From The Firearms Coalition: Yesterday I sent out an Alert about NRA Director Joaquin Jackson's TV interview in which he opined that "assault weapons" were alright if they only had a capacity of 5 rounds. This story has actually been bouncing around the internet for a couple of weeks and Ranger Jackson and NRA have released a response to the concerns raised by the story. It is very clear in the interview exactly what Jackson is saying and what he means. Along with some other comments he states; "I think these assault weapons basically need to be in the hands of the military and they need to be in the hands of the police, but as far as assault weapons to a civilian, if you... if you... it's alright if you got that magazine capacity down to five rounds." The interview took place on June 5, 2005 - not long after the Clinton Assault Weapons Ban had been allowed to sunset - so the debate on that issue should have been fairly fresh in Jackson's mind. The interview can be viewed at: http://www.klru.org/texasmonthlytalks/archives/jackson/jackson.asp The pertinent segment is the last one on the page. For the record, H. Joaquin Jackson is indeed a sitting member of the NRA Board of Directors. A complete listing of NRA Officers and Directors, along with their mailing addresses, was published in the current (September) issue of the NRA magazines. A response has been posted on the NRA web site, http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/InTheNews.aspx?ID=9899 that is supposed to have been written by Jackson, but which does not really sound or feel like Jackson. In that response letter, Jackson - or his ghost writer - claims that the mistake is the viewer's, not his. That his only mistake was in not making himself clear that he was talking about hunting and full-auto assault weapons. If that is true, then Ranger Jackson was advocating that the police have full-auto weapons and that it is "alright" for civilians to have then as long as the magazine capacity is restricted to only 5 rounds. Here is the Statement: Recently, concerns have been raised in response to statements made by NRA Board Member Joaquin Jackson to Texas Monthly in 2005. We have received questions from NRA members who are seeking clarity as to NRA's positions on the subject matter discussed in Mr. Jackson's interview. To be clear, NRA supports the right of all law-abiding citizens to Keep and Bear Arms for all lawful purposes. We will continue, as we have in the past, to vigorously oppose any efforts to limit gun ownership by law-abiding citizens as an unconstitutional infringement on our Second Amendment freedoms. These efforts include opposition to any attempts to ban firearms, including firearms incorrectly referred to as "assault weapons", and any attempts to place arbitrary limits on magazine capacity. For more information on NRA's legislative efforts to protect and defend the Second Amendment, please visit www.NRAILA.org and www.Clintongunban.com. STATEMENT OF JOAQUIN JACKSON Recently, some misunderstandings have arisen about a news interview in which I participated a few years ago. After recently watching a tape of that interview, I understand the sincere concerns of many people, including dear friends of mine. And I am pleased and eager to clear up any confusion about my long held belief in the sanctity of the Second Amendment. In the interview, when asked about my views of "assault weapons," I was talking about true assault weapons - fully automatic firearms. I was not speaking, in any way, about semiautomatic rifles. While the media may not understand this critical distinction, I take it very seriously. But, as a result, I understand how some people may mistakenly take my comments to mean that I support a ban on civilian ownership of semiautomatic firearms. Nothing could be further from the truth. And, unfortunately, the interview was cut short before I could fully explain my thoughts and beliefs. In fact, I am a proud owner of such rifles, as are millions of law-abiding Americans. And many Americans also enjoy owning fully automatic firearms, after being cleared by a background check and meeting the rigorous regulations to own such firearms. And these millions of lawful gun owners have every right - and a Second Amendment right - to own them. As a hunter, I take great pride in my marksmanship. Every hunter should practice to be skilled to take prey with a single shot, if possible. That represents ethical, humane, skilled hunting. In the interview several years ago, I spoke about this aspect of hunting and my belief that no hunter should take the field and rely upon high capacity magazines to take their prey. But that comment should never be mistaken as support for the outright banning of any ammunition magazines. In fact, such bans have been pursued over the years by state legislatures and the United States Congress and these magazine bans have always proven to be abject failures. Let me be very clear. As a retired Texas Ranger, during 36 years of law enforcement service, I was sworn to uphold the United States Constitution. As a longtime hunter and shooter, an NRA Board Member, and as an American - I believe the Second Amendment is a sacred right of all law-abiding Americans and, as I stated in the interview in question, I believe it is the Second Amendment that ensures all of our other rights handed down by our Founding Fathers. I have actively opposed gun bans and ammunition and magazine bans in the past, and I will continue to actively oppose such anti-gun schemes in the future. I appreciate my friends who have brought this misunderstanding to light, for it has provided me an opportunity to alleviate any doubts about my strong support for the NRA and our Second Amendment freedom. #### Doesn't that sound more like it was written by a Washington PR suit than a Texas Ranger? Regardless of who actually wrote the letter, Jackson's name is on it. As I said in the Alert yesterday, I like and respect Joaquine Jackson. I am very disappointed that he would take such a misguided and bigoted position on "assault weapons" and even more disappointed that he would choose to try to blame the viewer rather than owning up to his own remarks. If he thought civilians shouldn't have "assault weapons" and has now seen the light and changed his position, I could accept and respect that. Trying to claim that what he very clearly said - and reiterated - is not what he actually meant, I find completely disingenuous. I hate having to get into the middle of this at a time when The Firearms Coalition is actively working to bring the gun rights community together, but when you are guided by certain principles, you can not ignore those principles in favor of diplomacy. Should Joaquin Jackson be vilified and made a pariah in the gun rights community? No, absolutely not. But he should not be a member of the NRA Board of Directors. Jeff Knox www.FirearmsCoalition.org Related Link: http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Find-Freedom.htm?At=023255 --- From John Farnam: 28 Aug 07 Pro-gun Democrats? We just completed a Concealed-Carry-Pistol Class in MN. Several years ago, MN was extremely restrictive, much as WI and IL are today. It was impossible for state residents to carry concealed legally. Today, the State has one of the best and least restrictive CCW systems in the nation. CCW permits may be obtained by any legal resident who has no criminal history, and there are few limitations. The intrepid authors of this pivotal legislation were students in my class! They reported this historic CCW statute, that MN residents now take for granted, would never have passed at state level without open and unapologetically enthusiastic support from a number of pro-gun, Democratic state senators and representatives. These courageous Democrats openly broke with the DNC and the state Democratic Committee, who, of course, had (and continue to have) a predictable, knee-jerk opposition to any and all pro-gun legislation. So, there are indeed audacious, pro-gun Democrats, and they need encouragement! The 2008 Democratic presidential nominee will almost certainly be Hillary Clinton, and I hope some politicians, like the ones described above, can get to her and explain that, on the brink of victory, she is going to lose this election, and frightened gun-owners voting, not for her Republican opponent, but AGAINST her, on this critical issue, will be the proximate cause! I'm saying this, mostly to my Democratic friends, of whom I have many. The Party needs to rethink its foolish, self-crippling stance on this issue before it costs them yet another election. Americans today are in no mood to be told they are too stupid to own, and carry, guns! Both leading Republican contenders have anti-gun backgrounds, and American gun-owners are warming up to neither. Democrats have an decisive opportunity, if they can only get over their blind, unthinking allegiance to hatred and fear of guns and gun-owners. Are any Democrats listening? /John (I have met some Democratic candidates in rural Arizona who have been more pro-RKBA than some of their Republican opponents. However, I harbor no illusions about a national-level Democrat, particularly Hillary Clinton, reversing her national party's opposition to the RKBA.) 29 Aug 07 I was today sent a photo of a young lad in the UK. He was posing with a Thompson Submachine Gun (actually a deactivated model). The lad's trigger finger is solidly in the "register" position, not wrapped about the trigger as one might expect from an American-television-watching, clueless, modern youth. As it turns out, this lad is a nephew of one of our UK students who comes over to CONUS every year to train with us. Although I've never personally worked with this lad, his uncle has, and, while never actually having fired a shot from a functional gun, the kid already has a solid foundation in correct gun handling! It is exciting indeed to contemplate that we have positively influenced aspiring warriors, even ones we've never met. This lad, along with others his age, using skills gleaned from us, may be called upon to defend the Empire one day, maybe a lot sooner than anyone thinks! The body of knowledge and skills that we teach resides in a Priesthood that exists both in and out of the military, in and out of law-enforcement. It has been gradually acquired and refined over many years, and at great price! As modern-day Operators, it is our privilege to both live it and teach it. So great an honor is at once our joy and duty! "The pervasive expansiveness of the (Roman) Empire which we see today did not come about as a result of accident or precipitous good fortune. These Legionaries do not sit around congratulating themselves in the wake of every victory, nor are they idle in peacetime. Rather, they are constantly training and refining their warrior skills, so as to be ready at a moment's notice. Indeed, they seem to have been born with weapons in their hands!" Josephus Flavius, 90AD "The stone soldier grows younger and slimmer each year! Wasp-waisted, he casually holds his rifle and perpetually muses through lush bangs, cascading down his forehead." /John (Elmer Keith opposed toy guns, particularly cap pistols, because they encourage poor gun handling. Think about this the next time you see a kid playing with a toy gun - it may be an opportunity to teach some basic safety rules.) 31 Aug 07 Protest at DSA in IL: The much-vaunted, press-ballyhooed "protest," at DSA in Lake Barrington, IL, last Tuesday, organized by the Jackson crowd, and personally attended by Jesse himself, was a complete flop! Fewer than one hundred protestors showed up, after "thousands" had been confidently predicted. Scraggly, bussed-in, "protestors" were all dirty, tired, bored, and blatantly disinterested. Few stuck around long. The "event" wasn't even carried on national news. It barely even made the local news! Jackson's rambling, mumbling speech was disorganized and confused. Several times, he lost his train of thought, finding it difficult to so much as put together a single, coherent, English sentence. He was greeted mostly by yawns and apathetic looks. So embarrassing was this washout of a protest, it has apparently already become part of Jackson's repressed memories, as the whole event is conspicuously absent from his Web Page. The blazing failure of this protest was due to the pervasive non-credibility of the Jackson Organization itself (which is old news) and indeed the non-credibility of the entire "gun-control" issue. Americans have waxed weary of all the stale, predictable, intelligence-insulting, endlessly recycled lies about guns and gun-ownership, which have shown themselves to be absolutely false time and time again. More than anything else, Americans want the ability to control their own lives, which includes the ability to effectively, and unilaterally, fight off violent criminals. It's in our blood, and, to us, all that soothing, leftist rhetoric will continue to sound hollow, tinny, and fundamentally unpersuasive, no matter from whose lips it issues! /John -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .