Month: October 2011

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HR 3065 – Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act

October 7, 2011 by 1 Comment

Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC-11) has introduced the House version of Sen. Mark Udall’s S. 1249 – Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act. Both bills seek to reallocate Pittman-Robinson Wildlife Restoration Act monies towards the development of shooting and archery ranges on both Federal and non-Federal lands.

The act says that the Federal portion used for construction or expansion can be up to 75% of the total cost. Moreover, for land acquisition to be used for a range or its expansion, the Federal share can be up to 90% of the total.

The bill currently has 52 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisles.

Rep Austria, Steve [OH-7] – 9/23/2011
Rep Barrow, John [GA-12] – 9/23/2011
Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. [MD-6] – 9/23/2011
Rep Benishek, Dan [MI-1] – 9/23/2011
Rep Boren, Dan [OK-2] – 9/23/2011
Rep Boswell, Leonard L. [IA-3] – 9/23/2011
Rep Broun, Paul C. [GA-10] – 9/23/2011
Rep Buchanan, Vern [FL-13] – 9/23/2011
Rep Bucshon, Larry [IN-8] – 10/4/2011
Rep Burton, Dan [IN-5] – 9/23/2011
Rep Calvert, Ken [CA-44] – 9/23/2011
Rep Cardoza, Dennis A. [CA-18] – 9/23/2011
Rep Chandler, Ben [KY-6] – 9/23/2011
Rep Coffman, Mike [CO-6] – 10/3/2011
Rep Conaway, K. Michael [TX-11] – 9/23/2011
Rep Costa, Jim [CA-20] – 9/23/2011
Rep Courtney, Joe [CT-2] – 9/23/2011
Rep Critz, Mark S. [PA-12] – 9/23/2011
Rep Duncan, Jeff [SC-3] – 10/5/2011
Rep Foxx, Virginia [NC-5] – 9/23/2011
Rep Green, Gene [TX-29] – 9/23/2011
Rep Guinta, Frank C. [NH-1] – 9/23/2011
Rep Guthrie, Brett [KY-2] – 9/23/2011
Rep Hanna, Richard L. [NY-24] – 9/23/2011
Rep Harris, Andy [MD-1] – 9/23/2011
Rep Holden, Tim [PA-17] – 9/23/2011
Rep Hultgren, Randy [IL-14] – 9/23/2011
Rep Hunter, Duncan D. [CA-52] – 9/23/2011
Rep Kind, Ron [WI-3] – 9/23/2011
Rep Kinzinger, Adam [IL-11] – 10/4/2011
Rep Kissell, Larry [NC-8] – 9/23/2011
Rep Kline, John [MN-2] – 9/23/2011
Rep Latta, Robert E. [OH-5] – 9/23/2011
Rep Lewis, Jerry [CA-41] – 9/23/2011
Rep Luetkemeyer, Blaine [MO-9] – 10/5/2011
Rep Lungren, Daniel E. [CA-3] – 10/3/2011
Rep Matheson, Jim [UT-2] – 9/23/2011
Rep McIntyre, Mike [NC-7] – 9/23/2011
Rep McKinley, David B. [WV-1] – 9/23/2011
Rep Michaud, Michael H. [ME-2] – 9/23/2011
Rep Miller, Jeff [FL-1] – 9/23/2011
Rep Owens, William L. [NY-23] – 10/4/2011
Rep Peterson, Collin C. [MN-7] – 9/23/2011
Rep Ross, Dennis [FL-12] – 9/23/2011
Rep Ross, Mike [AR-4] – 9/23/2011
Rep Simpson, Michael K. [ID-2] – 10/3/2011
Rep Thompson, Mike [CA-1] – 9/23/2011
Rep Walberg, Tim [MI-7] – 10/5/2011
Rep Westmoreland, Lynn A. [GA-3] – 9/23/2011
Rep Wittman, Robert J. [VA-1] – 10/5/2011
Rep Yoder, Kevin [KS-3] – 9/23/2011
Rep Young, Don [AK] – 9/23/2011

I initially missed this bill because it was introduced on September 23rd which was the first day of the Gun Rights Policy Conference. Now that I see it, I encourage everyone to contact their Congressman or Congresswoman to become a co-sponsor. If they are already a co-sponsor, make that a thank-you note!

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Quote Of The Day

October 7, 2011 by

I rarely make the Quote of the Day about financial matters but this quote from fund manager Bill Gross was too good to pass up. Gross is the Chief Investment Officer for Pacfic Investment Management and is the manager of the world’s largest bond fund, PIMCO Total Return. With regard to the amount of debt in the developed world including the United States, Gross had this to say:

The midriff “bulge” would be a rather kind description of
today’s debt crisis. No muffin top there – if anything,
sovereign balance sheets resemble an overweight diabetic on
the verge of a heart attack.

I should note in passing that Gross tends to lean towards the Democrats and was very critical of President George W. Bush.

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Obama Aware Of Gunwalking? “Certainly I Was Not”

October 6, 2011 by

The transcript of the relevant question and answer on gunwalking from the news conference is below:

And then just as a separate question — as you’re watching the Solyndra and Fast and Furious controversies play out, I’m wondering if it gives you any pause about any of the decision-making going on in your administration — some of the emails that Democrats puts out indicating that people at the Office of Management and Budget were concerned about the Department of Energy; some of the emails going on with the Attorney General saying he didn’t know about the details of Fast and Furious. Are you worried at all about how this is — how your administration is running?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, first on the issue of prosecutions on Wall Street, one of the biggest problems about the collapse of Lehmans and the subsequent financial crisis and the whole subprime lending fiasco is that a lot of that stuff wasn’t necessarily illegal, it was just immoral or inappropriate or reckless. That’s exactly why we needed to pass Dodd-Frank, to prohibit some of these practices.

The financial sector is very creative and they are always looking for ways to make money. That’s their job. And if there are loopholes and rules that can be bent and arbitrage to be had, they will take advantage of it. So without commenting on particular prosecutions — obviously that’s not my job; that’s the Attorney General’s job — I think part of people’s frustrations, part of my frustration, was a lot of practices that should not have been allowed weren’t necessarily against the law, but they had a huge destructive impact. And that’s why it was important for us to put in place financial rules that protect the American people from reckless decision-making and irresponsible behavior.

Now, with respect to Solyndra and Fast and Furious, I think I’ve been very clear that I have complete confidence in Attorney General Holder in how he handles his office. He has been very aggressive in going after gun running and cash transactions that are going to these transnational drug cartels in Mexico. There has been a lot of cooperation between the United States and Mexico on this front. He’s indicated that he was not aware of what was happening in Fast and Furious; certainly I was not. And I think both he and I would have been very unhappy if somebody had suggested that guns were allowed to pass through that could have been prevented by the United States of America.

He has assigned an Inspector General to look into how exactly this happened, and I have complete confidence in him and I’ve got complete confidence in the process to figure out who, in fact, was responsible for that decision and how it got made.

He may as well have said he didn’t know about no steenkin’ gun walking for how believeable his response to Jake Tapper’s question really is.

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Meet The New Boss – Same As The Old Boss

October 6, 2011 by

David Codrea writing in his National Gun Rights Examiner column today says that ATF Acting Director Todd Jones has given us “kabuki” instead of a real shakeup with the changes he announced yesterday in the senior management of ATF. Or as David headlines his column, meet the new boss – same as the old boss.

As any Who fan knows – or anyone that watches CSI: Miami – those lyrics come from the last stanza of The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.

I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I’ll get on my knees and pray
We don’t get fooled again
Don’t get fooled again
No, no!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

And so, in honor of Todd Jones’ reshuffling at ATF HQ, here is The Who.

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Steve Jobs RIP

October 6, 2011 by 1 Comment

I’m not sure if I would have wanted to work for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs but I sure did like his products. Over time I’ve owned a Macintosh Plus, mid-90s era PowerBook, 2 iPods, an iPhone 4, and an iPad2.

To honor his memory and his passing, I thought the 1984 Superbowl commercial was appropriate. It is still, to my mind, the best Superbowl commercial created.

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Gonzalez v. Omaha Suit Prods Omaha To Make Changes

October 6, 2011 by 2 Comments

The City of Omaha, Nebraska was sued late last month by the Second Amendment Foundation and the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association on behalf of permanent legal alien Armando Pliego Gonzalez. As a result, the City of Omaha is proposing changes to their firearms regulations regarding registration.

Andy Allen of NFOA thinks the Omaha proposals fall far short of what is required under state and federal law. He released this statement regarding the proposals:

Omaha, NE, October 5, 2011– Andreas Allen, President of the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association (NFOA), welcomes the chance to address the issues that Omaha has with its firearms laws; however, the City’s proposal falls short of their stated goal of “making the Omaha Ordinances consistent with State and Federal laws”. Other than addressing the current lawsuit on legal resident aliens, the only inconsistency to State and Federal laws the City has attempted to reconcile in this proposal is creating a registration exemption for the Nebraska Concealed Handgun Permit Act. Consequently, in 2009 the Nebraska Legislature had already declared Omaha’s registration null and void for Nebraska Concealed Handgun Permit holders.

If this was a serious attempt to reconcile City, State, and Federal law, then the City should have started with their definition of a “Concealable Firearm.” Unlike Omaha’s definition of “a firearm having a barrel less than 18 inches in length,” the rest of the State and Nation define a “Concealable Firearm” to have a barrel less that 16 inches and be designed to be operated with one hand. This simple definition difference in Omaha places many common 16-inch barrel rifles into the category of a “Concealable Firearm,” and even though the Omaha Police Department does not register these rifles, a resident in possession of one of these common target or sporting rifles could be found in violation of Omaha’s registration requirements. There is also no mention of removing the obsolete requirement for a written permit from the Chief of Police to purchase a “Concealable Firearm,” even though the process for receiving such a permit has long been removed from the City’s ordinances.

“Any well thought out attempt to correct Omaha’s firearms ordinances should start with removing these unenforced portions of the law. The City’s proposal falls short of their stated goal and the only real effect it would have is creating a fifty percent increase in what many Omaha Police Officers and firearms owners call the ‘Omaha Gun Tax,'”said NFOA President Andy Allen. “Should the City decide they truly want to ‘make the Omaha Ordinances consistent with State and Federal laws’, then the NFOA is willing to assist the City in fixing the inconsistencies in Omaha’s firearms ordinances.”

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Moving The Deck Chairs On The Titanic

October 6, 2011 by

The new Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm, and Explosives announced a reshuffling of headquarters staff in a press release today. There are some demotions such as William Hoover and Mark Chait and a lot of lateral transfers.

ATF Acting Director Jones Announces New Staff Assignments

WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Acting Director B. Todd Jones today announced key staff changes aimed at refocusing the bureau’s direction on its core mission.

“I have assembled a team to move ATF forward in its mission to fight violent crime and protect the American people, and to ensure that an experienced and strong staff is in place to implement that mission,” Jones said. In addition, he thanked all newly reassigned ATF officials for their service and praised their flexibility and willingness to take on the tasks at hand.

Jones was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder recently to lead ATF following the departure of former Acting Director Kenneth Melson. The leadership change followed the reassignment of several other ATF officials within the agency following concerns raised about Operation Fast and Furious, a firearms trafficking investigation out of Phoenix now under review by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). While today’s changes are geared toward refocusing ATF under a new acting director, additional staff reassignments may be warranted at the conclusion of the OIG’s report.

Under the changes announced today by Jones, ATF executive staff will be reassigned as follows:

  • Thomas Brandon will become Deputy Director. He most recently served as Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Phoenix Field Division. Prior to that assignment he was the Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Detroit Field Division from January 2008 to August 2011.
  • W. Larry Ford will become Assistant Director of the Office of Field Operations. He most recently served as the Assistant Director of the Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information. Prior to that assignment he was the Assistant Director of the Office of Public and Governmental Affairs from December 2004 to August 2010.
  • Gregory Gant will become the Assistant Director of the Office of Public and Governmental Affairs. Most recently he was assigned to the Office of Public and Governmental Affairs as the Deputy Assistant Director. Prior to that he was the Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Atlanta Field Division from August 2008 to August 2011.
  • James McDermond will return to Assistant Director of the Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information, the position he held before most recently serving as Assistant Director of the Office of Public and Governmental Affairs. He was the prior Assistant Director of the Office of Strategic Intelligence from 2004 to August 2010.
  • Julie Torres will become the Assistant Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations. She most recently served as Deputy Assistant Director of the Office of Field Operations – East Region. Prior to that she was the Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Miami Field Division April 2004 to June 2008.
  • Theresa Stoop will become the Assistant Director of the Office of Human Resources and Professional Development. She most recently served at Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Baltimore Field Division from November 2008 to September 2011. She had also served as Chief of Staff for a prior ATF director.
  • Mark Potter will become the Assistant Director of the Office of Management. He most recently served as Deputy Assistant Director of the Office of Field Operations – West Region. Prior to that he was the Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Philadelphia Field Division March 2003 to July 2011.
  • William Hoover will become Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Washington Field Division. He had served as Deputy Director from May 2009 to September 2011. Prior to that he was the Assistant Director of the Office of Field Operations.
  • Mark Chait will become special agent in charge of the ATF Baltimore Field Division. He had served as assistant director of the Office of Field Operations from May 2009 to September 2011. Prior to that he was deputy assistant director of the Office of Field Operations – Central Region.
  • Vivian Michalic will become the Deputy Assistant Director of the Office of Management and will remain the Chief Financial Officer for ATF. She was the Assistant Director of the Office of Management from September 2010 to September 2011, and had served previously as the Chief of Staff for a prior ATF director.
  • Melanie Stinnett will become Deputy Chief Counsel of ATF. Most recently she served as Assistant Director of the Office of Professional Responsibility and Security Operations. Prior to that she was Assistant Director of the Office of Management and chief financial officer from January 2006 to May 2010.

Not all of these choices are being received with happiness at CleanUpATF.org. For example, whistleblower Special Agent Vincent Cefalu had this to say about Larry Ford, the new Asst. Dir. of the Office of Field Operations.

He has to know that W. Call me Larry Ford was run out of PGA because no one on the hill would talk to him and his credibility is shot in Congress. Factor in his multiple signed lies to Congressional inquiries, and the fact that he was THE Assistant Director of Intel at the MOST critical stages of Fast and Furious and didn’t utter a peep.

UPDATE: Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) released a statement on the reshuffling last night.

“The reassignments are positive, especially in the case of Tom Brandon who I hope can help lead this agency out of its troubles. But, I caution that rearranging the chairs on the deck, won’t make Fast and Furious go away. I also question the timing of this announcement. There is a lot of effort at the Justice Department to spin the fact that the Attorney General was less than candid before the House Judiciary Committee, and what better way to make that go away than a bureaucratic shuffle. There are a lot of questions that remain to be answered and actions that need to be explained.”

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Blaze Orange Requirements In North Carolina

October 6, 2011 by 4 Comments

Hunting seasons for various game animals have or are about to open in North Carolina. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission is running a campaign called Home from the Hunt which reminds hunters of the blaze orange requirements while hunting.

RALEIGH, N.C. – The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s Home From The Hunt safety campaign is reminding hunters of blaze orange requirements (also known as hunter orange, fluorescent orange or 10-mile cloth).

In North Carolina, hunters are required to wear a cap or hat of blaze orange color, or wear an outer garment such as a shirt or game vest in blaze orange that is visible from all sides, when hunting bear, feral hogs, deer, rabbit, squirrel, grouse, pheasant or quail with a firearm. Hunters also are required to wear blaze orange while hunting with a bow on Sunday during the muzzleloader or gun season.

The campaign also recommends anyone spending time outdoors in areas that see hunting activity to consider wearing blaze orange. Blaze orange clothing stands out against an outdoor background and studies have proven it increases visibility of the wearer in low light situations.

“Blaze orange signals ‘caution’ to the viewer,” said Travis Casper, assistant hunter education coordinator for North Carolina. “Wearing blaze orange is an important step for safety, because it alerts others to your presence with an instantaneous recognition.”

Blaze orange can also be helpful in locating someone lost or injured.

In North Carolina, all first-time hunting license buyers must successfully complete a Hunter Education Course, offered free across the state. Go to www.ncwildlife.org to consult the online version of the 2011-2012 N.C. Inland Fishing, Hunting and Trapping Regulations Digest or call 919-707-0031 for more information.