Contact your legislators to support CCDW for military personnel reform

KENTUCKY: Right-to-Carry Reform for Military Personnel Takes Another Step Forward The Senate Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection Committee passed House Bill 19 and it is currently on its second read in the Senate Rules Committee. Sponsored by State Representative Fitz Steele (D-84) and State Representative Bob Damron (D-39), HB 19 would allow military personnel who are on active duty to renew their concealed carry licenses early and via mail. It also allows for those military personnel whose licenses expire while on active duty to renew licenses within 90 days after the end of their deployment, with no late fees or other penalties. Please contact your State Senator at (502) 564-8100 and respectfully urge them to support HB19.

CCDW begins in national parks!

Right-to-Carry Takes Effect In National Parks Friday, February 26, 2010

On February 22, a new law took effect that applied state firearms laws to national parks and wildlife refuges across America.

The implementation of the new law, which the National Park Service (NPS) has planned for since passage of H.R. 627 last May, has so far been without major problems. NPS management reports that it has worked with the 493 individual parks, promoting a consistent message on several key points:

• Under the new law, every park is subject to all the firearms laws of the state (or states) where the park is located.
  
• Park visitors must know and obey state laws, including knowing which state laws apply in parks (such as Yellowstone) that cross state boundaries. (For information on state laws, go towww.nraila.org/gunlaws.)
  
• The new law affects firearms possession, not use. Laws regarding hunting, poaching, target shooting or any unlawful discharge remain unchanged.
  
• It will remain unlawful to carry in certain locations, under a separate law that prohibits possession of any firearm in a "federal facility."

This last point—and especially the definition of "federal facility"—may be the one most likely to cause confusion for visitors. The National Park Service has indicated that, according to its apparently broad interpretation of the law, the law prohibits firearms not only in buildings (such as visitor centers, ranger stations, and administrative offices) but also in other areas that are regularly staffed by federal employees (such as developed caves and gated outdoor performance areas). However, NPS officials stress that all prohibited locations will be marked with signs.

The ban on carry in "federal facilities" does not apply to buildings that are located in parks, but not staffed by the federal government—such as many restaurants, lodges and gift shops. However, private operators of those places are free to make their own rules subject to state law.

Needless to say, anti-gun activists and the media have redlined their hysteria meters, with one newspaper claiming that "there assuredly will be more gun violence" in parks, and another suggesting that park visitors "might want to toss a Kevlar vest into the SUV." And the Brady Campaign is still looking for ways to use the courts to reverse the new law.

Needless to say, media fears are unlikely to be realized, and NRA-ILA will fight any effort to reverse this hard-won victory. As always, be sure to watch this alert and www.nraila.org for any new developments.

See the link to this information here

Please make your calls in support of this bill!

Pro-Hunting Bill Scheduled to be Considered Tomorrow!

Please Contact the Members of the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee!

Tomorrow at 9:00 a.m., the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee will consider a bill that, if passed, would overhaul the structure and operation of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.

House Bill 429, sponsored by State Representative Bob Damron (D-39), would, among other things, permit a person to carry a firearm for self-defense during bow hunting season. The bill would also create a “no-net-loss” hunting policy for public hunting lands, requiring that the Commonwealth maintain at least the same amount and quality of available public hunting land as currently exists. It requires that additional lands be opened to hunting if land that is currently open to hunting is closed.

Please contact the members of the committee TODAY and respectfully urge them to support HB429. Contact information for the committee can be found here.

2nd Amendment held to apply to the states!

WA Supreme Court: '2nd Amendment applies to the states via 14th Amendment due process clause'

The Washington State Supreme Court delivered a haymaker to anti-gunners – and strong reinforcement to gun rights advocates – Thursday morning when it handed down an opinion in the case of State v. Sieyes that states bluntly, “We hold the Second Amendment applies to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause.”

The majority opinion, written by Justice Richard B. Sanders, was signed by five other justices including Chief Justice Barbara A. Madsen, with a (sort-of) concurring opinion from Justice Debra L. Stephens that takes issue with the incorporation premise, and a partly-concurring and partly-dissenting opinion from Justice James M. Johnson that argues the majority ruling isn’t strong enough.

Read the entire article here

NRA bulletin about legislation in Kentucky

KENTUCKY: Right-to-Carry Reform for Military Personnel Takes Another Step Forward Late last week, the Senate Veterans, Military Affairs, & Public Protection Committee passed House Bill 19 and it is currently on its second read in the Senate Rules Committee. Sponsored by State Representative Fitz Steele (D-84) and State Representative Bob Damron (D-39), HB 19 would allow military personnel who are on active duty to renew their concealed carry licenses early and via mail. It also allows for those military personnel whose licenses exp! ire while on active duty to renew licenses within 90 days after the en d of their deployment, with no late fees or other penalties. Please contact your State Senator at (502) 564-8100 and respectfully urge them to support HB19.

Important Hunting Bill Introduced! Legislation that would overhaul the structure and operation of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources was introduced last week in Frankfort. House Bill 429 would, among other things, permit a person to carry a firearm for self-defense during bow hunting season. The bill would also create a "no-net-loss" hunting policy for public hunting lands, requiring that the Commonwealth maintain at least the same amount and quality of available public hunting land as currently exists. HB429 has been assigned to the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee. Please contact the members of the committee and respectfully urge them to support HB429. Contact information for the committee can be found here.

National Review online about the suit against UK

Even the National Review is weighing in on this issue -

Read it here.

KC3 supports UK employee in his suit against UK

Grad student sues UK over being fired for having handgun in car

By Jennifer Hewlett - jhewlett@herald-leader.com

A University of Kentucky graduate student has sued the university and others, claiming he was wrongfully fired from his job at the UK Chandler Medical Center because he had a handgun in his car.

The car was parked at Commonwealth Stadium while he was at work.

Michael Mitchell, who had a permit allowing him to have a concealed weapon, was working as an anesthesia technician at the medical center in April 2009, when he was fired

Read the story here.

On "gun control" laws:

“If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878