NRA-ILA previously reported our opposition to House Bill 88.  Negotiations resulted in our concerns being addressed in the state House and at this point the NRA has withdrawn our opposition.

Late last night, the Missouri House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 75 by a 123 to 29 vote.  SB 75 seeks to reform Missouri’s existing concealed carry permit process.  Currently, the Missouri Department of Revenue (DOR) is responsible for issuing concealed carry endorsements, but after recently betraying the trust of the people of Missouri, legislators have demanded the permitting process be transferred to county sheriffs.  

The NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) congratulates City Councilman Jean Stothert for winning the highly contested Omaha mayoral race on Tuesday.

The BJS report is available here.  It is pretty hard to look at these numbers and see a pattern during and after the assault weapon ban.

Lois Lerner apparently sent at least one of the letters to conservative groups out under her own signature.
The director of the Internal Revenue Service division under fire for singling out conservative groups sent a 2012 letter under her name to one such group, POLITICO has learned.
The March 2012 letter was sent to the Ohio-based American Patriots Against Government Excess (American PAGE) under the name of Lois Lerner, the director of the Exempt Organizations Division. . . .
It is unclear if American PAGE had been selected for any additional scrutiny. But at the time of the letter, the group was in the midst of the application process for tax-exempt nonprofit status — a process that would stretch for nearly three years and involve queries for detailed information on its social media activity, its organizational set-up, bylaws, membership and interactions with political officials. . . .Lerner has also been caught making numerous false statements from only "low level" involvement, that there was "no political bias," and that "seventy-five organizations effected."   Yet, Lerner is the one who has been extensively rewarded for her work by the Obama administration.  From the Washington Examiner:
Lois Lerner, the senior executive in charge of the IRS tax exemption department and the federal employee at the center of the exploding scandal over the IRS targeting of conservative, evangelical and pro-Israel non-profits, was given $42,531 in bonuses between 2009 and 2011. . . .An additional point.  Obama appears tough by removing Acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Steven Miller.  Headlines claim: "IRS: First head rolls."  But he didn't really do that.  1) Miller will soon be out of a job anyway because acting commissioners are only allowed to serve for six months and his six months are up in early June.  2) Miller isn't leaving right away and will leave when his acting assignment ends.  As Miller writes:
"It is with regret that I will be departing from the IRS as my acting assignment ends inearly June."So my reaction is: is this serious?  

Even Dana Milbank at the Washington Post has this:

President Passerby needs urgently to become a participant in his presidency. Late Monday came the breathtaking news of a full-frontal assault on the First Amendment by his administration: word that the Justice Department had gone on a fishing expedition through months of phone records of Associated Press reporters. And yet President Obama reacted much as he did to the equally astonishing revelation on Friday that the IRS had targeted conservative groups based on their ideology: He responded as though he were just some bloke on a bar stool, getting his information from the evening news. . . .

At least if some state schools allow people to carry concealed handguns, it will make it harder for gun control advocates to predict disaster.  From Fox News:

A bill to allow concealed handgun license holders to carry their weapons into Texas college buildings and classrooms got a significant boost in the state Senate on Tuesday, but it remains unclear if it has enough momentum to become law. . . . But the House passed a version that lifts the statewide ban on guns at school while still allowing individual campuses to ban weapons. . . . "I will take what I can get," said Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels. "Swing for the fences, but be happy with first base." The House voted to approve the bill on May 6, prompting Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, to schedule Tuesday's public hearing just a couple of weeks after he declared the issue dead this session. The committee passed the bill on to the entire Senate with a 4-2 vote. The bill's fate in the full chamber remains unknown and supporters were cautious about predicting it will pass. Republicans hold a 19-12 majority and approved a broader version of the bill in 2011. But Senate rules still require at least 21 members to vote to bring a bill up for debate. Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin, leader of the Senate Democratic Caucus, said the bill may not have the support to pass the Senate. . . .

Control advocates are obviously having a very hard time keeping up with the technological changes.  The device is currently very expensive:
A team of 70 people spent three years creating the technology. Schauble says there's nothing else like it, even in the military. For civilians, TrackingPoint sells its high-end, long-range guns directly. With price tags of up to $22,000, they're not cheap. . . .

The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) honored California attorney C.D. "Chuck" Michel with the 2013 NRA Defender of Justice Award.  This award recognizes outstanding efforts by attorneys who defend the right to keep and bear arms, and particularly recognizes attorneys who make a significant contribution to those efforts pro bono.  Chuck received the prestigious award at the NRA's 2013 annual meetings in Houston, Texas.  It recognizes him for his extensive work, and particularly pro bono work, defending the right to keep and bear arms.

The bill, the Personalized Handgun Safety Act of 2013, mandates within two years that newly manufactured handguns be equipped with the technology that allows the guns to only work in the hands of their owners or other authorized users. Manufacturers that do not meet the standards could be held liable. And individuals or businesses selling older handguns must have them retrofitted with personalization technology within three years after the bill is enacted, at the expense of the federal government.

The D.C. Council is considering requiring people to purchase liability insurance before they can get a license to own a gun.The bill would mandate that prospective gun owners maintain at least a $250,000 policy. The policy would cover damages from negligent acts or intentional acts that aren’t undertaken in self-defense.

State House lawmakers voted Wednesday to forbid law enforcement officers from destroying fully-operating firearms, even if they were used in a crime.House Bill 714, "Disposal of Abandoned Firearms," says that, if a firearm is fully functioning and still has a legible identification number, sheriffs and other law enforcement officers cannot destroy it, regardless of its background.

Republican lawmakers began pushing for the measure after learning about the new license procedures early in the legislative session. The push accelerated in March after a Stoddard County man filed a lawsuit challenging the procedures. It said that scanning documents, such as birth certificates and concealed weapons permits, were an invasion of privacy.

The Atlanta City Council is considering a proposal that would make it more difficult to open indoor shooting ranges.

The family of a second-grader suspended from his school in Anne Arundel County for chewing his Pop-Tart-like pastry into the shape of a gun has lost a bid to have the episode expunged from the child’s record, according to the family’s attorney.

As the state legislature’s veto session nears its conclusion, one of the few pro-gun measures still awaiting final approval will be eligible for final action as early as tomorrow.  In a procedural technicality, the language in the NRA-supported Senate Bill 45 has been added to House Bill 2162 by the Judiciary Conference Committee.  This conference committee report will be eligible for approval by the state House and Senate as early as tomorrow.

Today, NRA-supported House Bill 714 passed the North Carolina House of Representatives by an overwhelming 91-22 vote.  

This week in Springfield, anti-gun state Senators will attempt to derail Right to Carry by forcing votes on severely flawed Right to Carry legislation and a bill to ban magazines commonly used in carry firearms.  This faulty concealed carry legislation attempts to exempt Chicago and Cook County from any “shall-issue” mandate and allow individual towns to expand the list of places statewide that are off-limits to anyone concealed carrying.  If such exemptions are adopted, 40% of Illinois’ population could be denied the ability to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense based on their residency and the confusing patchwork of laws will put ALL gun owners statewide at risk of felony prosecution.  Call your state Senator TODAY:  Tell him or her that any compromise and vote in favor of this type of legislation to abandon 40% of the Illinois population is a vote against Right to Carry.

Last month, the Indiana General Assembly adjourned after passing two bills of importance to gun owners and sportsmen.  The following bills were recently signed into law by Governor Mike Pence (R):

Last month, the Indiana General Assembly adjourned after passing two bills of importance to gun owners and sportsmen.  The following bills were recently signed into law by Governor Mike Pence (R):