NRA and DISCLOSE:
From GOA: The ability of American citizens to communicate with their
elected officials is one of the most important rights that help
preserve our freedoms. In fact, of all the forms of speech protected
by the First Amendment, political speech is at the top of the list.
This is exactly what the Supreme Court said earlier this year, in
Citizens United v. FEC, when it ruled unconstitutional huge portions
of the McCain-Feingold law, otherwise known as the Incumbent
Protection Act. Now, in an effort to undo the victory at the Supreme
Court, liberals in Congress are attempting to pass the so-called
DISCLOSE Act, which would severely limit the ability of GOA to
communicate to our members and the general public… This
unconstitutional bill could come to the floor of the House as early as
Thursday. This is a startling about-face by the association. When the
Supreme Court ruled in favor of political speech in Citizens United,
NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre praised the decision,
saying, "This ruling is a victory for anyone who believes that the
First Amendment applies to each and every one of us.... This is a
defeat for arrogant elitists who wanted to carve out free speech as a
privilege for themselves and deny it to the rest of us." (Emphasis
added.) That's a far cry from the NRA statement to Congress this week
regarding legislation specifically designed to undo that Supreme Court
decision… (Second link will allow you to generate a letter or e-mail
to your Congressional representative. . I actually got through on the
phone to the NRA, to register my protest, fairly quickly today, by
calling membership services and selecting the option for Life
Members.)
http://gunowners.org/a061610.htm
Commentary: Fearful their first push to counter a Supreme Court
decision allowing business and union spending in political campaigns
wouldn't otherwise pass, Democrats might exempt the National Rifle
Association from legislation requiring tougher disclosures of election
ads. Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence, called the NRA exemption "cynical," but a senior Democratic
aide predicted the measure would fail without the NRA's blessing… The
bill calls for the top five donors of outside groups be identified
when they advertise in a political campaign, as well as other
disclosure requirements. Democrats negotiating a final version of the
bill have proposed exempting organizations that have been in existence
for at least a decade, have at least a million dues-paying members and
don't use corporate or labor union money to finance their
campaign-related expenditures. A handful of organizations may qualify
for the exemption, including the AARP, said a spokeswoman with Rep.
Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat, who sponsored the bill and said
it's needed to ensure the bill's survival… But critics say that the
"NRA exemption" was drafted principally to avoid pushback from the
powerful guns-rights group, whose opposition could sway some
Democratic votes from the "yeah" to "nay" column. The move has caused
an uproar from liberal groups and others typically allied with
Democrats. The Brady Campaign was one of more than 50
anti-gun-violence, conservation and other groups who jointly sent a
letter Wednesday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat,
to protest the exemption. The signers said they will oppose the
legislation if it stays in the bill… Mr. Elshami said negotiators are
still hammering out details of the bill, which could hit the House
floor as early as this week. But a senior House Democratic aide said
it was likely the exemption would remain in the bill's final draft. "I
think taking it out, without a substitute that NRA could live with,
would make it difficult to pass," the aide said… (From the NRA
statement: "On June 14, 2010, Democratic leadership in the U.S. House
of Representatives pledged that H.R. 5175 would be amended to exempt
groups like the NRA, that meet certain criteria, from its onerous
restrictions on political speech. As a result, and as long as that
remains the case, the NRA will not be involved in final consideration
of the House bill." To paraphrase Edmund Burke, it appears that all it
would take for the bill to pass is for the NRA to "do nothing." As I
said yesterday, one can only hope that this amendment proves to be a
poison-pill that kills the entire bill. It will be ironic if it is
opposition from the left that blocks this bullet.)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/16/liberals-assail-nra-exemption-in-campaign-bill/
… It's bad policy to treat reasonably similar groups so differently.
Why exempt the NRA but require the Sierra Club or the NAACP to report
their donors for campaign-related causes? There is no good answer
except for the matter of political muscle. But it's also true that
well-established, member-supported organizations are not likely to be
conduits for the kind of secret special-interest funding, whether from
corporations, labor unions or wealthy individuals, that the new
disclosure rules are designed to root out. The question facing House
members is whether some disclosure of political spending - a good deal
more disclosure, in fact - is better than none. We think it is. Under
existing rules, those who want to spend money to influence campaigns
without revealing their identities can operate through nonprofit
organizations or trade associations. The House measure would require
these groups to reveal their donors, just as so-called 527
organizations were called on to report contributors after they emerged
as important, but shadowy, political players. For those who believe
that disclosure is the best defense against corrupting the political
process, this new reporting is crucial. Exempting the NRA is
obnoxious, but the alternative is even worse. (Consider the source,
The Washington Post.)
… The proposal is not formally on the bill, yet, according to an NRA
source. It must pass through a couple of administrative hoops. If
adopted, it must pass the House, and then it must survive the Senate,
where Feinstein is waiting in the tall grass with fangs and claws
bared. Overlooked in all of this is the fact that this exemption would
not have been offered by Democrats if the party was not in serious
political trouble. Many Democrats are looking ahead to November and
all they see is a repeat of the disastrous 1994 elections in which
they lost Congress…
… We are not surprised by the NRA's stance as it involves the new,
improved potential campaign finance laws. From our perspective this is
how many dominant social themes work. Institutions evolve (in Western
societies) that are either in favor of more or less authoritarian
memes. Gradually through "compromises" between both "pro" and "anti"
groups, regulation is enacted that gradually becomes more onerous. In
the case of gun laws, the American governmental stance has shifted as
this process has evolved… n America these days there is a kind of de
facto gun licensing, and the NRA, via judicious compromises has
unfortunately helped make it possible. It is not surprising,
therefore, that the group would be willing to accept its own
institutional exemption in return for providing tacit backing for yet
another unconstitutional Congressional abrogation of free speech. In
the era of the Internet, however, such habitual actions have been
noted. There are at least two other groups that are much more
determined to fight for gun rights without compromise, as the Daily
Paul post notes: Gun Owners of America and Jews for the Preservation
of Firearms Ownership.
http://www.rightsidenews.com/2010061710623/politics-and-economics/nra-makes-a-terrible-deal.html
The National Rifle Association and its supporters are pushing back
against conservatives who have accused the NRA of selling out to the
left. The NRA worked with Democrats to carve out an exception from a
new anti-free speech piece of legislation… Oh, so they are a two issue
organization - defending the second amendment by using the first
amendment. If that is truly the case, how then does it help the second
amendment to have every other political organization bound by this new
anti-free speech legislation except the NRA? The answer is that it
does not help the second amendment. It helps the NRA. And the NRA is
perfectly happy to use Democrats to acquire for itself monopoly
status. The NRA wants to make itself the indispensable man on the
second amendment… We hang together or separately.
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/06/16/the-national-rifle-associations-excuse-holds-no-water/
---
Lautneberg Ruling Challenged: The full 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals has been asked to reconsider a ruling that authorities fear
could prevent enforcement of a federal law concerning domestic
violence and firearms. The law, carrying punishment of up to 10 years
in prison, bars the possession of a firearm after a conviction in any
court for a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. On June 1, a
three-judge panel of the court overturned a firearm conviction against
William S. White, convicted in Henrico County in 2004 of misdemeanor
assault and battery in a domestic violence case. White was indicted in
2008 in U.S. District Court on a charge of possessing a firearm after
he was convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. He
entered a conditional guilty plea that preserved his right to appeal
and was sentenced to 57 months in prison. On June 1, the panel's
ruling focused on the definition of "physical force." The judges held
that in the federal firearm law, it means force capable of causing
pain or injury, something not necessarily required for a misdemeanor
domestic-violence conviction under Virginia law. This week, in a
17-page petition for a rehearing by the full court, the U.S.
attorney's office said the earlier ruling "makes the statute largely
unenforceable" in the 4th Circuit and asks the full court to
reconsider…
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/crime/article/ABUS17_20100616-221204/351608/
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Daley Prepares for McDonald Decision: As Chicago awaits a U.S. Supreme
Court ruling this month that could overturn its 28-year-old handgun
ban, City Hall is considering a host of countermeasures that might set
off another round of legal fights with gun advocates. In an interview
with the Tribune, Mayor Richard Daley acknowledged an uphill battle
against the gun industry, which he described as the most powerful
lobby in the United States. Even so, he vowed that in the event
residents are allowed to have handguns at home, the city would take
steps to ensure that officials can account for the weapons. The mayor
said his primary goal would be to protect police officers, paramedics
and emergency workers from being shot when responding to an incident
at a home. He said he also wants to save taxpayers from the financial
cost of lawsuits if police shoot someone in the house because the
officer felt threatened… The city is looking closely at models adopted
in Washington, D.C., after the Supreme Court struck down its handgun
ban two years ago, and in California, which has some of the most
comprehensive gun laws in the nation. Chicago already requires
registration of rifles and shotguns, which are legal in the city, and
those regulations could easily be applied to handguns, according to
the city's corporation counsel, Mara Georges. The city also has the
option of rewriting its current ordinance to include stronger, more
controversial measures, such as databases that track a gun from the
manufacturer to the gun shop to its current owner, and ballistic
fingerprinting, which requires manufacturers to test-fire guns and
keep a record of the unique ballistic markings left on bullets and
shell casings… (So how many police officers, paramedics and emergency
workers are being shot with registered rifles and shotguns as they
respond to Chicago homes and why would that be any more likely to
occur with a lawfully possessed handgun?)
Topeka Rejects Open-Carry Ban: Topekans' right to openly carry a
loaded gun was upheld tonight by the city council. It was standing
room only in the council chambers Tuesday night as more than 200
citizens gathered to voice their opinion on the open-carry gun law.
Gun enthusiasts said banning open-carry rights would be a violation of
the second amendment. While those wanting the ban claimed more guns on
the streets is not a good idea. But not just anyone can carry a gun in
Topeka. State regulations restrict the following from the open-carry:
You cannot be a felon.
You cannot be mentally disabled.
You must be over 18.
You cannot carry in the premise of a k-12 school.
You cannot carry in any county courthouses.
http://www.ktka.com/news/2010/jun/15/topekans-continued-allowance-open-carry-guns/
http://www.kansas.com/2010/06/16/1363057/ban-on-openly-carrying-guns-rejected.html
---
Colorado Regents to Decide Next Week: The University of Colorado
regents next week will decide whether the school should continue its
legal battle to keep guns off its campuses, which could prove to be a
litmus test for Republican board members who hold a 5-4 majority. Only
two of the board's conservatives - regents Tom Lucero and Jim Geddes -
have made firm statements in favor of lifting the ban to allow
students and employees with concealed-carry permits to pack heat on
CU's campuses. The other three Republican regents, who could tip the
board's opinion, are more guarded on whether they'll urge CU to defend
its current weapons ban or side with their GOP colleagues. Judges with
the Colorado Court of Appeals in April ruled in favor of a gun-rights
group that sued CU and argued that a 1994 university policy banning
concealed weapons violates state gun laws. CU leaders will meet next
week behind closed doors with attorneys about whether they'll appeal
to the Colorado Supreme Court. Lucero said that since he was elected
in 1998, there hasn't been a strong majority on the board willing to
reverse CU's gun ban…
http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_15313003
---
Missouri Grocer Takes Down "No Guns" Signs: Schnucks, the St.
Louis-based grocery store chain, has taken down the signs barring
concealed weapons from its stores, including the company's location in
Jefferson City. "At the time conceal and carry passed, Missouri
allowed for signs to be put up in businesses and we did," said
Schnucks spokesperson Lori Willis. "As time passed, we had many
discussions about the actual position we had taken and how it affected
us. We made this change because our position is based on the fact that
any customer who holds valid permit should be allowed to do so." She
says the change does not affect the ban on employees carrying weapons
while at work.
http://newstribune.com/articles/2010/06/17/news_local/nt197local07schnucks10.txt
---
Interesting Ruling in Oregon: The Oregon Court of Appeals agreed with
a lower court Wednesday that Sheriff Mike Winters' denial of a
concealed handgun license to a medical marijuana cardholder wasn't
supported by law. Upholding an earlier decision by Jackson County
Circuit Court Judge Mark Schiveley, the ruling said Winters did not
have grounds to deny Cynthia Willis' permit in 2008. Winters had
argued that the federal Gun Control Act of 1968 was the legal basis of
his decision. In its ruling, the Court of Appeals found that Willis
complied with state law in her application, and disputed Winters'
federal arguments. "In sum, we are not persuaded that the Sheriff is
being forced to violate - or even potentially violate - any federal
law by issuing a concealed handgun license pursuant to Oregon's
concealed handgun licensing statutes," the court ruled. Portland
attorney Leland Berger, who represents Willis and three others in the
state who also have been denied concealed handgun permits, said the
decision is a victory for marijuana cardholders throughout the state.
"It means the sheriffs in Oregon will no longer be able to
discriminate against patients," Berger said. "It's time for the
sheriff (Winters) to stop wasting the taxpayer's money and stop
litigating this issue." He said the handgun permit denial by Winters
and other sheriffs is a result of their opposition to the medical
marijuana law, rather than over any real issue with the weapons
permit… (As I recall, the BATF 4473 form asks if one is an unlawful
user of controlled substances. One is not a prohibited possessor if
one uses controlled substances under medical prescription.)
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100617/NEWS/6170328/-1/NEWSMAP
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Oops, Wrong Liquor Store: Names have now been released of the two
would-be robbers who were killed this morning after they flashed guns
while entering the East 4th St Liquor Store, at 1027 East 4th St,
Waterloo [IA]. Police say Robert Maurice Bolden, 21, of Waterloo died
at the scene. Antonio McNeal Sproles, 21, of Waterloo was taken by
ambulance to Allen Memorial Hospital, where he pronounced dead. The
clerk, Johnny Lee Sanders, 65, of Waterloo was not injured. He was
taken to the Waterloo Police Department, where a statement was taken.
Police say Bolden and Sproles arrived around 2 a.m. when Sanders was
getting ready to close. The men came in with guns and Sanders shot
them, according to investigators… Police say Sanders saw the men come
in and grabbed a .44 caliber handgun. He shot both men, according to
police. One fell immediately inside the store; the other stumbled to
get away but then fell at the entrance of the store. Waterloo Police
Captain Tim Pillack said the men clearly wanted to rob the store, and
cited the fact that their mouths were covered with bandanas and
refused to leave when the clerk told them to. Initial investigation
shows charges against Sanders are unlikely. Pillack said it seemed his
actions were justified… This store has been the site of several armed
robberies in the recent past. Trelka said a notable case was in late
December, 2009. A clerk was shot and wounded in that robbery. Trelka
said it's not common for clerks to carry weapons, but he said it is
permitted by Iowa law.
http://gazetteonline.com/breaking-news/2010/06/16/two-people-killed-in-waterloo-shooting
---
Oops, Wrong Tattoo Parlor: The owner of an Atlanta [GA] tattoo parlor
killed a would-be robber during a Tuesday evening confrontation in
which at least 15 shots were fired, police said. The attempted holdup
occurred about 6 p.m. at West End Tattoo on Ralph David Abernathy
Boulevard, near Peeples Street. "It appears three suspects came into
the West End Tattoo parlor and attempted to rob the owner and at some
point, the owner managed to retrieve his own weapon," Maj. Keith
Meadows told WSB-TV. "It was at that point that the individuals
exchanged gunfire." The owner, who had a 9mm handgun, fatally shot one
suspect. "The other two armed suspects fled the business on foot and
remain at large," said Sgt. Curtis Davenport, a police spokesman. It
is possible, but not confirmed, that the owner wounded one of those
two suspects, Davenport said. Police said it is unlikely the shop
owner will be charged…
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/atlanta-tattoo-shop-owner-550093.html
---
Oops, Wrong Walker: A group of unknown individuals fired shots at a
man walking on Mount Vernon Avenue late Saturday night. According to
police, at approximately 9:15 p.m. Saturday, 24-year-old Taiwain
Johnson was walking in the area of 1512 Mt. Vernon Avenue when he
noticed a purple Chevy Tahoe with several black male passengers.
According to police reports, the vehicle turned a nearby corner and
Johnson soon saw the males from the vehicle on foot between two
abandoned houses. One of the men began firing shots in the direction
of Johnson, who is a licensed CCW permit holder. Johnson drew his own
handgun and returned fire in the direction of the suspects, who fled
the scene. Johnson was not injured during the incident and the
investigation continues. Anyone with information regarding this
incident is asked to contact Central Ohio Crime Stoppers or the
Columbus Division of Police…
http://www2.nbc4i.com/news/2010/jun/13/man-returns-fire-after-being-shot-ar-106975/
---
Oops, Wrong Pawn Shop: Federal agents working for a year from a bogus
store they set up took 230 illegal guns off the streets of Albuquerque
[NM] and on Wednesday rounded up 22 suspects. The Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives put on display a room filled with
confiscated weapons including a machine gun. ATF agents said the guns
were either stolen, unregistered or had their serial numbers removed…
Last July undercover agents set up a fake thrift store and pawn shop
called Jokerz Traderz on San Mateo Boulevard NE near Lomas Avenue…
They put the word out on the streets that the store was in the market
for black-market guns, and criminal took the bait, agents said… (I
would presume that these guns had all been stolen at some point and
note that no mention is made of any effort to return them to their
lawful owners.)
http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/feds-gun-criminals-fell-for-fake-store
---
Booze and the "Only Ones": Several Los Angeles police officers were
being questioned Wednesday in connection with an early morning
incident in which at least one of them fired a gunshot outside a
downtown pub, said several department sources familiar with the
investigation. No one was hurt in the incident reported about 2 a.m.
near Weiland Brewery Restaurant in the 400 block of E. 1st Street,
according to the sources, who asked not to be named because they were
not authorized to discuss details of the investigation. Three off-duty
officers were outside the pub when one of them pulled out a gun and
fired at least one shot in the direction of a street lamp, according
to the sources. Based on preliminary information, the sources said,
investigators believe the officer was impaired after a heavy night of
drinking, which, barring additional evidence, was cited as "the
primary factor" in the incident… In April, league President Paul M.
Weber warned officers about the risks of alcohol and provided
information on where they could get help in an article in the union's
internal newsletter, The Thin Blue Line. "Estimates show that alcohol
abuse among police officers in the United States is approximately
double that of the general population, wherein one in 10 adults abuses
alcohol," Weber wrote. "While the social use of alcohol may be
accepted in most professions, excessive drinking by police officers
can impair their ability to function properly at work and may result
in disciplinary issues." Alcohol impairment was cited as a factor in
two fatal accidents that claimed the lives of LAPD officers… ("Only
ones" is a term coined as a result of a then-DEA agent, giving a
firearm-safety presentation, who declared that he was the only one in
the room professional enough to handle a .40-caliber Glock, moments
before shooting himself in the leg with it. Let us all take cognizance
of the risks of handling firearms while impaired.)
Only from The New York Times?: … Now the firing squad, a Utah way of
death that began in pioneer days and lingered after other states that
practiced capital punishment had moved on to more sanitized means of
killing, is back. The execution of a man named Ronnie Lee Gardner, 49,
for murdering a lawyer in an escape attempt, is set for the small
hours of Friday morning. If not blocked by the courts, Mr. Gardner
will be hooded, strapped to a chair and shot through the heart… The
gun culture of hunters and shooters, to whom the idea of a firing
squad is perhaps not as alien as it could seem elsewhere, also
thrives. Just a few miles from the prison, a highway billboard sign
advertised an indoor gun range. "Shoot real machine guns!" the sign
shouted. (While Gardner has sought to have his sentence commuted, he
has also expressed that he prefers to die by firing squad because it
leaves no chance for mistakes.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/us/17death.html?ref=us
A condemned Utah inmate's decision to die in a barrage of bullets
fired by five unnamed marksmen has been vilified by many as an archaic
form of Old West-style justice. But some experts argue it is more
humane than all other execution methods, without the court challenges
of cruelty that have plagued lethal injection. "Lethal injection,
which has the veneer of medical acceptability, has far greater risks
of cruelty to a condemned person," said Fordham University Law School
Professor Deborah Denno, who has written extensively on the
constitutional questions that surround execution methods…
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2010/06/17/20100617firingsquad0617.html
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Campus Killer Charged in '86 Shooting of Brother: Amy Bishop, the
biology professor accused of killing three colleagues at the
University of Alabama, Huntsville, this year, was indicted Wednesday
in the death of her brother in 1986 at their home outside Boston. The
death was ruled accidental at the time, and the police in Braintree,
Mass., released Dr. Bishop, then 21, without conducting a full
investigation. But the local district attorney's office reopened the
case after Dr. Bishop was charged in February with fatally shooting
three colleagues and wounding three others in Alabama. William R.
Keating, the Norfolk district attorney, said legal proceedings against
Dr. Bishop in Alabama would take precedence over the new charge here.
If she is convicted and gets a heavy sentence in the Alabama case, Mr.
Keating said, Dr. Bishop will probably never stand trial in
Massachusetts…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/us/17bishop.html?ref=us
---
Scottish Grandmother Gets Five Years for Heirloom Pistol: A
grandmother has been jailed for five years for possessing a "family
heirloom" World War II pistol. Gail Cochrane, 53, had kept the gun for
29 years following the death of her father, who had been in the Royal
Navy. Police found the weapon, a Browning self-loading pistol, during
a search of her home in Dundee while looking for her son. She admitted
illegal possession of the firearm, an offence with a minimum five-year
jail term under Scots law. Cochrane told the High Court in Edinburgh
that she had never contemplated she might be committing a crime by
keeping the gun or that she might need to get a licence for the
weapon. She said: "I thought it was just a war trophy." Defence
solicitor advocate Jack Brown argued that the circumstances
surrounding the case were exceptional and that it would be "draconian,
unjust and disproportionate" to jail the grandmother-of-six. However,
Judge Lady Smith said: "I am not satisfied that a reasonable
explanation has been put forward for not handing this gun into the
authorities throughout the 29-year period she says she has had it in
her possession." The judge said she was unable to find herself
satisfied that this was one of the rare cases in which exceptional
circumstances existed… (Note that the photo is actually of a Browning
High Power 9x19mm pistol, such as is still in current use in most of
Britain's armed forces.)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/scotland/10335003.stm
---
Tangentially Related: …Nearly 90,000 pages of records from the Clinton
White House, released at the request of senators who will vote on her
nomination, show that Kagan played a role in crafting Clinton's
policies on abortion, gun control, welfare reform and tobacco… Kagan
must have impressed her superiors because Clinton sought to reward
her, at age 38, with a seat on the federal appeals court in
Washington, often a steppingstone to the Supreme Court. When Kagan
wrote Clinton to thank him for the nomination, the president sent back
a handwritten response: "I was honored to nominate you - you will be a
wonderful judge if we can get you through - and young enough to have a
profound impact." She didn't get through, stalled by the
Republican-controlled Senate until Clinton left office in January
2001. But now, at 50, Kagan still would be the youngest member of the
current high court…
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/06/11/national/w011543D68.DTL
Those who would like to help Arizona while we are boycotted for
empowering our state's peace officers to enforce federal immigration
law may wish to make purchases from Arizona. A recent e-mail from
Governor Brewer lists this website for some Arizona firms that do
online sales. There are also numerous firearm-related businesses in
Arizona offering quality products including firearms, belts and
holsters. Feel free to consult me is you are considering such
purchases and would like to send your money to Arizona. We are also a
state the offers a wide variety of tourism opportunities and not all
of them are in desert environments. I don't even know how many lakes
and streams are available for fishing in the area where I live.
http://localfirstaz.com/news/2010/05/19/support-arizona-business/
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