Don’t Change TSA Policy About Transporting Firearms In Checked Baggage

With a semi-automatic handgun in his checked baggage, Esteban Santiago, a former soldier inflicted with mental problems, and an apparent Muslim convert, flew from Anchorage, Alaska to Fort Lauderdale, Florida International airport. When he retrieved his luggage containing a declared handgun from the carousel, he shot 11 people, killing five of them. Airports throughout the country immediately beefed up their security. The bodies of Santiago’s victims weren’t even cold yet before a local television news reporter where I live, went to the Monterey Peninsula Regional Airport and interviewed arriving passengers about what their thoughts were about passengers authorized to transport a gun in checked baggage. No one the reporter spoke with knew that firearms could be legitimately transported in a passenger’s checked baggage. One traveler said the thought “gives me pause,” and “concern about traveling.” Another said she was “shocked.” Some passengers were hoping the TSA policy would change. Another passenger exclaimed, “Why would it be allowed; are we are going to wait till countless people are murdered in this country? It’s just so stupid.” Apparently, the mere mention of a firearm at an airport to your average Californian is enough to cause widespread panic. After rushing back to her home state to get some live TV exposure, former DNC chair congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz promptly announced that when she returned to Washington, she was going to see what she could do to change the TSA policy about allowing firearms in checked baggage. The question I have for Ms. Wasserman Schultz and the uninformed snowflakes of California is: What difference would there be if Santiago drove himself to the airport and shot 11 people, or he brought the gun with him from Alaska in his check in baggage? There isn’t. Everyone needs to calm down and think this through. There have been hundreds of thousands of firearms transported in airline checked baggage since the events of 9/11. Originally, TSA irrational policy was that the firearm had to be in a separate locked hard case in which they attached a bright orange tag that said “Checked Firearm,” or something to that affect. The case could not be hidden within your suitcase, but had to be checked separately as if it was radioactive. Nothing like advertising you have a gun that can easily be stolen. After numerous thefts of these firearms by baggage handlers and other thieves, TSA policy changed to what it is today. The firearm must be locked in a hard-shell case, unloaded, with its ammunition separated, and inside checked luggage if the passenger has luggage. The ticket counter agent fills out a yellow tag that is placed in the checked in luggage near the firearm, and a TSA agent will later discretely check the bag to ensure compliance with its policy. I’ve flown with my firearm in checked baggage dozens of times, without a problem; although I do hold my breath until I can retrieve my luggage and check inside to make sure my firearm is still there. Firearms are transported by passengers for many reasons. Under federal law, active and retired law enforcement officers may carry a concealed weapon anywhere in the United States or its territories. Because in most cases, airlines do not allow non-federal active or any retired law enforcement officers to carry loaded firearms in the passenger compartments of their planes, they have no choice but to place them into checked baggage. Concealed weapon permit holders traveling to states where their home state permit is honored, have no option but to use checked baggage. Hunters, sport shooters, and competition shooters all use airlines to transport their rifles, shotguns and handguns to their shooting events. I think active and retired law enforcement officers, no matter if they are local, state, or federal should be allowed to carry loaded, concealed firearms as passengers on domestic airlines if they have received the proper training about discharging a firearm inside an aircraft. This cuts down on potential thefts of their firearms, and is a force multiplier for federal air marshals. If an off-duty officer was at the terminal 2 baggage carousel at Fort Lauderdale International Airport, he or she could have stopped Santiago’s shooting spree. Not allowing firearms to be placed in airline checked baggage is not the answer to preventing another situation like what occurred in Fort Lauderdale. Keeping firearms out of the hands of the mentally ill is.

The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!

Democrat National Committee and its media cohorts would like you to believe that Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election because the mean Russians hacked into the DNC email server and stole confidential campaign information. The Main Stream Media (MSM) is reporting that Mr. Putin personally must have ordered his henchmen to hack and expose Democratic National Committee emails to sway the electorate to vote for the evil Donald Trump instead of the people’s obvious choice for president, Hillary. Just ask any hardcore Democrat, and they will tell you that Trump publically asked the Ruskies to hack Hillary's emails. Trump said no such thing, but what difference does it make at this point? During a news conference, Trump jokingly asked the Russians to release Hillary’s 30,000 “lost” emails if they had them. The MSM didn’t get Trump’s humor, and are still reporting that he encouraged Putin to hack emails for his political advantage in an attempt to deprive the former Secretary of State of her rightful place in history, and instead install Trump as president. Hillary later blamed FBI Director James Comey for the reason she lost the presidential election. Hillary lost because she was a boring, lousy campaigner and people didn’t like hearing her policies to put the coal industry out of business, not enforce federal immigration laws, develop new gun controls, forgive student loans, make colleges tuition free, increase federal programs by at least $15 trillion, and expand Obamacare. Or, maybe Hillary lost the election because of the hacked DNC emails WikiLeaks released and the emails the FBI discovered on her private server exposing: - The DNC made efforts to derail Bernie Sanders’ campaign. - CNN gave Donna Brazile the questions Hillary would be asked at a Town Hall meeting with crazy Bernie ahead of time, and passed them on to Hillary who went along with it. - The DNC paid operatives to commit violence to disrupt Donald Trump rallies in an effort to make you believe that Trump supporters were the aggressors, when they were actually the victims. - In lucrative private speeches, Hillary said she needed both “public and private” positions on issues. - Her campaign chairman, Jon Podesta, invited George Stephanopoulos, Charlie Rose, Wolf Blitzer, Norah O’Donnell, and many other well-known so-called “journalists” to a party where they planned strategies to promote Hillary’s campaign. Some print articles were run past the campaign for approval before they were published. - She lied about using only one communication device when she had used upwards of 15, some of which were destroyed by a hammer. - She lied about sending and receiving classified emails on her private server. - She lied about handing over all her government related emails to the Department of State. - etc., etc., etc. And, if you’re not convinced the FBI and Russians were behind Hillary’s defeat, then she would like you to believe that she was a victim of “fake news.” The problem with that excuse is that at one Town Hall meeting, a child actress, posing as an audience member “chosen at random,” asked Hillary a question about Trump abusing women. Her MSM cohorts reported that Trump mocked a disabled reporter, when in fact he has used those same gestures in the past to illustrate frustration, not someone’s disability. Hillary called fake news an “epidemic.” I wouldn’t call it that, but over the years there have been well-documented MSM fake news stories. NBC edited the 9-1-1 tape of George Zimmerman calling police about a suspicious person in such a way that you would think he only called because Travon Martin was black. CBS ran a series of segments using forged documents in an attempt to prove President George W. Bush went AWOL while a Texas Air National Guardsman. NBC placed explosive charges near the gas tank of a GMC pickup truck to “prove” they were vulnerable to explosion if struck from behind. CNN reported that Michael Brown, aka “the gentle giant,” of Ferguson, MO fame, was walking to his grandmother’s home while contemplating going to college, and that he had his hands up yelling, “hands up, don’t shoot” when he was shot in cold blood by the police. None of the above was true. Trump will be the 45th President of the United States despite Democrats attempt to influence members of the Electoral College to change their vote. Hillary and the Democrats need to get over it.

Obama’s Unconstitutional Gun Executive Orders

Once again, President Barack Hussein Obama has violated his oath of office to uphold the U.S. Constitution by creating his own so-called “gun safety” legislation. During his teary, well-orchestrated White House pronouncement, he essentially said that if only one life is saved as a result of his unconstitutional action, it’s worth the effort. I’m afraid his proposals are more likely to cause more death by creating further delays and unnecessary expense to acquire firearms. What he and his gun grabbing supporters either fail to realize, totally ignore, or simply don’t care, is that the president cannot point to even one incidence in which a gun purchased at a gun show, without benefit of a background check of the purchaser, was used in a “mass shooting,” or any other crime of violence. The president, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders, along with all other members of the anti-Second Amendment crowd, always point to the gun as the reason for a shooting incident. The president cited the latest terrorist incident in San Bernardino, California as one reason for his unlawful Executive Orders. What he failed to mention was that the semi-automatic rifles Syed Rizwan Farook and his Pakistani wife, Tashfeen Malik used to murder 14 people, were purchased by a family friend, Enrique Marquez. Marquez, who had no criminal record, purchased the weapons on behalf of Farook to disguise who the true possessor of the weapons would be. This is known as a “straw purchase,” and is a federal felony. Marquez’s illegal purchase was likely one of tens of thousands of such attempts each year. According to the Department of Justice, in 2002, 60,739 persons were denied firearms purchases because they did not pass the necessary background check; yet, only 141 were prosecuted. If the president wants to enhance “gun safety,” he should direct his 93 United States Attorneys to make prosecuting straw purchasers a priority, and not an option. The entire investigative process would take about five minutes. An ATF agent would only have to match documentation of a felony conviction, dishonorable discharge, domestic violence conviction, involuntary mental health treatment, etc. to prove that the purchaser lied on the required federal forms. When law enforcement discovers people like Marquez purchased weapons for someone else, they also should be prosecuted. The U.S. attorney in the Central District of California, where San Bernardino lies, has decided to do just that. But, what about all the other people who lied on the federal forms when they attempted to purchase a firearm? Why not go after them, too to serve as a deterrent to others? From my experience working with many assistant United States Attorneys, they view lying on a federal form as one of the lowest priorities when compared to other more serious matters they have to handle. Also, such a case is not very “sexy” when it comes to career advancement, such as joining a prestigious law firm, or being appointed to the bench. That has to change. In addition, the president decreed that he would hire 200 more ATF special agents and over 200 more FBI employees to conduct instant background checks. Whatever the president’s motivation may be, he can’t just wave a magic wand and appropriate money to hire these people – that’s Congress’ job. So, most of his Executive Order is completely meaningless. If the president was sincere about curbing “gun violence” he should halt the migration of Syrian refugees, many of which are sympathetic to ISIS, and whose backgrounds are unknown. Instead, he wants to expand background checks on law abiding citizens instead of Syrian refugees, and completely ignores common sense measures to keep this country safe. The president should also stop issuing visas to all Muslims, for any reason, until ISIS is defeated. There is no guarantee these people are not jihadists waiting for the opportunity to replicate the events in San Bernardino, Paris, Chattanooga, Modesto, Little Rock, and other places. President Obama should hasten, not delay or prevent the deportation of criminal illegal aliens, many of which perpetrate gun violence on Americans. The president needs to stop blaming the gun, and recognize that the person holding it is the one ultimately responsible for violence, not the gun itself.

Now Is Not The Time For More Gun Control

To the chagrin of the media and other liberals, the “mass shooting” in San Bernardino, California last week was a terrorist attack. The media held back revealing the names of the two dead terrorist for four hours, hoping they could find any connection with right-wing, anti-abortion, Tea Party, NRA card carrying registered Republicans. No luck. Anyone with the slightest ability to analyze the facts surrounding the shooting would have concluded early on that this was no ordinary “mass shooting.” And, when the media finally revealed the names of the shooters as Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, liberals started howling because they knew this would reinforce in the minds of public that a quarter million Syrian refugees, many of whom are supportive or sympathetic to ISIS, shouldn’t be allowed to obtain refugee status in the U.S. for fear of ISIS infiltration and future terrorist attacks. Before the number of victims was known, or details about the shooters were released, upon hearing about the event, President Obama and Hillary Clinton, like Pavlov’s dog, immediately called for more gun control. The event in San Bernardino made it clear that restrictive gun laws in California had absolutely no effect in stopping this terrorist attack. California already has all the gun control measures in place the president has been advocating. The two handguns recovered were legally purchased by Farook. The two semi-automatic rifles they had were legally purchased, but by a friend of his. The two rifles were modified “to make them more powerful” according to a CBS news report. They were probably “more powerful” because Farook and Malik had many 30-round standard capacity magazines, which are, of course, unlawful in California but readily available in many other states. Farook and Malik duct taped three homemade pipe bombs and left them at the scene of the shooting; fortunately, they didn’t explode remotely as intended. Another dozen were found at their apartment. Neighbors saw suspicious activity by them and other Middle Eastern man, during all hours of the night, at Farook’s apartment but they didn’t report it to the authorities for fear of being accused of “racial profiling.” In light of this attack coming on the heels of the tragic events in Paris, this is not the time to address more restrictive gun control. Hillary Clinton suggests that the “Australian and U.K.” models of gun control should be explored. That translates into gun confiscation. Why would she and others consider disarming law abiding citizens when Muslim extremists are attacking our country? Liberals want to confiscate your guns and let in 250,000 Muslim Syrian refugees who cannot be properly screened. How can the U.S. conduct criminal background checks on citizens of a country it has no diplomatic relations with? ISIS has made it clear it intends to infiltrate the refugee population headed to the U.S. and Europe to conduct more jihad, but this doesn’t matter to the president, Hillary, or Bernie. The U.S. should take the fight to the enemy and conduct “shock and awe” style air campaigns in ISIS held territories and oil fields, and then send in badly needed ground troops to take out the survivors. The president’s pin prick approach at “containing” ISIS obviously is not working. What doesn’t the president, Hillary, Bernie, and John Kerry understand about the potential disaster that awaits us if we don’t act decisively, and soon? I don’t believe that ISIS has the capacity to conduct another 9/11 style attack. However, I predict that there will be several other similar attacks before the next election by a handful of individuals who were inspired by the Paris and San Bernardino attacks. Bringing Syrian refugees to this country just increases the chances my prediction will be realized. The sooner we take out ISIS, the sooner the refugees can return home.

Whatever Happened To Accountability?

President Obama has recently released 6,000 federal “non-violent drug offenders” back into our communities without them completing their entire sentences. California Governor Jerry Brown releases hundreds of convicted murders and thousands of other “non-violent offenders” from state prisons because of alleged overcrowding. Some prisoners only did a fraction of their sentences before being released. Hollywood starlets spend 45 minutes in the Los Angeles County Jail for drunk driving convictions because of overcrowding. Someone who didn’t file federal income taxes for years hires a tax attorney who convinces the IRS to reduce the amount owned by 85%. California voters decide to lower some felony crimes to misdemeanors in an effort to “save money” on state prisons. When the crime rate goes up, these same people who voted for proposition 47 are scratching their heads asking why? Gov. Brown has suspended high school exit exams apparently because too few students were passing them. When federal prosecutors finally decide to indict someone for making a straw purchase of a firearm for a convicted felon or gang member, they consistently take a plea bargain allowing the individual to receive probation. Then liberal gun control freaks blame the NRA for gun violence. President Obama and Hillary Clinton both want to restore voting rights to convicted felons, and conceal their criminal histories from perspective employers. Juvenile offenders get to have their criminal records expunged. Poor work performers are allowed to resign in lieu of being fired. Those convicted of possessing hard drugs, which are felonies, can go to a drug rehab to get their convictions erased. Speeders can go to traffic school in lieu of paying a fine and get their speeding ticket erased from their driving record. President Obama violates his oath of office by circumventing Congress and the Constitution to allow illegal immigrants to stay in the country. He makes efforts to close GITMO prison, despite a Congressional act against such a move. Yet, there is not even a peep from Congress about impeaching him. High school students in Michigan are paid up to $400.00 per school year to organize an event or even read a book. Illegal aliens either sneak into the country or overstay their visas. But, instead of punishing them for violating federal immigration laws and deporting them, they are rewarded with free housing, free education, in-state tuition, free medical care, and they are shielded from immigration authorities by “sanctuary cities.” Hundreds of cities declare themselves “sanctuary cities,” yet, Democrat senators filibuster any attempt to either cut federal funding to them, or mandating a five year sentence for those who return to the country after being deported. About two dozen states allow for either “medical marijuana” or “recreational” use of the drug, which is against federal law; however the president orders his U.S. attorneys not to prosecute anyone in those states for federal drug violations. Whatever happened to accountability? Remember when there were consequences for bad behavior? Like when you didn’t study for a test, you received something less than an “A?” Or, if you received a well-deserved speeding ticket as a juvenile, your parents’ auto insurance premiums increased. That meant you were responsible for getting a part-time job to pay for the increase? Or, when criminals knew there was a risk of long-term imprisonment if they were caught buying a gun for someone else, robbing a bank, or selling drugs? Those days are slipping away fast. In Liberal Utopia, NO ONE is held responsible for their actions. You see, it’s society’s fault when someone becomes a drug dealer, bank robber, illegal alien, or whatever. It could NEVER be THEIR fault. Some external influence made them speed, steal, get expelled from school, join a gang or rob a store. And, to prove how much their hearts bleed for them, liberals don’t ever want anyone to know just what a rotten, conniving, thieving, cheating, dope dealing SOBs they are, so, they’re going to fix the system so they will never have to be accountable for anything ever again. Back in the day there was a saying, “If you ain’t got the time, don’t do the crime.” Now, when someone commits the crime and is lucky enough to have an Eric Holder as Attorney General, or a Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton as president, just file a petition and they’ll find an excuse to let you return to society to victimize more people. Bring back accountability and there will be better grades in school, more high school graduates, less crime, less drunk drivers, and substantially fewer illegal aliens.

Gun Free “Kill Zones”

The tragic events at Umpqua Community College (UCC) in Roseburg, Oregon, may be repeated if legislators and school managers fail to recognize that “Gun Free Zones” are in reality deathtraps that attract mentally unstable people to commit mass shootings. The college had one unarmed security guard on campus, and it has a policy of not allowing anyone to carry a concealed weapon on the property, despite Oregon law that allows concealed firearms licensees to do so in public places. According to Dr. Rita Cavin, the interim president of UCC, “Staff is responsible for student safety.” That sure makes me feel a lot safer. What the good doctor and misguided school administrators, legislators, pastors, business owners, and others don’t realize is that 93% of all “mass shootings” in this country have occurred at locations designated as “Gun Free Zones.” These locations include elementary schools, high schools, college campuses, movie theaters, churches, and shopping malls. The belief that these locations are supposedly free of persons carrying guns makes them magnets for the criminally insane that are hell bent on mass murder. They reason that they will not encounter anyone with a firearm, other than a police officer, to put a stop to their goals. Anti-gun California has a “Gun Free School Zone Act” dating back to 1995. The law makes it a felony for anyone to possess or discharge a firearm within 1,000 feet of any school, making felons out of anyone who merely drives by a school on the way to a shooting range. The gun doesn’t even have to be loaded to violate this act. The same geniuses that came up with the California “Gun Free School Zone Act” also limit the number of bullets a pistol or rifle magazine can hold to 10, even though the weapon is capable of holding more. They theorize that unarmed members of the public would spring into action to tackle an “active shooter” while he is reloading his weapon after firing off his first 10 rounds instead of 12, 15, or 30. Do these people actually believe that an active shooter in a “Gun Free Zone” would only use a 10-round magazine when magazines of higher capacities are readily available? If you’re a California concealed weapons permit holder, you would obey the law and have a 10-round magazine, but you would be at a distinct disadvantage if you got into a gunfight with an active shooter who has a 15-round magazine. But it doesn’t matter to anti-gun legislators whose ultimate goal is to have all firearms confiscated and make America a Gun Free Country like the U.K. and Australia. The real problem is the government’s inability to involuntarily commit mentally ill people to treatment centers. Apparently crazy people have a Constitutional right to remain crazy, and their danger to public safety doesn’t seem to matter. President Obama immediately politicized the shooting at UCC in yet another effort to move his anti-gun agenda forward. Instead of shaming Congress into action, he should direct his 94 United States Attorneys to enforce existing gun laws. According to the FBI, in the past decade, over 700,000 persons attempting to purchase firearms were denied because of their criminal backgrounds or other valid reasons. This means they lied on the ATF Form 4473 they filled out, which is a federal felony. Yet, only a hand full is prosecuted each year. For example, according to the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, in 2002, 60,739 persons were denied firearms purchases, but only 141 were prosecuted by U.S. Attorneys. Why? Straw purchasers are another problem that doesn’t get much attention from U.S. attorneys. For a fee, these people will buy firearms for persons who would normally fail the instant background check. Others obtain phony ID of someone without a criminal record to make the purchases. These prosecutions are also a low priority for U.S. attorneys when straw purchasers should be imprisoned in order to stop the flow of illegal firearms to criminals and severe penalties would serve as a deterrent to others. Even though the UCC shooter purchased his weapons legally, this brings us back to the mental health problems in this country that overlook people like him and others who have no business possessing firearms. Liberals need to stop blaming the gun for the actions of mentally depraved persons.

Where Candidates Stand On Illegal Immigration

Despite recent news reports of illegal aliens murdering Americans, and exposing “Sanctuary Cities” for what they really are, the city of Huntington Park, California has appointed two illegal aliens to city boards. California cities appear to be hell bent on turning themselves into mini-Tijuanas. For non-Hispanics residing in the Golden State, it seems as though they have been kidnapped and transported to a foreign country. There are pockets of Los Angeles and Orange Counties that are inundated with illegal migrants from Mexico, and because of their sheer numbers, coupled with ingrained political correctness and a president who refuses to enforce immigration laws, they seem to out in the sunshine instead of “living in the shadows.” Illegal aliens in California are eligible for driver licenses, membership to the state bar association, Section 8 housing, welfare, food stamps, public education, in-state college tuition and grants, and soon Medical, California’s version of Medicare. They comprise at least thirty percent of the state’s prison population, and in some counties, account for eighty percent of all births (anchor babies) in public hospitals at taxpayer expense. In 2014, illegal aliens accounted for thirty-seven percent of all federal convictions nationally. The politically correct media refuse to mention the immigration status of the many foreign criminals arrested by the police for committing a variety of crimes. To do so would bring attention to the problem of illegal aliens committing crimes all over the country, not just California. Recently, where I live in Monterey County, California adjacent San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies raided a corn field that was being used by Mexican drug cartel members to conceal at least one thousand marijuana plants. Nine were arrested and about the same number escaped on foot. Many of them were armed. This exact event happens frequently in different parts of California, especially in national and State parks. Although it was reported on the local television news, not one word was printed about it in the local Monterey newspaper, which is highly politically correct and apparently sensitive to the feelings of illegal Mexican drug cartel members. If the media was just a tiny bit curious about the immigration status of a Spanish speaking suspect who needs an interpreter during court proceedings, it might blow the lid off of a more important underlying story about Mexican and Central American illegal immigrants committing crime. It would also validate what a lot of Americans are saying about how the problem of illegal and legal immigration is killing this country. It’s apparent that Americans are tired of cheap laborers lowering wages for unskilled American workers, and taking jobs that Americans will gladly do. They are tired of their tax money being spent on solving crimes committed by illegals, related court expenses, housing illegal inmates, and cleaning up gang graffiti left by their children. They’re tired of being victims of robberies, fraud, hit-and-runs, burglaries, and drunk drivers. They realize that none of this would be happening if illegal immigrants were not here. But, leave it to immigrant-friendly Huntington Park to ignore all these problems and appoint two illegal alien Mexican citizens on its boards instead of calling immigration authorities to arrest them. Not surprisingly, the good citizens of Huntington Park, after hearing about the appointments, jammed the city council chambers and complained loudly about its actions. One black woman in the audience told the council that the reason Donald Trump was so popular was “because of people like you!” Amen. Many presidential candidates are on record signing bills to provide in-state tuition for illegals (Christie, Perry and Huckabee), co-authored a “comprehensive immigration reform” bill (Rubio, Graham), or said that the illegals already here should be allowed to stay (Kasich, Bush, Graham). Jeb Bush thinks illegal aliens in this country are committing “an act of love.” He was all in for illegals obtaining Florida driver licenses. But, with Trump’s rise in the polls, all you now hear from the other Republican presidential candidates is how they will “secure the border” without offering any specifics. Somehow, I find that hard to believe. For example, Gov. Rick Perry is on record of opposing E-Verify, and is fond of saying that if you build a ten foot wall, there will suddenly be a demand for eleven foot ladders. Gov. Christie has said that he’s never seen a fence you couldn’t “go over, under, or around.” Rand Paul refers to illegal aliens as “undocumented citizens.” Hillary Clinton has an illegal alien as her campaign’s director of Latino Outreach, so you know where she stands. Maybe the next president will take the problem seriously and actually do something about it.