Response to the Judiciary

So, I stayed up a bit last night and drafted my response to the Judge who is reviewing my application. After getting some wording advice from a few friends and running it through the spell checking, I printed out two copies and ran over to the Office of the Prothonotary at the New Castle County Court House on King Street, since I only work about two blocks a way.

As a point of interest, they made me check my mini-flashlight at the front desk -- after the officer inspected it and made sure it really did illuminate what it was pointed at, he gave me a claim check and told me to pick it up on my way out. I guess he didn't want anyone getting around in the event of a blackout... Okay, that was snarky, but hey, it's an observation!

Here's my response to the Judge:

Dear Judge XXXX,

Thank you for taking my application into consideration. In your letter dated November 30, 2007, you stated that my reason for the application, "...for the protection of self, family & property." was insufficient and requested further written explanation for the need of a permit before the application would be acted on. I would like to correct one error in your letter -- the reason stated on my application actually read, “Lawful defense of myself and my family." In all honesty, I don't value my property over the life of another human being and it is not a reason for my application.

That being said, my family: XXXX who is thirty-six, my oldest daughter, XXXXX, who is four and my youngest daughter, XXXX, who is one, are my primary reasons for making application for this permit. As active northern Delawareans, we work and are schooled in urban areas and spend a good deal of our recreational time outdoors. Though we've had very few encounters that have made me fear for my life or the lives of my family, each time we're out I pray for an uneventful day. I have no real story of being a victim that precipitated my application for this permit and, if granted, I pray that I will never find need for its use; however, in the event I'm put into a position to protect the lives of my wife and children where mortal danger is certain, I want to be prepared to adequately perform that duty.

In my initial research, I came across a quote from former Attorney General Oberly who stated in January of 2006 in an article written on DelawareOnline.com, "Under current Delaware law, virtually anyone, excepting felons, may strap on a holster and carry a gun in plain view. You can even carry a rifle over your shoulder and walk around with it." While I understand that, lawfully, I’m able to "open carry" without a permit, I do feel that, in some situations, this might warrant unnecessary attention from both the public and law enforcement officers where as being permitted to conceal my firearm would allow me to be more discrete and not divert police resources who would undoubtedly be called upon to investigate a “man with a gun.”

In conclusion, I kindly request that Your Honor see fit to grant me this permit. My wish is to be prepared in the event that my family or I is in imminent mortal danger. I'm sure you'll find that the research done by the State Police and Attorney General's office shows a pristine record and that I am a respected member of the community with no ill-intent.

If you have any further concerns or questions regarding my application, please feel free to contact me at your leisure and I will happily provide you with any information you may require.

Respectfully,

My Signature

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The waiting game continues.

Permit Update

I'll be taking a reply into the courthouse tomorrow.

My Ideal Government

Sure, it has some flaws, but in keeping with my line of thought in not legislating morality, I've decided that there had to be a better way to write the laws that govern the people. Morals are a byproduct of religion -- not necessarily a bad thing, but they have absolutely no place in modern government. In a country where so many politicians preach the rights of the people, you'd think this to be a fairly simple deduction. Not so apparently.

The Rights of the People
When you start writing laws based on decency and morality, whose morals are being used for that benchmark? I'll concede that there needs to be some tests for decency when it comes to issues involving minors and media exposed to minors; however, a lot of other things you can think of can be legislated by the rights of the people.

As it currently stands, property rights trump all others -- you're on my property? You're subject to my restrictions. The right to freely speak and express ones' ideas -- my manner of dress is how I express myself, leave me alone. Fairly straight-forward so far, yes?

About that morality thing... How would you take into account crimes of violence? That's certainly immoral, yes?

Perhaps, but even by todays standards, capital punishment and all, the government doesn't really seem to care much about that, now do they?

Murder. You're taking away someone's right to live. Theft. You're taking away someones right to own property. Assault. You're ultimately forcing that person to bear the financial burden of medical bills and preventing them from prospering while they heal.

I'm simply trying to stress the point that, in any legislation, you have to first ask yourself, "Is this even coming close to infringing on the rights of the people?" If the answer is, "Yes," toss your draft into the wastebasket and start again.

If, someday, we ever go back to living by the Constitution and truly basing our lives from the ideas and freedoms our founding fathers intended us to have, with justice being blind, the world would be a much better place.

When Every Second Counts...

When every second counts...

"The two shootings, the first at a Christian missionary center in Arvada and the second at a Colorado Springs megachurch, left a gunman and four victims dead and six wounded, authorities said."

"A black-clad gunman who attacked worshippers at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, initially killing one and wounding four, was killed by "a courageous security staff member," Colorado Springs Police Chief Richard Myers said."

"The suspect was confronted by a security guard," Myers said at a news conference late Sunday. "She shot the suspect, and the suspect subsequently died at the scene."

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Once the police were called, it took them three minutes to respond. In that time, ten people fell prey to his attack...

When every second counts, the police are minutes away.

The security guard is being hailed as a hero who, undoubtedly, prevented the injury and deaths of 'countless' others. One person makes a difference... Regardless of your politics, religious views or your feelings about guns, please have some way to protect yourself and your family.

And In Local News... Underwear.

I heard the lady who blogs Delaware Curmudgeon on WDEL this afternoon on my way to pick up my daughter after school and the topic was about a Wilmington City Councilperson who's attempting to introduce 'decency legislation' in an attempt to get kids to pull up their pants. She wound up writing an open letter to the council members which pretty much mirrored my thoughts on the issue...


In all honesty, what's the difference between the above? The one on the left is a pair of womens underwear and the one on the right is a bikini bottom bathing suit? With this legislation, will swimming pools be a thing of the past?

Here's my primary beef: Don't legislate morality. One man's, "Oh, my god!" can always be another man's, "No big deal." Attempting to legislate morality (keeping in mind, who's morals are we using as a base) has gotten society into trouble with regards to discrimination and turning people into classes. Justice should be based on the rights of the people and it should be completely blind to race, creed, religion, sexual preference, weight and wardrobe choice.

Speaking of wardrobe choice, that's all this is. And what does that mean? It means it's how someone is choosing to express themselves which is a freedom that is guaranteed to us by the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Don't get me wrong, I work at a local college and a day doesn't go by where I don't want to cuff one by the neck and tell them to pull up their damned pants. If folks ever want to make something of themselves in a respected position that's going to allow them to support a family, they'll need to adjust to what people accept as 'normal'. Until the time comes when THEY make the choice to adjust, if they ever choose to, don't FORCE them to in the mean time.

The radio host, Allan Loudell, had made a comment that the manner in which these folks were dressing had some correlation to criminal activity -- I really would love to know where he found that statistic; however, to it I have two comments:

1) Does the Councilman really think that by changing the way people dress it's going to somehow curtail crime in Wilmington? Get serious.

2) This is a GOOD thing -- during the course of a police investigation, nothing helps speed things along more than someone wearing a sign that says, "I'M THE CRIMINAL", which, according to this correlation, is exactly what it's doing. So, why kill the home field advantage as it were?

Almost There...

I suppose I should probably post what all else has been involved in the process and to show how insane it is to get a permit in Delaware:

July 31: Bought my first firearm ever -- S&W Sigma 9mm. (-$280)

Aug 19: Started my training course as required by the state. (-$225)

Aug 30: Bought my Springfield XD (-$399)

Sep 2: Finished my training course.

Sep 5: Arranged to have my intent to obtain a permit published in the Legal Notices in the News Journal. (-$74)

Sep 17: Make an appointment for fingerprinting/background check on Oct 9.

Sept 18: Sold my Sigma 9mm. Yay. (+$350)

Sep 28: Obtained all 5 character references.

Oct 1: Filled out my questionaire and had it notorized.

Oct 9: Got fingerprinted for my background check. (-$69)

Nov 1: Background check sent to Prothonotary. (Found out on 11/19 via call)

Nov 19: Called Prothonotary. Application at AG's office being processed.

Nov 29: Almost there -- letter from Delaware DoJ giving their non-commital, non-challenging, non-refusal recommendation to the Prothonotary. Time elapsed so far: 3 months, 10 days. (Image Above)

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On another note, Delaware's license is a 'Carry Concealed Deadly Weapons' permit. Delaware defines as a deadly weapon: a knife, billy, blackjack, a bomb, chain, metal knuckles, ice pick or any other dangerous instrument as defined in another section. That's kind of a broad definition as one could interpret that they could carry a concealed bomb -- what in gods name were lawmakers thinking?

Extended Mag Release? Check!

Got in my extended release from Springer Precision and went about installing it -- I took a 1/16th punch and punched out the mag release pin about 1/2" and pushed inside of the magazine well on the button catch, slipping out the old black one and put in my new stainless one, punching back in the pin.

It feels a bit weird, when I depress it, I can feel it rotate, but it definitely gets the job done. Before, I'd have to physically change my grip on the handle, drop the mag, insert the new one then readjust my grip which, I think was accounting for some of my inconsistencies -- looking to take this out to the range to test this weekend.