From SAF: Monday's ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that dismisses a lawsuit against Glock by the victims of a deranged gunman in Grenada Hills, CA was a proper decision under existing statute, the Second Amendment Foundation said today. In a 2-1 decision, a three- judge panel upheld a lower court's ruling that the case, Ileto v. Glock, was nullified under the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). That federal statute was passed to prevent junk lawsuits against gun makers, and this specific case was cited during Congressional debate as precisely the kind of lawsuit the law would prohibit. "We are delighted that the Ninth Circuit panel not only affirmed the lower court ruling," said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb, "but also that the court upheld the constitutionality of the federal law prohibiting this kind of lawsuit. While we sympathize with the victims, it would be an egregious miscarriage of justice to hold gun manufacturers responsible for the acts of criminals over whom they have no control." ... http://www.saf.org/viewpr-new.asp?id=295 --- Bill Would Restore National-Park Carry: The Senate has approved a measure that would allow people to carry loaded guns in national parks and wildlife refuges. Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma sponsored the amendment, which would restore a Bush administration policy allowing loaded guns in national parks. A federal judge blocked the policy in March. The Obama administration said it would not appeal the ruling. The gun amendment was attached to a bill imposing restrictions on credit card companies. The amendment was approved 67-29. http://www.newsmax.com/politics/us_guns_national_parks/2009/05/12/213645.html http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090512/D9850J380.html ...The question now is this: Will a controversial gun proposal attached to popular underlying legislation be the poison pill that sinks that larger bill? That's been the case with legislation allowing the District of Columbia a voting representative in Congress, to which the Senate attached language scrapping many of Washington's strict gun control laws. As a result of that gun amendment, the DC-vote bill remains stalled in the House months after it passed the upper chamber... http://washingtonindependent.com/42641/senate-approves-coburn-gun-amendment --- Second Amendment March: ...With that, Coryell began laying the groundwork for the Second Amendment March (S.A.M.), tentatively scheduled for April 19, 2010, which included networking with other gun rights groups and activists. The Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners, of which Coryell is a member, was one of his earliest supporters. Soon after work began, rock personality and Second Amendment champion Ted Nugent promised a "firebreathing Star Spangled Banner eruption" in support of the event... http://www.examiner.com/x-2206-Cleveland-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m5d12-Second-Amendment-March-seeks-redress-of-grievances --- What's Going on with the Tiahrt Amendment?: ...The above quotes refer to federal legislation named after Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-Kansas) which regulates the use of firearms trace data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Under existing law, police can request a trace of any gun that comes into their hands for any reason, but this doesn't mean that every trace is related to a violent or property crime investigation. For example, police may trace a firearm listed as "found." The ATF trace summary reports listed over 19,000 trace requests from years 2006-2007 where no reason was provided. In fact, it appears that the proposed change allows sharing of trace data for purposes of more general investigations. For example, Austin Police Department could examine trace data that doesn't relate to a specific crime under investigation, in order to analyze possible patterns that result in arrest of a suspected gun trafficker... http://www.examiner.com/x-2879-Austin-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m5d12-Change-in-ATF-trace-requests-Fact-versus-fiction --- The Beat Goes On: As the owner of Midwestern Firearms Company in East Peoria, John Meek aims each business day to sell as much ammunition as he can to responsible owners of handguns. Lately there's been one big hitch in his business model. He has no ammunition to sell. "I've been out for about two weeks," Meek said. "I get spare cases in now and then, but people are keeping an eye on what's coming in, and those don't last long." Those familiar with the firearm industry say it is no coincidence that there has been a run on the nation's gun stores since the election of Barack Obama last November. People are buying guns and bullets at a breathless pace and the evidence is both anecdotal - gun stores are mobbed - and quantifiable... http://www.wickedlocal.com/walpole/news/business/x342391359/Fears-of-crackdown-have-ammo-guns-flying-off-the-shelves Gil Hebard - owner of a gun store in Knoxville - can't buy enough ammunition to keep up with demand. "It started when Obama was elected," Hebard said about the surge in demand for firearms and ammunition. Gun fans are worried the president will clamp down on their rights and are stockpiling supplies in case that happens. "Nationwide, people are worried about Obama," Hebard said. He is convinced the new administration will move to tighten gun controls. "It's not if it will happen it's when they will start gun legislation," he said. For the firearm and ammunition producers, fears over the president's plans are boosting sales, at least for now. "I think there's some of that," Hebard said when asked if he thought gun producers might be stoking fears to boost profits... http://www.galesburg.com/news/x1393573780/Guns-ammo-in-short-supply Because of the jump in gun sales nationwide since Barack Obama was elected president - which has amounted to panic buying because of the new anti-gun administration - ammunition sales have also skyrocketed and there now is a national shortage, affecting hunting and the shooting sports. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade organization for the shooting sports, has shed some light on the concern that the supply of ammunition is not able to keep up with the current demand. NSSF recently interviewed ammunition manufacturers across the U.S. and learned that the shortage of ammunition is real and is caused by several factors. They include: a significant spike in consumer demand; law enforcement demand for training and readiness; Department of Defense demand for training and readiness; and higher prices from commodities... http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090510/SPORTS/905100371/-1/SPORTS Although the title of this article borrows heavily from the must-read book by John Ross, the article is only very loosely related in his novel. Without giving away the plot of the novel, the "unintended consequences" to which I refer are a good deal less dramatic than those outlined in Ross's book (and involve much less feeding of hogs). Instead, I refer only to the unprecedented, sustained spike in firearm and ammunition sales since the election of Barack Obama. Since the election, even those who have no interest in gun issues (whether on the pro-rights side, or in favor of restrictive gun laws) can scarcely have avoided hearing and reading innumerable accounts of the vastly accelerated rate at which the American people are arming themselves... http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m5d12-Gun-laws-and-unintended-consequences --- Brady Bunch to Assist Pittsburgh in Lawsuit: Two opposing national groups will duke it out in court over Pittsburgh's new ordinance on lost and stolen guns, with the announcement that the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence will join the city's Law Department in fighting a National Rifle Association lawsuit. Pittsburgh Council President Doug Shields said he will propose legislation enabling the city to receive help from two lawyers with extensive experience tussling with the high-powered NRA. "It will be a team effort," Mr. Shields said. Council passed an ordinance in December that compels gun owners to contact the police within 24 hours of the loss or theft of a firearm, or face fines and, for repeat offenders, imprisonment. Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said the ordinance was unenforceable and let it go into law without his signature, but the city will defend it against the NRA in court... (Ravenstahl said the ordinance was unenforceable because it violates the state's preemption law.) http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09132/969457-53.stm --- Louisiana Campus-Carry Bill Moves to House Floor: Over the objections of university officials, including campus police, a House committee has approved allowing the carrying of concealed weapons on college campuses. The House Criminal Justice Committee voted 9-6 to approve HB27 by its chairman, Rep. Ernest Wooton, R-Belle Chasse. He got the committee's approval last year but widespread opposition led him to withdraw the bill before it was voted on by the House. Armed with the backing of Gov. Bobby Jindal and the National Rifle Association, Wooton is moving forward this year. "I am a strong believer in the Second Amendment rights," Jindal said. "If the bill gets to my desk, I will sign it." ... http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20090512/NEWS11/90512034 --- Third Try for "AWB" in Louisiana: Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee members are scheduled to consider a statewide ban on assault weapons today. New Orleans Representative Cedric Richmond sponsors the measure. Similar bills have failed each of the past two years. This year, Richmond says, his bill is more specific. "I went in this year and listed 11 weapons that my police chief has talked about as being the most serious threat to public safety," Richmond told the WWL State Capitol Bureau. "I hunt and I fish. I have a rifle and I have a handgun, but I don't need an AK-47. I can't go buy a bazooka, so why should I be able to go buy and AK-47. I think we are just taking it too far." Richmond says his bill this year contains language to outlaw specific models of semiautomatic weapons that he says are designed only to kill human beings. The National Rifle Association's Alexa Fritts says they oppose Richmond's bill. She says the federal assault weapons ban was allowed to expire in 2004 because it basically made no measurable difference... http://www.wwl.com/Proposed-assault-weapons-ban-in-committee/4379336 --- Oops, Wrong House: A resident shot a man last night when the would-be intruder tried to enter a home in Berkeley Heights, authorities said. The shooting in the secluded section of Watchung Reservation occurred around 9 p.m. on Cataract Hollow Road, Union County Police Chief Dan Vaniska said. He said the victim, whose name and address were not available, was taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition. "An unwanted guest forced himself into the residence and a resident responded by shooting him," Vaniska said at the scene. Details were scant last night, but Vaniska said residents were brought to county police headquarters, where they were being questioned... http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-13/1242104734227660.xml&coll=1 --- Careless Shooters Endanger West Virginia Range: ...Remedial efforts at the range, such as adding more bunkers, haven't solved the problem, he said. "We did that hoping people would start to place their targets properly, directly in front of and at the base of the bunker, but that's had limited success. People continue to put their targets willy-nilly, some of them would put their targets on top of the bunker," Heinz said... He also said he understood that there had been some people using AK-47s at the range to shoot clay pigeons. That's a problem because those targets should be "shot with a shotgun and not with a rifle, which can carry a lot further," McIntosh said. "There's only a problem with a few, however. Probably 98 percent of the people that have been out here while I am shooting are good people," he said. "They all watch each other and they do what they are supposed to do. So it may be that a few people have caused a problem for the majority." ... http://www.journal-news.net/page/content.detail/id/519560.html?nav=5006 --- When Martial-Arts Skills Are Not Enough: ...Ms. Emerson was tough as nails, a skilled fighter ("120 pounds of pure tough," as described by her self-defense instructor--who, by the way, acknowledges the fact that martial arts skills constitute but one facet of a complete self-defense preparedness program), gutsy to a degree beyond my ability to even fathom, much less hope to emulate--and she was still subdued, raped, and eventually brutally killed (bludgeoned to death with a tire iron), by a 60-year-old man of less than imposing physical presence, whom she had already disarmed... (It's a spectrum - not every threat justifies a deadly-force response and many threats that do will be at close enough range that some sort of fighting skill may be necessary to regain the time and space to draw a firearm.) http://www.examiner.com/x-2581-St-Louis-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m5d11-When-martial-arts-skills-are-not-enough --- It's Back?: Federal's "Chief Special load," the 125 gr. standard-pressure Nyclad .38 Special hollowpoint is currently listed at Ammunition To Go, albeit at a very high price. This round is my choice for aluminum-alloy-frame or lighter revolvers in this caliber (or for shooters who are unusually intolerant of recoil). The entire Nyclad line was discontinued by Federal a few years back but the reintroduction of the Chief Special load was announced at this year's SHOT Show. What is unusual is that the photo shows the older box while the link for Federal's website shows new packaging. http://www.ammunitiontogo.com/catalog1/product_info.php/manufacturers_id/25/products_id/3019 --- From AzCDL: HB 2474 is scheduled for a "Third Read" vote by the full House on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. For those of you receiving NRA-ILA alerts, the date of the vote has been moved from May 12 to May 13. HB 2474 stipulates that property owners, tenants, public or private employers, and business entities must not prohibit the transport or storage of legally owned firearms in locked and privately owned motor vehicles parked within parking lots, parking garages, and other designated parking areas. It exempts property owners, tenants, public or private employers, business entities, and their employees or agents from civil liability for damages resulting from or arising out of an act involving a legally owned firearm that is transported or stored within a locked and privately owned vehicle. It allows employers and business entities to prescribe policies mandating that owners keep firearms out of the plain view of the public when stored or transported in locked and privately owned vehicles. And, it specifies inapplicability stemming from state and federal prohibition, and motor vehicle ownership. We urge everyone to contact your Representatives and politely ask them to vote for HB 2474 during the House Third read on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. You can find your Representatives here: http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp . Free AzCDL lapel pins at NRA annual meeting! AzCDL is giving away AzCDL logo lapel pins to AzCDL members attending this weekend's 138th NRA Annual Meeting at the Phoenix Convention Center. You can find more information about the NRA annual meeting here: http://www.nraam.com/ . We urge everyone to attend. Bring your family and friends. Let the media see the solidarity and strength of Arizona's defenders of the Second Amendment. We would have liked to invite you to drop by the AzCDL booth in the NRA's Annual Meeting Exhibitor area but since we are not an NRA affiliate and have been deemed a "political organization" by the NRA, they have denied our requests to participate as an exhibitor. However since almost all AzCDL directors are NRA Life members; we will be attending, participating, and enjoying NRA's annual meeting. Circumstances require a different approach for us to connect with AzCDL members attending NRA's annual meeting. First, we urge everyone attending to proudly wear their AzCDL t-shirt. If any of us spot you, we will give you an AzCDL lapel pin to display. If you are not wearing your AzCDL t-shirt, present your AzCDL membership card to one of AzCDL's directors, and we will gladly give you an AzCDL lapel pin to wear at the NRA annual meeting. How do you spot an AzCDL Director? We should all be wearing our AzCDL "badges." They are 3" high, white and shaped like the State of Arizona. In the center of the badge is AzCDL's logo. Immediately above the logo is "AZCDL." Below the logo is our name: Dave Kopp, John Wentling, Charles Heller, Fred Dahnke or Duke Schechter. Our supply of lapel pins is limited so we may run out. Please only take one. We hope to see you there! AzCDL mentioned in Arizona Capitol Times! YOUR emails ARE effective! AzCDL's concern about legislators leaving early was echoed in a May 11, 2009 Associated Press (AP) article written for the Arizona Capitol Times. Unfortunately, copyright laws prevent us from posting the entire article, but the AP article raised the same concerns we have about the session ending before non-budget bills were heard. The article ended with: "The Arizona Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group lobbying for passage of several bills, recently urged its supporters to implore lawmakers to stick around even after the budget is passed." It looks like even the "Mainstream" media can't ignore AzCDL - thanks to YOU! Note: Because we will be attending the NRA convention this weekend, it is unlikely that we will be able to send out any additional Alerts until next week. These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization. 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 .