Pro-Gun/Pro-Pot Bill in Oregon

Good news for pro-gun stoners:

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Getting caught with a little marijuana won’t prevent you from getting a concealed handgun license in Oregon. That is, if it happened in the state and after 1973.

Oregon law generally prohibits people with drug convictions from getting a permit to carry a concealed handgun. But it makes an exception for those with one minor pot conviction that occurred in Oregon after the state reduced the severity of possession charges four decades ago.
….
But some gun control advocates question the need for the bill at all.

“I don’t really see how this is going to make Oregonians safer,” said Penny Okamoto, executive director of Ceasefire Oregon, a gun control advocacy organization.

Okamoto said she didn’t know how many people were prevented from getting the licenses under the current law, adding that more than 180,000 Oregonians had concealed handgun licenses as of September 2013.

Fuller said the debate over whether concealed handguns make people safer is “a larger philosophical question” not addressed by the proposed changes.

“It’s not a gun issue, it’s not a marijuana issue,” Fuller said. “It’s a fairness issue.”

Representatives David Gomberg, D-Otis, and Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, both sponsored the bill, which is HB 4068.
Source: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Bill-would-allow-gun-license-despite-pot-bust-5207798.php

Florida bill targets anti-gun insurers

The insurance industry judges people based on group membership. If you’re single, you pay more than if you’re married for example because actuaries think single people are unhappier and more likely to die or get hurt.

Other forms of discrimination includes higher rates for airline pilots, people who jump out of planes, etc. So the following bill is a good thing.

Florida has more than 1 million concealed weapons permit holders. In Tallahassee, a proposal is being considered in the House, by the The House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee, that would prevent a property or auto insurer from refusing to issue or renew a policy based on a person’s legal use, possession or ownership of a firearm. A similar bill is in the Senate.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Farhat said. “I don’t think that just because someone owns — whether it be one gun or several guns — I don’t think someone should just be disqualified or potentially disqualified from home or auto insurance.”
Source: http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/news/local/consumer/on-your-side/2014/02/04/bill-insurance-policy-gun-issue/5208267/

 

2A Tuesday in Annapolis

Pro-gun patriots had a rally this morning in Annapolis, or “2A Tuesday” as they call it. The plan was to meet with lawmakers, a good thing since there are 24 gun bills that have been proposed this year including one that would repeal the draconian gun control legislation approved last year.

“Right now, gun control did not save the lives of the people in the Columbia mall, but a responsible and educated firearm owner would have,” Sarah Merkle of the Maryland Rifle and Gun Club told the crowd.

Officials of one of the gun owner groups believe that lawmakers will consider further restrictions on gun ownership in the wake of the event, including a bill to raise the purchase age for a shot gun from 18 to 21. The gunman in the mall incident was 19.

….

Last week, Vinny DeMarco, the lobbyist who led the effort to get the gun control bill passed last year, said that the new law limiting magazine clips to no more than 10 rounds prevented the mall tragedy from being any worse.
Source: http://www.wbal.com/article/105238/2/gun-owners-converge-on-annapolis-for-2a-tuesday

Really Vinny? Or could it be that the shooter was such a poor marksman he couldn’t do more damage? Could it be he was too impatient to get an illegal gun? Could it be that his intention wasn’t to shoot everybody but his ex-girlfriend and things got out of hand?  Anyone can do the shoulda, woulda, coulda, but I’d rather take my chances with a gun than with a law.

Today’s rally was also a campaign opportunity for candidates who are Pro-Second Amendment, including Harford County Executive David Craig, a Republican candidate for governor.

A number of people in the crowd at today’s rally wore buttons that read “David Craig Supports Concealed Carry.”

….

Craig said that he believes a concealed carry law might have prevented the Mall in Columbia murder-suicide and other deadly shootings.

Best of luck, Mr. Craig. I have linked his name in case you want to learn more about him.

 

Cuomo: The Best NRA Recruiter in New York

Since Obama’s the best gun salesman, I think Cuomo deserves an award nearly doubling NRA membership in New York.

ALBANY – As gun-rights and gun-control groups continue to argue over the effects of the New York SAFE Act, one consequence is clear: Membership in the state affiliate of the National Rifle Association has soared since the law was enacted a year ago.

Tom King, president of the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, said the NRA headquarters in Washington recently informed him his state affiliate has now surpassed Texas and California to become the largest state NRA chapter in the nation.

The NRA affiliate saw its membership rise from 22,000 statewide to 41,000 since the SAFE Act was approved in January 2013, King said.

While he said his group has had regular membership growth over the years, “It has grown exponentially faster than it ever has before, and it can only be attributed to the SAFE Act,’’ he said.

“I think it sends a message to all the anti-gun politicians, all the politicians sitting on the fence, that yes, if they thought that we were quiet and this was going to go away without anyone paying any more attention to it, they were just flat-out wrong,’’ King said Monday.

In addition, King said members and nonmembers have donated $200,000 to his organization in the past year to help fund its legal challenge to the gun-control law that was proposed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in the aftermath of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Individual membership in the NRA affiliate in New York costs $25 a year.

“The Second Amendment is alive and well in New York State,’’ he said.

King said the growth in his group’s membership has come from all geographic areas of New York.

“I think it’s their way of saying, ‘We’re here, we’re growing, and we’re not going to give up on this fight,’ ’’ he said of the new membership growth. “And if I were some of these New York State Republican senators who voted for this and haven’t done anything about it since, I’d be worried because there’s a lot of angst out there, and it’s all pointed at them,’’ King said.
Source: http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/state/new-yorks-nra-membership-nearly-doubles-in-wake-of-safe-act-20140203