There were a record number of folks that attended the May business meeting (47) and that’s without some key players. I have a feeling it wasn’t the possibility of seeing the “Caped Crusader” but the fact that we had one of the most knowledgable gun guys on the planet as our speaker. Nathan dazzled everyone with his presentation and demonstration of a half dozen of the angriest looking rifles you will ever see. It amazes me that he can rattle off facts and specs like we discuss last nights’ dinner or the weather, with out notes or even a teleprompter. We were, also, honored to have four Lady Hawks in our midsts, as well. Continue Reading…
Posted 1 week, 5 days ago at 10:27 am. Add a comment
And if that wasn’t bad enough—Here comes May, which looks to be even busier. We have a ton to report to those of you who have been out to lunch, awol, or visiting Mars. We’ve had the first installment of Rimfire, many HAWKS and Lady HAWKS have been certified NRA Range Safety Officers, our illustrious President is now a NRA certified Pistol Instructor and the Caped Crusader is now an NRA certified Refuse to be a Victim instructor. Both, Wayne and I took our training at Elm Fork Shooting Sports complex in Dallas, and neither of us has recovered from that trip, and we may never recover. I can’t speak for Wayne but I sure know why I left that third world country, Jeeze !!! the traffic— Continue Reading…
Posted 2 weeks, 6 days ago at 3:32 pm. Add a comment
If my figures are close to being accurate the Gun Show was a HUGE SUCCESS. HAWKS were every where. I heard that between 1200 and 1500 pople past through the portals and checked out the show the first day. We had the largest number of vendors and tables sold, ever. The set up and take down including clean-up went smooth and timely. A hearty Congratulations to the Chamber for another success and a hearty Thank You to all the HAWKS who pitched in and gave their time to help make this show a safe and secure one. The HAWKS that gave their time are: Continue Reading…
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago at 1:18 pm. Add a comment
Thirty Six faithful and seven guests filled the Community Room to hear David Isbel and Joe Grudza of Texas Law Shield present their program to aid law abiding citizens when using a gun for self defense from a legal standpoint. Their program is of great interest to all of us who daily carry a concealed weapon for self defense. The only question was when it was suggested that the individual stand mute when questioned by law enforcement until the arrival of legal representation. Sheriff Bill and Chief Jimmy both said it could pose a problem if certain facts were not made evident, at the scene. Knowing the honesty and fairness of these individuals, including Paul Fletcher, who was not there, it would be difficult for us to hold back knowing these officers were on the job. Never-the-less the program was widely accepted and many HAWKS signed up Continue Reading…
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago at 7:37 pm. Add a comment
We have several gun related events coming up, quicker than we’d like them to. Probably, the most significant is the Winnsboro Gun and Sport Show, which Doug Grantham is going at, hammer and tong. These gun shows get bigger and bigger every year, it seems, and as Chief Miller alluded to, the HAWKS play an important part in this drama. Doug and I discussed bringing up the fact that the City needs to buy more tables for the show and other events that the newly renovated City Auditorium, at the WEDC sponsored “talk back” program on the 21st of this month. However, the purpose of this get-together is to brain storm to increase foot traffic in downtown Winnsboro and events at the Auditorium will not do that. The second event is a joint effort between the WGC and HAWKS to sponsor a Rimfire tournament, one Saturday in four consecutive months starting in April. This evert is being run by the HAWKS’ Ken Pool and it’s coming together, nicely. Ken is experienced in running programs such as this and there is no doubt in anyone’s mind it will go just fine. Ken has stressed Safety and Education every step of the way and I know it will pay off. Finally, Doug Grantham, with all his free time, is trying to organize a Range Safety Officer training program through a friend of his in Waxihatchie. Instead of all those involved heading for Waxihatchie, the Mountain is coming to Mohammed or in this case Winnsboro. So far 15 16 19 have indicated they would be interested in taking the class and we haven’t heard from Janet Coates and her group as yet. Janet may have a couple of ladies that would be interested. Remember, whether you ever use this training program or not, just taking the course makes you that much more knowledgeable around firearms. If that isn’t enough we still have to put together our annual Fishing Tournament. Say what you will, inspite of working on a shoestring budget, I don’t see where we’ve missed a beat. As a matter of fact the last two meetings, under new leadership Continue Reading…
Posted 3 months, 1 week ago at 10:45 am. Add a comment
The HAWKS Gun Club of East Texas Inc. just finished it’s second business meeting with the “new crew” and it went just fine. Wayne opened with a call to order and greeting welcoming all members and guests, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance by Jimmy Chiles and Invocation by Tom Howard. Dave was next to give his first Treasurer’s report followed by v.p. John, who presented the Hawks’ attorney a certificate, officially making him an honorary Hawks member and thanking him for his relentless pursuit of our legal status, which he provided pro bono. In addition, he was given a gift certificate to Cibo Vino restaurant which in no way compensated him for his effort. Then, Ron and the Secretaries’ report on minutes of the last meeting, reminder that NRA Dues must still be in cash, a reminder and report on garage sale donations, followed by a report on the newly designed website. Ken Pool followed with an update on the Rim Fire Tournament, Ken Schwab discussed Compliance issues, followed by a Range and Safety update by Doug Grantham, including the March gun show. Doug, also, took time and presented Winnsboro Police Chief Jimmy Miller with a certificate making him an official Honorary Hawks member. Chief Miller responded with some very warm and appreciative words, complimenting the Hawks and their efforts towards making Winnsboro a better place to be and live. Wayne, then re- addressed tabled articles from the January meeting, which were approved, unanimously as follows: Continue Reading…
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago at 12:24 pm. Add a comment
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 4 months 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 4 months, 3 weeks 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 4 months, 4 weeks 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 5 months, 1 week ago at 4:50 pm. 2 comments