I apologize for the relative silence over the past few days, but things come up, as I am quite sure you all are aware. However, something else has come up which is going to take precedence over a few other things for the moment.

On August 28th, the Brady Campaign organizers are scheduling a national protest to "focus attention on the scourge of illegal gun trafficking". Fine. That is all good and well - I, personally, am against illegal gun trafficking as well, as I have always been against all forms of firearm-related crime. However, it is the Brady Campaign's avowed purpose to disarm all Americans, law-abiding or not, and this "protest" is nothing more than attempt to further erode our Constitutionally-ensured rights to safe firearm ownership and self-defense. As if I needed any further proof of this claim, however, buried in the article was this little gem: "In addition, activists in California plan to launch a statewide campaign on August 28th to build support for a crime-fighting "microstamping" bill being considered by the State Legislature." Mr. Allen over at sharp as a marble sufficiently ripped that entire concept a new one, so I will not even try and one-up him, but it should serve as an example of just how much this is not about the law-breakers, but rather about those law-abiding citizens who the Brady Campaign does not like being armed. Just remember, gun-control laws mean absolutely nothing to criminals - they are only qualified as criminals because they already break laws. What is one more law to them? Gun control laws are interested in controlling one group of people, and one group of people alone - those law-abiding citizens who own firearms.

Thankfully, there are those people in this world who will not take those kinds of assaults against their rights lying down. David Codrea has long-since been at the forefront of gun rights movements, and this situation is certainly no different, with his declaration that all firearm owners, those interested in owning firearms, and those interested in ensuring that our rights are not infringed take a stand - Go to a local range or firearm store, and purchase a new gun, or ammo, or reloading supplies, or parts, or something... Just make it clear that we firearm owners are still out there, still interested in our rights, and still interested in showing the world that we are far from the deranged, homicidal maniacs that so many of the Brady Campaign followers would have the world believe we are.

It is only through our efforts that National Exercise Your Rights Day will proceed, and, after all, us firearm owners need ammunition more often than not.

So what have I done to support this day? Well, I am planning on doing some serious supporting when the day comes around (more on that later), however, I have already emailed all of the various firearm stores I could find in San Diego (a good list of which can be found here) with the pre-built letter Mr. Codrea put up on his weblog. Considering the surefire example of this weblog, I have a hard enough time putting my thoughts in order as it is... I am quite thankful Mr. Codrea took the time to put together a letter we could send out to the various stores and suchlike in our area, especially in my case - I stand a better chance of alienating people than getting them on our side. Regardless, as of this moment, I have received responses from... well, none of the stores in question. I find this more than a little disappointing, but considering the nature of the Kalifornistan beast, it is not terribly surprising. I may swing by each of those stores and drop off some of the fliers available at War on Guns to see if that will drum up interest as well. Honestly, I am not entirely sure why more firearm-related stores are not involved in this event - I mean, hell, Mr. Codrea is literally encouraging people to go out and spend money at their stores. Where could they lose in a situation like that? I mean, yeah, they could discount some stuff and drum up even more interest, but then the economies of scale take over, and the stores are likely to make even more money than they normally do on a standard business day regardless. Of course, here in Kalifornistan, the gun store owners are probably concerned about attracting the wrong kind of attention (I saw on the Brady Campaign page that they are planning protests here in San Diego... can I go point and laugh?), but how long are they going to allow themselves to be cowed and beaten by anti-gun-rights groups, the government, and all the rest? I guess that is just the price of doing business...

And speaking of other people phrasing things better than I can, you can find further information on the National Exercise Your Rights Day at Firearms Coalition, two times over at Ride Fast, Shoot Straight, Say Uncle, and a massively huge list of other sites at Traction Control.

So what else will I be doing for this day? Well, it is a given that I will be headed to a range to purchase a few rounds and expend them... it has been more than a few days since I did any serious shooting (or any shooting at all), so the practice will be more than welcome. However, this seems like a perfect day to procure that M1A I have been drooling over... We will see.

Update: Just wanted to thank Mr. Codrea for the link to this post... It has single-handedly tripled my average daily traffic, and the day is only 10 hours old. More to the point, if it gets more people interested in this event, then that is really all that matters.

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Rosemary's Thoughts, Faultline USA, Allie Is Wired, The Random Yak, DeMediacratic Nation, Right Truth, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, Leaning Straight Up, Conservative Cat, High Desert Wanderer, Conservative Thoughts, Right Voices, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.