Fourth Circuit Requires “Strict Scrutiny” for Maryland Gun and Magazine Ban – It hasn’t been a good week for Martin O’Malley, former governor of Maryland, would-be contender for President of the United States, and staunch gun control advocate. As we report elsewhere, O’Malley was finally forced to drop out of the Democratic primary on Tuesday after failing to garner even a single delegate at the Iowa Caucus. Then, on Thursday, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an opinion that may spell doom for O’Malley’s signature legislative “achievement” as governor, the so-called Firearm Safety Act of 2013 (FSA). This act ushered in a long list of onerous gun control measures, but its centerpiece is a broad ban on popular semiautomatic rifles, as well as magazines with a capacity of greater than 10 rounds.
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| The 2016 presidential campaign is now officially underway, with the completion of the Iowa caucuses last Monday evening. First the numbers. On the GOP side, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz finished first, with 28% of the vote, Donald Trump finished second with 24%, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio came in a close third with 23%. Cruz won 8 delegates, Trump and Rubio won 7 apiece (three other candidates split the remaining 5 delegates.) It has been reported that the turnout for the GOP caucuses was a historic high. |
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| On Thursday, a bi-partisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 766, the ‘‘Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2015,” sponsored by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO). As we reported last year, this bill targets the abuses of Operation Choke Point (OCP), an Obama administration “enforcement” program that lumped together legal and illegal businesses into a “high risk” category and threatened the banks with intense regulatory scrutiny. The goal of OCP was to deter the banks from forming or continuing relationships with the targeted industries, thereby driving them out of business. Included on this list were firearm and ammunition sellers, many of whom found themselves struggling to find or keep banking relationships as a result of the program. |
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| At the same time the European Union bureaucrats in Brussels are trying to foist further gun controls on the continent, Europeans are exhibiting a newfound interest in acquiring the tools of self-defense. Though restricted by EU mandate and often severe national gun controls, following a series of high-profile attacks on women, Europeans are buying up whatever means of protection they can still legally obtain. The surge in interest in firearms and other self-defense products dates back several months and relates in part to European unease surrounding mass immigration from the other parts of the world. |
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| Colleges usually take great pride in proclaiming their “diversity” and “inclusiveness,” but simply wearing a tool of his trade was cause enough for one uniformed police officer to be excluded from a class he was taking at Darton State College in Albany, Georgia. While details are lacking, several press accounts (exemplified by this Fox News report) from the past week recount the strange tale of the officer being escorted from class because the instructor was uncomfortable that a gun was in the classroom. To date, neither the officer nor the instructor has been identified. |
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| Billionaire Michael Bloomberg is in a spending freefall attacking our gun rights all across the U.S., on multiple fronts…in Congress, in state legislatures, and on the airwaves. Further, he’s gathering signatures and pouring money into anti-freedom ballot initiatives in states like WA, NV ME, and AZ. In the ’15 VA elections, he spent more than $2 million on a couple of state senate races! If he’s willing to invest that much in VA alone, imagine how much of his BILLIONS he will spend in ’16 all across the nation! |
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| In this News Minute from the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, Jennifer Zahrn reports that the NRA released its second video in a series that highlights the truths and hypocrisies of the national gun control debate. The latest one is about “Australian style” gun confiscation and what Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama really mean when they talk about adopting Australia-style gun control laws. |
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| NRA All Access goes international to Urbino, Italy! The firearms industry stretches across the globe and we head to the Franchi plant to learn more about Italian firearm history, international relations, and the overall culture to the outdoor lifestyle – Italian style. (Air date: February 10, 2016 on Outdoor Channel) |
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| STATE GRASSROOTS ROUND-UP |
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