Specter Yields: Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) today pledged to support Attorney General nominee Eric Holder Jr., saying that the Covington & Burling partner's record and broad support within the law enforcement community alleviated his concerns about Holder's independence. The ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee also said he was satisfied that Holder would tread carefully in deciding whether to prosecute Bush administration officials involved in the use of harsh interrogation techniques on suspected al-Qaida members. Specter's endorsement means Holder now has the support of his most vocal critic throughout the confirmation process. "I think that Mr. Holder is entitled to the benefit of the doubt, in the context of the excellent record that he has and those recommendations weighed against the issues that were of concern to me," Specter said... http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2009/01/specter-says-he-will-support-holder-nomination.html http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/28/specter-drops-opposition-to-holder-will-back-pick/ ...As a United States senator for Wyoming, I take very seriously the responsibility to protect and defend our right to keep and bear arms. President Obama has every right to nominate Eric Holder to be attorney general. I have the duty to closely review the nominee's qualifications and philosophy on issues important to all Americans. During Mr. Holder's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, he said gun control is not on this administration's agenda. He also said he still supports regulating private gun sales, banning ammunition and semi-automatic assault weapons. Given Mr. Holder's career of attacks on the Second Amendment, his nomination continues to be of great concern to me. I am not convinced his philosophy on the Second Amendment is acceptable to the people of Wyoming and gun owners across the United States... http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/28/a-vote-against-holder/ Attention Arizonans: The Senate Judiciary Committee last week delayed the vote on Eric Holder until later this week. This is good news for gun owners as it gives us more time to put the heat on the senate members of the Judiciary Committee. It is imperative that - even if Holder's nomination clears the committee - there is a recorded vote with a strong showing of opposition. The worst thing that could happen would be for President Obama's anti-gun pick for Attorney General to move quickly through the Senate with a strong "mandate." That would certainly come back to haunt gun owners... (The link below will facilitate sending an e-mail to Sen. Kyl, asking him to vote against Holder's confirmation.) http://capwiz.com/gunowners/mail/?id=203&lvl=C&chamber=S --- Another Big Brother Appointment: The incoming Obama administration continues to signal that it's not going to "play nice" with gun owners, hunters and sportsmen. The latest cause for concern is the appointment of Cass Sunstein to be the new "Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs," or "regulation czar." Sunstein has expressed support for an outright ban on hunting, telling students at Harvard University that hunting should be banned if its only purpose is for "sport or game." As "regulation czar," Sunstein may not have the authority to ban hunting, but he'll certainly be in a position to craft environmental regulations that could have profound impacts on hunters in this country... http://www.nranews.com/blogarticle.aspx?blogPostId=490 --- Big Brother to Target Firearms Industry: Beginning this week, the firearms industry will find itself squarely in the gunsight of a new administration dedicated to the regulation of virtually everything related to guns, from so-called assault weapons to the elements used in ammunition. Regulation, incidentally, will be defined as "the regulation of everything, and the potential removal of anything we say you don't need." The leaders of that assault, unfortunately, won't give a tinker's damn about the Second Amendment. Their long-term plans will address that piece of "outdated thinking." But a new political expediency will move firearms - more specifically their nebulous assault weapons - front and center. Democratic insiders are telling us the firearms industry will be used as an object lesson to both sides of the aisle... http://www.wilsoncountynews.com/article.php?id=22107&n=outdoors-firearms-industry-may-top-obamas-list --- Don't Forget HR 45: Legislation was introduced to the U.S. House recently many believe will put the Second Amendment at risk. Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 was introduced to the House on Jan. 6 by Bobby Rush, D-Chicago. Under the bill gun dealers and owners would be required to obtain a federal license and to register all qualifying firearms (handguns and rifles with external clips) with the government. For many gun owners this act will only lead to one thing - confiscation... http://www.palestineherald.com/breakingnews/local_story_027090358.html?keyword=topstory --- Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows: Rep. Carolyn McCarthy may be threatening a primary challenge to newly named New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand over her pro-gun stand, but records show McCarthy donated $1,500 to Gillibrand's two successful races for an upstate House seat. McCarthy's leadership PAC gave Gillibrand a $500 contribution for her first run for Congress in 2006, and doubled it to $1,000 for her re-election bid last June, according to federal campaign finance records. McCarthy made the second donation June 5, months after Gillibrand had publicly signed on to a legal brief that drew attacks from McCarthy's friends among gun-control advocates because it urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Washington, D.C.'s, gun ban... http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/tuesday/nation/ny-usmcca276013825jan27,0,6231446.story --- Ammo Serialization Bill Still Alive in Georgia: ...Democrat State Sen. Ronald Ramsey Sr. (District 43-DeKalb/Rockdale counties) has proposed Senate Bill 12, which makes it a misdemeanor in Georgia for the following: On and after Jan. 1, 2010, to sell or possess any ammunition that does not have a particular unique identifier (etching) on the base of the bullet. All vendors of handgun ammunition shall record the name of the purchaser, that person's driver's license number or other government-issued identification and date of birth. That information will be maintained for three years. There shall be a fee imposed to anyone purchasing handgun ammunition of $0.005 per round ($0.25 per box). No later than Jan. 1, 2012, all non-coded handgun ammunition, whether owned by private citizens or commercial entities, shall be disposed of (destroyed). This bill was read and referred by the Senate on 01-12-2009... http://www.times-herald.com/opinion/Sneaky-gun-control-legislation-646650 --- RKBA Bill Killed in Colorado: A bill that would have forced local communities to discontinue efforts to protect children from gun accidents got shot down during a hearing in a Senate committee on Monday. Senate Bill 74 would have prohibited safe-storage ordinances in Colorado and allowed the sale of guns and accessories manufactured in Colorado to be exempt from federal laws. It was killed by the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on a 3-2 vote... Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, said he sponsored the bill because of concerns that the Obama administration would crack down on gun rights... Brophy said the Clinton administration passed a law that banned a rifle magazine manufactured in Colorado, claiming it contained too many bullets. That ban has expired, but Brophy said he is worried the Obama administration will try to reinstate it. (The safe-storage portion of the bill appears to have been a matter of state preemption.) http://cbs4denver.com/local/Debate.Gun.Storage.2.918172.html --- Virginia Gun-Show Bill Likely to Die in House: A former York School Board member and anti-gun activist says Monday's approval by a Senate committee of a bill requiring background checks for people who buy weapons at gun shows will likely die in the more conservative House of Delegates. "If it gets through the Senate, it has to go to the committee in the House," Pam Pouchot told the Capital News Service. "And they will kill it." ...Similar legislation has been introduced several times before, but was always killed in committee. "It's very unusual for it to pass out of committee," said Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League. He's that skeptical the bill will affect gun violence, should it pass... http://www.vagazette.com/news/local/va-news01271,0,2363589.story --- Legal Aliens Regain RKBA in Washington: The Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association this week have won a preliminary injunction against the Washington State Department of Licensing that requires the state to resume processing applications by legal resident aliens for alien firearms licenses. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle also ordered that license renewals and applications sought by three individual Washington residents participating in the lawsuit also be processed. Washington is the only state in the union that requires an alien firearms license be possessed by resident aliens in order for them to have a firearm. SAF and NRA said the state law discriminates against legal resident aliens who own firearms by violating their Second Amendment rights under the equal protections affirmed by the 14th Amendment... http://www.saf.org/viewpr-new.asp?id=286 --- Hawaii Millionaire Targets Milwaukee Gun Shop: Joe Zilber wants to solve the gun problem in Milwaukee. But he realizes he needs help... Zilber is the millionaire philanthropist committing $50 million over the next 10 years to improve the quality of life in some our city's most impoverished neighborhoods. Zilber has already begun some pretty impressive projects in town, donating $5 million to local community groups... His initial plan was to attack the problem at the source. Zilber wanted to target an infamous gun shop in the Milwaukee area with a pretty shocking record of being a place where too many legally purchased handguns eventually ended up in the hands of the bad guys... Zilber chuckled when I mentioned comedian Chris Rock, who once said the key to gun control was making all guns free but charging an exorbitant amount - as high as $5,000 - for a single bullet. That might make people think twice about firing a gun. "That's pretty good," said Zilber. He didn't dismiss it out of hand. "You could buy an ammunition company and do it that way." ... http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/38433129.html --- What Prohibitionists Don't Tell You about Magazine-Capacity Limits: Yesterday, I discussed the growing effort for a renewed ban of so-called "assault weapons." Such bans invariably incorporate a limit on the magazine capacity--the now expired federal ban stipulated ten rounds as the acceptable limit. The supposed rationale is that without "high capacity" (translation: normal capacity) magazines, a deranged killer will not be able to inflict as much carnage as he would if he had to reload more often. That rationale ignores the fact that a skilled shooter can change magazines in an astonishingly short amount of time - see below... Actually, even if "limited" to a revolver, a skilled shooter will be able to spend a great deal more time shooting than reloading... http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m1d26-What-the-gun-prohibitionists-wont-tell-you-about-magazine-capacity-limits --- US Guns Fuel Mexico's Drug Wars: As police approached a drug cartel's safe house in northwestern Mexico last May, gunmen inside poured on fire with powerful assault rifles and grenades, killing seven officers. A cache of weapons was seized after the bloodbath, including a single AK-47 assault rifle that authorities say was purchased at a Phoenix gun shop and smuggled into Mexico. Nearly all the guns the cartels use are smuggled into Mexico from the U.S., and officials say a small number of corrupt American weapons dealers are making the gun running possible... (The round from an AK-47 is less powerful than that from a .30-30. If purchased over the counter from a Phoenix gun store, the rifle would actually have been a semi-automatic copy. And where did the grenades come from? As I have before, they probably came from the Mexican military, which would likely become the armory for the Mexican drug dealers if supplies from the US were cut off.) http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/border/108796.php --- From AzCDL: SB 1270, an AzCDL-requested bill that removes the penalty for law-abiding citizens carrying concealed weapons without a permit, was filed late afternoon on Tuesday, January 27, 2009. You can read the text of SB 1270 at http://tinyurl.com/dko6oy . Dave Kopp and John Wentling, AzCDL's president and vice-president, and full-time volunteer lobbyists, worked hard lobbying for SB 1270 and encouraging legislators to sign on as co-sponsors. The following twenty-two (22) legislators are the co-sponsors of SB 1270: Senator Sylvia Allen, District 5, sallen@azleg.gov, (602) 926-5219 Senator Ron Gould, District 3, rgould@azleg.gov, (602) 926-4138 Senator Chuck Gray, District 19, cgray@azleg.gov, (602) 926-5288 (Senate Majority Leader) Senator Linda Gray, District 10, lgray@azleg.gov, (602) 926-3376 Senator John Nelson, District 12, jnelson@azleg.gov, (602) 926-5872 Senator Russell Pearce, District 18, rpearce@azleg.gov, (602) 926-5760 Senator Thayer Verschoor, District 22, tverschoor@azleg.gov, (602) 926-4136 (Senate President Pro Tempore) Representative Frank Antenori, District 30, fantenori@azleg.gov, (602) 926-5683 Representative Cecil B. Ash, District 18, cash@azleg.gov, (602) 926-3160 Representative Ray Barnes, District 7, rbarnes@azleg.gov, (602) 926-3107 Representative Andy Biggs, District 22, rbiggs@azleg.gov, (602) 926-4371 Representative Judy M. Burges, District 4, jburges@azleg.gov, (602) 926-5861 Representative Sam Crump, District 6, scrump@azleg.gov, (602) 926-3014 Representative David Gowan, District 30, dgowan@azleg.gov, (602) 926-3312 Representative John Kavanagh, District 8, jkavanagh@azleg.gov, (602) 926-5170 Representative Barbara McGuire, District 23, bmcguire@azleg.gov, (602) 926-3012 Representative Nancy McLain, District 3, nmclain@azleg.gov, (602) 926-5051 Representative Steve B. Montenegro, District 12, smontenegro@azleg.gov, (602) 926-5955 Representative Rick Murphy, District 9, rmurphy@azleg.gov, (602) 926-3255 Representative Warde V. Nichols, District 21, wnichols@azleg.gov, (602) 926-5168 Representative Doug Quelland, District 10, dquelland@azleg.gov, (602) 926-3024 Representative Carl Seel, District 6, cseel@azleg.gov, (602) 926-3018 If your Senator or Representative is one of the co-sponsors, please take the time to send them an email or call them and thank them for co-sponsoring SB 1270. It's critical that they know you are aware of, and appreciate, their support of SB 1270. You can find your legislators at: http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp . If your Senator or Representative is NOT a co-sponsor, please call them or send them an email asking them why they did not co-sponsor SB 1270. Politely mention that you expect them to support SB 1270 in the future. You can find your legislators at: http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp . These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. Join today! AzCDL - Protecting Your Freedom http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html Copyright © 2009 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved. -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .