Senate Holds First Hearings of 2013 on Gun Rights

On January 30, the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee held a hearing entitled, “What Should America Do About Gun Violence?” It should have been called, “How Do We Attack Second Amendment Rights?” The hearing (which can be viewed here) consisted of a single panel that included NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, Second Amendment scholar David Kopel, attorney Gayle Trotter, Baltimore County, Md. police chief James Johnson, and Mark Kelly, the husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. (Rep. Giffords made a brief opening statement to the committee before the other witnesses took their seats.) Read more

OK to Bear Arms, but only Inside the Home: Appeals Court

New Yorkers, who wish to exercise their Second Amendment rights by carrying concealed pistols, are out of luck, based on an Appeals Court decision.  Requiring gun owners to obtain concealed-carry permits was in line with the state’s interest in protecting public safety and didn’t run afoul of the Second Amendment, the appeals court ruled.  But, obtaining them is near impossible. The Supreme Court may get this case, which should settle the issue of whether the Heller decision in 2008 only addresses the right to bear arms only applies to inside one’s home.  Crazy stuff is here…

GOP Adopts Strongly Pro-Gun Platform

GW:  Is there a Democrat alive with the intestinal fortitude to stand up and break ranks?  I doubt it.  But, whenever the politicians speak of partisanship, they always blame the Republicans for not going along with them.  Oh, like Obama, they’ll say they support the Second Amenndment, but it’s always fluff and pandering to the masses.  Democrats:  Stand up and be counted or forever be labeled as enemies of freedom. I’ll bet not one of you has the courage.

What follows is from the NRA…

As each party does every four years as part of their national conventions, this week the Republican Party adopted its platform detailing the general beliefs and policy positions of the party.
Included in the 2012 Republican platform is a strong statement of support for the individual right to keep and bear arms, which goes beyond a generic statement of support for the Second Amendment and includes specific statements on key issues of concern to gun owners.
Here is the text on the Second Amendment included in the platform:
The Second Amendment: Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms
We uphold the right of individuals to keep and bear arms, a right which antedated the Constitution and was solemnly confirmed by the Second Amendment. We acknowledge, support, and defend the law-abiding citizens’ God-given right of self-defense. We call for the protection of such fundamental individual rights recognized in the Supreme Court’s decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago affirming that right, and we recognize the individual responsibility to safely use and store firearms. This also includes the right to obtain and store ammunition without registration. We support the fundamental right to self-defense wherever a law-abiding citizen has a legal right to be, and we support federal legislation that would expand the exercise of that right by allowing those with state-issued carry permits to carry firearms in any state that issues such permits to its own residents. Gun ownership is responsible citizenship, enabling Americans to defend their homes and communities. We condemn frivolous lawsuits against gun manufacturers and oppose federal licensing or registration of law-abiding gun owners. We oppose legislation that is intended to restrict our Second Amendment rights by limiting the capacity of clips or magazines or otherwise restoring the ill-considered Clinton gun ban. We condemn the reckless actions associated with the operation known as “Fast and Furious,” conducted by the Department of Justice, which resulted in the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol Agent and others on both sides of the border. We applaud the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in holding the current Administration’s Attorney General in contempt of Congress for his refusal to cooperate with their investigation into that debacle. We oppose the improper collection of firearms sales information in the four southern border states, which was imposed without congressional authority.


The inclusion of specific issues, such as the right to self-defense, opposition to the semi-auto ban, and support for interstate Right-to-Carry reciprocity makes this the most pro-Second Amendment position ever included in a major party platform. The NRA commends the GOP for taking a strong and unambiguous stance in support of our fundamental, individual right to keep and bear arms.

Oral Arguments Presented in Illinois Right-to-Carry Case

In perhaps the clearest case in the country addressing the right to bear arms outside the home for self-defense, oral arguments took place June 8 in Chicago, before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Shepard v. Madigan involves lead plaintiff Mary Shepard, an Illinois resident and trained gun owner with no criminal record, who is licensed to carry a concealed handgun in both Utah and Florida.  Unfortunately, she has no legal way to do so in Illinois as soon as she steps away from her home or place of business.  The National Rifle Association is funding this case, and our state affiliate, the Illinois State Rifle Association, is a co-plaintiff on behalf of its members who share Mrs. Shepard’s plight. Read more

CCRKBA Calls Pennsylvania State Police Decision “Inexcusable”

BELLEVUE, WA – A complete shutdown of the Pennsylvania Instant Check System by the state police for a period of 60 hours later this month for a system upgrade is “inexcusable,” the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today. Read more

I Hunt, Too, And The NRA Is For Me

J.R. Robbins

By my friend, J.R. Robbins at the NRA_ILA, Hunter’s Rights

A recent op-ed piece in The New York Times (“I Hunt, but the NRA Isn’t for Me,” by Lily Raff McCaulou) virtually damns NRA for supporting candidates based on their voting records on gun issues—in her view at the expense of hunting. She even states, “The NRA has never had much to do with hunting,” and says NRA does not represent most hunters or gun owners.

First, since Americans join NRA to ensure their gun rights are protected, maybe it is actually logical for the NRA to examine how candidates vote on gun rights issues. Defending the Second Amendment is what we are here for, so we—and the candidates we support—are part of the reason McCaulou is able to own a gun herself. Read more

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