On May 8, the U.S. Senate took up consideration of S. 601, the "Water Resources Development Act of 2013." During the debate, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) offered an amendment to extend the Right to Carry to lands administered by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The Corps manages over 11.7 million acres, including many recreational areas. In 2009, Congress passed legislation protecting the Right to Carry in national parks and wildlife refuges, but lands under Corps of Engineers management are not covered by that law.
With strong bipartisan support for the amendment, the final vote was 56-43. However, under the rules for consideration of the bill, 60 votes were required for passage.
On the same day, the House Veterans Affairs Committee voted to approve a provision to require a judge or magistrate to declare that a person who receives veterans' benefits is a danger to himself or to others, before the person can be prohibited from possessing or acquiring firearms.
Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs adds beneficiaries' names to the federal instant background check database when they are merely unable to manage their finances. Supporters of the provision argued that the need for help with managing money does not make a person dangerous. The chairman of the committee, pro-Second Amendment Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), said of the current situation: "It's arbitrary. It's inconsistent and it's unreasonable."
On the Hill: Senate Narrowly Rejects Pro-Gun Amendment, While House Committee Approves Protection for Veterans
Friday, May 10, 2013
Friday, October 13, 2017
Since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark rulings in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago, lower courts across the country have expressed their disagreement with – or downright hostility to ...
Friday, October 13, 2017
On October 5, the New York Times published an article titled, “Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades.” The piece detailed allegations that the mogul used his position of influence to make unwanted ...
Friday, October 13, 2017
What happens to the 400 million or so firearms already in private hands? How does society actually benefit from his plan? Stephens doesn’t say. He apparently just trusts that things would eventually work themselves out ...
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Yesterday, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 424, the remaining anti-gun bill on his desk.
Friday, October 13, 2017
It’s important to celebrate that law-abiding Americans are now closer than they have been in nearly half a century to being able to exercise their firearms freedom in our nation’s capital. That is real progress.
