Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

Chief mum on �submachinegun� clarification inquiry Submitted by: David Codrea Website: http://www.davidcodrea.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
"The reason for the question is obvious to gun rights advocates. 'Authorized Journalists' are continually conflating select fire weapons capable of automatic fire with semi-automatic firearms that, while they may appear similar to those who don�t know any better, only fire one shot per squeeze of the trigger. And that is just what those who wish to ban such weapons are counting on."

FL: City committee considers adding gun safety program
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Commissioner Yvonne Hinson-Rawls, who chairs the committee, first raised the issue and asked the full commission to send the topic to committee. Hinson-Rawls initially sought a gun safety class for women specifically as protection against domestic violence and other violent crimes. At Thursday's meeting, she said she knew several women who lived alone, some of them widows, who owned guns for protection "and are afraid of them themselves."

1 year after Newtown, gun control still elusive
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Alan Gottlieb is founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, a gun-rights legal-defense organization, and chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right To Keep and Bear Arms, a gun-rights lobbying group. He said he doesn�t personally have a problem with more background checks, although he said they wouldn�t have stopped the Newtown massacre or other notorious mass shootings.

But gun-control supporters overreached this year, he said, and have antagonized and mobilized gun owners to such an extent that even the proposed background-check expansion is now stalled.

One year after Newtown, the gun control debate rages on
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A few gun-rights groups are marking Bill of Rights Day on Sunday by sponsoring "Guns Save Lives Day" and encouraging attendance at gun shows "because crazy people, criminals and gun control extremists prefer unarmed victims," a pro-gun website says.

"No one at Newtown should have been a victim," said Alan Gottlieb, an officer with the Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. He argues that all Americans, even in schools, must be allowed to defend themselves.

In fact, 2013 was a banner year for the gun industry: Sales of firearms and ammunition are way up.

The most loved, and hated, gun in America
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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On the civilian front, however, sales of AR-15-style guns were not spectacular until recently. Even as sales of hunting rifles have fallen, industry stats indicate that sales of guns based on the AR and AK platforms -- so-called assault rifles -- have spiked since 2007. More than half a million of the guns have been purchased annually, with numbers soaring to 1 million in 2009 and hitting 1 million again in 2012, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Indulging in America�s gun fantasies Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
THERE THEY were, just below Martha Stewart and Paula Deen and Allure in the magazine rack at the supermarket: the gun periodicals. I bought three. Back at the place where I was staying � this was in upstate New York, a week ago � I pored over the ads and the editorial content, trying to understand what they were saying, and to whom.

Newtown anniversary a call to action in gun-rights duel
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Supporters of Initiative 591, which would prevent the adoption of state background-check laws stricter than the federal standard, will mark �Guns Save Lives Day� at gun shows and ranges Sunday, reiterating the self-protection benefits of carrying.

�The other side is using the occasion to push their agenda, and we�re not going to let them talk about it in a vacuum. There is another side, a good side, to guns,� said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, before preparing for a Fox News interview � his 36th anniversary-themed interview of the week, he said.

Gottlieb said he feels for all victims of violence but reiterated that guns also save lives when used properly.

Second Amendment Foundation shells out for national advertising
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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"While others will exploit national tragedies to push an agenda of victim disarmamen, those of us involved in 'Guns Save Lives Day' have a different message that the public has a right to hear," said Alan Gottlieb in the prepared statement. Gottlieb is quickly becoming the face of gun rights movement, appearing in more than 300 television spots a year to promote his message. "The proper use of firearms in emergency situations can make a difference to the safety of would-be victims, whether they are night-shift grocery clerks, single moms, senior citizens or small business owners."

Gun Fights Go Beyond Democratic States
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The biggest gun-control fight next year is shaping up as dueling ballot initiatives in the state of Washington, a continent away from the Connecticut elementary school where a mass shooting ignited a national push for tougher firearms laws.

It�s the only place in the nation where both sides are seeking to use the ballot box at once. It�s one of a handful of areas where national activists will press for gun-control laws after a measure to expand background checks on firearms buyers failed in the U.S. Senate. Other battlegrounds will include states known for hunting or ranching, including Minnesota (STOMN1:US), Oregon (STOOR1:US) and Nevada (STONV1:US), according to interviews with advocates on both sides.

PA: Health care union holds Penn Square vigil for sensible gun laws
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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It was a cold but determined group of health care professionals who gathered in Penn Square Thursday to remember the children and adults who died a year ago at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and to call on state legislators to pass sensible gun laws.

About 125 union members of Service Employees International Union Healthcare PA representing chapters from across the state, braved the icy wind as they held battery-powered candles aloft while remembering the victims of gun violence and to show their support of state House Bill 1010.

FL: Court Strikes Down University Gun Rule
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A splintered appeals court ruled Tuesday that state universities cannot bar students from storing guns in their cars while on campus.

The ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal, which drew seven separate opinions from the 15-member bench, was 12-3 on the merits for striking down a policy at the University of North Florida barring firearms stowed in cars. The majority opinion drew eight votes, with some of the members drafting separate, concurring opinions, while four other judges joined a different opinion agreeing with the court's result.

VA: Elderly Man Frightens Off Intruder Hampton Roads, VA. Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
A 76-year-old man was at home in Hampton, Va. when he heard suspicious noises inside the residence. The man retrieved a gun, went to investigate, and discovered a burglar inside the closet of a barber shop which is attached to the property. The resident fired at the criminal, striking him in the arm and causing him to flee. Police captured the wounded intruder a short time later.

What if the Founding Fathers Saw Newtown? Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
�1746� That was 30 years before the Declaration of Independence, 45 years before the ratification of the Second Amendment. I wondered what the founding fathers�whom the gun rights people love to invoke�would have said if they had happened to pass by here back then and been suddenly bestowed with the gift of prophesy.

LA: Supreme Court rules in gun amendment case
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The court decided the Draughter case based on the defendant's probation status.

"For these persons still under state supervision, we easily find there to be a compelling state interest for the state's limited infringement of even fundamental constitutional rights, including the right to possess a firearm," Justice Marcus Clark wrote on behalf of the court.

Reingold, the New Orleans public defender representing Draughter, said defense lawyers will pick another defendant � someone who wasn't on probation when caught with a gun � and try again to get the question before the Supreme Court.

SAF Stops California A.G. From Derailing Challenge To 10-Day Waiting Period
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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A federal judge this week sided with the Second Amendment Foundation, Calguns Foundation and three individual plaintiffs and denied a motion by California Attorney General Kamala Harris to dismiss a challenge to California's ten-day waiting period in the case of Silvester v. Harris.

Senior Judge Anthony Ishii of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California noted in his 11- page order that, "Although Harris argues that the WPL (Waiting Period Law) is a minor burden on the Second Amendment, Plaintiffs are correct that this is a tacit acknowledgment that a protected Second Amendment right is burdened. Therefore, the Court concludes that the WPL burdens the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms."

The 7 Things You Must Know Before You Draw Your Gun
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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When I was asked to create the book called �The 7 Things You Must Know Before Drawing Your Gun�, about a thousand critical thoughts flooded my mind.

�First of all�, I remember saying, �There are far more than seven things that anybody needs to know before they draw their gun. In fact, there are probably seven hundred.�

My fellow USCCA Staff member replied, �I know that� you know that. Hell, most of our 56,000 members know that. But Pat, this report is going to be circulated into some pretty distant circles of people. Not all of them are going to have dedicated as much thought to carrying concealed as the average USCCA member.�

Raising kids while wearing guns on their hips
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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There�s no need to ask Jen Anesi her views on gun ownership � a glance will do.

A small pistol nestled inside a pink paddle holster is secured on her right hip and �Protected By Ruger� is emblazoned on the rear window of her lime green Ford Fiesta.

The gun-toting 30-year-old southeastern Michigan single mom believes it�s important to teach her young son the value of shooting, self-protection and the Second Amendment.

WI: Gun rights advocates up in arms over weapons ban on city buses Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Local gun rights activists are up in arms about a state policy that bans �weapons of any kind� on city buses, including those operated by Madison Metro Transit. In response to Madison Transit�s enforcement of the state law, pro-gun group Wisconsin Carry announced recently they intend to file a lawsuit against Madison Transit challenging the policy.

Tighten up gun seller licensing to cut sales to criminals, mayors coalition says
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Loopholes in the licensing of gun dealers are letting �high-volume sellers� flood the U.S. market with tens of thousands of firearms sold through websites or gun shows, without background checks, the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition said in a report released Thursday.

The report, released just days ahead of the anniversary of the Newtown school shootings, notes that federal law requires that people �engaged in the business� of firearms sales must have federal licenses � but doesn�t define what that phrase means.

WV: West Virginia Secures 30th Concealed Carry Handgun Reciprocity Agreement
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has announced that West Virginia will now have full reciprocity with the state of Alabama.

"This agreement marks the thirtieth state with West Virginia has full reciprocity and the sixth agreement reached since July," Morrisey said. "The Second Amendment ensures that citizens have the right to keep and bear arms. Under my tenure as Attorney General, we will continue to protect the Second Amendment rights of both West Virginia and those from other states that travel here."

WA: Gun Control Activists Seek to Reboot After Newtown Shooting Momentum Fades
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Pacing the stage in a dark suit and no tie, the man who led the effort to legalize gay marriage in Washington laid out his next crusade to the nearly 200 grassroots activists gathered at the Seattle Center Pavilion Wednesday.

�We here in Washington have a history of leading the country from software and coffee to marriage equality and environmental stewardship,� Zach Silk told the crowd. �Acting together, we can stand up to the gun lobby and change the conversation in the country.� Silk, who heads the gun control group Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, then outlined a path to passing a ballot initiative next November that would expand background checks on gun purchases.