Mayors Abandon Bloomberg’s Gun Control Group

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns is finding it hard to maintain some of its members, thanks to dozens of resignations and lost elections over the last few months.

Worse for Bloomberg, who has become one of the faces of the gun control movement: the people replacing his lost comrades aren’t particularly eager to sign up with the organization, a rare group battling in the trenches against the well-organized and deep-pocketed National Rifle Association. Some appear not quite to have signed on for that level of political heat.

“The original focus, I thought, was going to be on focusing on better on enforcement of our existing laws, and if anything, we have talked about not getting involved with things like banning assault weapons and banning magazine clips,” said Rockford, Il. Mayor Lawrence Morrissey, who left the group in June because, he said at a town hall meeting, the group had veered from what he originally thought it was about.

Bloomberg’s group has come under fire recently for naming murder suspects, including Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, in its list of victims of gun violence and for hosting its website on New York City government servers.

According to an old version of its member list, saved on a blog dated back to early February, more than 50 mayors who were then listed on MAIG’s website are no longer there. Most of the mayors whose names are no longer affiliated with the group are off the list either because they resigned or lost an election, but others have specifically asked to be removed.

BuzzFeed reached out to dozens of the replacement mayors and none of them would confirm if they planned to join the group or if they were even considering it.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Director Mark Glaze brushed the issue off. Glaze said the group stays up to date with its mayors who leave office so they can send a letter to the newly elected mayor to try and get them on board, which he said is a process that can take a little while. Glaze said they try not to push new mayors too hard to join as they settle in to office.

“Mayors come and go,” Glaze said. Adding, “We lose them on occasion, but it’s going upward.”

Glaze said that though MAIG has lost some mayors recently, the group is growing much faster than it is shrinking.

Nashua, N.H. mayor Donnalee Lozeau removed her name from the MAIG website when the group released an attack ad, which claimed that Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), who voted against the failed Manchin-Toomey gun legislation, was misleading voters when she claimed to have supported background checks in the past.

“I simply cannot be part of an organization that chooses this course of action instead of cooperatively working with those that have proven over a lifetime of work their true intentions,” Lozeau said in a statement to Nashua’s the Telegraph. “I have faith that Senator Ayotte will continue to work toward finding a responsible solution relative to these issues.”

Cyril Kleem of Berea, Ohio, simply opted-out without making a statement or clarifying to his staff why exactly he no longer wanted to be associated with the group. Several other currently sitting mayors names have disappeared from the list as well but were unable to be reached by BuzzFeed in time for publication.

Another former mayor, Bill Rappaport of Star Valley, Ariz., was forced out of his mayorship specifically because of his support for background checks during private sales at gun shows and over the internet. He was forced to resign when other members of the city council allegedly began waging personal attacks against him for his views. In an op-ed to the Payson Roundup, Rappaport defends his position and highlights his National Rifle Association membership.

“For the life of me, I cannot understand why anyone would stand in opposition to making it harder for felons, the mentally ill, and other potentially dangerous people to acquire guns,” he wrote. “The members of the council should know that 90 percent of Arizonans are in favor of requiring background checks for all gun sales.”

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jacobfischler/dozens-of-mayors-are-quietly-dropping-out-of-bloombergs-gun

Kansas Supreme Court Rules Gun Dealers Can Be Held Accountable to Victims for Supplying Guns to Criminals

(Washington, D.C.) – On Friday, July 19, 2013, the Kansas Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling in the case Shirley v. Glass (Case No. 102570), finding that gun dealers must use the highest standard of care when selling weapons, and that dealers can be held liable for violating gun laws under negligence per se. Both rulings were first-of-their kind decisions in the state of Kansas.
Jonathan Lowy, Director of the Legal Action Project at the Brady Center, argued the case and praised the ruling as a “landmark victory that will help victims of gun violence in Kansas and across the country.” “Most gun dealers do their best to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, but the bad apples who supply felons with straw purchases should be held accountable to victims,” said Lowy. “This ruling will remove the profit incentive for arming criminals, and make sure that innocent victims of gun violence aren’t the only ones who pay the cost of irresponsible gun sales.”
The suit was filed by Elizabeth Shirley, whose son Zeus was murdered by her estranged husband Russell Graham, against Baxter Springs Gun and Pawn Shop in Baxter Springs, KS, where Graham obtained the murder weapon in a straw purchase earlier that day. Graham’s grandmother completed the sale of the gun after Graham informed the dealer he was a felon, so was ineligible to purchase the weapon himself.
Shirley’s case was initially dismissed by a trial court judge whose decision relied on a Kansas appeals case that held that a gun dealer was not liable for supplying a dangerous individual with a firearm. Represented by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence’s Legal Action Project, Shirley appealed the decision to the Kansas Court of Appeals, which reversed the lower court’s holding and found that the dealer could be liable for negligently entrusting the gun to Graham.
Although the Court had found that Shirley’s case could proceed, Shirley appealed decisions that the dealer could not be liable for violating gun laws, and was not required to exercise the highest degree of care in its sales. The Kansas Supreme Court reversed those two rulings by the Appeals Court in its Friday decision.
Shirley’s case now returns to Cherokee County District Court. A schedule has not been set. James R. Shetlar and Melanie Caro, of the Law Offices of James R. Shetlar, Overland Park, Kansas, is co-counsel for Elizabeth Shirley with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence Legal Action Project.

Colorado anti-gun politicians face recall over gun control

For the first time in Colorado history, two state lawmakers will face recall elections for their support of tougher gun control measures.

Colorado’s Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper signed an executive order on Thursday setting the date for the recall elections of the pair of Democratic state senators.Continue Reading


Morse and Giron asked a Denver District Court judge to block the recall because of the wording, but were ruled against on Thursday. Following the decision, Hickenlooper signed the executive order calling for a Sept. 10 recall election.

NRA organizers submitted petitions to begin the recall process last month, gathering 12,648 signatures in Giron’s district and 10,137 in Morse’s, according to a CNN report.

Both senators voted in favor of universal background checks and limiting ammunition magazines.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/pols-face-recall-over-gun-control-94454.html#ixzz2ZcXYepxe

Gun rights groups join new challenge to NSA surveillance

National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program vacuuming up
logs of Americans' domestic phone calls is unconstitutional, says new lawsuit
 with gun rights groups as plaintiffs.

An AR-15 style rifle that's similar to firearms sold by Franklin Armory, plaintiff 

in a new lawsuit saying the National Security Agency's warrantless

 surveillance program is unconstitutional.

(Credit: Getty Images)

The National Security Agency's warrantless domestic surveillance program is now under fire from an unusual source: gun-rights groups.
A federal lawsuit filed today in San Francisco says the NSA's decision to vacuum up nearly all U.S. phone records, including local calls, on a daily basis violates federal law and the Constitution, which protects Americans' rights to speak freely and not be subjected to ongoing warrantless surveillance.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Calguns Foundation, a nonprofit membership organization based in San Carlos, Calif.; the California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees, an industry association of dealers, collectors, and shooting ranges; and Franklin Armory of Morgan Hill, Calif., known for manufacturing AR-15 and other types of semiautomatic rifles that can legally be sold in California.
They, along with more traditional plaintiffs including Greenpeace, People for the American Way, and the Free Software Foundation, claim that the NSA's acquisition of logs of their members' communications violates their First Amendment right "to communicate anonymously and to associate privately." The lawsuit says the phone call logs reveal "sensitive information about their personal, political, and religious activities" that should not be available to the government in these circumstances.
"People and the organizations they choose to associate with have a Constitutional right to real, meaningful privacy," Brandon Combs, president of the California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees, one of the plaintiffs, told CNET this morning.
The lawsuit is being organized by the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has a separate lawsuit in progress challenging warrantless NSA surveillance of the contents of Americans' Internet and phone communications by tapping into AT&T's fiber links. A federal judge last week ruled those claims, which have been corroborated by documents leaked by Edward Snowden, could proceed.

A woman learns how to fire a handgun during a basic pistol course, 

in this file photo, held during Gun Appreciation Day.

(Credit: Getty Images)

"California's gun laws are so byzantine that law-abiding folks turn to our telephone hotline to figure out if they're accidental felons," said Gene Hoffman, chairman of the Calguns Foundation. "It scares our members that there is a record of such a sensitive conversation."
Unlike EFF's earlier lawsuit, which focuses on the contents of private communications made available under the 2008 FISA Amendments Act, the new lawsuit challenges logs turned over to the NSA under the 2001 Patriot Act. Those logs are vacuumed up from AT&T -- and Verizon and Sprint as well, according to news reports -- and do not include the contents of phone calls.
"The government doesn't get to claim that we have that [information] and then do whatever it wants -- just because they've made it so we don't know what and when they steal, read, and store our data," Combs said. "The NSA is chilling speech and association because people of all ideological backgrounds are rightfully afraid of being monitored by the most powerful and secretive government agency in the nation."
The lawsuit also alleges violations of the Fourth Amendment, which restricts warrantless surveillance; the Fifth Amendment, which protects Americans' due process rights; and federal surveillance law. It asks the court for a "preliminary and permanent injunction" halting the surveillance program.

The lying liars who lie about psychiatry

These days, we are witnessing an acceleration in the use of psychiatry to target Americans, to label them as dangerous, to take away guns they own, to blame gun violence in the US on mentally ill people. (see also this story by Dan Roberts). It’s a winning strategy, because most Americans don’t have a clue about the way psychiatry actually works or its pose of being a science. The public hears techno-speak and nods and surrenders. If psychiatrists are experts on the human mind, mice can navigate the Arctic in canoes. But psychiatrists are educated to be able to talk a good game. And politicians are more than happy to mouth vagaries, and consign the problems of society to “mental-health professionals.” It turns out that the phrase “mental health” was invented by psyops specialists, who needed to create an analogy to physical well-being. Read Entire Article at JonRappoport.wordpress.com - See more at: http://defendgunrights.com/articles/the-lying-liars-who-lie-about-psychiatry#sthash.sVT6AE24.dpuf

App Finds Ranges Near You

(GunNews.com) — Looking for a place to shoot? There’s a new-and-improved app for that. The National Shooting Sports Foundation has released an all-new Where To Shoot mobile app — available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices — that locates shooting ranges near you.
Available for free in the Apple App Store and Google Play, Where To Shoot puts North America’s most comprehensive directory of shooting ranges in the palm of your hand. It also includes video tips for shooters, news and firearm safety information.
Users can search by current location or zip code and find specifics about each range, including shooting activities offered, accessibility and contact information. The app also makes it easy to get directions to the range.
The app is modeled after NSSF’s popular WhereToShoot.org website and is updated frequently with range information in every U.S. state and Canadian province. New tips for hunters and shooters are also added regularly.
Download the app through the links below or by simply visiting www.wheretoshoot.org on your iOS or Android device.
Click here to download iPhone and iPad
Click here to download Android

OC activists cheer federal judge’s Colorado ruling

Open Carry activists across the country, including the Pacific Northwest, are cheering a federal judge’s ruling Thursday that declared a ban on guns in post office parking lots to be unconstitutional, and they will likely be talking about it today at an Open Carry picnic at the Kitsap County park in Port Orchard.

What has their attention is the summation of U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch, who concluded, “In sum, openly carrying a firearm outside the home is a liberty protected by the Second Amendment.”
The case, brought by Colorado resident Tab Bonidy — represented by the Mountain States Legal Foundation — caused quite a ripple because it is the third time (the other two being in Maryland and Illinois) in which a federal court has confirmed that the right to bear arms extends outside the home.
Bonidy lives in a rural area outside Avon, and he routinely carries a handgun for personal protection. He also has to retrieve his mail at the Avon Post Office, but was not able to leave his gun in his vehicle when picking up his mail because regulations prohibited him from having a firearm even in the parking lot.

"In sum, openly carrying a firearm outside the home is a liberty protected by the
Second Amendment."—Judge Richard P. Matsch

As this column noted Friday, the Second Amendment Foundation has asked for Supreme Court review in the Maryland case, Woollard v. Sheridan, which was reversed on appeal by the state.
Today’s festivities in Port Orchard mark the fifth anniversary of the first Open Carry event held at the park. This is a family affair, and will include an opportunity for people to sign Initiative 591 — the “common sense” measure prohibiting gun confiscation without due process and requiring background checks to comply with a uniform national standard — which is supported by several major gun rights organizations.
According to a report Saturday morning on The Gun Wire, open carry is getting attention in a Mississippi legal flap in which it now appears the National Rifle Association may get involved.
For the record — and the umpteenth time, it seems — contrary to claims this week by the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility in its attempts to raise money for its gun control initiative (I-594), the NRA has taken no position in Washington State’s battle of the initiatives. I-594 is the 15-page gun control measure purporting to be about expanding background checks. WAGR keeps asking for money by bashing the NRA, yet the group reportedly has more than $1 million already banked for their campaign.

http://www.examiner.com/article/oc-activists-cheer-federal-judge-s-colorado-ruling