Senate Passes NICS Improvement Act, House Concurs!
After months of careful negotiation, pro-gun legislation was passed through Congress Wednesday. NRA-ILA worked closely with Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to address his concerns regarding H.R. 2640, the National Instant Check System (NICS) Improvement Act. These changes make a good bill even better. The end product is a win for American gun owners.
Late Tuesday, anti-gun Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), failed to delay progress of this pro-gun measure. The Violence Policy Center, the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and other gun control and gun ban groups are opposed to the passage of this legislation because of the many pro-gun improvements contained within.
Senator Crapo And 46 Other Senators Request Policy Change Regarding The Carrying And Transportation Of Firearms On Public Lands: On December 14, U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) sent a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne requesting that prohibitions preventing law-abiding citizens from transporting and carrying firearms on certain public lands be removed.
The NRA initiated and worked closely with Senator Crapo on this letter and appreciates his bipartisan effort to get 47 Senators to sign a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne requesting a change in policy allowing state law to govern the carrying and transportation of firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges, as is the case of national forests and BLM lands. We have been working for nearly five years to change this policy and applaud the strong Senate support for this policy change expressed in this letter.
View the letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne
More Proof Americans Support Gun Rights & NRA Has Clout In Elections: Need more confirmation that a majority of Americans support the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and that voters listen to NRA at election time?
Legislation To Improve & Modernize BATFE Is Introduced: Two bills, considered in the last Congress as H.R. 5005 & H.R. 5092, have been combined, improved, and re-introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 4900-the “Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Reform and Firearms Modernization Act of 2007.” H.R. 4900 is sponsored by Representatives Steve King (R-Iowa) and Zack Space (D-Ohio). Please be sure to contact your U.S. Representative at (202) 225-3121, and urge him or her to cosponsor and support H.R. 4900, the “Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Reform and Firearms Modernization Act of 2007.”
For detailed information on H.R. 4900, please click here.
Senator Feinstein Inserts Provision to Slaughter Santa Rosa Island’s Elk and Mule Deer: As we reported last year, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) helped to enact an NRA-backed law to save the 1100 Roosevelt Elk and Kaibab Mule Deer on Santa Rosa Island from court-ordered extermination. Congresswoman Lois Capps (D-CA) and Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) were outraged. It was clear that they were not going to give up until every elk and mule deer on the island had been destroyed.
STATE ROUNDUP (please click to see any updates on states not listed below.)
ARKANSAS/PENNSYLVANIA: This week, the Pennsylvania Attorney General, Tom Corbett (R), reached a reciprocity agreement with the State of Arkansas. Arkansas and Pennsylvania will now recognize each other’s Right-to-Carry permits. Permit holders must comply with the laws that apply to the specific state in which they are traveling. For a list of states with which Pennsylvania has some degree of reciprocity agreement, please click here.
COLORADO: BLM Plans to Close Canyons of the Ancients to Recreational Shooting: The Bureau of Land Management has released a draft management plan for the 164,000-acre Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado. All four management alternatives would close the entire Monument to recreational shooting. The BLM cites vandalism of cultural and natural resources and visitor safety as the reasons for closure. For more information about the plan, please go to http://www.blm.gov/rmp/canm/. Comments from the public are being accepted until January 25, 2008. It is critical that gun owners and sportsmen take an active role in this process!
BLM Plan Will Set Game Retrieval Restrictions: The Bureau of Land Management has released a draft management plan for travel routes on lands it administers within San Luis Valley, Colorado. The proposal will limit the retrieval of game off designated routes except to a perpendicular distance of 300 ft. from the edge of a route. Comments on the plan are being accepted until December 31. The document can be viewed at
http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/slvplc/Travel_Management.html. For further information, please contact Mark Swinney, Project Lead, by phone at (719) 655-2547, or by e-mail at [email protected]. Once again, it is critical that gun owners and sportsmen take an active role in this process!
ILLINOIS: Cook County Considering Two Anti-Gun Proposals! As we reported last week, there are currently two anti-gun ordinances pending in Cook County that would adversely affect our Second Amendment rights. First, the Safe Streets/Weapons Registration Ordinance requires the registration of all firearms and firearm owners in the county. As written, it is an outright gun ban and prohibits the transport of a firearm in your vehicle unless the firearm is "broken down in a nonfunctioning state." The other proposed ordinance would amend the county's "Deadly Weapon Dealers Ordinance" to completely ban all gun shows within the county, and prohibits federally licensed dealers from operating within 10 miles of another federally licensed dealer. There is currently no timetable set for when either will be taken up for consideration, so please contact the Cook County Board of Commissioners immediately and urge them to oppose these attacks on the Second Amendment. You can find contact information for the Board here.
NEW JERSEY: New Jersey Senate Working to Turn Law-Abiding Gun Owners Into Criminals! Three anti-gun bills passed the Senate Law and Public Safety and Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Monday, December 17. S2470, as originally written, would have criminalized the transfer of ammunition to anyone who does not have a valid firearms purchaser identification card, a copy of a permit to purchase a handgun or a valid permit to carry a handgun. S2934, as originally written, would have made honest gun owners responsible for the acts of criminals if they failed to “immediately” report the theft or loss of a firearm later used in a crime. S2431, is an overly broad attempt to address gang violence that will have unintended consequences for honest gun owners in the Garden State. Among other things, S2461 criminalizes and severely punishes the mere possession of handguns (including registered handguns), even while engaged in lawful activities. While intended to prevent criminal activities, these three bills would only impact honest gun owners. These bills are now on their way to the Senate for consideration. Please contact your State Senator today at (609) 292-4840 and respectfully urge him or her to protect the Second Amendment rights of New Jersey’s law-abiding gun owners by opposing S2470, S2934, and S2431.
VIRGINIA: Hunting With Hounds Under Review: The Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has launched a review of hound hunting in the Commonwealth. Virginia Tech is conducting focus group meetings around the state during December. Trespass complaints from property owners have sparked this review. The Department’s goal is “To provide diverse opportunities for hunting with hounds in Virginia in a manner that is fair, sportsmanlike and consistent with the rights of property owners and other citizens.” The process includes many avenues for hound hunters to participate, such as focus group meetings with individual stakeholder groups, a survey conducted through the Department’s website, opportunity to review all developments, public meetings, and by letter or e-mail. About half of the focus groups will be comprised of bear, deer, fox, and raccoon hound hunters. The remainder of the focus groups will be populated by landowners, government representatives, other hunters and outdoor enthusiasts. If you are a hound hunter, make your views known during this public process. Go to www.dgif.state.va.us/hunting/hounds for more information about how you can participate.
NRA will close today at 3:00 p.m., and will be closed on Monday, December 24, and Tuesday December 25, for the Christmas Holiday. Please have a safe and Merry Christmas, and please remember our men and women in uniform, and the sacrifices they are making for all of us this Holiday Season.
