Geeks With Guns » Community of firearm owners

Boycott of Starbucks for respecting lawful carry

HGIC — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:23:37 +0000

A nationwide boycott of Starbucks stores and its products will be launched on Valentine’s Day to eliminate “the risk of guns in public places and ultimately to bring sane gun laws to the U.S.”

This boycott is being called by the National Gun Victim’s Action Council (NGAC), a network of 14 million gun victims, and is targeting Starbucks because it allows guns and assault weapons to be openly carried in cccits stores in 43 states, and concealed and carried in its stores in 49 states.

“Starbucks has the legal right to ban guns but despite having been petitioned by thousands, asked at a shareholder meeting, and a direct appeal made to their Board, Starbucks clings to this policy that puts millions of Americans at risk every day and encourages the spread of guns being carried in public,” said NGAC CEO Elliot Fineman in a Jan. 23 press release circulated by the group.

Of course, such reasoning is sheer idiocy, said Seattle Guns Rights Examiner Dave Workman in a Jan. 23 Examiner.com column.

“Starbucks’ sin is that the coffee giant caters to everybody, including legally-armed citizens, whether they carry openly or concealed,” Workman wrote. “Starbucks made it plain in 2010 when the Brady Campaign, assisted locally by Washington CeaseFire, that it abides by local state laws and does not discriminate against a certain class of customers. Starbucks has the legal right to serve any customer it pleases, including someone exercising his or her right to bear arms. Fineman evidently doesn’t grasp that.” – [ source ]

Americans buy record numbers of guns for Christmas

HGIC — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:07:45 +0000

According to the FBI, over 1.5 million background checks on customers were requested by gun dealers to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in December. Nearly 500,000 of those were in the six days before Christmas.

It was the highest number ever in a single month, surpassing the previous record set in November.

On Dec 23 alone there were 102,222 background checks, making it the second busiest single day for buying guns in history.

The actual number of guns bought may have been even higher if individual customers took home more than one each. ~ [Read more]

Sheriff: Time For Citizens To Arm Themselves

HGIC — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:12:46 +0000

The Spartanburg County Sheriff is known for speaking his mind, and at a news conference on Monday, he didn’t hold back his anger and frustration after a woman was attacked in a park over the weekend.

Investigators said 46-year-old Walter Lance choked the woman, made her take off her clothing and tried to rape her.

Sheriff Chuck Wright opened his news conference by saying, “Our form of justice is not making it.”

He said, “Carry a concealed weapon. That’ll fix it.”

He said he doesn’t believe every person needs to be kept in jail, but he said, “I don’t think this animal deserves to be out in our society, walking alongside our women.”

Wright said,”Liberals call me and tell me the chain-gang form of justice isn’t working. Well, let me inform you, your form of justice isn’t working either.”

He said Lance should not have had the right or opportunity to “violate a good, upstanding woman.”

Wright said, “It’s too bad someone with a concealed weapons permit didn’t walk by. That would fix it.” He said people are tired of doing the right thing and criminals getting away with their actions. Wright said, “I’m tired of looking at victims saying, ‘There’s life after this’ … I’m tired of saying, ‘We’re sorry, we can’t keep them in jail.’”

Wright said in his view, gun control is, “How fast can you can get the barrel of your gun back on the target?” – [source]

Chicks With Guns Photo Book

HGIC — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:31:48 +0000

Lindsay McCrum’s new photo book Chicks With Guns is just what you think it is: Striking portraits of women with their firearms. What’s unexpected, however, is the impact of the photos as a collection.

If viewers don’t personally know one of these gun-toters, McCrum hopes the book serves as an introduction to a growing community of 15 to 20 million women in the U.S. who own and use guns.

“Usually women with guns are turned into comic book characters — Lara Croft, Kill Bill — and I thought it would be fascinating to find out who the real women in our country are who own guns,” she says.

After three years and 280 photo shoots, McCrum chose 80 compelling and thoughtful frames for her book. Each photo is accompanied by quotes from the subjects about their history or feelings on gun ownership.

For McCrum, Chicks With Guns is not an attempt to enter the ideological debate about guns. Instead, she says she tried to harness the visceral power of photography to provide a more rounded, honest picture of what women gun owners look like today. – [source]

Bravo!

Homeowner Pulls Gun On Two Thieves

donttreadonme — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:50:05 +0000

Following a recent spree of crime, one Goshen man took matters into his own hands.

Michael Morse was about to become the city’s latest victim of a burglary. That was, until he pulled out a legally owned handgun on two thieves trying to break into his home around 9:30 p.m. Sunday night.

On Saturday, criminals stole more than $3,000 in auto parts and power tools from a home he’s renovating along Olive Street.

On Sunday, he went to count his losses for the police report. After walking inside, he heard a noise in the backyard and then came face-to-face with the two men trying to break in.

“I drew my gun out and just pointed it at them to keep them from coming towards me and I told them to freeze,” Morse recalled.

Morse’s run-in marks the fifth serious crime Goshen Police have handled in the last eight days alone.

Just after 1 a.m. Saturday, four men beat and robbed a man inside the Brookside Manor Mobile Home Park.

Later that day, officers found Adel Gutierrez, 25, shot inside his family’s Mexican bakery along S. Main Street in downtown.

Paramedics took Adel Gutierrez to IU Health Goshen Hospital where he underwent surgery and is now recovering. Gutierrez, who has a criminal track record himself, says he was too drunk to remember who shot him Saturday.

Last week, investigators arrested Chad Weddle, 18, in connection with 22 home break-ins across Elkhart County.

Weddle’s arrest came only days after someone beat and stabbed Goshen College professor James Miller to death inside his home.

Miller’s killer is still on the loose as Goshen’s small town atmosphere starts to fill with big city crime.-[source]

AZ County GOP Gun Raffle Draws Criticism

donttreadonme — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:19:34 +0000

The Republican Party in the county where a deadly Arizona shooting rampage took place is drawing criticism for its decision to raffle a gun to raise money for get-out-the-vote efforts.

The Pima County Republican Party publicized the raffle in its online newsletter last week, under a headline that read: “Help Pima GOP get out the vote and maybe help yourself to a new Glock.”

Jeff Rogers, chairman of the county’s Democratic Party, called the raffle a “stunning lack of judgment and sensitivity” given that the weapon is the same make used in the Jan. 8 mass shooting in Tucson, the Pima County seat. The shooting spree left six people dead and 13 wounded, including Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

The handgun being raffled is a Glock 23. The one used in the Tucson shooting was a Glock 19, the Arizona Daily Star reported.-[source]

NM Gov Gets Perfect Score On CCW Renewal

donttreadonme — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:56:03 +0000

New Mexico’s pistol-packin’ governor is a sure shot.

Gov. Susana Martinez received perfect scores on recertification for her concealed-carry permit over the weekend in Las Cruces. She scored 100 percent with both .38- and .45-caliber handguns, her staff said.

Martinez’s permit to carry a concealed handgun, originally obtained in 2009, was extended for another two years.

She was a district attorney and a Republican candidate for governor when she first went through training and qualified to carry a concealed weapon. Her spokesman, Greg Blair, said Martinez’s personal and professional experiences motivated her to arm herself.

Not only was she a prosecutor, but her husband, Chuck Franco, was undersheriff of Dona Ana County.

“Since she and Chuck both made careers out of taking on dangerous and violent criminals, she decided to get her concealed-carry permit for personal protection, especially when traveling alone or at night on the campaign trail,” Blair said.

As governor, Martinez has a security detail, but she still chooses to carry a weapon, Blair said.

One of Martinez’s Republican colleagues, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, has also carried a handgun.

Perry last year used his laser-sighted pistol to shoot a coyote that he said was threatening his dog during a morning jog near Austin.-[source]

Hawaii Government Sued Over Restrictive Firearms Laws

donttreadonme — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 23:03:45 +0000

The non-profit Hawaii Defense Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the Honolulu Chief of Police Louis Kealoha, the Honolulu Police Department and the City & County of Honolulu as well as the State of Hawaii and Gov. Neil Abercrombie for violating the Second and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.

The complaint, which was filed in Hawaii’s U.S. District Court by attorneys Richard Holcomb, Alan Beck and Kevin O’Grady, argues that Hawaii’s license to carry firearms statute as well as Hawaii’s other firearm regulations, are unconstitutional.-[source]

Gun Ban Repeal Bill Introduced In House

donttreadonme — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:04:59 +0000

Gun Owners of America is working with several members of Congress to repeal a gun ban on land controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Currently, guns are prohibited on Corps land, even when firearms possession is otherwise allowed by state law. Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH) introduced legislation—the Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act (H.R. 1865)—to allow state law to govern firearms possession.

You may recall that in July, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) offered similar language as an amendment to an appropriations bill. Gosar’s amendment passed the House on a voice vote, but its fate is uncertain as it heads to the Senate.

The Gibbs bill, as well as the Gosar amendment, is modeled after a similar measure that became law in 2009 affecting National Park Service land. Army Corps of Engineers land was not part of that bill, something the Corps was quick to point out after that law took affect.

The Corps said, in a statement: “Public Law 111-024 does not apply to Corps projects of facilities . . . [and the Army Corps] will continue to prohibit loaded concealed weapons on Corps properties regardless of the new law and notwithstanding any contrary provisions of state law.”

Rep. Gibbs’ bill will reverse the Corps’ decision.

“The Recreational Lands Self-Defense Act is a bipartisan effort to restore Second Amendment rights to law-abiding citizens while they are legally camping, hunting, and fishing on the 11.7 million acres of Army Corps recreational property,” Gibbs said. “Families and sportsmen taking advantage of this federal land should not have to worry that their legally obtained concealed weapon permit is invalid.”-[source]

MOH Recipient Has Stolen Sidearm Returned

donttreadonme — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:40:33 +0000

A historic Colt .45-caliber, semi-automatic pistol stolen more than 30 years ago from a Medal of Honor winner in South Carolina has been returned to its rightful owner.

The gun and owner were reunited after a history buff in Medford, who bought the old handgun in an online auction last month, tracked down the retired Marine whose name is engraved on it.

“I knew if I found him and it was his gun, I couldn’t keep it,” said George Berry, 71, who knew little about the history of the gun when he purchased it from an auction house in Pennsylvania.

The story begins when Berry, a retired Navy warrant officer who also served in the Marine Corps, decided this summer to fulfill a lifelong dream of owning one of the historic handguns.

“I’ve always wanted to own a Colt Model 1911 .45 automatic — always wanted one,” he says. “John Wayne had one in every World War II movie I’ve ever seen him in.”

Early in July, he began searching the Internet and discovered that Alderfer Auction, a well-known auction firm in Hatfield, Pa., would be offering three of the Colt .45s in a July 12 auction.

In particular, lot No. 78 caught his eye: “Colt 1911 A1 semi-automatic pistol. Cal. 45. 5″ bbl. SN 0103889. Reblued finish on all metal, plain walnut Colt grips, after-market rear sight, no magazine,” the description read.

“Faint ‘USMC’ stamped on right side of slide, partial ‘United States Property’ wording is visible,” it continued. “The name ‘John J. McGinty USMC’ stamped on left side of slide. Very good.”-[source]