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Anti Freedom Brady Campaign Continues Slide Into Irrelevancy

Brady Campaign Blunders its way To Irrelevancy

National Rifle Association

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)-The notion that lemmings deliberately hasten their demise by rushing into the sea may be a myth, but the anti-Second Amendment group and its spokesmen really are scurrying through a series of blunders that may hasten their steady march to irrelevancy.

In 2008, in District of Columbia v. Heller, the group’s two theories about the Second Amendment were rejected by the Supreme Court, one of them by five justices and the other by all nine. In 2009, they tried, with no success, to frighten America about tourists carrying guns for protection in national parks.

This year, they’ve insulted their most powerful ally, President Obama, for not setting aside the economy, the war, and his social agenda to push for gun control legislation Congress does not support. They’ve given the states their worst “Brady grades” ever, even though violent crime continues to decrease. And, they’ve badgered the Starbucks Coffee Company for allowing customers to legally carry firearms in its stores.

This week, though, Brady lawyer Dennis Henigan—the world’s most prolific advocate of the legal theories the Supreme Court sent to the shredder two years ago—further diminished the group’s credibility by claiming “The evidence is overwhelming that the ’shall-issue’ concealed carry laws have been a disaster for public safety. . . . [T]he scholarly research shows that the laws generally have been ‘associated with uniform increases in crime.’”

If he had just pushed himself away from the computer after his first four words, he would have been much better off. There’s “evidence,” all right, and it’s certainly “overwhelming.” Today, there are 36 states with “shall issue” laws—an all-time high. Sixty-three percent of Americans live in “shall issue” states, five million Americans have carry permits, and two states don’t even require a permit to carry concealed.

“Uniform increases in crime”? The nation’s violent crime rate is at a 35-year low.

Since adopting “shall issue” laws, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia have had unprecedented decreases in violent crime ranging from 26 to 53 percent.

Henigan also claimed to have 33,000 signatures on his anti-Starbucks online petition, which can be signed by anyone with a computer anywhere in the world. But in a country of five million carry permit holders, up to 80 million gun owners, and 300 million people, Brady’s petition and $1.70 will get you …

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Gun Rights An Update From The Front Lines

National Association for Gun Rights

Colorado - -(AmmoLand.com)- While the prospects for Federal gun control continue to grow by the day, state groups across the country are making strides to protect and advance our right to keep and bear arms.

Wyoming
Wyoming Gun Owners (www.WyomingGunOwners.org) made a real splash during Wyoming’s short legislative session. WyGO pushed for two marquee pieces of legislation: a Vermont concealed carry bill (which WyGO dubbed “Constitutional Carry”) and their own version of the Firearms Freedom Act.

While the Vermont Carry bill (i.e. no permit needed) passed the House but not the Senate, the Wyoming Firearms Freedom Act was passed by both chambers and signed into law by the governor. NAGR Operations Director Luke O’Dell testified on behalf of both of WyGO’s bills at the state capital in Cheyenne.

Wyoming’s Firearms Freedom Act was slightly different from the legislation passed in Montana. Wyoming’s bill included criminal penalties and fines for federal agents who try to enforce federal regulations that contradict this new Wyoming law. This legislation has real teeth, and has already created quite a stir in Wyoming as well as Washington. Bravo, Wyoming Gun Owners.

South Dakota
South Dakota Gun Owners (www.SDGO.org) continues to dominate their legislature with a pro-freedom agenda, passing a South Dakota Firearms Freedom Act through both chambers of the legislature, and signed into law by Governor Mike Rounds.

Iowa
Still less than a year old, Iowa Gun Owners (www.IowaGunOwners.org) has been making waves across Iowa.

Though their Vermont Carry bill died, the compromise bill pushed by the institutional gun lobby (which took several steps backward for state law) also failed. Unfortunately, compromise forces just resurrected this backward legislation earlier this week (in a cynical attempt to kill any future attempts at Vermont Carry).

This is frustrating because Iowa is one of the few rural states in America with a “May Issue” concealed carry law. Look for Iowa Gun Owners to change that in 2011.

Virginia
The Virginia General Assembly has seen a slew of pro-gun legislation this sessions. Most notably, Virginia’s 15-year-old ban on concealed carry in restaurants and bars is on the verge of being overturned through the hard work of two groups, Virginia Gun Owners Coalition (www.VGCO.org) and Virginia Citizen’s Defense League (www.vcdl.org). Under the current “criminal safe zone” law, concealed weapon permit holders are forced to disarm themselves before entering a restaurant or bar.

Legislation repealing the ban passed both chambers of the Virginia State legislature and is awaiting the signature of Governor “Gun Ban Bob” McDonnell.

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