Month: May 2012

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Brian A. Terry Memorial Act Passes Senate By Unanimous Consent

May 9, 2012 by

Despite not being able to pass a budget in three years, some stuff still does get done in the US Senate. Yesterday, the Senate passed by unanimous consent and without any amendments HR 2668 – the Brian A. Terry Memorial Act. This act will rename the Border Patrol station in Bisbee, AZ, the Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station, in memory of the fallen Border Patrol agent.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) who had this to say on the Senate’s action:

“All of Washington mourned with the Terry family when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry gave his life in the line of duty in 2010. Today we stand just as unified for the purpose of honoring and preserving his legacy.

“The unanimous support with which the Brian A. Terry Memorial Act passed the United States Senate is a tribute to Agent Terry’s career of service to our country and to the Border Patrol’s distinguished history of intrepidity and sacrifice for the sake of homeland security.

“We recognize that Agent Terry’s untimely passing is a tragedy that never should have happened. And while we continue to pursue answers regarding the circumstances surrounding his death, we resolve that his example of bravery and sacrifice will never be forgotten – especially in the city of Bisbee, AZ where he served.”

In his Gun Rights Examiner column today, David Codrea speculates that the bill’s passage may create a political dilemma for President Obama.

“When the bill reaches Obama’s desk, I expect him to invite Brian Terry’s family to the signing,” Katie Pavlich of Townhall.com writes.

That creates an interesting dilemma for the President, particularly because of Terry’s mother calling his Attorney General Eric Holder a “coward” and a “joke,” and especially since the slain agent’s parents filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department and ATF that “seeks $25 million dollars in compensation for Terry’s death.”

David wonders among other things if the White House indeed will invite the Terry family to the signing ceremony or will the lawsuit be used as a reason to just quietly sign the bill without press or family there.

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Interesting News Out Of Indiana

May 9, 2012 by

While State Treasurer Richard Mourdock’s win in the Indiana Republican primary over Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) was not unexpected given recent polls, it was welcome. As Sebastian notes, he was a guy “who didn’t even think enough of the Second Amendment to sign on to the Heller brief.”

However, interesting as Mourdock’s win and Lugar’s loss is, that isn’t the most interesting thing that came out of Indiana yesterday. Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-IN) who will be facing Mourdock in the general election became the first Democrat to support the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s efforts to get Attorney General Eric Holder to comply with their subpoena. In an interview with The Daily Caller, Donnelly had this to say.

Indiana Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly told The Daily Caller on Tuesday that he supports the House oversight committee’s efforts to enforce the congressional subpoena of Attorney General Eric Holder over Operation Fast and Furious.

“One of the duties of Congress is to provide oversight of the Executive Branch,” Donnelly told TheDC. “There has been a serious allegation of federal law enforcement misconduct and we need to get to the bottom of this issue without playing partisan politics.”

Donnelly was one of 31 Democrats who sent a joint letter to President Obama in June 2011 asking that he direct Holder to comply with the Oversight Committee’s request for documents on Operation Fast and Furious.

Regardless of who wins the race between Mourdock and Donnelly, the people of Indiana will be getting a new senator who believes in their Second Amendment rights.

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Lightguard Now Available For The 1911

May 9, 2012 by 5 Comments

Crimson Trace has just released their Lightguard weapon-mounted light for 1911s that don’t have accessory rails. At this time, it is only for 1911s from either Kimber or Smith & Wesson.

Here are the details from Crimson Trace:

Crimson Trace today announced the release of their eagerly-anticipated addition to their Lightguard™ platform for Kimber and S&W 1911 pattern pistols. The new weapon mounted light features an incredible 130 lumen output and the patented instinctive activation that made Crimson Trace the industry leader in laser sighting systems – simply hold the pistol in a normal firing grip to activate the light, with no additional buttons or switches to press. Available through their regular dealer network or from crimsontrace.com, the unit will retail at an MSRP of $199.

Whereas previously, 1911 owners would have required the services of a gunsmith to install a light on their non-railed pistols, the new 1911 Lightguard requires no gunsmithing and fits seamlessly over the trigger guard for snag-free operation. Operating on one, easily sourced CR2 lithium battery (included), the unit boasts an impressive 2 hour run time. With its narrow profile the Lightguard extends no wider than the slide, or longer than the dust cover on compact guns, holstering is a non-issue.

“Although the 1911 is justifiably the most popular handgun in the USA, it’s always lacked the ability to easily mount a light and, if you did, the options were large, encumbering choices that detract from both the function and look that 1911 fans crave,” said Kent Thomas, Director of Marketing for Crimson Trace. “Now, 1911 owners can take advantage of this life-saving self defense tool without permanently altering their guns in a slim, intelligent and highly functional way that befits the classic and trusted 1911 frame.” As an added bonus, the engineers at Crimson Trace designed the Lightguard to be fully compatible with their existing Lasergrips® including the hugely popular Master Series™ line.

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Quote Of The Day

May 9, 2012 by 4 Comments

In today’s Las Vegas Sun, there was a letter to the editor from a retired law enforcement officer by the name of Bruce Kerley. He didn’t specify where he served in law enforcement other than in “a Midwest suburban police department.” It well could have been a suburban Chicago department given his letter.

While the purpose of the letter was ostensibly to warn citizens to be careful when carrying a firearm especially in encounters with police, I think the true purpose of the letter was to complain about the great unwashed, i.e., you and me, being allowed to carry concealed.

His letter brought this response from “Emthree”:

I appreciate the difficult work performed by law enforcement officers in this country. But when an officer reaches the point where his concern for personal safety does not permit him to recognize the Constitutional rights of other Americans, it’s time to find a new line of work.

I could not have said it better myself.

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Win Free Guns!

May 9, 2012 by

Aaron at the Weapon-Blog has posted his monthly list of gun contests. Included this month are a chance to win the new M&P Shield, custom 1911s, and at least three AR-15s.

The link is here.

If you take advantage of any of these contests, please take some time to thank Aaron for this service.

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Obama Urged By Advisors To Veto Appropriations Bill

May 8, 2012 by 1 Comment

The Executive Office of the President released a statement yesterday regarding the House passage of the FY2013 appropriations bill for the Departments of Commerce and Justice as well as for science and related agencies. They are accusing the House of Representatives of violating the “bipartisan agreement to put the Nation on a sustainable fiscal course in enacting the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA).” They go on to say that the President’s senior advisors would be urging him to veto this bill.

From a taxpayer’s perspective this is rich given that the appropriations bill is below the level that Obama requested. The administration is accusing Republicans of making spending cuts that would mean cuts in services elsewhere in the budget.

However, what is much more interesting is their strong opposition to the budget rider proposed by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) which would cut the ATF’s funding for the multiple semi-auto firearm reporting requirement in the Southwest.

Prohibition on Multiple Sales of Rifles Reporting Requirement. Preventing the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from requiring licensed firearms dealers in four border States to report information on the sale of multiple rifles or shotguns to the same person would hamper efforts to address the problem of illegal gun trafficking along the Southwest Border and in Mexico.

This reporting requirement is of dubious legality and even more dubious utility in stopping firearms trafficking to the narco-terrorists in Mexico. That the Obama Administration would single it out for special mention speaks to their true intentions regarding firearms.

UPDATE: Bob Owen is reporting that even with the cut to the multiple rifle reporting requirement, ATF will be getting a $1 million increase in its budget over the previous fiscal year. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) has offered an amendment to the appropriations bill that would remove that same $1 million from the DOJ’s General Administration budget. This is the part of the budget that supports the AG’s office. Gowdy said he proposed doing this due to their stonewalling over Project Gunwalker. (corrected)

UPDATE II: The NRA-ILA released a statement urging members to contact their member of Congress regarding the Rehberg Amendment and the need to keep it in the appropriations bill.

It comes as no surprise that the Obama Administration put out a Statement of Administration Policy saying that President Obama’s senior advisors would recommend that he veto H.R. 5326 (FY2013 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations bill)…

Apparently, one of the reasons the President would veto H.R. 5326 is because of a NRA-backed general provision preventing funding for the new and unauthorized multiple sales reporting and registration plan proposed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE). On Thursday, April 26, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations approved this general provision offered by Congressman Rehberg (R-Mont.), by a vote of 30-19.

Without this funding restriction, the BATFE could continue to circumvent the will of Congress by collecting information on multiple-sales of long guns by Executive Branch mandate and then, centralizing records of thousands of Americans’ gun purchases, without any legal authority.

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North Carolina Will Not Appeal Bateman Ruling

May 8, 2012 by

The state of North Carolina will not be appealing their loss in Bateman v. Perdue which found the emergency powers ban on off-premises firearms and ammunition to be unconstitutional. In speaking with Alan Gottlieb at the NRA Annual Meeting, I got the impression that it would be OK with the Second Amendment Foundation if North Carolina did appeal. The rationale is that a win in the 4th Circuit would help to expand Second Amendment rights beyond just the state borders of NC. As it is, while Bateman is a welcome win and will be cited in future cases involving the Second Amendment, it does not carry the same weight as if the ruling came from the Court of Appeals.

The Second Amendment Foundation released the following statement regarding North Carolina’s decision not to appeal the ruling.

BELLEVUE, WA – North Carolina’s failure to appeal a federal judge’s ruling that struck down the state’s emergency power to ban firearms and ammunition outside the home during a declared emergency adds one more Second Amendment victory to the court record being established by the Second Amendment Foundation.

“When the anti-gun lobby claims that courts have not struck down any laws on Second Amendment grounds,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, “they deliberately ignore the fact that the District of Columbia’s handgun ban was overturned. Likewise, Chicago’s ban was stricken by McDonald v. City of Chicago, as was the city’s ban on gun ranges. Maryland’s draconian regulations on concealed carry were struck down, and so was the Massachusetts ban on firearms ownership by legal alien residents. Part of Omaha’s registration law was overturned, and now North Carolina’s emergency powers gun ban has fallen.

“All but one of those cases,” he added, “were filed by SAF, and in the Heller case against Washington, D.C.s ban, SAF filed an important amicus brief.”

Gottlieb said North Carolina’s decision not to appeal their loss, “frees the foundation to file more legal actions against cities and states that still have laws on the books that violate our constitutional rights.” There are now at least six federal court victories to SAF’s credit, knocking down laws that infringed on Second Amendment rights, and Gottlieb is confident more are coming.

“The North Carolina case should send a message to other states and municipalities with similar emergency powers laws that violate civil rights that they should remove those restrictions immediately,” he stated.

“I want to thank our plaintiffs, our legal team, our staff and in particular, our members and donors who have made all of these victories possible,” Gottlieb said. “Three of these victories, including Bateman v. Purdue in North Carolina, affirm that the Second Amendment doesn’t stop at your front door, like the gun prohibition lobby claims.

“Winning firearms freedom one lawsuit at a time is a long, slow and expensive process, but SAF is committed to it,” he concluded.

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CCRKBA Weighs In On 60-Hour Shutdown Of Gun Sales In Pennsylvania

May 8, 2012 by

If you are a regular reader of Sebastian and Bitter at Shall Not Be Questioned you already know that the Pennsylvania State Police are shutting down their Pennsylvania Instant Check System (PICS) for upgrades to their computer system. As a result, there can be no firearms transactions from the evening of May 19th through the morning of May 22nd.

I think Alan Gottlieb of the CCRKBA is one the mark when he says that a) there are alternatives to shutting down the whole system and b) the PA State Police need to get out of this business and leave it to the FBI with NICS.

BELLEVUE, WA – A complete shutdown of the Pennsylvania Instant Check System by the state police for a period of 60 hours later this month for a system upgrade is “inexcusable,” the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

“Closing down the background check system, and thus suspending all firearms transactions and concealed carry license processing simply allows the Pennsylvania State Police to obstruct the gun rights of law-abiding citizens,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb. “We are not reassured by a promise from the agency that it will expedite this computer system update in order to restore service as soon as possible. Access to the computers for background checks should not be suspended at all.

“Surely,” he continued, “the State Police can find alternate means of processing firearms transactions and permit applications while the upgrade is in progress.”

The system is scheduled for update from 10 p.m. Saturday, May 19 to 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 22. Gottlieb said this highlights a problem with such systems when there is no backup. Authorities can literally suspend the Second Amendment by turning off a switch or pulling a plug, he observed, and use whatever excuse they want.

“We live in an age when computer upgrades should be accomplished considerably faster,” Gottlieb said. “Locking down such a vital system that is important to so many Pennsylvania residents for 60 hours is not an ‘inconvenience,’ it’s an outrage.”

Keystone State gun owners will hold their 7th annual Second Amendment Liberty rally tomorrow, May 8 on the main steps in the capitol rotunda. This would be a grand opportunity for firearms owners to contact their state legislators, and the governor’s office, to express their dissatisfaction over the PICS problem, he suggested.

“Since the last time this happened in 2007, Pennsylvania gun owners have been pushing for an end to the PICS system,” Gottlieb noted. “It is time to put the State Police out of the background check business, and turn over this important job to the NICS system operated by the FBI. They do their upgrades faster, and they deal with the entire country.”

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Jeff Cooper On The Surprise Break

May 8, 2012 by 2 Comments

I stumbled across this clip of Col. Jeff Cooper explaining the trigger break to students at Gunsite. It’s worth viewing a few times to help increase your trigger control.

This, by the way, is the same Jeff Cooper who is accused by the hoplophobes at CSGV of being a racist and a misogynist. I don’t have to wonder what he would think of these gun prohibitionists but I do wonder what might happen if they had the balls to make those accusations to his face.

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Quote Of The Day

May 8, 2012 by 1 Comment

The Serious Gun Blog had a not so serious look at the choices gun owners face in this presidential election.

When all is said and done, and more will be said than done, a President will be elected. Either Mr. Obama, who hates guns unless they are used against bad guys like free citizens or Mitt Romney, who as a passionate supporter of the NRA cites as his favorite gun the Ruger 11 mm Glock by Smith & Bushmaster will be elected.

What does it mean for gun owners? Buy more guns now.

And ammo. They forgot ammo!