(Manassas, VA, May 30, 2007) Sick and tired of paranoid and elitist politicians restricting guns for the law-abiding in hopes of curtailing criminals and currying votes?
Join the club.
Bothered to see shooting ranges being shut down and chased farther out of town by McMansions and town house communities?
Join the club.
Sometimes feel like you’re the only person around who understands the importance of the Second Amendment and the responsibility of gun ownership?
Join the club.
(Manassas, VA, May 15, 2007) As I approach my 47th birthday, the same age my father was when he was fired from NRA in 1982, I’d like to step away from the news for a moment to thank the readers of this column and share some personal perspectives. Continue reading Personal Note of Thanks
While there has been much discussion and debate recently concerning actions which might be taken by anti-gunners in Congress, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) has made "adjustments" to their interpretation of laws regarding "mental defects." ATF is actively encouraging state Attorneys General to enhance their reporting of persons who fall under the new, broader definitions to the National Instant Check System (NICS) to bar them from ever purchasing or possessing firearms. Shockingly, the NRA and the National Shooting Sports Foundation are both supporting and encouraging ATF's efforts.
The impact of this "adjustment" could be devastating to thousands of people around the country. According to ATF and NICS, a mentally ill person can never recover. There is no path for restoration of gun rights once they have been denied on the basis of mental problems. Continue reading ATF Increasing Intrusions
(Manassas, VA, May 8, 2007) On April 30, the Governor of Virginia signed an Executive Order requiring any ruling by a judge or magistrate which says that a person could be a “threat to himself or others” must be reported to the Virginia Crime Statistics Database and shared with the federal government’s National Instant Check System. This would mean that any such person would lose their right to purchase, own, or possess a firearm for the rest of their life (or until a court restores their rights – something that sounds reasonable, but simply never happens.)
No one would suggest that it is sensible or prudent to make it easier for mentally unstable people to acquire firearms. Arguments against increased limitations on access to firearms by the mentally ill can not help but seem – well – crazy. Unfortunately, just because something seems sensible on its face does not mean it truly is sensible and just because an argument is difficult to make does not make it wrong.
Subject: DC Court Refuses to Reverse
From: AlertsList at FirearmsCoalition.org (Firearms Coalition)
Date: Tue May 8 16:46:35 2007
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit has refused the District of Columbia's request for an en banc (full court) rehearing of a three
judge panels decision overturning a portion of DC's restrictive gun laws on Second Amendment grounds.
The District is expected to now appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
We will keep you posted.
The Knox Report
From the Firearms Coalition
Ending Massacres for Good
By Jeff Knox
(Manassas, VA, April 17, 2007) Thirty two students and faculty members of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University were brutally murdered on April 16. The story attracted massive media attention all over the world. Not the worst school massacre in U.S. history, but the most deadly school shooting (the worst used bombs not guns). In the aftermath, a serious concern is the history says such highly publicized criminal acts generate copycat crimes; the greater the media coverage, the more copycats, and they may take years to act. Every parent of college students in the United States, and every student, needs to be thinking about that fact and devising action plans.
No gun control law, no campus alert system, no increased police presence, buddy-system walking plan, or emergency call-box can stop a killer committed to the idea of immortalizing himself through murder. The only gun law which might have mitigated the carnage at Virginia Tech was a law rejected at the urging of school administrators in the past two sessions of the Virginia Legislature: a law forbidding state colleges and universities to prohibit lawful firearms possession on their campuses.
Thirty three dead after shooting rampage at Virginia Tech. All of the victims were unarmed. The murderer killed himself.
Virginia Tech forbids students and faculty from possessing firearms n campus, even when they have valid concealed weapons permits.
(Manassas, VA, March 13, 2007) When I was six years old my family moved from Wichita Falls, Texas to Sydney, Ohio so Dad could head up the creation of Gun Week newspaper. One of the first things we noticed upon arriving in the land of the Yankees was that the people up north talked funny. Not only did they have odd accents and strange pronunciations, they had different words for things and used terms that were not common where we came from.
One word in common usage in Ohio which, while not completely foreign, was still odd to us, was the word “allow.” Rather than saying, “My mom won’t let me.” Or, “I’m not supposed to.” Ohio kids would say “I’m not allowed.”
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The Knox Report
From the Firearms Coalition
By Jeff Knox
(January 5, 2007) New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is at it again. He recently filed federal civil suits against 12 more federally licensed firearms dealers in South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. In his well-publicized effort to “stem the flow of illegal guns” into New York, Bloomberg hired private detectives to enter gun shops around the country to covertly video gun dealers making “questionable” sales. He then files civil suits charging the dealers with knowingly and recklessly contributing to New York’s crime problems by selling guns to crooks. These suits are intended to either drive the targeted dealers out of business or to force them to agree to oversight by a court-appointed “special master” that essentially opens their books to the New York City mayor’s office. Dealers can expect Bloomberg’s antics to continue for the next couple of years, as the city’s $800,000 contract with the detective agency runs through 2008.