Democrats Yield to RKBA - for Now: President Obama and his allies in
Congress have given the gun lobby a string of victories - from forgoing
new gun laws to easing restrictions already on the books - since Mr.
Obama took office and Democrats assumed complete command of political
power in Washington. Democratic leaders in Congress tend to support more
restrictive gun laws but have yielded on the issue since a majority of
their rank-and-file members increasingly side with the National Rifle
Association (NRA) when votes involve the Second Amendment right to keep
and bear arms... Mr. Obama last month sought to appease gun-control
advocates by calling for the Senate to ratify the Inter-American
Convention on small-arms trafficking, a measure meant to stem the
cross-border flow of black-market guns and ammunition. But the treaty,
which has languished in the Senate since 1997, received a cool reception
from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Mr. Reid, whose popularity at
home is tenuous, faces a tough re-election race next year in his pro-gun
Western state...
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/26/democrats-in-power-hand-victories-to-nra/
---
On the Other Side of the Dike: American gun owners face a double-whammy:
A political establishment that seeks to undermine both 2nd Amendment
rights and United States national sovereignty. For decades, gun-grabbers
in politics, academe and media have promoted various gun-control schemes
to weaken if not ultimately eliminate the individual 2nd Amendment right
of law-abiding American citizens to keep and bear arms. They've proposed
federal firearms registration, gun-owner licensing, handgun-purchase
waiting periods, one-gun-a-month handgun-purchase limitations, bans on
inexpensive handguns, bans on semiautomatic firearms, bans on
50-caliber firearms, bans on personal defensive firearms use,
limitations on gun shows, and almost any other restrictive approach they
can dream up... Gun-grabbers for some time have worked assiduously to
induce the United States to sign a treaty that would curtail drastically
Americans' gun rights. So far, the United States has avoided taking such
a drastic, unconstitutional step. But the Obama Administration could
well bring a reversal of policy. Obama may want to do an end run around
American gun owners by signing such an international agreement and
subverting citizen rights in that way. The administration propaganda
nonsense that the Mexican drug wars are fueled with American firearms
could be a prelude to such a program... (As I recall, the treaty has
already been signed but it has not been ratified by the Senate)
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=31986
---
DOI Comments on National-Park Carry: Much to the surprise of many
people, the newly enacted credit card reform law - the Credit
Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2009 - contained a provision making
it legal for people to carry loaded firearms in national parks and
wildlife refuges where allowed by state law. On May 22, the Department
of Interior (DOI) issued a statement regarding the new law and how it
will be enforced when it takes effect in February 2010. Until the new
law takes effect, DOI says it will continue to enforce the current laws
governing possession of firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges.
"Under the current regulation, firearms are generally prohibited, but
citizens may transport unloaded and dismantled or cased firearms and
carry firearms while participating in approved hunting programs and
under certain other circumstances," stated the DOI in a press release...
http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/2009/05/25/interior-comments-on-new-parks-firearms-law.htm
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/22/repeal-gun-ban-national-parks/
---
The Beat Goes On: Signs that segments of the nation's economy struggling
are nearly endless, but the sales of guns is not one of them. Sales of
handguns, rifles and shotguns remain high, area dealers say, and the
surge in sales following the results of the November election continue.
Zeke Garretson, owner of Garretson's Sports Center, 3817 10th St., in
Greeley, said sales of guns, particularly handguns, has been steady
since late last year. The current buying frenzy, he said, started the
day after Barack Obama was elected president. He said he has heard
customer after customer explain they are buying weapons ''while they
still can'' or something to that effect...
http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/05/25/news/associated_press/doc4a1a236854f1f958708114.txt
---
Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest: The positions of most urban liberals on
firearms are dumb, dumber and dumbest. It is dumb to suppose that the
way to decrease crime is to make sure all potential victims of violent
crime are disarmed. It is dumber yet to believe that a criminal will
obey a gun-control law. No bank robber or rapist has ever set out and
then stopped and said, "Gosh, I don't have a permit for this weapon, so
I guess I'd better not rob that bank or rape that girl." No serial
killer has ever said: "Gosh, I can't kill this person with an
unregistered weapon. That would be against the law." The dumbest idea is
to suppose that an inanimate object can turn a noncriminal into a
criminal. To believe that guns cause crime is as stupid as believing
that hammers and saws cause houses. It is the grossest kind of mindless
superstition to suppose that some magical qualities of an inanimate
object can overpower the human will...
http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese4.html
---
More Infringements for Massachusetts: Gov. Deval L. Patrick's recently
filed gun control legislation ought to leave most lawful gun owners in
Massachusetts' feeling like Al Pacino in The Godfather, Part III: "Just
when we thought we were out, they pull us back in." State officials
readily admit that Massachusetts already has some of the toughest gun
control laws in the nation. Now, they have returned to file the "Act to
Reduce Firearm Violence," a series of measures that take a scatter-shot
approach to reducing gun violence in the state. We think the act puts
too much of a burden on sportsmen and recreational shooters. A key
provision of the bill would limit licensed gun owners from buying more
than one gun a month...
http://www.masslive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/05/gun_control_law_misses_its_tar.html
---
Religious Activists Arrested at Philadelphia Gun Shop: It was no small
matter for the Rev. J. Fred Kauffman, a man of faith and a law-abiding
citizen for all of his 61 years, to defy a police officer's order to
leave a downtown gun shop. All Kauffman wanted was for the owner of
Colosimo's Gun Center to pledge to sell firearms responsibly. When the
owner refused, Kauffman decided there was too much at stake - too many
illegal guns, too many senseless deaths - to just give up and go home.
He blocked the store entrance and was arrested... The Mennonite leader
was one of 12 activists from the interfaith group Heeding God's Call to
be arrested at Colosimo's over two days in January. They face trial
Tuesday in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia on charges including
conspiracy, obstruction and disorderly conduct. Heeding God's Call is
adding a different religious voice to the national gun-control debate,
which members say has been dominated for too long by conservative
Christians opposed to firearms regulation... (Yes, large-volume gun
dealers tend to have more of the firearms they sell traced back to them
after crimes simply because they sell more firearms in the first place.)
http://www.phoenixvillenews.com/articles/2009/05/25/news/srv0000005420501.txt
---
Florida CWFL-Funds Battle Heats Up: Despite a huge backlog for gun
permits, Florida legislators have signed off on taking $6 million out of
a trust fund dedicated to helping process concealed weapon permits. Gun
rights advocates, however, are firing back, calling on Gov. Charlie
Crist to veto the move. Florida's gun lobby said between the backlog and
applications up 60 percent, the timing could not be worse. Less money
could mean even bigger delays, but with cuts to everything from health
care to state worker pay, many lawmakers argued this cut is unavoidable.
The National Rifle Association's top lobbyist in Florida pointed out the
permit program is self-sufficient, drawing on application fees to operate...
http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/5/26/gun_lobbyists_fire_back_at_cut_to_concealed_weapon_premits_fund.html
---
Armed Self-Defense, Part 4: To gun owners who think taking a basic
course and occasionally shooting holes in paper prepare them for armed
self-defense, let me assure you nothing could be further from the truth.
The fourth in the "Armed self-defense" series, this segment covers Phase
I of the Practical/Tactical (P/T I) pistol course taught by Eagle Rock
Training Systems veteran instructors Tom Iradi and Scott Mauldin... (At
this point, this series may be transitioning into an endorsement for a
particular school. Perhaps Paul will discuss some of the different
philosophies and methods being offered to those who seek defensive
training in a future column.)
http://www.examiner.com/x-2698-Charlotte-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m5d25-Armed-selfdefense-To-shoot-fast-you-have-to-see-fast
---
Rule Four Reminder: A Greenwich man is recovering from shotgun wounds
sustained in a hunting mishap Friday in southern New York. Henry
Gasiorowski, 60, was seated behind a turkey decoy, making turkey calls,
about 7:50 a.m. when his hunting companion, Jerome Day, 47, also of
Greenwich, snuck up on the decoy and mistakenly opened fire on it,
according to the Sullivan County (N.Y.) Sheriff's office. The shotgun
pellets hit Gasiorowski in the arm and back. (Rule Four: Always be sure
of your target and what's beyond it.)
http://www.greenwichtime.com/ci_12438071?source
---
Canadian Conservatives Fail to Nix Long-Gun Registry: An attempt by a
Saskatchewan Conservative MP to abolish the controversial long-gun
registry quietly died Monday. Garry Breitkreuz, who represents a riding
in rural Saskatchewan, had introduced a private member's bill in the
House of Commons aimed at scrapping the controversial registry and the
bill was to be debated in the House of Commons Monday morning. But Mr.
Breitkreuz failed to show up for the debate and, according to rules of
procedure in the House, that meant his private member's bill now falls
to the bottom of the priority list. MPs have introduced more than 190
private member's bills and must count on a lottery system to have their
bill advanced... Mr. Breitkreuz was not available for comment but an
aide said that he allowed his bill, C-301, to die in favour of a similar
bill, C-391, put forward by Manitoba Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner...
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1628746
--
Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY
Firearm safety - It's a matter
for education, not legislation.
http://www.spw-duf.info
