I was sent this to my email with a message that said men shouldn’t pick out wedding cakes. Why not?

Posted by Tom Remington

Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General appointed by Barack Obama, has repeated himself often since assuming his job, that there were “just a few changes” that needed to take place regarding gun control issues. We’re beginning to see what those “few changes” will be.

Holder, attempting to hide behind a drug war on the U.S./Mexico border, as a reason to reinstate the old assault weapons ban, or create a new one, thinks people will jump off this cliff like all the others and go along with him. According to Brad Wilmouth, Newsbusters, 65 House democrats have signed a letter to Holder saying they would actively oppose an effort to reinstate an assault weapons ban.

Sixty-five Democrats on the House side sent Holder a letter saying they will actively oppose his efforts. Quote, “Law-abiding Americans use these guns for all the same reasons they use any other kind of gun – competitive shooting, hunting and defending their homes and families.”

The Obama administration is really beginning to reveal the hand most of us who did some research knew he was holding before becoming president. He misled voters when he told them he supported the Second Amendment. Obviously, that is not true.

Tom Remington

Milt Inman Photo

Milt Inman

WTSP.com out of St. Petersburg, Florida last night ran a report on their 11:00 o’clock news about the recent spike in gun sales. The Tampa Bay area is no different than most places nationwide looking to buy guns and stock up on ammunition, mostly spurred on by a slumping economy and a new administration with a bad track record on Second Amendment issues and tons of talk of tightening up gun control laws.

People don’t like it when politician begin talking about taking away their guns. The Tampa Police Department reports that applications for concealed carry permits has increased sharply of late, also a good indication that gun sales are up.

Just as important and something that debunks much of the anti gun crowd’s lies, the Tampa Police Department says crime is down and that arming lawful citizens does not cause crime to go up.

“Criminals will always get guns. But, people getting permits are law abiding citizens with clean records.”

The gun grabbers have always put out false information that arming law abiding citizens causes more crime.

With this spike in gun and ammunition sales, we have reports of how difficult it is in some places to find guns and ammunition to buy. Just the other day I hit two Wal-Mart stores in the Clearwater/St. Petersburg area and both stores’ ammunition cabinets were essentially bare. One clerk said he didn’t know when the next shipment would come in and the waiting list for ammo was at least as big as the next order.

My advice is to make some calls and shop around. Many chain stores have larger inventories but there are also some smaller gun shops that have gear to sell.

Tom Remington

I had actually snapped a number of pictures before I come to realize that smack in the middle of all the vultures was a baby wild boar “rooting” at the ground. Typical of a scavenger, such as the turkey buzzard, they would do nothing for their food except wait for the pig to “root” up some bugs and the vultures would move in to clean up.

The hog, while small, wasn’t in the least intimidated by the birds. If any got too close, he didn’t hesitate to snap his head around and drive them away…….even if for only a minute.

Milt Inman Photo

Milt Inman

Last week we were all made aware of the fact that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game was under investigation for supposed misuse of state equipment, among other things. The investigation was being conducted by Confidential Investigations and you can actually review the findings of that investigation by visiting their website here.

The investigation reveals what most of us would consider a laundry list of questionable actions by the IDFG. Those actions involve what some would interpret as the misuse and abuse of state property, questionable to poor decisions in allowing family on patrol with wildlife wardens, use of state-owned cabins on state-owned land, treatment of the public by wildlife officials and other assorted actions that leaves Idaho residents wondering how deep this may go.

It is my understanding from reviewing the investigation, that what was investigated was only one small area of the Department of Fish and Game’s entire state operation. And within this area, we’re exposed to the actions of a very small number of state employees in comparison to the hundreds that exist. In short, we have no idea whether what has been brought to our attention is relegated to just this area or runs much deeper and wide spread than we know. Let’s hope it’s not.

Bearing in mind that what anyone can find out in reading Confidential Investigations’ report is only one side of the story. I don’t believe that the state of Idaho has had sufficient time to investigate for themselves and respond to the things they are being accused of. The investigation, if nothing else, raises a lot of questions, while answering very few. The people of Idaho now are looking for answers.

CI claims they have photos that reveal that an ATV assigned to one wildlife officer was left outside buried in the snow all winter, that pick up trucks owned by the state were used to haul landscaping rocks, that children of officers accompanied them on patrol on snowmobiles, boats and in other equipment. The report says that family and friends accompanied wildlife officials and used camps owned by fish and game that are supposed to be used for housing officers while on duty. The list goes on.

Confidential Investigations says that in copies of reports and emails they’ve uncovered show a lot of disrespect for the public in general and the use of certain inappropriate names as part of investigations. It claims thousands of dollars have been spent on operations supposedly geared to catching “bad guys”.

What is not clear to us is what is department/state policy in regards to the events that Confidential Investigations uncovered? For example, the report claims that it is department policy that trucks can’t be used to haul firewood for personal use but there is no stipulation about hauling rocks.

We also don’t seem to know what the policies are on use of cabins and taking family out on patrol. If there is no certain policy about these and other things, isn’t it time Idaho crafted some for obvious reasons?

Whether the abuses we are hearing about are limited to this one small area or state wide, it needs to be addressed. Every state fish and game department in this Union has an immense public relations nightmare. In my travels online from four corners of the country and stops in between, I seldom run into people who have an undying love affair for their state’s fish and game department and/or their game warden service. Quite the contrary. When residents become exposed to things like this, it is no wonder the wedge of dislike and distrust gets pounded deeply between license holder and wildlife official.

In Idaho, the fish and game department is seeking a substantial fee increase. A vocal group has come out in opposition to the increase, citing reasons why the IDFG is not spending the money they have wisely and appropriately. It is no surprise an investigation was launched to look into some of the accusations.

It doesn’t matter which side you might come down on with this issue, we have to welcome the scrutiny. If the things we learned about in the investigation are true, then let’s get to work and clean it up now. We need also to find out how wide spread this is and deal with it. The last thing that should happen right now is to give IDFG any increase in money until questions have been answered.

One part of CI’s investigation deals with how certain wildlife officers handled investigations and operations. In one specific operation, one that cost taxpayers thousands of dollars and yielded virtually nothing in return, according to the investigation, email exchanges showed that officers described Idaho citizens as “bad guys” or “good guys” and spoke of a “well oiled machine and going out to kick some ass”.

Let’s not be naive here. Many of us have been in discussions like this and have used terms and descriptive elements to describe the moment but this is in a public domain and actually is a reflection, I believe, on the leadership of this arm of the department or higher up.

I recall one time I attended a gathering in Maine of State Police and Maine State Game Wardens. The gathering was a cookout and bonfire after a long day of seminars, etc. at one of Maine’s training sites. I attended the cookout and bonfire by invitation.

After the cookout many of us were sitting around the fire. Off to my right a small group of young men, a mixture of police and wardens, were having a discussion of which I overheard most of it. It was much like what we read about here. Attitudes were awful toward the taxpayers who pay them for their service and certain descriptive names were used as well. I remember at that time thinking to myself, “Geez! No wonder the general public hates these people.”

Many of the problems that seem to exist within at least this portion of the IDFG, can be remedied with good sound policy. It has to be policy that is in the best interest of the people of Idaho. Equipment purchase has to be justified and properly cared for. You can’t simply issue a wildlife officer a piece of machinery worth thousands of dollars without ensuring it will be well cared for.

Who gets to use cabins? If it is a perk of the job for officials and they families, then so be it but it has to be done legally, at least pertaining to claims for tax purposes and answers personal injury and property liability issues.

Taking children on patrol and allowing them access to state cabins has to be a real liability issue.

This report gives us a look into what appears to be some pretty loosely run operations at fish and game but as I said, most of them can be rectified with policy changes or clarifications. But the attitude of wildlife officers in the field and how they deal with the public, as well as intelligent decisions on the implementation of investigative operations, has to be a reflection of upper management. Yes, there will always be a few employees that cop attitudes but even if this is not wide spread, it is deadly venom and needs to be corrected immediately.

Like with many publicly paid positions in this country, the attitude seems to have evolved into one of confusing who works for whom. Wildlife officials in any state serve for the taxpayers of that state and the taxpayers and license holders have to be treated with the utmost of respect. It begins at the highest levels, from the governor on down. If they don’t see things this way, then every four years you and I can do something about that.

I pointed out before and I’ll do it one more time. In Idaho, no increase in license fees should be granted to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game until all the questions in the investigation are answered to the satisfaction of the people.

Tom Remington

The District of Columbia continues to defy the ruling of the United States Supreme Court in the case of Heller v. D.C. In that case, the Supreme Court declared D.C.’s laws banning guns unconstitutional. This hasn’t stopped them, however, from creating “back door” laws making it virtually impossible and/or highly discriminatory, to own a gun.

From the NRA website:

Under the current D.C. law, prospective gun owners are required to pass a written test graded at the sole discretion of the Metropolitan Police Department. They must also have vision better or equal to that required to get a driver’s license (even for those who just want to possess a collector’s item), submit employment history for the past five years and surrender all handguns for ballistics testing, among other restrictions. The current D.C. law is more stringent than California’s draconian gun laws and bans many firearms commonly owned and used for self-defense. Failure to satisfy these onerous requirements can result in fines of up to $5,000 and up to five years in prison.

Tom Remington

It was nearly three years ago that I reported that Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry signed a bill that would allow for bear hunting in Oklahoma. At that time, it was made very clear that even though he was signing this bill there were no immediate plans for a bear hunt.

By golly, he was right. Three years later rules have been laid out for a bear hunt.

?Hunting would be allowed only in Pushmataha, Le Flore, McCurtain and Latimer counties.

?Only archery and muzzleloader hunting would be permitted.

?The archery season would begin Oct. 1 and run through the Friday before deer muzzleloader season, which begins Oct. 25.

?Only 20 bears could be killed. If a total of 20 bears had not been taken by bow hunters, then muzzleloader hunting of bears would be allowed during the deer muzzleloader season: Oct. 25-Nov. 2.

?No cubs or female bears with cubs could be killed. No den hunting would be allowed. No dogs could be used.

?Baiting would be allowed on private land, but not public land.

?A bear hunting license would cost $100 for Oklahoma residents and $500 for non-residents.

I always get in trouble when I begin questioning the methods when new opportunities for hunters have been presented and so here I go again. I’ll do what I always do and say right up front that I welcome all new hunting opportunities no matter what they are. In this case, Oklahoma is offering hunters a chance at hunting black bears and I think that is exciting. But I’m having a difficult time understanding some of the methods chosen.

Above I highlighted one part. 20 bears will be the quota. I don’t have an issue with that. Officials should know how many bears can be taken to meet their management goals. What I don’t understand is why the opportunities where preferential to archery hunters? I might be missing something here, so if I am, please weigh in.

It says 20 bears will be taken total by archery hunting. If 20 bears haven’t been taken at the conclusion of the archery season, the remaining number of tags to be filled will be given to muzzle loader hunters. Why are the other methods being shut out?

I emailed the Oklahoma Division of Wildlife Conservation and as soon as I get an explanation from them, I will share it here.

Tom Remington

A bill in Maine that would have put an end to all game farms, including a handful that offer shooting opportunities, got killed in committee by a 12-0 vote – the vote for “ought not to pass”. Under Maine rules, a unanimous vote effectively kills the bill.

One member of the Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee, Chairwoman Rep. Wendy Pieh, D-Bremen, was quoted as saying the following:

…..whether it’s fair-chase hunting or farming, or whether it offends the morals of some, is not for the Legislature to decide.

I think those are issues the market can handle,

Give Rep. Pieh a blue ribbon!!!

Tom Remington

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates yesterday, in an interview with Chris Wallace of Fox News, responded to questions about what the United States of America was prepared to do if North Korea fired a missile.

“I think if we had an aberrant missile, one that was headed for Hawaii, that looked like it was headed for Hawaii or something like that, we might consider it, [shooting it down]” Gates said. “But I don’t think we have any plans to do anything like that at this point.”

We used to be the most powerful nation on earth, one that would tell North Korea, or any other nation on earth, that if you fire a missile anywhere near us or our interests, we will blow it to hell.

My how things have changed. Oh, that’s right. Change we can believe in!

Tom Remington