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SHARE Act Comes To Vote In The House This Week

February 24, 2016 by 21 Comments

Despite the name – the Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act of 2015 – it isn’t just for Fudd’s. Yes the act does include a lot of things for hunters but it also includes many things for the Gun Culture 2.0 non-hunting shooter. Stuff like protecting against regulations concerning lead ammunition, support for the development of shooting ranges, and forcing the US Army Corps of Engineers to allow people to protect themselves with a firearm on Corps managed recreational projects. It would also protect knife owners and gun collectors who may have knives or guns with elephant ivory grips.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is supporting this bill and has provide a convenient way to send an email to your congressional representative. The link is in their blurb below:

We need your voice! The National Shooting Sports Foundation has joined 50 sportsmen’s groups representing millions of American sportsmen and hunters to urge members of the US House to vote in favor of HR 2406, the SHARE Act, bipartisan sportsmen’s legislative package, when it is on the house floor this week.

The
SHARE Act is the most important pro-sportsmen and pro-hunting
legislation in a generation. It passed the House in the previous
Congressional session, but was stalled procedurally in the U.S. Senate.

Use this action alert or call the U.S. House of Representatives at 202-224-3121, ask for your U.S. Representative to vote YES on the SHARE Act.

Act today to help promote preserve and protect America’s hunting traditions and the shooting sports.
Email: action alert Call: 202-224-3121

 I used the handy-dandy action alert link to send a message to my congressman. It took all of 30 seconds. I urge you to do the same. We’ve been trying to get parts of this bill passed for the last three Congresses and now is the time to finally get it done.

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Presidential Firearms At The Cody Firearms Museum

February 22, 2016 by 2 Comments

Ashley Hlebinsky, the Robert W. Woodruff Curator at the Cody Firearms Museum, presents some of the firearms owned and presented to US presidents in this video from the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

There are a number of Winchester lever actions in the collection including an 1866 presented to LBJ, an 1894 presented to Ike, and a Model 64 presented to Ronald Reagan. There is also an engraved Winchester Model 70, serial number 500,000, that was made for John F. Kennedy. As Ms. Hlebinsky points out, JFK was a Life Member of the NRA and enjoyed shooting.

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Paul’s Legal Defense Fund

February 20, 2016 by 1 Comment

I posted earlier in the week regarding the need to raise funds for Paul Lathrop for his bail and legal defense. As I updated, he is now out of jail and home. However, as he told me after his meeting with his attorney yesterday in Omaha, he faces a year of uncertainty while the legal process goes on. His attorney is handling the case for a flat fee but it not a unsubstantial sum of money. This is especially true for good people of modest means like Paul and his wife Susan.

Paul and Susan with me at the SHOT Show.

What makes this so frustrating is that Paul and Susan are having their life turned upside down over an untrue and unsubstantiated accusation by a disgruntled hot-head who was the aggressor in this whole matter. Aggravating it even more is that Sarpy County, Nebraska has a poor reputation on gun rights from what I’ve been told.

Paul is forbidden by his attorney from going public with the nitty-gritty of what happened but I know Paul. I first met him at the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Orlando in 2012 and then joined The Polite Society Podcast team over a year ago.

Replacing the PayPal link is a GoGetFunding page. This was the mechanism suggested by gun rights attorney Evan Nappen. The link is below:

You can read more about this case and the appeal on our Polite Society Podcast page.
Please be as generous as you can be. The minimum is $1. Every little bit helps. Please don’t feel they don’t appreciate a small donation. They do. The broader the level of support, the better.

UPDATE: As of this morning, 126 people have donated $4,811. This puts the effort at 32% to the total needed. This is a good start and I appreciate everyone who has contributed.

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Campus Carry Updates In Texas And Georgia

February 18, 2016 by 4 Comments

Two events in Texas and Georgia illustrate the advance of campus carry.

In the first event, University of Texas President Gregory L. Fenves said he “would bow to state law” regarding campus carry. He adopted the recommendations of the Campus Carry Working Group who has advised him on how to comply with the law. His decision will allow licensed concealed carry holders to carry in classrooms at the University of Texas. However, he will still work to ban firearms from most on-campus residential halls.

From the Austin Statesman:

“I do not believe handguns belong on a university campus, so this decision has been the greatest challenge of my presidency to date,” said Fenves, who has led the Austin flagship campus since June 3. “I empathize with the many faculty members, staffers, students and parents of students who signed petitions, sent emails and letters, and organized to ban guns from campus and especially classrooms.

“However, as president, I have an obligation to uphold the law. Under the law, I cannot adopt a policy that has the general effect of excluding licensed concealed handguns from campus. I agree with the working group that a classroom exclusion would have this effect.”

Fenves is confident his decision will stand up to challenges. However, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has previously issued a non-binding advisory memo stating that dorms shouldn’t be off-limits to firearms.

Moving on to Georgia, the House Public Safety and Homeland Security approved HB 859 which would allow concealed carry in school buildings including classrooms. However, the bill excludes carry from dorms, sorority and fraternity houses, and athletic facilities. The bill was passed out of committee on a 10-3 vote and now goes to the House Rules Committee before it is voted on by the entire Georgia House of Representatives.

If the Georgia bill passes the House, it will go on to the Georgia Senate. Not being a Georgian, I’m not sure of the bill’s chances in the Senate. That body did remove campuses from an expansion of carry locations in a 2014 bill.

H/T Georgia Carry

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Now That Chris Christie Is Out Of The Race, What Happens To This Guy?

February 18, 2016 by 1 Comment

When Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) was seriously running for the Republican nomination for President, high profile cases involving New Jersey’s unjust gun laws tended to bring clemency. In this latest case involving a Pennsylvania corrections officer who was hit by a drunk driver on his way home from Atlantic City, one has to wonder.

Ginny Simone, in a report for NRA News, discusses the case of Sgt. Ray Hughes who is facing felony charges.

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A Couple Of Alerts From ISRA

February 18, 2016 by

The Illinois State Rifle Association has always had to fight the gun prohibitionists on many fronts. These two alerts show that nothing has changed.

First, if you live in the Cook County area, you might want to have a bun and coffee at the Corner Bakery tonight around 6:30pm.

REVISED: URGET ALERT – YOUR ACTION NEEDED
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS GUN CONTROL GROUP WILL HOLD PUBLIC STRATEGY MEETING

Your
ISRA has learned that a gun control group called “Northwest Suburbs
Organizing for Action(NWSOFA)” will be holding a recruitment and
strategy meeting this week in Arlington Heights. The NWSOFA has the
following objectives:


1. Passage of a state “dealer licensing” law which would
drastically raise the cost of firearms and ammo and eventually lead to
the closing of all gun shops in the state. The NWSOFA is a proponent of
Father Pfleger’s “Bad Apple Gun Dealer” campaign which has harassed
law-abiding firearm dealers for several years.

2. Replacing the late Justice Scalia with a gun grabber.

TAKE ACTION TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT YOUR GUN RIGHTS!


1. No matter where you live, you should plan on attending the NWSOFA Meeting:

WHAT: Gun control recruitment and strategy meeting

WHEN: Thursday, February 18, 2016

TIME: 6:30 PM

WHERE: The Corner Bakery, Northpoint Shopping Center, 470 E. Rand Road, Arlington Heights

NOTE: Please dress “under cover” so that you are not denied
entry to the meeting. Nobody needs to know your view on guns until the
meeting gets started.

2. Pass this alert on to all your gun owning friends and family and tell them to attend the meeting.

3. Please post this alert to any and all Internet blogs, bulletin boards, or social media sites to which you may belong.

REMEMBER – GUN CONTOL IS A DISEASE AND YOU ARE THE CURE

Second, no matter where you live in Illinois, you can respond to this one. Under a bill being considered, you would need the permission of every building owner and tenant in a 1,000 yard radius to discharge a firearm while hunting. The bill exempts “licensed ranges”. That’s fine except there is no such thing in Illinois. The wording “licensed ranges” is something that has been used in Bloomberg-sponsored bills in other states. I don’t doubt that this is the origin of this bill as well.

SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE ALERT – YOUR IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIREDBILL WOULD BAN HUNTING, SHUTTER GUN RANGES, AND MAKE IT ILLEGAL TO WALK YOUR DOG  
The gun-grabbers are going all out with HB6008 in hopes of dealing a
fatal blow to hunting and target shooting here in Illinois.  We all
know that the next step would be a full out attack on defensive firearm
ownership and the shuttering of gun shops.

Under HB6008, it would
be illegal for anyone to discharge a firearm for hunting purposes
within 1,000 yards of any building without the permission of the
building owner or tenant.  Yes, that’s right – 1,000 yards!  What that
means is that if you want to bag a rabbit for dinner, you have to get
the permission of every person living or working within one square mile
of where you’re standing.  What are the odds of success with that
endeavor? 

Meanwhile, your dinner has hippity-hopped his way down the road.

Even
crazier is the provision in HB6008 that would make it illegal for you
to allow a dog to hunt within 1,000 yards of any building without the
permission of the building owner or tenant.  So, you’re out walking your
dog one evening and Scooby-Doo happens to flush out a couple of
sparrows.  Ruh-row…no permission from the neighbors so it’s off to the
big house for the two of you.

The gun controllers are especially
sneaky when it comes to the third provision of HB6008 – a provision
that exempts “licensed” ranges from the 1,000 yard rule.  If you feel
good about that exemption, you shouldn’t because there are no licensed
ranges in Illinois.  No license – no neighbor permission – no range. 
It’s as simple as that.

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO SAVE YOUR FIREARM RIGHTS

1. 
Call the bill’s main sponsor, Rep. Carol Sente at (217) 782-0499, and
POLITELY inform her that you are a lawful Illinois firearm owner and
that you won’t be fooled by what’s contained in HB6008.  Tell her that
you expect her to withdraw the bill or you will do everything in your
power to see that HB6008 is defeated and that you will work tirelessly
to prevent her from being re-elected.

2.  Call your own State
Representative and tell him or her that you are a law-abiding firearm
owner and that you deeply oppose HB6008.  Tell him or her that you
expect them to vote against the bill.  If you do not know how to get in
touch with your State Representative, then click here for the Illinois State Board of Elections lookup.page.

3.  Pass this alert on to your gun-owning family and friends. Tell them to make calls as well.

4.  Post this alert to any and all Internet blogs, bulletin boards or social media sites to which you may belong.

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A Friend Needs Our Help (Updated)

February 16, 2016 by 6 Comments

As many of you know, I am a regular co-host of The Polite Society Podcast. Paul Lathrop is the host, producer, and creator of that podcast and he needs our help.

His regular job is that of a long-haul truck driver and he often has student drivers assigned to him. On Friday, he was training a student and they had stopped in Nebraska for refueling. This is where the incident began. The summation below by Frank Fiamingo, a fellow friend and the former president of New Jersey 2A Society, explains it well. Suffice to say, he is facing serious charges due to what I consider a false report.

Paul is a graduate of Massad Ayoob’s MAG-40 class and is sponsoring one in Sioux Falls, SD later this spring. I add this to emphasize the fact that Paul has been trained by the master in what you should and should not do when carrying concealed. Moreover, in our weekly podcasts we review defensive gun uses and what the person did right and wrong. Paul’s comments are well-reasoned and reflect how one should act in a confrontation.

Human Rights Advocate Paul Lathrop needs your help.
(Frank Jack Fiamingo)
Paul is a longtime advocate of the people’s right to self-defense. He is the author of the popular Podcast “Polite Society”. Paul is about as “salt of the earth” as you can get. A truck driver and driving instructor by trade, he and his loving wife Susan are two of the finest people on the planet.
Paul was in Nebraska with a truck driver student perfoming training. The student stopped at a station to refuel. As the student pulled away from the pump, another driver apparently felt that the student was too close to his rig. Although there was no collision, the irate driver of the other truck rushed over to the driver’s side and agressively approached the student to the point that the student felt that he was about to be assaulted.
The student told the other driver to back off. Paul also demanded that the driver back off. After some back and forth, the other driver finally went back to his vehicle and the student drove off. Unfortunately the other driver decided to call the police and accused Paul of threatening him with a gun. The student swears that he never saw a gun at any time during the confrontation, but the police stopped them and Paul was arrested.
Paul is being accused of making “terroristic” threats. Many of you are aware that that is one of the latest ploys used by ambitious prosecutors all over the nation. In addition, they included “Possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony”. Of course the “felony” is the trumped up charge of making terroristic threats. I find that to be a self-referencing, catch 22 type of charge.
In any event, many of you know Paul and those of you who don’t but who know me (Frank) can feel confident that he deserves our help and support. Paul is going to need money for bail and for a defense attorney. I am asking you to please consider helping this very deserving, hard-working advocate of our rights. Paul’s resources are modest and he really needs the help of the 2A and human rights community. Thank you.
(Susan) I am on my way to Nebraska this morning to meet with a lawyer and to hopefully get Paul out of jail. I will keep everyone updated as more information becomes available.
We are working on setting up a Go-Fund me page for Paul’s legal defense and for bail. If you would like to donate before the page is operational, you can send donations through PayPal to disasterjunkiesue@gmail.com
Thanks!

Paul and his wife Susan are not wealthy people. They are salt of the earth, good-hearted people struggling like everyone else in this economy. I can only imagine the financial burden that these false accusations have put on them. I have sent money their way and I hope you will see to it in your heart to do so as well.

While we are working on setting up a donation page or GoFundMe page for Paul’s defense, please consider sending any amount you can spare to Susan by way of PayPal. Send it as a “friend and family” donation which will mean all the money goes to Susan and Paul. The email address is disasterjunkiesue@gmail.com.

UPDATE: Paul was released from jail yesterday morning and arrived home in South Dakota yesterday evening. I spoke with him last night. He is overwhelmed by the level of support he has received from the 2A community. He was rather choked up when we spoke.

He is under orders from his attorney to say nothing about the incident. He will be having a court hearing next month and is hopeful.

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Justice Scalia – In Memorium

February 15, 2016 by 2 Comments

As most people know by now, Justice Antonin Scalia passed away in his sleep sometime over Friday night and early Saturday morning while on a quail hunting trip to Texas. His death is a loss not only to the gun culture but to the country as a whole. It is also a loss to his wife Maureen and his nine children.

When I choose to think of Justice Scalia’s legacy, I think back to his majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) when he wrote this:

We know of no other enumerated constitutional right
whose core protection has been subjected to a freestanding
“interest-balancing” approach. The very enumeration of
the right takes out of the hands of government—even the
Third Branch of Government—the power to decide on a
case-by-case basis whether the right is really worth insisting
upon. A constitutional guarantee subject to future
judges’ assessments of its usefulness is no constitutional
guarantee at all. Constitutional rights are enshrined with
the scope they were understood to have when the people
adopted them, whether or not future legislatures or (yes)
even future judges think that scope too broad. We would
not apply an “interest-balancing” approach to the prohibition
of a peaceful neo-Nazi march through Skokie. See
National Socialist Party of America v. Skokie, 432 U. S. 43
(1977) (per curiam). The First Amendment contains the
freedom-of-speech guarantee that the people ratified,
which included exceptions for obscenity, libel, and disclosure
of state secrets, but not for the expression of extremely
unpopular and wrong-headed views. The Second
Amendment is no different. Like the First, it is the very
product of an interest-balancing by the people—which
JUSTICE BREYER would now conduct for them anew. And
whatever else it leaves to future evaluation, it surely
elevates above all other interests the right of law-abiding,
responsible citizens to use arms in defense of hearth and
home. 

You can also hear Justice Scalia reading the Court’s decision in Heller from the bench here.

I remember something former NRA President Sandy Froman said at the Gun Rights Policy Conference in (I think) Orlando. She said “pray for the five” meaning the majority in the Heller and McDonald decisions.

Unfortunately, there are only four now.

President Obama has said he plans to nominate a successor and that is his Constitutional right power. However, that right power is subject to the Senate’s Constitutional right  power of “advise and consent”. As Second Amendment scholar Josh Blackman has pointed out, it has been since 1880 that a person was both nominated and confirmed to the Supreme Court during a presidential election year when the President and Senate majority were of different parties. Professor Blackman has also posted some potential scenarios.

We in the Second Amendment community and gun culture have lost an intellectual giant. We must be on our guard to make sure Justice Scalia’s replacement – as if he could be replaced – is someone true to the meaning of the Second Amendment. If it means forcing the Republican majority in the Senate to drag their heels, so be it.

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Someone Was Listening

February 11, 2016 by

The argument against North Carolina’s pistol purchase permit system has been that it was a racist era law meant to keep blacks from owning handguns, that it is ignored by criminals, and that the FBI run NICS system is more up-to-date and less subjective than the state’s sheriffs.

It appears someone was listening. Joel Burgess of the Asheville Citizen-Times did a story on Monday that examined the rates of approval for pistol purchase permits and concealed handgun permits in five western (North Carolina) counties. The context for the story were the executive actions and gun control proposals released in January by President Obama. What was most surprising about the story was that Burgess acknowledged some of the objections to the pistol purchase permit system.

But Obama’s order will have little effect in North Carolina when it comes to handguns. The weapon already faces more scrutiny in this state because of a Jim Crow-era law once aimed at blocking African-American gun ownership. But sheriffs now say the law is a critical stopgap allowing them to use local knowledge to prevent tragedies.

With regard to the subjectivity, he reported this:

The law is not uniformly followed, sheriff’s acknowledge, nor is it enforced at the same rate, according to 2013-2015 data collected by the Citizen-Times through a public records request. Henderson County Sheriff Charles McDonald, whose department had the highest permit denial rate, said he will defend private gun ownership, but that he will also sometimes say no based on things not revealed in a background check.

“Maybe you’re the guy in the neighborhood who is constantly getting drunk and beating up his wife, and maybe you haven’t been convicted in court. But we know.”

Henderson County Sheriff McDonald’s example makes for a good story but you have to wonder if that is the really the reason behind the number of denials in Henderson County. Given the peculiar demographics of Henderson County – a significant Hispanic population and an extremely large number of retirees – does either ethnicity or advanced age play a greater role in permit denial than alcoholism or domestic abuse.

That might make an interesting follow-on story by the Citizen-Times.

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Daewoo K2/Max II Rifle

February 10, 2016 by 5 Comments

The Military Arms Channel did an excellent feature on the Daewoo K2/Max II rifle today. They showed both the pre-ban Max II and the post-ban DR-200. The latter had its ugly thumbhole stock replaced with a regular AR stock and the Stormworkz adapter.

The DR-200 was my first 5.56 semi-auto rifle. I bought it after the Clinton AWB. If I had been more on top of things – or had more money – I’d have gotten a pre-ban rifle. I still have mine in its original configuration. This is mainly because I haven’t found time to switch out the trigger group to make it 922 compliant. The only downside to my DR-200 is the it has a 1-12 twist barrel which limits me to 55 grain or lighter ammo.

I did a blog post on the Daewoo back in the early days of this blog. It can be found here.