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Gun Digest Editors

Bloomberg to Raise Funds for Anti-NRA Effort

“You know, the NRA doesn’t spend that much money,’’ said Bloomberg during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press’’ program yesterday. “If you want to beat the NRA you have to go out and get your message out, and it costs money to do that.’’

NRA President Wayne LaPierre didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bloomberg has already contributed about $2.9 million to “Mayors Against Illegal Guns.’’ The organization of 450 city chiefs, founded in 2006 by Bloomberg and Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston, lobbied to persuade the Senate to defeat a measure that would have allowed gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines. Read more

Source: Boston.com

 

Prospects Dim for Mexican Firearms Treaty?

President Obama's call for the Senate to ratify a hemispheric small-firearms treaty dominated his last visit to Mexico, but in the four months since, both the treaty pledge and the drug violence that prompted it have dropped off the radar – a victim of Congress' full schedule and gun politics.

That means on Sunday Mr. Obama will go with an empty hand to Mexico, which blames the U.S. for many of the weapons used by drug cartels that have violently thwarted a crackdown by Mexican authorities.

And even though Mr. Obama and his administration have accepted that blame, prospects are dim for passage of the treaty, which calls on countries to license gun manufacturers and try to control illicit trafficking in firearms, ammunition and explosives.

The chief U.S. negotiator for the 1997 treaty, known by its Spanish acronym of CIFTA, says it was written specifically to avoid forcing the U.S. to change its laws, and says it does not give any other country a say over what is legal or illegal in the U.S. – and that gun-rights groups were even involved in writing parts of the treaty.

But the National Rifle Association now claims CIFTA could hurt hunters and says U.S. Second Amendment interests should not be controlled by an international treaty. Key senators such as Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat whose gun-rights credentials may be crucial to his winning re-election next year, was cool to Mr. Obama's call for ratification in April, and a spokesman said nothing has changed since. Read more

Source: washingtontimes.com

Packing at School: Guns on Campus One Year Later

For Thweatt and his board, the decision was pure mathematics.

The school, which sits in the middle of a prairie, was too far from law enforcement for police to come in time to fend off would-be attackers. The students and staff would be safer if on-site, trained staff members were equipped to handle a crisis at a moment’s notice, they decided.

Thweatt had already installed a $100,000 state-of-the-art security system in the school. Now, arming certain unnamed school staff members by allowing them to strap a firearm under their clothing was the final flourish.

In the year since that historic decision, a gun was never brandished or fired at the school. There were no problems, Thweatt said.

However, one week after school began, police busted a methamphetamine lab set up in an abandoned house that sat 50 feet from the school property.

A deputy had peered inside and “saw something in the walls and windows and called for backup,” Thweatt said. “They made it to the abandoned house in 15 minutes. We had figured it would take 18 to 20 minutes in a typical situation.”

Had that been an armed intruder at his school, response time would have been too slow.

“We’re the first responders. We have to be,” Thweatt said. “We don’t have 5 minutes. We don’t have 10 minutes. We would have had 20 minutes of hell” if attackers had targeted the school.

Harrold students, who grew up on ranches and in the middle of the North Texas gun culture, were unperturbed by the school district’s new gun policy. Read more

Source: reporternews.com

Highlights of Old Barn and Alderfer Auctions

Old Barn Auction held a summer firearms sale June 26-27 in Findlay, Ohio. Several hundred people attended the show with half the bids coming in by phone. Along with the surge in gun sales as a result of the presidential election, organizers suggested that people are more comfortable investing in collectible antiques than they are investing in the turbulent financial industry. Total sales for the auction came to $628,177.50. Old Barn's next auction will be held in late October.

Highlights of the sale included:

Henry U.S. Purchased Rifle – SN#3686 This gun is U. S. Inspected, 1 of 1200 issued to the 1st District of Columbia Cavalry in 1864, it has matching numbers on the barrel, frame, buttstock, butt plate and even the screws in the butt plate – the rifle was shipped and received by the D.C. cavalry in March 1864,  some time in 1864 the gun was lost, or captured by the confederates and issued to one of their soldiers who engraved his name S.R. Heckman, and the date 1864 on the side of the receiver S.R. Heckman, during the Civil War served in 3 Confederate Units, Co. E. 136th Infantry Co. D. 146th Infantry and Co. D. Virginia Reserves Infantry. He was born 1821 and died 1903, buried Mt. Cavalry Cemetery Tremont City, Virginia, included is a book The Historic Henry Rifle by Wiley Sword with much information on Henrys – the rifle is in very good to fine condition $34000

Flintlock Indian Trade Fowling Gun - Sold for $3000
Flintlock Indian Trade Fowling Gun with Dragon Side Plate, converted to percussion, 36 5/8” barrel, lock marked with setting Fox within a circle “Hollis” marked behind hammer, brass hardware 1/2” upper tang broken off – a rare gun $3000

Plus:
Henry Rifle, 44 Rimfire, 24” barrel, Brass frame is a dark mustard color SN#9112, barrel is dark gray and smooth with lettering clear, stock has a few minor dents & dings, but nothing major, sling is from the period, overall the gun is very good and appears all original $24000

Browning “Olympian” Grade Bolt Action Rifle – 243 caliber, SN#987188 Beautiful extra fine checkering with floral carving outline, mountain lion engraved on floor plate, Leupold 2 x 7 Vari-Xscope – excellent $4500

Alderfer

Alderfer Auction held a firearms sale on July 20 in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. Strong turnout and sales culminated in solid gun prices. Highlights of the sale:

Smith & Wesson 27 sold for $632.50
Smith & Wesson 27 double action revolver. Cal. 357 Mag. 8 1/4″ bbl. SN S210495. Blued finish with checkered walnut grips. Excellent. $632.50

Smith & Wesson Model 629 - Sold for $687.50
Smith & Wesson 629-1 double action revolver. Cal. 44 Mag. 8 1/2″ bbl. SN AFB7694. Stainless steel finish with checkered walnut grips. Excellent. $687.50

Smith & Wesson Model 60 - Sold for $990.00
Smith & Wesson 60 double action revolver. Cal. 38. 2″ bbl. SN AYP7044. Stainless steel finish with custom ivory-style grips, firearm is highly engraved. In factory box with manual and factory grips. Excellent. $990.00

Colt Single Action Army - Sold For $1045.00
Colt Single Action Army single action revolver. Cal. 32 WCF. 4 1/2″ bbl. SN 334809. Reblued finish on metal with bone style grips. Very good. (C&R) $1,045.00

Colt Woodsman Match Target Model - Sold for $1243.00
Colt Woodsman Match Target Model semi-automatic pistol. Cal. 22. 6 5/8″ bbl. SN MT9932. Blued finish with walnut target grips. Target Sights. Very Good. $1,243.00

Wildey Semi-Auto .45 Win. Mag sold for $1356.00
Wildey semi-automatic pistol. Cal. 45 Win Mag. 8 1/2″ bbl. SN 45-1526. Stainless steel finish with checkered walnut grips, adjustable rear sight, adjustable gas regulator. In factory box with manual and 2 magazines. Excellent. $1,356.00

Browning Superposed O/U 12 ga. - Sold for $880.00
Browning Superposed over/under double barrel shotgun. 12 ga. 26″ bbls. SN 8553. Blued finish with steel receiver, checkered walnut stock and forend, double triggers, auto ejectors and rubber butt plate. Very good. $880.00

AH Fox Sterllingworth SXS 12 ga. - Sold for $1210.00
AH Fox Sterlingworth side by side double barrel shotgun. 12 ga. 30″ bbls. SN 73236. Blued finish, case colored receiver, checkered walnut stock and forend. Very good. (C&R) $1,210.00

Semper & Krieghoff 16 ga. Sold for $990.00
Semper & Krieghoff drilling. 16 ga./7.8mm. 26″ bbls. SN 12333. Reblued finish with case colored receiver, checkered walnut stock and forend with raised cheek piece has minor handling marks, plastic butt plate. Stock has had a large piece broken off which has been repaired. Good. (C&R) $990.00

Buy the gun collectors' ultimate reference - The Standard Catalog of Firearms!Buy the gun collectors' ultimate reference – The Standard Catalog of Firearms!

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Gun Digest Collectors' Forum

65 Years of Gun Digest: Historic 3-DVD Set Released

The 3-DVD Set containing all 65 years of Gun Digest book are now available! 

The Gun Digest 3-DVD Set contains all 65 editions from 1944-2009 in PDF format.

In writing of his early interest in Gun Digest, Dan Shideler — the publication's newest editor — reflects:

“Gun Digest literally needs no introduction,” writing in his article A book for All Ages: Gun Digest. “In the long-gone Indiana of the 1960s, my brother and I eagerly awaited the day when our father would bring home the new edition of Gun Digest. When it came, we read it for weeks on end, eventually reducing it to coverless tatters. Dad called it ‘the greatest bathroom book of all time.' My brother and I called it pure gold. Think of it — where else could you find articles on virtually any firearms-related topic, all written by the greatest gunwriters who ever put pen to paper?”

Now Gun Digest is proud to introduce the Six-Decade Digital Collection — a 3-DVD set containing all 65 years, 1944 through 2009 — in fully-searchable PDF format. The 3-DVD set contains a digital menu, allowing you to navigate by year to the edition you want to open. And each issue contains a linked Table of Contents and bookmarks that allow you to browse easily to articles or the vast reference sections of the book.

Featured on these three DVDs is firearms content from all 65 annual editions of Gun Digest –– from the rare 1944 1st edition to the 2009 edition. From the great gunwriters of the past such as Elmer Keith and Jack O’Connor to today’s leading authorities.

Gun Digest DVD menu allows easy navigation to all years
Each disc on the Gun Digest DVD contains a digital menu, allowing you to click to the edition you want to read.

Nearly all of these editions are out of print and are very rare and difficult to find. For the first time ever they are available through this exclusive DVD set.

Product Snapshot:

– Thousands of articles and gun reviews, reports from the field and practical how-to instructions for serious shooters.

– Information from the nation’s top dealers, manufacturers and firearms distributors dating back to 1944.

– Access a rich repository — your own digital gun book library — of gun and accessory information and technical data on guns, including ballistics charts.

– An easy-to-use format that lets you find what you’re looking for — fast.

Order Now »

Bonus Interview with Gun Digest Editor Dan Shideler

Q: You're the new editor of Gun Digest, and have written that your interest in the book goes back to your youth. What's your reaction — as a life-long fan of Gun Digest — about the release of this historic 3-DVD set, containing all 65 editions?

Shideler: This groundbreaking DVD set is our response to the thousands of Gun Digest readers who have requested back copies and reprints over the years.

Gun Digest Editor Dan Shideler
Gun Digest Editor Dan Shideler

Unlike many of its competitors who have come and gone, Gun Digest is much more than an illustrated gun catalog: it's the shooter's first, best source of gun-related history, scholarship, information and entertainment.

Like MGM Studios, Gun Digest can boast “More Stars Than There Are in the Heavens.” Since 1944, Gun Digest has been the home of the greatest gunwriters of all time, such as Elmer Keith, Jack O'Connor, Chas. Askins, Lucian Cary, George Nonte, John Taffin, and countless others. We're particularly proud of the fact that Larry Sterret and J. B. Wood — both of whom wrote for Gun Digest when it was edited by our “patron saint,” John T. Amber — are still writing for Gun Digest today.

In these days when so much gun-related writing is no more than thinly-veiled advertising for this or that new product, Gun Digest was, and is, a truly independent voice, a resource that shooters have trusted for more than six decades.

For everyone who remembers Gun Digest as the shooter's greatest “Wish Book,” this three-DVD set is an absolute must.


You might also be interested in:

 

Order the Gun Digest 2010 Annual book. See why this is the World's Greatest Gun Book.Gun Digest 2010, 64th Edition

 

Stay on top of what's happening in the ever-changing world of firearms. Gun Digest 2010 is your #1 source for:

– Test-fire reports from the field
– Illustrated firearms catalog with current arms & accessories
– New product reports and feature articles
– Arms trade directory – find dealers quickly and easily
– BONUS DVD included giving you a “sneak peek” into the dealers-only annual SHOT Show

Gun Digest 2010 brings together into one easy-to-use resource the details found in many manufacturers' catalogs, product reviews from the top gun writers and authoritative articles from leading industry experts. This is what has made it “the world's greatest gun book” for 65 years strong.

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Philadelphia Pizza Shop Owner Shoots Back

A pizza shop owner in Philadelphia fought back when a man tried to rob him at gunpoint.

The attempted robbery happened inside Tony's Place pizza shop on the 2900 block of Frankford Avenue in the city's Port Richmond section.

Police say an armed gunman walked into the pizza shop at 11:45 Saturday night demanding money, but the owner pulled out his own gun and shot the robber in the back.

Source: abc.local.go.com

Senate Confirms Anti-Gun Sotomayor

All the Democrats in attendance voted for Sotomayor, while nine Republicans joined their ranks.

The Republican Senators who voted for Sotomayor were:  Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Christopher Bond of Missouri, Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, Mel Martinez of Florida, George Voinovich of Ohio and Susan Collins and Olympia J. Snowe of Maine.

Many Democrat Senators campaigned on a pro-Second Amendment platform, yet voted to confirm a nominee who does not believe you have a fundamental right to self defense or an individual right to possess a firearm.

Placing the prerogatives of President Obama over their constitutional “Advice and Consent” duty, many so-called pro-gun Senators reneged on their promises to voters that they would support the individual right to keep and bear arms.

The common refrain heard in the Senate before the vote was:  “The President deserves his pick.”

Of course, Senator Barrack Obama did not hold that view in 2006, when he opposed President Bush’s pick of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.  Then-Senator Obama said:

There are some who believe that the President, having won the election, should have the complete authority to appoint his nominee, and the Senate should only examine whether or not the Justice is intellectually capable and an all-around nice guy. That once you get beyond intellect and personal character, there should be no further question whether the judge should be confirmed.

I disagree with this view. I believe firmly that the Constitution calls for the Senate to advise and consent. I believe that it calls for meaningful advice and consent that includes an examination of a judge's philosophy, ideology, and record.

Thankfully, we are seeing more and more Senators stand up to Obama’s radical agenda.  You will remember that GOA encouraged you to lobby other gun groups so that gun owners across the country could speak with a unified voice in opposition to Judge Sotomayor. Read more

Source: Gun Owners of America

Republicans Defect to Support Anti-Gun Sotomayor

Bond, R-Mo., decried the effects of partisanship “infecting” the political system and said that nothing had emerged in Senate hearings that cast doubt on her capacity to serve on the high court.

If Republicans want conservative justices, he said, then they need to work harder to win presidential elections.

Here is a text of Bond’s remarks delivered before Sotomayor’s confirmation:

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court of the United States.

“Few positions carry more honor, or solemn duty, than becoming a Justice of the highest court of the greatest democracy.

“Few duties carry more honor, or solemn responsibility, than giving advice and consent on who should become a Justice on the highest court of the greatest democracy.

“The walls of that Supreme Court form the vessel that holds the great protections of our liberty.

“Those black robes give life to the Constitution’s freedoms and the flourishing of our ideas and beliefs.” Read more

Source: stltoday.com

Mossberg Pricing & Reference

Are You in the Market for a Mossberg?

Know what your Mossberg firearms are worth with this up-to-date 13-page .PDF download from the Standard Catalog of Firearms.

* Completely updated pricing for Mossberg firearms with new entries and photos

* Value Trackers: Real-life auction results
* Sleeper Alerts: Collectible guns that are outpacing the market
 

Download gun values nowLearn pricing and values for these Mossberg firearms:

Mossberg Brownie
Mossberg Model K Rifle
Mossberg Model M Rifle
Mossberg Model L Rifle
Mossberg Model 10
Mossberg Model 14
Mossberg Model 140B
Mossberg Model 140K
Mossberg Model 142A
Mossberg Model 142K
Mossberg Model 144
Mossberg Model 144LS
Mossberg Model 146B
Mossberg Model 20
Mossberg Model 25
Mossberg Model 25A
Mossberg Model 26B
Mossberg Model 26C
Mossberg Model 30
Mossberg Model 320B
Mossberg Model 320K
Mossberg Model 321K
Mossberg Model 340B
Mossberg Model 340K
Mossberg Model 340M
Mossberg Model 341
Mossberg Model 342K
Mossberg Model 346B
Mossberg Model 346K
Mossberg Model 352K
Mossberg Model 450
Mossberg Model 432
Mossberg Model 50
Mossberg Model 51
Mossberg Model 51M
Mossberg Model 151K
Mossberg Model 151M
Mossberg Model 152
Mossberg Model 152K
Mossberg Model 351K
Mossberg Model 350K
Mossberg Model 351C
Mossberg Model 400 Palomino
Mossberg Model 702 Plinkster
Mossberg Model 702 International Plinkster
Mossberg Model 817 Varmint
Mossberg Model 100 ATR (All-Terrain Rifle)
Mossberg Model 100 ATR Night Train
Mossberg Model 100 ATR Super Bantam
Mossberg Model 800
Mossberg Model 800D
Mossberg Model 800V
Mossberg Model 800M
Mossberg Model 800SM
Mossberg Model 801 Half-Pint Plinkster
Mossberg Model 802 Plinkster Bolt Action
Mossberg Model 817 Plinkster Rifle
Mossberg Model 810
Mossberg Model 472C
Mossberg Model 472P
Mossberg Model 472 One in Five Thousand
Mossberg Model 479 PCA
Mossberg Model 479 RR
Mossberg Model 464 Lever Action Centerfire Rifle
Mossberg Model 464 Lever Action Rimfire Rifle
Mossberg Model SSi-One Sporter
Mossberg Model SSi-One Varmint
Mossberg Model SSi-One Slug
Mossberg Model SSi-One Turkey
Mossberg Model 1500 Mountaineer
Mossberg Model 1500 Varmint
Mossberg Model 1550
Mossberg Model 1700 LS
Mossberg Model 4×4 Rifle
Mossberg Model 173
Mossberg Model 173Y
Mossberg Model 183D
Mossberg Model 183K
Mossberg Model 183T
Mossberg Model 185D
Mossberg Model 185K
Mossberg Model 190D
Mossberg Model 190K
Mossberg Model 195D
Mossberg Model 195K
Mossberg Model 385K
Mossberg Model 385T
Mossberg Model 390K
Mossberg Model 390T
Mossberg Model 395K
Mossberg Model 395S
Mossberg Model 395T
Mossberg Model 73
Mossberg Model 190D
Mossberg Model 695
Mossberg Model 695 Camo
Mossberg Model 200K
Mossberg Model 500 Regal
Mossberg Model 500 Field Grade
Mossberg Model 500 Steel Shot
Mossberg Model 500 Slugster
Mossberg Model 500 Camper
Mossberg Model 500 Hi-Rib Trap
Mossberg Model 500 Super Grade
Mossberg Model 500 Pigeon Grade
Mossberg Model 500 Pigeon Grade Trap
Mossberg Model 500 Persuader
Mossberg Model 500 Mariner
Mossberg Model 500 Cruiser
Mossberg Model 500 Muzzleloader Combo
Mossberg Model 500 Bantam
Mossberg Model 500 Super Bantam Field
Mossberg Model 500 Super Bantam Turkey
Mossberg Model 500 Super Bantam Slug
Mossberg Model 500 Super Bantam Combo
Mossberg Model 500 Bullpup
Mossberg Model 500 Slug Gun Viking Grade
Mossberg Model 500 Grand Slam Turkey
Mossberg Model 500 Flyway Series
Mossberg Model 500 Combo
Mossberg Model 500 USA
Mossberg Model 500 HS (Home Security)
Mossberg Model 500 Rolling Thunder
Mossberg Model 500 JIC (Just In Case)
Mossberg Model 505 Youth
Mossberg Model 535 ATS (All Terrain Shotgun) Field
Mossberg Model 535 ATS Turkey
Mossberg Model 535 ATS Waterfowl
Mossberg Model 535 ATS Slugster
Mossberg Model 535 ATS Combos
Mossberg Model 590 Special Purpose
Mossberg Model 590 Mariner
Mossberg Model 590DA
Mossberg Model 590 Bullpup
Mossberg Model 835 Ulti-Mag
Mossberg Model 835 Ulti-Mag Crown Grade
Mossberg Model 835 Ulti-Mag Crown Grade Combo Model
Mossberg Model 835 Ulti-Mag Grand Slam Turkey
Mossberg Model 835 Ulti-Mag Thumbhole Turkey
Mossberg Model 835 Ulti-Mag Tactical Turkey
Mossberg Model 835 Ulti-Mag Viking Grade
Mossberg Model 835 Wild Turkey Federation
Mossberg Model 835 American Field
Mossberg Model 935
Mossberg Model 935 Magnum Waterfowl Camo
Mossberg Model 935 Magnum Turkey Camo
Mossberg Model 935 Magnum Waterfowl Synthetic
Mossberg Model 935 Magnum Turkey Synthetic
Mossberg Model 935 Grand Slam Turkey
Mossberg Model 930 Field
Mossberg Model 930 Turkey
Mossberg Model 930 Waterfowl
Mossberg Model 930 Slugster
Mossberg Model 930 Tactical
Mossberg Model 930 SPX
Mossberg Model 3000
Mossberg Model 3000 Waterfowler
Mossberg Model 3000 Law Enforcement
Mossberg Model 1000
Mossberg Model 1000 Slug
Mossberg Model 1000 Super Waterfowler
Mossberg Model 1000 Super Slug
Mossberg Model 1000 Super Trap
Mossberg Model 1000 Super Skeet
Mossberg Model 5500 MKI I
Mossberg Model 9200 Viking Grade
Mossberg Model 9200 USST Crown Grade
Mossberg Model 9200 Combos
Mossberg Model 9200 Special Hunter
Mossberg Model 9200 Deer Combo
Mossberg Model 9200 Turkey Camo
Mossberg Model 9200 Crown Grade Bantam
Mossberg Model 9200 Jungle Gun
Mossberg Model SA-20
Mossberg Silver Reserve Field
Mossberg Silver Reserve Sporting
Mossberg Silver Reserve Side-by-Side
Mossberg Onyx Reserve Sporting Side-by-Side
Mossberg Onyx Reserve Side-by-Side

Gun Digest the Magazine August 17, 2009

Gun Digest is the source for firearms news, pricing and guns for sale. Readers benefit from in-depth editorial expert advice, show reviews and practical how-to instructions. Subscriptions are the First Amendment way to stand up for your Second Amendment rights. Click here to begin your subscription to Gun Digest.

Inside This Issue

• If you love to pull triggers, Bryce Towsley writes, you’ll want to give this game a try with the right guns and accessories. It's called 3-gun shooting, and it's hot.

• Editor Kevin Michalowski has important info about the Colt recall. Click here to read “Editor's Shot.”

• Rifles: Wickliffe – Volquartsen
• Shotguns: Davenport – Escort
• Handguns: High Standard

• Before You Buy: The school of hard knocks

• Spent Casings: Some good teams to work with

• Weapons and Tactics: The Patriot Ordinance P415

• Loading for the .45 Colt

• Plenty of new gear for shooters

• Towsley on Target: The Brilliance of Blaser

Click here to load up on a subscription.

 

NYPD Goes After Gun Collector

Like America's first soldiers at the Battle of Brooklyn, Michael Littlejohn is fighting for his right to bear arms.

The Revolutionary War buff charges the Bloomberg administration with tyranny for trying to seize his handmade flintlock rifle – a dead ringer for the weapon once used against the redcoats.

“This is the last legal gun that you can have without registration in New York,” Littlejohn said. “And yet Mayor Bloomberg is driven crazy by my flintlock gun – the one that won the American Revolution.”

Littlejohn fired the first shot when he hired a Tennessee blacksmith to recreate the vintage rifle. It arrived at his Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, apartment in June – followed quickly by city cops.

Police claim it's illegal for Littlejohn to keep the flintlock without a gun license.

Littlejohn, 50, cites the earliest American patriots as his inspiration while refusing to surrender his firearm or apply for a license.

The social worker is also clinging to a little-known exemption in the city's strict gun laws.

The loophole allows license-free ownership of “antique firearms” – defined as rifles that require the bullet and gunpowder to be loaded separately.

Littlejohn's rifle appears to fit the bill. Read more

Source: nydailynews.com

 

Ninth Circuit to Review Nordyke

A federal appeals court in San Francisco set aside its ruling Wednesday – the only one of its kind in the nation – that allowed private citizens to claim a constitutional right to bear arms in challenging state and local gun laws.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new hearing on a challenge by gun show promoters to a ban on firearms at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. The plaintiffs say the ban, which county supervisors enacted in 1999, violates free speech and the constitutional right to possess guns.

A three-judge panel of the court ruled in April that the Second Amendment is binding on state and local governments and allows individuals to challenge a county ordinance as a violation of the right to guns.

“The right to bear arms is deeply rooted in the history and tradition of the republic,” Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain said in the 3-0 ruling.

But the court also said the Alameda County law was a valid public safety measure.

The gun show promoters prepared to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. But Wednesday, the full appeals court said a majority of its judges had called for a new hearing before an 11-judge panel, nullifying the April ruling.

Plaintiffs' lawyer Don Kilmer said the hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 21 in San Francisco.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to own guns and struck down a ban on handgun possession in the federal enclave of Washington, D.C. That ruling did not say whether the amendment also applied to the states.

The Ninth Circuit ruling conflicted with decisions by federal appeals courts in New York and Chicago that concluded the Second Amendment applies only to the federal government.

Read more

Gun Digest Gun Rights Forum »

Another View on Thune (National CCW) Amendment

The amendment to a Defense Department bill received a majority of votes, 58-39, however it failed to gain the necessary 60 votes needed to override a threatened filibuster by arch anti-gunner Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY).

There is ample evidence to suggest that this vote was orchestrated by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Thune merely to give Republicans and vulnerable Dems a “pro-gun vote” going into August recess and the upcoming election.

In short, everyone knew that this amendment would fail.  It was only brought forward as a pre-election stunt to buy a handful of Senator street-cred with gun voters.

From the Charlotte Gun Rights Examiner:

Laudable though Thune’s goal of national concealed carry may be, however, understand that the entire exercise was nothing but a sham in which (surprise, surprise) the amendment failed by a vote of 58 – 39. So before gun rights supporters contact the 58 ever-so-brave US Senators (including 20 Democrats) to thank them for supporting the measure, all should understand that its failure was preordained by Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and quite probably sanctioned by the NRA.

(Side note: Sixty votes – for “cloture” – were required for passage rather than the usual 51 due to a threatened filibuster by perennially anti-gun Sen. Charles Schumer. In the gentile land of the US Senate, threats routinely substitute for real action.

In reality, Reid is vulnerable in his 2010 re-election bid and, consequently, threw the NRA a very small bone.

And what does the NRA get? The appearance of accomplishing something – if not actual passage of the amendment, at least a recorded vote which purports to show who’s “fer ya” and “agin ya.” More action means more NRA members and more money.

Unfortunately, however, the vote shows nothing of the sort and, indeed, undermines your ability to assess which senators are actually pro-gun. The exercise is common, and here’s how it works: Chamber leadership (read that “Democrat”) gives a pass to members in conservative (or vulnerable) districts to vote for a measure which the leadership intends to kill – all the while keeping enough votes against, by Democrats in secure districts, to ensure defeat. They know, after all, that the NRA won’t waste money going after Chuck Schumer, Diane Feinstein or Frank Lautenberg.

So the result is a vote in which anti-gun Democrats such like Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) get to posture as gun rights supporters. Read more

Source: National Association for Gun Rights

 

Move Over Mexico: U.S. Blamed for Canada’s Illegal Gun Trade

Many anti-gun idealists are still trying to perpetuate the myth that guns are bought legally in the U.S. and are then sold to Mexican gangs despite the fact that their “90% of all illegal guns in Mexico come from the U.S.” claim has been thoroughly debunked.

Sensing a chance to snowball the issue, a “study” conducted in Canada claims “that the best available data suggests that about two-thirds of crime guns seized in Canada have their origin south of the border.” Spearheading the study was Wendy Cukier of Ryerson University, a prominent gun control activist, who feels the blame should be extended for all violent crime on the planet.

Canada seldom points to the obvious fact that lax U.S. gun laws not only result in high numbers of Americans being killed with guns, but fuel the illegal gun trade and handgun homicide in Canada, in Mexico, in the Caribbean and indeed around the world.

There are, however, a few problems with that accusation.

First of all, the study itself showed that the majority of rifles and shotguns used in crime actually came from Canadian sources. And even for handguns, they admit that it is very difficult to trace guns originating from countries other than the U.S. Using their logic, if they traced 100 guns and 1 was found to be from Canada, 3 from the United States, and 96 from unknown sources, then the majority of the guns able to be traced came from the U.S. Read more

Source: Cleveland Gun Rights Examiner

 

Senate Judiciary Votes “Yes” on Sonia Sotomayor

Apparently, the flighty Republican did not care that Judge Sotomayor has demonstrated an extreme anti-gun bias in her private and public life.  Not only that, she has expressed racist views in multiple speeches over the years, and she has proven — in her actions and words — that she is committed to IGNORING THE CONSTITUTION!

The Sotomayor nomination now moves to the U.S. Senate floor, where gun owners definitely face an uphill battle.

Press reports have indicated that Sotomayor is giving Senators private assurances that she will follow Supreme Court precedents on the Second Amendment.  This is ridiculous, of course, but it doesn't help that a liberal front group claiming to support the Second Amendment — the American Hunters and Shooters Association — is supporting Sotomayor, giving cover to wavering Democrats.

Politico.com reports that AHSA “will be highlighted as part of a rapid-fire response strategy Democrats plan to launch to respond to GOP attacks.”

The fact that AHSA endorsed Obama during the campaign should demonstrate that this group is nothing more than a Trojan horse.  That's why we need Senators to know that gun owners consider a vote for Sotomayor to be one of the most ANTI-GUN votes they could ever cast and that front groups like AHSA don't speak for you!

ACTION:  Please contact your two Senators and urge them to vote NO on Judge Sotomayor.  Tell them that the American Hunters and Shooters Association doesn't speak for you.  Please use the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center to send your legislators the pre-written e-mail message below.

—– Pre-written letter —–

Dear Senator:

The confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor would be a horrible choice for Americans — not to mention the gun owners of this country.  Throughout her career, Judge Sonia Sotomayor has shown that she opposes the right to keep and bear arms, denies there is a constitutional right to self-defense, and frequently ignores constitutional and statutory precedents.

However, I understand that a front group called the American Hunters and Shooters Association is supporting Sotomayor, giving cover to wavering Senators.

Please understand that AHSA is NOT a pro-gun organization.  This organization shares many of the same goals as the Brady Campaign, and it is nothing more than a Trojan horse in the gun rights community.

After all, this is a group that according to records from 2005 had fewer than 150 dues paying individual members.  Its founding president, Ray Schoenke, donated money to the radical Handgun Control, Inc. — a group that argued in favor of the DC gun ban (which was struck down by the Supreme Court last year).  And another of its founding members, John Rosenthal, was also the founder of Stop Handgun Violence.

I am a proud supporter of Gun Owners of America, and they do speak for me and the gun rights community when they say that Judge Sonia Sotomayor is bad for the Constitution… bad for the Second Amendment… and bad for America.

Sincerely,

———–

Source: Gun Owners of America

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