Thanks to your calls and e-mails, an important pro-hunting reform has been approved by the Michigan House of Representatives and has made its way to Governor Rick Snyder for his consideration.  Senate Bill 288, introduced by state Senator Tom Casperson (R-38), passed in the state Senate by a 25 to 1 vote last week and received a 72 to 38 vote yesterday in the state House.  SB 288 would improve the scientific management of wildlife and ensure that hunting rules and regulations are based on verifiable biological evidence – not a political agenda. 

On Wednesday night, gun owners turned out at the Statehouse in Providence in a massive showing of opposition to the sweeping gun control package being championed by Governor Lincoln Chaffee (I), Attorney General Peter Kilmartin (D) and a handful of state lawmakers.  The House Judiciary Committee hearing lasted into the early morning hours Thursday.  This committee affirmed that all of the gun bills under consideration will be “held for further study,” which means the committee did not pass the bills, but reserves the right to revisit this legislation anytime during the session.

Yesterday, Senate Bill 286 passed in the Alabama House of Representatives by an overwhelming 74-27 vote.  Sponsored by state Senators Scott Beason (R-17) and Roger Bedford (D-6) and state Representative Ed Henry (R-9), SB 286 will now return to the state Senate for a concurrence vote expected next Tuesday, May 7.  Please contact your state Senator and urge him or her to vote to concur with the House amendments to this critical pro-gun reform.  Click here for help identifying your state Senator and his or her contact information.

House Bill 937, a comprehensive firearms reform bill, is scheduled to be considered on the North Carolina House floor this Monday, May 6.   This legislation seeks to make a number of important pro-gun reforms including, but not limited to: Allowing Concealed Handgun Permit (CHP) holders to lawfully carry their personal protection firearm into a restaurant that serves alcohol. Removing the prohibition on CHP holders from carrying into a place where tickets are sold for admission and would fix the problem of anti-gun localities overstepping their authority regarding restricting CHP holders from carrying firearms into locally controlled parks. Addressing some issues regarding firearms in a vehicle, as well as certain firearm issues on campus grounds.

NRA Members rolled up their sleeves and went to work at today's NRA-ILA Grassroots Workshop, held in conjunction with NRA's Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Houston, Texas. Though many attendees were home state Texans, NRA members were represented from states all across the country. Diversity in geography notwithstanding, all were united in a singular mission--learning what MORE they could do to protect and preserve our Second Amendment rights!

The assault on our Second Amendment rights continues with anti-gun bills moving through the California Legislature.  Unfortunately, there are several anti-gun bills that have been scheduled to be considered on the state Senate and Assembly floor with more anti-guns bills scheduled to be heard in their respective state Senate and Assembly committee.  Please call and e-mail your state Senator and Assemblyman, along with members of the respective state Senate and Assembly committee urging them to OPPOSE the anti-gun measures below.

Fresh off a huge victory over President Barack Obama on gun control, the message from the National Rifle Association is clear: The fight has just begun.

President Obama vowed Thursday during a press conference in Mexico City that the White House would continue pushing for an expansion of background checks to cover firearms purchases online and at gun shows.

Vice President Joe Biden is planning a new gun control offensive -- one he told a group of law enforcement officials he hasn't informed President Barack Obama about yet.

The Delaware Senate narrowly passed amended legislation Thursday that would require gun owners to call police if they lost or had their weapon stolen.

By close votes Thursday, a legislative committee supported expanding mandatory background checks on gun show purchases and rejected a proposal to allow Mainers to carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

The Alabama House has approved a bill that allows gun owners to carry a pistol in their vehicle. The House voted 74-27 to pass the legislation. It now goes back to the Senate to approve changes made to the legislation in the House.

My interview at National Review starts this way:
After the defeat of the Manchin-Toomey background-check bill, and the subsequent demonization of the Senate, Senators Manchin and Toomey are reportedly back at work on bipartisan legislation addressing gun control. John R. Lott, author of the new book At the Brink, who has been researching gun policy for decades, talks about the state of the debate with National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez. KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: Gabby Giffords has accused the Senate of being in the grips of the gun lobby. Is there another explanation for the defeat of the Manchin-Toomey bill? JOHN R. LOTT: Yes, there is. The politicians were simply representing the voters in their districts. The accusation that politicians were attempting to please the gun lobby at the expense of their constituents, which is based on the oft-repeated assertion that 80 to 90 percent of the public say they favor background checks, is simply not credible. The survey questions on which this statistic is based proved nothing more than that respondents wished to disarm criminals. The questions posed were about a hypothetical, idealized system of background checks, not about the actual legislation facing Congress. . . . The rest of the interview is available here.

Senate Bill 69 as amended by the conference committee was given its final approval by both legislative chambers on Monday.  The state Senate voted 23-1 and the state House voted 48-3 to send this anti-gun legislation to Governor Neil Abercrombie.  This is your last chance to stop this bill!  Contact the Governor IMMEDIATELY and urge him to veto Senate Bill 69.

So how will global warming advocates.  Accuweather has this:

The list containing the number of locations that have received record May snowfall from a storm that brought up to 2 feet of snow over the central Rockies continues to grow.
The storm is still going on Thursday and could reach even more unlikely locations over the Plains, Midwest and the South before it is all said and done.
Omaha, Neb., Mason City, Iowa, and Rochester, Minn., are but only several cities that have been clobbered by their biggest May snowfall on record. In many cases in the major cities in the Plains, those records date back to the 1800s. . . .

This legislative session marked huge victories for gun owners and sportsmen in the Mountain State as four critical pro-gun reforms were passed in the West Virginia Legislature.  

Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com

So much for the much promised Obama transparency.  The video is available here.

The video is also available here.

I have been very skeptical of the claims that Republicans have been hurt by their opposition to the Senate gun control bill.  Yet, it is curious that Obama's low approval rating on the gun issue isn't getting similar attention.  From Politico:
On gun policy, some 52 percent disapprove of his approach, while 41 percent approve. That could be due in part to the loss in the Senate of the gun control proposal he pushed for expanded background checks for gun buyers. . . .BTW, it is interesting to see that Obama's handling of immigration is also underwater.

Compare the media coverage with Senator Kelly Ayotte and her vote on guns with the media coverage with Obama's low standing on the gun issue.  This also from Politico:


Pro-gun control activists, who attended the meeting, were incensed. Security brushed aside two women who approached Ayotte and demanded to speak with the first-term Republican about her vote against expanded background checks for commercial gun sales, underscoring the lingering controversy that continues to hover over the New Hampshire senator. . . . The emotional fight threatens to transform Ayotte — a young conservative Republican woman whose star is on the rise — into a polarizing figure back home on a contentious issue. Instead of taking up the banner of gun rights, Ayotte is seeking a lower profile on the subject in a state where she’s become the last Republican in the all-female congressional delegation. “It hurts her,” said Kathy Sullivan, a longtime Democratic operative and former head of the state party here. “Elections are won in New Hampshire with the vote of independents, particularly independent women. Independent women will not favor a candidate who does not believe in background checks. Will it be the only issue? No, but it will be an issue.” . . .

Let me get this straight, Obama uses children from the Newtown tragedy in photo-ops and claims that since Republicans opposed the gun control regulations Obama supports they don't care about people killing kids like those at Newtown (note: even though the background checks would have had nothing to do in stopping the attacks), but this Republican ad is "disgusting"?  As I have written previously, Obama could have easily passed the gun control legislation if he really wanted to pass it, but it appears that he may have wanted to save it for a political issue.  From The Hill newspaper:
The ad, called "The First 100 Days," criticizes Obama on the failure of his legislative agenda, including gun control, so far in Congress. It features a voiceover saying that Obama’s agenda has “already suffered a string of defeats,” and a black and white photo of the president reaching to embrace Nicole Hockley, the distraught mother of a victim in the shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. 
Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse called the ad “disgraceful” in a tweet and “disgusting” in another. . . .Just curious, but how many times has Obama attacked the "do nothing" Congress and made it seem as if it the lack of legislation was all the fault of the Republicans?