Microstamping Defeated
Legislation before the California Assembly (AB 352) that would have required microstamping of firearms and bullet serialization of all ammunition was defeated in September. AB 352 would have mandated the use of sole-sourced technology to microstamp firearms, and the state attorney general would have been given the power to require bullet serialization of all ammunition.
Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the NSSF, said, “This legislation would not only have forced an unproven and costly technology upon both firearms consumers and taxpayers, but it would have allowed for the banning of all ammunition in California.”
A recent independent, peer-reviewed study for forensic firearms examiners showed that microstamping can be defeated in seconds using household tools. Example: Criminals would be able to replace an engraved — “microstamped” — firing pin with an unmarked spare part.
NYC Mayor Sued by Gun Dealer
A South Carolina gun dealer has sued New York City Major Michael Bloomberg, who targeted the store a few months ago in an undercover sting operation.
The lawsuit, filed in South Carolina, seeks damages and claims that the city smeared the storeowner’s reputation. Larry Mickalis, the store owner in Summerville, S.C., who filed the lawsuit against the city, said Bloomberg’s accusations have been irresponsible. Among other things, the mayor called the 15 dealers targeted in the sting “rogue gun dealers,” “the worst of the worst,” and “bad apples.”
A Smyrna, Ga., gun dealer, Jay Wallace, filed a suit against the city for $400 million in damages in July.
What Did Hillary Know, and When Did She Know It?
Newly released Clinton Presidential Library records show that Clinton White House staffers knew about and endorsed a strategy to destroy the gun industry using litigation. No surprise there. But the question for gun owners is: Can Hillary Clinton successfully deny knowledge of the tactic to bankrupt gun companies with litigation?
There’s no smoking gun definitively linking her to such tactics, but there is plenty of smoke. There’s a March 2000 letter from New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer with a handwritten note at the top from Bill Clinton to then-White House Deputy Counsel Bruce Lindsey. Clinton’s scribble said Spitzer had some “good ideas” about denying gun manufacturers the right to sell guns to the military and law enforcement unless they signed an anti-gun “code of conduct” that would cripple the industry.
Also, a November 1998 memo from former Clinton Advisor Sidney Blumenthal to Bruce Reed, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, called a press release about the effort to file class-action suits against gun manufacturers … “a very promising idea….”The press release was from the mayor of New Orleans. GT
