More information on electronic car keys

In my 8/19/13 post about my problem with electronic car keys, I did not realise that the car will only start by pressing the button if the car keys are actually close to the car. So, it would not be possible for a thief to simply press the button and start the car if the keys were not present. Thanks to Andy for pointing this out. of course, it still leaves the problem that if the doors cannot be locked due to an electrical fault in the system, any items can still be stolen from the vehicle. Thanks again, Andy for the correction.

Problems with Car Keys

I recently rented a car from one of the large car rental companies. It was a late model, mid-size auto with the usual keyless electronic door lock system. Inside, instead of the traditional key activated ignition, there was a button that you press to start the engine. I drove to my hotel, got out of the car and tried to lock all the doors with the key fob. The doors would not lock. I tried to lock them manually, but when one door locked, another unlocked. Finally, I called the 800 number for customer support and was advised that there was a fault in the system and that I’d have to return the car to the rental place and get a different vehicle, which is what I did. The real problem was that since the ignition was activated by a button, and not with a key, anyone could have climbed into the driver’s seat, started the car and driven away. 

I admit, I’m not a big fan of electronic gizmos, and this is part of the reason. Why would a car designer not include some sort of manual override to insure that the vehicle is secure when the owner (or renter in my case)  is away? In future, I’ll ask for a rental car with a standard keyed ignition. At least I’ll have improved the odds in my favor a little bit of not coming back to an empty parking space where my rental ought to be.

The American Flag

I am the American flag. The Stars and Stripes. Old Glory. I am thirteen stripes, seven red alternating with six white to represent the original 13 colonies, with a white star on a blue background for each state. The colors are also those of the British and French flags; two countries that, in their own way each contributed to the birth of a new American nation, the likes of which had never been seen before. Over the years, more and more stars have been added to me, but not one has ever been taken away.

I have been carried by troops in every war from the Revolutionary war, Civil war, the war to end all wars, the war after that one, Korea, Vietnam and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have been carried by athletes, by mountaineers, skydivers, on suit lapels and leather motorcycle jackets; I’ve even been carried into space and planted on the Moon. I have been carried on seas and oceans around the world and to the bottom of Pearl Harbor. I have flown at the Olympics, The White House, every state Capitol in the Union, school graduations, Boy Scout camps and NASCAR races. I have been trodden underfoot or burned by foreign dissenters and enemies of my country as well as Americans expressing their opinions. I have lain, draped over the coffins of those who can no longer salute me. I have flown at half mast to signify respect and remembrance for those who can no longer carry me in their hearts or hands. 

There are many flags in the world, each with their own story, each one unique. But I am not them and they are not me; for I am the American Flag.

© copyright John Higgs, 2013 Distribution for non-commercial use only.

Leader of the Colorado senate faces a recall

Here's an update to my April 4 post about some Colorado politicians facing a recall by their constituents because they supported gun control legislation at the state level. Senate President John Morse could be an ex-Senator soon. It seems that supporters of his recall had no trouble raising the required 7200 signatures from Senator Morse's constituents. In fact, they raised a whopping 16,000 signatures! Now those signatures must be verified by the Secretary of State to be sure enough of them are valid. If there are enough valid signatures the Senator will have the option of stepping down--in which case the Democrat party would appoint a new senator to fill the remainder of Morse's term of office, or if he doesn't resign, the governor would call a special election for Morse's senate seat. Obviously, when the senator adopted an anti-Second Amendment position, he didn't consider the large number of pro-freedom voters in his constituency.

http://www.9news.com/news/article/339632/339/Morse-recall-effort-turns-in-16000-signatures

Talking on Armed American Radio About the Murder of a British Soldier in London

Last weekend I was on Armed American Radio with my friend, host Mark Walters and guest Rob Pincus discussing the despicable murder of a British soldier in SE London in a terrorist attack by two men with knives, a gun and a meat cleaver.

Here's the link to listen to the first hour of the show and part of the second hour:

http://armedamericanradio.org/2013/06/6-2-2013-hour-1/

Recalls of Politicians Who Support Gun Bans

Following Colorado's latest gun legislation bills, which the governor has signed into law, it looks like the recall of politicians who support gun control is beginning.

 Basically, a recall is the procedure by which a public official may be removed from office by popular vote. It usually means that the elected official has failed in a big way to represent the people who elected the official and that a sufficient number of the electorate feel  the official should not complete their term in office (and be defeated in the next election), but should be recalled as soon as possible by a vote of the electorate in that official's voting district.

Leader of the Colorado Senate, John Morse is one legislator that gun owners are eying for a recall. Read the full story by clicking here. In addition, recalls are planned for State Rep. Mike McLachlan, both are Democrats.

Colorado Democrats Push Gun Bans in the Legislature

I spent Friday sitting in the gallery listening to the Colorado  Senate debating seven different gun bills. I had to leave while #6  (magazine ban over 15 rounds) was being debated, but the first five bills passed the committee along party lines with democrats voting for and republicans voting against. Interestingly, voice votes were (in my opinion and in the opinion of those sitting around me)  too close to call, but the Dem chairperson passed them anyway. The Assault Weapons Ban bill was held over until next week for debate. As the wording of the bill stands right now, it classifies all semi-auto rifles that use a detachable magazine (including .22 rimfire) as assault weapons. It bans any magazine over 15 rounds capacity, although the wording implies that any magazine that has a detacheable floorplate and that could accept an extender to increase the capacity over 15 rounds would also be banned. This means a de facto ban on any magazine with a removeable floorplate.

One win for the pro-freedom side: The magazine ban on tubular shotgun magazines was changed from a limit of 8 rounds, to a magazine length of 28 inches. Not surprisingly, the bill's author did not know that shotgun shells run in size from the short Aguila rounds to the 3 1/2 inch magnums     (2 3/4 and 3 inch lengths being the most popular.) A big "thank you" goes to gun rights activist and legal eagle David Kopel for helping her to rewrite that part of the bill and bring a tiny piece of common sense to a bad bill that will likely pass.

A big thank you goes to Colorado magazine manufacturer Magpul for supporting gun rights and standing firm on their comittment to leave the state if the magazine ban passes. Other local Colorado companies who supply Magpul testified that their businesses will be badly affected by Magpul leaving (further reducing employment and revenue in the state), but they all blamed the bill, and nobody blamed Magpul for their decision.

There was a long discussion about how  business and revenue in Colorado will be being adversly affected by the anti-gun bills. An Outdoors/hunting video production company stated they are pulling plans to video hunting in Colorado because the universal background check bill has such draconian requirements. They risk breaking the (proposed) law if a firearm is passed around from crew to presenters to hunters during filming! That's about a million dollars lost to the state, not including revenue from hotels, restaurants, gas stations etc. In fact, many out of state hunters could break the proposed backgound check law by carrying a rifle on the hunt that they borrowed from a friend or relative.

Yesterday, republican senators who made comments during their speeches about specific gun ban bills criticizing   the Democrats  for not standing up to the Mayor Bloomberg (New York)  initiated legislation were chastized by the Democrat Chair. So much for free speech!

Last week at the House Committee hearings, I heard a Magpul employee tearfully testify that if the bill passes she will have to decide between leaving Colorado and splitting up her family (two kids in college here)  or staying in Colorado and losing her job--her husband and another family member also work for Magpul. The reply from one of the Democrat female committee members was, "Talk to your employer." That was a nasty, egotistical comment for an elected official to make to a constituent.
We all know what happens when you give teenage boys whiskey and car keys. We are about to see what happens when you give left-wing politicians Bloomberg Kool-Aid and a majority in both Colorado legislatures.

Gun Control bills threaten green, environmentally friendly non-gun businesses

The current round of gun control bills working their way through the Colorado legislature include a ban on ammunition magazines with a capacity greater than fifteen rounds. Magpul is a Colorado based company that makes top quality magazines for the AR-15/M4/M16 series of civilian and military rifles. Magpul has already said that the company will leave Colorado and set up in a gun-friendly state if the magazine ban becomes law.

Today, I was talking to the owner of a local recycling business. They accept computer hardware among other recyclables and disassemble the items into their base components: plastic, steel, aluminum, etc. and then sell the raw materials. Their biggest supplier of donated plastic scrap is Magpul. The recycling guy told me that if Magpul leaves Colorado, he will not have enough raw material to keep his business running, and will be forced to close down. I counted six employees while I was there.

Every committee vote so far in the Colorado legislature has been passed along party lines--Democrats voting for, Republicans voting against. Do you think any of those Democrats realize--or even care--that their attacks on the lawful use of firearms by law-abiding citizens also costs Green jobs in an already weakened economy?

The Debate over Standard Capacity Magazines

There is currently legislation proposed at the federal level, as well as in quite a few states to restrict how many bullets can be loaded into the magazine of a semi-automatic rifle or pistol.

The argument is that if magazines were mandated by law to have a lower capacity than the standard 30 rounds that the AR-15 rifle uses, killers such as those at Sandy Hook school, and the Aurora movie Theater would have had to reload more frequently.

Some states have already enacted legislation mandating lower magazine capacities. New York state, for example just enacted a ban on magazines with more than seven (7) rounds capacity.

Would it really make any difference if the killers at Columbine High school, for example, had to reload after seven shots? 

No, I don't think so. But don't take my word for it, click here to take a look at this demonstration video from my friend, Ken Campbell who is the Sheriff of Boone County, Indiana.

Colorado Legislature Debates Gun Control

I was at the Colorado State Capitol hearings all day on Feb 19. We had a very strong turnout, but I heard the deal had already been done before hearings began. The original proposition was 10-round maximum capacity on rifle and pistol magazines and 5-round capacity on tubular shotgun magazines. It was amended and passed as a 15-round capacity on rifle/pistol mags and 8-round capacity on tubular shotgun magazines. .22 long rifle tubular magazines were exempted from the bill.

Colorado-based magazine manufacturer Magpul’s CFO testified against all the restrictions and said the company is considering leaving the state (potential loss of 700 jobs plus $48mil in annual revenue.) That made the committee sit up and take notice, but in the long run it didn't change their minds.

As a political refugee from Britain (formerly Great) I’m opposed to disarming law-abiding citizens. It transforms them eventually from proud, free citizens to groveling subjects. In Britain gun control legislation began with the Pistol act of 1903 anyone wishing to buy a pistol commercially merely had to purchase a license on demand over the counter from a post office before doing so.

That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it?

In fact, any time you see the word “reasonable” used to describe pending legislation, it should be a warning of worse things to come. “Reasonable” really means “just the first step designed to get a bill passed into law, because a less reasonable bill would fail.” 

Reasonable-sounding bills often get amended later on to be far less reasonable.

In Britain, the next piece of legislation was The Firearms Act of 1920 A firearm certificate had to be granted by the chief officer of police before a gun could be acquired.

Still reasonable? Perhaps, but only for people who don’t understand that (as declared in the United States Bill of Rights: Second Amendment) gun ownership is a right, and not subject to the whim of a public servant.

After a couple of mass shooting in England and Scotland, The Firearms Amendment Act of 1988 banned the ownership of semi-automatic centre-fire rifles and restricted the use of shotguns with a capacity of more than three cartridges (in magazine plus the breech). And the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997 was enacted, which effectively made private ownership of handguns illegal in the United Kingdom.

Personal freedom in the UK was finally dead.

Meanwhile, not only have violent crimes in Britain (formerly Great) skyrocketed, but the fall of the Soviet Union provided a huge number of eastern European weapons to enter Britain illegally, and end up on the streets. Estimates today are that there are far more illegal guns in Britain than ever were legally held.

Anti-gun, anti-personal freedom legislators would do well to heed the lessons of history.    

Madison Rising

Here's a very cool band that is starting to get some attention. According to Wikipedia:
"Madison Rising is an American rock band led by singer Dave Bray and guitarist Alex Bodnar. The band composes and performs guitar-heavy rock music with an explicitly patriotic pro-American message and sound. The overarching theme of the band’s music is that of liberty, independence, smaller government, patriotic duty and personal responsibility.
Madison Rising's self-titled debut CD was released on October 17, 2011 and immediately charted in the top 100 best selling rock albums on Itunes and Amazon.com"

Check out their incredible rendition of the Star Spangled Banner by clicking here.

Crank up the volume!                                 http://www.madisonrising.com/

Colorado Sherrifs Opinion on Gun Control

The County Sherrifs of Colorado (CSoC) organization has produced a five-page paper on the proposed gun control legislation that has been introduced at the federal and various state levels. The CSoC basically stands in support of the Second Amendment (Bill of Rights) to the U.S. Constitution and explains why gun control is a dangerous thing. The paper also offers commentary on how mental health policies of  "deinstitutionalization" is a major cause of the increases in contact of people with mental illness and the criminal justice system.

I fully endorse the Colorado Sherrif's opinions as stated in this paper. Here's the link if you want to read it for yourself:
   http://www.csoc.org/ppdocs/GunControlLegislation.pdf