If you believe that the Democratic Senators from Alaska, Arkansas and North Dakota were merely representing their constituents in the Senate vote on gun control and that these Democrats are generally too much to the left of their constituents, ads emphasizing that the Democrats voted against gun control could really help them.  If there was a serious effort to defeat these candidates, they would try to get someone to run against them in their primaries.  From Politico:
. . . Ads from the Bloomberg-funded Mayors Against Illegal Guns are going up soon in Alaska, Arkansas and North Dakota — three states with Democratic senators who broke with the White House on last month’s background checks vote. The group is also moving as many as 60 field organizers into about a dozen states where senators — Democrats and Republicans — voted against bill, with the goal of building infrastructure and countering gun rights groups like the National Rifle Association. . . .

Professor Robert Turner has this excellent foreword for the book (available here).  Please read and pass on to others.

Last Friday, Governor Nikki Haley (R) signed an important mental health reform, House Bill 3560, into law.  This new law takes effect on August 1, 2013.

Yesterday, the Colorado Senate Committee on Business, Labor, & Technology voted 3-2 to postpone indefinitely, House Bill 1306.

Legislators in both the state Senate and House are under extreme pressure to exempt Chicago and Cook County from any “shall-issue” mandate in the concealed carry law that a federal court has ordered to be adopted by June 9.  Any exemption for Chicago and Cook County could easily deny 40% of Illinois’ population “shall-issue” right to carry, and put gun owners state-wide at risk of felony prosecution if they happen to travel across Cook County or Chicago lines.  Please contact your state Senator and Representative TODAY and urge them to support equal right to carry laws for ALL Illinois residents.

On Thursday, May 16 at 10:00 a.m., Bill 20-170, the “Firearm Insurance Amendment Act,” will be heard by the DC Council Committee on Business, Consumer, and Regulatory Affairs.  Sponsored by Councilor Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), B20-170 would require D.C. residents to purchase liability insurance, of no less than $250,000, before they are allowed to purchase a firearm.  

So much for any lingering hopes that the gun control issue was really going to be put on ice for a little while.  From Politico:

Vice President Joe Biden on Monday acknowledged what everyone involved in gun control has been saying privately for weeks: Any votes for expanded background checks must wait at least through the summer while the Senate debates immigration reform. Biden offered the White House timeline to a group of about 20 representatives from faith-based organizations, three people who attended the meeting told POLITICO. The vice president’s words mark the first time the White House has revealed a timeline that has been widely discussed among gun control advocates and senior aides to senators who are pushing background checks. . . .

An armed man wearing a hood entered Bonaci Fine Jewelers in Kent, Wash. and attempted to rob the store. The store’s owner responded to the attack by retrieving a gun and exchanging gunfire with the criminal, causing the robber to flee. In an interview with local media, Kent Police expressed their belief that the criminal was struck twice during the incident. Additionally, Sgt. Jarod Kasner made clear to reporters that “people have the right to protect themselves.” 

It's only been a few weeks since the Senate struck down a measure aimed at expanding background checks for gun buyers, but Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D Nev., says his party is already a "couple" votes closer to the support needed to approve the legislation.Reid, speaking in an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal, was optimistic that the Senate would ultimately be able to pass the so called Manchin Toomey amendment, a bipartisan compromise that was hammered out after weeks of negotiations, and which fell five votes short of passage in last month's vote."Joe Manchin called me yesterday," Reid said, according to a video posted on the Huffington Post. "He thinks he has a couple more votes."

One of the principal sponsors of defeated gun background check legislation says he isn't giving up on getting a bill passed.

The Republican led House on Monday night tentatively approved a bill that would expand where concealed weapon permit holders can carry or store their pistols, while lengthening penalties for crimes committed with a gun.

The Texas House of Representatives on Monday gave final approval to a proposal to allow concealed handgun license holders to carry guns into buildings on college campuses.The proposal, which was approved on a vote of 102 41, would allow public colleges and universities to opt out of allowing guns in buildings after consulting with students, faculty and staff. Private colleges and universities could opt in.

A late amendment to a bill mandating universal background checks for gun purchases in Nevada has given the effort renewed life in the state Legislature.

Four gun control bills have hit a wall in the Oregon Legislature.Senate President Peter Courtney said Monday the bills won't get a vote on the Senate floor because there isn't enough support for them to pass.

It's May, and for most seniors in high school, thoughts turn to final exams, getting a date for the prom and graduation. For David Cole Withrow, an 18 year old senior at Princeton High School in Princeton, N.C., his final days will be spent dealing with a suspension, an arrest record and a felony charge in criminal court.Mr. Withrow, who goes by "Cole," is not a criminal. He's an Eagle Scout and an honor student. He has a college scholarship, and he has been accepted at both Campbell University and East Carolina University. So far, so good.Mr. Withrow arrived at Princeton High on April 29 just as he would on any other school day -- until he realized that he inadvertently left a pair of unloaded shotguns in his pickup, secured there after he went skeet shooting the day before.

Last week, the Maine Joint Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee held work sessions on numerous bills that, if passed and enacted into law, would detrimentally impact your Second Amendment rights.  Several of the most egregious and onerous pieces of legislation were tabled by this Committee. However, anti-gun legislation will still be advancing to the floor of the Maine Senate.

H.R. 1825 recognizes the rightful place of recreational hunting, fishing, and shooting on Federal lands, supports Executive Order 13443 that directs Federal land management agencies to facilitate the expansion and enhancement of hunting on Federal lands, and ensures sound scientific management of wildlife and their habitat.

What police are calling a fight in Oceanside, Calif. escalated when one man stabbed another man with a large knife. The attack was witnessed by several people in a nearby restaurant, some of whom went to the scene to help the stabbing victim. One of the witnesses who rushed to the scene was a concealed carry permit holder. The permit holder drew his gun, halted the knife-wielding criminal’s attack, and held the attacker until police could arrive.  Unfortunately, the stabbing victim died from his wounds. 

Assembly Bill 711 is scheduled to be heard by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday, May 8.  It is crucial that you call AND e-mail members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and your Assemblyman respectfully urging them to OPPOSE this egregious anti-hunting bill.  Contact information for members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee can be found here.  Contact information for your Assemblyman can be found here.

The gun control debate is one of the most dishonest arguments we have in American politics. It is dishonest in its particulars, of course, but it is in an important sense dishonest in general: The United States does not suffer from an inflated rate of homicides perpetrated with guns; it suffers from an inflated rate of homicides. The argument about gun control is at its root a way to put conservatives on the defensive about liberal failures, from schools that do not teach to police departments that do not police and criminal justice systems that do not bring criminals to justice. The gun control debate is an exercise in changing the subject.