Open Carry Legal In Tennessee, With Permit: Tennessee's attorney general has ruled that there is no requirement for an individual licensed to carry a handgun to carry it concealed. While many of us believe that concealed carry is a wiser choice tactically, others like to make a political statement by carrying openly. http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section_id=9&screen=news&news_id=45288 --- Oops, Wrong Business: A man is dead and his female partner wounded after they tried to rob a check-cashing business in Mesa AZ. http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/1021Mesarob21.html --- Common Sense On Campus: A good opinion piece from Oklahoma University. http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/20/435708cf7a84e --- Tide May Be Turning In Brazil Referendum: A recent poll showed that 52% of Brazilians in 11 cites will vote against a proposed ban on sales of firearms and ammunition. http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N1912357.htm --- Guns, Crime And Accidents: John Lott and Jack Soltysik provide real figures on accidental deaths from several causes and homicides involving firearms. http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/lott_soltysik200510200913.asp --- NRA, Post-Hurricane Riots Responsible For Passage: AOL provided its analysis of why the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act will become law. http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051020035809990002 --- From The Firearms Coalition: The House of Representatives today passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act with amendments added by the Senate to require trigger locks be sold with all guns sold by dealers (current law requires trigger locks be sold only with new guns). The bill also redefines armor-piercing ammunition in a manner that amounts to no substantial change, and calls for a study by the Attorney General of performance standards of body armor and ammunition. Such standards already exist (that's where the vest classifications, Type II, Type IIA and so on come from). Some of our friends worked very hard against passage of the bill because they considered the amendments cause for killing the bill. We disagree. While we don't like the amendments, the bill is a net gain for gun owners. This is a case where, as my late, lamented father Neal Knox used to say, "the perfect is the enemy of the good." It is only the most recent example the other side adapting while the pro-gun side has remained stuck. The time has come to take a couple of pages from the anti-rights crowd's playbook: · Work for strategic incremental changes It isn't hard to spot cases where the other side has grabbed small victories. Amendments to the Lawful Commerce in Arms Act provide only one example. But the important incremental changes are strategic such as separating gun rights from other civil rights by banning gun ownership for certain misdemeanors. There are many opportunities for the pro-rights side to make incremental changes going the other way. Some could be truly far-reaching. One example is a clean-up of the "sporting purposes" language of the 1968 Gun Control Act. According current law, the only justification for civilian ownership of a firearm is if it is "particularly suitable for sporting purposes." Maybe it's time for Federal law to recognize the legitimacy of armed self defense. It would certainly make an interesting debate. · In politics there is no fourth quarter Once a bill is passed there is nothing to prevent going back for another bite at the apple. The other side did it in 1986 when they attached a machine gun ban to the McClure-Volkmer Gun Owner Protection Act, the first time in American history that any firearm had been banned. No rule says if we've passed one bill that we can't pass another, or that we can't take back next session what we lost in this one. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. The game, God willing, is never over. --- From CCRKBA: NEWS RELEASE CCRKBA APPLAUDS HOUSE PASSAGE OF GUN INDUSTRY PROTECTION/TORT REFORM BILL BELLEVUE, WA - Passage today by the House of Representatives of S. 397 was hailed by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) as an important tort reform accomplishment that will put an end to junk lawsuits against the firearms industry. "This important legislation will stop the anti-gunners cold in their attempts to bankrupt firearms manufacturers, distributors and retailers," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb. "It closes an important loophole through which extremist gun grabbers have been trying to use the courts to crush gun ownership in this country, when they could not get Congress or state legislatures to do their bidding." "This common sense legislation," added CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron, "is long overdue. It sends a clear signal to the anti-gun lobby that mainstream America has had enough of their attempts to have their political agenda forced on us all by the courts. "In the past six years, since the first lawsuit was filed by the City of New Orleans," Waldron recalled, "tens of millions of dollars have been spent by the industry defending against these harassment legal actions. That's money that could have been spent on research and development, and safety education efforts." Noting that none of the dozens of municipal lawsuits so far filed has ultimately prevailed, Gottlieb stated, "It was obvious from the outset that these lawsuits were designed more for generating headlines than helping crime victims. Yet agenda-driven politicians, supported by the anti-gun lobby, kept going to court, and the reason is now clear. They wanted to break American firearms manufacturers, not for the public benefit, but because they simply hate guns. They hate the people who make them, and especially the people who own them. "For too many years," Gottlieb concluded, "the small, but very shrill gun control lobby has pushed legislation to take our gun rights, and used an all-too-cooperative media to distort the truth about gun owners and the Second Amendment. When that didn't work, they resorted to the courts and a handful of mercenary, politically-motivated attorneys, all in an attempt to destroy a fundamental civil right by financially devastating a perfectly legal industry. Their extremism has been dealt a serious blow, and in the process, an important step toward legal reform has been taken, and American gun owners should thank every member of Congress who voted for this measure." --- From the NRA-ILA: Historic Victory For NRA U.S. House Of Representatives Passes The "Protection Of Lawful Commerce In Arms Act" (Fairfax, VA) - Today the United States House of Representatives passed the "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" (S. 397) by a bipartisan vote of 283-144. The legislation now moves to President Bush's desk for his expected signature. Commenting on the passage of this landmark legislation, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said, "This is an historic victory for the NRA. Freedom, truth and justice prevailed, and today S. 397 is one step closer to becoming the law of the land. No other industry is forced to defend themselves when a violent criminal they do not know, have never met and cannot control, misuses a legal non-defective product. American firearms manufacturers will now receive the same fair treatment." The "Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act" seeks to end predatory and baseless lawsuits initiated nationwide by the gun control lobby. These lawsuits sought to bankrupt a lawful, highly regulated industry by holding the manufacturers and retailers responsible for the unforeseeable acts of criminals. S. 397 passed the Senate in late July with a bipartisan vote of 65-31. Joining LaPierre in commenting on this victory, NRA Chief Lobbyist Chris W. Cox added, "Our judicial system has been exploited for politics and Congress put a stop to that. Passage of the 'Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act' would not have been possible without the support of the 257 House co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle. We appreciate the tireless efforts of Rep. Cliff Stearns and Rep. Rick Boucher and the Republican members of House leadership who worked to move the bill in this chamber. "We are a safer country today because Congress passed this critical legislation and acted to save American icons like Remington, Ruger, Winchester and Smith & Wesson from politically motivated lawsuits. Our men and women in uniform abroad and at home now will not have to rely on France, China or Germany to supply their firearms," Cox added. During Senate debate earlier this year, the Pentagon stated its concern over the consequences if the American firearms industry was litigated into extinction. The Department of Defense stated that it "strongly supports" S. 397 citing, "that passage of S. 397 would help safeguard our national security by limiting unnecessary lawsuits against an industry that plays a critical role in meeting the procurement needs of our men and women in uniform." "I would like to thank our members who played a pivotal role in making this bill a reality. Together, we have saved the American firearms industry and protected the sanctity of the Second Amendment," concluded LaPierre. National Rifle Association of America Institute for Legislative Action --- From GOA: While gun control passes in the House, GOA expresses a big THANK YOU to all of its members and activists who waged a lone battle of opposition -- And you can be encouraged that your calls made a HUGE difference in one area Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert 8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151 Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408 http://www.gunowners.org Thursday, October 20, 2005 "The anti-gun provisions in S. 397 would probably be stripped out in the House if all the gun groups were working together with GOA." -- Rep. Ron Paul, Sept. 15, 2005 It's a shame really. Rep. Ron Paul is totally correct. Working united, we could have encouraged the House leadership to bring up a CLEAN bill. H.R. 800, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, garnered well over 250 cosponsors and would have passed the House easily if the leadership had brought up this bill rather than its Senate counterpart, S. 397. Unfortunately, GOA was the ONLY national group that was not calling for passage of the Senate bill, which contained new gun control. And likewise, GOA was the ONLY national group that was pressing for passage of the clean bill, H.R. 800. The House today passed S. 397 and sent it to the President. Because he has promised to sign this legislation, it is all the more tragic that House and Senate leaders refused to send him a clean bill. FIRST, HERE'S THE BAD NEWS... As we have mentioned before, S. 397 imposes a mandatory "gun tax" by forcing every gun buyer to purchase a trigger lock and takes us to the verge of mandatory trigger lock usage. The bill provides immunity (from lawsuits) for those who use trigger locks, but there is no such immunity for gun owners who keep a firearm available for self-defense WITHOUT a trigger lock. The push towards trigger locks may very well follow the push for mandatory seat belts and motorcycle helmets. And if our country ever takes that next step -- and straps every gun owner with California-style lock-up-your-safety legislation -- then we will need to remember this day as the day that laid the foundation. Mary Carpenter certainly will. She is the grandmother who has had to live with the fact that two of her grandchildren were killed in 2000, because no one in the house could get to the family weapons to protect themselves against the pitchfork wielding thug. People in the home had been trained with firearms and knew how to use them. But the guns were locked up in compliance with California state law. Gun owners can go to http://www.gunowners.com/psatext.htm on the GOA website to view the public safety ad -- produced by Gun Owners Foundation -- which features Mary Carpenter and her tragic story. Another amendment which passed as part of S. 397 would give impetus to adopting a "penetration standard" for armor piercing bullets by commissioning a Justice Department study of the issue. If a "penetration standard" were adopted, a gun-adverse administration could probably use it to ban virtually all ammunition. The Senate passed its gun control-laden version as Congress was getting ready to go out for their summer recess. At that time, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave's office had promised to mobilize pro-gun members in the House to oppose the Senate version, by asking them to join her in approaching the leadership in favor of H.R. 800. A Musgrave-led effort such as this would have made it much more likely that the House bill would have been considered. Unfortunately, Rep. Musgrave decided to do nothing, and the voices that were demanding S.397 -- gun locks and all -- carried the day. You can see how your Representative voted by going to http://www.clerk.house.gov/evs/2005/ on the House of Representative's website. NOW FOR THE GOOD NEWS... GOA is glad that Congress has passed legislation that is intended to stop predatory law suits designed to destroy the gun industry. That much is very good, and GOA supports that 100%. GOA hopes that the law accomplishes what its sponsors intended. Also, GOA would be remiss if we failed to mention that there is at least one "silver lining" in this entire ordeal. Don't forget that your hard work KILLED the Feinstein semi-auto ban this past summer. Remember several months ago when Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) wanted to offer a renewal of the semi-auto ban to S. 397? Gun Owners of America asked Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to use whatever means possible to block her anti-gun amendments. Well, that request fell upon deaf ears. So we asked you to lobby him, since his office had been incorrectly asserting this strategy couldn't be done. (Some in his staff were even claiming there was no Senate rule allowing the majority party to block bad amendments.) But after GOA members and activists like you applied the heat, Frist took another look. He then used parliamentary rules to "fill the amendment tree," which is exactly what we asked him to do. "Filling the amendment tree" is a technical term which explains how the majority party can offer amendments in such a way as to block the minority party from offering other amendments. Democrats were beside themselves. On the floor of the Senate, Harry Reid (D-NV) complained about the strategy Frist had employed: "I have nothing in my memory that [Sen. Frist] has ever done this before; that is, immediately going to a bill and FILLING THE TREE SO NO OTHER AMENDMENTS CAN BE OFFERED. [Emphasis added.] I have never, ever known him to do this. It is so unusual. It is not in keeping with how he has done business here during his tenure as majority leader. While filling the tree is within the rules, it is done very rarely. And again, I am surprised that Senator Frist did this." (Congressional Record, July 27, 2005, pp. S9104-5) You guys achieved this significant victory! You guys were responsible for making the sure the Feinstein ban was never offered on the floor of the Senate. You guys deserve the credit. It was just so unfortunate that, after achieving this great victory, Frist blinked. He could have blocked EVERY SINGLE anti-gun amendment, but he allowed two to be offered, namely, the trigger lock amendment and the armor-piercing study. So take heart... your hard work did accomplish much. You convinced Frist to block Feinstein's ban in the first place. And that was no small undertaking. WHY REMAINING "NO COMPROMISE" IS ALWAYS THE RIGHT THING TO DO Some have faulted GOA for remaining "no compromise" throughout this battle. They claim that by sticking to our guns, we were endangering the chance to pass this legislation that might have the effect of protecting gun makers. First, please realize that this underestimates YOUR collective power. This ignores the power of the grassroots. Remember, GOA was also told that blocking the Feinstein ban couldn't be done through parliamentary procedures. But together, we convinced the Senate Majority Leader to think differently, and we accomplished a tremendous feat together. Don't ever underestimate the strength of the gun rights community working together as one! Second, as a pragmatic matter, the desire to compromise ignores one simple fact: we could have EASILY won this battle to pass a clean bill! Consider: * A filibuster-proof majority of Senators had cosponsored S. 397 BEFORE THE BILL HAD TRIGGER LOCKS in it. * A super majority of Representatives had cosponsored H.R. 800 -- a bill which contained NO TRIGGER LOCKS in it. * The President had said he would sign a bill, even if it had NO TRIGGER LOCKS in it. Add to this the fact that the bills passed both houses of Congress by HUGE majorities (65-31 in the Senate, and 283-144 in the House). So why couldn't we insist on a bill that had no trigger locks? What was the problem? Why couldn't we stare down the anti-gunners and just say, "We're going to pass a clean bill because you don't have the votes to stop us." Winston Churchill once said that, "If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed, if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly, you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival." Early on, we had the upper hand. GOA was insisting on a clean bill. Why do some think that was too much to ask? The answer is quite simply this: the spirit of Neville Chamberlain lives on, from one generation to the next. Some people just always seem to have the desire to placate the other side, even when they've got the muscle to get things done right. Winston Churchill didn't buy it, and neither should we. Speaking to the failings of appeasement, Churchill said, "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile -- hoping it will eat him last." Well, at GOA, we don't appease. We prefer to shoot the crocodile. Again, thanks to all of you who worked so hard and stood with us. Your efforts have not been in vain. --------------------------------- HEARD ON C-SPAN TODAY: "Actually, the organization that does a better job of [keeping me informed] is Gun Owners of America. I'm on their mailing list, and we know when something pops up and we're informed as to what's going on so we can write our emails and make phone calls to our respective representatives." -- C-SPAN caller from Pensacola, Florida (October 20, 2005) We are always glad when we hear our members say they find our alerts worthwhile. GOA is here to keep you informed. And so, if you've never officially joined GOA, please consider becoming a member by signing up at http://www.gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm or call 703-321-8585. You can become a GOA member and help protect the Second Amendment with a contribution of $20 a year -- or a mere 5 cents a day! **************************** -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .