The Right to Keep and Bear Arms

Senate Narrowly Rejects ‘Radical’ Concealed Weapon Measure

July 23, 2009

Raw Story - The Senate narrowly rejected a concealed weapons measure that critics have blasted as “radical” Wednesday afternoon. The AP reports, “In a rare win for gun control advocates, the Senate on Wednesday rejected a measure allowing a person with a concealed weapon permit in one state to also hide his firearm when visiting another state...”

The Associated Press story adds: “The vote was 58-39 in favor of the provision establishing concealed carry permit reciprocity in the 48 states that have concealed weapons laws. That fell two votes short of the 60 needed to approve the measure, offered as an amendment to a defense spending bill.”

At the Washington Post, Paul Kane notes, “Even in defeat, the debate demonstrated the continued power of the National Rifle Association and gun rights advocates in Congress, because the Thune amendment was considered the most far reaching federal effort ever proposed to expand laws to allow weapons ownership.”

New Jersey Governor Attacks Concealed Carry and the Second Amendment

July 22, 2009

Infowars - New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine has joined other Democrat gun-grabbers — Frank R. Lautenberg, Robert Menendez, Diane Feinstein, Charles Schumer, Jack Reed, and Sheldon Whitehouse — to denounce the Respecting States Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2009. The bill will amend chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code, and allow citizens who have concealed carry permits from the state in which they reside to carry concealed firearms in another state that grants concealed carry permits. In February, the bill was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary...

Feds Declare Tennessee Gun Law Invalid

July 18, 2009

Infowars - It is yet another example of the federal government running roughshod over the states.

Last month, the state of Tennessee’s General Assembly passed House Bill 1796, the “Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act,” which states that any firearms or ammunition manufactured within the state and legally owned and kept within the state by citizens are “not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration” due to provisions in the Second, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

But according to Assistant Director Carson W. Carroll of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the U.S. Constitution is little more than a g.d. piece of paper, as George W. Bush so infamously deemed it during his reign as the decider-in-chief.

On July 16, Carroll dispatched his agency’s official response to the law passed in Tennessee — the BATFE asserts that “Federal law supersedes the Act, and all provisions of the Gun Control Act and the National Firearms Act, and their corresponding regulations, continue to apply.”

It will be interesting to see how Tennessee reacts to this official proclamation.

Churches United for Service: Gun Surrender Nets Six Firearms

July 12, 2009

Lynchburg News Advance (Virginia) - The third gun surrender event held in conjunction between Churches United for Service and the Lynchburg Police Department exceeded the expectations of organizers Saturday afternoon. Citizens surrendered six firearms and a pellet gun Saturday, said the Rev. James Coleman, of Churches United for Service, which more than doubled the amount of guns turned in previously.

Coleman said he estimated about 100 people turned out for the event, held at the James Crossing Apartments — a change from the group’s usual Miller Park location. “The difference today is that we launched a neighborhood initiative,” he said. The initiative, he explained, will be a Churches United for Service-led effort to construct a pavilion where residents can hold gatherings and events.

In attendance at Saturday’s event, among other city leaders and police personnel, were Virginia Del. Shannon Valentine, D-Lynchburg, and Lynchburg Vice Mayor Bert Dodson. “I think we’ve struck something now,” Coleman said, particularly of the amount of guns surrendered.

He said he was contacted by one resident who told Coleman that he had eight guns to surrender, but was unable to do so at James Crossing because of legal restrictions. Coleman said the group is working with that resident to find a way that the guns can be turned in. “We think that it’s going to only increase,” Coleman said, regarding the number of guns surrendered.

One issue the effort has faced, he said, is citizens unwilling to surrender their guns if they won’t receive any compensation other than a chance to win the much-hyped retired police cruiser. Coleman said organizers are attempting to procure gift certificates and other bonuses from area businesses as token prizes for anyone willing to surrender a firearm. “Anyone that turns in a gun, they’re going to get something,” he said, “that will be a tangible blessing to them.” That, he said, is in addition to the Bibles and other information given out at each event.

Of the ultimate prize, the 2000 Chevy Impala with an impressive new paint job, Coleman said work is coming along well, and more upgrades are to come, such as a new sound system. “It already looks like something that anybody would want to have,” he said.

Coleman said no future dates have been planned, but he envisions several more events around Lynchburg, each in a different area. “We are not going to rest until we’ve done all we can to saturate the community,” he said.

Federal Agents Conducting House by House Gun Checks

July 1, 2009

The Smoking Argus - The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATF) agents are in the midst of fanning out across Texas in order to conduct house by house investigations into what the agency deems numerous “suspicious” firearms transactions and as a means to combat “narco-terrorism” along the U.S./Mexican border.

In fact, the “suspicious” transaction searches are so loosely defined, that BATF agents ended up questioning a Houston area pastor who previously purchased two handguns for target practice, which is then flippantly chalked up as “hard to believe.” Additionally, interagency cooperation between the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the BATF have led to warrantless airplane surveillance of vehicles along the border.

After speaking to five offices within the agencies and being told by several agents they felt “uncomfortable” with my line of questioning, Special Agent, Public Information Officer Perot of the BATF, indicated that aerial surveillance does not require a warrant due to it taking place with the “public sphere” thereby meaning individuals should have no expectation of privacy.

Perhaps even more alarming to Constitutionalists and civil libertarians than an “eye in the sky” with carte blanche authority to surveil, is the fact that the door to door firearms checks come at the behest of a foreign government. In 2008 alone, the Mexican government requested the BATF track down the original owner of 7,500 firearms used in drug crimes at American taxpayer expense.

“Ever turning up the heat on cartels, our law enforcement and military partners in the government of Mexico have been working more closely with the ATF by sharing information and intelligence,” Kenneth Melson, Acting Director, BATF.

Moreover, federal agents lament the tedious difficulty in conducting door to door firearm checks due to a current federal law prohibiting the use of a centralized database for gun owners. Alternatively, Mr. Eric Pratt of “Gun Owners of America” believes that a centralized database would only end up further infringing upon the inherent rights of law abiding gun owners. He goes on to state that criminals will still develop and expand avenues in order to arm themselves regardless of a behemoth centralized registry, just as they have after each previous “needed” addition to the nation’s gun laws. Further, by his analysis, this is merely another attempt by federal authorities to scapegoat lawful gun owners when the crux of the issue is really one of border control, or lack thereof.