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Alan Keyes is the best man and most viable conservative candidate actually running for the office of US Senator from Illinois. As a God-fearing pro-life constitutionalist, and a man who has studied the history of our founding and understands and is unafraid to articulate the true meaning of the founding fathers words and intentions as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and elsewhere in the founding documents, Keyes is exactly the kind of conservative that Free Republic was set up to support. Those of you who are condemning him and or are picking fights with his supporters are working at cross purposes to one of FR's fundamental objectives. That is, supporting and electing patriotic men and women who will respect and abide by the Constitution.

God bless Alan Keyes. I am proud to offer my unwavering support for his candidacy. It would be a blessing indeed to have him in our Senate.

Black Man With A Gun

by David J. Miller
TheBluesMan@KeepAndBearArms.com

February 7, 2003

I am a Black Man With A Gun.

You wouldn't know it to look at me. Most people see an unarmed, 37-year-old, bearded white male; but I assure you that I am a Black Man with a Gun.

I borrowed this title from a man named Kenneth Blanchard; the original Black Man With a Gun. www.BlackManWithaGun.com He is, in his own words, "...an American of African ancestry," and he's not shy about the fact that he's a conservative Christian gun owner too.

People in society today seem to tense up when they hear the words, "black man" and "gun" in a sentence. This is because of the incorrect yet popular belief that most black men with guns are criminals. Blanchard works to shatter that stereotype through speaking engagements, shooting camps, training classes, essays and books. His primary focus is to break through the barriers of race that society foists upon us.

It is not an easy task. Many black men are reluctant to stand up and be counted among mainstream (read: white) gun owners. They prefer to keep their gun ownership private. This reluctance is a manifestation of the race barrier that has been constructed and used to keep gun owners of different races separated and, therefore, weakened. If we, as freedom-loving gun owners are to successfully regain and retain our rights, we must *all* stick together. White, black or brown, male or female, suburban, rural or urban; it makes no difference. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

Another manifestation of the race barrier is the inability, or perhaps the unwillingness, of people to "join up" with groups who are different. It may be very difficult for many heterosexual gun owners to support their local chapter of Pink Pistols. This is, I imagine, how some black gun owners might feel about supporting the mostly white NRA, and, how some white gun owners might feel about supporting Blanchard's Tenth Cavalry Gun Club (http://www.blackmanwithagun.com/tcgc.html). The key to supporting others is to recognize that Freedom, the right to self defense, and the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is more important than the things that make us different.

Blanchard often uses the words, "brothers," "sisters," and "family" when referring to his fellow gun owners. He does this irrespective of their race, creed or color. He defines "family" as, "a group of people united by certain convictions or a common affiliation." To Kenn Blanchard, I am his brother because we share a common belief in the inherent right of *everyone* to keep and bear arms for their defense and security.

I have joined my brother Kenn in his quest to bring people of every stripe together under a common banner: that of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. Together, we promote responsible firearms ownership through cooperation, learning and acceptance. But none of this can take place until there is a starting point. That point is Freedom; and the common thread running from that point which binds us all together is responsible gun ownership. Brothers and sisters can overlook their differences and ignore petty disagreements if they concentrate on and accentuate their commonalties.

Please join my brother and I in our mission. You are our family. We are your brothers. All you need to do to start out is admit that you truly believe in Liberty for all, the rest will follow naturally.

And if you should ever see a bearded white man at the range with a "Black Man with a Gun" sticker on his rifle case; just say "Hi brother!" I'll know immediately that you are a friend of Liberty; and a brother in arms.

Well, I guess I'll stand up on my hind legs and ask then: Jim, are you saying that if one us doesn't support Keyes we should leave? It's no secret I don't support Keyes. If I were in IL, I'd pull the lever for Keyes solely because it would be a Republican vote to count towards the majority.

My real beef isn't even with Keyes, who I think is a horrible, horrible candidate, but sincere in his beliefs. My beef is with those who chose to put Keyes in the race. Granted, circumstances didn't allow for a primary this time out, but the IL gop went celebrity shopping, and I find it rather disgusting. At least Mike Ditka (had he accepted) would have been a resident if not a native of IL. Keyes was neither. He was just well known, and there is no way you're going to convince anyone that it's Keyes conservative creds that got him the spot when Ditka was the first choice.

To confound things further, Keyes is a firebrand who inspires those who agree with him, while pushing those who don't even further back. He might be in line for sainthood, he might make the best senator IL has ever seen, but he's a horrible candidate. He's not going to win anyone to his side who wasn't already there. You can ban me if you want, but November will bear me out that Keyes will go down with less than 40% of the vote. If you do ban me for not being a Keyes supporter, I hope you have the decency to let this post stand so it can be read in November.

Personally, I hope you don't ban me. I hope you take my dissent, not as some sort of rabid anti-Keyes leftism, but rather as one man's honest assement of the situation in IL. I've been avoiding the Keyes threads for days now, since the first blowup where it became obvious where you stood. However, being silent is just making me feel like a coward, and in the morining it's me I have look at in the morror.

Jim, Alan Keyes is on my prayer list and I am actively writing letters to the editor on behalf of his campaign. I am a Christian woman, a constitutionalist--and write my representatives constantly on the oath they took to uphold the constitution.

We should expect no less from our elected representatives but for some reason they have strayed from the original values and concepts. I guess we turned a blind eye and look what happened! Now we have to literally beat them back into their constitutional cages and start electing guys like Keyes. IMHO, his time has come, God Bless that man. He has a tremendous fight ahead.

Does anyone know about him when he was Ambassador Keyes to the UN under Reagan? I'd be interested in any stories on that.