comments in () by Stephen P. Wenger
From GOA: Gun owners won a long-fought victory in the U.S. Senate
yesterday with the passage of an amendment to repeal the gun ban on
National Park Service (NPS) and National Wildlife Refuge System land.
GOA was the driving force behind this amendment and lobbied Senators
hard prior to the vote to get the provision passed. The amendment,
offered by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), passed overwhelmingly by a vote
of 67-29. People can see how their Senators voted on the Coburn
amendment by clicking here. NPS and Wildlife Refuge land is treated
differently with regard to gun rights than other federally controlled
land. For instance, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) allows state
and local laws to govern firearms possession. However, carrying
firearms on NPS land and Wildlife Refuges is prohibited, even if the
state in which the land is located allows carrying firearms…
http://gunowners.org/a051309.htm
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From CCRKBA: A key amendment that would allow national park visitors
to carry concealed firearms in accordance with state statute is a
common sense provision that deserves support, the Citizens Committee
for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today. Sponsored by Sen. Tom
Coburn (R-OK), the amendment – added to House and Senate credit card
legislation – was adopted by an overwhelming 67-29 Senate vote
Tuesday, showing broad bipartisan support. If passed into law,
Coburn's amendment will essentially restore a new national parks
concealed carry rule that became effective in January, but was
challenged in court by the gun ban lobby. In a statement, Coburn noted
that, "If an American citizen has a right to carry a firearm in their
state, it makes no sense to treat them like a criminal if they pass
through a national park while in possession of a firearm." …
http://www.ccrkba.org/pub/rkba/press-releases/coburn.amendment.htm
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They Wouldn't Lie, Would They?: Mexican federal police commander Gen.
Rodolfo Cruz Lopez described a weapon seized last month from one of
the nation's deadly "drug cartels" as a .50 caliber anti-aircraft gun
that fires 6-inch armor-piercing bullets at the rate of 800 rounds per
minute. The mainstream media coverage on both sides of the border
trumpeted the capture of this Rambo-style machine gun as evidence of
the increasing danger the drug-trafficking organizations pose to civil
society. A report on the seized "anti-aircraft" weapon by the
Associated Press noted that "assailants have fired on government
aircraft performing anti-drug missions in Mexico in the past, but
apparently never with the caliber of weapon found Monday [April 13 in
northern Mexico]." But there is just one problem with this narrative.
According to U.S. law enforcers, specifically the ATF, the captured
weapon is not what it appears to be, or at least what it was purported
to be by the Mexican police commander…
Time Takes Note: …Montana has passed a law allowing local gun
manufacturers to sidestep federal regulations as long as the weapons
they make are sold within the territory of the state. "It's a gun
bill, but it's another way of demonstrating the sovereignty of the
state of Montana," Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer said,
according to the AP, as he signed the bill into law in mid-April. "I
like big guns, I like little guns, I like pistols, I like rifles, and
I would like to buy a gun that's made in Montana." In Texas (which
recently saw Governor Rick Perry joking that the Lone Star State might
take up the ultimate state right and secede from the Union), a similar
bill is in committee as the legislative session winds down. Tennessee
and Alaska "Firearms Freedom Acts" are working their way through the
process. Utah may take up a bill next year…
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1897601,00.html?imw=Y
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The Beat Goes On: …The first driving force has been the huge demand
for loaded ammunition through 2008 and continuing into 2009. The large
primer manufacturers like ATK (which would include Federal and CCI),
Winchester, and Remington are directing the majority of their primers
into loaded ammunition. Ammunition sales are going through the roof as
individuals stock up because of political concerns. The huge consumer
demand for ammo is in addition to the demand from law enforcement
agencies and our military to re-supply their own inventories. I know
that smaller ammunition manufacturers have been impacted drastically
by the primer shortage since their demands are higher than normal for
primers that they have to obtain through Federal, CCI, Winchester,
Remington, etc. Many of these smaller manufacturers have had to go to
other sources to get quality primers. Because of this situation, some
of them cannot keep up with their own ammunition production.
Unfortunately, these smaller ammo makers can't control their own
destiny since they don't have the capacity or tooling to make primers…
http://blog.sinclairintl.com/2009/05/12/primer-availability-2/
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NRA to Meet in Phoenix: When tens of thousands of gun rights
activists, collectors, target shooters and hunters – all members of
the National Rifle Association – descend on the Phoenix, Ariz.
Convention Center this weekend, it could be a pretty rambunctious
gathering. American gun owners, many of whom voted for Democrat Barack
Obama because they wanted "change," are apparently now suffering from
"buyer's remorse." The evidence is there in the sharp increase in NRA
membership renewals and applications, combined with a frenzy of gun
and ammunition buying since last November's election. The NRA is an
organization that historically fights best from circled wagons. Right
now, gun owner fear about a Democrat-controlled Congress and Oval
Office has those wagons circled tightly, waiting for attack…
Arizona House Approves Parking-Lot-Storage Bill: The state House has
overwhelmingly approved a bill that would permit a gun owner to keep a
weapon out of sight in a locked vehicle in a parking lot or garage.
House approval of the bill on Wednesday on a 41-10 vote sends it to
the state Senate, which has not yet begun considering non-budget bills
during the current session. Supporters said the bill would serve
Arizonans who want to have guns in vehicles for self-defense and
recreational purposes. Critics said it tramples on private property
rights and overturns employers' bans of weapons on their property…
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/116458.php
http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2009/05/13/20090513houseguns.html
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Missouri Campus-Carry Bill Needs Help: I've written about Missouri
House Bill 668 before (with more here). The bill has several
pro-self-defense provisions, including lowering the age of eligibility
for carry permits from 23 to 21, and expanding the circumstances in
which the "Castle Doctrine" applies. The biggest part of HB 668,
though, came in an amendment that would end the status of Missouri
college and university campuses as self-defense-free zones. Students,
faculty, and staff, in other words, who are licensed to carry a
defensive firearm nearly everywhere else in the state of Missouri
would now be able to do so on campus, as well…
Oops, Wrong House: A homeowner on the Detroit's east side thwarted
three robbers by firing out of her bedroom as the men made their way
up the steps inside her home, according to police. A neighbor at 5
a.m. today noticed the three men breaking in the kitchen window of the
home in the 900 block of Algonquin, according to Detroit Police. He
called the cell phone of the man who lives there, who was on his way
home from work. The homeowner then called his wife, woke her and told
her to get their gun. Hearing footsteps on the stairs, she fired a
number of shots, missing the thieves. The husband arrived home just as
the men were climbing back out of the window, and they escaped. (It
sounds as though the woman could use some more range training and the
reporter needs to learn the difference between theft, robbery and
burglary.)
http://www.freep.com/article/20090513/NEWS01/90513035/1001/rss01
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Oops, Wrong Auto Shop: An off-duty cop shot and killed an armed robber
during a brazen stickup in a Brooklyn auto shop Saturday, police and
witnesses said. Ray Williams, 49, was getting his 1998 Lexus repaired
at Mel's Auto Specialist in East Flatbush when two men walked in and
asked for a used car battery, witnesses said. One of the men, his hand
palming a concealed .45-caliber handgun, pulled out the weapon and
announced a robbery, sources said. "Everybody get on the ground!
Everybody get on the ground!" the gunman yelled, a witness told the
Daily News. The stunned customers and a manager froze. A moment later,
Williams, a narcotics detective, identified himself and drew his gun.
That's when the bullets started flying at the E. 42nd St. shop. It was
unclear who shot first, police said. Williams was on target, hitting
the gunman in the neck, police said…
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/05/10/2009-05-10_1_brave_cop_1_dead_robber.html
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Codger Gets His Gun: …After an already full lifetime of 71 years,
three months ago he decided to get his concealed carry permit. This
intrigued me because he is a man who admires firearms, can shoot
straight, but is not one who typically enters any government building
that he does not have to enter. The application, background check, and
fingerprint requirements go against all he believes. Given how well he
influenced my life, I wanted to ask him a few questions related to his
new concealed carry permit and the new handgun he now has with him.
All of us can benefit from what a 71-one year-old gentleman has to
say…
http://lewrockwell.com/perry/perry49.html
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UN – It's for the Children: U.N. child's rights advocates believe,
teach and promote the idea that all private gun ownership is dangerous
for children, and children have the right to grow up in a community
that is free from all guns. Limiting the rights of gun ownership is
not some secret agenda of the U.N. but is open for all to see. UNICEF,
the official U.N. agency charged with the worldwide advancement of
children's rights, has published a four-color brochure entitled: "No
Guns Please, We Are Children." …
