SALT LAKE CITY — An animal rights activist who burned down a Colorado sheepskin store, as well as a leather store and restaurant building in Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty to federal charges Wednesday.

Walter Edmund Bond, 35, pleaded guilty to felony counts of arson and violence involving animal enterprises. He has already been sentenced to five years in Colorado and could face between five to 20 years for the Utah fires when sentenced Sept. 19.

Photo and more here…

Washington, DC – A coalition of sportsmen’s groups working toward delisting of recovered gray wolf populations from the Endangered Species Act (ESA), sent a letter to Rep. Mike Simpson, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, and committee member Rep. Cynthia Lummis last week, supporting their efforts in advancing Sec. 119 of the 2012 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill, approved Tuesday by the House Appropriations Committee, to address the issue of recovered wolf populations in Wyoming and the Great Lakes region. Read more

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – As a result of a proposal by a private company to use radio frequency bandwidth right next to the existing GPS radio bandwidth, the future reliability of the GPS system across the United States is now in question. The nation’s largest recreational boaters group, BoatUS, says boaters could have a hard time avoiding treacherous shoals or simply finding their way home if GPS signals are interfered with, and is urging boaters to speak out during a 30-day comment period. Read more

OROVILLE, Calif. – RCBS® announces the launch of an upgraded website. The redesigned www.RCBS.com is a complete resource for reloaders of all skill levels and is now live.

Helpful for All Reloaders
The revamped www.RCBS.com is filled with useful information for reloaders of varying skill levels. Users can view reloading guides, search through frequently asked questions, and more. A video series from RCBS experts is also available. More than 10 helpful clips are queued-up online, at www.RCBS.com/guide/#videos. Read more

The Forest Service paid $6.1 million in legal fees to groups that sued it over a six-year period, according to an academic study that casts new light on a politically charged issue. 

The flagrant abuse of the system is being curtailed but only after Republicans seized power.  More here…

$40 billion transnational criminal enterprises don’t fill out paperwork and are not deterred by paperwork violations.  This is a blatant effort by the Obama administration and ATF to divert focus of Congress and the general public from their gross incompetence in the Fast and Furious scandal.  This scheme will unjustly burden law-abiding retailers in border states.  It will not affect drug cartels and and it won’t prevent violence along our borders.   ATF and the Administration lacks the statutory authority to do this and the NRA will file suit as soon as ATF sends the first demand letters.

-Chris W. Cox, executive director, NRA-ILA

Late today the Deptartment of Justice issued a press release announcing that it would begin its controversial proposal of requiring dealers in Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico to file multiple sales reports on the sale of certain rifles. NSSF opposes this new record-keeping requirement because ATF lacks the legal authority under the Gun Control Act to require it and, just as importantly, because it will actually make it more difficult for dealers to cooperate with ATF. This announcement comes while DOJ and ATF are being investigated for encouraging dealers to sell firearms to straw purchasers and then purposely allowing as many as 2,500 firearms to cross into Mexico. Sen. Grassley and Rep. Issa were highly critical of today’s decision, with Rep. Issa saying in a statement, “In Operation Fast and Furious, gun dealers didn’t need this regulation as they voluntarily provided ATF agents with information about suspected straw purchasers. In return for this voluntary cooperation, the Justice Department betrayed them by offering false assurances that they would closely monitor sales of weapons that dealers otherwise did not want to make.”