OFCC Member and Department of Defense contractor Anthony Walls has sent a greeting to us here at OFCC, and agreed to allow us to share it with all of you.

Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 18:49:38 +0300
From: Anthony Walls
Subject: RE: Donation

To Chad and everyone else at OFCC:

I'm stationed at LSA Anaconda in Balad, Iraq. Well actually just outside
Balad. It is approximately 68 clicks north of Baghdad. I've been on quite a few missions to [places you're hearing about on tv].

One thing I get to enjoy over
here is the legal ownership of full auto weapons, though it is unfortunate I
will have to give up my all-matching serial number AK when I come home. I
wish there was a legal way to keep it, but such is US law.

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Since the elections things has quieted down for us a bit. Our daily mortar
barrages have slowed down to once or twice a week. I must tell you I'm very
encouraged by what I see here.

It is an incredible thing to witness and be here at the birth of a new
democracy. I wish every American could see and feel this. These people make
me think of what it must have been like during our own revolution and
success against the British. The overwhelming majority of the people
appreciate the sacrifice of our nation so much. They still want to shake
your hand and let you know how happy they are. The people here are informing
on the insurgents now and are using the single-per-household AK-47's that
almost every house has to help deter and stop insurgent violence. I can only
hope that they build into their constitution something along the lines of
our 2nd Amendment, worded in such a way that its meaning can never be
doubted. Ownership of personal firearms has proven over and over again to be
the only sure bet defense against armed criminal thugs, terrorists and
insurgents.

Thank you for all your kind words and well wishes. Now let me thank all of
you at OFCC so much for all you do in helping us to preserve our rights back
at home. We can build the strongest armies in the world, but self-defense
starts at home. Building a new future for the rest of the world means nothing
if Americans lose their freedoms, and you people are on the front line of
preserving those freedoms everyday. My hats off to you [all].

Sincerely,
Anthony Walls
MTS Forward
BLDG. 4045
LSA Anaconda, Iraq
APOAE 09391

WKYC.com (NBC Cleveland) is reporting that Cleveland DJ Brian Figula, known as “Fig” on Q104, was “assaulted and robbed” at a gas station at 150th and I-71 Monday evening.

From the story:

His car was low on fuel, so he stopped at a gas station late Monday night. Minutes later, his life was in danger…

Fig was at pump 2 when he noticed a man on the phone. Soon afterward, that man attacked him.

“He actually did me like a choke hold … I tried to get away and it was pretty intense,” Figula said. “He had me going to the point where I was choking.”

All he wanted was his keys - so he gave them up and the suspect took off in his black 2001 Grand Am.

“He was going to kill me … that’s what he told me and I took it seriously,” Figula said.

Figula told the news channel it only took about a minute for the incident to happen, and that there were witnesses who watched the crime unfold.

“I feel violated,” Figula was quoted as saying. “I don’t feel hopeless. I just have to move on and know that there are some people out there that have issues out there and I hope this guy gets some serious help.

The opening line to WKYC’s story is our closing lesson:

“What happened to a local DJ could have happened to any one of us.”

Don't be an easy target - obtain an Ohio CHL today!

The Warren Tribune Chronicle is reporting that 911 service is getting so bad in Trumbull County that the Weathersfield police and fire chiefs looking to drop the county call center and possibly move to another dispatch service.

From the story:

"I tried to call, over the radio, five times and was never able to get through,'' said police Chief Joseph Consiglio at a township caucus Feb. 3. "This is a safety issue. If anything would ever happen to one of my officers, I would be up there standing on someone's shoulders. ... I would get out of 911 tomorrow, if I could.''

Fire Chief Randy Pugh said he also has had problems with the county dispatch system. There is often a three-minute delay, he said, from the time when police are dispatched to a call and when fire crews are dispatched to the same call.

Due to budget crunches in Trumbull County, commissioners are asking 911 director Timothy Gladis to make due with about $600,000 less than last year's allocations. That would make it impossible to keep the county 911 center, which Weathersfield uses to dispatch police and fire calls, in operation. Gladis has said closing the 911 center would be the best choice at that point.

Related Story:
Do you bet your life depend on a phone line?: 911 Emergency systems fail

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If the Minnesota Court of Appeals is having trouble deciding the fate of the Minnesota Personal Protection Act, they should consider the story of Matthew Dirks. The 23-year-old East Side native served 15 months with the Army in Iraq at Baghdad International Airport and Camp Dogwood. Last week, St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington denied him a carry permit.

Dirks' primary job in Iraq was repairing the weapons systems on Bradley Fighting Vehicles. He also stood guard with the M249 light machine gun and .50-caliber heavy machine gun. He has fired the TOW anti-tank missile, the 25 mm cannon on the Bradley, the M-16, thrown grenades and "a few extra bonuses that came with my job," he said in a recent interview. Despite all this experience, he was denied a carry permit under the system the concealed-carry law was designed to replace.

Click here to read the entire op-ed in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.