JANUARY  NEWSLETTER 
Orange County Shooters
News from the Orange County NY, NY State and the Nation of interest to gun owners and sportsmen
FEBRUARY 2002 Newsletter
MARCH  NEWSLETTER
I am still working on the NEW look for the newsletter. Feel free to suggest changes to colors, layouts or errors. 
Special
Events 
Future Events
March 19th March on Albany
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CLICK ON THE ITEM TO LINK TO RELATED WEB PAGE
New York State Rifle & Pistol Association
Legislative Report by
Jacob J. Rieper, Legislative Director
SCOPE provides Current Firearms News, Updated Daily!
Plattsburgh Rod & Gun
Keep and Bear Arms Homepage
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NEWSLETTER MAIN INDEX OR
Oct/Nov., DEC,
2002 FEB. 
 
DOES ANY ONE WANT TO HELP?
    I need help with some logos and setting up the web page. Does anyone want to help? I have several web sites that need to be set up, (simple but for free.) I also need anyone who would want to do research or reports or articles even on a one time basis for a event you are going to.     Or if you want to you can just let me know how you like the way the page looks.
CLICK HERE TO E-MAIL ME
ORANGE COUNTY
& LOCAL NEWS 
NY STATE NEWS
NATIONAL NEWS
Possible primary challenge to Sheriff Bigger
Pistol application totals for 2001
Ducks Unlimited Dinner 
Knights Range Closes
Orange County Federation Raffle
Master Class has new fees
   
Link Only
Olympics Report on biathlon gold. Winning gold the hard way
NEW REGULATIONS FOR NONIMMIGRANT ALIENS REGARDING FIREARMS AND AMMUNITION WSJ's report on Bernard Goldberg and his book "Bias"
Eleanor Roosevelt: Her Own Bodyguard Knives Make A Comeback,
Have larger share of city homicides
Group Lobbies Vatican to Recognize Gun Saint  
ORANGE COUNTY NEWS
  The T H-R on 2/6/02 had a story that Mount Hope Town Justice Carl Dubois may challenge Sheriff Frank Bigger. Sheriff Bigger has been very good to gun owners and has been supported by many people. Unfortunately problems in other areas are causing a lot of concern. The Democrats with the help of the state AG Spitzer and the T H-R are going to cause as many problems as possible.  CLICK HERE FOR THE ARTICLE
  The totals for new pistol applications and amendments from 2001 are in and they show a increase from 2000.  This is a small increase but it is still not in line with the number of new people who are moving into Orange County. The numbers still fall far short of the numbers of pistol applications that were being issued just a few years ago. This is the best year in several years but it only equals the numbers from 1994 of 508.
  1999 2000 2001 CHANGE % increase 00-01
New Applications 326 374 508 134 +1.36
Amendments 1624 1763 1920 157 +1.09
Applications for new licenses is ahead of last year by a decent amount, pushed ahead by a large number of retiring NYC police officers.
  Ducks Unlimited dinner is on Sunday, Feb. 24.  Call 733-5741 for reservations and information. The door will open at 3:30 PM with dinner starting at 4:00 PM and the Auction starts at 6:30 PM. Tickets are $55.00 each or $85.00. The ticket also includes a one year membership in DUCKS UNLIMITED. Your membership is tax-deductible except for the $3.00 value of Ducks Unlimited magazine and the $3.00 value of other fulfillment items to the amount allowed by law.
   George Knight's range and store is closed and all guns have been transferred to Lounsbury in Middletown, 343-1808  It is unfortunate that we have lost Knight's and the Newburg Range just a few months ago.  The owners of Knights are going to try to sell the range.
  I have Gun Raffle tickets for the Orange County Federation's "Win a Gun-A-Day or Cash for the month of June"  $20 a chance based on the pick 3 evening number.  Guns range from an AR 7 Explorer to a Ruger-Red Label and includes handguns, shotguns and rifles.
CLICK HERE FOR A LIST OF THE GUNS
Master Class has new fees.   Master Class in Monroe has had a small increase in the fees that it charges. The rate for the hour and 25 visits have been raised.  It is the first time since they opened that they have changed the fees and it is still cheaper than most other public ranges. 
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
NEW YORK STATE NEWS
S5849;" "Disguised  knife" means any knife which is designed to appear as an object other than a knife, such as a comb, writing instrument,  cigarette  lighter or other object commonly carried on the person, and which includes a blade concealed within such object.", passed the Senate 55 to 1 and is in the Assembly. I expect this bill to pass and be signed by the Gov.
Other bills of interest are Pataki's budget that calls for a fee increase for sporting licenses.  A 9560 is the "shall issue" pistol license bill, A 9561 provides that a pistol license be valid throughout the state and A9562 creates the junior big game hunting license.
New York Sportsmen Alert sent out an alert to remind us of some of the bills that Democrats are proposing in New York State. 
S00179 Requires imprinting of a serial number on each bullet jacket and bullet lead, limits sell of ammo to 100 bullets in 90 days to licensed gun owners.
A05501 Prohibits attendance of children under eighteen at gun shows or stores by classifying such attendance as unlawfully dealing with a child.
A05226 Provides that a licensed gunsmith or dealer in firearms may not conduct business at a gun show or event held on state owned or leased property
The NYSPRA annual meeting will be on March 9th in Catskill NY. I plan to go.  This should be one of the best meetings that they have had. 
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
The NRA has named a new lobbyist, Scott P. Armstrong of ARMSTRONG COMMUNICATIONS, 5776 Innsbruck Road, East Syracuse, NY 13057, (315) 656-8051, (315) 656-3714 fax, e-mail: armcomm@twcny.rr.com    Scott called me and we had a nice talk.  He has been very active for a long time and has been the NRA EVC for his area for the last 3 years.  He was also involved in the opposition to an local effort in Syracuse for a local AW Ban that would  have also banned most hunting firearms.  I hope and expect that we will see a major improvement.
Westchester pistol license fees might increase.  As part of the new budget proposal, R, anti-gun, County Exc. Spano has left a line open that has to do with the cost charged for a pistol license.  That did not take long.  The law that allows Westchester to have a 5 year license just passed a few years ago.  Special "home rule" legislation would have to pass to raise the fees.  From THE JOURNAL NEWS Article (Feb. 15, 2002)
 • Allow Westchester to set its own fee for licensing pistols. The proposal does not say what Westchester would charge, but notes that Nassau County, which has a special exemption to set its own fee, charges $200 for a five-year permit. In Westchester and the other counties, the fee is now $10 for a five-year permit.
UPDATE: 2/28/02 THIS PROPOSAL WAS KILLED IN COMMITTEE. (For now?)
(NY) People v. Sturm, Ruger update.  I called the AG's office to follow up on what they had told me in Aug. of 2001.  The State Attorney General's novel lawsuit to find the gun industry liable under a nuisance theory because the gun industry market guns in a manner that makes them likely to end up in the hand of criminals.  The State Supreme Court Justice Louis B. York dismissed the case in August writing, the court's approval of a nuisance theory would have the unwanted "effect of preventing defendants from engaging in activities, i.e., the manufacture and sale of guns, that they are permitted to engage in by law in an area which is strongly controlled by various federal and state statutes."   At the time the AG's office would appeal but when I talked to Peter Drago in the Public Information Office he told me that they would have to appeal the the Federal Supreme Court and that anything additional information would be posted on their web site. 
New York's Firearms& Weapons Laws updated. Lt. Lee O. Thomas and Jeffrey Chamberlain have updated their "Gun Control in New York" book. It is the major reference for all police and lawyers in New York State. I talked with Jeffrey Chamberlain about the update and he said that the main change was the inclusion of the New York city (Police Department) Regulations, (Title 38, Rules of the City of New York),(65 pages of small type). New York City has never published all of its rules until now and this is the only book that includes all of the rules. The only major change of the law was that it is now illegal to wear a bullet proof vest when you commit a crime. This book is a must have for anyone who really wants to get serious about understanding NY's gun laws. It is over 440 pages long of small type but the authors do a good job of explaining what the law means and giving the implications of the law. It should be in the library of all handgun instructors, FFLs or gun clubs. Click here for more info on the book.
NYC DEP requires new permits access to City reservoirs and City-owned watershed lands.  All New York City reservoirs and watershed lands were closed after 9/11. New rules and permits are required for all recreational uses and for boating, fishing, hiking, and hunting.  Once an application is received and accepted by DEP, a 2002 permit will be generated and the applicant will receive notice that it can be picked up — in person with an acceptable government issued photo identification — at the DEP Police precinct specified by the applicant on the application form. Permits will not be issued to anyone other than the applicant, nor will they be mailed.   CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
NATIONAL
Shays/Meehan Campaign Finance Bill PASSED
    Plan for some major changes in what we have to do to support pro-gun candidates.  One of the major reasons that this bill was supported is to knock the NRA out of its first place position as "Most effective lobbyist group."   Gun owners and supporters of the 2nd amendment are going to have to get off their duff and get out and start working for those who we support.  We are going to have to start writing checks ourselves to our candidates and not rely on the NRA for everything.  For those who sit in at home, complain about the NRA, keep yelling at the TV that they can not pass some law because it goes against the 2nd amendment, say that you are not going to vote because all elected officials are corrupt, that you will not vote for someone unless they support everything that you believe in, that you will not support anyone who does anything no matter how small that you think infringes on your rights please note the following: 
    If Campaign Finance becomes law, 2nd amendment supporters will become more active, more unified and more effective or we will loose our 2nd amendment rights by many small laws and a few major laws on the local, state and national level until we are as restricted as the Canadians, (or worse.)  Canadians have to register everything, are limited in what guns you can own and have many other restrictions.  Handgun owners must state as part of their license what handgun club they belong to, the days that the club has shooting events and the direct route that they take to go to the club and are subject to arrest and loss of all guns if they do anything different.
   The Campaign Finance Reform bill passed by a wide margin with Reps. Gilman and Hinchey voting for the bill.  Sue Kelley did vote against the final passage.  The NRA has stated that if it becomes law they will fight it in Court 

UPDATE 2/22/02  What did Bush say Jan. 23,  2000

Asked point-blank on ABC News's This Week on January 23, 2000 whether he would veto McCain-Feingold or Shays-Meehan Bush said he would.  CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WHOLE NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE ARTICLE.
H&R Block And NRA announce program

     The NRA and H&R Block have teamed and if you have your taxes done at H&R Block they will make a donation to the NRA.  Even if you are doing your own taxes H&R Block will give you a discount if you purchase their tax software online.  CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.  (New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, and I am sure other anti-gun groups are really upset about this. 
 
From NYAGV web page: Tell H&R Block: Don't Play with the NRA

     Did you know that the nation's leading tax preparer, H&R Block, is funding the gun lobby?   That's right -- H&R Block has cut a deal with the National Rifle Association. Now, any time an NRA member has his or her taxes prepared by H&R Block, the company makes a contribution to the NRA.     H&R Block needs to the the math on gun violence:     * 30,000 Americans are killed each year by gunfire  * 10 children are killed every day by gunfire     * One organization has led the fight against common sense gun laws that would save live: The NRA

Send H&R Block a message: Don't play with the NRA or we won't play with you.) 

     If you wish to tell H&R Block you support its decision to work with NRA, or better yet if you need to locate the nearest H&R Block office so that they can do your taxes, please call 1-800-HRBLOCK (472-5625). You can also send a message of support via the Internet, using H&R Block`s online comment form at http://www.hrblock.com/customer_support/submit_a_question.jsp

BATF announces new 4473 form and other regs.
     The BATF has announced, (2/12/02) that they will start issuing a new 4473 form to be filled out whenever you buy a gun from a FFL.  The new form is suppose to be easier to read and understand and reflects recent changes in Federal law.   The new forms are suppose to be in the hands of the FFLs and they can not get a NICS done unless they have the new form. (2/20/02)   ATF also issues regulations relating to firearms disabilities for nonimmigrant aliens and announces a requirement for import permits for nonimmingrant aliens bringing firearms and ammunition into the United States.  FFL's across the nation have been prevented from selling anything because they do not have the new forms.  ATF has been forced to fax forms to some dealers.  Even the local (Orange County) dealers have had problems because of lack of the new forms. 
CLICK HERE FOR INFO ON THE NEW 4473 AND NEW ALIENS AND IMPORT PERMITS
BRADY rates states on gun control, not crime.

    The NRA issued a new fact sheet titled: " Brady Campaign (Handgun Control, Inc.) 2001 "Report Card" Again Gives Higher "Grades" to States with Higher Violent Crime Rates"  You would think that the crime rate in the states that rate an A from BRADY would be the states with the lowest crime rate but just the opposite is true as shown in the table below.
 

BRADY
Number of Avg. Number of 5-Yr.
"Grade" States/2001 Current Rate States/5-Yr. Avg. Avg. Rate
"A" (5) 490.6 (1) 820.9
"B" (5) 444.0 (9) 502.1
"C" (11) 419.7 (14) 517.8
"D" (22) 426.9 (21) 426.6
"F" (7) 333.0 (5) 410.9
 
     How does NY state rate?  NY is was given a "B-" with a crime rate of 553.9 and that ranked us 12th of all the states in crime.  If you want to see the whole chart: CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL FACT SHEET
AFL-CIO charges mandatory assessment to raise political $
AFL-CIO Picture from the Times Herald-Record,  2/27/02, Pg 43      It appears that the leaders of the AFL-CIO have been asleep for the last few months and have missed the discussion about campaign finance reform, (CFR,) and the fact that money is corrupting our political system.  (Did I use the words AFL-CIO and corruption in the same sentence?)  And for Gephardt to speak at a gathering that plans to raise more money that will corrupt our political system?  Well I am just shocked!
     Now if the NRA said that they would require a payment from all members and that they were going to raise just a few million to do the same thing it would be headline news and the editorial pages would be full of calls of how horrible the NRA was and "corrupting our political system, special intrest, gun nuts, right wing" and other types of phrases would fly like snow flakes in a blizzard.
     What did I miss?  The T H-R drinks gallons of the CFR Kool Aid but they put this picture at the end of the paper in the back business section and do not bother to add the additional information that they could have gotten in 10 seconds if it did not come as part of the picture that AP sent out.  To me it looks like another example of the hypocrisy practiced at the T H-R.  I bet we will not see any political cartoon in its pages lambasting the AFL-CIO for its plans.
From the New Orleans, LA, The Times-Picayune,  2/27/02, in part:
U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao were among those who addressed the council.
     Also at Tuesday's meeting, the union's executive council recommended charging member unions extra to pay for political activities, such as issue ads and get-out-the vote campaigns. Until now, the group has sought voluntary assessments to pay for political activities. 
     If approved by the full AFL-CIO board in May, the mandatory assessment of 4 cents per member per month would raise $7 million annually to support the union's political activity, said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. None of the money would go directly to individual candidates or parties, Sweeney said.
     The AFL-CIO reportedly has spent $12 million on such campaign efforts this year. The group's goal is to spend $35 million annually through 2004 in support of candidates, whether Democratic of Republican, who are sympathetic to their issues.
     Union campaign efforts usually benefit Democrats, who hold a one-seat majority in the Senate and are just shy of controlling the House.
     "It's fair to say we want a House that will take care of working families," Sweeney said. In all, the AFL-CIO plans to work in races for 55 House seats, 12 Senate seats and 22 governorships.
$12,000,000 SPENT THIS YEAR?  FEBRUARY IS NOT EVEN OVER YET!
YEA, REPUBLICANS LIKE SEN. TURNCOAT McCAIN
CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE
Dell Computers automatically cancelled a computer order because “Weigand Combat Handguns Inc.” has combat in its name.

     Jack Weigand, President of the American Pistolsmiths Guild Inc. and “Weigand Combat Handguns Inc.” placed an order for a notebook computer and never got it.  Dell never called him to tell him that his order was automatically cancelled because his company had combat in its name and they thought that he might use the computer to do something illegally.
     From Jack's website:
     "I have spoken to Dell today 2/26/02
      They informed me that the reason my order was cancelled was due to the new post 9/11 screening policy. The word "Combat" in my company name is what triggered the cancellation of my order. The cancellation was triggered automatically. When I asked why I was not called to clear this up I was told there was a breakdown in communications on Dells part.
      I would humbly request the following.
      Please, please refrain from making personal attacks on Michael Dell. I have received hundreds of e mails attacking Mr. Dell, please do not do this. This is a business issue not a personal issue, please keep it that way. I know we are all passionate about our right to keep and bear arms but please be as professional as possible.
     I thank all of those that took the time to confirm that this story was true before spreading it, you all are to be commended!
     I thank the Firearms community as a family for being so willing to come to my aid."
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE INFORMATION ON JACK'S WEB PAGE
CLICK HERE FOR AN ADDITIONAL NEWS ARTICLE

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