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International Association For The Protection Of Civilian Arms Rights Update

International Association For The Protection Of Civilian Arms Rights

Second Amendment Foundation

Brescia, Italy --(AmmoLand.com)- IAPCAR Ambassadors Julianne Versnel (SAF), Alan Gottlieb (CCRKBA) and Simone Ciucchi and Silvia Gentile (FISAT) attended EXA 2010, the 29th International Sporting Arms, Security, Outdoor Show in Brescia, Italy where they launched an IAPCAR supported class action lawsuit to protect the rights of Italian firearms owners.

At the EXA Show over 1200 gun owners signed up as co-plaintiffs for the first ever gun owner class action lawsuit filed in Europe. IAPCAR owes a very big thank you to the Italian gun magazine, ARMIeTiro who provided the exhibit space for the effort.

So far this year, IAPCAR has held meetings and events at SHOT in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA) IWA in Nuremberg, Germany and at EXA in Brescia, Italy.

IAPCAR now has 14 member organizations from 7 countries on three continents. Several more national organizations are in the process of joining.

IAPCAR Managing Director Mark Barnes will hold an Executive Committee meeting on May 1 in Phoenix, Arizona (USA) where plans for additional meetings, events and activities will be developed. Events, meetings and activities on the executive meeting agenda will include:

NRA Convention and Annual Meeting: (May 14-16) A number of IAPCAR Ambassadors and member organizations will be attending and will have an opportunity to get together and network. The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) will have an exhibit booth at the Charlotte, North Carolina (USA) event.

UN Programme of Action (POA) on Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW): BMS4 will be held the week of June 14-18, 2010, in New York. Several IAPCAR Ambassadors and member organizations will attend this important United Nations meeting.

The UN General Assembly has also authorized an Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) to meet in 2011 to review the POA and make recommendations to a major conference on SALW in 2012. The POA OEWG will meet during the week of January 10, 2011. There are plans for will regional meetings in support of the POA in 2011. UNIDIR will be coordinating these meetings. Dates and locations have not been decided but the meeting for the Americas will probably be held in South America (Argentina or Chile).

UN Arms Trade Treaty: The ATT Preparatory Committee (Prep. Com.) meeting will be held from July 12-23, 2010, in New York. As currently planned, there will be further ATT Preparatory Committee meetings in 2011, a short procedural meeting in 2012 followed by a four-week conference in later in the year.

Gun Rights Policy Conference: The event will take place September 24-26, 2010 in San Francisco, California (USA) and include a panel made up of IAPCAR Ambassadors and member organizations as well as a strategy meeting to combat the global threat to civilian arms rights.

United Nations Firearms Protocol: Work continues for the Expert Working Group for the Development of a Model Law on Firearms. There is a tentative meeting set for the first week of July in Vienna. The Protocol will be on the agenda for the Conference of Parties to the Trans-national Organized Crime Convention that meets in Vienna Oct. 18-22, 2010.

International Small Arms Control Standards (ISACS): Reports are due. Please check www.un-casa.org for updates.

International Ammunition Regulations: The UN is circulating draft proposals for stockpile guidelines. This continues to be an area of grave concern as it appears to be a closed.

UN Register of Conventional Arms: There will be a major effort by the international anti-gun rights lobby to expand the UN Register of Conventional Arms to include “small arms and light weapons.” Handguns, rifles and shotguns would fall into this definition and therefore be included in plans for registration and control proposals and treaties. This effort should conclude in 2012.

Future Meetings Calendar

• UN POA – Biennial Meeting of States, June 14-18, 2010.
• UN ATT Preparatory Committee – July 12-16, 2010, New York.
• UN Firearms Protocol – Conference of Parties to the Trans-national Organized Crime Convention that meets in Vienna, Oct. 18-22, 2010.
• UN General Assembly First Committee – October/November, 2010 (exact dates to be announced).
• UN POA OEWG – January 10-14, 2011.
• UN ATT Preparatory Committee – February 28 to March 4, 2011, New York.
• IAPCAR IWA 2011 Meetings – March 11-12, 2011, Nuremberg, Germany.
• UN ATT Preparatory Committee – July 11-15, 2011, New York.

About:
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nations oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.

Filed under: Gun Rights News by Ammoland 1 Comment »

Live Bluebird Nestbox Camera Offers Glimpse Into Active Nest

In the early 1960s, the eastern bluebird was hanging on for dear life

Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, PA –-(AmmoLand.com)- In an effort to garner appreciation for wildlife, especially the state’s bluebird population, the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s webcasting of a live video feed from a bluebird nestbox on the grounds of its Harrisburg Headquarters now is providing a glimpse into an active nest.

To view the live feed, visit the agency’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) and click on the “Bluebird Nestbox Cam” icon under the opening photo in the center of the homepage.

“After several weeks of nest building and waiting, the bluebird nestbox camera now is allowing viewers to follow along with an active nest that presently contains five recently laid bluebird eggs,” said Carl G. Roe, Game Commission executive director.

“The best way to get Pennsylvanians – in fact most Americans – excited about wildlife is to show them what makes wildlife so irreplaceable and priceless.

“We decided to set-up and use this live webcast to help us educate the public about the importance of wildlife, how to make backyards friendlier to wildlife and also provide a way for folks to simply get closer to bluebirds. Last year, it was a huge hit, and we expect that the broadcasting of this year’s activities again will be well received.”

Launched last year, the bluebird camera was the agency’s first foray into the world of live nest camera feeds. It provides a color video feed plus audio from the bluebird nestbox quarters, which is situated near the agency’s headquarters. A live feed also is broadcast to a monitor in the agency’s lobby.

New this year is the installation of an infrared video camera, which will enable visitors to tune in after dark, too.

Steps are taken to deter house sparrows from using the nestbox by mounting monofilament fishing line from the roof over the entrance hole, which compels sparrows to stay away. Bluebird nestboxes placed close to buildings almost always attract competition from sparrows, which annually chase native bluebirds from nestboxes and nesting cavities.

“In the early 1960s, the eastern bluebird was hanging on for dear life,” said Dan Brauning, Game Commission Wildlife Diversity Section supervisor. “The species was suffering from a European invasion of house sparrows and European starlings. Today, it’s not hard to imagine the harm that would come from releasing starlings and house sparrows in New York City during the 1800s. But back then, at a time when people were trying to reverse declining songbird populations, it seemed like the right thing to do in New York.

“The starling spread quickly across America. Released in 1890 and 1891, starlings were building nests in California by the 1940s. What our forefathers didn’t expect, in addition to the rapid range expansion of these alien species, was that they would almost immediately begin competing with bluebirds and other beneficial songbirds for cavity nesting sites.”

Bluebirds were enjoying a satisfying existence around 1900. It is when some ornithologists believe Pennsylvania’s bluebird population was at its largest, because fully two-thirds of the Commonwealth was farmland. But the runaway populations of starlings and sparrows would begin to compete with and ultimately cripple the bluebird’s ability to secure adequate nesting.

The species’ problems would be further compounded by farmlands reverting to forestland or being swallowed by development, the increased use of pesticides, and the replacement of wooden fence-posts with metal posts.

By 1960, the bottom was ready to fall out, and the Game Commission and many other conservation agencies and organizations launched an aggressive campaign to rescue the species.

With the aid of its Howard Nursery, the Game Commission manufactured inexpensive bluebird nestboxes and bluebird nestbox kits for the public to place afield. Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts became involved, as well as 4-H Clubs, schools and Audubon chapters. Bluebirds became the poster child for efforts aimed at getting people to do something for wildlife in their backyards.

“Today, bluebirds are back in a big way, even in the southeastern counties, where they compete heavily with large populations of house sparrows,” Brauning said. “It’s fair to say that our bluebird population is stronger today than it has been in 50 years. With time and continued assistance from caring Pennsylvanians, it seems likely bluebirds will continue to prosper.”

For more information on bluebirds, visit the Game Commission’s website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), click on “Wildlife” in the menu bar in the banner, then choose “Bluebird” from the listing under the “Wild Birds and Birding” section.

Filed under: Conservation News by Ammoland No Comments »