Friday, February 27, 2015

100 Congressmen Oppose Administration Ban on Common Rifle Bullets

Lawmakers are firing back at a proposal by the Obama administration to ban one of the most common bullets used with the popular AR-15 rifle, with more than 100 members of Congress signing a letter opposing the move on ammo.

Word of the proposal by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to ban .223 M855 “green tip” ammunition came out on Thursday and prompted an immediate backlash from sportsmen. House members from both parties and some law enforcement officials were not far behind.

“[The ban] will interfere with Second Amendment rights by disrupting the market for ammunition that law abiding Americans use for sporting and other legitimate purposes,” reads the letter signed by lawmakers and addressed to ATF director Todd Jones.

The bullets, which can pierce bulletproof vests used by law enforcement, had previously been approved by the ATF in 1986. The agency now says that because handguns have now been designed that can also fire the bullets, police officers are now more likely to encounter them and so they should be banned.

However, the congressional letter notes that the ATF provides no evidence of the bullet’s danger to law enforcement.

“ATF has not even alleged – much less offered evidence – that even one such round has ever been fired from a handgun at a police officer,” the letter reads.

Many police organizations are also not in favor of the ban.

“The notion that all of a sudden a new pistol requires banning what had long been perfectly legal ammunition doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to many officers,” William Johnson, executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, told FoxNews.com

NAPO represents over 1,000 police units and associations and 241,000 law enforcement officers around the country.

Continue reading on FoxNews.com...

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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Flintlock from 1700s could land elderly NJ man in prison

A retired teacher is facing 10 years in prison and the loss of his state pension for possessing a flintlock pistol that may not have been fired since George Washington was alive, his attorney told FoxNews.com on Wednesday.

In a case that underscores the Garden State's strict gun laws, Gordon Van Gilder, a retired English teacher and collector of historical items, has been charged with criminal possession of a handgun and faces up to 10 years in prison. If the 72-year-old is convicted, the charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 3.5 years and the pension Van Gilder earned as an educator could be revoked, penalties attorney Evan Nappen called "outrageous."

“It’s crazy," Nappen told FoxNews.com. "The gun was unloaded and strictly possessed as a historical relic. We’re hoping the prosecutor will exercise discretion and dismiss his case.”

Van Gilder readily acknowledged the unloaded gun was in his glove compartment and wrapped in cloth when he was pulled over for a traffic violation in Cumberland County in November 2014, according to Nappen. He had recently bought the gun and was planning to add it to his collection of antiques, which includes other old firearms, the lawyer said.

Continue reading at FoxNews.com...

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Thursday, February 12, 2015

Study: Global warming skeptics know more about climate science

By Maxim Lott | February 12, 2015 | FoxNews.com

Are global warming skeptics simply ignorant about climate science?

Not so, says a forthcoming paper in the journal Advances in Political Psychology by Yale Professor Dan Kahan. He finds that skeptics score about the same (in fact slightly better) on climate science questions.

The study asked 2,000 respondents nine questions about where they thought scientists stand on climate science.

On average, skeptics got about 4.5 questions correct, whereas manmade warming believers got about 4 questions right.

Continue reading at FoxNews.com...

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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Pennsylvania town packs heat, and wants visitors to know it

By Maxim Lott | February 10, 2015 | FoxNews.com

Drive into tiny Conoy Township, Pa., and you'll see the standard "welcome" sign, but it also comes with a warning: "THIS IS NOT A GUN FREE ZONE."

The signs are meant to alert criminals to the fact that many people in the rural Pennsylvania town of 3,000 are armed. A dozen have been installed so far and three more are slated to go up, which would cover every major road into the town. Officials hope the signs give would-be criminals second thoughts before causing trouble.

“I think even those who have bad intentions can read,” Stephen Mohr, one of the township supervisors, told FoxNews.com. He said the town’s five supervisors unanimously decided to put the signs up.

Continue reading at FoxNews.com...

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Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Border Patrol agents say gun sharing puts lives at risk

Guns are in such short supply at the Border Patrol that one agent told FoxNews.com 400 agents share just 100 rifles at his station. The lack of weapons is more than just a nuisance, according to law enforcement authorities, who say each agent should be able to calibrate his or her gun to individual preferences, a process they call "zeroing." “We are left to check out rifles that were unzeroed to us," a border patrol agent told FoxNews.com. "This practice needs to be outlawed, as it could cost someone their life." Continue reading at FoxNews.com...

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