Page Nine

Gun Law Update - SPECIAL - Don't miss National Training Week, July 4 - 11, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 7, 2009

I'm real short on time, have a plane to catch in a few hours, but I want to get the word out.

The week of July 4th is being established as National Training Week, when Americans celebrate their freedom with firearms at the nation's shooting ranges. "Good Americans Are Good Marksmen." Perfect time to bring a newcomer to the range for an experience, and to exercise your freedom. Participating ranges offer free handgun rentals, special classes, go out and ask your local range to participate if they're not. (They'll probably say, "Never heard of it," that's OK, it's all described here, print it and give it to them):

http://www.gunlaws.com/NationalTrainingWeek.htm

Arizona Congressman John Shadegg has endorsed the idea, along with Gun Owners of America, The Second Amendment Foundation, many others, all posted at that link. Sorry I don't have more time. You want to do something to defend your rights? Visit your range and motivate them.

If you can't see the Congressman's letter below, use this link:
http://www.gunlaws.com/pdf/NTWShadeggLxColor.pdf

Gunlaw Updates: "The Montana Firearms Freedom Act" HB246

Montana's new gun law kicks feds in the gut

In a nutshell: "Any gun made and kept in Montana is free of federal gun regulation."

People have been writing asking me if this is real -- it is. It is important enough to dedicate this entire Page Nine. Well, I've included some other juicy items too.

 

I have followed the development of this law since the outset, I am friendly with its instigator Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Assoc. http://www.mtssa.org (and we sell Gary's Montana gun-law book, which will be re-released in several weeks, updated and with the new law included). I was honored to coax and coach Gary into writing that book, now in its third edition http://www.gunlaws.com/books2.htm

Gary dreamed up the concept of the Montana gun-freedom bill, drafted the language himself ("that's why it's in plain English, I'm not a lawyer," he said) and guided it through his legislature to a 29 to 21 win in the Senate, and a stunning 85 to 14 romp in the House. It is a fabulous law. Imagine what it could do for economics in the state, wait, don't imagine, check this out -- Texas just introduced it too, where it could benefit more than 300 state-based manufacturers. It will, "invite new industry into Texas," according to its sponsor there, Leo Berman.

That's not all. Tennessee has introduced it as well. Alaska moved it through the Senate 32 to 7 but adjourned before the House could act. States actively considering it include Arizona, Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. While some people got excited about virtually worthless feckless non-binding resolutions demanding 10th Amendment protection from federal abuse, this new law puts teeth into the demand.

This is a perfect point of pushback against illegal federal encroachment and violation of our constitutional rights. You should pick this up where you are, like we are here in Arizona, get someone in your state to make the small changes needed to match the language to your state, and run with it.

If the federales have their way, reaction would likely be directed against the first manufacturer to operate under the law. Feds will obtain a firearm produced in Montana, probably from a small shop without big time resources to fight the feds, and the person will be arrested, property confiscated, and charges filed with all sorts of laws that do not apply except in the feds imagination.

Gun Law Update: Obama Gun Treaty Skirts Congress

1. CIFTA Gun Treaty Removes Congressional Oversight
2. Amend Constitution by Statute, Using EPA Laws
3. National Ammo Shortage Is Suspicious


Permission to circulate this report granted.


1. CIFTA Gun Treaty Removes Congressional Oversight


(Note: How this treaty can overrule U.S. law or the Constitution itself is discussed at the end, after the treaty analysis below.)

I've completed my review of the South America gun-control treaty that Mr. Obama wants to get ratified.

It is known as CIFTA, the Inter-American Convention Against The Illicit Manufacturing Of And Trafficking In Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives, And Other Related Materials. It can be found here verbatim: http://www.oas.org/juridico/English/treaties/a-63.html

-- EVERY aspect of the treaty introduces major required gun controls, most of which will affect average citizens (as well as the targeted criminal syndicates, dictators and other bad actors).

-- The controls go way past anything EVER attempted by gun-control groups in the United States.

-- NONE of the proposed gun controls are likely to pass by themselves through Congress. If the treaty is enacted they don't have to -- they become law when the treaty is ratified.

-- Virtually NO PROTECTIONS FOR RKBA are to be found, and the wordings are loose enough to allow all sorts of attacks on gun rights American enjoy today.

-- The U.S. government under this treaty GAINS POWER to manage firearms almost any way it would like to, without checks and balances.

-- Once signed, many of the restrictions and government intrusions become MANDATORY, and the full Congress, already cut out of ratification (only the Senate approves treaties) would be cut out of the implementation process entirely.

-- Top to bottom registration of all firearms, ammunition, ammunition components and other related materials is required if they are "in transit" and records must be kept indefinitely. This vague language, and the requirement to comply are a gun-banner's dream and a rights advocate's nightmare.

-- "Transit licenses or authorizations" for transfers of firearms are required for imported firearms, and loose language could include the same for all domestic firearms.

-- Lengthy recordkeeping is required that directly conflicts with U.S. law, and would be left up to bureaucrats and arbitrary controls and implementation.

-- Home reloading of ammunition would become illegal and subject to severe sanctions, without government licensing that is undefined and could include almost any conditions, taxes and limitations, including scrupulous inventorying, recordkeeping and unscheduled audit searches of people who reload.

-- Similar licensing and controls will be required on anything made "that can be attached to a firearm," known as "other related materials." This includes components, parts, replacement parts and such items as wood or composite stocks, slings, bayonets, bayonet lugs, sights, scopes, rails, lasers, grips, flash hiders, suppressors, muzzle brakes and other paraphernalia. Attaching any such parts without a government license would be "illicit manufacture," a criminal act with undefined penalties.

-- Record sharing requirements ensure that any gun-owner data that must be destroyed under current U.S. law can be easily stored abroad, and can be retrieved at will as required under various international "cooperation" clauses.

If I were advising Mr. Obama IN FAVOR of using this treaty for gun control -- here is what I would suggest.

This creative vantage point helps me to underscore the serious threat the treaty presents. I DO NOT approve of any of the anti-rights suggestions, easily drawn from the treaty language -- they merely show you what Americans face. Everything I outline below comes directly from the treaty itself. Be sure you're sitting down.

Alan Korwin, Author
Gun Laws of America

-------------


To: Barack Hussein Obama, President of the United States
From: (As if written by the anti-gun-rights lobby)
Re: CIFTA Treaty

Dear Mr. President,

We commend your common-sense support of the CIFTA Treaty for reducing illicit arms manufacture and gun trafficking. This is a brilliant stratagem in the exhausting effort to rid our country of the scourge of gun violence.

With the treaty in place and ratified by the Senate, you will be obligated to take certain steps with regard to private ownership of firearms that we have never been able to move through the houses of Congress. Further, you will be able to take these actions unilaterally, making swift change possible and, under international obligation to act you are insulated from direct criticism.

Our attorneys assure us the steps we outline here are in full compliance with international law and the terms of the treaty itself. Article VI of the U.S. Constitution unambiguously gives such a treaty a degree of supremacy over the nation, its laws, the states and the public (even though some in the powerful gun lobby deny this or point to questionable court precedents). This is especially useful as we adapt to a global economy, world courts, an empowered U.N. and environmental concerns on a planetary scale.

Gun Law Update: Gun-Rights Testing Planned, Part III

Police-Only Ammunition

The ongoing militarization of the police was a major segment of the SHOT Show, with huge floor space dedicated to weapons and gear the public cannot get. Gnarly looking tough hombres with rippling muscles bulging in skin tight black tactical t-shirts roamed around booths like the tremendous Blackwater recruitment center and outfits selling gear to make cops look like spacemen.

You only think you're armed if the other guy is wearing body armor.
This is not your former pal Officer Friendly.
Note they're all carefully tagged "Police" or "Sheriff" to avoid any confusion.

I especially liked the roof-turret mounted, bullet-proof-camera equipped, fully remote controlled, drum fed, suppressed machine gun with 360-degree sweep and elevation control now available for law enforcement vehicles.

Fully mechanized roof-mounted machine gun for police vehicles.
It rotates, elevates and exterminates.
This model came with five scantily clad babes draped across the vehicle (babes not shown).

OK, OK, you want some scantily clad babes, the SHOT Show is loaded with eye candy.

1. 2.

1. No woman known has ever gone into combat dressed like that.
2. Target Girl was a real show stopper.
She's actually an image on a line of paper range targets.
Note the visible rib cage and internal organs.

Heavily armored "community relations" vehicles for a quarter-million dollars and up are available for areas suffering high winds and street crime, but the paint jobs are pretty dull.

This vehicle now belongs to a parish in Pennsylvania.
They took delivery at the SHOT Show.

On the flight home, I read an inside-the-industry article by Massad Ayoob (if you don't know this fountain of knowledge just google him, or get one of his books on our website). He was telling dealers how to handle customers who want to buy LEO-only ammunition. It seems some manufacturers are making good ammo that only law enforcement officers can buy. It's not law, it's just company policy, and dealers can offer roughly equivalent rounds to their clients.

The Winchester Ranger 127 grain +P+ is the "ultimate personal defense load in 9mm Luger," he suggests, or the Federal HST 230-grain +P for .45 ACP. These are hot rounds, not explosive military ordinance or anything. If dealers don't want to provide it, they can substitute Speer's Gold Dot 124 grain +P (used by NYPD and Chicago PD) or the Remington Golden Saber 230-grain .45 round used by FBI "super-elite hostage rescue teams."

What gives with that? You mean police can get regular pistol ammo that we can't? We don't face the same bad guys? What, does the stuff kill an attacker more dead than a consumer round? Is it safer, more effective, higher energy, more impact, less overpenetration, what? It's all about political correctness, and making "officials" feel more special than the average person. If it's safe enough or good enough for the police, it's certainly safe enough and good enough for the public. But what do I know, I'm a moderate.

I'm working on a new Page Nine report, http://www.gunlaws.com/PageNineIndex.htm I expect to have that out before the end of the month, along with some great new books and DVDs I've located.

Tags: body armor, SHOT Show

Gun Law Update: Gun-Rights Testing Planned, Part II

HR 45 -- Gun Rights Licensing Test

Illinois congressman Bobby Rush, from Obama's home state and with a voting record on gun ownership as bad as Obama's, introduced a bill on the first day of the 111th Congress that shows what we can expect. If we don't defeat this bill, and others expected to follow it, gun owners will lose guns and the industry will suffer harm beyond description.

Under HR 45, if you can't pass a complex test written by the U.S. Attorney General (described in detail below), pay the tax, give up fingerprints and a biometric-capable photo of yourself (that can be turned into a digital facial-recognition number and used as a de facto national ID), every gun you own will become contraband and subject to confiscation, while you stand trial before imprisonment. You'd think Bobby, a former black panther, would know better.

Your rights will have an expiration date, and if you screw up and miss it, you'll be in the same mess as people who can't pass the test. Can you say "unconstitutional"? Do you think these "gun bigots" care?

Now that the Supreme Court has made it clear in the Heller case that government can't ban guns, the Brady's have stopped saying they want to ban guns. So the virtually treasonous Bobby Rush bill doesn't ban guns, it bans gun owners, maybe by the millions. How many gun owners read poorly or don't test well? How many can't explain local, state and federal gun laws? They'd become prohibited possessors under HR 45. Are there any limits to what the AG can put on the test? The bill doesn't mention any -- it gives the AG a free hand to include anything.

Gun Law Update: Gun-Rights Testing Planned, Part I

SHOT Show Brief Summary

The Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show is the biggest meeting of gun, ammo and accessory companies in the world, open only to the trade (nearly 50,000 people attended this year). Miles and miles of aisles, it's exhausting (and astounding!).

Commerce was so robust Jan. 15 - 18 at SHOT this year there was little time to waste on a tiny concern like the constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

That's SOP at SHOT, a discussion for another day. At SHOT the focus is to sell more product, open more accounts, introduce new designs, make marketing plans and party at night. Were you at the monster Glock bash? What a band... and the food!

The fact that the entire industry is based on a fragile 27-word line written on parchment two centuries ago is lost in the shuffle. And for the huge police and military segment, with their own acres of floor space at the Orlando show, it simply doesn't matter at all.

The gun-rights community sees this as hopelessly shortsighted of course, and the firearms industry sees it as business as usual. They're both right. Let me tell you where the two sides meet -- at HR 45, the proposed bill that requires you to pass a test to have gun rights. Complete details below. Will a reduction of gun rights affect the gun business? You betcha.

Most intriguing new piece of gear at the SHOT Show this year, in my opinion -- a bayonet for handguns. How did we overlook this essential extra for so many years?

Gunfighting rule #62:
When you're out of ammo, it's better to swing a blade than an empty gun.
It comes with a sheath, but how would you holster the thing? Fits any standard rail, attaches without tools, blade by Ka-Bar.

Tags: Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show

Gun law update: Brady Gun-Ban Strategy Outlined

Addendum 1/15/09: See further now "CORRECTIONS and ADDITIONS."

(Prior report with Brady gun-ban lists: http://www.gunlaws.com/newstuff.htm)

The powerful gun-ban lobby has developed its own language to color and disguise its true agenda -- the disarming of law-abiding Americans in every way possible, and the end of effective self defense.

Their latest set of plans -- used as a fund raiser (outlined below) -- is filled with nice sounding terms that put a deceptive spin on their goals. Respect for the Bill of Rights is nowhere to be found, only clever end runs and literal destruction of rights Americans have always had.

Starkly missing from these plans is any direct attack on criminals -- the whole game plan is aimed at firearms the public holds. It is a product of abject gun fear -- hoplophobia -- that afflicts the people behind the plan. They deny they're hoplophobic, but just look at their plans, directed solely at restricting and eliminating guns -- instead of the crime caused by criminals they nominally complain about. I noticed that all mentions of accident prevention, a former holy grail for the group, are gone.

The hypocrisy is unequivocal and self evident. Sarah claims, "We need to get these 'killing machines' off our streets." Well, go ahead. Any person, on any street, operating any "killing machine" belongs in prison immediately under existing law, right? Everyone, even the Bradys, know this. It doesn't matter if your gun is black, or too short, or holds the right amount of ammo.

The problem isn't the "machines," it's the lack of law enforcement -- in the bad parts of town and among the gangs where most of the problems occur (see maps: http://www.gunlaws.com/GunshotDemographics.htm). They will not admit this, and they do not address this.

Instead, they act out on their phobia and attack you and me. The real problem of crime and violence is just an excuse for them to work on disarming people who didn't do anything.

The Federal Bureaucracy of Investigation, along with the Bureaucracy of Alcohol and Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives are in complete sympathy with the plan. The Brady plan will get them more staff, more office space, more of our money and more power, the acknowledged holy grail of bureaucrats.

Gun law update: S&W sales

Addendum 1/15/09: See further now "CORRECTIONS and ADDITIONS."

With bans on AR-15 and AR-15-styled rifles to the public expected under the Obama administration (see gun-ban lists below), Smith and Wesson has just announced expansion of that market, with the sale of 275 of its M&P15 rifles to the Chicago police department. http://tinyurl.com/742qre

Chicago, president-elect Obama’s home town, has virtual bans on handguns and strict repressive limits on long guns, but police are excluded and criminals blithely ignore the provisions.

The M&P15 strongly resembles the AR-15, a high quality, semi automatic long gun used by the U.S. military and the public for decades. What the Chicago police expect to do with 275 of the guns, vilified as assault weapons by the lamestream media, was undisclosed. Assault, it has been noted, is a type of behavior, not a type of hardware.

In other news, the Minnesota State Patrol has purchased 90 of the high-quality M&P15 firearms, which retail for more than $1,000 each.

In still other news, actor David Spade donated $100,000 to the Phoenix police department, to buy 50 new AR-15 rifles made by Colt, an S&W competitor. Spade was apparently moved by a “news” broadcast that said Phoenix officers had to buy their own rifles due to lack of funding, and he wanted to help them out.

Tags: AR-15, David Spade, M&P15

Gun Law Update -- Early Brady Plans Revealed

Push to end all private sales tops list

"Universal background checks for EVERY gun sold in this country."

[NOTE: Don't forget to recognize and celebrate Bill of Rights Day, Dec. 15; in Phoenix we will be at the Wrigley Mansion starting at 5:30 p.m., you're invited, for details or to RSVP: http://www.gunlaws.com/newstuff.htm]

Plenty of gun-ban speculation is flying. I have this quote direct from Sarah Brady in a letter addressed to me:

"On Election Day, we helped deliver a strong victory for President-Elect Barack Obama and Vice-President-Elect Joe Biden. They will be two of the most powerful allies we have ever had."

This is what Obama meant when he told you to your face that he respects the Second Amendment. He is the acknowledged champion of the anti-rights gun-ban movement.

POINT ONE

Most of you already know that phony talk about "gun-show-loopholes" was a smokescreen. Sarah and her team now confirm this. They are planning for: "universal background checks for EVERY gun sold in this country." (Her emphasis, not mine).

Gun shows, she says, are now merely "included" in that plan, this will appear as proposed legislation shortly after inauguration day.

Smart money says it will be fast tracked -- so be sure to join, re-up, or get friends to join gun-rights groups to aid the battle. The pro-rights groups are the main chance to slow it down and re-tool it to whatever extent possible. Don't wait.

Find your state and national gun-rights groups here: http://www.gunlaws.com/links

For ideas on what one person (that's you pal) can do: http://www.gunlaws.com/Tactics%20That%20Work.htm

The new gun-tracking plan will require somewhat complex legislation, to mix personal or private sales, and transfers between family members, in the centrally managed FBI NICS system for licensed dealers. A mechanism to accomplish that means making government larger and hiring more help.

The rhetoric has now expanded from phony "gun-show loopholes" to a new "deadly loopholes" idea: "We know Obama and Biden share our commitment to closing deadly loopholes in our gun laws."

If there was any doubt amongst the public about Obama's "support" for rights, the Bradys, now that the election is over, express the truth: "The Obama-Biden ticket won convincingly while clearly supporting gun laws." Everyone supports gun laws that disarm violent criminals. The Bradys though are talking about something else -- gun laws that disarm, encumber or infringe on the rights of the innocent. They plan on government tracking of every firearm in private hands.

Gun Law Update: Brady Backs Barack

Will Anti-Gun Group's Endorsement Help Or Hurt?

Anti-Gun-Rights Candidate Could Gut "Heller" Decision

Now that Barack Obama has received the endorsement of the Brady Campaign gun-control group, will the Supreme Court's findings in the D.C. gun-ban "Heller" case matter?

That's the question experts are asking in the wake of Obama's 11th-hour support from America's leading gun-ban advocates. The late-date endorsement was conspicuously absent from most large news outlets. Those groups have repeatedly claimed that anti-gun-rights agendas were a key issue in the Democrat election defeats of 2000 and 2004.

"Obama publicly supported Washington D.C.'s total gun ban until the Supreme Court's 'Heller' case voided it," says Alan Korwin, co-author of "The Heller Case: Gun Rights Affirmed," which was just released (see below for news-media review copies). "His opposition to gun rights is well known and carefully documented in the new book," he said. Obama swiftly reversed his position after the High Court found that gun rights belong to individuals, a point also documented in the new book.