Viewpoints

NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre spoke at the NRA Annual Meetings April 14, 2012. If you weren’t able to attend, a link to a transcript of his comments appears below, courtesy of the NRA. Or click the player window to watch the speech. 'All over this nation, people feel it in their hearts — that something has gone terribly wrong in our country. In almost every way you look at it, almost every aspect of American freedom is in some state of decline.

The editors of National Review Online recently did a clean, clear job of reacting to demands that self-defense laws enacted in many states to protect victims don't get repealed because of the Trayvon Martin case in Florida. From the article:

Katie Pavlich, news editor at Townhall.com, has written a new book called Fast and Furious: Barack Obama's Bloodiest Scandal and the Shameless Cover-Up.

The Econo-Can is a patent-pending legal and registered silencer by American Specialty Ammo. It actually is an adapter that uses a removable expansion chamber — aka a car oil filter — to suppress the firearm. The video below shows that this device is as quiet as any 22 LR silencer we have tested. But it’s not a toy or novelty. It’s a registered silencer and must be treated as such. The adapter is threaded 1/2-28. This is a NFA item and all NFA rules and regulations apply. Price: $55.

Conservative rocker Ted Nugent accused President Obama of running a “vile, evil, America-hating administration” during a weekend appearance at the National Rifle Association convention. He was interviewed at the NRA Annual Meetings by NRA radio host Cam Edwards.

An error in our April 2012 test of 22 LR semi-automatic rifles, which included experimentation with a suppressor, stirred up a hornets' nest of telephone calls, and we owe the wronged party an apology. The error had to do with the description of services available from Tactical Firearms of Katy, Texas, a Class III dealer and home to what is arguably the most advanced shooting facility in the United States. Whereas Tactical Firearms can help facilitate the licensing necessary for the purchase of suppressors in states outside of Texas, that does not include every state in the union, as the article claimed. Instead of referring to a one-time fee… "that according to Tactical Firearms is applicable to any state in the union," it should have read "almost every state in the union," or "every state in the union where suppressors are legal." The offending text can be found on page 10 column 2 and in the caption on page 11. There was never any intention on the part of the author, Gun Tests Magazine, or on the part of Tactical Firearms to mislead the public or the authorities.

Just a follow up to this article: While all the test units fared well, I have to tell you and your readers about a quality company, Crimson Trace (CTC). About a year back I was able to purchase a Kimber custom pistol, my first. As many know, retired LEOs don't exactly have money flowing in, so it was many years before I came across a nice quality used pistol for the right price. When I finally did, I jumped at the opportunity to buy it — and it came with CTC laser grips already on it. I'm guessing the Kimber was a couple of years old before I bought it, and now I have had it over a year.

Economist John Lott, noted for his academic advocacy of gun rights, says that when Barack Obama was his colleague at the University of Chicago, the future president treated him as if he were “evil.”

Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, went wingnut on the Huffington Post recently, blaming the death of Trayvon Martin on the NRA and marketing by gun manufacturers.

If you haven't seen these NRA Bill of Rights ads yet, then stop for a moment, download them, and take a close look. The deck reads, 'Before anyone edits the Bill of Rights, the authors would like a word with you.'

In a Washington Times column on April 2, Second Amendment legal scholar David Kopel examined how anti-gun lobbies are purposely misstating how Florida’s “stand your ground” works.

A C-SPAN video from January 30, 1995, shows Eric Holder advocating that people should be 'brainwashed' into supporting gun control. Holder, now attorney general of the United States, is shown on the video supporting using Hollywood, the media and government officials to “really brainwash people” into opposing firearm ownership. Holder, who was then the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, was addressing the Women’s National Democratic Club on Jan. 30, 1995. In his speech, he held up anti-smoking campaigns as a model for an anti-gun campaign.