Rev. Kenn Blanchard

Saying you “heart” someone is in today’s vernacular the equivalent that you love them.  You would think that there is a lot of love going on.  A scan of our social pit stops like Facebook, and Twitter have a lot of references to this.  But I think for the most part we don’t realize how strong the word love can and should be.  I heart my country, my family and the listeners of my shows.  I heart The Second Amendment Foundation.

From the beginning of my activism, they have been the same.  They are genuine.  For an organization, they are pretty lean.  It’s like hanging out with a bunch of teachers.  They have a big job and little pay.  There are actually two sides to it, a West and East coast team.  The headquarters is in Bellevue, Washington and the media side is in Buffalo, New York.

It is (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms.  It was founded in 1974, and has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.

I have been privy to being at one of their academic discourses where professors talked about the racist roots of gun control at the PhD level.  They don’t get much play but they are in the backfield working while others are sending out direct mail.

The latest backfields is my backyard.  They are working with Baltimore County man, Raymond Woollard who is suing Maryland authorities in federal court because his handgun permit renewal was turned down on the grounds that he could not demonstrate “a reasonable precaution against apprehended danger.”

Maryland is a tough place to get a concealed carry permit.  It is totally under the discretion of the Maryland State Police Superintendent, unconstitutional and unfairly subjective.  If you don’t look right to them, you don’t get one.  I love the state but it is one of the top five most restrictive places in the U.S. to be a gun owner.  They don’t have reciprocity.  They don’t have open carry.  And will prosecute you like a runaway slave if you attempt to protect yourself with a firearm. I can hear my friend Ed from the VCDL saying silently “move homey,” but I can’t.  We can beat this thing!

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.

Woollard, who was originally issued a carry permit after a man broke into his home during a family gathering in 2002. Woollard’s permit was renewed in 2005, after the man was released from prison. That man now lives about three miles from Woollard. Defendants in the case are Terrence B. Sheridan is the Secretary and Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, and three members of the Maryland Handgun Permit Review Board, Denis Gallagher, Seymour Goldstein and Charles M. Thomas, Jr.

SAF and Woollard are represented by attorneys Alan Gura of Virginia and Cary J. Hansel of Joseph, Greenwald & Laake of Greenbelt, MD.

The lawsuit alleges that “Individuals cannot be required to demonstrate that carrying a handgun is necessary as a reasonable precaution against apprehended danger’ as a prerequisite for exercising their Second Amendment rights.” Plaintiffs are seeking a permanent injunction against enforcement of the Maryland provision that requires permit applicants to “demonstrate cause” for the issuance of a carry permit.

“Laws that empower bureaucrats to deny the exercise of a fundamental civil right because they cannot show good cause to exercise that right can’t possibly stand up under constitutional scrutiny,” said SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “We are supporting Mr. Woollard in this action because constitutional rights trump bureaucratic whims.”

That is why Kenn Blanchard heart the SAF.  The Alan G’s. (Gottleib and Gura),  and Tartaro are my favs.

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Rev. Kenn Blanchard, aka the Black Man With A Gun™ is an internationally known figure in the gun rights community since 1991. He is a former US Marine, federal police officer, intelligence officer and trainer. He produces the Urban Shooter Podcast, voice overs, motivates, inspires and writes for the Blanchard Media Group. http://twitter.com/kennblanchard, blackmanwithagun@gmail.com
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