Clarifying the State Department Proposal Post

Last Friday, I posted about a report in that day's edition of the Shooting Wire regarding a possible proposal that the State Department was floating related to a ban on the export of several calibers of ammo to Canada from the United States.

On Wednesday, Mr. Shepherd wrote about this again, clarifying some of the terms used in the original report. He wrote:

Last Friday, we reported that Canadian authorities had sent word of a United States State Department proposal that would ban several ammo calibers sale by United States companies to Canada. It's safe to say that the story kicked off quite a storm on both sides of the border.

In Canada, calls to their Parliament protested the idea that whole classes of ammo could, effectively, be stopped at the border. Here in the US, it taught me to be a good bit more exact with the concepts of import and export. The intent of the story was simple - to let our readers know the United States Department of State was considering a ban on the export of US ammo in several calibers to Canada.

Although the .50 BMG, 7.62 x39mm Soviet, 7.61 x51 NATO, .308 Winchester, 5.56 NATO and .223 Remington are considered by some to be purely military rounds, they are, in fact, very effective for hunting anything from varmints to polar bears. The US State Department, however, seemed to be trying to use the military application of those rounds and classify them as for military sales only. Technically, it's not a "gun ban" or even an "ammo ban" but a "reclassification" - but the effect would be the same. Those calibers of ammo would be restricted export items for American companies.

Another whispered action, the requirement that all firearms require DSP-83 End Use Certificates (and the $250 export fee per firearm) was also apparently couched as another reclassification. Again, not a ban, but a very effective "non-ban" on gun sales.

Fortunately, we're starting to hear some denials of these ideas - from both sides of the border. The denials are coming from some normally anti-gun politicians in Canada, leading our sources in Parliament to suspect the protests from Canadian gun owners had an impact. As expected, our officials "can't comment on something that's only been proposed" but it seems the idea may be losing steam. And it should.

Shepherd had a simple intent in writing about this last week (and it was also my intent when posting about it and linking to the story on this blog) - to let readers know the United States Department of State was considering a proposal that affects the industry and gun owners - specifically a ban on the export of ammo in several calibers from the U.S. to Canada.

The title of our original post should have been clearer and for that I apologize. It does not change the fact however that the story and the resulting post on this blog was based on reliable information. It is because of the effectiveness of the "new media" in getting information to the public and the resulting quick reaction that such proposals may end up not seeing the light of day.

Gun owners need to be aware that there are other ways to attack our rights in addition to passing legislation. Government agencies can enact regulations and there is the avenue of Executive Orders. Both can adversely impact our rights.

Thanks to Jim Shepherd for sharing the information last Friday and for update in the Wednesday edition of the Shooting Wire.

Hat tip to Ronaldus Magnus.

Assault Weapons Ban on Front Burner for Obama

As we run up to the 2009 Session of the General Assembly, I have been posting a lot about what is going on in the shooting industry. That will likely change once the General Assembly convenes but for now, most of the news is at the national level and it has centered around talk of what may or may not happen when the new administration comes in on January 20th. Some believe firearm related legislation will be on the back burner and others (me included) believe the new team will strike sooner rather than later.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to listen to the podcast of Sunday's Gun Talk Radio - Tom Gresham's radio program. I have to say, some of the best intel I have heard so far on the topic came from the guests Tom had on the program. These folks included The Shooting Wire's Jim Shepherd (by far the best segment of the program), and The War on Guns' David Codrea. Shepherd is a longtime veteran of the media and he has well placed sources who tell him that the new administration will move on the so-called assault weapons ban sooner rather than later. Shepherd was on the program for the entire second hour with the most important parts of his analysis coming in the last ten minutes. I recommend you listen to his comments yourself because I simply can't do them justice in this space.

I will comment one comment made by Shepherd. He makes a good point when he says in response to a question from a self described liberal caller who asked "what does gun control have to do with getting the economy moving again?" Shepherd said it is exactly about the economy. Attacking a billion dollar industry that supports conservation efforts through excise taxes makes no economic sense. Attacking the industry with gun bans will result in the loss of jobs through the closing of plants in states like New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, states that already have depressed economy. Putting hundreds of people out of work makes no economic sense.

Codrea's comments were made during the first hour of the program. Today he also linked to a post by Michael Bane that talks about how the administration will definitely move in the early days of the administration.

Basically, Bane says his insider source explains it this way. Due to the fact Obama has taken such a beating from the "moonbats" on the left over the Rick Warren inaugural invocation and the fact Obama is installing a third Clinton administration, he has to "rebuild his left-wing creds." Taking on the assault weapons ban so soon will burn a huge amount of political capital, but it will "drive a stake in the ground" to prove Obama means what he says about "change" regardless of the consequences. Plus, the Republicans are so disorganized and the Blue Dogs in his own party are less likely to band together early in his administration that striking early makes sense. The source also posed that the "gun lobby" is as weak now as it is ever going to be.

After the reaction to his economic stimulus plan by members of his party in the Senate I don't know if I completely agree with the Blue Dogs not rebelling this soon but the reasons for a quick strike given by Bane's source (there were a total of six) make sense to me.

Needless to say there are storm clouds on the horizon for gun owners and they are getting darker as January 20th approaches.

Shooting Industry Faces Approaching Storm

VSSA members are familiar with The Shooting Wire's Jim Shepherd since the VSSA member publication regularly reprints his articles. On Monday, Jim wrote about how the firearms industry will find itself in the cross hairs of a new administration dedicated to the regulation of virtually everything related to guns. It is a good read and I recommend it to every gun owner. Jim was on NRANews with Cam Edwards last night to expand on this subject.

Today, Jim continued this theme, writing about a poll of hunters and shooters that was also released this week and how the results backed up the anecdotal evidence of the near-panic buying that has been written and talked about since the election. The results? When surveyed by Southwick and Associates, a whopping eighty percent (80%) of respondents said they expect it to become more difficult for them to purchase firearms. Only one percent of respondents felt it would get easier, and only sixteen percent expect their abilitie to purchas firearms to remain the same.

Rob Southwick, the author of the poll and owner of Southwick Associates said, "These results show that most hunters and target shooters expect changes resulting from the 2008 elections will make it more difficult for them to buy guns," He continued, "Increases in firearm sales since the November election are also a strong indicator of such sentiment."

Add this to the anecdotal stuff like Shepherd's "first-time" observers to a gun show who upon returning from the show said there was "heavy traffic'' but "only the black guns and military surplus stuff" were really getting attention, and you get a clear picture of what the industry is facing.

Next week, the shooting industry will be gathering in Orlando, Florida for the annual SHOT Show and VSSA members will be represented by a member of the Board of Directors. We will get our first look at how the industry plans to weather the coming storm.

The Down Side of Those Firearms Sales Numbers

Jim Shepherd over at The Shooting Wire has a good article on what could be called "the rest of the story" on those increasing firearm sales we have all heard about over the last month. While the high capacity pistols and AR-style firearms have been flying off the shelf, the standard hunting firearm has been collecting dust according to Shepherd's sources. In short, as Shepherd puts it "if you are dependent on hunting you are hurting."

Shepherd also talks about the other cloud on the horizon - the attack on lead ammo. It's a good read and can be found here.