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MI: State senator accused of shooting at ex-wife may take plea deal
Submitted by: Corey Salo

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Time is running out on a possible plea deal for state Sen. Virgil Smith Jr., D-Detroit, who is accused of shooting at his ex-wife.

A final pretrial conference � during which a plea deal could be announced �is set for 9 a.m. Friday, Jan. 15. A trial is tentatively scheduled for March 7 in front of Wayne Circuit Judge Lawrence S. Talon.

Smith, who served three years in the state House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 2010 and re-elected in 2014, is accused of opening fire with an AR-15 in the direction of his ex-wife, Anistia Thomas, and her Mercedes about 1 a.m. May 10.

The altercation occurred after Thomas arrived at Smith's home and found another woman, Tatiana Grant, naked in her ex-husband's bed.

CA: STOP the Handgun Roster
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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And every year we see our Second Amendment rights being held hostage by anti-gun Attorney General Kamala Harris and her California Department of Justice. Unless DOJ lets a handgun back on the Roster � or if a manufacturer forgets to pay the $200 Roster renewal fee on time � perfectly safe and State-tested handguns �magically� become �unsafe� overnight.

This year alone, dozens of handguns were removed from the Roster because of unconstitutional laws and DOJ�s red tape. Without a gun rights victory in our critically-important Second Amendment lawsuit Pe�a v. Lindley, DOJ will no doubt administratively strangle your access to constitutionally-protect safe, modern handguns and shrink the Roster into oblivion.

AZ: Arizona Representative Pushes Campus Carry Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
On January 13, Arizona state Representative Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu City) introduced campus carry as a way to prevent mass shootings on college campuses in the state.

IL: Chicago's Bloody Start To 2016: More Than 100 People Shot In Ten Days
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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I wrote a while back about bloody weekends becoming the new normal for Chicago. It seems like weekend after weekend, especially ones including holidays, the Windy City becomes the gun violence-riddled dystopia President Obama and other anti-gunners harp about whenever they politicize a mass shooting to push for more restrictions on our constitutional rights. Ten days into the New Year, over 100 people have been shot in the city (via Chicago Tribune):

Hollywood Second Amendment Hypocrisy: Guns for Me � but Not for Thee
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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What do you call someone who wants guns for his group but not for everyone else? Lenin? Any fearful and fear-inspiring dictator? Here�s another: Hollywood actor. After all, Tinseltown�s turpitudinous titillators love guns � just not in your hands.

In fact, People magazine just wrote of 113 stars who penned a letter to the president thanking him for issuing his unconstitutional executive orders on firearms and saying he was protecting their �rights� to �be safe� and �not to be afraid.� Perhaps they�re like actress Daniele Watts, who, after resisting a policeman�s lawful commands, screamed, "I know my rights.... I played a cop on TV!" Moreover, they must know just as much about guns, because they use them on TV.

GA: Georgia Lawmaker Calls for Assault Weapons Ban Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Lawmakers said they are trying to respect the Second Amendment while calling for change to Georgia law. A longtime Georgia State Representative announced Thursday she will push for a ban on assault weapons. Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) and her co-sponsors want to ban the sale, possession and distribution of certain assault weapons and some types of bullets.

Not A Single Republican Candidate Supports Gun Control
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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For one shining moment during Thursday night�s GOP debate, Republican candidates were a united front: in no way would they consider restricting access to guns.

Donald Trump was the first to weigh in, being asked outright if there were �any circumstances� in which he would restrict access to guns. �No,� he said flatly. Trump, like so many others, buys into the idea of a �good guy with a gun� who can stand against violent criminals.

KY: Judge holds stance on murder charge dismissal
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Months after she threw out a murder charge against a man during his trial, a Jefferson Circuit Court judge is standing by her ruling, denying a motion by prosecutors to reconsider.

Adam Kuhn was accused of fatally shooting a man in his backyard in 2014. He was released from jail Oct. 22, the day Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Judith McDonald-Burkman ruled he was immune from prosecution, as prosecutors during the trial failed to show there was probable cause Kuhn did not act in self-defense.

SC: Gun laws make sense
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A ban on semi-automatic rifles and large capacity magazines is cited as �not reasonable� because they are �clearly suitable for militia use and are often ideal for self-defense.� To which �militia� (a civilian military force raised to support the regular army or raised to oppose the regular Army) is he referring? The group who took over the wildlife refuge in Oregon? I�d sure feel safer to know they have semi-automatic rifles. �Ideal for self-defense�? Name one example. Seems to me those have been used by mass killers of innocent students and churchgoers.

FL: Students debate concealed carry on campus
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Despite the 50-degree weather, nearly 100 students and faculty milled about the Marshall Student Center Amphitheatre on Wednesday night waiting for the debate to begin.
Eventually, technical difficulties were sorted through and the first Debate-a-Bull event was underway. The topic up for debate was on-campus concealed carry, which is currently a hot topic in the Florida Legislature as a bill that would allow it awaits consideration in the House.

Modest proposal: We should have a gun owners database � like the one used for child predators
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Only in liberal America would someone be less afraid of a criminal with a gun than a law-abiding gun owner. And certainly only in this warped sense of reality would they be for a gun registry, not for furthering an agenda, but for making play dates safe. That�s what Tricia Bishop of the Baltimore Sun wrote on January 6; that we should have a gun registry akin to those used to track sexual predators. No, I�m not joking [emphasis mine]:

Glock 40 Gen4 MOS
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Mounting red dots on polymer handguns is a trend that manufacturers are clearly embracing. Companies like Smith & Wesson, FN. and Sig Sauer, among others. have all introduced optic-friendly models in the last few years. The newest major player to incorporate optics into their handgun lineup is Glock. Earlier this year, the influential Austrian manufacturer rolled out the MOS (Modular Optic System) on their Gen4 series (the 9x19mm G34, .40 S&W G35, .45 ACP G41, and 10mm G40). The heavy-hitting 10mm Glock 40 Gen4 MOS is the subject of this review.

PA: Responsible gun ownership not only a right, but a duty of citizenship
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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It has been said time and again, but it bears repeating: about the only thing that restrictive gun laws have done in our country is prevent the good guys from defending themselves when bad guys attack. This maxim applies directly to the San Bernardino, California situation, an immense tragedy in which fourteen innocent people were gunned down by a married couple with Islamic extremist allegiances.

IL: T-Mobile store employee with concealed weapon shoots two would-be robbers
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Neil Tadros, the store�s manager, says that the suspects walked into the store and pretended to be shopping for phones before pulling out guns. One employee went into the back to call for help, while a second pulled out his concealed weapon and fired at the robbers, hitting one in the groin and arm and the other in the abdomen and arm. The employee that fired his gun has a concealed carry license. Witnesses say that they don�t think that the robbers ever fired their weapons.

Where do Mexican drug cartels get their guns? The US. Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are 4 comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
America's gun problem isn't just America's � it also leaks over to Mexico, according to a new report from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). One chart that tells the story: 70 percent of guns seized in Mexico and traced by the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) from 2009 to 2014 came from the US:

Firearms Policy Coalition Announces Opposition to New �Assault Weapons� Ban Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Today, Firearms Policy Coalition announced its opposition to a new gun control bill that would expand the reach of California�s ban on so-called �assault weapons� to all semi-automatic centerfire rifles with detachable magazines, including �Bullet Button�-equipped firearms.

NH: Stop The New Hampshire Gun Tax Bill HB 1416
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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As Scott told you a little over a week ago, Rep. Katherine Rogers has introduced HB 1416, the Gun Tax of 2016. This bill will have a public hearing on Tuesday, January 19 at 10AM in the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee.

HB 1416, gives the Department of Safety the authority to charge �a reasonable fee� to conduct a criminal records check before someone may lawfully purchase a handgun.

The Challenges for Smart-Gun Makers
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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�If we can set it up so you can�t unlock your phone unless you�ve got the right fingerprint, why can�t we do the same thing for our guns?� That�s the reasonable-sounding question President Obama asked during his Jan. 5 gun control address from the White House. The answer is a little complicated: Even with presidential backing, it would be naive to expect a market for so-called smart guns to spring to life anytime soon.

WA: NRA's LaPierre throws down gauntlet; Rights rally in Olympia Friday Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There is 1 comment on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Reinforcing the adage to �be careful what you ask for, you may get it,� National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre yesterday threw down the gauntlet, challenging President Barack Obama in a video message to a one-on-one debate about guns in response to the president�s assertion last week that he is �happy� to meet with and talk to the NRA.

DC: D.C. shouldn�t dictate who can have weapons
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The recent hearings and discussions in both Trenton and Washington regarding gun control raise the question of why the government is allowed to control who gets the weapons. By creating lists of who is eligible to obtain a weapon, the government is clearly violating the Second Amendment.

I wonder how many of the patriots that encountered the British forces at Lexington and Concord would have been on King George�s list of who was prohibited from obtaining weapons? How many of those enrolled in Washington�s Revolutionary Army would also have been denied the right to bear arms by the authorities under King George III?

FL: State Preemption Regarding Weapons � A Good Thing?
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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State Preemption means that a matter is reserved for regulation via state law only.

In other words, if something is placed under state preemption and is permitted by the state, then local governments are forbidden to pass any laws making it prohibited.

Local governments often howl about this, crying that they have lost control over something they should be able to control. And the one thing they want to control more than anything else, except perhaps tax dollars, is weapons.

NY: Gun storage law now in effect in Albany
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Today, Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox, and Albany Common Council Member Cathy Fahey, Ward 7, held a press conference to announce that the City�s new firearm safe storage law, requiring that guns be locked and safely stored when not in the owner�s �immediate possession or control,� is now in effect.

The law, which was passed in September and went into effect on Jan. 1, would apply to firearms that are stored in motor vehicles and businesses, as well as in homes.

Rubio: �The Second Amendment Is Not An Option�
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Look, the Second Amendment is not an option. It is not a suggestion. It is a right of every American to protect themselves and their families� I�m convinced that this president would get rid of the Second Amendment if he could � None of these incidents that the president points to as the reason why he�s doing these things would have been prevented. You know why? Because criminals don�t buy their guns from a gun show. They don�t buy them from a collector� Let me tell you. ISIS and terrorists do not get their guns from a gun show.

NH: Rand Paul rolls out 100-member NH pro-Second Amendment coalition Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is rolling out a Granite State Second Amendment coalition. Paul�s New Hampshire campaign said there are 100 names in the list, which can be viewed in its entirety here. New, previously unannounced supporters of Paul who are members of the coalition are Shana Agan of Concord, Philip Chicoine of Benton and Pierre Dupont of Manchester.