Stephen P. Wenger http://www.spw-duf.info
NRA and DISCLOSE:
From GOA: We alerted you last week to the very dangerous DISCLOSE Act
(HR 5175), where liberal House Democrats are trying to gag their
political opponents… So if the NRA gets an exemption for itself, it
will not oppose the anti-freedom DISCLOSE Act (HR 5175). This
legislation is designed to overturn major parts of the recent Supreme
Court decision which restored the ability of groups like GOA to freely
criticize elected officials during a campaign. But the NRA would no
longer oppose the bill once they've won an exemption for themselves.
As reported by Politico.com: "The legislation in question is designed
to restore more campaign finance rules in the wake of last year's
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, which removed
prohibitions on corporations and unions running TV ads opposing or
backing candidates in the run-up to an election." …In addition to
benefiting the NRA, this "exemption" amendment will benefit Blue Dog
Democrats who will be given a green light to support the Obama-Pelosi
backed bill... But here's the rub, the special exemption amendment
will ONLY benefit the NRA and no other groups whatsoever. It will
leave all other groups who are currently in Obama's crosshairs
dangling in the wind… We are in a political war, and our opponents are
trying to change the rules of the game by gagging those groups that
are their political enemies. Some might say that the requirement to
disclose our membership is not a gag rule, but it most certainly is.
Gun Owners of America will NOT do anything that would jeopardize the
privacy of our members! … (Second link will allow you to generate a
letter or e-mail to your Congressional representative.)
http://gunowners.org/a061510.htm
http://capwiz.com/gunowners/issues/alert/?alertid=15147036&PROCESS=Take+Action
NRA's Statement: The National Rifle Association believes that any
restrictions on the political speech of Americans are
unconstitutional. In the past, through the courts and in Congress, the
NRA has opposed any effort to restrict the rights of its four million
members to speak and have their voices heard on behalf of gun owners
nationwide. The NRA's opposition to restrictions on political speech
includes its May 26, 2010 letter to Members of Congress expressing
strong concerns about H.R. 5175, the DISCLOSE Act. As it stood at the
time of that letter, the measure would have undermined or obliterated
virtually all of the NRA's right to free political speech and,
therefore, jeopardized the Second Amendment rights of every
law-abiding American. The most potent defense of the Second Amendment
requires the most adamant exercise of the First Amendment. The NRA
stands absolutely obligated to its members to ensure maximum access to
the First Amendment, in order to protect and preserve the freedom of
the Second Amendment. The NRA must preserve its ability to speak. It
cannot risk a strategy that would deny its rights, for the Second
Amendment cannot be defended without them. Thus, the NRA's first
obligation must be to its members and to its most ardent defense of
firearms freedom for America's lawful gun owners. 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. The NRA
cannot defend the Second Amendment from the attacks we face in the
local, state, federal, international and judicial arenas without the
ability to speak. We will not allow ourselves to be silenced while the
national news media, politicians and others are allowed to attack us
freely. The NRA will continue to fight for its right to speak out in
defense of the Second Amendment. Any efforts to silence the political
speech of NRA members will, as has been the case in the past, be met
with strong opposition. (In Animal Farm, all the animals were equal;
the pigs were just more equal. NRA appears to be playing the same game
that the Big Brother regime has in mind for corporations – play along
and get a favored position.)
http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/NewsReleases.aspx?ID=13902
Angered by a concession to the National Rifle Association, liberal
groups mobilized Tuesday against House legislation calling for tougher
disclosure requirements on political advertising and other campaign
activity. The National Right to Life Committee also issued a fresh
attack on the legislation, citing special treatment given the NRA. It
is not clear what impact the developments will have on the fate of the
measure, which the Democratic leadership has penciled in for a vote
later this week. The bill calls for new disclosure requirements to
accompany political advertising by outside groups, which can now spend
millions of dollars in campaign-altering political activity without
publicly identifying their donors. Democrats agreed Monday to exempt
the NRA from its provisions after concluding the gun owners' group had
enough allies in the House to bring down the measure. Reaction was
swift from groups that generally support the Democratic agenda… (One
can only help that this amendment turns out to be a poison-pill that
kills the entire bill.)
http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/US-Campaign-Disclosure/2010/06/15/id/362094
A proposed campaign-finance deal aimed at mollifying the National
Rifle Association came under attack Tuesday from Republican opponents
and some liberal advocacy organizations, who say they object to
exempting a few large groups from having to disclose their top
political donors… Several key reform groups immediately backed the
agreement as an unsavory but necessary way to move ahead with the
legislation, including the Campaign Legal Center, the League of Women
Voters, Common Cause, Public Citizen and Democracy 21. But others on
the liberal end of the political spectrum cried foul, saying they
would oppose the legislation with the NRA language as an unfair
giveaway to a large lobbying group… The scattered opposition on the
left further complicates the political outlook for the legislation,
which also faces strong opposition from Republican lawmakers, major
business groups and some conservative organizations such as the
National Right to Life Committee. Democratic leaders in the House say
they hope to bring the revised bill to the floor as early as this
week; a companion bill awaits consideration in the Senate…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/15/AR2010061503982.html
Commentary: …But the "certain long-standing, member-driven
organizations" exempted under the deal appear to include only the NRA,
not smaller organizations like Gun Owners of America, the Citizens
Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, or any state-level
group… Although the news media and Obama administration have portrayed
the court decision overturning BPCRA as a coup for large commercial
corporations, in truth it returns election laws to those in existence
prior to 2002. The actual impact of the law in the 2004, 2006 and 2008
elections was to give the liberal media unchecked influence on
elections. Anticipating defeat in November, Democrats in Congress have
been feverishly trying to restore provisions of BPCRA under the
DISCLOSE Act in order to muzzle conservative organizations prior to
the elections. In addition to nearly all Republicans, opponents of
DISCLOSE have included gun rights organizations, the National Right to
Life Committee, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others… What makes it
a sellout is that exceptions are granted only to not-for-profit groups
with 1 million or more dues-paying members, operating in all U.S.
states, in existence for at least 10 years and deriving no more than
15 percent of funding from corporations and unions. Because the NRA is
the only gun rights organization which meets those standards, all
other groups would be forced to choose between remaining silent about
the actions of candidates for most of an election year, or reporting
the names of major contributors (read that "gun owners") to the
federal government… (Recall that BPCRA is also known as the
McCain-Feingold Act, which the NRA opposed at the time, before it fell
into bed with John McCain, whose formerly low NRA grade depended in
part on this bill.)
…As a Life Member, I'm disappointed, but not surprised. I've disagreed
with Association management many times over the years - and while some
dismiss that as "NRA bashing," that's their problem, not mine. One of
the frequent criticisms of NRA is all they care about are guns, and
the hell with everything else. I've been able to defend the
Association in the past, pointing to their historic joining with the
American Civil Liberties Union in opposition to the misnamed "campaign
finance reform." Then they endorsed one of its principal architects -
twice now. I wish I could say "Unbelievable" instead of "What did you
expect?" …This is no different than Fudd gun owners throwing Evil
Black Rifle owners under the bus as long as they get to keep their
"sporting" arms. It's the conduct of self-serving collaborators, not
of champions. What does it say about a gorilla so weak that principled
opposition taps it out? If they oppose this, they'll be paralyzed from
doing anything else? It's either chew gum or walk, but not both? All
those loyalties they've bought over the years won't stay bought? And
as for that "$ingle issue," it should be pretty obvious to all that
we're not talking about "freedom first". We're not even talking about
guns, since they'll happily benefit while the government screws over
smaller competitors like Gun Owners of America. Shame on you, NRA
management.
…The National Rifle Association was stellar in opposition to the
attempt by Congress to regulate grassroots lobbying when Congress
amended the K Street lobbying rules a few years back. In fact, the NRA
was critical in persuading certain Democrats, including Judiciary
Committee Chairman John Conyers, to ensure the grassroots provisions
were kept out of the lobbying bill. Democrats knew that if they could
buy off the NRA, they stood a better chance of passing the DISCLOSE
Act. Sadly, the NRA has sold us out on the DISCLOSE Act, and has
obtained its own exemption…
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/06/nra_sells_out_freedom_with_sep.html
…Though experiment: If Democrats wrote this bill and created an
exemption that only applied to the AFL-CIO, how would that play in the
media? And why would it be substantively any different?
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/06/they_can_pry_the_nras_donor_li.html
Tangentially Related: A South Dakota minister says he wants to do for
religious freedom what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. did for civil
rights. The Rev. H. Wayne Williams, pastor of Liberty Baptist
Tabernacle in Rapid City, last month endorsed GOP state Sen. Gordon
Howie in the South Dakota governor's race, in defiance of the Internal
Revenue Service and a federal court ruling and in hopes of producing a
landmark constitutional test case. At issue is an IRS regulation
called the Johnson Amendment, enacted in 1954, that says that
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the section of the tax code under
which most churches file, cannot endorse a specific political
candidate and retain its nonprofit classification…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/15/pastor-tests-irs-by-endorsing-candidate/
---
Who Will Write the McDonald Opinion?: …Cases still outstanding from
the February sitting are Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, Skilling
v. United States, and of course, McDonald v. City of Chicago. Based
on the assignments, it looks like Chief Justice Roberts will keep the
assignment for himself. There is a possibility Justice Alito will take
McDonald, but my money is still on the chief. With Justice Thomas
writing today in Astrue, there is little if any chance he will write
the majority. But I still think there is a strong chance he will
author a concurring opinion relying on the Privileges or Immunities
Clause. In all likelihood, Justice Scalia will handle Skilling/Black.
I have no clue who will get HLP.
http://joshblackman.com/blog/?p=4631
---
Gottlieb Goes to the UN: Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Bellevue,
WA-based Second Amendment Foundation and chairman of its sister
organization, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear
Arms, is at the United Nations this week in an effort to derail the
long-sought Small Arms and Light Weapons treaty that seems to be
getting lots of confusing publicity on the Internet… The good news is
that any such treaty must first past the U.S. Senate by a super
majority. So long as gun owners maintain pressure on Capitol Hill to
not simply reject such a treaty, but discourage the White House and
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton from signing it (only to
have it embarrassingly rejected), appears to be what Gottlieb is
advocating… Gottlieb is no stranger to international gun politics, and
neither is his wife. They have been instrumental in forming an
international firearms alliance that promises to grow and become more
active in the fight to stop global gun control, which is a genuine
threat. This column discussed that effort here. The global gun control
movement's hysteria and passion rivals that of a belief in global
warming, which has been pretty much debunked and has been replaced by
"climate change" as the environmental alarmist cause celeb…
Firearm Purchases and the No-Fly List: "It's no surprise that
[Republican Carly] Fiorina is attacking me," Sen. Barbara Boxer,
D-Calif., wrote in a recent fundraising pitch, "because she's so out
of touch with California voters. ... She supports allowing people on
the no-fly terrorist watch list to buy guns." …The Government
Accountability Office released new statistics in May, noting that
persons on the terror watch list tried to make 1,228 gun purchases
between 2004 and 2010, according to the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System (NICS) that gun dealers use. GAO reports that
only 109 of those purchases were blocked, and only because the
purchasers were felons, illegal aliens, under indictment, or insane…
But if terrorists made 1,119 gun purchases over the last six years,
then my first reaction is relief. By some miracle, we haven't seen a
rash of shootings by Islamic fundamentalists. Only two incidents come
to mind, and one is that of Maj. Nidal Hasan, who already had access
to firearms in his position as an officer in the U.S. Army. Then
again, perhaps those gun purchasers weren't terrorists at all. I
wonder how many of them are named "Rob Johnson." As just a small
example of how hundreds of Americans have been wrongfully kept off
airlines since 9/11, a 2006 edition of "60 Minutes" featured 12 men
with that common name, none of whom were terrorists and all of whom
had been mistaken for someone on a government terror watch list…
One More Poll: Large majorities of Americans feel that they should be
allowed to have guns. At the same time, pluralities of Americans favor
stricter control of guns, particularly hand guns, although this number
has decreased significantly in the past few years. These are some of
the findings of a Harris Poll survey of 2,503 U.S. adults surveyed
online between May 10 and 17, 2010 by Harris Interactive.
Specifically, other important findings from the survey include… A
plurality of adults (45%) favor stricter gun control and 26% favor
less strict gun control. However, the percentage who favors stricter
gun control has decreased since 2008 when a 49% to 20% plurality felt
this way… Large majorities of U.S. adults think that Americans should
be allowed to have rifles or shotguns (80%) and hand-guns (74%).
Fewer, but still substantial numbers, think that unconcealed (or "open
carry") weapons (50%) and concealed weapons (45%) should be allowed.
Significant minorities also think that Americans should be permitted
to have an unlimited number of guns (38%) and semi-automatic weapons
(30%)… (Minorities become pluralities; smaller minorities become
"still substantial numbers." The trend, however, remains the trend –
the prohibitionists are losing support. Extensive details from the
poll are provided.)
http://newsblaze.com/story/2010061602490200001.pnw/topstory.html
---
More on Gun-Free Zones: Even though the Fort Hood and University of
Alabama shootings are still recent events, many Arkansans continue to
believe in the fallacy of "gun-free zones". People trust police to
protect them from harm (though they have no obligation to do so), even
when law officers are many minutes away. But is there truly any reason
to worry about our safety when we are in these "gun-free safe zones"?
Can something terrible happen in Arkansas? Please peruse this list as
a gentle reminder… There are many groups fighting for our right to
self-protection in these slaughter zones. Please contact one or all of
these today to help pass friendly legislation in the next lawmaking
session…
Ohio Restaurant Carry – A Matter of Time: Ohio permit holders cannot
yet carry their handguns into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol,
but gun advocates say it's only a matter of time. The National Rifle
Association, with assistance from a pair of state-based gun-advocacy
organizations, is once again showing off its significant muscle in the
Ohio legislature. Despite opposition from the Fraternal Order of
Police of Ohio, county sheriffs, police chiefs and state associations
representing county prosecutors - all of whom call it a bad and
dangerous idea - Senate Bill 239 breezed through the Senate recently
with a bipartisan 23-10 vote. It took a procedural maneuver to block
the gun issue from coming up for a vote in the full House. In addition
to allowing permit holders to carry guns into businesses that serve
alcohol - as long as they are not drinking - the proposal also would
loosen restrictions on how a gun must be carried in a vehicle…
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/06/13/copy/under-the-gun.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/7317
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New York Senate Rejects Microstamping: New York State Sen. Darrel J.
Aubertine today said the lack of votes for proposed microstamping
legislation on the Senate floor is a victory for Upstate New York, law
abiding gun owners and our economy. He stood with fellow gun owners
and sportsmen in voting against legislation to require new
semi-automatic pistols to have micro-stamping technology that marks
ammunition… The Microstamping Bill (S.6005) was not passed on the
Senate floor, due to no votes from Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus
co-chairs Aubertine, Sens. Elizabeth Little and Dale Volker, along
with caucus members Sens. David J. Valesky and William Stachowski.
This legislation would have required all semi-automatic pistols
manufactured on or after January 1, 2012 to be capable of producing a
unique alpha-numeric or geometric code on at least two locations on
each cartridge case expended from such pistol… (That leaves California
as the only state with a microstamping requirement on the books,
However, the California law cannot be implemented because it contains
a provision that the technology must be available from more than one
source.)
http://www.nysenate.gov/press-release/aubertine-vote-upholds-rights-sportsmen-gun-owners
The Senate Democrats pulled the microstamping bill off the floor late
this afternoon after it became clear the bill would not pass if the
vote was allowed to finish. Now the majority conference is pointing
the finger of blame across the aisle at GOP Sen. Marty Golden, who
wasn't in the chamber while the slow roll was called… I expressed
surprise that Golden would break with Mayor Bloomberg, who was in
Albany to lobby for this bill today and even launched an ad campaign
through his Mayors Against Illegal Guns group. The two have been
allied for some time now, and Golden helped the mayor land the GOP
line last year… To see the mayor praise so many Democrats –
particularly Silver, who has killed some of Bloomberg's big legacy
projects like the West Side Stadium and congestion pricing – is very
interesting, especially since he spent so many years being the Senate
GOP's single biggest individual contributor. (For some reason, I am
amused to see Golden and Silver on opposite sides of this issue.
Leaden and Copper don't appear to serve in the New York legislature.)
http://capitaltonight.com/2010/06/senate-dems-blame-golden-for-microstamping-failure/
---
Minor Victory in Colorado: There is a park near my house where I and
my family often walk. Lately they have been improving trails and
sprucing the place up, probably using stimulus money. Anyway, the most
recent addition was signs at all the entrances stating that among many
other things, no guns allowed in the park. Being as law-abiding as I
can be, seeing the new sign I stopped and returned home because yes, I
had a gun. Immediately I fired off a "trouble ticket" to my Arvada
government complaining about the sign, saying that the state and the
county allow me to carry my weapon, why are they special? I added
"Criminals are going to ignore it anyway." There was a one week
response window and I waited. On day seven I got this reply: "…Thank
you for your question. According to the Arvada Municipal Code Section
62-71, open carry of firearms is prohibited in our parks. Thus, if
you determine the need to carry in accordance with the CCW guidelines,
at this time you may do so. A correction will be made to the sign.
Thank you for bringing the wording omission error to our attention." …
(Colorado preemption appears not to include open carry.)
Commentary from Santa Monica: …Israel has less [sic] murders than Los
Angeles County from all acts including terrorism. For the last 22
years the people of Florida demanded the right to carry a firearm, and
struck down failed gun control laws. Over the last 22 years, the state
of Florida has processed 1.59 million concealed-carry permits and has
only had to revoke 167 for firearm-related infractions. Statistically,
the Florida permit holders commit fewer felonies than police officers.
Maybe the Santa Monica Police Department should issue training and
permits as well… The fact is the narco-terrorists have a great deal of
money and the need to protect a large amount of drugs transported
around the world. The narco-terrorists are purchasing firearms on a
global scale. Are you daft enough to think the Taliban is purchasing
rifles at your local Wal-Mart as well? Univision and Telemundo have a
nasty habit of showing raw video feeds of the Mexican government
storming narco-terrorist training camps. The police proudly show off
the equipment captured for the cameras. At a Zeta training camp
outside of Higueras, Mexico, the narco-terrorists possessed the
following equipment not available at any U.S. gun store: Barret .50
caliber rifles, fragmentation grenades, M-72 LAW anti-tank rockets,
RPG's and the list goes on. If they can get this kind of American
military firepower, it's irrational to believe they have any reason to
stand in line at the local Big 5 to buy a neutered civilian rifle…
(This is amazing commentary from one of the most-left-leaning cities
in California. It's worth reading in its entirety.)
http://www.smdp.com/Articles-c-2010-06-15-69804.113116_Crime_drops_while_gun_ownership_soars.html
---
Oops, Wrong Garage: Police are investigating a triple shooting that
left two men dead and wounded a teenager. The shooting occurred late
Monday night in the 400 block of Chapel St., according to Cpl. Paula
Scheck, a spokeswoman for Hampton [VA] police. Investigators have
learned that a resident of the home and two acquaintances were sitting
inside a detached garage about 10:30 p.m. when three men wearing masks
walked up with handguns. Gunfire erupted and two of the masked men
were shot. One of them suffered several gunshot wounds and was
pronounced dead inside the garage, police said this morning. The other
was pronounced dead about 12:30 a.m. at a hospital. A 17-year-old,
who had been sitting inside the garage with the resident, suffered a
gunshot wound to his leg was taken to a hospital, according to Scheck.
He is expected to recover…
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/06/two-killed-teen-wounded-hampton-shooting
---
Oops, Wrong Restaurant: A suspect in a Moultrie [GA] armed robbery is
dead, shot by the owner of a business he tried to rob. Monday night,
two men tried to rob a woman outside the Cuban restaurant she owns.
One of them shot her, but the woman's husband fired back. She's
recovering, but one of the robbers was found dead today near the
restaurant… Not far from the bloody scene at a Moultrie Cuban
restaurant neighbors made another gruesome discovery, the body of 23
year old Arius Martin one of two suspects. Neighbors say they heard
the gunfire… It was gunfire that came from Juan Antillon the
restaurant owner after his wife Rosa Medrano was grazed by a bullet
from the suspect's gun when she came face to face with robbers up
outside the restaurant. "Gunfire was exchanged between, there were two
offenders and him and he advised me there was only one fire arm that
was fired at him. He said one of the offenders did not have a fire
arm," said Moultrie Police Commander Alfonso Cook. Antillon told
police he didn't think he shot anyone. Now police know differently.
"He was shot in his upper torso." … (Note the apparent lack of
immediate reaction to a gunshot that proved fatal.)
http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=12653636
http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2010m6d15-Armed-man-saves-his-wife-from-a-violent-robber
---
Rule Four Reminder: A teenager who shot a 5-year-old girl in the head
while firing a handgun wildly on a crowded Baltimore [MD] street has
been sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison. Eighteen-year-old
Lamont Davis was convicted of second-degree attempted murder in last
summer's shooting of Raven Wyatt, who suffered brain damage. He was
convicted of first-degree attempted murder for shooting his intended
target, another teenager, in the arm. Davis was being supervised by
the Department of Juvenile Services at the time of the shootings and
was participating in a GPS monitoring program. Baltimore Circuit Judge
Gale Rasin says Davis "deserves the full measure of punishment"
despite his youth. He will be eligible for parole. Davis' attorney
maintains that his client is innocent. (Rule Four: Always be sure of
your target and what's beyond it.)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/15/Baltimore-teen-gets-life/
---
Not If But When: Evan Marshall has initiated a thread worth reading on
his site, regarding the inevitable Mumbai-style attacks on American
soil. I believe that the M1 Carbine that has ridden in a locked case
in my truck since my return to Arizona will soon be replaced by a
spare AR-15. The original choice was based on the relative cost, if
the gun were to be stolen. That risk-benefit equation is shifting
rapidly.
http://www.stoppingpower.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18562
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