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March 21, 2014 |
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NSSF Congressional Fly-In, April 2 & 3; A Few Spots Remain Although the NSSF's Congressional Fly-In is nearly here, there is still time to claim one of the few places that remain for firearms industry leaders to take advantage of this opportunity to speak directly with senators and representative in their offices on Capitol Hill. The April 2-3 event is open to presidents/CEOs (or a senior staff member of their choosing) of voting members and supporting manufacturer and distributor members. Industry leaders who have attended in past years speak highly of the opportunity the Fly-In provides to make their priorities and concerns known to our federal lawmakers. For more information: 2014 National Shooting Sports Foundation Congressional Fly-In. ------------------ NSSF Action Alert: Tell your Senators Feinstein's New Attempt to Ban Imports of Semi-Automatic Rifles is Wrong U.S. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) is pursuing her long-running effort to take semi-automatic rifles out of the hands of law-abiding American using a different approach. Having been defeated on the floor of the U.S. Senate a year ago, the liberal California Democrat is now asking fellow Senators to sign on to a letter to President Obama asking him to direct the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to ban the importation of what she calls "assault weapons" and "military-style rifles" that are not "generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes." See the NSSF Action Alert. ------------------ Firearms Industry Contributes $150,000 to NAWCA The National Shooting Sports Foundation has contributed another $150,000 to supplement Congressional funding of the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), a grant program providing federal cost-share funding to support the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The payment is part of a five-year NSSF initiative that is providing $750,000 to support wetlands conservation and migratory bird habitat in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Read the NSSF press release. ------------------ Delaware's Highest Court Rules Public Housing Tenants Have Right to Bear Arms, Even in Common Areas The Delaware Supreme Court this week ruled in Doe v. Wilmington Housing Authority that the state's public housing tenants have the right to bear arms for self-defense even in common areas. In so ruling, the court applied the state Constitution's right to bear arms provision — "A person has the right to keep and bear arms for the defense of self, family, home and State, and for hunting and recreational use," noting that this language may justify broader protection than that given by the Second Amendment. The precedent could prove influential in other states since the case deals with having firearms for self-defense, which the U.S. Supreme Court in D.C. v. Heller held is covered by the Second Amendment. Read more about the decision. ------------------ Update: NSSF in the Courts California Responds to NSSF, SAAMI Microstamping Suit
Maryland law Challenged on Constitutional Grounds The State of Maryland and the parties challenging the constitutionality of Maryland's ban on semiautomatic firearms and standard capacity ammunition magazines have each filed their respective motions for summary judgment in Kolbe v. O'Malley. Inapposite to the Maryland's contentions, NSSF and its co-plaintiffs, not to mention every federal court that has considered the issue since Heller and McDonald, firmly maintain that the firearms and magazines the state seeks to prohibit are commonly owned and used by responsible, law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes. Instead of recognizing and respecting the Second Amendment as being on equal footing with other fundamental constitutional rights such as the First Amendment, Maryland chooses to treat the Second Amendment as a second class citizen by increasing the infringement of this individual right for reasons that could never justify intruding on other constitutional rights. All remaining party motions and replies in the case are expected to be filed by the end of April followed by the district court's ruling shortly thereafter. Trumpeter Swan Society v. EPA: The coalition of anti-hunting groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity has filed its reply brief in its on-going appeal seeking to overturn the EPA's well-reasoned decision not to consider the coalition's repeated requests to ban traditional ammunition. We will share additional information when it becomes available. ------------------ NSSF Testifies at Rhode Island Hearing The Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee held a hearing Tuesday to consider numerous anti-gun bills. NSSF Director Government Relations, State Affairs Jake McGuigan along with representatives from A.T. Wall Company, a Warwick-based maker of ammunition magazines, testified in opposition to the onerous bills that include: a ban on all semi-automatic firearms; outlawing the manufacture of magazines over 10 rounds, and even advocating the confiscation of magazines greater than 10 rounds. The House Judiciary Committee fortunately voted to "hold for further study" all of anti-gun legislation. While the aforementioned bills have not been defeated, they will remain in the House Judiciary Committee for the foreseeable future. NSSF would like to thank all Ocean State gun-owners who attended the hearing as we easily outnumbered those from anti-gun groups. ------------------ Preemption Bill Moves out of Pennsylvania House Committee HB 805, which will strengthen the state's preemption law and provide for the recovery of legal expenses incurred when municipalities enact ordinances, or continue to maintain them, in violation of PA Preemption Law, was voted out of the House Judiciary Committee on a 20-5 vote with all Republicans and half of the Democrats supporting the measure. Supporters described the measure as an attempt to ensure consistent regulation of firearms across Pennsylvania. NSSF will continue to push for this legislation to get a floor vote. ------------------ FixNICS Update Alaska FixNICS Legislation to the House Floor ------------------ Mississippi Sales Tax-free Weekend Bill Heads to the Governor Measures that would create a tax-free weekend during September for individual sales of firearms, ammunition, most hunting supplies and certain recreational fishing equipment, SB 2425 and HB 1539, are headed to the Governor for signature. The Mississippi Firearm Sales Tax Holiday, which does not include a dollar cap on sales, passed the final hurdle in the legislature Thursday, and awaits Governor Bryant's signature. This NSSF supported bill will be a welcome boon to our retailers in Mississippi. ------------------ MarketWatch's Poor Journalism Gets NSSF Response MarketWatch, an on-line business and consumer news site, recently decided to apply a clichéd consumer-style approach to a piece called "10 things the gun industry won't tell you" with the predictably slanted results that one would expect. For the record, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane takes on some of the worst in that rambling article, including "Guns get special treatment under the law" and "We want your kids to play with guns." Read the blog post. We bet that you will seldom read MarketWatch again, unless you want simple advice on what vacuum cleaner to buy. ------------------ Anti-Gunners Turning Attention to Corporate America Because we actually analyze (instead of just accepting public relations spin), we disagree that any real victories have been won by gun control organizations in their ongoing attempts to disparage and sideline lawful commerce or exercise of rights by putting pressure on American businesses. But since the groups and the largely unquestioning media seem to think this is the case, we bring your attention to this new "front" of anti-gun activity. ------------------ Seth Waugh joins NSSF GR, Federal Affairs Team
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This past week, California Attorney General Kamala Harris 
NSSF is pleased to announce that Seth Waugh has joined NSSF as Director, Government Relations, Federal Affairs, working in the Washington, D.C. office. Waugh comes to NSSF from the Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United States, where he served as the Director of Government Affairs. Previously, Seth worked for the National Association for Biomedical Research as a Manager of Public Policy and for the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) where he managed grassroots operations in 14 states.
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