CCRKBA announced its
opposition to H.R. 1423, the
proposed Childproof Handgun Act
of 2005, by Rep. Bill Pascrell of New
Jersey and eight original
cosponsors. The bill would ban
the manufacture, sale, delivery and
transfer of handguns that cannot
be personalized. It would define
personalized as meaning that
integral to the handgun as a device
or feature that allows the handgun
to be fired only by a particular
individual; is not capable of being
readily deactivated; and may allow
the handgun to be personalized to
one or more additional individuals.
Referred to the House Judiciary
Committee.
A USA Today article last month
showed that the Clinton-era
Community Oriented Policing
Services (COPS) project wasted
millions of dollars, never put the
promised 100,000 new police on
the streets, and has not been a
panacea for crime. CCRKBA
Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb
suggested the revelations suggest
it was not the non-existent new
police on the streets, but passage
of right-to-carry statutes in dozens
of states that had a greater effect on
reducing violent crime rates over
the past decade. “The gun rights
community was right all along,†he
said. “We knew from the start that
Bill Clinton’s COPS program was a
cop-out. While Clinton and his
Attorney General Janet Reno were
discouraging citizens from arming
themselves against crime, and
making it as hard as possible for
citizens to exercise their Second
Amendment rights, they created
what has amounted to one more
government boondoggle.â€
In New Mexico, CCRKBA
applauded Governor Bill Richardson
for signing legislation that expands
the state’s concealed carry law,
allowing more citizens to arm
themselves legally for personal
protection. “Not only did Gov.
Richardson’s signature extend the
valid term of a concealed pistol
license to four years,†said CCRKBA
Executive Director Joe Waldron,
“but he also lowered the minimum
age for obtaining a license to 21
years, and in the process, he
recognized the new law as a crime
reduction measure. Gov.
Richardson’s support for concealed
carry is well documented in that he
was instrumental in getting the
original law through the legislature
two years ago. Now he’s signed
common-sense reform legislation
that expands this law, with the
understanding that it will deter
criminals and empowers more New
Mexico citizens to protect
themselves.â€
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
CCRKBA said the District Attorney’s
office “made the right call†in
deciding not to file any charges
against a 64-year-old man who
fatally shot one of five youths who
attacked him in a gas station in
early April. Milwaukee Assistant DA
Karen Loebel made the
announcement after reviewing the
evidence from the shooting. The
older man, from Yorktown,
Arkansas, had stopped at the gas
station to ask for directions. An
altercation erupted in which Moss
and several other youths beat and
kicked the victim before he pulled a
gun from under the front seat of his
van and fired. “This was clearly a
life-threatening situation in which
the victim could have been gravely
injured or killed,†said CCRKBA
Executive Director Joe Waldron.
“It’s just the kind of crime Wisconsin
residents should be able to defend
themselves against. However, Gov.
Jim Doyle used his veto to nix a
common-sense concealed carry
law. It sent the wrong message to
criminals.â€
In Kansas, CCRKBA said new
legislation there is a good first step
toward bringing the gun rights of
Sunflower State residents into the
21st Century. The legislation
contains a new section that
preempts local gun ordinances, so
that all firearms regulation will be
uniform, from one end of the state
to the other. Gun control extremists
have condemned the bill,
contending it prevents Kansas
communities from passing their
own gun laws. “Gov. Kathleen
Sebelius has signed this common
sense legislation,†said CCRKBA
Executive Director Joe Waldron,
“in the interests of protecting state
residents and visitors from the
confusion that invariably results
from patchwork gun laws that may
change from one city to the next.
Such laws work perfectly in other
states, and there is no reason to
believe that the same kind of law
won’t work here.â€
