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Guy Relford practices gun law in Carmel and is the host of The Gun Guy radio show on WIBC. (Submitted photo)

Carmel attorney Guy Relford has truly earned his nickname, The Gun Guy.

Relforc teaches firearms safety classes and hosts a radio show on WIBC called The Gun Guy. His law firm focuses on gun law cases. He literally wrote the book on gun safety. Hes the author of Gun Safety and Cleaning for Dummies.

Relford, a longtime Carmel resident and Carmel High School graduate, started his law firm in the Carmel Arts & Design District six years ago. He had worked for two decades doing global litigation for Dow Chemical but discovered changes at his job would require moving to Michigan. He loved Carmel and didnt want to move, so he took an early retirement and thought about his next move.

Relford has always been interested in guns. Hes been a certified firearms instructor for 25 years, so he decided to dedicate his career to helping others understand gun rights.

I was already self-educated on Second Amendment law, and so I thought Id dedicate my practice to that, he said.

Relford handles criminal and civil cases. In criminal cases, he often defenses clients accused of a gun crime but whom he believes was legally exercising Second Amendment rights. Cases range from firearm possession to self defense.

Guy Relford takes aim. He is a firearms instructor, attorney and radio show host. (Submitted photo)

If I think all they were doing is exercising their Constitutional right, then I defend them, he said.

Relford also handles civil cases, such as incidents where clients sue an employer or a municipal government. For example, an employer might place a ban on firearms legally locked out of sight in a vehicle, and Relford might defend a gun owner who works at that business. He said hes sued several city governments that have tried to pass laws that unconstitutionally restrict the Second Amendment.

But Relford said hes no extremist. Hes a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and said additional gun laws are largely unnecessary, but he doesnt defend all gun owners at all times. Gun safety is important to him, which is why he started his second business, Tactical Firearms Training.

I dont think people realize how serious most gun owners take safety, he said. Are there irresponsible gun owners? Sure, but there are irresponsible drivers on the road. In fact, I get as angry as anyone about irresponsible gun owners, especially since I wrote a book about gun safety.

Relford said some dangerous people simply shouldnt have guns, but he said there are already enough laws. Inevitably, he said some gun laws could make people less safe because only criminals would have guns.

I always say there are no gun-free zones, he said. There are areas where you can have a gun and there are areas where only criminals have guns because they arent following the gun-free zones law. Even in an airport or a courthouse where they have metal detectors, the air marshals and police officers still have guns. So there are no gun-free zones.

Relford said people often ask him about gun issues, such as if its OK to shoot a coyote if its in your yard. He said in most cases its not worth the risk of a charge of criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, which could be a felony. People ask him about stories in the news, such as the Fishers convenience store clerk who pointed a gun at a shoplifter in July. In that case, Relford said its not smart to commit a felony in order to prevent someone from committing a misdemeanor crime.

Relford is a frequent guest on local talk shows, such as Chicks on the Right and Tony Katz on WIBC radio. After some successful appearances, he was given his own show that airs from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturdays on WIBC.

I cant give legal advice on the radio, but I can tell you what the law is, he said.

State Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, has been a guest on his radio show and said he really respects Relford.

The great thing Ive noticed is that he wont guess when it comes to the law, he said. He wont make something up on the fly. Hell look into it and report back later. But hes really knowledgeable and has a great sense of humor.

Tony Katz, a radio host on WIBC, said that Relford is a great resource for information.

Great gun knowledge, great legal knowledge, and a demeanor that begs good conversation and avoids the kind of vitriol that ends a conversation before it starts, Katz said. Its good have people like him around. Its also way safer.

Relford said hes never had to fire a gun in self defense, but hes been in scary situations where hes been glad to have a gun.

I have a fire extinguisher in my kitchen, he said. I dont think my kitchen is going to catch on fire, but I still feel safer having it there.

The four rules

According to Guy Relford, there are Four Rules of safe gun handling.

1. Treat every gun as if it is loaded.

2. Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.

3. Always keep your finger (and anything else) away from the trigger until your sights are on the target and you are ready to shoot.

4. Always be sure of your target and anything aligned with your target (in front or in back) before you pull the trigger.

Gun storage

Always store every gun so that it is inaccessible to anyone who is not trained or authorized to handle your firearm. This doesnt mean hidden, or on a high shelf or the top of the armoire. It means locked up. There are quick-open gun safes that allow gun owners to access a firearm in a second or two but still keep the gun inaccessible to others, particularly young children.

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'The Gun Guy': Radio host Guy Relford defends 2nd amendment from Carmel office - Current in Carmel

Charlie Reich

St. Augustine

Lots of talk going on in D.C. regarding building a fence across our southern border to keep out illegal immigrants. The word is we have 12 million or so illegal immigrants living in the U.S. who walked across our border. Thats about 7 percent of our population.

Now we are going to build a multi-billion dollar fence to keep them out. This dream comes at a time when we have a short-term debt of a $1 trillion-plus catchall spending bill covering the rest of the fiscal year that must be paid by Sept. 30 in order to avoid a government shutdown.

This emergency appropriation will throw our national long-term debt to over $21 trillion, and those on both sides of the fence on Capitol Hill are finally starting to worry about how we can start paying down this debt rather than keep adding another $1 trillion every year.

The Department of Homeland Security has estimated the wall will cost nearly $22 billion. But Democrats have said the price tag could be as high as $70 billion. Oh well, whats a few (?) billion dollar difference between friend? Its only taxpayer money, anyway.

And now we hear of forthcoming tax cuts for the rich, and some companies. Were already minus $1 trillion every year and now were going to give tax cuts to the wealthy people and Industries? Who makes up the difference? What are they smoking up in D.C.?

Those folks that walked over the border have secured jobs that most of us dont want to do in on farms, ranches and in industries that require back-breaking hard work much of it outdoors in all kinds of (increasingly hot) weather. (That increase in hot weather is another unspoken D.C. subject, while we continue to turn down our AC and watch the icecaps melt). The fact is we need these industrious, hard-working immigrants. Theyve established their families here, pay taxes and are educating their children to become future citizens and taxpayers in the U.S.

The government says the mission of the Department of Defense is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of our country. The departments headquarters is at the Pentagon.

If the idea is to protect the security of our country, why didnt it secure our southern border and prevent 12 million immigrants from invading our shores? Maybe they were too busy invading other peoples borders in the name of wars we couldnt win like Korea, Vietnam plus a few others I missed.

And we have The United States Department of Homeland Security a Cabinet department of the government, with responsibilities in public security roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries.

Its stated mission involves anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber-security and disaster prevention and management. It was created in response to the 9-11 attacks and is also currently the youngest Cabinet department.

Again: whose border security is it securing?

We have these two multi-faceted departments with thousands of military under their supervision. Why arent they protecting our southern border? Establish small military bases along that area and provide 24-hour patrols.

When illegals are caught, give them a meal, a bottle of water and immediately transport them back across the border to Mexico. Procure an agreement with Mexico for its military to accept them back from U.S. when caught, and arrange transportation back to their homes.

Dont lock them up in a jail awaiting a bus to take them back to a border station or whatever long-term expensive transfer process is currently being used.

And dont spend billions of dollars more shipping those back that are already here. Let them work off a future citizenship.

We dont need De-fence. We need defense by those departments we taxpayers pay them to do!

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Illegal immigration: Use defense, not 'de fence' - St. Augustine Record

WASHINGTON Before President Donald Trumps hardline immigration policies took effect early this year, thousands of undocumented residents were given a break from being deported.

Government immigration officials would hold off if the illegal immigrants were married to American citizens or longtime residents of the U.S., gainfully employed and had committed no crime other than being in the country illegally.

It was, said immigration lawyer Heather Prendegast of Cleveland, the governments attempt to be nice.

The cordiality ended when Trump officials instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to get tough on illegal immigration, according to a study by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.

Giving undocumented residents a pass has largely been abolished, the study concluded.

From February through June of this year, less than 100 immigrant cases per month were dismissed or suspended, compared with 2,500 per month during the same period last year, the study found.

The administration is taking such an inflexible approach that ICE spokeswoman Sarah Rodriguez said in an email the agency no longer accepts requests for leniency from lawyers for illegal immigrants.

Instead, it is re-examining earlier deportations ICE attorneys had agreed to put on hold before Trump took office to see if they should be re-opened, particularly if the person has since been arrested or convicted of a crime.

Private immigration attorneys have noticed. Prosecutorial discretion has come to a screeching halt, said Michelle Edstrom, an Oklahoma City attorney who is the American Immigration Lawyers Association liaison with the government.

Boston attorney Gregory Romanovsky, chairman of the associations Massachusetts chapter, said ICE has privately said deportations will not be put off unless someone is dying.

The shift reflects the unbending stance on illegal immigration Trump promised during his presidential campaign. Arrests are being carried out on a broad scale.

The Obama administration prioritized the arrest of serious criminals, including suspected terrorists, persons who committed violent crime, dealt drugs or were considered a serious threat to public safety. It did not aggressively pursue law-abiding immigrants.

ICE said in a statement to CNHI this week it is no longer excusing those undocumented residents who have not committed weighty crimes.

All of those in violation of the immigrant laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States, said the agency.

Reaction to the change illustrates divisions over how to handle longtime illegal immigrants who havent caused problems. Advocates of leniency argue they should be left alone. Hardliners say all immigrants have committed a crime by illegally entering the U.S. and should be treated as criminals.

Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the tougher enforcement advocate Federation for American Immigration Reform, said the numbers show how the Obama administration had been overly lenient in its deportation policies.

In essence, said Mehlman, the Obama policy wasnt prosecutorial discretion but rather nullification of most immigration laws.

Jessica Vaughan, policy director for the Center for Immigration studies, another group that wants tougher enforcement, said ICE under Obama carried out a giant rolling amnesty for thousands of illegal aliens, just by throwing their cases out of immigration court.

She said government data shows just how dramatically things have changed under the Trump administration.

But critics of Trumps hard-nosed policies say the numbers illustrate how the country has moved away from humanitarian considerations to going after any undocumented immigrant ICE encounters or discovers.

According to Justice Department figures released last week, 57,069 illegals were either deported or left voluntarily between Feb. 1 and July 31 nearly a third more than the same period last year.

Edstrom, the Oklahoma City attorney, said one of her clients was caught up in Trumps tougher stance. The man is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico married to a U.S. citizen but he cannot gain re-entry to the U.S. to be with his wife.

Under the Obama administration, he could obtain a waiver in advance to leave the U.S. and then return by going to the American consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and applying for citizenship and a green card. The purpose of that approach was to minimize the amount of time immigrants had to be away from their U.S. family, said Edstrom.

ICE attorneys no longer agree to allow people in the situation to apply for a waiver until they first leave the U.S., Edstrom said. Thats a problem because it can take six months to get an appointment at the consulate and almost another five months to get a waiver to return to the U.S. and obtain a green card.

The result is the Mexican immigrants U.S. wife has to fend without the income from her husbands job in America and will likely end up on government assistance.

How does that make any sense whatsoever? she asked.

Contact reporter Kery Murakami at kmurakami@cnhi.com.

Minnesota

Nearly 4,500 Minnesota residents have cases pending in immigration courts, according to data compiled by Syracuse Universitys Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. In the last three months, 313 immigration cases have been opened against Minnesota residents.

Minnesota ranks 21st in the number of deportation cases. California ranks No. 1 with nearly 112,000 cases.

In south-central Minnesota, Watonwan County has the most residents in immigration court: 54, with three of those cases filed in the last 90 days.

In Sibley County 29 residents are facing deportation, and in Le Sueur County 26 residents are in immigration court. In both those counties four cases were recently filed.

Twenty-five residents of Blue Earth County and 23 residents of Nicollet County are in immigration court, with three of those cases recently filed in Blue Earth and two in Nicollet.

No cases have been filed in the last three months in Brown, Faribault or Waseca counties.

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Immigrant deportations up sharply under Trump - Mankato Free Press

Twitter has rejected a conservative organizations request to promote tweets highlighting the harmful effects of illegal immigration, apparently because using the word illegal to refer to immigrants violates the companys hate speech rules.

Organizations can pay Twitter to re-up previously posted tweets in the form of promoted content. The promoted tweets function as ads, allowing businesses or advocacy groups to push their content out to a wider group of Twitter users.

The Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), a Washington, D.C.-based immigration research group, recently submitted three tweets for promotion:

Much to the groups surprise, all three tweets were rejected on the grounds of hate, says executive director Mark Krikorian.

According to Twittersad policy, promoted content cannot include hate speech or advocacy against anyone belonging to number of protected categories, including refugees and immigrants. The CIS tweets, which pointed out the fiscal drain of illegal immigration in the U.S., were apparently too hateful to be re-posted as promoted ads.

The question over how far internet content hosts should go to censor speech in the digital space has taken greater salience in the wake of the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville on Saturday. Following the rallies, web hosting company Cloudflare canceled the account of The Daily Stormer, a white supremacist website that had suggested the company secretly supported the Stormers agenda.

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince told CNBC that he expelled The Daily Stormer because he woke up in a bad mood and decided someone shouldnt be allowed on the Internet, but he acknowledged that such power could be abused to tamp down on the speech of other individuals or groups decidedly less extreme than the Stormer.

That looks to be the case with Twitters rejection of the CIS tweets even objective but inconvenient facts about illegal immigration still run afoul of the sites hate speech censors. As Krikorian noted in a blog post Thursday, the case offers a small but illustrative example of why internet companies may need to be regulated like public utilities not to restrict speech, but to allow it.

The internet is now a utility more important than phones or cable TV, Krikorian wrote. If people can be denied access to it based on the content of their ideas and speech (rather than specific, illegal acts), why not make phone service contingent on your political views? Or mail delivery?

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Anti-Illegal Immigration Ads Violate Twitter's 'Hate Speech' Rules - The Daily Caller

While Donald Trump's 17-day vacation is certainly his longest yet, it's only the latest of his many trips outside the White House. Video provided by Newsy Newslook

Secret Service agents walk the parade route as President Donald J. Trump's motorcade moves along.(Photo: Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY)

WASHINGTON The Secret Service can no longer affordto payhundreds of agents it needs to carry out an expanded protective missionin large part due to thesheer size of President Trump's family and efforts necessary to secure their multiple residences up and down the East Coast.

Secret Service Director Randolph "Tex'' Alles, in an interview with USA TODAY, said more than 1,000 agents have already hit the federally mandatedcaps for salary and overtime allowancesthat were meant to last the entire year.

The agency has faced a crushing workload since the height of the contentious election season, and it has not relented in the first seven months of the administration. Agents must protect Trump who has traveled almost every weekend to his properties in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia and his adult children whose business trips and vacations have taken them across the country and overseas.

"The president has a large family, and our responsibility is required in law,'' Alles said. "I can't change that.I have no flexibility.''

Alles said the service is grappling withan unprecedented number of White House protectees. Under Trump, 42people have protection,a number that includes 18 members of his family. That's up from 31 during the Obama administration.

Overwork and constant travelhas also been driving a recent exodus from the Secret Service ranks, yet without congressional intervention to provideadditional funding, Alles will not even be ablepay agents for the work they have already done.

The compensation crunch is so serious that the director has begun discussions with key lawmakers to raise the combined salary and overtime cap for agents, from $160,000 per year to $187,000 for at least the duration of Trump's first term.

But even if such a proposal was approved, about 130 veteran agents would not be fully compensated for hundreds of hours already amassed, according to the agency.

"I don't see this changing in the near term,'' Alles said.

Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers expressed deep concern for the continuing stress on an agency, first thrust into into turmoil five years ago with disclosures about sexual misconduct by agents in Colombia and subsequent White House security breaches.

A special investigative panel formed after a particularlyegregious 2014 White House breachalso found that that agents and uniform officers worked "an unsustainable number of hours,'' which also contributedto troubling attrition rates.

While about 800 agents and uniformed officers were hired during the past yearas part of an ongoing recruiting blitz to bolster the ranks, attrition limited the agency's net staffing gain to 300, according to agency records. And last year, Congress had to approve a one-time fix to ensure that 1,400 agents would be compensated for thousands of hours of overtime earned above compensation limits. Last year's compensation shortfall was first disclosed by USA TODAY.

"It is clear that the Secret Service's demands will continue to be higher than ever throughout the Trump administration,'' said Jennifer Werner, a spokesperson for Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings.

Related:Hundreds of Secret Service agents maxed out on overtime

Secret Service tightens White House security on south side

Cummings, theranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee who was the first lawmaker to sound the alarm after last year's disclosure that hundreds of agents had maxed out on pay,recently spoke with Alles and pledgedsupport for a more permanent fix, Werner said.

"We cannot expect the Secret Service to be able to recruit and keep the best of the best if they are not being paid for these increases (in overtime hours)."

South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, the Republican chairman of the House oversight panel, is "working with other committees of jurisdiction to explore ways in which we can best support'' the Secret Service, his spokesperson Amanda Gonzalez said.

Talks also are underway in the Senate, where the Secret Service has briefed members of the Homeland Security Committee, which directly oversees the the agency's operations.

"Ensuring the men and women who put their lives on the line protecting the president, his family and others every day are getting paid fairly for their work is a priority,'' said Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, the panel's top Democrat. "I'm committed to working with my colleagues on both sides to get this done.''

Without some legislative relief, though, at least 1,100 agents for now would not be eligible for overtime even as one of the agency's largest protective assignments looms next month.Nearly150 foreign heads of state are expected to converge on New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.

Because of the sheer number of high-level dignitaries, the United Nations gathering is traditionally designated by the U.S., as a "National Special Security Event" and requires a massive deployment of security resources managed by the Secret Service.

That will be even trickier this year."Normally, we are not this tapped out,'' said Alles, whom Trump appointed to hispost in April.

The agents who have reached their compensation limits this year represent about a third of the Secret Service workforce, which waspressed last year to secure both national political conventions in the midst of a rollicking campaign cycle. The campaignfeatured regular clashes involving protesters at Trump rallies across the country, prompting the Secret Service at one pointto erect bike racks as buffers around stages to thwart potential rushes from people in the crowd.

Officials had hoped that the agency's workload would normalize after the inauguration, but the president's frequent weekend trips, his family's business travel and the higher number of protectees has made that impossible.

Secret Service agents rush Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump off the stage at a campaign rally in Reno, Nev., on Nov. 5, 2016. (Photo: John Locher, AP)

Since his inauguration, Trump has taken seven trips to his estate in Mar-a-Lago, Fla., traveled to his Bedminster, N.J., golf club five times and returned to Trump Tower in Manhattan once.

Trump's frequent visits to his "winter White House" and "summer White House" are especially challenging for the agency, which must maintain a regular security infrastructure at each while still allowing access topaying members and guests.

Always costly in manpower and equipment,the president's jaunts to Mar-a-Lago are estimated to cost at least $3 million each, based on a General Accounting Office estimate for similar travel by former President Obama. The Secret Service has spent some$60,000 on golf cart rentals alone this yearto protect Trump at both Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster.

The president, First Lady Melania Trumpand the couple's youngest son Barron who maintained a separate detail in Trump Tower until June aren't the only ones on the move with full-time security details in tow.

Trump's other sons, Trump Organization executives Donald Jr. and Eric, based in New York, also arecovered by security details including when they travel frequentlyto promote Trump-branded properties in other countries.

A few examples:Earlier this year, Eric Trump's business travel to Uruguay cost the Secret Service nearly $100,000 just for hotel rooms.Other trips included the United Kingdom and the Dominican Republic.In February, both sons and their security details traveled to Vancouver for the opening of new Trump hotel there, and to Dubai to officially open a TrumpInternational Golf Club.

InMarch, security details accompanied part of the family, including Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner on a skiing vacation in Aspen, Colo. Even Tiffany Trump, the president's youngest daughter, took vacation to international locales such as Germany and Hungary with her boyfriend, which also require Secret Service protection.

While Alles has characterized the security challenges posed by the Trump administration as a new"reality" of the agency's mission, the former Marine Corps major general said he has discussed the agency's staffing limitations with the White House so that security operations are not compromised by a unusually busy travel schedule.

"They understand,'' Alles said. "They accommodate to the degree they can and to the degree that it can be controlled. They have been supportive the whole time.''

Over time, Alles expects the Secret Service's continued hiring campaign will gradually relieve the pressure. From its current force of 6,800 agents and uniform officers, the goal is to reach 7,600 by 2019 and 9,500 by 2025.

"We're making progress,'' he said.

For now, Alles is focused simply on ensuring that his current agents will be paid for thework they have already done.

"We have them working all night long; we're sending them on the road all of the time,'' Alles said. "There are no quick fixes, but over the long term, I've got to give them a better balance (of work and private life) here."

Related:

The six Trump properties President Trump has visited almost every weekend in six months

Secret Service spends $13,500 on golf cart rentals for President Trump's Bedminster trip

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Exclusive: Secret Service out of money to pay agents because of Trump's frequent travel, large family - USA TODAY