NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT: Vol. 20, No. 42 10/25/2013

Secretary General of Interpol Suggests an Armed Citizenry to Combat Terrorist Violence

In his speech to the American public on December 21, 2012, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre made clear, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." The sentence is a concise summary of NRA's long-held position on the Right-to-Carry, and illustrates one of the reasons NRA-ILA works to abolish restrictions on this right throughout the country. Predictably, anti-gun groups and some in the media failed to grasp the straightforward logic of the remark, or perhaps they grasped it all to well and feared what it would mean for their cause. As a result, they have criticized and attacked it.

However, the logic isn't lost on Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble. In an interview with ABC News at the 82nd Interpol General Assembly, Noble noted that an armed citizenry is one of two ways to effectively confront terrorists bent on carrying out massacres at "soft-targets," such as the gunmen who conducted the recent attack on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya that killed 67. Noble told the interviewer, "Societies have to think about how they're going to approach the problem... One is to say we want an armed citizenry; you can see the reason for that. Another is to say the enclaves are so secure that in order to get into the soft target you're going to have to pass through extraordinary security."

Bloomberg Sticks His Nose into Virginia Politics and Earns Three Pinocchio

Apparently, having billions of dollars in disposable income and being the mayor of America's most populous city (and let's face it, a place with problems of its own) isn't enough to keep billionaire Michael Bloomberg busy. We've often reported on his antics here in the Commonwealth of Virginia (see here, here, and here, for example), and we can thank him for at least one pro-gun law being on Virginia's books.

To no one's surprise, the billionaire buttinksi is back and throwing his considerable fortune behind an attempt to defeat NRA "A"-rated Republican Ken Cuccinelli and to elect NRA "F"-rated Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Virginia's upcoming gubernatorial election. Unfortunately for Bloomberg, while his money can buy a huge amount of negative advertising attacking Cuccinelli, it cannot alter basic facts. Even the Washington Post, normally a far friendlier outlet for McAuliffe and Bloomberg than the NRA, had to call foul at an ad Bloomberg is running that tries to fault Cuccinelli over the so-called gun show loophole. In its fact-check of the ad, the Post awarded Bloomberg's super PAC, "Independence USA," three well-deserved Pinocchios for bending the truth.

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Mayor Bloomberg: His Group Honored the Boston Bomber

Video-Bloomberg-Honors-Boston-Bomber

Anti-Gun Group "Gets Religion" for Latest Gimmick

On Sunday, the anti-gun Children's Defense Fund (CDF) set up a sideshow in front of the Washington National Cathedral during which blacksmiths melted, hammered and ground "weapons" into hand-held garden tools, for what it called "a modern-day interpretation of the biblical passage about beating swords into plowshares."

Notwithstanding the big posters of AR-15s that CDF displayed at the event, the "weapons"--all provided by the District of Columbia's gun control-supporting police chief, Cathy Lanier, and which the CDF said had been "confiscated off the streets"--consisted of several miscellaneous rifle and shotgun barrels and the barreled receiver of a bolt-action rifle, all of somewhat ancient vintage and uncertain manufacture.

Good and Bad News in Latest Gallup Poll

Gallup's most recent poll on public attitudes toward gun laws shows that anti-gun activists and their friends in elected office and in the media have lost considerable ground over the years, and in the months since the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut in December last year. However, it also shows that both sides in the gun control debate have their work cut out for them in the days ahead.

The poll found that 74% of respondents--an all-time high--oppose banning handguns, up from only 36% in 1959.

End of an Era: Last U.S. Lead Smelter to Close in December

In December, the final primary lead smelter in the United States will close. The lead smelter, located in Herculaneum, Missouri, and owned and operated by the Doe Run Company, has existed in the same location since 1892.

The Herculaneum smelter is currently the only smelter in the United States which can produce lead bullion from raw lead ore that is mined nearby in Missouri's extensive lead deposits, giving the smelter its "primary" designation. The lead bullion produced in Herculaneum is then sold to lead product producers, including ammunition manufactures for use in conventional ammunition components such as projectiles, projectile cores, and primers. Several "secondary" smelters, where lead is recycled from products such as lead acid batteries or spent ammunition components, still operate in the United States.

Colorado's Clear Message: Take Our Freedom, Lose Your Job

NRA members and gun owners in Colorado shocked the nation last month when two anti-gun state senators were successfully recalled for the first time in state history. We sent a clear message to politicians at every level of government that if they take our freedom, we'll take their jobs.

This week, NRA-ILA Executive Director Chris W. Cox wrote an op-ed for the Daily Caller regarding the Colorado recall.

University of Kansas Professor Suspended over NRA Tweet won't Return for Remainder Of 2013

Last month, we reported on the case of University of Kansas journalism professor David Guth who, in the wake of the atrocity at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., singled out the NRA as the cause of the violence and offered what he considered just recompense. "The blood is on the hands of the NRA," he wrote in a tweet on his personal account. "Next time, let it be YOUR sons and daughters. Shame on you. May God damn you."

When contacted by Campus Reform and given an opportunity for further comment or perhaps to offer a retraction or some context for apparently wishing death on the children of those associated with the NRA, Guth's response was: "Hell no, hell no, I do not regret that Tweet. I don't take it back one bit." "God's justice takes many forms," he added in another tweet.

Judicial Activism on Display in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's state motto is "Virtue, liberty, and independence," but liberty took a hit this week with a disturbing ruling by the Pennsylvania Superior Court. Given the decision in Commonwealth v. McKown, Keystone State residents cannot lawfully carry concealed in-state on a valid concealed carry license (CCL) issued by another jurisdiction. Instead, they may use only a Pennsylvania CCL. This rule applies, moreover, even where Pennsylvania has a reciprocity agreement with the other state.

Hobson Lyle McKown, a Pennsylvania resident, had a Pennsylvania CCL that was revoked on April 14, 2008, although he did not get the notice until April 29. On April 15, McKown applied for, and later obtained, a New Hampshire CCL. In the fall of 2008, McKown was arrested for a concealed carry violation and claimed that, as a valid New Hampshire permit holder, he did not violate the law.