Harvard study debunks anti-gun argument

 According to Harvard University professors Don Kates and Gary Mauser, gun bans have no effect on curbing violent crime. In  Would banning firearms reduce murder and suicide, the researchers reviewed a significant amount of evidence from a wide variety of international sources. They concluded there was not a positive correlation between gun ownership and criminal violence or suicide. What they did find is that countries with higher gun ownership often had lower murder rates. The research cites Russia which has very strict gun control and also has a very high murder rate -four times higher than the United States. The study also indicates that European countries with significant gun ownership such as Norway, Finland, Germany and France, have remarkably low murder rates. Contrast that with Luxembourg, "where handguns are totally banned and ownership of any kind of gun is minimal, which had a murder rate nine times higher than Germany." Kates and Mauser cite an older study done by Professor Brandon Centerwall of the University of Washington. It compared the more lax U.S. gun policy to Canada's very strict policy and found similar results.  Centerwall wrote, "We did not begin this research with any intent to exonerate handguns, but there it is-a negative finding."

Ninth Circuit rules in Firearms Freedom Act case

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals released its opinion in MSSA v. Holder, the lawsuit brought in federal court to validate the principles of the Montana Firearms Freedom Act. The MFFA, enacted by the Montana Legislature in 2009, says firearms made and retained in Montana are not subject to federal regulation under the  U.S. Constitution's charge to "regulate commerce ... among the states."  The suit is challenging federal commerce clause power. Plaintiffs in MSSA v. Holder are the Montana Shooting Sports Association (MSSA), the Second Amendment Foundation, and Gary Marbut, president of MSSA.  To set up the legal challenge, Marbut determined to manufacture a youth-model, .22 caliber, bolt-action rifle called the Montana Buckaroo; BATF said its unlicensed manufacture would be illegal under federal law. The federal District Court ruled that the plaintiffs lacked "standing" to bring the lawsuit and dismissed it. MSSA appealed to the Ninth Circuit; it has weighed in, reversing the federal District Court on the standing issue, saying that Marbut has standing to bring the challenge but held that existing Supreme Court precedent was against plaintiffs on the merits of the lawsuit. Marbut commented, "This was about as good of a ruling as we could have expected from the Ninth Circuit.  We must get to the U.S. Supreme Court to accomplish our goal of overturning 70 years of flawed Supreme Court rulings on the interstate commerce clause." [Source: AmmoLand Shooting Sports News] 

NOTICE

Illinois Concealed Carry

coming in the next few weeks! Stay tuned! 

We'll send out an email blast, post it on our Facebook pages

On Target Radio & SAFERUSA, & announce it on the radio

Sat Sep 14 & Sun Sep 15 - 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Cuban agent-of-influence

wants more American gun control

The Council on Foreign Relations recently released a Policy Innovation Memorandum titled, "AStrategy to Reduce Gun Trafficking and Violence in the Americas." The memo was authored by the CFR's Senior Fellow for Latin American Studies, Julia Sweig, who said, "The policy that needs innovation is U.S. gun laws," and she explained all the people shooting one another in Latin America is because of the flow of "high-powered weaponry" from the United States to Latin America. "Although recent federal gun control measures have run aground on congressional opposition... the Obama administration can still take executive action to reduce the availability and trafficking of assault weapons and ammunition in the Americas," she wrote. In short Sweig believes, to foil Latin American criminals (many of whom cross the southern U.S. border essentially at will), the U.S. president should use every ounce of his executive power and privilege to further gut the constitutional self-defense rights of U.S. citizens. It turns out that Sweig's occupation is lobbying for Cuba, and her promotional services for the Castro regime reached a level where the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency's top Cuba spy-catcher, Chris Simmons (now retired), named her a Cuban Agent of Influence. 

Bill to ban hunting in California advances in Senate

Continuing to move forward, the California Senate Appropriations Committee moved to pass Assembly Bill 711, which will effectively ban hunting in California by banning traditional lead ammunition, the first statewide ban of its kind in the nation.  The bill now moves to the California State Senate floor and is opposed by a large coalition, including every major hunting and sporting organization in California, as well as a coalition of Labor leaders and organizations concerned about the impact to their members. Proponents of the bill have argued that hunters could simply switch to non-lead ammunition, but alternative metals are classified as "armor piercing" by the federal government and require a special permission to make, sell or possess; thus far the federal government has refused to grant permission.  Alternative ammunition would be exceedingly expensive, and supplies would not meet the demands of hunters.  By eliminating hunting in California, the state would lose millions in conservation funding that depends upon ammunition and license fees paid by hunters. Despite the unavailability of alternative ammunitions, the committee passed the bill, although it was amended to delay implementation of the lead ban until 2019. There is no sound science to support the premise that lead ammunition adversely impacts wildlife populations. Supporters of the bill also knowingly falsely claim that using traditional ammunition poses a human health risk to hunters.