Democrats Yield to RKBA - for Now: President Obama and his allies in Congress have given the gun lobby a string of victories - from forgoing new gun laws to easing restrictions already on the books - since Mr. Obama took office and Democrats assumed complete command of political power in Washington. Democratic leaders in Congress tend to support more restrictive gun laws but have yielded on the issue since a majority of their rank-and-file members increasingly side with the National Rifle Association (NRA) when votes involve the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms... Mr. Obama last month sought to appease gun-control advocates by calling for the Senate to ratify the Inter-American Convention on small-arms trafficking, a measure meant to stem the cross-border flow of black-market guns and ammunition. But the treaty, which has languished in the Senate since 1997, received a cool reception from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Mr. Reid, whose popularity at home is tenuous, faces a tough re-election race next year in his pro-gun Western state... http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/26/democrats-in-power-hand-victories-to-nra/ --- On the Other Side of the Dike: American gun owners face a double-whammy: A political establishment that seeks to undermine both 2nd Amendment rights and United States national sovereignty. For decades, gun-grabbers in politics, academe and media have promoted various gun-control schemes to weaken if not ultimately eliminate the individual 2nd Amendment right of law-abiding American citizens to keep and bear arms. They've proposed federal firearms registration, gun-owner licensing, handgun-purchase waiting periods, one-gun-a-month handgun-purchase limitations, bans on inexpensive handguns, bans on semiautomatic firearms, bans on .50-caliber firearms, bans on personal defensive firearms use, limitations on gun shows, and almost any other restrictive approach they can dream up... Gun-grabbers for some time have worked assiduously to induce the United States to sign a treaty that would curtail drastically Americans' gun rights. So far, the United States has avoided taking such a drastic, unconstitutional step. But the Obama Administration could well bring a reversal of policy. Obama may want to do an end run around American gun owners by signing such an international agreement and subverting citizen rights in that way. The administration propaganda nonsense that the Mexican drug wars are fueled with American firearms could be a prelude to such a program... (As I recall, the treaty has already been signed but it has not been ratified by the Senate) http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=31986 --- DOI Comments on National-Park Carry: Much to the surprise of many people, the newly enacted credit card reform law - the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2009 - contained a provision making it legal for people to carry loaded firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges where allowed by state law. On May 22, the Department of Interior (DOI) issued a statement regarding the new law and how it will be enforced when it takes effect in February 2010. Until the new law takes effect, DOI says it will continue to enforce the current laws governing possession of firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges. "Under the current regulation, firearms are generally prohibited, but citizens may transport unloaded and dismantled or cased firearms and carry firearms while participating in approved hunting programs and under certain other circumstances," stated the DOI in a press release... http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/2009/05/25/interior-comments-on-new-parks-firearms-law.htm http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05/22/repeal-gun-ban-national-parks/ --- The Beat Goes On: Signs that segments of the nation's economy struggling are nearly endless, but the sales of guns is not one of them. Sales of handguns, rifles and shotguns remain high, area dealers say, and the surge in sales following the results of the November election continue. Zeke Garretson, owner of Garretson's Sports Center, 3817 10th St., in Greeley, said sales of guns, particularly handguns, has been steady since late last year. The current buying frenzy, he said, started the day after Barack Obama was elected president. He said he has heard customer after customer explain they are buying weapons ''while they still can'' or something to that effect... http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2009/05/25/news/associated_press/doc4a1a236854f1f958708114.txt --- Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest: The positions of most urban liberals on firearms are dumb, dumber and dumbest. It is dumb to suppose that the way to decrease crime is to make sure all potential victims of violent crime are disarmed. It is dumber yet to believe that a criminal will obey a gun-control law. No bank robber or rapist has ever set out and then stopped and said, "Gosh, I don't have a permit for this weapon, so I guess I'd better not rob that bank or rape that girl." No serial killer has ever said: "Gosh, I can't kill this person with an unregistered weapon. That would be against the law." The dumbest idea is to suppose that an inanimate object can turn a noncriminal into a criminal. To believe that guns cause crime is as stupid as believing that hammers and saws cause houses. It is the grossest kind of mindless superstition to suppose that some magical qualities of an inanimate object can overpower the human will... http://www.lewrockwell.com/reese/reese4.html --- More Infringements for Massachusetts: Gov. Deval L. Patrick's recently filed gun control legislation ought to leave most lawful gun owners in Massachusetts' feeling like Al Pacino in The Godfather, Part III: "Just when we thought we were out, they pull us back in." State officials readily admit that Massachusetts already has some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation. Now, they have returned to file the "Act to Reduce Firearm Violence," a series of measures that take a scatter-shot approach to reducing gun violence in the state. We think the act puts too much of a burden on sportsmen and recreational shooters. A key provision of the bill would limit licensed gun owners from buying more than one gun a month... http://www.masslive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/05/gun_control_law_misses_its_tar.html --- Religious Activists Arrested at Philadelphia Gun Shop: It was no small matter for the Rev. J. Fred Kauffman, a man of faith and a law-abiding citizen for all of his 61 years, to defy a police officer's order to leave a downtown gun shop. All Kauffman wanted was for the owner of Colosimo's Gun Center to pledge to sell firearms responsibly. When the owner refused, Kauffman decided there was too much at stake - too many illegal guns, too many senseless deaths - to just give up and go home. He blocked the store entrance and was arrested... The Mennonite leader was one of 12 activists from the interfaith group Heeding God's Call to be arrested at Colosimo's over two days in January. They face trial Tuesday in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia on charges including conspiracy, obstruction and disorderly conduct. Heeding God's Call is adding a different religious voice to the national gun-control debate, which members say has been dominated for too long by conservative Christians opposed to firearms regulation... (Yes, large-volume gun dealers tend to have more of the firearms they sell traced back to them after crimes simply because they sell more firearms in the first place.) http://www.phoenixvillenews.com/articles/2009/05/25/news/srv0000005420501.txt --- Florida CWFL-Funds Battle Heats Up: Despite a huge backlog for gun permits, Florida legislators have signed off on taking $6 million out of a trust fund dedicated to helping process concealed weapon permits. Gun rights advocates, however, are firing back, calling on Gov. Charlie Crist to veto the move. Florida's gun lobby said between the backlog and applications up 60 percent, the timing could not be worse. Less money could mean even bigger delays, but with cuts to everything from health care to state worker pay, many lawmakers argued this cut is unavoidable. The National Rifle Association's top lobbyist in Florida pointed out the permit program is self-sufficient, drawing on application fees to operate... http://www.cfnews13.com/News/Local/2009/5/26/gun_lobbyists_fire_back_at_cut_to_concealed_weapon_premits_fund.html --- Armed Self-Defense, Part 4: To gun owners who think taking a basic course and occasionally shooting holes in paper prepare them for armed self-defense, let me assure you nothing could be further from the truth. The fourth in the "Armed self-defense" series, this segment covers Phase I of the Practical/Tactical (P/T I) pistol course taught by Eagle Rock Training Systems veteran instructors Tom Iradi and Scott Mauldin... (At this point, this series may be transitioning into an endorsement for a particular school. Perhaps Paul will discuss some of the different philosophies and methods being offered to those who seek defensive training in a future column.) http://www.examiner.com/x-2698-Charlotte-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m5d25-Armed-selfdefense-To-shoot-fast-you-have-to-see-fast --- Rule Four Reminder: A Greenwich man is recovering from shotgun wounds sustained in a hunting mishap Friday in southern New York. Henry Gasiorowski, 60, was seated behind a turkey decoy, making turkey calls, about 7:50 a.m. when his hunting companion, Jerome Day, 47, also of Greenwich, snuck up on the decoy and mistakenly opened fire on it, according to the Sullivan County (N.Y.) Sheriff's office. The shotgun pellets hit Gasiorowski in the arm and back. (Rule Four: Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it.) http://www.greenwichtime.com/ci_12438071?source --- Canadian Conservatives Fail to Nix Long-Gun Registry: An attempt by a Saskatchewan Conservative MP to abolish the controversial long-gun registry quietly died Monday. Garry Breitkreuz, who represents a riding in rural Saskatchewan, had introduced a private member's bill in the House of Commons aimed at scrapping the controversial registry and the bill was to be debated in the House of Commons Monday morning. But Mr. Breitkreuz failed to show up for the debate and, according to rules of procedure in the House, that meant his private member's bill now falls to the bottom of the priority list. MPs have introduced more than 190 private member's bills and must count on a lottery system to have their bill advanced... Mr. Breitkreuz was not available for comment but an aide said that he allowed his bill, C-301, to die in favour of a similar bill, C-391, put forward by Manitoba Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner... http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1628746 -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .