Bryan Strawser

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February 20th, 2013 Testimony of Bryan Strawser before the Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee on SF458

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Remarks as Prepared…

Thank you Mr. Chairman and thanks to each of you for an opportunity to address this committee.

My name is Bryan Strawser – I live in Woodbury, Minnesota. I’m a 20 year corporate security and crisis management professional.

I am a NRA Instructor, a Minnesota Permit to Carry Instructor, and a member of the board of directors of the Oakdale Gun Club, one of the largest gun clubs in Minnesota.

Like others, I am here on my own time – and I’ll be here tomorrow taking a day off of work and grad school.

I am here to testify in opposition to SF458

Given the time constraints, I will make a few simple points.

First, much of the testimony around this bill today has focused on the 40% of firearms transactions as the basis for this proposed legislative change. This number is based on a sample of only 251 transactions 20 years ago.

This number has been challenged as recently as a few weeks ago by the Washington Post who described the use of this figure as deserving of two Pinocchinos for its level of falsehood.

Second, criminals are not going to follow the requirements of this law. As we have heard in testimony this evening, the criminal element will continue to trade in firearms illegally.

Third, This bill calls for a permit to purchase fee of $25 and requires a firearms transfer to happen at a federal firearms license holder – who may charge another fee not to exceed $25.

This law makes it more expensive for the law abiding citizen to follow the law.

The US Government’s own National Institute of Justice in a January 2013 memo stated that universal background checks will not be effective unless they are coupled with mandatory firearms registration, a firearms surveillance program, and a crackdown on straw purchasers.

Finally, we’ve heard a lot today about the tragedies in Sandy Hook, Aurora, and other mass shootings. Nothing in this bill would have stopped or prevented those horrible situations from happening.

I agree that there are challenges with the background check system in the United States and here in Minnesota. Let’s get the right records into the system and start prosecuting the criminals that are violating our existing firearms laws. The right place for these sorts of criminals is behind bars – not on the streets.

I strongly reject the notion, as many here do, that the actions of criminals are in any way shape or form – the fault of law abiding citizens – or law abiding gun owners.

Thanks for your time.

Massachusetts: More stupid firearms laws

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Massachusetts is at it again with more stupid firearms laws – laws that will do nothing to impact crime at all.

While there are many things that I miss about living in New England – I am certainly not missing the idiotic “anti-crime” measures that the Massachusetts legislature attempts to pull off. I’m quite happy about the approach that the Minnesota legislature usually chooses to take.

DC v Heller

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Someone asked me the other day why I hadn’t blogged about DC v Heller, the Supreme Court Gun Control case that was decided a few days ago.

I replied – “Because it’s the outcome that I had always hoped for – and the one that I expected to see…”

I’ve been an advocate of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms since the day that I read the Bill of Rights and truly felt as if I understood what it meant – I feel just as strongly about the other amendments and the rest of the Constitution as well.

Prior to 9/11, I was nearly a single issue voter – that issue was gun control. A candidate’s stance on this issue tended to embody for me what I perceived to be that candidate’s view on most of the Constitution – even though that wasn’t quite true in most of the cases.

Now that the core issue is decided, I’m looking forward to the next 20 years of court decisions dealing with individual and specific issues related to this ruling.

Oh, and to all of you who I’ve argued this issue with who were on the other side of the issue – I told you so.

Washington Post: Target

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From today’s Washington Post, presented without comment, but with a large smile:

When arson investigators in Houston needed help restoring a damaged surveillance tape to identify suspects in a fatal fire, they turned first to local experts and then to NASA. With no luck there, investigators appealed to the owner of one of the most advanced crime labs in the country: Target Corp.

Target experts fixed the tape and Houston authorities arrested their suspects, who were convicted. It was all in a day’s work for Target in its large and growing role as a high-tech partner to law enforcement agencies.

In the past few years, the retailer has taken a lead role in teaching government agencies how to fight crime by applying state-of-the-art technology used in its 1,400 stores. Target’s effort has touched local, state, federal and international agencies.

Besides running its forensics lab in Minneapolis, Target has helped coordinate national undercover investigations and worked with customs agencies on ways to make sure imported cargo is coming from reputable sources or hasn’t been tampered with. It has contributed money for prosecutor positions to combat repeat criminals, provided local police with remote-controlled video surveillance systems, and linked police and business radio systems to beef up neighborhood foot patrols in parts of several major cities. It has given management training to FBI and police leaders, and linked city, county and state databases to keep track of repeat offenders.

Indiana State Police arrest teen suspect

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As is appropriate, the Indiana State Police made the arrest in a case making national news today, as reported in today’s Indianapolis Star:

A man wanted in the slaying of a Pennsylvania couple and the possible abduction of their 14-year-old daughter fled from Indiana state troopers at speeds in excess of 90 mph, running other cars off a two-lane highway before he crashed and was captured today, police said.

Use of Force

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There’s been alot of yelling and screaming in the media about the Metropolitan Police in the UK shooting and killing a man recently because they believed that he may be a suicide bomber.

And while I regret that they were wrong, they did exactly the right thing.

Smash and others have posted of this as well. There’s no option other than to shoot them in the head.

We can live in a fantasy world if we want – we can bury our heads in the sand like an Ostrich, or we can get serious about thinking about some of the issues we are going to face in the coming years.

Suicide bombers will be one of them.

At the time I took a DHS workshop earlier this year on suicide bombers, only one US police department had a use of force policy that allowed them to shoot a suspected suicide bomber. The United States Capitol Police.

Like it or not, it’s only a matter of time before we see someone participate in a suicide bombing here in the United States.. and we’d better be prepared for it – and the rapid paradigm changes that it will bring about in terms of law enforcement and private security.