News Coverage about Guns and the Gun Control Debate

December 30: The Washington Times:
Gun owners fear Maryland Police Targeting them for traffic stops:
A year ago this New Year’s Eve, John Filippidis of Florida was driving south with his family on Interstate 95 when the Maryland Transportation Authority Police pulled over his black Ford Expedition and proceeded to raid it while his twins, wife and daughter looked on — separated in the back seats of different police cruisers.  The officers were searching for his Florida-licensed, palm-size Kel-Tec .38 semi-automatic handgun, which he left at home locked in his safe. (Maryland does not recognize handgun permits issued by other states.)  When the search turned up nothing, Filippidis, 51, was allowed to go and was issued only a speeding warning.  But the incident gained national attention.   Filippidis went on multiple radio programs and described in detail how scared and outraged he and his family were. He wondered: How did the police know he was licensed for concealed carry, and what right did they have to search through his personal items on the side of the busy interstate filled with holiday travelers on that 10-degree day?

December 22: The Daily Caller:
Anti-Gun PSA Encourages Kids to Steal Parent’s Guns and Turn them in to Teachers:
A provocative public service announcement released by a San Francisco-based production company encourages children to put themselves at risk and commit a slew of crimes by stealing their parents’ guns from home and turning them in at school.  In the anti-gun ad, published Dec. 13 by Sleeper 13 Productions, a boy who appears to be in his early teens is shown walking up the stairs of his home and wandering into his mother’s bedroom. The boy is shown opening the drawer to his mother’s dresser, where a handgun is hidden. The boy takes the gun from the dresser and leaves the room. The ad then flashes to his school. Sitting in a classroom, the boy ventures up to his teacher’s desk after the rest of his classmates have left. The tension building in the scene breaks, and the boy produces the gun from his backpack, slamming it on his startled teacher’s desk. “Can you take this away? I don’t feel safe with a gun in my house,” the boy says.

What the ad-makers are encouraging is highly illegal and invites danger. The boy would be guilty of weapons theft, illegal concealed carry and carrying a weapon on school property.

December 11: The Hill: Gun Rights Advocates call upon Republicans to defund Government
Some gun rights advocates are urging lawmakers to vote no on the $1.1 trillion spending package over what they see as a major threat to the Second Amendment.  Gun Owners of America (GOA) say Republicans should vote against the bill that would avert a government shutdown because it provides more than $1 billion in support for “Barack Obama’s anti-gun executive actions.”  “It ‘fights gun violence’ with $1.1 billion — an increase of $53 million,” said GOA’s chairman and executive director Tim Macy.  “We all know this is a euphemism for gun control, and there is nothing which prevents the administration from using this money to support its anti-gun ‘executive action’ agenda,” he added.

But the National Rifle Association, seems to disagree.  The NRA wrote to Speaker Boehner (R-OH) expressing strong support for the government funding bill, because of what it refers to as a "pro-gun provision" that would protect hunters.   "For years, radical animal rights and environmental advocates have used all the tools at their disposal, including litigation, to attempt to ban lead ammunition," the NRA writes. "A ban on traditional ammunition would affect hunters, sportsmen, law enforcement, military and target shooters. There are currently no comparable alternatives to lead ammunition in terms of cost, ballistics and availability. This bill would prevent a traditional ammunition ban and protect not just hunters, but millions of American gun owners."

December 9: Fox News: Wisconsin Police Chief Criticized Over Volunteer Gun Search Program
Police Chief Norm Jacobs' idea that residents of Beloit, WI, should volunteer to let his officers search their homes for guns is drawing fire from Second Amendment advocates and homeowners alike.  Jacobs, the top cop in the southern Wisconsin city of 40,000, admits his novel notion that residents can request a visit by officers to inspect the home for any unknown guns that may be in the household has generated a lot of reaction, and not of the positive variety. "Most of the calls have been negative," Jacobs told FoxNews.

Jacobs likened gun violence to Ebola and said voluntary searches were like a vaccine.  "Gun violence is as serious as the Ebola virus is being represented in the media, and we should fight it using the tools that we've learned from our health providers," he said.  His aim is to rein in gun violence in a city that has seen seven gun-involved homicides this year without infringing on people's right to bear arms but what he is missing is that his proposal will do nothing to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

December 6: IJReview: Robber Terrorizes Red Lobster Until Introduced to the 2nd Amendment
Thursday night, an armed robber entered a Las Vegas Red Lobster and walked out with a cash register.  But he didn’t get too far.  The suspect waved his gun around in the dining area, to the shock of terrified patrons. Unfortunately for the armed assailant, he wasn’t the only one with a firearm.  According to reports, a family saw the robbery and followed the suspect. The father, who holds a concealed weapons permit, fired a shot into the air. This was enough to spook the suspect into dropping the cash register and fleeing.  The suspect is now in police custody.

December 3: The Daily Caller: Family of Gun Owners Saves Mom in her driveway:
A woman was saved by her family of gun owners — her husband and two sons — after a man attacked her in her Gonzales, Louisiana driveway and tried to kidnap her Sunday evening.  The attacker, Chad Babin, grabbed the woman as she was unloading her car. Babin, who investigators believe was high on drugs at the time, forced his way into her house.That woke the woman’s husband who grabbed his gun and tried to shoot Babin. The firearm was knocked away during a struggle. Babin and the man fought on the ground. According to The Acadiana Advocate, the couple called their two sons into the house. They had just returned from a duck hunting trip and were carrying guns of their own. They held Babin on his stomach on the living room floor at gunpoint until police arrived.

November 12: Breitbart News: Governor Elect Abbott says he supports open carry in Texas:
On November 5 Breitbart News reported that Texas Governor-elect Greg Abbott (R) said he will sign an open carry handgun bill into law when legislators pass one and place it on his desk.    By November 11, state representative James White (R-Woodville) answered the call and put forth HB 164--a bill which would give everyone with a concealed carry permit the option to carry their handguns openly if they so choose.   In addition to White's legislation, state representative Jonathan Strickland (R-Dist. 92) put forward legislation allowing Texans to carry a gun openly or concealed without a permit. This option, referred to as Constitutional Carry, is the same type of open carry law that currently exists in Alaska, Arizona, Wyoming, and Vermont.   An option similar to Constitutional Carry exists in Mississippi, where you have to have a concealed carry permit to carry a handgun concealed but no permit is needed to carry one openly.

November 12: Fox News: New Court Ruling could end California restrictions on concealed carry:
A procedural decision in a landmark Second Amendment case could spell the end for California laws restricting the issuance of permits to carry concealed handguns.   The decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would bar other law enforcement officials, including state Attorney General Kamala Harris, from gaining "intervener status" to join in further challenges of its ruling in a case originally brought by an independent journalist who sued the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department over its policy of requiring a specific reason for being allowed to carry a concealed weapon in public.  San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore has said he will not fight the ruling, meaning there is no one with standing left to challenge the decision made in February.

In its bombshell ruling earlier this year, the 9th Circuit found those policies to be unconstitutional and held that law-abiding citizens have a right to bear arms under the Constitution’s Second Amendment and could not be required to justify their reasons for carrying concealed weapons. The panel simultaneously ruled on a similar case brought in Yolo County, whose sheriff indicated he will drop further appeals.  The law would still not allow felons or the mentally ill to possess firearms, and would still prohibit the carrying of them in places such as schools and government buildings.

November 12: The Daily Caller:  Two CHL holders flex muscles in Ohio and Texas
A mother in Ohio and a family man in Texas, both concealed carry permit holders, were forced to put their guns to good use in recent days.  Over the weekend, a group of gang members in Columbus, Ohio opened fire on a 13-year-old boy who was out shopping at a neighborhood store with his mom.  The woman pulled out her gun and fired back at the gang members. Her son was not seriously injured. One of the shooters has been arrested.  The woman said that she knew the attackers, and they have harassed her family for years and even broken into her home.  Because of this, the woman says she obtained a concealed carry permit this fall --  part of a recent trend in Ohio, which saw the number of new applications for concealed carry permits jump by over 96,000 in 2013 compared to previous year. 

Meanwhile a San Antonio man broke up an armed robbery at a Subway restaurant Monday night. The man was eating with his family when another man came into the store saying that he would begin shooting if the clerk did not hand over money from the cash register.  The bystander jumped to action and forced the would-be robber to the ground at gunpoint. 

November 12: Fox News: Senior Maryland ex-state trooper claims administration silenced him on gun control:
Jack McCauley enjoyed a fast-rising career in the Maryland State Police, starting out on the street and then moving on to gangs, drugs and murders. He went all the way to the top post in the firearms licensing division -- until, he claims, political pressure over the state's high-profile gun control push drove him out.   He was barred from criticizing the policy, he says, and was told from on high that the reason for the sweeping law, which critics say tramples Second Amendment rights, was simple: "It is just votes."    In an interview McCauley described his frustration and accused  Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration of misleading the public.  "My goal is to educate the public, because the mainstream media and the governor's office are intentionally lying to people," he said. 
The Firearms Safety Act of 2013 -- one of the major gun control laws to pass in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., mass shooting -- bans dozens of assault weapons; earlier this year, it survived a court challenge but some gun rights advocates want Republican Larry Hogan, who beat the current Governor's deputy Anthony Brown in an upset election last week, to upend it when he takes office. 

November 8: The Daily Caller: Nine Examples of how the Second Amendment has saved lives:
On Oct. 28, 71-year-old Ronnie Lummus was walking back to his car after buying groceries with his wife, when they were confronted by an armed masked man, a Dallas news station reports.  The would-be robber shoved Lummus’ wife to the ground and attempted to steal her necklace. Unfortunately for him, Big Ron was packing heat.  Lummus fired at the assailant, who eventually died while fleeing the scene.  Witnesses claim that Lummus was “justified” in using his weapon.  Follow the link (above) and check out eight other accounts of law-abiding citizens who exercised their Second Amendment right to defend themselves and other Americans.

November 8: The Hill:  GOP gains slam on the brakes on Federal Gun Control Legislation:
The Republicans’ resounding victory this week pushed federal gun control legislation even further out of reach for proponents of stronger gun regulations.   More than 90-percent of National Rifle Association-backed congressional candidates prevailed on Tuesday, bolstering the ranks of gun rights advocates in both chambers. The gun lobby also has a powerful ally in incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is highly unlikely to bring to the floor any bills on that would tighten firearm restrictions.
 
“There’s no appetite for gun control in Washington,” NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said. “We now have a Senate leader who is pro-Second Amendment, so it will be more difficult for them to pass gun control measures.”  Gun control advocates, who poured tens of millions of dollars into the election cycle, maintain that they made important strides at the state level, including a win on a Washington State ballot measure expanding background checks for gun sales.   Yet even they acknowledged that the odds of federal action in Washington in the next Congress just got a lot longer

October 17: Breitbart News: Candidates distance themselves from aggressive gun control advocate:
As gun control proponent Gabby Giffords gets more “aggressive” in her push for gun control candidates, at least one of those candidates is distancing herself from the ads Giffords is running.  New Hampshire's WMUR 9 ABC reports that though incumbent Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) is thoroughly in favor of gun control, the tone of attack in Giffords' new ad is simply too much for her. The video on the outlet's website clearly demonstrates Shea-Porter's desire to move away from being associated with the former representative's ad.  According to the National Journal, Carol Shea-Porter has "flatly denied any association" with the ads against Republican challenger Frank Guinta. Giffords' group is running the ad.   The ad attacks Guinta for his pro-Second Amendment stand in much the same way Giffords' group has been attacking the pro-Second Amendment stand of Martha McSally in Arizona's District 2.  Guinta continues to embrace the Second Amendment and says Congress should be finding ways to defend it, rather than taking it apart after the fashion of Giffords and Shea-Porter. 

October 9: The Daily Caller:  Most Expensive State House Race in Colorado Comes Back to Gun Control:
Beyond Colorado’s headline-grabbing races for Senate and governor, the election for House District 59 is starting to generate its own news for being the most expensive race for the state house in Colorado — all thanks to tough new gun control laws passed in 2013.  The contest is between Democratic incumbent Mike McLachlan and Republican challenger J. Paul Brown for a small district centered around the rural city of Durango.  According to the Durango Herald, the race has attracted “a waterfall of money” from outside groups, to the tune of at least $718,000 in a market where media and advertising are much cheaper than urban centers along Colorado’s Front Range.

The reason? Mostly likely, it’s due to McLachlan’s support in 2013 for a slate of aggressive new gun control laws that led to the recall of two state senators and the resignation — in lieu of a recall vote — of a third.  Supporters of the Second Amendment have also targeted McLachlan for a recall, but they couldn’t collect the requisite number of signatures to force a special election against him.  Conservative groups seem determined to make an example of McLachlan during this election, and Democrats seem equally intent on keeping him in office.

Oct 2: ABC News: Washington State gets opportunity to vote for or against more stringent gun controls
The National Rifle Association is sounding the alarm with voters in Washington state with a new online ad, warning that a ballot initiative there might seriously curtail gun rights. But the Washington state fight isn’t just over the vote on increasing background checks. The pro-gun side also has a measure on the ballot, and there’s a chance both could pass, opening the door to a potentially heated debate on gun control and an unprecedented quandary for the state Supreme Court.

Initiative 591 would prevent the state legislature from enacting background check laws unless there is a federal standard, which doesn’t currently exist. It would also prevent the government from confiscating firearms without due process.   In the other corner is Initiative 594, requiring background checks on all gun purchasers except on antiques or an immediate family member’s firearm. The language of that initiative is actually based on a bill that failed to pass in the divided Washington legislature, with a Democratic House and Republican Senate.   Polling indicates that potentially both could be adopted.  Both got such high ratings because just over 30% of Washington voters polled said they would vote for both measures –- even though they are diametrically opposed.  No one really knows what might happen if Washingtonians vote for more and less background checks simultaneously. Such a scenario has never happened before in state history, said David Ammons, a spokesman for the Washington Secretary of State, who administers the elections.

September 25: The Daily Signal: Gun Dealers prohibited from using credit card readers:
Last summer, around the same time the U.S. Department of Justice’s Operation Choke Point began pressuring banks to drop customers who buy or sell firearms, tobacco and other goods considered “not acceptable” by the Obama administration,  the Square Reader credit card company quietly changed its terms of services agreement -- …you will not accept payments in connection with the following businesses or business activities: …sales of (i) firearms, firearm parts or hardware, and ammunition; or (ii) weapons and other devices designed to cause physical injury.  – The action has gun enthusiast and store owners in an uproar as they view this as part of the anti-gun supporter’s all out war on the second amendment.

September 16: The Hill: Lawmakers unveil a bill to de-militarize local law enforcement:
A pair of House lawmakers introduced legislation Tuesday designed to de-militarize the nation's local police departments.  Reps. Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Raúl Labrador (R-ID) said the Pentagon's 1033 program, which arms local law enforcers with surplus military equipment, goes too far to put the tools of war onto America's streets.  "Our nation was founded on the principle of a clear line between the military and civilian policing," Labrador said in a statement. "The Pentagon's current surplus property program blurs that line by introducing a military model of overwhelming force in our cities and towns."  The new proposal would scale back the program by barring the transfer of certain equipment from the Pentagon to local police departments, including high-caliber weapons, sound cannons, grenades, grenade launchers and certain armored vehicles. It would also adopt new reporting requirements designed to ensure that equipment that is transferred under the program is not lost, stolen or misappropriated. 

September 3: The Daily Caller: Man shoots attempted robber, exposing “dozens” of other robberies:
A Milwaukee man shot and killed a gang-affiliated teenager with a long criminal history who attempted to rob him and others on Monday.  The 15-year-old reportedly had been shot during an armed robbery attempt about a month ago and was part of a group that had carried out numerous armed robberies several days prior to the shooting. According to Milwaukee police, a group of assailants attempted to rob another group of people at around 5:30 a.m. Monday, WISN reported. One of the targets, a 30-year-old man, pulled out a gun and shot one of the assailants, the 15-year-old.  Five people, between 14 and 18 years old, were arrested following the incident.

August 30: The Daily Caller: Woman has gun and tells adductor she is not afraid to use it!
An Ohio woman who is licensed to carry a gun but had only recently started carrying one for protection put it to good use earlier this week.  Dinah Burns was out walking her dog, Gracie, on a path near an elementary school on Monday when two men approached her with a baseball bat and threatened to abduct her. 

Thankfully, Burns had some protection.  She reached in to her pocket and slipped her gun out, slipped the safety off as she pulled it out.  “As I was doing that,” Burns said, “the other gentleman came toward me and raised the baseball bat. And, I pointed the gun at them and said, ‘I have this and I’m not afraid to use it.”  The men backed off and left, Burns told a local news outlet.

August 26: The Daily Caller:   Bill Gates Donates $1 million to expand background checks
Bill and Melinda Gates have donated $1 million to a gun control campaign working to expand background checks in Washington state.  The Initiative 594 campaign now has close to $6 million thanks to the Gates donation. It would make background checks a universal requirement for gun sales in the state.  I-594 “will be an effective and balanced approach to improving gun safety in our state by closing existing loopholes for background checks,” the Gates said in a statement Monday.  A counter initiative, I-591, would prevent Washington from adopting background-check requirements that exceed national standards, reportedly has about $1 million so far.

August 14: The National Journal: How Congress Helped Create Militarized Police
Since 2006, the Pentagon has distributed 432 mine-resistant armored vehicles to local police departments. It has also doled out more than 400 other armored vehicles, 500 aircraft, and 93,000 machine guns.  As The New York Times reported in June, the Defense Department has been making use of unused military equipment by giving it to local precincts.  This is despite the fact that violent crime in the U.S. has steadily plummeted since 1993. Between 1993 and 2012, the violent-crime rate dropped by nearly 50 percent.

Yet today, local police—in cities and small towns across the country—are increasingly loaded for bear. How did this militarization of the police force come about? It all seems to have started with an obscure section in a defense bill passed more than 20 years ago.  In 1990, Congress passed a National Defense Authorization Act with a clause allowing the "transfer of excess personal property" from the Defense Department to local law enforcement—otherwise known as Section 1208. The clause was included in response to the surge of violent crime and the War on Drugs in the late 1980s. (It's worth noting that at the time, both chambers of Congress were controlled by Democrats.)

July 31: Fox News: California battle over concealed-weapon rights could end up in the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has turned aside all Second Amendment challenges since a pair of landmark rulings in 2008 and 2009 confirmed the rights of individuals to keep and bear arms.  But some believe a California case could make the high court return to the controversial area and determine whether gun ownership rights extend beyond the corners of one's home.  In February, a divided three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded that responsible citizens have the right to carry a concealed weapon for self-protection.  But the California Attorney General is entering the fray wanting to overturn this ruling.

In 37 "shall issue" states, applicants for permits to carry concealed weapons (CCW) must pass basic requirements for approval such as proof of residency and a clean background check.    Nine "may issue" states give local officials much more latitude in determining who gets permits. In California, an applicant must also demonstrate "good cause" why he or she should receive a permit. Four other states (Alaska, Arizona, Wyoming and Vermont) have no permitting requirements.

July 27: Fox News: Federal Judge rules DC ban on carrying guns is unconstitutional
A federal judge in the District of Columbia on Saturday overturned the city’s total ban on residents being allowing to carry firearms outside their home in a landmark decision for gun-rights activists.  Judge Frederick Scullin, Jr. wrote in his ruling in Palmer v. District of Columbia that the right to bear arms extends outside the home, therefore gun-control laws in the nation’s capital are “unconstitutional.”  The lead attorney for the 2nd Amendment Rights Foundation said “I’m very pleased with the decision that the city can’t forbid the exercise of a fundamental constitutional right."  He expects the District to appeal this decision but added, “We’ll be happy to keep the fight going.”

The decision leaves no gray area in gun-carrying rights.  Judge Sculin extensively referenced the Supreme Court decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. Chicago (2010) to concluding “there is no longer any basis on which this court can conclude that the District of Columbia's total ban on the public carrying of ready-to-use handguns outside the home is constitutional under any level of scrutiny.”  The court ordered the city to now allow residents from the District and other states to carry weapon within its boundaries.

July 24: Fox News: Massachusetts Police Chiefs Bristle over Legislature “Shooting Down” bill to control long guns:
Police chiefs in Massachusetts are blasting state lawmakers for shooting down a provision that would have given them sole discretion over who can get hunting rifle or shotgun permits, regardless of criminal records.  The Bay State, which has some of the nation's toughest gun laws, has long left it up to a community's top cop to sign off on handgun permits. Lawmakers were considering extending that to include the Firearms Identification Card, or FID, needed to possess long guns. But lawmakers, leery of the constitutionality of the law, which critics say can result in law-abiding citizens being denied their Second Amendment rights, have stripped a proposed bill of that provision. This week, police chiefs from throughout the state and gun control advocates converged on the Statehouse in Boston to blast state senators for removing the provision.

July 16: The San Francisco Chronicle (SFGate.com): Lessons from Nazi Gun Control
Stephen Halbrook writes that history offers numerous examples of well-intentioned gun control policies to control crime that have had disastrous consequences. In his new book, "Gun Control in the Third Reich," one particularly horrific case study begins in Germany during the tumultuous early 1930s.

In 1932 the three-time gold medalist in gymnastics at the 1896 Olympics, Alfred Flatow, complied with a gun-registration requirement that Weimar officials hoped would reduce the threat posed by extremist groups. The former athlete dutifully registered three handguns, but this didn't spare him. The government warned that gun-ownership records must be stored securely so they wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. It failed to consider that only law-abiding citizens would register, whereas political extremists and criminals would not.

In 1933 Adolf Hitler seized power and, the author contends, immediately set about using gun-registration records to identify, disarm and attack "enemies of the state," a euphemism for all political opponents. Police conducted search-and-seizure operations for guns and "subversive" literature in Jewish communities and working-class neighborhoods.

July 9: The Washington Post: New Gun-Control Fight May Be Simmering in the Senate:
Fifteen months since gun legislation stalled on Capitol Hill, the Senate is on the verge of a new fight over whether to expand gun rights, an unanticipated development at a moment of already high tensions in the fractured chamber.  The new political gun fight could be over the Bipartisan Sportsmen Act, a measure that would make it easier to hunt and fish on some federal lands, allow the construction of more public shooting ranges at national parks and wildlife refuges and make it easier to purchase federal permits to hunt ducks, geese and other waterfowl. Those and about a dozen other proposals in the bill are popular in rural states where hunting and fishing are common.

Senators of both parties are readying gun-related amendments and are poised to introduce them this week. Republicans want to overturn the ban on large-capacity magazines and assault weapons in the District of Columbia; expand the right to purchase or transport firearms and ammunition across state lines; limit when a military veteran can be denied a firearm due to mental illness; and allow gun owners to carry weapons into post offices or other federal sites. Democrats said they are working on proposals to limit the sale of certain weapons and ammunition; expand the national background-check system; and stiffen penalties for gun straw purchasers.

July 4: The New York Times: Gov. Christie’s veto of Gun Control Bill angers Sandy Hook Relatives:
Families of children killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School lashed out at Gov. Cristie of New Jersey on Wednesday for vetoing a gun control bill that would have banned the sales of ammunition magazines larger than 10 rounds, after he dismissed it as a “trivial approach” to gun violence and “the embodiment of reform in name only.”  The families said they were departing from their “moderate polite approach” — since the shootings in December 2012, they have met with politicians privately and eschewed what they call “naming and shaming” — because, they said in a statement, “Governor Christie has crossed the line.”

July 2: Fox News: Colorado burger joint where waitresses pack heat in Rile, CO
It's called Shooters Grill and it is located in Rifle, Colo., so naturally, the waitresses pack heat.  The burger joint, about 180 miles west of Denver, embraces the firearms theme with menu items like the "M16 burrito," "Smith & Wesson Grilled Cheese" and "Locked and Loaded Nachos." The salt and pepper shakers are made from shotgun shells. But the biggest Second Amendment statement is in the guns waitresses carry, including the Rueger Blackhawk .357 Ashlee Saenz sports.

Owner Lauren Boebert, 27, started the trend when she began carrying a pistol shortly after opening the restaurant a year ago. The accessorizing caught on with the staff. But even though carrying a gun openly is legal in Colorado, Boebert nonetheless makes staffers who want to pack take an extra safety course.  Customers don't feel threatened by their servers carrying guns, she said.  "No one has ever turned around and walked out because they saw a gun," Boebert said. "They might have left because it was too crowded, praise the Lord. But not over the guns."

June 19: Fox News: Colorado governor tries to apologize for gun control measures, blames staff
Governor John Hickenlooper’s (D-CO) awkward attempt to patch things up with his state’s sheriffs over his support of controversial gun control legislation isn’t going as planned.   The governor  offered a series of unusual explanations during a meeting he held last Friday with a group of Colorado sheriffs for why he signed legislation that restricts the sale of ammunition magazines of more than 15 rounds. 

First, Hickenlooper blamed his staff for not anticipating the opposition on gun control. He then apologized for his staff’s inability to effectively communicate and promised to do better in the future.  When Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith pressed the issue, Hickenlooper snapped back, “What the f---? I apologized!”   On his Facebook page, Smith said he was surprised by the governor’s choice of words.  “I’m a big boy and I won’t pretend for a moment that it’s not language that’s foreign to me – but I found that type of attitude and response to be well below the dignity of the office of governor,” Smith wrote. “This was a sitting governor, in a public meeting, responding to another elected official.”

Hickenlooper also said he felt pressure to sign the bill into law because a member of his staff “made a commitment.  After a group of gun control bills were signed into law earlier this year, 55 of the state’s 62 elected sheriffs filed a federal lawsuit against the state, claiming the regulations violated the Second Amendment. The judge ruled the sheriffs could not sue the state while in office but did say they could once their terms ended.  Colorado has been very aggressive in pushing through gun control measures. The passage of three gun bills by the state legislature last year led to the ousting of two Democratic state senators – former Senate President John Morse and Angela Giron. Both were replaced by Republicans.

June 17: The Daily Caller: Hillary Talks Guns on CNN: “Minority Terrorizes Majority”
During a televised town hall, Hillary Clinton was asked about guns, and said that the viewpoint held by gun-rights advocates “terrorizes” the majority of Americans. The town hall, broadcast live on CNN on Tuesday, closely resembled a commercial for Clinton’s new memoir, “Hard Choices.” 

“I was disappointed that the Congress did not pass universal background checks after the horrors of the shootings at Sandy Hook and now we’ve had more,” said Clinton in response to a question from a Maryland teacher named Gloria Santa Maria.  “Seventy-four more,” Santa Maria interjected, seemingly referencing a now-debunked claim made last week by the pro-gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.  Everytown published a graphical map, which CNN aired, purporting to show 74 school shootings that have occurred since the December 14, 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut. The network later corrected the claim saying that only 15 of the 74 shootings that occurred at schools had factors similar to the shooting at Sandy Hook.  Many of the 74 shootings involved interpersonal disputes and other criminal activity, though neither Clinton nor Amanpour corrected Santa Maria’s statistic.

The former secretary of state and likely 2016 presidential candidate also made imprecise references to “automatic” weapons not mentioning that automatic weapons are tightly regulated in the United States and were not used in the Sandy Hook shooting.

June 5: CBS Houston: Gun Store Sign: Will Trade Obama to Mexico for Sgt. Tahmooressi:
Continuing its critical shots at President Barack Obama, the Tactical Firearms store of Katy, Texas, has yet another weekly message for the president: “Will Trade Obama To Mexico For Sgt. Tahmooressi. God help us all.”  The message references Marine Corps Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, who is being held in a Mexican prison after mistakenly crossing the border with registered guns.  A few weeks before, the store posted another sign taking aim at Obama: “I like my guns like Obama likes his voters: Undocumented,” the Tactical Firearms sign states.  The store’s owner, Jeremy Alcede, said the “undocumented” sign was meant to be looked at as a joke.

May 29: The Hill: House to vote on bolstering gun checks:
The House is scheduled to vote Thursday on a bipartisan proposal to bolster the background check system for gun sales.  Unveiled late Wednesday, the legislation would provide $19.5 million in additional grant money to help states submit records to a national FBI database designed to block gun sales to certain criminals and the severely mentally ill.  Supporters of the measure said the funding is vital to keeping firearms out of the hands of potentially dangerous people – an issue highlighted in tragic fashion by last Friday's deadly shooting rampage in Santa Barbara, California.

At issue is the effectiveness of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), an FBI-run database created by Congress in 1993.  Under current law, licensed gun dealers are required to run potential weapons buyers through NICS to screen out felons, illegal immigrants, spousal abusers, the severely mentally ill, or another category that would bar them from buying or owning weapons. The system, however, is largely voluntary: States are encouraged, but not required, to report information to NICS.

May 26: The Hill: Justice to Count Fed’s Guns
The Justice Department is updating a report on how many guns the federal government has.  It will be the first time Justice has addressed the topic in six years, and it comes as conservative and libertarian complaints about an excessively gun-happy government have intensified.  The issue was central to the recent controversy generated by a stand-off between rancher Cliven Bundy and agents from the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada.  Bundy and his supporters argued an armed federal government threatened too much force in a dispute over grazing and public lands. But critics of Bundy worry that the decision by federal and local officials to back off in response to armed resistance by Bundy and his supporters could embolden self-styled militia groups.

The Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) will undertake this year’s report. It will begin surveying federal agencies about how many of their agents carry guns and have the authority to make arrests in July, according to the author of the 2008 version Brian Reaves.  It is not clear when the data will be finalized, though the final release could take until early 2015.  Six years ago, the Justice Department found that 73 government agencies employed about 120,000 armed agents with four out of five belonging to branches of the Department of Justice.  Not only is the FBI armed. So too are members of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Postal Service (USPS), Railroad Retirement Board, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), according to the report.

May 25: Rollcall: Rodger Shooting Prompts Feinstein to Blame the NRA for ‘Stranglehold’ on Guns:
Elliot Rodger’s shooting spree had Sen. Dianne Feinstein lamenting the “stranglehold” the NRA has over gun laws.  “The deadly shooting in Isla Vista is heartbreaking,” the California Democrat said Sunday in a statement. “Schools should be places of safety, not where students fear for their lives.”  Feinstein questioned why Elliot Rodger was able to legally obtain and keep his guns.

“We must ask ourselves if an individual whose family called police with concerns about mental health, who is receiving therapy and who has had several run-ins with police should be allowed to own multiple firearms and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. When anyone, no matter their mental health or history, can so easily obtain any gun they want and as many as they want—we must recognize there is a problem.”  In blaming the NRA Feinstein left out of the equation that her own state of California, where this happened, has some of the most restrictive gun laws on the books which begs the question “Do restrictive gun laws really work?”

May 25: The Daily Caller: Never Wanting to Waste a Tragedy, Dem Senator Urges Stricter Gun Laws:
Democratic Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal harnessed Friday’s tragic mass shooting and stabbing in Santa Barbara, California, to push for tighter laws on guns, with the lawmaker warning that “Congress will be complicit if we fail to act.”  Blumenthal appeared Sunday on CBS’ “Face The Nation” to discuss the killings, which left nine people dead in the California college town. Although the killer did not use an assault weapon or the kind of ammo clips gun control proponents tried to ban in the wake of the Newtown shooting, the Democratic senator repeatedly tied Friday’s tragedy to lax gun regulations.

May  22: The Daily Caller: N.C. Restaurant Bans Guns, Then owner is robbed at gunpoint!
A barbecue restaurant in Durham, NC, was robbed at gunpoint on Sunday night, despite having posted a sign on the door banning weapons, including concealed firearms.  According to ABC News, three men wearing hoodies and carrying pistols entered The Pit from the back, assaulted two of the employees and made others lie on the floor. The assaulted employees, though, are doing well.

According to Guns ‘n’ Freedom, “This should be a clear reminder that criminals don’t obey gun laws and they don’t obey signs on windows that say that can’t bring their guns inside. These signs only stop law abiding citizens from being able to protect themselves and make the establishment a bigger target for crooks. After all, why pick a target where people can shoot back at you?”

May 6: CBS This Morning: Smart Guns Fire Up Debate
It's something straight out of a James Bond movie: a gun that only its owner can fire.  That kind of technology is now available in the real world. It's called a "smart gun." Made in Germany, it requires users to wear a radio-controlled watch to fire it, reports CBS News' Jan Crawford.  Maryland gun store owner Andy Raymond announced plans last week to sell it, but within 30 minutes of news getting out, the protests started coming in.  It's a weapon that fires up people on both sides of the gun control debate.
With all the debate Raymond backed down, announcing his decision not to sell the guns in a vide posted on Facebook.  A similar situation happened in Southern California in March. The Oak Tree Gun Club planned to sell the smart gun, but there was a backlash from gun owners. The store reversed course.

"I don't know anyone who wants a smart gun," said Lee Williams, investigative reporter for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune who writes a gun column.  He said opponents see the smart gun laws as a back door way to ban guns.  "If you require only smart guns to be sold and only smart guns to be possessed, the guns that they own now will be declared illegal and it could be a further intrusion on their 2nd Amendment rights," Williams said.   A New Jersey law would do just that. It would eventually require all handguns sold in the state to have the same kind of technology.  California is considering a similar law and Democrats in Congress have proposed federal legislation.

Apr. 28: Stars and Stripes (USA Today): Report: Pentagon to destroy $1 Billion in ammunition
The Pentagon plans to destroy more than $1 billion worth of ammunition although some of those bullets and missiles could still be used by troops, according to the Pentagon and congressional sources.  It's impossible to know what portion of the arsenal slated for destruction — valued at $1.2 billion by the Pentagon — remains viable because the Defense Department's inventory systems can't share data effectively, according to a Government Accountability Office report obtained by USA TODAY.  The result: potential waste of unknown value.

"There is a huge opportunity to save millions, if not billions of dollars if the (Pentagon) can make some common-sense improvements to how it manages ammunition," said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., and chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. "Despite years of effort, the Army, Navy and Air Force still don't have an efficient process for doing something as basic as sharing excess bullets. This Government Accountability Office (GAO) report clearly shows that our military's antiquated systems lead to millions of dollars in wasteful ammunition purchases."

Apr. 25: The Blaze: Head of the NRA slams Bloomberg: Our Freedoms are not for sale!
National Rifle Association Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre will debut a short video with a message for former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his new $50 million gun-control push during the NRA-ILA leadership forum on Friday at the 2014 NRA convention.  That message? “Bloomberg is one guy with millions. We’re millions with our 25 bucks. Let’s see who crushes who.”

Apr. 24: USA Today: Firearms applications surge and swamp registration system:
A record surge in recent firearms production and transactions have swamped the federal government's automated registration system for select weapons, including machine guns.  In a notice earlier this month to the firearms industry, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was temporarily suspending parts of its computerized system to shore up capacity in part to process the required registration and transfer of National Firearms Act covered weapons, which also include silencers, short-barreled shotguns, short-barreled rifles and some explosive devices.

Between 2005 and 2013, firearms act-related applications "skyrocketed by more than 380%'' to nearly 200,000, according to the April 16 memo issued by ATF Deputy Assistant Director Marvin Richardson. The surge has contributed to a backlog of more than 70,000 applications.  Richardson's memo states that the ATF is "immediately'' hiring 15 people to assist with the application processing and deploying 15 current employees to the task.

The application deluge tracks a record annual increase in overall firearm production to more than 8.5 million guns in 2012, the most recent year for which the ATF collects such data. In 2011, there were 6.5 million firearms produced.

Mar. 27: The Washington Times:
Gun Control Activist California State Senator Arraigned on Gunrunning Charges!
A California Democrat state senator with a reputation for clamping down on Second Amendment freedoms was arrested and arraigned on a range of federal charges late Wednesday — among them, for alleged gunrunning.  The local CBS affiliate in San Francisco, reported that Senator Yee was a huge gun control advocate. Yee’s bill to ban “button down” devices on AR-15s, SB 249, received a lot of outcry from gun rights groups. But Mr. Yee stood strong, saying he was “a father, and I want our communities to be safe,” the CBS affiliate reported.

Mar. 24: Fox News: Peace (maker) be with you!
Ron Stafford had a hunch that this past Sunday's church service would be different, but he certainly didn’t think he’d take home an AR-15.  Stafford, 42, of upstate Schenectady,  N.Y., won the assault rifle during a pre-announced raffle at the March 23 service at Grace Baptist Church in Troy, where pastor John Koletas preaches that the constitutional right to bear arms shall not be abridged.   On Monday, Stafford was on his way to pick up the gun -- valued up to $1,200 -- after a federal background check.

Mar. 22: The Foundry: 'This Is Going to Ruin My Entire Life': 18-Year-Old Aspiring Firefighter Charged With Felony for Pocket Knife
Eighteen year-old Jordan Wiser is training to be a firefighter. He’s a certified emergency vehicle operator who works as a first responder when he’s not attending high school. And, after just spending 13 days in jail, he’s now facing felony charges for weapons possession.  The weapon? A pocketknife. It was in his EMT vest, and he uses it to cut through seatbelts when he’s practicing saving lives.

Mar. 16: Fox News: Baptist Churches Giving away Guns to Attract New Members:
Baptist churches in the Kentucky town that was the site of a deadly high school shooting are giving away steaks and guns to attract more people to their congregations.  According to WJBK Fox 2, churches in Paducah are hosting “Second Amendment Celebrations,” giving away guns to attract more people to the pews.  At Lone Oak First Baptist Church, about 1,300 people crammed into the church hall this month for a steak dinner and pep talk by a gun expert, Chuck McAlister. McAlister was hired by Kentucky’s Southern Baptists in an attempt to grow church membership. Twenty-five guns were raffled off during the dinner. Winners were required to pass a background check.

Mar. 6: The Washington Post:
Brady Gun Campaign: Facebooks new policy on guns falls short of competitors:
Facebook announced steps to crack down on groups using its site to sell guns, including prohibiting them from posting offers that "indicate a willingness to evade or help others evade the law."  But some gun safety advocates say the new requirements from the world's largest social media site do not go far enough.  "We’re not thinking of this as a victory," said Will Villota, communications director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "The bar has been set by other social platforms like Google+, Craigslist and eBay -- they do not allow, will not allow, unlicensed sellers to post guns for sale on their communities. We think Facebook fell short of that bar."

Feb. 27: Fox News: Surge in concealed weapon permits follows California court second amendment decision: Gun owners are flooding the sheriff's offices in two California counties with applications for concealed weapon permits following a bombshell ruling two weeks ago by a federal appeals court that citizens need not justify their requests.  Orange and Ventura counties have dropped the "good cause" standard for issuing conceal carry permits after the requirement was struck down  Feb. 13 by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeal. A three-judge panel of the court ruled 2 to 1 that the Second Amendment bars California counties from requiring law-abiding gun owners who want to carry concealed firearms to demonstrate special, individualized needs for protection.

More than 500 applications have poured in to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in just two weeks — roughly the total number of applications filed in 2013, a spokesman said. Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens announced on the department's website that the county will comply with the federal court's order immediately, sparking the wave of applications.  “We’ve received as many or more in the last week and a half than we did in the whole calendar year [of 2013],” OCSD Lt. Jeff Hallock told FoxNews.com by phone early Thursday.

Feb. 25: Fox News:  How Gun Control Helps a Stalker Kill My Husband:
In April 2009, my husband was shot six times in front of me in the middle of a busy restaurant by a man who was stalking me. I have a permit to carry a handgun but because of the law at that time in my home state of Tennessee, I had to leave the gun that I normally carried for self defense, locked in my car that night.   My husband Ben and I ran our mobile karaoke business out of a restaurant that served alcohol and my gun was forbidden there. I  obeyed the law but my stalker, who was carrying a gun illegally, ignored it.

“I noticed my stalker (a former karaoke customer) in the crowd that night and I knew something was not right. This was a man that I had blocked from my social network account due to inappropriate messages he had sent me.  I asked the management at the restaurant to remove him. When they approached him and asked him to leave, he pulled out a .45 semi-auto and shot Ben. He then stood over him and continued to fire five more rounds into my husband,” the women related.

Feb. 22: The Daily Caller: Former NRA president Heston to get U.S. Post Office Stamp!
The United States Postal Service has announced that former NRA President Charlton Heston will be honored with his own stamp. The stamp is part of their “Legends of Hollywood” series, and while the specific issue date has not yet determined, it will be issued sometime in 2014.  Heston was a five term president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003. He was a tireless advocate for Second Amendment rights and will always be remembered by the NRA faithful for his “cold, dead hands” speech delivered at the 2000 NRA Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina.  The speech was directed to then presidential candidate Al Gore.

Feb. 14: The New Jersey Star Ledger:
Gun Control Advocates and Jersey Lawmakers set to pick up the gun control fight in 2014
Gun-control advocates and their allies in the state legislature are gearing up for another battle in 2014 in hopes of making New Jersey gun restrictions, already among the toughest in the nation, even more stringent.  Last year, during a tumultuous legislative session following the murder of 20 children in a Newtown, Conn. elementary school, the legislature passed 22 new pieces of gun legislation. About a dozen became law, while the balance were struck down by the governor's veto pen. Advocates for more limits on guns say important legislation was left on the table. 

It's those measures — in particular, a restriction on ammunition magazine size, a ban on .50-caliber rifles, stricter limits on children’s access to firearms and mandatory safety training for gun owners — that will be their focus in the coming year. "Our top priority is a 10-round limit on magazine size," said Bryan Miller, executive director of Heeding God's Call, a faith-based organization focused on preventing gun violence.
"Nobody needs a 15-round ammunition magazine unless they are a domestic terrorist or a gangster," Miller said. "We expect the legislative leadership to get behind this and the governor to see some sense."

Feb. 5: The Daily Caller: New York NRA memberships nearly double as gun control legislation is enacted
Membership in a New York affiliate of the National Rifle Association nearly doubled in a year after Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo passed harsh gun control measures in the wake of last year’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.  New York now boasts 41,000 NRA members, up from the 22,000 members in January 2013, making it the largest NRA affiliate chapter in the country — surpassing even Texas.  “I think it sends a message to all the anti-gun politicians, all the politicians sitting on the fence, that yes, if they thought that we were quiet and this was going to go away without anyone paying any more attention to it, they were just flat-out wrong,” New York State Rifle & Pistol Association president Tom King told Buffalo News on Monday.

Feb. 3: Washington Examiner: NRA: 2014 Election Do or Die – Will Take on Bloomberg and Obama:
Expecting former New York City Mayor Bloomberg to “double down” on his nationwide anti-gun efforts in the 2014 elections, an invigorated National Rifle Association is planning a massive ground game to win Republican control of the Senate, according to officials. 

Here to open the NRA's new Great American Outdoor Show, the nation's largest of its kind, top officials from the group described winning the Senate a do-or-die goal this year, especially because of the possibility that Obama could get another chance to appoint a new, liberal Supreme Court justice.  “We fully expect to win a pro-gun Senate in this cycle,” said NRA President Jim Porter. “It is vital certainly to our issues, but it is vital to the well-being of this country,” he told Secrets.  David Keene, former NRA president, added the group is expanding its effort to tell supporters how critical the election is

Jan. 29: Fox News: Gun Control Issue Muzzled in the State of the Union Compared to 2013:
One year after using the State of the Union address to make an impassioned plea for gun control, President Obama took a more muted approach to the subject, vowing to press forward whether Congress liked it or not.  But with Obama's gun control agenda considered all but dead on Capitol Hill, Obama made his declaration without the impact of guests who lost loved ones in high-profile shootings, as he had a year earlier, and he devoted considerably less time to the subject.  "Citizenship means standing up for the lives that gun violence steals from us each day,” Obama said during the Tuesday night address. “I have seen the courage of parents, students, pastors, and police officers all over this country who say 'We are not afraid,' and I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook."

Jan. 25: Fox News: Paper’s boss says gun permit database idea was a misfire:
A national newspaper chain never intended to create a multi-state database of gun owners with permits allowing them to carry concealed weapons according to its top executive, who told FoxNews.com a "poorly crafted" internal memo erroneously indicated such an idea was being planned. 

The memo -- sent by a top content editor to various editors at Civitas Media, which owns about 100 newspapers in 11 states, with 1.6 million in total circulation -- laid out a plan for an enterprise project that would use public information requests to establish the database. But Civitas President and CEO Michael Bush, in an email after FoxNews.com reported the story on Friday, stated that the memo should not have been sent and that the notion of such a project had been "rejected" upon consideration.

Jan. 25: The Daily Caller:  In 2013 TSA found 5 guns a day in air traveler’s carryon luggage:
Transportation Security Officers found more than 1,800 firearms in carry-on luggage at checkpoints all over the United States in 2013.  Of the 1,813 firearms — or 5 firearms a day, on average — found at TSA check points in 2013, 1,477 or 81 percent were loaded. The number of found firearms was a 16.5 percent increase from 2012’s total of 1,556.

According to the TSA the top airports for gun discoveries were Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (111 guns found), Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (96 guns found), Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (68 guns found), Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (66 guns foud), and Denver International Airport (51 guns found).

Jan. 19: Fox News: Federal Judge “shoots down” Chicago Gun Sales Ban
After ruling Chicago’s ban on firearm sales a breach of constitutional rights earlier this month, a federal judge is giving the city 180 days to formulate a new law governing gun stores.  Judge Edward Chang of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, granted the city’s request for time to craft an ordinance reflecting, as one municipal official said, “many detailed components, including zoning, licensing and operational requirements for gun dealers."

In his original Jan. 6 ruling, Chang not only struck down Chicago’s decades-old ban on firearm sales and transfers, but opined that the ban in America’s third-largest city doesn’t necessarily reduce violent crime, as the city has long insisted as a rationale for the prohibition. “Chicago’s ordinance goes too far in outright banning legal buyers and legal dealers from engaging in lawful acquisitions and lawful sales of firearms,” Chang wrote, according to Forbes “and at the same time the evidence does not support that the complete ban sufficiently furthers the purposes that the ordinance tries to serve.”

Jan. 12: The Daily Caller: Issa: Obama Administration waging a war on guns:
California Rep. Darrell Issa, the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee, accused the Obama administration of waging “a war on guns” after new reports of “rogue” sting operations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) conducted during 2013.  Issa spoke to Fox News’ Shannon Bream Sunday about a report by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which claimed that ATF agents operating firearm stings in 6 separate cities “took advantage of the mentally ill, set up stings near churches and schools and made decisions which some claim actually increased crime in their neighborhoods.” Issa and Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley sent a letter to ATF Director Todd Jones this week to demand answers on the tactics and how often they’ve been used.

“This is ‘Fast and Furious’ revisited,” he began, referencing the infamous gun-running operation that saw thousands of small arms fall into the hands of drug cartels. “You finally have a confirmed director, Todd Jones, who was supposed to clean up these operations. And instead — what you see in many of these cases — they’re continuing. They’re continuing to have this be what’s called a ‘rogue organization.’ But I think for the members of the ATF, I want to make sure I make one thing clear. The ATF never acts alone. The FBI and the U.S. attorneys in each of these areas — political appointees — they work hand in hand… This is the president, President Obama’s Department of Justice that continues to support these sting operations, these ‘rogue operations’ as they’re called, that lead to harm in communities.”

Issa explained why the Obama administration has gone to such great lengths — exploiting the mentally disabled and shelling out large amounts of taxpayer dollars in buyback programs — in its quest to get all guns, both legal and illegal, “off the street.”  “I think what we have here once again is a war on guns, if you will, that causes them to take these bold moves — bold and reckless moves — because they hate guns so much,” he said. “‘Fast and Furious’ had the opposite effect; it made Americans scared of their government… Whether it’s ‘Fast and Furious’ or being lied to by the NSA, the American people are getting tired of assuming that an agency does one thing and then finding out that they’re abusing citizens, and in this case the mentally retarded.”

Jan. 6: The Hill: Federal Judge Strikes Down Chicago Gun Law
A federal district court judge in Chicago ruled Monday that the city’s ban on gun sales is unconstitutional.  In a 35-page opinion, Judge Edmond E. Chang from the Northern District of Illinois wrote that the city’s law “goes too far.” Chang was appointed by President Obama in 2010.   Chang delayed the effect of his ruling, however, in order to allow the city time to respond. In his opinion, he acknowledged the city’s “stark reality” of thousands of shooting victims and murders each year.  “But on the other side of this case is another feature of government.: certain fundamental rights are protected by the Constitution, put outside government’s reach, including the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense under the Second Amendment,” he wrote. “This right must also include the right to acquire a firearm.”

Currently, Chicago bans the sale of handguns within city limits. The ban was imposed when the city enacted new regulations after the Supreme Court struck down the city’s handgun ban in 2010. In September, a committee of Chicago’s city council members amended its laws to allow concealed weapons. This change reflected the law Illinois lawmakers passed last year allowing people to carry concealed guns. 

Jan. 3: Fox News: Detroit Police Chief says more citizens should be armed:
Detroit’s police chief has a solution to help drive down crime in one of the nation’s most dangerous cities: arm more citizens.  James Craig made the comments at a police press conference Thursday, when he announced a 7 percent drop in violent crime in 2013, The Detroit News reported. Although urban police typically favor gun control, Craig said his views evolved after working in Los Angeles and Maine, where concealed weapons permits are more easily obtained.

“I changed my orientation real quick,” Craig said. “Maine is one of the safest places in America. Clearly, suspects knew that good Americans were armed.”  Thursday’s comments echo statements Craig has made in the past, including those he made last month, when he said responsible citizens who carry concealed pistol licenses “translates into crime reduction.”

Jan. 3: Fox News: Meanwhile Obama Administration proposes new executive actions on gun background checks:
The Obama administration on Friday proposed two new executive actions to make it easier for states to provide mental health information to the national background check system, wading back into the gun control debate after a months-long hiatus.  Vice President Biden's office announced the proposals Friday afternoon. Both pertain to the ability of states to provide information about the mentally ill and those seeking mental health treatment to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. 

One proposal would formally give permission to states to submit "the limited information necessary to help keep guns out of potentially dangerous hands," without having to worry about the privacy provisions in a law known as HIPAA.   "The proposed rule will not change the fact that seeking help for mental health problems or getting treatment does not make someone legally prohibited from having a firearm," the statement said. "Furthermore, nothing in the proposed rule would require reporting on general mental health visits or other routine mental health care, or would exempt providers solely performing these treatment services from existing privacy rules."