NRA

While watching coverage of Gabby Giffords and her poignant resignation appearance in the House it caused me to recall the Tucson tragedy and how the carnage might have been lessened had there been laws in place controlling the size and types of magazines and clips available to the general gun owner. Limiting the number of rounds that could be fired before the shooter would have to reload led me to consider the irony of an existing Federal Law that applies to every state.

It is illegal to hunt migratory birds, waterfowl, doves, ducks, etc, anywhere in this nation using a shotgun larger than 10 gauge and one that does not have its magazine permanently plugged to LIMIT it to no more than 3 shells, 2 in the magazine and one in the chamber. This dates to the early 20th century and was designed to stop "market hunters" and others from obliterating entire flocks with high-capacity magazines or large bore "punt" guns that could fire up to a pound of lead shot. Having been an avid duck hunter growing up in south Alabama with Mobile Bay being a major flyway I never met a serious hunter who disagreed with the law. If you can't hit a bird on the wing in three shots, the fourth or fifth won't matter.

It's hard to lobby when you can't even stand up:

The American Kennel Club, among other groups who profit from commercial breeders, was outspoken against it. The bill didn’t pass.

Hunting and agricultural groups say the Humane Society's true goal is to outlaw hunting and farming. They've told lawmakers cracking down on puppy mills could be the first step toward that.

You want a legitimate slippery-slope example? How about a legislative body that has become so afraid of offending campaign contributors that they won't even discuss protecting puppies from cruel treatment.

The NRA leadership, far removed and unaccountable to their members, is one of the strongest opponents of the Democratic party up and down the ticket.

The fact that they co-opt some Democratic officials just makes them that much more dangerous to our party's success.

Bev withdraws at the last minute for this:

Gov. Bev Perdue was scheduled to appear at an event next week organized by a group backing ethics reform, one of her pet issues.

But there was a catch that the governor's staff says she didn't know about: The event is a fundraiser for the reform group, and was being hosted by an all-star group of lobbyists, a format that seemed to run counter to the proposals to clean up state government.

And you guessed it, Tim is sponsoring the event:

Organized by Grass Roots North Carolina* and sponsored by Tim D’Annunzio for Congress, GRNC’s ‘Second Amendment Symposium’ will now feature Alan Gura, Sen. Richard Burr, 8th
District Republican Tim D’Annunzio and Second Amendment Foundation president Joe Tartaro.

Senator Burr was elected to Congress in 1994 and to the U.S. Senate in 2004. His perfect 100% pro-gun voting record and long history of sponsoring Second Amendment legislation earned Grass Roots North Carolina’s highest 4-star evaluation. Most recently, Sen. Burr garnered national attention (and the wrath of the “Violence Policy Center”) by introducing the Veteran’s Second Amendment Protection Act.

Just found this post on Slaschdot!
http://idle.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/04/0433234

You know you're in a world of hurt when you're the US Navy and the freakin' National Rifle Association is on your case. But that's just what the NO OLF Brigade announced today in Washington DC. Babs Barrett, of the steadily improving McClatchy news organization, wrote the story.

WASHINGTON - The outlying landing field that the U.S. Navy wants to build in eastern North Carolina could have national and even international implications for wildlife and sports enthusiasts, according to a coalition of activists who spoke this morning at a news conference in the nation’s capital.