 | |
| LEGAL & LEGISLATION Representative Rob Bishop Introduces Bill to Curb BATFE Abuse | |
| On Wednesday, June 10, 2015, Chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources Rob Bishop (R-UT) introduced H.R. 2710, the “Lawful Purpose and Self Defense Act of 2015.” This bill would remove BATFE’s authority to interpret or reinterpret the “sporting purposes” clauses in federal law, which only serve to undermine the core purpose of the Second Amendment. Under Chairman Bishop’s legislation, all lawful purposes – including self-defense – would have to be given due consideration and respect in the administration of federal law. | |
 | |
| LEGAL & LEGISLATION Federal Bill Seeks to Use Your Taxes to Bribe States to Require Gun Licenses | |
| It's bad enough that antigun members of Congress want to enact federal legislation to impose the elitist views of their coastal enclaves on the entire country. What's worse is that in typical Big Government fashion, they want to use your tax dollars to accomplish their schemes. The latest example of this is the "Handgun Purchaser Licensing Act," which at least has the distinction of having an honest title, a rarity for antigun legislation. Rather than establishing the licensing mandate at the federal level, however, this bill would create a federal grant program to bribe states to do it themselves. | |
 | |
| LEGAL & LEGISLATION NEWS Obama's Senior Advisor: Administration Continues to Lay Foundation for Gun Control Legislation | |
| On Thursday, Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama (described as his "closest aide"), appeared at a question and answer session hosted by the City Club of Chicago. While answering a question regarding immigration reform, Jarrett commented on the administration's gun control efforts and made clear that part of their strategy is to pave the way for a future administration to enact restrictions. | |
 | |
| LEGAL & LEGISLATION NEWS SECOND AMENDMENT LEGAL & LEGISLATION U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Second Amendment Case, Draws Strong Dissent From Thomas, Scalia | |
| On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined a petition to either summarily reverse or hear an appeal of the decision in Jackson v. City and County of San Francisco, issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on March 25, 2014. The Ninth Circuit decision upheld San Francisco ordinances requiring any firearm within the home not actually carried on the person to be in a locked container or disabled by a state-approved trigger lock and banning the sale of hollow point ammunition. In each case, the Ninth Circuit wrongly determined that while the ordinance "burdens" the "core" Second Amendment right of self-defense within the home, it does not entirely "destroy" it. The court then wrongly applied a deferential form of "intermediate" scrutiny to the regulations and found they satisfied that test. Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia (who wrote the landmark District of Columbia v. Heller opinion) penned a sharply critical dissent (see p. 11 at link) of the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the appeal. | |
 | |
| NEWS Media-touted FBI "Mass Shooting" Report Debunked | |
| A misleading 2014 FBI report that fueled media claims that mass shooting incidents in the U.S. are rising sharply has been thoroughly debunked. In a piece appearing in the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences' March 2015 ACJS Today newsletter, Economist John R. Lott carefully lays out the flaws in the Bureaus' "A Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States between 2000 and 2013" report. | |
 | |
| LEGAL & LEGISLATION Mississippi Gun Turn-In Scrapped Due to New NRA-Backed Law | |
| On Thursday, the organizer of a gun turn-in that was set to take place on Saturday in Jackson, Mississippi postponed the event when he was informed that the event violated state law. Such an oversight might be understandable if the organizer had been a member of the general public, but the event was organized by the chief law enforcement officer of Hinds County, Sheriff Tyrone Lewis. | |
 | |
| NEWS Mets Misled Player to Support Gun Control | |
| Gun prohibitionists using deception to garner support for their cause is nothing new. However, a response to their deceit is rarely as swift as what they experienced last week from a well-known major league baseball player. On June 2, as part of the Michael Bloomberg-backed "Wear Orange" campaign, which urged gun control activists to wear orange to show their support for firearm restrictions, the New York Mets players, coaches, and staff donned orange shirts and posed for a pair of group photos. The Mets proceeded to boast of the organization's participation in the anti-gun effort by posting the photos on Twitter and with an accompanying article on their official website, and urging others to "Get involved." | |
 | |
| LEGAL & LEGISLATION Fanciful "Smart Gun" Bill Seeks to Make Law Out of Wishful Thinking | |
| We all have our hopes for the future. In that regard, we're not so different from Senators Edward J. Markey and Elizabeth Warren (both D-Mass.). Where we're just a little bit different, however, is that while we recognize some people might wish to replace travel by automobiles with on-demand flight via pollution-free unicorns, we're not sure a law to that affect is really necessary. Similarly, while some people might want guns to be designed like "Kitt," the taking car in the David Hasselhoff series "Knight Rider," it takes a special kind of dreamer to turn that dream into federal legislation. Enter the senators from Massachusetts. | |
 | |
| LEGAL & LEGISLATION Lummis Introduces "Collectible Firearms Protection Act" | |
| On Wednesday, June 3, 2015, U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) introduced H.R. 2611, the "Collectible Firearms Protection Act." This bill would aim to reverse a State Department decision blocking the importation of wildly popular and historic M1 Garand rifles and M1 carbines from South Korea. The United States exported these firearms to South Korea at the onset of the Korean War in the 1950s. The M1 Garand and M1 carbine have become collector's items and are perfectly legal to manufacture in the United States and, like all firearm imports, they would be subject to the federal rules and regulations governing retail firearm sales. | |
 | |
| TAKE ACTION Seeking Nominations for 2014 NRA-ILA Volunteer Awards | |
| The NRA-ILA "Jay M. Littlefield Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award" is an annual honor that recognizes an NRA member who demonstrates exceptionally meritorious activism in defense of our Second Amendment rights. Similarly, the "NRA-ILA Volunteer Organization of the Year Award" is bestowed upon a group that has gone above and beyond in defending and promoting our rights over the past year. | |
VIDEOS
| ||
In this News Minute from the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, Jennifer Zahrn reports that Alabama Governor Robert Bentley delivered a significant victory for Second Amendment rights when he signed into law comprehensive pro-gun reform legislation backed by the NRA. House Bill 47 passed the legislature with strong bipartisan support. Among the reforms to the state gun laws, the new law gives young people greater opportunities to learn and enjoy our firearms and hunting heritage, and, in doing away with the state’s intrusive pistol registration scheme, the law deals yet another blow to the Obama-Bloomberg gun control agenda. |
| ||
Ruger CEO Mike Fifer and NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox on the Ruger 2 Million Gun Challenge |
| ||
| STATE GRASSROOTS ROUND-UP |
