Time is running out to get your ballots in to the NRA’s tabulator. They must be received by April 6th. If you haven’t mailed your ballot yet, you need to do so now.
The question often asked is “can I vote online” and the answer unfortunately is no. That is one of the things I will be working to change as I have written about in the past.
The House Judiciary Committee will meet tomorrow, March 25th, to markup or consider a number of bills related to the Second Amendment that will then be passed on to the full House of Representatives. Included are bills extending protection to knife owners, concealed carry reciprocity, and providing due process to people who have denied NICS checks.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Judiciary Committee will hold a markup on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. ET in 2141 Rayburn House Office Building.
Legislation to be considered includes:
WATCH: The markup will be live streamed here.
HR 60 is essentially the equivalent for knife owners of FOPA 1986 which allows free travel of locked away knives. An exception is made for emergency knives used to cut seat belts.
HR 38 has been introduced multiple times by Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC). The bill will allow people with a concealed carry permit OR are allowed to carry without a permit in their home state to carry in any other state that either issues carry permits or allows carry by its citizens. In other words, everywhere in the United States so long as the person is not a prohibited person. Restrictions on places where carry is permitted could vary from state to state.
HR 2267 requires the Attorney General to issue a report of the demographics of those deemed ineligible to purchase a firearm based upon a denial by the NICS check system.
Finally, HR 2184 would force the FBI to correct erroneous data in the NICS System within 60 days. A denied person could challenge their denial in court with the burden of proof on the respondent aka the FBI. If successful, attorneys fees are to be paid by the respondent.
It looks like the Republicans are finally getting serious about moving Second Amendment legislation. Now it is time to do “debanking” and the Hearing Protection Act.
There are 13 days left until the ballots for the NRA Board of Director election must be received with the tabulating firm in Dun Loring, Virginia. As the factoid below from the Falls Township Rifle and Pistol Association illustrates, enough ballots were received late that they could have impacted the outcome of the election for some candidates.
If you have not voted yet, dig that February issue of the NRA magazine out of that pile of mail you put aside to read later. I would urge you in the strongest possible terms to vote for the NRA 2.0 reform ticket. You can find a list of the candidates here. Do not vote for more than 28 candidates total! Don’t forget to vote for the two write-in candidates – Paul Babaz of Atlanta, GA and Charles Brown of Dayton, OH. You must include their cities of residence.
To get an idea of how long it would take for your ballot to arrive in Dun Loring, VA, I ran the estimated times of delivery for a ballot sent tomorrow morning for a number of US cities. Rural areas will probably take even longer. In my experience, estimated times of delivery are the best case.
Thus, it will take anywhere from three to six days for delivery from the time you mail the ballot. Even if you mailed it from Fairfax County, VA, it will take two days. If you wait until next Monday to mail it, you might make it but I would not count on it.
I have comment moderation enabled because I get so many spam comments. They usually involve CBD gummies or are in Russian cyrillic or have a link to some suspicious website. Occasionally however I do get one that makes me laugh.
Hi! Someone in my Myspace group shared this website with us so I came to check it out.
I’m definitely loving the information. I’m bookmarking and
will be tweeting this to my followers! Outstanding blog and superb design.
MySpace? When was the last time in this decade have you ever heard of anyone even mentioning MySpace? I had to check to see if it still existed! It actually does amazingly enough.
That comment, by the way, came from “Anek Baki” on Walt Walter’s obituary. Is it any wonder that I considered it spam and trashed it.
I had a nice chat yesterday with John Commerford who is the Executive Director of NRA-ILA. I had sent him an email earlier to ask about the NRA’s position on S.50- Freedom to Carry NC. He expressed they had some reservations which you read in the release below. Those reservations center around the fact that the bill is a bit more restrictive on who can carry than the law is on who can purchase a firearm. His feeling was that some may presume they can carry just because they could purchase a handgun and would be caught unawares. These are valid points and things that may be fixed in the final bill.
I will note that Sarah Kettle, ILA’s state director for NC, did testify in favor of the bill at the Senate Rules Committee yesterday.
From ILA:
Yesterday, Senate Bill 50 (SB 50), a permitless carry bill sponsored by Senator Britt and Senator Settle, passed favorably out of the Senate Judiciary Committee with amendments. The bill is now headed to the Senate Rules and Operations Committee for further consideration.
SB 50 would recognize your right to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense without seeking government permission by eliminating the requirement that law-abiding gun owners obtain a permit to carry. The NRA strongly supports constitutional/permitless carry, however SB 50 still has some pitfalls that could entrap well intentioned gun owners. SB 50 as written creates scenarios in which a person could lawfully purchase and possess a firearm but would be prohibited from carrying that firearm for self-defense purposes. The NRA is committed to working with the sponsor and willing lawmakers to improve this legislation and help make North Carolina the 30th constitutional carry state!
The permitless concealed carry bill, S.50 – Freedom to Carry NC, passed the NC Senate on a 27-17 vote and has been sent to the House. The actual roll call is not up yet to see who made up the six missing votes.
In other news, the House’s complementary bill H5 has been referred to the House Rules, Calendar, and Operations Committee. Their calendar is not up so we can’t see when it will be heard by them.
As soon as the Senate roll call is released, I will have it up here.
UPDATE: The Senate roll call for the 2nd Reading of S.50 is now posted. The final vote was 26-18 on a straight party line vote. Given excused absences were Democrats Applewhite and Chaudhuri and Republicans Barnes, P. Newton, Rabon, and Sawyer. When it comes to overriding the expected veto all Republican must be there and voting in the affirmative.
On the heels of S. 50 – Freedom to Carry NC passing out of the NC Senate Rules Committee came a press release issued early yesterday evening. It is from Everytown and their assorted groups announcing a rally in Raleigh to protest permitless concealed carry. The thought of the unwashed masses exercising their fundamental Constitutional rights to protect their families and themselves is anathema to them.
They plan to hold a “press conference” in Raleigh this afternoon at 2pm. In their release it asks the press to reach out to them if they want to speak with a volunteer or a “policy expert”.
They then say:
SB 50 is a dangerous bill that would allow the concealed carry of handguns for those as young as 18 without a permit, meaning no background check, safety training, or live-firing experience will be required.
This is followed up by spurious statistics proclaiming that blood will run in the streets. That, of course, is something that has not happened in the other 29 states that have adopted some form of permitless concealed carry.
The speakers will be the usual suspects including two state senators who didn’t even bother to appear in opposition before the Senate Rules Committee yesterday. The lead speaker is Gerald Givens, Jr. who from his website appears to have made gun control into a career. While I may thank him for his military service, I would also remind him of the oath he took to protect the Constitution.
I will give the gun prohibitionists this. Their reaction time is great. They must have an army of PR flacks just waiting for moments like this.
The quote of the day comes from Keith Meadows’ Between the Sunlight and the Thunder.
Even if I were now only eighteen, it didn’t take a university degree to work out that politicians, second-hand car salesmen, pimps, and pawn-brokers came from the same mould. They all sold things that belonged to someone else.
“Gil Freeman” reflecting on Kenya in the year after his family was murdered by the Mau Mau.
The NC Senate Rules Committee hearing on S.50 – Freedom to Carry NC – lasted just under 30 minutes. After some preliminary introductions, Sen. Danny Britt (R-Hoke, Robeson, Scotland), the primary sponsor of S.50, introduced the bill and described its content.
Questions were raised by Sen. Paul Lowe (D-Forsyth) about training, Sen. Julie Mayfield (D-Buncombe) with some general questions, and Sen. Ralph Hise (R-WNC) who asked what other right requires you to get a permit.
It was then opened to public comment. Ken Stallings and Karen Raines represented Grass Roots North Carolina and urged passage. Likewise Sarah Kettle of the NRA spoke in favor of the bill with some reservations due to some of the restrictions on who qualifies. Opposing the bill were representatives from the left-wing activist group Democracy Out Loud, Dr. Anna Ruderman – a pediatrician from Durham, and a couple more whose affiliation I didn’t get.
The bottom line is that S.50 has now passed the Senate Rules Committee and will go to the floor of the State Senate.
The full hearing can be viewed in the video below. I would suggest viewing it on YouTube to be able to see and hear it better.
UPDATE: S.50 will have a floor vote on Thursday!
One of the perennial seminars offered at the Safari Club International Convention is on how to travel safely and legally with firearms. As with past years, this seminar was offered as a panel discussion.
The panelists were:
Bob Keagy acted as the moderator for the seminar. He noted in his opening comments that his first guided hunt was in 1962 out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He went on to say that hunters who travel with firearms will have to deal with numerous types of bureaucracies both at home and abroad. Keagy’s general advice was to do one’s homework, use the expertise of your guide or outfitter, and to use SCI travel database for country and airline regulations.
Next up was Craig Boddington who brought over 40 years of experience to the table and who has hunted in over 50 countries. His first admonition was to ask your outfitter whether you could bring your own firearms. The follow-up question to your outfitter was whether they had firearms available for you to use.
Craig then went on to add a number of points:
Following Craig was Barbara Crown of SCI’s Hunter Information Services. She said that as a member of SCI you have access to an entire range of information on airline regulations on travel with firearms. Checking it myself just now I see that it goes from Greece’s Aegean Airlines to Canada’s WestJet.
Barbara went on to emphasize that permits and forms are for a specific firearm. For example, if the permit says it is for a Browning .30-06, you can’t substitute your Remington 700 in .30-06. With regard to the Form 4457, she said only to use the one without an expiration date on it. If you are hunting in Mexico, know that they track your optics as closely as your firearms. With regard to Canada, be aware of their banned list.
Jacky Keith of Esplanade Travel has been working as a travel agent for over 50 years. She strongly suggested using a qualified travel agent. She noted that many can be called or emailed anytime especially if you run into difficulties. She urged that hunters use travel agents that are specialists in working with hunters that travel with firearms. Finally, she suggested travel insurance so that your hunt is insured.
The final speaker was Anne Gaines-Burrill of South Africa. Her company provides meet and greet services. She made the following points regarding South Africa:
In the Q&A that followed, a representative from Silencer Central had some advice if you are traveling with a suppressor. You should know that eight states ban them including Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and California which have major airline hubs. If transiting through those states and you are delayed, do not take possession of the suppressor from the airlines. Let it remain “in transit”. He also said you should have a copy of your tax stamp as well as your trust document if the suppressor is on a trust. When filling out your CBP Form 4457, you should put the suppressor in your name and not that of the trust.
I am not a world-class hunter who has traveled to many countries on hundreds of hunts. However, I did hunt twice in South Africa last year. On one trip I took my own firearms and on the other I used the camp rifle. In the end, I think the cost worked out about the same. I had to rent the camp gun which was the equivalent or a bit more than the cost of SAPS permits and using RiflePermits.com. The other issue for any hunter is the fit of the firearm and the eye relief of the scope. The camp rifle and scope were not perfect but they worked. On that trip I was traveling standby so taking my own firearm could have turned out to be a nightmare. The bottom line is that both methods work. You just need to figure out what works best for you and use the advice of the experts above.
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