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The Supreme Court announced this morning that they are going to hear the appeal of the DC gun ban case.
Since the Court didn't make any announcement about this case last week when expected, many Court watchers were not expecting an announcement until after the Thanksgiving break, but, as we reported last week, we expected that they might make an announcement today as they did.
Look for analysis and more detailed information in my Blog area here.
Jeff Knox
We usually don't do this, but the following Alert from the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is timely and urgent so we are forwarding it to our list. (As list members add their ZIP codes, we will eventually be able to focus such Alerts to specific states.)
URGENT ACTION: TELL PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE MEMBERS TO OPPOSE HB 22, HB 18 and HB 29
Anti-gun rights Governor Rendell plans to take an unprecedented step and personally attend Tuesday’s PA House Judiciary Committee meeting to attack gun owners and our constitutional freedoms by forcing bad legislation (HB 18, HB 22, and HB 29) out of committee. You need to act now!!!
Please contact members of the Pennsylvania House Judiciary Committee today and keep it up through Tuesday morning.
ASK THE MEMBERS TO OPPOSE HB 22, HB 18 and HB 29.
The Committee Votes are scheduled Tuesday November 20 at 10:00 AM.
Phone numbers, fax numbers and email addresses are at the end of this message. PLEASE USE THEM.
Continue reading Big Votes in PA Tuesday, 11/20
The Supreme Court was widely expected to announce whether or not they were going to review the Parker/Heller DC Gun Ban case, but the case was not mentioned in the "Orders List" which came out today.
The Court will have another conference on November 20 at which time they could make a decision about review of the case. If they do make a decision during that conference, it should be announced that day or on the following Monday.
There is much speculation as to why the Court might have chosen to delay a decision on this case, but as with most things involving the High Court, the real reason for the delay or indecision is unknown. The Supreme Court doesn't explain themselves until they actually make a decision.
As always, we will keep you posted as news becomes available.
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Continue reading Supreme Court Indecision
During the Gun Rights Policy Conference I met a group of very impressive young people dedicated to ending the stupidity of disarming students and faculty at our institutions of higher education. Students for Concealed Carry on Campus is a grassroots effort by college students, for college students, and they are picking up momentum across the nation.
They have scheduled a nationwide week of protest for next week; here is the announcement:
During the week of October 22-26, 2007, college students throughout America, organized under the banner of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, will attend classes wearing empty holsters, in protest of state laws and campus policies that stack the odds in favor of armed killers by disarming law abiding citizens licensed to carry concealed handguns virtually everywhere else.
I apologize for the late notice on this; I have been trying to get these folks hooked up with other organizations that can help them and to get others with e-mail lists like this one to help spread the word and neglected to let you guys know about it.
If you know any college students (or people who know college students), please let them know about this group and the planned protest. For more information go to: http://concealedcampus.org/
Let's do our best to help make this protest a success!
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the idiotic "microstamping" bill on Saturday. This means that all semi-auto handguns sold in California after 2010 will be required to have little, computer coded marks on the firing pin which are supposed to transfer onto the primer upon firing, thus allowing the police to identify the make, model, and serial number of the gun from any spent cases left at the scene of a crime. Since criminals virtually never use a gun which can be traced back to them (unless they are celebrities like Robert Blake) and since the tiny markings can be easily defeated with no tools and little effort, the impact on crime and criminals is expected to be negligible. Expect to see bans on the sale of replacement firing pins, restrictions on possession of fingernail files, and restrictions on duct-tape and cardboard from which brass-catchers could be fabricated.
The Governator also signed a bill banning use of lead shot and bullets in millions of acres of the state where the endangered California Condor live. The condors, which are carrion eaters, are alleged to be eating the lead bullets and shot remaining in unrecovered game or unwanted portions left in the field by hunters. According to proponents of the law, such lead consumption is damaging the condor's survivability. The end result of this law probably will be a benefit to the condors since the reason lead is used is because it is the most efficient material for the taking of game. Use of other bullet and shot materials will probably result in more wounded birds and animals which will escape hunters and provide free feasts for the endangered vultures. Since there was no sound science or reliable research into the actual effects of lead bullets and shot on the California Condor, the results of this ban – beyond added costs to hunters – will never really be known.
(Washington, DC, September 27, 2007) Oklahoma Republican Senator Dr. Tom Coburn put a halt to an attempt to push through H.R.2640, the so called "NICS Improvement Bill", by objecting to an attempt by Chuck Schumer (D, NY) to move the bill directly to a vote without debate or an opportunity to amend the problematic piece of legislation. The bill was rushed through the House in June and passed on a voice vote with only one know dissenter, presidential candidate, Representative Ron Paul (R, TX) who expressed concerns that the bill was simply an expansion of an already unconstitutional program requiring citizens to seek and receive government permission before exercising their Constitutional Right to bear arms.
Senator Coburn's action does not put a stop to the controversial NICS bill, but it does keep it from barreling through without any opportunity to fix some of its serious flaws. Continue reading Coburn Blocks NICS Bill Railroad
Yesterday I sent out an Alert about NRA Director Joaquin Jackson's TV interview in which he opined that "assault weapons" were alright if they only had a capacity of 5 rounds.
This story has actually been bouncing around the internet for a couple of weeks and Ranger Jackson and NRA have released a response to the concerns raised by the story.
It is very clear in the interview exactly what Jackson is saying and what he means. Along with some other comments he states;
"I think these assault weapons basically need to be in the hands of the military and they need to be in the hands of the police, but as far as assault weapons to a civilian, if you… if you… it's alright if you got that magazine capacity down to five rounds."
NRA Director Against "Assault Weapons
"I think these assault weapons basically need to be in the hands of the military and they need to be in the hands of the police, but as far as assault weapons to a civilian, if you… if you… it's alright if you got that magazine capacity down to five rounds."
These are the words of famous, former Texas Ranger and current member of the NRA Board of Directors, Joaquin Jackson.
Jackson was being interviewed on PBS TV station KLRU on a program called TexasMonthly Talks.
The pertinent segment of the interview can be viewed on-line at:
http://www.klru.org/texasmonthlytalks/archives/jackson/jackson.asp
last clip on the page.
Below is a transcript of this portion of the interview.
National Exercise Your Rights Day is just 10 days away!
Buy a Gun or Ammo on August 28!
Are you ready?
Have you saved up some money?
Have you notified your clubs and friends?
Have you made sure your local gun stores know about National Exercise Your Rights Day so they can promote it and offer special discounts?
Have you made plans to join friends at the range?
Have you begun drafting your message to your legislators?
The Reverend Jesse Jackson is joining in the celebration of National Exercise Your Rights Day though the good Reverend is Continue reading Buy a Gun on August 28!