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Mike Vanderboegh On White House Links To Fast And Furious

August 2, 2012 by

As I said yesterday, it will take days to sift through all the stuff that was released on Tuesday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in the first part of their Final Report on Operation Fast and Furious.

Mike Vanderboegh has been doing some sifting of his own. He has written extensively in the past about Dr. Kevin O’Reilly who had been in the White House on the National Security Council. You may remember that he and Phoenix SAC Bill Newell had a back channel communication going on Operation Fast and Furious. While Newell has been questioned about this, the White House refused to let the Oversight Committee speak with Dr. O’Reilly citing executive privilege.

In his latest installment, Mike finds more evidence of the White House’s fingerprints on Operation Fast and Furious. Sit down with a cup of coffee and read it a couple of times. There is a lot there.

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NRA-ILA On Illinois Governor’s Proposed AWB

August 2, 2012 by

The NRA-ILA released a harsh and detailed response yesterday to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of Senate Bill 681. You can read it below:

Gov. Quinn uses a previously NRA-Backed Ammunition Purchase Reform Bill as Vehicle for Gun Ban

Yesterday, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) vetoed the NRA-backed ammunition purchase reform bill, Senate Bill 681, after this common sense legislation had passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the Illinois legislature (previously reported on here). In a crass attempt to exploit the recent tragedy in Colorado and seek media attention, Quinn used his Amendatory Veto powers in a foolhardy attempt to impose more draconian gun control in Illinois. Quinn rewrote the entire bill as an amendment to the Illinois Criminal Code that includes an onerous ban on the manufacture, possession, delivery or sale of commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms (inaccurately referred to as “assault weapons”), .50 caliber rifles and cartridges and “high capacity” magazines in Illinois. Quinn’s amendment additionally tramples on the rights of Illinois citizens by creating a de facto statewide registration scheme for currently-owned firearms and magazines.

If this amendment is accepted by the Illinois General Assembly, law-abiding citizens in Illinois will be subjected to restrictions far beyond the scope of even the misguided Clinton Federal “Assault Weapons“ Ban that expired in 2004 and any other in existence in the country today. The repercussions of such a gun ban would be disastrous. As demonstrated by the failure of the assault weapon ban of 1994-2004 to produce the crime-reducing results proponents claimed it would, Quinn’s ban would do nothing to increase safety in Illinois and would only further restrict the rights of already law-abiding citizens throughout the state.

Using the well-worn anti-gun tactic of confusion, by conflating certain popular semi-automatic firearms with machine guns by using the term “assault weapon,” this legislation targets many of the most popular guns used for hunting and competition, as well as many models and magazines (those that hold more than ten rounds) used for self-defense. Banned items would include many familiar and popular firearms, such as:

  • Turkey hunting shotguns with pistol grips, like the Benelli Super Black Eagle II;
  • Plinking and target rifles with thumbhole stocks, as often seen on customized Ruger 10/22s;
  • High-power target rifles — even including the 1994-2004 versions of rifles like the M1A and AR-15 that were made to comply with the now-expired federal ban — because all of those rifles had handguards that “encircle” the barrel;
  • Any detachable-magazine semi-automatic rifle with even a partial handguard, potentially including common hunting rifles like the popular Remington 740/7400 series, Browning BAR, and many more like them.


This gun ban would even apply to the individual parts themselves (stocks, pistol grips, handguards, folding or telescoping stocks, etc). Possession, manufacture, delivery or sale of any of these items would be a felony.

Worse yet, this amended bill would impose a massive statewide gun registration scheme. Anyone who already possesses one of the banned guns or parts would have to provide proof of ownership and register each one with the State Police within ninety days of the effective date. This registration requirement spans from the firearm itself to individual parts and magazines that fall under the ban.

Governor Quinn and his band of anti-gun Chicago politicians would like to see their vicious attack on the Second Amendment play out across Illinois, even as Chicago—with the state’s most restrictive gun laws—is on track to tally more than 500 murders this year.

The repercussions of such a gun ban would actually be just the opposite of what proponents claim and the results would be disastrous. Firearms manufacturing is estimated to be a $250 million dollar industry in Illinois. Not only would this gun ban be devastating to law-abiding citizens in Illinois, it also would wreak havoc on an entire industry, killing jobs and driving a healthy contributor to the Illinois economy out of state. This legislation in no way promotes the safety or well-being of Illinois citizens, but is merely another attempt by gun-hating Chicago politicians to use misinformation to push draconian gun bans that will only affect gun owners, sportsmen and law-abiding citizens concerned about self-defense.

Your Action Is Needed! The Illinois General Assembly will reconvene on August 17th for their special session, and could vote on the Governor’s amendment to Senate Bill 681. Contact your state legislators TODAY and demand they oppose the Governor’s gun ban!

Contact information for all state legislators can be found by clicking here.

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A Tale Of Two Chicago Newspapers

August 2, 2012 by 1 Comment

One Chicago newspaper had a column today that espoused a voice of reason with regard to semi-automatic firearms. Its competitor calls them “extreme weapons of slaughter.”

Steve Chapmen, writing in his Chicago Tribune column, called Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto “a pointless gesture.”

If allowing these guns stimulated more killing, the national murder rate wouldn’t have declined by 13 percent after the ban expired. But that’s what happened.

Prohibiting “assault weapons” is a pointless gesture. Those who propose a ban are only proving they don’t understand basic facts about guns and violence or don’t care.

The Chicago Sun-Times, by contrast, is happy that Gov. Quinn is exploiting the shootings in Aurora. When Illinois State Sen. David Luechtefeld (R-Okawville) accused Quinn of exploiting the tragedy, the Sun-Times said, “Damn right he is — and good for him.”

Showing that they really don’t understand the bill and just how extreme the restrictions that would be imposed if the Illinois General Assembly concurs with Quinn’s amendatory veto, they say the veto won’t limit handguns. Then they make the nonsensical suggestion to single out only AR-15s.

Quinn didn’t dilute his moral argument by calling for any other form of gun control, such as new limits on handguns.

But let’s go the governor one better. How about we agree to ban only assault weapons, putting off for another day the debate over high-round magazines?

Better yet, let’s ban only certain assault weapons, such as the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle used in the Colorado theater rampage. The AR-15 can rattle off 30 rounds as fast as you can pull the trigger.

Let’s bang the drum for a ban on just these extreme weapons of slaughter to make the point, if nothing else, that even the most conservative gun control proposal will always be shot down by one extremist organization, the National Rifle Association.

The problem with their argument is that as the veto reads firearms such as the Glock pistol would end up being banned due to the existence of the Glock 18. Read the amendatory veto here and see if you don’t agree. See Sec. 24-1.9 (a)(1)(C)(vi).

The Sun-Times editorial tries to make the NRA the whipping boy in this matter and accuses them of being the extremists for sticking up for the Second Amendment and constitutional rights. What if a bill was passed that said newspapers were restricted to letter presses such as Ben Franklin used that could only print a page at a time. Those high capacity web presses would be forbidden as they were never imagined by the Founding Fathers when they passed the First Amendment. This is analogous to their arguments and just as ridiculous.

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Maryland Asks 4th Circuit For Stay In Woollard (Updated)

August 1, 2012 by 5 Comments

Late on Friday, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office filed a motion for a stay with the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. They are seeking a stay of District Court Judge Benson Legg’s order in the Woollard case that the Maryland State Police must issue carry permits without requiring a “good and substantial reason.”

They are seeking to have the order stayed until the 4th Circuit rules on its appeal of the Woollard decision.

I have uploaded Maryland’s motion to Scribd and it can be found here.

UPDATE: Dave Hardy at Of Arms and the Law is reporting that the 4th Circuit granted Maryland its stay. However, they then expedited the hearings on the appeal.

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Tam On Quislings

August 1, 2012 by

Tam nails it. Tactical Firearms of Katy, TX and its owner Jeremy Alcede went on talk radio in support of a ban on online ammunition sales.

Dear Jeremy Alcede of Tactical Firearms, Katy, TX: I hope you freeze in the dark, you gutless quisling punk.


When your children are crying “Daddy, why are we on food stamps?” you can tell them “It’s because your Daddy was a selfish, pusillanimous sellout who put his personal bottom line ahead of the Bill of Rights, kids, and so nobody would buy anything from his store ever again.”

Go to Tam’s for all the links.

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Reporting Requirement For Semi-Auto Rifles Originally Intended For More States

August 1, 2012 by 10 Comments

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released the first of three parts on its Final  Joint Report on Operation Fast and Furious yesterday. The report itself is 211 pages long while the three appendices comprise another 2,148 pages. To say it is detailed is an understatement.

It will take days before anyone can digest everything that is contained in the report and appendices. That said, a quick browse turned up a very interesting memorandum from then-Acting Director of ATF Kenneth Melson to Attorney General Eric Holder. (See Appendix III, page 173). The memo, received on March 26, 2010, was making the case to Holder for approval of a pilot project to use demand letters to Federal Firearms Licensees in certain states to force them to report multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles in a caliber greater than .22 and with the ability to accept detachable magazines.

This request was sent months before the Department of Justice Inspector General had released a report criticizing the effectiveness of ATF’s Project Gunrunner. Among the recommendations of the OIG’s reports was that reporting of multiple sales of long guns be explored. Melson concurred with this recommendation but said at the time “that this may require a change to the Gun Control Act which is beyond ATF’s and the Department’s authority.”

As we now know, ATF did get permission to do their one year pilot program to require reporting of multiple sales of certain rifles. It went into effect on August 14, 2011 in the Southwest Border states of Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.

What makes Melson’s letter particularly interesting is that he was requesting authority from the Attorney General to not only request demand letters in the four border states but an additional eight more. These eight additional states included Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Washington State. The rationale given is that these (and the Southwest Border states) were the top 12 source states for firearms recovered and traced in Mexico in FY2009.

I think it has been assumed that the impetus for the multi-rifle reporting requirement was the Office of Inspector General’s report. As the Melson memo makes clear, ATF was pushing for this almost nine months earlier. Moreover, it was not limited to just states that bordered Mexico but major Mid-Western states such as Illinois and Southeastern states such as Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina. When you add in a state like Washington which is as far from Mexico as you could get, it doesn’t take too much of an imagination to assume that the so-called pilot program was meant to be a predecessor to rolling this out nationwide even though the Gun Control Act of 1968 did not give ATF this authority. Perhaps this is what Obama meant when he said to Sarah Brady that they were working “under the radar” on gun control.

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NC Wildlife Commission Proposed Regulations Have Some Good News For Gun Owners

August 1, 2012 by

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has announced their proposed regulation changes for the 2013-2014 seasons. The 68 proposed changes range from reclassifying certain trout streams to captive deer regulations. The Commission will begin statewide hearings on these proposed regulation changes starting September 11th in Dublin and conclude on September 27th in Rocky Mount.

Within the list of the 68 proposed changes are some that should be of particular interest to gun owners and those that carry either concealed or openly.

Under “Wildlife Management” category:

H2. Remove restrictions on carrying firearms during the deer bow-and-arrow season and pistols during the muzzleloader season in accordance with state law. Allow hunting with muzzleloading pistols.

Under the “Dog Training” category:

H7. Allow hunters to carry firearms while dog training.

Under the “Game Lands” category:

H9. Allow open carry of firearms anytime on state-owned game lands and conservation areas.

Finally, while not gun related, they are proposing another change that might be considered a sign of the economic times.  That is the ability to keep road-kill.

H21. Reduce restrictions on keeping wildlife killed accidentally or found dead. Specifically: Allow a person to request authorization to keep a deer or turkey found dead of natural causes or due to a vehicle collision; Allow a person to keep dead raptors and nongame migratory game birds if the person gets a federal permit; and Allow possession of any other species of wildlife found dead without Commission authorization, except bears and protected species may not be possessed at all.

 Not that I’d encourage it but there are a number of cookbooks devoted to road-kill. The granddaddy of them all seems to be this book by Buck Peterson.

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NRA Life Membership…At Half Price

July 31, 2012 by 1 Comment

The NRA is running a promotion for the next 48 hours offering Life Memberships for $500. This is half of the normal $1000 cost of Life Membership. The 48 hours started this morning at 6:30am.

From the NRA:

The NRA is currently offering half off Life Memberships ($500) for a limited time. This is a promotion we are doing on our facebook page as a thank you to all of our fans who helped us reach 1,550,000 likes! This promotion began today at 6:30 a.m. and is available for 48 hours ONLY. You can find the promotion on our facebook page at: www.facebook.com/nationalrifleassociation

If you’ve been thinking of upgrading your membership, this is a good time to do it.

As an aside, the NRA has more people merely liking this offer than any of the gun prohibitionist groups have followers on Facebook. Hmmm.

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Illinois Governor Proposes AWB

July 31, 2012 by

The Springfield (Illinois) State Journal-Register is reporting late this morning that Gov. Pat Quinn (D-IL) is proposing a ban on so-called “assault weapons” (sic) in Illinois.

The Democrat will use his amendatory veto power Tuesday to include the ban in a bill related to ammunition sales. It would then be up to lawmakers to accept his changes or reject them.

The report states that his proposal faces “big hurdles” noting that other gun control measures have recently failed in the Illinois General Assembly. From a constitutional standpoint, such a law would be on shaky ground as the AR-15 is the highest selling rifle in recent years and should be considered in “common use.”

UPDATE: The Illinois State Rifle Association is taking Gov. Quinn’s proposal very seriously. The bill he hijacked was a pro-gun bill. They sent out the following early this morning:

GOVERNOR QUINN TEAMS UP WITH MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL TO PROPOSE BILL TO TAX AND BAN YOUR GUNS

YOUR IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED

As many of you know, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn today utilized his amendatory veto authority to hijack a pro-gun bill and convert it into a ban on so called assault weapons. Quinn claims that his bill would “…make Illinois a safer place.”

Of course, lawful Illinois firearm owners know better. We know that Quinn’s true aim is to obliterate private firearm ownership in the state. Closer analysis of Quinn’s bill reveals a host of opportunities for Quinn and his buddy Emanuel to make life miserable for the state’s lawful firearm owners.

Here is just a partial list of what this bill would do, if passed:

1. Ban the manufacture, possession or sale of nearly every semiautomatic rifle, pistol and shotgun you own.

2. Specifically ban Glock pistols since they share a common design with the Glock 18, a select fire handgun.

3. Require you to register every semiautomatic firearm and every magazine you own that exceeds 10 round capacity. The kicker is that, under Quinn’s proposal, the State Police can charge you unlimited fees to register your guns. Thus if Quinn’s bill passes, you could very well find yourself paying $100 or even $1,000 per firearm per year to comply with the law. Additionally, you could find yourself paying $50, $100 or even $500 per year for each “high capacity” magazine you own. Can’t pay? Well then you would have to surrender your guns to the State Police for destruction.

This is just a taste of what you could expect from Quinn’s gun ban. Twists and turns in the bill would certainly open up the doors to taxation, regulation, and outright bans on every civilian owned firearm in the state.

Oh, and one thing is for sure, you can forget about concealed carry if Quinn’s gun ban passes.

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

1. Call your State Senator ASAP and politely tell him or her that you are a law-abiding Illinois firearm owner and that you expect him or her to vote against Quinn’s gun ban should it come up for a vote. If you do not know who your State Senator is, please follow this link:

Illinois Board of Elections District Official/Search:
http://www.elections.state.il.us/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx

2. Pass this alert on to all your friends and family who own firearms. Tell them to make calls to the senate as well.

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

4. If you’re not already a member of the ISRA, then it’s time you signed on to protect your gun rights. To join the ISRA, follow this link: www.isra.org/join

5. Make a generous donation to the ISRA today so that we will be able to fight on against gun grabbers like Pat Quinn and Rahm Emanuel: www.isra.org/fight_4_your_rights.

If you live in Illinois, now is the time to act. If you have relatives or friends in Illinois, let them know about this attack on their gun rights.

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The Bill Of Needs?

July 31, 2012 by

Kurt Hofmann, the St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner, recently posted a column entitled, “Gun rights: Of rights, needs and ‘sporting purposes'”. In it, he examines the responses from the gun prohibitionists including Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and  Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Carolyn McCarty (D-NY) to the shooting in Aurora, Colorado.

As Kurt notes, the common thread among all three is their claim that we don’t “need” whatever they want to prohibit.

Never mind the fact that it is not the place of Congress to determine what we “need.” Never mind the fact that when being attacked by dozens of assailants (as can happen right here in St. Louis) a person most definitely does need the ability to fight off more people than can be accounted for with a 10-round magazine. Never mind that Lautenberg and McCarthy apparently believe that police officers–even retired ones–do have such a need.

 Read the whole column here. It is well worth it.