Mom urges Nebraska victim act

Concerned citizens are encouraged to call and write their Senator to ask them to demand the Judiciary Committee allow an open discussion of the bill on the floor by all Senators representing all of Nebraska's residents. Additionally, more information on LB804, the Victim Protection Act, can be found at ProtectVictimsNOW.org, an educational campaign sponsored by the NFOA. will be necessary is to put the paperwork on the front door of their house to thwart a would-be thief.

Sarah McKinley, an 18-year-old Oklahoma mother who was forced to shoot an armed intruder in her home last New Year's Eve, has released an open letter to Nebraska residents that supports the efforts of the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association and other citizen groups in trying to pass a Victim Protection Act in Nebraska.

On the evening of January 31, 2011, Mrs. McKinley and her infant son were home alone, as her husband had passed away just a week before after a painful fight against cancer. Two stalkers had chosen her as their victim and were outside her home banging on doors trying to enter. She called 911 for help, pushed the couch to barricade the door, grabbed her shotgun and moved with her son to another room. While the 911 dispatcher was not able to answer her question whether it was okay to shoot the intruder if he came through her door, the dispatcher did tell her to do whatever was needed to do to protect her baby. After the man forcibly entered her house, Sarah did just that. When the police arrived, they found the intruder dead on the couch barricade and clutching a knife.

Currently there is a bill, LB804 the Victim Protection Act, which would protect victims in Nebraska with immunity against civil lawsuits by criminals when the victim must use force to defend themselves or their family. Unfortunately a handful of Senators in the Nebraska Legislature's Judiciary Committee are obstructing LB804 from advancing to the general assembly for debate and a vote. 

Federal budget for hunting land access

The U. S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) and the Department of the Interior's Fiscal Year 2013 budgets include a total of $7.5 million of funding for improving hunter access to existing public lands. Once appropriated, it will allow the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to acquire rights of way and other land interests from willing-seller landowners to open access to existing federal lands for hunting and fishing where it is closed or significantly restricted. "Sportsmen and women want the Forest Service and BLM to provide better access to our national forests and BLM lands for hunting and fishing. This new federal budget tackles this problem head on with this bill," said Ben Wallace, President of the Boone and Crockett Club. A 2004 report to the U.S. House Committee On Appropriations concluded that more than 35 million acres of BLM and Forest Service land have inadequate access. Specifically, nearly 2 million acres (or 10 percent) of USFS lands in Montana and 8.4 million acres (or 29 percent) of BLM lands in the Montana/Dakota's region were identified as having inadequate access.

Breyer illustrates need to bear arms

The recent robbery of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer at a vacation home in the West Indies should hopefully cause the learned jurist to re-examine his core beliefs about the individual right to keep and bear arms at places other than their primary residence, the Second Amendment Foundation said. Breyer has voted with the minority twice in recent years against recognizing that the Second Amendment protects an individual civil right to keep and bear arms, in both the Heller and McDonald cases. He was robbed last week, along with his wife and some guests, by an intruder wielding a machete, according to published reports. Justice Breyer was not harmed, but the robber got away with about $1,000 in cash. "We're delighted that Justice Breyer was not hurt during this incident," said SAF founder and executive vice president, Alan M. Gottlieb, "and hopefully this case will give him a new perspective on the right to bear arms for personal safety. Police cannot always be around when you need them, even if you're a Supreme Court justice. One does not leave his right of self-defense at the doorstep of his home when he travels.