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Eric Holder on firearms policy
The Volokh Conspiracy ^ | 11-20-2008 | David Kopel

Posted on 11/21/2008 3:27:03 PM PST by stan_sipple

Earlier this year, Eric Holder--along with Janet Reno and several other former officials from the Clinton Department of Justice--co-signed an amicus brief in District of Columbia v. Heller. The brief was filed in support of DC's ban on all handguns, and ban on the use of any firearm for self-defense in the home. The brief argued that the Second Amendment is a "collective" right, not an individual one, and asserted that belief in the collective right had been the consistent policy of the U.S. Department of Justice since the FDR administration. A brief filed by some other former DOJ officials (including several Attorneys General, and Stuart Gerson, who was Acting Attorney General until Janet Reno was confirmed)took issue with the Reno-Holder brief's characterization of DOJ's viewpoint.

But at the least, the Reno-Holder brief accurately expressed the position of the Department of Justice when Janet Reno was Attorney General and Eric Holder was Deputy Attorney General. At the oral argument before the Fifth Circuit in United States v. Emerson, the Assistant U.S. Attorney told the panel that the Second Amendment was no barrier to gun confiscation, not even of the confiscation of guns from on-duty National Guardsmen.

As Deputy Attorney General, Holder was a strong supporter of restrictive gun control. He advocated federal licensing of handgun owners, a three day waiting period on handgun sales, rationing handgun sales to no more than one per month, banning possession of handguns and so-called "assault weapons" (cosmetically incorrect guns) by anyone under age of 21, a gun show restriction bill that would have given the federal government the power to shut down all gun shows, national gun registration, and mandatory prison sentences for trivial offenses (e.g., giving your son an heirloom handgun for Christmas, if he were two weeks shy of his 21st birthday). He also promoted the factoid that "Every day that goes by, about 12, 13 more children in this country die from gun violence"--a statistic is true only if one counts 18-year-old gangsters who shoot each other as "children."(Sources: Holder testimony before House Judiciary Committee, Subcommitee on Crime, May 27,1999; Holder Weekly Briefing, May 20, 2000. One of the bills that Holder endorsed is detailed in my 1999 Issue Paper "Unfair and Unconstitutional.")

After 9/11, he penned a Washington Post op-ed, "Keeping Guns Away From Terrorists" arguing that a new law should give "the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms a record of every firearm sale." He also stated that prospective gun buyers should be checked against the secret "watch lists" compiled by various government entities. (In an Issue Paper on the watch list proposal, I quote a FBI spokesman stating that there is no cause to deny gun ownership to someone simply because she is on the FBI list.)

After the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the D.C. handgun ban and self-defense ban were unconstitutional in 2007, Holder complained that the decision "opens the door to more people having more access to guns and putting guns on the streets."

Holder played a key role in the gunpoint, night-time kidnapping of Elian Gonzalez. The pretext for the paramilitary invasion of the six-year-old's home was that someone in his family might have been licensed to carry a handgun under Florida law. Although a Pulitzer Prize-winning photo showed a federal agent dressed like a soldier and pointing a machine gun at the man who was holding the terrified child, Holder claimed that Gonzalez "was not taken at the point of a gun" and that the federal agents whom Holder had sent to capture Gonzalez had acted "very sensitively." If Mr. Holder believes that breaking down a door with a battering ram, pointing guns at children (not just Elian), and yelling "Get down, get down, we'll shoot" is example of acting "very sensitively," his judgment about the responsible use of firearms is not as acute as would be desirable for a cabinet officer who would be in charge of thousands and thousands of armed federal agents, many of them paramilitary agents with machine guns


TOPICS: Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; bang; banglist; bho2008; bhoag; bhodoj; eliangonzales; ericholder; janetreno; obama; obamatransitionfile
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1 posted on 11/21/2008 3:27:03 PM PST by stan_sipple
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To: stan_sipple

So much for our gun rights.


2 posted on 11/21/2008 3:28:47 PM PST by PeterFinn (Joe Biden for President)
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To: stan_sipple

Molon labe, statist punk.


3 posted on 11/21/2008 3:31:33 PM PST by skeeter (Its Barry's fault)
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To: PeterFinn
So much for our gun rights.


4 posted on 11/21/2008 3:31:33 PM PST by SIDENET (Hubba Hubba...)
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To: stan_sipple

How many guns in the US? How many rounds of ammunition?

Good luck .....


5 posted on 11/21/2008 3:34:54 PM PST by SkyDancer ("Talent Without Ambition Is Sad, Ambition Without Talent Is Worse")
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To: stan_sipple

Funny how someone can find something in the constitution that no one noticed for two hundred years, and suddenly everything is flipped on its head. Just like that. No need to re-write the constitution; all you have to do is re-read it.

To paraphrase one of the world’s great experts on the subject, it doesn’t matter who writes the constitutions, what matters is who reads it. Get the right mix on the Supreme Court and the law is whatever you want it to be.


6 posted on 11/21/2008 3:39:02 PM PST by marron
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To: PeterFinn

“So much for our gun rights.”

Maybe ‘so much for yours’. I, for one, won’t be giving up anything to these people. And if they come to my door, they’ll realize what I’m talking about, and why I have these things in the first place. I suggest all of us adopt this mindset and any further thoughts about gun control by these commies will be put to rest.


7 posted on 11/21/2008 3:39:19 PM PST by raptor29
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To: SkyDancer

I was counting hubbys rifles over the weekend. I stopped at 44 and skipped two rooms.


8 posted on 11/21/2008 3:40:08 PM PST by AirForceMom (God Bless the USA)
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To: marron

Gee I guess Obama lied. What a shock. Are they going to come for Joe Biden’s guns too? What’s he going to do then? He assured us Obama wouldn’t touch guns. They managed to fool plenty of conservatives, self proclaimed rednecks, and even many gun owners into voting for the O/B ticket. I wonder if any of them are feeling duped now.


9 posted on 11/21/2008 3:41:41 PM PST by TNCMAXQ
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To: PeterFinn
So much for our gun rights.

Here, let me correct this for you...

So much for our gun rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Especially life.

Mark

10 posted on 11/21/2008 3:50:19 PM PST by MarkL
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To: stan_sipple

I think the Democratic congresscritters are still a little tto scared about the 1994 election to let Holder get too out of control with the gun issues, but who knows.


11 posted on 11/21/2008 3:50:47 PM PST by microgood
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To: stan_sipple
At the oral argument before the Fifth Circuit in United States v. Emerson, the Assistant U.S. Attorney told the panel that the Second Amendment was no barrier to gun confiscation, not even of the confiscation of guns from on-duty National Guardsmen.

This guy sounds like a future Darwin Award recipient.

12 posted on 11/21/2008 3:55:49 PM PST by PeterFinn (Joe Biden for President)
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To: AirForceMom

My dad and I own between us 12 - just went on an ammunition buying spree last weekend ... dropped four hundred dollars at Walmart ... guy behind the counter says lots buying and starting to be slow in shipments ... buy now and buy often ...


13 posted on 11/21/2008 3:58:21 PM PST by SkyDancer ("Talent Without Ambition Is Sad, Ambition Without Talent Is Worse")
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To: stan_sipple

“..ban on the use of any firearm for self-defense in the home.”

That, by itself, is the most ominous part of it all — a disarmed American society living among fully armed criminals.


14 posted on 11/21/2008 4:01:06 PM PST by 353FMG (The sky is not falling, yet.)
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To: stan_sipple

We’ve had 13 years to prepare for this day. No more Waco’s.


15 posted on 11/21/2008 4:01:16 PM PST by nonsporting
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To: stan_sipple

The Second Amendment was given to us exactly for this reason: To protect ourselves from people like Hussein and Holder. The way the thugs invaded the home and kidnapped Elian is one of our country’s most disgraceful acts. I still can’t believe that happened in America. God bless the photog who snapped that shot.


16 posted on 11/21/2008 4:06:05 PM PST by MayflowerMadam (We have elected a man ... who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen. - Dollard post)
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To: stan_sipple
Note to self: buy that Mauser K98 you've had your eye on before January 20th.


17 posted on 11/21/2008 4:16:19 PM PST by Viking2002 (Let's be proactive and start the impeachment NOW.)
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To: raptor29

I wonder what the Obamanites think about the current mass buying of `black’ rifles and ammo (I participate most enthusiastically). Surely they must be monitoring the situation (and don’t call me Shirley!).

Are they thinking, “Yes! Kick down enough doors and shoot enough gun owners and the remainder will get the message!”

Or could they be saying, “Uh, wait a second, do we even have the sheer manpower to carry out mass confiscation?”

And would state and local law enforcement fall meekly into line and carry out this Mother of Unfunded Mandates?

Again, for now anything goes. But this ain’t the USSR and it sure as heck is not the registered and disarmed U.K.

Anyway, Molon Labe!


18 posted on 11/21/2008 4:17:22 PM PST by elcid1970 ("O Muslim! My cartridges are dipped in pig grease!")
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To: stan_sipple

The left thinks the Constitution began with FDR (who was a socialist of the highest order, by the way), and it brazenly ignores the 140 years that preceded him.

Oh, how I loathe the left. But, the left are cowardly, and they will get their just due shortly.


19 posted on 11/21/2008 4:28:42 PM PST by ought-six ( Multiculturalism is national suicide, and political correctness is the cyanide capsule.)
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To: marron

revisionist constitution


20 posted on 11/21/2008 4:35:21 PM PST by mrs tiggywinkle (Hosea 10:12)
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To: stan_sipple

Coming soon to our homes.

21 posted on 11/21/2008 4:38:49 PM PST by LurkedLongEnough (Music washes away the dust of every day life. ---Art Blakey)
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To: stan_sipple
If we ever allow another Ruby Ridge or Waco without a massive show of force by law-abiding gun owners coming to the aid of their neighbors the rats will be able to take our guns.

That is what happened in Lexington and Concord in 1775...the enemy came to take the citizens guns and were rewarded with lead.

22 posted on 11/21/2008 4:39:57 PM PST by Mogollon (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. -- Thomas Jefferson)
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To: SkyDancer

Yeah. We’re asking for ammo for Christmas, and buying some each week until Jan. 20th.


23 posted on 11/21/2008 4:40:18 PM PST by AirForceMom (God Bless the USA)
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To: SkyDancer

I agree. While there are many on this forum who talk big about “come and get mine, I’ll show you”, I really think that when push comes to shove, there will be many millions of American gun owners who will not back down. That is why they will try to get our guns one at a time. Buy your guns now, buy your ammo now. It is likely that it will go stale on the shelf before you ever are forced to use it against the gun grabbers but better that than to need it and not be able to get it. Molon labe.


24 posted on 11/21/2008 4:42:21 PM PST by Honor above all (I'm only here to help.)
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To: raptor29

My sentiments exactly.


25 posted on 11/21/2008 4:44:15 PM PST by Kolb (Use wisely your power of choice)
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To: elcid1970

You’re right, they don’t have near the resources to carry out ANY meaningful confiscation. And we have to be very firm if/when they show any signs of considering a move against our guns, especially if they try to ‘make an example of a few people’. I’m thinking the collective red-ass that much of our country is currently harboring would make it far less likely we would have too many people caving into these commies. I think a lot of people would welcome the fight. I know I would. Sounds like, you too!


26 posted on 11/21/2008 4:46:28 PM PST by raptor29
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To: marron

For all the losers who like to argue about the “militia” we should have the numerous quotes of the Founding Fathers handy who made CLEAR that the PEOPLE had the right to keep and bear arms.

There is no ambiguity, the guys who wrote it clarified what they meant, never let these bums try that argument.


27 posted on 11/21/2008 4:47:54 PM PST by word_warrior_bob (You can now see my amazing doggie and new puppy on my homepage!! Come say hello to Jake & Sonny)
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To: stan_sipple
...regarding a presidential pardon for Marc Rich, a wealthy commodities dealer who had spent years running from tax charges. Rich's ex-wife, Denise, was a prominent Democratic Party donor.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/30/eric-holder-obamas-attorn_n_137696.html

More Kliиtoи trash.

28 posted on 11/21/2008 4:50:10 PM PST by TLI ( ITINERIS IMPENDEO VALHALLA)
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To: stan_sipple

By the way, a Ruger Mini 14 in .223 is a GREAT weapon to have at home. I don’t want to get into an AR-15 vs. Mini 14 argument here. The reason I say Mini 14 is: Cheap. $550 to $600 brand new. Indestructible. Will shoot in any condition. Allows for a lot of lead down range (shoots as fast as you can pull the trigger). Ruger is now selling the high cap mags for a reasonable price. Granted, it is NOT a sniper rifle but it shoots every time you pull the trigger and it is accurate enough for almost any situation. I’ve got two. It will be considered an assault rifle soon and likely be unavailable if those bastards get their way.


29 posted on 11/21/2008 4:51:33 PM PST by Honor above all (I'm only here to help.)
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To: Honor above all

I’ve read about shelf life of ammo and 10 years is what I’ve been hearing. I’ve also heard where some WWII and Korea era ammo shot pretty good ...


30 posted on 11/21/2008 4:52:03 PM PST by SkyDancer ("Talent Without Ambition Is Sad, Ambition Without Talent Is Worse")
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To: AirForceMom

Now when I go grocery shopping at the local Walmart I always pick up at least two boxes of anything: We have an M1 carbine (.30 carbine hard to find but Wally’s carries it) - 30-30,30-06, 22-250 varmint (Savage) a Marlin Campgun in .45cal. shotguns and the like ....


31 posted on 11/21/2008 4:55:24 PM PST by SkyDancer ("Talent Without Ambition Is Sad, Ambition Without Talent Is Worse")
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To: raptor29

They will not come to your door. w/e are not dealing with Jimmy Carter types but smart libs.

They kn wo the overwhelming majority of Americans do not wish guns to be taken.

Instead, the wiley libs will find a way to go the way of the tobacco road. They will start a tax that will go towards all ammunition. a little at first, then gradually grow. before we kn ow it, there will be a $10 per shell tax on every shell.

Why confiscate when there is money to be made? people will gladly pay until they cannot afford it anymore.

Just like cigarettes, isn’t it?


32 posted on 11/21/2008 4:55:27 PM PST by bestintxas (It's great in Texas)
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To: SkyDancer
I regularly shoot foreign military ammunition that was manufactured in the ‘40s, '50s, and ‘60s. I have never, ever, had a no-fire/misfire. Properly stored, it will last almost indefinitely.
33 posted on 11/21/2008 5:11:18 PM PST by 2111USMC
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To: stan_sipple

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.

It doesn’t say the right of the Militia to keep and bear Arms. Does it? Militia doesn’t KEEP Arms, they use them in defence of the free State. The only ones to KEEP Arms are THE PEOPLE.

Here’s a question . . . can a sheriff’s dept or police dept provide an “auxiliary deputy” certificate allowing the bearer to keep and bear arms everywhere as an official officer?


34 posted on 11/21/2008 5:12:10 PM PST by HighlyOpinionated (If the Catholic Church doesn't boldly proclaim God's Word, I'm going to convert to Judaism.)
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To: stan_sipple

I painted my AK47 pink so I should be okay, huh?


35 posted on 11/21/2008 5:22:36 PM PST by Joan Kerrey
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To: 2111USMC

We’re real careful about that along with proper care of the rifles, etc ....

2111USMC?
Dad was a marine pilot ....


36 posted on 11/21/2008 5:39:00 PM PST by SkyDancer ("Talent Without Ambition Is Sad, Ambition Without Talent Is Worse")
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To: Mogollon
That is what happened in Lexington and Concord in 1775...the enemy came to take the citizens guns and were rewarded with lead.

And those nasty colonists didn't fight fair either. They shot from behind trees, rock fences, and just big rocks. (I've stood behind one of those very rocks, I closed my eyes, and I could see the Redcoats marching/fleeing back down the road towards Cambridge/Boston. (Just over the hill which that part of the road runs around, is the housing area for Hanscom AFB.)

After that I went back up the road to the (reconstructed) bridge over the Concord river, where once the embattled farmers stood, and fired the shots, lots of them, heard round the world. (Emerson got that part slightly wrong, :) )

The British described it as "A very hot fire", and it lasted all the way from Concord back to Lexington, and beyond. Although at Lexington, the Regulars] relief force, with cannon, met the retreating force. The cannon helped keep the militia away, as did some improved tactics. But only helped, to the extent that every man jack of them wasn't killed. They still were forced to retreat, all the way back to Cambridge. It was the Militia's cannon that the Regulars were after. Although their orders read:

"You will march...with the utmost expedition and Secrecy to Concord, where you will seize and destroy all the Artillery, Ammunition, Provisions...Small Arms, and all Military Stores whateverr..." -- General Gage's orders to Lt. Col. Smith, April 18, 1775

This is, or may be, one of the cannon:


37 posted on 11/21/2008 8:57:54 PM PST by El Gato ("The Second Amendment is the RESET button of the United States Constitution." -- Doug McKay)
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To: stan_sipple

Henry Bowman... yer’ on in 5...


38 posted on 11/21/2008 8:59:42 PM PST by Dead Corpse (What would a free man do?)
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To: All; bang_list

39 posted on 11/22/2008 6:51:45 AM PST by Robert Teesdale
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To: harpseal; TexasCowboy; nunya bidness; AAABEST; Travis McGee; Squantos; Shooter 2.5; wku man; SLB; ..
Click the Gadsden flag for pro-gun resources!
40 posted on 11/22/2008 7:03:57 AM PST by Joe Brower (Sheep have three speeds: "graze", "stampede" and "cower".)
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To: TNCMAXQ
"Gee I guess Obama lied. What a shock. Are they going to come for Joe Biden’s guns too? What’s he going to do then? He assured us Obama wouldn’t touch guns."

Joe may have been three sheets to wind when he stated that. Have you noticed they are keeping him in the background?

41 posted on 11/22/2008 7:16:59 AM PST by blackbart.223 (I live in Northern Nevada. Reid doesn't represent me.)
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To: raptor29
You couldn't be more correct.


Most, even here, will fold under the tyranny that awaits, while begging for leniency.

Me? I'll go down with the ship. I'm too old for re-training anyway.

42 posted on 11/22/2008 7:25:52 AM PST by G.Mason
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To: Joe Brower

Ping bump


43 posted on 11/22/2008 7:26:41 AM PST by G.Mason
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To: stan_sipple
It's much the same as the stock market, except for the fact that it's unconstitutional and tyrannical.

When the stock market drops, just hold on to your stocks, think long-term, and know that in time you will be OK.

When gun banners have their day, just hold on to your guns, think long-term and know that in time you will be OK.

I am re-reading "Enemies Foreign and Domestic" and "Unintended Consequences" to refresh my memory on useful tips.

When the going gets tough...

44 posted on 11/22/2008 7:32:47 AM PST by Sender (Never lose your ignorance; you can never regain it!)
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To: elcid1970; Joe Brower
Molon Labe!!

Molon labe

45 posted on 11/22/2008 7:50:50 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: TNCMAXQ

Left-wing wackos, never tell the truth, you can count on it!!

Molon Labe!!


46 posted on 11/22/2008 7:55:42 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: LurkedLongEnough

I can’t believe they found JBTs to do this. This was such a farce as was Waco. But I know the mentally deranged Libs haven’t lost a wink of sleep thinking about the folks they burned and put to death. Wish I’d saved the picture of the happy ATF guy jumping up and down as the compound burned in the background. And they used the military yet.


47 posted on 11/22/2008 7:57:19 AM PST by mcshot (Bitterly Loving God, Family, Life, Guns and our Constitution - as written!)
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To: SkyDancer

Duck bite.


48 posted on 11/22/2008 7:57:58 AM PST by Eagle Eye (Obama's Marxism--Chains you can believe in)
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To: blackie

Awesome!

Is there a site where I can download the Molon Labe girl?

She has the most beautiful eyes!


49 posted on 11/22/2008 8:17:01 AM PST by elcid1970 ("O Muslim! My cartridges are dipped in pig grease!")
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To: Honor above all

The .223 Mini 14 is a good rifle, I have a couple of them, I also have a Bushmaster M4 P3 and a Remington mod 788 in .223 that is a real tack driver! ;)

Molon Labe!!


50 posted on 11/22/2008 8:24:21 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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