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National Rifle Association Hails Historic Victory on Second Amendment
Freedom Renewed in Pro Gun McDonald v. City of Chicago Ruling.

National Rifle Association

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- The National Rifle Association of America today praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic decision in another landmark Second Amendment case.

In a 5-4 decision, the Court ruled that the Second Amendment applies not just to Washington, D.C. and other federal enclaves, but protects the rights of all Americans throughout the country. The opinion in McDonald v. City of Chicago brings an end to the nearly 30 year-long handgun ban that the city has imposed on its law-abiding citizens.

“This is a landmark decision,” said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. “The Second Amendment — as every citizen’s constitutional right — is now a real part of American constitutional law. The NRA will work to ensure this constitutional victory is not transformed into a practical defeat by activist judges defiant city councils or cynical politicians who seek to pervert, reverse or nullify the Supreme Court’s McDonald decision through Byzantine labyrinths of restrictions and regulations that render the Second Amendment inaccessible, unaffordable or otherwise impossible to experience in a practical, reasonable way.”

As a party to the case, the NRA participated in oral arguments before the Court in March. The NRA persuasively argued that the Second Amendment applies to state and local governments through the Fourteenth Amendment and that handgun bans, like those in the City of Chicago and the Village of Oak Park, are unconstitutional under any standard of judicial review. This same view was shared in friend of the court briefs by a bipartisan group of 309 members of Congress from both chambers, 38 state attorneys general, and hundreds of state legislators. Public opinion polls show that it is also shared by the overwhelming majority of the American people.

“This decision makes absolutely clear that the Second Amendment protects the God-given right of self-defense for all law-abiding Americans, period,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist.

“Ironically, while crime in Chicago runs rampant and lawmakers there call on the National Guard for help, Mayor Daley has insisted on leaving the residents of his city defenseless. Today’s opinion puts the law back on the side of the law-abiding. We will be watching closely to make sure that Chicago abides by both the letter and the spirit of the Supreme Court’s decision.”

Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’s oldest civil rights and sportsmen’s group. Four million members strong, NRA continues its mission to uphold Second Amendment rights and to advocate enforcement of existing laws against violent offenders to reduce crime. The Association remains the nation’s leader in firearm education and training for law-abiding gun owners, law enforcement and the military.

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Firearms Industry Hails Passage of Firearms Excise Tax Improvement Legislation in U.S. House

National Shooting Sports Foundation

NEWTOWN, Conn --(AmmoLand.com)- The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) — the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry — hailed today’s passage of the Firearms Excise Tax Improvement Act of 2010 (H.R. 5552).

The bi-partisan legislation, sponsored by Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI) had 54 original co-sponsors and sailed through the House on a voice-vote. This legislation corrects a longstanding inequity in the Internal Revenue Code by permitting firearm and ammunition manufacturers to pay the federal excise tax payment on a quarterly basis, like other industries that support conservation through a federal excise tax.

Currently, manufacturers pay this tax on a bi-weekly schedule, forcing many manufacturers to borrow money to ensure on-time payment. Industry members spend thousands of man-hours administering the necessary paperwork to successfully complete the bi-weekly tax payments — monies that are due to the federal government long before manufacturers are paid by their customers.

HR 5552 revised an earlier bill (HR 510) to ensure that the legislation would not add to the budget deficit. The change to a provision of the tax code will not affect conservation funding and the legislation does not lower the amount of conservation dollars collected by the tax.

“This bill will strengthen wildlife conservation funding in America by helping manufacturers to grow their businesses,” said NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Lawrence G. Keane.

“We are thankful for the tremendous support and leadership of Representatives Ron Kind, sponsor of this bill, and Paul Ryan (R-WI), co-chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, for championing this commonsense legislation.”

The firearm and ammunition excise tax is the major revenue source for funding the Wildlife Restoration Trust Fund (also known as the Pittman Robertson Trust Fund). Last year, firearm and ammunition manufacturers contributed approximately $450 million dollars to wildlife conservation through excise tax payments.

Passage of HR 5552 would not have been possible without the hard work of many organizations including a broad coalition of more than 35 conservation groups who are members of the American Wildlife Conservation Partners (AWCP). This coalition includes the National Rifle Association (NRA), Ducks Unlimited, Safari Club International (SCI) and the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), which made passage of this bill a priority.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (AFWA) also support this legislation. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service — Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) that collects the excise tax supports the legislation as it would reduce its work load thereby saving taxpayers money. In fact, there is no organized opposition to this pro-conservation, pro-growth, bi-partisan legislation.

“With passage of excise tax improvement in the House, it is our hope that the Senate, behind the strong leadership of Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), co-chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, will act fast to bring companion legislation up for a vote,” continued Keane.

NSSF is encouraging all sportsmen, hunters and gun-owners to contact their senators and urge them to support excise tax improvement legislation in the Senate (S. 632).

About NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 5,500 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.

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