Illinois Hoplophobes Over a Barrel
Let ‘em Roll!

The state of Illinois is the only state in the union that does not offer provisions for regular citizens – those who are not law enforcement or security guards – to carry a gun in public. 

Last December, the US Court of Appeals for the 7^th Circuit ruled that the ban is unconstitutional and gave the state 180 days to come up with an acceptable framework for citizen carry.  Now, if the legislature and governor do not implement a plan June 8 of this year, the laws banning carry will simply become null and void effectively giving the state “Constitutional Carry,” i.e. unregulated carrying such as currently exists in Vermont, Alaska, and Arizona.  Chances of that happening are slim, however the journey from the current prohibition to the final system promises to be an interesting journey.

Continue reading Illinois Hoplophobes →

What the UN Treaty Means to You

By Jeff Knox

(April 4, 2013) On Tuesday, April 2, the United Nations General Assembly, by a vote of 154 to 3, with 23 abstentions, voted in favor of adopting a sweeping Arms Trade Treaty that has been the source of much speculation, derision, and concern within the rights community in the US.  While the language adopted by the UN is more in line with the demands of groups representing US gun owners and representatives of our firearms industry, there are still aspects of the treaty that are of concern.  The UN’s long-standing antipathy toward private firearms ownership demands that the language of the treaty must be viewed through the prism of that hostility.

 The treaty began life in 2001 as the “Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects.”  That mouthful of a title formed the framework for meetings that eventually became the basis of the treaty.  During the Bush administration, Ambassador John Bolton almost completely shut down the UN Small Arms Trade Treaty with his dogged objections to any provision that encroached on private firearms ownership or that encompassed any firearms, parts, or ammunition popular with US consumers.  During Obama’s first term, the treaty was revived, though his administration moved cautiously and worked to mitigate Senate concerns about provisions that would overtly impact US citizens’ Second Amendment rights.  During that first term, the one reassuring promise from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was that the final treaty draft had to achieve the full consensus of the drafting committee in order to gain US support.  It was this demand for full consensus – a unanimous vote – that effectively tabled the troublesome treaty during Obama’s reelection campaign.

Continue reading Inside the UN Treaty →

Stop Obama’s Gun Plans – Demand a Filibuster

By Jeff Knox

(April 8, 2013) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has declared that he will bring the Democrat gun control package to the floor of the Senate for a vote this week, though there is talk that he might delay until next week.  We have already detailed Reid’s intention to allow Dianne Feinstein to offer her “assault weapons” ban and to have Frank Lautenberg’s magazine ban offered as amendments to a less aggressive package, thereby giving Senators plenty of really bad stuff to vote against as proof that they’re not “anti-gun” before they turn around and vote for a package of less onerous-sounding anti-gun infringements.  The idea is to complicate, confuse, and obfuscate in hopes of squeaking out a win for “universal background checks” and expanded “anti-trafficking” provisions – or at the very least, painting the evil Republicans as supporters of rapists, murderers, terrorists, and wife-beaters if they can effectively stop the bill.

As he has in the past, Reid will give Democrats from more conservative states a pass to vote No on the more aggressive provisions, but he will do everything in his power to force all members of his party to vote in favor of the final package.  Reid is likely to vote against the Feinstein and Lautenberg amendments himself, but he will pull out all the stops if he sees any way of handing President Obama a Senate victory on guns – including bribes and blackmail as we saw during the votes on Obama-Care.

Continue reading Senate Action →

Catch Your Senators While You Can
Easter Break gives you an opportunity

By Jeff Knox

(March 27, 2013) Your two US Senators are supposed to be at home working in their local offices this week and next before returning to Washington where one of their first agenda items will be a vote on S.649, the Democrat gun control package.  As previously reported here, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has decided not to include Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) ban on semi-auto firearms and standard magazines in the base package, but instead will allow Feinstein to offer her gun and magazine bans as separate amendments.  Reid says Feinstein will get two votes, one on adding her full bill, and one on just including the magazine ban.  What is already included in the official bill is Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) language criminalizing private firearm transfers that haven’t gone through a government permission process, and a proposal from Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) that piles penalties on already-illegal straw sales and firearm transfers to prohibited persons, thus raising the stakes for dealers who fail to psychically detect lies on paperwork.

Reid’s objective in his management of the legislation is to get the most restrictive gun control bill politically possible, while at the same time providing political cover to himself and colleagues from gun-friendly states who might face repercussions for casting anti-gun votes.  He is hoping that senators can play both sides of the fence by voting down the Feinstein ban and voting for the other legislation.  Reid hopes that anti-gun forces will reward senators who vote for the package and that GunVoters will forgive a vote in favor of the more “moderate” infringements on their rights, especially by those who voted against the more draconian proposals.

Continue reading Catch Senators Now! →

Update: UN Passes Arms Trade Treaty

As we warned in the column below, the Arms Trade Treaty was moving, but even we weren’t expecting it to move this fast.
This morning in New York, the UN General Assembly passed the long-debated Arms Control Treaty placing tight restrictions on import and export of not just military armament, but civilian small arms and ammunition as well.

While it is highly unlikely that this treaty will ever be ratified by the US, it will still have serious impact on US consumers and foreign manufacturers who depend on the US market – even without US ratification. In abandoning their pledge to veto any agreement that did not have full consensus of the drafting committee, the Obama administration not only dealt a blow to US consumers, they also abandoned the US role as defender of human rights for millions of people around the world. The only good that might come from the passage of this treaty is that it could help to steel the resolve of US gun owners to redouble their efforts to fight domestic gun control efforts.
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Here is a link to the story in the Washington Times: 

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/apr/2/un-passes-international-arms-regulation-treaty/?page=all#pagebreak

Anti-Gun Treaty Blocked, but Threatening in UN
US reversal invites simple majority vote for adoption

By Jeff Knox

(March 30, 2013) After decades of bickering over an international Arms Trade Treaty in the UN, negotiations hit another snag right at what was supposed to be the conclusion of the drafting process.  Nonetheless, the treaty is far from dead.  Actually, it is a greater threat right now than it has ever been.  While three countries, Iran, Syria, and North Korea rejected the final language, which should mean another return to the negotiation table under the committee’s rules of full consensus, several highly placed UN sources have suggested that the ATT might be pushed on to a vote of the full General Assembly even without achieving consensus in the committee.

That could spell serious trouble for opponents of the treaty, both here in the US and abroad.  The US representative on the committee and the office of UN Secretary General, have both indicated a desire to see the current treaty language moved to the General Assembly for a vote.  In the General Assembly, the treaty would only need a plurality to be adopted by the UN, and without a veto from one of the “big five”, China, Russia, France, the UK, or the US, should easily sail through to adoption.  The big change in the equation is the US position which has consistently been that they would not support any treaty that did not achieve full consensus from all of the committee members.  Now the US representative, Thomas Countryman, has casually dismissed full consensus as being unrealistic, and says the US would vote in favor of the treaty in the General assembly.  That sentiment was echoed by the office of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Continue reading UN-Scrambling a Mess →