By Glen Wunderlich
March 10, 2009

The Obama administration is sure making progress but in what direction? Obama himself has articulated what a fiscal mess he inherited and admittedly finds himself in quite a hole. But, his answer appears to be to keep digging and eventually we’ll all come out on the other side and be happy once again. There’s got to be a better way!

Not surprisingly he still commands a lot of support. And, why not? Look at his appointments, who are ever in his debt for being rescued from manipulative positions as Washington lobbyists. No doubt Obama has kept many promises – misguided as they are. However, he sure forgot the one about not having any lobbyists on his team.

Moreover, just how loyal might those guilty of tax evasion be for not only being forgiven for their “mistakes”, but rewarded with the highest political positions in the nation? I’d say plenty. And, what about Speaker Pelosi who vowed to clean up the dirty politics. That wouldn’t be a lie; I’m sure they’d just call it a mistake. I mean, everybody makes them, don’t they?

Obama also receives staunch support from those with their hands out – and, that crowd is growing by the day.

In the end, Obama will not be judged by his good intentions; rather, he’ll be judged by the results he achieves. Those with outstretched hands will judge him well; those carrying the load will despise him, as Obama and his supporting cast of robber barrons extract more from the working people he claims to favor.

Although Republicans have stood against his plans, they’ve stood for nothing. The spineless leaders of the right have yet to find the courage to stand for conservatism – the principles that made this country the greatest nation in the world, and not the least of which principle is smaller government.

When conservatives finally get their voice, they’ll have a difficult time unseating the “Great Provider”. But, it can only be done with a vision that rewards hard work instead of a system that pays people not to work.

It’s simple enough but it will take more guts than anyone is currently displaying.

Tracy Hanson of Washington D.C. was denied a permit for her handgun that was the wrong color.

There is no question that the D.C. bureaucrats have no intention of upholding last year’s Supreme Court decision that permits citizens to possess handguns typically used for self defense.

Another lawsuit has been filed.

The complete story can be found by clicking on the title.

Fairfax, Va. – On Monday, March 9, the U.S. Supreme Court denied consideration of New York City and Washington, D.C. lawsuits, New York v. Beretta and Lawson v. Beretta, respectively, that tried to hold American gun manufacturers responsible for the acts of criminals. The Court ‘s order leaves standing a pair of decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and District of Columbia Court of Appeals, both of which found that the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), enacted in 2005, prevents these types of lawsuits against lawful firearms manufacturers and dealers.

“Big city mayors conceived these lawsuits to try and litigate American gun manufacturers – who President Roosevelt referred to as “the arsenal of democracy” – out of business,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA chief lobbyist. “NRA has always believed the courts would agree with Congress that the PLCAA rightfully stops these reckless and politically motivated lawsuits.”

In 2000, New York City, Washington, D.C. and several individual plaintiffs sued gun manufacturers, based on the idea that although they manufactured a legal product, forcing them to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees just to prove their innocence in court would drive them into bankruptcy. In addition to being based on a bogus legal theory, these lawsuits endangered American armed forces and law enforcement. During congressional debate over the PLCAA, the Department of Defense agreed with the NRA that bankrupting U.S. gun makers and making us dependent on foreign countries like France, Russia or China for small arms is a threat to America’s domestic and international security.

“We are pleased that the courts have recognized the misguided intent of these lawsuits,” concluded Cox. ” America’s law-abiding firearms manufacturers must be protected from reckless suits that have no legal merit.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2009

Contact: Mary Dettloff 517-335-3014

Natural Resources Commission Votes to Expand Crossbow Hunting
Opportunities

The Michigan Natural Resources Commission on Thursday approved a
proposal to expand the use of crossbows for hunting in Michigan.

Under the new regulations, crossbows may be used:

? during any season in which a firearm may be used, for both big and
small game;

? for any hunting season in Zone 3 of southern Michigan;

? by anyone 50 years of age or older during the Oct. 1-Nov. 14 deer
season.

Included in the regulations are limits on the velocity of the crossbow.
Crossbows used for hunting are restricted to no more than 350 feet per
second.

The regulations have a three-year sunset. Crossbow hunters will be
surveyed over the next three years and regulations will then be
re-evaluated by the Department of Natural Resources. Data will be
collected that analyzes impact on the resource and the crossbow’s
potential to recruit or retain hunters. The data also will be analyzed
to determine if crossbow use should be expanded further in the future.

A crossbow stamp will be required in addition to hunting licenses for
those using crossbows. Stamps will be available at all license retailers
starting March 15.

For more information on hunting opportunities in Michigan, visit the
DNR’s Web site at www.michigan.gov/dnr.

(Columbus) – The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is pleased with today’s decision by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to continue with the removal of the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

“Secretary Salazar made the right call on delisting the gray wolf,” stated Rob Sexton, Vice President for Government Affairs at the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation (USSAF). “This decision is based on sound science, not politics.”

As Salazar indicated in his announcement statement, “The recovery of the gray wolf throughout significant portions of its historic range is one of the great success stories of the Endangered Species Act.”

According to all scientific evidence, the gray wolf populations in the Northern Rockies and the western Great Lakes region have grown dramatically since their initial listing in 1974. Today, there are more than 5,500 wolves. 1,600 reside in the Rockies.

Previously, a coalition of environmental and animal rights groups filed lawsuits in 2008 to block the Bush administration’s then proposed delisting of 1,500 wolves in the Northern Rockies. The USSAF Wisconsin Bear Hunters’ Association and a series of other conservation groups intervened in that case.

“Given the population growth, there were no valid reasons that states cannot resume management of the wolves,” said Scott Meyer, of Gleason Wisconsin, who joined USSAF as an intervener in the case.

The decision from Secretary Salazar comes in the face of intense lobbying by leading anti-hunting groups including the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. For more information about the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation and its work, call (614) 888-4868 or visit its website, www.ussafoundation.org.

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In this Washington Times piece, Obama is quoted as promising to reign in spending and to end earmarks.

Click on the title for an interesting perspective from John R. Lott. Although the editorial is unsigned, he has claimed it.

BELLEVUE, WA – The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today accused Congressional Democrats of “world-class hypocrisy” for pulling a voting rights bill for Washington, D.C. residents because Senate Republicans added an amendment that would strengthen their gun rights, as affirmed in the June 2008 Heller ruling by the Supreme Court.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said the bill – which would give the District an official vote in the House of Representatives, most likely a Democrat – would not be considered this week because of the Republican amendment. That amendment would repeal a ban on certain firearms in the District, even though last year’s high court ruling said outright bans of whole classes of firearms are unconstitutional. CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, co-author of These Dogs Don’t Hunt: The Democrats’ War on Guns, said House Democrats “are acting predictably, in a manner that belies everything they’ve said for the past decade about supporting gun rights.”

“Once again,” he said, “Democrats are revealing themselves as the party of restrictive gun control. If the citizens of Washington, D.C. have a right to full congressional representation, they also have a right to own the firearm of their choice. For Democrats to argue that one right is more important than another – especially after last year’s Supreme Court ruling on the Second Amendment – they are engaging in world-class hypocrisy.”

The bill would add a congressional seat in Utah, ostensibly to balance the District’s representative. But Democrats do not want to ease the highly restrictive gun regulations adopted by the District after the Supreme Court struck down the city’s decades-old handgun ban. Gottlieb said this stubbornness clearly demonstrates that the party’s so-called “support” for the Second Amendment is “just lip service.”

“Democrats argue that the right to representation is not related to the right to keep and bear arms,” Gottlieb said, “but that’s nonsense. This country was born because our founders were being taxed without representation, and because British troops tried to disarm the citizens. Those issues are just as equal today as they were 230 years ago, and Democrats on Capitol Hill need to understand that.”

The Supreme Court’s 2008 ruling in D.C. v. Heller was a constitutional earthquake, breathing life into the Second Amendment as a guarantee of an individual right to bear arms.

But the aftershock of that decision is beginning to transform the constitutional landscape well beyond gun rights, in ways that have liberals cheering and even joining hands with one-time adversaries like the National Rifle Association.

In a follow-on case pending before the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a progressive legal group and liberal law professors including Yale Law School’s Jack Balkin earlier this month joined gun-rights advocates in urging that the right established in Heller, which involved only the District of Columbia, be extended to apply against gun restrictions in the 50 states. The case is McDonald v. Chicago, a challenge to that city’s strict gun control law and, no matter what, the outcome is likely to be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Click on the title for an in-depth analysis of how the 14th Amendment may be applied to states.

NEWTOWN, Conn.

When a target shooter purchases a box of ammunition or a hunter a new deer rifle, wildlife in America benefits.

Every sportsman and woman contributes to a system that has been responsible for supporting healthy wildlife populations of both game and non-game species for the last 70 years.

The contributions, in the form excise taxes paid on sporting firearms, ammunition and archery equipment, benefit every state and have generated approximately $5.6 billion for wildlife conservation since 1939. The contribution for 2009 is a record — nearly $336 million, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which recently announced the Wildlife Restoration apportionment.

“We want all Americans to know about and value the support that hunters, recreational shooters and the firearms and ammunition industry make to wildlife conservation,” said Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, trade association for the firearms and shooting sports industry. “With wildlife populations professionally managed and thriving, we can safely say that this is one investment guaranteed to not lose value.”

Species such as the white-tailed deer, Rocky Mountain elk, pronghorn, wild turkey and black bears have made significant population gains due to research and improved habitat funded by the Wildlife Restoration program.

In making the announcement, Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said, “These investments, which help create jobs while protecting our nation’s natural treasures, are particularly important in these tough economic times.”

Of the $336 million total, some $64.7 million benefits hunter education and firearms and archery range programs.

These contributions are the result of the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, passed in 1937, which directs funds to states based on land area and paid hunting license holders, among other criteria. And while there is always a temptation for governments to redirect funds, legislative safeguards prevent these Wildlife Restoration monies from being diverted away from state wildlife agencies.

Both game and non-game species benefit as agencies use the money to manage wildlife populations, conduct research, acquire wildlife lands and public access and carry out surveys, among other uses. According to U.S. Fish & Wildlife, more than 62 percent of Wildlife Restoration funds are used to buy, maintain and operate wildlife management areas.

“The firearms and ammunition industry is proud to play a role in collecting, managing and contributing to these funds,” said Sanetti.

Sanetti hopes, however, that Congress will correct an inequity in the way the excise taxes are currently paid by industry, with the result that even more funds marked for conservation would be collected.

Legislation introduced earlier this year by Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wisconsin) will allow the industry to pay the firearms and ammunition excise tax (FAET) on a quarterly basis, the way other industries that support conservation do. Currently firearms and ammunition manufacturers must pay the FAET bi-weekly, a schedule that forces many manufacturers to borrow money to ensure on-time payment. Industry members spend thousands of man-hours administering the necessary paperwork to successfully complete the bi-weekly payments — monies that are due long before manufacturers are paid by their customers.

This legislation will not lower the amount of conservation dollars collected by the tax.

“Shifting to quarterly payments would allow manufacturers to invest in new equipment and product designs and enhance their marketing efforts,” said Sanetti. “This in turn could lead to greater participation in hunting and the shooting sports, providing even more funding for wildlife conservation and hunter education.”

Attorney General Holder has provided a little misdirection about Mexican gunrunning. Drug cartels have access to fully automatic military firearms and much more. Although it is essentially illegal for Mexicans to own guns, they all do. And, the lion’s share of its supply source may surprise you. It certainly isn’t justification for Holder’s comments in support of making certain guns in the U.S. illegal.

This from the NRA-ILA: On Wednesday, just over five weeks after Inauguration Day, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Obama Administration will seek to reinstate the expired federal “assault weapon” ban and impose additional restrictions.

“As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like to make, and among them would be to reinstitute the ban on the sale of assault weapons,” Holder said. Based on Holder’s testimony during his confirmation hearings before the Senate, those other “changes” presumably include prohibiting private transfers of firearms and banning most center-fire rifle ammunition as “armor-piercing.”

Holder said that new gun control laws are needed because in Mexico, a country with a history of corruption and disregard for individual rights, there’s a shooting war going on between drug gangs and government troops, and some of the gangsters’ guns have been illegally purchased in the United States.

Click on the title for an eye-opening read.