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Congress Daily reports that House Democrats have pulled a measure that would have given the District of Columbia a vote in Congress:
The House has scrapped plans to vote on a bill that would give the District of Columbia a voting member of Congress because of a controversial amendment that would override the capital’s strict gun-control laws, Majority Leader Hoyer said this morning. Hoyer initially said he would bring the bill to the floor this week, but said today that it would not come up this year. The amendment was added to a House-passed version of the bill by the Senate.
You can be certain that our local liberal politicians made this call. They are willing to trade away our voting rights to make sure we remain defenseless against the District’s many well-armed criminals.
In Washington, D.C., we get precisely the representation we deserve.-[source]
With guns in holsters and rifles strapped to their chests, Second Amendment activists converged Monday outside California’s Capitol to demonstrate their right to bear arms.
Most of the 50 protesters who gathered brought guns and rifles, although they said their weapons were not loaded to comply with the state’s open-carry law.
“The Second Amendment gives us the right to keep and bear arms,” said rally organizer Kent Sandhagen, who wore a pistol in a leather holster on his hip.
Sandhagen, of Los Banos, said he and other gun owners organized the gathering to coincide with a similar rally in the nation’s capital.
They also were protesting a bill pending in the California Legislature that would ban gun owners from openly carrying unloaded guns in public. One man carried a sign reading “Patriotic legislators do not permit infringement.”
The bill by Democratic Assemblywoman Lori Saldana of San Diego is scheduled for a committee hearing Tuesday. She has described the proposed ban as a public safety issue.
It would make California the fourth state to ban people from wearing guns openly, according to the Legal Community Against Violence, a public interest law center based in San Francisco.
Ryan Johnston, a 32-year-old mechanic from Sacramento, said he doesn’t make a habitat of carrying his Smith & Wesson rifle in public but made an exception for Monday’s rally. -[source]
Washington has turned into ground zero for the nation’s polarizing gun debate, with rifle-toting protesters lining the banks of the Potomac, Congress on the verge of potentially gutting the District’s gun regulations, and area lawmakers calling for a crackdown on gun shows.
The events coincide with the anniversaries of the Oklahoma City bombing and Virginia Tech massacre, which have galvanized both sides in their cries to limit or expand gun control in the
region.
With unloaded rifles over their shoulders and handguns at their sides, protesters carried their weapons to the edge of the District Monday, alluding to the Potomac River as a virtual buffer to their Second Amendment rights.
Some dressed on Patriots’ Daylike it was 1775, donning Colonial-styled hats and citing some Founding Fathers as inspiration for their right to carry guns in public.
“The rifle is a symbol of our liberty,” said Andrew Graves, one of dozens who gathered at Alexandria’s Gravelly Point Park. “This is a battle for the Constitution. I can’t think of anything more important to fight for.”-[source]
Louisiana’s steadily increasing concealed-handgun permit sales spiked last year, reaching more than 9,000 and almost doubling those in 2008, according to State Police.Some attribute the jump to the lingering speculation of gun owners who suspect the federal government plans to restrict firearm use. Others suggest the economic downturn and a perceived need for protection might have temporarily spurred sales.
In 2006, Louisiana sold 2,426 concealed-handgun permits, according to records kept by State Police, which issues the documents. By 2008, sales had reached 4,130 and then surged to 9,210 last
year.
Lt. Doug Cain, a spokesman for the agency, said the sales began picking up in November 2008, coinciding with the election of President Barack Obama. He declined to say whether the agency thought there was a connection.
“It’s certainly out of the ordinary,” he said.
Sales in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes increased along with the state, as did nearly every parish, records show. Terrebonne Parish more than tripled from 83 in 2008 to 285 last year. Lafourche went from 60 to 180.
Residents must complete a nine-hour course that reviews child-safety laws, use of deadly force and ammunition, among other subjects, to apply for a permit. Once finished, they can apply for either a two-year permit for $50 or a four-year permit for $100.
Cain said the money pays for the State Police division that handles the permit sales.
Teachers say students have entered class with concerns that the federal government is planning to create legislation restricting gun use.
“That’s out there,” said Kenneth Barker, 32, who teaches a course at Tri-Parish Police Supply in Houma. “It’s more speculation than anything.”
Generally, people take the class seeking to protect themselves, teachers say. But not everyone who takes the class will carry a weapon, said Sgt. David Robichaux, who has taught the course for three years for the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Some enter with a false impression of when they can use their gun, he said. Learning the myriad limitations that exist even if you have a permit deters some from carrying a weapon.
“You can’t pull a gun on someone who slaps you in the face or steps on your foot. They have to have a high threat level,” Robichaux said. “When we explain all this stuff to them, it clicks — ‘Maybe I need a permit but I don’t need to carry a (firearm) all the time.’ ”
The sales of not only permits but ammunition and firearms has spiked nationwide, said Rachel Parsons, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association.-[source]
Today, healing Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) signed an important NRA-backed bill into law, buy which removes the licensure requirement for law-abiding citizens who choose to carry a concealed firearm in the state of Arizona. Senate Bill 1108 passed the state House on April 8, generic by a vote of 36-19 with five absent votes and the state Senate by a vote of 20-10 in late March.
“This is a major victory for gun owners in Arizona, and I would like to thank Governor Jan Brewer, as well as the primary bill sponsor, Senator Russell Pearce (R-Mesa), for their leadership in working to improve the self-defense rights of law-abiding citizens in Arizona,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA-ILA. “Both Governor Brewer and state Senator Pearce have been strong supporters of the NRA. The NRA is also grateful to the legislators who voted for this measure making Arizona the third state in the nation behind Vermont and Alaska to offer its residents a constitutional carry option.”
SB 1108 replaces Arizona’s former law, which required anyone who wished to defend themselves outside their home to possess a state-issued concealed carry permit. In Arizona’s constitution, Article 2, Section 26 states “the right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself or the state shall not be impaired…” The intention of this language could not be clearer.
Arizona residents will still be required to obtain a permit to carry concealed firearms across state lines in those states that have reciprocity agreements with Arizona.
“SB 1108 will enhance the rights of law-abiding Arizonans,” concluded Cox.
The effective date for this bill has yet to be determined. -[source]
The Colorado Court of Appeals yesterday ruled in favor of students seeking the right to carry concealed weapons on campus.
The appeals court reversed an earlier ruling by El Paso County District Judge David Miller who dismissed a lawsuit filed in 2008 by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, seek seeking to overturn the University of Colorado’s gun ban.
The unanimous ruling comes as a huge break for gun rights advocates who oppose campus gun bans. The case will now head back to district court.
University of Colorado officials immediately raised concerns over undermining their jurisdiction over campus policies. But attorney Jim Manley, tadalafil who is representing Students for Concealed Carry on Campus in its lawsuit, pill called the ruling a “victory.”
“This decision is a victory for individual freedom and a victory for the rule of law,” he said in a statement. “The court vindicated the right to licensed concealed carry on campus and the Constitutional protection for the right to keep and bear arms.”-[source]
“One of the legislative items most sought by America’s 100 million law-abiding firearm owners is universal acceptance of permits to carry concealed firearms issued by a state,” says gun rights expert John M. Snyder.
“Gun owners believe that if a citizen has a permit to carry a concealed firearm issued by a state he or she should be able to carry that gun in any state,” adds Snyder, Public Affairs Director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
“Now we know that police, too, support this concept,” he adds.
Snyder says that, “national reciprocity for holders of permits to carry concealed firearms issued by states enjoys the support of over three-quarters of law enforcement command officers in the United States.
“This is evident from a recent survey of opinions of American chiefs of police and sheriffs.”
A former National Rifle Association magazine editor, Snyder states “the finding supports the program in Washington, D.C. of Senators and Representatives who promote national concealed carry reciprocity legislation.
“It undercuts the agenda of Senators and Representatives who work to undermine such legislation.”
The 2010 postal opinion survey is the 22nd such annual survey conducted by the National Association of Chiefs of Police (NACOP). Snyder serves on the NACOP board.
When the officers were asked if general recognition throughout the states of ccw permits issued by a state, in the way drivers’ licenses are recognized throughout the country, would facilitate the violent crime-fighting potential of the professional law enforcement community, 77 percent said yes.
“The survey upends the propaganda of anti-gun organizations and individuals that gun rights and police interests are not compatible,” says Snyder, also a board member of the American Federation of Police and Concerned Citizens.
“In fact,” he believes, “the very opposite is the case. The survey shows that over 70 percent of the chiefs and sheriffs think that qualified, law-abiding armed citizens can be of assistance to the professional law enforcement community in promoting justice and reducing the incidence of violent criminal activity.-[source]
Today Ohioans For Concealed Carry filed a civil lawsuit against the City of Campbell, Ohio in the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas (Case #50 2010 CV 01487) after months of attempting to convince the City Council that their gun ban ordinance violates Ohio Law. OFCC has learned that an effort to repeal the gun ban ordinance was tabled or “sent back to committee,” supposedly at the request of the Police Chief. Ohioans For Concealed Carry has expressed to the City of Campbell on many occasions that the precedent in this matter comes from a case we already took to the Ohio Supreme Court with another obstinate municipality: Ohioans for Concealed Carry, Inc. v. Clyde
Immediately after the lawsuit was filed this letter was delivered to the law director of the City of Campbell requesting an agreement by the city that they publicly announce their intent to not enforce the law in light of this litigation.
Ohioans For Concealed Carry was invited, by the Young American Liberty group out of Youngstown State University, to attend a rally protesting the City’s adoption of this legislation on Saturday, April 17th at 2:00pm. When OFCC began to advertise the rally the city demanded the YAL group pay $2,000 in law enforcement wages for their peaceful protest. There was talk of the rally becoming a protest, which caught the attention of the Youngstown Vindicator newspaper yesterday.
The Young American Liberty organizers have negotiated that down to a much more reasonable rate, and donations raised in this discussion thread allowed Ohioans For Concealed Carry to contribute $400 to the cause since it was our presence that nearly cancelled the YAL rally they so graciously invited us to speak at. Today we advised the Police Chief on the lawful act of possessing a firearm in public in this letter faxed to his attention.-[source]
Along the border, fears are growing that the escalating drug violence in Mexico will spill into the United States.
Last month, a well-known rancher was murdered in southeastern Arizona. Authorities suspect an illegal immigrant did it.
The murder prompted governors in New Mexico and Texas to send forces to the border. This week, the Mexican government sent dozens of police and soldiers to the Juarez Valley to restore order.
For many on both sides of the border, the fear is very real.
‘Arm Yourselves’
Last week, residents held a town-hall meeting in Fort Hancock, Texas — a sleepy agricultural town on the border, about an hour southeast of El Paso, that looks like the bleak set of No Country for Old Men.
A couple hundred people crowded into the grade-school gym to hear a chilling message from Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West.
“You farmers, I’m telling you right now, arm yourselves,” he said. “As they say the old story is, it’s better to be tried by 12 than carried by six. Damn it, I don’t want to see six people carrying you.”-[source]
A growing list of states joining the legal battle over federal gun control argued Monday that Congress can’t regulate guns made and sold within a state.
The argument over gun control, sparked with the “firearm freedoms act” first enacted in Montana and subsequently in other states, is leading to a constitutional showdown over the reach of Congress into state borders.
“The American people and the several states created the federal government, and they now want the federal government constrained to the proper role for which it was created,” said Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association that launched the lawsuit. “This is a forward step for freedom that has always been at the heart of who we are in America.”
Utah, Alabama, Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming and West Virginia all signed on to the lawsuit. The states argue that the U.S. Constitution gives them the right to control activities inside state borders, and they want the authority to do so under the firearms freedom acts advancing around the country. – [source]
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