This is it! On Tuesday, November 2, gun owners will go to the polls by the millions to "Vote Freedom First"! For a list of candidate grades and endorsements, please visit www.NRAPVF.org.
In addition to voting, if you have a few hours over the next few days, please consider actively volunteering to assist with efforts in your area on behalf of pro-gun candidates. If you have already voted early or absentee, please also volunteer ON ELECTION DAY to assist. Here are three ways to help over the next four days leading up to Election Day:
A Special Message From NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris Cox:
Thanks for sticking with the NRA and helping put us in a position to have a major impact in races across the country. With your help, we will continue to build a firewall around the Second Amendment.
As we head into the final weekend, I wanted to share a song from two NRA members who care about their country (please click the following link to view the video and hear the song: http://www.banjobenclark.com/teachenorclark.html). I hope you enjoy it.
Yours in Freedom,
Chris
Who's "Unreasonable?" With His Radical Gun Regs Imminent in NYC, Bloomberg Says "NRA." In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court indicated that a limited number of gun control restrictions are permissible under the Second Amendment—provisions such as "prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms." In McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the Court said that its Heller ruling applied not just to Congress and federal enclaves, such as Washington, D.C., but nationwide as well.
2010 Firearms Law & The Second Amendment Symposium: The 2010 "Firearms Law & The Second Amendment Symposium" will be held on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois. This event will be sponsored by The NRA Foundation and the John Marshall Law School chapter of the Federalist Society.
"Don't Tread On My Gun Rights" Yard Signs Available Now: We've created a new yard sign that will send a strong message this election season to all who read it: "Don't Tread on my Gun Rights."
Another Way To Get Involved--Join NRA's Facebook And Twitter Groups: Internet social networking has exploded in recent years, and websites such as Facebook and Twitter attract millions of users. This on-line community fosters a connection between its users, and allows distribution of user-generated content (like pictures, profiles, music, video, and text).
Grassroots News Minute Video: To view this week's "Grassroots News Minute" video, please click here:
STATE ROUNDUP (Please note the only items listed below are those that have had recent action. For other updates on state legislation, please go to the state legislation section at www.NRAILA.org, and check each week's issue of the Grassroots Alert.)
ARIZONA: Anti-Hunting Extremists Spending Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars on a Campaign of Lies Against Arizona's Right to Hunt and Fish Last week, Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Representative Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) announced their support of Arizona's Proposition 109 – the Right to Hunt and Fish Constitutional Amendment. Joining them at a press conference in the Arizona State Capitol was former NRA president Sandy Froman. Arizona is among four states with a Right to Hunt and Fish Constitutional Amendment appearing on the November ballot. If adopted, Prop. 109 will protect Arizona's generations-old hunting and fishing heritage and critical wildlife management practices against the kinds of emotion-driven bans that have been imposed in other states. The extremists at Fund for Animals just put $100,000 into the pot to fight Prop. 109. The most powerful anti-hunting group, the Humane Society if the United States (HSUS), has already contributed more than $250,000 to the effort to defeat Prop. 109. The radicals are actively engaged because they know the measure would protect hunting and fishing for future generations. Prop. 109 defends the citizens and wildlife of Arizona from the deception and extremism of the misguided anti-hunting crowd. The Right to Hunt and Fish, Proposition 109, is essential to protecting conservation as well as Arizona's great hunting and fishing heritage. Be sure to vote YES on Prop 109! Please tell all of your friends, family and fellow sportsmen to do the same. Every vote counts.
Editor's Note: The Election Volunteer Coordinator (EVC) listed for Arizona's seventh congressional district (AZ-7) in the November magazines has changed. Please note the following, corrected information:
AZ-07
Judi White
Tucson, AZ
520-319-1907
TABLE MESA CLEANUP – NOV 6TH: On November 6th, the Bureau of Land Management is sponsoring a cleanup of recreation areas at Table Mesa, which is north of Phoenix at I-17 and Table Mesa Road (exit 236). The meeting site is approximately 1 mile from the exit on the west side of I-17.
Table Mesa is a popular destination for recreationists, but unfortunately not everyone who uses this area packs out what they pack in. Volunteers are needed to help pick up trash on that day. Many local desert enthusiasts will be participating including shooters, hikers, mountain bikers, and OHVers.
The NRA is asking those of its members who depend on the Table Mesa area for recreational opportunities to please join in this cleanup effort. Pick up one bag of trash or many – every bit helps! Volunteers are asked to wear closed toed shoes, and bring gloves, sunscreen, and water. Optional items that would be useful are rakes and shovels. In addition, we ask that our volunteer members wear some item of clothing such as a baseball cap with NRA's logo on it to identify themselves as an NRA member.
The cleanup is scheduled from 9:00a.m. – 1:00p.m. Lunch will be provided, and several organizations have donated items to be given away. Each volunteer will receive one ticket to the giveaways to be held during lunch.
If you have any questions, please feel to contact Jason Blomberg at [email protected] or 602-463-8582.
ARKANSAS: Vote Yes on Issue 1; Constitutional Right to Hunt and Fish Issue 1 is the NRA-supported ballot issue enshrining in the Arkansas Constitution the people's long cherished right to hunt, fish and trap. This right is subject only to "regulations that promote sound wildlife conservation and management" prescribed by the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission. The sanctity of private property rights and Amendment 35, establishing the Game and Fish Commission, are explicitly protected.
Issue 1 recognizes hunting, fishing and trapping as constitutional rights. Specifically, it prohibits regulations that would ban the use of "traditional methods" such as bow hunting or the sustainable taking of "wildlife" such as deer, bear and doves. Issue 1 protects the citizen's hunting heritage from attacks initiated by well-funded anti-hunting activists who have assailed sportsmen throughout the country in recent years. In addition, it specifies that hunting, fishing and trapping shall be used as the preferred means of managing and controlling nonthreatened species. This ensures that sportsmen will continue to be used as the state's responsible game managers instead of the taxpayer funded sharpshooters and unproven, expensive wildlife contraception schemes employed in other jurisdictions.
Anti-hunting organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have an annual budget of over $120 million. Their declared objective is to end all consumptive sporting practices. Through the initiative process, they have succeeded in enacting hunting bans in states considered to be sportsmen strongholds. For instance, three years ago in Michigan, a state with a million hunters, HSUS banned the hunting of doves, the most commonly hunted game bird in America. It's only a matter of time before these anti-hunting activists, using the state's initiative process, set their sights on the sportsmen of Arkansas. It is not prudent to wait until a crisis to pursue a constitutional amendment. By then, it will be too late.
For more information, please visit: /righttohuntAR/
Vote for Your Right to Hunt and Fish this November 2! Vote Yes on Issue 1!
COLORADO: Public Comments Sought On Shooting Sites In The Pawnee National Grasslands: Earlier this year, the Forest Service solicited public comments on its proposal to improve an existing area used by recreational shooters, located west of Briggsdale on the Pawnee National Grasslands.
Based on public comments received, two additional locations are being considered in an effort to address concerns raised by nearby residents of the originally proposed location. The new sites under consideration are also currently being used by recreational shooters. The vision of the proposal remains the same: a 100-yard range with 8 to 10 shooting positions, open to the public 7 days a week from dawn to dusk, and would include an existing road, a parking area, side berms and a backstop, informational kiosk, benches and shade cover.
Funding for construction of the range, wherever it will be located on the Pawnee, will come from grants from the NRA and the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
You can view a map here showing the two new locations under consideration. To provide input, please send your comments to [email protected]. The deadline is November 5th. If you have already submitted comments on the shooting range concept, you need not send additional comments. As information becomes available, it will be posted online at www.fs.usda.gov/arp. For further information you may call the District Ranger office at 970-346-5000.
HAWAII: JOIN THE HAWAII RIFLE ASSOCIATION FOR LUNCH WITH FORMER NRA PRESIDENT SANDY FROMAN! On Saturday, November 6, join the Hawaii Rifle Association for a lunch with former NRA President Sandy Froman! This will be the first time that an NRA President, past or present, will address the shooting community in Hawaii. Don't miss this opportunity! Seating is limited so please sign up early. Attendance is by pre-paid reservation only. For more information, click here.
IDAHO: BLM Travel Management Plan Could Affect Hunter Access: The BLM is developing a Travel Management Plan (TMP) in Owyhee County west of the Bruneau River. The TMP will address all motorized routes on public land outside of the six designated wilderness areas. Decisions previously issued for the Wilson Creek, Hemingway, and Murphy sub-regions of the Owyhee Front will be carried forward into the TMP. The BLM will be hosting a series of meetings for the public to review maps and voice views and concerns. The meetings are as follows:
November 4 – Nampa Convention Center, 311 Third Street South, Nampa
November 9 - Rimrock High School, 39678 State Highway 78, Grandview
November 10 – Owyhee Historical Museum, 17085 Basey Street, Murphy
For further information about the meetings, you may contact TJ Clifford, Outdoor Recreation Planner, at 208-384-3459. For hunters and shooters who use these lands for recreation, attending one of the scheduled meetings and participating in this planning process is crucial in shaping the decisions that the BLM will make on what roads and trails are opened in the future for motorized access.
IOWA: Proposed Gun Ban Pulled from Agenda in Ottumwa Earlier this week, the Ottumwa City Council opted to remove a proposed gun-ban from their agenda. The ordinance was originally designed to deny all Iowans the ability to lawfully carry firearms in any city-owned building or park. Thanks to our members' phone calls to the city council and mayor's office, the city attorney decided to pull the ordinance for further research, thus earning citizens of Ottumwa and Iowans across the state a temporary victory. This proposed ordinance would have been a direct violation of Iowa's preemption statute. State law prohibits any county, town, or municipality from instituting firearm laws that do not conform with the statewide standard. Current state law does not forbid possession of a handgun in these areas by a person with a valid permit to carry weapons and as such, Ottumwa may not do so either. Thank you to all our members who voiced their opposition to Mayor Dale Uehling and the members of Ottumwa's city council. Please continue checking your email and www.NRAILA.org for any updates on the ordinance.
KANSAS: VOTE YES ON 1 NOVEMBER 2ND! A 1905 ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court interpreted Section 4 of the Kansas Constitution to mean that the Right to Keep and Bear Arms only exists as a collective right for those in the militia or military and no individual right exists. For that reason, the 
NRA has worked with the Kansas State Rifle Association, Senator Mike Petersen and the legislature, to pass a Constitutional Amendment during the 2009 legislative session, which provides new language that clarifies Section 4 and guaranteesan individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms. The language reads: "A person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and state, for lawful hunting and recreational use, and for any other lawful purpose." Our elected officials have done law-abiding Kansans a tremendous service by passing this landmark Constitutional Amendment. Now it is up to YOU to do your part on November 2, 2010 and vote this provision into the Kansas Constitution.
Paid for by the National Rifle Association.
MONTANA: Vote NO On Proposed Initiative No. 161 (I-161): I-161 would revise the laws related to nonresident big game hunting licenses. It would abolish the existing and proven system of outfitter sponsored licenses and replace it with a new and untested system that would significantly increase non-resident license fees and jeopardize the successful Block Management public hunter access program.
Initiatives pertaining to hunting laws, by their very nature, politicize the state's wildlife management policies. This is contrary to the North American Model of Wildlife Management that has made Montana's wildlife populations and rich ecosystems the envy of the world. Laws related to hunting and wildlife management strategies should be firmly rooted in science, not driven by a wealthy few who can produce the most emotionally-appealing 30-second television commercial during an initiative campaign. For this reason, NRA has always opposed "ballot box" wildlife management.
With regard to the specific provisions of I-161, its significant fee increases threaten to make the same monumental mistake made in Idaho last year. Non-resident license fees there were increased with expectations of proportional increases in revenue. The move backfired, resulting in a $1 million shortfall because fewer hunters purchased the more expensive licenses. With already poor budget conditions, a similar shortfall in Montana will jeopardize important wildlife management and conservation projects – ultimately detracting from hunting opportunities for all hunters in the state. It is very likely that less funding will be available for the popular Block Management program that provides incentives to private landowners to make their lands available to public hunting. More than eight million acres are currently enrolled and it serves as a model for the country.
The proponents of I-161 have misled voters to believe that it will increase the amount of private land open to public hunting by discouraging outfitter leases. According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, outfitters exclusively lease less than six percent of the private land in Montana. There is simply no reason to believe that the leasing practices associated with this small percentage of private land will change in any manner whatsoever.
Finally, the non-resident outfitter sponsored licenses contemplated in 1-161 will remain dedicated to non-residents. Montanans should not fall for the false claims that these licenses will be shifted to residents.
The Helena Independent Record, the Missoulian, and the Great Falls Tribune all oppose I-161, along with numerous groups, such as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the Mule Deer Foundation.
Vote "no" on I-161 and keep wildlife management from being decided at the ballot box!
NORTH DAKOTA: Anti-Hunting Ballot Initiative being Promoted with Tens of Thousands of Dollars from the HSUS Extremists--Don't Allow Radical Animal "Rights" Interests to Infiltrate North Dakota! Vote NO on Measure 2!
North Dakota sportsmen should be aware that a group cleverly calling itself North Dakota Hunters for Fair Chase (NDHFC) has placed an anti-hunting initiative on the 2010 General Election ballot. Measure 2 would ban private big game hunting preserves in the state. The extremist Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is currently running commercials in North Dakota with actors dressed in camouflage and pretending to be average hunters who support the initiative. The campaign of deception using camo-draped actors coming from the most virulent anti-hunting group in America would be laughable, if it did not have such serious implications. Here are just a few quotes from Wayne Pacelle who serves as President of HSUS:
- Interviewer: "About fishing ... do you avoid campaigning against it because there isn't a ground-swell movement in our culture to eliminate it?"
Pacelle: "That is correct. We're out to minimize suffering wherever it can be done, and wherever our limited resources can be utilized most effectively—abusive forms of hunting for now, all hunting eventually." Bloodties: Nature, Culture, and the Hunt - "If we could shut down all sport hunting in a moment, we would." – (Associated Press)
- "Our goal is to get sport hunting in the same category as cock fighting and dog fighting. Our opponents say hunting is a tradition. We say traditions can change." – (BozemanDaily Chronicle)
- "We are going to use the ballot box and the democratic process to stop all hunting in the United States… We will take it species by species until all hunting is stopped in California. Then we will take it state by state." – (Full Cry)
Initiatives pertaining to hunting laws, by their very nature, politicize the state's wildlife management policies. This is contrary to the North American Model of Wildlife Management that has made North Dakota's wildlife populations and rich ecosystems the envy of the world. Laws related to hunting and wildlife management strategies should be firmly rooted in science, not driven by a wealthy few who can produce the most emotionally-appealing 30-second television commercial during an initiative campaign. For this reason, NRA has always opposed "ballot box" hunting regulation.
A ban on privately owned game preserves violates basic American principles of private property rights and sportsmen deciding for themselves how and where to hunt. Hunting ethics should be decided by each individual hunter, not by emotion-driven laws supported by radical animal "rights" interest groups. Further, the group behind this initiative falsely advertises preserves as very small pens or cages, when most preserves amount to thousands of acres.
This effort threatens to establish a precedent that will allow Wayne Pacelle and others to further pursue their ultimate agenda of banning all hunting. These anti-hunting radicals are learning how to circumvent the standard policy-making system that has justifiably stymied them through the years. If they succeed with Measure 2, they will be emboldened to further utilize deceptive 30-second sound bites to advance their radical agenda.
Please work to inform your family, friends and fellow sportsmen in North Dakota that they should vote No on Measure 2!
SOUTH CAROLINA: On November 2, Vote for Your Right to Hunt and Fish in South Carolina: Amendment 1; Constitutional Right to Hunt, Fish and Harvest Wildlife
Amendment 1 is the result of the National Rifle Association's effort to partner with the state DNR and others to enshrine in the South Carolina Constitution the people's long cherished right to hunt, fish and harvest wildlife. This right is subject only to "regulations that promote sound wildlife conservation and management" prescribed by the South Carolina General Assembly. NRA has spearheaded efforts to provide truly meaningful protections for sportsmen across the country. It is expected that nearly one-quarter of all states will have adopted similar amendments by year's end.
Amendment 1 recognizes hunting, fishing and harvesting wildlife as constitutional rights. Specifically, it prohibits laws that would ban the sustainable taking of "wildlife" such as deer, bear and doves. Amendment 1 protects the citizen's hunting heritage from attacks initiated by well-funded anti-hunting activists who have assailed sportsmen throughout the country in recent years. In addition, it specifies that hunting, fishing and harvesting wildlife shall be used as a protected means of managing wildlife. This helps to ensure that sportsmen will continue to be used as the state's responsible game managers instead of the taxpayer funded sharpshooters and unproven, expensive wildlife contraception schemes employed in other jurisdictions.
Anti-hunting organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have an annual budget of over $120 million. Their declared objective is to end all consumptive sporting practices. They have succeeded in enacting hunting bans in states considered to be sportsmen strongholds. For instance, three years ago in Michigan, a state with a million hunters, HSUS banned the hunting of doves, the most commonly hunted game bird in America. 
It's only a matter of time before these anti-hunting activists set their sights on the sportsmen of South Carolina. It is not prudent to wait until a crisis to pursue a constitutional amendment. By then, it will be too late.
For more information, please visit: /RighttoHuntSC/
TENNESSEE: Vote "YES" On Proposed Right to Hunt and Fish Amendment! The proposed Right to Hunt and Fish constitutional Amendment, on the November 2 Ballot, will amend the Tennessee State Constitution to forever recognize Tennessee's sporting heritage and the great contributions that hunters and fishermen make to conservation and wildlife. The National Rifle Association has spearheaded efforts to provide truly meaningful protections to sportsmen across the country. These meaningful protections embedded in the proposed Amendment are the result of the NRA's effort to enshrine in the Tennessee Constitution the people's long cherished right to hunt and fish. It is expected that nearly one-quarter of all states will have adopted similar amendments by year's end. Tennessee's Right to Hunt and Fish provides permanent safeguards against attacks from the radical animal "rights" extremists whose ultimate goal is to end all hunting in America.
Hunting and fishing has a rich heritage that is woven into the very fabric of the Volunteer State. The proposed Amendment will allow your kids, grandkids, and future generations to have the opportunity to experience the outdoors in the spirit of Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. The flourishing wildlife populations and sound conservation in Tennessee are the result of what hunters and fishermen do.
PETA opposes the Right to Hunt and Fish in Tennessee, which should be reason enough to vote "Yes" on November 2. They have been quoted as saying that the proposed amendment is a "solution in search of a problem" and that no one is trying to ban hunting or fishing. Soon after these statements, PETA sent a letter to UT-Chattanooga asking that the University ban its fishing team because fishing is a "blood sport." The fact is that PETA and extremists like them are the problem and this amendment is the solution. Making hunting and fishing a permanent part of Tennessee's Constitution will help to fend off attacks from anti-hunting extremists who continually attempt to advance their emotional and political agenda.
For more information, please visit: /RightToHuntTN/
Vote "Yes" on the Right to Hunt and Fish amendment and tell the anti-hunting radicals that the Volunteer State is off-limits to their anti-freedom agenda!
