“The proper way to promote gun rights is through the courts, and political process, not armed resistance at this point.”

And how’s that working out, exactly? What does Olofson’s case demonstrate? For 70 plus years we have allowed ourselves to be pushed back from the free exercise of our rights, each time whispering our resentment but refusing to DO anything about it.

“There may be a time when that becomes appropriate, this is not that time.”

My point about Olofson is that if this is NOT the time, right now, today, then it ain’t far in the future.

“In many, maybe even even most, regards BATFE is overstepping it’s bounds, and needs to be reigned in, but to think that the threat of whatever arsenal you possess is stopping the government from coming to get you if they wanted to is laughable, at best. Let’s face it, the government has the power to remove any lone person, or even a group any time they want. They have the guns, body armor, tear gas, flash grenades, and worse to come and get you. The preventative power of the second amendment is in the possibility of a mass uprising, not one person shooting it out with the feds.”

Again, how is that “reigning in” to be accomplished, exactly? They paid no price for their deadly activities in the 90s. As the result of the “war on terror” the agency has grown like Topsy, filled with new, eager ignorant and arrogant thugs who have no idea of constitututional restrictions. They are a law unto themselves, cf Olofson. Heck, the Founders would have rejected the entire agency as unconstitutional. I possess no “arsenal” save that of my own mind. I have a couple of pistols, a few rifles and a shotgun. What I have is the determination to live, or die, as God wills, as a free man. As a Christian I am unafraid of what the thugs of the imperial federal regime can do to me, for they cannot harm my inextinguishable soul. That said, I have no illusions about my INDIVIDUAL ability to resist their raid party. But I do understand how a tripwire works. Consider me as voluntary bait, without illusions of what that entails. And despite my unpopularity on this blog, where I am considered with all the fear and loathing of skunk discovered under the front pew at church, I have thousands of friends all across the country.

“Furthermore, in your one man uprising, you will not die a martyr to more than a select group of people that are probably already on your side. While the Branch Davidians and Randy Weaver have those who support them, and are appalled by the actions of the government, neither of those incidents started an uprising, or even any widespread public outcry.”

Now you have arrived at the precise point. As a friend wrote of Waco in an email just this morning: “Don’t get me started on that. I knew from day one what was afoot. Murder in the making. I even predicted within a day of when it would end. I hoped I was paranoid, I wasn’t. Now I am ashamed because I listened to hope, instead……” To which I replied: “Yes, exactly. But NOW we have no excuse. We said then, when we finally knew how wrong we were, ‘No More Wacos.’ So now we must have no illusions. This is why I get so angry with the cheesers who refuse to get excited about Olofson. The devil is on the march again. It is late August 1939. We must have no illusions.” It could well be that when it comes time for me and my friends to kick in like free men that no one will choose to support us. Likely in fact. Witness this board. That does not relieve us of the responsibility to resist tyranny. What we do is between us, our consciences and our God. What you do is between yours.

“If anything you will more likely be used as an example of why we need more gun control. And all those writings that will be released on the world? They will more likely than not be used to paint you as a paranoid nut, looking to shoot it out with the black helicopters.”

And you will be the one making those examples and excuses, rather than be forced into the dangerous ground of being a free citizen. Hide and watch.

“You can call us what you will, but legal activism, through the courts and through the political process, is still the best way to maintain and expand our rights. ”

Again, how’s that working out, exactly? Ask David Olofson, who presumed his right to a fair trial. Let me give you a pertinent example from the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s. The federal government (especially J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI) was happy to ignore the murders of civil rights workers in the south until blacks, like the Deacons for Defense and Justice, began arming and threatening retaliatory violence against the Klan and the local governments they controlled. Only with the credible threat of violence were the authorities motivated to break their century of indifference to how black folks were treated in the south and DO something. If the game is rigged, threaten to overturn the table. And a pistol aimed unerringly at the cardshark helps.

“The day may come when we need to take up arms against a tyrannical government, but the fact that you can ‘tell] them in advance, in public, what MY “rules of engagement” were.’ is proof that this is not the time. So please stop giving the anti-gun nuts more ammo, and trying to bait the government to come after you. This is only hurting our cause.”

Well, if that’s the case, our “causes” are not the same. My cause is that of the constitutional republic of the Founders and a United States of America that my children and grandchildren can live in as free citizens, not frightened serfs. Here’s the thing: with the ATF on the prod, and cantankerous people like me refusing to be pushed, sooner or later somebody’s going to trade shots.

WE, my friends and me, are going to give the cheesers on this board and in the larger country a choice: are you going to make the same excuses you made before in 1993 when you watched government murder on television and did nothing? And if they kill someone like me, someone who’s not a religious cultist (unless you count the Baptists as cultists), someone who doesn’t mess with explosives or automatic weapons, someone who’s a father and a grandfather, a guy who’s on disability for congestive heart failure and can’t attack anybody, a guy whose only real sin in their eyes is to despise them publicly — if they kill me and you do nothing AGAIN, hiding behind excuses AGAIN, well I don’t know how you look yourself in the mirror.

And understand this, in a country that allows the David Olofsons to be victimized without correction, sooner or later people like me are going to force people like you to look in that mirror. And I suppose that’s what really scares y’all. But whether you like it or not, whether you join us or not, we will force you to make the choice because we DO NOT consent to be victimized by some thug simply because he possesses a federal badge that is unconstitutional in the first place. We are free men and women, and will live or die as free men and women. You are free to choose, but you should understand that the choice is not far away. The imperial feds have apparently decided that by their egregious misconduct in the Olofson case.

While I respect everyone’s right to an opinion, in mine you’re off. If I’m guilty of anything its helping people get into the shooting sports and maintain there proficiency with shooting. That would be the extent of it. There logic in everything I do, it just doesn’t register with everyone.

In many, maybe even even most, regards BATFE is overstepping it’s bounds, and needs to be reigned in, but to think that the threat of whatever arsenal you possess is stopping the government from coming to get you if they wanted to is laughable, at best. Let’s face it, the government has the power to remove any lone person, or even a group any time they want. They have the guns, body armor, tear gas, flash grenades, and worse to come and get you. The preventative power of the second amendment is in the possibility of a mass uprising, not one person shooting it out with the feds.

Furthermore, in your one man uprising, you will not die a martyr to more than a select group of people that are probably already on your side. While the Branch Davidians and Randy Weaver have those who support them, and are appalled by the actions of the government, neither of those incidents started an uprising, or even any widespread public outcry. If anything you will more likely be used as an example of why we need more gun control. And all those writings that will be released on the world? They will more likely than not be used to paint you as a paranoid nut, looking to shoot it out with the black helicopters.

You can call us what you will, but legal activism, through the courts and through the political process, is still the best way to maintain and expand our rights. The day may come when we need to take up arms against a tyrannical government, but the fact that you can “[tell] them in advance, in public, what MY “rules of engagement” were.”" is proof that this is not the time. So please stop giving the anti-gun nuts more ammo, and trying to bait the government to come after you. This is only hurting our cause.

I am not encouraging nor defending any depredations of the BATFE. I think what I and most gun owners want out of them is consistency.

I just want them to go away.

This has to be a broad movement, because if it were ever to come to having to violently resist the government, you’d need all your neighbors to join with you. Lone resistance is guaranteed to result in your destruction. You may die believing you’re a free man, but you will die. That’s your choice, and I wouldn’t deny you that. But to suggest that people who have decided that there is still time for a political solution are somehow impure and unworthy is unhelpful, and make the destruction of gun rights more probable. If our government is so out of control and so criminals as you suggest, why aren’t you starting the revolution now? If there’s still time for politics, it seems to be that crapping on the people fighting that fight is pretty disingenuous.

Let me clear up your misconception.

The reason I don’t want to be associated with David Olofson has nothing to do with his guilt or innocence, and everything to do with him being a stupid sonofabitch.

This, incidentally, is the same reason I refuse to be associated with the Mike Vanderboeghs of the world.

Get a grip. They don’t bother you, not because they’re afraid of you, but because they think — correctly — that you’re a ridiculous waste of their time. If they ever are moved to crush you like an insect, this will not elevate you from your obscurity; it will only cement you in it.

Progress in the real world is made by smart defendants using excellent lawyers to pursue and win clean claims. If you’re not part of that solution, you’re part of the problem. Quit being part of the fucking problem, you ignorant and arrogant shitbags.

I believe this showdown between government and free men will happen in my lifetime. Does that mean that I am itching for a fight? No. I would rather it not come to that, but free men can only be pushed so far. Will I be ready? Not as ready as I need to be.

I know, from your writings, that you are a history buff. I don’t think you have to be all that knowledgeable about history to see what is happening to this country. It is the exact same thing that has happened to almost every nation that has ever existed. Our nation has only been around for a short time and look at where we are. We have gone from a nation of free and proud men, to a state of complete government reliance and control. The level of government control is only going to go in one direction, until something snaps. It may be cases like Mr. Olofson’s that will determine if we still have the means to throw off the shackles of that oppressive government.

Mr. Olofson I applaud you. You may not have made all the right choices, but I am happy to see you taking a stand. I am sure that you were offered a pretty good plea deal. Of course that would mean that you would most likely have to give up most of the rights a free man is granted by his creator.

Am I a cheeser? I hope not. I can tell you that “Law of Unintended Consequences” enters my mind and brings a smile to my face nearly every time my family is out shooting. I guess we will have to wait and see.