ANOTHER FOUR YEARS?

The republican party is struggling to find a candidate that satisfies a majority of the party base.  No matter who ends up on the ballot, beating Obama might prove difficult at best.  Many predict that Obama, if elected for a second term, will make up for his lack of an anti-gun agenda in his first four years when he had to worry about a second term.

As much as I hate the idea, money apparently does the talking when it comes to campaigns, so now is the time for all gun owners and others who believe in the second amendment to voice their opinions in whatever way they can.  This includes spending a few bucks, if you can afford it, to help out the campaigns of gun-friendly candidates.

You may not believe whole-heartedly in everything the NRA does, but at a national level, there is little doubt they have more clout than many other lobbying organizations.  A membership isn't all that much to ask when our gun rights are at stake.  Think about how much you may have spent on guns and ammo, and you'll realize how much you have to lose if our rights are severely restricted by Obama and his anti-gun choices for the supreme court.

You can save a few bucks on a regular membership by simply clicking on the link I put on this page, and yes, I get a few bucks for everyone who joins through my link.  I think I've made $5 in total since I set it up, so believe me, making money off potential members is not my goal.  I want to keep all my guns and be able to use them without restrictions for any legal purpose I choose.

I also volunteer as the Election Volunteer Coordinator for the 1st District in Nebraska, and I spend quite a bit of time keeping up with and supporting various pro-gun causes.  A few dollars coming back my way for my efforts helps in that regard, too.

Thanks to anyone who joins, whether you use my link or not.

Lots of new bills to ponder!

The legislature has a number of bills introduced already this year that have to do with gun rights.  I hope everyone with a stake in the outcome will read them and communicate their thoughts to their respective legislators.  Most of the bills I've seen are aimed at lessening the restrictions on gun ownership or carry, but the wording is not necessarily what many 2A rights enthusiasts would want.  There is that group that thinks we don't need these bills because the Bill of Rights and the Nebraska constitution already provide all the rights we need.  I don't necessarily disagree with them, but unfortunately, the state has taken measures that effectively limits those rights, constitutional or not.  In order to combat these infringements, we either need a court case to push that idea and get these infringements repealed, or we need to chip away at them with specific amendments to current law.

My best guess is that chipping away, is the method that will most likely get us closer to our goal.  Certainly, if someone were to push the envelope and take a case to the Supreme Court (Nebraska or federal), it could be a one-stop-shop of gun rights.  I just don't think we'll get such a case any time soon, or if we did, that the court(s) would find on our side.

In any case, the fact that there are some "extreme view" constitutionalists out there is not a bad thing.  It keeps the anti-gun crowd in check to a degree because I think they see the same problem from their own perspective.  They realize that the courts are not likely to find that gun ownership/carry is not protected by the Constitution except for the case of the military (militia).  Instead, the courts will argue that people have the right to keep and bear arms, with reasonable restrictions.  Therefore, the anti-gunners are as willing to chip away as we are to further their goal (eliminating guns in the public sector).  Without the hardliners arguing for complete freedom in regard to gun control, they might feel they can nibble away at our rights until there are none left.  With the hardliners, they realize there is a segment of society that will never accept that situation.

WOW

Applied on Tuesday morning.  Had my renewed CHP on Thursday afternoon.

I've heard a lot of horror stories from others trying to get their permits, some of them claiming it took months.  I have to wonder if they had such dubious backgrounds that it took that long to check them out for eligibility.  My original only took about 5 days.  It is now in the hands of the State Patrol awaiting some decision on where it will be displayed as part of Nebraska history.

THE PERMIT

It sure doesn't seem like five years have gone by since I got the first Concealed Handgun Permit issued in Nebraska.  I've been planning for some time now on getting out to the State Patrol office to renew at the first available opportunity.  I was told that, no matter what, my permit number would not stay the same or be indicative of the first permit renewed.  Still, I wanted to be the first one to apply for renewal, and I forgot to go yesterday.  Someone beat me to it.  Oh, well.  Lots of people think I'm number two anyway!

I still don't know what my number will be, or if I actually have to return my original permit.  They didn't ask for it today, and I assume they are mailing the new one, so I don't know if they'll expect me to return the original somehow, or not.  They told me it would be about a five-day turn around.  We'll see.

I'll keep you posted.

LOST ONE

While Guns, Dogs, and More is still appropriate, I'm down to only two dogs now: Sienna and Murphy.  Mocha left us a couple of weeks ago due to a brain tumor (most likely), or something else that was causing her to have seizures and loss of the ability to do much of anything that could be considered essential to a quality life.  I was away on a motorcycle trip at the time, and my wife and son had to take care of her.  I felt bad that they were stuck with such an awful choice to make, but at the same time, I knew they would do what was right for her.  Selfishly, I was glad I didn't have to do it, but sorry I couldn't be there for Mocha at the end.

Mocha was my best hunter, but I'm hoping Murphy, the youngest, will step up and do a reasonable job at replacing her.  Sienna, although she enjoys going, never quite cut it at finding birds or retrieving them, though she did have some luck on occasion.

I was worried last night as I had them both out for a walk that one or both were going to be injured by a pit bull running at large that charged out and appeared pretty aggressive toward both the dogs and me.  Its owner was an asshole and didn't seem to care much that I was having difficulty getting on my way with his dog causing all three dogs to get tangled in the two leashes I was trying to handle with my one good arm (my right collar bone was recently fractured in a motorcycle accident).  When it seemed his dog was becoming more and more agitated and likely to attack one or both of my dogs, I told him he better get control of his dog because if it attacked I was going to shoot it (I was carrying my 45 for just such an occurrence).  He then started threatening me and my dogs and actually trying to get his dog to attack us.  Fortunately, his dog didn't pay any attention to him, but continued to growl, snarl, and create havoc with me trying to continue on my walk.  Eventually, the guy's better half came out and got the pit bull away from us and basically told the guy he better just shut up and get in the house.

I was glad I didn't have to brandish my weapon, or actually use it, as it would definitely have caused some legal problems for me.  I'm not sure if the guy even knew I was actually carrying at the time.  If he did, he's even more stupid than I first thought, by continuing to threaten an armed man.

I did report him to animal control for having a dog running at large and an aggressive one at that.  I know they came out to see him today, but I haven't heard yet if he got any ticket or anything.  I wouldn't have said much of anything or reported it had he not been such an ass and tried to get his dog to attack us.  My dogs have, once or twice, been loose momentarily and ran out to some bicyclist or jogger and probably scared them, even though they were just being friendly.  In those cases, I apologized profusely, and promptly got my dogs back inside the house or fenced yard.  Had this guy done the same, I wouldn't have given it a second thought.

On the other hand, had his dog actually attacked, I would not have hesitated to shoot it.  Thankfully, that didn't happen, and the owner was apparently just a load mouth without the balls to actually do anything himself.

Though I really shouldn't have to, I may start taking a different route on future walks.