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September 30, 2011Gun Owners' Action League. |
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In This Issue.
- News from the Web
- Fast & Furious Video Update
- GOAL Shoot-B-Q
- GOAL Attends Gun Rights Policy Conference
- At The Statehouse
- Litigation Update
- GOAL Club Seminar
- Women on Target - Still Time To Sign Up
- Upcoming Events
- The GOAL Foundation 2011 Course Schedule
- Important Please Ensure Your Club is GOAL Affiliated
- Note for Facebook Users
- Note About Forwarding The Friday News
 20 Guns - 20 Chances To Win, Support GOAL, Get Your Tickets Today! Click The Image Above For More Info - To Purchase Tickets!
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News/Editorials and other tidbits from the Web.
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Fast & Furious - Latest from NRA News
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 | | "Fast And Furious" Just Might Be President Obama's Watergate |
Click here to read the excellent article on Forbes.com
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GOAL Shoot-B-Q Fundraiser
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 Shoot-B-Q v2 - Success! Sunday, 9/25/11
The sweet smell of burnt gunpowder mixed beautifully with a faint, distant whiff of burgers and dogs cooking up, and I knew it was on for the second annual Shoot-B-Q.
Once again GOAL members old and new, arrived on the beautiful grounds of Harvard Sportsmen's Club for a celebration of Second Amendment Rights and the opportunity to see old friends, make new ones, and to check out and even shoot, a variety of firearms.
The informal single elimination falling plate competition was a big success, amazing how humbling those plates can be when under the watchful eye of a crowd, especially when they're 25 yards away! In the end it came down to GOAL Staffer Jon Green v. Jim P. in the finals, and in the end, with only a few rounds remaining in the magazine, Jim came out on top!
Of the many things I enjoy about the Shoot-B-Q, I really enjoy two; seeing the look on the face of a shooter that has just pulled the trigger on a firearm they've always wanted to shoot, and seeing a proud dad beam as his son safely and efficiently puts rounds on target.
That's what the Shoot-B-Q is all about, a celebration of the little things that add up to become the great thing that is, firearms ownership.
We would like to thank everyone that made the Shoot-B-Q successful, Harvard Sportsmen's Club-Dan Hurley, qmmo, Carlson Comps, the RSO's, and of course our members.
We're already looking forward to next year!
Click here for more on GOALShooters.org
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GOAL Attends Gun Rights Policy Conference
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GOAL's Executive Director Jim Wallace attended the Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) in Chicago on September 24 & 25.
The annual conference is put on by the Second Amendment Foundation. The two day weekend event is made up of a series of panels that speak about a variety of subjects that affect the Second Amendment fight in the U.S. and abroad.
This year Jim was again invited to be part of the state legislative panel to talk about our fight in the Commonwealth.
Pictured below is JimWallace (left), Alan Gottlieb (Second Amendment Foundation, center) and Doug Ritter (Knife Rights, right).
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At the State House
|  The focus in the State House for the past two weeks has been casinos and gambling. Both the House and Senate have passed legislation that will most likely go to a conference committee to work out the differences in their prospective bills. A conference committee is normally made up of 3 members of the Senate and 3 members of the House. This committee is charged with coming up with a compromise and bringing it to the House and Senate for approval.
House Docket 3995, GOAL's Modern Sporting Arms bill still remains in the House Committee on Rules. GOAL has been asking cosponsor legislators to contact Chairman Binienda in the Committee and ask him to release the bill. Because HD 3995 was a "late file" bill it does not go directly to the house floor for committee assignment. All late files must first go to the Committee on Rules before being placed in the appropriate committee.
The remainder of H.2400 GOAL's Youth Hunting bill is in the House Committee on Ways & Means. This bill would reduce the fee down to $25 for anyone under 18 years of age. This part of the bill has already been accomplished in this year's state budget. The other issue covered by the legislation is to allow the application to be filed for an FID Card at age 14. Currently you need an FID at age 15 to hunt with a gun, but you are not allowed to even start the application process until you are 15. This part of H.2400 still remains to be taken care of and hopefully we can get it moving soon.
GOAL's MassGunLawReform bill (An Act Relative to Civil Rights and Public Safety) still remains in the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. Some legislators have complained that the bill is overwhelming in size, while others have commented that we should make reforms in a more incremental manner.
Our response has been that we have had over 30 amendments to the 1998 law and still have not made a real dent in it. We are sure our members would accept and appreciate incremental change if the House and Senate leadership are sincere about it and committed to make it happen in an expeditious fashion. So far that has not been the case.
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Litigation Update
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The GOAL office has received a few complaints that GOAL has not brought the state to court to completely overturn its unconstitutional gun laws. The people expressing this are under the impression that the Heller and MacDonald cases are more than enough to accomplish this. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
To date the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court does not recognize either case as changing anything in the Commonwealth. This was made very clear in the Runyan (storage law challenge) and Powell (handgun age challenge) cases GOAL was involved in. The state court maintains that those cases only affect "absolute bans" and gun ownership "in the home". Our state courts are still working under the assumption that Cruikshank is the law of the land since neither Heller nor MacDonald specifically overturned that decision.
GOAL is working carefully with national organizations to craft a well thought out specific strategy that will eventually force our state court system to recognize the Second Amendment as the civil right that we all know it is. Lawsuits against the gun laws that are done in haste and without the knowledge of what the legal facts are will only end up with more rulings against our rights. Activist judges are already eager to build up case law against Heller and MacDonald in a national effort to minimize and neutralize those decisions. Helping these judges build case law history against our rights will not help our cause.
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GOAL Club Seminar - December 11, 2011
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New Date, December 11, 2011!
GOAL will be hosting a Club Seminar at 9am on Sunday, December11, 2011 at the Royal Plaza Best Western in Marlboro, MA. This seminar is open to all, and will feature workshops and lunch. Workshop topics will include insurance, legal issues, junior programs, elections and more.
This informative and educational day is a great learning opportunity for anyone involved in managing or operating a shooting range or rod & gun club.
Topics and schedule:
- Registration 8:30 am
- Introduction by GOAL Executive Director Jim Wallace 9:00 - 9:30 am
- Jake McGuigan - NSSF 9:30 - 10:30
- Break with refreshments 10:30 - 10:45
- Break Out Groups - Morning Session 10:45 - 11:45 am
- Jon Green - MA Gun Law
- Assistant Minority Leader George Peterson - MA Legislation
- Attorney Ed George - Best Management & Practices/Liability for Clubs
- Buffet Lunch provided by the NSSF 11:45 - 12:30
- Break Out Groups - Afternoon Session 12:30 - 1:30 pm
- Jon Green - Women On Target - Public Outreach Programs
- Jim Wallace - MA Legislation
- John Gunshenan - Scholastic Steel Challenge, TBD - Scholastic Clays Program
- Arlene Pucillo, Charles River Insurance - MA Insurance Requirements 1:45 - 2:30 pm
- Wrap up to end the day with Jim Wallace
We look forward to seeing you there. RSVP, please use the attached form, or call Tara at the GOAL Office 508-393-5333 x 203 or email tara@goal.org
GOAL would like to thank the NRA and the NSSF for their financial support of this seminar.
Cost:
Sponsor and Patron Level Affiliated clubs will be able to send two Club Reps, free of charge.
Associate Level Affiliated clubs will be able to send one Club Rep, free of charge.
Afflilated Level clubs will be charged $25 for each Club Rep that would like to attend.
Any additional Reps will be $25 per person.
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Women On Target - Still Time To Sign Up!
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The GOAL Foundation presents Women On Target events all over Massachusetts. If you are interested in a great day of fun and education for ladies only please contact us by clicking here!
These events are designed to introduce women ages 16 and beyond to the enjoyment of the shooting sports.
Guests will learn about firearm safety and proper shooting fundamentals in a non-competitive relaxed atmosphere.
Guests will also participate in a seminar on Massachusetts firearms law, and will receive a Massachusetts Basic Firearm Safety certificate allowing them to apply for a Firearms Identification Card or Class "A" or "B" License to Carry Firearms.
You do not need any previous firearms experience to participate in and have a great time at these seminars. Don't miss the fun, sign up today!
Click here to check the schedule Still room left, October 8, 2011 - Nenameseck Sportsmen's Club
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The GOAL Foundation 2011 Course Schedule
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New classes added at The GOAL Foundation!
Click here for our 2011 Schedule! email or call Tara @ GOAL for more information on any of the classes offered.
508-393-5333 x203 |
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Important Please Ensure Your Club is GOAL Affiliated!
| Is your club affiliated with GOAL? If you don't know check out our listing of GOAL Affiliated Clubs here, if your club is not on the list please have your club officer contact Tara at the GOAL office.
Click here for more information about the benefits of being an affiliated club.
Also, please note! Some of our clubs have let their affiliation lapse. Please check out our Affiliated Club Listing page to see if your club is listed. If your club is not listed, and you think it should be, please have your club president/manager/GOAL rep contact Tara at the GOAL Office 508-393-5333 x203 or tara@goal.org
Sign your members up to get the Friday News Directly from GOAL!
If your club has a club email blast, or a web forum, please use it to encourage your members to sign up for this weekly email, it's simple!
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This way they get the news and our action alerts as they are sent.
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Note for Facebook and Twitter users
|  We are now adding "Like" icons to the bottom of our web pages!
Whether it's a tweet about a competition, sharing a page via e-mail, or sharing a legislative alert on Facebook, these will help you share our information through many various social media outlets quickly and easily!
Check them out at the bottom of most pages on goal.org and on the rest of our family of websites going forward
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An important note about forwarding this email!
Dear subscribers, it has come to our attention that some of you have become "unsubscribed" from our e-mailings as of late. This is due to the method used when forwarding this e-mail. PLEASE NOTE, if you would like to forward this e-mail, use the "forward" option at the bottom of this page. Forwarding this email as you would any other could cause you to become unsubscribed should any of the recipients choose to "opt out". If you ever do need to subscribe, or if you know anybody that would like to receive this, it is now easier than ever to get on our list, simply go to http://goal.org/joinourlist.html to subscribe |
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Protecting YOUR freedom begins here!
Sincerely,
Mike Sweeney
GOAL Communications Manager
Gun Owners' Action League
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