Light on posting this week

I have not dropped off the face of the earth or anything crazy, but I am rather swamped this week in other projects. I should be able to resume posting sometime next week.

NRA-ILA Grassroots Alert

This week's NRA-ILA Grassroots Alert.

National Park Carry Amendment Passed by the House

The National Park Carry Coburn Amendment to the Credit Card bill was approved by the House yesterday.  Next stop will be the President's desk where Obama is expected to sign the bill, not because of the Amendment, but in spite of it.

The NRA, GOA, & CCRKBA have all issued related press releases.  The Brady folks are not happy - apparently they think law abiding citizens who already carry guns in rush hour traffic & crowded shopping malls without incident will suddenly loose their heads when the "self defense prohibited" signs are removed from our National Parks.

Patrick Johnson: Behind the Scene with pro-gun Bloggers

Christian Science Monitor author Patrick Johnson wrote an article titled: "A rifle in one hand, a laptop in the other. Behind the scene with pro-gun bloggers"

In the press box, bloggers outnumbered national reporters by a good margin. And officially, nearly 50 bloggers — compared to 100 mainstream print journalists — were accredited by the NRA press office to attend the 138th annual convention.

H/T to NSSF.

Saturday at the NRA Convention

Saturday was a lot of fun.  I took a couple of my boys along with me & we explored the NRA Exhibition floor which took most of the day, even though we only stopped to look more closely at the items of most interest to us.  I think we would have needed at least a week to get a detailed look at everything that caught our eye.

While there we found Cam Edwards at the NRANews.com booth & I introduced my boys to him.  Cam had a brief chat with both of them which they enjoyed greatly.  Thanks Cam!  We also wandered into a Cowboy Fast Draw booth being run by members of the Arizona Cowboy Shooters Association where we tried our hand at fast draw action which was loads of fun for the three of us.

Later in the day we took a break from the Exhibit floor to check out the NRA Air Rifle Range.  While we were there Pyramyd Air did a demo of the Shin Sung Dragon Slayer .50 Cal Air Rifle which was fun to watch.  They blew up some apples and a small 2x4 plank of wood.  After the demo my boys had a great time shooting air rifles - both were excellent shots.

Another high point in the day for us was heading over to the Tactical Solutions booth to get autographed copies of Trail Safe - Michael Bane's latest book.  My boys were very excited to meet Michael Bane in person & get his autographed book as they love watching his TV shows with me.

After heading home to rest a bit I went to watch John Stossel & Oliver North speak at the NRA American Values Banquet.  With about 6,300 people served dinner it was the largest dinner ever held anywhere in the State of Arizona.  While waiting for the speeches to begin I had a nice conversation with Mark Anderson who was there to report on the dinner for The American Free Press.  We talked about everything from the 2nd & 1st Amendments in the Bill of Rights to the shortcomings of the Lamestream Media.

John Stossel & Oliver North delivered excellent speeches.  You'll want to listen to them once they become available in the Archive of NRANews.com.  I was the only blogger who watched the event from the raised Media platform, so although I missed out on the food I did enjoy a great view of the entire room:

Overall it was another great day.  I'm looking forward to the next NRA Annual Meeting, hopefully I'll be able to go!

PS: I send out many thanks to Bitter for organizing the Blog Bash & to the NRA , Cam Edwards, and Michael Bane for catering to New Media!

Friday at the NRA Convention

I had a great time today at the 2009 NRA Annual Meeting here in Phoenix Arizona. I spent a lot of time today with Eric Shelton (of the Handgun Podcast) & Carl (of the Gun Dudes Podcast) which was a lot of fun in itself, both are great guys and were a lot of fun to hang around. As an extra bonus Eric even gave me a Handgun Podcast T-shirt which was great.

I started out the day at the NRA Grassroots Workshop, which set a new record turnout with over double the size of their workshop from last year. All the speakers were great, and we had surprise visits from Wayne LaPierre & Chris Cox which was really fun for me due to the fact that Eric & I were practically on the front row. If you don't believe me, I have photographic evidence.

Dave Kopp was at the table next to ours, and true to his word he gave Eric & I AZCDL pin's. If you're an AZCDL member & you run into any of the AZCDL leadership this weekend they will give you an AZCDL pin.

In the afternoon a group of us went to watch the NRA Celebration of American Values. There were a lot of good speeches given, but my favorites were given by Wayne LaPierre, Governor Haley Barbour, Ken Blackwell, John Bolton, Dick Morris, Michael Reagan, Mitt Romney, and Michael Steele. Once they're available in the NRA Archive I think you'd enjoy listening to them.

After the Celebration of American Values was over we headed over to the NRA Press Office to spend an hour with Cam Edwards of NRA News. He gave us the inside scoop on some of the exciting new changes that will be taking place on the NRA News website that will make it easier for us to search for & link to specific segments of his nightly gun rights news program. He also shared advice on how to plan audio interviews & podcast segments for the podcasters in our group. Thanks Cam!

We rounded up the day by hanging out with Michael Bane and his sponsors. What a fun evening. I enjoyed chatting with Michael Bane as well as representatives from Smith & Wesson, Tactical Solutions, and Insight Tech-Gear, not to mention lots of fellow bloggers. I even came away with some free T-shirts & hats, which are always a fun thing to get. While there I met Yamil Sued of HotGunShots.com & saw some of his action photos on his ipod. Amazing photography and a very friendly guy.

A fun packed day, and I have not even been onto the NRA Exhibit floor yet! Saturday morning the exhibit floor will be my first stop. I don't plan to leave the exhibit until I see everything there or they kick me out, whichever comes first.

As I find things of interest on the exhibit floor I'll be updating my twitter feed & will be uploading photos to my flickr stream & facebook. You can also follow other bloggers here at 2ablogbash.com. If you can't go there yourself, come along with me & enjoy the fun!

AZCDL: Parking Lot Storage Bill Passed by House

From the AZCDL:

HB 2474 passed out of the House “Third Read” on Wednesday, May 13, 2009, by a vote of 41-10 with 9 members not voting.  You can see how your Representatives voted here.

From here HB 2474 will be transmitted to the Senate.

HB 2474 stipulates that property owners, tenants, public or private employers, and business entities must not prohibit the transport or storage of legally owned firearms in locked and privately owned motor vehicles parked within parking lots, parking garages, and other designated parking areas.  It exempts property owners, tenants, public or private employers, business entities, and their employees or agents from civil liability for damages resulting from or arising out of an act involving a legally owned firearm that is transported or stored within a locked and privately owned vehicle.  It allows employers and business entities to prescribe policies mandating that owners keep firearms out of the plain view of the public when stored or transported in locked and privately owned vehicles. And, it specifies inapplicability stemming from state and federal prohibition, and motor vehicle ownership.

Note:  Because AzCDL’s directors and officers will be attending the NRA Annual Meeting this weekend, there will not be any additional Alerts this week.

 

These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization.   

AzCDL  Protecting Your Freedom

http://www.azcdl.org/html/join_us_.html 

Copyright © 2009 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved.

Howard Nemerov: Truth About Tiahrt Amendment

Howard Nemerov has written an article explaining truth vs fiction surrounding recent proposed changes to the Tiahrt Amendment.

New Hope for Self Defense in National Parks

Senator Tom Coburn sponsored an amendment to the credit card reform bill which was then passed out of the Senate by a 67 to 29 majority.  I'm not myself in favor of the credit reform bill because no matter how good it sounds, anything Congress tries to regulate always turns into field fertilizer (problems they try to solve normally multiply & increase in intensity).  However, due to the fact that the old House version of the same bill passed by a vote of 357 to 70 there is likely no stopping it (due largely to the battle cry of "we're having an emergency!  We need to fix it NOW- you don't have time to read it!"). 

At least with the Coburn amendment the stinky bill will have a little perfume added to it.  The bill overall will still smell like a cow paddie (not to mention all the smelly pork bound to be piled on), but the intensity of the stench would be somewhat reduced due to the small amount of good news that is the Coburn amendment.

Thank you Senator Coburn!

Update 1: House passed the amended bill.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon & Council EAT $152,000.00 (in free food)

Like many other cities Phoenix Arizona is going through tough times with budget cuts & layoffs so you'd think the free food for Mayor Phil Gordon & Council members would be among the first things knocked off of the plate.  Apparently not:

. . . Over the last three years, members of the Phoenix City Council have spent more than $152,000 on food and catering.

Council members have spent thousands at Tom's Tavern, the Downtown Deli, and Paradise Bakery.

"We all get a paycheck," Phoenix resident Justin Evans said. "We all have to pay for our own food. Why can't they?" . . .

The ABC15 Investigators also found that Mayor Phil Gordon's personal membership to the State Bar of Arizona is paid for by the taxpayers.

The mayor declined our repeated requests for an on-camera interview and refused to answer questions at a recent Phoenix City Council meeting . . .

I knew there would be more than one or two reasons not to like Mayor Phil Gordon.

NRA Annual Meeting in Phoenix THIS WEEKEND!

I am looking forward to the 2009 NRA Annual Meeting/Convention going on this weekend here in Phoenix Arizona.  If you can avoid missing it, make sure that you don't.  You won't regret showing up, but you probably would regret missing it if it was within your grasp.  The 2010 meeting will be taking place in NC, and the 2011 meeting will be in PA, so if you live ANYWHERE west of the Mississippi this is probably your shortest drive for years to come.  :)

Check out the schedule, event listing, and the map.

AZ: Parking Lot Storage HB 2474 - House Vote Tomorrow

The Arizona House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Parking Lot Storage/Worker Protection Bill HB 2747 tomorrow on Tuesday May 12th.  The NRA-ILA has issued an alert asking everyone to contact your representatives to request their support.

Update 1: The vote has been moved to Wednesday May 13th.

Update 2: Passed by House.

NRA-ILA Grassroots Alert

This week's NRA-ILA Grassroots Alert.

AZCDL Legislative Update

From AZCDL

HB 2177, which allows a person with a valid concealed weapons permit to possess, transport or carry a weapon within a game refuge, passed out of the House Committee of the Whole (COW) on May 6, 2009.  From here, it will be calendared for the House Third Read (final vote before being transmitted to the Senate).

HB 2439, which passed out of the House COW back on March 26, 2009, passed out of the House Third Read and was transmitted to the Senate on May 6, 2009.  Thanks to your emails, HB 2439 passed with a favorable 40 to 20 vote.  HB 2439 is the AzCDL-requested CCW training reform bill.

HB 2474 was debated and voted on in the House COW on May 7, 2009.  We are expecting to see it calendared for the House Third Read next week.  HB 2474 prevents any private or public employer, property owner, etc. from banning any person from keeping a firearm in a locked vehicle in a parking area on the property, with specific, limited exceptions.  

In the Senate, non-budget bills have still not been assigned to committees while they continue working on the 2010 budget.  Stuck in this legislative limbo are several AzCDL-requested bills, including SB 1270 (Constitutional Carry), SB 1243 (Defensive Display), and HB 2439 (CCW Training Reform). 

Next weekend is the NRA’s 138th Annual Meeting at the Phoenix Convention Center.  All AzCDL directors and officers will be there, along with many of your State legislators.  We hope to see you there!  Be sure to proudly wear your AzCDL t-shirt!  You can find more information here:  http://www.nraam.com/ 

Stay tuned!  When critical legislation moves, we will notify you via these Alerts.

These alerts are a project of the Arizona Citizens Defense League (AzCDL), an all volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan grassroots organization.  

AzCDL – Protecting Your Freedom

http://www.azcdl.org/

Copyright © 2009 Arizona Citizens Defense League, Inc., all rights reserved

.

GA: Armed College Student Saved the Day

Long story short, two thugs broke into a home hosting a party with plans to spend the evening commiting armed robbery, rape, and possibly even mass murder.  Thankfully one of the intended victims was not defeneseless.  He pulled out his own gun, shot & killed one thug, scared the other thug away.  I LOVE happy endings like this.

Thank goodness these students were not in a so-called "Gun Free Zone" where only the thugs & Police are armed.

WA: North Whidbey Sportsmen's Association

Although I no longer live on Whidbey Island I continue to maintain my membership in the North Whidbey Sportsmen's Association so that I always have a convenient place to shoot when I go visit family there. I also feel great about my membership because they continue to sponsor annual youth events like the shooting portion of the US Pony Club annual Tetrathlon.

I love seeing children experiencing a healthy exposure to the shooting sports. Once they learn about the rules of safe gun use & see how much fun the shooting sports are they are much more likely to have a desire to stay involved. Even if they don't they still will know how to be safe around guns & will be far less likely to fall for regurgitated lies by the likes of the Brady folks who attempt to perpetuate the myth that evil guns exist. There are evil people in the world, but there are no evil guns.

M1A Forum & Rifle Scope Contest

Jerry of M1ARifles has provided my readers with a special opportunity to get a head start on a contest he will be announcing this weekend which is intended to increase the size of his M1A Online Forum.  The first contest will officially be announced this Saturday on the 9th of May, but readers of this post will get a head start with the contest starting today on the 5th of May.  The contest will end on Saturday May 23rd.  Below are the contest details for those who wish to participate:

1. Discuss this contest on your blog or on any online forum of your choice. It doesn't have to be a long post, but the post must include a link to this post and the start/end date of the contest.

2. Once the post is finished, the contestant must contact Jerry using his contact page with the message "rifle scope contest" - be sure to include the link to your post about the contest in the message. 

3. Register as a user at the M1A forum.

4. Participate in the forums.  All posts must be quality posts and not just junk posts.

The person with the most posts in the forum by the end of the contest period wins!

 

The prize is a NEW Nikon Buckmasters 4.5-14x40 SF BDC Rifle scope!

 

**Attention** Make sure all registration and emails are valid! Use the same e-mail address for step 2 (contact) & step 3 (registration).  The winner will be contacted via that email address.

AZ: Phoenix Convention Center Requests Partial Suspension of Liquor License for NRA Convention

The Phoenix Convention Center has requested a partial suspension of its Liquor License for the upcoming NRA Convention here in Phoenix this May 14-17.  This is to avoid issues with the Arizona Liquor Laws such as the law that requires Bar owners & employees of Liquor Licensees to ask armed citizens to leave the premises ARS 4-244 unlawful acts, 30.

30. For a licensee or employee to knowingly permit a person in possession of a firearm other than a peace officer, the licensee or an employee of the licensee acting with the permission of the licensee to remain on the licensed premises or to serve, sell or furnish spirituous liquor to a person in possession of a firearm while on the licensed premises of an on-sale retailer. This paragraph shall not apply to hotel or motel guest room accommodations nor to the exhibition or display of a firearm in conjunction with a meeting, show, class or similar event. It shall be a defense to action under this paragraph if the licensee or employee requested assistance of a peace officer to remove such person.

Glendale ArizonaShooting.com Open Carry Dinner

For anyone interested, members of the ArizonaShooting.com online forum have organized an open carry Dinner at Golden Corral (5679 W Northern Ave, Glendale, AZ 85301) all you can eat Buffet for this Saturday May 9th @ 6pm. You can view the AZS thread or the related event in facebook.