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Grassroots Alert: Vol. 22, No. 16 4/24/2015

NRA Scores Important Victory for American Hunters and Sport Shooters
GUN LAWS  HUNTING  
NRA Scores Important Victory for American Hunters and Sport Shooters
This week, the NRA claimed victory for beating back an Obama administration policy that would have essentially stopped American hunters and sport shooters from traveling internationally with their personal firearms and ammunition.  The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Thursday that it is returning to its previous system of facilitating the international transport of personal firearms and ammunition, after meeting with representatives from the NRA, firearms industry and sportsmen’s groups, and key members of Congress.
Renewed Scrutiny of Veteran Administration's Systematic Disarming of Beneficiaries Brings Further Shame to Troubled Agency
NEWS  
Renewed Scrutiny of Veteran Administration's Systematic Disarming of Beneficiaries Brings Further Shame to Troubled Agency
Last week, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) brought renewed attention to the plight of a growing number of veterans who have been unjustly stripped of their Second Amendment rights. In an April 14 letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Sen. Grassley takes the Department of Veterans Affairs to task for overreaching policies that have resulted in the names of well over 100,000 veterans and dependents being placed in the FBI’s National Instance Criminal Background Check System (NICS) as prohibited from possessing firearms.
Congressmen with America's Most Popular Rifle: A Cause for Panic in DC
NEWS  
Congressmen with America's Most Popular Rifle: A Cause for Panic in DC
Last week, Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) tweeted a picture of himself and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C) holding an AR-15.  Rep. Buck later reported that the photo was taken in his Capitol Hill House office.  While a photo of two congressmen posing with the most popular rifle in the United States (and one trigger-locked and without a bolt carrier group at that) shouldn’t raise any rational public safety concerns, it apparently caused enough handwringing for the D.C. Attorney General’s Office that they referred the picture to the Metropolitan Police Department for further investigation.  
Obama Nominee, Loretta Lynch, Confirmed as Attorney General of the United States
NEWS  
Obama Nominee, Loretta Lynch, Confirmed as Attorney General of the United States
On April 23, 2015, President Obama’s U.S. Attorney General Nominee, Loretta Lynch, was confirmed in the U.S. Senate by a vote of 56-43, becoming the latest (but not likely the greatest) Attorney General of the United States.
Gun Grabbers High on Hillary, Look to Her to Enact Controls Where Obama Failed
NEWS  
Gun Grabbers High on Hillary, Look to Her to Enact Controls Where Obama Failed
Never mind all the rhetoric about how Hillary Clinton can’t get the Democrat Party’s presidential nomination because some fringe elements don’t think she’s radical enough. The Hill reports that “Advocates for gun control [an increasingly fringe group in their own right] have high hopes for Hillary Clinton’s presidential run,” seeing her as “an ally who can finish the push for tightened background checks that has stalled in President Barack Obama’s second term.”  Indeed, Clinton has been a vocal gun control supporter for more than 20 years.
NEWS  
"NRA Appears To Be Winning," Anti-Gun Columnist Concedes
Monday must have been a hard day for New York Times columnist Charles Blow, given the anti-gun, anti-NRA tone of his previous musings.  Two years ago, when the Senate voted down the gun control restrictions President Obama was pushing, Blow blamed it on the "Politics of Paranoia." A contemporary Pew Research Center poll had found that 51 percent of Republicans approved of the Senate votes, and the way Blow figured it, that proved "how frightened of the government far-right Republicans are." Never mind that 22 percent of Democrats agreed with the Republicans who opposed gun control.
National Right-to-Carry Update
LEGAL & LEGISLATION  
National Right-to-Carry Update
Thanks to your continued calls and emails, NRA supported National Right-to-Carry bills have seen increases in cosponsorships this past week.  Please continue to contact your elected officials and urge them to cosponsor and support these important bills!
D.C. Shifts from Defending Total Ban on Carrying Firearms, to Defense of Near-Total Ban
LEGAL & LEGISLATION  NEWS  
D.C. Shifts from Defending Total Ban on Carrying Firearms, to Defense of Near-Total Ban
On April 2, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted  D.C.’s motion to voluntarily dismiss an appeal of the ruling that held the District’s ban on carrying a firearm outside the home for self-defense was unconstitutional.  The District’s decision not to continue the appeal ends one of the last outright bans on carrying firearms in the United States. While this marks the end of the District’s total ban, those wishing to lawfully carry firearms in D.C. still have a long way to go before all law-abiding individuals have a legal means of exercising their right to bear arms in the District.  Shortly after the ban was held unconstitutional last July, the D.C. council adopted a temporary law that makes it all but impossible to get a license to carry a concealed pistol. A nearly identical version of that temporary law is still in effect, and a permanent version is under review by Congress and set to become law on May 30. 
VIDEOS
Open Carry Needs Your Help in Texas!
Open Carry Needs Your Help in Texas!

In this news minute from the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, Jennifer Zahrn reports on bills in Texas, Oregon, and Wisconsin.


STATE GRASSROOTS ROUND-UP

Colorado Colorado
Colorado: Apprentice Hunting Bill Scheduled for House Hearing on Monday
Maine Maine
Maine: “Constitutional Carry” Legislation at Risk in Committee
Massachusetts Massachusetts
Massachusetts: Ivory Ban Legislation Pending in Legislature
Michigan Michigan
Michigan: Critical Air Gun Reclassification Bill Passes Out of Committee and Heads to House Floor
Minnesota Minnesota
Minnesota: Pro-Gun Legislation Continues Toward Passage
Missouri Missouri
Missouri: Important Castle Doctrine and Training Bill to be Heard on House Floor
Montana Montana
Montana: Suppressor Hunting Bill Signed, Takes Effect Immediately
New Hampshire New Hampshire
New Hampshire: Right to Carry Reform Advances to House Floor Next Week
North Carolina North Carolina
North Carolina: Update on Firearm-Related Bills in Raleigh for the Week of April 24
North Dakota North Dakota
North Dakota: Two Bills Expanding Your Second Amendment Rights Enacted Into Law
Oregon Oregon
Oregon: Bill to Expand Background Checks Headed to House Floor
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania: Second Amendment Action Day Scheduled for May 12
South Carolina South Carolina
South Carolina: Concealed Carry Reform Bill to be Heard on the House Floor This Week
South Carolina: Concealed Carry Reform Bill Passes in House, Goes to Senate
Tennessee Tennessee
Tennessee: Park Carry Legislation Signed into Law
Texas Texas
Texas: House Approves HB 910, NRA-Backed Open Carry Legislation
Virginia Virginia
Virginia: Annual Marksmanship Award Legislation Enacted Into Law
Wisconsin Wisconsin
Wisconsin: 48-Hour Waiting Period Repeal Bill Passes Senate
 
NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.