NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT: Vol. 20, No. 8 02/22/2013

NRA Ad: Biden's "Advice" Not Advisable

As often as he puts his foot in his mouth, it's a wonder Vice-President Joe Biden can walk. The often irascible and unpredictable Biden said this week, in an online Facebook town hall "chat" sponsored by Parents Magazine, that women who have to protect their homes and families from intruders should just walk outside and fire two blasts from a double barreled shotgun.

A FoxNews.com article reported that Biden claims to keep two shotguns locked up at his home, and that he has told his wife, Jill, to use them if she needs protection.

"I said, `Jill, if there's ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony ... take that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house,"' Biden said.

That advice would be illegal in most situations, and dangerous both for the potential victim, and for the general public.

Watch the video below or click "Read More" for more information.

Watch the Latest Grassroots News Minute

Joe Biden's Advice on Women's Self Defense

Watch the Video: Ask Obama's Experts

Feinstein to Hold Another (Anti-) Gun Hearing Next Week

On January 30, the U.S. Senate Judiciary committee held a hearing entitled, "What Should America Do About Gun Violence?"

As we reported on February 1, the hearing (which can be viewed here) consisted of a single panel that included NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, Second Amendment scholar David Kopel, attorney Gayle Trotter, Baltimore County, Md. police chief James Johnson, and Mark Kelly, the husband of former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. (Rep. Giffords made a brief opening statement to the committee before the other witnesses took their seats.)

The hearing lasted almost four hours, but all gun owners should take the time to watch. There is no better way to understand the weakness of the arguments of anti-gun politicians than to see them in action.

Another Court Victory for the Right to Carry in Illinois

On February 22, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion, which refused Illinois' request for a rehearing of Shepard v. Madigan before the entire court. The previous decision in the case, by a three-judge panel of the court, struck down Illinois' complete ban on carrying firearms outside one's home or business for self-defense. Today's decision lets stand the strong interpretation of the Second Amendment offered in Judge Richard Posner's December 11 opinion, and brings Illinois one step closer to the rest of the country in respecting the Right to Carry.

Pressure Mounting on President, Attorney General Regarding Lack of Prosecutions for NICS Denials

As detailed in a February 21 press release, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) are pressing U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department to explain why they have failed to prosecute the vast majority of convicted felons and fugitives from justice who are failing background checks under the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.

"While we understand that not every denial needs to be prosecuted, every case involving a fugitive from justice or felon in possession of a firearm should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," wrote Graham and Gowdy.

Take it from Jim. Don't Worry About Gun Registration

Jim Kessler, in a "fresh thinking" Third Way memo posted online this month, says that Americans will have nothing to fear if Congress imposes a law that criminalizes private gun transfers by requiring FBI background checks on sales, gifts, and trades of firearms between family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors and other acquaintances, along with the small percentage of non-dealer transactions that take place between strangers.

True, if such a law was imposed, gun control supporters would almost certainly follow it by calling for the FBI to retain records for 180 days on people who pass gun-purchase background checks, as Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) did in 2009. And if that law was imposed, gun control supporters would soon demand that the same records be retained permanently. Next, they would demand that the make, model and serial number be provided to the FBI with every firearm-related background check.

Gun Turn-In Participants Miss Out on Cash, Have Privacy Violated

The term "gun buyback" is a misnomer, in that a government cannot buy back something that it never owned in the first place. However, in Santa Fe, N.M., organizers of a city-sponsored event billed as a gun "buyback" even managed to get the "buy" part wrong, and violated the privacy of the participants in the process.

The Santa Fe turn-ins (a more apt term) were held on Jan. 12 and Feb. 9, and after running out of the $25,000 in debit cards allotted for the event, organizers began issuing I.O.U.s. Participants' names, telephone numbers, addresses and firearms were recorded, with the promise that they would receive payment for their guns shortly. Lino Ortiz, who turned in two handguns at the Feb. 9 event, told local media in an article that appeared on the 19th, "I've yet to be compensated for it. They said they would have us a debit card last week, but I called the Finance Department, and the lady down there told me, 'Well, we still haven't gotten them yet.'"