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MONTICELLO – In a real life situation, a police officer is not shooting at a non-moving black silhouette. In reality, an officer may have a split second to decide whether to use deadly force, or not. The Sullivan County Sheriff Office firing range now has three remote-controlled rotating targets. Detective Ed Simon, the chief firearms instructor, says this fine-tunes an officer’s ability to make that quick and critical decision. “This is going to make the officer become more proficient and more professional in his duties, so he’s aware or she’s aware of what is going to happen on the street...

The National Rifle Association said Thursday it will count the Senate vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as part of its influential legislative score card on how members of Congress stand on gun-rights issues. The NRA opposes her, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, another powerful lobby not prone to siding with the White House on every issue, endorsed Judge Sotomayor Thursday. The politically potent gun-rights group said it is concerned about Judge Sotomayor's stance on Second Amendment rights and her rulings as an appellate judge, including one upholding a New York law that barred a man from...

How do you outgun the NRA? Very, very carefully. Mark Pryor knows all about that. The Democratic senator from pro-gun Arkansas was nowhere to be seen on the Senate floor during Wednesday's showdown over a proposal, championed by the National Rifle Association, that would have gutted state gun-control laws across the nation. Toward the end of the vote, Pryor entered the chamber through the back door, took a few steps inside, flashed a thumbs-down to the clerk, and retreated as fast and furtively as somebody dodging gunfire. Several minutes later, the Democrats had racked up more than enough votes to...

A decade ago, the calculus was simple: Those who wanted greater gun control aligned with the Democrats. And those who wanted fewer restrictions on guns turned to the Republicans. No longer. Despite the fact that Democrats control both the executive branch and Congress, supporters of gun control have had few opportunities to celebrate this year. The Senate moved to weaken the District of Columbia's strong gun laws (though the House stalled the legislation, which was attached to the D.C. Voting Rights bill) and Congress voted to allow individuals to carry guns in national parks. Indeed, for many Democrats a vote...

The National Rifle Association is warning senators that it will consider their votes on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor as part of its influential annual ratings of lawmakers. The NRA says President Barack Obama's first high court nominee has a hostile view of the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. It announced last week that it was opposing her nomination, although her confirmation in early August is virtually guaranteed.

ersey City's top cop angrily denounced the influx of illegal guns onto the streets of the city and even took rhetorical aim at the National Rifle Association after an early-morning shootout left five cops wounded, two critically. "We need help to stop these weapons from hitting the street," said Police Chief Thomas Comey. "This weapon is manufactured for nothing other than to hunt man."

Other than declaring war, neither house of Congress has a more solemn responsibility than the Senate’s role in confirming justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. As the Senate considers the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Americans have been watching to see whether this nominee – if confirmed – would respect the Second Amendment or side with those who have declared war on the rights of America’s 80 million gun owners.

Other than declaring war, neither house of Congress has a more solemn responsibility than the Senate's role in confirming justices to the U.S. Supreme Court. As the Senate considers the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Americans have been watching to see whether this nominee - if confirmed - would respect the Second Amendment or side with those who have declared war on the rights of America's 80 million gun owners. From the outset, the National Rifle Association has respected the confirmation process and hoped for mainstream answers to bedrock questions. Unfortunately, Judge Sotomayor's judicial record and testimony clearly demonstrate a...

Dennis Whitfield of the American Conservative Union has sent out a press release on today’s embarrassing Mike Allen story that alleges a pay-for-play proposal between the conservative group and FedEx. "" “An article containing a false headline has been published by Capitol Hill newspaper Politico today regarding an issue with expansion of the National Labor Relations Board. This article concerns two letters; one issued by ACU and another issued by a separate organization. Mr. David Keene’s name was on a letter prepared by another organization. This was a personal decision on his part and he was not representing ACU at...

The National Rifle Association announced Thursday that it opposes Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. "We believe any individual who does not agree that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental right and who does not respect our God-given right of self-defense should not serve on any court, much less the highest court in the land," said a joint statement by Wayne LaPierre, the NRA executive vice president, and Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA's Institute for Legislative Reform.

BATON ROUGE -- At the request of the National Rifle Association, Gov. Bobby Jindal has vetoed a bill that would have made it a crime to illegally carry firearms within 1,000 feet of a sanctioned parade or demonstration."The National Rifle Association and others have requested (a) veto of this bill in part because it does not exempt firearm carriers with a valid (state-issued) permit . . . or unintentional violators, " Jindal said in his veto message. He said he has already signed into law a bill making it a crime to recklessly discharge a firearm within 1,000 feet of...

Several of the students had a knee-jerk reaction when gun-rights advocate Clark Aposhian blasted his first pistol round into a target Thursday. But it was physical, not ideological. These students from around America were in Salt Lake City to learn and test their beliefs, not to dismiss opposing views. Roughly 40 Jewish high schoolers traveling the country are hearing from experts on opposing sides of the nation's most politically charged issues. Aposhian was the National Rifle Association's face for the day after the group's stop in Colorado to hear from a gun-control advocate whose child died in the Columbine school...

Mike Cox Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox today threw his support behind the National Rifle Association's challenge of a City of Chicago ordinance banning possession of most handguns by filing a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court. Cox's amicus brief -- a document filed in court by someone not directly related to a case -- supports the request by the NRA to the Supreme Court for an appeal of the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in June favoring the City of Chicago.At least 33 other states support the NRA's request for the court to hear an appeal in...

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LANSING- Attorney General Mike Cox today announced he has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the National Rifle Association's (NRA) challenge of a City of Chicago ordinance banning possession of most handguns. Cox joined at least 33 other states in supporting the NRA's request for the court to hear an appeal in National Rifle Association v. City of Chicago, a local case with national implications. "The right to keep and bear arms is fundamental," said Cox. "The Supreme Court recognized this in the Heller case, and I am confident they will protect this right...

The National Rifle Association has finally weighed in on Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, and while it doesn't come right out and oppose her, it does suggest that she's antigun. In a letter to the Senate from NRA Executive Director Chris Cox, the nation's largest gun-rights group mentions several court cases Sotomayor has reviewed that put limits on the Second Amendment. It even cites a footnote in one case where the court claimed that "the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right." Dear Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Sessions:I am writing to express the National Rifle...

If Arizona's state Legislature, now in session, fulfills its blood-oath bond with the National Rifle Association, the state will become the 41st to legalize carrying concealed handguns into restaurants that serve alcohol. Arizona restaurants oppose the legislation. However, restaurateurs discovered their rights have scant standing when the NRA yelps that gun owners deserve their "rights" and obliging politicians jump. Long ago when the NRA was founded as an educational rifle owners' and sportsmen's organization, handguns and militant overkill about the Second Amendment had no discernible roles. Then an ultra-conservative element took over and transformed the NRA into a political juggernaut...

-- All pro-gunners urged to join this critical fightMonday, June 29, 2009 Gun Owners of America applauds immediate past NRA President Sandy Froman, who stepped up to the plate last week with a call to arms for all NRA members to vigorously oppose the nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. (See the article below). GOA has been calling on our members to oppose this nomination since it is clear that Sotomayor is anti-Second Amendment and wants to legislate from the bench. The official position from current NRA leadership is to take a "wait and see" approach to the...

The week of the Fourth of July has been established as National Training Week, when participating gun ranges will offer special discounts and activities and everyone is encouraged to bring a friend to the range. Firearms training is essential to gun safety. The National Rifle Association teaches in their Basic Pistol training program that the two main causes of accidents are ignorance and carelessness. By ignorance, they mean a lack of knowledge of the fundamental rules of gun safety (always keep guns pointed in a safe direction, keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot, keep guns unloaded...

Friday, June 19, 2009 NRA-ILA has recently received several calls from NRA members in border states who have been visited or called by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In some cases, agents have asked to enter these people's homes, and requested serial numbers of all firearms the members possess. In each case, the agents were making inquiries based on the number of firearms these NRA members had recently bought, and in some cases the agents said they were asking because the members had bought types of guns that are frequently recovered in Mexico. This kind...

Surprisingly the National Rifle Association (NRA) may be the cause of this problem. A new Government Accountability Office report provides us with the startling news that an FBI investigation proved 865 of 963 or 90% of those listed on the Homeland Security “Terrorist Watch List” had no trouble legally purchasing guns and even explosives! Felons, illegal aliens and drug addicts can’t buy guns or explosives presumably because they are a danger to our safety, yet those on the “Terrorist Watch List”, and thereby deemed extremely dangerous, are having little trouble legally buy weapons to kill us with. Currently there is...

NRA Grassroots update 6/19

The National Rifle Association of America is some 3 million strong, and 60,000 of those Second Amendment supporters were in Phoenix last month for their 138th annual meeting. It was billed as a Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum. Gov. Jan Brewer welcomed them, saying, “Make no mistake. Arizona is NRA country.�  The invitation for the meeting set the tone: “With anti-gun forces aligned against us, America’s gun owners can expect a barrage of anti-gun measures like we have not seen in decades. In order to meet these challenges head on, we must once again redouble our efforts to beat...

The United Kingdom and Australia instituted gun bans in 1997. Between 1995 and 2006, women in the United Kingdom suffered a 76.5% increase in rape; by 2007 Australian women experienced a 29.9% increase. Meanwhile, rape decreased 31.7% in America.* Today, women are raped twice as often in the UK as America, and Australian women are raped three times as often. This is damning evidence that gun control places women at greater risk. American women are hearing this message, and more and more are arming themselves every day, not only to protect themselves and their families from harm, but to ensure...

Nine months ago, a group of Pennsylvania mayors gathered in Reading to announce a new strategy in the war against gun violence: They urged municipalities to enact their own gun-control ordinances. Frustrated by the General Assembly's failure to enact what they described as "commonsense gun laws," the mayors pledged to follow Philadelphia and push for local laws requiring owners to report lost or stolen guns. On Tuesday, Lancaster became the eighth municipality to pass such an ordinance, joining Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Reading, Easton, Pottsville, and Wilkinsburg.

Associated Press Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor told a senator Thursday that she would follow a historic ruling affirming Americans' right to own guns for self-defense, but pro-gun activists said they still believe she'd work to limit gun rights if confirmed for the high court... --snip-- If it were up to Sotomayor, DeMint said Thursday, Heller would only apply to federal jurisdictions. "(H)er opinion was that the hundreds of millions of Americans in the 50 states do not have a fundamental right to bear arms. She refused to back away from that opinion in my meeting with her," DeMint said...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683   23 State Attorneys General To Attorney General Holder: "No Semi-Auto Ban"   Friday, June 12, 2009   On June 11, the top law enforcement officials of nearly half the states signed a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, expressing their opposition to reinstatement of the federal ban on semi-automatic firearms. "We share the Obama Administration's commitment to reducing illegal drugs and violent crime within the United States. We also share your deep concern about drug cartel violence in Mexico. However, we do not believe that restricting law-abiding Americans' access to certain...

Associated Press WASHINGTON -- The National Rifle Association is asking the Supreme Court to strike down strict gun control laws in the Chicago area, setting the stage for another high court battle over Second Amendment protections for gun owners. The NRA wants the court to rule that last year's gun rights decision invalidating a handgun ban in the District of Columbia applies as well to local and state laws. --snip-- Any decision about that probably won't come earlier than late September. The case is National Rifle Association v. Chicago, 08-1497.

This week a federal appeals court held that the Second Amendment does not apply to state or city gun laws. Supporters of Judge Sonia Sotomayor incorrectly argue that this affirms her recent gun-control case. Now the NRA is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case, and in doing so heats up the gun-rights issue to potentially become the dominant topic in Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings. On June 2, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit handed down its decision in NRA v. Chicago. The city of Chicago has a ban on handguns almost as severe as the...

(Corrected) Gun Control: In a case headed for the Supreme Court, a three-judge panel rules Chicago's gun ban constitutional since the 2nd Amendment doesn't apply to states and cities. High court nominee Sonia Sotomayor concurs.Those Pennsylvania townsfolk bitterly clinging to their guns may have been premature in celebrating the decision in D.C. v. Heller that the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does indeed guarantee an individual right to keep and bear arms.

President Obama thinks he has thrown the pro-life movement a curve ball by nominating a politically-correct relatively unknown minor judge as a candidate for the Supreme Court. Putting the name of Sonia Sotomayor forward for this office is really the equivalent of an affirmative action plan for the highest court of our land, and it is just not what we need for our judicial system. As a Hispanic female judge, she apparently has the credentials suited to Obama's highly politicized view of the Constitution, but Sotomayor is far from the most qualified person for the office. More importantly, she is...

AT THE National Rifle Association’s 138th annual convention, held this year in Phoenix, Arizona, 47,000 people poured through the doors. They admired the fancy firearms, snacked on grilled buffalo and were happily recruited by shooting associations. Tom Power, of the Texas Gun Collectors Association, says membership has been soaring since Barack Obama took office. Bill Bachenberg, the owner of a shooting range near Allentown, Pennsylvania, has been registering 400 new members a month. “American gun-owners don’t trust this administration,” he says.

On Wednesday, June 3, the National Rifle Association filed a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of NRA v. Chicago. The NRA strongly disagrees with yesterday's decision issued by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, holding that the Second Amendment does not apply to state and local governments

Libertarians urge Supreme Court to toss Illinois gun bansSenators urged to question Sotomayor on her Second Amendment views WASHINGTON – America’s third largest party Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to hear an appeal challenging handgun bans in Chicago and the Illinois village of Oak Park, and to rule such gun bans violate the Second Amendment. A U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Tuesday that it could not hear challenges to the anti-gun ordinances filed by both the National Rifle Association and attorney Alan Gura after the Supreme Court ruled in 2008 that a handgun ban in the District of Columbia...

The National Rifle Association (NRA) is staying on the sidelines in the battle over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, to the dismay of conservative activists who hoped that the gun-rights group would pressure conservative Democratic senators to oppose her. Republicans have repeatedly tried to draw the NRA into court fights over the years but with little success. The Bush administration, for example, tried to persuade the group to support a number of its nominees, as did Senate Republicans. But the NRA has often stayed aloof because few nominees have taken clear stands in favor of or opposed to the Second...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683 Statement From Chris W. Cox, Executive Director NRA - Institute for Legislative Action On Governor Bredesen’s Veto Of House Bill 962 Thursday, May 28, 2009 Along with more than 200,000 law-abiding Right-to-Carry permit holders in Tennessee, I am disappointed Governor Phil Bredesen vetoed House Bill 962. This bill would extend self-defense rights of permit holders to restaurants. This is a shock and a major disappointment to gun owners and supporters of the Second Amendment because Governor Bredesen had committed to supporting this legislation. 36 other states, including seven states that border Tennessee,...

There's one good thing about Obama's pick of ultra-left zealot Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court: it should enlighten those clueless enough not to realize that Chairman Zero is an extremely dangerous radical. At Jumping in Pools, we learn of Sotomayor's take on the crucial Second Amendment, which guarantees our right to bear arms: Sotomayor is a graduate from Princeton University, where her legal theses included Race in the American Classroom, and Undying Injustice: American "Exceptionalism" and Permanent Bigotry, and Deadly Obsession: American Gun Culture. In this text, the student Sotomayor explained that the Second Amendment to the Constitution did...

Should people be allowed to carry concealed, loaded guns in the national parks?

The nomination of Second Circuit Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court is a slap at gun rights and the Second Amendment, the Second Amendment Foundation said today. Judge Sotomayor, a New York native, ruled on a Second Circuit Appeals Court panel that the Second Amendment is not a fundamental right and does not apply to the states in the case of Maloney v. Cuomo. This ruling is in direct conflict with a Ninth Circuit Court ruling in the Nordyke v. King case in California that the Second Amendment is incorporated through...

When Claude Raines declared in the film Casablanca that he was “Shocked” that gambling was going on at Humphrey Bogart’s nightclub, it became one of the most oft-repeated sarcasms in the American lexicon. Well, the whole world must be “shocked” that Barack Obama has nominated a (gasp!) liberal to replace retiring liberal Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court. Second District Appeals Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor, 54, born in the Bronx and a self-proclaimed “Newyorkrican,” according to the Associated Press, probably will not be a good news justice for gun owners, should the Senate confirm her nomination. She was...

The National Rifle Association meeting last weekend in Phoenix was billed as a "celebration." The organization does not seem to have much to celebrate. A Democrat who has been a supporter of gun control is now president. And while he was winning the White House, his party was increasing its majorities in Congress. Gun control advocates are the ones who should be celebrating, but they're not. "At this point, I guess the right term is that we are frustrated," said Dennis Henigan, vice president for law and policy at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Last week, the Senate...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 09-127 Governor Palin Lauds Congressional Firearm Provision May 20, 2009, Juneau, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin today welcomed the news that Congress has passed legislation that would permit visitors to carry loaded firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges, subject to the requirements of state law. The provision was included in legislation placing new restrictions on the way in which credit card companies deal with consumers. “This is certainly good news for Alaska,” Governor Palin said. “The ability to carry a firearm can define a life or death situation, especially for protection against surprise encounters with...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683 National Rifle Association Files Suit Against Restrictive San Francisco Gun Ordinance Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Fairfax, Va. --- The National Rifle Association, the San Francisco Retired Police Officers Association, and a group of San Francisco residents filed a Second Amendment lawsuit in federal court last Friday seeking to invalidate the San Francisco ordinance that requires all residents to store their handguns in a locked container or disabled with a trigger lock. “Time and again, we see city governments attempt to strip their citizens of basic self-defense rights, and NRA will work tirelessly...

Firearms sales are soaring as the National Rifle Association convention commences Friday in Phoenix, Ariz. Jeff Reh, general counsel for Beretta USA (the American arm of Italy-based gunmaker Beretta International), told CNBC that his firm saw sales climb 66 percent in the first quarter — roughly beginning with the inauguration of Pres. Barack Obama. "We're still seeing an unremitted level of increased orders on the handgun side and on the rifle side," Reh said. And the stockpiling seems to be rippling out into related sales for equippers like Cabela's [CAB 12.83 0.36 (+2.89%) ], famed for its range of sporting,...

* National Rifle Association targets Obama over gun curbs * Activists fired up for 2010 congressional elections * Political risk to Democrats wanes as Americans moderate PHOENIX, May 15 (Reuters) - Thousands of U.S. gun owners gathering in Phoenix for the National Rifle Association's convention have one target firmly in their sights: any attempt to curb gun rights by the new guys in Washington. "We as an association, but more importantly America's 80 million gun owners, are very concerned about what may be coming down the pike through the Obama administration," Glen Caroline, grassroots director for the NRA's lobbying arm....

This weekend, more than 50,000 peaceable gun owners are expected to descend upon Phoenix, Arizona to celebrate a unique freedom guaranteed by our Constitution: the right to keep and bear arms. The event is the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association, and among the throngs will be several thousand New Jerseyans. Though some anti-gun rights extremists pretend that gun owners represent a tiny minority, the fact is that there are more than 90 million firearms owners in this country, and lawful gun ownership is the mainstream in America today.Four different polls recently point to declining support for gun restrictions...

PHOENIX (AP) — The drug war in Mexico shouldn't be used as an excuse to try to restrict American gun rights, Sen. John McCain said Friday at the National Rifle Association's convention. The Arizona Republican and former presidential candidate told thousands of people in Phoenix that the United States needs to do more to crack down on gun smuggling into Mexico, but that such assistance in Mexico's war against drug cartels doesn't require restrictions on the gun rights of law-abiding Americans. "It should be noted that any effort to restrict gun ownership in the U.S. will not stop Mexican cartels...

PHOENIX – Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney joined Bush administration officials, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, in arguing today that President Obama’s approach to combating terrorism had left the country less safe. "It's the very kind of thinking that left America vulnerable to the attacks of September 11th," Romney told the National Rifle Association's annual gathering. “And the approval of left-wing law professors and editorial boards won’t be worth much if this country lets down its guard and suffers an attack." Even while declaring an end to past interrogation practices he calls “torture,” Obama has alienated many in his...

PHOENIX (AP) - Sen. John McCain says the United States needs to do more to crack down on gun smuggling into Mexico, but that such assistance in Mexico's war against drug cartels doesn't require restrictions on the gun rights of law-abiding Americans. McCain told several thousand people at the National Rifle Association's convention in Phoenix on Friday that limiting guns sales in the United States won't prevent the cartels from buying weapons from other countries. . . . . . McCain says the U.S. government has overstated the prevalence of guns being smuggled from the United States into Mexico for...

PHOENIX (AP) - Sixty thousand people are expected to attend the National Rifle Association's annual convention that starts Friday in Phoenix. Organizers say the 3-day event is a celebration of America's Second Amendment rights and a gathering point for opponents of efforts to limit those rights. Friday's speakers include Sen. John McCain, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer.