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   Some rights reserved by Brian Lane Winfield Moore |
The moment I saw this, I thought of CSGV and their erstwhile Director of Communication Ladd Everitt given their Twitter suspension last month. I guess loose tweets can sink organizations (and Congressmen) as well.
For God’s sake, can’t anybody affiliated with the NRA say the name Alan Gura? It seemed like it was only due to a slip of the tongue that McDonald v. Chicago was even mentioned by attorney Bill Howard.
As SayUncle said this morning “And, seriously NRA, if you’re gonna ride the coattails of SAF and Gura, try giving some credit.”
The legislative arena along with the concomitant lobbying is one of the areas in which the National Rifle Association really excels. The embedded letter below is evidence of their success.
The letter to President Barack Obama urges him to stop the stonewalling over Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker). It was spearheaded by Rep. Jason Altmire (D-PA) who was one of the keynote speakers at the recent NRA Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh. The letter is signed by 31Congressional Democrats.
In an ideal world, the NRA would concentrate on training, the legislative arena, and other areas in which being a mass organization really helps and leave the court challenges to the Second Amendment Foundation. While the NRA does have good lawyers, it is the Second Amendment Foundation that has the agility, smarts, and legal expertise in Alan Gura to bring the strategic Second Amendment cases which will get the appellate wins.
Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world. There are some in the NRA’s hierarchy who believe the NRA has to be the be-all and end-all of all things Second Amendment. The result so far has been a number of “me, too” cases, overly broad complaints, and poorly vetted plaintiffs as well as interference in the strategic civil rights litigation of the Second Amendment Foundation. It is time for the adults in the NRA to rein in those who seek organizational glory at the expense of the Second Amendment.
Project Gunrunner Letter to POTUS June 2011(function() { var scribd = document.createElement(“script”); scribd.type = “text/javascript”; scribd.async = true; scribd.src = “http://www.scribd.com/javascripts/embed_code/inject.js”; var s = document.getElementsByTagName(“script”)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(scribd, s); })();
As Greg Hickok aka Hickok45 said at the end of this video, “Life is good!” Having participated in the LuckyGunner Blogger Shoot, I couldn’t agree more. Greg and his son John shot more machine guns than I did but I think we all had a great time.
The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence likes to cast aspersions on gun rights activists. Their Facebook and Twitter posts are littered with the terms “gun extremist”, “insurrectionist”, and “treason”. I, for one, have been labeled a “gun extremist” because I dared to question the sainted Carolyn McCarthy’s continued use of her family tragedy for political purposes. However, being called a “gun extremist” is not in the same league as being accused of “treason”.
Kurt Hofmann is one of those who has been called a traitor by CSGV and Ladd Everitt. In his St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner column for Thursday, he discussed how Ladd Everitt and the CSGV are engaging in a new McCarthyism. He notes that, just like Sen. Joe McCarthy, CSGV likes to toss around accusations of treason with the same amount of proof as the late Senator. In other words, none.
Kurt concludes:
A nation of people who meekly accept the notion that they commit “treason,” merely by stating the obvious fact that the Second Amendment exists to guarantee their ability to resist government tyranny, is indeed a nation of sheep. That’s the nation the CSGV would like to see the U.S. become.
Over my dead body, CSGV–and I won’t die alone.
Treason is an ugly word. Those who would toss it around it with impunity need to be called out on it. Kudos to Kurt for exposing the neo-McCarthyism of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence for what it is.
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) seems to be big news these last few days. Howard Nemerov looked at his stands on the issues for the P.J. Tattler and had this to say.
Weiner’s endorsed by the Brady Campaign. This means that Weiner supports a woman’s “right to choose” when it comes to ending a pregnancy, but does not support her right to choose when a rapist wants to end her life.
Weiner is praised by NARAL for his voting record but is ranked “F” by the National Rifle Association.
The CalGuns Foundation issued this press release yesterday demanding that San Francisco County Sheriff Michael Hennessey obey California state law regarding concealed carry.
San Carlos, CA (June 2, 2011) – As part of its ongoing Carry License Compliance and Sunshine Initiative, The Calguns Foundation sent San Francisco County Sheriff Michael Hennessey a letter demanding that he immediately bring his firearm carry license application acceptance, processing, and evaluation policies into compliance with the law.In the letter sent Tuesday, Calguns notes that the Sheriff has failed to comply with state law for nearly thirteen years, even after being notified of the deficiency on a number of prior occasions. Calguns also claims that the policies of the Sheriff in issuing licenses to some, including one of his employees, while refusing to accept all applications from “regular” San Francisco residents violates applicants’ constitutional rights of self-defense and equal protection under the law.
“While the Sheriff may have grown accustomed to following only those laws he chooses, we intend to hold the County’s highest law enforcement officer to the same laws he took an oath to uphold,” notes Gene Hoffman, Chairman of The Calguns Foundation. “The rights of San Francisco residents are no less valuable than those of his employees and friends.”
In 1998, then-Assemblymember Rod Wright authored a bill to make firearm carry permit applications consistent across the state due to tremendous variations in local practices by licensing authorities. That bill, AB 2022, established a mandate that all licensing authorities create and publish a written policy on carry license applications by April 1, 1999. It also instituted a specific process that licensing authorities – county sheriffs and city chiefs of police – must use in receiving and processing applications.
“We’ve spent thousands of hours requesting and reviewing the policies and practices of hundreds of law enforcement agencies across the state. Sheriff Hennessey’s, obviously, stood out – it simply didn’t exist,” said Brandon Combs, member of the Board of Directors of Calguns Foundation. “It’s exceedingly frustrating to see the Sheriff turning away so many qualified San Francisco residents who are complying with the law.”
In an effort to avoid litigation, Calguns provided Sheriff Hennessey with a comprehensive model carry license policy. “We would strongly prefer that the Sheriff simply choose to use our model policy, much as San Francisco has done with LCAV policies in the past,” Brandon Combs said. “However, should he choose to go another direction, we’re prepared to litigate as necessary to bring his policies and practices in line with the law.”
A downloadable copy of the model policy is available at this link. CGF’s letter to Sheriff Hennessey is located here.
More information on Calguns Foundation’s Carry License Compliance and Sunshine Initiative can be found at www.gotcarry.org. For more information on other Second Amendment-related litigation and educational efforts, please visit www.calgunsfoundation.org.
I had the distinct pleasure of getting to know Gene Hoffman, chairman of the CalGuns Foundation, at the LuckyGunner Blogger Shoot. I’m proud to say that he is a Tar Heel native and bleeds Carolina Blue especially during basketball season.
Gene and the CalGuns Foundation are doing great work in California in their efforts to preserve, protect, and expand our Second Amendment rights in that state. As one-fifth of all Americans live in California, what happens in California eventually will impact the rest of us. Rather than mocking those gun owners who choose (or are forced by economic necessity) to live in California, we ought to be asking how can we help.
I will freely admit that I’m not a fashionista.
The Wall Street Journal had an article in their Personal Journal section yesterday noting that Mr. Hilfiger had brought in two designers to update his brand. Normally, I would have just ignored it. However, one of the pictures caught my eye.
They had taken the L.L. Bean Maine Hunting Shoe (or Bean Boot or duck boot) and tranformed it into a thigh-high boot with 5″ heels. Searching for more information on this, I find out that it was one of the staples of Mr. Hilfiger’s 2010 Fall Collection and the boot retailed for $498.
I also found out that they had an ankle boot version of this boot called the Bennington Duck Boot which was much more reasonable in price. It is only $298.
I have had many pairs of the Maine Hunting Shoe over the years but none like that! I’m not sure where you’d wear these but I know it isn’t in a field. Even the much-discussed LuckyGunner Ammo Girls wore sneakers at the LuckyGunner Memorial Day Blogger Shoot.
As I said in the title, I’m sure old Mr. L. L. Bean is rolling in his grave over those boots. That is, of course, unless the Tommy Hilfiger Company paid Bean’s a royalty for copying their basic design. Those old Maine Yankees understood the value of a dollar.
This alert was released this evening by Grass Roots North Carolina. Looks like it is time to contact your state rep and put the fear of God in them about weakening amendments.
WEAKENING AMENDMENTS MAY BE PENDING
House Bill 650, “Amend Various Gun Laws,” passed from the NC House Judiciary C Committee yesterday and heads for a floor vote: Tuesday, June 7. As you may recall, special interest groups have tried to subject the bill to the “death of a thousand cuts” by attacking individual provisions. Nonetheless, HB 650 is still a far-reaching improvement in NC gun laws, including:
- Castle Doctrine (a strong version comparable to SB 34, which earlier passed the Senate);
- Permitting concealed handgun permit-holders to have firearms in locked vehicles on educational property;
- Enabling rifle and shotgun purchases in non-contiguous states beyond NC;
- Allowing guns in locked vehicles at businesses or places of employment;
- Reducing issuing times for concealed handgun permits from 90 to 45 days;
- Reducing penalties for minor CHP violations to civil infractions; and
- Changing concealed handgun to straight recognition of out-of-state permits;
HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER MAY TRY TO WEAKEN BILL
Thanks to continued anti-gun attacks by House Majority Leader Paul (“Skip”) Stam (R-Wake, GRNC 0-star), sponsor Mark Hilton (R-Catawba, GRNC ****) was forced to limit the “guns-in-locked-vehicles” provision above to concealed handgun permit-holders. It is expected that Stam will further attempt to weaken the bill via floor amendments, meaning you must IMMEDIATELY deliver the message to House members that you WILL NOT tolerate further weakening amendments to the bill.
The NRA-ILA released this today regarding North Carolina’s omnibus gun law – HB 650 – which passed out of the House Judiciary C Subcommittee yesterday. Before it left the subcommittee, the committee amended the bill to add the castle doctrine and parking lot provisions among other gun rights strengthening provisions.
North Carolina: Castle Doctrine Language and Parking Lot Provision in NRA-Backed Omnibus Bill Threatened!
Thursday, June 02, 2011
Urge Your Representative to Oppose Any Amendments to House Bill 650!
As reported by the NRA yesterday, the North Carolina House Judiciary Subcommittee C sent House Bill 650, the NRA–backed omnibus gun bill, to the House floor for a vote. However, there is now a strong effort by the anti-gun lobby to add amendments that would weaken both the current Castle Doctrine language and Parking Lot/Employee Protection provision contained in this bill. It is vital that you let your state Representative know that he or she needs to support HB 650 in its current form and oppose all amendments, especially those that would weaken Castle Doctrine and Parking Lot language.
HB 650, introduced by state Representative Mark Hilton (R-96), originally focused on making a number of improvements to the Right-to-Carry (RTC) law, as well as improving the firearm preemption statute that prevents municipalities from enacting gun control laws more onerous than what has been passed by the state. A Proposed Committee Substitute (PCS) for the bill was approved by the subcommittee at a previous hearing, which greatly expanded the bill’s scope in a very positive way. The PCS includes a number of other issues, such as Castle Doctrine language, Parking Lot/Employee Protection language, Fraudulent Firearms Purchase Prevention language, and language to ensure North Carolina residents are not prohibited by state law from purchasing long guns in states that do not border North Carolina.
It is essential to the passage of this bill that you contact your state Representative IMMEDIATELY and urge him or her to support the current version of HB 650 with NO amendments, especially any amendments that would weaken Castle Doctrine and Parking Lot provisions. Contact information for your state Representative can be found here.
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