HB1237 In Senate Judiciary Committee

HB1237, the bill to remove churches from the list of prohibited places under Arkansas' concealed handgun licensing law, has passed the House and is now sitting in the Senate Judiciary committee. I read somewhere that Governor Beebe has stated that he will sign the bill if it makes it to his desk. Unfortunately, I'm now coming up with a blank as to where I saw that bit of info.

Additionally, Robb as Sharp as a Marble has a nice rebuttal to some of the uninformed hysteria that has arisen concerning this bill. The only thing that I would add to his reply is to the "ministers" who are making the local media with their opposition to this bill. From what I have seen, every one of you represents a denomination that holds as one of its beliefs that the church is the people, not the building. It's the people who gather together that are holy, not the place where they sometimes gather together. Yet all I'm seeing is talk of "preserving the sanctity of the church" and "the church is a place of peace". If it's wrong in God's sight for a Christian to carry a gun into "church", then it's wrong for them to carry at all, seeing as how they are an integral part of the church!

Y'know, it really makes me wonder if you've put any thought or study into this subject at all or are just reacting at a gut level. I'd suggest you take a look at 2 Samuel, particularly the story of Uzzah, as to how God responds to his people reacting at a gut level without thinking things through.

ARCCA

I've become a member of the Arkansas Concealed Carry Association. I highly suggest fellow Arkansans do the same.

Nice Of Them To Let Us Know...

It seems that the Arkansas State Police have decided to add extra legal burdens on CHL holders. Under Rule 3.2 of the DEPARTMENT OF ARKANSAS STATE POLICE, ARKANSAS CONCEALED HANDGUN CARRY LICENSE RULES which was put into effect on January 1, 2009, if a concealed handgun license holder interacts with a law enforcement officer in an official manner, the licensee now has the responsibility to present the officer with their CHL if the officer requests identification and the licensee is in possession of a handgun.

Based upon emails with the ASP by one of the posters on THR, this rule does not carry the weight of law and there are no penalties that can be invoked for not following the rule. However, as this document is provided to officers and CHL instructors as being in compliance with AR law, there are two distinctly unsavory possibilities: 1) An officer believes that there is a legal duty to inform and arrests a CHL holder for not informing and 2) CHL instructors will promulgate this information as having the weight of law, further muddying the waters for those licensees/prospective licensees who are less informed.

Also included in the THR thread was the fact that the ASP apparently posted, in both newspapers and on their website, a public hearing regarding these rules. I did not see either of these notices and I am fairly certain that my CHL-holding friends did not see them, either. Therefore, I will, from now on, do my best to check ASP's website on a regular basis in an attempt to catch further rule-making hearings. I will post any activity in that area on this website.

On a more positive note, HB1237 (allowing CHL holders to carry in churches/places of worship) and HB1097 (allowing allowing CHL holders to carry in schools) are scheduled to go before the Judiciary Committee, HB1237 as early as tomorrow morning. Three of the members of this committee are co-sponsors of HB1237.

ETA: HB1097 evidently is only concerned with allowing the CHL holder to keep the firearm in their vehicle. It's still a step in the right direction, just not as big a step as I'd previously thought.

Well, I'll Be...

Seems my current home-town of Conway is also home to a world-known USPSA shooter, one Matt Mink. I'll be honest and say that I'm not familiar with the name. But one of the things that really surprises me is that he's a CZ shooter as well. Check out the video at the link and you might notice that he's using a CZ SP01. It also mentions that he competes locally at a Pulaski county range. I'm wondering if that might be something that the guys and I might want to check out one of these days...? Anyone?

Seems the video embed doesn't want to work for me, either.

H/T to Caleb.

Another One...?!

Two students are dead and one person injured after a shooting Sunday evening on the UCA campus.

But don't worry. President Tom Courtway says the campus is safe. You can trust him. It's not like he'd lie to the general public to protect his job or keep enrollment up or anything...

("...AR-15 military-style rifles..." Who comes up with this drivel? Seriously.)

Anchor Dies of Wounds

Ms. Pressly passed away this past Saturday due to the injuries that were inflicted upon her Sunday evening/Monday morning last week.

Looks like the goblin(s) responsible are now looking at a murder one rap. Here's hoping the police catch them quickly.

Ticks Me Off Something Fierce

A local TV anchor was attacked in her own home last night. The victim is Anne Pressly of KATV out of Little Rock. She was listed in critical condition at the time of the article.

Believe I'm gonna oil my 870 now. Stay safe, y'all.

H/T to Tam.

Papa's Got A Brand New Bed

Mom and dad came down for a visit Friday night and the better part of Saturday. We did some running around while they were here as I have been mulling the purchase of a new mattress for a few months now. I always prefer to get input from both mom and dad on purchases of significant dollar amount on items with which I am unfamiliar. And this would be the first mattress that I've bought, ever.

We made the rounds to several furniture companies that I'd spotted previously and found a few likely candidates at each store. Then, we headed back to my house and dad picked up the phone book and started looking at furniture stores. That lead us to Bates Furniture in downtown Conway. Turns out they carry Dreamline mattresses, a brand that I had heard of before but was unfamiliar with. In talking with the salesman, we found out that the Dreamline mattresses are actually manufactured in Cabot, AR, less than 50 miles away. That was kinda the clincher for me as the mattress was just as comfortable as all but one of the others that I'd tried (that one being a $1400 model that I couldn't afford much less justify). The 25-year warrantee didn't hurt either. (Though the paperwork that came with the mattress says 20 years. Still better than the 5-10 year warrantees everywhere else.)

Long story short, the matress was delivered for free with a $10 fee to get rid of my old matress set. And mom got a free painting out of the deal (no thanks to Captain Observant, here). All told, it ended up setting me back a hair over $550. That's just less than the tires are gonna cost that I still need to get for the Tahoe. Good thing I've been getting overtime the last couple weeks.

I slept quite peacefully last night with only one instance of waking before my alarm went off. That's most unusual for me as I usually wake up 2-3 times a night. I think this is gonna work out just fine.

Arkansas Democratic Party Chairman Killed

Chairman Bill Gwatney was killed today by one Timothy Johnson of Searcy, AR. Johnson was also killed after reportedly fleeing and firing at police. No motive has been established at this time.

Prayers for and condolences to his family and loved ones.

Helena Curfew Extended

Helena's city council has voted unanimously to allow their police force to expand the area under curfew.

I've already made my position clear on the matter. This is a violation of rights protected by the Constitution. But these quotes by the mayor and a council member just leave me shaking mad.

From the Log Cabin Democrat's article:

Mayor James Valley:"Now if somebody wants to sue us, they have an option to sue, but I'm fairly certain that a judge will see it the way the way the citizens see it here. The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution."

So it's okay to infringe on constitutional rights as long as you don't violate the Constitution? Could someone explain that one to me?

Oh, and the citizens deserve peace? Really? I'm disinclined to agree with that statement. I'm in good company, too. Benjamin Franklin once said, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Also from the Log Cabin's article:

The council rejected Dickson's claims, at one point questioning the Little Rock-based attorney if she'd live in a neighborhood they described as under siege by wild gunfire and gangs.

"As far as I'm concerned, at 3 o'clock in the morning, nobody has any business being on the street, except the law," Councilman Eugene "Red" Johnson said. "Anyone out at 3 o'clock shouldn't be out on the street, unless you're going to the hospital."

Any one care to lay odds on whether Mr. Johnson would feel the same way if it was his neighborhood that was under the curfew?

I'm not going to touch much on the assertion that local drug dealers "carry...AK47 assault rifles...". A rifle built around the AK's action, maybe, but I sincerely doubt that the local hooligans have access to true AK47s. You know, the full-auto, military-grade small arm that have been banned from importation since 1986. My bet is that it's the common WASR-type rifles that are built up on US-made, semi-auto only receivers and are dirt cheap right now.

In closing, I believe I need to make my position perfectly clear: Nothing the police can do will be able to save this neighborhood. Nothing the mayor can do will be able to save this neighborhood. Nothing the city council can do will be able to save this neighborhood. The only way for this neighborhood to be saved is for the residents to decide that they will not stand idly by when they or their neighbors are assaulted. They need to make life too difficult for the goblins who are causing the problems. They know who these people are. They know who and where to keep an eye on for problems. And since this state is one of the few that are still relatively free, they have the ability to purchase arms for their common defense.

Yes, by doing this, uninvolved people are likely to get hurt. But the question is, which is more acceptable? A few people hurt over a short period of time while the neighborhood does the right thing and tries to sort itself out? Or a few people hurt by goblins who then go about their evil ways unmolested and are thereby emboldened to continue hurting more and more people with no end in sight?

Think about that for a minute.

Mandatory Curfew in Helena Neighborhood

It seems that Helena's mayor James Valley has decided that its gotten too dangerous for the residents of certain neighborhoods to go outside. Therefore, he's ordered that anyone caught outside without a good excuse is to be arrested.

Says Valley, "It's something akin to martial law. It got to the point where somebody was going to get seriously hurt or killed if we didn't do something."

And we can't have people getting hurt or killed now, can we? After all, it's not like that can happen driving back and forth to work, right?

Uhhh...wait a minute...

But seriously, it seems that if the police see you on a public street, they can just toss the Fourth Amendment right out the window, having you and your vehicle searched. 'Cause, you know, only criminals would have any reason to leave their homes. Or maybe they're using the old standby justification of "if you don't have anything to hide, then you have no reason to worry."

Thankfully, the Arkansas branch of the ACLU has jumped on this, sending a letter demanding the curfew be lifted. Valley, however, doesn't seem to take them seriously. Here's one of my favorite quotes in the articles: "I invite them to move in on Second Street and be up all night with people shooting at them. That's my comment to them."

Well, no offense, Jimmy but be careful what you wish for. This is Arkansas, after all. I think the last thing you'd want is a bunch of independently-minded and/or rights-minded people moving into an area where they're likely to be shot at. 'Cause in all honesty, they're more than likely to shoot back. Which is exactly what should be happening in these neighborhoods in my opinion. Nothing like responding gunfire from multiple locations to put the damper on your attempted drive-by.

Hopefully the ACLU will pursue this matter further. I'd be tickled to see a lawsuit or organized civil disobedience. What makes me nervous, however, would be the possibility that the courts would back up the mayor in this matter. It really wouldn't surprise me any more.