The Founders' "Assault Rifle"

The 1780 Girandoni Air Gun was the Founders' version of the so-called "assault rifle."  Gun-grabbers always want to argue that the Founders could never have envisioned 30 round magazines, repeating rifles, or anything other than a muzzleloading, single shot rifle or flint-lock pistol.  Well, from the pages of history, invented in 1789, and used by the Austrian army from 1780 to 1815, here is the Founder's assault rifle.  The tubular magazine held 20 rounds of .46 caliber ball ammunition, quickly reloaded from 20 round tubes carried in a satchel.  The stock used compressed air (800 psi or so) to fire the round, which had an effective range of 150 yards.  Being air powered, the rifles were also suppressed by the standards of the day.


The rifle predated the Bill of Rights by 10 years, and Thomas Jefferson gave two rifles to the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804, who used the repeating nature of the rifle in demonstrations to the Native Americans, who naturally assumed that the whole party was outfitted with them and wisely chose to be neighborly.





It could also be argued that the Founders could not have known about radio, television, the Internet, blogs, communications satellites and fiber optics, so the First Amendment must not mean what it says either.  Why, someone might prove to everyone that progressive arguments against the Second Amendment are historically inaccurate and without merit, and then publish it for the world to see instantly and without censorship.

My Picks for the Colorado Republican Primary

Bentley Rayburn for Colorado's 5th Congressional District. I sent General Rayburn an email asking him some very pointed questions, and several designed to lead him to progressive answers, but his answers were solid Tea Party, Constitutional ideas with sound rationale. I expected a few short responses, but he took the time to elaborate on several points, including individual liberties, the proper role of the Federal Government, and the over-reach of several Federal Agencies, to name a few. I know some people in the area like sour grapes talk show host Jeff Crank are on a witch hunt, but General Rayburn is not only clearly more conservative than Lamborn, he's a lot more motivated and focused, with the ethics and leadership to get the job done.

Mike Kopp for Colorado Governor. After listening to a lot of speeches and reading a number of websites and articles, I've decided that Mike Kopp is the best choice to replace Hickenlooper. He is a solid conservative and understands the role of limited government and the importance of our civil rights, including the Second Amendment. The Democrats are wrong: Tancredo isn't too conservative, he's too libertarian. Beauprez is too establishment (really, Mitt Romney's endorsement didn't clue you in?) and doesn't even address any issues on his website, and Gessler has too many ethical skeletons in his closet. 

Mark Lowderman for El Paso County Treasurer. This is a tough race to call, mostly because the subject matter is dry as dust, but I believe Lowderman has an action plan to reduce the size and bureaucracy of the Treasurer's office and is business, veteran and retiree friendly. Duncan Bremer's campaign seems to consist of "I'll make paying your taxes less painful, heh heh heh," and some fictional idiot named "Phil" on the radio repeating his name over and over again in hopes of generating name recognition.











Get those ballots filled out and sent in ASAP! Do your homework and make educated decisions.  It's our responsibility as citizens of this great country.

Remembering the Heroes of Normandy

70 years ago today, heroes from the United States and other Allied nations made the first push to take back Europe from a socialist tyrant determined to take over the world. We remember their courage, and commit ourselves to their belief that freedom is never free, that liberty is worth any sacrifice, and that tyrants only fear men and women who understand those truths.

This was a great story, about a 93 year old paratrooper, Jim Martin, who made another parachute jump over Normandy today.

2014 UT Commencement Speech - Navy Seal

A Navy Seal, Admiral William H. McRaven, the Commander of the US Special Operations Command, gave this year's University of Texas commencement speech, and it's very worth 20 minutes of your life:

Now, go change the world.