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June 30, 2009 by
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and senators who will vote on her confirmation are engaged in a careful conversation about where she stands on hot-button issues like abortion and gun rights. You probably won't hear any of it, though, since the exchange is taking place in code.
Sotomayor is simply following a time-honored tradition: High court nominees work mightily to reassure senators that they won't be radicals seeking to impose an agenda, without revealing how they might rule on key issues that could come before the court.
Senators, in turn, are doing their utmost to get assurances from Sotomayor that she'll protect certain precedents and eschew others, so they can defend a vote for or against her with constituents and supporters.
It's a key part of Sotomayor's audition for a job on the nation's highest court, and a major determinant of how broad Senate support will be for President Barack Obama's first Supreme Court nominee.
For more, go to: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i9X4wn5HUJzGptE6fR-Ky7m6RrVAD98SUEO00
Related stories:
-- A sit-down between Saxby Chambliss and Sonia Sotomayor; http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2009/06/17/a-sit-down-between-saxby-chambliss-and-sonia-sotomayor/
-- Murkowski meets with Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor; http://newsminer.com/news/2009/jun/22/senator-murkowski-meets-greets-sotomayor/
-- Is Sotomayor really anti-gun? http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped0618chapmanjun18,0,5860636.column
-- Gun Owners of America call Sotomayor 'an anti-gun radical'; http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-gun-owners-of-america-call-sotomayor-an-anti-gun-radical-r-1245288929
[ Read Full Post ] June 29, 2009 by Nearly 900 people on the FBI’s terror watch list applied for and received a certificate to buy a gun in the United States between 2004 and 2009, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Monday. In all, some 90 percent of the people on the watch list who applied passed the required background check, said the report, which was requested by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) of New Jersey.
Gun-control activists say the report demonstrates potentially lethal flaws in gun laws. But gun-rights advocates counter that the terror list is perhaps a greater menace in itself. They see it as ripe for manipulation – allowing the government to tar people as terrorists when it is politically expedient to do so.
The FBI can halt the purchase of a gun by someone with a criminal conviction, so the 900 people in the GAO report "are people who have no criminal conviction, but they're on this mystery list," says Gary Kleck, author of "Stopping Power: Why 70 million Americans own guns."
For more, go to: http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0623/p02s04-usju.html
Related stories:
-- GAO cites gun sales to those on watch list, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/22/AR2009062201766.html?hpid=moreheadlines
-- Proposed law allows AG Holder to block gun sales to more than 1 million Americans; http://www.prisonplanet.com/proposed-law-allows-ag-holder-to-block-gun-sales-to-over-a-million-americans.html
-- NRA to Congress: On 'terrorist watch list,' OK to buy guns; http://chattahbox.com/us/2009/06/20/nra-to-congress-on-terrorist-watch-list-ok-to-buy-guns/
-- GAO gun trafficking report corrupted by anti-gunners; http://www.ammoland.com/2009/06/19/gao-gun-trafficking-report-corrupted-by-anti-gunners/
-- Lautenberg legislation cloaks gun ban agenda as anti-terror tool; http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-22-2009/0005048153&EDATE=
-- Lautenberg’s legislation cloak’s anti-gun senator’s true intention; http://www.examiner.com/x-4525-Seattle-Gun-Rights-Examiner~y2009m6d22-Lautenbergs-legislation-cloaks-antigun-senators-true-intention
[ Read Full Post ]June 27, 2009 by In the first quarter of 2008, there were 105,856 firearms checks in Pennsylvania, compared to 130,375 in the first quarter of 2009, Trooper Paul K. Anderson said.
National background checks for gun sales also are up. Between November and March, use of the FBI's background check system, which is required each time a federally licensed gun dealer makes a sale, rose 29.3 percent over the same period the year before.
For more, go to: http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1245029107110720.xml&coll=1
Related stories:
-- Indiana: Gun sales up, ammo scarce; http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090614/News01/906140362/1129/News
-- Gun, ammo boom has manufacturers at full capacity; http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090612-710657.html
[ Read Full Post ]June 26, 2009 by June 25, 2009 by June 24, 2009 by June 22, 2009 by
Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, is one of the leaders of a new grassroots movement that's seeking to invoke the principle of states' rights -- including states' own authority to regulate firearms -- to thwart what he and his allies view as an increasingly overreaching federal government.
Politicians in Washington have "assumed power that many of us believe was not authorized under the limits of the Constitution," Marbut told CBSNews.com last week.
This modern-day federalist revolt began with a Montana state law recently signed by Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer. It says that firearms, ammunition, and accessories manufactured entirely inside Montana are not subject to federal regulation, including background checks for buyers and record-keeping requirements for sellers. They would remain subject to state regulation.
Montana is hardly alone: the Tennessee legislature has approved a nearly-identical bill, and others are pending in Texas, Alaska, Minnesota, and South Carolina. About 10 other states, including Florida and Arizona, are reportedly considering similar measures, and a Colorado state legislator has publicly pledged to follow suit.
For more, go to: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/06/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5090952.shtml
Related stories:
-- Next gun controversy? Look to Montana; http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2009/06/the-next-gun-controversy-look-to-montana.html
-- Western states want reins on federal power; http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-west16-2009jun16,0,3422958.story
-- Montana gun law challenges federal powers; http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/15/gun-law-challenges-federal-powers/?feat=home_headlines
[ Read Full Post ]June 21, 2009 by June 18, 2009 by
Gary Marbut, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association, is one of the leaders of a new grassroots movement that's seeking to invoke the principle of states' rights—including states' own authority to regulate firearms—to thwart what he and his allies view as an increasingly overreaching federal government.
Politicians in Washington have "assumed power that many of us believe was not authorized under the limits of the Constitution," Marbut told CBSNews.com last week.
This modern-day federalist revolt began with a Montana state law recently signed by Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer. It says that firearms, ammunition, and accessories manufactured entirely inside Montana are not subject to federal regulation, including background checks for buyers and record-keeping requirements for sellers. They would remain subject to state regulation.
Montana is hardly alone: the Tennessee legislature has approved a nearly-identical bill, and others are pending in Texas, Alaska, Minnesota, and South Carolina. About 10 other states, including Florida and Arizona, are reportedly considering similar measures, and a Colorado state legislator has publicly pledged to follow suit.
For more, go to: http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/06/16/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5090952.shtml
Related stories:
—Next gun controversy? Look to Montana; http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2009/06/the-next-gun-controversy-look-to-montana.html
—Western states want reins on federal power; http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-west16-2009jun16,0,3422958.story
—Montana gun law challenges federal powers; http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/15/gun-law-challenges-federal-powers/?feat=home_headlines
[ Read Full Post ]June 11, 2009 by A bill that would allow gun owners to drive onto school property with a gun in their vehicle is on its way back to the state Senate after sailing through the House.
The House approved the bill, sponsored by Sen. Shane Martin, R-Spartanburg, with a 110-2 vote on Thursday. The Senate could give its final approval on Tuesday and send the bill to Gov. Mark Sanford’s desk.
“I’m happy to get it passed, so that parents who are law-abiding citizens can pick up their children without having to take their gun out of their vehicle,” Martin said. “Now, if I could only get a spending limits bill through that quickly,” he said with a laugh.
For more, go to: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20090516/NEWS/905169997/1083/ARTICLES?Title=Senate-to-chamber-bill-allowing-guns-in-vehicles-on-campus
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