Guns and Ammo Enthusiast Blog A blog for and by Guns and Ammo Enthusiast's

450 Mayors from Bloomberg’s Group Petition Obama To Violate the Second Amendment

A new report from a national coalition of mayors urges President Obama to adopt dozens of reforms to help curb gun violence, including steps to crack down on problems at gun shows and the creation of a federal interstate firearms trafficking unit.


The “Blueprint for Federal Action on Illegal Guns,” a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, presents 40 recommendations that “would dramatically improve law enforcement’s ability to keep guns out of the hands of criminals — and, in doing so, save innocent lives.”
The strategies outlined by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a bipartisan group of about 450 mayors nationwide, focus on the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The agency, which has been sent a copy of the report, declined to comment.


“Implementing these recommendations would achieve a goal that all participants in the gun debate support: enforcing laws already on the books,” says an accompanying letter signed by the coalition’s co-chairmen, Mayors Thomas M. Menino (D) of Boston and Michael R. Bloomberg (I) of New York.


According to the report, hard work by ATF field agents has “been undermined by congressional restrictions, inadequate resources, and a lack of leadership from federal officials in Washington.”


The proposed changes could be accomplished within existing laws through agency reforms, regulatory moves and better funding, the report said. The strategies grew out of academic and government research, an analysis of firearms prosecutions and talks with government and law enforcement officials.


The mayor’s coalition created this document for policy discussion,” said Jason Post, a spokesman for Bloomberg’s office. There are no plans for public release of the document, which is being distributed to key members of Obama’s administration and agencies affected by the recommendations.


The 51-page document suggests a handful of strategies that would tighten ATF oversight of thousands of gun shows held annually. The study noted that a 2007 inspector general’s probe concluded the “ATF does not have a formal gun show enforcement program.”


ATF agents should have greater discretion to conduct criminal investigations at gun shows identified as sources of firearms later seized in crimes, the report states, noting that “criminal activity endemic to some gun shows goes unchecked.”
Agents at gun shows should “develop undercover integrity tests” to determine whether felons or out-of-state residents are making illegal purchases.


The report also calls for a better approach to crime gun tracing, the process that tracks a seized weapon back to its first retail sale. The ATF lacks the structure or resources to “fully realize its power,” the report says, and information is not regularly shared with field offices, and state and local law enforcement.


To this end, the study wants ATF to be funded to create a new “Office of Tactical Trace Analysis,” which would replace the current crime gun analysis branch.

Microsoft Silverlight claims to help gun lovers get the perfect shot You be the judge

Maybe Microsoft is trying to win over NRA members. The company — working in conjunction with Winchester Ammunition — today announced a new “online ballistics calculator” that allows hunters to create virtual shooting conditions in order to test how Winchester bullets will perform.


The calculator uses Microsoft’s Silverlight technology, with Microsoft’s Steve Sklepowich saying the calculator is a “great example of the rich and interactive applications that Silverlight delivers.”


Here are the instructions via the Winchester Web site:

1. Choose your ammo – select the cartridge, brand and bullet weight


2. View product description, details and images


3. Choose/edit your shooting conditions – set your own sight-in range, cross wind, temperature, altitude and sight height


4. Hit the “Shoot” button to view the point of impact and bullet trajectory


5. View and print a detailed ballistics chart illustrating key information such as bullet trajectory, muzzle velocity and much more

An ignorant, ill-informed, uneducated, and just plain stupid editorial writer causes illegal and unconstitutional requirement for ammunition sales in the communist state of California

You can count on most newspaper editorial writers to come down on the side of gun control and restrictions on ammunition sales because they don’t own guns, don’t understand guns and have a wonderful penchant for confusing apples and oranges.

Sometimes, it also seems like they were raised on a planet where no one takes any personal responsibility for their actions.

An editorial in a fading major daily this week encouraged Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign the ill-conceived and poorly written AB 962, the bill that would require gun shops to have ammunition buyers fill out a form and leave a thumbprint. The stated intent is to keep ammunition out of the wrong hands and help law enforcement agencies put crooks behind bars when they do something wrong.

Common sense and nearly 20 years of a similar federal law have proven the bill can’t and won’t do either thing, but the anti-gunners press on, ignoring the facts.

The editorial used the sterling example of a driver’s license, which it said combats identity theft, helps track criminals and keeps unsafe driver’s off the road. Are you laughing yet?

All we get from a driver’s license is an ID card that says we’ve paid our dues at the Department of Motor Vehicles and supported a bureaucracy that the public uses only when forced.

It spoke about meth labs and how we now have to present our ID when we buy cold medicines. But it didn’t point out that meth production is not down and that the requirement has had little or no positive impact in catching meth makers.

It’s just a pain for the rest of us. My wife, who’s had a nasty cold, had to take an extra five minutes to buy her cold medicine this week. A big deal? No, but she’d much rather have had those five minutes to have her feet propped up at home.

The editorial pointed out that we’re all carded when we buy booze to keep it out of the hands of minors. The writer apparently didn’t know we have to do that now with ammunition already, just like with booze. Of course, this doesn’t make much sense because kids can legally hunt, target shoot, or use a gun to defend themselves in their home, but you already have to be 21 to buy handgun ammunition.

So what was their point? The editorial said the registration only affects handgun ammunition, but the reality is that all metallic ammunition is affected because there are handguns that can shoot any and all sporting and military rounds.

So the “no mail-order” clause effectively puts out of business custom loaders who reload ammunition for the hunting marketplace. Or sure, they can ship the ammo to a licensed dealer who will do the paperwork for a customer – and add a surcharge for providing the service, just like they do now with firearms. It will effectively end the activity, in spite of what bill supporters say.

The editorial said the law would help law enforcement investigate gang shootings by allowing them to see who bought the ammunition used in the criminal activity. It can’t and won’t do that. There is no way to trace ammunition back to its purchase box.

A 9mm is a 9mm is a 9mm. You might identify the manufacturer by the casing or slug, but there’s no way to draw a line from a round, to a box of ammo, to a store, to a purchaser, back to a shooter. Everything about this bill is based on false premises and warped thinking.

My point is that the editorial writers get everything wrong, half-wrong, or use analogies that don’t apply. But what can we expect? They constantly use the word “bullets” when they actually mean “ammunition.” You only hear that usage from six-year-olds and newspaper writers.

As you know, a bullet is a component of a loaded round of ammunition. It’s the part that exits the end of the barrel when a gun is fired. “Bullets” and “ammunition” are not interchangeable words.

We don’t say “engine” when we mean “automobile.” If they can’t even get the word usage correct, can we really expect them to do any real research to back up their commentary?

The bill and those who support it are interested in discriminating against legal gun owners. These are people who are afraid of guns and people who own and use them, and they are terrified of the Second Amendment of the Constitution. They also don’t particularly like the First Amendment when someone like you or I point out the fallacy of their arguments in support of legislation like AB 962.

Amazingly, that bill passed through both houses of our state government and awaits the signature or veto of the Governor. If it will waste time and effort writing and passing laws like this, is it any wonder our state government is mired in dysfunctionality?

Gun Groups File Lawsuit to Validate Montana Firearms Freedom Act

MISSOULA – The Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA) and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) filed a lawsuit in federal court in Missoula today to validate the principles and terms of the Montana Firearms Freedom Act (MFFA).

The MFFA was enacted by the 2009 Montana Legislature, signed by Governor Schweitzer, and becomes effective today, Oct. 1.

Lead attorney for the plaintiffs’ litigation team is Quentin Rhoades of the Missoula firm of Sullivan, Tabaracci & Rhoades, PC.  The MFFA litigation team also includes other attorneys located in Montana, New York, Florida, Arizona and Washington.

“We feel very strongly that the federal government has gone way too far in attempting to regulate a lot of activity that occurs only in-state,” explained MSSA President Gary Marbut. “The Montana Legislature and governor agreed with us by enacting the MFFA.  It’s time for Montana and her sister states to take a stand against the bullying federal government, which the Legislature and Governor have done and we are doing with this lawsuit. We welcome the support of many other states that are stepping up to the plate with their own firearms freedom acts.”

“We’re happy to join this lawsuit,” said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb, “because we believe this issue should be decided by the courts.”

The MFFA declares that any firearms made and retained in Montana are not subject to any federal authority under the power given to Congress in the U.S. Constitution to regulate “commerce … among the several states.” The MFFA relies on the Tenth Amendment and other principles to challenge Congress’ commerce clause power to regulate a wide spectrum of in-state activities. This is a states’ rights effort, using firearms as the object of the exercise. The MFFA exempts Montana-made and retained firearms, firearm accessories and ammunition from federal power, saying that if these items do not cross state lines, they are strictly INTRAstate commerce, not INTERstate commerce, and not subject to federal authority.

MSSA continues to strongly urge that no Montana citizen attempt to manufacture an MFFA-covered item, even after the law takes effect today, until MSSA can prove the principles of the MFFA in court. Until the courts rule in support of the MFFA, any such manufacturer could be subject to federal criminal prosecution.

This concept has caught national attention. Tennessee has passed a clone of the MFFA.  Other clones have been introduced in Alaska, Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Minnesota. Legislators in 20 other states have indicated that they will introduce MFFA clones in their states once their legislatures reconvene, Marbut said. Information about the Firearms Freedom Act movement is being accumulated and made publicly available at firearmsfreedomact.com.

This movement follows multi-state rejection of Washington-mandated Real ID, a law passed by Congress requiring state drivers licenses to conform to federal identification standards. The FFA movement also works in tandem with resolutions introduced or passed in many states asserting state sovereignty under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. As is the rest of the Bill of Rights, the Ninth and Tenth Amendments are limitations on federal power. The Ninth Amendment says:  “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”  The Tenth Amendment declares:  “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Under our federated system of government in the U.S., Marbut noted, states and the federal government are widely recognized to share power and authority, with definite limits placed on federal power by the states, the creators of the federal government. The MFFA lawsuit is designed to test and define those limits, to assert states’ authority, and to limit what many see as overbearing authority assumed by Congress and the federal government.

Beginning during the New Deal, federal courts have generally upheld federal commerce clause authority, initially in the 1942 case of Wickard v. Filburn and continuing recently with the 2005 case of Gonzales v. Raich.  Raich was the Supreme Court case allowing federal regulation of medical marijuana in California.  However, other cases such as the 1995 case of US v. Lopez suggest that federal commerce power is not infinitely elastic, that there are limits to federal commerce power, and that it has just not yet been determined what those limits may be. The MFFA litigation is structured to clarify and affirm those limits.

The modern era of dramatically-expanded federal commerce clause power was ushered in with the Wickard decision. The Supreme Court allowed this considerable expansion of federal commerce power under Wickard only after President Roosevelt threatened to pack the Court with cronies if the Court didn’t cease declaring Roosevelt’s New Deal programs to be unconstitutional and beyond federal reach. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commerce_clause)

MSSA is the primary political advocate for Montana gun owners. SAF is a national organization headquartered in Bellevue, WA that works nationally to advance the interests of gun owners.