is a seemingly non-profit organization headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania - USA.

Click here for a complete download of the U.S. Constitution (84k)

When reading the following issues, it would be good remember what Amendment I of the Constitution of the United States says:

Yeah Dennis Miller!

He said recently on his show, regarding the judges who declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional:

"So, Your Honor, the Pledge is unconstitutional because it says 'Under God'.  Guess that means when you were sworn in with your hand on a Bible, and at the end of your oath repeated, 'So Help Me God' that makes your job unconstitutional, therefore you have no job, which means your ruling doesn't mean squat."

International Criminal Court (ICC)

(Friday, April 19, 2002) -- You stand before the judges, accused of failing to register your firearms. You look around the room, and there are no civilians to try your case.  Trial by jury is absent in this courtroom. Not only that, there is no presumption of innocence.  You look at the judges behind the bench and realize they have been appointed by unelected bureaucrats from hostile and repressive nations around the globe.

Is this a scene from a George Orwell book?  Unfortunately, this scene could someday happen since a newly established International Criminal Court (ICC) became a reality last week.  On his last day in office, former President Clinton signed his name to an agreement which authorized the ICC, a global court which was officially instituted at the United Nations headquarters on April 11, after the 60th nation signed the treaty.

Thankfully, the United States Senate has still not ratified this agreement.  And to ensure it never does, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) recently introduced legislation (H.R. 4169) that calls on President Bush to revoke his predecessor's signature before the Democrat-controlled Senate can ratify the treaty.

Among other things, H.R. 4169 would:

The stakes in this battle are huge. With the advent of the anti-gun ICC, unelected bureaucrats at the UN will be able to override the national sovereignty of the US and to bring us under their thumbprint.  The consequences of this will be horrendous.

The ICC will be able to second-guess almost any decision our country makes, and will claim it has the authority to haul our Presidents, governors or military leaders into court. Even our war in Afghanistan -- or the execution of Timothy McVeigh -- could be actions that would trigger the arrest and prosecution of American citizens.  This is NOT speculation.  This is the authority that ICC judges now have.

But this treaty could end up doing more than just hauling military or elected officials into court.  Gun owners have much to fear from these global tyrants. It is no secret that at several of their recent conventions, UN officials have been actively trying to get the nations of the world to register firearms.  In 1997, they supervised the steamrolling of firearms (yes, using actual steamrollers) in the streets of Brazil. And to make their intentions absolutely clear, they have even erected a statute of a gun with a barrel twisted into a knot in front of their New York headquarters.  To be sure, the UN has demonstrated its hatred for civilians owning guns in a myriad of ways.

So what happens if, somewhere down the road, you don't comply with UN gun registration or a firearms ban? Will the UN be able to prosecute you before the International Criminal Court? Will UN Blue Helmets be able to search your home for evidence? (You can forget about any Fourth Amendment protections that keep your home from being searched without a warrant.)

The treaty which establishes the court claims jurisdiction to prosecute gross human abuse.  But there's no reason to think that this permanent court is going to limit itself to prosecuting real dictators. The judges on the court could be from Cuba, Iraq, Russia or Red China.  Don't expect to read about ICC prosecutions of folks like Fidel Castro or Saddam Hussein.  Rather, one can fully expect that, similar to judges in our country, these judges will make law "from the bench" and expand the court's jurisdiction every chance they get.

If you think we have a problem in this country with judges making up the law and failing to respect your gun rights, how bad of a problem do you think this will be at the UN level where these tyrants have no concept of what the Second Amendment is?

Rep. Paul correctly notes the International Criminal Court is an "illegitimate court" that was established contrary to the provisions of the American Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.

The court puts United States citizens in jeopardy of "unlawful and unconstitutional criminal prosecution," he says, "[and] especially at risk of politically motivated arrests, prosecutions, fines, and imprisonments."

ACTION: Please ask your Representative to cosponsor Ron Paul's bill (H.R. 4169) which will help keep our country from placing itself under the jurisdiction of the anti-gun International Criminal Court.

You can call your Representative at 1-877-762-8762 (toll free) or at 202-225-3121.  To identify your Representative, as well as to send a message via e-mail (canned, modifiable messages available) see the Legislative Action Center at http://www.gunowners.org/activism.htm on the GOA website.

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM GROUP TAKES ON ISLAM IN CALIFORNIA'S SCHOOLS

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has sent a letter of protest to Governor Gray Davis of California and Delaine Eastin, Superintendent of Public Instruction over a school district's requirement that 7th graders take a mandatory Islam studies course.  In the course, children are encouraged to pray in the name of Allah, dress in Islamic garb, and describe what kind of Jihad they want to be involved in.  The ACLJ letter included the names of 127,000 concerned citizens who signed on to support this protest effort.

To read more about this controversy, go to:

http://www.aclj.org/resources/studrts/islam/letter.asp

What a difference 14 years makes. Do you remember this from 1987?

I recently read a portion of the transcript of Lt. Col. Oliver North testifying in the Iran-Contra hearings during the Reagan Administration.  There was Ollie in front of God and country getting the third degree.  What he said was stunning.  He was being grilled by some senator;

"Did you not recently spend close to $60,000 for a home security system?"

Ollie replied, "Yes, I did, Sir"

The senator continued, trying to get a laugh out of the audience, "Isn't  that just a little excessive?"

"No, Sir," continued Ollie.

"No? And why not?" the senator asked.

"Because the lives of my family and I were threatened, Sir."

"Threatened?  By whom?" the senator questioned.

"By a terrorist, sir." Ollie answered.

"Terrorist?  What terrorist could possibly scare you that much?"

"His name is Osama Bin Laden, sir."  Ollie replied.

"Why are you so afraid of this man?" the senator asked.

"Because, sir, he is the most evil person alive that I know of." Ollie answered.

"And what do you recommend we do about him?" asked the senator.

"Well, sir, if it were up to me, I would recommend that an assassin team be formed to eliminate him and his men from the face of the earth."

The senator disagreed with this approach.

In case you're interested, the senator was Al Gore.

I just have to make another observation here...

But the president under whom all this happened wasn't George W. Bush.  It was Bill Clinton.  So, who's getting blamed for all of this again?