Armed At Church: Why This Congregation Is ‘Not A Gun-Free Zone’
Can we get an amen?
When the parishioners at the Lighthouse Mexico Church Of God gather for worship each Sunday, many of them are armed.
The fact that they carry is no secret. The church, located in the small, upstate town of Mexico, N.Y., says on its website that it’s “not a gun-free zone.” Parishioners have attended the church’s services armed with concealed weapons since 2013. Pastor Ron Russell began to encourage church members to carry after Dylann Roof killed nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
Russell, 70, believes that it’s not just his responsibility to keep his church safe, but his sacred duty — pastors are commissioned by God to protect their flock, he says. The pastor, who’s been with the church since 1994, oversees a makeshift security team that patrols the church grounds on high alert each week.
Parkland shooting hero blames sheriff and superintendent for failing to prevent massacre
His phone is probably ringing off the hook with interview requests from NBC, CNN, CBS, ABC and MSNBC . . .
Anthony Borges, 15, a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., was hailed a hero after he used his body to protect the lives of 20 others students after accused gunman Nikolas Cruz opened fire at the school on Feb. 14, 2018, killing 17 people.
He was released from the hospital Wednesday after suffering wounds to the lungs, abdomen and legs.
Borges’ attorney read a statement from the teen during a news conference criticizing Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and Superintendent Robert Runcie for the massacre. Borges, too weak to talk, sat silently in a wheelchair with his right leg propped up. His statement specifically attacked the Promise program, a school district and sheriff office initiative that allows students who commit minor crimes on campus to avoid arrest if they complete rehabilitation. Runcie has said Cruz, a former Stoneman Douglas student, was never in the program, but Borges and his attorney, Alex Arreaza, said school and sheriff’s officials knew Cruz was dangerous.
Driving Advice For Women In 1909: Don’t Forget To Bring A Gun
Some things never change . . .
Life wasn’t easy for women in the early 20th century and race car driver and motorist Dorothy Levitt knew that for a fact. That’s why she published The Woman and the Car: A Chatty Little Handbook for all Women who Motor or Who Want to Motor in 1909. It tells women how to take care of themselves and their cars, and reminds them to always carry a gun.
The book was published for women a little like Dorothy: someone who wanted their own little slice of freedom but who weren’t sure how to get it. The automobile provided a huge opportunity to give women autonomy, and Ms. Levitt wanted women to know how to take control of their lives in this one, simple way. So, in a very conversational tone, she guided young ladies through the process of purchasing, starting, driving and repairing their own cars.
Pro-gun rights activists rally against new measures on firearm sales in Vermont – Vermont is a constitutional carry state . . .
Several hundred people gathered in Vermont Saturday to denounce new gun restriction measures that await the governor’s signature before becoming law.
Some protesters brought along guns to rallies in South Burlington, Barre and Bennington.
Pro Rights 2A organizer Christopher Covey said it’s not the gun that people should fear — “it’s the gun in the wrong hand.”
George Washington Would Have Owned an AR-15 –
First the gun-control zealots insisted that the right to bear arms, the second of ten delineated individual rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights was not an individual right. Then, when the U.S. Supreme Court said in Heller Vs. D.C. (2008) that it was in fact an individual right, the argument was that the ruling only applied to the federal enclave known as the District of Columbia. When the Supreme Court in MacDonald vs. Chicago said it was indeed a national right, the argument turned to “sensible restrictions” such as arguing the Founding Fathers did not anticipate semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Well, neither did they anticipate the Internet, social media, and blogs when they protected free speech and the press in the First Amendment. True, some freedoms are not absolute, such as yelling “fire” in the proverbial crowded theatre, but as regards the Second Amendment one fact is paramount. When it was written the both the government and the people had the same weapon — the musket — which could be called the semi-automatic weapon of its day. The Second Amendment did not come with an asterisk nor is any of our rights enshrined in the Constitution in any way dependent on technology.
Yet U.S. District Judge William Young perceived a qualifying asterisk when he dismissed a case challenging the Massachusetts ban on so-called “assault” weapons and high-capacity magazines.
‘We are not stopping,’ students vow at gun violence town halls – Have they heard the latest crime stats from London? . . .
At about 240 meetings nationwide — and at least two in New Jersey — student-led groups held “Town Halls for Our Lives” to address the issue of gun control following the mass shooting in Florida.
“We are not stopping our movement until we see common-sense gun legislation and know that we are safe,” said Laurence Fine, 14, of Ridgewood, a member of Students Demand Action Bergen County. The organization has members from 20 high schools representing 28 towns in the county.
At the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, Students Demand Action Bergen County hosted a town meeting that drew U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez to share their efforts on this front.
Republicans are a no show across the country for town halls on gun action | via MotherJones https://t.co/3sCNztdsHe
— SafetyPin-Daily (@SafetyPinDaily) April 8, 2018