NRA University--Bring Us To Your Campus This Spring!
In an effort to educate the next generation of gun rights advocates on exercising and maintaining their constitutionally guaranteed Right to Keep and Bear Arms, NRA has developed a comprehensive program for college students called “NRA University”-- NRA U for short.
NRA U is a two-hour training seminar for college students interested in learning more about NRA, the Second Amendment, gun safety, legislative threats to gun rights and the gun control debate. NRA-ILA staff will travel to a college campus and provide seminar attendees with the tools they’ll need to become more effective activists in the fight to protect our freedom, both on and off campus.
Staff will address the myths of gun control, covering topics such as the history of the Second Amendment and the use of guns for self-defense, and provide the NRA’s solutions to reducing gun crime and accidents.
Hunters Fight for Access in Big Cypress: In the early 1970s, hunters were instrumental in preventing South Florida’s Big Cypress Swamp from being drained and transformed into the world’s largest jetport.
The culmination of that successful effort was the creation of the Big Cypress National Preserve in 1974, a 582,000-acre area situated just north of Everglades National Park that stretches roughly from Miami in the east to Naples in the west.
Congress, through the preserve’s enabling legislation, directed the National Park Service to continue managing for traditional activities in the area. This included hunting, fishing and swamp buggy use. The area was designated as a preserve instead of a national park for the precise reason of allowing such activities to continue. Anything less would have been a non-starter for hunters and local landowners in the preservation discussion.
Grassroots News Minute Video: To view this week’s “Grassroots News Minute” video, please click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBHbt8GpVNY
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.)
For additional information, please click on the links provided.
COLORADO: Management Plan for Public Lands Will Affect Target Shooting
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released a resource management plan (RMP) for 500,000 acres managed by the agency’s Colorado River Valley Field Office located in Silt and responsible for the counties of Eagle, Garfield, Pitkin, Roult, Mesa, and Rio Blanco. The public comment period is open until December 16, and BLM will soon announce public meetings regarding this RMP. If you enjoy target shooting on these lands, it is extremely important that you review the plan to determine how it will affect your future access for target shooting. Please attend at least one of the public meetings and e-mail your comments to the BLM.
Additional BLM Management Plan for Public Lands Will Affect Target Shooting
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released another resource management plan (RMP), and this one on approximately 378,000 acres managed by the agency’s Field Office in Kremmling. The public lands are within Grand, Jackson, Summit and parts of Larimer and Eagle Counties. The public comment period is open until December 16, and BLM will announce in advance public hearings on this RMP. Please attend at least one of the public meetings and e-mail your comments to the BLM.
MICHIGAN: Gun Hunting Up for Public Comment in Huron-Manistee
The U.S. Forest Service has released a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) that will ultimately determine whether firearm hunting can continue on more than 66,500 acres in Michigan’s Huron-Manistee National Forests. As a result of a September 2010 ruling by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Forest Service prepared the DSEIS to evaluate the impacts of a proposed ban on firearm hunting and snowmobile use in 14 semi-primitive, non-motorized or wilderness areas of the forest. Public comments must be received by December 21.
NORTH CAROLINA:Despite Local Anti-Gun Ordinances, the New Right-to-Carry Law is Now Effective!
Any local government that currently has an ordinance prohibiting Right-to-Carry (RTC) permittees from carrying in all parks under their control will be in violation of the new state law. In effect, such ordinances are now unenforceable. This unenforceability includes areas designated as “recreational facilities” that the new law allows to be regulated, such as athletic fields, playgrounds, swimming pools, and athletic facilities. In order for local governments to comply with state law, they would need to enact an ordinance that specifies prohibitions on RTC permittees carrying their personal protection firearms in the appropriately designated “recreational facilities.”
WISCONSIN: Castle Doctrine to be Signed by Governor Walker on December 7!
Sources out of Madison are reporting that Governor Scott Walker will sign into law Assembly Bill 69 on Wednesday, December 7. Commonly known as the “Castle Doctrine,” AB 69 would provide essential protections for law-abiding citizens who defend themselves and their families from a criminal looking to do them harm. Once signed, this legislation would go into immediate effect.
New Concealed Carry Law Presents New Opportunities!
For those of you looking to take advantage of the new Concealed Carry law in Wisconsin, the NRA has an important resource for you. One of the ways you can fulfill the mandatory training requirement is to attend a safety class taught by an NRA Certified firearms instructor. To assist you in finding an instructor and course in your area you can visit http://www.nrainstructors.org/ and choose from a number of upcoming classes and programs.
In advance of the Holiday Season, we will transmit our annual
“Year In Review” wrap-up Alert Next Friday, December 9.
