Remington Fires First Shot in Round Two of NBC War

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Jim Shepherd

In 2010, NBC News’ “Dateline” ran a report purportedly telling the story of Remington’s knowingly allowing their entire 700 series of bolt-action rifles to be sold despite knowing that the rifle’s trigger system had a basic safety flaw. Essentially, “Dateline” reported Remington had knowingly sold more than five-million unsafe bolt action rifles, despite knowing – for decades- there were serious safety issues.

When that report aired, it caused quite a stir in the industry, and kicked off a massive response effort from Remington. As is common in an ever-shortening news cycle, the story was quickly forgotten.

Except, it seems, by NBC News.

Last night, I learned that promos for tonight’s upcoming episode of “Rock Center with Brian Williams” promises yet another exclusive report into Remington and its allegedly faulty firearms.

Protect Your Rights! Act Now to Support Legal Transportation of Firearms

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

When Congress passed the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act (FOPA) in 1986, one of the key provisions of the bill was intended to protect the rights of gun owners to legally transport their firearms between locations where they are legally allowed to possess them.

Unfortunately, some local jurisdictions have chosen to ignore federal law and the courts have upheld these infringements on Second Amendment rights.

H.R. 4269, introduced by U.S. Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Ted Poe (R-Texas) and Bill Owens (D-N.Y.) would amend this provision to ensure it has the effect Congress intended.

Most states have never had a problem with this law. However, both before and after enactment of FOPA, gun owners have had serious problems lawfully travelling with their firearms in two states in particular: New York (especially New York City) and New Jersey. Rather than recognize the intention of Congress to protect the rights of Americans travelling with legally owned firearms, these jurisdictions have used overly restrictive state licensing laws to harass and prosecute travelers.

Voters approve concealed carry ordinance in Pike County, Illinois: Now What?

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Jim Shepherd

Recently, I made a big deal out of the fact that on Tuesday, March 21, 2012, Pike County, Illinois passed a voter initiative that rejected the concealed carry restrictions of state law-in Pike County. When that story ran, several readers – including a some very irritated Illinois attorneys, were quick to point out that a voter initiative had no force of law.

Until today, their point hasn’t been addressed. That’s because we couldn’t get any insight into the whole state/local law point.

First, let’s shuck this down to the cob on a key question: can I now carry a concealed firearm in Pike County, Illinois? Short answer: not without putting yourself in potential legal peril.

That’s because the voter initiative hasn’t moved to its logical conclusion. The folks who created the initiative have provided us with the statement they’ve been sending to all the other Illinois counties considering similar initiatives. Here’s how they’re explaining it:

“In Illinois, local governments (county governments, municipal governments) can’t overturn state laws. They can pass local laws that are more restrictive than state laws (like, the death penalty for stray dogs), but they can’t “erase” or “soften” restrictive laws the state legislature has already put in place (like, Illinois’ concealed-carry ban).

But the citizenry, the voters, are not “local governments.” They are The People, who hold ultimate sovereignty over everything. There is no true statutory or constitutional limit on the power of The People. (Maybe that makes me sound like a Right-Wing fanatic, but it happens to be true).

Which is why ever-so-often you’ll see referendums, or constitutional amendments, on your local and state ballots in some elections.

In Illinois, “The People” in any jurisdiction (a municipality, a county, or even the state as a whole), can put any question, or initiative, or referendum, or ordinance they want on any ballot. All it takes is a petition signed by a number of registered voters that equals a certain percentage of the number of voters who participated in the most recent previous election in that particular jurisdiction. That required percentage is surprisingly small. All this information is available from your County Clerk.

Various Illinois pro-gun groups and organizations have previously tried to get counties in Illinois to enact local concealed-carry ordinances. Their mistake was trying to pass these ordinances through their county boards (i.e., their local “legislatures”). County board members correctly say, “We can’t do that,” because laws passed by the state legislature trump laws passed by local legislatures.

So here, we went directly to The People. It only took about six local folks just three weeks circulating petitions to get three times the minimum number of signatures required to put the “Constitutional Carry” ordinance on last week’s Pike County primary ballot. The 3,214 “Yes” votes for the ordinance were actually more than the largest vote total for any candidate or question in the previous Pike County election. The margin of victory was 85 percent. Which has left all Pike County elected officials (including the County Sheriff), with no place to hide. Our state Representatives and Senators are also looking closely at those numbers, and pointing them out to their colleagues (not that many downstate legislators are “soft on guns” to begin with).

Nine Lessons Learned from the Oikos College Shooting

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Greg Ellifrtiz

On Monday, April 2, a 43 year old man named One L. Goh opened fire in a classroom at Oikos University. Mr. Goh was a former student of the college in California. His rampage resulted in seven people killed and three more wounded. Six of the seven victims killed were women. Most had been shot at point-blank range.

This was a tragic event, but it is not unprecedented and is likely to happen again. Students, parents, police and school employees worldwide need to be prepared for such a crime to occur at anytime, anywhere. School violence is a problem everywhere and can happen in even the “best” of schools.

While it is early in the investigation, we know many of the facts surrounding Monday’s mass killing. This school shooting has many of the same characteristics as past incidents. While it is distasteful to second-guess the actions of the victims in such a horrible atrocity, there are lessons to be learned from their tribulations.

I’ve scoured the news reports of the Oikos shooting and have condensed the relevant information into a few learning points that may be valuable to anyone who wants to better prepare for the future. I’ve illustrated the learning points by providing direct quotes from many of the people involved.

Churchgoer with concealed carry permit stops man with shotgun

Posted on by Buckeye Firearms Association

by Chad D. Baus

A churchgoer near Spartanburg, SC is being credited with saving the lives of fellow worshipers after a man kicked in the door of their church and leveled a shotgun. In Ohio, the man who is being called an “everyday hero” might have been arrested.

From the Spartanburg Herald-Journal:

The Rev. Henry Guyton, pastor of the church, said Jesse Gates, who has attended worship services at the church on Upper Valley Falls Road as recently as Wednesday, came to the door about 10 a.m. on Sunday.

“He came in before the service and acted like he was having a heart attack,” Guyton, 71, said. “He asked us to call Channel 7 news. I called 911 instead.”

Sheriff Chuck Wright said deputies and Spartanburg EMS arrived, and checked out Gates, and Gates left.

About 11:20 a.m., Jesse Gates returned to the church. The Rev. Guyton’s grandson, Aaron Guyton, 26, was in the recreation building separate from the church and saw Gates get a shotgun from the trunk of his car.

“At that point, I knew I had to do something,” Aaron Guyton said. “I wanted to try to contain him outside.”

Aaron Guyton went into the main building and locked the doors.

Henry Guyton said he was in the pulpit, preaching about how Jesus spoke the word of God and healed the sick, when Gates kicked open the side door of the sanctuary and entered with the shotgun, pointing it at the pastor and congregation.

Church members, including Aaron Guyton, a concealed weapons permit holder, acted quickly.

The article goes on to say that Aaron Guyton held Gates at gunpoint, as church members Jesse Smith and Leland Powers held him on the floor and waited for deputies to arrive. The Rev. Guyton said he stepped onto a chair, climbed down a 3-foot bannister surrounding the pulpit and took the shotgun from Jesse Gates.

© 2002-2024 Buckeye Firearms Association