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Volume 3, No. 15, April 11, 2014
In This Issue
Editorial: Passing of gun rights' gentle giant
Holder wants "smart" gun
"Smart Gun" gets bad reception
Feinstein: Gun control end runs Congress
NY wants elite to get gun control pass
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The most recent FBI preliminary Uniform Crime Statistics for the first half of 2013 showed that murders fell by nearly 7 percent compared with the same period in 2012 while violent crime overall fell by 5.4 percent. These crime reductions continue a 30-year trend. As we have pointed out before, the crime reductions correspond with a steady increase in the legal demand for firearms as law-abiding American people have sought to exercise their Second Amendment rights, enjoy recreational shooting and even go afield with a new modern sporting rifle.  The latest ATF figures demonstrate how manufacturers responded to this demand. Firearms production in 2012 topped 8.57 million, up 31 percent from 6.54 million in 2011. [Source: National Shooting Sports Foundation]  
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Thought for the week

 

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The Caldwell CrossWind Professional Wind Meter was designed to be the best wind meter on the market for ballistic application. The 90 rotating anemometer head allows you to measure exactly how much crosswind will be applied on the side of your bullet without ever having to move the wind meter or do angle calculations. Both compact and portable, this wind meter reads current wind speed, average wind speed, max wind gust, temperature and even density altitude, altitude or barometric Pressure. The included holster protects the wind meter and makes it easy to keep handy. The Caldwell CrossWind Professional Wind Meter is the ultimate tool for indicating wind speed and calculating a reliable firing solution. It operates on one CR2032 battery (included).

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On Target Newsletter is a free weekly industry newsletter focused on Second Amendment and firearm industry issues published by On Target Media Group.

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Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
David A. Lombardo

Contributing Editor
Gretchen Fritz

Editorial Offices
Tel: 815-744-5487
david@otmediagroup.com  

Editorial

Otis McDonald:

The passing of a gun rights' gentle giant

David A. Lombardo

 

The first time I met Otis McDonald, I was immediately struck by what a quiet, modest, true gentleman he was. I'm not sure what I expected of the man who brought the City of Chicago to its knees over gun control, but shaking his hand for the first time impressed me far more than if he'd been Rambo himself.

 

I asked him what it felt like to be a giant in the gun rights movement-to be a hero to thousands of Illinois residents. He looked embarrassed for a moment then said he hadn't done anything heroic; he just wanted to be able to protect his family if necessary. 

 

 

 Otis lived in Chicago's Morgan Park area, and over the years he watched with dismay as the gang and drug traffic continued to grow to the point he felt he needed a firearm in his home for self-protection. The city disagreed. Otis wasn't important; he wasn't an alderman or a county board member, for whom gun laws don't apply. 

 

 Otis McDonald was born in Louisiana in 1933, the son of a sharecropper. After being discharged from the Army in 1952, he moved to Chicago where he got a janitorial job pushing a broom at the University of Chicago. Over time his hard work and friendly demeanor saw him rise through the ranks to maintenance engineer. The thing about Otis McDonald is that being a quiet, modest, true gentleman didn't preclude wanting to protect his family, and the fight was on; McDonald verses the City of Chicago was filed in 2008.

 

It took about two years to work its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which voted 5-4 in favor of striking down Chicago's gun ban. Time and again, throughout his life, Otis McDonald faced and overcame personal challenges with dignity and honor, which, in my book, constitutes a courageous hero. Theodore Roosevelt expressed the sentiment better than I would ever be able to do. In a speech given in France, Roosevelt said: 

 

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." 

 

I think that defines Otis McDonald who passed away April 4th at age 80. He is survived by his wife Laura, their five children and hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans who owe their Second Amendment rights to Illinois gun rights gentle giant Otis McDonald. 

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This week David and Gretchen's guest will be Don Moran, president of the Illinois State Rifle Association, who'll be talking about the late Illinois gun rights activist Otis McDonald who passed away last week.

 

All that, and more, this Sunday evening from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. on AM560 THE ANSWER.  

 

 

Holder floats taxpayer-funded

"smart" gun research  

 

Attorney General Eric Holder has testified on Capitol Hill that what America needs at this pivotal moment in its history is to spend $2 million for "smart" gun technology, as part of a $382 million expenditure on what the Obama administration calls "gun safety." Translation: federal "universal" background checks, "assault weapon" and "large" magazine legislation was defeated in the Senate and not voted upon in the House of Representatives last year, and gun control supporters need something else to talk about. During his testimony Holder voiced support for devices that would prevent firearms from being used by anyone other than their lawful owners. A common hypothetical along those lines would be to rig a firearm so that it could not fire unless it received an electronic signal from an electronic bracelet worn by the firearm's lawful owner. Some commentators concluded that Holder endorsed "gun tracking" technology.  Whether or not he specifically had that in mind, it does serve to raise questions about where such technology could lead or, more to the point, where gun control supporters would want it to lead. Put simply, if a device, such as a bracelet, could turn a firearm "on" via an electronic signal, another device could send an electronic signal that turns firearms "off."  [Source: NRA/ILA] 

 

 

First American store to sell

"Smart Gun" surprised by protest

 

When Southern California's Oak Tree Gun Club's pro shops started selling the new Armatix iP1 smart gun, they didn't expect the backlash they received from local gun owners-some of whom are longtime customers. Armatix is a German company specializing in radio-controlled, wireless locking technology. Their iP1 is a small semiautomatic pistol chambered in .22 LR with a 10-round magazine. What makes it unique is that it can only be fired when in range of a special watch sold along with the firearm. The watch communicates with the pistol via radio up to a range of 10 inches. When the watch comes into range of the pistol, it arms the gun and allows it to be fired by the user. When it goes out of range, the gun is locked again. Oak Tree owner James Mitchel told The Washington Post that "it could revolutionize the gun industry." California gun owners didn't agree. Pro-gun organizations such as the NRA and National Shooting Sports Foundation say they are not opposed to smart gun development itself but see any law mandating their use as a violation of the Second Amendment. The furious backlash against the sale of the Armatix iP1 appeared on internet forums and social media. "You have betrayed the shooting community on a national level. Hope you enjoy the 30 pieces of silver you got from Armatix," wrote one commenter on Oak Tree's Facebook page. "Consider me one of the many that will never give business to Oak Tree again due to their stance on 'smart gun' tech. Your actions speak much louder than your words and those actions are anti-gun and anti-gun owner," wrote another. [Source: Outdoor Hub] 

 

 

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Feinstein: End run Congress

to stop semi-auto imports

 
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), sponsor of the 1994 federal assault weapon and large capacity magazine ban, has asked President Barack Obama to direct the BATFE to reinterpret a provision of the Gun Control Act of 1968 to prohibit the importation of various semi-automatic firearms and their parts. In a letter to Obama, Feinstein said that, "at a minimum," the BATFE should: prohibit importation of all semiautomatic rifles that can accept, or be readily converted to accept, a large capacity ammunition magazine of more than 10 rounds; prohibit semiautomatic rifles with fixed magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds; prohibit the importation of the frame or receiver of any prohibited rifle; prohibit the practice of importing assault rifles in parts; prohibit the use of a thumbhole stock; and prohibit the importation of assault pistols. The request is similar to the type of failed legislation Feinstein introduced in Congress last year, only this time she's trying to achieve some of her ends through soliciting the president's use of executive authority over firearm imports. Joining Feinstein were 80-plus U.S. House members who wrote their own semi-auto firearms import ban proposal letter to President Obama. One might think it doesn't make sense for Feinstein and these House members to agitate for gun control in an election year, especially one in which a number of anti-gun senators and representatives are going to be facing the voters, but they are that obstinately committed to gun control. Please take action to stop these proposed restrictions by contacting your U.S. Senators and your U.S. Representative to tell them to oppose a ban on the importation of various semi-automatic firearms and their parts. [Source: NRA/ILA]

 

 

 

NY officials want flexibility

for city employee gun violators

 

Some of New York's most strident gun control advocates have rushed to the defense of an unwitting traveler who was arrested at an airport for a technical violation of a draconian gun law.  Has a new era of sanity arrived in the Big Apple?  Not really.  This defendant happens to be an NYPD officer who is alleged to have violated India's strict firearm regulations. On March 10th NYPD Officer Manny Encarnacion was arrested when officials at the airport in New Delhi discovered three rounds of ammunition in his baggage that he claimed accidentally remained in his pocket after a trip to a shooting range. Since his arrest he has not been allowed to leave India and faces charges that could land him seven years in prison. New York City's mayor Bill de Blasio expressed support for the officer and suggested that the Indian government may have had an ulterior reason for the arrest. Rep. Peter King (R-NY) wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, in which he states, "This excessive act by the Indian government is clearly politically motivated," and alleges that the incident is retaliation for the December 2013 arrest of an Indian official in New York. These staunch gun control proponents apparently don't have a highly-developed sense of irony or of their own breathtaking hypocrisy.  New York City has been engaged in a longstanding effort to persecute travelers that mistakenly violate the City's unusually harsh firearms laws or commit the "offense" of believing an out-of-state permit will be recognized in New York. These visitors often face a felony charge that mandates a minimum three and a half year sentence, if convicted.  The persecution of these peaceful and otherwise law-abiding persons who, like Encarnacion, pose no threat to public safety is entirely politically motivated. [Source: NRA/ILA]