Category: Gun Rights

Clayton Cramer has a pretty good example of how it’s working.

Looks like Harper is trying to enlist the help of Ontario sportsmen to help get rid of Canada’s long gun registry, and is calling for a vote to be held on the measure to scrap it.  Meanwhile, Rebecca Peters is busy trying to spread gun control in South America.

Also in the news is an apparent “loophole” in the UK’s handgun ban that’s being exploited by gun owners across the pond.  I guess you can call it the “Joker Loophole”

Clearly something must be done to avert this menace to society.

In addition to the hearings this past Tuesday, last week there was also a hearing in two house subcomittees on the Mexico issue, which NRA participated in.

• Chris Cox of NRA-ILA testimony
• Tom Diaz of VPC testimony
• Andrew Selee of the Woodrow Wilson Institute

I’ll be honest, it seems like an awful lot of trouble just to keep hippies and glaucoma sufferers from smoking weed.

Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you.  Last night it was the Brady’s turn.  Tonight it’s mine:

I consider this a minor setback. We will win on this eventually. But for tonight, Montezuma.

UPDATE: Holy crap.  I forgot what nasty shit this was.

Appearing in the Winter edition of Florida State University’s “Research in Review” is this interview with criminologist Gary Kleck:

Another reason Kleck applauded [the Heller] decision is that, now, citizens in D.C. will be able to legally arm themselves against criminal attack. Why is this a good thing? Through years of grueling research, Kleck has found strong evidence that crime victims who use guns during a crime are less likely to be injured or killed, and less likely to lose property than crime victims who adopt any other strategy, including non-resistance.

Read the whole interview.  It’s worth your time.

I wish to extend my thanks to the following members of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Congressional Delegation who signed on to the Letter to Eric Holder:

• Tim Holden (PA-17) Dauphin, Lebanon, Schuylkill, Parts of Berks and Perry.
• Paul Kanjorski (PA-11) Carbon, Columbia, Monroe, Lackawanna, Luzerne
• John Murtha (PA-12) Greene County, Parts of nearly half the southwest.
• Christopher Carney (PA-10) Wayne, Pike, Susquehanna, Bradford, Sullivan, etc
• Jason Altmire (PA-04) Allegheny County, Beaver, Butler, parts of others.

Notable Democrats from Pennsylvania who did not sign the letter:

• Robert Brady (PA-01) (Philadelphia)
• Chaka Fattah (PA-02) (Philadelphia)
• Joe Sestak (PA-07) Delaware Co. Chester County (Part)
• Patrick Murphy (PA-08) Bucks County, Philadelphia (Part)
• Allyson Schwartz (PA-13) Montgomery County, Philadelphia (Part)
• Kathleen A. Dahlkemper (PA-3) Erie County, Parts of Surrounding counties
• Michael F Doyle (PA-14) Allegeny County (Pittsburgh)

The former deserve our thanks, and support.  The latter need to be targeted in 2010, and should get letters asking them why they didn’t sign the letter.  I have Pat Murphy covered.  Bitter’s got Schwartz.  We have a few other ambitious EVCs out there looking at defeating some other ones.  Now all we need is an army of volunteers.

NRA is reporting more good news today.  Sixty five Democratic members of the House of Representatives have sent a letter to Eric Holder opposing the reinstatement of the Assault Weapons Ban.  Just to run the math for you, there are 178 Republicans in the House of Representatives under the 111th Congress.  It takes 218 votes to pass a bill.  That means with 65 Democrats on record as opposing a renewal of the ban, we can afford to lose 28 deadbeat Republicans on the vote, and Pelosi still would not have a majority to pass a renewal.

This gives us a pretty good indication that getting a ban passed in the 111th Congress is going to be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible for Obama to pull off.  Great work on the part of Congressman Mike Ross, and great work on behalf of NRA for getting this together.  It would be awfully nice for our main complaint about the 111th Congress to be that they didn’t do enough for us, rather than what they did to us.

But that’s not to say with this pass snowed out, they won’t try to find another way over the mountain.  We still have plenty of enemies in Congress and in the White House.

UPDATE: Letter here

From Chris Cox:

DLA also put to rest various theories and rumors that were circulated on the internet, concerning the reason for the suspension. As DLA explained to Senators Baucus and Tester, and to NRA-ILA, DoD officials responsible for the demilitarization of military property temporarily halted the release of the cartridge cases last week, pending review of a policy change issued last year by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which, in the interest of national security, halted the sale of items within a broad category of government property including, but not limited to, surplus small arms cartridge cases.

To make cartridge cases eligible for sale once again, DoD demilitarization officials verified that the cases could be appropriately placed in a category of government property allowing for their release for use within the United States, and then executed the recategorization. Whereas during the brief suspension, fired cartridge cases would have been releaseable only if the purchaser crushed or smelted them, now the cases may be sold as before, intact and reloadable.

DoD also assured NRA-ILA that companies previously authorized to purchase cartridge cases under Trade Security Controls need no further vetting at this time, and are eligible to resume purchasing cases under the policy adopted yesterday.

That tends to play against this being any nefarious conspiracy by the Obama Administration, which is a shame, because I like a good nefarious conspiracy.  Now if we can just get the DoD to start surplussing live ammunition to civilian shooters, we’ll really be in business.

Thirdpower has the scoop.  Apparently Tester and Baucus got wind of it, and asked that it be halted.

UPDATE: Documents from NRA are here and here in regards to the reversal.