San Fran Secedes From the Union

San Fran Secedes From the Union

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

November 11, 2005

To clarify, in case nobody noticed, on Election Day this past Tuesday, November 8, the City and County of San Francisco effectively voted to secede from the union.

Overstated? Hardly, as the voters decided to abandon the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution in their ban on guns. In one of the most liberal bastions in the western world, nearly 58 percent of the voters have decided that honest, law-abiding gun owners should now be labeled criminals. Handguns, hunting rifles, collectables, even guns on display in museums that are of usable quality have been deemed illegal by the People’s Republic of San Francisco. So have gun shops and shooting ranges.

Just to set the record straight, I am not a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA). I am not a gun owner, have never hunted nor do I live in San Francisco. But, I support the rights of those who do. The entire litany of my experience with firearms dates back to learning from a Marine friend the proper way to hold, carry, load and discharge a firearm. After weeks of lessons we took my newfound knowledge to the desert straddling west Texas and New Mexico to shoot at cans and bottles before cleaning up the refuse.

Globally, we are fighting a war on terror, yet in San Francisco, the people have surrendered to the criminal element by not allowing the law-abiding gun owners the Constitutionally-granted right to defend themselves, their families or their property that they worked hard to earn.

Passage of Proposition H, or should that be Preparation H because it is a real pain in the tuchus, will only hurt law-abiding gun owners. Criminals with guns are not about to surrender their illegally gained weapons. Instead, they will wield their weapons with greater bravado and confidence knowing that only police and those who require a gun for their jobs will have them. Home invasions, sadly, will rise. Robberies and street stick-ups will also increase as thugs and criminals instill greater fear in those lemmings who believe the surrender of guns and Constitutional rights are the answer.

Until Proposition H is reversed, gun owners, gun shop owners, firing range owners, NRA members and all those who support the Second Amendment should have their voices heard via an economic boycott of San Francisco. As beautiful as parts of San Francisco are, the city and county should be shunned. Vacation elsewhere. Hold conventions elsewhere. Send a message that you will not allow your rights to be trampled upon by one of the most extreme, radical elements of American society.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

Chabad Sukkah Closer to the Action

Chabad Sukkah Closer to the Action

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

November 1, 2005

With all of the positive publicity regarding the University of Maryland Hillel and its sukkah in parking Lot 1, the rest of the story remained untold.

Directly outside of Byrd Stadium, the home of Terrapin football, on the press box side of the stadium, stood the Chabad Sukkah Mobile run by students and members of the Chabad Jewish Student Center. Those entering the Sukkah Mobile pronounced a couple of holiday-appropriate brachot and enjoyed honey/pound cake and took home a colorful and informative calendar.

No solicitations for donations, no sermons, just the Reader’s Digest version of Sukkot in a tiny oasis amid the chaos of 54,000 Terrapin and Hokie fans jamming their way into Byrd Stadium – myself and two friends included. As a season ticket holder, member of the Alumni Association and Terrapin Club, I am not, however, a contributor to Hillel, for personal reasons.

I do plan to contribute to the Chabad at the University of Maryland and would encourage others to do so as well. This organization provides many needed services to students, but do not garner the publicity and ultimately the dollars of that of Hillel. Some of Chabad’s activities include, but are not limited to free Shabbat dinners, fairs, social events and holiday observances.

Bais Menachem Chabad Jewish Student Center is located at

7403 Hopkins Avenue, College Park, MD 20740

. The phone number is 301-277-2994 and the website is www.umdchabad.org.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

[This column appeared in the Washington Jewish Week.]