SAF SUES ERIC HOLDER, FBI OVER MISDEMEANOR GUN RIGHTS DENIAL
BELLEVUE, WA – Acting on behalf of a Georgia resident and honorably discharged Vietnam War veteran, the Second Amendment Foundation today filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Eric Holder and the Federal Bureau of Investigation over enforcement of a federal statute that can deny gun rights to someone with a simple misdemeanor conviction on his record.
The lawsuit was filed in United States District Court for the District of Columbia. SAF and co-plaintiff Jefferson Wayne Schrader of Cleveland, GA are represented by attorney Alan Gura, who successfully argued both the Heller and McDonald cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In July 1968, Schrader, then 21, was found guilty of misdemeanor assault and battery relating to a fight involving a man who had previously assaulted him in Annapolis, MD. The altercation was observed by a police officer, who arrested Schrader, then an enlisted man in the Navy, stationed in Annapolis. The man he fought with was in a street gang that had attacked him for entering their “territory,” according to the complaint.
Schrader was ordered to pay a $100 fine and $9 court cost. He subsequently served a tour of duty in Vietnam and was eventually honorably discharged. However, in 2008 and again in 2009, Mr. Schrader was denied the opportunity to receive a shotgun as a gift, or to purchase a handgun for personal protection. He was advised by the FBI to dispose of or surrender any firearms he might have or face criminal prosecution.
“Schrader’s dilemma,” explained SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, “is that until recently, Maryland law did not set forth a maximum sentence for the crime of misdemeanor assault. Because of that, he is now being treated like a felon and his gun rights have been denied.
“No fair-minded person can tolerate gun control laws being applied this way,” he added. “Mr. Schrader’s case is a great example of why gun owners cannot trust government bureaucrats to enforce gun laws.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.
GOA Congressional Ratings are Now Posted on the Web — Time for fall cleaning of House and Senate!
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://www.gunowners.org
Thursday, September 30, 2010
With one of the biggest elections of our lifetimes only a month away, Gun Owners of America has now released its Congressional Ratings for the House and Senate.
Democrats have taken a radical turn to the left under the leadership of liberal anti-gunners like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama, and the electorate is ready to make a correction.
There is no doubt that the country is at a crossroads, with America’s Constitutional Republic hanging in the balance.
So the GOA Rating Guide is your tool for cutting through the bull that candidates are throwing at you during this election season.
Candidates who have established a voting record, either in the office for which they are running or in another elected office, are evaluated primarily on the basis of that voting record.
If an incumbent or challenger has not established a voting record or demonstrated his or her position in some other way, that candidate is evaluated on the basis of his or her responses to the GOA 2010 Federal Candidate Questionnaire.
You can go to http://gunowners.org/2010-candidate-ratings-guide.htm to see the ratings of every candidate on Second Amendment issues.
For 20 years, GOA has been the only gun group publishing an open-source national rating for gun owners to use. Our rating has been so devastating in smoking out the anti-gun bias of phony politicians that the Brady Campaign even took us before an administrative court three years ago to try and silence us. They lost.
Current GOA members will be receiving a printed version of this rating, and they are encouraged to photocopy it and distribute it around to their pro-gun family, friends and clubs. This newsletter not only contains ratings for every House and Senate race in the country, it includes explosive evidence that more and more government shrinks are using the Veterans Disarmament Act to disarm our military veterans.
To start receiving your own copy of The Gun Owners newsletter, please go to http://gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm to join GOA today.
The November elections are an exciting, if not anxious, time for millions of concerned Americans. Again, GOA encourages all members and supporters to go online and look up their candidates in the GOA Rating Guide to see where they stand on the Second Amendment. Then, make sure you pass this link along on to fellow gun owners, shooting ranges and gun clubs.
We have been to the marches, rallies, and town hall meetings. Now, it is time for millions and millions of concerned gun rights supporters to make their way to the polls and make their voices heard on Election Day.
To learn more about candidates endorsed by Gun Owners of American Political Victory Fund, please visit www.goapvf.org.
Handgun Shooting Tip 4 – Tactical Reloading
Pro-gun Champion Under Attack
Pro-gun Champion Under Attack
Gun Owners of America Political Victory Fund E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Pl, Suite 102
Springfield, VA 22151
http://www.goapvf.org
September 17, 2010
Pro-gun Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) is not afraid to stand up to the Washington Republican establishment, and now he’s being attacked for that reason.
On Tuesday, Sen. DeMint split with the leadership of his party and endorsed Christine O’Donnell in the Delaware Republican Senate primary. O’Donnell, who is also supported by GOA, was taking on the most notoriously anti-gun Republican member of the House of Representatives, Mike Castle.
In nearly two decades in the House, Castle voted for, and even sponsored, legislation to ban guns, close down gun shows, register gun owners, and much more. And when the egregious Clinton ban on semi-automatic firearms was set to expire in 2004, Castle wrote a letter to the Republican Speaker of the House urging him to extend the gun ban.
It is because Christine O’Donnell respects the Constitution and the right to keep and bear arms that Sen. DeMint (A+ rated by GOA) got involved in the race. But now, the know-nothing elites in the Party apparatus are claiming DeMint is diminishing Republican chances to win the Senate.
That’s an odd accusation, seeing that their prized candidate couldn’t make it out of a primary even though he had been in office for decades and had the support of major Republican figures from coast to coast.
But even more to the point, if Party leaders were able to fill the Senate with the likes of Mike Castle, the Second Amendment would be in greater danger — politicians like Chuck Schumer are eager to make banning guns a “bi-partisan” issue and would welcome Castle with open arms.
It is no surprise, then, that Sen. DeMint said that “I’ve been in the majority with Republicans who didn’t have principles, and we embarrassed ourselves and lost credibility in front of the country. Frankly, I’m at a point where I’d rather lose fighting for the right cause than win fighting for the wrong cause.”
GOA salutes Sen. DeMint for standing up to the RINOs (Republican in Name Only) in Washington. Please take a minute to thank Sen. DeMint by going to www.jimdemint.com/contact-me/ and dropping him a note
And also, if you are able, please visit Christine O’Donnell on the web at www.christineodonnell.com to make a contribution. She is under attack on all sides, and is relying on gun owners and all those who care about the Constitution and limited government to rally in her support.
Sincerely,
Tim Macy
Vice-Chairman
Obama gives TCU rifle team a warm welcome at White House
By Maria Recio
WASHINGTON — The five female members of Texas Christian University’s national championship rifle team were already beside themselves to be on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday evening at a celebration of all NCAA sports champions when President Barack Obama gave them the first shout-out.
“We’ve got the sharpshooters from the TCU rifle squad. Where are they?” asked Obama as the team members, standing near the camera risers, screamed. “I think that they may be able to give the Secret Service a run for their money.”
Obama spoke briefly to the 650 honorees from 32 schools, praising them for being students and athletes. “You didn’t do it as professionals,” he said. “You put in countless hours of practice for the love of the game and for the pride of your school.”
The TCU rifle team came in for some extra attention because it is the first all-female national rifle championship winner in NCAA history — the sport can have all-male, mixed gender and all-female teams.
“That was so awesome,” said Sarah Scherer, 19, a sophomore from Fort Worth, “to be recognized by the president.”
It was about to get more awesome.
As the president worked the rope line, shaking hands and talking to many of the students, he reached the TCU team members — who stood out in their black dresses and matching purple and black TCU cowboy boots.
“He said, ‘Check out the boots!'” said Caitlin Morrissey, 19, of Topeka, Kan.
TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini, who also attended the event, said the university had given the president his own pair of TCU boots, as well — all the championship teams brought some item of clothing with their logo, which were collected at a security checkpoint.
“It’s a real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all of us,” said Boschini.
And there was another surprise for the president — team member Simone Riford, 22, of Hawaii graduated from Obama’s Honolulu high school — and was wearing her class ring to prove it.
“I showed him my ring,” she said, and they spoke about Hawaii and Punahou High School.
And, surprisingly, Obama told the TCU team members that he, too, practiced shooting with a rifle. “He said he practiced with the Secret Service,” said Riford, who graduated from TCU in May and now works in Fort Worth.
“It was sweet,” said Morrissey. “It was way more than we expected.”
“It’s a great experience,” said Scherer, who grew up in Boston. “Our sport is not very well known, so to be invited to the White House is very exciting.”
Erin Lorenzen, 22, of Fort Wayne, Ind., who graduated in May, said that she once visited the White House on her eighth-grade class trip. “This time it’ll be inside the fence,” she said beforehand.
Sarah Beard, 19, a sophomore from Danville, Ind., said that winning the championship as a freshman “was a good way to end my first year.”
And being at the White House seemed to top it all off, as Beard described meeting the president as “awesome.”
Coach Karen Monez gave her team all the credit for their championship — and was thrilled that Obama gave them such personal attention.
TCU Athletic Director Chris Del Conte said the women were also outstanding students who had the highest GPA of the school’s teams.
Maria Recio is the Star-Telegram’s Washington bureau chief.
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/09/13/2465524/obama-gives-tcu-rifle-team-a-warm.html#ixzz0zc5bJ1GU
Obama Administration Moves to Block the Sale of M1s to Law-abiding Americans
— State Department intimates that these historic relics may be melted down
Friday, September 10, 2010
Apparently, things are going so well in the Middle East that the State Department now feels it can turn its attention to banning the lawful possession of firearms by American citizens.
In a little-noticed decision in March, the Obama administration reversed an earlier decision and moved to block the importation of 857,470 lawful M1 semi-automatics which were being sold by South Korea in an effort to raise money for its military. According to Hillary Clinton’s State Department, this action was taken because the M1’s “could potentially be exploited… for illicit purposes.”
Even worse, a spokesman for the State Department left the impression that the valuable historic relics could even be melted down, as Clinton’s husband did during his administration. Suffice it to say that this is just another reiteration of the same anti-gun political theatre. And the cheers coming from anti-gunners like Dennis Henigan of the Brady Campaign are ample proof of that.
Possession of these guns by Americans is lawful. They are antiques of historical interest, particularly for those who, unlike Clinton and her husband, served this country honorably in America’s foreign wars. And anyone wishing to acquire one would have to go through an Instant Check.
If any American, going into the November elections, had any doubt that Barack Obama and the Democratic Party leaders hate guns and have contempt for the Second Amendment, this is proof. Reps. John Boozman and Paul Broun are submitting a letter to State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton — demanding that this unlawful decision be reversed.
And we are working with several legislators to offer an amendment on the next available legislative vehicle which would prohibit the administration from blocking the importation — or even the destruction — of these firearms. Please see the ACTION item and pre-written letter below.
Have you recently renewed your GOA membership?
If you haven’t renewed your membership lately, then there’s a lot of information that you could be missing. In our newsletters, GOA takes on recent UN efforts to impose global gun control and has provided its members with postcards to inundate their Senators in opposition to any arms control treaties that would infringe upon our gun rights.
In fact, current members should be expecting another update on UN gun control efforts that will be arriving in their mailboxes soon. We can’t fight all our battles through email and that’s why we need you to be a member of Gun Owners of America.
You can go to http://gunowners.org/ordergoamem.htm and join Gun Owners of America for the cost of a box of ammunition. Get your friends and family to sign up as well. You’ll be glad you did!
ACTION: Write your Representative and urge him or her to cosign the Boozman/Broun letter which demands that the unlawful decision against the M1s be reversed. You can go to the Gun Owners Legislative Action Center to send your Representative the pre-written e-mail message below.
—– Pre-written letter —–
Dear Representative:
Please stand up for the Second Amendment in opposition to the Obama administration’s anti-gun efforts to block the importation of — or even destroy — over 850,000 legal, historic M1 semi-automatic firearms.
Reps. John Boozman and Paul Broun are submitting a letter to State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton protesting this unlawful action.
I urge you in the strongest terms to cosign that letter with them. You can contact either Boozman’s or Broun’s office to get a copy of the letter and to indicate your desire to add your name to this effort.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
New Pics in Photo Gallery! Custom M17S
Help Sharron Angle Defeat Harry Reid
Gun Owners of America E-Mail Alert
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151
Phone: 703-321-8585 / FAX: 703-321-8408
http://gunowners.org
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thank you, everyone, for your hard work over the last few months. Because of your lobbying efforts, the NRA has decided NOT TO ENDORSE anti-gun Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his contest against Sharron Angle.
As you may remember, GOA had alerted you last month to press reports indicating that the NRA might endorse Reid. Followers of the Wall Street Journal read on July 2 that:
The chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association made an interesting admission to The Weekly Standard following a Wednesday report by RedState.com that the powerful gun lobby might back Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his general election battle against Republican Sharron Angle.
It’s not that they might endorse Reid — because they might, said chief lobbyist Chris Cox — but that the issue doesn’t appear to be as much about the records of Reid and Angle, but rather the specter of a Senate run by either Democratic Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois or New York Sen. Chuck Schumer.
GOA asked you to contact the NRA and to urge them NOT TO ENDORSE Reid. Well, as of last week, the NRA officially announced that they would not endorse him!
This is extremely good news, because it makes it more likely that gun owners in Nevada will now be able to make a more informed decision in November. Now, if we can just encourage the NRA to take the next step and endorse the pro-gun Sharron Angle!
Over her eight years in the Nevada legislature, Angle stood 100% in favor of the Second Amendment, and was a steadfast leader in protecting the constitutional liberties of all Nevadans. Reid, on the other hand, has been a steadfast OPPONENT of the right to keep and bear arms, having earned an F rating from GOA.
To see Senator Harry Reid’s anti-gun record, please see:
http://gunowners.org/is-harry-reid-pro-gun-or-anti-gun.htm
GOA has been exposing Reid’s record for months, and has even set up a special section on our website to expose his record. During this time, we have seen Reid’s numbers drop, while Angle has surged in the polls — in fact, she overcame what was at one time a 20-point deficit during the primary to win the nomination in June.
Angle and Reid are now in a dead heat, as the Rasmussen polling firm shows the two candidates are tied at 47 percent.
ACTION: Please ask the NRA leadership to endorse Sharron Angle in the Nevada Senate race — as she is an extremely pro-gun advocate. Encourage your family and friends to contact them as well.
You can call the NRA at (800) 392-VOTE (8683).