A New Cam & Co.

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, Cam Edwards became the new editor of BearingArms.com. Today he announced he was getting back behind the microphone with the debut of the new BearingArms Cam & Co. The new show is a one man show coming from Cam's farm in Virginia.

He says about the show:

That means it’s time to add in a new component to what I’ll be doing here at BA, and to get back to doing what has been my passion for well over a decade now: a daily show focusing on the latest 2A news and information from around the country. Armed citizen stories, the latest on legislation, litigation, and regulations that impact our 2nd Amendment rights, interviews with newsmakers and experts, trips to the range, and maybe even a baby goat or two every now and then.

Cam & Co. was the one really decent thing on NRATV. It wasn't shrill like Dana and it wasn't angry like Stichfield. I'm glad he has found a way to do this again. However, though, I guess at next year's NRA Annual Meeting in Nashville, he won't be coming from a big stage in the middle of the convention center. And you know, that's OK too.




Welcome back, Cam!

Cam Edwards Is The New Editor Of Bearing Arms

With the closure of NRATV, Cam Edwards of Cam & Co., NRA News, etc. was free to seek new opportunities. He announced today that he is becoming the new editor of BearingArms.com. The site is part of the Townhall/Salem group of companies.

From the announcement:

This is a critical time for our right to keep and bear arms. Never before have American gun control activists been so emboldened. From gun bans and confiscation to the tracking of gun owners’ ammunition purchases (not to mention licensing and registration schemes), a constitutional right is being treated as if it is a privilege. Even worse, Americans who dare to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights are being otherized by the news media, politicians, celebrities, and anti-gun advocates. If they can’t repeal the right to keep and bear arms, they’ll do everything they can to de-normalize it.

As the new editor of BearingArms.com I want to expose those attempts at delegitimizing our constitutional rights and the Americans who exercise them, but that’s only half the battle. We need to tell the stories of the countless men and women who are fighting to not just keep our rights secure, but to make them stronger than ever. From courtrooms to boardrooms, in tree stands and in state capitols, there are millions of us who aren’t just bearing arms, but are bearing witness to the power of self-defense, of hunting, of competition, and even the therapeutic benefits of shooting. It’s up to us to tell and share these stories, and we will.

You can read the remainder of it here.

Congratulations to Cam. His Cam & Co. was the one part of NRATV really worth saving. I'm sure he'll do a great job. Since the suicide of Bob Owens and the departure of Jenn Jacques, I have only read the site sporadically. I think I'll be reading it more often.

Ack-Mac Moves To End Contract With NRA

The NRA's longtime advertising firm Ackerman McQueen has formally provided notice that they will be moving to terminate their contract according to the Wall Street Journal.

In the announcement Wednesday, Ackerman said it had formally provided a notice to terminate its contract with the NRA, claiming the agreement already had been “constructively terminated” by the NRA’s own “inexplicable actions.”

The NRA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ad firm said it had implored all parties to stay true to the NRA’s membership, but instead was “attacked in frivolous lawsuits and defamed with made-up stories” peddled to the news media.

This move comes on the heels of two lawsuits by the NRA against Ackerman McQueen and a counterclaim by Ack-Mac.

There is no word what will happen to NRATV which is produced for the NRA by Ack-Mac. As a reminder, NRATV personalities such as Cam Edward and Ginny Simone are Ack-Mac employees  while others like Dana Loesch are independent contractors.

While many of us have long wanted Ack-Mac gone or have, at the minimum, wanted a competitive RFP (request for proposal) search for an ad firm, this is a bit of a surprise to see Ack-Mac just walking away. It could mean that they see the NRA as a diminishing source of revenue and are fleeing like rats from a sinking ship. Alternatively, it could be a recognition by Ack-Mac of the rise of William Brewer III and his attempt to be the one stop shop for both legal and PR work for the NRA. Only time (and targeted information leaks) will tell.

Interesting Interview With Duane Liptak Of Magpul

Cam Edwards of NRA News interviewed Duane Liptak of Magpul yesterday after Gov. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) signed HB 1224 into law. Mr. Liptak is the Director of Product Management and Marketing for Magpul.

Mr. Liptak had a number of interesting comments during the course of the interview. First, Magpul will be going with a multi-state, multi-location manufacturing approach. While they haven't released just where they are going, certain sites have already been selected. They plan a phased move out of Colorado with the magazine manufacturing being the first part of their company to move for obvious reasons.

When asked about their current employees and the impact the move will have on them, Mr. Liptak said that many of the current employees had expressed a desire to move with the company to the new locations. He seemed rather gratified by this loyalty of the employees to Magpul.

Magpul met with a number of state legislators during the fight against HB 1224. While Magpul presented facts and legal opinions as well as stressing the economic repercussions of the bill, this didn't seem to make any headway with a number of the Democrats. Mr. Liptak noted that every time they went to the state capitol, they always ran into lobbyists from Bloomberg and MAIG. He said they were everywhere. It is a sad day when a New York billionaire can buy a western state legislature so easily. It reminds one of the railroad barons in Frank Norris' The Octopus so dominated California of the late 19th century.

Bob Schieffer And Godwin's Law

Cam Edwards of NRA News fisks Bob Schieffer of CBS News and his attempt to invoke Godwin's law with regard to the NRA. Godwin's Law states that the longer an online discussion goes on that the likelihood of someone invoking Hitler or the Nazis approaches one.

Schieffer said that if we could find and kill Osama bin Laden, pass civil rights, and defeat the Nazis then America surely could take on the easier task of defeating the gun lobby. The only problem is that as Cam points out the gun lobby isn't a bunch of gun manufacturers - it is you and me. So what Bob Schieffer really wants to do is to take away the civil rights of gun owning Americans just like that other group did in 1930s Germany.

"David Gregory" Clause In NY Gun Law?

William Jacobson of the Legal Insurrection blog is a law professor at Cornell University Law School. As a class project in one of his courses, they are trying to unravel the new 39 page gun law that Gov. Andrew Cuomo rammed through the NY State legislature.

Jacobson was interviewed by Cam Edwards of NRA News about the new law on Friday. The key point made by Jacobson in discussing this new law is that it is so complicated and full of pitfalls for the law abiding that the intent seems to be to discourage gun ownership entirely. He notes that there are all sorts of ways to run afoul of the new law. For example, Jacobson said that a previously legal "assault weapon" under New York law must now for the first time be registered. He could see someone not realizing this and being stopped with a non-registered rifle on the way to the shooting range. That person would now be a felon if convicted and lose all gun rights.

Media Misinformation

Cam Edwards fisks a recent NBC Today Show episode with Matt Lauer in the YouTube video below. Lauer was aghast that someone would publish personal information of the publisher, editor, and staff of the Journal News. You will recall that this is the newspaper that thought every pistol permit holder in a two county area - including retired police officers and domestic violence victims - should have their name and address linked to an interactive Google map. It looks like burglars have also used the list to target at least one home owner to steal firearms.

This is a short video but Cam does an excellent job in pointing how Lauer sets the tone and then how the panel tries to marginalize gun owners as some strange and exotic breed of American.

Dave Kopel Provides An Analysis Of 7th Circuit's Illinois Carry Decision

In an interview with Cam Edwards of NRA News, Second Amendment scholar Dave Kopel analyzes the opinion of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in the Moore and Shepard cases.

He makes the point that Judge Richard Posner who wrote the decision is "the furthest thing from a libertarian" and had publicly disagreed with the Supreme Court's reasoning in the Heller decision. However, Kopel said Posner was very smart and could read what the Supreme Court said (and meant) in that decision. If Posner had been a Supreme Court justice, his opinion might have been different. Since he wasn't, Kopel said Posner wasn't going to impose his own views on this case.

"Four More Years of Obama: Gun Control 'Under the Radar' No More"

Cam Edwards interviewed Dr. A.M.R. Hawkins of Breitbart's Big Government yesterday. They discuss Obama's history of support for gun control and how he has the ability to seriously impact gun owners through court appointments, regulatory changes, and executive orders. It does not take action by Congress for him to do things like that.

Hawkins' full article, Four More Years of Obama: Gun Control 'Under the Radar' No More, can be found here.

Katie Pavlich On The IG's Report

Katie Pavlich of Townhall.com was a guest of Cam Edward's on NRA News last night. She discussed Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report on Operation Fast and Furious. She makes a number of good points including how Eric Holder was claiming to be totally exonerated within minutes after the report was released.

Katie is always a good interview and she knows her stuff with regard to Project Gunwalker.

It was interesting to see the local news here in western North Carolina last night. The Inspector General's report and Operation Fast and Furious were actually the subject of a report!

Katie Pavlich Of Townhall.com On The Gunwalker Tapes

Katie Pavlich of Townhall.com was interviewed by Cam Edwards of NRA News about the tapes that have been leaking out on Project Gunwalker. These are taped conversations between Operation Fast and Furious case agent ATF Agent Hope McAllister and Lone Wolf Trading Company owner Andre Howard.

Dave Workman - "It's Not Just Walgreens"

Among the things that Cam Edwards and Dave Workman, editor of GunWeek and the Seattle Gun Rights Examiner, discussed last night was Jeremy Hoven - the Walgreens' pharmacist fired for defending himself with a firearm during an armed attack. As Dave notes, it's not just Walgreens that has the policies forbidding employees to provide for their own safety at work.

Gun Ownership In Other Countries

Cam Edwards interviewed David Tipple, the owner of Gun City in New Zealand. The gun prohibitionists in that country are upset that the store is having a promotion for Father's Day in which one gun will be sold for one New Zealand dollar.

The most interesting thing about the interview is when Mr. Tipple described how only licensed gun owners are allowed to purchase firearms in New Zealand. He compared their license to an American driver's license except that to obtain one you must a police background check which includes interviews with your family and your neighbors, an inspection of your home, and an inspection of your gun safe. When you hear what people have to do in other countries in order to possess a firearm, you give thanks for the farsightedness of our forefathers when they adopted the Second Amendment.

Former Head Of El Paso Intelligence Center On Project Gunwalker

Cam Edwards interviewed Phil Jordan about Operation Fast and Furious on NRA News today. Mr. Jordan is the former director of the El Paso Intelligence Center. He made some interesting points in the interview. With regard to the firing of ATF Agent and whistle-blower Vincent Cefalu, Mr. Jordan said that it was done as a warning to other agents to not cooperate and to keep their mouths shut. He also said it was a complete injustice to the Terry and Zapata families for the DOJ to allow the damage control/cover-up efforts to continue.

NRA President David Keene On Gunwalker, Obama, and Elijah Cummings

New NRA President David Keene was on Cam and Company today. Among the items discussed were Project Gunwalker, Elijah Cummings' forum tomorrow, and Barack Obama's election chances.

Keene did make a very good point about Project Gunwalker. He said "the ATF did not do this on their own - as crazy as they can be - without orders from above but also without informing those above." He goes on to say that one thing bureaucrats always do is protect themselves.

Confederate Yankee: Gunwalker Goes Pravda

Bob Owens discusses his Pajamas Media piece on the hit job done by the Washington Post on Darrell Issa with Cam Edwards of NRA News. Bob is a North Carolina based blogger who also blogs at Confederate Yankee and Bob's Gun Counter.

Cam Edwards Responds To CPD's Gerry McCarthy

As I posted last week, the new Chicago Police Superintendent Gerry McCarthy made outrageous claims to a sympathetic audience trying to link inner-city crime with Sarah Palin, the NRA, and Federal gun control laws. Cam Edwards of NRA News responds to him here.

Issa Staffer: Project Gunwalker Doesn't Stop At Ken Melson

This is an interview that Cam Edwards of NRA News had with Matthew Boyle of The Daily Caller to discuss Project Gunwalker. Included is part of an interview with House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa who flatly states that Attorney General Eric Holder will be the last witness called. He goes on to explain that they are taking a bottom-up approach to the investigation and started at the lowest level.

Bob Morrison Of Taurus Responds To Felipe Calderon

Bob Morrison, like Ronnie Barrett, is none too thrilled by comments of Mexican President Felipe Calderon concerning the U.S. firearms industry. He was interviewed by Cam Edwards of NRA News about Calderon's comments.

Dave Workman And Cam On Gunwalker Hearings