John Kerry - "Gun Violence" Keeps Japanese Students Away

No Lawyers - Only Guns and Money

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• Grassley Proposal
• ACLU FIles Brief In Support Of TrainMeAZ's Appeal
• New Jersey Native Threatens To Replace AZ Senator Over His Pro-Gun Stance
• John Kerry - "Gun Violence" Keeps Japanese Students Away

Grassley Proposal Posted: 16 Apr 2013 07:32 PM PDT Earlier today the National Shooting Sports Foundation sent out an Action Alert asking their members and supporters to push their Senators to vote against the Manchin-Toomey amendment and in favor of the Grassley proposal. Unfortunately, they didn't explain the Grassley proposal nor was there a release on it from Senator Grassley. It took a bit but I finally found some information on the Grassley proposal in the Washington Free Beacon. It is officially titled the "Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second Amendment Act of 2013". Its sponsors include Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), and Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND). Senators have been tight-lipped about the bill, but according to a fact-sheet obtained by the Free Beacon it would “reauthorize and improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, increase resources for prosecutions of gun crime, address mental illness in the criminal justice system, and strengthen criminal law by including straw purchasing and illegal firearm trafficking statutes.” The bill would establish a high-level federal task force to increase prosecution of gun violence in the country. It would also create a nationwide version of Project Exile, which shifts prosecution of gun crimes from state to federal courts. Additionally, the act would “reauthorize and improve” the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Federal courts would be required to submit relevant information to NICS, and it would “ensure relevant mental health records” are submitted by states. The bill would also call for the study of mass shootings and limit the Justice Department’s ability to conduct gun trafficking stings like “Operation Fast and Furious.” “Sen. Grassley, with Sen. Cruz, is considering an alternative that emphasizes support for the Second Amendment and might include fixing the NICS system, providing resources to help address mental health and school safety, protecting veterans from false health determinations and addressing gun trafficking and straw purchasing,” a spokeswoman for Grassley told the Free Beacon. The replacement amendment seems to me to be an amalgamation of amendments dealing with the NICS system, mental health issues, gun trafficking, Second Amendment protections for veterans, ATF operations like Fast and Furious, and the lack of straw purchases prosecutions. Here is a link to a fact sheet on it. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) is also reported to be planning to offer a national right to carry reciprocity amendment to the S. 649. Having read the fact sheet, I don't see the words "background checks" except for FFLs who want to check on their employees unlike the Manchin-Toomey amendment which would mandate background checks for all guns sold at gun shows or through Internet and other classified advertising. Of course, nothing gets my backing until I have read and studied the actual language of the amendment.    Subscribe in a reader

ACLU FIles Brief In Support Of TrainMeAZ's Appeal Posted: 16 Apr 2013 07:12 PM PDT After the Arizona legislature passed Constitutional carry in 2010, Alan Korwin started a billboard and transit ad campaign called TrainMeAZ to promote gun safety instruction among other things. Unfortunately, the City of Phoenix censored the transit ads by removing them because, in their words, it didn't meet their ad standards. Korwin promptly sued and was aided in the lawsuit by the Goldwater Institute. Last October, the trial court found for the City of Phoenix and denied the motion for summary judgement by the Goldwater Institute. The case has been appealed to the Arizona Court of Appeals. Yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed an amicus brief in support of the Goldwater Institute and Alan Korwin. From the press release announcing the brief: ACLU, GOLDWATER INSTITUTE TEAM UP ON FREE-SPEECH CASE ON BEHALF OF GUN-SAFETY-BUSINESS OWNER Unlikely alliance between organizations highlights case's importance to fundamental freedoms The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the Goldwater Institute's appeal in Korwin v. Cotton, a free-speech challenge to Phoenix's transit advertising standards that were applied to remove 50 "Guns Save Live" advertisements from the city's bus shelters. "This case has profound implications beyond whether Appellants can post their proposed advertisement on City of Phoenix bus shelters," the ACLU's brief argues. "It involves the scope of the Arizona Constitution's grant to all persons the right to freely speak, write and publish on all subjects." The City's policy forbids non-commercial advertising on city buses and transit shelters. In 2010, plaintiff Alan Korwin and his company, TrainMeAZ, purchased 50 transit shelter ads designed to drive business to their gun-training website. The ads pictured a large heart with "Guns Save Lives," followed by the group's website. Even though the ads were commercial in nature, the City removed the ads, despite approving "Jesus Heals," Veterans' Administration, and water-conservation advertisements that did not appear to propose a commercial transaction. "The City's arbitrary decision-making is exactly the type of censorship the U.S. and Arizona Constitutions forbid," said Clint Bolick, Vice President for Litigation at the Goldwater Institute, who characterized the City's policy as "we sort-of know it when we see it." The Maricopa County Superior Court (a lower court) upheld the City's actions in a 2012 decision. The case is now before the Arizona Court of Appeals. "This odd-couple alliance between the Goldwater Institute and the ACLU highlights the importance of the case to our fundamental freedoms," said Bolick. The case is expected to be argued in the Court of Appeals later this year. A copy of the ACLU amicus brief can be found here under "Case Documents": http://goldwaterinstitute.org/article/korwin-v-cotton-bus-shelter-ads-case ### "I am thrilled to see the ACLU get behind this case," said Alan Korwin, the Appellant in the case and an ACLU member for decades, "It is the right thing to do. Phoenix was out of its mind to tear down our bus-stop ads in the middle of the night without notice. http://www.trainmeaz.com/news-room/ I have supported many of ACLU's efforts on free speech, and they figured prominently in my 12th book about things you're not allowed to say, Bomb Jokes at Airports. http://www.gunlaws.com/BJAA.htm "This case is about free speech, which is central to everything I've been doing as a writer and publisher for nearly three decades," he said. http://www.bloomfieldpress.com "It is particularly gratifying though that the substance here is gun safety, at a time when the national scene is dominated by efforts to restrict gun rights for the public."  Subscribe in a reader

New Jersey Native Threatens To Replace AZ Senator Over His Pro-Gun Stance Posted: 16 Apr 2013 12:35 PM PDT In one of the more amusing news stories today, Mark Kelly, gun control advocate and husband of Gabby Giffords, is threatening to "replace" Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) in 2018 if Flake doesn't vote for gun control. Kelly was reacting to Flake's announcement -- posted Monday night on the senator's Facebook page -- that he will oppose a bill by conservative Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Penn., that would expand background checks to include people attempting to buy firearms from private individuals at gun shows or on the Internet. The bill is being offered as a compromise to amend a bill with a more sweeping background check requirement. But Flake said on his Facebook page that he believes the bill would still go too far. "Manchin-Toomey would expand background checks far beyond commercial sales to include almost all private transfers -- including between friends and neighbors -- if the posting or display of the ad for a firearm was made public," Flake said in his posting. "It would likely even extend to message boards, like the one in an office kitchen. This simply goes too far." Kelly still thinks he can persuade Flake to come around on the Manchin-Toomey amendment "when I talk to him about why his concerns are unfounded." If that doesn't work, then maybe the Orange, New Jersey native will threaten to hold his breathe and stomp his feet to get his way. For some reason I think that is destined to failure as well.  Subscribe in a reader

John Kerry - "Gun Violence" Keeps Japanese Students Away Posted: 16 Apr 2013 11:15 AM PDT From the vaguely French looking Secretary of State who, by the way, served in Vietnam: Secretary of State John Kerry thinks Japanese students don't come to the United States to study because of "gun violence". He goes on to say: Kerry cited Japan’s tough gun laws preventing almost all private firearms ownership and said the country was safer “where people are not running around with guns.” Of course I'm sure Japan also has laws about the possession of chemical weapons like Sarin but that didn't stop the gas attacks on the Tokyo subway. Just like they have laws that make it illegal to kill schoolchildren, innocent bystanders, and coworkers with a knife. UPDATE: The Washington Post evaluated Kerry's claim and gave it a 3 Pinocchio's out of a possible 4.  The number of Japanese exchange students has been declining for the last 15 years....as has their economy.  Subscribe in a reader

 

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