We’ve posted from time to time about the ongoing encroachment of new gun control laws passed by the states, including Connecticut, New York, Maryland, and most recently Washington. A bill has now been proposed in the Oregon legislature that is similar to the “universal background checks” law passed in Washington State late last year.
Like their fellows in Connecticut, New York, and Washington, Second Amendment activists in Oregon are resisting this tyrannical move by their elected representatives. They are receiving substantial support from other states, for example the following open letter to the Oregon House of Representatives written by Mike Vanderboegh of Sipsey Street Irregulars. See the original post for the full list of recipients:
Sent: Sat, May 2, 2015 9:23 am
Subject: Planning on voting for “Universal Background Checks”? The NRA is the least of your personal worries. The Law of Unintended Consequences, Armed Civil Disobedience, and Lex Talionis.Dear Legislator,
In the interest of full disclosure, I am an unindicted criminal. For the past two years, my friends and I have been breaking the state firearm laws of Colorado, Connecticut, New York, Maryland and, most recently, the state of Washington, that were passed in the wake of Sandy Hook. In those states where standard capacity magazines were banned, we have smuggled in such forbidden items in defiance of those laws. We have hardly made a secret of it. We want the authorities to arrest us. To date, they have not dared. In Connecticut and New York, the non-compliance rates on the registration of firearms and magazines are estimated to be as much as 85% to 90%. In New York, county sheriffs have put the state police on notice that if they try to enforce the SAFE Act in their jurisdictions that THEY will be arrested, not their intended victims. The authorities of those states have made noises that they will enforce these unconstitutional laws. But again, to date THEY HAVE NOT DARED.
In Washington state, Michael Bloomberg bought himself a “universal background check” law much like the one you are about to pass. In response, two thousand of that state’s uncompromising firearm owners gathered on the steps of the state capitol in Olympia — armed to the teeth — and defied Bloomberg’s law despite threats that they would be arrested if they did. The rally, one of the largest pro-firearm rights demonstrations ever held in Washington, came off without a hitch and the “lawbreakers” were complimented by the state police afterward for the professional way that they conducted themselves. I know, I was there. Why did they not enforce Bloomberg’s law? Because they did not dare. In June, a firearms expo will be held in Yakima by the group Liberty For All — a background-check-free gun show — testing further the resolve of the state authorities to enforce a plainly unenforceable law. Will they dare? We will find out, because WE WILL NOT COMPLY.
The lesson of the past two years is clear for anyone paying attention to see — THERE IS NO UNCONSTITUTIONAL LAW THAT CAN BE PASSED THAT CANNOT BE DEFIED, RESISTED, EVADED, SMUGGLED IN VIOLATION OF AND COMPLETELY NULLIFIED BY ARMED CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.
And that includes the state of Oregon.
This is dangerous ground, truly dangerous ground. But it is not ground that we chose. All the law abiding firearm owners of this country wish is to be left alone. But collectivist control freaks like Michael Bloomberg will not leave us alone. Still, pass what laws they like, they cannot escape from the Law of Unintended Consequences. In Connecticut, the state legislators who voted for their Intolerable Act discovered that when I posted on my blog, Sipsey Street Irregulars, a list of their names, home addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. I discovered something from their hysterical reaction — people who like to put other people on lists (you know, like the bill you are considering on Monday) do not react well when they themselves get put on a list.
Which brings us to you, today. The NRA has sent out a legislative alert. You will no doubt be contacted by many, many outraged citizens. Let me reassure you, this is the least of your personal worries. What you must remember is that we understand intimately, even if you choose to ignore it, that the velvet lies of your “good intentions” are wrapped around the iron fist of the threat of state violence against those who do not comply. Now this is true of any law you pass — all are backed up by the threat of arrest and incarceration and, yes, death at the hands of the state police if anyone resists your good intentions and refuses the honor of arrest and incarceration. The thing is, we are not your average criminals. In fact, we are not criminals at all, no matter if the last election has placed you in the position of power to declare us so. However, if you make us criminals, we will be the very best, most successful criminals we can be. For we will not comply.
For there is a difference, as I have said in speeches in the past, between “the law” and the rule of law as codified by the Founders’ Republic in the Constitution. Our natural, God-given and inalienable rights are not subject to negotiation, dilution, diminution or infringement, by you or anyone else. For us, it is the height of cruel irony that those of us who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law find ourselves required to become “lawbreakers” to remain in fidelity to that oath. Again, this is not ground we chose. Michael Bloomberg and his collectivist fellow travelers, domestic enemies of the Founders’ Constitution, picked this ground. It is ground we have sworn to fight on, and if need be, die on. The question before you today is this: Is it ground that YOU are prepared to actually fight and die on? If we resist your ‘good intentions,” how many of us are you willing to see dead in order to enforce your will upon us? And once we and our families begin dying at the hands of the state police you send to our doors, can you blame us if your victims return the favor to the people who sent killers operating under color of law?
This is not ground we chose. It is deadly dangerous ground. By your votes on Monday, we will discover if it is ground that YOU choose for Oregon. But kindly remember the words of John Locke, who wrote them nearly a century before the Founders wrote the Constitution:
“Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience and are left to the common refuge, which God hath provided for all men, against force and violence.”
For there is another law, ancient and unyielding, available to the lowliest slave, and that is Lex Talionis — an eye for an eye. And history shows that the distance between laws like the one you are considering passing on Monday and Lex Talionis is often unexpectedly short and frequently taken in mortal error. For as the ancient Chinese warned, “Be careful what you wish for, you may get it.” Or, put differently, the rule of law protects you from us far more than it protects us from you and your tyrannical intentions.
Again I ask, how many of us are you willing to see dead to enforce your “benevolent” will upon us? Understand in advance, if you wish to enforce such a law, you will have to kill us. FOR WE WILL NOT COMPLY. We will greet it with the same tactic that we used to nullify every such law passed since Sandy Hook — armed civil disobedience. And who do you suppose, after the bodies are all stacked up and the butcher’s bill calculated, that history will judge to be guilty for passing such a dangerous, unenforceable “law” that is absolutely destructive of the constitutional rule of law? Us? Or the people who passed it?
Sincerely,
Mike Vanderboegh
This gauntlet that has been thrown down is one more symptom of a republic that is dying. One can only wonder whether we are repeating Rome’s history. more and more Star Wars is appearing to be a morality tale told by George Lucas to caution us against such legislative overreaches as described above and others that are persisting despite objections one the part of the citizens who voted the legislators into office. The scene in Star Wars I of the Republic’s Senate was particularly telling as it enabled Palpatine to rise from obscurity to Emperor in a very short time.
If our republic dies, it is because we chose to not take action and watched it die.
Our politicians are very good at keeping the people divided, both on the left and the right. Unfortunately there is much more suffering to come before any effective action could be triggered to justify the arresting of criminals that hold office by force. Yes they break the law and are not charged because the country’s sheriff is loyal to the king without question and acknowledges the will of the king is above any law.
As long as we have Muslim savages around who are willing to try to kill people for drawing pictures they don’t like, we can’t afford to budge one nanometer on anything related to self-defense or physical security.
Rome died slowly, that is until the Muslims invaded north Africa and destroyed the gigantic wheat farms that fed most of the Roman Empire. In the strata of soil laid down during the invasion called the Younger Fill there are no signs of wheat or produce just charred remains of an agricultural empire and dust. The destruction was so complete that this invasion is now noted as the start of the Dark Ages. The erosion that followed the Muslim conquest denuded the land leaving just a few fertile areas to this day
I conclude that Obola, being the Muslim scholar that he is, knows this bit of history and plans the same for America
Islam is a death cult. Muslims that claim Islam is a religion of peace are not by definition, Muslim. They may claim to be Muslim, but if they do not believe that the only option for a non-Muslim is to convert, pay jizyah and be enslaved, or death, then they are not Muslim and considered apostate.
Muslim leadership hate apostates more than they hate Jews. That is why ISIS is cleaning house internally. Once they are done with that, they will actively attack Israel with their army. The United States may sit on the sidelines as there are a significant number of anti-Semites in both parties. Our future generation of leaders will be graduating from extremely anti-Semitic universities. They truly believe Hamas is an organization of freedom fighters and that Israel should be destroyed. Yep. The future does not look too bright for Israel if the leaders of this planets nations has anything to say or do about it. One more blood moon. Just one more. The US is at the doorstep with it’s hand on the doorknob to our destruction.
The fatal mistake of recognizing and obeying unconstitutional gun laws visited my family and that of my brother. Back in 1987 I was in the army and away on a recon mission in Central America. While I was away, my wife was sexually assaulted in a parking garage. We had both applied for CCW permits and were denied two years prior to the assault. Since the assault took place, I have not complied with any gun control laws that prevent me from protecting my family and myself.
Three years ago, my brother’s wife was car jacked and beaten to death. What I want to make perfectly clear is you do not get to choose when and how violence will threaten the lives of you and your family. My wife knew something was up with the man that assaulted her causing her to run, but the scum caught up to her and pushed a pistol into her ribs. My wife is very well trained in personal defense and would have at least had a chance had she been armed. Since that day, we do not recognize nor are we bound by the idiocy of these gun laws. In the Calguns forum, I keep hearing from the majority of members that urge us to just wait and be patient and someday we will have the right to carry. Well I have been waiting for almost thirty years for the laws to be struck down. Thank God I pay no attention to fools anymore.
Since when must a citizen ask permission to exercise their rights? Can they be called rights if you need permission to exercise them? My recommendation is for all good citizens to reject unconstitutional gun laws and exercise your rights. There is no prison nor cemetery big enough for the government to enforce these unjust laws. If you are unwilling to defend your rights with your life, you do not deserve them and you may find Canada or Europe to be more to your liking.
And another thing: They are making gun ownership so onerous and legally risky that the laws are just a back door form of disarmament. The timid will be so intimidated by regulation and law that they would rather risk being a victim than own a gun.
If you want to know the main reason for gun control, follow the money. In the state of California, Leland Yee, a HUGE supporter of gun control, was indicted and will go to trial on federal gun trafficking charges. In Yee’s mind, “the law applies to thee, but not to me”.
How much excrement do they expect us to eat before we take action?
When our leaders are no longer compelled nor held accountable to obey the laws they have written, then I am sorry to say that the end is near for our form of government. Just ask the Romans.
All I have to add is that the attempt to draft and pass legislation directly contrary to the Constitution, which along with the Declaration of Independence are the only basis for any authority of the American State and Federal governments, is prima facie illegitimate and cannot be construed as law. Indeed, the Constitution makes it very clear that any person who is does not faithfully support the Constitution (let along those who directly contravene it) are as a matter of definition disqualified from holding office in the Federal or State governments.
Gun-control laws are, for Americans, an oxymoron. Such an act cannot be considered law anymore than deadly poison can be considered food, and for much the same reasons.