Keep and Bear Arms - Gun Owners Home Page

Their own criteria demands NRA oppose Reid
Submitted by: David Codrea
Website: http://www.davidcodrea.com

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"That�s all we need to know. Harry Reid gave up all expectations of support from gun owners when he made the political choice to support Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. It doesn�t matter what else he has done that can be construed as 'pro-gun.' He�s been given two shots at doing the right thing in this most important of tests, and he�s failed both times, opting for party loyalty �ber alles."

Flawed NRA ratings, NRA apologists attack, and more�
Submitted by: Charlotte Gun Rights Examiner
Website: http://www.GunsPoliticsandFreedom.com

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Dead bills and empty gestures do not a pro-gun legislator make�

It�s always a hoot to watch the NRA and its apologists respond when word of their misdeeds makes news. This happened during debate over the misnamed �DISCLOSE Act,� and is happening now after publication of �Why the NRA is bent in snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.� The vast, if misleading, detail of criticism against my column suggests someone very high in NRA Institute for Legislative Action leadership. Chris Cox, is that you? If so, I am honored you would take the time from your $661,059 per year job to malign me.

CA: Second Amendment Rights Reaffirmed After Sacramento County Sheriff's Office Changes Carry License Policies Say Gun Rights Organizations
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and the Calguns Foundation have dismissed their case against Sacramento County, California and its Sheriff, John McGinness, after the Sheriff modified his handgun carry permitting policy. Law-abiding Sacramento County residents may now successfully apply for permits to carry handguns by asserting self-defense as a basis for carry permit issuance. A one-year residency requirement has been eliminated, as has policy language that tied self-defense to arbitrary geographic factors.

CO: Colorado Supreme Court To Consider CU Gun Ban
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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...Colorado is the scene for one of the next steps in the fight to restore the right to self-defense on campus, as once again one of their flagship universities turns to the courts to validate its defiance of state law.

The University of Colorado (CU) is being sued by Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC) for its refusal to comply with the state law passed in 2002 which restricts entities that can prohibit concealed carry.

...

...SCCC in conjunction with the Mountain States Legal Foundation sued CU for violating Colorado law. The court dismissed the lawsuit, but an appeal quickly brought victory. The CU Board of Regents voted to appeal.

On Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court agreed to grant a writ of certiorari...

CA: Gun rights groups drop lawsuit against Sacramento County Sheriff's Department
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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That litigation began after Yolo County resident Brett Stewart argued he needed a concealed weapon permit for self defense and was denied a permit, the release states. Stewart, identified as a "Calguns supporter," seeks to join the litigation as a plaintiff, according to the release.

The Sacramento County case stems from efforts by Deanna Sykes - co-founder of the Sacramento chapter of Pink Pistols, an international group that advocates gun ownership by gays and lesbians - to gain a permit. She cited personal safety as her reason for her need, and she, too, was denied.

SD: Officials investigating if Ted Nugent hunted illegally in South Dakota
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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State wildlife officials have begun an investigation to determine whether musician Ted Nugent broke the law when he hunted pheasants near Hot Springs prior to his Oct. 16 appearance in Rapid City.

Nugent was featured at a Second Amendment rally sponsored by Citizens for Liberty, a Rapid City area tea party affiliate. Before the rally, Nugent shot pheasants and partridge on a hunting preserve east of Hot Springs, under a special preserve license and regulations.

Now there is a question about whether Nugent could legally hunt in the state, because of his no-contest plea in August to two counts of misdemeanor big-game violations in California.

CO: Is Colorado Senator Michael Bennet Anti-Gun? Appears So!
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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I would like to tell you he isn�t, but there�s no getting around the evidence. But more on that shortly.

Sometimes people make the mistake of believing that simply because a politician says �I�m pro-gun� it means he or she will vote for freedom once elected to office.

I hope you don�t make that mistake.

You see, the United States Senate is only one or two votes away from taking away your right to keep and bear arms.

It is extremely dangerous for gun owners to take politician�s word, especially during an election season. Even the smallest mistake in trust could have disastrous consequences.

IA: Ottumwa Chief of Police Clark still confused
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The Ottumwa City Council swears that there's nothing in the immediate works to reintroduce the ordinance in any form. However, Police Chief Jim Clark still doesn't understand the situation. Chief Clark is quoted in The Heartland Connection as saying:

�I'm fully in favor of the 2nd amendment, and I firmly believe that every citizen should be able to purchase as many guns as they want and have as many guns as they want,� said Chief Clark. �I don't believe in registration, [and] again, I'm a firm believer in the 2nd amendment. However, I'm also concerned about the safety of our employees at city hall, at the courthouse, here at the law center.�

Journalistic Malpractice and NPR
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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As the American Thinker pointed out, NPR bashed the Tea Party movement with an insulting video titled "Learn To Speak Tea Bag". NPR's use of language regarding the second amendment is also significant. Frank James reported on the protester who was legally carrying a firearm outside Mr. Obama's Phoenix town hall event. Within the report, Mr. James says,

So there's no constitutional way to ban those who would cling to their guns outside Obama's town halls.

In the same report, James also referred to protesters as "gun toters" -- a term more akin to the Wild West than news. NPR and most other news outlets omitted the fact that the man carrying the firearm in protest happened to be black.

TN: Walker, Democrats move into the gutter in 7th Distrist Tennessee Senate race
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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This week, in a display of that ignorance for the entire district-and now much of the State-to see, Walker's campaign disseminated mailers stating that Stacey Campfield favored giving child predators the right to "carry concealed guns." The mailer was supposedly based on Stacey Campfield's response to questionnaire on Second Amendment Rights from Knoxville Gun Rights Examiner Liston Matthews, in which Campfield declares his support for a Vermont-style gun carry law which would allow any citizen who was not a convicted felon to carry a firearm without a permit. The fact that such a law would in no way apply to child predators is apparently totally lost on the Democrats and on Mr. Walker.

WV: Popular W.Va. Governor In Tight Race For Senate
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Up for grabs is the U.S. Senate seat held for more than half a century by Democrat Robert Byrd. The Democrat now trying to succeed him is the state's popular governor, Joe Manchin. And we mean popular. He has an approval rating most politicians only dream of. According to at least one recent poll, nearly 70 percent of West Virginians approved of the job he's doing. On top of that, Manchin has also been endorsed by the NRA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

So, why is he only running neck and neck with Republican John Raese, who's already lost two previous bids for the Senate? Well, Governor Manchin joins us now from Parkersburg, West Virginia. Welcome, Governor.

NY: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York: From Friend of Gunners to Big Time Foe
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Gunners are among those most dismayed by Gillibrand�s performance.

Just months after taking a stand while serving in the House to support keeping in place the Tiahrt Amendments protecting the privacy of gun owners, this self-described �strong supporter of the Second Amendment� flipped-flopped and came out for repeal as a new member of the Senate.

Just weeks after voting as a Member of the House for a pro-gunner bill relating to the District of Columbia, as a new Senator she voted against a nearly identical measure.

Small wonder that University of Virginia Professor of Politics Larry Sabato has said that an analysis of her performance in office does not turn up any evidence of her having much in the way of principles.

WY: Most agree on banning guns at WPH
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Five of the seven candidates for the West Park Hospital Board favor a ban on firearms at the hospital.

After a young man brought a pistol into the hospital's emergency room after killing two people in Red Lodge, the hospital posted signs banning firearms in the facility.

But that policy came under fire at a recent public meeting about the hospital's proposed modernization project from Cody resident Serge Joskow who told officials the rule is against the law.

"(The firearms ban) came out after a serious discussion with the medical staff," incumbent board member Jeff Parsons said.

Gun Owners of America Statement
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Gun Owners of America Statement Regarding Drug Cartels, Weapons, and American Gun Laws

1. The types of weapons frequently used by cartels are often full autos, grenades and other explosives that are either completely illegal for civilians to own in the U.S., or very difficult and expensive to purchase. Many of the weapons we see dramatized in the news are simply not available to purchase at U.S. gun shows or gun stores.

2. Mexican drug cartels have billions of dollars at their disposal. They can buy their weapons from rogue nations and other bad actors and have them imported by land or sea with their own planes and vessels.

PA: State's contract with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response ends, but questions remain
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Rob Pepe of Pennsburg stood in the state Capitol rotunda Monday morning wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the words, �Not A Terrorist.�

He and others mentioned in Pennsylvania Office of Homeland Security bulletins were there to mark the end of the state�s contract with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, a private firm. The company tracked protest groups of all political stripes for nearly a year.

The contract lapsed Monday. Gov. Ed Rendell said in September it will not be renewed. �It seems a large portion of my social calendar was listed in these bulletins,� said Pepe, who said he was part of several conservative groups and rallies.

Impeaching Chief Justice Roberts for "Judicial Activism"
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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...still looking for a case of dubious testimony, DeFazio should try Sonia Sotomayor�s 2009 confirmation hearings. On the topic of gun rights and the Constitution, then-nominee Sotomayor told the Senate, �I understand the individual right fully that the Supreme Court recognized in [District of Columbia v.] Heller.� She later described Heller as �settled law.� Yet when the Second Amendment came before her in the case of McDonald v. Chicago, Sotomayor joined the dissent written by Justice Stephen Breyer which explicitly rejected the Court�s precedent in Heller. As Breyer, Sotomayor, and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asserted in McDonald, �the Framers did not write the Second Amendment in order to protect a private right of armed self defense."

MO: Second Amendment calls into question Columbia's Prop 2
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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This is about Tasers, the Second Amendment and your vote on Nov. 2. Proposition 2 would ban the use of a Taser, stun gun or other electrical device by anyone, including the police. An offender would be charged with a misdemeanor. Dan Claxton�s recent report asked, in part, if the Taser is an �arm� as defined by the Second Amendment. The answer made our �right to bear arms� a more complicated argument than most contemplate.

I will be voting �no� on Proposition 2. I see the Taser as a tool that has reduced injuries to police officers and suspects. Yes, the Taser has been associated with injury and death, but so have batons. And for that matter, so have butter knives.

AK: Anchorage 2ATF Endorses Joe Miller For Senate
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The Anchorage Second Amendment Task Force has decided unanimously to endorse Joe Miller for the Senate race. The 2ATF forum members have spoken with many of the network members and the response for Miller was overwhelming after the July 22nd candidates forum.

Network members like Miller�s straight forward answers to questions. They said there was nothing concealed in his responses. There has been a great deal of concern about the Murkowski camp ignoring repeated requests to participate in the forum.

Senator Murkowski earned a D rating from the NRA until she started holding NRA Trap Shoot fund raisers which elevated her to an A rating. The Senator has voted against gun owner rights many times.

PA: Scavo receives endorsements from NRA, FOAC, and FOP
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Republican candidate Frank Scavo (PA Senate 22nd) has received a trifect in endorsements. Two of the endorsements are from pro Second Amendment groups. The National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Firearms Owners Against Crime (FOAC) both endorsed Scavo, who is hoping to replace Pennsylvania Senate Minority Leader Bob Mellow in the primarily Lackawanna County district. Mellow is retiring after forty years in the Senate.

It is not surprising for Scavo to receive the endorsements from the pro gun rights group, since he has been known to distribute gun permit applications at his rallies and has always been a vocal advocate of Second Amendment rights.

OH: Bubp files complaint against Governor
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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State Rep. Danny Bubp, a Republican from Clermont County, filed an elections complaint against Gov. Ted Strickland today, saying the Democrat �deliberately and knowingly� lied about Republican challenger John Kasich�s record in support of gun owners� rights and the Second Amendment.

Bubp, of West Union, is a life member of the National Rifle Association, with an A+ rating.

In a three-page complaint to the Ohio Elections Commission, Bubp said Strickland � who also enjoys an A+ rating from the NRA � made false campaign statements by saying Kasich has an F-rating, when Kasich actually has a B-rating.

MA: Gobi, Josephson at odds on most issues
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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There are obvious differences between state Rep. Anne M. Gobi, D-Spencer, and Barre Republican Rodney A. Josephson, who is challenging her in the Nov. 2 election for the 5th Worcester District seat.

�I would say we're the exact opposite,� said Mr. Josephson, who turns 46 on Election Day. �I believe in limited government, the Second Amendment and the Constitution, while she just supports the Second Amendment, enforcement of immigration laws, lower taxes, and I'm pro-family and pro-life.�

TN: Haslam insists his views haven't changed on guns
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The ricochet effects of Bill Haslam's words to the Tennessee Firearms Association have gone every whichaway, but Haslam's position is that his position on guns hasn't changed.

The Knoxville mayor and Republican nominee for governor in the Nov. 2 election said Monday he is a little surprised by the continued reaction to recent remarks he made on concealed carry gun permits. But he said his belief that the law should stay the way it is now has not been altered in any way.

"I've been campaigning for two years. I think I've been real consistent in what I'm talking about in terms of what I am going to do as governor," Haslam said.

FL: Lee County likely to lift gun ban
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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Lee County is likely to let permitted gun owners carry arms in public parks rather than buck state law.

Commissioners today will decide whether to lift a ban that prevented people � even those with state-issued concealed weapons licenses � from carrying guns in some county-owned parks. The county�s legal staff is suggesting commissioners lift the ban on permit holders to stay consistent with state law.

...

�At this point, we�re going to have to follow state statute,� Commission Chairwoman Tammy Hall said.

Fort Myers Attorney J. Patrick Buckley sued Lee County in August, saying the signs and the county policy contradict state law.

TN: Nashville attorney David Randolph Smith leads fight against guns-in-bars law
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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David Randolph Smith's path to becoming the face of opposition to Tennessee's guns-in-bars law began in Clarksville.

That's where Smith, a Nashville attorney and former Vanderbilt law professor, represented a family whose 13-year-old son died after a handgun accident. ...

Those experiences helped shape Smith's view of gun safety laws, for which he has become Tennessee's most prominent advocate. Last year Smith led the legal team that successfully challenged the state's guns-in-bars law. The 57-year-old lawyer, who specializes in personal injury cases, is leading a new challenge to the law, this time on the grounds that it creates a workplace safety hazard.

OH: For safety�s sake, carry and transport firearms correctly Submitted by: Mark A. Taff Website: http://www.marktaff.com	There are no comments on this story Post Comments \| Read Comments
Last week, the Oak Hill Police Department responded to a call that led to the seizure of a loaded firearm from the glove compartment of a vehicle. This incident, and other similar situations, have raised questions locally about how firearms may be carried and transported in the state of Ohio. To address these concerns, The Times-Journal has compiled some basic firearm regulations below.

KS: Questions dot Nov. 2 ballot
Submitted by: Mark A. Taff
Website: http://www.marktaff.com

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The first relates to the state�s right to bear arms. Votes for �yes� on that amendment will strike the phrase �the people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security� and instead substitute the language �a person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home or state, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for any other lawful purpose� to the passage. Klasinski said the measure is thought to help �clarify� the current wording in Article 4 of the Kansas Bill of Rights.

�You�re not going to have to worry that you�re not going to have the right to bear arms if this doesn�t pass,� she said.