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IL: Handgun proposal means Chicago mayor won't run for governor
Submitted by: Anonymous

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Rahm Emanuel does not plan to run for governor of Illinois. Not in 2014. Not ever. His proposal last week to register all Illinois handguns made it obvious.
I'm sure that Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, wouldn't consider taking the step down to governor anyway — not any more than his predecessor, Richard M. Daley.
You can be sure that Chicago mayors do see it as a demotion. Only one has ever stooped down to the Governor's Mansion and that was almost a century ago: ex-Mayor Edward Fitzsimmons Dunne served as governor from 1913-17.
No wonder. Chicago mayors wield enormous power in city and state matters, and some enjoy the longevity of kings. Note that five Illinois governors came and went during Daley's tenure.

Justin Moore Spreading The Word About The NRA Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Justin Moore wrote the title track for a new CD that was just released called This Is NRA Country, Volume 1. The CD is meant to promote the This Is NRA Country initiative, which features country stars like Justin helping to promote the NRA and what it stands for. Justin admits, �Growing up in Arkansas, even I didn�t know what all [the NRA] did beyond wave the flag for the Second Amendment.

NJ: Guns & Gay Marriage, It's Not What You Think
Submitted by: Anonymous

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Is gay marriage somehow tied to the 2nd Amendment? There was a showdown of sorts in NJ this week.

Governor Christie said he'd veto it (gay marriage bill). I have to give the guy some credit for the clever way he deflected responsibility. He said publicly that if the lawmakers are correct in their assertion that the majority of NJ citizens favor gay marriage, then go ahead and put it to a public vote.

. . . what does this all have to do with the 2nd Amendment in NJ? Well if his highness applied the same standard to a real civil right, I wonder what would happen.

IN: Indiana Lawmakers Take Up NRA Hunting Bill
Submitted by: Opposing Views
Website: http://opposingviews.com

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After passing in the Indiana Senate with overwhelming bi-partisan support, NRA-backed Senate Bill 243 now awaits it�s hearing in the House Public Policy Committee. A hearing could be set as early as Wednesday, February 22. SB 243 would allow Hoosiers to use lawfully-possessed suppressors (also referred to as silencers) on firearms for hunting. Currently, Indiana law permits use of suppressors for all shooting activities except for the taking of game. Enactment of SB 243 would ensure that hunting is treated the same way as other shooting activities with respect to the use of suppressors, and allow hunters to reap the many benefits suppressor use provides.

Project Gunrunner Wasn't Fast and Furious by Any Means
Submitted by: Anonymous

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For those of you who have the unenviable task of debating liberals in your family or workplace, let me render some aid. Liberals are jumping all over the falsehood that Fast & Furious was conceived and put into play during the Bush Administration as Project Gunrunner or Operation Gunwalker. ...
Project Gunrunner was a multinational effort involving the use of eTrace, a Web-based program, "that provides for the electronic exchange of traced firearm data in a secure internet-based environment."
Contrarily, as the whole world now knows, Operation Fast & Furious increased cross-border firearms trafficking to the extent that 2,000 dangerous, lethal weapons went missing entirely as no method for tracking them was employed.

CA: Gun owners hope to win the right to carry concealed weapons
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Chuck Michel's strategy for crime-fighting rests on the element of surprise: Keep the bad guys guessing who's armed and who's not.

"If 5% of the ducks could shoot back, you're not going to go duck hunting," said the Long Beach lawyer representing many Californians denied concealed weapons permits and, in his view, their constitutional right to self-defense.

For decades, that argument has fallen flat in the courtroom. Judges have routinely held that denying permits to carry loaded firearms in public does not infringe on gun owners' right to keep and bear arms.

IL: Reaction mixed to mayor's proposal to license guns
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The proposal has garnered significant opposition from some lawmakers and gun rights activists, including the Illinois State Rifle Association. Its executive director, Richard Pearson, said he considers it a tax on a civil liberty.

"We are not registering any firearms. Period," Pearson said. "I would propose a term limit for the mayor of the city of Chicago."

Besides opposing it because he sees it as a violation of the 2nd Amendment, Pearson said he believes gun possession is a necessity for self-defense and he wouldn't want to hinder people's ability to purchase and keep a firearm.

NY: Kingston Cop Sentenced to 3 to 9 years
Submitted by: John Lehmann

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Timothy Matthews, the former Kingston police detective lieutenant who was charged last year with stealing more than $200,000 in public and private money, will spend three to nine years in state prison after pleading guilty on Tuesday to two counts of grand larceny, according to the Ulster County District Attorney�s Office.

Matthews also was ordered to pay a total of $212,000 in restitution to the city of Kingston, Ulster County and Ulster Saving Bank.

Matthews, 50, was taken into custody after pleading guilty and is being held in the Ulster County Jail pending his transfer to a state prison, according to his attorney, Michael Kavanagh Jr.

IL: Sex with the dead? Illinois bill would make it illegal
Submitted by: Anonymous

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Spurred by cases in which bodies of overdose victims were moved to thwart investigations, Illinois state Rep. Dan Beiser, D-Alton, is sponsoring a bill to make unauthorized movement of a corpse a felony.

It also would criminalize something that even Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn thought was already illegal--having sex with the dead.

SUBMITTER'S COMMENT: This is blatantly discriminatory! If they're allowed to vote, why deprive them of other rights?

IL: Study finds Illinois third most corrupt state
Submitted by: Anonymous

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Illinois is currently ranked the third most corrupt state in the country behind New York and California, according to a new report by the University of Illinois' Institute of Government and Public Affairs and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The study also ranked Chicago as the most corrupt city in the country.

SUBMITTER'S COMMENTS: As always, there's a strong link between public corruption and tight gun control.
Be sure to click on the link "a new report." It makes for very interesting reading.
Although not mentioned in the article, I see that the Democratic People's Republic of New Jersey is holding its own against fierce competition.

KY: Police: Shooting was self-defense Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The Pulaski County Sheriff's Office says an overnight shooting appears to be self-defense. WKYT is told Marty McKinney, 37, fired at a group of people as they tried to kick in the door of his home on Charles Burton Road. Two people suffered non-life threatening injuries.

TX: Lawmakers may holster campus guns idea
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Despite Texas� cowboy image and its reputation as a Second Amendment-friendly state, in recent legislative sessions a high-profile pro-gun bill hasn�t made it to the finish line, despite broad support.

Now the fate of a proposal to allow Texans with concealed gun permits to carry their firearms on college campuses faces an additional hurdle. It lacks an author and a sponsor who can convince their fellow legislators the idea is good for law-abiding citizens.

NJ: Wake Up New Jersey Gun Owners the Time is Now Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
The time is now New Jersey gun owners! There is currently a petition circulating on Change.org endorsed by the New Jersey Second Amendment Society (NJ2AS). Many of the members of the society have already signed it and we are looking for more signatures to let the New Jersey State Politicians know that we are not going to take our rights being stifled laying down.

OH: Gun Rights in the Age of Feelings
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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I just looked all through the Constitution�again�and I couldn't find anything that says people have a right to "feel safe."

That's why I'm sick of those smirking gun prohibitionists who, like naughty schoolboys, keep trying to sneak the "right to feel safe" up alongside the Second Amendment. We saw a lot of this foolishness during the recent Starbucks Buy-cott. But no matter what kind of costume and makeup you put on the "right to feel safe" argument, you can't push it out on the same stage as the U.S. Constitution and modern Second Amendment jurisprudence.

Of course, that didn't stop the gun-phobic media from using this tired template in their Starbucks stories:

Imagine a Moratorium on Gun Control in 2012
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Imagine a five year moratorium on all enforcement of gun laws. What would happen?

Would the fears and apprehensions of gun control activists come true? Or, would we see a re-awakening of the electorate�s supervision of our public servants and a much greater excitement about self-rule?

I think the re-awakening would transpire. Heritage of sovereignty would come alive and the government/governed rapport would improve immensely. You see, Americans do not hate their government; we prefer our roads to be safe, our meat inspection to be reliable, and our votes to be righteous (and counted). What we also prefer is respect for the Sovereign.

Will NRA Director Election Be An Opportunity Squandered? Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
�Do you have any ideas about the NRA board vote?� an email I received last night asked. My correspondent is referring to the upcoming election for National Rifle Association directors. The ballot is included in the February 2012 issue of the NRA magazine of choice for Life members, and for those with five or more consecutive years of membership. Voting will continue through March 25.

NY: Urging the State Senate to Include Microstamping in Budget
Submitted by: GunPoliticsNY
Website: http://www.gunpoliticsny.com

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On Valentine�s Day, family members who have lost loved ones to gun violence along with advocates and law enforcement officials joined senators and assemblymembers at the state capitol to urge the state senate to include microstamping in their budget proposal. The governor�s executive budget eliminates CoBIS, the state�s pistol and revolver ballistic identification database, leaving a gap in the ability of law enforcement to link shell casings back to the gun that fired them.

VA: Virginia gun rights group lays siege to �castle bills�
Submitted by: Mike Stollenwerk
Website: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=mike%20dc%20gun&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%

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. . .

But in Virginia something strange happened. The state�s largest gun rights group known as the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL) decide to oppose all of the castle bills being considered this year.

On Wednesday February 15th VCDL President Philip Van Cleave alerted his members that the League had changed its position on all castle bills �from NEUTRAL to STRONGLY OPPOSE� and urged gun owners to demand that legislators vote against all castle doctrine bills.

. . .

By Friday night, two days after VCDL decided to lay siege to the castle bills, two of the four bills, HB 925 and SB 64, lay dead or dying in committee, and the other two passed out of committee under a sort of truce flag.

VA: Bill to Allow Sunday Hunting in Virginia Fails Bill to Allow Sunday Hunting in Virginia Fails
Submitted by: Opposing Views
Website: http://opposingviews.com

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Earlier this week, legislation (SB 464) to end the ban on Sunday hunting failed by a 4-3 vote in a subcommittee of the Virginia House Committee on Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources. The measure, which had previously sailed through the Senate and enjoyed broad bi-partisan support amongst rank-and-file Republicans and Democrats in the House, was killed by an apparent absence of GOP leadership. The full House never had an opportunity to express the will of their constituents state- wide. Allowing sportsmen in Virginia to go afield on Sundays was part of larger effort to increase participation in hunting that also involved improving access and opportunity for sportsmen living in the commonwealth.

NRA News Minute: NY Times Trashes Constitution Submitted by: Opposing Views Website: http://opposingviews.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
In the NRA-ILA Grassroots News Minute for February 17, anchor Krista Cupp reports in [sic] the harsh words The New York Times and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg had about the U.S. Constitution

TX: Some Homeowners Shoot Intruders; Claim Self-Defense Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
When faced with the terrifying reality of encountering an intruder, many armed homeowners decide to shoot. Central Texas CHL Instructor Johnny Price teaches his students about when you can legally shoot an intruder. "You can actually defend your home, your property, obviously your family, and it's really when they get on the property line, said Price.

UT: Mountain man scares owners of remote Utah cabins
Submitted by: Anonymous

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He's eluded authorities for more than five years, a mountain man who roams the wilderness of southern Utah, breaking into remote cabins in winter, living in luxury off hot food, alcohol and coffee before stealing provisions and vanishing into the woods.
Investigators have clawed for clues, scouring cabins for fingerprints that match no one and chasing reports of brief encounters only to come up short, always a step behind the mysterious recluse.
They've found abandoned camps, dozens of guns, high-end outdoor gear stolen from the homes and trash strewn around the forest floor.

UT: Teen shot in neck was a 'horrible accident' police say
Submitted by: repeal1968guncontrolact

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"WEST JORDAN � A 15-year-old boy remained hospitalized in critical but stable condition Sunday after he was shot in what police say appears to have been a "horrible accident."

The boy's father was preparing to put away a handgun when it discharged on Saturday, said West Jordan police spokesman Ian Adams."

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Submitter's note: NO IT DIDN'T JUST "DISCHARGE." He put his finger on the trigger and somehow pulled it.

Arms-Trading Treaty Discussions Continue
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Negotiators on Friday narrowly averted the collapse of talks on a world arms trade treaty to regulate the $55 billion global weapons market, agreeing on ground rules for negotiations, with major players the United States and Russia finding agreement on some points but not on others.

Delegates and advocates for tougher oversight of global arms sales said the agreement set the stage for a month-long conference in July to draft the treaty.