NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS VOLUME 22, NUMBER 10
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| | | | This week, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) responded to immense pressure from gun owners and majorities of both houses of Congress and applied the brakes on its reimagining of the federal “armor piercing” ammunition law. Among other serious problems, BATFE’s planned move would have banned M855 “green tip,” the second most popular ammunition for the most popular rifle in America, the AR-15. |
| | | | Although BATFE announced earlier this week that it would conduct “further study” before moving forward with its proposed “armor piercing” ammunition “Framework” and accompanying ban on M855/SS109 ammunition, the agency will still be accepting comments on the proposal until Monday, March 16th. |
| | | | Only two days after NRA and our members forced the Obama administration to table its ban on M855-type ammunition, BATFE gave gun owners notice that the battle over popular AR-15 ammunition isn’t over. On Thursday, BATFE Director B. Todd Jones testified before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, during which he alluded to BATFE’s continuing interest in reevaluating the legal status of a broad range of common ammunition.
In a leading question, the reliably anti-gun Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) asked the BATFE director, why the agency reviewed the status of M855 and other steel-component bullets. Jones’s response included this ominous assertion: “But as we see more and more of the firearms that could be classified as pistols, being able to use not just this M855 round, but any 5.56 round, it's a challenge for officer safety, public safety” (emphasis added). |
| | | | Citing recent data from the General Social Survey (GSS), the Associated Press (AP) reported this week that gun ownership is on the decline in the United States. This is becoming something of a springtime fantasy ritual among the media, with the same or similar reports from anti-gun media outlets every year after the GSS releases new data. If the AP had done some actual research, however, they would have realized that the GSS data conflicts with other survey data, if not simple common sense, due to a fatal flaw with its research design that makes it wholly unreliable on gun ownership in the United States. |
| | | | Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he plans to take the confirmation vote on President Obama’s U.S. Attorney General Nominee, Loretta Lynch, to the Senate floor sometime next week. The vote will likely be very close. As the Nations’ top law enforcement officer, Lynch would almost certainly have an impact on our Second Amendment rights. We know Lynch supports the Obama administration’s position to ban “assault weapons.” And, we know that the general-purpose rifles that gun control supporters call “assault weapons”--such as the AR-15--are the most popular rifles in the United States. We also know that the President’s previous choice for Attorney General--Eric Holder--clearly demonstrated the damage an Obama-appointed, agenda-driven, anti-gun Attorney General can do to our rights and freedoms as Americans. |
| | | | Despite major efforts by firearm prohibitionists to refine their marketing, gun control messaging reached a new low last Saturday in Charleston, W.V. The city’s incumbent mayor, and Mayor’s Against Illegal Guns member, Danny Jones segued from prohibitionist to exhibitionist with a bizarre and utterly tasteless display of crass comments and lewd pantomime. A video posted to YouTube captures the mayor stating, “God knows what gun rights groups [unintelligible]. These People look at guns like sex objects. They oil them up and rub them.” While making the latter portion of the statement, Jones proceeded to … well, we’ll let you see for yourself, if you have the stomach for it. Warning: It is not a pretty sight. |
| | | | Attention overbearing public school administrators: you might want to remove any portraits of the 44th U.S. president hanging on your walls. In a recent Affordable Care Act promotional video produced for the website Buzzfeed, President Barack Obama uses his index finger and thumb to form a finger gun and aim it at the viewer. Apparently, the commander-in-chief has not been briefed on the supposedly anti-social, threatening, and disruptive nature of this gesture, so we are here to help. |
| | | | This week, NRA-backed constitutional carry legislation--Senate Bill 347--overwhelmingly passed the West Virginia state House. SB 347 is a commonsense update to concealed carry statutes in West Virginia that would recognize a citizen's right to legally carry concealed without having to obtain a Concealed Handgun License (CHL), and allow law-abiding gun owners the ability to better protect themselves and their loved ones. SB 347 gives citizens the freedom to choose the best method of carrying, based on their attire, gender and/or physical attributes. Also important, this legislation would keep in place the current permitting system so that people who obtain a permit could still enjoy the reciprocity agreements that West Virginia has with other states across the country.Even though this is an issue being addressed by the West Virginia legislature and NOT Congress, Senator Joe Manchin issued a press release calling a bill that passed with broad, bi-partisan support both “irresponsible” and “dangerous”. |
| | | | For the second time in as many years, the Washington Post’s Fact Checker has given President Barack Obama “Three Pinocchios” for false claims in support of gun control. In 2013, the newspaper faulted the president for claiming that 40 percent of firearms are sold without a background check. Now, it questions the truthfulness of three claims Obama made in a speech to students at Benedict College, in Columbia, South Carolina, last Friday. |
| | | | Anti-gun U.S. Representatives Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), have introduced new "universal" background check legislation in the form of H.R. 1217. This legislation is similar to the failed Obama and Bloomberg-backed legislation from last congress that attempted to create a “universal” background check system that would criminalize the private transfer of a firearm between life-long friends and even family members. |
| | | | U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and U.S. Representative Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) recently introduced S.670 and H.R. 1316 respectively, the Veterans Heritage Firearms Act of 2015. Both of these bills would create a 180-day amnesty period for veterans, or their family members, to register National Firearms Act firearms acquired overseas before October 31, 1968,without fear of prosecution. This important legislation would make it lawful to possess or transfer the registered firearms. For many years, World War II--and other--veterans lawfully acquired firearms overseas, but may not have received official paperwork to document the guns. And, of course, many veterans, or their family members, may have lost such paperwork over the years. |
| | | | The 144th NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits, at the Music City Center in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee, on April 10-12, 2015, are right around the corner! We hope you’ll be able to join us as we celebrate our firearms freedoms in a family-friendly environment. While you’re there, one of the best ways to support your NRA is by volunteering a few hours to help register guests, help out in the NRA Store, or with one of the many activities that help make the Annual Meetings a success. |
| | | | The 18th Annual National Firearms Law Seminar will be held on Friday, April 10, 2015 as part of the NRA Annual Meetings. The gold standard in firearms CLE classes, this day-long seminar provides legal instruction for attorneys and all others interested in Second Amendment law. Topics to be discussed include current litigation across the country, self-defense laws, firearm forensics in the courtroom, updates on gun trusts, the restoration of rights, veterans' concerns, and representing FFLs during ATF audits. |
| | | | The NRA-ILA Grassroots Division will be hosting the first ever Second Amendment Youth Leadership Conference during NRA’s Annual Meetings and Exhibits! Geared specifically toward the next generation of Second Amendment activists, this one-of-a kind event will be an exciting opportunity for college students to learn more about the Second Amendment and how to become a more effective advocate on their campus and in their community! (The event is open to all interested attendees, but its focus will be on college students.) |
| | | In this news minute from the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, Jennifer Zahrn shares the good news that President Obama is backing off his attempt to ban the so-called green tip ammunition commonly used in the nation’s most popular rifle, the AR-15. |
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