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 $
|
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 |
. |