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Filipino Gun Rights Organization Joins IAPCAR

July 7, 2012 by 3 Comments

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

IAPCAR WELCOMES PHILIPPINES GUN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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NRA-ILA On NC General Assembly Short Session

July 7, 2012 by

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

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

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

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

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

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Arms Trade Treaty Talks – Day 1

July 6, 2012 by

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

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

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

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Arms Trade Treaty Talks – Day 2

July 6, 2012 by

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

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

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

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Arms Trade Treaty Talks – Day 3

July 6, 2012 by

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

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

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GRPC 2012

July 6, 2012 by 2 Comments

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

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

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

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

From SAF on the GRPC:

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

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

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

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

An online registration form is available here.

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

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

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

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

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Headline Of The Day

July 6, 2012 by 3 Comments

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

Sotomayor arrested on 6th DWI after jail release

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

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

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An Odd Coincidence

July 6, 2012 by 5 Comments

Much has been made of the similarities of the Watergate scandal to that of Operation Fast and Furious. Both involved a president invoking executive privilege, both involved shady attorneys general, and both have involved a concerted effort at cover-up. Of course, it should be noted that no one died as a result of the Watergate break-in and over-up.

Reading a post on CleanUpATF.org I came across another interesting link between the two scandals: they both had an ATF connection. The connection of Operation Fast and Furious to ATF is, of course, well established. However, it wasn’t until I read the obituary for Jack Caulfield who died on June 21st that I came across the ATF connection.

Caulfield played a role in Watergate as a messenger for the Nixon White House to the Watergate burglars. From his obituary in the New York Times:

Jack Caulfield, a former New York City police detective who died on Sunday in Vero Beach, Fla., at 83, was once a master of dirty tricks for the Nixon White House who had his biggest brush with history in the role of a messenger.

By all accounts, in January 1973, Mr. Caulfield met with James McCord Jr., a former C.I.A. officer and one of the burglars in the Watergate break-in, to tell him that the White House was prepared to grant him clemency, money and a job in return for not testifying against members of the administration and accepting a prison sentence.

Mr. Caulfield further told Mr. McCord that the president knew about their meeting and that its outcome would be transmitted to him.

Testifying before the Senate Watergate committee in 1973, Mr. McCord said he was told that the clemency offer had come from “the highest levels of the White House.” Mr. Caulfield also appeared before the panel.

The account appeared to link Nixon directly to efforts to cover up the White House’s involvement in the break-in at Democratic National Committee headquarters in June 1972, the event that would lead to Nixon’s downfall.

But Nixon denied the allegation, and transcripts of White House tapes did not show that he had been behind the offer. John W. Dean III, the White House counsel, told investigators that it was he who had authorized Mr. Caulfield to broach the matter with Mr. McCord, though Mr. Dean insisted that he had done so with the president’s knowledge.

Mr. McCord was one of the first to be convicted in the Watergate affair, on conspiracy, burglary and wiretapping charges. Mr. Caulfield was not charged.

At the time Caulfield met with James McCord, he was the Assistant Director for Criminal Enforcement for ATF. He describes his role at ATF in this piece for the Nixon Era Center at Mountain State University:

To back up a bit, a few months prior to Watergate, I left the White House after seeking and getting, via the President’s support, the dream U. S. Department of Treasury position, Assistant Director: Criminal Enforcement — Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. It was the start of a second, promising career and I enjoyed a terrific first year there with big plans underway to remake the moribund “revenuer” agency, containing over 1,500 Federal agents, into a first-class Federal law enforcement entity with a sharp focus on the firearms/explosives end of what was then a dawning (and disturbing) political terrorist trend. Additionally, I felt certain, based on my one-of-a-kind White House experience/connections, that I could provide the agency with the same Washington “clout” as enjoyed by the U.S. Secret Service.

But it was over in a New York minute when McCord decided in March ’73 (nine months after his arrest), to save himself from major (Sirica threatened) jail time by publicly turning on campaign committee associates and others. In that process, he caused the Watergate case under Sirica and other judges to cascade into a plethora of prosecutions, ruined reputations, and lost jobs – which included my prized ATF position, a casualty of the above alluded-to Dean/McCord message.

What struck me about Caulfield’s plans for ATF was how closely it corresponds to the efforts of the current ATF managers – especially the William Newell’s and David Voth’s – to grab attention for ATF. Some things it seems never change.

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Another GRNC-PVGF Recommendation

July 5, 2012 by 1 Comment

The Grass Roots North Carolina Political Victory Fund has recommended Tony Gurley for Lt. Governor in the Republican run-off primary. He faces fellow Republican Dan Forest. The primary is July 17th and early voting has started.

More on Gurley can be found here at his campaign website.

I took advantage of the early one-stop voting on Tuesday. If my experience is typical, turnout for this second primary will be very low. I spoke with one of the poll workers who said very few people had come in so far to vote. My ballot contained just five races and only two were what I’d call major positions – Congress and Lt. Governor. Thus, I think if enough gun owners who are Republicans get out and vote in the second primary they may well provide the margin of victory to the winners.

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Restaurant Carry In NC Officially Dead

July 5, 2012 by

Those Republicans in the North Carolina State Senate who were afraid to bring HB 111 – the restaurant carry bill – to a vote have won the day. The Senate adjourned early Tuesday morning and the House followed at 3pm. With the adjournment any bills without final votes died and that included HB 111

Grass Roots North Carolina sent out the following email alert and reaction regarding restaurant carry yesterday:

NC General Assembly adjournment today makes it official: HB 111 is dead.

As Legislators from the NC General Assembly pack their bags and head home after a hard two months of work, the leadership in the Senate should go back to their districts and explain why they left gun owners out in the cold. It seems that the main resistance to this bill which would have allowed families to protect themselves while dining in public came from the Republican NC Senate Leadership.

Senate Pro Tem Phil Berger and Senate Rules Chair Tom Apodaca shuffled HB 111 off to various unrelated Committees until the clock ran out. Despite your calls and emails asking them to reconsider their actions, they thumbed their noses at the gun owners of North Carolina.

We Will Remember in November

Apparently once they took their seats of power, they no longer needed to listen to you. In November, we have a chance to send a message back to our leaders in the Senate. Our message is simple: We will Remember in November!

Support those candidates who have proven they will stand up and fight for your rights, and remember those that have shown they will duck and cover when the first sign of resistance appears. Remember to vote, and vote carefully.

The fight for passage of a bill that will allow families to protect themselves when they are in public will continue. New legislation will be introduced next year when the NC General Assembly comes back to work… and we will be there. We will not rest until North Carolina finally joins over 40 other states which already provide some sort of “Restaurant Carry” provisions . No more lies, no more dodging, it’s time to get this passed.

While Sen. Phil Berger does have a Democrat opposing him in the General Election in November, Sen. Tom Apodaca is unopposed. I have been studying their campaign finance reports and will have a post on that later.

The other component of HB 111 besides restaurant carry was a clarification of definitions regarding concealed carry in parks. That, too, died when HB 111 was shunted from committee to committee. As a result, counties and municipalities are left without the needed guidance on what they can or can’t do regarding carry in parks. As a result, you have cities like Winston-Salem including greenways as prohibited areas for concealed carry as they have declared them “athletic facilities”. Absent the clarification from the General Assembly, it will be left up to the courts to decide.