NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT: Vol. 21, No. 8 02/21/2014 U.S. Firearm Production Sets Record in 2012: AR-15 Production Up Over 100% The number of firearms manufactured in the U.S. for sale to American customers hit an all-time high in 2012, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' (BATFE) new Firearms Manufacturers and Export Report. American firearm manufacturers produced roughly 8.3 million firearms for sale in the U.S., a new record, up 33 percent from the 6.2 million produced for American customers in 2011.  The report shows not only that Americans valued firearms in 2012 more than ever before, but also that they particularly valued the kinds of firearms that gun control supporters have tried the hardest to get banned--handguns and semi-automatic rifles. READ MORE >> A Tale of Two Realities: A Gun Controller's Slanderous Rhetoric and a Mother's Stand to Save Her Children Despite current restrictions that place New Jersey well outside the American mainstream, gun controllers and some state lawmakers have made clear their intent to push even further in 2014, with wide-ranging legislation targeting nearly every aspect of the remaining gun freedom Garden State residents enjoy (or cling to, perhaps more accurately). Chief among these proposals is a bill that would lower the magazine capacity limit from the current 15 down to 10. And it appears gun control advocates are prepared to sink to any level of rhetorical excess to get it passed.  In a February 14 NJ.com article, Bryan Miller, Executive Director of the self-proclaimed "faith-based movement to prevent gun violence" Heeding God's Call, is quoted as stating, "Nobody needs a 15-round ammunition magazine unless they are a domestic terrorist or a gangster." READ MORE >> Watch the Latest NRA-ILA Grassroots News Minute MORE VIDEOS >> Watch the Sneak Peak of Sunday's NRA All Access Episode 8 MORE VIDEOS >> FBI: More NICS Checks, Less Violent Crime Two sets of data published by the FBI seven months apart show increased gun ownership coinciding with a reduction in violent crime. Last July, the FBI completed its monthly update of an online table showing the number of firearm-related checks conducted through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The new numbers showed that the number of checks increased from 8.9 million during the first six months of 2012, to a whopping 11.4 million during the same period in 2013, an increase of 29 percent. Gun control supporters pretend that NICS checks that result in denials perfectly correspond with the denial of firearms to aspiring violent criminals, while denying that the numbers of approved checks indicate anything at all about trends in firearms purchases. However, while not as reliable an indicator of firearm purchase trends as the Annual Firearms Manufacturers and Export Reports and Firearms Commerce in the United States reports complied by the BATFE, the FBI's NICS numbers provide a fair indication of such trends. Even though not all approved checks result in the acquisition of firearms, some checks result in the acquisition of multiple firearms. And even though some checks are conducted for carry permit purposes, some firearms are acquired through licensed dealers without a NICS check, based upon the exemption available in some states for persons licensed to possess or carry a firearm. READ MORE >> John Lott Exposes Fuzzy Bloomberg Math Apparently, Michael Bloomberg didn't learn his lesson after one of his two anti-gun groups, Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG), was taken to task for claiming that Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, shot by police, was a "victim of gun violence."  Last week, Bloomberg's other gun control group, which he markets as a "Moms" group, teamed with MAIG to release propaganda intended to convey the impression that school shootings are on the rise.  However, in an article for Fox News, economist John Lott showed that the shootings cited by Bloomberg included suicides, incidents in which no one was injured, at least one self-defense shooting, and shootings that took place late at night on and off school property. "Contrary to what many people believe, high school shootings have actually been falling over the last two decades," Lott wrote. READ MORE >> Dissenter in Heller & McDonald Argues for Decisions to be Over-ruled by Constitutional Amendment Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens found himself on the wrong side of law and history in both of the Supreme Court's landmark cases on the Second Amendment in the early 21st Century, District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010). Together, these decisions recognized that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense that is not dependent upon service in an organized militia, and that this right binds the acts of federal, state, and local officials.  Stevens wrote lengthy (and unavailing) dissents in both cases. In his Heller dissent, he argued, among other things, that the Second Amendment was intended only to preserve the right of the people to maintain well-regulated state militias; that it did not "enshrine the common-law right of self-defense in the Constitution;" and that it does not curtail legislative power "to regulate nonmilitary use and ownership of weapons." Meanwhile, his dissent in McDonald opined that the plaintiffs were asserting a property right, rather than a liberty interest; that other "advanced democracies" manage just fine without a right corresponding to the Second Amendment; and that the Second Amendment, properly understood, has nothing to say about state and local gun control. READ MORE >> NRA Mourns the Passing of Cabela's Founder, Richard Cabela The NRA--and hunters, fishermen, and outdoorsmen the world over--lost a long-time friend this week as Dick Cabela, founder of Cabela's, Inc., passed away on Monday at the age of 77.  Dick, along with his wife Mary, founded Cabela's at their kitchen table in 1961, after Dick bought $45 worth of fishing flies with the intention of selling them at the family's furniture and hardware store in Chappell, Nebraska. When the flies didn't sell, Cabela ran an ad in a local newspaper. That didn't work out either. Finally, Cabela ran the following ad in Sports Afield magazine: "FREE Introductory offer! 5 popular Grade A hand-tied flies. Send 25c for postage and handling." That ad was the breakthrough; orders started flowing in, and Cabela's was born. With the business growing, Dick's brother Jim joined the company as a co-owner in 1963. READ MORE >> FLORIDA: Report on Florida Legislative Committee Action Week of 2/17/14 - 2/20/14 GEORGIA: Update on Pro-Gun Activity in Atlanta IDAHO: Senate Passes Secure Campuses Bill INDIANA: House Committee to Hear Right to Hunt and Fish Amendment on Monday IOWA: House Judiciary Committee Passes Suppressor Bill With Strong Support IOWA: Egregious Anti-Gun Bill Introduced in State Senate KENTUCKY: Concealed Carry Reform Bills Continue to Move in Frankfort LOUISIANA: Gearing Up for 2014 Elections MARYLAND: Save the Date for Gun Day in Annapolis MICHIGAN : Legislation to Eliminate Concealed Carry Licensing Boards Introduced in Senate MISSOURI: Second Amendment Update from Jefferson City MONTANA: Gearing Up for 2014 Elections NEW JERSEY: Anti-Gun Lawmakers Pick Up Where They Left Off Last Year NEW MEXICO: Legislature Adjourns Sine Die – No Gun Control Passed NORTH CAROLINA: Gearing Up for 2014 Elections OKLAHOMA: House Judiciary Committee Passes Many Pro-Gun Bills TENNESSEE: Governor Signs Pro-Gun Bill, Another Awaits Signature TENNESSEE: Pro-Hunting Bill Approved by Senate Committee; House Bill Scheduled for Committee Hearing VIRGINIA: Four Pro-Gun Bills Sent to the Governor WEST VIRGINIA: Senate to Consider Weakened Firearms Preemption Bill WEST VIRGINIA: Bills on the Move in Charleston WISCONSIN: Bill to Allow Interstate Long Gun Purchases and Sales Going to Governor   John Hames