Crowd Shows Up In Defense of 2nd Amendment

- Freedom First

Three weeks ago the Oak Harbor city council convened to discuss whether public areas such as city parks, marinas, and council chambers, should be gun free zones in an effort to protect the public. City council member Rick Almberg first asked the mayor to inquire whether one of the attendees, Lucas Yonkman, had a weapon, then made an attempt at a motion to have attendees "check their weapon with the police chief or to leave the premise." which was then voted on. The motion did not pass. Almberg excused himself and left. Mayor Scott Dudley apologized to Yonkman, and commented on the oath of office, theU.S. Constitution and the Constitution of the State of Washington.

The council met again this past Tuesday, and this time there were 160 people in the crowd, many of whom were openly carrying holstered handguns, and rifles in defense of the 2nd Amendment and to show support for wounded Afghanistan veteran, Lucas Yonkman, whom Mr Almberg tried to have removed at the previous meeting. One attendee, Joe Hawkins, addressed Mr Almberg saying "Mr. Almberg, I just want you to know that I have a concealed ham sandwich right here. I don't want you to get up and walk away," and chuckled.

Many of the attendees were there to oppose the unconstitutional gun ban in city parks and the marina. Many spoke out in defense of the 2nd Amendment, and that gun free zones are killing zones, and that "more guns in public places make more people dead." The Second Amendment Foundation had threatened to sue if the ordinance wasn't overturned.

William Frail had an M-1 rifle on his shoulder as he testified. "Sir, my mother was Jew," he said. "My family went to the chambers. I will not go into the night quietly while these two ask me to board the train."

Lucas Yonkman addressed the council as well  "I come to you tonight with a heavy heart," Yonkman said. "I see a beautiful country divided and conflicted. I see a constitution being eroded, and the rights so many have fought and died for totally lost. I see men and woman who are elected leaders pushing personal agendas."

Yonkman believes the answer to mass shootings and community violence will be found in treating those with mental illness, instead of taking guns away.

A few people called for the resignation of fellow city council member, Almberg. The city council eventually voted to overturn the ban, which the interim city attorney, Grant Weed, had told the members was unconstitutional.  After the meeting, he said he hopes the city can move past this and get onto more important business. 

Crowd Packs Heat, Oak Harbor Backs Down

REVIVED! STATE LAW BANISHING D.C. GUN RULES

Arguments scheduled in 9th Circuit on Montana's 'freedom act'
- Bob Unruh, WND

Just as the rhetoric in Washington on guns has hit a zenith – with Joe Biden promising executive orders to try to prevent the hardware from doing damage – a court order has revived a stunning plan adopted by several states that tells Washington, regarding many guns, to just go away.

Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, confirmed that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has scheduled oral arguments in the MSSA v. Holder case for March 4 in Portland, Ore. He is the only individual who is a plaintiff in the case

The challenge to Washington’s death-grip on gun rules across the nation has been stalled at the appellate level for nearly two years, but a ruling from the notoriously and often-overturned court bench is needed for the plaintiffs to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, where they want to finish their fight.

“You probably know that I wrote the Montana Firearms Freedom Act to mount a challenge to federal ‘Commerce Clause’ power, using firearms as the vehicle for the exercise,” Marbut said in his announcement about the sudden movement in the case.

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“The MFFA declares that any firearms made and retained in Montana are simply not subject to any federal authority under the power given to Congress in the Constitution to ‘regulate commerce … among the states.”

The case was brought on Oct. 9, 2009, when the MFFA went into effect, and Marbut explains, “We need to get to the U.S. Supreme Court in order to overturn a century of bad Commerce Clause precedent.”

He noted the contributions of the Second Amendment Foundation, and Missoula attorney Quentin Rhoades on the case.

Officials who have worked on the Montana Firearms Freedom Act, which simply declares that guns made, sold and kept in the state of Montana are exempt from federal limits and requirements, also prompted similar legislation in seven other states.

Among those are Tennessee (SB1610); Utah (SB11); Wyoming (HB95); South Dakota (SB89); Arizona (HB2307); Idaho (HB589); and Alaska (HB1860). Representing a consensus among the states on the limits of federal power, additional copies of the MFFA were also introduced in the legislatures of 23 other states, for a total of 31 jurisdictions where it has been enacted or introduced.

Those laws are on hold pending the outcome of Montana’s court challenge.

A federal judge in Montana determined that the state could not do what it wanted.

When South Dakota’s law was signed by Gov. Mike Rounds, a commentator said it addresses the “rights of states which have been carelessly trampled by the federal government for decades.”

WND reported when Wyoming joined the states with self-declared exemptions from federal gun regulation, officials there took the unusual step of including penalties for any agent of the U.S. who “enforces or attempts to enforce” federal gun rules on a “personal firearm.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/revived-state-law-banishing-d-c-gun-rules/#qkyKtrifiXEreJQC.99

Second Amendment Foundation

The Tenth Amendment Center