Bills Flying, Companies Calling Out Legislatures

Feb 11, 2013
Apparently, it takes considerably more than a blizzard of near record-proportions to keep anti-gun legislators from pushing their proposals into-and through- state houses with as little fanfare as possible. The New Jersey Second Amendment Society (NJ2AS) and the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs (ANJRPC) is issuing a warning that the Law and Public Safety Committee of the New Jersey Assembly is preparing to "fast track" 23 gun control bills. According to those groups, that fast-tracking will be discussed in a hearing set for 10 a.m. Wednesday, February 13 in Committee Room 11, 4th Floor, State House Annex in Trenton. The pro-gun organizations aren't sitting around waiting to see what happens, they've arranged a fleet of ten buses to transport pro-gun voters to that hearing. If you're a garden state resident and want to check on the buses to Trenton, you can visit the NJ2AS website to get departure times and locations at www.nj2as.com. We understand they'll be updating the site pretty frequently. And in Washington, word was leaked on Friday that four senators were "quietly" working on putting together a "deal" regarding expanding the requirement for gun-sale background checks. Sources tell us that Senators Chuck Schumer of New York, Joe Manchin of West Virginia (an NRA member), Mark Kirk of Illinois and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma have been holding "private talks" on ways to encourage toughening requirements for background checking in all gun transactions. Polls have shown that the idea of expanding background checks has a better chance of being accepted by the general public than the proposals for bans on "assault weapons" and "high-capacity" magazines. We know politicians are all about polls, so we're pretty certain the four are putting their respective fingers in the wind to see what direction public opinion is heading on all the gun-regulations being proposed nationally. Meanwhile, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley has kicked off another controversy for a message he sent to Maryland hunters. Seems O'Malley accessed the state's records of hunters who purchased their hunting license on the Department of Natural Resources website. He then sent them an email the Associated Gun Clubs of Baltimore's Legislative Vice President John H. Josselyn has described as more of O'Malley's "blatant falsehoods" when it comes to gun control. O'Malley's note to the state's licensed hunters we ostensibly written to wish them if participating in the state's Junior Waterfowl Hunting Day held last Saturday, February 9. He quickly jumped off-topic to "take the opportunity to address you directly about the proposal we recently introduced to reduce gun violence." The goal, O'Malley asserts, was to "reduce the risk of a mass shooting like the one that occurred in Newtown." At that point, O'Mally goes to considerable lengths to tell hunters "We are committed to protecting hunters and their traditions. That's why we specifically carved out shotguns and rifles from licensing the requirements of our bill. This bill will NOT impact your ability to introduce a young hunter to the sport and conservation stewardship ethic borne out of that experience." At that point, the Governor goes on to wish everyone "good luck on Saturday." As angry as Maryland firearms owners appear to be at this point, it seems Governor O'Malley might want to save some of that luck for himself when explaining why he used a confidential database to send a message advocating for his gun-control legislation. And the weekend furor in Maryland continued when Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) told Maryland county officials that some gun manufacturers build their sales models "on an assumption that at least 20 percent of the weapons will get sold illegally." When CNSNews reached out to Sarbanes for the sources of this comment, but didn't get a response. CNS News did, however, get a response from the National Shooting Sports Foundation on Rep. Sarbanes' comments. "Congressman Sarbanes' outrageous statement alleging that responsible, law-abiding members of the firearms industry anticipate and calculate into their business plans that 20 percent or more of their products will be illegally sold is highly offensive," said Larry Keane, NSSF senior executive and chief counsel, going on to call the allegation "absurd on its face and patently false." The NSSF is demanding that Sarbanes either provide the factual basis for his claim or apologize. A factual basis for that claim would be tough to provide-but we're not betting on the apology, either. At this point, anti-gun proponents appear more than willing to, er, bend the truth if it suits their needs. Finally, a tip of the hat and an "atta boy" to one company that's taking a common-sense approach to some of the restrictive legislation being pushed against gun makers. Mark LaRue of LaRue Tactical posted this message this weekend:
Updated Policy for State and Local Agency Law Enforcement Sales: Due to the recent and numerous new Anti-gun/Anti-2nd Amendment laws passed and/or pending across our country, LaRue Tactical has been forced to reconsider how we provide products to state and local agencies. Effective today, in an effort to see that no legal mistakes are made by LaRue Tactical and/or its employees, we will apply all current State and Local Laws (as applied to civilians) to state and local law enforcement / government agencies. In other words, LaRue Tactical will limit all sales to what law-abiding citizens residing in their districts can purchase or possess. State and local laws have always been a serious focus of this firm, and we are now dovetailing that focus with the constitutional rights of the residents covered in their different areas by the old and new regulations. We realize this effort will have an impact on this firm's sales - and have decided the lost sales are less danger to this firm than potential lawsuits from erroneous shipments generated by something as simple as human error. Thanks in advance for your understanding. Mark LaRue
We've been told that LaRue Tactical's policy does not apply to Military/Federal agencies. As always, we'll keep you posted.