CCRKBA announced its opposition
to S. 1788, Sen. Charles
Schumer’s “Use NICS in Terrorist
Investigations Act,†that would
give the FBI access to NICS records
in law enforcement investigations,
and mandate the maintenance
of all NICS records for at
least 90 days. Schumer proposed
S. 1788 after Attorney
General John Ashcroft said NICS
records that do not result in an
individual being denied the ability
to purchase a firearm cannot be
used for anything other than
what the Brady Act allows.
In an analysis of media bias
against gun ownership, outdoor
columnist Babe Winkelman
writes, “For anyone who thinks
the slant of a given story is open
to interpretation, consider these
quotes from Juan Williams of Fox
and Geraldo Rivera on CNBC. ‘I
don’t understand why we’re piddling
around,’ said Williams. ‘We
should talk about getting rid of
guns in this country.’
“‘Geraldo didn’t leave much
room for speculation on his position,
either, when he said, ‘How
much longer are we gonna be
wrapping the flag of patriotism to
justify 250 million guns out
there?’â€
Norfolk, VA, gun shop owner
Robert Marcus is suing to prevent
the federal government from
requiring him to turn over records
of his store’s used-gun sales, reports
the Associated Press.
Marcus contends BATF is trying
to compile a list of gun owners,
something Congress has
forbidden.
In February, 2000, BATF’s National
Tracing Center sent Marcus,
owner of Bob’s Gun and
Tackle Shop, a letter demanding
that the shop turn over the make,
model, caliber and serial number
of each used gun it bought and
sold in 1999. BATF indicated
Bob’s was among 430 firearm
dealers out of a total of 80,000 to
receive the letter. BATF said it
singled out the dealers because
they had sold 10 or more guns
that had been used in a crime
within three years of purchase.
South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow
said that he will not allow gun
control activists to place restrictions
on gun shows in his state.
His remarks came in response to
a letter sent to governors by the
anti-gun Americans for Gun
Safety. The letter asked governors
to support the anti-gun
group’s efforts to promote legislation
that would eliminate traditional
American gun shows.
The veracity of a prize-winning
book that maintains very few
people in colonial America
owned guns now “is embroiled in
a scandal,†according to The
New York Times. The book, Arming
America: The Origins of a National
Gun Culture, by Michael A.
Bellesiles, a history professor at
Emory University in Atlanta, GA
won the prestigious Bancroft
Prize in American History and
Diplomacy. Now, reports the
Times, “those who have pressed
him hardest for details say they
have been led on a bizarre scholarly
car chase, with Mr. Bellesiles
offering new memories about
where he got his records as soon
as the old ones were discredited.â€
The New Mexico State Supreme
Court has ordered the Department
of Public Safety to
cease any action regarding the
issuance of right to carry licenses,
pending a hearing on
the case challenging the new
state right to carry law. As a result,
any applications went to the
department will be returned to
sender, and any course taught
after this ruling is not considered
to be approved by the agency.
In explaining the phenomenal
rise in firearm sales since the terrorist
attacks in the United States
of Sept. 11, former Delaware
governor Pete DuPont, now policy
chairman of the National Center
for Policy Analysis, writes on
the internet Opinion Journal of
The Wall Street Journal that, “the
people who feel the most vulnerable
are taking action to protect
themselves.â€