NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT: Vol. 20, No. 6 02/08/2013

Outrage of the Week: Jesse Jackson Claims Semi-Autos can "Blow Up Railroads"

This week's outrage comes to us courtesy of the anti-gun Reverend Jesse Jackson. Rev. Jackson is not in the news as much now as he once was. When you do hear from him, though, his comments are still laced with his usual dose of hyperbole.

That predictable pattern continues with Rev. Jackson's recent comments on semi-automatic firearms.

According to an article appearing on TheBlaze.com last month, Rev. Jackson believes that semi-automatic firearms must be banned because they could "shoot down planes" and therefore constitute a risk to national security.

The Blaze ran a follow-up story debunking the claim, but that didn't seem to deter Rev. Jackson, as this week he boldly declared that, in addition to shooting down planes, semi-automatic firearms could also be used to "blow up railroads."

"You know that these weapons can shoot down airplanes, they can blow up railroads. This is really a whole national security issue," Rev. Jackson said in a recent interview on Fox News. Blow up railroads? What in the world is he basing that claim on?

NRA Responds to Pelosi's "Gun Violence Prevention Task Force" Proposals

The proposals by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's "Gun Violence Prevention Task Force", chaired by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), represent the Obama Administration's gun control wish list.

The Pelosi-Thompson Task Force calls on Congress to ban millions of commonly owned semi-automatic firearms and magazines; criminalize private firearms transfers; ban common hunting and sport-shooting ammunition; waste taxpayer dollars on government studies to promote gun control and flawed and ineffective "gun buyback" programs; and remove legal protections on sensitive law enforcement information.

NICS Checks Up 53% in Last Three Months

NICS checks increased 53 percent during the three-month period of November 2012 through January 2013, as compared to the same three months a year earlier, according to the FBI.

The surge in checks followed President Obama's re-election, his announcement that gun control--including a ban on magazines that hold 11 or more rounds; a ban on "assault weapons"; and a ban on private sales of firearms, even between family members, friends, neighbors and other acquaintances--would be a "central issue" of his last term in office.

"Big Three" News Networks Show Anti-Gun Bias

Gun control is at the forefront of President Obama's political and social agendas. He is aided and abetted in his efforts to ban guns and magazines by a willing, fawning media. A recent Media Research Center article documents that, in the wake of the horrific murders in Newtown, Connecticut, the "Big Three" news networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) quickly moved to exploit the tragedy, pushing for more gun control legislation while mostly ignoring solutions that respect gun owners' Second Amendment rights. Stories in which the networks advocated more gun control outnumbered stories opposing gun control eight-fold.

Targeting Your Grassroots Activism

In recent weeks, NRA-ILA has been inundated with phone calls and emails from passionate supporters voicing their appreciation for our stalwart defense of the Second Amendment and passing along many productive observations and recommendations.

Among them have been precisely the key points NRA has been making; namely that we need to steer Congress's efforts away from gun control and gun bans toward a more productive discussion on things like enhancing school security; improving our nation's mental health system; examining the consequences of a grotesque level of violence our children are exposed to by Hollywood and our pop culture, and enforcement of existing laws against criminals.

New Gun Rights Resource Site Now Available

Arm yourself with the facts at the excellent, new, online, gun-rights, resource site "Firearms, Violence, and the Second Amendment" that is now available from the Independent Institute. The site features hundreds of articles, books, and videos that defend Second Amendment rights, including the work of Second Amendment legal scholar and attorney Stephen P. Halbrook (Research Fellow, The Independent Institute).

Private Gun Sale Bans Remain Centerpiece of Federal Anti-Gun Agenda

As we reported last week, while banning guns and magazines is being actively promoted by the anti-gunners (as evidenced by introduction of Sen. Feinstein's S. 150), the criminalization of private firearm transfers is the centerpiece of their anti-Second Amendment efforts. This is part of a strategy to chip away at our Second Amendment rights under the guise of being "reasonable." It's the old, "if you tell a lie long enough, people will believe it" ruse.

But if you understand exactly what the anti-gunners are really talking about, you'll understand that the restrictions they're proposing are anything but reasonable.