President restores right to bear arms to convicted felons
Wall Street Journal Nov 29, 08 8:22 AM CST
(Newser)
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Second Amendment enthusiasts seem to have a better-than-average chance of winning a presidential pardon as the Bush presidency nears its end, the Wall Street Journal reports. Of the 14 felons pardoned in the last week, seven are fans of hunting or shooting and five say they specifically mentioned their desire to have their right to bear arms restored when they wrote in for a pardon.
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'Unbelievable' sum
of money fuels runoff
for Senate seat
USA Today Nov 28, 08 2:22 PM CST
(Newser)
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With Democrats just two seats away from mounting a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, GOP donors are injecting millions into Georgia’s runoff election, USA Today reports. Republican incumbent Saxby Chambliss raised $1.6 million in large contributions in about a week, compared to $462,000 for Democrat Jim Martin. Chambliss also has pulled in $2.5 million the last few weeks from groups such as the NRA, about double Martin's haul from outside groups.
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Some afraid of bans; others expect civil unrest
Chicago Tribune Nov 12, 08 10:53 AM CST
(Newser)
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Gun sales were up before the election, but the numbers have shot through the roof since Barack Obama's win, the Chicago Tribune reports. As stores sell out of assault rifles and enthusiasts stock up on Glocks, people offered a few different reasons for their purchases. Some anticipate new weapons bans; others want to be ready for civil unrest.
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USA Today Oct 15, 08 4:19 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Justifiable homicides committed by cops and civilians are at their highest levels in more than 10 years, USA Today reports. Last year's totals: 391 for police and 254 for civilians. Analysts attribute the rise to a growing “shoot-first” attitude among both groups, especially as criminals improve their arsenals.
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Gun lobby has already spent millions
attacking Obama
Associated Press Oct 9, 08 9:51 AM CDT
(AP)
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The NRA is endorsing John McCain for president, the group announced today, overlooking differences between the gun-rights lobby and McCain on campaign finance restrictions and gun show rules.The vice president of the NRA, whose political action committee has already spent more than $2.3 million opposing Barack Obama, said the gun-rights lobby agrees with McCain on many more issues important to the group.
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For-hire spy infiltrated deep into anti-gun movement
Mother Jones Jul 31, 08 7:00 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Mary McFate is a longtime prominent member of the gun-control movement; she is also, Mother Jones shockingly reveals, Mary Lou Sapone, a spy who infiltrates citizen groups for corporations targeted by activists—and who has been employed by the NRA. Over a decade, she reached high levels in a panoply of gun-control groups, where she had access to “plans, secrets, and inside gossip of practically the entire” movement, the piece concludes.
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Bittergate, Chicago gun ban to make appearances
Politico Jul 1, 08 11:29 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The NRA has budgeted $40 million for the fall elections, with more than one-third of it set aside to spotlight Barack Obama's gun policies. The ad blitz will deny Obama the opportunity to neutralize the issue, Politico reports. A rep says the NRA will target 15 battleground states. “We look forward to showing him ‘bitter,’” he said.
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Gun control issue largely off the table, experts say
Los Angeles Times Jun 14, 08 3:51 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The NRA is aiming both barrels at Barack Obama, but the gun rights group is no longer a formidable GOP weapon, the LA Times reports. Congress hasn’t passed gun control laws in 14 years, and Democrats are terrified to touch the issue, scarred from old campaigns. In other words, the NRA has won—and is a victim of its own success.
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At NRA, ex-hopeful jests about Obama ducking loaded firearm
Associated Press May 16, 08 6:57 PM CDT
(Newser)
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At an NRA convention today, Mike Huckabee quipped that an offstage sound was Barack Obama leaping from a loaded gun. “That was Barack Obama,” the former Arkansas governor said. “He just tripped off a chair. He's getting ready to speak and somebody aimed a gun at him and he—he dove for the floor." The Obama camp has not yet returned fire over the remark, the AP reports.
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Biz groups fear increase in office shootings
Reuters Apr 10, 08 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Florida lawmakers have passed a law that prohibits most businesses from banning employees keeping guns in their cars on company property, Reuters reports. Backers hail the measure as a victory for Second Amendment rights. Business groups, fearing an increase in workplace shootings, are urging the governor to veto the so-called "take your gun to work" bill.
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TRIBUTE
Critics reflect on legend's career
Time Apr 7, 08 6:17 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Charlton Heston was “the man-deity of movies,” writes Richard Corliss in a Time appreciation, declaring of the actor who stepped into the shoes of no less than the Almighty, "God is dead." Indeed, from Moses to Ben-Hur. “He was the epic hero,” Corliss notes. “Heston didn't just play great roles, he imposingly, thrillingly embodied them.”
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Longtime leading man, former NRA president, had Alzheimer's
Associated Press Apr 5, 08 11:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Charlton Heston, the longtime Hollywood leading man who portrayed everyone from Moses to Michelangelo and won an Oscar for his chariot-driving performance in Ben Hur , has died at age 84, the AP reports. Heston, who announced in 2002 that he had Alzheimer's, became the unapologetic head of the NRA in 1998, a position that nearly overshadowed his acting career.
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Hopeful plays down liberal image to tout individual rights
Politico Apr 5, 08 8:52 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Barack Obama is aiming to win pro-gun votes in Pennsylvania by touting the Second Amendment, Politico reports. His camp emailed state gun clubs this week about “the right and traditions of sportsmen" as Obama courted Pennsylvania's pro-gun Democratic lawmakers. The NRA fired back at Obama—and Hillary Clinton, too—calling overtures “scripted rhetorical tricks.”
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Republicans hold fellow Republican's nomination hostage
Los Angeles Times Feb 25, 08 2:15 PM CST
(Newser)
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Michael Sullivan has spent a long time waiting to become head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but his appointment has run into a roadblock in the Senate. Not with Democrats—with his fellow Republicans. Gun-rights supporters have blocked the appointment of Sullivan, also a US Attorney who can't be replaced while the ATF job is in limbo, the LA Times reports.
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