U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
PUTS "FINAL NAIL IN COFFIN" OF HAMILTON V. ACCU-TEK
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has continued the string of crushing defeats for reckless lawsuits designed to bankrupt law-abiding gun manufacturers, according to a release put out today by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). While NRA has not had an opportunity to review yesterday`s ruling in Hamilton v. Accu-Tek, NSSF President Robert T. Delfay stated, "The unanimous Second Circuit Court opinion reinforced an earlier unanimous decision by the New York Court of Appeals that there was no evidence and no basis in law to hold firearms manufacturers responsible for the criminal misuse of their product. We trust this puts the final nail in the coffin of this distasteful experiment to harass legal and responsible manufacturers through unproven and convoluted legal theory." You can find the NSSF release on this ruling on its website.
COMMENT PERIOD FOR NICS ENDS TUESDAY
The deadline to submit public comment on reforming the National Instant Check System (NICS) is next Tuesday, September 4, so if you plan to offer your input, be sure you get your comments in the mail no later than Saturday or send by overnight service Monday. If you have not done so already, be sure to take the time to let the DOJ know you would like to see NICS run as it was originally intended—efficiently, instantly, and without the threat of it being abused to establish an illegal registry of law-abiding gun purchasers. Tell the DOJ that the background checks on lawful gun purchasers through NICS should be processed instantly, as the system`s name implies; persistent system crashes must be eliminated; and there should be no retention of personal information on any law- abiding gun purchaser whose attempt to acquire a firearm is not denied by NICS. Please submit your written comments to:
Mr. Timothy Munson, Section Chief
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Module A-3
1000 Custer Hollow Road
Clarksburg, WV 26306-0147
If you would like to see the comments NRA-ILA submitted, you will find them posted to www.NRAILA.org.
CONGRESS RETURNS FROM RECESS
The U.S. Senate and House return from their August recess on Tuesday, so now is the time to turn your attention back to your lawmakers` Washington, D.C., offices. It is likely that anti-gun politicians will soon renew their attacks on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms, so please continue to contact your federal lawmakers whenever possible to urge them to support the Second Amendment, and oppose any attacks on gun shows or any efforts to give the FBI the authority to use the National Instant Check System (NICS) as a registry of law-abiding gun purchasers.
Remember to remind Congress that it was the pro-gun vote that many political analysts have determined is the reason President George Bush (R) defeated anti-gunner Al Gore (D) in November 2000. And it was none other than Bill Clinton (D) who said, when commenting to Dan Rather last year about the results of the 2000 elections, "They`ve (NRA) probably had more to do than anyone else in the fact we didn`t win the House this time." When speaking specifically about Bush`s victory over Gore, Clinton also stated, "I don`t think there`s any doubt that, in at least five states I can think of, the NRA had a decisive influence.... And they hurt Al Gore." And the most recent CNN/Gallup/USA Today poll on what Americans think is "the most important problem facing this country today" saw only 1% respond "guns." In other words, no matter how much the gun-ban lobby formerly known as HCI wants to try to convince politicians that promoting its gun-ban agenda is a "winning issue," the voters and most political pundits seem to disagree. NRA-ILA will soon launch advertisements in the nation`s capital reminding any lawmakers who might be wavering on the issue of gun control that pro-gun voters will not stand for any effort to infringe on our Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
You can contact your U.S. Senators at (202) 224-3121, your U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121, or use the "Write Your Reps" tool at www.NRAILA.org to find additional contact information.
A LOOK AT THE STATES
CALIFORNIA
In a raw power play, the Assembly Appropriations Committee barely muscled SB 52 (Scott), the handgun licensing measure, out of committee today by securing the minimum 11 votes needed to advance the bill. Chairwoman Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) replaced committee member Assemblyman Herb Wesson (D-Los Angeles) with his more liberal Democrat colleague, Assemblyman Fred Keeley (D-Santa Cruz), who voted in favor of the bill. At one point during the roll call, Assemblyman Lou Papan (D-San Mateo), who had originally voted "NO," was verbally assaulted by Migden, who claimed that Papan had told author Senator Jack Scott (D-Los Angeles) that he would support the bill when it came up for a vote. Papan then changed his vote to a "YES," giving the bill the one vote majority it needed to pass out of committee. It is vital that NRA members contact their Assembly members immediately and request their "NO" vote when it comes up before the full Assembly. To find contact information for your Assembly member, use the "Write Your Reps" tool at www.NRAILA.org. For those not on the Internet, you can get your Assembly member`s telephone number by calling the NRA-ILA Grassroots Division at (800) 392-8683.
NEW MEXICO
The Finance & Government Operations Committee of the Albuquerque City Council unanimously rejected Mayor Baca`s Ordinance 01-108, under which the city would have opted-out of New Mexico`s new Right To Carry law. The mayor sought to prohibit trained, law-abiding citizens who are issued a permit by the state from carrying within city limits. The committee also approved a resolution prohibiting the city from adopting any local ordinance limiting the carrying of concealed handguns or spending any taxpayer money on litigation to challenge the new state law.
HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE LABOR DAY WEEKEND!
