“Hell is paved with good intentions.” Boswell’s Life of Johnson, April 14, 1775

New Hampshire's Riley’s Gun Shop is the back drop for this sneaky attack on gun owners. Where they the first duped by the anti's or willing participants? Reader should ask them?

AmmoLand Gun News

New Hampshire --(Ammoland.com)- Recently New Hampshire gun dealers were sent a large manila envelope from the NH Firearms Safety Coalition.

The packet contained a number of items with a disturbing anti-gun-rights message, including a full color poster proclaiming:

“Suicides In NH Far Outnumber Homicides. Firearms Are The Leading Method Attempts With A Gun Are More Deadly Than Attempts With Other Methods.”

The poster may be viewed here: www.theconnectproject.org/uploads/docs/Posterfinal.pdf .

Misleading & a Recipe for a Lawsuit
Suicides outnumber homicides in NH because NH is a low-crime state. According to the National Institute of Mental Heath, firearms are not the “LEADING METHOD” amongst women; poisonings are the “LEADING METHOD” for that demographic. Firearms are a tool which can abused like anything else. Their effectiveness in suicide is irrelevant. The major causes of suicide, such as untreated depression, are the real problem.

The packet also included a “Tip Sheet” to New Hampshire firearm retailers that lists eight “Signs that a potential buyer could be suicidal,” eight “Options for responding to a potentially suicidal buyer,” and four “What else can I do” suggestions. This “Tip Sheet” creates a handy checklist for a personal injury attorney to use when suing a gun dealer who sells a gun to a suicide victim. One can well imagine the trial lawyer questioning the gun dealer “Tip” by “Tip” as to whether the gun dealer noticed any of the listed “Tips” or whether he had trained his employees to do so. The “Tip Sheet” may be viewed here: www.theconnectproject.org/uploads/docs/Tipsfordealers.pdf .

There is also a “Firearm Purchase Checklist” provided for customers to sign. This “Checklist” includes such affirmations as “I am not buying this firearm with the intent of harming another person or myself and pledge to use it only in a legal and responsible manner.” So much for a person buying a gun for self defense, since the intent of a self defense purchaser is very much to harm another person by the lawful use of deadly force, should it become necessary.

The “Firearm Purchase Checklist” also requires the salesperson to know the buyer’s true intent for the purchase of the gun by requiring the salesperson to sign off on the following: “Salesperson: I have demonstrated the safe operation and locking of this firearm and have removed the chamber plug. Nothing in the purchaser’s manner, actions, or speech indicate that he/she intends to use this firearm for illegal purposes or is otherwise unqualified to legally own or safely operate a firearm. I have double-checked all paperwork associated with this sale and certify that it is accurate and complete in all respects.” (Emphasis added) This way, the salesperson can be held accountable if there is a future problem. The “Firearm Purchase Checklist” may be viewed here: www.theconnectproject.org/uploads/docs/FirearmPurchaseChecklist.pdf .

There is even a video posted online (www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Fu2qmShZg) pushing this effort, and the speaker says, at 0:30,“The Firearms Safety Coalition people came in and asked me to put it up. I know they are not anti-firearm but they are anti-suicide.” (Emphasis added)

Following the money leads back to the anti-gun Joyce Foundation.

Who Is Behind This?
Unfortunately, if one follows the money trail it ends up that two of the nation’s top anti-gun-rights activist foundations are helping to fund the project. The cover letter dated August 16, 2011 that dealers received in their packets states at the bottom that “This project is funded by: Community Health and Healing Fund, NAMI NH; Bureau of Behavioral Health, NH DHHS; Harvard School of Public Health; Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth; and Riley’s Gun Shop.” (Emphasis added) The letter may be viewed here: http://pgnh.org/nhfsc_letter_0 .

According to the Harvard School of Public Health, they run the “Means Matter” project which looks to reduce the “Means” of suicide (as opposed to the cause), and they state the following on their website (www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/ ):

“The Harvard Injury Control Research Center is dedicated to reducing injury through training, research, intervention, evaluation, and dissemination… The Center is part of the Harvard School of Public Health. The Means Matter Campaign is funded by The Joyce Foundation and the David Bohnett Foundation.”

The funding path goes down from the Harvard School of Public Health to the Harvard Injury Control Research Center to the Bohnett Foundation and the Joyce Foundation. Both the Bohnett and Joyce foundations are infamous for being extremely anti-gun-rights.

The David Bohnett Foundation “supports and encourages groups that promote the goals of reduction and elimination of the manufacture and sale of handguns in the U.S.” (Emphasis added) The Bohnett Foundation has donated $198,000 to the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly Handgun Control, Inc.), $30,000 to the Campus Alliance to End Gun Violence, $235,000 to the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, $105,000 to States United to Prevent Gun Violence, and $325,000 to the Violence Policy Center.

Since 2003, the Joyce Foundation has paid grants totaling over $12 million to gun control organizations. The largest recipient of grant monies is the notorious Violence Policy Center, which received $4,154,970 between 1996 and 2006. The VPC is a rabid anti-gun-rights group that wants total bans on handguns and semi-automatic firearms, and major controls placed on gun owners. The NRA has described the Joyce Foundation as an activist foundation whose “shadowy web of huge donations” leads “straight to puppet strings that control the agenda of gun ban groups.”

The NRA has warned about the anti-gun-rights movement using the suicide and guns issue to promote their anti-second amendment agenda.

The NRA states on their suicide and firearms fact sheet: “Gun owners should be aware of basic concepts and available data on suicide and firearms in order to be able to counter anti-gun propaganda that appears in the media and elsewhere. Suicide is a serious issue. It deserves serious, scholarly discussion, rather than use as a political football by unscrupulous propagandists grasping at any opportunity to make a case for their preordained agenda.”

The fact sheet, which includes a number of well-researched footnotes, may be viewed here: www.nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?id=117&issue=023 .

Treat the Cause Not the Means
The major causes (not means) of suicide, like untreated depression, are the real problem. Frankly, “Means” do NOT really matter. Making guns a scapegoat is wrong, and part of an anti-gun-rights ploy funded by major anti-gun-rights groups. Doing so puts dealers and ranges at greater risk for lawsuits and new anti-gun laws. If people want to kill themselves there are endless ways to do so—as shown by the high suicide rates in countries such as Japan, where guns are essentially unavailable.

Unfortunately, some well intentioned folks have been used to promote a campaign that threatens our gun rights. The anti-gun-rights crowd likes nothing better than when we destroy ourselves by unknowingly supporting their efforts.

About:
Evan Nappen (www.efnappen.com) is a criminal defense attorney who has focused in firearms and weapons law for over 23 years. He is the author of New Hampshire Gun, Knife, and Weapon Law and the New Jersey Gun Law Guide. He is a director and the General Counsel of Pro-Gun New Hampshire, Inc. (http://www.pgnh.org/).

Australia’s Once Rugged Gun Owners Reduced to Criminals by Anti-Gun Nanny State

FirearmsCoalition.org

Manassas, VA --(Ammoland.com)- I’ve long been fascinated by Australia and its people.

A visit to that country has been high on my bucket list since I was just a kid, but more and more as I read about present-day Australia I am disappointed and saddened.

It seems that the days of rugged individualism and self-determination are gone from the land down under and the heroic characters of the past like Ned Kelly and Banjo Patterson have faded into the realm of myth and fairytales.

It wasn’t so long ago that the reputation of Australia included the belief that one Australian could easily – and happily – pommel any two men from any other country – more if she put down her baby. And Australian men had an even hardier reputation.

Sadly that’s no longer the case as Australia has apparently devolved into a namby-pamby society of effete urbanites, hen-pecked by anglophilic nannies and socialist, world-citizen politicians who revel in Australia’s rugged history while criminalizing and quashing any hint of such thought or action in present day.

My disappointment in Australia turned into outright disgust recently when I happened upon two stories in Australian media, both dated August 10. The first, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the government of New South Wales had revoked the firearm license of Richard Hawkins, an 89-year old veteran of World War II, because the tool chest in which he locked up his two .22 rifles did not meet the government’s security standards. This was discovered during a routine “safe storage audit.”

Hawkins then disassembled the rifles and gave them to a local locksmith – the son of a war buddy – for safe-keeping until he could get a more secure storage container. Unfortunately one of the rifles was a semi-auto and therefore a “Category C” firearm requiring a special license to possess – a license the locksmith did not hold. The hearing officer cited these errors as proof of Hawkin’s inability to understand the rules of firearms ownership. The magistrate expressed further concern that the old vet was only able to shoot from a supported position due to back and neck injuries he sustained fighting for Australia’s freedom against Nazi and Japanese aggressors.

“In my opinion, it is not in the public interest for a person to hold a firearms license if that person does not have the physical capacity to safely use a firearm, including use in unexpected or emergency situations.”

Unexpected or emergency situations?
These are .22 caliber rifles which are required to be locked, unloaded, in a government approved storage container at all times except when actually being used for government approved purposes. Mr. Hawkins, who lives alone on secluded land out in the country, explained that he used the .22s for pest control. What response to “unexpected or emergency situations” is this judge possibly referring to? Certainly not self-defense.

Then ABC Newcastle reported that during another routine “safe storage audit,” a loaded gun and ammunition were discovered locked in a farmer’s government approved firearms safe.

The nanny from the gun control coalition explained: “There’s a reason why firearms and ammunition are separated and that is for safety, particularly because guns are kept in the home. We need to ensure the persons that are in the home are as safe as possible. This is because of accidents or suicide or potential domestic violence situations.”

Clearly the farmer in this case, the husband of Pru Goward, a member of the New South Wales Parliament, like the battle-hardened veteran and life-long gun owner Mr. Hawkins, needs this nanny to keep him and his family safe. His case was scheduled to go to trial later this month.

Mr. Hawkins asked an important question when the police advised him that they were revoking his firearm license: “Haven’t you blokes got anything better to do than going around harassing war veterans?”

Seriously, how much time, money, and manpower is wasted in registering, inspecting, and confiscating guns from law-abiding citizens – and prosecuting those good citizens? Australia has spent Billions of dollars on this nonsense while their crime rates soared. At this point their violent crime rates are in decline, as they are in the US and Canada, but they are declining from record highs set after the people allowed themselves to be disarmed.

What could have been accomplished if all of that money and energy had been focused on criminals rather than law-abiding gun owners?

What’s most disheartening is that the Australian people are not outraged and revolted by stories like these. Sadly, the beautiful “land down under” has followed the UK into a true-to-life Monty Python joke.

About:
The Firearms Coalition is a loose-knit coalition of individual Second Amendment activists, clubs and civil rights organizations. Founded by Neal Knox in 1984, the organization provides support to grassroots activists in the form of education, analysis of current issues, and with a historical perspective of the gun rights movement. The Firearms Coalition is a project of Neal Knox Associates, Manassas, VA. Visit: www.FirearmsCoalition.org

Copyright © 2011 Neal Knox Associates – The most trusted name in the rights movement.

$5000 Reward If You Can Prove NJ Church's Gun "Buybacks" Are Legal

AmmoLand Gun News

Eatontown, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- Evan F. Nappen, Attorney at Law and author of the “NEW JERSEY GUN LAW GUIDE” (www.evanappen.com) is offering a $5000* reward to the first person who can show to Attorney Nappen’s satisfaction the specific New Jersey gun law statutes (N.J.S. 2C:39-1 through 2C:39-16 or N.J.S. 2C:58-1 through N.J.S. 58-19) which authorizes the Plainfield churches to act as “collection sites” in which persons are paid up to $200 in cash with “no-questions- asked” for any type of gun from handguns to “assault firearms” and said guns are then destroyed without further investigation.

(For more information on this “buyback” see the following article: http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20110803/NJNEWS/308030028/Plainfield-religious-leaders-police-gearing-up-gun-buyback-program )

Attorney Nappen knows of no New Jersey gun law statute allowing:

1. the anonymous surrender of firearms;
2. the receipt of surrendered firearms by churches;
3. the unlicensed transport of guns to churches; and
4. the destruction without investigation of guns (which may be potential criminal evidence or stolen property that should be returned to their rightful owners.

He would very much like to include such laws his next edition of the “NEW JERSEY GUN LAW GUIDE”.

New Jersey law provides for the voluntary surrender of firearms only when the person giving up the firearms first gives written notice to the chief of police where he resides or the state police superintendent. Anonymous surrender is simply not authorized. The same law authorizes only the local police chief or the state police superintendent to receive surrendered guns. A church is not authorized under the statute to receive surrendered firearms. (See N.J.S. 2C:39-12.) Also, there is no transportation exemption for such a surrender scheme or bringing unlicensed guns to church. (See N.J.S. 2C:39-6.)

The immunity granted under New Jersey’s voluntary surrender law is limited to unlawful possession only and nothing more. By allowing for anonymous “no-questions-asked” surrender, the buyback program effectively creates de facto immunity far beyond this.

The purchase of firearms in New Jersey is strictly prohibited except for licensed dealers and individuals with a Handgun Purchase Permit or Firearms Purchaser ID Card. All gun sales are recorded and include the name and address of the buyer and seller. A church is not authorized under the statute to purchase firearms, no less from anonymous sellers. The payment of cash for a firearms purchase by anyone other than a licensed dealer or a permit/FID cardholder is not permitted. (See N.J.S. 2C:58-3(a) and (b).)

*Notice: The Reward offer expires on November 5, 2011.

Virginia Citizens Defense League

Covington VA --(Ammoland.com)- I have just fired off the letter below to the Martinsville City Council on an illegal gun ban that covers Martinsville’s entire municipal building.

They are using the guise that just because a few rooms in the building are courtrooms, that makes the whole building a courthouse.

Not so. VCDL wants the policy changed to only ban guns in rooms used by the Court.

If you live in the Martinsville area, VCDL is going to be on the Martinsville City Council’s agenda for Tuesday, August 23rd, at 7:30 PM to address this issue. The more gun owners we have at that meeting to show support for VCDL’s position, the better. I will send a reminder as the date draws near.

Here is the email to City Council:

Dear Martinsville City Council, City Council Clerk, and City Attorney,

As the President of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights organization with 5,000 members and another 15,000 email alert subscribers, an issue has been brought to my attention dealing with a gun ban that covers Martinsville’s entire municipal building.

The sign on the door of the Municipal Building says in part, “Attention Court Participants. The following are prohibited in the COURTROOM of the Juvenile Domestic Relations of the City of Martinsville…It is unlawful to carry any weapon of any kind into the COURTROOM including a pocket knife…” (emphasis on “courtroom” is mine).

We have no issues with the sign or its wording. As written it is correct. HOWEVER, how the City is implementing that gun ban (applying it to the entire Municipal Building) is not legal for 2 reasons:

1. Just because a building has a few courtrooms in it does not make the entire building a courthouse. The Courts have already ruled so: “Only that part of the courthouse building necessary for the use and occupancy of the circuit court constituted the courthouse . . . .” Bd. of Supervisors v. Com. of Accounts, 215 Va. 722, 724, 214 S.E.2d 137, ___ (1975)

2. Except for the rooms used by the Court, the City is preempted from banning firearms in the rest of the building by Virginia Code 15.2-915 in part:

Ҥ 15.2-915. Control of firearms; applicability to authorities and local governmental agencies.

A. No locality shall adopt or enforce any ordinance, resolution or motion, as permitted by § 15.2-1425, and no agent of such locality shall take any administrative action, governing the purchase, possession, transfer, ownership, carrying, storage or transporting of firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof other than those expressly authorized by statute. For purposes of this section, a statute that does not refer to firearms, ammunition, or components or combination thereof, shall not be construed to provide express authorization.

…

C. In addition to any other relief provided, the court may award reasonable attorney fees, expenses, and court costs to any person, group, or entity that prevails in an action challenging (i) an ordinance, resolution, or motion as being in conflict with this section or (ii) an administrative action taken in bad faith as being in conflict with this section.”

Please conform the Municipal Building ban on the otherwise lawful carry of firearms to comply with state law as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Philip Van Cleave
President
Virginia Citizens Defense League

About:
Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right. Visit: www.vcdl.org

National Rifle Association

FAIRFAX, Va. --(Ammoland.com)- If you are a federally licensed dealer in firearms, you may recently have received a survey questionnaire from gun control supporter Dr. Garen Wintemute, of the University of California, Davis.

The survey asks dealers questions about their business, their reasons for being in the business, their support for gun control, and their customers.

Why is Dr.Wintemute sending the survey?

Consider the source. Over the years, he has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from anti-gun organizations to conduct “studies” designed to promote gun control.

Several of these so-called “studies” have tried to blame legal firearms dealers for the illegal use of guns, and proposed further restrictions on dealers’ ability to conduct business.

(You can see a list of past studies on his website, at http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/vprp/publications/.)

We recommend that you do not respond to the survey, for two reasons.

• First, many of the questions in the survey are written so that Dr. Wintemute will be able to claim that at least some dealers support one or another form of gun control, or that they report the occurrence of situations that, Dr. Wintemute will likely claim, prove the need for restrictions on dealers and their customers.
• Second, participating in the survey in any way would give Dr. Wintemute credibility in the eyes of the anti-gun organizations that fund his efforts, which would only increase his chance of obtaining more money for more anti-gun research.

Anti Gun Firearms Survey Cover Letter

Thank you for your support of the right to keep and bear arms.

Sincerely,

National Rifle Association — Institute for Legislative Action

About:
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. Visit: www.nra.org

National Shooting Sports Foundation

NEWTOWN, Conn --(Ammoland.com)- The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) — the trade association for America’s firearms industry – is urging extreme caution should retailers decide to participate in a firearms licensee survey being distributed by anti-gun researcher and activist Garen Wintemute and his colleagues at the University of California at Davis.

A letter accompanying the survey, signed by Dr. Wintemute, claims the aim of their research is to better understand “the unique perspective of firearms licensees on important social issues and the firearms business itself.”

Dr. Wintemute, who serves as the director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at UC Davis, is perhaps best known for authoring the anti-gun report “Ring of Fire: The Handgun Makers of Southern California.” More recently, Dr. Wintemute and his team conducted “undercover operations” of gun shows for their report, “Inside Gun Shows: What Goes on When Everyone Thinks Nobody is Watching.”

Given Dr. Wintemute’s history, it is clear that this firearms retailer survey will be used as a tool to justify and support legislation to curb the lawful commerce of firearms and the individual rights of law-abiding Americans.

Read the cover letter and survey:

Anti Gun Firearms Survey Cover Letter

Visit NSSF’s Government Relations site at nssf.org/GovRel.

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 6,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.

Mayor Bloomberg and Colonel Wilhelm Klink - One and the Same?

Virginia Citizens Defense League

Covington VA --(Ammoland.com)- I have been doing a bit of research on Bloomberg’s group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

They claim a membership of 593 mayors. Of these, 399 (over 67%!) are in only four states – New Jersey (40), New York (108), Ohio (71) and Pennsylvania(180). If you throw in California (21) and Florida (36), they account for 456 (over 76%) of their alleged membership.

There are approximately 8,291 mayors, nationally, of localities with over 30,000 citizens. Even disregarding the fact that a fair number of Bloomberg’s group are not even included in that count, due to small constituencies, this means that fewer than 7.2% of the nation’s mayors agree with his goals and methods enough to allow themselves to be counted among his supporters.

The vast majority of states, 37, or 74% (see table below) could produce only 5 or fewer members, from the many hundreds of mayors in each state. In fact, they could not persuade a SINGLE mayor in 12 states to join in their conspiracy to subvert the Constitution (see table below).

I am saddened to see that they were able to dupe 9 of our own Virginia mayors. [PVC: Virginia does have some less-than-stellar Mayors. The members of Bloomberg's coalition should be on every gun owner's list to get unelected.]

Alabama – 3, Alaska – 1, Arizona – 0, Arkansas – 2, Colorado – 1, Georgia- 5, Hawaii – 1, Idaho – 0, Indiana – 5, Iowa – 2, Kansas – 3, Kentucky – 0, Louisiana – 4, Maine – 4, Maryland – 4, Michigan – 3, Minnesota – 3, Mississippi – 3, Missouri – 3, Montana – 0, Nebraska – 3, New Hampshire – 0, New Mexico – 2, Nevada – 0, North Dakota – 1, Oklahoma – 0, Oregon – 2, Rhode Island – 0, South Carolina – 2, South Dakota – 0, Tennessee – 3, Texas – 2, Utah – 0, Vermont – 2, West Virginia – 0, Wisconsin – 5, Wyoming – 0

About:
Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right. Visit: www.vcdl.org

Oregon Firearms Federation

Salem, Oregon --(Ammoland.com)- Today’s Senate Judiciary Committee “hearing” was another display of the paranoia of the anti-liberty crowd.

Although the meeting was supposed to be a hearing on three good gun bills, it was, in fact, nothing more than theater arranged by, and for, the anti-gun rights, government school establishment.

In an unusual “informational meeting”, the opponents of gun rights were given a virtual monopoly on public testimony, but more, they were given information provided to no one else and the opportunity to testify at length before anyone from the pro-freedom side had a chance to respond. While limited and abbreviated testimony was taken from a few pro gun citizens, no one from OFF or NRA had a chance to testify in spite of the fact that they were “signed in” before almost everyone else.

The meeting followed a format we have never seen before. The “informational meeting” took center stage but no pro-gun people had any insights into exactly what the meeting was about. Strangely, that was not true of the people who testified on behalf of the government schools.

They repeatedly voiced their support for “amendments to HB 2797.” 2797 is the bill that clarifies lawful carry of handguns on motorcycles, ATVs and snowmobiles. The “amendments” clearly outlawed CHL holders from being on school property. Oddly, only the government school representatives seemed to have actually seen these “amendments.”

Even one member of the committee asked what these supposed “amendments” were, since he had not seen them either.

After repeated references to these amendments. the chair of the committee, Floyd Prozanski, informed the audience that “there were no amendments to any of the bills” being heard today. But even after he said that several times, more representatives of the government schools referred to the “amendments to HB 2797.”

It was quite odd that numerous people who worked for the state school establishment testified in favor of amendments to a specific bill that would outlaw CHL carry on school property, but no one else saw these amendments and the Chair insisted they did not exist. Someone is not being very forthcoming.

Although we were told that the “informational meeting” would cover guns in schools, rights restoration for people with felony convictions, and “mental health issues” it was clear that the focus was on licensed carry at schools. It was also clear that the anti-gun school establishment was privy to inside information denied to everyone else.

The government school reps trotted out all the same paranoid cliches they have been relying on for years. School superintendent Susan Castillo testified that guns in schools were a dangerous proposition and illustrated her position by citing Columbine, Thurston High School and Virginia Tech. When asked if any of those shooters were concealed handgun license holders she admitted they were not, but the schools did not want to “wait “until a CHL holder opened fire on a class full of children. (Hey, it could happen, right?) Of course, just as every CHL holder is a potential mass murderer, every public school teacher is a potential child molester. So clearly we need to address that issue.

Ginny Burdick demonstrated, once again, her perennially addled state by testifying that CHL holders could not be trusted in schools because they did not have the extensive training that police have. She went on to illustrate her point by citing data from the New York City Police Department which concluded that NYC cops rarely hit their targets.

This is an interesting argument. On the one hand, the anti-gun crowd does not want to recognize the CHLs from other states because they may not meet Oregon’s lofty training requirements. On the other hand, we cannot trust CHL holders in schools because they have such paltry training requirements.

Of course, over and over, the anti-gun mouthpieces complained about the carnage caused by guns in schools. And over and over they were asked if any of the people who were responsible for violence in schools were CHL holders.

The number of problems involving CHLs according to the anti-liberty zealots? Er…uhh…oh…none.

After listening to multiple representatives of the Oregon government schools testify that the most law abiding Oregonians need to be disarmed because of the acts of the most criminal Oregonians, we were struck with a horrifying thought. These people are teaching our children. There have been few more compelling arguments for homeschooling than today’s testimony.

If you are a public school teacher, you should know how you are being represented in Salem. If you are a parent with children in the public school system you should know how your children are being propagandized.

In spite of Prozanski’s repeated denials, there would seem to be amendments to one of the gun bills to, once again, dredge up the failed efforts to ban CHL holders from being on school property. Why we are allowed to be in malls, parks and even the Capitol, but we can’t be trusted to pick up our children from school is never answered by the school union reps, the School Superintendent, or the orchestrated and delusional members of the government school monopoly.

Either the teachers’ union or the Chairman of the committee is lying about the phantom “amendments” to 2797. The hearing ended with no testimony from any member of the gun lobby. Prozanski announced that he would pick this hearing up again next Tuesday. If the deck will be stacked again then, we cannot say. It is clear however, that there is an effort to butcher the pro-gun bills that passed the House with wide margins.

We strongly encourage you to continue to make your voice heard on the three bills that were supposed to be heard today. Please contact the following Senators and tell them to pass House Bills 2787, 2792, and 2797 as passed by the House with NO amendments. These are the people that need to hear from you. Do not be hesitant to contact them multiple times.

Floyd Prozanski
Capitol Phone:
503-986-1704
District Phone:
541-342-2447
sen.floydprozanski@state.or.us

Jackie Dingfelder
Capitol Phone:
503-986-1723
District Phone:
503-493-2804
sen.jackiedingfelder@state.or.us

Suzanne Bonamici
Capitol Phone:
503-986-1717
District Phone:
503-627-0246
sen.suzannebonamici@state.or.us

About:
The Oregon Firearms Federation has proven itself to be Oregon’s only no compromise lobbying group, OFF takes the same tough stands and serves as a vehicle for educating gun owners, promoting their rights and when necessary, fighting the freedom haters in court. Visit: www.oregonfirearms.org

National Rifle Association

FAIRFAX, Va. --(Ammoland.com)- We have reported many times on the Brady Campaign’s rush to exploit tragedy for political gain.

Since its inception as the National Council to Control Handguns over 30 years ago, the group has premised its entire agenda on this kind of exploitation for political gain, and on the notion that having more gun control laws and, therefore, fewer guns, means that crime must necessarily decrease.

Since the senseless January 8 attack on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her innocent staff and constituents, anti-Second Amendment groups have been working overtime to exploit the tragedy to resurrect their political agendas. The Brady Campaign’s most recent, tasteless ploy may represent a new low.

The group has coined the term “assault clip” to describe magazines that are capable of holding more than 10 rounds. They are claiming that these “assault clips” lead to more crime and should therefore be banned. This is nothing more than a rehash of the magazine bans they’ve been supporting for nearly two decades, but they promote it with a despicable twist.

The group’s new ad shows a young male shooter on a range, shooting a pistol at silhouette targets first depicting a young girl, then a series of other innocent citizens.

The imagery is meant to support the Brady assertion that, “large capacity ammunition magazines are designed to enable shooting mass numbers of people quickly and efficiently without reloading.” But in truth, the ad insults not just the intelligence of viewers, but also the good name of the millions of honest Americans who own such firearms and magazines.

Today, Americans own more semi-automatic rifles than ever before, and more self-defense handguns with standard magazines that hold more than 10 rounds than ever before.

Yet despite gun ban groups’ predictions, the nation’s violent crime rate is at a 35-year low.

About:
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. Visit: www.nra.org

Rocky Mountain Gun Owners

Colorado --(Ammoland.com)- Though not a surprise, yesterday the Senate State Affairs Committee voted 3-2 to kill HB1205, RMGO’s Constitutional Carry bill, which was carried by St. Rep. Chris Holbert and St. Sen. Greg Brophy.

The legislation would have made Colorado a “permit optional” state for concealed carry, joining Vermont, Alaska, Arizona, and Wyoming.

Despite overwhelming testimony that states with similar laws did not, in fact, see an increase in violence, Democrat Senators in the State Affairs Committee (Sens. Rollie Heath, Betty Boyd, and Bob Bacon) voted against the bill while GOP Sens. Kevin Grantham and Bill Cadman voted for the legislation.

State Senator Greg Brophy (front) and RMGO Executive Director Dudley Brown testify in favor of HB1205 on March 23, 2011. Click the image to watch the testimony.

Senator Greg Brophy told committee members that HB1205 would simply level the playing field for law-abiding citizen, but criminals really don’t care what the law says – and don’t seek permits in the first place.

RMGO Executive Director Dudley Brown said that domestic violence prevention groups should support Constitutional Carry rather than oppose it, since the permit process itself is intimidating to many females who don’t want to be on lists and don’t normally think of themselves as gun advocates but might need the means to self defense in volatile situations.

“Why should a woman who wants to defend herself from a stalker or violent ex-boyfriend be forced to acquire an expensive permit, just for the permission to protect herself?” said Brown.

Yuma County Sheriff Chad Day, testifying on behalf of himself and Weld County Sheriff John Cooke, said the Second Amendment is a right. “Causing people to jump through government hoops turns that right into a mere privilege.” Sheriff Day cited numerous statistics to show that more citizens carrying concealed is a good thing for public safety.

Of course, Sheriff Day wasn’t the only law enforcement to speak on the bill. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle (representing “Republican-In-Name-Only” Arapahoe Sheriff Grayson Robinson and Adams County Sheriff Doug Darr) opposed the bill.

Lobbyist Anne Marie Jensen, who represented the Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police but also normally works for Tom Mauser’s “Colorado Ceasefire Capitol Fund”, said “Sen. Brophy believes more guns will make citizens safer. Unfortunately, the Chiefs don’t agree.”

Those advocating for Constitutional Carry should take heart: it took 9 years to pass a “Shall Issue” law in Colorado, and this is a long-term fight. Just remember these votes in the 2012 elections.

RMGO has fought for Constitutional Carry (often called Vermont) since the founding of the group. And as the famous movie line goes, We’ll be back.

About:
Based in Colorado, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners is Colorado’s largest state-based gun lobby. It is a group solely dedicated to the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Our strategy is simple: don’t give an inch. Visit: www.rmgo.org

Maryland Shall Issue

Maryland -–(Ammoland.com)- As many of you know, the organization formally recognized as Ceasefire Maryland no longer exists as such in the eyes of the Maryland government due to forfeiting their corporate charter.

Contrary to all common sense, this group continues to trade off of the name and represent itself before the General Assembly as a legitimate organization.

On March 8th, professional lobbyist Eric Gally testified before the House Judiciary Committee as representing Ceasefire Maryland. After his brief and predictable testimony in favor of HB1043, which would have given the Maryland State Police the authority to inspect gun dealers’ records without cause, much hilarity ensued as Delegate Michael Smigiel proceeded to dismantle Mr. Gally’s charade before the entire committee and audience.

We took the time to cull the pertinent video from the more than 5 hours of testimony.

Aside from the obviously distasteful manner in which this group of individuals continues to represent itself, it is even more so that, while our people are true grassroots activists who take leave time from work in order to attend these hearings, the other side can’t be bothered with such trivialities and brings in hired guns to do their dirty work.

Mission Statement: Maryland Shall Issue is an all volunteer, non-partisan effort dedicated to the preservation and advancement of all gunowners’ rights in Maryland, with a primary goal of CCW reform to allow all law-abiding citizens the right to carry a concealed weapon; and to the education of the community to the awareness that ‘shall issue’ laws have, in all cases, resulted in decreased rates of violent crime.

Delias Gun Shop Protesters

AmmoLand Gun News

Philadelphia, PA --(Ammoland.com)- It appears from the attached email that PBS, (we have not yet been able to verify this) has agreed in advance to film the anti gun protesters that have been targeting the small firearms retailer, Delia’s Gun Shop in Philadelipiha, PA.

The fact that the Public Broadcast Service “PBS”  had agreed in advance (coordinated) to film an anti-gun protest, says almost all that needs to be said. Ceasefire NJ And Heeding God’s Call are planning a protest in PA for this Tuesday March 15th.

Heeding God’s Call has a  list of demands that they want all firearms retailers to sign before they will stop protesting what is already perfectly legal to do:

The List of Demands Includes

1. Videotaping the Point of Sale for All Firearms Transactions. Participating retailers will videotape the point-of-sale of all firearms transactions and maintain videos for 6 months to deter illegal purchases and monitor employees.
2. Computerized Prime Gun Trace Log and Alert System. Maors Against Illegal Guns will develop a computerized system that participating retailers will implement over time to log crime gun traces relating to the retailer. Once the program is in place, if a customer who has a prior trace at that retailer attempts to purchase a firearm, the sale will be electronically flagged. The retailer would have discretion to proceed with the sale or stop the sale.
3. Purchaser Declaration. For sales flagged by the trace alert system, participating retailers will ask purchasers to fill out a declaration indicating that they meet the legal requirement to purchase the firearm.
4. Deterring Fake IDs. Participating retailers will only accept valid federal- or state-issued picture IDs as primary identification. Retailers will utilize additional ID checking mechanisms.
5. Consistent Visible Signage. Participating retailers will post signage created by the Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership to alert customers of their legal responsibilities at the point-of-sale.
6. Employee Background Checks. Participating retailers will conduct criminal background checks for all employees selling or handling firearms.
7. Employee Responsibility Training. Participating retailers will participate in an employee responsibility training program focused on deterring illegal purchasers. The Responsible Firearms Retailer Partnership will create an online training system based on Wal-Mart´s training program.
8. Inventory Checking. Participating retailers will conduct daily and quarterly audits. Guidelines will be based on Wal-Mart´s existing audit procedures.
9. No Sales Without Background Check Results. Participating retailers would prohibit sales based on “default proceeds,” which are permitted by law when background check has not returned a result within 3 days.
10. Securing Firearms. Participating retailers will maintain firearms kept in customer accessible areas in locked cases or locked racks.

If you are in the South Jersey or Philadelphia area today please stop by and support Delia’s Gun Shop.

Heeding God’s Call EMAIL:

Urgent: Protest at NE Philly Gun Shop 4:30 PM TODAY

From: The Rev. Bob Moore [mailto:cfpa@peacecoalition.org]
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2011 7:43 AM
Subject: Urgent: Protest at NE Philly Gun Shop 4:30 PM TODAY

Dear Ceasefire NJ Project Contact,

PBS has decided to film a Protest co-sponsored by Ceasefire NJ and Heeding God’s Call from 4:30-5:30 PM Today, Tuesday, March 15 at Delia’s Gun Shop, 6104 Torresdale Avenue, Philadelphia 19135. The goal is to pressure them to sign a Code of Conduct to inhibit sales to illegal purchasers.

We were unable to publicize this before now, to try and avoid a large counter-protest by the NRA and its allies. If at all possible, I urge you to attend the Protest!

Sincerely,

The Rev. Robert Moore
Executive Director
Coalition for Peace Action &
Peace Action Education Fund
40 Witherspoon St.
Princeton, NJ 08542
(609) 924-5022 phone
cfpa@peacecoalition.org
www.peacecoalition.org

Wyoming Gun Owners

Wyoming --(Ammoland.com)- As you know, the Jenning-Jaggi Constitutional Carry bill has passed through the Wyoming legislature with overwhelming numbers and is currently sitting on Governor Matt Mead’s desk for his signature or veto.

But, as I write this alert, anti-gun forces are mobilizing to push Gov. Mead to veto the legislation.

I just got word that several organizations are right now banging the gong for a Governor’s veto — and Gov. Mead might topple under their effort.

Sadly, we already know that Gov. Mead is on the fence about the Constitutional Carry bill. According to the Chicago Tribune, Mead’s staff is saying that the Governor is still undecided about this common-sense legislation that passed overwhelmingly through the Wyoming legislature.

All of your hard work to pass this bill could be torpedoed by Governor Matt Mead if you and I do not take action today, right now — literally, there is not a minute to waste.

ACTION: There are three simple, easy steps that you can take to make the difference with Gov. Mead.

1. Call the Governor’s office at (307) 777 – 7434 and urge him to sign this widely supported, common sense legislation.
2. Click this link, and use the contact form to email the Governor as well. If you need help with what to say, click here for a sample you can cut and paste.
3. Finally, make sure you forward this to as many pro-gun friends as you have. I know I have more than a few of them, and I bet you do too.

Don’t forget that if you need help with what to write to the Governor, you can cut and paste this sample into your own email.

—————

Gov. Mead,

I join Wyoming Gun Owners and the many thousands of freedom-loving citizens of our state in urging you to sign SF-47, the Constitutional Carry Act of 2011, into law.

This legislation would allow Wyoming to join the other states who recognize that our right to keep and bear arms, without the requirement to obtain a costly and time-consuming permit, is a matter of constitutional rights.

In effect, it makes the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution our permit to carry concealed.

I’ll be watching what happens and will stay informed on your actions through Wyoming Gun Owners.

Signed,

YourName of YourCity, Wyoming

—————

Governor Mead could make a decision about Constitutional Carry at any moment so there isn’t a moment to lose. Act now!

Sincerely,

P.S. All of your hard work to pass the Jennings-Jaggi Constitutional Carry bill is now being threatened by the possibility of a Governor’s veto.

The anti-gun crowd is already whipped into a frenzy and demanding a veto from Governor Matt Mead who has already been undecided on this common-sense legislation.

Please take a moment to follow the three easy steps above.

We’re working feverishly to spread the word before time runs out, but mailers, phone calls, and emails cost money.

Join WyGO Today – Wyoming’s Fastest Growing Gun Rights Organization

About:
Wyoming Gun Owners mission is to advocate, protect and defend the God given and inalienable right to bear arms as in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1 Section 24 of the Wyoming Constitution. Visit: www.wyominggunowners.org

Florida Carry

Florida --(Ammoland.com)- SB 432 is on the agenda of the FL Senate Committee on Criminal Justice on Tuesday, February 22nd at 9:00am.

Florida Carry, Inc. urgently requests that the membership call the phone numbers below and/or send e-mails via the links provided to each of the members of the committee in support of Senate Bill 234.

The NRA authored bill prohibits medical personnel from inquiries regarding gun ownership, prohibits refusal of service based on gun ownership, and affords penalties for offenders.

The American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics have embarked on a path of gun control activism. Long aligned with anti-gun proponents, they now encourage their members to ask about the presence and storage of firearms from both patients and their children and to record the responses. Refusal to provide such information by the patient may be met by refusal of service.

Basing service on whether or not one practices of a constitutionally-protected right is discriminatory. Creating a “gun registry” violates statute. Interrogating children is deplorable.

Florida Carry, Inc. supports SB 432, and encourages its members and all gun owners/carriers to join us in contacting the Senators Criminal Justice Committee.

Senate Bill 432

Here’s a link to the Senate version of the bill.

http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/0432/BillText/Filed/PDF

E-mail Helper (feel free to copy, paste, and edit to suit)

—————————————————————————-

TO: evers.greg.web@flsenate.gov; dean.charles.web@flsenate.gov;
dockery.paula.web@flsenate.gov; margolis.gwen.web@flsenate.gov;
smith.chris.web@flsenate.gov

Subject: SUPPORT SB 432 — Stop Doctors from Violating Gun Privacy Rights

Dear Senator,

This e-mail is to express my support for Senate Bill 432, Privacy of Firearms Owners. As a member of the Florida Senate Committee on Criminal Justice, you will be hearing this bill on Tuesday, February 22nd. I respectfully ask that you wholeheartedly support this bill.

Throughout Florida, doctors and office staff are asking patients and their children if guns are present in their household. Those who reply have the answers recorded on a computer or on paper. Those who don’t reply, in some cases, have been refused service. The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics are actively imposing their agenda against firearms and violating patient privacy in the process. The California Supreme Court ruled this month that a retailer may not ask a customer their zip code, declaring it a “violation of privacy”. Surely “does daddy or mommy own a gun” and “where do they keep it” should be afforded that same protection.

Please support SB 432.

Respectfully yours,

(your name)
(your city, state)

—————————————————————————-

About:
Florida Carry is a non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization dedicated to advancing the fundamental civil right of all Floridians to keep and bear arms for self defense as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I Section 8 of the Florida Constitution. Florida Carry, Inc. was organized by a group of Florida gun rights activists in order to better coordinate activities, effectively lobby the state legislature, and to provide a legal entity capable of filing suit to demand compliance with state and federal law. Florida Carry stands only to represent our members and the over 6 million gun owners of Florida. We are not beholden to any national organization’s agenda that may compromise that mission.
Florida Carry works tirelessly toward repealing and striking down ill-conceived gun control laws that have been proven to provide safe havens to criminals and be deadly to law abiding citizens.

Manasquan, NJ --(Ammoland.com)- Have recent comments by Dick Cheney regarding restrictions on High Capacity Firearms Magazines, combined with the Arizona shooting of 20 people by a mentally deranged individual spurred on President Obama to finally take on the politically dangerous topic of gun control?

The liberal left gun control organizations and anti-gun political fat cats, like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have publicly scolded the president for not moving faster to implement their anti freedom agendas. Up until now the president has shown great restraint from publicly identifying specific actions in the name of limiting the Second Amendment.

But is he now feeling bold enough to take on the majority of freedom loving Americans with the launch of a more gun control?

Announcements by Chris Mathews, Newsweek, and others seem to indicate that the President is planning to hold a press conference regarding just that topic – “increased gun control initiatives”.

When we asked John Lott, resident scholar at American Enterprise Institute & Author of More Guns, Less Crime? he noted: “It seems clear that the Obama administration is going to move openly to do what it has been doing quietly regarding gun control. Presumably he will push for re-instituting parts of the Assault Weapon Ban. ”

“There might also be changes regarding background checks. Both involve spending money on things that do not reduce crime.”

Make no mistake about it any attempt at additional federal gun control initiatives whether through new laws or executive orders (the easy way to gun control without facing Congress, with its new Tea Party & Libertarian backed members) will be a direct assault against the overall American consensus - that we do not need more restrictions on our second amendment freedoms.

“Obama has been a vicious anti-gunner forever. He has deceitfully thrown us a bone with signing into law our right to carry in national parks, but he and his anti-gun cronies would never fail to ever let a ‘tragedy go to waste.’ ”

Anyone paying attention to this master of smoke and mirrors knows he is always ready to pounce on our God given, Constitutionally guaranteed individual right to keep and bear arms, and I along with many freedom fighters feel it coming soon.”

“If we bend over and let it happen, we will get what we deserve. Now is the time to wallpaper and carpetbomb our elected officials and the media with the truth about more guns equal less crime, now more than ever. Give NRA memberships to everyone you know.” said Rock Star and NRA Board Member, Ted Nugent

Agreeing with Mr. Nugent, author and firearms law expert, Alan Korwin, believes it is the time for the Grass Roots Gun Lobby to be on the offensive.

“[It is well known that] the forces aligned against our civil right to arms are disgracefully using an assassin’s heinous crime to foment hatred and attack us, now is not the time to simply resist their power-hungry vitriol and bile, which will only make them push more strongly.

“Now is the time to advance a vigorous pro-rights agenda, because it is the righteous response to the problems their anti-freedom efforts create. Free people from the governmental chains that constrain them, and seek a more robust and fruitful expression of rights that are so fundamental to the American way of life.

“Force them to resist us, by taking the high moral ground on the constitutionally guaranteed right to defend innocent life against whatever evil may confront us.

“To begin, it is well past time to eliminate the obstacles and finally attain national [firearms] carry rights for all law-abiding adult Americans.”

So what should you, a concerned citizen of the United Sates, do in perpetration for this coming attack?

First join a group that supports your rights.
Step one, don’t wait for the main assault, be proactive, do something now. With that in mind, everyday Americans, should join one of the many grass roots gun rights organizations of which there are many including of course, the big dog in the room, the National Rifle Association (NRA).

For some the NRA may not be the best fit. That is OK because you have many other national and local pro gun groups to choose from.

National:

• Second Amendment Foundation (SAF)
• Gun Owners of America (GOA)

State & Local Level:

• Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL)
• Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA)
• Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL)
• Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA)
• Buckeye Firearms Association (BFA)
• These are just a few of the most active groups, there are many more in each state.

Gunny Wants you to like this page!

The second tool is Social Media.
The core of all these initiatives, both for and against gun control, is politicians and their support by their constituents. At the end of the day it is the people each politician directly represents telling them “don’t Sponsor Gun Control or loose your job next election” that will make the difference. We all know that politicians most of all want to keep their jobs.

That is where social media (primarily FaceBook, Twitter) comes in. “Bookmark”, “Tweet”, “Like” and “ReTweet” positive pro gun articles like this one and many others. Keep the social chatter dominated by Pro Gun News and drown out those pushing for taking away your freedoms. By keeping the general public seeing and reading pro gun news story’s, on the side of the issues that supports freedom, we make it easier for them to tell their politicians to keep on the same path. We also build a flood of “What Hot News Story’s” all in support of our freedoms and something political strategists will take notice of.

For many of you, you are already doing it on a small scale, just make a concentrated effort to spread support for gun rights among your networks of friends, fans and family. It is easy, if you are on FaceBook just click the “Like Button” at the top or bottom of this page, if your on delicious, Digg, Reddit, Stumble Upon or Twitter click any of the links found at the bottom of this page. It is that simple, you just took the first step to support your right to keep and bear arms. Felt good right? Now just pick another article and do it again.

It definitely seems that our President is ready to NOT let Arizona’s most recent tragedy “Go To Waste”. Don’t let anti freedom forces, like the Violence Policy Center, Brady Campaign and Mayors Against Illegal Guns influence our politicians and impose more restrictions on your second amendment rights.

Start now and “Join”, “Like” and “Tweet” your way to more Freedom and Less Gun Control.

An armed man is a citizen. An unarmed man is a subject – Unknown

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- Calls for greater gun control in response to the Tucson, Arizona massacre are growing daily on Capitol Hill.

This hardly comes as a surprise. For many legislators, the knee-jerk reaction to any criminal shooting is to pass yet another gun control law, despite the fact that the criminal already broke many laws in the commission of the crime.

The zaniest of the new proposals is one by Representative Peter King (R-NY) to ban guns within 1,000 feet of certain federal officials – including members of Congress. What the Congressman ignores is that what he euphemistically calls “gun free zones” are actually “criminal safety zones.”

Thankfully, House Speaker John Boehner flatly rejected the King plan.

Another proposal, being offered by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), would ban ammunition feeding devices holding more than an arbitrarily determined number of rounds.

Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ-D) (Anti-Gun)

For Mr. Lautenberg, the magic number is 10 rounds.

“These high-capacity clips (sic) simply should not be on the market,” Lautenberg said. “When the Senate returns to Washington, I will introduce legislation to prohibit this type of high-capacity clip.”

But what would Lautenberg say to the “average citizen” who runs out of ammunition when facing multiple attackers? Or, more accurately, what would he say to that victim’s family?

Of course, if Lautenberg were successful there is no doubt he would be back with a ban on even smaller magazines as soon as the next headlines are made. He’s only trying to take a small bite out of the Constitution at this time, as he seeks political advantage from the sad events of last weekend.

To make matters worse, when the Senate reconvenes later this month Majority Leader Harry Reid has cooked up a plan to make it easier to pass anti-gun laws like Frank Lautenberg’s.

Reid is seeking to change the rules of the Senate to strip the minority party (currently Republicans) of their ability to stop legislation using the filibuster, which historically requires a 60 vote majority to overcome.

Pro-gun Senators have successfully used the filibuster to stop gun control, especially when emotions are running high following a nationally publicized shooting.

But before the Senate considers changing its rules to make it easier to pass gun control or votes on any bills that would violate the Constitution, Gun Owners of America has a proposal of its own: Read the Constitution!

As you know, GOA spearheaded the effort to get the Constitution read on the floor of the Congress. Speaker Boehner brought the reading to the House floor two weeks ago, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made no indication that he will follow suit.

That is a sad commentary on the Senate. The Constitution is the real, binding contract with America, but it continues to be ignored even though each and every Senator raises his or her right hand and swears an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” and that they will “bear true faith and allegiance to the same.”

Harry Reid cannot be allowed to continue to rule the Senate with an iron fist. GOA is working with several senate offices on a plan to read the Constitution over Reid’s opposition. It is important for all Senators to support this effort to read out loud America’s most important founding document.

Action: Contact your Senators and urge them to 1) oppose Harry Reid’s plan to do away with the filibuster, 2) oppose the effort by Sen. Frank Lautenberg to ban so-called “high capacity” ammunition feeding devices and, 3) support any effort or resolution to have the U.S. Constitution read out loud on the floor of the Senate.

You can click on the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center to quickly send your Senators a pre-written message.

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. `

CCRKBA.org

BELLEVUE, WA – -(Ammoland.com)- The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is condemning Saturday’s attempted assassination of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and the murders of six people including a federal judge and a 9-year-old child, for which a 22-year-old Tucson man is now facing charges.

“Our sincere sympathy and sorrow goes to the victims of this heinous crime, and their families, who are in our thoughts and prayers,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb. “This was a despicable act of cowardice, and we believe the full force of law should be used against the individual responsible.

“And speaking of despicable,” he continued, “we find it unconscionable that the gun prohibition lobby wasted no time at all in its attempt to exploit this hideous attack in an effort to further its political agenda. When will these people stop dancing in the blood of crime victims in an attempt to resuscitate their relevance?”

Gottlieb was especially critical of attempts by at least two different organizations to link an out-of-context remark made in 2009 by the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre to this crime. He called it a “shameless demonstration of the depths to which the anti-gun-rights lobby will stoop in an attempt to discredit gun rights organizations.”

“We notice,” he said, “that little has been said about the courageous armed citizen, Joe Zamudio, who helped physically subdue the gunman. Despite Mr. Zamudio’s disclosure during interviews with CNN and Fox News that he was armed, the press appears to be largely ignoring this detail.

“The gun apparently used by the suspect, Jared Loughner, was quickly traced to a legal sale at a Tucson-area sporting goods store in November,” he added. “The speed by which that firearm was traced belies claims that police agencies are hindered by current statute that prohibits political exploitation of firearm trace data.

“A horrible crime has been committed, and our nation is stunned,” Gottlieb concluded. “But until this investigation is completed, it is disgusting that gun prohibitionists would rush to the nearest microphone, demanding that we need more laws, while trying to link firearms rights advocates to this tragedy.”

About:
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States. The Citizens Committee can be reached by phone at (425) 454-4911, on the Internet at www.ccrkba.org or by email to InformationRequest@ccrkba.org.

National Association for Gun Rights

Colorado -–(Ammoland.com)- Never one to let a tragedy go un-politicized, the Brady Campaign is once again using the blood of innocents to raise money for their anti-freedom anti-gun agenda.

While our thoughts and prayers were going out the victims of the Tucson shooting, that Brady Campaign machine was shamefully spinning up their fund-raising machine to take advantage of the tragedy.

In an e-mail from the Brady campaign, they used the deaths of a nine-year-old girl, a Federal judge and a Congressional aide to raise money for their group, repeatedly asking for donations in the short e-mail.

It’s simply shocking to me that they would shamelessly try to raise blood-money off of these deaths.

I’ve attached their tasteless fund-raising e-mail below, so you can see exactly what I’m referring to.

For freedom,

Sarah Brady & Her Anti-Gun Cabal Are Simply Shameless in the Wake of AZ Shooting

About:
The National Association for Gun Rights was founded in 2001 to serve as a grassroots gun rights group focusing on building state-level gun rights groups and lobbying for pro-gun federal legislation. Brown has been a gun lobbyist for more than 17 years. Visit: www.nationalgunrights.org

Editorial Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed above do not necessarily reflect those of the staff, AmmoLand Shooting Sports News, or other sponsors and partners. See the Editorial-Review Process for more details.

Virginia Citizens Defense League

Covington VA --(Ammoland.com)- The Brady Campaign couldn’t wait to get in front of the press to call for more gun control (and more money) in the wake of the shooting of Congresswoman Giffords and 18 other people over the weekend.

And the usual anti-gunners in Congress are now rushing to put in bills to restrict your right to keep and bear arms.

Here is some important information about the shooting:

A LEGALLY ARMED CITIZEN HELPED HOLD DOWN THE SHOOTER
As it turns out there was a legally armed citizen who helped subdue Jared Lee Loughner. Upon hearing the shots, Joe Zamudio, who was legally carrying concealed, RAN TOWARDS the shots (as I expect a lot of you would have done, too), not away from the shots, hoping to stop the shooter and save lives.

As an armed citizen he was in a position to do just that. However, upon arriving, he saw that Loughner had just been disarmed and two men were struggling to subdue him. Zamudio, realizing there was no need for him to draw his gun at that point, wisely left it concealed and proceeded to assist in subduing and holding the shooter.

As I have said before, it is frequently the citizen who is the “first responder” to crimes and emergencies out of necessity. They may have to stop the actions of a violent criminal, render aid to a hurt person, etc. while waiting for the police, ambulances, and firetrucks to arrive.

The Fox News timeline shows police/paramedics arriving eight minutes after the first 9-1-1 call was placed. During that time the citizen first responders were saving lives.

Here is the CNN interview where Zamudio talks about being armed, running towards the shots, and helping hold Loughner:

From CNN: http://tinyurl.com/2vltqpp

The Fox timeline for the shooting: From Fox News: http://tinyurl.com/22rqtzn

• 10:11 a.m. — First 911 call is received
• 10:19 a.m. — 6-member rescue crew arrives.

Hats off to all four of the citizens, armed and unarmed, who subdued the killer at great risk to their own lives.

HERE COME THE ANTIS DANCING IN BLOOD
At least one legislator is rushing to put forward an anti-gun bill because of this tragedy. Other legislators are talking about putting in similar bills.

Shamelessly as usual, the Brady Campaign has already called for donations to their group based on the shooting.

As soon as today anti-gun New York Congresswoman Caroline McCarthy wants to put in a bill limiting the magazine capacity of firearms:

From Politico: www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47338.html

A HEARTBROKEN FATHER SPEAKS AGAINST MORE RESTRICTIONS
On the other side, the grieving father of the murdered 9-year-old girl tells Fox News that his daughter would not want more restrictions placed on Americans based on her death (this is a tough, tough interview to listen to):

WHAT TO DO NOW
While I don’t see anti-gun bills getting any traction in the newly elected Congress, we need to keep an eye on them just in case.

VCDL will put out a call for action should it be necessary. In the meantime our thoughts and prayers go to those touched by the shooting, as we focus on the Virginia General Assembly, which starts this week.

About:
Virginia Citizens Defense League, Inc. (VCDL). VCDL is an all-volunteer, non-partisan grassroots organization dedicated to defending the human rights of all Virginians. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a fundamental human right. Visit: www.vcdl.org

Gun Control Liars

Illinois State Rifle Association

Illinois --(Ammoland.com)- Although the trend against draconian firearm rights infringements is in our favor, we must keep the pressure on while the anti’s are on their heels.

While the ISRA wages uphill battles against long entrenched institutional bias against firearm owners in Illinois, the anti-rights push back, harder and more arrogantly than ever.

Political corruption is nothing new to the Chicago area, it began in the levee district in the 1890s and has had over 120 years to flourish. The courts though, are supposed to be the place where every person gets their chance at unbiased justice. The Constitution should prevail, not money or political affiliations, or myths like gun control that distract the people from the real problems that are more difficult to solve.

Of course here in Northeastern Illinois, its easier to blame the lawful gun owner, especially if you are allowed to rewrite history by making up false quotes and other false information credited to historic court decisions.

The ISRA for over 100 years has walked the walk and fought the fight. It is noble and true to course and will let no stone go unturned in the battle to re-establish the firearm rights for all Illinoisans.

Fighting these battles on so many fronts, education, legislatively, and through litigation is costly. The opposition has unfettered wealth behind it. Bloomberg, Joyce Foundation etc. have millions and millions of dollars to throw against us. They’ll do anything to keep the gun control myth alive and distract us from societies real problems, the problems that their political cronies have failed to address resulting in defenseless sheeple who are victimized daily.

Take a few minutes to listen to this recording from a recent online NRA show, where the NRA’s Illinois Lobbyist, Todd Vandermyde speaks about briefs filed in the Wilson et v Cook County et al suit by the Cook County States Attorney’s office.

Mr. Wilson is challenging the so called Cook County Assault weapons ban with the ISRA’s financial support.

The Appellate Court’s answer to the Plaintiffs’ motion to strike the fabricated quote of Heller by the Cook County States Attorneys???

DENIED!!!

If this report doesn’t make you ANGRY and MAD, what will it take? The ISRA doesn’t have millionaires financing its fight, it only has regular people concerned with their rights and the government’s denial of them.

Please donate today to help ISRA keep the pressure on, the pressure we brought when we were plaintiffs in McDonald v Chicago, the pressure that our four lobbyists are putting on Springfield, the pressure that Mr. Wilson is putting on Cook County, help us WIN THIS FIGHT!

Don’t forget to forward this to all your friends and family, repost it to bulletin boards, even hang it in your favorite firearms or outdoors store. We need everyone on board and in the fight! Everyone on your feet, get into the fight, we can no longer afford the luxury of even one single person sitting on the sidelines!

About:
The ISRA is the state’s leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership. Since 1903, the ISRA has represented the interests of over 1.5 million law-abiding Illinois firearm owners Visit: www.isra.org

Oregon Firearms Federation

Salem, Oregon --(Ammoland.com)- It’s the time for giving and once again gun owners across the state are receiving requests for cash from an organization that claims to support gun rights, while working overtime for gun control.

Oregonians who have concealed handgun licenses are getting this letter from “Oregon Gun Owners Political Action Committee”

In 1999 “Oregon Gun Owners” worked with former legislator, and perennial candidate, Kevin Mannix, to forge legislation that would outlaw private transfers of firearms at gun shows. They failed. They then attempted a ballot measure to do the same thing. They failed again. (Their sister-in-arms, Ginny Burdick, armed with millions in out-of-state money succeeded.)

Now “Oregon Gun Owners” is asking real Oregon gun owners to send them cash. What do they do with it? Well in 2010 alone the sent over $8000.00 to anti-gun politicians in Salem. They endorsed Floyd Prozanski and Peter Courtney, two of the most anti-gun politicians in the state, and they sent their lobbyist, Paul Phillips to testify in FAVOR of more gun control in the February “special” session.

Their letter says that the cost of printing their fundraising letter was paid for “by another gun rights organization.” Oddly they don’t say who that was. We think it’s most likely that the other “gun rights” organization was… Oregon Gun Owners.

At this special time of year, when money is tight and scams are uptrending, we at OFF think it’s important to know who you are giving to.

Have a merry and scam-free Christmas.

About:
The Oregon Firearms Federation has proven itself to be Oregon’s only no compromise lobbying group, OFF takes the same tough stands and serves as a vehicle for educating gun owners, promoting their rights and when necessary, fighting the freedom haters in court. Visit: www.oregonfirearms.org

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC --(Ammoland.com)- You did it! Gun Owners of America asked you to get behind our effort to push Congress to read the Constitution on the floor of the House and Senate.

House Speaker Designate John Boehner announced that the clerk of the House of Representatives will read the Constitution aloud at the start of the new Congress.

“This is a great victory for all Americans who care about limited government, individual liberty and the Constitution,” said John Velleco, GOA’s Director of Federal Affairs. “Maybe Congress is finally getting the message that the oath they take to support and defend our most important founding document is still relevant in the 21st century. Reading it is a good first step, but now we must get Congress to abide by the real contract with America.”

At about 4,400 words, it is one of the shortest written Constitutions in the world and will only take about an hour to read. In contrast, the ObamaCare bill weighs in at around 180,000 words and was never read at all by those voting for its passage.

The overwhelming response to GOA’s petition, found at www.readtheusconstitution.org, shows that Americans want Congress to follow the Constitution.

“We will enjoy watching Nancy Pelosi’s face when the clerk reads the Constitution, since it may be the first time she’s ever heard it read. And hopefully the clerk will read it nice and slowly to let the words sink in,” said Velleco.

There is no word yet from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid if the Senate will follow the House’s lead, so GOA is still urging people to visit the website and sign the petition.

The current oath that all members of Congress take reads:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.”

Please help keep the pressure on Congress to read – and abide by – the Constitution. If you’ve already signed the petition, thank you, and please urge all of your pro-gun family and friends to visit www.readtheusconstitution.org.

About:
Gun Owners of America (GOA) is a non-profit lobbying organization formed in 1975 to preserve and defend the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. GOA sees firearms ownership as a freedom issue. `The only no comprise gun lobby in Washington’ – Ron Paul

NRA - ILA

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- NRA-ILA grass roots news recently debuted a new and improved format for the “Grassroots News Minute” video!

To view the current video in its new format, please click above:

Ginny Simone talks to Gary Marbut from the Montana Shooting Sports Association – NRA News

Read More on these topics:

• Boy Finds Gun Yet Knows What To Do
• NRA Assisting High School Student Appeal Expulsion for Unloaded Gun
• Teen Hunter’s Gun-Related Expulsion Overturned

About:
Established in 1871, the National Rifle Association is America’

Students for Concealed Carry on Campus

Any Campus, USA --(Ammoland.com)- Dr. Bill Holda, president of Kilgore College in Kilgore, TX, will have to do some fast backpedaling if he’s to have any hope of outrunning his recent comments about the 1991 massacre at a Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, TX – the second deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, surpassed only by the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.

Dr. Holda recently angered both survivors of the shooting and concealed carry advocates by claiming that some of the victims of the massacre (which became a rallying cry for supporters of lawful self-defense) actually shot each other.

Six days after the November 2 elections, Texas State Representative-Elect David Simpson (R-Longview) pre-filed a bill that would allow holders of state-issued concealed handgun licenses to carry concealed handguns on Texas college campuses. This did not sit well with Dr. Holda, who chastised the move as “unfortunate and ill-advised”i and criticized Simpson for filing the bill without first consulting him. Holda proclaimed, “What we want is for representatives to file legislation based on a good body of information.”ii

As an example of the type of information he believes Simpson failed to consider, Holda pointed to the Luby’s massacre, telling a local TV station, “[During the Luby’s massacre] you had multiple shooters, and innocent people were killed by other people who had concealed, licensed handguns, because they weren’t sure who was the shooter and who was a defender.”iii

Holda’s frightening depiction of the 1991 mass shooting suffers from only one flaw: It is a complete and total fabrication that lacks even a hint of truth. The State of Texas did not begin issuing or honoring concealed handgun licenses until 1996, five years after the Luby’s massacre. At the time of the shooting, state law made it a serious crime for anyone other than a law enforcement officer to carry a handgun. All of the victims (23 killed, 20 wounded) were shot by the lone gunman himself.

Bill Holda’s grievous misstatement of fact is not sitting well with at least one survivor of the Luby’s massacre. After watching her parents die in the attack, Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp became one of America’s leading advocates for the legalization of concealed carry. She testified before Congress and several state legislatures that she very well could have stopped the gunman had she not been required to leave her gun in her car.

Dr. Hupp, a former Texas State Representative and the author of From Luby’s to the Legislature, responded to Holda’s comments by stating, “I’m not sure which is more offensive, the apparent complete fabrication of Dr. Holda’s Luby’s Cafeteria story or the lack of journalistic effort by the reporter to correct his fictional tale.” Addressing Bill Holda directly, Hupp added, “Dr. Holda, the only person who had a gun was the madman slaughtering those around me like fish in a barrel. I defy you to name one place in this country where a mass shooting has occurred despite the people there being allowed to carry concealed handguns for protection. These madmen go where they know they will get a high body count.”

Bill Holda’s statement about the Luby’s massacre is unparalleled in its audacity, but it is not the only time he has stumbled over the facts, in his rush to speak out against the pending “campus carry” bill. Holda recently accusediv Texas legislators of hypocritically pushing campus carry legislation while refusing to allow concealed handguns in the House and Senate galleries. In reality, licensed concealed carry is now allowedv throughout the Texas Capitol, including in the chamber galleries.

Dr. Holda also describedvi Simpson’s legislation as an unfunded mandate and suggested that the bill is not in keeping with a fiscally conservative agenda, despite the fact that no provision of the bill places any fiscal demands on colleges or universities. The bill, as written, would simply place colleges and universities under the same rules as churches, movie theaters, shopping malls, office buildings, grocery stores, restaurants, banks, etc.

Dr. Bill Holda is not shy about his belief that he should have been consulted prior to the filing of this bill, yet everything he has said on the subject has been not only wrong but monumentally and offensively wrong. By repeatedly demonstrating his ignorance of the facts, Bill Holda serves as a perpetual rebuttal to his own assertion that college officials, not state legislators, are best equipped to determine whether or not licensed concealed carry should be allowed on Texas college campuses.

W. Scott Lewis, Texas legislative director for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, lamented, “I can only assume that this is what we have to look forward to from the ivory tower academics who claim to know what’s best for the adults working and studying at state-funded colleges.”

Lewis then added, “I can’t imagine that Dr. Holda is anxious to make any more public statements on this issue, but if he is serious about wanting a ‘good body of information,’ or if he just wants another opportunity to stick his foot in his mouth, my organization would welcome the opportunity to hold an open debate on the Kilgore College campus.”

For more information, contact Daniel Crocker (Daniel.Crocker@ConcealedCampus.org) or W. Scott Lewis (Scott@CampusCarry.com), or visit www.TexasStudentsCarry.com.

About:
Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) is a national, non-partisan, grassroots organization comprising over 44,000 college students, professors, college employees, parents of college students, and concerned citizens who believe that holders of state-issued concealed handgun licenses should be allowed the same measure of personal protection on college campuses that current laws afford them virtually everywhere else. SCCC has members in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. SCCC is not affiliated with the NRA or any other organization. SCCC extends an open invitation to publicly debate representatives from any organization or institution opposed to “campus carry.” Visit: www.concealedcampus.org

• i Draper, J. (2008, Nov. 13). “College president balks at freshman representative’s handgun bill.” Kilgore News Herald, p. 1. (http://www.kilgorenewsherald.com/news/2010-11-13/Front_Page/College_president_balks_at_freshman_representative.html)
• ii Ibid.
• iii Claiborne, C. (Reporter). (2010, Nov. 16). KETK News at Ten [Television broadcast]. Tyler, TX: KETK NBC 56. (http://www.ketknbc.com/news/one-local-college-president-says-no-way-to-campus-guns).
• iv Draper, J. (2008, Nov. 13). “College president balks at freshman representative’s handgun bill.” Kilgore News Herald, p. 1. (http://www.kilgorenewsherald.com/news/2010-11-13/Front_Page/College_president_balks_at_freshman_representative.html)
• v Tripp, A. (2010, April 20). “Metal Detectors in the Texas Capitol and CHLs.” Message posted to https://www.tsra.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=240:metal-detectors-in-the-texas-capitol-and-chls&catid=55:tripp-talk&Itemid=113
• vi Draper, J. (2008, Nov. 13). “College president balks at freshman representative’s handgun bill.” Kilgore News Herald, p. 1. (http://www.kilgorenewsherald.com/news/2010-11-13/Front_Page/College_president_balks_at_freshman_representative.html)

Buckeye Firearms Foundation

Ohio --(Ammoland.com)- Regular readers of Buckeye Firearms Foundation website are familiar with the refrain ” elections matter.”

Buckeye Firearms Association feels that elections are the most important component of firearm rights: without pro-gun legislators, prosecutors, judges and law enforcement, your fundamental right to own firearms and your fundamental right to self-defense are in constant peril.

To give the reader an illustration of the importance of elections, we need to look no further than the final day of testimony on SB239 (restaurant carry and eliminating car carry restrictions) and SB247 (fixing Ohio’s restoration of rights statute).

On this day, those opposed to your rights got their opportunity to testify in front of the Senate. The tone, and content, of the testimony starkly reveals the difference between elected and unelected officials.

Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police
John Gilchrist Esq. is the professional/paid lobbyist for the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP.) In Ohio, Chiefs of Police are unelected officials, most often appointed by a mayor or a city council. There is no direct accountability to the voters. The OACP has opposed every single piece of pro-gun legislation that empowers civilians, including the original concealed carry law. This time was no different. During his testimony, Gilchrist opined that statistics are ” worthless” (thus the Senators should ignore any empirical evidence and/or what other states are doing.) He also spouted the tired refrain that guns and alcohol don’t mix, that licensees are a safety risk and that he wants licensee information to be public record. Gilchrist’s justification for making the licensee records public is that no one is telling the sheriff when a licensee is arrested (i.e. the police aren’t doing their job.)

Ohio Fraternal Order of Police
Mark Drumm is the professional/paid lobbyist for the Ohio Fraternal Order of Police. The FOP is a union that represents sworn police officers and is funded through union dues deducted from wages paid to police officers (i.e. funded by your tax dollars.) Neither the labor union leadership nor the members are directly accountable to voters. The FOP opposes SB239, according to Drumm, in part because it would: allow licensees to drive around twirling guns on their finger, allow the use of quick draw holsters that are a danger to police and require those going to restaurants to have ” designated shooters.” Drumm also testified that police officers should be allowed to drink in restaurants and/or while consuming because they are ” better trained,” ” better decision makers,” and have received weapons retention training. (I should note that I had the OPOTC training curriculum in my hands as Drumm testified, and sure enough, there isn’t any training about how to carry while intoxicated, no training on carrying concealed and no explanation of how a person would get into a situation where there would be a ” gun snatch” when the gun is concealed.) The tone, content and manner of his testimony was condescending and insulting to gun owners.

Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association
Steve Loomis is the officer designated to represent the Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association (CPPA). The CPPA is a union that represents sworn Cleveland police officers and is funded through union dues deducted from wages paid to police officers (i.e. funded by your tax dollars.) Neither the labor union leadership nor the members are directly accountable to voters. I note that Loomis is a designated officer versus a paid/professional lobbyist to point out that he isn’t doing this for a living. I make this point because I hope Loomis was simply having an ” off day,” as he generally has been polite, professional and supportive of concealed carry. His testimony on this day was quite the opposite.

The CPPA is convinced that, if SB239 passes, drunken fools will be getting into gun fights instead of fist fights. (If a licensee is convicted of being in a fist fight, they are ineligible for a concealed handgun license (CHL) for 3 years, so obviously licensees aren’t getting into drunken fist fights now.) Perhaps most concerning Loomis opined several times that his officers were now more likely to shoot licensees during traffic stops and when responding to ” bar fights.” While his tone and demeanor were polite and professional, the content of his testimony was incredibly insulting to gun owners.

Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association
McKenzie Davis is a professional/paid lobbyist that represents the Buckeye State Sheriff’s Association (BSSA). The BSSA is group organized to collectively represent Ohio’s 88 sheriffs, who are all elected officials and directly accountable to voters every four years. BSSA pointed out that they have supported most improvements to Ohio’s concealed carry law, and that they were the only group to support the original concealed carry law that established the license. BSSA testified that ” guns and alcohol don’t mix” and that it was OK for officers to be in bars because they are better trained. Davis’ testimony was about three minutes, was polite and professional; he made the few points in opposition and then he sat down.

Ohio Association of Prosecuting Attorneys
John Murphy is a professional/paid lobbyist that represents the Ohio Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (OPAA). The OPAA is a group organized collectively to represent Ohio’s 88 prosecuting attorneys, who are all elected officials directly accountable to voters every 4 years. OPAA also includes prosecutorial staff, such as assistant prosecutors and victim advocates. The group is funded with dues almost always paid from tax dollars, either from prosecutor’s general funds or furtherance of justice funds (i.e. your tax dollars.) Murphy testified that OPAA was OK with removing the vehicle carry restrictions but had concerns about the restaurant carry portion. Murphy’s testimony was polite, subdued and to the point. I should note that Dave Yost, candidate for state Auditor, is on the current Executive Committee of OPAA, and Yost did a lot of work educating his fellow prosecutors on the technical issues involved in these two bills.

No one testified in opposition to SB247.

I hope this summary of testimony helps illustrate the difference between elected and unelected officials. The elected officials take the time to understand the issues, analyze them critically and then make a decision. If they don’t agree with something, they make that point in a professional way and then don’t belabor the point, appealing to emotional arguments or insults. The unelected officials/groups act much differently, with much more arrogance and contempt for your rights.

Direct accountability matters a lot, and there are two parts to direct accountability: first, the position must be elected (i.e. it is well past time to pass a constitutional amendment requiring chiefs of police be elected) and second, you must work in support of, and get out and vote for, pro-gun candidates.

Ken Hanson is a gun rights attorney in Ohio. He serves as the Legislative Chair for Buckeye Firearms Association, and is the attorney of record for Buckeye Firearms Foundation, which filed friend-of-the-court briefs in the Heller and McDonald Supreme Court cases. The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) has awarded him with its 2008 Defender of Justice Award and 2009 Jay M. Littlefield Volunteer of the Year Award. He is the author of The Ohio Guide to Firearm Laws, a certified firearms instructor and holds a Type 01 Federal Firearms License.

About:
Buckeye Firearms Association is a grassroots political action committee dedicated to defending and advancing the right of Ohio citizens to own and use firearms for all legal activities. Visit: www.buckeyefirearms.org

Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership

Hartford, WI --(Ammoland.com)- This new film produced by JPFO is essential viewing, showing as it does just how many Jews, many in power, continue to be promoting “Gun Control”. The comment from most gun owners hinges on the “do some people never learn anything from history”?

If any historic proof was needed regarding Gun Control”, you only have to review the JPFO Genocide Chart, to see how disarmament equates to victims, often on a large scale.

Read about the film “Nazi Death Camps” - a chilling JPFO movie. A recent event August 31st 2010 when four people were brutally shot to death in their car (including a pregnant woman) further highlights the tragedy of gun control – Read an article that further proves the validity and necessity for “No Guns For Jews”.

This is a 40 minute five part sequential viewing hosted on YouTube.

About:
Jews For The Preservation Of Firearms Ownership Mission is to destroy “gun control” and to encourage Americans to understand and defend all of the Bill of Rights for everyone. Those are the twin goals of Wisconsin-based Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO). Founded by Jews and initially aimed at educating the Jewish community about the historical evils that Jews have suffered when they have been disarmed, JPFO has always welcomed persons of all religious beliefs who share a common goal of opposing and reversing victim disarmament policies while advancing liberty for all.

JPFO is a non-profit tax-exempt educational civil rights organization, not a lobby. JPFO’s products and programs reach out to as many segments of the American people as possible, using bold tactics without compromise on fundamental principles. Visit www.JPFO.org Copyright JPFO 2010

Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore

Maryland --(Ammoland.com)- Research for a future article on the fund raising and spending habits of certain Maryland political action committees (PACs) produced an unexpected piece of information.

The Brady Center is not listed on the Maryland Campaign Finance web site but a “Google” search did find a listing under the Better Business Bureau.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) produces reports on charities as well as businesses. The BBB Accredited Business and Charities directory contains a listing for the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

According to the BBB, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence DOES NOT meet one or more of the 20 standards for Charity Accountability.

Brady Campaign for the Prevention of Gun Violence

BBB Evaluation Conclusions RE Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence:

Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (Brady Center) does not meet the following 6 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Standard 1: Oversight of Operations and Staff – Organizations shall have a board of directors that provides adequate oversight of the charity’s operations and its staff. Indication of adequate oversight includes, but is not limited to, regularly scheduled appraisals of the CEO’s performance, evidence of disbursement controls such as board approval of the budget, fund raising practices, establishment of a conflict of interest policy, and establishment of accounting procedures sufficient to safeguard charity finances.

Brady Center does not meet this Standard because its board of directors does not:

• Have a voting member of the board who is assigned the responsibility of serving as the treasurer. In general, the board’s treasurer helps provide independent oversight of the organization’s finances.

Standard 4: Compensated Board Members – Not more than one or 10% (whichever is greater) directly or indirectly compensated person(s) serving as voting member(s) of the board. Compensated members shall not serve as the board’s chair or treasurer.

Brady Center does not meet this Standard because:

• 2 members out of the 19 member board of directors (11%) are compensated directly.

Standard 6: Board Policy on Effectiveness – Have a board policy of assessing, no less than every two years, the organization’s performance and effectiveness and of determining future actions required to achieve its mission.

Brady Center does not meet this Standard because:

• Its effectiveness assessment policy does not specify that this assessment will take place at least once every two years.

Standard 7: Board Approval of Written Report on Effectiveness – Submit to the organization’s governing body, for its approval, a written report that outlines the results of the aforementioned performance and effectiveness assessment and recommendations for future actions.

Brady Center does not meet this Standard because:

• It did not produce a written report outlining the results of its most recent effectiveness assessment.

Standard 17: Web Site Disclosures – Include on any charity websites that solicit contributions, the same information that is recommended for annual reports, as well as the mailing address of the charity and electronic access to its most recent IRS Form 990.

Brady Center does not meet this Standard because the organization’s website, www.bradycenter.org, does not include all of the recommended information for those charity websites that solicit for donations. Specifically, it does not include:

• Electronic access to the organization’s most recent IRS Form 990.

Standard 18: Privacy for Written Appeals & Internet Privacy – Address privacy concerns of donors by (a) providing in written appeals, at least annually, a means (e.g., such as a check off box) for both new and continuing donors to inform the charity if they do not want their name and address shared outside the organization, (b) providing a clear, prominent and easily accessible privacy policy on any of its websites that tells visitors (i) what information, if any, is being collected about them by the charity and how this information will be used, (ii) how to contact the charity to review personal information collected and request corrections, (iii) how to inform the charity (e.g., a check off box) that the visitor does not wish his/her personal information to be shared outside the organization, and (iv) what security measures the charity has in place to protect personal information.

Brady Center does not meet this Standard because the privacy policy on this website, www.bradycenter.org does not indicate:

• What security measures are in place to protect personal information that is collected.

Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence (Brady Center) meets the remaining 14 Standards for Charity Accountability.

National Rifle Association

NRA Gets a B+
In comparison the NRA is rated B+ and has resolved almost all complaints registered with the BBB.

The company’s size, volume of business and number of transactions may have a bearing on the number of complaints received by the BBB. The complaints filed against a company may not be as important as the type of complaints, and how the company has handled them. The BBB generally does not pass judgment on the validity of complaints filed.

Number of complaints processed by the BBB

• in the last 36 months: 14
• in the last 12 months: 8

Complaints Concerned:
Selling Practices (7 complaints)

• 6 Resolved
• 1 Company made every reasonable effort to resolve

Advertising Issues (2 complaints)

• 2 Resolved

Customer Service Issues (2 complaints)

• 2 Resolved

Credit or Billing Disputes (1 complaints)

• 1 Resolved

Delivery Issues (2 complaints)

Better Business Bureau

• For Consumers
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• About Us
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Better Business Bureau

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BBB For Consumers

• Check Out a
  Business or Charity
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• Charity Reports Index
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BBB Wise Giving Report for
Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence

BBB Wise Giving Report issued January 2010
BBB Wise Giving Report expires January 2012

Does not meet one or more standards
This charity does not meet one or more of the 20 standards for Charity Accountability. Find out more…

 

Find out more about this charity:

Charity Contact Information BBB Wise Giving Alliance Comments Programs

Tax Status Governance Fund Raising Financial

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Charity Contact Information

Name:	Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Address:	1225 Eye Street NW, #1100
	Washington, DC 20005
Phone:	202-289-7319
Web Address:	www.bradycenter.org

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BBB Wise Giving Alliance Comments

Year, State Incorporated: 1983, District of Columbia
Affiliates: Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence

Stated Purpose: “to create an America free from gun violence, where all Americans are safe at home, at school, at work, and in our communities.”

 

 

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Evaluation Conclusions

• 2 Resolved

About:
Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore, Inc. (AGC), located in Marriottsville, Maryland. The Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore, Inc. was formed on July 1, 1944 when a number of World War II veterans in the Baltimore, Maryland area began looking for a place for recreational and competitive shooting. They organized with several other Baltimore area shooting clubs to form the “AGC” Visit: www.associatedgunclubs.org

National Shooting Sports Foundation

NEWTOWN, Conn --(AmmoLand.com)- All Gun Owners, Hunters and Shooters, The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) – the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry — urges you to contact the Environmental Protection Agency to oppose a petition filed August 3 by the extremist Center for Biological Diversity to ban traditional ammunition.

Your right to choose the ammunition you hunt and shoot with is at stake.

Express your opposition by calling or e-mailing:

And

Background:
The National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry, encourages all gun owners, hunters and shooters to oppose the petition filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeking to ban the use of traditional ammunition containing lead-core components. This ban would apply to ALL ammunition including ammunition used by target shooters.

Filed by several agenda-driven groups including the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the petition erroneously claims that the use of traditional ammunition poses a danger to (1) wildlife, in particular raptors such as bald eagles, that may feed on entrails or unrecovered game left in the field and (2) that there is a human health risk from consuming game harvested using traditional ammunition. Also falsely alleged in the petition is that the use of traditional ammunition by hunters is inconsistent with the Toxic Substance Control Act of 1976 — Congress expressly exempted ammunition from being regulated as a “toxic substance.”

NSSF urges you to stress the following in your opposition:

• There is no scientific evidence that the use of traditional ammunition is having an adverse impact on wildlife populations that would require restricting or banning the use of traditional ammunition beyond current limitations, such as the scientifically based restriction on waterfowl hunting.
• Recent statistics from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service showing that from 1981 to 2006 the number of breeding pairs of bald eagles in the United States increased 724 percent. And much like the bald eagle, raptor populations throughout the United States are soaring.
• A ban on traditional ammunition would have a serious negative impact on wildlife conservation. The federal excise tax that manufacturers pay on the sale of the ammunition (11 percent) is a primary source of wildlife conservation funding. The bald eagle’s recovery, considered to be a great conservation success story, was made possible and funded by hunters using traditional ammunition – the very ammunition organizations like the CBD are now demonizing.

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.

U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance

Columbus, OH --(Ammoland.com)- Editor’s Note: According to a recent online survey conducted by AnglerSurvey.com and HunterSurvey.com, 64 percent of hunters and anglers report they are not using social networking sites, like blogs, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace to obtain outdoor information.

While these numbers may be slightly different depending on the polls and surveys taken, there is one clear thing to take away from this, the outdoor sports community should have a more active role in the new media environment in order to share experiences and fight back against the loud voices of the anti-hunting/animal rights community.

This week on USSA’s Bullseye Blog is a guest blog, written by blogging expert and executive business coach Barbara C., and will help explain how through blogging, you can get more involved in sharing your passion for the outdoors with friends, family and those that may not know much about our outdoor heritage.

Did you know there’s an easy and fun way to protect your sportsmen’s rights without ever leaving the comfort of home or taking too much time away from the field?

I’m talking about blogging.

For anyone unfamiliar, the term “blog” is short for the term “weblog”. But blogs aren’t just “kidstuff” anymore and have exploded in a big way with almost everyone using them. Blogs are simply a short story mirroring an editorial about a subject that can be sent out quickly to the masses. There are personal blogs, business blogs, celebrity blogs, and even outdoor news sites like AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.

The Anti's are Blogging are You?

Blogs are popular for many reasons: they’re fun, easy to create and can be easily personalized. They give anyone with the right background the chance to be an authority on the web.

They can also help you protect your rights and traditions by giving you a chance to make an impact on how the public, the press – and even politicians view sportsmen’s issues.

The secret is that blogs run on a technology called RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication. Simply put, whenever you post content on your blog, it can be indexed in Google or other online search engines almost INSTANTLY.

That means that you have the power to instantly publish content directly onto the web, which can be seen by millions of people – including members of the public, the press and politicians.

And on any given day, when those people perform a Google search for “hunting”, fishing” or “antis” – your blog makes your opinion visible – which means your voice can make the difference on any given day.

Can a simple blog translate into political power? YES!

Politicians and pundits check the “blog-o-sphere” daily for the pulse of the people – meaning you.

Blogs are easily the most powerful tool in the fight to protect your rights and those of your fellow sportsmen and women – and it’s as easy as typing.

Which brings us to our next question – are you blogging yet?

As a member of the USSA, you can help simply by blogging! Help us help you! Take our Sportsmen’s Blog Survey & tell us what you think! Click here! (Be sure and mention AmmoLand Shooting Sports News)

And stay tuned to USSA for more helpful and exciting blog ideas and information. Also stay tuned for future stories that will connect you to all the info you need to get started with your own blog.

About:
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance is a national association of sportsmen and sportsmen’s organizations that protects the rights of hunters, anglers and trappers in the courts, legislatures, at the ballot, in Congress and through public education programs. Visit www.ussportsmen.org.

Micro-stamping is an unproven technology that can easily be defeated with common household tools, has no public safety value, and adds substantially to the cost of the firearm.

Shooters Committee on Political Education

Albany, NY --(Ammoland.com)- Since March of 2009, New York anti-gun legislators have worked steadily to advance Micro-Stamping companion bills through the legislature.

The Assembly bill A6468C passed its house May 12th, 2010 and was forwarded to the NYS Senate. The Senate bill is currently under consideration in the Senate Codes Committee; it has been printed and appears on their calendar for Tuesday, June 8th 2010.

Because micro-stamping technology is not yet available, (actual it does not exist) passage of this bill will result in a purchase freeze on all new semi-automatic pistols as of January 1st, 2012.

We must concentrate our efforts on stopping this bill in the Senate Codes Committee. Please call every Codes Committee Member and ask them to oppose this bill.

During you conversation, make your opposition to bill S6005A clearly, but respectfully; and always take the time to leave your name, address, phone number, and request a written response.

Do not be surprised if you cannot talk to the representative personally, this is common, and your efforts with their legislative aids are no less effective.

• John J. Bonacic (518) 455-3181
• Neil D. Breslin (518) 455-2225
• John A. DeFrancisco (518) 455-3511
• Thomas K. Duane (518) 455-2451
• John J. Flanagan (518) 455-2071
• Martin J. Golden (518) 455-2730
• Shirley L. Huntley (518) 455-3531
• Jeffrey D. Klein (518) 455-3595
• Andrew J. Lanza (518) 455-3215
• Kevin S. Parker (518) 455-2580
• Bill Perkins (518) 455-2441
• Stephen M. Saland (518) 455-2411
• John L. Sampson (518) 455-2788
• Daniel L. Squadron (518) 455-2625
• Dale M. Volker (518) 455-3471

The only rights we have are those we defend, and our method of defense is political activism. Stand with us as we oppose these incremental infringements to our most natural right, the right to self defense.

Always remember, You are SCOPE, and you are the Member Activist.

A06468 Summary:
BILL NO A06468C, Same as S 6005-A… Requires semiautomatic pistols manufactured or delivered to any licensed dealer in this state to be capable of microstamping ammunition; establishes fines for violations of this requirement.

• SPONSOR Schimel (MS)
• COSPNSR Englebright, Paulin, Benedetto, Dinowitz, Lancman, Hoyt, Clark,Boyland, Jaffee, Kellner, Carrozza, Brook-Krasny, Rosenthal, O’Donnell, Alessi, Espaillat, Lavine, Kavanagh, Lifton, Aubry, Alfano
• MLTSPNSR Bing, Colton, Cook, Glick, Gottfried, Heastie, Hooper, Jacobs, Jeffries, Maisel, McEneny, Amd SS265.00, 265.10 & 265.15, add SS265.38 & 265.39, Pen L

Brady Campaign

Second Amendment Foundation

Charlotte, NC --(Ammoland.com)- Adhering to a pattern of behavior that has developed over the years, a tiny contingent of gun prohibitionists paraded outside of the Charlotte Convention Center while the National Rifle Association was hosting its record-breaking members’ meeting, but they remained only long enough to get some camera time with local news crews.

Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, came to that North Carolina city in order to grab some face time and get his name in the local newspapers. Where the NRA can pull more than 70,000 members, the Brady bunch could barely muster two dozen protesters (Read how VPC has the same problem) to parade around for perhaps an hour, probably less, and then leave satisfied that the 5 o’clock news would carry their images.

For several years, right up to the devastating 1994 mid-term elections that turned dozens of Congressional anti-gunners out of office, the Brady Campaign and other gun control groups enjoyed media and public support. But when gun rights organizations began fighting back with facts, and developed a strategy of education through legal journals, their influence began to wane. That influence continued to erode as time tested their rhetoric and found it not simply wanting, but totally preposterous.

Their dire predictions in state after state that concealed carry reform and state preemption statutes would spawn Wild West gunfights at fender benders, bloody shootouts in restaurants and cocktail lounges, and skyrocketing murder rates in which perpetrators would be citizens who were licensed to carry all were false. Influential people, including prosecutors and county sheriffs, recognized this and went on the record to say so.

These days, Brady’s Helmke is reduced to spouting platitudes on the steps of the Supreme Court, verbally bashing important civil rights cases like District of Columbia v. Heller and the Second Amendment Foundation’s pending McDonald v. City of Chicago.

His organization has desperately resorted to attacking Starbucks Coffee to gin up support while pandering paranoia; an effort that anti-gunners have developed into an art form, albeit a lousy one.

They have attacked the most anti-gun president in the nation’s history, giving Barack Obama an “F” grade because he is not anti-gun enough to suit their extremist philosophy.

The Brady Campaign has not managed to push through a single piece of federal legislation in more than 15 years. Their attempt to sue the gun industry into bankruptcy using anti-gun mayors as their puppet proxies failed on legal merit and in the court of public opinion.

If it weren’t for the fact that pro-gun rights groups are so active, the Brady bunch would not even have events to attend. In short, gun prohibitionists have become irrelevant, and in their desperation for attention, they appear to be in a state of denial, reaching out to a shrinking audience that still believes in public safety through demagoguery and surrender to the criminal element.

Just like some politicians, Helmke and the Brady Campaign do not know when it is time to retire.

Alan Gottlieb is the Founder of Second Amendment Foundation. Dave Workman is senior editor of Gun Week. They are co-authors of Assault on Weapons: The Campaign to Eliminate Your Guns.

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.

Violence Policy Center - Haters of Freedom

National Rifle Association

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- For quite a long time now, the three or four anti-gun radicals that make up the Violence Policy Center haven’t had much to show the Joyce Foundation for the hundreds of thousands of dollars the leftwing foundation wastefully pumps into the anti-gun group each year.

As regular readers of AmmoLand well know, Second Amendment opponents’ defeats have outnumbered their temporary successes by a wide margin lately.

So, to earn their keep, this week the VPC - so small that it could hold its annual meeting in a closet - issued a predictable rant about NRA’s 2010 Annual Meeting in Charlotte, N.C., at which 70,000 of NRA’s four million members will assemble with former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the ever-popular Chuck Norris, Tom Selleck, and Ted Nugent, and others to celebrate our successes and galvanize our efforts to advance Second Amendment rights in Congress, in state legislatures, in the courts, and in the voting booth.

The specifics of VPC’s rant are not worth mentioning. But we can’t resist noting that the anti-gunners brag that one of them once wrote a book that bad-mouthed the NRA. Doing so gives us the opportunity to note another book, Profiles in Courage, by NRA Life Member President John F. Kennedy. In it, JFK recalled that Missouri’s 19th century U.S. Sen. Thomas Hart Benton was once told by a detractor that he would one day write a book in which Benton would be featured prominently. Benton, JFK’s account recalls, replied that one day he too would write a book, but that his detractor would not be featured in it at all. As VPC’s desperate gripe about our Annual Meeting shows, at the current rate the anti-gun group is destined to have a similar fate.

About:
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. Visit: www.nra.org

New Jersey Outdoor Alliance

Trenton, NJ --(AmmoLand.com)- It’s imperative that anyone interested in reintroducing the concept of “conservation” to Trenton, and reminding our legislators and policy makers that we conservationists support and expect sound game management policy, attend the bear policy meeting on Tuesday.

Regardless of whether or not there is a bear hunt our attendance demonstrates our commitment to the outdoors and that we are willing to get out of our comfort zones whether it’s to support a bear hunt or to prove we will go to the polls to vote in elections.

Our attendance is not as much about a bear hunt as it is our willingness to show we are grassroots activists in our support for fishing and hunting as game management tools that support sensible conservation policy.

ACTION: As the Anti’s have stated below: “You do not have to be a NJ resident to comment on the policy. Your comments do not need to be long. They can just be a few sentences.”

Here is a suggested comment you can copy and paste after following the link below:

I support the proposed bear management plan. Please do not be swayed by a few vocal minority groups as they do not represent opinion of the majority of people that support science based wildlife management.

You can submit your comments at the following link.

http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/bearpolicy10_comment.htm

Meeting Information:
Tuesday, May 11, at 6:00 pm
NJ State Museum
205 W. State Street
Trenton, NJ 08625

Ant

PS – Below is a release from animal extremists. They apparently will be renting buses to bring people to Trenton as a show of their support of granting “rights” to animals as a means of conservation policy.

—————————————————————————————–

The NJ Fish and Game Council is now accepting public comments on their draft Comprehensive Black Bear Management Policy, which includes hunting. Hunting is cruel to the bears, and will not reduce human/bear conflicts. The best way to reduce human/bear conflicts is by controlling garbage and other bear attractants.

A recent survey [by HSUS] found that an overwhelming majority of NJ voters favor non-lethal management of bears.

The deadline for submitting comments is June 18, 2010. Comments can be submitted via regular mail:

Larry Herrighty
CBBMP
Division of Fish and Wildlife
Department of Environmental Protection
P.O. Box 400
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0400

You can also submit comments through the agency’s webform. You do not have to be a NJ resident to comment on the policy. Your comments do not need to be long. They can just be a few sentences.

A personal communication is best, but if you’re short on time or don’t know what to say, you can use the Humane Society of the US webform.

The Bear Education And Resource Group (BEAR Group) will be running buses to the meeting, and has much more information on their website.

Bus schedule:

3:30 PM HillCrest Community Center

1810 Macopin Rd, West Milford, NJ. Park on the extreme left side of building in the back.

4:45 PM Wayne Municipal Building
Park in the back of the lot alongside Valley Rd, across from the library. Please place a sign on your windshield saying that you are on a BEAR group trip to avoid getting a ticket.

5:45 PM Border’s Parking Lot
Commons Way Rd, Bridgewater, NJ. Park in Borders’ parking lot closest to Commons Way Rd.
——————————————————————————-

JOIN NJOA: http://www.njoutdooralliance.org/support/njoa.html

About:
NJOA – The mission of New Jersey Outdoor Alliance is to serve as a grassroots coalition of outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen dedicated to environmental stewardship. We will champion the intrinsic value of natural resource conservation – including fishing, hunting and trapping, among opinion leaders and policy makers. We will support legislation, and those sponsoring legislation, that provides lasting ecological and social enrichment through sustainable use of the earth’s resources. Visit: www.njoutdooralliance.org

National Rifle Association

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- Since September 11, 2001, it’s been clear that terrorists who hate America will exploit our weaknesses in order to destroy us.

This week, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg exploited Americans’ fear of terrorism to push their latest anti-gun proposal, and in doing so showed that they’re willing to destroy other parts of the Constitution, to choke its Second Amendment.

On Tuesday, as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Lieberman held a hearing to give Lautenberg and King the opportunity to promote their bills S.1317 and H.R.2159, to prohibit the possession of firearms by people on the FBI’s “terrorist watchlist,” and Lautenberg’s S. 2820, to maintain records of approved instant background check transactions for a minimum of 180 days. The watchlist bills further propose that a person seeking relief in court from these new restrictions would be prevented from examining and challenging “evidence” against him, and that the judge deciding whether the person had been watchlisted for good reason be limited to summaries and redacted versions of such “evidence.”

Joining Lautenberg, King and Bloomberg to speak in favor of these patently anti-American and unconstitutional bills was Bloomberg’s police commissioner, Ray Kelly.

Claims made by the bills’ supporters during the hearing bordered on the frivolous. Lautenberg cited the failed attempt last Saturday to set off a homemade gasoline-propane bomb in an SUV near NYC’s Times Square — even though his watchlist bill would only regulate firearms and commercially made explosives. Lautenberg then brought up an even more irrelevant incident, the 2008 attack by a terrorist group in Mumbai, India, saying “That’s why we need to change the law” in the United States. A “fanatic” in his own right when it comes to gun control, Lautenberg continued, “Nothing in our laws keeps fanatics on the terror watchlist from purchasing guns and explosives.”

Lautenberg was lying, of course, and Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) called him on it. Knowing that the Government Accountability Office has reported that about 95 percent of people on the watchlist are neither American citizens nor legal residents of the United States, Sen. Graham pointed out “there are 400,000 people on the watchlist.” He then asked, “what percentage of them are American citizens?”

Lautenberg and his allies sat silently, dumbfounded, for what seemed an eternity, until Kelly, dutifully taking the punch so his boss wouldn’t have to, sputtered that he was unable to come up with a figure. Since it was obvious that the anti-gunners didn’t get the point, Sen. Graham clarified it for them: “The law prohibits the purchase of a gun unless you’re an American citizen or a legal resident alien.”

Lautenberg tried to justify his bill by saying “From 2004 to February of this year, terrorists tried to buy guns and explosives 1,228 times. In 91 percent of those cases, they were given the OK to buy the guns.” The claim was misleading, in that the 1,228 checks were accounted for by about 650 individuals, according to the GAO. But Sen. Graham seized upon a more important flaw in the statistic when he asked how many of these “terrorists” were dangerous enough to have been brought up on terrorism charges. On this point too, the Lautenberg team had no response. That led Sen. Graham to question whether the watchlisted gun buyers were as dangerous as the Lautenberg team want people to believe.

King falsely claimed that his bill was justified by last year’s Ft. Hood murders, “where individuals [sic] suspected of terrorist activity legally obtained weapons that were used to kill innocent Americans.” The truth is, the one person (not multiple individuals) accused of the Ft. Hood crime was not “suspected of terrorist activity.” Months before the accused killer bought his gun, the FBI had completed an investigation of him, concluding that despite some suspicious e-mails between the accused and an anti-American Islamist overseas, he was not a terrorist threat. At the bottom line, even if everything that Lautenberg, King and Bloomberg are proposing had already been federal law, it would not have affected the Ft. Hood crime one whit.

Speaking against the proposed legislation during the hearing was Aaron Titus of the Liberty Coalition. “Senate Bill 1317 goes too far,” he said. “The bill should be titled, ‘The Gun Owners Are Probably All Terrorists Act,’ because it strips citizens of their constitutional right to [keep and] bear arms without any meaningful due process. And Senate Bill 2820 should be called, ‘The National Firearm Registry Act’ because it creates a national firearms registry. . . . a massive database of names and detailed personal information of each law-abiding citizen who purchases a gun.”

Titus’ point laid Lautenberg’s, King’s and Bloomberg’s intention bare. While S. 2820 would allow the FBI to retain NICS records on all NICS transactions, 99.999 percent of the people documented in those records would not be persons on the watchlist.

“The bill disingenuously purports to target terrorists,” Titus said, “but in fact only one ten-thousandth of one percent of these records will belong to people on watch lists. Every year, only 200 new watch-list records will be created. But the system will generate more than 14 million new records on law-abiding citizens. Once collected, there’s no limit on what the information may be used for, and no legal requirement to ever delete it.”

Later, Sen. Graham summed up the reason that should motivate every American — regardless of personal feelings about individual gun ownership — to oppose the Lautenberg and King bills. “I think you’re going too far here,” he said. “There’s a huge difference between losing your gun rights based upon a felony charge that was proven by a court of law and appealed, and is a conviction on the books, and being on some list that is, at best, suspect.” NRA members in South Carolina and around the nation owe Sen. Graham their thanks for getting to the heart of the issue.

About:
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. Visit: www.nra.org

Second Amendment Foundation

Washington, DC --(AmmoLand.com)- Following the dismissal of a second lawsuit against the District of Columbia by Dick Anthony Heller in U.S. District Court (his first lawsuit resulted in the 2008 Heller ruling), the Brady Campaign for the Prevention of Gun Violence was a little too quick on the trigger in its press release applauding Judge Ricardo M. Urbina’s decision.

Brady Campaign President Paul Helmke, who has garnered quite a bit of self-created publicity lately in his war against Starbucks Coffee, admitted quite by accident that his organization still believes in banning entire classes of firearms, despite the 2008 Supreme Court ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller that such bans would not pass constitutional muster.

But that doesn’t matter to the Brady Bunch. Their agenda has always been one of gun prohibition, not control. The kinds of controls they consider “common sense” are so Draconian in nature that they actually discourage firearms ownership, and lower the civil right to keep and bear arms to the level of a highly-regulated privilege.

Helmke admonished politicians and legislatures “at all levels” to “stop using the Second Amendment as an excuse for inaction” against what the anti-gun lobby has cleverly dubbed “gun violence.” (After all, what is the difference between “gun violence” and any other kind of criminal violence that results in someone being injured or killed? Is someone any less dead if they are stabbed, strangled, burned or bludgeoned? Helmke’s crew has never explained that, but evidently they think there is a difference.)

Millions of Americans understand that the Second Amendment is not “an excuse” for anything. Law-abiding citizens are not “hiding behind” a constitutional guarantee when they oppose the imposition of extremist regulations like those adopted in the District of Columbia, which Helmke finds so reasonable. These regulations include an onerous registration process requiring a ballistics check of the handgun, a written test and proof of good eyesight.

District regulations also ban so-called “assault weapons,” the definition of which has become so nebulous over the years that just about any firearm someone does not like could fall within its scope, particularly if it is a semiautomatic. The Brady group is just fine with that; they think it is a grand idea. Helmke says the aforementioned politicians and legislatures “should follow the District’s example and pass the strong, common sense gun laws Americans need and demand to protect their communities.”

Brady Campaign for the Prevention of Gun Violence

The Brady Campaign has been disingenuous at best over the years. It was on the losing side in the Heller case, but subsequently turned around and claimed that since there is an individual right to keep and bear arms, and the door has been left open to “reasonable regulation,” then it is reasonable, in their opinion, to essentially regulate gun ownership into extinction. The right would still exist, but exercising it would become a regulatory nightmare.

The Brady Campaign is not now, nor has it ever been, to “prevent gun violence.” Their campaign has always been to prevent gun ownership.[And Freedom - AmmoLand.com]

Alan Gottlieb is founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation. Dave Workman is senior editor of Gun Week. They are co-authors of ‘Assault on Weapons: The Campaign to Eliminate Your Guns.’

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. Visit: www.saf.org

Brady Campaign Time To Act Stupid

National Rifle Association

FAIRFAX, VA --(AmmoLand.com)-  Since its inception as the National Council to Control Handguns over 30 years ago, the Brady Campaign has premised its entire agenda on the notion that having more gun control laws and, therefore, fewer guns, means that crime must necessarily decrease.

History has not been kind to the group’s delusion, however. In recent decades, the severity of gun control laws has been diminished at the federal, state and local levels, the number of guns has increased by over four million a year on average, and today, the nation’s murder and total violent crime rates are at 45-year and 35-year lows, respectively.

If you’re a gun control group, this isn’t the kind of thing you want to put in your press releases to the Washington Post, of course. So, every year the Brady Campaign instead runs a little gimmick where it assigns arbitrary school-grade values to whatever gun control laws the group happens to be pushing at the moment. And since most states don’t have the laws Brady advocates, Brady gives most states very low grades. Naturally, gun control supporters plaster Brady’s school-grade nonsense on the pages of newspapers around the country, hoping people will take it seriously.

Brady came out with its 2010 “grades” this week, and once again we’ll take them as seriously as they deserve.

With the nation’s murder rate having been cut in half since 1991, as Brady’s agenda has been dismantled or rejected by Congress and one state legislature after another, and the numbers of guns, gun owners, Right-to-Carry states, and carry permit holders have risen to all-time highs with no end in sight.

Here are the “highlights” of Brady’s annual exercise in school-grade silliness:

• Out of a possible 100 points and four “stars,” if a state had all of the gun control laws Brady wants, our nation’s 50 states received an average score of only 17 points and only eight-tenths of a star.
• Brady gave only two states “passing” scores for having some of the gun laws it wants, California with a C+ and New Jersey with a C. There were no “Ds.” The other 48 states received “Fs.” Yes, we are talking about states with restrictive laws, such as Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, Hawaii and Illinois–all of which got “Fs.”
• Brady gave California its best grade, for having the most gun control, even though California’s murder and total violent crime rates are 10 percent and 13 percent higher, respectively, than the rates for the rest of the country.
• Utah got Brady’s lowest grade because it has the fewest gun control laws, a fact lamented with all the feigned sorrow and indignation that gun control supporters in the Beehive State can muster. Fortunately, every cloud has a silver lining. Though certainly disillusioned with their low standing among the nation’s anti-gun fringe, the good people of Utah can take at least some comfort in the fact that their murder and violent crime rates are 76 percent and 56 percent lower, respectively, than California’s.

Is it our imagination, or are Brady’s state grades getting worse as the nation’s crime rates go down?

About:
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.

Buckeye Firearms Foundation

Ohio - -(AmmoLand.com)- On December 4, 2009, Buckeye Firearms Association launched a Facebook fan page. Within two months, we grew to over 4,400 fans who were hungry for pro-gun news and information.

On February 8, 2010, our Facebook fan page vanished. No warning. No reason given.

How could this happen? We have only one clue: The day before, our Facebook fan page administrator had the audacity to post a pro-gun message on the Brady Center’s anti-gun fan page.

Did the Brady Center sabotage our page? We have no proof, but you can be the judge.

Normally, we have no contact with the hoplophobic Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. But a news item prompted our administrator to visit their Facebook page. There were comments there on both sides of the gun rights issue. So, the administrator posted a short message:

If you’re tired of the anti-liberty nonsense here, visit Buckeye Firearms Association.

That’s it. No cursing. No threats. Nothing discourteous or out of line. Just a simple invitation.

Shortly afterward, ALL the pro-gun comments vanished. And so did our Facebook page. Coincidence?

Perhaps we should see if we violated a code of conduct. Here’s what Facebook includes in their terms:

Accounts can either be disabled for repeat offenses or for one, particularly egregious violation. What offense did we commit? What did we do that was “egregious”? Is an invitation to a pro-gun page egregious? Is it egregious to suggest that they hold an anti-liberty point of view?

We do not allow users to send unsolicited or harassing messages to people they don’t know …. There was no unsolicited message. The Brady Center’s page was open for comments. There was no harassing message, unless you consider “anti-liberty nonsense” to be harassment.

We also remove content, photo or written, that threatens, intimidates, harasses, or brings unwanted attention or embarrassment to an individual or group of people. Was the Brady Bunch threatened? Intimidated? Embarrassed? Could it be they are so thin-skinned, so “intimidated” by all the millions of freedom-loving Americans, that they burst into tears whenever they encounter a dose of reality?

Again, we have no proof that the Brady Center lodged a complaint claiming that we were “harassing” or “intimidating” them. Facebook will not divulge the reason for their actions: Unfortunately, for technical and security reasons, Facebook cannot provide you with a description or copy of the removed content. All we know is that we wrote one little comment on the Brady Center’s page and now our own Facebook page is gone.

Oh, and we were just a day or two away from surpassing them in the number of fans we have. Could that be it? Were they “embarrassed” that a state organization could attract more fans than a national organization so quickly? I guess that is embarrassing, isn’t it?

And just to be clear, we would never remove an anti-gun comment from our own page. We would certain remove any outright profanity or highly abusive personal comments, but we prefer to let people openly share their opinions. An anti-gun comment would merely provoke discussion. Isn’t that a good thing in a free society?

The fact that the Brady Center and others like them fear opposing viewpoints and refuse to allow discussion reveals something about them. It shows the sort of world they long for, where there is only “approved” opinion and adherence to central authority.

As we’ve pointed out many times, the fight for gun rights is about more than guns. It’s about liberty, freedom, individualism, and self-reliance. These are ideas that “intimidate” anti-gun advocates.

We’ve done a little research on this and found that we’re not the only page to be removed. A supporter informed us that a Glock page has been removed. And a brief Google search revealed that thousands of other pages have also been deactivated, usually with no warning or reason given.

Is Facebook anti-gun?
Who knows? What is certain is that they show little concern for the time and effort users put into their pages. They have grown into the second most popular website on the planet. Perhaps this rapid growth has gone to their heads and caused them to shrug off the many complaints of poor customer service and the draconian practice of deleting sites without warning.

We have filed an appeal with Facebook and will wait patiently to see if our page re-appears. If not, we’ll just create a new one. If that one vanishes, we’ll create another one. If Facebook won’t let us get our message out, we’ll find another way, and another, and another.

If the Brady Center is intimidated by us now, they’re in for a real surprise in the years ahead. Because we’re not going anywhere. And they ain’t seen nothing yet.

About:
Buckeye Firearms Association is a grassroots political action committee dedicated to defending and advancing the right of Ohio citizens to own and use firearms for all legal activities. Visit: www.BuckeyeFirearms.org

CCRKBA.org

Oakland, California --(AmmoLand.com)- Oakland, Ca is proposing more anti-gun ordinances. They will vote on their new anti-gun Effort this coming Tuesday, February 16. It is imperative that we mount a full-scale opposition to their effort.

Please Attend The February 16 Oakland City Council Meeting To Voice Your Opposition!

When: Tuesday, February 16, at 06:00 p.m.

Where: Third Floor Oakland City Hall 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA 94612

Wear business clothing. Coats and ties are encouraged.

The Ordinances: These new laws would

1. implement the draconian AB 962 ammunition sales restrictions immediately instead of waiting for the state law to take effect next year;
2. add ALL ammunition, including rifle and shotgun ammunition, to the restrictions;
3. require that all ammunition sellers obtain an FFL,
4. require that all lost or stolen firearms be reported within 48 hours; and
5. require the Chief of Police to send a letter to all handgun purchasers outlining their “obligations” as owners of nasty guns.

Background:
The “Legal Community Against Violence” (LCAV), a San Francisco-based violently anti-gun group of lawyers, came up with another pre-packaged anti-gun legislative program. They shopped it to around 190 Bay Area municipalities.

Oakland’s city government is not prone to being reasonable.

The BIG Danger:
LCAV started their targeted anti-gun onslaught in the late 1990s when they helped create the so-called East Bay Public Safety Corridor Partnership. With LCAV’s help, the “Partnership” was instrumental in passing anti-gun laws in most of Alameda and Contra Costa County towns.

If these laws pass in Oakland, THEY WILL MIGRATE TO YOUR TOWN! An Oakland victory will embolden LCAV to push their agenda all over the greater Bay Area and up to the state level!

WE MUST STOP THEM NOW!

About:
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States. The Citizens Committee can be reached by phone at (425) 454-4911, on the Internet at www.ccrkba.org or by email to InformationRequest@ccrkba.org.

Firearms Owners Against Crime

Pennsylvania --(AmmoLand.com)- Radnor Township, Pennsylvania Considers Mandatory Reporting of Lost or Stolen Firearms Ordinance..?

On February 8 the Radnor Township commissioners conducted an open meeting to listen to arguments for and against enacting an ordinance requiring the mandatory reporting of lost or stolen firearms. As it has in the past cease-fire PA utilized local political contacts to pressure the local elected officials (otherwise known as strong-arm tactics) into considering this legislation.

Of course this group is not one to let the truth stand in its way and this meeting was no exception to that rule. Openly manipulating the facts such as how many prosecutions were conducted by the municipalities with these ordinances in place and numerous other falsehoods were prevalent throughout much of the testimony of the other cease-fire PA officials.

Local gunowners presented a strong defense and factually challenged every contention of the anti-gun organization but, as it has been shown in the past, the backroom political deals continued to dominate in these situations further justifying the reasoning behind a statewide preemption Law. If only this law actually had some teeth in it?! Perhaps the answer is to be found in House Bill 1541 that has been introduced by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe.

This particular hearing resulted in enough questions being raised by those in opposition to this ordinance that a vote was postponed for two weeks so that answers could be obtained from the solicitor. While this may just have delayed the inevitable it is clear to the casual observer that the fight was worth it and it did draw out the officials from freedom hating Cease-Fire PA and showed them to be unscrupulous in their presentation and despicable for their ignorance of the law.

About:
The Firearm Owners Against Crime (FOAC) is non-partisan, non-connected Political Action Committee organized to empower ‘all’ gun owners, outdoors enthusiasts and supporters of the 2nd Amendment to the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution Visit: www.foac-pac.org

Maryland Shall Issue.org

Maryland - -(AmmoLand.com)-  Senator Brian Frosh (D), District 16 Montgomery County and Chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, and Delegate Sandy Rosenberg (D), District 41, Baltimore City have introduced the Gun Safety Act of 2010.

This proposed legislation would fundamentally change the face of gun ownership in the State of Maryland as no bill has in the last 10 years.

Now that the text of the bills have been released, we can give you our full response.

Highlights :

1. An individual with more than one DUI conviction may not purchase a firearm within 5 years after an alcohol-related conviction.
2. Maryland State Police shall inspect each state-licensed gun dealer at least once every two years to ensure compliance with gun law. Cost of inspection shall be covered by licensing fees, which may be increased as necessary.
3. Gun dealers shall provide records of their inventories and sales to aid State Police inspectors. The records shall include: (I) the name and address of each person from whom the dealer acquires a firearm and to whom the dealer sells or otherwise disposes of the firearm; (II) a precise description including the make, model, caliber, and serial number of each firearm acquired; and (III) the date of each acquisition, sale, or other disposition.
4. Law enforcement officials may use body-wires to collect evidence against gun traffickers and would be traffickers.
5. Penalties for illegal sale or transfer of firearms increased from 1 year, $1,000 to 5 years, $10,000.
6. Ignorance of the requirements to conduct background checks of firearm purchasers shall not be a defense for individuals charged with illegally selling guns.
7. Individuals buying handguns shall secure a handgun purchasing license before acquiring a handgun. Licenses may be issued by local police or Maryland State Police. Police shall secure fingerprints, verify IDs, and conduct background checks. Licensing fees shall be set at a level to cover costs.
   (the following is paraphrased in places)
   (A) A regulated firearms dealer or person may only sell or transfer a handgun to another person if the purchaser or transferee presents to the seller or transferror a valid Maryland driver’s license with an approved handgun
   purchase designation or photographic identification card with an approved handgun purchase designation issued to the purchaser or transferee by the Motor Vehicle Administration.
   (B) A person may only purchase or receive a handgun if the person:
   (1) Possesses a valid Maryland driver’s license or state issued ID as outlined in (A).
   (C) The MVA shall issue a driver’s license with an approved handgun purchase designation or photographic ID with an approved handgun purchase designation.
   (D) In order to obtain the required driver’s license designation or state issued ID card an applicant must submit the following to a state or local law enforcement agency.
   (1) A completed application on a form provided by the Secretary (of the Maryland State Police)
   (2) A non-refundable fee set by the Secretary
   (3) Proof of satisfactory completion of a firearms safety training course approved by the Secretary
   (4) A complete set of the applicant’s legible fingerprints to be taken by a state or local law enforcement agency
   (5) Any other identification or documentation required by the secretary
   (6) A statement made by the applicant under the penalty of perjury that the applicant is not prohibited under federal or state law from possessing a handgun
   (G) Provides for the revocation of the handgun approval designation and the surrender of the driver’s license or state issued photographic ID if the Secretary determines that the licensee no longer meets the qualifications set forth in the rest of the bill.
8. Felons illegally possessing any firearms shall be subject to a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

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Our analysis, corresponds to items under “Highlights”above:

1. The penalties for the DUI convictions are not usually as harsh as the 5-year prohibition on firearms ownership proposed by this bill.
2. An obvious ploy to drive up dealer costs and force them to bear the financial burden for a new level of bureaucracy in the hopes of bankrupting them. The open-ended fees are blatantly punitive. This provision of the bill will also create opportunities to revoke or suspend dealers’ licenses for minor record keeping errors.
3. Obtaining dealers’ records of sales will allow the Maryland State Police to create de facto registration lists of all firearms sold in Maryland. They can then start cross referencing your purchases of ammunition and gun supplies against their registration list and use them to continue their midnight raids. We saw this with the ammunition logs in the past that we have all but eliminated. There’s no indication that they will not continue to abuse their power with this either. The Maryland State Police has demonstrated that they can not be trusted with this sort of power.
4. “Would-be traffickers”. That is you. In their eyes, every gun owner in this state is a “would-be” trafficker. Do you relish the thought of there being state agents tapping your gun club meetings, gun shops and shooting ranges? This will give them basically unlimited license to use a wire to record your conversations if you fit their definition of a “would-be” trafficker. The section of Maryland code where this provision is contained lumps us in with murderers, rapists, sex offenders, pornographers and kidnappers. Furthermore, let’s also not forget that the Maryland State Police has already been implicated in illegal surveillance of peace activists and death penalty opponents.
5. This sounds great, except that provision #6 above would lump the citizen who accidentally runs afoul of the law in with the hardened criminal who deliberately seeks to circumvent the law. Case in point: A person moves to Maryland from another state where face to face sales of all firearms are permitted and decides to sell part of their lawfully purchased handgun or Maryland regulated long gun collection after moving here. This person, unaware of our convoluted laws, now faces 5 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine just as a person actively engaged in the deliberately illegal sale of guns would be. While ignorance of the law is never an absolute defense, this provision would seemingly prohibit it from even being used as a mitigating factor in a defense.
6. See preceding comment.
7. This is the nuclear option in this bill. It essentially brands all purchasers of handguns (and we would presume regulated long guns) with a Scarlet G for Gun Owner on their drivers license. You will have to jump through an entirely new set of hoops just to be approved for jumping through the hoops that we already have to navigate in order to purchase a handgun. We would expect this to also be applied to regulated long guns.

Where to start on this aspect of the bill?

This is proposing that anyone wishing to purchase a handgun actually have a designation added to their driver’s license that labels them as being licensed to purchase that firearm. This means that you have essentially been branded for being a gun owner.

This should be an outrageous affront to any civil liberty minded citizen even aside from the gun issue.

There have been numerous times in the history of the world where citizens have been singled-out for what they thought, what they believed, what God they prayed to or didn’t pray to, or who they associated with and it has never ended well. Whether it be a yellow star, a tattoo or a special designation on a government-issued ID, governments have time and time again demonstrated that they simply can not be trusted when it comes to singling out designated undesirables from the general population.

All rhetoric aside, this bill is fraught with pragmatic dangers for the gun owners of Maryland as it increases not only the bureaucratic difficulties of lawfully purchasing a handgun, but also increases the financial burden for these citizens. How many Maryland Families will be deprived of their right to protect themselves because they do not possess the means to meet this new financial burden?

In response to item (D) above, we raise the following specific concerns:

Section D will be a de facto handgun ban for huge swaths of the Maryland population. The Maryland State Police are only accepting fingerprints done on the LiveScan system that can, with one exception in Baltimore, only be done at a few privately-owned locations across the state. Citizens without the means to access one of those locations, either due to geographic distance, financial hardship, disability or a combination of the above would be out of luck. Not clearly defining either the forms required or the costs associated with the applications gives the Secretary free reign to make the process as expensive as possible and gives the Secretary unlimited power to dissect our personal lives as they see fit

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Commentary:

The Scarlet G for Gun Owner aspect of the bill alone, if passed, would most likely bring about a landmark lawsuit against the State of Maryland because of the blatant effort to create so much financial and administrative hardship for citizens to exercise a Constitutional right that it equates with a government led effort to ban the individual possession of handguns. Per the usual modus operandi of the anti-gun wing of the Maryland General Assembly, we can expect that they will expand this to first include all firearms and then all ammunition.

In a time of an unprecedented financial crisis for governments and citizens alike, Senator Frosh is proposing a monstrous addition to the Maryland State Police’s workload and then asking cash strapped citizens to back it so that they can be granted the privilege of exercising a fundamental right. In addition, such a law, if passed, would certainly be challenged in court, forcing the state to spend even more of its limited resources trying to defend indefensible regulations. Given that Senator Frosh is rumored to have his eye on the Senate Presidency, we have to question the judgment of an elected official who ignores the budgetary exigencies of both the State and citizenry in the name advancing a personal radical anti-gun agenda.

We must unleash a response to this abomination unlike any in the history of our community. The damage resulting from the passage of this bill will set back our efforts for decades. We must flood their emails, their snail mail boxes, their fax machines and shut down their phone service. MSI can only provide you with the information and the tools that you need to stop this. It is up to each of us as individuals to take the fight to them and stop this before it ever gets heard in committee.

• Snail mail letters are best and can easily be done with the Activist’s Tools.
• Phone calls are good.
• Emails are easy and a good follow up to the above actions.

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Here’s what we need you to do :

• Contact your Senator and let them know that you oppose SB645.
• Contact the members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and let them know that you oppose SB645.
• Contact your delegates and let them know that you oppose HB820.
• Contact the members of the House Judiciary Committee and let them know that you oppose HB820.
• Contact the press. Here is one resource.
• All of the information you need in order to easily make mail contacts can be found in the Activist’s Tools below.
• Remember to stick to the facts when making your contacts. Avoid over emotional rhetoric that only fuels their stereotypes of our community.

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Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Phone Numbers

• Brian Frosh – Chair
• 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3124 (toll free)
• Lisa Gladden – Vice Chair
  1-800-492-7122, ext. 3697 (toll free)
• Jim Brochin
  1-800-492-7122, ext. 3648 (toll free)
• Jennie Forehand
  1-800-492-7122, ext. 3134 (toll free)
• Larry Haines
  1-800-492-7122, ext. 3683 (toll free)
• Nancy Jacobs
  1-800-492-7122, ext. 3158 (toll free)
• Alex Mooney
  1-800-492-7122, ext. 3575 (toll free)
• Anthony Muse
  1-800-492-7122, ext. 3092 (toll free)
• Jamie Raskin
  1-800-492-7122, ext. 3634 (toll free)
• Bryan Simonaire
  1-800-492-7122, ext. 3658 (toll free)
• Norman Stone
  1-800-492-7122, ext. 3587 (toll free)
• House Judiciary Committee Phone Numbers
  Delegate Joseph Vallario – Chairman (D-27A)
  (410) 841-3488,
• Delegate Sandy Rosenberg – Co-Chair (D-41) Lead sponsor of HB820
  (410) 841-3297
• Delegate Curtis Anderson (D-43)
  (410) 841-3291
• Delegate Benjamin Barnes (D-21)
  (410) 841-3046
• Delegate Jill Carter (D-41)
  (410) 841-3283
• Delegate Frank Conaway Jr. (D-40)
  (410) 841-3189
• Delegate Kathleen Dumais (D-15)
  (410) 841-3052
• Delegate Don Dwyer Jr. (D-31)
  (410) 841-3047
• Delegate William Frank (R-42)
  (410) 841-3793
• Delegate J.B. Jennings (R-7)
  (410) 841-3698
• Delegate Kevin Kelly (D-1B)
  (410) 841-3404
• Delegate Benjamin Kramer (D-19)
  (410) 841-3485
• Delegate Susan Lee (D-16)
  (410) 841-3649
• Delegate Gerron Levi (D-23A)
  (410) 841-3101
• Delegate Susan McComas (R-35B)
  (410) 841-3272
• Delegate Tony McConkey (R-33A)
  (410) 841-3406
• Delegate Victor Ramirez (D-47)
  (410) 841-3340
• Delegate Todd Schuler (D-8)
  (410) 841-3526
• Delegate Luiz Simmons (D-17)
  (410) 841-3037
• Delegate Michael Smigiel Sr. (R-36)
  (410) 841-3555
• Delegate Kriselda Valderrama (D-26)
  (410) 841-3210
• Delegate Jeffrey Waldstreicher (D-18)
  (410) 841-3130

About:
Maryland Shall Issue is an all volunteer, non-partisan effort dedicated to the preservation and advancement of all gunowners’ rights in Maryland, with a primary goal of CCW reform to allow all law-abiding citizens the right to carry a concealed weapon; and to the education of the community to the awareness that ’shall issue’ laws have, in all cases, resulted in decreased rates of violent crime.” Visit: www.marylandshallissue.org