Month: July 2012

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Arms Trade Treaty Talks – Day 4

July 8, 2012 by 1 Comment

Ginny Simone of NRA News discusses Day 4 of the UN Arms Trade Treaty talks with Tom Mason of the World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities. They discussed the organizational difficulties, the committees that will deal with the scope of the treaty as well as its preamble, the right to self defense (of the state and not the individual), and the refusal of many states to differentiate between military firearms and civilian firearms.

Dr. Ted Bromund of the Heritage Foundation has his summation of the day’s event’s here. Bromund says that Venezuela won “the crazy prize” for their rant against “imperialists”:

In previous sessions, Cuba, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia had all put in strong showings with speeches that were unprincipled and autocrat-friendly, but when it came to crazy, Venezuela lapped the field with a speech that will be tough to beat.

In a lengthy rant attacking the “maturity” of the assembled nations, it denounced the “imperial powers” for arming the Libyan rebels who overthrew Muammar Qadhafi, demanded that the world look seriously at controlling the “imperialists” (i.e., the U.S.) who had nuclear weapons, condemned foreign aid providers for insisting on the “downsizing” of governments, and stated that it needed arms to deal with internal threats (i.e., to continue to oppress its own population).

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I’m in Love With Halo – One Direction Parody

July 8, 2012 by 1 Comment

I don’t think I’ve ever played the video game Halo but the Complementary Spouse’s nephews are professionals at it. Literally.

Her nephews Kyle and Aaron were professionals on the Major League Gaming circuit until Halo was dropped from the lineup this Spring. Kyle, or as he is known in the gaming word, Elamite Warrior, and some of his friends put together the parody video below. I think they did a good job of it.

I know just enough about Halo to understand that Capture the Flag is one of the major scenarios in team play. The main reason I’m posting this is that Kyle is family and family is important. He’s trying to build the viewership of this video so take a look at it and share it with your friends.

One Direction, by the way, are the musical guests on SNL tonight.

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And They Want You To Believe In That Fairy Tale Called The UN, Too

July 7, 2012 by 3 Comments

The State Department is saying that the Arms Trade Treaty won’t handicap our Second Amendment rights according to a story in TheHill.com.

“The Arms Trade Treaty will not in any way handicap the legitimate right of self-defense,” Acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller said in a tweet.

The tweet links to a list of “redlines” the administration has established for the treaty, which aims to “establish common international standards for the import, export, and transfer of conventional arms to help prevent the acquisition of arms by terrorists, criminals, and those who violate human rights or are subject to UN arms embargoes.” The United Nations is scheduled to spend all month trying to devise a treaty that all its members can agree to.

The “redlines” as published on the State Department’s website include:

  • The Second Amendment to the Constitution must be upheld.
  • There will be no restrictions on civilian possession or trade of firearms otherwise permitted by law or protected by the U.S. Constitution.
  • There will be no dilution or diminishing of sovereign control over issues involving the private acquisition, ownership, or possession of firearms, which must remain matters of domestic law.
  • The U.S. will oppose provisions inconsistent with existing U.S. law or that would unduly interfere with our ability to import, export, or transfer arms in support of our national security and foreign policy interests.
  • The international arms trade is a legitimate commercial activity, and otherwise lawful commercial trade in arms must not be unduly hindered.
  • There will be no requirement for reporting on or marking and tracing of ammunition or explosives.
  • There will be no lowering of current international standards.
  • Existing nonproliferation and export control regimes must not be undermined.
  • The ATT negotiations must have consensus decision making to allow us to protect U.S. equities.
  • There will be no mandate for an international body to enforce an ATT.

Color me skeptical of both the State Department and the United Nations when it comes to arms control. As to the Second Amendment being upheld, given the prevailing opinion of many within this administration, Heller notwithstanding, that it only guarantees a collective right, this seems to me to be a throw-away for them.

The State Department also states that it is the position of the United States that the ATT include parts and components as well as a broadly defined list of armaments including “tanks, armored combat vehicles, artillery systems, military aircraft, military helicopters, naval vessels, missiles, missile launchers, small arms and light weapons, and combat support equipment.” If this is the case, then you can kiss parts kits for AKs, FN-FALs, and many other former military rifles and carbines good-bye.

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Filipino Gun Rights Organization Joins IAPCAR

July 7, 2012 by 3 Comments

The Second Amendment Foundation sent out a release this evening saying that A2S5 Coalition of the Philippines has joined IAPCAR – the international gun rights organization. Given the doings in the United Nations, the more national gun rights organizations that are members of IAPCAR, the better. This will make the 23rd organization to join.

IAPCAR WELCOMES PHILIPPINES GUN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION

BELLEVUE, WA – The A2S5 Coalition of the Philippines is the latest organization to join forces with the International Association for the Protection of Civilian Arms Rights (IAPCAR), raising their international membership to 23 member organizations in 15 different nations around the globe.

With member groups on every continent, IAPCAR executive director Philip Watson has been more than pleased with the positive response the group has received.

“With nine new member groups all from different countries since last fall, IAPCAR’s steady growth has been a welcome sign among those that love freedom and a warning to those that do not.” Watson also noted, “It proves that people in all corners of the globe believe in the right of personal security and the defense of one’s home and family. The human right of self-defense is a value we share across all international borders, regardless of race, nationality, or ethnic origin.”

“This is a significant development for us,” said Mike Melchor, the A2S5 Coalition’s director for strategic plans.

Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, who was instrumental in creating IAPCAR, was very happy to have A2S5 as IAPCAR’s newest affiliate in the Philippines.

“We are very excited to welcome our friends from the Philippines,” he observed. “Gun owners in the Philippines are currently faced with increasing regulatory actions on civilian ownership of firearms. We can be helpful to each other in our movement to protect firearms rights in our home countries and around the world.”

The Arms Trade Treaty is currently under negotiation at the United Nations and set to be signed the last week of July, placing many arms rights groups at odds with global gun control advocates. “IAPCAR strongly opposes any UN treaty infringing on national sovereignty or individual gun rights,” noted Julianne Versnel, director of operations at the Second Amendment Foundation, the second influential gun rights group instrumental in forming IAPCAR.

The International Association for the Protection of Civilian Arms Rights (http://iapcar.com/) is the only worldwide political action group focusing on the human right to keep and bear arms. Founded in 2010, IAPCAR has grown to 23 major gun-rights organizations and conducts campaigns designed to inform the public and promote the right of self-defense and gun-ownership.

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NRA-ILA On NC General Assembly Short Session

July 7, 2012 by

The NRA Institute for Legislative Affairs released a Legislative Alert this evening that summarized the wins – and losses – for gun rights in the “short session” of the North Carolina General Assembly. Their conclusion that this session fell short is on the mark given the bottling-up of HB 111 in the committee by the Republican leadership of the State Senate. The failure to pass HB 111 is one thing that cannot be blamed on the Democrats as the votes to pass this bill were there.

The North Carolina General Assembly adjourned on Tuesday, July 3, bringing an end to the “short session” of the 2011-2012 General Assembly. While the General Assembly made tremendous improvements for the pro-gun community during last year’s “long session”, the same cannot be said for their accomplishments in this year’s session. Raleigh did see passage of one pro-gun bill this year, however, another important piece of firearms legislation remained stalled in a Senate committee, which effectively killed that bill.

Unfortunately for gun owners, House Bill 111, which included language that would have removed the absolute prohibition on Right to Carry (RTC) permit holders carrying a concealed firearm into a restaurant licensed to sell alcohol for on-premises consumption, remained stalled in the state Senate this year despite passing the state House of Representatives last session. As reported here, this bill passed in the Senate Judiciary II Committee in early June, but was never brought to the Senate floor for consideration. The committee did use HB 111 to address an issue relating to the section of last year’s House Bill 650 (reported on here) that imposed restrictions on prohibiting RTC permit holders from carrying firearms in parks under the control of local governments. Because some local governments have gone beyond what HB 650 allowed, HB 111 was amended to impose tighter restrictions on these localities. If it had been enacted, this bill would have, along with providing for Restaurant Carry, clarified that local governments are restricted from prohibiting lawfully carried concealed firearms in such places as greenways, designated biking or walking paths, certain open areas and fields, as well as other areas. With HB 111 not passing, an important opportunity to advance the rights of law-abiding gun owners was missed.

On a more positive note, this session the General Assembly passed and Governor Perdue signed into law House Bill 843, which recognized law-abiding citizens’ right to self-defense during a declared state of emergency. Specifically, H 843 states that the restrictions section of the North Carolina Emergency Management Act “does not authorize prohibitions or restrictions on lawfully possessed firearms or ammunition.” This means that, if there is a declared state of emergency due to natural disasters or other problems that create a state of disarray and unrest that requires emergency procedures to be implemented by a government entity, the rights of law-abiding gun owners will no longer be subject to possible suspension, as previous law allowed.

The win in Bateman forced the exclusion on restrictions on firearms in HB 843. While it was nice that it was put down on paper, I believe Judge Howard’s decision would have invalidated existing restrictions.

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Arms Trade Treaty Talks – Day 1

July 6, 2012 by

Ginny Simone of NRA News ends the first day of the Arms Trade Treaty Talks with a recap featuring Tom Mason from the World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities. The day was consumed with the argument of whether or not the Palestinians would be seated at the talks. For them, this is a backdoor method of trying to get recognition as a state. The United States was opposed to the seating of the PLO.

The other issue was when NGOs – non-governmental organizations – such as the NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation were to speak. They had expected to speak near the end of the talks but their participation has been pushed up to this week. As Ginny notes, it looks like that they want to get the NGOs in and out so they can do whatever they want to do. Mr. Mason tends to agree with her on that.

Dr. Ted Bromund of the Heritage Foundation provides his take on Day 1 here.

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Arms Trade Treaty Talks – Day 2

July 6, 2012 by

On Day 2 of the Arms Trade Treaty Talks at the United Nations, Ginny Simone of NRA News speaks with Dr. Ted Bromund of the Heritage Foundation. Dr. Bromund has been blogging these talks and his post for Day 2 can be found here.

Day 2 was mostly consumed with the Palestinians and their efforts to be seated as an observer states.

Dr. Bromund makes a very good point in this video about all the nations who are pushing for the Arms Trade Treaty. They are insisting it is needed so that the standards for buying and selling arms are raised. If that is the case, Dr. Bromund asks why do they need a treaty to raise the standards when they can do it themselves. I think we know that the issue really isn’t standards but control.

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Arms Trade Treaty Talks – Day 3

July 6, 2012 by

At the United Nations, Ginny Simone of NRA News talks to Tom Mason from the World Forum on the Future of Sport Shooting Activities. Among the topics discussed were the seating of the Palestinian Authority as an observer, the push by Norway to include all firearms in the treaty including civilian firearms, and how the conference is totally ignoring the constitutional guarantees such as the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.

Dr. Ted Bromund of the Heritage Foundation has more on Day 3 at his blog here. Or as he calls Day 3, “the International League of Supervillians speaks.

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GRPC 2012

July 6, 2012 by 2 Comments

The Gun Rights Policy Conference is set for September 28-30 in Orlando, Florida. Alan Gottlieb and the good folks at the Second Amendment Foundation have a knack for picking the right place at the right time. Of course, when the location of this year’s conference was announced at the end of the 2011 conference in Chicago, no one other than family knew George Zimmerman from Trayvon Martin.

I’ve attended two of the Gun Rights Policy Conferences – San Francisco in 2010 and Chicago in 2011 – and both have been great events. I got to hear great speakers but more importantly I got to meet very interesting people such as Alan Gura, David Sigale, Dave Kopel, and Tom Gresham.

I’ve already booked both the plane tickets and room for the Complementary Spouse and myself. The conference location, the Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport, is rated as one of the ten best airport hotels in the world by Peter Greenberg of the Today Show. And at the conference rate of $99 a night, it is about the same cost as the Holiday Inn Express for a lot nicer room.

In addition, the conference is free to attend and you come home with a stack – and I mean stack – of books on shooting and the Second Amendment.

From SAF on the GRPC:

Come meet national gun rights leaders and your fellow grassroots activists at the 27th Annual Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC 2012) in Orlando, FL at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport hotel on September 28, 29, & 30, 2012. This is your once-a-year chance to network, get an insider’s look and plan pro-gun rights strategies for the coming year.

Past GRPCs have outlined victory plans and made public the latest firearms trends. They allow you a first-hand chance to hear movement leaders–and make your voice heard.

This year we’ll take a look at critical issues such as: city gun bans, “smart” guns, concealed carry, federal legislation, BATFE policies, legal actions, gun show regulation, state and local activity. We’ll also review the 2010 elections, discuss the 2012 Presidential race and analyze Right to Keep and Bear Arms court cases.

Pre-registration is now open and SAF has a variety of methods to register. They really need you to pre-register so they can get an accurate count on the numbers of attendees.

An online registration form is available here.

Books, monographs and other materials—enough to start a Second Amendment library—are free, as are Saturday luncheon, Friday and Saturday evening receptions and morning and afternoon beverage breaks. Other meals, travel and lodging are to be paid by attendee.

Alternate Registration
Phone registration is available by calling 425-454-7012.

You may also register for the 2012 GRPC by printing, completing, and returning to us the pdf flyer & registration form. This file requires the no-cost Adobe Acrobat Reader™ or other pdf software. This pdf file is suitable for printing flyers and distributing to your friends, family, coworkers, and associates.
2012 GRPC Flyer

If you can get away for a long weekend or you live in Florida, you owe it to yourself to attend. I understand that Joe Huffman of the View from North Central Idaho and Robb Allen of Sharp as a Marble will both be attending. I hope to see other bloggers there as well.

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Headline Of The Day

July 6, 2012 by 3 Comments

I saw the following headline and thought the “wise Latina” was in a bit of trouble.

Sotomayor arrested on 6th DWI after jail release

However, they were writing about Anderson Sotomayor of Vineland, New Jersey and not Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

The Sotomayor in question – Anderson – seems to have a bit of a problem with drinking and driving. He’s been arrested for DWI six times in less than three months. I tend to agree with the writer of the article that something is wrong when you have a guy arrested this many times in so short a period of time and he’s not behind bars.