Dave’s Ramblings

We’ve all heard stories about this happening, many know of people who’ve had their property ‘condemned’ and ripped from beneath them only to have a strip mall put in its place shortly after being leveled and sold for pennies on the dollar to some developer. Now the highest court in the land is ruling that it’s legal for a city to say your house and land would better serve as an office building, parking lot, or whatever??

My response- now think about when the last time you participated in your ‘local’ elections, when was the last time you went to a ‘town hall’ meeting, do you know who’s got the authority in your community? If the answer is no, best get a move on and get a little more involved, you could be next.

See the below listed definition for the term asshat! I think thats a bit more fitting for the justices who decided this turd.

Excerpt from CNN

High court OKs personal property seizures,
As a result, cities have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes to generate tax revenue.

Local officials, not federal judges, know best in deciding whether a development project will benefit the community, justices said.

“According to a News.com.com article, the defrauding of state government unemployment benefit programs is the most underpublicized identity theft crime and the states are not doing much about it. Identity thieves are using stolen social security numbers to file false unemployment claims and collecting benefits because the states have no systems in place to deter fraud. In fact, it is easier to convert stolen identity data into money by filing false unemployment claims than going after the credit card companies.” From the article: “File a false unemployment claim and you can receive $400 per week for 26 weeks. Do it for 100 Social Security numbers and you’ve made a quick $1.04 million. It’s tough to make crime pay much better than that.”

Now this is just getting plain ridiculous, there are next to no measures in place to detect Unemployment fraud? Come on now, how much simpler could things really be, what’s missing is the act of someone getting off their dead ass and writing a simple check and balances query. Here, I’ll even do 75% of the work for you, here are the conditions; Let’s see SSN #123456789 has a pending unemployment claim for this week, query state income tax database…was a credit reported from that same SSN? No - issue check, Yes - raise the flag…. DUH! It’s really just about that simple, granted not foolproof for all circumstances, but I’d bet my next paycheck it would catch a hell of a lot more fraud than sitting around with your collective thumbs up shoved up your collective asses!

What’s the next crisis going to be? Just a guess, but that gal who drove into the supermarket in a shiny new 2005 Escalade only to buy groceries with food stamps…….hmmm nothing unusual enough there to care about right?

For the past many, many months, there has been no news on concealed carry for Wisconsin. The bill is still in the drafting stage, and we’re told that there won’t be any activity on it until September or so.

However, a case heard by the Fourth District Court of Appeals is creating some news.

The defendant in the case, Scott Fisher, is a tavern owner who has to take the day’s cash receipts to the bank after closing time. After several tavern owners in the area had been robbed, Fisher decided to keep a loaded handgun in the glove compartment of his vehicle.

His car was stolen, and he warned the police that there was a loaded gun in the vehicle. A week later, after the car had been recovered, DNR officials asked him if there was still a loaded gun in the vehicle. He answered yes, and was arrested under Wisconsin’s concealed carry statute.

The Appeals Court has asked the Supreme Court to clarify the case.

The Appeals Court’s request for Certification presents some very interesting points. (The full Certification can be found at http://www.wicourts.gov……)

The court notes that in the case of state vs. Phillip Cole, the Supreme Court said, among other things, that the argument that Cole had been severely beaten before in the neighborhood he was travelling through was
insufficiently specific to warrant carrying a loaded gun.

In state vs. Hamdan, on the other hand, the Supreme Court effectively said that Hamdan had a reasonable expectation for the need for security, since he operated a convenience store in a high-crime area, had been the subject of violence before, and could expect to be the victim of violence again.

The Supreme Court’s decision in Hamdan made it clear that carrying concealed in one’s home or business was not illegal.

The Fisher case now questions whether someone who carries large amounts of cash away from his or her business can be prohibited from carrying concealed under state law.

While it will likely take a long time for the state Supreme Court to issue a decision in the Fisher case, a decision in Fisher’s favor would open the door for any number of people to claim that they, too, carry large amounts of cash.

Further, a favorable decision in the Fisher case would beg other questions. If the criteria for being able to carry concealed rests on an expectation of the need for security, as the Court of Appeal’s certification seems to suggest, then what about a woman going through a divorce whose husband has been abusive in the past, and has threatened her? Would she not have the same need?

The Hamdan case made it necessary for courts to review concealed carry cases on an “as-applied” basis.

We need to remind our legislators that, while Governor Doyle tries to stonewall our efforts to get a shall-issue bill passed, the courts are creating whole new classes of people who can legally carry. Without training, without a permit, without a background check, and without paying a fee.

And not paying a fee flies in the face of Wisconsin’s tradition of taxing everything that walks or crawls.

On Tuesday, June 14th, the state Assembly is scheduled to vote on AB56, a bill that would prevent municipalites from filing frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers, distributors, dealers, ranges, clubs and others.

As you may know, for the last several years anti-gun forces have been trying to bankrupt gun manufacturers by suing them for the criminal misuse of their products. They know that gun companies are small businesses, and cannot afford the millions of dollars required to defend against endless lawsuits.

The result of these lawsuits has been an increase in the price of guns, as manufacturers are forced to pass on their legal costs to consumers. It has also resulted in manufacturers being forced to add “safety” features that are nothing more than an inconvenience for gun owners.

AB56 would prevent such junk lawsuits in Wisconsin. Manufacturers could still be sued if their products are defective, and manufacturers, distributors, dealers and others could still be sued for criminal acts. The
bill does not give gun manufacturers blanket immunity, as the anti-gunners claim. It merely prevents a city such as Milwaukee from suing Glock, for example, just because Johnny the Crack Dealer shot someone using a Glock.

Governor Doyle has not yet indicated whether he would sign or veto AB56. It’s important that he see that there are too many votes in the legislature for him to veto the bill.

Please call your state legislators and urge them to vote for AB56. If you don’t know who your legislators are, go to http://165.189.139.210/WAML/ and enter your address to find out.

Thanks,
The Wisconsin Concealed Carry Association

Dear fellow gun owner:

Now that Governor Pawlenty has signed Minnesota’s new concealed carry bill
into law, non-resident permits are available once again.

Gene German is also once again conducting classes for the non-resident
permits here in Wisconsin. As he and other instructors have done in the
past, Gene is reducing his fee so that his students can contribute $50 to
our political action comittee, the Wisconsin Concealed Carry Movement
(WCCM).

Last year our political action committee was able to give some $16,000 to
pro-concealed carry candidates, thanks largely to the contributions from
concealed carry class students. The 2006 elections will require even more
dollars than that: the maximum political action committee contribution to a
governor’s campaign is over $42,000, and we hope to raise that much or more.

So, get training for a non-resident permit, and help promote gun rights in
Wisconsin at the same time!

Details from Gene are below.

Thanks,
The Wisconsin Concealed Carry Association
–

____

A law so nice, we passed it twice! I am very happy to announce the return of
training for the Minnesota Permit to Carry a Pistol class after we worked
very hard to re-enact the law. An activist judge overturned it due to the
manner the law was passed in 2003 and rather than wait years for litigation
to end, we convinced the Minnesota legislature to re-enacted it.

A One day class has been scheduled on June 10th at the Deerfield Pistol and
Archery Range, 43 N Main Street, Deerfield.

Please let me know if you want to attend and I’ll get you registered.
Pre-registration is required. Just email me your name, home address, phone
number and email address. You can pay your $100 tuition through PayPal. My
PayPal email address is star1315@direcway.com . If you do not have a free
PayPal account, it is very easy to set one up at www.paypal.com and it is a
secure site or you can mail your tuition check to: Gene German, 5925 Eureka
Road, Shorewood, MN 55331. The $50 donation to WCCM is a separate check
which I will collect from you in class.

This is a self defense course and women are welcome.

Class size is limited to 15 students and classroom training will begin at
9am. The class itself is about six hours long. A shooting exercise will
follow which consists of firing a total of 30 rounds, 15 at 15 feet and 15
at 21 feet, these are timed exercises as well and are shot from a standing
stance of your choice. If you are using a semi-automatic you will need at
least two magazines and six is best if you have them. Speed loaders are fine
for revolvers if you have them, but you really don’t need to buy them if you
don’t own any. The shooting exercises will take about 3-5 minutes per
student. If you do not have a weapon to use for shooting qualification, you
may use one of my weapons. You will need to buy a box of .380ACP ball ammo.
This course is not a basic pistol course so you should have some basic
handgun training before you attend this course.

This permit is a five year non-resident permit and is valid to carry a
weapon in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri,
Montana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Utah. You can apply to any sheriff in
Minnesota as a non-resident. I will provide everything you will need to
submit your application to a sheriff. Minnesota sheriffs can (and do) charge
up to $100 for processing permit applications. You need to present your
application in person usually during normal weekday business hours.
Minnesota law requires all sheriffs to issue permits to those who are
qualified and to accept my signed certificate that you have completed the
required training. The law does not permit a sheriff from asking you
anything more than what you are required to provide (your completed written
application, a copy of your training certificate, a copy of the front and
back of your drivers license, and a check for up to $100).

This training also satisfies the requirements for a Florida non-resident
permit. With your Minnesota and Florida non-resident permits you can legally
carry in 23 states.

Thank you for helping to make a difference in Wisconsin. Since Wisconsin
does not have a CCW law, I can not tell you that this training will satisfy
what may be required in Wisconsin in the future, if training will be
required at all. I have made my thoughts known to Senator Zien, however it
is up to him and the legislature to make these decisions. The more gun
friendly and veto proof the legislature is, the more likely a bill will
become a law with such ideas included. That’s why I am trying to raise
$50,000 to help WCCM support gun friendly candidates. Wisconsin citizens
need education concerning carrying and using lethal force. It is the only
way correct opinions will be formed about this issue. Here are several
comments I have received from my graduates.

Gene, thanks a million for your fascinating course on Saturday. It was one
of the most interesting days I’ve ever spent. As you said, I’m sure it will
prove to have been a life changing experience. God speed in your quest.

Gene, Just a short note to thank you again for a most enjoyable and
informative class last Sunday.
The information was extremely relevant and presented in a cogent and
entertaining manner.
I have recommended the class to friends and co-workers.

Gene,

I just wanted to thank you again for coming to B.R.Falls and putting on an
excellent class. You can be assured that I will continue to help educate the
general public on the facts of Carry/Conceal. Keep up the GOOD WORK!!!!!

Hi, Gene!

I wanted to thank you again for your time and effort with the Wisconsin
Concealed Carry Movement. Your class yesterday was extremely informative
and yes, you succeeded in getting me to think twice as to whether or not
carrying concealed is something I’m going to want to take on.

I’m pretty sure I will, however, there is going to be a LOT more thought put
into it.

Hi Gene,

In reference to last Saturday’s (May 8th, 2004) Permit to Carry course. Let
me take this opportunity to thank you for a very enjoyable day. I was able
to learn a lot of things that were unknown to me as a private citizen. This
course is probably one of the best I have ever encountered. With you
teaching, you are able to put all the information into layman’s terms rather
than it being to technical for me to understand.

I would highly recommend this course to everyone, even if they were not
seeking a Conceal and Carry permit. I think that if the gun control
organizations would attend a course like this, it could open their eyes.

In the end I may or may not get a conceal and carry permit. But NOW—– I
have the option of choosing what I do.

Thanks again Gene, and I hope you reach your goal by Nov..

Hi Gene
Thanks for coming to Gillett For the hand gun class. I came away with a
much better understanding of the responsibilities a person takes on when he
decides to carry a hand gun in public. like you said this should be just the
beginning of my education on concealed carry. Thanks again for getting me
off on the right foot.

I am proud of my students who to date have contributed over $11,000 to the
WCCM. Please tell your friends and family about this opportunity to take
action along with your fellow Wisconsin citizens who are working to make
Concealed Carry a reality in Wisconsin.

Regards,

Gene German