gun control

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ISRA’s Week In Review

January 4, 2013 by

As you can imagine, this has been a very busy week for the Illinois State Rifle Association and Richard Pearson. He has sent out the following week in review which gives more perspective on the bills and the machinations of the gun prohibitionists in the Illinois General Assembly.


January 4, 2013 – The Week in Review – The Unabashed Arrogance of the Gun Control Movement

As most of you know, this has been a very tense week for the law-abiding Illinois firearm owner. As most of us were getting ready to ring in the New Year, Senate President John Cullerton and his band of gun controllers were secretly preparing a major offensive against your gun rights. We got wind of the pending attack on your 2nd Amendment rights early in the week and immediately called together our lobbyists and strategic planners to build a defense.

When we finally saw the public release of the Cullerton plan mid-week, we were shocked at what we saw. Based on recent events, we fully expected to see legislative proposals to ban so-called “assault weapons,” and so-called “high-capacity ammunition feeding devices.” However, those affronts to your rights paled in comparison with what Cullerton’s proposal entailed. Here is a sampling of the extremist proposals advanced by Cullerton’s gun-grab plan:

– The Illinois State Police would be given full control over the design and operation of commercial gun ranges in the state. That control would extend from the design of the bullet backstops to qualifications of range employees and even to the color of the paint on the walls of the men’s room. The State Police would determine the hours of operation, what types and calibers of firearms could be discharged at the range, and even a minimum number of square feet. Every range customer would have to undergo a background check and each customer’s visit would be logged by the range operator. Any Illinois law enforcement agency could conduct unannounced and warrantless inspections and searches of ranges at any time. Those searches and inspections would extend to range customers and their property. That means that the Chicago Police Department would have the authority to raid a range in Peoria and roust the customers of that range. The bottom line is, this range regulation proposal has the sole objective of running commercial shooting ranges out of business. We had never seen anything like this before, but the intent was clear.

– All semi-automatic firearms would be either banned outright, or be so severely taxed and restricted that ownership would be impractical. We expected to see attempts to ban or regulate AR and AK type firearms, but what we saw in Cullerton’s proposal carried that to an extreme. Cullerton’s gun ban would extend to all semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns. Additionally, many pump action rifles and shotguns would be banned as well. This ban would include such classics as the 1911 and the M1 Garand. Of course, all Glocks, Sig-Sauers, and other popular pistols would be banned as well. Estimates are that about 50% of rifles and 80% of handguns lawfully-owned by Illinois citizens would be subject to ban and confiscation under the Cullerton gun ban.

– A bizarre and convoluted scheme to register all “ammunition feeding devices” capable of holding more than 10 rounds – including magazines, stripper clips, drums, etc. Since none of these devices possess serial numbers, owners of these devices would essentially register them under the “honor system.” Of course, we all know how well criminals stick to the honor system.

The two bills containing these provisions, HB0815 and HB1263, were both assigned to the Senate Public Health Committee for review. This committee is notoriously anti-gun and is stacked 6 to 4 with antigun Democrats under Cullerton’s thumb. On Wednesday night, the two bills came up for hearing before the Senate Public Health Committee. During debate of these two bills, we heard straight from the horses’ mouths what the intents and purposes of these bills were. Sitting there listening to the sponsors and their supporters was a very maddening experience.

Committee testimony given by the anti-gunners confirmed that the gun control movement holds firearm owners in deep contempt. During testimony, the gun controllers claimed that the range restriction bill would actually preserve 2nd Amendment rights while providing public safety. The gun controllers acknowledged that most semiautomatic firearms would be banned, but that people who wished to shoot semiautomatics should be reassured because they would be able to go to an approved range and legally rent semiautomatics to shoot. In other words, you should not be upset about surrendering your $5,000 target rifle because you can still go down to an approved range and get a junker out of the rental case to plink with. This was one of the most condescending lines of testimony I have ever heard levied against the right to keep and bear arms – and the anti-gunners uttered it with completely straight faces. The gun controllers really need to keep in mind that the 2nd Amendment says “keep and bear arms,” not “rent arms.”

Of course, nowhere in any of the testimony given by the bills’ supporters was there any mention of how these restrictions and bans would affect criminals. In fact, the bill proponents became extremely defensive when pro-gun witnesses mentioned anything about violent gun-toting criminals. It was clear that the proponents’ focus was solely on lawfully held firearms. In not so many words, the supporters of these bills claimed that they were good “first steps” to achieving a “civil society.” In the twisted world-view of the anti-gunners, law-abiding citizens are standing in the way of a civil society, not criminals.

As most of you may know, the two bills passed out of the Public Health Committee by 6-4 and 6-3 votes. The next step would be a vote on the floor. Late Thursday, the newspapers were reporting that the sponsors are delaying a vote on the bills because they do not have enough support for passage. Please, don’t be fooled by such claims. These bills are alive and well and can be called up for a vote at any time.

In writing this note, I thought I’d give you a taste of what the ISRA lobbyists experience every day in Springfield. We could not continue to do what we do without knowing that you, the law-abiding citizen, has our back. Your support is crucial to our success – we do all we do for you. So, with that in mind, there are a few things I’d like you to do:

1. Remember that these anti-gun bills are eligible for a full vote of the Senate at any time up through next Wednesday. Do not be lulled to sleep by media claims that the bills are dead.

2. Keep an eye on your email for any alerts the ISRA issues regarding these bills or any other anti-gun activity.

3. Please consider giving the ISRA a generous monetary donation so we may continue the fight for your rights.

Thanks for your time,

Richard A. Pearson
Executive Director
Illinois State Rifle Association

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Lots Of Bills Filed In Congress Yesterday

January 4, 2013 by 8 Comments

While there were no bills – only resolutions – filed in the US Senate yesterday, House members seem to have been very active filing bills dealing with firearms. By my count, there were eight anti-gun bills and one pro-gun bill filed in the House of Representatives yesterday. None of the bills listed below have the text of legislation available so we’ll have to wait a few days to see the details of just how they plan to screw gun owners.

I have listed the bills below in order of their introduction along with their sponsor and the bills working title. I have put the one pro-gun bill in bold print.

HR 21 – James Moran (D-VA)
To provide for greater safety in the use of firearms.
Referred to the House Judiciary Committee

HR 34 – Bobby Rush (D-IL)
To provide for the implementation of a system of licensing for
purchasers of certain firearms and for a record of sale system for those
firearms, and for other purposes.
Referred to the House Judiciary Committee

HR 65 – Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
To prevent children’s access to firearms.
Referred to the House Judiciary Committee

HR 93 – David Cicilline (D-RI)
To amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, to restrict the
ability of a person whose Federal license to import, manufacture, or
deal in firearms has been revoked, whose application to renew such a
license has been denied, or who has received a license revocation or
renewal denial notice, to transfer business inventory firearms, and for
other purposes.
Referred to the House Judiciary Committee

HR 117 – Rush Holt (D-NJ)
To provide for the mandatory licensing and registration of handguns.
 Referred to the House Judiciary Committee

HR 133 – Thomas Massie (R-KY)
To repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act of 1990 and amendments to that Act.
Referred to the House Judiciary Committee

HR 137 – Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
To ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a
firearm are listed in the national instant criminal background check
system and require a background check for every firearm sale.
Referred to the House Judiciary Committee

HR 138 – Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
Co-sponsored by Diana DeGette (D-CO)
To prohibit the transfer or possession of large capacity ammunition feeding devices, and for other purposes.
Referred to the House Judiciary Committee

HR 141 – Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
To require criminal background checks on all firearms transactions occurring at gun shows.
Referred to the House Judiciary Committee

While all bills are important and could be enacted, the likelihood is that most of these bills will never get a hearing and will have no further action. HR 138 sponsored by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy is the major bill of this bunch and the one that may get some attention. Fortunately, the incoming chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) has said he doesn’t favor any new gun control laws including magazine restrictions.

As more bills and more information becomes available, it will be posted.

UPDATE: Two more to add to the list – one good and one bad. Thanks to pointers to these bills from the comments.

HR 35 – Steve Stockman (R-TX)
Co-sponsored by Paul Broun (R-GA)
To restore safety to America’s schools.
Referred to the House Judiciary Committee
As noted in the comments below, this bill would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act.

HR 142 – Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)
To require face to face purchases of ammunition, to require licensing of
ammunition dealers, and to require reporting regarding bulk purchases
of ammunition.
Referred to the House Judiciary Committee

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It Ain’t Over Yet In Illinois

January 4, 2013 by

It is too soon to let our guard down in Illinois over the range, AWB, and magazine ban bills. While newspaper reports yesterday indicated that the gun prohibitionists were falling short and had given up their efforts, it isn’t over yet as the lame duck session hasn’t ended.

The Illinois State Rifle Association issued this warning on their Facebook page:

Note to all members and supporters. The bills
put forward in the IL Senate are NOT dead. They are still alive until
the new legislature is sworn in on Wednesday… they could vote as they
clean out their desks.
Keep the calls and emails coming. They are having an effect and will be the difference between your guns being banned or not.

Thirdpower at Days of Our Trailers has this warning along with some comments from Illinois legislators:


NYET!! NINE!!! NADA!!! NOPE!!!

These bills are NOT dead. They are just being held off so the Chicago-crats can try and strong arm enough votes before next Wednesday. Got that? NEXT Wednesday is when the bills are dead, not before.

KEEP making those calls and informing fellow gun owners. They WILL attempt to bring them up again as soon as they think they can get them through, the same way they play the midnight sessions game to get their annual pay raises.

Those of you living in Illinois need to keep up the pressure on your state representatives and senators. Be polite but call them every day. Don’t let them think you’ve let your guard down.

UPDATE: While all the action so far has been in the Illinois State Senate, Todd Vandermyde let me know this morning that his sources in the State House tell him that Gov. Pat Quinn and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will be pushing similar bans in the House. The House reconvenes for its lame duck session at 5pm on Sunday.

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Carolyn McCarthy On Her Magazine Ban Bill

January 3, 2013 by 5 Comments

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) will be introducing a bill today that will mandate reduced-capacity magazines and will ban sale and transfer of standard-capacity magazines. Checking the Library of Congress service Thomas, no bills are listed as having been introduced but I think there is probably some lag in the system.

This move by McCarthy and DeGette was fully expected. Sebastian feels that the magazine ban will be harder to fight than any AWB due to many on the center-right who feel it is reasonable. He makes a number of good points especially that the criminal class will have no trouble in obtaining magazines.

Massad Ayoob discusses why good people need standard capacity magazines in his blog in Backwoods Home Magazine. He concludes:

The reasoning is strikingly clear. The cops are the experts on the current criminal trends. If they have determined that a “high capacity” semiautomatic pistol and a .223 semiautomatic rifle with 30-round magazines are the best firearms for them to use to protect people like me and my family, they are obviously the best things for us to use to protect ourselves and our families .
In her statement below, McCarthy makes the semi-erroneous claim that standard capacity magazines are not allowed for hunting. Magazine restrictions as well as restrictions on semi-automatic rifles for hunting exist in some locations and not in others. We need to get away from arguing sporting purpose with regard to magazine-fed rifles and pistols. In my opinion, self-defense of self and family is paramount and Mas makes a very cogent case for why we need standard capacity magazines in his blog post.

McCarthy’s release on the bill:

WASHINGTON, DC (Jan. 3, 2013) — Reps. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY4) and Diana DeGette (D-CO1) are reintroducing legislation today to ban the high-capacity ammunition magazines that have enabled high numbers of casualties in almost every recent mass shooting in American history.

“These assault magazines help put the ‘mass’ in ‘mass shooting’ and anything we can do to stop their proliferation will save lives in America,” Rep. McCarthy said. “These devices are used to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time possible and we owe it to innocent Americans everywhere to keep them out of the hands of dangerous people. We don’t even allow hunters to use them – something’s deeply wrong if we’re protecting game more than we’re protecting innocent human beings.”
“Since I came to Congress, I have been working to protect our children and our families from senseless gun violence,” Rep. DeGette said. “Recent tragedies have only heightened the need, and that is why Rep. McCarthy and I are reintroducing our bill to ban high-capacity assault magazines. While there is no single answer to stopping these massacres, this bill is a step that will go a long way toward making our country safe.”

The High Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act, as the bill is formally known, bans the sale or transfer of ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds. Such a standard was federal law between 1994 and 2004, when the assault weapons ban was in effect, and it is state law in many parts of the United States. Magazines are available today in capacities of up to 100 and even more. Law enforcement officials and analysts have cited the direct role that magazine capacity plays in ensuring the high numbers of casualties in mass shootings. Often, as in the cases of Tucson, Arizona and the Long Island Railroad, the carnage ends when the shooters run out of bullets and stop to reload, at which point they are stopped by bystanders.

Unfortunately, the devices are still easily available to the public and have been used in every mass shooting in recent history, such as: Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut; a shopping mall in Oregon; a temple in Wisconsin; a movie theater in Colorado; a Congressional event in Arizona; at schools like Columbine High School and Virginia Tech University; at a law office in California; and on a commuter rail car in New York. They were even acquired from the United States by mail order and used in the Norway shooting of 2011, where 69 people were shot to death.

In many cases, mass shooters intending to act don’t have access to a black market, but acquire whatever they can easily and legally, making a ban on high-capacity magazines a major obstacle for future mass murderers to carry out their plans.

The legislation had 138 House co-sponsors in the 112th Congress, under the number H.R. 308. One hundred and eleven House members signed on after its introduction after the shooting in Tucson, Arizona; two more signed on after the shooting in Aurora, Colorado; then 25 more signed on after last month’s shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Rep. McCarthy, a lifelong nurse, strode into a life of activism to reduce gun violence after her husband was murdered and son critically wounded in the 1993 mass shooting on the Long Island Railroad in New York. Her activism led her to Washington first to lobby members of Congress as an advocate for victims, and then as a member herself after running against her own congressman who voted against the assault weapons ban.

Rep. DeGette has been an outspoken supporter of measures to reduce gun violence and played a critical role in rounding up support for new cosponsors for the ban on high-capacity magazines after the most recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Her district includes Columbine High School and is adjacent to that which includes Aurora, Colorado. She is now, with Rep. McCarthy, the original co-sponsor of the legislation, which will receive a bill number shortly.

The bill to ban high-capacity magazines was carried in the Senate in the 112th Congress by Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. Sen. Lautenberg has helped lead the fight for safer gun policy for much of his decades-long career, writing the law to keep guns out of the hands of domestic violence offenders and co-sponsoring the original Brady Law to establish background checks for handgun purchases, among other efforts.

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The Floor Amendments In Illinois (Updated)

January 3, 2013 by 6 Comments

The gun prohibitionists in the Illinois Senate are using existing House Bill 815 and House Bill 1263 as their vehicle to license shooting ranges, ban so-called assault weapons, ban new standard capacity magazines, and require registration and fees for grandfathered magazines. Both bills are the subject of hearings currently on-going by the Illinois Senate Public Health Committee.

HB 815 originally dealt with updating a nuclear safety law while HB 1263 deals with sexual offenders.

HB 815 has two amendments. The first, Senate Floor Amendment No. 001 deals with licensing shooting ranges and “large capacity ammunition feeding devices.” It was introduced by Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Chicago). The text of the amendment can be found here.

The second amendment to HB 815, Senate Floor Amendment No. 002, requires the registration of grandfathered magazines with the Illinois State Police and the payment of a $5 per magazine fee. It was also introduced by Sen. Dan Kotowski. The full text of this amendment can be found here.

HB 1263 has two amendments and both were submitted by Sen. Antonio Munoz (D-Chicago). Senate Floor Amendment No. 005 contains another range licensing bill and, more importantly, the assault weapons (sic) ban. .50 BMG firearms are also banned. The text of this amendment can be found here.

The second amendment to HB 1263, Senate Floor Amendment No. 006, deals with the existing so-called assault weapons. It requires their registration and the payment of a $10 fee per rifle to the Illinois State Police. .50 firearms will require a $15 per firearm fee along with their registration. The text of this amendment can be found here.

UPDATE: The Senate Public Health Committee who’s chair and vice-chair just so happen to be Chicago Democrats have reported two of the amendments out of committee with a “do adopt” recommendation. They are Senate Floor Amendment No. 001 to HB 815 and Senate Floor Amendment No. 005 to HB 1263.

ISRA issued an alert on the bills this evening.

A pair of nightmare bills is on the move at this moment in the Illinois Senate

These two bills would:

1. Run all gun ranges out of business by imposing heavy fees, imposing special staffing requirements, warrantless searches of ranges and customers, unlimited unannounced “inspections.”

2. Ban all semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns as well as pump action shotguns.

Here are direct links to the two bills:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=HB&DocNum=815&GAID=11&SessionID=84&LegID=56601

and

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=HB&DocNum=1263&GAID=11&SessionID=84&LegID=57242

EITHER OF THESE TWO BILLS WOULD END YOUR GUN RIGHTS ENTIRELY

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO PROTECT YOUR GUN RIGHTS.

1. Follow the instructions below and contact your Illinois State Senator. Politely tell your senator that you are a law-abiding gun owner and you want them to vote AGAINST HB815 and HB1263. CALL NOW!

2. Pass this information on to your gun owning friends and family, tell them to call as well.

3. Post this alert to all Internet blogs and bulletin boards to which you belong.

The worst of the two bills, HB815 is being sponsored and pushed by anti-gun Senator Dan Kotowski. Go to his link: http://www.ilga.gov/senate/senator.asp?GA=97&MemberID=1724 Call him at the numbers listed and tell him that you do not appreciate him trying to shut down gun ranges and taking your guns away from you. He needs to hear from you!

UPDATE II: The Illinois State Rifle Association just sent out more information about the votes on the two bills in the Public Health Committee.

SENATE COMMITTEE APPROVES BILLS TO RUN RANGES OUT OF BUSINESS AND BAN 80% OF YOUR GUNS

MESSAGE FROM COMMITTEE DEMOCRATS: “Eliminating law-abiding gun owners is a good ‘first step’ towards a ‘civil society.’”

Votes on HB815 and HB1263 were split along party lines in the Senate Public Health Committee Wednesday night with the committee Democrats voting 6-4 and 6-3 to send the bills to the full senate. If these two bills become law, they will resulting most, if not all ranges in the state going out of business as well as the banning of ALL semiautomatic rifles, pistols and shotguns as well as banning all pump shotguns and rifles.

In comments made during testimony, committee Democrats stated plainly that HB815 and HB1263 were “first steps” and that these bills have as their objective the creation of a “more civil society.” In other words, elimination of lawful gun owners is a required first step for creating a more civil society. Of course, there was no mention of the impact of eliminating criminals.

HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO ON THURSDAY:

1. Call Senator Dave Syverson at (217) 782-5413 and tell him “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

2. Call Senator Shane Cultra at (217) 782-6597 and tell him “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

3. Call Senator Christine Johnson at (217) 782-1977 and tell her “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

4. Call Senator Carole Pankau at (217) 782-9463 and tell her “THANK YOU” for supporting lawful gun owners by voting “NO” on HB815 and HB1263.

It is very important that you praise these Senators for their support.

The ringleader of the effort to shut down shooting ranges and take your guns away from you is Senator Dan Kotowski. You may wish to call him at (217) 782-3875 and politely explain to him that, as a law-abiding gun owner, you do not appreciate being treated like a criminal and that you oppose any efforts to regulate shooting ranges, ban semiautomatic firearms, or ban standard capacity magazines.

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“Shut Up And Think Before They Act Recklessly Again”

December 20, 2012 by

Commentator Michelle Malkin was a guest on Sean Hannity’s show yesterday. The topic of discussion was the call for more gun control in the wake of the school shooting in Newtown, CT. Both she and Sean brought out the hypocrisy of the Obama Administration in their calls for new gun control legislation at the same time as it was discovered that a firearm purchased by ASAC George Gillet of the BATFE’s Phoenix Field Division was found at the scene of a murder in Mexico.

Malkin was particularly effective when she, in her words, took off her hat as a political pundit and spoke as a mother. She called upon politicians

to “for once, stop, shut up, and think before they act recklessly again”.

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Cerberus Moves To Ditch The Freedom Group

December 18, 2012 by 4 Comments

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Cerberus Capital Management plans to sell their firearms manufacturing arm in the wake of the Newtown tragedy. Their statement below says that they don’t want to be pulled into a national political debate concerning firearms.

Cerberus Capital Management Statement Regarding Freedom Group, Inc.


NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — We were shocked and deeply
saddened by the events that took place at the Sandy Hook Elementary
School in Newtown, CT on December 14, 2012.  We cannot comprehend the
losses suffered by the families and friends of those killed by the
unthinkable crimes committed that day.  No words or actions can lessen
the enormity of this event or make a dent in the pain that was inflicted
on so many.


In 2006 affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. made a
financial investment in Freedom Group.  Freedom Group does not sell
weapons or ammunition directly to consumers, through gun shows or
otherwise.  Sales are made only to federally licensed firearms dealers
and distributors in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.  We
do not believe that Freedom Group or any single company or individual
can prevent senseless violence or the illegal use or procurement of
firearms and ammunition. 


It is apparent that the Sandy Hook tragedy was a watershed event that
has raised the national debate on gun control to an unprecedented
level.  The debate essentially focuses on the balance between public
safety and the scope of the Constitutional rights under the Second
Amendment. As a Firm, we are investors, not statesmen or policy makers. 
Our role is to make investments on behalf of our clients who are
comprised of the pension plans of firemen, teachers, policemen and other
municipal workers and unions, endowments, and other institutions and
individuals.  It is not our role to take positions, or attempt to shape
or influence the gun control policy debate. That is the job of our
federal and state legislators.


There are, however, actions that we as a firm can take.  Accordingly,
we have determined to immediately engage in a formal process to sell our
investment in Freedom Group.  We will retain a financial advisor to
design and execute a process to sell our interests in Freedom Group, and
we will then return that capital to our investors.  We believe that
this decision allows us to meet our obligations to the investors whose
interests we are entrusted to protect without being drawn into the
national debate that is more properly pursued by those with the formal
charter and public responsibility to do so.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and communities impacted by this tragic and devastating event.

The Freedom Group which has been renamed Remington Outdoor Company, Inc. consists of Remington, Bushmaster, DPMS/Panther Arms, Remington Military, Remington LE, Parker Gunmakers, Barnes Bullets, Advanced Armament, Tapco, Dakota Arms, Marlin, Para-USA, H&R, Mountain Khakis, and Remington PMPD.

Among the upper management of Cerberus are such political figures as former VP Dan Quayle and former Treasury Secretary John Snow. Steve Feinberg, CEO of Cerberus, is reportedly an avid hunter and shooter. According to the Journal, Cerberus came under pressure from certain investors to sell the unit.

Cerberus’s statement comes shortly after it faced pressure Monday from
former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer as well as the California State
Teachers Retirement System, which said it is reviewing a $500 million
investment commitment to the New York-based private-equity firm.

 I find the move by Cerberus to sell Freedom Group aka Remington Outdoor Company much more disturbing than the nonsense coming from the gun prohibitionists and their politician allies. To me it seem a great harbinger of the difficulties that lie ahead for us with regards to gun rights. Investment capital companies such as Cerberus are known to make decisions on numbers and fact without dealing in emotion. They obviously feel that the business environment for them will be difficult in the days ahead due to political forces. The Freedom Group companies manufacture a lot of AR-15s and these are the focus of the gun prohibitionists.

For the firearms industry, this move by Cerberus may actually be beneficial. If the new owners of Remington Outdoor Company are not beholden to public employee/union pension funds and other institutional investors, it will be a good thing. The unity of the firearms industry in the face of the threat of legislation is paramount. They don’t need the management of one of the major players to go wobbly such as is evident in the response of Cerberus.

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And Gun Control Would Have Prevented This How?

December 17, 2012 by 1 Comment

Perhaps the gun prohibitionists would care to explain this and how any new gun control laws would have kept these guns off the street.


Truck driver Elliot Perez and his accomplice Michael Murphy were indicted in US District Court in Bridgeport, CT for stealing 111 firearms from Smith and Wesson.

According to the indictment against them, on November 8, Perez had a scheduled delivery of guns to pick-up at Smith & Wesson in Springfield. He was supposed to pick up five boxes of firearms to bring back, but ended up taking an additional three. Driving back down to Connecticut, he allegedly stopped at his Bridgeport home and met with Murphy before bringing the truck to his company’s warehouse in Stratford, where he unloaded only the five that he was supposed to deliver.

The indictment charges that on November 15, Perez and Murphy sold one of the stolen guns to another individual. Five days later, when questioned by ATF special agents, Perez allegedly lied and said that a “black male” at Smith & Wesson had instructed him on which boxes he was supposed to load onto the truck, adding that he had dropped off all of the cases of guns at the company warehouse.

At the time of the two men’s arrests days later, Stratford Police had only been able to recover 28 of the stolen guns.

Charges include conspiracy, possession of stolen firearms, trafficking, and making false statements to a law enforcement officer.

Perez was not an employee of Smith and Wesson. He worked for a trucking company contracted to handle transportation services for S&W.

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Comment Of The Day

December 17, 2012 by

It is no surprise that the gun prohibitionists and their politician allies have gone into a feeding frenzy after the murders in Connecticut. With a new session of Congress only weeks away, politicians are already announcing their plans for new draconian gun control laws egged on by the President who is calling for “meaningful action”.

The comment of the day comes from Frank James in response to a post by Tam on her View from the Porch blog.

I think up till now we’ve all been operating under condition ‘Orange’ and now it’s gone to ‘Red’.

When Congress reconvenes next year I look for the situation to go to condition ‘Black’. (No pun intended!)…

I think the good Colonel would approve of this use of his color code with regard to the intentions of the hoplophobes.