Poll Finds Pro-Gunners More Politically Involved

A recently published poll from the Pew Research Center found that there is "a substantial gap" between those who prioritize gun rights and those who prioritize gun control when it comes to political involvement, with pro-gunners being more politically active and donating more money than their anti-gun counterparts.

The poll found that "The biggest difference is in the area of making contributions to activist organizations: 25% of those who prioritize gun rights say they have, at some point, contributed money to an organization that takes a position on the issue, but just 6% of those who prioritize gun control have done so."

The poll also found that gun rights supporters are more politically active, with 16 percent of them having contacted a public official to express an opinion on gun policy, compared to just 11 percent of gun control supporters.

These findings should come as no surprise to NRA members. Back in May, we reported on the fact that many ignorant and politically motivated observers wrongly attribute NRA's victories in Congress last spring, as well as all of our past successes, to NRA's perceived financial might (which, by the way, is dwarfed by that of billionaire anti-gun zealots like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg).

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His Group Honored the Boston Bomber

CFR Pushes Executive Gun Controls

Following in the well-worn footsteps of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his Blueprint for Federal Action on Illegal Guns, this week the Council on Foreign Relations released a memo urging the Obama administration to disregard the will of the American people and Congress and unilaterally enact a series of gun controls. Entitled, A Strategy to Reduce Gun Trafficking and Violence in the Americas, and written by CFR Senior Fellow for Latin American Studies, Julia F. Sweig, the memo pins the ills of Central and South America on U.S. gun owners and urges the president to curb our rights to cure them.

Leading off CFR's wish list is a call to expand the current semi-auto rifle reporting scheme nationwide. Since 2010, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has required that all firearms dealers in the Southwest border states report to it the sale to one purchaser within a five-day period of two or more semiautomatic center-fire rifles of a caliber greater than .22. The result of this program is the registration of gun owners who choose to purchase more than one firearm at a time and significant additional paperwork burdens for dealers.

Longstanding? No. Longsuffering? Yes.

The ill-fated gun owners of New Jersey suffered yet another setback this week when the Third Circuit Court of Appeals (a federal court that also covers Pennsylvania and Delaware) upheld the constitutionality of New Jersey's permitting system for the carrying of handguns in public for self-defense. The main issues in the case were whether the Second Amendment protects a right to carry arms in public for self-defense and whether New Jersey's "justifiable need" standard for the issuance of a permit acts as an unconstitutional restraint on that right. Precious few permit applicants meet the "justifiable need" threshold, which as interpreted by regulation and case law requires the applicant to show "specific threats or previous attacks which demonstrate a special danger to the applicant's life that cannot be avoided by means other than by issuance of a permit to carry a handgun." "Generalized fears for personal safety," meanwhile, are specifically deemed to be "inadequate" justification.

Federal Court in Illinois Throws Out Brady Campaign Supported Lawsuit

On Wednesday, the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a lawsuit supported by the Brady Campaign against the online gun classifieds website, Armslist, LLC.

Armslist is a website that provides firearm owners and prospective buyers with a venue to advertise sale or want advertisements for firearms in a manner similar to newspaper classified ads. Armslist otherwise takes no part in any firearm transactions and has a specific disclaimer on its website that all users must agree to before using the site that all firearm sales must comply with applicable state and federal laws. Alex Vesely, the plaintiff in the case, sued on behalf of his sister, who was killed with a firearm that had been advertised for sale on Armslist.

NRA Firearms Face-Off Continues: Eight Guns. One Champion. You Decide.

The NRA Firearms Face-Off is happening now! You can vote for your favorite firearm in a bracket-style tournament where eight guns are going head-to-head to receive the most votes. Each round of voting lasts two days and a winning firearm will be announced at the end of the fourteen-day Firearms Face-Off.

The Springfield M1A SOCOM II has already beaten the Kimber 8400 Patrol in the first game of the Face-Off. Currently, the Smith & Wesson M&P15 is taking on the Remington Model 783. Other firearms featured include the SIG556R, Mossberg 500, Ruger Mini-14, and Kel-Tec KSG.