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Saturday, May 31, 2008

NRA Life Member and NRA Board Member Jim Gilmore Wins Senate Nomination

Former Governor Jim Gilmore narrowly defeated Delegate Bob Marshall today to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. He will face former Democratic Governor Mark Warner in the fall in the race to succeed retiring Senator John Warner (no relation to Mark Warner). Gilmore is a Life Member of the NRA and was just elected to his second three-year term on the NRA Board of Directors.

Pundits name Warner the early favorite to win the seat. While he was Governor of Virginia, Warner signed every pro-gun bill that was put on his desk. However, when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1996, he supported the Clinton Gun Ban on semi-automatic firearms that have a military appearance (the so-called "Assault Weapons" ban). Gun owners should make the former governor take a clear stand on whether he would vote to reinstate the Clinton Gun Ban. He should not be able to just say "I support the Second Amendment" and leave it at that.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

John McCain Sits down with Outdoor Life

Senator John McCain recently sat down with Outdoor Life Magazine to discuss issues important to sportsmen, including the Second Amendment.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Red's Trading Post Ordeal May Finally Be Over

The Casper Star-Tribune reported on May 23rd, that Red's Trading Post, an Idaho gun shop that went to federal court to keep the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from stripping it of its gun license has reached a tentative settlement with the government. No details are available as of today but it appears that Red's will be able to continue operations. I noted when looking for an update on the case that Red's has shut down their blog.

This was just one more case of BATF overreaching. If you have not already done so, please contact your congressman and ask them to co-sponsor and support H.R. 4900 - the “Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Reform and Firearms Modernization Act of 2007.” You can find talking points here that you can use when you contact your congressman.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Under the Heading "You've Got to Love This!"

A Missouri car dealer is offering customers that purchase a car the choice of free gas or a free handgun (after the necessary background checks) as a gift for purchasing a car. Mark Muller, the owner of Max Motors in Butler, Missouri south of Kansas City, on Thursday told Reuters that sales have soared at his auto and truck business since launching a promotion this week that promises buyers a $250 credit for a handgun or a $250 gas card with every purchase. Muller told the reporter that every buyer so far “except one guy from Canada and one old guy” has elected to take the gun. Muller told Reuters that he came up with the promotion after stewing over comments (the "Bitter" comments) made last month by Obama at a fundraiser for his presidential campaign in San Francisco. The message in this - guns are good for business.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

More Whining from AHSA

The astro-turf gun group American Hunters and Shooters Association (AHSA) continues its attempts to be relevant. Last year, they paid people to stand out in front of the NRA Annual Meeting and Exhibits to hand out flyers against NRA. This year in Louisville, they apparently decided it was cheaper to just run an ad in a local Louisville newspaper. In today's edition of the Lexington Hearld Leader, Hearld columnist Tom Eblen picks up the talking points fed to him by ASHA's Bob Ricker (you know - the lobbyist who will sell himself to what ever group will pay him).

Ricker told Eblen that AHSA believes the vast majority of sportsmen are not represented by NRA because of their support for Republican candidates. Seems that the fact that John McCain, who has a lengthy pro-gun voting record despite those instances where he parted company with gun owners and the NRA (background checks on private sales at gun shows and McCain/Feingold), was invited to speak to the members in Louisville, and that Obama (who has been endorsed by ASHA) was not, is proof that sportsmen (i.e. hunters) are not represented by NRA.

What Ricker did not tell Eblin and Eblin apparently failed to look up on his own, is that NRA has been endorsing Democrats. In September, Harold Ford, Bill Richardson, and John Dingell were invited to speak at the Celebration of American Values Forum. And in Louisville, Democrat Congressman and newly elected NRA Board Member Dan Boran spoke during the Friday forum as well as the Kentucky Democratic Lt. Governor (the Democratic Governor of Kentucky had been invited but apparently had a scheduling conflict at the last minute).

I talked to a lot of people at the Annual Meeting, including hunters, and I did not get the sense they felt under represented by the NRA. Ricker claims ASHA has 25,000 paying members. If any of those people are people that care about hunting, they might like to know that the candidate of choice for ASHA, Barrack Obama, voted for a bill (SB1195) that would have banned many popular hunting shotguns and muzzleloading rifles. That's how ASHA represents hunters and sportsmen.

Hat tip to Snowflakes in Hell

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

NRA Annual Meeting a Great Success

The Louisville Annual Meeting had to be one of the biggest events that I have attended. There were people everywhere. During the Celebration of American Values Forum, a number of the speakers unloaded on Barrack Obama and warned of what will happen to our rights if he is elected. At the same time, the Republican National Committee released a new video on You Tube highlighting some of Obama's past gun control positions. You can see it below.



I had the opportunity to take my daughter with me and she had a blast. NRA Annual Meetings are so family friendly and you meet some of the nicest people. The highlight of her trip was meeting Eddie Eagle.



The Eddie Eagle Program is celebrating its 20th Anniversary this year. Look for a complete wrap up about the NRA Annual Meeting in the next issue of The Bullet. Don't get The Bullet? Join VSSA and get your own copy of the official publication of VSSA six times a year.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

NRA Annual Meeting This Week


NRA members by now are well aware that this week is the Annual Meeting of Members in Louisville, Ky. Part of the weekend long event includes a "Celebration of American Values" Forum, similar to the forum they held in Washington, DC, last year. The forum is Friday at 12:30 PM. Please be aware if you are planning to attend and have tickets to the forum that you will be required to go through Secret Service Security due to the scheduled appearance of Senator John McCain. By order of the Secret Service, no firearms will be allowed in Hall A of the Kentucky Exposition Center. Some 10,000 people are expected to attend the Forum based on tickets sales (part of that in an overflow room with closed circuit TV). So, if you are going to the forum, you might want to get in line early.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Virginia Crime Commission and the "Gun Show Loophole"

When the Virginia Senate Courts of Justice Committee defeated Governor Kaine's signature gun control legislation earlier this year - background checks on private sales at gun shows - it threw a bone to the gun ban lobby by forwarding the issue to Virginia's Crime Commission to study the issue. Last week, the Commission agreed to study the issue -- but also made clear it will not issue any legislative recommendations as a result of its findings.

You could have heard the howls of the gun ban lobby all the way to the offices of VSSA in Orange County. Their reaction assumes the study would reach the same conclusions they already have - that gun shows are a major source of guns used in crimes. An unbiased study might come to conclusions showing no need for tighter restrictions and might actually refute arguments for restrictions commonly sought by the gun ban lobby.

According to a Richmond Times Dispatch editorial this morning, the commission hopes to find out (a) how many guns sold at gun shows are sold by individuals who do not have a federal firearms license (private sales), and (b) how many of the guns from that pool are then used in crimes. The RTD asks, "What if it turns out that only a tiny fraction of them are? The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives reports, for instance, that 57 percent of the guns used in crimes are sold by 1 percent of gun dealerships."

A non-biased study might help clear up some common misconceptions. Del. David Albo, the chairman of the commission, said that he doesn't understand "why one person who sells guns has to be federally licensed and another person doesn't. And I imagine no one else in the House of Delegates does, either."

That's easy to answer "Delegate Dave" and you don't need a study for this one - Not all vendors at gun shows sell guns (some sell food and sauces, knives, books, gun safes, tasers, T-shirts, bumper stickers, and other paraphernalia). Just as not everyone that is a vendor at a show sells guns, not everyone who sells a firearm at a gun show is engaged in the business. Some people at gun shows bring a gun or two from their personal collection to sell or trade for a different gun. It is just as absurd to call these folks 'gun dealers' as it would be to require them to have a federal dealer's license to do so.

If there is still a question in the mind what really steams the gun ban crowd, Del. Kenneth Melvin of Portsmouth stated their complaint quite well when he whined, "It might as well be the public policy in Virginia that if you're not a convicted felon, we want you armed to the teeth."

The RTD editorial closes with a warning that should be heeded by every gun owner - "Open hostility to the self-defense rights of law-abiding citizens offers a bracing reminder that those who grow complacent about their liberty are printing a license for others to steal it."

Well said.

Monday, May 5, 2008

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

Hillary Clinton has unleashed another series of attack mailers on Barrack Obama. One deals with Obama's record on gun rights. That's the ultimate example of the pot calling the kettle black. As the NRA's America's First Freedom magazine pointed out in February, Mrs. Clinton has spent most of her career as a proponent of stricter gun control. The Politico's Ben Smith reinforced that point this weekend. Smith also noted how the firearm on the mailer doesn't exist. In a gaffe typical of someone (or in the case of the campaign staff - people) with no clue about firearms or gun rights, they used a photo of a European made high dollar rifle, but then flipped the picture or used a mirror image of the firearm which made it appear to be a left handed model. The rifle pictured even has a double-set trigger, something popular in Europe but almost unheard of in the United States according to Val Forgett III, president of Navy Arms in Martinsburg, W.Va.


Problem is, with this particular model, The Mauser 66, it was never manufactured as a left hand model. Talk about elitist - Obama may think gun owners cling to guns because they are bitter but Clinton uses a photo of a $2000 European rifle, then uses a reverse view of the photo in the mailer and has no clue a mistake has been made.

Hat tip to the Politico.