House Passes NICS Improvement Bill: The House Wednesday passed what could become the first major federal gun control law in over a decade, spurred by the Virginia Tech campus killings and buttressed by National Rifle Association help. The bill, which was passed on a voice vote, would improve state reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to stop gun purchases by people, including criminals and those adjudicated as mentally defective, who are prohibited from possessing firearms. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/6/13/113044.shtml?s=lh http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/14/washington/14guns.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200706/CUL20070613b.html --- Democrats Likely To Stay Mum On Firearms In 2008: Leading Democratic presidential candidates probably will leave gun control out of their campaign issues, experts said at a U.S. forum this week. (Unfortunately, the fact that they won't discuss it openly doesn't mean it's not part of their agenda.) http://news.monstersandcritics.com/usa/features/article_1317215.php/Dems_won%60t_push_for_gun_control --- Tiahrt Responds To Bloomberg Group: U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-Goddard) today blasted the organization behind a comprehensive campaign aimed at repealing current law that prohibits public release of critical data related to ongoing criminal investigations. In addition to a full page ad in USA Today last week, Internet ads and a series of television ads, Mayors Against Illegal Guns has now hired someone to drive a truck up and down busy streets in Wichita falsely claiming the so-called Tiahrt Amendment "puts police at risk." http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/ks04_tiahrt/2007/MAIGResponse.html --- Nevadans Protest Gun Ban: Nye County residents packed a VFW hall to protest a proposed ban on firearms at meetings of the county commissioners, town board, and regional planning commission. The meeting at the VFW was organized by Tanya Metaksa, a former Washington lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. http://www.pahrumpvalleytimes.com/2007/Jun-13-Wed-2007/news/14891634.html --- Ohio To Consider Stand-Your-Ground Bill: Trying to build on success that began in Florida and spread to 17 other states, the National Rifle Association started a push in Ohio on Wednesday that would give people more authority to use deadly force to defend themselves both in and outside their homes. http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/17364521.htm http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/article3795.html --- Another Ohio "No Guns" Sign Comes Down: Chris Chumita points out that many Ohio business owners have been misled into thinking that they are required to post "no guns" and may remove the signage if customers discuss it with them. http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/article3792.html --- History Of Gun Control, Part 2: Sandra Froman looks at the role of LBJ in making infringement of the RKBA a federal issue and the role of Harlon Carter in establishing the NRA-ILA and shifting the NRA into a more political role. (Froman appears to overlook the unconstitutional National Firearm Act of 1934, which placed what were then prohibitive taxes on machine guns and sound suppressors. As I recall, the Gun Control Act of 1968 is technically an amendment to the NFA.) http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56156 --- Oops!: A police office in Georgia appears to have shot herself in the wrist, while sleeping, with her service pistol, kept under her pillow. (I know of a very few case in which a handgun under a pillow proved to be a lifesaver but I believe that in all those cases the intruder gained rapid access to the bedroom because a window had been left open. At home, my handguns go into the headboard at night. When I travel, they are place, grip up, in my shoes, next to my bed, along with a flashlight.) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070612/ap_on_fe_st/odd_officer_pillow_shot --- From The Firearms Coalition: (This one came as a surprise to me.) In a surprise move, the US House of Representatives today passed a bill which provides incentives for states to enhance and computerize criminal and mental health records and make such records available to the FBI's National Instant Check System (NICS). While The Firearms Coalition has consistently opposed previous versions of this bill, we do not oppose the bill as it was passed by the House today. H.R.2640, sponsored by New York Democrat Carolyn McCarthy, is a modified version of a bill Rep. McCarthy has offered in each of the past several sessions of Congress. This version of the bill was just introduced this past Monday (June 11) and differs from previous versions in that it includes several provisions for the removal of names arbitrarily added to the NICS list and to ensure ways for a person who is on the list to regain their rights. These provisions were negotiated by the NRA over the past several weeks. This bill is Congress' response to the murders of 32 students at Virginia Tech last month and was fast-tracked straight to the House floor, bypassing the normal committee process - and public scrutiny. The Senate is expected to deviate from their traditional, drawn out deliberative process and vote on the bill in the next few days. It is clear that the skids are greased and I would be very surprised if the Senate doesn't pass this bill and send it up to the President for his guaranteed signature. There has been much argument within the gun-rights community about this bill, NRA's support for past versions, and their participation in reaching a passable "compromise." Much of the opposition seems to be more concerned with the idea of dealing with long-time enemies than with the actual impact the bill will have. The Firearms Coalition has opposed passage of McCarthy's previous "NICS Improvement" bills because we are opposed to the entire concept of the NICS program, oppose throwing another Billion dollars at this expensive placebo with little, if any, impact on crime, and we were concerned about language which would snare more individuals into prohibited status. We were critical of NRA and NSSF for supporting the bills and critical of GOA for over-hyping the potential negative impacts of the bills. With the negotiated language of the new bill, reduced negative impact, and inclusion of some very specific, positive improvements to the NICS system, we feel that, though it is still a large-scale waste of taxpayer money, this is not a gun control bill and the good in this bill outweighs the bad. We would like to have seen implementation of the financial incentives included in this bill predicated on a thorough study of the efficacy of NICS in reducing crime and a thorough cost/benefit analysis, but the window for such a requirement has likely closed. There has never been a serious study to determine what - if any - impact the multi-Billion dollar NICS program has had on violent crime and criminal misuse of firearms. Instead, every evaluation of NICS has been based on the number of transactions and denials the system processes and how quickly they do their job. Stopping sales does not necessarily equate to reducing crime and it is well past time for the Government Accounting Office and the Justice Department to examine the true value of this expensive intrusion on civil rights. Since NICS already exists, this bill contains no new or expanded restrictions on firearms ownership, and there is little likelihood of gaining the included, much needed reforms in any other way, therefore it is prudent and responsible to accept this bill as it is written. Until NICS is completely repealed, it makes sense to take real improvements when we can get them. As always, we will keep you posted as the - probably brief - debate over this bill plays out. Yours for the Second Amendment, Jeff Knox Director of Operations The Firearms Coalition -- Stephen P. Wenger Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .