Quote Of The Day

Kurt Hofmann writes the St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner. As such, he has been targeted by Ladd Everitt of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Kurt's response is wonderful.

If, as I fervently believe, there is as much nobility in being despised by the despicable as there is in being admired by the admirable, CSGV has honored me indeed.

Let's face it, if Kurt wasn't effective he would not have been targeted. I congratulate Kurt on this honor. Unfortunately, it doesn't come with a certificate suitable for framing but the Complementary Spouse could whip something up if Kurt really wants one.

NC Senate Holds Hearings On Shooting Range Bill Tomorrow (Updated)

The NC Senate Judiciary II Committee will hold hearings tomorrow at 10am on SB 560 - Sport Shooting Range Protection. This bill would make the legal presumption that shooting ranges that relocated due to urban and residential encroachment is still considered to be in continuous use and is not considered to have undergone a substantial change in use.

This bill has already had a favorable report from the Senate Committee on State and Local Government.

To read the bill and see the impact of residential encroachment, go to this post.

If you are a North Carolina resident, I'd suggest contacting the members of the Judiciary II Committee to express your support for this bill.

North Carolina is urbanizing at a fast rate. The state was one of the fastest growing in population in the Southeast over the last 10 years according to census statistics. This will be putting more pressure on ranges located near towns and cities to possibly relocate. This bill would help protect those ranges and our shooting opportunities.

UPDATE: From GRNC on the hearings:

GRNC Range Protection Bill Advances

SB 560, "Sporting Shooting Range Protection," received its second committee hearing today, this time before the Senate Judiciary II Committee, and came within a hair of getting a favorable report, which would send it to the Senate floor. SB 560 is GRNC's bill for closing loopholes in the existing range protection law by offering "grandfather" protection against noise and environmental complaints for any range forced to relocate due to rezoning, annexation or development.

Bill sponsor Sen. Andrew Brock (R-Davie, Rowan, GRNC ****) did an outstanding job of presenting the bill; committee chairman Buck Newton (R-Nash, Wilson, GRNC ****) did an exemplary job of trying to move the bill despite a busy calendar; and Sen. Austin Allran (R-Catawba, GRNC ****) offered a prompt motion for favorable report.

Unfortunately, limited time and persistent questioning by anti-gun committee members Charley Dannelly (D-Mecklenburg, GRNC 0-star) and Floyd McKissick (D-Durham, GRNC *) forced Chairman Newton to defer a vote on the bill until Thursday.

How Lame Can You Get

The ATF's proposal to expand reporting of multiple firearm sales to include semi-automatic rifles in calibers greater than .22, while limited to the Southwest border states, is and was a major gun control measure. As such, you would expect gun control groups to submit long proposals in support of the measure. The Brady Campaign even announced their submission with a press release.

Ladd Everitt is the Director of Communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence. He has held this position for five years so it can be assumed that he understands how the game is played.  When ATF is proposing a new gun control regulation, it can be presumed that all gun control groups will submit comments supporting it.

So much for assumptions and presumptions. The picture below is a screen shot from the ATF's "Comments Regarding Information Collection, Reports of Multiple Sales of Certain Rifles, Published December 17, 2010". It represents the comments submitted by Mr. Everitt.

That's right, Mr. Everitt just put his name and address into the form letter generator sponsored by Mayor Bloomberg and his Illegal Mayors. He didn't bother to even write a comment for CSGV even though so-called assault weapons are one of the items they oppose. How lame is that?

You will notice that I have blacked out Mr. Everitt's address and email. Unlike Mr. Everitt, I don't get off on publishing personal data of those with whom I disagree.

I have wondered how a Director of Communications for an organization in D.C. has the time to engage in flame wars on Twitter, character assassination on Facebook, and other childish games involving those opposed to his gun prohibitionist ideals. Now I know.

Why 70% Of Comments Received Were In Favor Of ATF's Multi-Rifle Reporting Proposal

As reported by Reuters and commented on here, over 70% of the comments received by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives were in favor of instituting an additional reporting requirement for multiple sales of semi-automatic rifles in calibers greater than .22. As I said then, it just didn't pass the smell test.

I was correct. It doesn't pass the smell test. ATF is correct in that 70% of the comments received were in favor of it. However, examining the comments that have been made available on the ATF's Freedom of Information Act page, it quickly becomes evident that most of the pro-reporting comments were form letters sent by a bulk mailer program. The comments are identical and just strip in the sender's name and address. The only variation was whether the comment was addressed to "Dear Barbara Terrell" or omitted that.

It’s time that Obama administration does more to crack down on the gun smuggling carried out by the Mexican drug cartels.

I strongly support the ATF's proposal to require dealers along the border to report bulk sales of assault rifles, just like they already do with handgun sales. The ATF must use its authority to collect this information and better enforce the laws already on the books.

With more than 30,000 people already murdered in cartel wars, this is an emergency that demands our government’s immediate attention.

It didn't take much effort to find the source of these form letter e-mails. It was from a site set up by our old friend Mayor Bloomberg and his Illegal Mayors in conjunction with Salsa Labs and Democracy In Action. They have tied themselves into this "progressive network" which also does work for the Democrat Party, the AFL-CIO, and various other causes and political organizations.

Just examining the comments submitted in the A through D files, there were 2,291 identical pro-reporting comments. Below you can see screen shots of the top half and bottom half of the page. Please notice the pre-written "comments" and the logo of the Illegal Mayors.

I won't say I didn't find pre-written comments opposing the measure - I did - but they were not nearly as common as those from the Illegal Mayors. I would hope that the ATF does not just look at the number of comments in favor of the reporting requirement but rather at the actual comments. While I don't have any expectation of this, at least Congress might.

Hickok45: RapidFire II

The best part of this video is the very first part where Hickok is gathering up his guns. Actually, I think I found some ways to hide a spare firearm for ready access!

Committee Hearings Set On 2 NC Gun Laws

The North Carolina House Judiciary C Subcommittee will hold hearings on HB 650 - Amend Various Gun Laws - tomorrow. Sean at A NC Gun Blog has a section by section analysis of HB 650. As Sean says, "the bill is long and complicated." Among the things this bill would do is recognize any other state's concealed carry permit and it would prevent the banning of firearms during times of emergency.

Senate Bill 594 is also aimed at preventing the banning of firearms during times of declared emergencies. Both the provision concerning the banning of firearms during states of emergency contained in HB 650 and SB 594 could have the potential to moot the Bateman case which was brought against North Carolina by the Second Amendment Foundation and Grass Roots North Carolina. As much as I'd like to see the banning of firearms during declared emergencies done away with, I'm not so sure that having the Bateman case mooted is a good thing. As Alan Gura has noted many times in many venues, you only get one chance to get an opinion but you have numerous opportunities to pass legislation. So in terms of what is best for long-term Second Amendment rights, it may be best if the emergency ban issues are put on hold until after Bateman is decided. The case is now fully briefed.

The other firearms related bill is HB 582 - Amend Felony Firearms Act/Increase Penalties. This bill is scheduled for hearings tomorrow before the House Judiciary B Subcommittee. This bill would set the penalty for a felon in possession of a firearm as a Class G felony unless the offense was covered by a higher class of felony. HB 582 would also increase the penalty if the firearm was discharged, if an injury occurred, or if there was a serious bodily injury.

ISRA Says Anti-Gun Legislators Only Have Themselves To Blame For Lawsuits

The Illinois State Rifle Association release the following which notes that the failure to pass HB 148 robs the Illinois State Police of money needed to upgrade their background check system and is directly responsible for the lawsuits filed by the NRA, ISRA, and the Second Amendment Foundation.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., May 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA):

Illinois gun control advocates and their allies in the General Assembly delivered a "triple-whammy" against public safety recently when they sabotaged passage of HB148.

Under the provisions of HB148, well-trained, well-qualified Illinois citizens would be permitted to carry defensive firearms to protect themselves and their families from violent criminals. At the same time, HB148 would have provided upwards of $40 million in permit fees to the Illinois State Police to pay for upgrades to the state's antiquated gun buyer background check system.

But, thanks to the short-sighted efforts of the gun control movement and its friends in the Illinois House, tens of thousands of law-abiding Illinois citizens will continue to suffer at the hands of murderers, robbers and rapists because they cannot lawfully defend themselves. Likewise, the gun control movement can take credit for saddling the state police with a background check system based on software developed in 1959.

Rounding out the triple whammy-against the citizens of Illinois is the fact that the actions of gun control advocates are to blame for a pair of lawsuits filed this week in federal court against the State of Illinois. Both lawsuits – one filed by the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), the other filed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the ISRA – contend that the state is damaging law-abiding citizens by prohibiting the carrying of defensive firearms.

In a nut shell, the gun control movement's efforts the kill HB148 have ensured that Illinois remains one of the most dangerous places to live in the United States. In addition to causing the loss of $40 million for better background checks, the gun control movement is now responsible for Illinois having to shell out millions in taxpayer dollars to pay legal bills related to the SAF and NRA/ISRA lawsuits. Once again, the extremist views of the gun control movement are costing the good people of Illinois dearly.

"The ISRA is very excited about being a plaintiff in the NRA/ISRA lawsuit," commented ISRA Executive Director, Richard Pearson. "This lawsuit defines the cutting edge of one of the most important questions of the day. That is, does the state have the right to decide who is worth defending and who is not?"

"The fact that two lawsuits have been filed against the State of Illinois this week is proof-positive that this issue is not going to go away," continued Pearson. "The behind the scenes political gamesmanship that resulted in the scuttling of HB148 has not diminished the resolve of the good people of Illinois. Whether it is in the courts, in the legislature, or at the ballot box, we will relentlessly push forward until the citizen's right to self defense is restored in Illinois."

The ISRA is the state's leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership. For more than a century, the ISRA has represented the interests of millions of law-abiding Illinois firearm owners.

BattleComp For The AK

Battle Comp Enterprises has developed one of their BattleComp muzzle breaks for the AK. I like my AK-74 and I know the AK family in general has a loyal following. But the AK being the AK, isn't a BattleComp muzzle break just a little too fancy for an AK? A muzzle break or compensator that cost about 1/3 the cost of the entire rifle just doesn't make a lot of economic sense to me.