Weekly Reminder: HR 45 has not even gained one co-sponsor in committee and S 2099 died nine years ago. It is not necessary to forward the hysterical mailings to me. Friday, January 23, 2009 U.S. Representative Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) recently sponsored H.R. 45, also known as "Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act." The bill is, at its core and as its name implies, a licensing and registration scheme. The measure calls for all handgun owners to submit to the federal government an application that shall include, among many other things: a photo; an address; a thumbprint; a completed, written firearm safety test; private mental health records; and a fee. And those are only some of the requirements to be licensed! The bill would further require the attorney general to establish a database of every handgun sale, transfer, and owner's address in America. Moreover, the bill would make it illegal to own or possess a "qualifying firearm" -- defined as "any handgun; or any semiautomatic firearm that can accept any detachable ammunition feeding device..." without one of the proposed licenses. Additionally, the bill would make it illegal to transfer ownership of a "qualifying firearm" to anyone who is not a licensed gun dealer or collector (with very few exceptions), and would require "qualifying firearm" owners to report all transfers to the attorney general's database. It would also be illegal for a licensed gun owner to fail to record a gun loss or theft within 72 hours, or fail to report a change of address within 60 days. Further, if a minor obtains a firearm and injures someone with it, the owner of the firearm may face a multiple-year jail sentence. H.R. 45 is essentially a reintroduction of H.R. 2666, which Rush introduced in 2007. H.R. 2666 contained much of the same language as H.R. 45, and was co-sponsored by several well-known anti-gun legislators--including Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. H.R. 45 currently has no co-sponsors. Rest assured that NRA-ILA will continue to monitor this bill closely, and will keep you informed of any developments if they materialize. http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4329 Friday, May 29, 2009 In the last few weeks, NRA-ILA has received hundreds of e-mails warning us about "SB-2099," a bill that would supposedly require you to report all your guns on your income tax return every April 15. Like many rumors, there's just a grain of truth to this one. Someone's recycling an old alert, which wasn't even very accurate when it was new. There actually was a U.S. Senate bill with that number that would have taxed handguns - nine years ago. It was introduced by anti-gun Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and it would have included handguns under the National Firearms Act's tax and registration scheme. This has nothing to do with anyone's Form 1040, of course. Fortunately, S. 2099 disappeared without any action by the Senate, back when Bill Clinton was still in the White House. We reported about it back then, just as we report about new anti-gun bills every week. Now, it's time for gun owners to drop this old distraction and focus on the real threats at hand. http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=4925 --- Fort Hood - Death by "Gun Control": Yesterday at Fort Hood, disgruntled Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan murdered 12 soldiers and wounded 31 others before being shot and captured. These soldiers were entrusted to carry fully automatic, military assault rifles when deployed to Afghanistan, where the shooter was about to be sent. But in America, these same soldiers are disarmed when on base... Old media attempted to associate this mass murder with the one that happened to civilians in 1991: "The base is surrounded by the town of Killeen, where a man shot and killed 23 people in a Luby's restaurant in October 1991. 'Unfortunately, this is a day we had dreaded,' said Hilary Shine, a spokeswoman for the city of Killeen. 'Every time you hear of a mass casualty situation in Killeen, you think of Luby's. ...'" They inadvertently prove that civilian disarmament zones provide the perfect place for mass murderers: Luby's patrons were disarmed due to Texas's gun control laws. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, who lost her parents in the Luby's massacre, explains what happened in the video below... Off-base, soldiers over age 20 are eligible under Texas law to carry a concealed handgun... http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d6-Fort-Hood-Death-by-gun-control ...Ron Borsch is consultant trainer for the Bedford (Ohio) Police Department, specializing in tactically training first-responders (bio in previous article). In an email today, Borsch summarized his up-to-date research into how mass murders are stopped: "My latest stats have not changed much, but CIVILIANS lead aborting rapid mass murder at 71%, and with a SINGLE actor initiating the stoppage, and often completing it at 82% of the total. When police abort rapid mass murder, it is 29%, and with a 'Single Officer Lifesaving Others'© SOLO at 75% of the total. The 'POSSE' Theory of rounding up a formation of officers to combat a lone (98%) and suicidal (90%) active killer in the precious 1 to 3 'Golden Minutes'© of a perishable opportunity has NO tracking history of success that I can find." ... http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d7-First-responders-at-Fort-Hood-Fox-News-gets-it-wrong Out of the carnage committed by a lone gunman armed with two handguns at Fort Hood on Thursday, there was one refreshing moment of total candor, if not downright common sense. An observation to a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by Staff Sgt. Jacob Dorisca of Dallas suggests why it is that many people consider the Army to be run by sergeants, and rightly so. According to the newspaper, "Dorisca wondered whether the slayings would lead Fort Hood's commanding general to rethink the policy of requiring soldiers to remain unarmed while on post." What occurred at Fort Hood is not a "tragedy" as it is being portrayed in the politically-correct media and political arenas. What happened at Fort Hood is an outrage, and while politicians and the press, and even some (not all) members of The High Road gun rights forum are dancing around the issue of the suspect's religion, others are not so shy... http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d6-Fort-Hood-shooting-reveals-shortcomings-of-institutionalized-political-correctness?cid=exrss-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner In the wake of yesterday's carnage at Fort Hood, the media is scrambling to find answers about the reported shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, and his motives. While they're all asking basically the same questions, here are some they're not asking. From Lt. Gen. Robert Cone: "Cone said in a press conference Thursday night that 'there was no indication' that the weapons used in the shootings were military weapons. Soldiers at the post do not carry weapons unless they are doing training exercises or something of that nature, he said. 'This is our home,' Cone said. 'So we do have security guards that are here - the MPs and the Department of the Army civilian police, but soldiers on Fort Hood do not carry weapons.'" So didn't the shooter take full advantage of what is essentially a "gun free zone"? ... (I recall, from my days in Douglas, encampments of a few hundred soldiers or marines being guarded by a lone Border Patrol agent because military personnel assigned to assist in the maintenance of the integrity of the border, under Joint Task Force 6, are banned from being armed.) http://www.examiner.com/x-1417-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d6-Questions-about-Fort-Hood-shooter-you-wont-hear-from-mainstream-press One day after a shooter opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey Jr. ordered a review of all force protection policies at Army bases worldwide. Thursday's shooting, he said during a briefing at Fort Hood, was a "kick in the gut." Casey's announcement comes after questions were raised about base security and why soldiers couldn't protect themselves where they live and work. "There will be an investigation, a look at the whole policy, but Congress should not step in and try to change the policy," said U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas. Each branch of the military sets a policy on whether guns may be carried on bases. Private guns are not allowed on Army bases or at facilities such as the Naval Air Station Fort Worth. Soldiers generally carry weapons on base only when there is a reason, such as a training exercise or a trip to the firing range. Personal weapons are registered with authorities on the base and stored until they are signed out... (Trick question: will the top brass move toward allowing military personnel to be armed on base or toward installing metal detectors and similar devices, to ensure that they are not?) http://www.bnd.com/news/state/story/998514.html --- So What?: ...Today, several news sources are reporting that it was the Five-Seven that Nidal M. Hasan used in his shooting attack at Fort Hood in Texas Thursday. In January 2005, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), International Brotherhood of Police Officers (IBPO) and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), released their alert to the police community at a press conference, joined by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer and Congressman Elliott Engel of New York. When first launched for civilian sales, company officials wrote on the company website that "enemy personnel, even wearing body armor can be effectively engaged up to 200 meters. Kevlar® helmets and vests as well as the CRISAT protection will be penetrated." That language has since been removed by FN Herstal... (Since they were in a "gun-free zone," the military personnel shot by Maj. Hasan were wearing neither body armor nor Kevlar helmets. Further, there are two major types of cartridges for the FN Five-seveN and the armor-piercing ones are not available to the public.) http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/news-fort-hood-shooter-used-cop-killer-armor-piercing-handgun --- Senator Defends Veterans' RKBA Bill: An anti-gun group is using the shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood as an example in its campaign against pending gun rights legislation, drawing accusations of exploitation from a Republican senator. Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina is lashing out against the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, accusing the group of exploiting the deadly rampage to oppose his gun lobby backed bill - which seeks to protect veterans' rights to gun ownership... Burr was quick to blast Helmke's remarks, saying, "In this time of personal and national tragedy when most people's prayers and thoughts are rightfully with the families and friends affected by the tragedy at Fort Hood, one can only be amazed that Mr. Helmke would use such an event to try to advance his personal agenda... (Burr is a co-sponsor of the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act [http://burr.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressOffice.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=38b51d2c-d65e-433a-93fa-a53e3d0ea20f] and currently has a "B" rating from GOA.) http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/06/senator-accuses-anti-gun-group-exploiting-fort-hood-massacre/ --- Lies or Sarcasm, Which One Better to Deceive?: ...But, still, we do not appear to have enough guns. The tragic shooting yesterday on our largest military base indicates that even when almost everyone in the vicinity has access to a gun, we are still not safe. Just one day later, the latest disgruntled employee rampage demonstrates that people aren't even safe in a state where you can own a gun, carry it in public and shoot anyone you think is dangerous... (This is precisely the point - while there are large supplies of firearms and ammunition on a military post, they are not readily accessible to military personnel, who are also barred from carrying privately owned firearms on base.) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-tenenbaum/america-needs-more-guns_b_348953.html --- At Long Last...: Luke Sanchez emerged from a Valencia County [NM] courthouse Wednesday as a free man saying he never should have been charged with murder for killing a burglary suspect. Minutes before a judge had ruled there was not enough evidence to take the case to trial. From the beginning Sanchez contended he acted in self-defense when he shot Gary Gabaldón on the evening of July 4. "I lost my freedom," Sanchez said. "I lost my constitutional right to freedom for charges that never should have been brought. I defended my life, and that's my constitutional right and my God-given right." Sanchez then headed to his farm near Belen. Prosecutors claimed that Sanchez was a vigilante and wanted him tried for murder or manslaughter. But after a preliminary hearing lasting a day and a half Magistrate Judge Danny Hawkes rule prosecutors didn't have enough evidence to back either charge... http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/crime/crime_krqe_los_lunas_judge_drops_sanchez_murder_charges_200911041052 http://www.examiner.com/x-18149-SelfDefense-Examiner~y2009m11d6-Murder-case-against-exMarine-who-acted-in-self-defense-dismissed-by-judge The Dangers of Intervention: This 2002 essay by Evan Marshall merits re-reading periodically. While many know Evan Marshal as the leader of one side of an acrimonious debate over whether lab results or street results are the best predictors of bullet performance, I credit him with an element in my "decision tree" the evening I had to draw a handgun on a robber in a store I was patronizing. http://www.stoppingpower.net/commentary/comm_dangers_in_intervention.asp --- Open Carry Advocate Continues Criticism of Cramer: In last week's article "With friends like this", I took renowned historian and gun rights activist Clayton Cramer to task for criticizing both open carry and the gay community in his Shotgun News column. That article was primarily focused on pointing out that the gun rights community is engaged in a civil rights battle and we do great harm to the cause when we divide ourselves... What I find most ironic about this scholarly debate that Cramer and I are conducting via our writings is the fact that in his latest book entitled Armed America: The Remarkable Story of How and Why Guns Became as American as Apple Pie, he actually documents the fact that the decline of the visibility of the firearm in modern life has coincided with the rise of gun control. And yet here he is, asking us to stay in the closet and sit in the back of the bus. Come on Clayton ... you don't hide apple pie. (Call me chicken but, personally, I prefer concealed carry to open carry for what I consider sound tactical reasons. My view of open carry as a political statement is softening - I just don't feel like playing that poster boy. I do, however, encourage everyone to read Armed America, a book that grew out of Cramer's courageous campaign to debunk Michael Bellesiles' fraudulent Arming America. Perhaps Cramer took too many California mores with him when he moved to Idaho.) http://www.examiner.com/x-3253-Minneapolis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d6-You-dont-hide-apple-pie In Cramer's Own Words: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/openly-carrying-guns-can-be-unwise-even-when-its-legal/ --- More on Negligent Shooting by Officer: Eastchester [NY] police Officer James Pileggi was arraigned this afternoon in the fatal off-duty shooting of a New Rochelle man Tuesday night, and his lawyer afterward called it a tragic accident. "This is a terrible tragedy," lawyer Angelo MacDonald said outside New Rochelle City Court, "but unfortunately an accident." He added, about the manslaughter charge against Pileggi, "This is an overcharge and may be unprovable." ...Pileggi and two acquaintances - 29- and 33-year-old men, both from New Rochelle - were parked in Everett's driveway in Pileggi's white Infinity around 8:46 p.m. Pileggi was in the passenger seat "showing off" his 9mm off-duty weapon that was equipped with a laser, New Rochelle, Capt. Joseph Schaller said. Everett was standing outside the car... (Negligence can be summarized with the word "Oops." Recklessness, which is often an element of the crime of manslaughter, usually implies predictability of the results. In other words, if you point a firearm at someone, particularly with your finger inside the trigger guard, there is a good likelihood that he will be shot. Violating basic safety rules is easily painted as reckelessness.) http://www.lohud.com/article/20091104/NEWS02/911040385/Eastchester-police-officer-to-be-arraigned-in-fatal-New-Rochelle-shooting --- When Guns Are Outlawed...: England is an island. If you can't keep guns off an island, where can you succeed? England has some of the strictest gun laws among western democracies. The latest law in 1997, basically barred all but .22 caliber rifles and shotguns from ownership by average citizens. In spite of this, gun crimes continue to rise in London. It seems that cheap guns are easy enough to get that gang fights which used to be settled with knives are now prosecuted with guns. Not only does this show the futility of banning guns because people who don't value the law will always break the law, but banning anything creates a black market and that economy fosters organized crime. Any time a good is made artificially scarce, such as a legal ban, the profit margin for supplying it illegally skyrockets. Organized crime is the mechanism that fulfills this black market and profits handsomely from it. This applies to any good, even difficult to handle items such as illegal perishable meats... http://www.examiner.com/x-2944-Denver-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m11d6-You-cant-keep-the-bad-guns-out--Allow-armed-citizens?cid=exrss-Denver-Gun-Rights-Examiner --- NRA-ILA Alerts: List members are encouraged to read the alerts for the week, posted on the NRA-ILA website. http://www.nraila.org/GrassrootsAlerts/read.aspx -- Stephen P. Wenger, KE7QBY Firearm safety - It's a matter for education, not legislation. http://www.spw-duf.info .