Gun Rights News Roundup

Articles, news stories, and op-eds of interest to gun owners:

[New York] Article: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to introduce gun ban bill:

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat and member of the so-called Blue Dog Coalition, plans to introduce an assault weapons ban this week. Gillibrand, the junior senator from New York, was at one time highly rated by the NRA for her advocacy of the Second Amendment.

Newsday claims Gillibrand has “undergone a transformation” over the last three months and has moved away from “her House record that won the NRA’s top rating while remaining a supporter of Second Amendment rights to gun ownership.” Since her Senate appointment, she has “passed just about every test on guns set by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy,” who reintroduced a bill closing the so-called gun-show loophole at a news conference last week.
...
Senator Gillibrand is working closely with gun-grabbing organizations, including New Yorkers Against Gun Violence and the Brady Campaign, according to Matt Canter, Gillibrand’s spokesman. New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and others are working with Gillibrand on “anti-trafficking legislation to stop the flow of illegal guns,” Canter told Newsday. [emphasis added] ...

[California] Federal appeals court upholds gun manufacturer and seller liability protection law:

Firearms manufacturers and sellers cannot be held liable for criminal misuse of their products, a federal appeals court panel ruled Monday in a case stemming from a white supremacist's 1999 shooting rampage at a Jewish community summer camp in Granada Hills.

The suit brought by the mother of a man fatally shot by Buford O. Furrow Jr. and the families of five others wounded -- including three preschool children -- sought to hold Georgia-based Glock Inc., dealer RSR Wholesale Guns Seattle and a Chinese manufacturer liable for negligence.

In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld the constitutionality of a 2005 federal law that retroactively shielded gun makers and distributors from responsibility for criminal acts involving properly functioning weapons. ...

[Utah] Lawmaker wants states rights gun law:

New protections for gun owners are on the agenda in Utah, where state Rep. Carl Wimmer is preparing to introduce a bill that would assert the state's sovereignty under the Ninth and Tenth amendments.

Utah apparently is following Montana's lead in attempting the plan that would protect residents' Second Amendment gun rights.

Wimmer intends his legislation to exempt from federal gun regulations any Utah resident seeking to own a firearm made in Utah.

Wimmer explained to WND that he intends to introduce a bill, not a resolution.

"A resolution has no teeth to it because a resolution amounts to a state saying to federal government, 'We are going to stand up and assert our rights, if you will let us please do so, federal government,'" said Wimmer. "A bill is an actual state law that will put into place the fact that if a firearm is manufactured in Utah, sold in Utah and kept within the boundaries of Utah, that firearm will be exempt from federal regulation under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution." ...

[Missouri] Lawmakers debate campus carry, but bill stalls:

JEFFERSON CITY - Only supporters made their voices heard at a Senate hearing on a bill that would allow guns on college campuses.

Five people defended a measure which would allow for college students to carry and conceal firearms on the state's college campuses.

Originally, House Bill 668 was a measure to lower the age for a gun permit to 21 from 23. But then the legislative process ran it course, which led to an additional amendment to allow for concealed handguns on college campuses.

The University of Missouri System and Missouri State University each opposed the measure when the conceal and carry provision was added.
...
Senate Judiciary Committee Vice Chairman Sen. Jack Goodman, R - Mt. Vernon, offered several opportunities for anyone to voice their opposition but no one did.

The committee chair, Sen. Matt Bartle, R - Jackson, has already spoken up in support of the bill. The measure needs only one more vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee before it reaches the Senate Floor.

By early Tuesday morning, it became clear the bill will not be able to go through all of the steps needed for it to pass before the legislative session ends this week.

[Nebraska] City amends concealed carry ban to conform to state law:

City officials passed an amendment Monday to allow concealed weapons, putting Beatrice in line with state statute.

The Beatrice Council approved 7-0, with councilman Calvin Carey absent, an amendment to the city’s ordinance that would allow for concealed weapon permit holders to carry within city limits.

Under previous city law, concealed weapons of any kind were not permitted within city limits. However, the amendment makes allowances for those individuals with a permit to carry. ...