit by our respective states.

I would hope that you will reconsider this policy. If you keep your properties posted, I hope that you are providing armed security. If not, you are placing your customers and employees at a greater risk, for by posting, you are notifying the criminal element that there are probably not any armed citizens in your bank branch. You thus create a risk-free workplace for the armed felon.

There is a lesson to learned from the attacks in schools,  government buildings, etc. The lesson is that felons will be happy to see your signs if they decide to target your branch. The odds will be in their favor.

Again, I urge you to reconsider this policy. I would like to be able to tell all my friends and readers that they are welcome at your bank.

Respectfully,

Liston Matthews

Cookeville, TN

Good Hill Press

Here is the positive response I got the next day from Mr. James Cerrone of FSNB:

Mr. Matthews,

Shortly we will be removing the sign and following Walmart’s lead.  Bottom-line we will comply with whatever standard they require since we are inside the WM.   Thanks for your input.

. . . And Here is a photo taken today, Thursday, June 13. Note the absence of the NO FIREARMS sign.

Thanks so much to the folks at FSNB for this very good change in policy.

Crickets

On March 25, I sent the email below to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. To date I have not heard back from him. I have a feeling that I shouldn't hold my breath.

If I do hear back from him, I will post his reply.

------

Dear Governor Lee,

You have been quoted on NPR (http://nashvillepublicradio.org/post/tennessees-next-governor-wide-support-keeping-states-handgun-carry-permit-requirement#stream/0) "I don't (support Constitutional Carry). 

Elsewhere, you state " I am committed to eliminating the carry permit fee for gun-owners, because no one should have to pay a tax for exercising their constitutional rights." (https://www.billlee.com/our-tennessee-values/ (now a dead link)). This would imply a permit at no charge. 

On another page, you state "Constitutional Carry - - You shouldn’t have to pay a fee to exercise your constitutional rights. I’d work with the legislature on any proposal where we can expand your constitutional rights, and I’ll sign legislation to make it happen."

But a question is, will state employees, such as THP officers continue to appear in committee meetings and testify against Constitutional Carry?

You have also been quoted as clearly saying you "would sign constitutional carry" in Loudon.

For the record, I heard (former) Governor Haslam promise a TFA group I attended that he would sign CC, and I have seen the video where he promised the same to another TFA group. Yet his minions worked diligently in committee meetings to assure the legislation never reached his desk, thus allowing him to keep his promise.

When will you begin to work for passage of Constitutional Carry.

I will post your answer on my website: http://www.goodhillpress.com/

Respectfully,

Liston Matthews

------

Kentucky passes permitless carry; Tennessee still tarries

Governor Matt Bevin has signed permit-less carry (AKA Constitutional Carry) into law in Kentucky. This brings to sixteen the number of states that have done so.

Boundary marker between Tennessee and Kentucky
Liston Matthews photo

What does this mean. I read the bill, and it appears that anyone who may legally own a firearm may legally carry a firearm in Kentucky. So, if you are on the other (North) side of the boundary stone pictured, the Second Amendment is your carry permit. according to WKYT, the law becomes effective June 26. 2019.

On the other hand, if you are on this side of that big rock, you  are in Tennessee,

What's wrong with a bump-stock ban?

The end goal of gun prohibitionists is total elimination of private firearms ownership. 

They have a national history that goes back four score and five years to the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA 1934).¹ Being unable to succeed in their goal in one fell swoop, they have implemented bans on various firearms; and created a slowly growing list of prohibited persons who may no longer legally possess firearms.

Here is a short list of just some of their actions, both nationally and in various states and localities:

• 1911 - Sullivan Law in New York
• 1981 - Morton Grove, Illinois gun ban
• 1982 - Chicago gun ban
• 1990 - Mayland Saturday Night Special ban
• 1986 - Hughes Amendment gun ban
• 1997 - Lautenberg Amendment people ban
• 2018 - A proliferation of Red Flag laws, including one proposed in Tennessee.

Additionally, we saw the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, which banned firearms with certain cosmetic features. A partial list includes semi-automatic rifles able to accept detachable magazines and with two or more of the following:

• Folding or telescoping stock
• Pistol grip
• Bayonet mount
• Flash suppressor, or threaded barrel designed to accommodate one
• Grenade launcher

This Federal ban, which had a ten year sunset, could have been called a lipstick and eye-shadow ban because of the fact that it had no effect on the functionality of a firearm. It also included a ten round magazine capacity limit. A number of states and municipalities passed similar bans which are still in effect. Recently, there has been a spate of similar Goldilocks bans passed around the country.

Did Rick Scott shoot himself in the foot before the Florida Senate race?

As I write this on November 14, Florida is once again in the throes of a vote recount. The Senate race pits term-limited Governor Rick Scott (R-ish) against incumbent Bill Nelson (D). Following the tragic massacre at Parkland. Florida, Scott got on board with the gun banners and signed a bill -

Official Photo, State of Florida

• prohibiting young adults, age 18-20, from purchasing long guns
• banning bump stocks
• creating a red-flag law that nullifies due process for gun owners
• imposing a three day waiting period for gun purchases

Did Scott think there would be no backlash from this? Did he really think gun owner memories are that short?

I'm not saying conservatives have gone out and jumped on the Nelson bandwagon. But, many folks are tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. Sometimes they either -

• just stay home, or
• leave that particular race blank

As I said in my letter to President Trump earlier this year,

Based on the history I have seen of past elections, if you flip on the Second, there is a good chance you would not get our support in 2020. Worst case, people will vote for the Democratic candidate. At best, many will stay home, and could very well throw the election by their absence. 

Governor Scott, perhaps if you hadn't turned your back on the firearms community, the spread would be great enough that there wouldn't even be a recount, huh?

What do you Floridians say about this?

Gun Rights Policy Conference 2018

The 2018 Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) convened in the Windy City on Saturday, September 12, at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare. The meeting, sponsored by the  Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, was preceded by a reception Friday evening, which included a concealed carry fashion show.

The Sears Tower (Willis Tower) in Chicago

Saturday morning, the meeting was called to order by Julianne Versnel, Director of Operations, Second Amendment Foundation (SAF). The day saw a potpourri of Second Amendment advocates speaking. You can see a list of the speakers HERE.

One serious issue mentioned by several speakers was Red Flag Laws, also known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders. Reminiscent of the denouncements of the French Revolution, some Red Flaw Laws allow for the confiscation of firearms without due process; without one even being able to face their accuser.

Historical American jurisprudence has required that you be accused, with an opportunity to defend yourself in court. The trend with these Red Flag Laws is for another person to make an accusation that you might commit a crime. The judge issues a ruling, and the police show up to confiscate your guns, violating both your Second and Fifth Amendment rights.

This alarming legislation is a prescription for so much to go wrong. Here are some possibilities.

1. The police show up unannounced to take Joe's guns. Joe is not willing to give them up, and in the ensuing gunfight, Joe and/or some police are killed or seriously injured. 
2. Joe, who has been not been convicted of any crime, now has had his Second Amendment rights unilaterally extinguished without due process. 
3. The police successfully confiscate Joe's guns, and now Joe has an expensive legal fight to reclaim his guns.

These states now have some sort of Red Flag Law:

California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Illinois
Indiana
Maryland
Oregon
Rhode Island
Vermont
Washington

If you hear of similar proposed legislation in your state, this is bad law, and needs to be opposed at every level.

For me, a high point of the conference was meeting Rhonda Ezell, the winning plaintiff in Ezell v Chicago. Chicago had a historical ban on handguns. Following the McDonald decision which restored the right to own a handgun in the Windy City. . . .Chicago required that citizens have training before acquiring a handgun, while prohibiting gun ranges in the city. A Catch-22 situation. Ezell's case changed that. According to the Chicago Guns Matter website, "laws regarding handgun ownership are uniform across the entire state (of Illinois)."

The SAF leads in the fight for gun rights restoration. Make plans to attend GRPC next year in Phoenix. There is no charge to attend the conference, but you will have to pay for your transportation and some meals.

-------------------------

Friday of the same weekend the Alternative Mass Media Convention (AMM*CON) Second Amendment media workshop was held in the same location. It was a gathering of podcasters, writers, bloggers, etc., with a goal of improving the effectiveness of our alternative media.

I was honored to be one of the presenters there. Here is a recording* of my  presentation:

*Must remember to reverse the camera on that cell phone!

The evil of the handgun permitting process

More than two decades ago, Tennessee passed a "shall-issue" handgun carry law, requiring the Tennessee Department of Safety to issue a handgun carry permit to any citizen who takes the required training, has a clean record, is mentally competent, and has enough money to pay for the privilege.

Source: Jeff Dege, used with permission

As the animated graphic shows, states have continually enacted laws, that have gone variously from no issue to may issue to shall issue. And some have moved all the way to Constitutional Carry! The legislatures and governors of these states have been recognizing that the typical crime does not occur when the police are nearby. Most crimes occur outside the home. Police most often can only clean up after the crime, take a report and start looking for the perpetrator.

While the permitting process in Tennessee and other states has certainly improved the situation for citizens, they still place an undue burden on the peaceful citizen, but not on the criminal.

In Vermont, it is lawful to carry a firearm openly or concealed provided the firearm is not carried with the intent or avowed purpose of injuring a fellow man. No permit is needed. Thus, in Vermont, citizens are not required to get a permit to carry a firearm. The State of Vermont has long recognized the right of its good citizens to defend themselves while away from home without the need of a permit.

In 2014, Tennessee joined most of the surrounding states, and does do not require a permit to carry a loaded firearm in a vehicle, but still requires a permit if one is to carry a handgun on or about the person. 

NPR interview at NRA 2018 convention

The President spoke at the 2018 NRA Annual Meetings. Afterwards, I had an interview with NPR. It was a total surprise to me to be asked to do this. Although I felt like I was being baited a time or two, I thought the interview went well.

To hear the four minute-ish interview and see a transcript of the conversation, click HERE.

1 Peter 3:15

The Second Amendment as an Expression of First Principles

Edward J. Erler
Co-author, The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration

Edward J. Erler is professor emeritus of political science at California State University, San Bernardino. He earned his B.A. from San Jose State University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in government from the Claremont Graduate School. He has published numerous articles on constitutional topics in journals such as Interpretation, the Notre Dame Journal of Law, and the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. He was a member of the California Advisory Commission on Civil Rights from 1988-2006 and served on the California Constitutional Revision Commission in 1996. He is the author of The American Polity and co‑author of The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration. This fall he is a visiting distinguished professor of politics at Hillsdale College.

Reprinted by permission from Imprimus, a publication of Hillsdale College. Although this is five years old, it is still pertinent today, in view of the renewed attacks on the Second Amendment. Now retired Justice Stevens advocates repealing the 2nd. 

This is a long read, so find the time to give it your attention. You can also see Dr. Erler's presentation at the end. Added note, fully automatic weapons are not totally illegal. But they are very expensive, and possession without the proper paperwork is illegal. The bold emphasis in the article is my addition.

The following is adapted from a lecture delivered on February 13, 2013, at Hillsdale College’s Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C.

We are currently mired in a frantic debate about the rights of gun owners. One example should suffice to prove that the debate has become hysterical: Second Amendment supporters, one prominent but less than articulate member of Congress alleges, have become “enablers of mass murder.”

Special animus has been directed against so-called assault rifles. These are semi-automatic, not automatic weapons—the latter have been illegal under federal law since the 1930s—because they require a trigger pull for every round fired. Some semi-automatic firearms, to be sure, can be fitted with large-capacity magazines. But what inspires the ire of gun control advocates seems to be their menacing look—somehow they don’t appear fit for polite society. No law-abiding citizen could possibly need such a weapon, we are told—after all, how many rounds from a high-powered rifle are needed to kill a deer? And we are assured that these weapons are not well-adapted for self-defense—that only the military and the police need to have them.

Now it’s undeniable, Senator Dianne Feinstein to the contrary notwithstanding, that semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15 are extremely well-adapted for home defense—especially against a crime that is becoming more and more popular among criminals, the home invasion.

No more gun bans, Mr. President

Below is the text of the letter I recently sent to President Trump. The latest I hear is that he is not calling for a ban on sales of long guns to young adults.  I hope this holds. If you have the time and inclination, it would be good for him to hear from you, too. You can use snail mail, as I did with this letter, or you can click to use the 

White House Contact Form

______________________________________

March 6, 2018

  

The President

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20500 

  

SUBJECT: No more gun bans 

Dear Mr. President: 

  

I met you once, at the 2015 NRA Annual Meeting in Nashville. You had just spoken and invited the press to meet with you out in the hallway. I was the last person to ask you a question. You had fielded several questions about economic issues, etc., and had turned and started walking away. 

  

I called out, “One gun question!” 

  

You stopped, turned around and came back. I asked if elected to the presidency, would you use that office as a bully pulpit to advocate for national reciprocity.*  

  

You replied,

They want to kill the NRA?

From NRA FB page

So now someone wants to kill the NRA? Do they know who the NRA is? Do they not understand that the NRA is not just a group of leaders in suburban Washington?

No, the NRA includes their neighbors, maybe some of their friends, their doctors, ministers, store clerks, and literally millions of Americans as well as other liberty lovers around the globe.  "The NRA" also includes many people who have an affinity for the organization, although they are not dues-paying members.

Are you a member of this second group? Have you been thinking about joining, but have just not gotten around to it? As an NRA recruiter, I can offer a reduced membership cost for about three more weeks.

Current pricing is shown in this chart:

One-Year ($40) - $30
Three-Year ($100) - $85
Five-Year ($140) - $100
Life ($1,500) - $600
Distinguished Life ($750) - $500
Junior Life ($750) - $500

You can join (or renew) by clicking this LINK.

The NRA is not a perfect organization, but is among the most effective. At this time, with the left and the media (but then I repeat myself) mounting a campaign against guns, now is the time to join.

Veterans' Day 2016

Forty-four years and five months ago, I joined the United States Air Force. I, like millions before and after me took an oath similar to this,

"I, ___name___ , do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

After Basic Training at Lackland AFB, TX, I spent a few months at Chanute AFB, Il, in training, to become a technician working on Minuteman Missile systems.

The Minuteman is a solid fueled intercontinental ballistic missile land based in remote underground silos. I was fortunate to be assigned to F. E. Warren AFB, WY.

Working with those birds engendered some philosophical thoughts, like, "Suppose we actually launch these things, won't the Soviet Union be sending some back our way?" Yes, that was the philosophy of Mutually Assured Destruction. So, we knew that if any were fired, we were pretty much assured of a nuclear holocaust. There probably wouldn't be a home to go back to.

Happily, all our birds sat there in the ground, just waiting, and we never saw a wartime launch.

Minuteman Missile at Air Force Museum, Dayton, OH
photo by Liston Matthews

Now, that cold war has ended, various hot wars continue throughout the world, and young men and women are volunteering, taking the oath, and pledging their lives, health and honor to defend the same Constitution.

Thanks to all who have served. From the earliest days of the Republic, through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and even today,

--all gave some, some gave all--

Musing on the 2016 race for the White House

It really is not about Clinton or Trump

Here are some points to ponder:
1. The next president will be one of those two. The third party candidate can't win.
2. That president will appoint some unknown number of Supreme Court Justices. They will have a profound effect on us for the next forty years. This includes your progeny.
3. That president will appoint various federal trial judges and federal appellate judges.
4. That president will appoint various federal prosecutors.
5. Undoubtedly, she will go far left in those appointments, if she is elected.
6. We don't absolutely know about him.
7. None of us has a crystal ball and we don't really know who (between those two) that president will be.
8. A vote for Trump is a vote against Clinton.
9. A third party vote, while it may make you feel better about yourself, will not help defeat Clinton.
10. It's not about picking a winner, it't trying to make a winner.
11. As John Richardson paraphrases Donald Rumsfeld: When you go to war, you go with the Army you have, not the Army you wish you had. (You don't have Ted Cruz, and the 3rd party can't win.)