Grassroots Alert: Vol. 19, No. 20 5/18/2012

On May 18, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), joined House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in sending a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder demanding full cooperation with the ongoing Congressional investigation into the infamous "Fast and Furious" operation, and the tragic death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

According to a press release by Rep. Boehner, the letter asserts that the Department of Justice has not sufficiently complied with a Congressional subpoena seeking answers on the operation, and questions whether false information that was provided-- and later withdrawn--"was part of a broader effort by your Department to obstruct a Congressional investigation."

The letter states that, "two key questions remain unanswered: first, who on your leadership team was informed of the reckless tactics used in Fast & Furious prior to Agent Terry's murder; and, second, did your leadership team mislead or misinform Congress in response to a Congressional subpoena?"

By now, every gun owner concerned about the future of our right to keep and bear arms is aware that the international gun eradication movement has been working for more than a decade to achieve a U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that would cover not only tanks, helicopters, and other heavy weapons, but also rifles, shotguns and handguns. 

As called for by a resolution adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2009, a conference will be held in July2012, in New York City, to draft the treaty's language. On a parallel track, the ridiculously named Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects--held its most recent Preparatory Conference in New York earlier this year.

On May 11, the Bureau of Land Management announced that it was abandoning the effort to ban recreational shooting on the Sonoran Desert National Monument in Arizona. BLM released a new proposed management plan that protects "monument objects and values" through best management practices, but does not close the monument to shooters.

This announcement is a major victory for gun owners, as it reversed BLM's intent to close the half million-acre SDNM to recreational shooting.  The original SDNM plan mirrored BLM's decision last year to drive shooters out of the Ironwood Forest National Monument, also in Arizona.

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As we reported last November, the ongoing effort to fully vindicate the fundamental, individual right to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense took a major step forward with House passage of H.R. 822, the "National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011."  The bill, sponsored by Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), has 245 cosponsors and was approved in the U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 272-154.

After passage in the House, the bill was sent to the Senate, where it remains.  Since November, the Senate has failed to take any significant action on the bill.

Parents preoccupied with creating a conflict-free Utopia for their kids would seem to have little to fear from a Danish toy maker, an ingenious and enterprising British youth, and a small San Francisco publishing company.  Yet this trio causes much handwringing in the May 16^th edition of "The Mommy Files," an online parenting blog published by the San Francisco Chronicle.

The source of the anxiety is LEGO Heavy Weapons, a guide to building toy guns out of LEGOs.  The author is Jack Streat, a 17-year-old resident of the United Kingdom, and the book is published by the San Francisco imprint No Starch.

CALIFORNIA: Support Needed for Continued Operation of Gun Club

ILLINOIS: Common Sense Ammunition Purchase Reform Legislation Sent to Governor

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Time Runs Out Before Senate Acts on Permitless Carry

CALIFORNIA: State Senate Passes Anti-Gun Legislation

LOUISIANA: Pro-Gun Constitutional Amendment Up for Final Vote in State House

OKLAHOMA: Omnibus Firearms Reform/Emergency Powers Bill Signed into Law 

HAWAII: Important NRA Instructor Liability Bill Awaits Governor’s Approval

MICHIGAN: Michigan Permit-to-Purchase Hearing to Continue Next Week

IOWA: Senate Democratic Leadership Snubs the Second Amendment

MISSISSIPPI: Governor Signs More Pro-Gun Legislation into Law