Gun Nuts Media

Chris Cox is urging NRA members and gun owners to contact their House Representatives and implore them to cosponsor HR 4900, the BATFE reform bill.

Here is a short list of changes that HR 4900 would have if passed:

• Clarifies the standard for “willful” violations–allowing penalties for intentional, purposeful violations of the law, but not for simple paperwork mistakes.
• Codifies limits on disclosure of firearm trace data–which Congress has already limited through a series of appropriations riders over the past three years, out of concern for gun owners’ privacy and the confidentiality of law enforcement records. The provision would still allow law enforcement agencies full access to trace data for bona fide criminal investigations.
• Reforms the procedures for FFL applications. Under H.R. 4900, denial of an application will require notification to the applicant, complete with reasons for the denial. An applicant will be allowed to provide supplemental information and to have a hearing on the application.
• Permanently bans creation of a centralized electronic index of dealers’ records–a threat to gun owners’ privacy that Congress has barred through appropriations riders for a decade.
• Eliminates a provision of the Youth Handgun Safety Act that requires those under 18 to have written permission to use a handgun for lawful purposes (such as competitive shooting or safety training)–even when the parent or guardian is present.
• Prevents disclosure of information in FFL records outside of law enforcement agencies.
• Allows a grace period for people taking over an existing firearm business to correct problems in the business’s records. If a person inherits a family gun store, for example, the new owner shouldn’t be punished for the previous owner’s mistakes.
• Cleans up federal law by repealing the Brady Act’s “interim” waiting period provisions, which expired in 1998.
• Improves the process for imposing penalties, especially by letting FFLs appeal BATFE penalties to a neutral administrative law judge, rather than to a BATFE official.
• Allows a licensee time to dispose of his firearm inventory when going out of business.
• Requires BATFE to establish clear investigative guidelines.
• Clarifies the licensing requirement for gunsmiths, to distinguish between repair and other gunsmith work and actual manufacturing.
• Focuses BATFE’s efforts on violations of firearm, explosive, arson, alcohol and tobacco laws, rather than on broader areas such as gang or drug investigations.
• Gives BATFE sole responsibility for receiving reports of multiple handgun sales. (Currently, dealers also have to report multiple sales to state or local agencies, a requirement that has shown little or no law enforcement value.)
• Restores a policy that allowed importation of barrels, frames and receivers from non-importable firearms, when they can be used as repair or replacement parts.

It’s going to be a tough uphill battle on this issue, so it is extremely important to contact your Reps in the House and get them to cosponsor this bill, and then contact them again so we can get it passed.

Call the U.S. House today at (202) 224-3121 and ask your representative to cosponsor H.R. 4900.

One of the things I’ve been meaning to do is build my own black powder firearm, using one of the handy kits from Traditions.

However, what I wanted to direct you to was this post from the guy at The Box O’ Truth, who actually did a pretty cool build with a 30 year old BP Derringer kit.

He’s got some pretty cool pictures up – the 30 year old kit required some pretty extensive fitting.

So, in the name of cutting back on completely empty calories in the name of health and fitness, I decided to try Michelob Ultra.

Big mistake.

However, in true Proverbs 26:11 fashion, I decided to continue my experiment and try Michelob Ultra: Amber.

I’m pleasantly surprised, unlike the standard Ultra beer, the Ultra: Amber actually has some flavor and taste.  It’s certainly no Sam Adams Light, but it’s pretty good for a light beer.  Like I said, I’m pleasantly surprised.

The new podcasting feature is up and running. On the right menu bar, you can see a selection that shows the 10 most recent podcast posts.

Additionally, if you’re a user of iTunes, you can click on this link which will take you to where you can subscribe to my podcast with your iTunes client and get new episodes automatically downloaded to your PC.

New episodes will go up regularly on Mondays, and will also appear as special features if we have additional audio/video content.

Update: A reader in the comments (and an email) has pointed out that if you play the podcasts from the embedded flash player while using Internet Explorer, you get an Alvin & the Chipmunks sound effect. This has to do with the bitrate that the files are encoded at. I’m working on a bug fix, however right now the files do play correctly in Firefox, or if you select the “download” option, as well as if you subscribe to the feed via iTunes. Basically, they only don’t work if you use the embedded player in Internet Explorer. Firefox, iTunes, and direct downloads work just fine.

Short of pulling the files down and re-encoding them, there really isn’t a fix for this.  However, future uploads should play correctly in both Internet Explorer and Firefox.  Right now, older posts only display correctly in Firefox, or via the direct download button.

Mix and Mingle with NRA-ILA staff!

Bloggers are invited to come out and join the NRA-ILA Public Affairs staff for a kick-off meet and greet on Thursday evening, May 15.

It’s too bad that it’s Thursday, as I don’t arrive until Friday.

Although I’m looking into changing my plans.

Air Force is retiring the nearly 30 year old F-117 Stealth Fighter.

I’ll be sad to them go, I remember as a child watching the occassional Stealth fly over my house on it’s way to Edwards or the Skunkworks and thinking to myself “that is an ugly plane”.  Still, by virture of my house’s location, I had an opportunity that not a lot of our enemies had – to actually see a Stealth.  Most of the time, they just heard a “whooshing” sound and then didn’t hear much of anything.

I won’t be as sad to see the F-117 go as I will be when they eventually decide to have the old A-10 hang up her cleats, but the Stealth Fighter was an innovation and an effective weapon.  It’s too bad.