The HAWKS Gun Club of East Texas has passed it’s first set of bylaws at the January business meeting with forty one members and one guest in attendance. After much discussion and explanation, proposals and counterproposals, motions and seconds, ayes and nays it’s a done deal. For the most part very acceptable. The club voted to continue to partner with the NRA and to require a Texas or Texas recognized CHL to be a member of HAWKS. No dues will be collected from any member or honorary member until August 1, 2012, however, NRA membership and a current CHL is still necessary, or be an active member of law enforcement in leu of the CHL if you were on the roster as of this meeting. We began running very tight on time as the Continue Reading…
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago at 11:43 am. Add a comment
Just Another Pretext for Rulers to Delude the Ruled
Why Bill of Rights Days Should be Anti-Politician Day
by JAMES BOVARD
Today is the 219th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights ? the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Bill of Rights Day should be the preeminent Anti-Politician Day on the American calendar. Instead, it has become simply another pretext for rulers to delude the ruled.
Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1787, “A Bill of Rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth … and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.” Yet, some of the Founding Fathers ? such as Alexander Hamilton ? fought tooth-and-nail against codifying any limit on politicians’ power. And the second president ? John Adams ? did all that he could to destroy any restraints on the feds’ power to suppress criticism of the government.
President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed the first Bill of Rights Day, which occurred on December 15, 1941 ? a few days after FDR’s dream came true and the United States was simultaneously at war with Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. FDR called the Bill of Rights “the great American charter of personal liberty and human dignity,” but proceeded to label the rights “privileges” and then listed only “privileges” contained in the First Amendment. FDR then asserted that “free schools” could not exist without the Bill of Rights, though there was nothing about education in the first 10 amendments. The Second World War provided a blank check for FDR to seize almost boundless power at home and abroad, and he never let the Constitution stand in his way.
Subsequent politicians have done their best to make Americans view the Bill of Rights as simply another government handout. President Bill Clinton, in an April 19, 1994, television interview, declared, “When we got organized as a country and we wrote a fairly radical Constitution with a radical Bill of Rights, giving a radical amount of individual freedom to Americans, it was assumed that the Americans who had that freedom would use it responsibly…. When personal freedom’s being abused, you have to move to limit it.”
The Bill of Rights did not give freedom to Americans; instead, the Bill of Rights expressly prohibited the government from violating pre-existing rights of the people. The Bill of Rights was not “radical” according to the beliefs of Americans of that era; instead, it codified rights both long recognized in English common law or that had been carved out over centuries of resistance to English tyranny. The Founding Fathers had difficulty getting the Constitution approved in many states not because it was “radical” in protecting people’s rights from the government ? but because it was perceived as concentrating too much power within the federal government to violate the rights of the people.
President Obama is upholding the tradition of invoking the Bill of Rights to muddle Americans’ political thinking. When he formally proclaimed Bill of Rights Day last December, he declared that “fidelity to our fundamental values is one of America’s greatest strengths…. As Americans, we must keep striving to live up to our founding ideals.” Obama made this declaration after signaling that all the high-ranking Bush administration officials who authorized torture and other war crimes would face no federal prosecution.
In his Bill of Rights Day proclamation this year, Obama declared: “The United States will always speak for those who are voiceless, defend those who are oppressed, and bear witness to those who want nothing more than to exercise their universal human rights. Our Bill of Rights protects these fundamental values at home, and guides our actions” abroad.
In the same season that Obama is making such declarations, his administration is also insisting that it is entitled to kill Americans without any due process, without any judicial proceedings, simply because some government officials suspect those Americans are “involved” with terrorist groups.
Presidents and members of Congress take an oath to uphold the Constitution ? and thus to respect the rights recognized and guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. Insofar as the feds trample the Bill of Rights, the government is illegitimate. Insofar as the government perennially violates the Bill of Rights, it becomes an aggressor against the American people.
At this point, what we really need is a constitutional amendment to require the federal government obey the Constitution. As long as the rulers are permitted to scorn the rightful limits on their power, our political system consists of little more than elective dictatorship.
Americans need to remember Bill of Rights Day but for the proper reason. Americans must recognize that the government poses the greatest peril to their liberties. December 15 is the day to stop and count the ways that politicians are ravaging your rights ? and to take action to turn the tide against Leviathan.
Posted 1 month ago at 11:58 am. Add a comment
This is the Sheriff that took on the Clinton Administration and won…
AFP recently spoke with Mack by cell phone as he zigzagged by car across Florida as a guest speaker for various groups.
As Americans push back with their tea party and occupy movements, screaming at the corruption of big banks and Wall Street, they still have not realized the rudimentary solution right in their own backyards, says CSPOA.
Mack is the former sheriff of Graham County, Ariz. who took the federal government under President Bill Clinton to the Supreme Court in the 1990s in a “David vs. Goliath” struggle that he won. His efforts stopped the Brady Bill from forcing all county sheriffs to do federal paperwork and conduct background checks on gun buyers. Now he is taking another giant step to educate some 2,000 county sheriffs across the nation who have been so numbed with bureaucratic propaganda many don’t even remember the meaning of their oaths of office or the rulebook they swore to follow.
“Your local sheriff needs to know,” Mack told AFP, “that there is nothing that the UN or the New World Order boys or the feds want to shove down our otherwise healthy throats that we cannot stop at the county level with a constitutionally educated sheriff.”
The goal, according to Mack, is to get 10 percent of all the sheriffs, or about 200, from around the nation on board for a free education. He figures that when 200 of them begin to behave constitutionally by telling federal agents not to step beyond their county boundaries and taking positive action to prevent it, much of the remaining majority will wake up.
Here is CSPOA’s plan: raise $200,000 to bring 200 county sheriffs to the Nevada conference at an average cost of $1,000 each. This may not be as high a mountain to scale as it sounds because many citizens are so anxious for their sheriffs to attend, they already have taken it upon themselves to send them. This has greatly lightened CSPOA’s load.
We are told that security will be tight and no employees from any federal agency will be allowed inside the meeting room. Anyone not endorsed and accompanied by a visiting sheriff will be turned away. However, any private citizen who wishes to pay $1,000 may sit in, as the money will be used to fund the expenses of another out-of-state sheriff.
“We have collected nearly $50,000 and need only $100,000 more because of the commitment of various county citizens who strongly want their sheriff to be there and are willing to raise the money locally,” said Mack. “This is what we need a few more counties to do.”
Raising only $1,000 for the good of one’s county is far easier than Mack’s effort of trying to raise $200,000 on his own, but he hasn’t slowed down.
There are 17 active sheriffs from 14 different states who sit on the board of directors of CSPOA, and many of them have admitted that they did not live up to their oaths of office until recently because they simply didn’t know any better. Many are angry and repentant.
Some who would be there cannot—such as former sheriff Melvin Holly of Latimer County, Okla. He is incarcerated in federal prison. Holly’s crime: He attempted to stop a drug-running operation in his county that was apparently federally sanctioned. His error? He didn’t stop investigating and ended up framed for multiple sex crimes he says never happened. Holly was then convicted after witnesses reportedly received payoffs for their deceitful testimony.
It is a growing problem that all sheriffs face because of the Fed’s ability to create unconstitutional money and the feds’ ability to pass unconstitutional statutes legalizing payoffs to witnesses in the event of a conviction. But almost no lawyers, let alone sheriffs, even knew that these statutes existed before AFP’s story alerted them last year. See AFP’s Aug. 16, 2010 edition (#33) for that article.
“The bottom line is that county sheriffs need to know that their power exceeds that of federal interlopers,” pointed out Mack. “Ultimately, he is the one who will decide what is and what is not enforced in the county. He has the authority and an oath-bound duty to interpose himself on the citizen’s behalf to protect you from all enemies, both foreign and domestic. But a large majority of these 2,000 sheriffs just don’t know it.”
Georgians got a dose of this power on Dec. 1 when Fulton County (Atlanta) sheriff’s deputies defied a court by refusing to evict bedridden Vita Lee, 104, and her 83- year-old daughter from their home of 53 years.
“We are not in trouble in this country because we follow the Constitution too closely,” Mack told AFP. “Just the opposite. But there is a way to get back to it, sheriff by sheriff, county by county.”
Just My Opinion
I watch this saga, pitting the “Oil Barons” against the “Little Man”, and will offer my take.
I worked in this environment for nearly 40 years. As a Construction Inspector, Construction Manager and Quality Assurance Engineer. This is what I “think” may take place.
A group of Canadians (and, I bet, with US ties) hope to push a pipeline from the North, all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Meaning, the Galveston area. No matter what you hear or read, this is not a “Slam Dunk” proposition.
The key is the Environmental Impact Study. Without this approval that defines a method of construction and a specific route, the project is dead. Note: The White Footed Mouse, that I had to deal with in Central California. The Spotted Owl that shut down the logging in Northern California and points north. Trout waters that were even slightly muddied in California rivers. A nest of Red Tailed hawks that shut down a major project for months at a time during nesting/rearing season near Squaw Rock, south of Ukiah, CA.
The “Tree Huggers” hold the key to victory here. In only this case, do I support.
The reason is that the proposed pipelines can and will fail at some point. When they do, they will spill polluted products into our aquifers. These wonderful underground rivers are the key to our survival. This is not a “hype” statement. Clean water is a necessity and we have a treasure trove of it just under our feet. We can’t see or feel it. But, we better protect it!
It can be fought, and won! I saw this first hand when I worked as a “Environmental” engineer on the “assumed” defunked I-69-TCC project. This study cost millions and it got so bad that we needed “special protection” from security outfits out of Austin. Tree Huggers play rough, and so can we. We assume this role because we do not want this pipeline. The key is to fight them tooth and nail on the Environmental Impact Study.
If not approved. The project is dead.
Find a species of animal or plant on the “endangered” list in the way of the project and you have found the “magic bullet.” Look to the Galveston area and seek out a protected toad. That ugly dude may be your key to disarming this foolish project.
Allen
Posted 1 month ago at 11:54 am. Add a comment
And why shouldn’t it? Many old faces returned to join in the launch of a new era for HAWKS. This edition will become HAWKS Gun Club of East Texas Inc. Papers have been filed, fees have been paid, and the ball is rolling. Our council, Mr. Larry Wright, has dubbed the current officers as the “Fab Five” or is it the “Fat Five”? Never-the-less the five remaining officers will steer the ship until our first Board of Directors’ Meeting when the membership will elect the board they want. The New board will have the authority to appoint committies to handle special tasks. It has been suggested that the board consist of six (6) members with the president of the board only voting to break a tie. Many of you stepped up and made it known that you were Continue Reading…
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago at 4:50 pm. 2 comments
It may be the End of 2011, but a New Beginning for HAWKS
2011 saw a lot of disappointment but a new beginning for HAWKS. Dennis Bowman, HAWKS’ first Vice President and Treasurer and one of the founders of the organization, stepped down due to health problems. Dennis remains a friend to most of us and has helped with the restructuring of the new entity. His wit and expertise will be missed, and maybe he will slip in and sit in the back row, occasionally. Dennis, you’re always welcome.
The New HAWKS organization, HAWKS Gun Club of East Texas Inc. is being born like a new baby…naked and almost broke, but very optimistic about the future. We have a great nucleus of current members, and, hopefully, we can get some of the good ones back that had left. We intend to build around a set of by-laws that will guarantee every member, in good standing, a voice in how the club is run and what the club stands for. We intend to apply for Non-Profit status and structure ourselves so we can do charity work. We are building in safe guards to insure no one person has control of or access to our funds. That the spending of our funds will have the support of the majority.
NTCC welcomes HAWKS’ shooters
Thirteen gun club members had one of the greatest experiences since sliced bread, today, November 16th. We were invited by Richard Jones and Dr. Brad Johnson, director of the Criminal Justice Department and School President to come and enjoy a day of indoor shooting. Leonard Newman, range officer, put us through the same paces as perspective police officers in their shooting classes including a simulated night shoot from behind a squad car with strobe lights flashing. If you’re adreneline wasn’t flowing by the time that was over you should be pronounced dead. They were the most gracious hosts you could ask for. Leonard was asked to consider speaking to the gun club in 2012, which he agreed to do. Gary Garner brought his 50 cal. anti-tank pistol along with Wayne, Schwabbie, Jimmy, Ron, Dave, Clay,Doug(2), Scott, Efton, John Milligan, Bert Edmonson and an appearance by Jim Hasslinger. If you’ve never shot at in indoor range it is exciting. The targets are placed automatically at 3, 7, 15 and 25 yds. and sillhoettetargets were provided. Richard Jones is a revolver fancier and a S & W fancier and I got to shoot his 14 model along with a customized match of the same. I guess the impression we made was favorable, because we have been invited back. Thanks to all the great folks at NTCC’s criminal justice department.
U.S. House Passes NRA-backed
National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Legislation
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an important self-defense measure that would enable millions of Right-to-Carry permit holders across the country to carry concealed firearms while traveling outside their home states. H.R. 822, the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act, passed by a majority bipartisan vote of 272 to 154. All amendments aimed to weaken or damage the integrity of this bill were defeated.
“NRA has made the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act a priority because it enhances the fundamental right to self-defense guaranteed to all law-abiding people,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “People are not immune from crime when they cross state lines. That is why it is vital for them to be able to defend themselves and their loved ones, should the need arise.”
H.R. 822, introduced in the U.S. House by Representatives Cliff Stearns(R-Fla.) and Heath Shuler(D-N.C.), allows any person with a valid state-issued concealed firearm permit to carry a concealed firearm in any state that issues concealed firearm permits, or that does not prohibit the carrying of concealed firearms for lawful purposes.
This bill does not affect existing state laws. State laws governing where concealed firearms may be carried would apply within each state’s borders. H.R. 822 does not create a federal licensing system or impose federal standards on state permits; rather, it requires the states to recognize each others’ carry permits, just as they recognize drivers’ licenses and carry permits held by armored car guards.
As of today, 49 states have laws in place that permit their citizens to carry a concealed firearm in some form. Only Illinois and the District of Columbia deny its residents the right to carry concealed firearms outside their homes or businesses for self-defense.
“We are grateful for the support of Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Cantor, Majority Whip McCarthy, Judiciary Chairman Smith and primary sponsors Congressmen Stearns and Shuler for their steadfast support of H.R. 822. Thanks to the persistence of millions of American gun owners and NRA members, Congress has moved one step closer to improving crucial self-defense laws in this country,” concluded Cox.
Just My Opinion
To Reload or Not to Reload?
That is the question. Looking back, I have not reloaded anything in around 40 years. Some of you may have heard me say I probably would not get back into it. Well, shoot! I’m prone to change my mind rather quickly if I see a need. In this case, it centered around the need to develop a decent round for my 22-250. I bought the Remington 700 a few years back while I was working in Arkansas. It was to be my varmint rifle. I put a 6x18x50mm scope on it. Bought some ammo and went to the range. The results were very disappointing. I expected a tackdriver. It did not deliver. Much later, I read that the 22-250 is very choosey about its ammo. Fine! I just stored it away in the back of the safe and mostly forgot about it. Recently, I got to thinking that I actually have the time to develop a decent load. However, that means getting back into reloading. Do I really want to do that? What will it cost? How much work is required? Is it really worth the expense and effort and what else can I reload that makes sense?
I have never, ever, recommended reloads (no matter who makes them) for defensive purposes. But, for practice, they are just fine. And, a heck of a lot cheaper than the store bought stuff. I have no problem at all reloading for hunting. I worked up a load for the 7mm Remington Mag that was awesome. I hope to do as well with the 22-250.
I guess by now you have figured that I got back into the game. I had a RCBS press on hand that I had bought probably 25 years ago at some forgotten gun show. It had never been used and I had lugged it along from state to state as I went from engineering project to project. I dug it out a while back and decided to order a set of 22-250 dies. Of course, that only starts the project. I was starting from scratch, so the list grew and grew. I winced at the price of a reloading table, so designed a portable affair that could be attached to our bar room dining table with clamps. That saved 300 bucks or so. Still, I had to buy bullets, primers, powder and all the other tools to actually make my first cartridge. When the dust settled, it was around a $600 investment to start. As you add more reloading dies, shell holders and a bench if you need one, the price can swell to over $1,000 pretty quickly.
Will it be worth it? No more than I shoot these days, maybe not. Yet, now I’m in a position to reload anything I shoot. If the sole purpose is to save money, I doubt that my reasoning is sound. For me it is mainly a hobby and it offers the potential to develop loads not available in stores. I would be remiss if I didn’t emphasize the importance of safety and cleanliness while reloading. The goal should not be to develop super hot loads, but to create super accurate loads. I have been out of the reloading loop so long that I feel I’m back to square one. I will spend a lot of time reading reloading manuals before I seat my first primer. Then, it should not be too long down the road before I sling some lead down range. Happy Shooting
Allen
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago at 12:37 pm. Add a comment
Dennis Bowman, the HAWKS’ VP. assumed command of the October Business meeting and did a stand-up job, in the wake of our President’s absence due to surgery on his knee. Carlos is home and walking (slowly) but none the less walking. Dennis opened with the usual introductions and welcomes and then let Jimmy lead us in the Pledge of Allegience. Continue Reading…
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago at 11:14 am. Add a comment
Wayne did his usual, impersonation of being a Range Safety Officer, perfect! The Shoot went very well. J.A. Newton, new member, and now known as “rootin’ tootin’ Newton”,won the round robin shoot-off against runner up Ray Hollingsworth. There were 10 shooters, in all, and one by one we were eliminated until J.A. and Ray were left and had the final shoot-out. Both put three shots in their targets, however, J.A. did it faster. Congratulations to him and all the shooters who competed. Continue Reading…
Posted 4 months ago at 10:33 am. Add a comment
The September meeting hosted 35 HAWKS and Guests in spite of the broiler we call Texas. September looks to be one of the most active months this year. Business meeting, gun show, cruise-in, shoot-around, thats active. Remember the song, “And the Heat Goes On” by Sonny & Cher, well it does. It didn’t kill the Labor Day Cruise-In or one of the best Gun Shows ever. I haven’t seen the figures but we had to have set an attendance record on Saturday. Many many folk came through the door and shopped the show. I tried to do my part and bought a new Ruger LC9 and several other HAWKS tried to help the sputtering economy by purchasing guns. Other HAWKS sold some guns they brought and displayed, which leads us to that old saying—”A Good Time Was Had By All”. Continue Reading…
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago at 6:36 pm. Add a comment
World’s Fastest Shooter
DEMONSTRATION BY B.J. NORRIS
From Lock & Load- Tyler
Current Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Champion
@ Winnsboro Gun Club Range CR 4403 6:30 pm October 5th
$2.00 admission for non-members of HAWKS or Winnsboro Gun Club
visit hawksofwinnsboro.com
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago at 1:51 pm. Add a comment
In spite of the Un-Godly heat we have been experiencing the past two months 83 of us wipped the sweat off our collective brows, swept our best gals off their feet and assembled at the Texas Tea Room for an evening of great food and even greater entertainment. Steve Brown, HAWKS member and retired FBI agent kept the audience spell bound with his background into the FBI, the honest story surrounding Dan Cooper aka D.B. Cooper, the air pirate, and finally a brief explanation of the Patti Hurst kidnapping. Steve’s delivery is completely different that what we are used to, interjecting humor and quips, which, obviously, come naturally to him. It’s hard to imagine anyone with Steve’s personality screaming at high school football players to follow the ball and tackle, tackle, tackle or at bank robbers to get their hands up. Continue Reading…
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago at 7:33 pm. Add a comment