Free Republic

The straight skinny on the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act (FOPA) the law that saved gun rights Nearly a quarter century ago, the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act was signed into law.Looking back, it seems like an impossible victory.by Dave HardyWhen the struggle started in 1979, Jimmy Carter was in the White House. Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep. Peter Rodino of New Jersey controlled the two judiciary committees that would have to approve the bill. And when the long haul was ending some seven years later, the measure had passed through the Senate, but Rodino still chaired the House Judiciary...

Congressman Matt Salmon from Arizona has filed the Knife Owners Protection Act (KOPA) in the 2015 session of Congress.   KOPA would extend to knives the protections afforded to firearm owners in the Firearms Owners Protection Act (FOPA) of 1986.   If a person may legally own a knife where he started his travel, and may legally own it where at the end point, he would be protected in possessing it at points in between.  From H.R. 419(pdf): (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provision of8   any law or any rule or regulation of the United States,9   or of a State...

-- IMAGE HERE -- I would like for you to meet Beth Ferrizzi of Fargo North Dakota. She is an average American women who considers herself a law-abiding and even upstanding citizen. She is married to Air Force Master Sergeant Joe Ferrizzi and they are expecting their second child. Joe, who is deployed to Honduras serving his country, was recently able to meet Beth and their 6 year old daughter in Pennsylvania for a family visit. He also wanted to show her the Philadelphia neighborhood where he grew up. It was to be a happy family reunion between a soldier...

The New York State Rifle & Pistol Association has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York challenging the constitutionality of Title 38 of the Rules of the City of New York. NYSRPA believes that 38 RCNY infringes upon the Second Amendment by denying the specifically enumerated civil right to possess and carry a firearm for personal defense as well as completely prohibiting residents from practicing safe gun handling at a firearms range or participating in shooting events located outside the borders of the City of New York. The lawsuit requests a permanent injunction...

Introduced by Representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and co-sponsored by Representatives Bill Owens (D-NY) and Ted Poe (R-TX), House Bill HR 4269 would make several much needed improvements to the interstate-transportation portion of the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act. The Firearm Owners’ Protection Act, or FOPA, was passed in 1986 in response to numerous reported instances of gun dealers being harassed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). In addition to the regulatory reform of the ATF, FOPA also addressed a number of other issues including machine gun ownership, registration, background checks, and interstate transportation of firearms. At the time...

Introduced by Representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and co-sponsored by Representatives Bill Owens (D-NY) and Ted Poe (R-TX), House Bill HR 4269 would make several much needed improvements to the interstate-transportation portion of the Firearm Owners’ Protection Act.

Mark Meckler, who co-founded the Tea Party Patriots group, was arrested early yesterday morning at New York's LaGuardia airport for illegal possession of a weapon. The Huffington Post quotes his attorney: "While in temporary transit through the state of New York in possession of an unloaded, lawful firearm that was locked in a [Transportation Security Administration]-approved safe, he legally declared his possession of the firearm in his checked baggage at the ticket counter as required by law and in a manner approved by TSA and the airline, yet was arrested by port authority for said possession," Stapleton said. Unloaded, in...

Hughes Amendment vote on YouTube. This is archival footage of the proceedings from when the Hughes Amendment was illegally added to the FOPA of 1986. Ajax22 over at AR15.com got his hands on one of the recently released DVD's of Congressional proceedings. In the above video, we hear a voice vote (that to my ears goes to the Nays) that Rangel calls for the Ayes, a call for a recorded vote that is ignored violating the Congressional Rules at the time, and an absolute cluster-fudge over the rest of the FOPA bill including exactly which Amendments made it on and...

AMENDMENT OFFERED BY MR. HUGHES TO THE AMENDMENT, AS AMENDED, OFFERED BY MR. VOLKMER AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE, AS AMENDED 132 Cong.Rec. H1741-06 Page 16 of 31 Mr. HUGHES. Mr. Chairman, I offer an amendment to the amendment offered as a substitute for the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute. PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Chairman, I have a parliamentary inquiry. The CHAIRMAN. The gentleman will state it. Mr. VOLKMER. Mr. Chairman, before the amendment is read, I would like to know if the amendment was one of...

BOUNTIFUL - When Gregg Revell packed his bags for a trip to Pennsylvania last April, he had no idea how far he'd be traveling. Before the week was out, the 57-year-old suburban real estate agent and grandfather would be arrested, thrown into one of the country's most notorious jails, strip searched and inoculated against his will. The soft-spoken Utah native would be on his way to becoming a poster child for the National Rifle Association in a $3 million lawsuit. During a nearly five-day stay in a Newark, N.J., jail, he would meet a terrifying side of America that most...