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NCOM Convention Report

May 5 – 8, 2011: Albuquerque, NM

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Thursday, May 5, 1:30 PM - Board of Directors Meeting : Summary

• Reichenbach: Call for all Clubs and MRO’s to work together

• Lester: NCOM Budget for 2011 is 175K for AIM accident cases – down from last year due to the economy

• Lester: Regional Meetings: Key discussions around helmet laws and safety

• Lester: New organizations to NCOM – (2) from Albany and Rochester, NY, (2) from Pennsylvania.

• McKinney: Washington State passed the first Anti-Motorcycle Profiling bill in the US. It was a true coalition and they got it done!

• Norris: State of NC: Bill H31 (Chicken Stop Bill) introduced in February 2011. Looks to prevent LEAs from stopping based on modes of transportation

• Reid: Locations for future conferences –

o 2012: Regional, Memphis, TN – National, Indianapolis, IN

o 2013: Regional, Phoenix, AZ – National, Reno, NV

o 2014: Regional, Atlanta, GA – National, Baltimore, MD

o 2011 Region One will be held in Seattle, WA in October

• Lester: 2011 AIM Report – 200K Budget. Highlight is their “Keyfinder” service which mails out duplicate keys to riders in the event they get lost or damaged after an accident.

• Lester: Independent shop count is approximately 6000. 200 have closed down due to bad economy.

• Lester: Need for AIM Reps – Paid positions traveling to events

• Sarge: AIM Mailings, New edition of Biker Rights & Civil Liberties.

• Sarge: Setting up a new legislative hotline available to SMRO

• Sarge: NCOM Club Memberships – Club House Plaques issued will read “This Club House and Members are protected by law”

• Sarge: NCOM DVD

o Introduction to their legal program

o 2010 NCOM National Convention in Florida highlights

o Regional Meetings

o US Defenders

o Laws and Insurance in the US

• Bish: Public Relations, Would like the NCOM eNewletters added to MRO Newsletter. Annual hardcopy newsletter available.

• Bish: New pamphlets available

o NCOM Speakers for your event

o Biker’s guide to news media relations

o Biker’s guide to running for public office

o Biker’s guide to communicating with Government

• Lester: Freedom Fund, 11K, funded by NCOM pins/patches/ribbons. Use to send members to Washington DC

• Reid: Need to get more clubs/regions into NCOM. NCOM will fund conventions in those new regions.

• Boar – Rep for COC Meetings: Contact him with any issues. He will travel/visit to help straighten things out. His program looks to find what works best for clubs.

• Wellman: Minority Outreach. Goes to big events and talks on various topics

Old Business:

• Big D: Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month – Request that copies of all proclamations be sent to him for documentation sake.

• Big D: Most motorcycle fatalities due to left hand turns

• Lester: Updates on trademark lawsuit – Mongols MC and Pagans MC. Pagans MC went to trademark court. Outcome: due to prior use, the government has NO right to take it.

• Big D: Need to also create awareness for bicyclists and for their riding safety as well. They have similar challenges with Bikers.

New Business:

• None from the board

• Open forum to attendees.

Friday, May 6, 10:00 AM – Legislative Task Force

• Introduction by Jim ‘Putter’ Putman, SD State Senator. Acknowledgement for deceased former leader, Sputnik

• LTF Goals

o Develop a mission – will include research on legislative matters

o Make LTF a new brand similar to both AIM and NCOM

• LTF is a tool to help regions with legislative matters

o View applications of the law

o Help write/draft new legislation bills

o Will provide guidance only – won’t tell anyone what to do

• LTF committee introductions

o Rick Miera, NM State Representative – Biker rights advocate

o Mooney, US Defenders – California State Commander

o Bobbi Hartmann – Lobbyist, MMA of AZ

o Lori Adams – Board of Directors, ABATE of CA

o Gimmy Jimmy – US Defenders, National Commander

o Angel – Michigan Legislation Office, MRF Board

o Bill Bish – NCOM Public Relations

o ‘Cutter’ – Executive Director, ABATE ND, Lobbyist

o Jesse – ABATE, GA

o Karen – ABATE, NY, Freedom Riders

• Q&A

Friday, May 6, 1:00 PM – Opening Ceremonies

• Sarge: Housekeeping

• Reichenbach: Dedication to Bill ‘Sputnik’ Strain

• Darren White, Albuquerque, NM Mayor’s Office Representative – Welcome Address

Goals of the Convention

• Have to stand up for our rights

• Read and understand the Constitution of the United State of America

• Get everyone working together

• Looking for ideas on future seminars

Friday, May 6, 2:30 PM – Seminar 1: World of Sport Bikes

• National Sport Bike Association (NSBA), an organized and growing national MRO, a relatively new member of NCOM

• Brian Lawson: National overview of Sport Bike issues

• Suicide: Overview of organization structure, organized state by state.

o Use of national database

o Conferences conducted by calls and web conference tools

o Call out for new members, leaders with all states

o Review of qualifications of regional directors

o Planning to address the concerns of each state – legislative, discrimination and safety

o Provide new members with necessary materials

▪ Membership materials

▪ Introduction letters

▪ Outlines for incident and legislative reports

• Lady Ninja: Media Relations

o Media Kits – Introduces your organization

▪ Outline

o Press Release – A pseudo story in the 3rd person

▪ Outline

o Making contacts in news media

▪ Spokesperson to give background

▪ Short 30 second, concise answers to questions

o Website

▪

o Motorcycle Awareness Programs

▪ Schools programs – get to them BEFORE they start driving

• Putter: Legislative (Lobbying) 101

o Lobbying is a ‘head game’

o Must be articulate and controlled

o NEVER EVER LIE!

• Double D (Outsiders MC, Tacoma WA): Public Speaking

o Championed Bill to make motorcycle profiling in the state of WA ILLEGAL!

▪ Key Success Factors

• Unified Community – Clubs, independents, etc. No factions

• Ability to document story

• Representing themselves in public

o Effective public speaker

▪ Natural ability

▪ Command of the English language

▪ Command of legislative and legal language

• Confidence, Passion and Conviction

• Preparation

o Case presentation

o Witness presentation

o Pattern of evidence

o More knowledge of subject matter than legislators

o Impression made in the first 30 seconds

• Support Structure

o Constituents

o US Defenders

• Dedication – Success won’t happen overnight

• Communications streamlined through one spokesperson or lawyer

Friday, May 6, 3:30 PM – US Defenders

• Bandito Jimmy: National Commander

o Brief discussion on the Patriot Act

o US Defenders program is now the largest grass-roots movement in America

o Inclusive of CIOR – Independent riders

o Key messages

▪ ‘Need laws to differentiate gangs from motorcycle riders”

▪ There are seventy one (71) Fusion Centers across the US

• See Fusion Center Privacy Policy FAQ

▪ Privacy violations – example, roving wiretaps

▪ Military Vets classified as “Domestic Terrorists”

▪ ACLU case to fight Patriot Act

▪ Organizations tracking high-tech communications and violations

• – Electronic Frontier Foundation, a leading civil liberties group defending our rights in the digital world

• – Website dedicated to unmasking the new US Police State

o Further info on Fusion Centers

▪ Get Double D’s DVD – “What it all about”, The Washington State story on how they passed the first bill in the US making motorcycle profiling illegal.

▪ Use the US Defenders program in your state for quick and effective communications

o Parting message

▪ Use all avenues to lobby – unions, non-motorcycle associations, etc.

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Friday, May 6, 5:45 PM – Seminar II – SMRO’s & COC’s Working Together

Panel Discussion

• Frank Ernst: Trustee, Abate of MN

• Bandito Lee: President of Abate Local, Tulsa, AZ

• Ollie Evans: Sons of Silence MC, ABATE Oklahoma

• Jazz: Abate of MN

o Successful passage of several bills in MN – handlebar height, equal access. Joint effort between clubs and Abate of NM

o Successful passage of five (5) motorcycle bills in 2010 with their COC and Abate working together

o Distinction between MRO and COC efforts – MRO, legislative/rights, COC, Discrimination and Civil Misconduct issues

o Call upon clubs to ask ourselves.. “What is your mission?”, Safety, Awareness, Rights?

o Success comes from working together. It doesn’t matter who is doing the groundwork, as long as there is cooperation between groups

o It takes $$ to make things work – operations, transportation, communications, etc. Membership in MRO’s is critical to fund these things.

o Recommend forming PAC’s (Political Action Committees)

o Key Message

▪ To clubs – “Make MRO’s your first charity”

o Members of the audience that were members of the US Defenders (and C.O.I.R) programs were invited to come up front and speak (2 minutes each) and share their success stories

Friday, May 6, 6:45 PM – COC General Patch Holders Meeting

• Representatives from each COC around the country were given 2-3 minutes (per person) to introduce themselves and give an update on their COC’s legislative and judicial case activities as well as information regarding how well (or not) their COC is operating.

• Key take-away

o Some COC are further along than others in both organization and activities related to motorcycle rights, but everyone has the same challenges and goals

o General consensus that COC’s and MRO’s working together make the difference in achieving positive results.

Saturday, May 7, 9:00 AM – General Session

NCOM Board of Directors

• Review of the Ringing of the bell ceremony for fallen riders

• Dedication to Sputnik

• Ringing of the Bell – Individual names called out for each fallen rider submitted by people.

• Keynote address: Rick Miera – Member State Legislature, NM. Discussed the history of biker rights in the state of New Mexico, the struggles, the successes and the need to stay vigilant to continuous efforts by lawmakers trying to take our rights away.

o 1972 Rick was in a coma after a motorcycle accident. When he came out of it in 1973, he began lobbying against the helmet law in Santa Fe.

o NSTSA threatened to cut funding if the state did not adopt. The fight against helmets failed, but that was just the beginning

o 1975 SB 220 (Repeal Bill), organized to fight the helmet law based on Constitutional Rights. Key argument was the feds dictating funds to control laws by threat.

o 1977 SB39 (Another repeal bill) passed – but riders were not totally free

▪ Individual cities started creating their own helmet laws and giving out tickets – had to be aware of which cities had a helmet law and which did not. There was constant confusion

▪ Conservative new media was used to show how silly these local ordinances were. They were all later repealed throughout the state.

• Lessons Learnt

o Get organized - seek help from others

o Stay organized – there will always be some disagreement. Negotiate. Make the smart trade-offs for the better good.

▪ NHTSA is bigger, stronger than ever. We don’t want history to repeat itself

o Get involved in the political election process. Investigate candidate’s position on motorcycle rights.

o Be open to alliances that you not have ever thought about..

▪ Bicyclists groups

▪ Pedestrians – Runners, hikers, etc.

▪ Other Civil Rights organizations

o Seeing evidence of a National Move to further control and regulate motorcycle safety standards

o Stay ahead of the game. One state effects all the others in the Republic

• Proclamation presented to the board of directors proclaiming May 5-8 as NCOM week in New Mexico

Saturday, May 7, 11:00 AM – Regional Meetings

Region 1: AK, CA, HI, ID, OR & WA

• Big D (NM): Legislation review. HB 68 killed, May is Motorcycle and Bicycle awareness month.

• Muscrat (AZ): Lobby team formed (ABATE, MMA of AZ and the COC). COC hired a lobbyist for patch holder business interests. Held protest run due to a patch holder who was a vendor at a fair, but who was ejected walking around on break with his kid because of his patch. Discussed recent losses of riders who died making left hand turns

• Scott, COC Lobbyst AZ: Talked about a new state Highway Safety person who would not work with him to approve awareness signs in AZ. Hippa bill up to the rules committee in the Senate and was shut down due to the large Insurance Company special interest groups. Next year’s legislative goals – handlebar height. No consistency and no studies done to support current requirements.

• Bobbie Hartman (NM). Hippa bill. Unfair discrimination. No or unfair settlements for MC injury claims. Held stockholder’s meeting with insurance companies. Attempting to establish distracted driving legislation. Challenges differentiating from current reckless driving laws

• Mick D (MMA of AZ): State funds down. Looking to establish a 501C3 (charity) fund next year. Legislators and attorney are on board. Will use to promote motorcycle awareness education through the media, bill boards, etc.

• Carol O Reilly (Abate of AZ): Looking to address accidents via left hand turns through adjustment of intersection lighting.

• Kat (AZ): Status of new medical clinic based on TN model. Medical care plans for everyday needs - $300 individual, $500 couple, $700 family

• Glenn (Montana): 5 years with no meeting within their state’s Safety and Advisory Committee. Governor failed to appoint a successor. $1.9M was funded for MC training, and only $250K was used. Working to get the remaining $1.7M budget released and used before it is grabbed for other purposes

• Russ (Wyoming): No new specific bills. 2010. HB22 State wide smoking ban – defeated a freedom issue. HB 25 eminent domain for windmills on hills defeated.

HB 24, speeding while passing more than 10 mph passed. HB 41, driving in a single lane – defeated. Discussion around concealed weapons, carry permits, seat belts. Nibble effect throughout the country – safety versus revenue

• Abate of AZ introducing four new bills – Handlebar height, vertical license plates, right of way violations and adjusted penalties for drunk/intoxicated drivers

• Rick (NV): Talked about Nevada’s helmet amendment. Working with different organizations. Signing up with the MRF.

• State of Colorado: Plenty going on. US Defenders having a big impact. Key to success is staying on top of legislators, going to committee sessions, watching, learning and playing the game. Biggest issue is equal access.

• Wiz (CO) US Defender, State Commander: People speak better for themselves than when a legislator speaks for you. Everyone needs to exercise their own voice. That gets attention. C.O.I.R needs to stand with the US Defenders – one heart, one voice.

• Cutter (ND): $10B Surplus in his state. Will be pushing for more education programs. 15 fatalities in ND in 2010, 60% were due to speeding and drunk drivers

• Jim Putter (SD): Looking to get turning lanes into the Full Throttle in Sturgis. Many establishments with no color signs and policies. Need to hit them in the wallet. SD now honors concealed carry permits from other states. Current split with ABATE of SD on joining NCOM.

• Sam (Corp AIM Attorney): Discussed job firings due to club affiliations.

• Irish (WA Abate and COC): Discussed being allowed to remove helmets during parades riding at 3 mph. Bikes classified as ‘off-road’ would remain in that status forever. Trying to change that.

• Marty (AIM Attorney): Discussed winning a 90K settlement for the rider who was arrested for failing to remove his helmet on command by LEO (video on youtube). Covered issues within the insurance companies related to uninsured MC coverage. The need to protect yourself with UIM coverage.

• Double D (WA): Covered his fight to pass the first bill in the US that makes motorcycle profiling illegal. Promoted new communication tool developed by a club member for US Defender activities.

• Jeff Rabe (MMA CA): Discussed MRO’s and COC’s coming together.

• Lyle (COC Monterey Bay, CA): Discussed Thugs Bunny Run in Santa Cruz County where six LEA’s were involved in pulling riders over. They are currently investigating the opportunity to proceed with litigation.

• Joe Conolly (NCCOC & UMCOAC): Talked about areas within Northern CA who are still not participating with a COC or MRO. Will continue to work towards bringing them into the fold.

Saturday, May 7, 2:00 PM – Motorcycle Only Stops & Roadblocks

Presentation by Mitch Proner, AIM Attorney, Leading the legal team and case in NY State

Summary and key points

• Distinction between Democracy (Representation within government, fair elections by majority) versus Liberty (Our Rights)

• 1787 The Constitution of the US of A was created. However, it was not ratified until 1791 because there were no rights associated with it so the Bill of Rights was created – of the 200 rights originally listed, 10 were ratified. The Constitution talks about structure, the three branches of government, what the government could do; however, it did not address what government could NOT do. It talked about democracy, but it did not talk about liberty.

• 1st Amendment – Right to peacefully assemble and our freedom of speech. The patches we proudly wear are part of this 1st Amendment right.

• 4th Amendment – The right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. When you are detained by law enforcement, is a seizure under the 4th Amendment. Interpretation of the Constitution is discussed at all court levels (District Court then Appellate Court then the Supreme Court). However, when the Supreme Court rules on interpretation of the Constitution, it becomes the law of the land.

• 5th & 14th Amendments – Rights to due process.

Checkpoints in NY State

• Whenever laws are unfairly enforced, lawyers are needed.

• There is currently only ONE lawsuit pending throughout the US challenging the Constitutionality of our rights pertaining to motorcyclists – AIM and Attorney Mitch Proner are running that case. The issue was brought to AIM’s attention by a member of ABATE of NY

• Background: In November of 2006 in Syracuse, a kid riding recklessly on a sport bike get chased by a state trooper, the sport bike makes a turn, the trooper doesn’t and his SUV flips, the trooper dies. After turning himself in the next day, the rider get criminal charges against him, facing up to 20 years. State law enforcement then comes up with ‘Operation 5060’ in memory of the fallen trooper (5060 was his badge number) and put together a grant application claiming a rapid increase in motorcycle fatalities when in fact, motorcycle fatalities actually decreased in 2006 for 194 to 164. It goes on to identify alcohol and reckless driving as the major causes for motorcycle accidents. It requested funding to establish 15 enforcement checkpoints to coincide with known motorcycle events to check all motorcycles for safety and equipment violations – which had NOTHING to do with alcohol or speed. Their solution had nothing to do with the problem. The funding included overtime for the officers.

• During legal discovery, it was disclosed that the first officer briefing for the checkpoints was held at Donut Land. They setup cheat sheets with categories on them with items that nothing to do with safety – operating without insurance, rear plate must be illuminated, handlebars no higher than the operator’s shoulders, etc.

• AIM then files a lawsuit on behalf of all motorcycle riders in NY State. The fact that the checkpoints were scheduled only during major motorcycle rallies (enough motorcycle traffic to make it worth their time), this is an infringement on our rights to peacefully assemble.

• The events themselves were assessed by LE to determine the ‘type’ of riders associated with it in a search beyond safety into criminal activity – this is very important to the case. Canine units were suggested to be brought in consideration and anticipation of the type of motorcycle operators they could expect.

• During depositions, LE admitted to gang task force being there, claiming that the troopers were there to check for safety items and the task force was there to do what they are suppose to do. It wasn’t the primary purpose of the stops.

• To ensure that traffic did not back up, officers had discretion on who to pull over and who they allowed to ride past

• They talked about helmet violations, but they had a difficult time explaining what the laws were

• Documents from one operation called “Operation Black Widow” for the Peace Bridge rally in Buffalo indicated that one of the leading participating law enforcement agencies was the US Boarder Patrol whose purpose was to look for cross-border criminal activity. During that operation, no criminal violations were discovered and the investigation was closed.

• At another roadblock, positioned outside a Harley Rendezvous event using NY State Special Investigative Units, Gang and Oil Theft Units. Based on officer discretion, officers indicated that they could, from a distance of 20 yards or more, determine which riders were mostly compliant and which ones required further detailed inspection in a special holding/inspection area. When asked about their experience with helmets, LE claimed that they were following DOT State laws. According to FMVSS 218 documentation, to determine compliance, the officer had to check the interior of the helmet.

• Attorneys then gathered enforcement ticket statistics and of the 1000+ tickets issues (as part of the lawsuit), the majority of tickets had nothing to do with safety. LEAs did not collect any statistics on how many vehicles were being detained for the full inspections. It also turns out, that LEAs did not know how long these inspections took. There were no set forms; they used different forms at different stops – no set forms, counts or consistency.

• At the Harley Rendezvous, out of 250 bikes inspected, 110 got illegal helmets and 0 illegal exhausts. At the Peace Bridge Rally, they inspected 176 bikes sighting 61 illegal helmets and 70 illegal exhausts. Almost 50% of the bikes ticked at Peace Bridge had loud pipes where, according to LE, zero bikes had that problem at the Harley Rendezvous – an argument for ‘selective’ enforcement. Later, LE admitted that exhaust had nothing to do with safety.

• When looking for statistics to support LE claims that alcohol was critical to the safety problem, there was ZERO DUI violations noted across all divisions across the state. No drugs as well.

• So then, why all this interest in pulling over motorcycles??? BECAUSE THE STATE TROOPER RECEIVED OVERTIME for working at these checkpoints.

• In 2008, the NHTSA told NY State that they do not recommend enforcement checkpoints. Time is better served enforcing specific speed enforcement at known crash areas. New York ignored the recommendation and continued with equipment enforcement.

Constitutional Issues

• All roadway checkpoints where individuals are stopped regardless of individual suspicion constitute a seizure under the 4th Amendment. The constitutionality of the action depends on whether the action was reasonable. If the primary purpose of the checkpoint is to check for ordinary criminal activity rather than the immediate concern for highway safety, there is a presumption of unconstitutionality. Even if the primary purpose is highway safety, it must still be reasonable to pass constitutional scrutiny. Reasonableness is determined by weight – the gravity of the pubic concern (which the checkpoints serve) against the interference with the rider’s liberty. The question then is how much is the concern versus the level of interference with personal liberty. You need to look at the immediacy and the severity to determine the gravity of the pubic concern.

o Example: Sobriety tests commonly pass constitutional scrutiny because 1) they are quick and 2) One the threat is identified, LE removed the threat off the road. During the case of NY Motorcycle only checkpoints, after a lengthy investigation, infractions such as illegal helmets, loud pipes and bald tires are written up, then the riders are released - the threat to society is not removed and not addressed immediately.

o As far as practical alternatives are concerned, many safety items could be inspected once a year when it is time to renew their inspection sticker.

o On the severity of intrusion: motorcycles and riders were put in these special inspection areas for over 45 minutes. You also look at where the stop generates both fear and surprise. When a motorcyclist is just riding, seeing all the bikes being pulled over can generate both.

o Discretion of LE: During a sobriety checkpoint, everyone gets pulled over. Not the case with these motorcycle only checkpoints. Who gets waived through and who gets stopped and sits for 45 or more minutes even though they were doing nothing wrong?

o Effectiveness of the program: You have to meet the stated purposes of reducing motorcycle crashes and fatalities. LE has no statistics or has any idea on whether or not this program prevents crashes and saved lives. Some of the major causes of motorcycle accidents are unaware drivers. Some are caused by the motorcycle rider when then drink or do drugs before they get on the bike. But the checkpoints are not addressing that either. Excessive speed – they can’t use that stat because they are too busy slowing down traffic and selectively pulling riders over.

o Other interesting statistics

▪ Most motorcycle accidents occur between 6-9 PM – that’s NOT when they are doing their checkpoints

▪ Most of the motorcycle accidents are multi-vehicle crashes – how are these roadblocks checking that?

Closing

• After hours and hours of depositions and a thousand pages of documents that were exchanged, the AIM legal team moved for ‘Class’ certification, alleging that constitutional rights were unreasonably violated. AIM also moved for a summary judgment, indicating as a matter of law, these checkpoints should be deemed unconstitutional. Being that this case is still at the district court level were the judge has a history and pre-disposition of ruling against motorcycle clubs, AIM thinks that they are going to lose in district court. With that, AIM will take the case to Appellate court (and the Supreme Court of the United States if necessary) where they are confident that they will win and continue to fight for our God given right to ride free.

Saturday, May 7, 3:30 PM – 2nd Amendment “Your Right to Bear Arms”

Presentation by Barry Burton, President SFJ, MC, MN

Note: Barry is not an expert on 2nd Amendment, constitutional law, carry rights & carry laws across all the states. He is a certified instructor in two states.

• Carry laws differ from state to state and change all the time. It is difficult not to involve politics into a discussion on this topic. Also, some of the comments will be based on personal opinion.

• Keeping up with laws regulating our 2nd Amendment rights is a full time job. There are many organizations that support it and just as many that want to take it away.

• Don’t think that a ban on the personal use of firearms can’t ever happen to us in this country. Other countries have thought that way, now it is just a part of their history.

• There has been a great amount of energy spent interrupting the 2nd Amendment. However, to Barry, it is very straight forward.

o “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”

• Using the example of hurricane Katrina, do you think the people defending their property, their families and neighbors were wrong? Were their rights infringed? Some of the debate revolves around what is a ‘well regulated Militia”? In the case of Katrina, mobilizing efforts with friends and family in defense of live and property (survival) seems pretty straight forward.

• David E. Vandercoy (law professor, Indiana) wrote this about the 2nd Amendment

o “The biggest danger to a new republic is a tyrannical government… and the ultimate check on tyranny was an armed population”

• In essence, the 2nd Amendment is not about people’s rights, but about keeping the government ‘in check’. To keep the power in the hands of the people.

• There are a lot of people who believe that the 2nd Amendment no longer applies in this day and age. There is a lot of bad press associated with arms. What about the permit holder that prevented a hold-up at the 7-11, or father who rightfully protected his family against a home invasion or the female permit holder that averted a rape. The media doesn’t report these.

• An alarming number of democratic leaders in our government today at all levels have made their positions clear, stating that citizens do not have individual rights.

• The UN has a similar position and is looking to forge a treaty which would potentially supersede our Constitution and take our rights away.

o

▪ Shows UN delegates proposing to do what they have already done in their own counties – taking away the right to bear arms from their citizens. They want us to remove the decision from our elected officials and bypass our law guaranteeing our rights. Who are these gun grabbers? Counties like Japan, Brittan. Australia, the Netherlands and Canada. They do this behind closed doors, accountable to no one. Some of these countries are the biggest human rights violators in the world. The UN is not pushing this agenda alone. There is a giant propaganda machine here in the US targeting the NRA and guns owners, taunting them as evil. This machine is called IANSA – The International Action Network on Small Arms, an international non-governmental organization recognized by the UN.

▪ Based in London with over 800 members organizations in 120 countries, IANSA mission is working to stop the proliferation and use of small arms and light weapons. This organization has a scary amount of power and influence around the world and is at the heart of the funding for the UN’s global gun control agenda. Because of its size and global reach, the money trail for programs like this is virtually impossible to trace. You would be surprised what other organizations are a part of this. One such organization is UNICEF.

▪ Opponents of gun control say that IANSA and the UN are trying to make a safer world for tyrannical governments and a safer world for the criminals who don’t give up their arms. In Australia, the gun ban has back fired with crime skyrocketing while leaving innocent victims defenseless.

▪ Canada is also beginning to enforce the UN agenda, keeping its citizens at bay saying that UN regulations have to be included in their national insulation.

▪ What would this look like here in the US? – An international treaty that would be binding. If the NRA were not present during these UN sessions to voice our objections, we would have lost our right long ago. Even today, if the anti-gun forces are successful in getting an anti-gun US President into office as well as anti-gun officials in the US Senate, it would threaten our Constitutional rights. We need to go to our Congressmen and Senators and tell them that the US Government, under no certain terms, should not bow to the UN. The threat is real, persistent and growing stronger each day. Let there be no doubt, dictators around the world hate the United States. They are scared of our guns and they want to take them away from us.

• Other US organizations that support gun-control include

o The Center for Handgun Violence

o The ACLU- normally the leader in the fight for individual freedoms, the ACLU believes that only the State has the right to organize a militia and rejects that the 2nd Amendment does not provide protection for individual rights.

o The Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence

o Part of their fear campaign attaches the word ‘Assault’ to almost everything when describing weapon types.

Legislation in support of gun control

• Recall the January 8, 2001 incident in AZ where US Representative Gabrielle Giffords was shot, it was just a matter of time before new bills would be introduced. US Senator Charles Schumer quickly introduced SB 436 (Fix Gunshell Act) which seeks to ban gun sales to citizens with arrest records and drug violations through the use of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS, mandated by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 and launched by the FBI in November of 1998. All Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) must use it to instantly determine whether a prospective buyer is eligible to buy firearms or explosives. Background checks are nothing new. Some states have solid processes for determining eligibility. However, if this bill gets passed, it will affect ALL sales, all private sales, transfers (even antiques) to family members. It would even make it virtually illegal to borrow firearms for any reason.

• More and more people and organizations are going to push this agenda. Just last week (late April, 2011), President Obama appointed another left-wing activist to serve his agenda. His nominee, John McConnell, a known gun-grabber was approved to go to the US District Court. His confirmation sends another anti-2nd Amendment Obama appointee to the Federal Bench. Since the Presidential elections, these are the type of officials being put into power to interpret our Constitution and laws.

• District of Columbia versus Heller (2008) was a landmark case, the first in US history in which the Supreme Court held that the 2nd Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm for private use within the home in self defense. However, it was a narrow 5 to 4 vote. What if Sonia Sotomayor, one of two Obama Supreme Court appointments had sat on the bench in 2008? I think we know the answer to that question. Sotomayor has stated in writing.. “I can find nothing in the 2nd Amendment text, history or underlying rationale characterizing it as fundamental as it seeks the keeping and bearing of arms by private citizens for private purposes”.

Pro 2nd Amendment organizations

• The NRA

• The Gun Owners of America

• The Second Amendment Foundation

• Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

All these organizations have website where you can sign-up to receive newsletters and alerts regarding all 2nd Amendment legislative matters and firearms ownership

Carry laws in the US

• Website: handgunlaw.us is a great resource that tracks carry laws throughout the US. They provide a map of the two general styles of carry permit types – ‘May Issue’ or ‘Shall Issue’. ‘May Issue’ requires justification and approvals through local and state law enforcement agencies – it is usually their decision. ‘Shall Issue’ states go through the permit process for that state. Once you complete that process, you mail in the form and they do a background check. As long as there is nothing in you record that would prevent you from carrying a firearm, the state can not deny you. The website tries to stay on top of issues related to reciprocity between states. It is very important to know the laws in each state you wish to carry in. LE will tell you that ignorance is no excuse. Some states are ok with firearms exposed, other state will arrest you. Some states may require that you only have one firearm on your person at one time. Some states may require you to inform LE that you are carrying. Other only require disclosure if LE asks you directly if you are carrying. The use of deadly force in various situations also differs from state to state. Rulings on scenario based justifications are at the discretion of the court. Needless to say, your best chance of success defending yourself in court is with a good lawyer.

• There is some talk of a ‘National’ style permit. There is a fed bill. HR 822 sponsored by Clifford Stern of Florida called the ‘National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011’. If this bill were to pass, the cons might outweigh the pros making the registration process more difficult.

Saturday, May 7, 7:30 PM – Silver Spokes Award Banquet

• See agenda for winners

End of Conference

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