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Latest Gun Rights News

Read the latest news from the frontlines of the battle to protect our right to keep and bear arms.

6/30/2010 - McDonald decision changes little

Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled that the City of Chicago’s handgun ban was unconstitutional and the right to keep and bear arms is fundamental to the Constitution.

Many have called this a stunning victory, but before you pop the cork on the champagne you’ve been saving for a special occasion, let me warn you: the devil is in the details.

This decision does not fundamentally change our continued need to fight to preserve and advance our right to keep and bear arms.

In the majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito stated, “We made it clear in Heller that our holding did not cast doubt on such longstanding regulatory measures as “prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill,” “laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.” Id., at ___–___ (slip op., at 54–55). We repeat those assurances here. Despite municipal respondents’ doomsday proclamations, incorporation does not imperil every law regulating firearms.

Make no mistake, the McDonald decision is not a magic bullet that will reverse generations of gun control legislation

Click here to read more about the McDonald Decision on the National Association for Gun Rights' Blog.


6/24/2010 - House Passes DISLCOSE Act, fight moves to Senate

This afternoon House Speaker Nancy Pelosi forced the free-speech limiting DISCLOSE Act through the House of Representatives.

Because of the heroic efforts of gun rights activists like you, the DISCLOSE Act barely passed with a vote of 219 to 206.

YOUR pressure -- your phone calls, your e-mails -- turned the easy passage of this measure into a tough and expensive political battle for the anti-gunners in Congress and the White House. (Click here to see how your Congressman voted.)

Thank you for your commitment to this important fight -- you are making a difference!

In fact, Capitol insiders say Harry Reid may be the driving force for this exemption. Reid is in a very tough re-election race in Nevada, but the NRA has all but endorsed him (see the latest NRA magazine, with flattering pictures and flowery praise of Harry Reid). If he’s held accountable for his bad votes on the gun issue, he will almost certainly lose – which is why he’d like to silence all of the pro-gun groups except the one that’s supporting him.

The fight against the free-speech infringement that is the DISCLOSE Act must now be taken to the U.S. Senate.v

If gun rights activists like you and me can keep the pressure up in the U.S. Senate, we still have a chance of killing this awful legislation.

Please, call both your U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121 and demand that they publicly oppose the DISCLOSE Act.s.

6/16/2010 - Update: Wall Street Journal confirms NRA sell-out

Washington is ablaze with news about the NRA's abandonment of free speech.

Some of you still may not believe the NRA could strike such a gruesome deal with Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi on the DISCLOSE Act, which is sponsored by the Senate's most shrill gun-hater, Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Those of you still not convinced need to view this morning's Wall Street Journal editorial, which jumped into the fray, decrying the NRA's sell-out and pointing out that their exemption is not only dangerous but abandons their natural allies.

"Cutting a special deal at the expense of the First Amendment with lawmakers who have decided for now to stop gutting the Second Amendment reveals an NRA that is unprincipled and will be weaker for it in the long run" - Wall Street Journal, 6/16/2010

You can read more about this shocking revelation on the National Association for Gun Rights Blog.

6/15/2010 - URGENT ALERT: NRA cuts deals to limit free speech

Three prominent Washington D.C. websites are reporting what many capitol insiders warned of: the National Rifle Association has made a deal with the devil (i.e. anti-gun Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid) to limit the free speech of Americans in exchange for their carved-out exemption.

While some pro-gun rights advocates may think free speech does not matter or that nothing another gun advocacy group does should ever be questioned, the National Association for Gun Rights and I take a very different view.

Without the right to free speech, we are defenseless in the battle to save our Second Amendment rights.

Click here to read more on the National Association for Gun Rights' Blog.

6/14/2010 - Hiker defends friends from bear attack

When a pair of hikers were confronted by a charging grizzly bear in Denali National Park, one of them shot the bear with a .45 handgun. If firearms were still outlawed in national parks, both of these hikers would probably be dead.
A backpacker shot and killed a grizzly bear in Denali National Park and Preserve on Friday after the animal charged toward his hiking companion. This is the first shooting incident since a change in federal law that allows firearms to be carried in many national parks and wildlife refuges went into effect in February.

This is also the first known shooting of a grizzly bear in the wilderness portion of the park by a visitor.

According to park spokeswoman Kris Fister, the backpackers were hiking in an area about 35 miles from park headquarters when they heard noise in nearby brush. The male hiker drew a .45-caliber pistol he was carrying, and when the bear emerged and charged toward his female hiking companion, he fired about nine rounds toward the grizzly.
Click here to read more and comment on the National Association for Gun Rights' Blog

5/13/2010 - Supreme Court Nominee Kagan no friend of gun rights

In a move that will shock no one, President Barack Obama nominated a gun-unfriendly attorney to the United States Supreme Court.

Elena Kagan, Obama's second female Supreme court nominee, was the lawyer for the White House that wrote the Clinton firearms import ban.

Additionally, as a law clerk, Kagan lobbied Justice Thurgood Marshall to oppose firearms rights for citizens of Washington D.C..

You can read more about Kagan on the National Association for Gun Rights Blog.


5/4/2010 - 2010 Spring Newsletter available for download

The latest issue of the National Association for Gun Rights newsletter is now available to download.

In the cover story, read about Executive Director Dudley Brown's visit to Washington D.C., where he met with pro-gun hero, Congressman Paul Broun (R-GA).

Other stories in the Spring issue include:
  • News on Hillary Clinton's support for the U.N. Small Arms Treaty
  • Guest columnist Steve Bierfeldt's essay on "What politics is really about"
  • State Gun Rights news update
  • Analysis of the Supreme Court hearing in the McDonald v. Chicago case.
  • Firearms now allowed in National Parks
  • NAGR Range Bag, a new regular column I'm authoring, centering on guns, shooting and hunting.
You can download the newsletter here.

4/28/2010 - OK Governor vetoes Firearms Freedom Act

Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry (D-OK) has vetoed the Oklahoma Firearms Freedom Act. In a prepared statement Governor Henry highlight his "support" for the gun rights and his NRA "A" rating before claiming that the legislation "did nothing" to protect the right to keep and bear arms.

From the Claremore Daily Press:
"I'm a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and have earned an 'A' rating from the NRA, but this legislation does nothing to protect an individual's right to bear arms," Henry, a Democrat, said in a statement. "It abolishes commonsense regulations like background checks and gives criminals easy access to a wide array of weapons. This law would harm Oklahomans, not protect them."

State Sen. Randy Brogdon, a Republican candidate for governor who authored the bill, called Henry's argument "absurd" and vowed to attempt an override of the veto. That would take a three-quarters majority in both the House and Senate.

"What the governor fails to grasp is that for years, anti-Second Amendment politicians have been attempting to use federal regulation as a way to prevent any law-abiding citizen from owning firearms," said Brogdon, R-Owasso. "My legislation would have stopped further federal attempts to erode our constitutional right to protect ourselves and our families."

Henry, who is barred by term limits from seeking re-election, also said the bill was certain to draw a legal challenge and result in a losing court battle.
A couple of important lessons can be learned from this incident by the discerning activist.

First, I'm reminded that once you've removed a citizens leverage over a politician -- getting re-elected -- the term limited politician reverts to his most base of liberal inclinations.

Secondly, I'm reminded yet again that an NRA "A" rating is hardly worth the paper it's printed on. If Governor Henry really was worthy of that level of endorsement, he would have singed the Oklahoma Firearms Freedom Act the very same day it was delivered to his office by the Oklahoma legislature.

4/26/2010 - Bloomberg uses special privilege to keep his guards armed

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg -- a notorious anti-gunner -- doesn't want you armed, but uses special favors to keep his guards armed.

The billionaire founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns keeps a vacation mansion on the sun soaked island of Bermuda. According to the New York Times, when Bloomberg visits the island he is escorted by at least two taxpayer paid New York City police officers. Bloomberg has made special arrangements with the Bermudan Government to permit his protective detail to remain armed, despite the strict gun control laws which don't even permit police in Bermuda to carry guns.
The mayor also takes along a police detail when he travels, flying two officers on his private plane and paying as much as $400 a night to put them up at a hotel near his house; the city pays their wages while they are there, as it does whether Mr. Bloomberg is New York or not. Guns are largely forbidden in Bermuda — even most police officers do not use them — but the mayor’s guards have special permission to carry weapons. A spokesman for the Police Department declined to comment.
Mayor Bloomberg wants to prevent you from carrying a gun for self-defense, but he's willing to use his wealth and position to get special privilege for HIS own protection. That is elitism at its worst.

4/21/2010 - AZ Sheriff tells citizens to arm themselves

An Arizona Sheriff has told citizens to arm themselves, that the police cannot protect them from Mexican drug traffickers illegally crossing the border.

From National Public Radio:
Along the border, fears are growing that the escalating drug violence in Mexico will spill into the United States.

Last month, a well-known rancher was murdered in southeastern Arizona. Authorities suspect an illegal immigrant did it.

The murder prompted governors in New Mexico and Texas to send forces to the border. This week, the Mexican government sent dozens of police and soldiers to the Juarez Valley to restore order.

For many on both sides of the border, the fear is very real.

'Arm Yourselves'

Last week, residents held a town-hall meeting in Fort Hancock, Texas — a sleepy agricultural town on the border, about an hour southeast of El Paso, that looks like the bleak set of No Country for Old Men.

A couple hundred people crowded into the grade-school gym to hear a chilling message from Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West.

"You farmers, I'm telling you right now, arm yourselves," he said. "As they say the old story is, it's better to be tried by 12 than carried by six. Damn it, I don't want to see six people carrying you." [Emphasis added]

4/15/2010 - Interview: NAGR's Dudley Brown on the United Nations "small arms treaty"

National Association for Gun Rights' Executive Director Dudley Brown recently discussed the looming United Nations so-called "Small Arms Treaty" with Gary Franchi of the Reality Report.

You can watch a video of the interview below.



4/13/2010 - Arizona on the verge of Constitutional Concealed Carry

Thanks to the hard work of gun rights activists and Arizona Citizens Defense League, the Arizona state legislature has passed no-permit-needed, Constitutional Concealed Carry!

The legislation now awaits the signature of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. She has not yet indicated her intention to sign the bill.

She must sign or veto the bill before April 17th, or the legislation becomes law without her signature.

Should SB 1108 become law, Arizona would join Alaska and Vermont as the only states recognizing true Constitutional, no-permit-needed concealed carry.

What is Constitutional concealed carry? Quite simply, if you’re legally eligible to possess a firearm, you can carry it concealed without getting Big Brother Government’s permission -- exactly as our Founding Fathers intended.

However before that can happen, we need to let Governor Brewer know that Arizona gun owners are watching. She needs to know that a veto, or her refusal to sign SB1108, Arizona Constitutional Concealed Carry, will be considered an anti-gun action.

If you live in Arizona, please take a moment to contact Governor Jan Brewer and tell her to sign SB 1108, Arizona Constitutional Concealed Carry.

You can reach her office by phone at (602) 542-4331 or toll free at (800) 253-0883.

You can also e-mail Governor Brewer’s office by clicking here.


4/12/2010 - Foreign Press labels Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot "racist"

A reporter from the New Zealand Herald recently attended the famed Knob Creek Machine gun shoot. Reporter Jonathan Franklin buys into most of the Liberal Left’s ideas about guns, who should own them, what they should look like, and how gun owners are mostly white.

From the story:
Anyone can attend the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot.

Once you arrive it feels more like a pilgrimage for white American men and their kin.

Entire white families attend the event, including babies with earplugs and 10-year-olds with assault rifles casually slung like a knapsack...

Read the full story on the National Association for Gun Rights Blog.

4/8/2010 - Bloomberg at it again

Liberals in places like New York, Boston and Washington D.C. are riding high on the passage of President Obama's health care reform bill. Emboldened by their backdoor success, liberal leaders are already setting their sights on the next round of political priorities.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his anti-gun front group Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) have sent the White House and Congressional leaders a 40-point report outlining the anti-gun measures they would like make into law.

You might be saying to yourself, "We've heard this song before, right?" Wrong.

The anti-gun elitist have changed their tactics. Instead of trying to pass legislation through Congress, they want these changes made by regulation and executive order.

Michael Bloomberg and his anti-gun stooges want to bypass the elected representatives of the people and allow unelected bureaucrats in the Obama Administration to violate your Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Bloomberg's plan includes the creation of a Federal task force of over seven different agencies from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the White House Office of Budget and Management.

Elements of the proposal, which is titled "A blueprint for Federal Action on illegal guns", includes a laundry list of anti-gun measures.

Read more on the National Association for Gun Rights Blog.

4/6/2010 - CA Dem: Register your guns or go to jail

From Declan McCullagh of CBS News:

A California Democrat is proposing a new law requiring residents to register their shotguns and rifles or go to jail, CBSNews.com has learned.

Assemblyman Mike Feuer, whose district includes Beverly Hill and West Hollywood, this week introduced legislation ordering law enforcement to "permanently keep" records of anyone who buys a gun from a dealer or an individual. California already stores information about handgun purchases.

Feuer is no friend of firearms owners: his previous legislative effort, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law, required all new handguns to include "microstamping" technology that can imprint serial numbers on spent ammunition casings. As a Los Angeles city councilman, Feuer proposed limiting city residents to one gun a month.

Read more on the National Association for Gun Rights Blog.

4/1/2010 - SHOT Show 2010: HiViz Sights



3/24/2010 - Department of Education buys shotguns

The Department of Education has placed an official request for bids to fill an order of 27 tactical shotguns.

That’s not a typo, the Department of Education is buying riot shotguns.

The full purchase order is available online, here.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) intends to purchase twenty-seven (27) REMINGTON BRAND MODEL 870 POLICE 12/14P MOD GRWC XS4 KXCS SF. RAMAC #24587 GAUGE: 12 BARREL: 14? – PARKERIZED CHOKE: MODIFIED SIGHTS: GHOST RING REAR WILSON COMBAT; FRONT – XS CONTOUR BEAD SIGHT STOCK: KNOXX REDUCE RECOIL ADJUSTABLE STOCK FORE-END: SPEEDFEED SPORT-SOLID – 14? LOP are designated as the only shotguns authorized for ED based on compatibility with ED existing shotgun inventory, certified armor and combat training and protocol, maintenance, and parts.

The Department of Education has joined the Internal Revenue Service in a disturbing trend of arming government bureaucracies.

Do you think the Department of Education should purchase shotguns? Log on the National Association for Gun Rights Blog and voice your opinion.


3/22/2010 - Update from the front lines

While the prospects for Federal gun control continue to grow by the day, state groups across the country are making strides to protect and advance our right to keep and bear arms.

Wyoming

Wyoming Gun Owners (www.WyomingGunOwners.org) made a real splash during Wyoming’s short legislative session.  WyGO pushed for two marquee pieces of legislation: a Vermont concealed carry bill (which WyGO dubbed “Constitutional Carry”) and their own version of the Firearms Freedom Act.

While the Vermont Carry bill (i.e. no permit needed) passed the House but not the Senate, the Wyoming Firearms Freedom Act was passed by both chambers and signed into law by the governor. NAGR Operations Director Luke O’Dell testified on behalf of both of WyGO's bills at the state capital in Cheyenne.

Wyoming’s Firearms Freedom Act was slightly different from the legislation passed in Montana.  Wyoming’s bill included criminal penalties and fines for federal agents who try to enforce federal regulations that contradict this new Wyoming law.  This legislation has real teeth, and has already created quite a stir in Wyoming as well as Washington. Bravo, Wyoming Gun Owners.

South Dakota

South Dakota Gun Owners (www.SDGO.org) continues to dominate their legislature with a pro-freedom agenda, passing a South Dakota Firearms Freedom Act through both chambers of the legislature, and signed into law by Governor Mike Rounds.

Iowa

Still less than a year old, Iowa Gun Owners (www.IowaGunOwners.org) has been making waves across Iowa.

Though their Vermont Carry bill died, the compromise bill pushed by the institutional gun lobby (which took several steps backward for state law) also failed.  Unfortunately, compromise forces just resurrected this backward legislation earlier this week (in a cynical attempt to kill any future attempts at Vermont Carry).

This is frustrating because Iowa is one of the few rural states in America with a “May Issue” concealed carry law. Look for Iowa Gun Owners to change that in 2011.

Virginia

The Virginia General Assembly has seen a slew of pro-gun legislation this sessions. Most notably, Virginia's 15-year-old ban on concealed carry in restaurants and bars is on the verge of being overturned through the hard work of two groups, Virginia Gun Owners Coalition (www.VGCO.org) and Virginia Citizen's Defense League (www.vcdl.org).   Under the current "criminal safe zone" law, concealed weapon permit holders are forced to disarm themselves before entering a restaurant or bar.

Legislation repealing the ban passed both chambers of the Virginia State legislature and is awaiting the signature of Governor "Gun Ban Bob" McDonnell.

1/28/2010 - Dudley Brown interviews Robert Johnson of GONV

NAGR Executive Director Dudley Brown and GONV Director Robert Johnson at the 2010 SHOT Show
While staff from the National Association for Gun Rights was in Las Vegas, Nevada for the 2010 SHOT Show, Executive Director Dudley Brown sat down with Robert Johnson, Director of Gun Owners of Nevada, to discuss Nevada's political landscape.














Click here to read the full interview on our blog.



1/12/2010 - U.S. agrees to timetable for UN Gun Ban


The United Nations and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are moving forward with their plan to confiscate your guns.

The United States joined 152 other countries in support of the Arms Trade Treaty Resolution, which establishes the dates for the 2012 UN conference intended to attack American sovereignty by stripping Americans of the right to keep and bear arms.

Working groups of anti-gun countries will begin scripting language for the conference this year, creating a blueprint for other countries when they meet at the full conference.

The stakes couldn't be higher.

Former United Nation's ambassador John Bolton has cautioned gun owners about the Arms Trade Treaty and says the UN bis trying to act as though this is really just a treaty about international arms trade between nation states, but therebs no doubt that the real agenda here is domestic firearms control.b 

Click here to read the full story on our blog.


1/9/2010 - Washington Post Reporter tries to get handgun permit in post-Heller world

Washington Post tries to get a D.C. handgun permit

Recently, Washington Post reporter Christian Davenport tried to get a handgun permit from the District of Columbia. Mr. Davenportbs lengthy article outlines just how little the vaunted Heller decision really did for residents of the District of Columbia.

While the handgun ban was overturned by the Supreme Court, the scope of the decision was extremely narrow. That lack depth has allowed D.C. to create enough bureaucratic hurdles to make it as difficult as possible to get a handgun permit.

It took $833.69, a total of 15 hours 50 minutes, four trips to the Metropolitan Police Department, two background checks, a set of fingerprints, a five-hour class and a 20-question multiple-choice exam.

Oh, and the votes of five Supreme Court justices. Theybre the ones who really made it possible for me, as a District resident, to own a handgun, a constitutional right as heavily debated and rigorously parsed as the freedoms of speech and religion.

Just more than a year ago, by a 5-to-4 decision, the court struck down the Districtbs three-decades-old outright ban on handguns b the most restrictive gun law in the country. In District of Columbia v. Heller, Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the court, said the Second Amendment guarantees the right of an individual to bear arms, not just Americans in a bwell regulated Militiab; the Districtbs prohibition was therefore unconstitutional.

Reluctantly, Mayor Adrian M. Fentybs administration set up a process through which about 550 residents b now including yours truly b have acquired a handgun. But as my four trips to the police department attest, D.C. officials havenbt made it easy.

Which was exactly their intent. The day the Heller decision was announced, Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) vowed that the city was still bgoing to have the strictest handgun laws the Constitution allows.b Fenty decried the ruling, saying that bmore handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence.b

Under threat of additional litigation, however, the city has already had to ease some of its initial restrictions by greatly expanding the range of gun models, including semiautomatic handguns, residents are allowed to own.

Click here to read the full story and comment on our blog.

1/4/2010 - New Year, Same Congress

I know I don't need to tell you that the allies of the Second Amendment in Washington, D.C. are few and far between.

We have the most anti-gun President of all time in Barack Obama. His henchmen in Congress -- people like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer-- are poised to pursue his radical anti-gun agenda.

Gun rights activists like you and me, must remain vigilant; shining a light on the secret schemes of the gun-grabbers. Grassroots activists must be able to weed through the internet rumors and myths (think of all those SB.2099 emails you've gotten) and get to the truth.

That's why the National Association for Gun Rights created our Billwatch page -- as a resource you can reference whenever you need -- to keep track of gun related legislation in the 111th Congress.

You'll find that we've even collected a number of pro-gun bills which needs your support. Additionally, our staff has ranked each bill on a scale of Strongly Support to Strongly Oppose to let you know where NAGR stands.

Please visit the Billwatch page to stay fully informed on all gun-related bills making their way through Congress.

Visit the Gun Rights Action Center to learn more!
It is your generous donations that keeps the National Association for Gun Rights fighting for our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.


 

 

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