Firearms Policy Coalition

Bloomberg was beaten back in Maine on Election Day!

Via WGME:

In a major upset for Maine’s gun rights grass-roots and over a campaign apparatus that steeply outraised them, voters rejected an expansion of background checks on private gun sales and transfers on Tuesday.

The win is a blow to Everytown for Gun Safety, a national group founded by Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire ex-mayor of New York City, which funded virtually all of the nearly $6 million campaign in Maine. A similar race in Nevada funded by the group hung in the balance early Wednesday morning.

By any measure, it’s a stunning victory for what David Trahan, the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine, called a group of “ragtag volunteers” that shows “you can win on an issue without money” — though they had $1 million with some support from the National Rifle Association — and “you can do things at the grass-roots level.”

“I’ve been involved in a lot of campaigns over the years, but this one I’ll never forget because it was truly a grass-roots campaign,” he said.

Read more here.

We’re on pace to set another record.

Via Benzinga:

Firearm background checks for the month of October continued a record-high trend for this year, with checks rising 17 percent sequentially and 18 percent year-over-year.

The Firearm Background checks data is released by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which is followed in the United States to determine if the prospective buyer qualifies for buying a firearm or explosives.

The data shows that in October 2016, the checks rose to 2,333,539 from 1,976,759 in the same period last year. In September, background checks stood at 1,992,219. Notably, checks rose only 6 percent year-over-year in August, then 11 percent in September, now 18 percent.

Read more here.

Opposition is growing to Nevada’s gun control initiative.

Via the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Support has narrowed to a slim majority among likely Nevada voters for a ballot measure to expand background checks for private-party firearm sales and transfers, according to a poll commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Question 1 would require both parties involved to appear before a federally licensed firearms dealer, who would conduct a background check on the person receiving the firearm.

The measure is on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Read more here.

Pennsylvania’s former Attorney General, Kathleen Kane, has finally been sentenced for the felony perjury charges she has been fighting.

Kane had been charged for leaking grand jury records and then lying about it. The judge in the case sentenced her to 10-23 months in prison.

Kane originally was elected to her office with the help of Michael Bloomberg, who spent over half a million dollars on her race. One of her campaign promises was to tighten restrictions on concealed carry reciprocity in Pennsylvania.

Now if only all anti-gun politicians were sentenced to jail time for leaking records and lying to the public…

Makes sense to us.

Via WeaponsMan:

The typical estimate of the total number of firearms in the USA is about 300 million, depending on whom is queried.

The numbers are all over the place, and many of them seem to recursively refer to one another, not exactly building confidence in the rigor of their development. But they seem to cluster around a Narrative-friendly 300 million. But what if that number is wrong?

We believe that the correct number is much higher — somewhere between 412 and 660 million. You may wonder how we came to that number, so buckle up (and cringe, if you’re a math-phobe, although it never gets too theoretical): unlike most of the academics and reporters we linked above, we’re going to use publicly available data, and show our work.

Read more here.

Sig Sauer, Heckler & Koch, Glock and Beretta are stepping up in Europe and fighting gun control.

Via New Europe:

The European Commission is meeting fierce resistance from Austria, Germany, France, Italy, and several eastern European states in its attempt to ban the sales of semi-automatic weapons, “Der Spiegel” magazine reports.

Since the Charlie Hebdo attack, the European Commission has advocated a blanket ban on assault rifles and a six bullet limit to the rounds of semi-automatic magazines from 21 today. That initial proposal has now been watered down following intensive lobbying.

Companies such as Germany’s Sig Sauer, Heckler & Koch, Austria’s Glock, and Italy’s Beretta have enlisted support in powerful European parties, including Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats (CDU), to prevent the regulation of the legal retail market for assault rifles.

Read more here.

Support for campus carry is strong in Florida.

Via Guns.com:

A public policy survey in Florida shows 56 percent of residents questioned support allowing trained staff to carry firearms inside public schools.

The results of the 2016 USF-Nielsen Sunshine State Survey, released in increments over the last month by the University of South Florida College of Arts and Sciences, indicate 35 percent of the 1,248 people surveyed “strongly favor” the idea and another 21 percent said they would just “favor” such a proposal.

Strong supporters tended to fit into one of the following groups: white, working-age, male, college graduates, affluent and living in Orlando or northern Florida.

Meanwhile, 29 percent said they “strongly oppose” the idea and 11 percent responded as just “opposed.”

Read more here.

Giffords is on the warpath to elect Clinton.

Via Cronkite News:

In the five years since then-Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was critically injured in a Tucson shooting that killed six and wounded 13, Congress has been unable to pass gun reforms, her husband said Thursday.

That’s why Giffords and her husband, Capt. Mark Kelly, joined other gun-control activists in Washington to demand reform from Congress and encourage voters to elect lawmakers, beginning with the White House, who will enact what they call sensible gun safety laws.

For Giffords and Kelly, that starts with electing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

“With Hillary in the White House, she will sign legislation into law and we will no longer have to live in a nation that has 33,000 people dying every single year from gun violence,” Kelly said.

Read more here.

Don’t think we’ll be going there anytime soon…

Via the Boston Globe:

Diners at the Grace restaurant sit under a vaulted ceiling and stained-glass windows in a former Methodist church built in the 1850s. Its cool, spiritual chic comes with a catch: No one who owns an assault rifle — or even supports the right to own one — is welcome.

Grace’s owner, Anne Verrill, posted that dis-invitation on Facebook shortly after a June 12 shooting rampage at an Orlando nightclub killed 49 people. Verrill was outraged at yet another mass shooting, this time the worst one on US soil by a single assailant, and she had had enough.

On her post, Verrill attached a picture of an assault rifle and wrote: “If you own this gun, or you condone the ownership of this gun for private use, you may no longer enter either of my restaurants, because the only thing I want to teach my children is love.”

Read more here.

Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine claims he is a supporter of the Second Amendment…

Via LA Times:

Kaine’s positions on gun control have become more stringent over time, reflecting his years in elected office in his home state of Virginia.

When Kaine ran for governor, he promised not to push for new restrictions on guns. But after the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007 — during his term — he worked with Republican lawmakers to bolster the state’s system for background checks, an effort the Obama administration pointed to as a model for national action.

As a U.S. senator, Kaine has backed restrictions on gun magazines that hold more than 10 bullets.

His support for tougher gun control meshes with Clinton’s platform. She’s consistently pushed for more extensive background checks and a ban on firearm purchases by people on the “no-fly” list because of suspected terrorist activity.

Read more here.

The more laws they pass, the more guns we buy.

Via the Washington Free Beacon:

The FBI processed more gun-related background checks this September than any other on record, documents released on Monday show.

1,992,219 checks were conducted through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, last month. The number represents an increase of nearly 200,000 checks, or more than ten percent, over September 2015. September is the 17th month in a row to set a new record within its month, a streak dating back to May 2015.

Read more here.

Thanks to the Missouri Legislature sticking to their guns, permitless carry will now be the law.

Via the Kansas City Star:

For the second time Wednesday, Republicans turned to a parliamentary maneuver to kill a Democratic filibuster and force a vote on a bill, this time to override Gov. Jay Nixon’s veto of a bill eliminating training and permit requirements to carry a concealed gun in public.

The maneuver, known as “calling the previous question,” was once rarely used — only five times in the Senate from 1970 to 2001, when Republicans captured the majority. But it’s now been used five times since 2014, including three times this year.

After shutting down debate Wednesday, the Senate voted to override the governor’s veto on a 24-6 party line vote. The bill moved to the House, where it was quickly approved 112-41.

It becomes law in 30 days.

Read more here.

Firearms sales are booming across the country… even in anti-gun Illinois. Perhaps people are waking up to the fact that they are their own first responder.

Via Guns.com:

FBI background checks for firearms tripled across Illinois last month as Chicago recorded its deadliest August since 1997.

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System recorded 60,745 handgun checks and another 30,602 for long gun purchases, the most ever conducted in Illinois since the federal database rolled out in 1998.

Meanwhile, Chicago’s murder rate has outpaced 2015 with more than 500 homicides to date. Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson told The Chicago Tribune on Tuesday an influx of illegal weapons, gang activity and rampant poverty fuel the violence plaguing the city. He says the department has seized 6,000 illegal guns this year so far.

Read more here.

It is too bad other states aren’t following Utah’s example of concealed carry permit issuance.

Via the Standard Examiner:

A crackdown on illegible fingerprints has failed to slow sustained increases in the number of concealed-carry firearm permits being granted in Utah.

The state counted 662,720 valid concealed-carry permits as of June 30, the end of the most recent fiscal year, data from the Bureau of Criminal Identification shows. That’s an increase of 8.3 percent over the previous year, and 74.3 percent over five years ago.

Terrorism, mass shootings, fear of local crime and political battles over gun control have helped fuel the ongoing surge of firearms’ popularity in Utah. The BCI, with a $15 million annual budget, must check and process all permits, issue suspensions and revocations, and stay up to date with federal criminal and firearms regulations and technology changes.

Read more here.

A United Way chapter in New Mexico will begin resuming raffling firearms to raise money after it received permission from its worldwide office. The New Mexico chapter had paused the raffle due to outcry from gun control advocates who criticized the background checks winners must undergo as flawed. Via FoxNews.com:

A New Mexico affiliate of United Way is resuming raffles of firearms to raise money.

The Alamogordo Daily News reports that the United Way of Otero County confirmed last week that it received permission from United Way Worldwide to continue raffle sales.

The organization had been selling 2017 calendars with a raffle entry ticket attached for $50.

United Way of Otero County had suspended the raffle earlier this month after a complaint by New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence.

Read more here.

Calif. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, in a recent interview about his role in the Gunpocalypse process, admitted that he secretly lobbied Governor Jerry Brown for his support in signing the anti-gun bills. Rendon was aided by Senator Kevin “Ghost Gun” De Leon.

Via the Los Angeles Times:

In June, after 49 people were shot to death in an Orlando, Fla., nightclub, Rendon was one of a small group of lawmakers who attended a rally by the group Moms Demand Action on the steps of the Capitol to call for tougher laws.

One potential obstacle was Gov. Jerry Brown, who had vetoed gun control bills in the past on grounds they did not improve public safety enough to justify taking away privileges of law-abiding gun owners.

Amid concerns over the prospects of the new batch of state bills regulating guns, Rendon and Senate Leader Kevin de León secretly met behind closed doors with Brown on the day of the rally to make their case.

Two days later, Brown signed seven bills.

Read more here.

A Chicago-area gun store was removed from a comic convention floor over concerns that “real guns” would be exhibited. The store was intending to feature replica guns and advertise safety courses. Via the Chicago Tribune:

A Chicago-area gun shop that wants to exhibit at comic conventions and other pop culture shows was thwarted in its initial attempt Thursday when producers of Wizard World Comic Con Chicago scratched the shop’s participation.

Barrington-based DS Arms owner Dave Selvaggio said he had planned since March to set up at the four-day show, which draws tens of thousands of comic and fantasy fans to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont. The shop’s booth was to include replica guns and promotions for services such as gun safety and shooting classes.

But Las Vegas-based Wizard World pulled the plug on the booth following complaints that apparently stemmed from online reports that a dealer of real guns would be exhibiting at the show, which opened Thursday.

Read more here.

As gun sales continue to climb in the midst of the various attacks on the Second Amendment, background checks also match the steady increase. July 2016 marked a new record in background checks for the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Via Guns.com:

July tallied more than 2.1 million background checks, a new record in the seemingly ever-increasing gun sales numbers.

Usage data for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System show the largest jump for the seventh month of the year in since the system launched in 1998.

The total of 2,187,190 checks for July 2016 reflects a 37.6 percent increase from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 1,589,462 in July 2015. When adjusted — subtracting out gun permit checks and rechecks by numerous states who use NICS — the latest figure becomes 1,210,731, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry trade organization, which is an increase of 27.9 percent compared to the July 2015 NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 946,528.

Read more here.

We did it!

Thanks to you, we were able to exceed our July fundraising goal!. We are also on the verge of announcing a winner in the Cobalt Kinetics BAMF Edge rifle giveaway, so stay tuned!

Your support allows us to continue our lobbying efforts with lawmakers and ensures we can promote a pro-gun policy agenda.

It allows us to kill bills that are introduced as a way to totally strip away your Second Amendment rights.

And your support allows us to initiate lawsuits against unconstitutional laws if they are passed and signed by tyrants.

You are, without a doubt, the most active and engaged group of activists that I have ever encountered.

Thank you for your continuing support. Without it, there would be no Firearms Policy Coalition.

Massachusetts gun stores are learning to retool their business plans as they working their way through the measure Attorney General Maura Healey imposed upon the state last month. Healey’s issued the directive that banned all AR-15s and AK-47s, which sparked protests all across the state. Via Guns.com:

Per the measure, any vendors who continued selling the so-called “copycat” firearms violated the ban and could face fines, prison time and/or lose their Federal Firearms License.

Greg Malany, owner of GFA ArmsTec, said the outright ban sent his shop into utter chaos as he had only a few hours to move his remaining inventory.

“There was no warning,” Malany told The Milford Daily News. “It came completely out of left field.”

While Tombstone Trading Company moved residual inventory into online sales to out of state residents, Guns-Inc told Guns.com they are concentrating on other firearms moving forward.

“We will concentrate on handgun sales more instead of the combined semi-auto rifle and handgun sales,” Kensall Knapik, owner of Guns-Inc said in an email.

Read more here.