Tuesday, November 15, 2005

The Rights of the People...

The Second Amendment states:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

You may have heard it said that the Second Amendment protects the First:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
------ (Emphasis mine.)

On October 21, 2005, both of those rights were slammed into abeyance for me.

Charles R. Perricone, one-time transitory Speaker of the House (who purchased the job with
well-placed gifts and contributions), retaliated for our continued success in Court. Our efforts to force the Board and its Executive Director, Mr. Perricone to comply with the law, the Bylaws and numerous Court orders did not go unnoticed by Mr. Perricone, despite his failure to actually acknowledge any of them.

His response to them, however, was not quite what the Judge (or we) in this case hoped for. His path was to fabricate a tale of woe and attempt to have me stripped of both my First and Second Amendment rights.

A moment's pause here. Please take a few moments to read through
these records and our motion.

I'd been asked for details on why my Concealed Pistols License was suspended but because Mr. Perricone apparently did not want his statement to come into the public eye (and how does that work anyway, when a document is filed in a public matter?) perhaps because it so obviously reveals his anti-gun stance, or perhaps because he admits that he does not have a Concealed Pistols License himself - while serving as the Executive Director of a pro-firearms rights organization and claiming to be the reason we have Shall Issue in Michigan today.

In any case, until we won our dismissal today, I was not allowed to speak on this matter, although I did speak openly about my loss of CPL - or as openly as I was allowed to.

Just a quick reminder on the idea of Mr. Perricone's claims that he is the reason we have Shall Issue in Michigan today. He is
the reason we have Criminal Empowerment Zones, certainly, and must continue to fight for our rights under both the United States and Michigan Constitutions.

But his fabrications and fantasies hit bottom today and were soundly rejected. We will continue our fight to clean up MCRGO unabated and I will enjoy the same rights and responsibilites as every other law-abiding Michigan citizen, despite the efforts of the Once and Thank Heaven Never in the Future Former Speaker of the House.

And now a short public service announcement. If you are ever looking for an attorney who will be a pit bull for your rights, I want to recommend Mr. J. Kevin Winters of the Okemos firm of Foster, Zack and Lowe. He is incredible and he not only fights for me, he seems to believe in me. He's smart and he's dedicated and he has been incredibly patient and hard-working in this matter.

I'd like to also add my thanks to Jim Simmons, pro-gun attorney extraordinaire, for his invaluable assistance in walking this through the system on this side of the state while Kevin, another pro-gun attorney extraordinaire, was finishing up handing Mr. Perricone his hat and sending him home empty-handed on the other side of the state.
Kudoes to the Oakland County Gun Board for their immediate - within moments - reinstatement of my Concealed Pistols License.
Today, the system worked.