National Rifle Association

New York City, NY --(AmmoLand.com)- It is old news to gun owners that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not a friend. As one of the leading proponents of new gun laws, Bloomberg has already earned his place in the Second Amendment rights hall of shame. But apparently, Hizzoner does not believe he is doing enough to destroy our rights.

On an appearance on “Meet the Press,” Bloomberg announced that he would raise money to counter the influence of the NRA. Bloomberg was on the show to trumpet the 39 votes he was able to muster to squeak out a narrow defeat of national Right-to-Carry reciprocity. (To read more about the Thune/Vitter amendment, click here.) He took the opportunity to lament that the NRA has so much influence — and took upon himself the role of countering that influence.

Of course, as anti-gunners regularly do, Bloomberg ignores the fact that the NRA only has clout because we represent the beliefs of tens of millions of Americans who oppose the anti-gun agenda. Recent polling has repeatedly shown that the majority of Americans support the individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

And though it must be very frustrating to mayor Bloomberg, that support is growing. A recent poll by Zogby International revealed that 83% of Americans support Right-to-Carry laws. Bloomberg will no doubt continue to trumpet the 39-vote procedural “victory,” but the reality is, the American people are on the side of Second Amendment freedoms.

Perhaps part of the problem is the inherent dishonesty of Bloomberg’s position. He claims to be opposed to “Illegal” guns, but his latest effort targeted the rights of law-abiding people who already carry a gun legally. To Bloomberg, any gun he does not like is an “illegal” gun.

Mayor Bloomberg and his group “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” represent a serious threat because of the attention the media will give them and the resources a billionaire like Bloomberg has at his disposal. That’s the money he is once again promising to use to fight against our Second Amendment rights.

Fortunately, America’s law-abiding gun owners know how to fight the misinformation and anti-gun rhetoric of Mayor Bloomberg and his allies. NRA will continue to closely monitor Bloomberg’s anti-gun activities and will keep you informed about his efforts.

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.

National Rifle Association

Washington, DC - -(AmmoLand.com)- The United States Senate recently voted on an amendment that would have allowed Right-to-Carry permit holders to carry in all other states that also grant carry permits. The amendment, sponsored by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and David Vitter (R-La.), won a significant majority of votes, 58 to 39, but failed to reach the 60 votes needed to avoid a Senate filibuster.

Anti-gun senators have long argued that the majority of Americans do not support firearm freedoms. They made this erroneous claim once again during the debate on the Thune/Vitter amendment. Now, a new poll has proven them wrong.

Conducted by Zogby International and The O’Leary Report, the poll looked at Americans’ opinions on some key issues related to the Second Amendment. One of the questions asked: “Currently, 39 states have laws that allow residents to carry firearms to protect themselves, only if they pass a background check and pay a fee to cover administrative costs. Most of those states also require applicants to have firearms safety training. Do you support or oppose this law?”

It will come as a shock to the 39 senators who voted to deny law-abiding Americans their right to self-defense when traveling outside their home states, but the results showed that 83% of Americans support Right-to-Carry laws. The poll also revealed that support for Right-to-Carry crosses party lines, with 86% of independent voters and 80% of Democratic voters supporting Right-to-Carry. This is no surprise to gun owners, however, who have long known that the majority of Americans support the Second Amendment and the right to self-defense.

The anti-gun community is trumpeting its 39-vote procedural “victory” as a major achievement. But just like the vote in the Senate, the overwhelming majority of Americans are on our side.

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.

“Gun Owners of America, another leading gun rights Second Amendment group, is a strong supporter of this amendment that’s specifically pushing for passage and scoring member’s votes.” — Louisiana Senator David Vitter, July 22, 2009

Gun Owners of America

Washington, DC - -(AmmoLand.com)- The bad news is that the Senate still fell two votes short of the 60 votes needed to enact the amendment, which was sponsored by Republican Senators John Thune (SD) and David Vitter (LA). A prior Unanimous Consent agreement allowed the amendment to be offered in the first place, but as such, required that the legislation garner 60 votes (rather than a simple majority) in order to pass.

The good news is that a majority of the U.S. Senate (58 members) voted for an amendment to allow citizens who are already authorized to carry firearms concealed to do so when they travel out of state.

The Thune-Vitter amendment was hotly debated on the Senate floor Wednesday. Senator Thune pointed out that, while 48 states have some form of concealed carry law, his measure would simply “extend that constitutional right across State lines,” recognizing that the right to bear arms and defend oneself  “does not end at State borders or State lines.”

One of the more comical arguments made by some Democrat Senators — Chuck Schumer (NY), Frank Lautenberg (NJ) and Dianne Feinstein (CA) — is that this provision would compromise “states rights.”

Of course, these Senators have shown they care little about “states rights,” as evidenced by federal gun control laws that bear their names: the ban on semi-automatic firearms (the so-called Feinstein assault weapons ban) and the lifetime gun ban on people who engage in pushing-and-shoving incidents in the home (the Lautenberg misdemeanor gun ban).

And where was their adherence to states rights when they voted for the Brady bill, the Gun Free School Zones Ban and the Veterans Disarmament Act?

Republican Senator Tom Coburn (OK) pointed out their hypocrisy when he said:

“We had a vote in terms of honoring States rights in terms of the national park bill on guns. Twenty-nine of my colleagues, thirteen of whom now are ‘defending States rights,’ stepped all over States rights with their vote against the Coburn amendment when it came to allowing people to have supreme their State law in terms of national parks.”

Senator Thune noted that his provision would protect the rights of states by not applying any national standards. Rather, the text simply requires states to acknowledge the concealed carry permits from other states.

In fact, the language of the text specifically states that nothing in the amendment “shall be construed to affect the permitting process for an individual… or preempt any provision of State law with respect to the issuance of licenses or permits to carry concealed firearms.”

Article IV of the U.S. Constitution allows for reciprocity-style legislation by the Congress. The Article allows Congress to enforce “full faith and credit” across the country, so that each state respects the “public acts, records, and judicial proceedings” of every other state.

Please go to the GOA website to see how your Senators voted:

http://capwiz.com/gunowners/issues/votes/?votenum=237&chamber=S&congress=1111

Gun owners should take special notice of Republican Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) and former-Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter (PA) — both of whom voted against concealed carry. Had they voted pro-gun, the Thune-Vitter amendment would have passed.

Las Vegas, NV --(AmmoLand.com)- The headline is somewhat misleading. Let’s not forget that the amendment did pass, 58 to 39. It just did not have the votes to overcome the threat of a veto. 48 states already have concealed carry permit issue. No less than 40 of them are mandatory issue, meaning if you pass the background check and the course, the permit must be issued. Most of the concealed carry states already have reciprocity with most other such states.

What is astounding is the doomsday rhetoric that measures like this continues to inspire:

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, and generally a supporter of gun rights, said she opposed Mr. Thune’s amendment because it infringed on states and cities. “The Thune amendment would invite chaos in our cities,” she said.

“The passage of this amendment would have done more to threaten the safety of New Yorkers than anything since the repeal of the assault weapons ban,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer.

The so-called assault weapons ban was not repealed, Senator Schumer, it was allowed to expire, because everyone knows it didn’t and couldn’t deliver as promised The so-called assault weapon ban outlawed certain semi-automatic rifles with military-style cosmetic features unrelated to the performance characteristics of the firearm.

Violent crime has steadily dropped before, during and since the expiration of the ban. Gun accidents are now at an all-time low, while gun and ammunition sales are at an all-time high. Finally, rifles of all types have a statistically insignificant role in gun violence, according to the FBI uniform crime report. This issue is nothing more a political football kicked around to distract voters from the ineptitude of our leaders to fix the more pressing problems of joblessness, poverty, rampant foreclosure, and health care.

In every single state that has passed concealed weapon permit legislation, 48 out of 50, the same old chicken little dialog erupts. Alas, the sky does not fall, the old West doesn’t reappear, and blood does not “run in our streets”. What does happen where lawful citizens carry? Violent crime, especially gun crime plummets at a disproportionate rate. Home invasions, rapes, robberies, gay bashing, all fall in numbers wherever lawful, trained, and screened citizen exercise their gun rights.

The assertion by Feinstein and Bloomburg that the demise of this measure will save lives is undermined by the facts. Indeed, lives will be lost, rapes and robberies will be committed, and gay bashing will proceed unhindered by any fear that the victims may successfully resist the attacker.

In the next term, the Supreme Court of the United States will step in again where congress has failed, by incorporating (applying) the Second Amendment to the states as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals already has done in Nordyke vs Alameda County (2009).

One day soon, a lawful, peaceable gun owner will be able to enter the Kingdom of New York with his legally transported, locked, unloaded handgun, without risking a felony, as is the case in New York at present. New York State will not issue the required pistol permit under any circumstances to a non-resident. Forget about a carry permit, even if it’s unloaded and locked in your hotel safe, you are now facing a felony. This is the complete and utter disregard for the 2nd amendment that exists in New York, and Illinois. Policies such as this will fail any constitutional standard of review.

As the Heller vs DC court indicated and as common sense dictates, “keep” means own, store, transport, and possess, and “bear” means carry. Plain and simple. The scope of the Heller case happened to be limited to possession in the home. But some confuse the scope of that case with a restriction on the right. This is a misunderstanding that gun control extremists are seizing upon to spin the meaning of the Heller ruling. But no other fundamental constitutional right ends at your doorstep, and the courts will have plenty of opportunity to clarify the extent of permissible restrictions going forward.

Take a deep breath, folks.

Nationwide, licensed concealed carry is coming, and it’s going to be OK, really it will. The sky will not fall, nor will the old West reappear, and blood will not run in our streets. We don’t have to guess about the outcome. There are 40 states that already have mandatory issue for CCW licenses, and there are 8 more states that have discretionary licensing. Together, 48 States have demonstrated in the last decade that licensed, concealed carry works, that public safety and security is enhanced, and that as a public policy, it measurably suppresses violent crime.

Americans have demonstrated once again that we can be trusted with our own safety and security. And that we can and must be trusted with our liberty.

Visit Christopher J Hoffman website www.christopherjhoffman.com

IllinoisCarry.com

Washington, DC - -(AmmoLand.com)- Today an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill which would have made concealed carry licenses reciprocal from state to state failed by just two votes.

The failure of the measure is being attributed to two republicans, Sen. Dick Lugar of Indiana and Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, who both voted against passage.

The amendment introduced by Sen. John Thune (R-SD) would not have allowed law abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms in IL or WI, the two remaining states which still ban the practice but would have been of great convenience to the residents of the 48 states that do issue licenses to carry concealed firearms.

About:
The IllinoisCarry forum was started in April 2004. The idea was that Illinois needed a central location to communicate ideas and information regarding 2nd Amendment issues in Illinois. There are many organizations in Illinois working to protect our 2nd Amendment Rights. Working with these groups IllinoisCarry has become the central location for information and Action Alerts. IllinoisCarry will not endorse political candidates. We simply provide information so voters can make informed decisions. Our goal is to join the other 48 states that allow their citizens to carry concealed firearms. We encourage you to register on our forum and join the fight for your 2nd Amendment Rights in Illinois.

Ohioans For Concealed Carry

Washington, DC - -(AmmoLand.com)- The Thune-Vitter Amendment to add National Reciprocity to the 2010 Defense Programs bill has failed by a vote of 58-39. 60 votes were required for passage.

This amendment would have mandated that all states who issue a license for or otherwise allow their own residents to carry a concealed firearm for personal protection to recognize the concealed carry permits of nonresidents.

A Senate vote tally will be posted on the OFCC website as soon as it is available.

About:
Ohioans For Concealed Carry, the premier grassroots gun rights activist organization in Ohio since 1999. 2003 NRA-ILA Volunteer Organization of the Year. Visit www.ohioccw.org

Virginia Shooting Sports Association

Washington, DC - -(AmmoLand.com)- The Thune Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1390) failed this afternoon on a vote of 58-39, lacking the required 60 votes to invoke cloture.

There were more than enough votes to pass the amendment but those opposing the amendment decided to filibuster the vote – thus requiring 60 votes for passage.

Virginia’s Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb both voted with gun owners and our right to self defense and voted for the amendment. Please be sure to contact Senators Warner and Webb and thank them for standing with law abiding gun owners.

About:
The Virginia Shooting Sports Association (VSSA) was originally founded as the Virginia State Rifle and Revolver Association in 1938. VSSA is the official state association of the National Rifle Association. VSSA is also closely affiliated with the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), Virginia Outdoor Sports Information Network (VOSIN), National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), Virginia Gun Collectors Association, and the Virginia Wildlife Federation (VWF).

Buckeye Firearms Foundation

Ohio - -(AmmoLand.com)- The U.S. Senate will vote at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow — Wednesday, July 22 — on an amendment to protect your right to self-defense.

The anti-gunners are now doing everything that they can to defeat this amendment and the vote by your Senators is likely to determine the outcome. So it is critical for you to call and e-mail your Senators now and urge them to support and vote for the Thune-Vitter Amendment.

The Senate is now considering an amendment by Senators John Thune (R-SD) and David Vitter (R-LA) that will provide interstate recognition of Right-to-Carry licenses and permits. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” — and other anti-gun leaders and organizations — are running ads and spreading lies to scare your Senators into opposing this important self-defense reciprocity reform.

It is crucial for you to contact your Senators today — now — and urge them to support and vote for the Thune-Vitter Self-Defense Amendment. Ohio residents use the contact information provided below, please call both their D.C. number and a state office locally AND send an e-mail message (and a fax if possible) to your Senators:

Everyone else you can use NRA CapWiz: www.capwiz.com/nra/dbq/officials/

SENATOR SHERROD BROWN
(202) 224-2315 (D.C.)
(202) 228-6321 (D.C. Fax)
(216) 522-7272 (Cleveland)
(513) 684-1021 (Cincinnati)
(614) 469-2083 (Columbus)
(440) 242-4100 (Lorain)
Email: http://brown.senate.gov/contact/

SENATOR GEORGE VOINOVICH
(202) 224-3353 (D.C.)
(202) 228-1382 (D.C. Fax)
(216) 522-7095 (Cleveland)
(513) 684-3265 (Cincinnati)
(740) 441-6410 (Southeast OH)
(216) 522-7095 (Northeast OH)
(419) 259-3895 (Toledo)
(513) 684-3265 (Dayton)
(614) 469-6697 (Central OH)
Email: http://voinovich.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

P.S. If the line is busy, call back. If you’ve already called, call again.

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.

Buckeye Firearms Association seeks to maximize your rights by endorsing and electing pro-gun candidates on the city, county, and state level, including mayors, sheriffs, legislators, and governor. We also work to defeat anti-gun legislation, pass pro-gun bills, and reform existing laws to benefit all Ohio citizens.

Unlike many anti-gun groups, we do not get our funding or support from wealthy activists or big corporations. We are a non-partisan, all-volunteer organization. Officers and supporters donate their time and skills to the pro-gun cause. Not a single dime from donors is spent on salaries or wasteful overhead. In fact, every penny is used to support political campaigns, influence public opinion, and advance gun rights around Ohio.

KeepandBearArms.com

Bellevue, WA - -(AmmoLand.com)- A vote is looming in the U.S. Senate on legislation that would bring national concealed carry reciprocity one step closer to becoming reality.

South Dakota Senator John Thune has introduced an amendment to S. 1290, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010, that would require all states to recognize concealed carry licenses and permits from every other state, just the same as those states now recognize a driver’s license from another state.

Gun prohibitionists have been lobbying vigorously to defeat this important amendment, and it is important for gun owners to let their voices be heard.

Contact the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and leave a message for your senator.

A vote on Thune Amendment #1618 could come at any moment.

About:
KeepAndBearArms.com is a grassroots movement of the people, by the people, and for the people. It is a call to action, a call for self-education, and a 21 gun salute to the many good men and women who fought and died to bring America into being.