by This blog started one year ago today. That was one-thousand eighty posts ago.
Alan Gura hadn’t yet won the McDonald case. All the other follow-on cases were still in the conceptual stage waiting for the Supreme Court to incorporate the Second Amendment to the states.
The Republicans didn’t control the House of Representatives and Nancy Pelosi was still Speaker of the House. Gun control legislation was on the drawing boards but wasn’t moving. Neither, however, was gun rights legislation. The one bright spot was that concealed carry in National Parks had been passed and had just gone into effect in February
Likewise in North Carolina, the Republicans were the minority party in both houses of the General Assembly. Governor Beverly Perdue wasn’t thinking twice about using Chapter 36A of the North Carolina General Statutes when she declared states of emergency and in the process imposed a temporary prohibition on the possession of firearms and ammunition off one’s own premises.
Andrew Traver hadn’t yet been nominated to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
Project Gunwalker in its many manifestations was in operation but we didn’t yet know about it.
So much has happened since last May.
Alan Gura won McDonald et al v. Chicago et al. Numerous follow-on cases have been filed in courts across the country.
John Boehner is the Speaker of the House and the Democrats no longer have a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. Gun control legislation is stalled and gun rights legislation – especially national right-to-carry reciprocity – seems to be moving ahead.
In North Carolina, the Republicans now control both houses of the General Assembly. This is the first time this has happened since 1870 and Civil War Reconstruction. Gun rights bills are moving forward and the nonsensical requirement for a permit to buy a crossbow is now a thing of the past. Governor Perdue now uses Chapter 166A of the General Statues when she declares a state of emergency as it doesn’t trigger the the prohibition on firearms for which she has been roundly criticized.
Thanks to the efforts of Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea along with CBS News investigative reporter Sharyl Attkisson we now know about Operation Fast and Furious. It is being investigated in both the House and Senate. The leadership of the Phoenix Field Division of ATF has been replaced as of this week.
Andrew Traver’s nomination to head ATF is in limbo as a result of the exposure of his ties with gun control groups and because of the controversy over Project Gunwalker.
It has been a very interesting year. I have learned a lot, met a lot of great people both online and in person, and seen this blog grow exponentially.
In the entire month of May 2010, I had 93 visitors to this blog. To put that into perspective, so far today I have had 991 visitors. I still have a very hard time comprehending that. I have an even harder time comprehending that this blog has been nominated for the LuckyGunner Gunnie Awards in both the Best Blog – Politics and Best Blog – Law categories.
I am so very grateful for each and every visitor to this blog.
There have been many people who have helped me along by posting links to this blog, by sending me links to information of interest, by giving me heads-up on cases, by willing to be interviewed, etc. I am thankful for your support. However, the one person who must be recognized above all others is the Complementary Spouse. Without her love, support, and encouragement (as well as proof-reading skills), this blog would not be what it is today. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank her.