Real ID or conspiracy theorist.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist…just wanted to get that out up front because when you read this you might think otherwise.  I went to a meeting tonight at Findlay Toyota (oh and by the way, thanks for the use of the meeting room) on the issues surrounding the Real ID or Pass ID as it’s known.  On the face of it, it seems benign enough but before I’m through here it may not seem quite so benign.  Members of the Nevada DMV were on hand to tell us the only difference in the data collected for Real ID and a standard issue drivers license is the gold star.  The biggest difference is however that you have to produce electronically verifiable identification in order to get the coveted gold star.

Now I’m all about being identified as a good driver so my insurance doesn’t go up, I also don’t want anything on my driving record like a DUI that would impose on my ability to own firearms or carry them concealed, so let’s look at this with some logic;

 

If I decide to have a couple of drinks, drive home and get popped for drunk driving, even if later proven that I’m not legally drunk, I still now have an arrest.  Do you think that information goes away because you were found not guilty?  I work for the government, used to be a police officer and believe me when I tell you that it doesn’t.  Does the Sheriff’s office care if you were convicted or not?  Well maybe to some degree but I’ll almost assure you that it won’t matter where your concealed firearm permit is concerned.  If you get arrested they may even pull your concealed carry permit at the jail where your booked (that, I don’t know for sure but it wouldn’t surprise me).  So now I get pulled over for anything, the police officer knows if I have a concealed carry permit, they know if I’ve been arrested before (remember they don’t care about convictions), they know if I’m an organ donor, and now they know if my identification has been “bonafied” by the state…not to mention all the other unmentionables found on the face of the drivers license.  They also have a digitized photograph on the front of the DL that can be scanned and compared against a picture taken at the stop (this technology may not be readily available on the street yet, but I believe some cars already have a fingerprint scanner in them that is linked via wireless to the national database).

Now comes the gold star;

I don’t think the Jews in Poland in 1938-39 wanted to wear a gold star to identify them as second class citizens but they were forced to, so they could be easily identifiable to the Nazi’s.  This was what they were used for, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/badges.html “Reinhardt Heydrich recommended that the Jews be forced to wear badges following the Kristallnacht pogrom in November 1938. The German government first introduced mandatory badges in Poland in November 1939. Jews who failed to wear them risked death. On July 26, 1941, the Judenrat (Jewish Community Council) of Bialystok announced that "the authorities have warned that severe punishment — up to, and including death by shooting — is in store for Jews who do not wear the yellow badge on back and front."

The German government's policy of forcing Jews to wear badges, and then confining all who wore them to ghettos, was a tactic aimed at isolating the Jews from the rest of the population. It enabled the German government to identify, concentrate, deprive, starve, and ultimately murder the Jews of Europe under its control. In 1942, Helmut Knochen, the German government's chief of the Security Service and the Security Police for occupied France and Belgium, stated that the yellow badge was "another step on the road to the Final Solution."

Again I will re-enforce my belief that I’m not a conspiracy theorist, and I don’t believe that the good people working for the DMV in the state of Nevada has anything like this in mind, but really, how far of a stretch is it to think that anyone not wanting to get the little gold star on their drivers license could soon be labeled a subversive?  Haven’t they already started trying to label us as domestic terrorists?  The Patriot Act defines it like this http://www.aclu.org/national-security/how-usa-patriot-act-redefines-domestic-terrorism but Homeland Security under Janet Napolitano defines it like this, http://video1.washingtontimes.com/video/extremismreport.pdf. 

So let’s face illegal immigration on its own terms and do the best we can at keeping ourselves and our families out of the government databases.

prp

 

 

Who thinks Nevada needs a law like Arizona's SB1070?

Arizona's recently signed bill SB1070 addressing illegal immigration is a step in the right direction and a step that needs to be taken here in Nevada. Guess where the illegal immigrants from Arizona are going to head to..... Nevada!!!

Lautenberg Amendment??? Really???

I was pouring over my Google alerts this morning, which I try to do every day (but don’t always get there) and I ran across a gem, The ‘Lautenberg Amendment’;  The Lautenberg Amendment was an amendment attached to the ‘Gun Control Act of 1968’ by one or “our” representatives named Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) which in a nutshell takes our second amendment right to ‘keep and bear arms’ away from us for the slightest of infractions.  In states like ours where the domestic abuse laws have forced law enforcement to make an arrest if they are called to a domestic situation, the arrested person, be it the husband or wife, son or daughter, grandmother or grandfather, significant other or roommate will lose their 2^nd amendment rights under the Constitution of the United States.  This amendment, while it may have originated with the best of intentions, has some of the most egregious (hopefully) un-intended consequences.  For instance a 21 year old girl still living at home gets in a shouting match with her mother or father (I know, it would never happen, but bear with me), the police are called and have to make an arrest.  Now being the dutiful officers that most of our law enforcement officers are they try and defuse the situation, even knowing someone is going to jail, and the daughter, who is young full of energy and is ‘never wrong’ throws her car keys in the direction of the parent…pop she goes to jail for domestic abuse.  For the rest of her life, I’ll repeat for clarity’s sake “FOR THE REST OF HER LIFE” she will not be permitted to own a firearm, buy ammunition, go hunting or protect herself from a rapist, mugger or other assailant.  Now I ask you, if that is the intended purpose of the Lautenberg amendment then do we need a representative like Frank Lautenberg?  If it is un-intended consequences of the amendment then why hasn’t Mr. Lautenberg presented legislation to repeal it or amend it? 

The above case is true (to the best of my ability to investigate it).  The law also provides no exception for our military or our law enforcement personnel.  Now no one needs an exemption if they are truly abusing their spouse but on the other hand if a pissed off wife calls the police because her cop husband stayed out late playing cards with the boys, and he knows someone has to go to jail, they have two kids at home and he decides to ‘man up’ and take the heat…he loses his job, and his ability to provide for the family.

This law has so much potential for abuse and has been used that way so many times, that it hasn’t been repealed is almost unfathomable to me.  It has been challenged in the courts but was upheld on appeal…this is just truly a travesty.

Oh and by the way, how many Federal Felons do you think we have walking the streets today because of this law?  Everyone that has ever been convicted of domestic abuse, no matter how minor.  Up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines for owning or possessing a firearm after the misdemeanor conviction.  Oh yes, if it’s you, you are a federal felon…you just haven’t been caught yet.

Prp

Open Carry Article in Las Vegas

An interesting and lengthy article on open carry here in Southern Nevada.

I'm not sure if Nevada will adopt what some other states are doing and that's IF YOU HAVE A CONCEALED HANDGUN PERMIT, you could lose your permit if you open carry. They're stance is, "You have a concealed permit and that means the handgun MUST be concealed. Otherwise, we revoke your permit"

Here's the link, you might have to paste it into your browser.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/apr/07/nevadans-are-free-don-their-arms-open/

Check it out folks. One thing you could do for your safety is vehicle carry IF you have a way to secure the handgun after leaving your vehicle. You don't need a permit to have a handgun in your vehicle. In Nevada, your vehicle is an extension of your home and you are allowed to carry one in your vehicle. Only thing I would do is make sure it's NOT concealed in the vehicle while you are in there as well.

A comment about a lengthy article

The article at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/magazine/11Economy-t.html?pagewanted=all which is waaaaay more lengthy than any normal human being should have to read and the synopsis of it here http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/04/krugman-on-cap-and-trade-we-can-do-this/38629/ prompted me to write a quick note which follows here;

It is interesting to see that... "4. Conservatives: Their obstinate resistance to the science of climate change and the economic tools for tackling it does not mesh with the rest of their worldview."  but does not bring into focus the Liberals 'Obstinate resistance' to the possibility that the science may in fact be skewed.  I am willing to listen to arguments to improve our climate, I recycle 'almost' everything I can, I want my vehicles to run well and not cause any undue pollution, I want a clean and sustainable planet for my kids and grandkids to inherit. 

What I don't want is the government to cap-and-trade or cap-and-tax our economy into such a state that my grandkids will starve or not be able to survive.  Common sense here...has the government ever run anything successfully?  The author 'Krugman' cites the acid rain emissions standards as a success but when those laws were passed it didn't include the government being involved in the rationing of 'credits' or trading in the 'taxes' end of it.  If the laws could be passed that keep the government out of it I may have a different view of climate change legislation (the legislation would have to convince me on its own merit), but until then, anyone promoting cap-and-trade or tax can just start the car, sitting in the garage that they are not using, and breath in that wonderful carbon monoxide until they drift off into a most peaceful sleep.

I tried to post this on the sites mentioned above but logging in proved distasteful in my present state of mind so I just linked the reading material so you could make your own decisions about reading it.

Prp

 

"let every man remember that to violate the law, is to trample on the blood of his father"

Abraham Lincoln

 

Free Online Concealed Permit!

I'm a supporter of SCCC - Students for Concealed Carry on Campus and I received this e-mail from them and they have noted to spread the word far and wide. This is only good until April 10th.

Greetings SCCC Supporters:

The Students for Concealed Carry on Campus Board of Directors is pleased to announce that for all of empty holder protest week (Now - April 10 @ 11:59 PM ET), there is an opportunity for anyone with a .edu email address to obtain a FREE CHP TRAINING COURSE for Virginia.

Both residential and non-residential permits are available in Virginia.

Online training is valid under Virginia law for a Virginia CHP permit (VA Code §18.2-308 (G)(7) and (P1)(7)). Education and training are key goals of SCCC. By making training available to students, faculty, and staff on campus, we will further a goal shared by both sides of the gun rights debate: to educate about the core safety aspects of firearms and self-defense.

Here's what you do:

1) Visit: http://www.onlineconcealedcarry.com/
2) Register with a .edu email address
3) Use the following discount code: 923726
4) Finish the course before April 10 @ 11:59 PM ET.

Upon completion of the course, you will be given a printable certificate of completion. Instructions on how to submit this certificate to Virginia authorities is available at:
http://www.vsp.state.va.us/Firearms.shtm . Please note that you will be responsible for any state fee(s) and compliance with all legal standards that Virginia requires.

A Virginia CHP permit is currently valid in AK, AR, AZ, DE, FL, ID,
IN, KY, LA, MI, MO, MS, MT, NC, ND, NE, NM, OH, OK, PA, SC, SD, TN,
TX, UT, VT, and WV. Please note however that currently Michigan (MI),
South Carolina (SC), and Florida (FL) only honor permits from
residents of the issuing states.

SCCC encourages you to spread word about this program far and wide.
Please, tell your friends on campus. Post this information on your
SCCC campus mailing lists. Post it on your campus SCCC Facebook
groups. Let's get the word out!

Let's make this empty holder protest week the best one yet!

Cheers,

The Board of Directors
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus

Pro-Illegal immigration studies

Really according to…

Now come the supposedly impartial Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda, associate professor of Chicana and Chicano studies at UCLA; and Manuel Pastor, a geography and American studies professor and co-director of the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration. Hinojosa-Ojeda, a former advisor to ex-President Bill Clinton, claims legalizing the estimated 12 million illegals now in the United States would produce a $1.5 trillion benefit to the economy over 10 years — about $12,500 per year per legalized immigrant over current levels. Pastor says legalizing the approximately 3 million illegals in California would immediately increase state and local taxes by about $350 million a year.

What about sending illegal immigrants back home, letting some of the 25 million or so legal US citizens drive the wages up and increase the country’s tax base AND not have to put out the services we currently put out for illegal immigrants as well as the services we have to put out for the unemployed US citizens.  Trying to argue the case that by making the illegal immigrants legal will somehow help our country is so bogus that even a “non-professor” can see it.

Prp