Congressional Democrats Come Out Against A New Ban On Competition Rifles

With all the talk about AIG bailouts, bonuses, the White House proposing that American G.I.s injured in battle or other duty pay for their own healthcare, and the U.S. Department of Defense deciding to halt sales of expended brass to private re-sellers -- then reversing itself a few days later -- most media missed something extraordinary this week regarding the basic human right of self defense.

Sixty five Members of Congress, all democrats, yesterday sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder insisting that they will not support a new ban on competition rifles (so-called "assault weapons"). Led by Arkansas democrat Rep. Mike Ross, the representatives stated succinctly that such bans do not work, and that the fear-mongering of the anti-gun community, which is trying to connect Mexican drug cartel wars with lawful American firearms ownership, is patently dishonest.

It is an extraordinary letter.

"Even the Urban Institute study of the ban's effectiveness mandated by the 103rd Congress found that it could only have a limited effect because "the banned weapons and magazines were never used in more than a modest fraction of all gun murders.

"It is hard to believe the ban would be any more effective in controlling crime by well-funded international drug traffickers, who regularly use grenade launchers, anti-tank rockets and other weapons that are not available on the civilian market in the United States.

"The gun control community has intentionally misled many Americans into believing that these weapons are fully automatic machine guns. They are not. These firearms fire one shot for every pull of the trigger. Some of the guns that would be banned under proposed bills have been around for more than 70 years, and are often passed down from generation to generation."

As some bloggers have noted, many of the controversial trial balloons being floated are not announced by President Obama, but by his surrogates. If the ideas face a storm of criticism, he can let them die and deny he had a part in their formulation.

But the gun controllers have to be crying in their soup today. This is not what they had in mind. Obama is being silent on this issue. And if you do the math, there is no statistical way such a proposal, supported by President Obama prior to his election to the White House, and announced last month by Mr. Holder, can possibly pass the U.S. House of Representatives. Even if a number of republicans supported such a measure, it still would be likely to fail.

Is it too soon to say RIP assault weapons ban? Yes. But I hear funeral dirge music playing in the background for THIS initiative. At least for now.

There will still be other assaults on the 2A. Like other squeeze on ammunition, which already is in short supply, particularly smaller calibers.

BTW, as an Ohioan, my personal thanks to Reps. Zach Space, Charlie Wilson, John Boccieri for signing onto this letter. Gentlemen, you put statesmanship ahead of politics. You are to be saluted.

Worth Reading - Model Rocketeers Win Huge Battle Against BATFE

“District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton for the District of Columbia today issued an order finding in favor of the Tripoli Rocketry Association and National Association of Rocketry vs. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. . .. . Walton’s order granted a summary judgment motion in favor of the plaintiffs TRA and NAR, denied the summary judgment motion of BATFE, and vacated the classification of Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant (APCP) as an explosive.”

Worth reading. Especially since there are those in Congress who would love to pretty much classify all reloading items as "explosives." A lot of this model rocketry regulation occurred just before and after 9/11, and BATFE was all about classifying this, that and the other as explosives to show they were doing something. The courts (this time, acting in a sensible fashion), rightfully, have disagreed.

Take a look and pass it on.

Power In Numbers

Coordinated protests work.

It appears the U.S. Department of Defense has backed off its change in policy and now will no longer be scrapping expended brass, but will continue to sell it to re-manufacturers.

Read the latest from the Montana Shooting Sports Association, as published by Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

Dear MSSA Friends,

I just received a phone call from the office of U.S. Senator Tester of Montana to inform me that at 5:15 (EST) today a letter cosigned by Senator Tester (D-MT) and Senator Baucus (D-MT) was faxed to the Department of Defense asking DoD to reverse its new policy requiring destruction of fired military cartridge brass. At 5:30, I am told, Tester's office received a fax back from DoD saying that the brass destruction policy IS reversed.

Others report to me that they are already seeing evidence of this on the Websites of entities that liquidate surplus DoD commodities. Our thanks go out to Senator Tester and Senator Baucus, and their staff, for getting on this problem promptly and making the reversal happen. Staff for Tester and Baucus promise they will get me the documentation for this reversal tomorrow morning. I'll forward that when I get it.

Best wishes,
Gary Marbut, presidentMontana Shooting Sports
Associationhttp://www.mtssa.orgauthor, Gun Laws of Montanahttp://www.mtpublish.com

My thanks to all TRL readers who contacted their member of Congress or U.S. senator on this matter. But the battle isn't over. Vigilence is the watchword for the next four years.

h/t to Dave Zimmerman for the heads up that this was resolved

Obama Quietly Cuts Funding That Keeps Skies Safe

President Barack Obama's administration, without warning, has quietly cut funding for the Armed Pilots Program, according to Washington news reports.

"After the September 11 attacks, commercial airline pilots were allowed to carry guns if they completed a federal-safety program. No longer would unarmed pilots be defenseless as remorseless hijackers seized control of aircraft and rammed them into buildings. Now President Obama is quietly ending the federal firearms program, risking public safety on airlines in the name of an anti-gun ideology. The Obama administration this past week diverted some $2 million from the pilot training program to hire more supervisory staff, who will engage in field inspections of pilots."

Just freaking great.

Once again, this is not the "change" that most Americans signed on for. Read the entire story, then pass it on.

h/t to Sebastian

Is DoD Ending Sale of Expended Military Brass, Giving Antis An End Run Around The Second Amendment?

UPDATED Tuesday, March 17, 2009, 4:13 pm -- Story confirmed by Georgia Arms. Go to their website to see the latest.

Reports are that NRA is lobbying to have a waiver put in place for ammunition of 50 caliber and smaller.

Some are now calling this "the right to keep and bear ammunition. Here is a link to the Government Liquidation website, to get a feel for the new language.

*************
A number of firearms and 2A bloggers are trying to follow up on this (nail it down as fact), but considering some of the folks who are trying to get this news out I tend to believe this, and it is of concern.

According to Gordon Hutchinson, who wrote the blockbuster "The Great New Orleans Gun Grab," the U.S. Department of Defense is ending the sale of expended military brass to re-manufacturers. There has been a lot of misinformation floating around about potential threats to guns, but this one appears to be real. Enough so that Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership (JPFO) also is alerting its readers and the 2A community.

I met Gordon at the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Covington, Ky. in 2007. I trust his instincts and his sources. And the news he is sharing is troubling. Georgia Arms, the fifth largest producers of ammunition in the U.S., brought the news to his attention.

Click here to go to Gordon Hutchinson's Shootist blog site. There, you will find the text of two letters sent to ammunition manufacturer Georgia Arms, and a letter Hutchinson sent to Lousiana Congressman Bill Haynie and U.S. Sen. David Vitter, also of Louisiana, expressing outrage and concern over this turn of events.

With a national shortage of civilian ammunition, if true, this move has implications for both civilian self defense AND for law enforcement.

PLUS, here is more from David Codrea at Gun Rights Examiner. Dave has his finger on the pulse of what is happening as well.

I urge you to read all of these posts and pass them on.

Firearm, Ammunition Sales The One Bright Spot In A Dismal Economy

Tulsa World newspaper reports that sales of guns and ammunition remain high, helping stimulate the economy (okay that last part is mine).

"Most we're selling now we got back in September, but we bought pallets then where normally we wouldn't have ordered that much." The surprise sales come
with .380 caliber semi- automatic pistols. A relatively small self-protection weapon, it's not one that people typically fire in great quantity at the firing range, Prall said. Yet, the ammunition is now hard to find. "Nobody would have predicted that," he said.

"What's happened is everybody is afraid because the Democrats are anti-gun," said David Stone, president of Dong's Guns and Ammo on East Admiral Place. Internet chatter about bills in Congress that would create additional taxes on firearms and ammunition components, require strict licensing and ban more types of so-called "assault weapons" add to the concern, Stone said. "That's just driving everyone into panic mode," he said. "We're selling 10 times the ammo we used to." Similar bills have come up in Congress before, but few have advanced.

"We ran completely out here of 9 mm and .380," said Johny Mathews, product and service manager at the U.S. Shooting Sports Academy on East 66th Street North. "We were begging, borrowing and stealing from wherever." Concealed-carry classes at the academy are booked through April. "We used to do 15-person classes, and now we do 24 because of the demand," he said. Mathews believes that politics are partly to blame, but the economy also has people worried.

"It's 50/50, I think" he said. "When people lose jobs and get desperate, good people can sometimes do bad things. People hear more about home invasions, robberies, and they think it will only get worse. Then they're afraid they might lose their guns or ammo, so they stock up."

To read the story in its entirety, click here.

I do have a bone to pick with the gentleman who refers to the actions people are taking in purchasing ammunition as "hoarding." Hoarding refers to obtaining something and keeping others from getting it. "Stockpiling" is the better and more intellectually honest word, just as the American Red Cross (to this day) continues to urge Americans through radio, television and full page newspaper advertisements to stockpile food, water, prescription drugs and medical supplies in case of a natural or man-made disaster.

Simply put, everybody has had an equal chance to go purchase firearms and ammunition. Because some people don't, to refer to those who do as "hoarders" is an exercise in laziness. Its also dishonest.

In the end, there are many logical and rational reasons to be concerned both with the economy, the runaway spending on social programs being poorly disguised as "stimulus packages," and crime. Thinking people are responding by purchasing items for their personal protection. The same way and reason people buy insurance. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

More on the U.S. Ammunition Shortage

Its been blamed on the police buying up stuff, and the latest unusual suggestion (sometimes by the anti-gunners) that the Mexican drug cartels are snapping it up. But such a suggestion doesn't explain the scarcity of .45 ACP, .38 special, and the virtual absence of .380 and .32.

Its more simple, and yet . . . its complex. No, really, its quite simple.

Law abiding Americans are buying up ammunition because they don't trust the Obama administration not to ban it, or tighten access, or slow imports. Simple supply and demand. The free market doing what it does.

Americans stimulating the economy . . .

The Dishonesty of the Brady Campaign

The Brady's are dancing in the blood of the innocent dead in Alabama, crying out that a permanent ban on competition rifles must be enacted to prevent another mass shooting like that that occurred in the southern U.S. state.

Reason Online has the details.

The big lie being that "these guns" were banned until four years ago. No, they weren't. Some guns were. Most were not. Lots of incendiary words precisely designed to enrage and frighten an uninformed public that doesn't know a stock from a barrel.

The big lie, perpetrated by some pretty big liars.