This month’s cover ( )is a sequel to last month’s cover (). January 2013’s e-Zine asked the question, “Should We Stay or Should We Go?”, and the response was overwhelmingly in support of staying and fighting for freedom here in America where it was won before. While there are some open to finding freedom elsewhere, it looks like history will record that America’s people resisted enslavement,… again. How successful we were will depend a great deal on what we do now.

The February 2013 cover offered another imagination spark for one lifestyle choice life here on Earth that is more likely than many know.

The question asked all of our invited authors for this month’s edition was, “Where Would We Go?”. Donna and I had no predetermined answer or limits on what the answer might be. I suspected there to be a lot of advocacies for staying put, Grandma’s house, the basement, a favorite Bug-Out location, etc. But not a single author responded… no interest whatsoever in advocating for a location,… or just as likely, no desire to give out information about where they might go…. interesting, huh?

Donna is not short of material for a full e-Zine so I’m certain you’ll enjoy this one and there were some last minute articles submitted that were on topic. With the issue of Gun Control a hot topic now it was nice that we had room for this important issue. And if we are going to make our stand in America, I’m pretty sure that gun rights are going to be an important part of our future.

I hope to keep this article short by supplying several links that may fill in some blanks. Fortunately for me, I do 3 hours of radio every weekday so I get to fully express myself and chronicle the evolution of my thoughts, so I’ll provide some show links that expand on my comments for those more interested. But I do wish to share what I think is very important information that is being overlooked in the vast majority of discussions in American and around the world.

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I’ll just skip to the end. The current rhetoric on both sides of the Gun Control debate isn’t really about taking American’s firearms… it’s about getting a list of all of the firearms and who has them and who wants them. History is full of examples of how disarmament is done. First you get a list, and THEN you go get them. Anyone that resists is killed, along with a long list of whoever else is deemed a threat to The State. 

For the 1994 election cycle, several libertarian street activists filed over 30 Initiatives in the State of Arizona to demonstrate the types of legislation we would submit as legislators. Many were very popular and would immediately become bills submitted by opportunistic politicians that knew a good PR opportunity when they saw one. Issues like the elimination of some unpopular taxes, Fully Informed Juries, warnings against Internet Regulations, the separation of Child and State (education reform), Arizona Secession should the National Debt reach 9 Trillion (we knew :), AND Unrestricted Concealed Carry of Firearms.

In less than 3 months, we collected well over 30,000 petition signatures in support of our No-Compromise Hard Core interpretation of Gun Rights. Libertarians and their “Gypsy Booths” would cast a big foot print at almost any event that drew more than even a few thousand people: Home Improvement shows, Car Shows, Gun Shows, Rodeos, Festivals etc. And there was a constant line in front of our tables. This prompted the legislature and law enforcement statewide to come up with a state permitted Concealed Carry Permit system. It quickly passed and we immediately filed a Referendum against it to demonstrate our opposition to any government restrictions on the bearing of arms.

 

The events surrounding my early awakening included:

-       1988 National GOP convention, “Read my lips, No New Taxes” George Bush

-       US Bonds had gone to over 8% (Greece, Italy or Spain hits 6% and the whole world freaks out) and still they weren’t able to sell enough to cover USAinc spending.

-       Japan and West Germany wasn’t buying enough US debt. USA debt not selling well and one of the main concerns of foreign investors was that Americans had a history of overthrowing abusive governments that taxed too much

-        New Taxes

-        Americans were making their displeasure obvious

-       Government opposition to “the Militia”, aka - anyone that has a firearm and goes shooting with others and expresses their opposition to a government that broke their promise not to increase their tax burden… ATF goes rogue across the nation.

-       The Savings and Loan Crisis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savings_and_loan_crisis exposed a lot of economic weakness in America and the “Bailout” option was introduced to our generation of young adults in the early ‘90s.

-        Brady Bill, Background Checks, Ruby Ridge, Waco, Crime Bill, Assault Weapons Ban, Terrorist Legislation, Bill Clinton, Janet Reno, Janet Napolitano (assistant US Attorney under Reno)

During the 1990s SAFE gunowners wouldn’t get involved in the politics of Second Amendment advocacy and instead educated the populace of the benefits of self-defense. Our SAFE MAP (Merchant Awareness Program) used the power of Wallet Voting to encourage gun owners to not shop at retailers that banded firearms and to take their business where they were welcomed (one of the early uses of the Internet by us for social change).

But in the background we could see the expansion of lists. Even though we were promised that the government would not keep records of background checks, we knew better. And here in Arizona the passage of SB-1070, under the camouflage of Immigration Reform, sent every government data stream on the people in Arizona straight to Homeland Security.

Over the years we would get to know many individuals, groups and organizations in the Gun Rights community. It was from our first-hand experience with the National Rifle Association that we learned it was the largest impediment to gun rights that we faced. In 1994, we were asked to participate in a selective meeting of Second Amendment advocates that had many groups and organization in Arizona represented. It was made clear to us that then (R) Az Congressman Jon Kyl would be allowed to vote for the Crime Bill (Assault Weapons Ban) and still receive an “A” rating from the NRA and that we were expected to help in his election… and the relationship quickly went down from there (lots of stories).

At the time we were most influenced by the writings of L. Neil Smith, a libertarian Science Fiction writer http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/105315-2012-02-16-february-16th-2012-l-neil-smith-steve-neil-audio-video.htm that was heavily involved for decades as a freedom activist in both the Libertarian Party and the NRA. L. Neil clearly shared our opinion of both organizations and SAFE would often share activist credits with The Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus. L. Neil Smith and Aaron Zelman (www.JPFO.org �" Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership) would later write two books together, “Hope” http://www.amazon.com/Hope-Aaron-Zelman/dp/1604502932 and “The Mitzvah” http://www.amazon.com/The-Mitzvah-Aaron-Zelman/dp/0964230437.

Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership �" www.JPFO.org with Aaron Zelman as its representative, was clearly the most uncompromising entity in the Gun Right sphere of influence until his death in 2010. It is out of a sense of respect for him and his efforts that we have chosen several JPFO Gun Rights films to produce the compilation DVD that we are burning by the THOUSANDS and distributing… and that distribution started yesterday, along with a full campaign to educate Arizona residents about the issue of gun rights. We hope that Aaron’s legacy will live on and that our effort is an inspiration to others around the world (it has already started BTW).

Gun Owners of America’s Larry Pratt became a friend to Arizona Gun Rights activists http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/126836-2013-01-20-01-21-13-larry-pratt-gun-owners-of-america-mp3.htm, as did then Sheriff Richard Mack of Graham County (southeastern Arizona) http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/069298-2010-05-24-declare-your-independence-with-ernest-hancock-morning-may-24th-2010.htm, but we continued to exercise our own unique style by setting the highest standards possible without regard to political correctness or concern for vote totals (that we didn’t trust anyway). We would have SAFE Shoots that would pit state legislators and congressional candidates against each other for prizes, we would grant awards to the most accurate long range shooters, we would raffle off battle rifles and custom long range rifles and concealed carry rigs with firearms and even .50 cal scoped rifles as fund raisers for various educational projects.

SAFE Events are popular, and during election season the politicians will line up, but any speaker that wished to address our gathering had to have a color photograph taken of then holding a black battle rifle with a pistol grip and a detachable magazine. This was very effective in changing the culture here in Arizona. Within two election cycles it was expected that Arizona politicians demonstrate their open support for these types of firearms. This idea was L. Neil Smith’s offering for making sure that ‘posers’ could be more easily identified (lots of stories confirming this).

Gun Rights, as defined by activists that made it very clear what was expected of their politicians for their support, seemed to be SAFE in Arizona. Each year other gun organizations and activists would take advantage of the cultural/political shift and would expand gun rights in Arizona. But from past experience, we knew that Arizona freedom activism would draw special attention http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Article/126168-2013-01-10-s-a-f-e-second-amendment-is-for-everyone-est.htm?EdNo=001&From=RSS

I share this background so that you can understand that we have been in the trenches of this war for 20 years and are familiar with the tactics and the personalities involved.

Past experience has taught me that gun rights has always been placed on the negotiation table to be used as a bartering chip for an ever increasing role of government in our lives. Don’t think so? http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/News/127668-2013-01-31-if-you-are-an-nra-member-this-gun-control-bill.htm

Just last night we announced the resurrection of SAFE for an all out blitz here in Arizona in the hope that we can inspire others across the country to adopt our methods and make use of the tools we offer. When asked by Adam Kokesh’s producer if I had anything that I’d like to share with their audience yesterday I responded with a grinning Yeeees :) http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/127653-2013-01-31-01-31-13-ernest-hancock-on-adam-vs-the-man.htm I taped the 15 minutes (starting at 5m30s into the video) from our studio so we could provide clear graphics of what our project is all about. This 15 minute segment is the best representation of what we are doing and why.

Bottom line? In my opinion there will be various announcements that our Gun Rights will have been ‘saved’ by those that will have negotiated away any privacy and that when the dust settles there will be a massive increase in background checks against an ever growing list filled with every piece of data available. Health Records that will include every doctor visit, what kinds of doctors, what was the treatment, what prescriptions are being taken, what diagnosis was provided, subjective opinions about our state of mind, digitized records of everything from MRIs to dental X-rays, our political views, military service records and if we you obtained a medical marijuana card, ad infinitum.

I don’t believe that Gun Confiscation is the immediate plan… it is the long term plan. And if the government can’t socially and economically engineer from you your means to self-defense against a tyrannical government they have demonstrated in the past the use of large databases to make certain that when they do come door to door for the guns the effort isn’t thwarted by inadequate information,… because they/them/those (that will not leave us alone) know that they will only get one chance.

Peace,

Ernie