Monday, March 4, 2013

Feinstein Holds Hearings on Gun and Magazine Ban-from the inbox

NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT: Vol. 20, No. 9 03/01/2013

Feinstein Holds Hearings on Gun and Magazine Ban

On Wednesday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who has been advocating banning one sort of gun or another for over 30 years, held Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on her new gun and magazine ban legislation, S. 150, the "Assault Weapons Ban of 2013."

Among those testifying in support of the bill were John Walsh, the U.S. Attorney for Colorado, representing the Obama Department of Justice, Milwaukee police chief Edward Flynn, and Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter. Testifying against the bill were former U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams (R-Fla.), Fordham University law professor and longtime Second Amendment scholar Nicholas Johnson, and attorney and constitutional scholar David Hardy.

Feinstein insisted on holding her own hearings because hearings held a month ago by Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) didn't produce enough support for her bill. In the earlier hearings, NRA Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre, University of Denver law professor David Kopel, and attorney Gayle Trotter spoke against banning "assault weapons" and magazines that hold 11 or more rounds, and also against criminalizing private sales, gifts and trades of firearms. Sen. Feinstein and most of her supporters at this hearing demonstrated ignorance, hypocrisy, and bad behavior from start to finish, and never offered evidence to support the restrictions they advocated.

Watch the Latest Grassroots News Minute

Joe Biden's Advice on Women's Self Defense

More (Bad) Advice from Biden

As we recently reported, Vice-President Joe Biden has a knack for putting his foot in his mouth. Well, someone better find Biden a chair, because he's now put his other foot in his mouth too.

What was Biden's comment this time? In an interview with Field and Stream, Biden said to people wanting to protect their homes, "…you want to keep someone away from your house, just fire the shotgun through the door."

Rumor Control Ammo Shortages

As attacks on our Second Amendment rights increase, there is a predictable uptick in the number of internet rumors concerning firearms and ammunition.

The latest rumor is actually a variation of an old one, and claims that George Soros owns "most of the ammunition manufacturing companies and many arms manufacturers," and that he's "selling ONLY to the government right now."

This simply isn't true.

New York Protest Rally One of the Largest Ever Held

On Thursday, February 28, NRA-ILA, along with the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, held a rally to protest New York's recent attack on the Second Amendment--the passage of the so-called S.A.F.E. Act. The rally drew more than 6,000 law abiding gun owners. According to the New York State Police, it was one of the largest rallies ever held at the State Capital.

NRA President David Keene was the featured speaker and told attendees that NRA is committed to helping repeal the S.A.F.E. Act, saying NRA would do "whatever is necessary"--including going to court--to defend the Second Amendment.

Effectively Targeting Your Grassroots Activism

In recent weeks, NRA-ILA has been inundated with phone calls and emails from passionate supporters voicing their appreciation for our stalwart defense of the Second Amendment and passing along many productive observations and recommendations. Among them have been precisely the key points NRA has been making; namely that we need to steer Congress's efforts away from gun control and gun bans toward a more productive discussion on things like enhancing school security; improving our nation's mental health system; examining the consequences of a grotesque level of violence our children are exposed to by Hollywood and our pop culture, and enforcement of existing laws against criminals.