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Motion For Injunction Sought In NRA’s Illinois Case

July 11, 2011 by

I meant to post this on Friday but didn’t. A day after the Second Amendment Foundation filed a Motion for a Preliminary Injunction in their case against Illinois, Moore v. Madigan, the NRA filed a similar motion in their case against Illinois. Both of these motions came after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals found against Chicago and ordered a preliminary injunction against the range ban in Ezell v. Chicago.

The Memorandum for the Motion for a Preliminary and/or Permanent Injunction can be found here.

NRA Files a Motion for an Immediate End to Illinois’ Ban on Right-to-Carry

Friday, July 08, 2011

Fairfax, Va. — The National Rifle Association (NRA) is filing a motion for an injunction asking the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois to immediately strike down Illinois’ complete and total ban on carrying firearms for self-defense outside the home or place of business.

This week, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that any violation of the Second Amendment constitutes irreparable harm – a factor needed to receive a preliminary injunction on NRA’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Illinois statute prohibiting carriage.

The NRA filed a lawsuit, Shepard v. Madigan, on May 13 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The lead plaintiff is church treasurer Mary Shepard; joining her is the Illinois State Rifle Association, the NRA’s state affiliate.

Because Illinois statutes prohibit carrying handguns, they infringe on the right of the people, including Mrs. Shepard, members of the ISRA and other law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms as guaranteed by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and are thus null and void.

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Crafting Uses For Your Ammo Stockpile

July 11, 2011 by

The Complementary Spouse loves to craft. One of her current projects is making trivets out of old wine corks glued on bases she finds at thrift stores.

After she glues down the corks, she needs to add weight so that they have a good contact with the base. She has found that boxes of ammo work perfectly for this task.

So if your significant other is giving you grief over having too much ammo set aside, just point out this post. It will give a whole new meaning to ammo crafting.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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2010 – The Year Of The .380

July 11, 2011 by 3 Comments

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released their 2010 interim Annual Firearms Manufacturing and Export Report on Thursday of this past week. These summary statistics provide a clear view of the trends in the firearms industry over the past year and especially when compared to the prior year’s report. The table below shows both the absolute and relative changes by category in firearms production in 2010 from the prior year.

Production of rifles in all calibers dropped by over 650,000 rifles or a drop of 28.4% when compared to the previous year. By contrast, total pistol production was up by 19.25% for a total of 2,227,871 pistols manufactured in 2010. Revolvers are in a separate category from pistols. Production for that category was flat with an insignificant drop from the prior year. Shotgun production was also flat with 1.2% drop in the number produced in 2010 as compared to 2009.

The production figures by manufacturer within each category are not yet available. Thus, I can’t say for sure that the drop in rifle production is due to the bubble bursting for AR-15’s but I think that is a reasonable supposition. With the fear of a new Assault Weapons Ban that began with the inauguration of Barack Obama fading, the market for “modern sporting rifles” or “sport utility rifles” is returning to normal.

Change in Firearms Production From 2009  to 2010
Pistols
Revolvers
To .22
52,013
16.2%
To. .22
-11,870
-8.4%
To .25
6,322
42.0%
To .32
874
11.5%
To .32
-7,619
-.16.1%
To .357 Mag
18,684
17.3%
To .380
274,613
70.2%
To .38 Spec.
-22,783
-.9.8%
To 9mm
43,631
7.44%
To .44 Mag
13,652
45.6%
To .50
-9,347
-1.8%
To .50
1,166
4.2%
Total Pistol
359,613
19.25%
Total Revolver
-277
-.05%
Total Rifles
-659,693
-28.4%
Total Shotguns
-9,337
-1.2%

While the market for rifles has dropped, the same can’t be said about pistols. That market had an over 19.25% growth in production in 2010. If 2009 was the Year of the AR, then 2010 was the Year of the .380. Production in that category of pistol grew by 70.2% or 274,613 units. The growth in the production of .380 pistols accounted for three-quarters of the total growth for pistols in 2010. If one listened to the stories from last year, you knew that .380 ammo was hard to find. These production figures, while not sales figures, definitely point to the increase in demand for these small pistols.

9mm pistol production also grew in 2010 while the larger pistol calibers – .40 S&W and .45 ACP – contracted just a bit. I imagine that the 2011 numbers will show a growth in that category with 2011 being the centennial year of the Browning-designed 1911.

I think a strong argument can be made that the growth in .380 pistols has come from the concealed carry movement. The Ruger LCP, the Kahr P380, the Sig P238, and the Kel-Tec P-3AT are all easily concealed and have been readily adopted by those who want a small pistol that fits in the pocket. It will be interesting to see the complete production numbers by manufacturer when they are released by BATFE.

In conclusion, while 2010 was a down year for the firearms market overall – 5,107,309 units in 2010 versus 5,417,003 units in 2009 – certain segments grew very strongly. While the Violence Policy Center and other gun prohibitionists will try to spin this as a negative overall for the firearms industry, it really isn’t. It merely illustrates that firearms production has peaks and valleys in demand by segment just like any other industry. I think most industries in America would have been very happy to only have had a 5.7% drop in production for 2010 when compared to the prior year.

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World Net Daily Did The Right Thing (Updated)

July 10, 2011 by

UPDATE: WND has removed the T-shirt in question. From Sean at An NC Gun Blog.

UPDATE: After emailed conversation with WND Editor Joseph Farah, they have pulled the shirt from their e-store! He has given me his personal assurance that a full investigation will commence as soon as everyone gets back to the office on Monday!

Mr. Farah, I want to thank you for your quick response to this situation and I look forward to discussing this with you on Monday. It is clear from your swift handling of this that you are committed to honest dealings and I applaud you for it.

Due to the nature of the Internet, a post once published can never really go away. I have retained the post below for you to read, but be assured that Mr. Farah has handled this already and no further emails to him are necessary, unless you wish to email him with your thanks for his proper handling of it.

On the evening of July 6th, I posted on the breaking story from David Codrea and Mike Vanderboegh regarding the potential involvement of the ATF’s Tampa Field Division in gunwalking to MS-13 in Honduras. The very first person to make a comment on this post was Sean Sorrentino who said, “Am I the only person on the planet that didn’t get guns from the ATF?”. You can see a screen cap of his comment below.

David Codrea read the comment and thought it would make a great T-shirt. He did a post on it on his War On Guns blog on Thursday. Sean ran with the idea and with the help of Robb Allen created a T-shirt featuring HIS comment. He put it up for sale on this Friday. I know because I’ve already bought one.

Sean reports in a blog post this morning that he found out his words and David’s idea were taken by World Net Daily to create a T-shirt.

I got an email from David Codrea, one of the two original “Online Reporters” of the Gunwalker scandal, and the person who suggested that my phrase “Am I the only person on the planet who didn’t get guns from the ATF?” should be put on a t-shirt. He sent me this link. As you can see, the same phrase appears on the WND shirt. I’ve gotten a screen capture as well.

Go to Sean’s website and read the whole story. Go to World Net Daily’s Superstore and let them know what you think of their faux shirt. You can also make your displeasure known to Joseph Farah, the editor and CEO of World Net Daily, by sending him an email at jfarah@worldnetdaily.com .

I fully support capitalistic endeavors. One of the hallmarks of our capitalist system is copyright protection which preserves the rights of the person who first created the literary expression. Unfortunately, WND probably has much deeper pockets than a blogger in North Carolina and any legal action would be too costly to pursue. That said, there is nothing to stop the blogger community from shaming World Net Daily into doing the right thing. Making knock-offs is something that I would expect from Red China and not from a supposedly conservative organization. If Mr. Farah wants to emulate the ChiComms, he is free to do so but we don’t need to approve of it.

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Text Of S. 1249 – Targert Practice And Marksmanship Training Support Act – Finally Released

July 9, 2011 by

The Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act of 2011 was introduced by Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) on June 22nd.

Former Rep. Betsy Markey (D-CO-4) introduced a very similar bill in the 111th Congress. That bill, H. 3781, never made it out of committee.

This bill has the support of the National Shooting Sports Foundation which is a bit change from earlier years. As Michael Bane said in a blog post, this is a recognition that Gun Culture v. 2.0 will be the future of the shooting sports. He also notes that our enemies know that if they can deprive us of a place to shoot, they can limit our growth.

This is HUGE! One of the baseline strategies of our enemies — perhaps the only one that has been working, BTW — has been to deprive us of places to shoot. A significant amount of revenue flowing into range development, coupled with pushing federal land management agencies to allow land for ranges (a big issue here in Colorado), is a very important start.

This is a good bill that deserves our support. Increasing places to shoot – especially free or low cost ones – is critical if we want to introduce new people to shooting. The days of shooting in your back yard are over in most places throughout the United States. While the bulk of open lands are in the western United States, there are quite a  number of National Forests east of the Mississippi. Moreover, the bill would allow support for public ranges on non-Federal land so state, county, and municipal lands could also be used for ranges.

The text of S. 1249 was finally released and can be seen below.

112th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 1249

To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to facilitate the establishment of additional or expanded public target ranges in certain States.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

June 22, 2011

Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself, Mr. RISCH, Mr. TESTER, and Mr. BENNET) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to facilitate the establishment of additional or expanded public target ranges in certain States.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Target Practice and Marksmanship Training Support Act’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE.

(a) Findings- Congress finds that–

(1) the use of firearms and archery equipment for target practice and marksmanship training activities on Federal land is allowed, except to the extent specific portions of that land have been closed to those activities;

(2) in recent years preceding the date of enactment of this Act, portions of Federal land have been closed to target practice and marksmanship training for many reasons;

(3) the availability of public target ranges on non-Federal land has been declining for a variety of reasons, including continued population growth and development near former ranges;

(4) providing opportunities for target practice and marksmanship training at public target ranges on Federal and non-Federal land can help–

(A) to promote enjoyment of shooting, recreational, and hunting activities; and

(B) to ensure safe and convenient locations for those activities;

(5) Federal law in effect on the date of enactment of this Act, including the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.), provides Federal support for construction and expansion of public target ranges by making available to States amounts that may be used for construction, operation, and maintenance of public target ranges; and

(6) it is in the public interest to provide increased Federal support to facilitate the construction or expansion of public target ranges.

(b) Purpose- The purpose of this Act is to facilitate the construction and expansion of public target ranges, including ranges on Federal land managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF PUBLIC TARGET RANGE.

In this Act, the term `public target range’ means a specific location that–

(1) is identified by a governmental agency for recreational shooting;

(2) is open to the public;

(3) may be supervised; and

(4) may accommodate archery or rifle, pistol, or shotgun shooting.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENTS TO PITTMAN-ROBERTSON WILDLIFE RESTORATION ACT.

(a) Definitions- Section 2 of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669a) is amended–

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (8) as paragraphs (3) through (9), respectively; and

(2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:

`(2) the term `public target range’ means a specific location that–

`(A) is identified by a governmental agency for recreational shooting;

`(B) is open to the public;

`(C) may be supervised; and

`(D) may accommodate archery or rifle, pistol, or shotgun shooting;’.

(b) Expenditures for Management of Wildlife Areas and Resources- Section 8(b) of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669g(b)) is amended–

(1) by striking `(b) Each State’ and inserting the following:

`(b) Expenditures for Management of Wildlife Areas and Resources-

`(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in paragraph (2), each State’;

(2) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by striking `construction, operation,’ and inserting `operation’;

(3) in the second sentence, by striking `The non-Federal share’ and inserting the following:

`(3) NON-FEDERAL SHARE- The non-Federal share’;

(4) in the third sentence, by striking `The Secretary’ and inserting the following:

`(4) REGULATIONS- The Secretary’; and

(5) by inserting after paragraph (1) (as designated by paragraph (1) of this subsection) the following:

`(2) EXCEPTION- Notwithstanding the limitation described in paragraph (1), a State may pay up to 90 percent of the cost of acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range.’.

(c) Firearm and Bow Hunter Education and Safety Program Grants- Section 10 of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669h-1) is amended–

(1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following:

`(3) ALLOCATION OF ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS- Of the amount apportioned to a State for any fiscal year under section 4(b), the State may elect to allocate not more than 10 percent, to be combined with the amount apportioned to the State under paragraph (1) for that fiscal year, for acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range.’;

(2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:

`(b) Cost Sharing-

`(1) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Federal share of the cost of any activity carried out using a grant under this section shall not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the activity.

`(2) PUBLIC TARGET RANGE CONSTRUCTION OR EXPANSION- The Federal share of the cost of acquiring land for, expanding, or constructing a public target range in a State on Federal or non-Federal land pursuant to this section or section 8(b) shall not exceed 90 percent of the cost of the activity.’; and

(3) in subsection (c)(1)–

(A) by striking `Amounts made’ and inserting the following:

`(A) IN GENERAL- Except as provided in subparagraph (B), amounts made’; and

(B) by adding at the end the following:

`(B) EXCEPTION- Amounts provided for acquiring land for, constructing, or expanding a public target range shall remain available for expenditure and obligation during the 5-fiscal-year period beginning on October 1 of the first fiscal year for which the amounts are made available.’.

SEC. 5. LIMITS ON LIABILITY.

(a) Discretionary Function- For purposes of chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code (commonly referred to as the `Federal Tort Claims Act’), any action by an agent or employee of the United States to manage or allow the use of Federal land for purposes of target practice or marksmanship training by a member of the public shall be considered to be the exercise or performance of a discretionary function.

(b) Civil Action or Claims- Except to the extent provided in chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code, the United States shall not be subject to any civil action or claim for money damages for any injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death caused by an activity occurring at a public target range that is–

(1) funded in whole or in part by the Federal Government pursuant to the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.); or

(2) located on Federal land.

SEC. 6. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING COOPERATION.

It is the sense of Congress that, consistent with applicable laws and regulations, the Chief of the Forest Service and the Director of the Bureau of Land Management should cooperate with State and local authorities and other entities to carry out waste removal and other activities on any Federal land used as a public target range to encourage continued use of that land for target practice or marksmanship training.

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Kirsten Powers Is An Airhead

July 9, 2011 by 1 Comment

Fox viewers voted that they wanted the topic of Fox’s Friday Lightning Round to be about Operation Fast and Furious. The panelists included Jonah Goldberg from the National Review, Democrat political analyst Kristen Power, and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer. It was moderated by Bret Baier.

Goldberg, Baier, and Krauthammer made some good points. Goldberg pointed out that if the economy wasn’t so much in the tank and the unemployment rate at 9.2% this would be getting a lot more press. Krauthammer opined that he thought this will continue on into the fall and become an “Autumn Scandal” as well as a summer scandal. Baier continued to bring up the Tampa Field Division and their involvement in walking guns to MS-13 in Honduras.

FoxNews has a lot of attractive and smart blondes on their network. Kirsten Powers is not one of them. I realize that Kirsten Powers’ main role for Fox is to spout the official Democrat Party line. That said, she comes across like an airhead whose sole goal was to deflect attention from Eric Holder and try to make the story about Rep. Darrell Issa. She was totally unbelievable and displayed incredible ignorance about the whole scandal. I guess I should be happy because it showed just how weak the arguments being put out by the White House and the Democrat Party really are.

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

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Hey! I Know That “Online Journalist”

July 9, 2011 by

Mike Vanderboegh was interviewed for a report on FoxNews that appeared on Special Report with Bret Baier this evening. He discussed the expansion of Project Gunwalker to Tampa and Houston. Mike appears at the :48 mark and the 1:21 mark. From what Mike said on his blog, his actual interview was a half hour and it was distilled down to this.

Rather than identifying Mike as a blogger, the caption under his name was “Online Journalist”. Whatever floats Fox’s boat. While I think blogger is a perfectly good and honorable title (and one I like), if I had to choose a fancy title for myself I think I’ll go with “Online Commentator”.

Watch the latest video at <a href=”http://video.foxnews.com”>video.foxnews.com</a>

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And Then There Was Only One

July 8, 2011 by 5 Comments

Illinois is now the only state left that does not have some form of concealed carry or any carry for that matter.

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) signed SB 93 today in Wausau, Wisconsin which approved concealed carry for those in the Badger State. From the NRA-ILA who was there along with NRA Exec. VP Wayne LaPierre:

Fairfax, VA. – Today, National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre and the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director Chris W. Cox joined Governor Scott Walker as he signed the Wisconsin Personal Protection Act into law. This makes Wisconsin the 49th state to give law-abiding citizens an option to carry a concealed firearm for personal protection.

“For everyday crime victims, Right-to-Carry is the difference between no chance and a fighting chance. That is why the NRA’s commitment to freedom, the Second Amendment and the self-defense rights of good people everywhere never wavers,” said LaPierre. “Today’s signing ceremony is proof of the value of the hard work, dedication and perseverance of NRA members in Wisconsin.”

“This is an historic day for the Right-to-Carry effort not only in Wisconsin, but across the country,” said Cox. “The fundamental, individual, God-given right to self-defense must be respected. I’d like to thank Senators Galloway and Zipperer, Reps. Mursau and Suder and Gov. Walker for their dedication to freedom.”
“By signing concealed carry into law today, we are making Wisconsin safer for all responsible, law abiding citizens,” said Gov. Walker.

“I would like to thank the NRA for all their hard work over the past 10 years—they never gave up the fight for Wisconsinites to defend themselves,” said Sen. Pam Galloway. “While we were both disappointed that Constitutional Carry did not have the necessary support in the legislature to pass this year, we know that SB 93 represents one of the most freedom-oriented licensing laws in the entire country and it’s a tremendous first step toward our ultimate goal of adopting Constitutional Carry in the Badger State. I look forward to continuing this battle alongside the proud members of NRA.”

Both chambers of the Wisconsin legislature voted to approve one of the nation’s strongest Right-to-Carry bills by solid bipartisan margins. Today’s signing of the Wisconsin Personal Protection Act into law leaves Illinois as the only state that provides no way for its citizens to carry firearms for self-protection outside their homes or places of business.

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Help Sean Buy A Kriss Vector

July 8, 2011 by 4 Comments

Sean Sorrentino who blogs at An NC Gun Blog recently made a comment here that went viral. David Codrea of the WarOnGuns Blog and the National Gun Rights Examiner thought his comment would be perfect on a T-shirt and came up with a mocked-up one.

Sean has decided to run with it.

You can order the T-shirt on Sean’s blog. They are only $15 plus $5 shipping which is good deal.

So order a T-shirt today and help Sean buy a Kriss Vector. He really, really wants one after having shot it at the Lucky Gunner Blogger Shoot. In the meantime you will be sticking it in the face of Rep. Elijah Cummings and the others in the gun control industry who want to make this scandal a call for more gun control.