A Reminder of the Upcoming Elections:

Attached here is an article written by Mr. James Shepard who writes for "Shooting Wire" www.shootingwire.com. His article succinctly states the case for law abiding gun owners in the coming election. I encourage everyone who owns a firearm to get out and vote on November 7th. Sarah Brady and Nancy Pelosi are already drooling over what their intentions are for us gun owners. It is their intent to transform every state into another Kalifornia!!

Mayors, Elections and Guns --Jim Shepherd

As the November elections get closer, it's looking more and more like gun owners are going to be, well, under the gun again if the liberal politicians gain control of the Congress.

To help move the occasionally too-silent majority back into the flow of events, conservative groups and gun rights organizations are working to make certain we're all aware of the fact that there has never been any letdown in the drive to disarm Americans. Efforts to limit gun ownership have moved from frontal to indirect attacks, but the attacks are no less deliberate.

On Wednesday, the two favorite sons of the anti-gun movement, Michael Bloomberg and Richard M. Daley, mayors of New York City and Chicago, Illinois, respectively, reconvened one of their mayoral conclaves. They and their "counterparts" from across the country gathered in Chicago to share their collective "successes and frustrations" in their "never-ending war on gun violence."

The daylong political event was one of three strategy sessions called by Mayors Against Illegal Guns. That's an organization formed last year by Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

During this high-level photo opportunity, er, strategy session, Bloomberg was asked how he could possibly hope to counter the National Rifle Association a group with political muscle and money. Bloomberg countered with the famous Howard Beale quote from "Network". "Mayors," Bloomberg said, "representing tens of millions of people are coming together and saying 'we're not going to take it anymore.'"

It was correctly brought to the attention of these mad mayors that despite being a coalition of 109 mayors from 44 states, they've not become well known for their record in the courts. Mayor Daley, for example, commenced what was called a "pioneering" lawsuit against the firearms industry. In 2004, that lawsuit was tossed by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Ergo, the Mayors Against Illegal Guns. An organization the members say represents a "counterweight" to the "disproportionate influence" the gun lobby has on federal gun policies.

Without belaboring a point, their organization is, indeed, one that shouldn't be taken lightly. Neither, however, does it represent the end of the firearms industry or the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

It represents another obvious sign that the profession once described as the Fourth Estate, journalism, has now decided that it is no longer proper to simply report the news. It is incumbent upon serious journalists to steer the poor sheep of the electorate in the correct direction. As I heard it said earlier this week, the Fourth Estate seems to be looking suspiciously like a Fifth Column movement, naysaying and downplaying anything that might look even remotely like the United States is anything other than the global bully.

Personally, I'm going to hang onto the collective frustration and anger I have with my former colleagues for a few more weeks. Then, I'm going to walk into the voting booth and do my best to completely cancel the efforts of at least one liberal.

Hopefully, everyone who owns a firearm - or believes in the right for anyone to own a legal firearm - will walk into a voting booth and do the same thing.

If we don't vote, we run the risk of losing that right, too.

For more on the fifty caliber issues check our web site at: www.fiftycal.org. Best regards and safe shooting.

John Burtt, Chmn
Fifty Caliber Institute