Editorial

Death by a thousand cuts

David A. Lombardo

I joined the Oath Keepers today, and I'm urging you to do the same, because tyranny isn't brought about by a shot to the head but rather death by a thousand cuts.

Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of current and formerly-serving military, police and first responders who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to "defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

That oath, mandated by Article VI of the Constitution itself, is to the Constitution, not to the politicians, and "Oath Keepers declare that they will not obey unconstitutional orders, such as orders to disarm the American people, to conduct warrantless searches or to detain Americans as enemy combatants in violation of their ancient right to jury trial."

I have taken that oath five times in my life. The first time was on May 23, 1966, when I joined the Army and volunteered for duty in Vietnam. I subsequently took the oath when joining the Civil Air Patrol, the United States Navy and two different Sheriff's Departments, and no one ever told me any of those oaths had been cancelled.

Please don't take offense at what I'm about to say, my brothers and sisters in law enforcement and the military; it is not meant to be an indictment but rather a warning. It's a slippery slope that will lead well-intentioned, law-abiding people to violate constitutional rights.

It starts out with winking an eye at taking a shortcut...giving an impaired driver a pass because his wife will come get him, it's close to the end of your shift, and you don't want to be late for your kid's football game. Hitting the lights and siren to blow through an intersection for no other reason than you don't want to wait for the traffic light to change; pulling a vehicle over without cause because you just want to take a look; or helping an investigation along with a little planted evidence because everyone knows the guy is guilty. It's always for a good reason, and there are no innocent victims as a result of it.

Everyone knows cops have a tough and dangerous job, so who can seriously blame them if they take a little liberty here and there to protect and defend? The problem is it doesn't seem wrong, and a normalcy bias sets in, meaning everyone's done it in the past, it hasn't caused trouble, so it's probably okay to do it. But getting away with it changes the black-and-white of right and wrong to a gray area that over time keeps getting bigger and bigger. 

Then there's the reality that cops, like everyone else, have to pay mortgages, feed their families and scrape together their kids' tuition; it's hardly a stretch to imagine, when given an order from a superior officer, they're going to do it or risk losing their jobs. Take a normalcy bias and the pressure of keeping your job and add a corrupt government, and you have the potential for a slippery slope. 

During World War II, millions of Germans were good, honest, law-abiding citizens with a strong moral compass, yet Germany killed over 14 million people in concentration camps, including six million whose only crime was being Jewish. During the Nuremberg Trials in which Nazi war criminals were prosecuted, repeatedly we heard the defendants say, when asked why they murdered innocent, unarmed people in the camps, "Befehl ist befehl"-orders are orders. I doubt, when they were children, anyone would have predicted they would slaughter 14 million unarmed civilians, yet there they were. They'd slid down that slippery slope until somehow, it all made sense in some twisted, bizarre manner. 

Today it is unthinkable that our cops or soldiers could ever be guilty of such atrocities. They are our sons and daughters, our husbands and wives. They were Scouts, played high school sports and wrestled on the floor with the family dog, but German kids did the same things. It was George Santayana who wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," and it is worth noting that today's schools, controlled by the power of federal money and such atrocities as the Common Core curriculum, see to it that our young are no longer exposed to such distasteful facts as the Holocaust. So now more than ever, our law enforcement officers, our military and, for that matter, all citizens need a moral compass that is not only not provided by the current government regime but has been supplanted with a progressive liberal agenda in which the north-seeking needle of society's moral compass is floated in glue. 

If society has stopped providing us with positive role models; if athletes and actors have become whiney, overpaid, self-indulgent pariahs; if the government itself is the perpetrator of an ever-increasing panoply of ways to destroy a society's moral compass, then John Q needs to find a new moral compass, and I believe the Oath Keepers to be that compass. 

ANNOUNCEMENT

The Illinois State Rifle Association is looking for volunteer pistol instructors to help with their July 26th Women on Target program. For further information please call the ISRA office at 815-635-3198 or email lori@isra.org.

NSSF opposes move to shut down BATFE

A proposal to eliminate the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is drawing opposition from groups that typically sit on opposite sides of the gun debate. "I am not surprised by the proposed bill because of the leadership failures, especially in the past few years," said James Zammillo, who retired as Deputy Assistant Director of Field Operations for Industry Operations at the ATF. "How long do you allow it to go on until you have to take this route? I don't know what the other options are." The idea, advanced Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and a left-leaning think tank, also is drawing support from powerful Republicans; some Democrats are indicating a willingness to at least discuss the idea. A former top ATF supervisor said his former employer is hobbled by a lack of supervision and leadership, and that folding it into the FBI and other agencies has merit. "While we agree that ATF has had a number of high-profile missteps, we do not believe these shortcomings rise to the level of warranting disbanding the ATF," said Larry Keane, Vice President and General Counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. "We do believe that ATF is in need of stronger leadership, and that is why NSSF supported the nomination of B. Todd Jones in hopes that he could provide that leadership, just as we supported the nomination of Michael Sullivan who was nominated by President Bush but not confirmed." 

SAFER USA &

AURORA SPORTSMEN'S CLUB

COURSE SCHEDULE

(Private group classes available)  

Unless noted, all classes meet at the SAFER USA facility

190 W. Lincoln St; Waterman, IL 60556. Call 815-744-5487 for further information.

ILLINOIS CONCEALED CARRY I (16 hours) 

Sat, July 26th and Sun, July 27th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm 

Sat, Aug 23rd and Sun, Aug 24th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm 

Sat, Sep 6th and Sun, Sep 7th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm 

 ILLINOIS CONCEALED CARRY I (16 Hours)

FUND RAISER FOR FOX VALLEY FRIENDS OF THE NRA

$100 to FVFNRA for every registered student - Plus

all students will be entered into a drawing for an NRA Special Edition Ruger LC9 - 9mm pistol (1 in 30 odds of winning during class)

Sat, August 9th and Sun, August 10th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm  

 ILLINOIS CONCEALED CARRY II (8 Hours)

Sun, July 20th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm 

Sat, August 2nd 9:00 am - 5:00 pm 

Sun, August 17th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm  

Sat, September 13th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm 

NRA Basic Pistol (8 Hours) 

Sat, August 16th 9:00 am - 5:00 pm 

Register for a SAFER USA class 

Discrete, private instruction available for VIP & High Profile Individuals  

Call 877-954-3030 

Report shows IDPA members

spend $30 million annually

A new Industry Intelligence Report based on the results of a survey conducted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the International Defensive Pistol Association shows that U.S. IDPA members deliver significant economic impact by spending upwards of $30 million annually on shooting equipment for the sport. The report, titled Profile of International Defensive Pistol Association Shooters, provides a look at the target shooting-related habits and expenditures of IDPA's U.S. members. In addition to the $30 million spent annually by IDPA shooters on their sport, the report shows that approximately 91% of members hold a concealed carry permit, and 14% are concealed carry instructors in their state. "Thanks to the help of the research team at the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry now has a clear, in-depth look at the profile of a typical U.S. IDPA member. Competitive shooters represent some of the most active purchasers when it comes to firearms and related gear, and this new Industry Intelligence Report from NSSF bears that out," said Joyce Wilson, executive director of IDPA. To download the full NSSF Industry Intelligence Report, Profile of International Defensive Pistol Association Shooters, visit this website. For more information on IDPA or to become a member, visit www.IDPA.com. 

Sportsmen's Act stalls in U.S. Senate

Just days after the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to proceed to debate on the bipartisan Sportsmen's Act of 2014 (S. 2363), the measure hit a roadblock over amendments to the bill. The bill, sponsored by Senators Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), counts nearly half the Senate as co-sponsors and contains the top-priority issues for the sportsmen's community, including the USSA-supported "Open Until Closed" language. This vital language spells out that hunting, fishing and recreational shooting are legitimate and important activities on the more than 700 million acres of federal land managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The language will help stop frivolous lawsuits brought by anti-hunting organizations when federal agencies move to open land to sportsmen. Late last week the U.S. Senate failed to invoke cloture-a move requiring 60 votes to end debate on a bill-because of a growing rift between Republicans and Democrats over the amendment process. The spat over amendments was brought to the forefront when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid used Senate rules to block any amendments to the bill. "The House of Representatives has twice passed these important measures, most recently in H.R. 3590 sponsored by Bob Latta (R-OH)," added Evan Heusinkveld, USSA Vice President of Government Affairs. "The provisions of this bill are simply too important to be bogged down in election year politics."