Month: September 2013

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Gun Tourism….In Hawaii?

September 30, 2013 by 2 Comments

The state of Hawaii has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country. They require permits to purchase firearms, your guns must be registered, and getting a concealed carry permit is damn near impossible. Despite all of this, Hawaii has a thriving “gun tourism” industry. Susannah Breslin, writing in Forbes magazine, tells of her recent trip to the 50th State.

To be fair, my husband spotted it. We were walking along Kalakaua Avenue in Honolulu, Hawaii, and there, on the bustling-est street in Waikiki, was a shooting range.

“What?” I said, gawking at the Waikiki Gun Club.

I’d come to Hawaii for the beach, the food, the weather. Apparently, some people come for the firearms.

They’re gun tourists, let’s say….

In fact, as you walk down Kalakaua, you’ll see guys holding signs for shooting ranges and wearing T-shirts with targets on them. It’s their job to bring tourists to the smattering of shooting ranges in the area. One flyer offered “REAL GUNS” and “FACTORY AMMO” at the SWAT Gun Club. Another displayed the different firearms — from a 9-mm Beretta to an AK-47 — you could shoot at the Hawaii Gun Club.

It was like Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California — except for instead of burning incense and selling hemp necklaces, they were hawking the fruits of the Second Amendment.

According to Lynn Selman of the Royal Hawaiian Shooting Club, the bulk of their customers are from overseas. She estimates that about 60% are Japanese, 30% are either Australians or New Zealanders, and the remaining 10% are locals or mainlanders. The club itself is located in the Royal Hawaiian Center along with high-end stores like Cartier, Hermes, and Fendi.

Why this many Japanese? It is because gun laws in Japan make owning a gun damn near impossible and because they’ve seen guns in all the action movies. Having seen them, they want the opportunity to shoot them because they aren’t going to get that chance at home.

While it is rather sad that these tourist have to come to Hawaii to get a chance to shoot, I’m glad that they are taking advantage of it. The more the Japanese and Australians and New Zealanders see that shooting can be fun, hopefully it will mean they will start pushing a little bit more at home for less restrictive gun laws. At least one can hope that.

Read the whole article by Breslin. It is interesting. It also is a warning of what the future might look like if we don’t work to preserve our Second Amendment rights now.

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Went Junkin’

September 29, 2013 by 5 Comments

The Complementary Spouse and I enjoy hitting thrift stores, antique malls, and the like. What we call “junkin'” is a cheap way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Inspired by a post by SayUncle about safety razors and having seen the prices for Gillette Fat Boys and Schick Kronas on EBay, I thought I might find something at one of the local antique malls like the one below.

I had no such luck. I did see a handful of straight razors but the thought of trying to correctly use one of those to shave is too scary for me.

However, the trip was not made in vain. The first thing that caught my eye was the bright red Prius below. Unlike the usual Prius seen in Asheville with its “Another Mama for Obama” bumpersticker, this one had of all things a NRA sticker on the front door window!

 

An older gentleman (but not the owner of the Prius) sitting near the door of the mall saw me taking the picture and said he was a NRA member. He said he’d joined a couple of years ago and now was being audited by the IRS. While I would hope the story is somewhat apocryphal, one never knows nowadays given the way the IRS under the Obama Administration seems to be targeting groups and people opposed to Obama.

The second thing that caught my eye was a nice fountain pen in a variegated green. I knew it was a Sheaffer the moment I saw the white dot on the cap. I ended up getting it for $20. When I got home I did some Internet sleuthing and found out it was a Sheaffer Triumph Lifetime Vacu-fil in marine green striated made between 1942 and 1949. It is in excellent shape but I still need to test to see whether it will hold ink. The band and the clip show some brassing but I can live with that given the great shape the nib is in.

It was all in all a fun day. As to that safety razor, I may end up doing what SayUncle did and just buying a new Merkur from Amazon. The prices of those old Gillettes on EBay are a bit much.

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SAF Sues New York Over Magazine Capacity Limit

September 28, 2013 by

As the Second Amendment Foundation begins its annual Gun Rights Policy Conference today, one new topic of discussion may well be the suit they filed today on behalf of themselves, Shooters Committee for Political Education (SCOPE), Long Island Firearms, and two individual plaintiffs. The suit challenges that part of the New York SAFE Act which limits the number of rounds that are allowed to be in a lawful magazine to seven rounds unless a person is at a shooting range. With the exception of single stack magazines for the 1911 and a few pocket pistols, most magazines for semi-auto pistols hold more than the seven round limit.

Caron et al v. Cuomo et al was filed in US District Court for the Northern District of New York.

The complaint notes that magazines containing ten rounds and more are in common usage for lawful purposes and that firearms containing ten round magazines are “therefore not dangerous and unusual weapons” per the Heller decision. The complaint goes on to note that individual self defense is “‘the central component’ of the Second Amendment right” as noted in the McDonald decision which was quoting Heller. The suit seeks a declaratory judgment that the seven round limitation violates the Second Amendment and preliminary and permanent injunctions against enforcement of that part of the NY SAFE Act that limits the number of rounds to seven.

The lead attorney in the lawsuit is David Jensen who has brought a number of lawsuits on behalf of the Second Amendment Foundation.

The complaint can be found here.

The Second Amendment Foundation released this on the case this evening:

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation filed suit today in federal court seeking to enjoin the State of New York from enforcing provisions of the so-called “SAFE Act” that limit the use of gun magazines containing more than seven cartridges.

SAF is joined in the lawsuit by the Shooters Committee for Political Education (SCOPE) and Long Island Firearms LLC. They are represented by New York attorneys David Jensen and Robert P. Firriolo.

Named as defendants in the lawsuit are New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Joseph D’Amico, superintendent of the Division of State Police.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, asserts that the seven-round loading restriction violates the Second Amendment because it “substantially interferes with the right of law abiding citizens to defend themselves and is not sufficiently related to any compelling or otherwise adequate government interest.”

“The cartridge limit is arbitrary and serves no useful purpose other than to frustrate, and perhaps entrap, law abiding citizens who own firearms with standard capacity magazines that were designed to hold more than seven rounds,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Several top law enforcement officials have already publicly stated they will not enforce provisions of this law, yet Gov. Cuomo and Supt. D’Amico are pushing ahead.

“The law is contradictory, in that it is legal in New York to possess magazines that hold up to ten cartridges,” he added. “But the SAFE Act limits people to seven rounds, with some narrow exceptions. This amounts to virtual entrapment for anyone who loads more than seven rounds in a magazine for self-defense purposes.

“Magazines that hold ten or more rounds are in common use all over the country,” Gottlieb concluded. “This arbitrary limit essentially penalizes law abiding citizens for exercising their right of self-defense, and that cannot be allowed to stand.”

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Irish Farmers Want Their Guns

September 27, 2013 by 1 Comment



A survey of Irish farmers by the Irish Examiner and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) said that over 80% believe they should be allowed to own a gun to protect themselves and their property. This is in response to a rise in violent crime in the rural areas of Ireland and fewer Gardai (Irish national police) stationed there.

Although recorded crime fell in all other categories, prompting an expression of satisfaction by Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, the farmers polled said they either slightly agreed or strongly agreed they should be entitled to own a gun to protect their family and property.

A total of 63 percent said they strongly agreed with having the right to gun ownership. Just four percent strongly disagreed with having the right to own a gun, with eight percent stating they slightly disagreed.

The issue of gun ownership and the right to protect property hit the headlines in 2004 after traveller John “Frog” Ward was shot dead by Mayo farmer Padraig Nally.

During his trial, Nally became something of a cause celebre for homeowners, arguing for the right to use force in defence of your property.

He argued that he had acted in self-defence at all times. He was convicted of manslaughter in 2005, but was acquitted after a retrial in 2006.

The survey found the farming community overwhelmingly favors gun ownership for the protection of family and property.

Of farmers who vote Sinn Fein, gun ownership got 100 percent support.

According to another story, there are 220,000 gun licenses in Ireland with the vast majority being issued for shotguns used in hunting. As I understand it, Irish law does not allow the average person to obtain a firearm for personal protection purposes though some are trying to change this.

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Hipsters Discover Project Appleseed

September 27, 2013 by 3 Comments

Metro describes itself as a free daily newspaper “written and designed for young and ambitious professionals” which is meant to be read during their morning commute. In other words, yuppies and hipsters living in the big city.

Their New York City edition ran a story on Monday about Project Appleseed. It was part of a series for what they called “Gun Week” which seems to be mostly regurgitated press releases from Mayor Bloomberg’s Illegal Mayors.

In an article that is relatively fair towards Appleseed but definitely biased against anything either pro-gun or freedom oriented, they start with this description of a recent NYC based event:

In a basement classroom of the Westside Rifle and Pistol range, near the Flatiron Building in New York City, students are being given a lesson in early American History. It has a lot to do with guns.


There are 14 students in the classroom, seven woman and seven men. The students have paid less than the price of an average New York dinner to spend three hours together, to learn how to shoot a small caliber rifle and take a rose-tinted walk through the history of the founding of the United States.


This is Project Appleseed, created by the Revolutionary War Veterans Association, dedicated to spreading the art of rifle marksmanship and its place in American history. A mission the group describes on their website as a bulwark against “American ignorance and apathy.” It speaks volumes to the nature of the Apple Seed volunteers that the group doesn’t descend into some thin-veiled, if well-armed, Tea Party propaganda machine.

In an effort to not frighten the hipsters away, they say Project Appleseed is a “middle ground” in the gun debate.

Project Appleseed, and events like it, represents the closest thing to a middle ground in the gun debate that there is in the country right now. It’s a place where the debate can be stripped of some of its caustic rhetoric and returned to something approaching rational conversation as novices learn about the pros and cons of gun ownership.

The photos that accompany the article are of another Project Appleseed event run by Nick Cirillo. Given his name, I wonder if he is some relation to the legendary Jim Cirillo.

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Knife Rights’ Lawsuit About Vague Definitions Tossed

September 27, 2013 by 2 Comments

Knife Rights and an assortment of individuals are suing Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. and the City of New York over its vague definition of what constitutes gravity and switchblade knives. The case, Knife Rights et al v. Cyrus Vance, Jr., et al, is being tried in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. On Wednesday, US District Court Judge Katherine Forrest, a 2011 appointee of President Obama, dismissed the case stating that the plaintiffs lacked standing because they had not identified what was legal or not legal in their complaint.

Excuse me, Judge Forrest, but duh! The whole point of the lawsuit was to force New York to define exactly what knives were legal or not legal under their definition. The District Attorney has already agreed that the same make and model of a knife could be found to be both legal or illegal. If that isn’t vague, what is?


Another aspect of this case is that Vance was shaking down knife retailers for money with an efficiency that would make Mafia dons envious. He collected over $2 million from retailers trying to avoid prosecution.

Knife Rights says they plan to appeal this ruling. Their response to the ruling is below.

A U.S. District Court Judge has ruled that persons falsely arrested or threatened with arrest have no standing to sue in Knife Rights’ Federal civil rights lawsuit against New York City and District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Although every prior ruling in the case went our way under two previous judges, the case was recently reassigned to Obama appointee Katherine B. Forrest. Litigation always presents the risk that a judge (and especially a judge new to a case) will make an erroneous ruling.

On Wednesday the judge ruled that the plaintiffs in our case – who have been falsely arrested or threatened with arrest over common pocket knives – do not have standing to sue, in part because the case documents don’t identify specific knives that would be illegal under New York City’s interpretation of state law. The trouble is, it’s nearly impossible to identify them under New York City’s haphazard and inconsistent approach – which is the whole point of the case in the first place! Even the DA has admitted that different specimens of the exact same make and model knife could be simultaneously found to be both legal and illegal! Click to read the judge’s ruling.

So here we have a situation where we’re suing because we can’t know with certainty what’s legal or banned, yet the judge is saying we don’t have standing to sue precisely because we haven’t identified what’s legal or banned in our court papers. That’s simply absurd!

But even if the judge were correct – which she is not – she was required by well-established legal principles to allow us a chance to amend our papers to “correct” the supposed “defects.” Instead, she simply ignored these principles and declared the case over.

A similar situation arose in a recent lawsuit involving a U.S. District Judge in neighboring New Jersey. After straining to find supposed “defects” in the complaint that affected standing, the judge refused to allow the complaint to be amended to correct the “defects.” On appeal, the ruling was reversed and the appeals court criticized the judge, saying she had abused her discretion. The same thing could happen here.

But whatever happens, this ruling forces Knife Rights to spend more time and money to appeal the judge’s decision – all while Rome continues to burn. We still receive calls every week from innocent citizens whose lives have been turned upside down simply because they carried a basic tool, a pocket knife, in New York City. Thousands have been arrested on bogus illegal knife charges. In at least one instance of which we are aware, the result of the bogus arrest was that the victim’s entire knife collection was confiscated from his home. Gun owners have had their firearms confiscated based on bogus knife arrests.

We cannot let New York City succeed in its attempt to redefine “gravity knife” to include ordinary folding knives. This could become a model for other cities and jurisdictions across America, resulting in knife owners throughout the country being arrested for doing nothing wrong. We cannot let that happen! And, we will not!

Knife Rights is carefully planning its response to Judge Forrest’s ruling. We will never stop fighting for your rights, and neither should you. Please help us win this critical battle by contributing to Knife Rights Foundation’s Legal Fund today as generously as you can. We’ve led the fight to defend knife rights in the legislative arena and we are pioneering it in the courts. Please help us defend freedom!

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Using Tax Money To Lobby Against Gun Rights

September 27, 2013 by 1 Comment

The North Carolina School Board Action Center is a 501(c)(4) organization funded by individual county school boards. As a 501(c)(4) organization, they are allowed to lobby the General Assembly and take part in political campaigns so long as their “primary activity is the promotion of social welfare” according to the IRS. The NCSBAC is the political action arm of the North Carolina School Boards Association and receives its funding through property taxes allocated to the local school boards.

It seems that one of their primary legislative objectives is the repeal of that part of NC GS 14-269.2 which allows limited campus carry for employees who live on campus and allows concealed carry holders to store a firearm in their locked vehicles while on school property.

Grass Roots North Carolina is taking issue with tax money being used to lobby against our gun rights. They released an alert yesterday about it and ask that people contact their local county commissions and school boards to make their displeasure known.

From GRNC:

NC School Boards Assoc Uses YOUR MONEY To Attack Gun Rights
Creates “North Carolina School Board’s Action Center”, a new 501(c)(4) organization designed to divert Education
funds to promote personal anti-gun agenda…

Since Governor Pat McCrory signed HB 937 into law, the North Carolina School Board Association
has been
touting its newly formed North Carolina School Board’s Action Center
(NCSBAC), a new 501(c)(4) organization designed to “strengthen local
school board advocacy efforts”.  The group receives its funding from
individual county school boards through the collection of property
taxes.  Among their stated primary objectives is to advocate for the
repeal of NCGS 14-269.2, which recently granted law-abiding North
Carolinian’s with limited campus carry provisions.

That’s right,
the NCSBAC is devising a scheme to misappropriate tax dollars
collected for education purposes to fund their anti-gun agenda!  The
brainchild of Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board Vice-Chairman
Tim Morgan and political director Leanne Winner,
who has been crisscrossing the state spewing her
propaganda during district-wide legislative reviews, has made the
organization’s intentions clear:  to attack the limited Campus Carry
provisions which go into effect on October 1st.

Specifically,
she has advised local school board members that “NCGS 14.269.2
is a safety concern for public schools”.  She repeatedly and mockingly
states that the reason for allowing concealed carry permit holders
to retain their guns in a locked car was to provide them with the
opportunity to “save the day” in the event of a school
shooting.   But, in her opinion, the real effect of the legislation was
to create a situation where adults angry over the outcome of a high
school football game could settle their disputes by “shooting it out in
the parking lots”.  Winner goes on to say that NCSBA will use
their 501(c)(4) organization to repeal this provision of  NC GS
14-269.2.

Enough is enough!

While the
continued economic downward turn is forcing teacher layoffs and reduced
funding to schools across the state, the notion that what little funds
remain
be spent on pressing a personal political agenda becomes all the more
incredulous. Our tax dollars can be utilized in a multitude of more
efficient
ways to raise and maintain the educational standards of our children
than to have them diverted into such pet projects filled with outright
anti-gun
propaganda.

You CAN make a
difference! Using the suggested message and contact information below,
contact
your local School Board and county commissioners today and demand that
they no longer fund the NCBAS until such time as they turn their
attention away
from personal political projects and return to working to better the
educational system in North Carolina in a more meaningful way.


IMMEDIATE ACTION
REQUIRED!

  • CONTACT YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD: Using
    the contact information provided below and suggested message, contact
    your local
    school board members and demand that tax money not be spent to fund the
    NCSBAC which will be used to attack NC GS 14-269.2 by advocating its
    repeal.
  • CONTACT YOUR LOCAL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS:
    Using the contact information
    below, contact your county commissioners and demand that tax money not
    be appropriated to fund the NCSBAC which will be used to attack NC GS
    14-269.2
    by advocating its repeal.
CONTACT
INFO
School board email addresses can be found by selecting the “Search Organization” option and typing
in your county.

Contact your county commissioners by selecting your county here . 

Or, copy and paste the
following to your browser:

http://www.ncsba.org/index.php?submenu=About&src=directory&view=directory&srctype=directory_lister_boardmembers

http://www.ncacc.org/index.aspx?nid=171t

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE

Suggested Subject: “Education Tax Dollars Should Not Be
Misappropriated for Anti-Second Amendment Agenda”  
 

(To Local School Board Members)

Dear County
School Board Member:

It has been brought to my attention that the
North Carolina School Board Association has created a 501(c)(4), the
North Carolina School Board’s Action Center, with the intent to
specifically target positive pro-gun legislation recently signed into
law. As a
parent/ grandparent/ taxpayer, I am seriously offended that any school
board member would condone siphoning money earmarked for education
purposes to
attack my Second Amendment rights or any other personal political
agenda.

I hope that you will represent me by advocating for
education and
demand that no money from our county school board be used to fund the
NCSBAC efforts. I will be monitoring this situation via alerts issued by
Grass
Roots North Carolina and will remember to vote accordingly.

Respectfully,

(To County Commissioners)

Dear County
Commissioner:

It has been brought to my attention that the North
Carolina School Board Association has created a 501(c)(4), the North
Carolina School Board’s Action Center, to specifically target positive
pro-gun legislation recently signed into law. As a taxpayer within your
county, I am offended by this scheme and ask you to instruct the school
board that none of our tax dollars be used to
fund the NCSBAC. I adamantly oppose any misuse of education funds.

I
hope that you will represent me by advocating for education and demand
that no money from our county school board be misappropriated by the
NCSBAC. I will be monitoring this situation via alerts issued by Grass
Roots
North Carolina and will remember to vote accordingly.

Respectfully,
Uncategorized

Upcoming Events For Grass Roots North Carolina

September 26, 2013 by

Grass Roots North Carolina has two big upcoming events – one a “meet and greet” this weekend and the other is “dinner and a movie” in various NC cities on October 1st. The latter is on the day that the new gun laws go into effect which include the ability to carry concealed in restaurants that serve alcohol. To clarify, a person who is legally carrying concealed in North Carolina is forbidden by law to consume alcoholic beverages while carrying.

Bunnlevel is in Harnett County about halfway between Raleigh and Fayetteville. If I lived closer, I’d love to attend. Range 37 PSR Gun Club is one of the premier gun clubs in North Carolina and looks like a fantastic facility.

From GRNC:

Two Upcoming GRNC Events!
Mark your calenders…   

1st Annual GRNC Meet, Greet, Eat & Shoot at 37 PSR in Bunnlevel, NC on Saturday, September 28th from noon until 6pm:
The event is $30 per person (free under 16) and will be a great
opportunity to come out and spend the day with many of the GRNC
volunteers who work hard for our gun rights every day. Dinner is
potluck, so bring a dish and utensils. For info: GRNC@nc.rr.com or call 877-282-0939.

GRNC Dinner and a Movie: Celebrate restaurant carry when it takes effect on October 1
by joining GRNC in Asheville, Hickory, Charlotte (Matthews),
Greensboro, Durham or Fayetteville. Where? Texas Roadhouse restaurants,
which have already promised they will not post against concealed carry.
For info: DinnerandMovie@GRNC.org or call 877-282-0939.

Support GRNC!

  • Support GRNC: GRNC needs your support to help combat the efforts against your rights as gun owners. Join or renew your membership!  http://www.grnc.org/join-grnc/join-grnc-online
  • SIGN THE “STOP THE GUN BAN” PETITION: Go to: www.StopTheGunBan.org Whether or not you have already signed it, forward this to others and tell them to sign it too.
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CCRKBA On Signing Of Arms Trade Treaty

September 26, 2013 by 4 Comments

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, like the NRA, was dismissive of the signing of the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty by Secretary of State John Kerry in New York today.


Their release is below:

BELLEVUE, WA – Secretary of State John Kerry may have signed the controversial United Nations Arms Trade Treaty today, but tomorrow it begins gathering dust in the U.S. Senate, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms predicted.

CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb noted that Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) has already warned Kerry that the treaty “will collect dust alongside the Law of the Sea Treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Kyoto Protocol, to name a few, which have all been rejected by the U.S. Senate and the American people.”

“If Secretary Kerry and President Barack Obama pursue this farce,” Gottlieb warned, “the full fury of American firearms owners could come back to haunt them. Second Amendment sovereignty is not up for grabs, and we will encourage our members and supporters to contact their senators about this treaty.”

For the ATT to be ratified requires two-thirds confirmation by the Senate. But Gottlieb noted, as did Sen. Inhofe in his letter to Secretary Kerry, that 53 senators have already indicated they will reject any treaty that threatens the Second Amendment.

“If this was all theatrics by the Obama administration,” Gottlieb observed, “the president and Secretary Kerry need better script writers. And we will remind the administration of the warning it received Wednesday morning from Sen. Bob Corker, ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Senate has not given its advice or consent on this treaty, so ‘the Executive branch is not authorized to take any steps to implement the treaty.’ How does that look to the world when an administration can’t get one of its pet projects approved on Capitol Hill?

“We know that anti-gunners have this ‘thing’ about symbolic victories,” he concluded, “but just how much of a symbol is it if the treaty is filed in the dust bin? After Fast and Furious, Benghazi and Syria, that’s just what the Obama administration needs, another symbol of international ineptitude.”

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NRA Statement On Kerry Signing The Arms Trade Treaty

September 25, 2013 by 3 Comments

The National Rifle Association has been a staunch opponent of the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty from the beginning. They issued the response below to the signing of the treaty on behalf of the United States by Secretary of State John F. Kerry. As Bitter noted in a post on the signing, elections have consequences. Prior administrations not only opposed the talks which led to the Arms Trade Treaty, they actively refused to participate in them. That was then and this is now – unfortunately.

Fairfax, Va. – Today, Secretary of State John Kerry signed the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty on behalf of the Obama administration. The National Rifle Association strongly opposes this treaty, which is a clear violation of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“The Obama administration is once again demonstrating its contempt for our fundamental, individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “This treaty threatens individual firearm ownership with an invasive registration scheme. The NRA will continue working with the United States Senate to oppose ratification of the ATT.”

A bipartisan majority of the U.S. Senate is already on record in opposition to ratification of the ATT. On March 23, the Senate adopted an amendment to its FY 2014 Budget Resolution, offered by Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), that establishes a deficit-neutral fund for “the purpose of preventing the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty.” This amendment is in addition to the previous efforts of Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) to pass concurrent resolutions opposing the treaty in their respective chambers.

Notably, the ATT includes “small arms and light weapons” within its scope, which covers firearms owned by law-abiding citizens. Further, the treaty urges recordkeeping of end users, directing importing countries to provide information to an exporting country regarding arms transfers, including “end use or end user documentation” for a “minimum of ten years.” Each country is to “take measures, pursuant to its national laws, to regulate brokering taking place under its jurisdiction for conventional arms.” Data kept on the end users of imported firearms is a de-facto registry of law-abiding firearms owners, which is a violation of federal law. Even worse, the ATT could be construed to require such a registry to be made available to foreign governments.

“These are blatant attacks on the constitutional rights and liberties of every law-abiding American. The NRA will continue to fight this assault on our fundamental freedom,” concluded Cox.