introduced H.R. 3614, which would
provide that NICS preserve all
records of the system with respect
to individuals named in the Violent
Gang and Terrorist Organization file
who attempt to purchase firearms
and the prospective transaction until
the system has provided the records
to the FBI. It was referred to the
House Judiciary Committee. King’s
action followed a report that a dozen
individuals on the government’s
main terrorist watch list had bought
firearms during an eight-month
period last year. Under new rules
issued by the Justice Department,
the FBI has as long as three days to
run additional checks on prospective
gun purchasers listed on the file, a
database of more than 10,000 names
that include al Qaeda operatives and
“other militants,” according to a
November memo from acting
Deputy Attorney General Robert
McCallum, Jr.
In a finding that could affect
thousands of criminal cases, reports
the Associated Press, the National
Academy of Sciences has concluded
that some techniques the FBI has
used for decades to match bullets to
crimes are flawed or imprecise. The
study urges FBI chemists to stop a
practice known as data chaining,
which chemists have used to match
bullets to a crime. In data chaining,
FBI chemists can match two
dissimilar bullets if they can find a
third, from a manufacturer as an
example, that matches both. The
FBI most commonly identifies bullets
recovered from a crime by firing new
bullets from the suspect’s weapon
and comparing the markings left by
the gun barrel on the test bullet with
the crime scene bullet. The method
works only when the crime scene
bullet is in good shape and if police
have a suspect’s weapon.
In Wisconsin, Joe Waldron,
CCRKBA Executive Director, called
Gov. Jim Doyle’s veto of a reasonable
concealed carry bill an act of political
demagoguery that should be
answered with a legislative override.
The veto “is an insult to every lawabiding
Wisconsin gun owner who
believes in the right of self-defense,”
said Waldron. “At a time when
Democrats nationwide are laboring
to present themselves and their party
as more friendly to firearm civil rights,
along comes Jim Doyle to strip away
the façade and demonstrate that the
Democrat philosophy is still one
locked in paranoia about guns and
mistrust for gun owners.”
The U.S. Supreme Court early
last month declined to hear a
challenge to a California appellate
court ruling that U.S. citizens have
no Second Amendment right to own
a gun. In refusing the hear the case,
Silveira v. Lockyer, the Court let stand
a ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in San Francisco in a
lawsuit challenging California’s ban
on “assault weapons,” saying the
intent of the Second Amendment
was not to protect the gun rights of
individuals, but of militias. The
decision not to hear the case leaves
the question of Second Amendment
gun ownership rights up in the air.
Looking ahead, the Second
Amendment Sisters (SAS) announce
that they plan to hold the SAFER, of
Second Amendment Freedoms for
Everyone Rally on Mother’s Day this
year. The SAFER event will be held
on Sunday, May 9 in Washington,
D.C. at Freedom Plaza from 11 a.m.
until 3 p.m. “Mothers are the
backbone of this Nation,” says
Dianne Sawyer, SAS President.
“Increasingly, more women are
arming themselves. Women are
realizing that they personally have
to take steps to assure their own
safety, and often the safety of their
children. By far, the safest means of
self-defense is a firearm.” For further
information, check the special
SAFER page on the SAS website at
www.2asisters.org/SAFER or call
877-798-2828.
Ohioans for Concealed Carry
announces the formation of a
coalition to call upon Governor Taft,
the Ohio General Assembly and the
Ohio Republican Party to enact into
law an acceptable CCW measure.
Representing one quarter of a million
Ohioans, the Civil Defense Rights
Coalition is comprised of five Second
Amendment-related groups.
Ohioans for Concealed Carry (OFC)
brought together the Coalition.