[WolfMansDad]

Wrongfully accused, wrongfully imprisoned, and held for days without even being charged, Matthew Corwin is now a sad testimony to a climate of fear.

In this post-9/11 era, and especially after the recent tragedies at Virginia Tech, it is perhaps natural for people to be afraid. Fear can be a good thing. It keeps us alive and unhurt, prompting us to use another ATM machine, for example, when a group of thugs hangs around your first choice after dark, casting furtive glances at you as you walk by. But fear can consume you, too, and it can grow into a monster. If you were frightened by a young black man in baggy pants outside your ATM machine, would it be right for you to attack - or arrest - a black student on his way to class in the middle of the day? What if he were wearing baggy pants? Can you justify doing that to someone, just because you were frightened by the way they looked? What if this young man, who turns out to be the class president and had committed no crime, were arrested by the police? Would you be angry? Would you feel a sense of injustice? If you wouldn't, you need to have a long talk with yourself.

Yet this is exactly what was done to Matthew Corwin. President of the Associated Student Body at East L. A. College, military veteran, and part-time MP in the US Army Reserve, Matthew was arrested last week on suspicion of having illegal weapons. You see, in addition to his other interests, Matthew is also a gun-rights advocate. That's right, he has guns. He likes guns. He has lots of friends who like guns, and they go target shooting together on weekends. He is no brooding loner or psychopath. He is just different enough to get noticed. And get noticed he did, when he posted pictures of himself and his friends holding their guns on myspace.

Liking guns is not a crime. Having guns is not a crime. Wearing baggy pants is not a crime. It's true, there are some guns that we, as ordinary citizens, are not allowed to have. But Matthew knows these laws. He knows what is and is not legal, and he and his friends work hard to stay within the law. What they do not do is hide. They are not "in the closet" about their hobby. With them, what you see is what you get.

Last Thursday night, Matthew paid for that honesty, that openness, with his freedom. He didn't hurt anybody. He didn't threaten anybody. He just frightened somebody by being himself.

And now he is in jail. His bond is set at $365,000, so he will not be leaving any time soon. Adding insult to injury, he is prohibited from going within 100 yards of his school's campus, if he manages to get out of jail, or from contacting anyone there. How will he pass his classes and finish the term? Who will do his duties as student body president? Was he a threat to anyone, the next Virginia Tech shooter? Of course not. Ask any of his numerous friends, and they will tell you he was not.

Don't let this fear grow into a monster. Free Matthew Corwin.

WolfMansDad at Calguns.net

[WolfMansDad]

Feel free to forward, reproduce, or distribute the above post however and wherever you will. Just sign it "WolfMansDad from Calguns.net"

Campus newspapers might be good.

[Super_tactical]

I posted this on bimmerforums.com

20k + members

[Jicko]

Your post should include a picture of him on duty in his Military Police patrol car!!

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...&postcount=194

[tman]

I watched the video posted in another thread:

http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/MyFox/p...1&locale=EN-US

It is total garbage. Those news casters should be ashamed of themselves. They make false accusations (according to your post above), and just really try to demonize this guy. They're just riding the wave of fear caused by the VT shootings for their ratings.

[Biff...]

I posted this over at Glocktalk.

[Tweak338]

posted it as a bulliten on myspace.. ill post it wherever i can

[Super_tactical]

Posted it on gunatics.com as well.

Keep them flowing!

[G-dude]

Very, very well written. Bravo.


I'll also be your grammar-nazi for the evening:

He didn't threatened anybody.

Should read: "He didnt' threaten anybody."

[Teletiger7]

Good read ^^^^^^

[luvtolean]

I'm not a grammar nazi, but if you want to distribute it, you need to proof read it a bit more.

You have at least one typo in it. It should read, "He didn't threaten anybody."

[1SGMAT]

Where is all the media coverage of his friends. The one thing you saw over and over again during the VT coverage was his dorm mates and classmates all telling the same story about an anti social, disturbed foriener. Why do we not see news coverage of his friends, teachers and niehbors? I'm sure we all know the answer to that. because this was a well liked, well respected student and more than likely citizen so it does not sell air time to have everyone saying how good he is. The media pisses me off. where is O'riley or Hanity on this?

[ghostwong]

Originally Posted by 1SGMAT

Where is all the media coverage of his friends. The one thing you saw over and over again during the VT coverage was his dorm mates and classmates all telling the same story about an anti social, disturbed foriener. Why do we not see news coverage of his friends, teachers and niehbors? I'm sure we all know the answer to that. because this was a well liked, well respected student and more than likely citizen so it does not sell air time to have everyone saying how good he is. The media pisses me off. where is O'riley or Hanity on this?

Somebody with some "weight" should speak to Eric Lenard at KFI. I know he's very fair and will follow the evidence. We can ask John ans Ken ti talk about this, but that can turn out to be a grab bag or grief for all. Larry Elder is proguns.

my 2 pennies.

[WolfMansDad]

G-dude and luvtolean,

Thanks for catching the typo. Fixed it.

WMD

[Fjold]

Originally Posted by G-dude

Very, very well written. Bravo.


I'll also be your grammar-nazi for the evening:



Should read: "He didnt' threaten anybody."

Geez if you're going to correct someone, do it right.

The contraction of "did not" is "didn't", not "didnt'" The apostophe goes in place of the removed letter "o".

I would have worded the sentence as "He didn't threaten anyone" instead of "He didn't threaten anybody"

[OldWestGambler]

Originally Posted by PistolPete75

we should do a protest infront of the courts or the jail. i would take time off work for this.

we gotta fight for what is right.

Dude, please don't call Police Officers of the law that. Calguns is about working with law enforcement, courts, DA's and anyone of authority about educating them on the OLL facts and why OLL are legal in CA. Insults against Police officers is counter productive and works against our cause, not for it. I am not even going to repost what you wrote in a quote and I hope you'll delete that post or edit it. We are all about following the laws and respecting law enforcment. Some Calgunners are law enforcement, too. Let's use positive language and constructive debate. Insults are not needed.

[PistolPete75]

my apoligies for my name calling, but I have had experience myself with wrongful arrrest and hasseling by the lapd. I'll end it here, before I get worked up again.

[psriley]

This is prolly an unpopular position, but I wouldn't mind knowing some more of the facts in this case before I form an opinion. It could very well be just a knee-jerk reaction to a college student with a large firearms collection. However, the text window over the vid window also said something about suspected credit card theft and theft of military property.

Unfortunately this arrest is a lose/lose for firearms enthusiasts. On the one hand, Matt could be a stand-up citizen unjustly accused, which means all of us stand-up citizens who are gun owners need to watch our backs more closely than ever. On the other hand, there could be merit to the firearms charges, or there could be other charges that have nothing to do with firearms. Regardless of the merit and type of the charges, and regardless of the eventual outcome, we all know what the media will focus upon.

If anyone has learned more about the case or has links to more info, I'd be very interested. I did a quick Google and turned up nothing.

Late Edit: For some reason I had the guy's name wrong, and searched on "Chris Corwin". A google search on ""Matthew Corwin", arrest" returned the phonebook. Some of the articles provided a little more info LA times article:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...tory?track=rss

[PistolPete75]

as for the credit card issue, i don't know anything about that. as for the "stolen" military property it's probably a souvenier like a magazine or pistol grip or something. this is total bullshxt cause, everyone from the military brings back something. this is widely known and accepted. i wouldn't call it stolen, more like a souvenier.

[Liberty1]

Roger. Deleted

[bwiese]

Please do NOT friggin' contact the press on it.

Why do you wanna turn the pot to 'boil' and back a DA in the political corner??

Geezus.

[grammaton76]

Don't wanna sound like a "me too" - but, remember Prop H in SF? Press coverage escalated it into a win for the anti's, and a huge money sink for the NRA...

[psriley]

Originally Posted by PistolPete75

as for the credit card issue, i don't know anything about that. as for the "stolen" military property it's probably a souvenier like a magazine or pistol grip or something. this is total bullshxt cause, everyone from the military brings back something. this is widely known and accepted. i wouldn't call it stolen, more like a souvenier.

Could very well be true. My position is only that I'm not letting the fact that the guy is a fellow gun enthusiast, or that he appears to be a productive member of society influence my opinion. I simply don't have enough factual information yet.

Forming conclusions based on emotion or on hearsay is what leads people to categorize legal black rifles as "assault weapons". I refuse to participate in that behavior.

[Sam Hainn]

I thought of something and already did it. What if we all changed our signatures to Matt's signature in his honor until he's out? It was always the first quote in his sig and it fits this situation perfectly. I bet if he saw this as everyone's signature he would get a big lift. Imagine post after post of everyone having this for their signature? How cool would that be?

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." -Ben Franklin

[Pred@tor]

I was hoping there'd be money to donate to him in this thread. Anyway I posted this in my myspace group I hope it turns out okay for out friend and fellow gun owner Matt Corwin. From the looks of it the courts do not want him to own a gun ever again!

[G-dude]

Originally Posted by Fjold

Geez if you're going to correct someone, do it right.

The contraction of "did not" is "didn't", not "didnt'" The apostophe goes in place of the removed letter "o".

I would have worded the sentence as "He didn't threaten anyone" instead of "He didn't threaten anybody"

HAha! Ya, I noticed that. I just thought it was funny and left it for the irony.

[Blue]

Originally Posted by PistolPete75

as for the credit card issue, i don't know anything about that. as for the "stolen" military property it's probably a souvenier like a magazine or pistol grip or something. this is total bullshxt cause, everyone from the military brings back something. this is widely known and accepted. i wouldn't call it stolen, more like a souvenier.

I'm guessing it was his reserve clothing/gear. Don't your normally take an LBV and some other stuff home with you as SOP?

[daves100]

his military clothing is his you get to keep them.

[Peorth]

Just FYI:

Matt was never charged for possession of stolen credit cards. This was a mistake, the credit cards belonged to individuals who lived with Matt at one point. They were all returned to his mother.

[Peorth]

Originally Posted by 1SGMAT

Where is all the media coverage of his friends.

I'll also quote LeeLaw:

"Media attention is going to be high on this. We've already received reports that they were on scene at his arraignment and were trying to get statements from calgunners. Do NOT talk to the media, they will only damage his case and will possibly raise public support to pressure the DA to throw the book at him. We don't need speculation right now."

Indeed, there was plenty of news media waiting to speak to us at the court but we refused. His attorney specified to us not to speak to anyone, besides, you can't trust them, they'll chop up and edit our words to their convenience. However...i did come across this video report containing an interview with a fellow student...it's actually a decent report. -I believe it was mentioned in one of these other threads....

http://cbs2.com/video/?id=38582@kcbs.dayport.com&cid=71

[Richie Rich]

Originally Posted by Sam Hainn

I thought of something and already did it. What if we all changed our signatures to Matt's signature in his honor until he's out? It was always the first quote in his sig and it fits this situation perfectly. I bet if he saw this as everyone's signature he would get a big lift. Imagine post after post of everyone having this for their signature? How cool would that be?

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." -Ben Franklin

Done.

Like the idea.

[mousegun]

This OK?

[CSkyhawk72]

Originally Posted by Sam Hainn

I thought of something and already did it. What if we all changed our signatures to Matt's signature in his honor until he's out? It was always the first quote in his sig and it fits this situation perfectly. I bet if he saw this as everyone's signature he would get a big lift. Imagine post after post of everyone having this for their signature? How cool would that be?

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." -Ben Franklin

Good idea, Sam!

[duenor]

yup i agree

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." -Ben Franklin

<STRIKE>FREE</STRIKE> Acquit MATT CORWIN!!!!!!!

[1911whore]

done.

[mcubed4130]

An excellent idea, signature line, set.

-M3

[EricCartmann]

Originally Posted by luvtolean

I'm not a grammar nazi, but if you want to distribute it, you need to proof read it a bit more.

You have at least one typo in it. It should read, "He didn't threaten anybody."

+1 and also maybe make it more colorful. Get that guy from UCSB to help. Now that was a good article!

[EricCartmann]

Also once we get the final draft maybe we can collect all the signatures and send it all to sacramento?