NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT: Vol. 21, No. 36 09/12/2014 Rice, Allen Cases Show Danger of Unchecked Prosecutorial Discretion The year 2014 has gone from bad to worse for Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. In February, he was involved in an ugly confrontation with his then-fiancée (and now wife) Janay Palmer in an Atlantic City hotel casino. A security camera captured the incident, which ended with Rice hauling the unconscious Palmer out of the elevator.  At first, handling of the event seemed to be favoring Rice. The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, for its part, was willing to give Rice a break. In May, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain agreed to allow Rice to enter a pretrial intervention program for first offenders, even though Rice was indicted for felony aggravated assault. The program allows Rice not just the opportunity to avoid prison time but, upon successful completion of the program's requirements, any conviction whatsoever. READ MORE >> Prohibitionists Give up on Semi-Auto Bans? Not So Fast For the last 25 years, banning so-called "assault weapons" has been at the forefront of the anti-gun agenda. However, in recent days, an article from ProPublica and a "study" from The Center for American Progress indicated that the gun control establishment is shifting away from advocating for semi-auto bans and towards background checks/registration. The "coincidence" of these publications appearing days apart hints at what might be public relations scheming, rather than a genuine shift in viewpoint.  While this supposed de-emphasis on semi-auto bans should be met with skepticism by all gun rights supporters, the items discussing the reevaluation of priorities are instructive in that they illustrate the quarter-century-long campaign against semi-autos was unjustified from inception. READ MORE >> Anti-Gun MarketWatch Article in Re-Run Mode On August 27, MarketWatch.com, supposedly a website for stock market investors, published a cynical article about gun manufacturers and gun ownership, titled 10 Things the Gun Industry Won't Tell You. In fact, MarketWatch has been running and re-running the same article for months now, just changing the date every so often, to make it appear brand new.  MarketWatch apparently isn't interested in dealing with firearm issues in a serious way, however, because the author of the article is fluff journalist Catey Hill. You can get a pretty good idea about Hill's writing style from the titles of her other articles, such as "10 Things Your Spouse Won't Tell You," "10 Things Your Boss Won't Tell You," "10 Things Your Coworkers Won't Tell You" and, luckily for Lindsay Lohan, only "9 Things Lindsay Lohan Should Do to Save Her Career." READ MORE >> Harvard: Millions of Dollars More For Gun Control Harvard University's School of Public Health is set to receive a $350 million donation to study "gun violence" and other "complex health threats challenging the U.S. and the world," CNN reports. The donation, the largest ever received by the university, is being made by the Morningside Foundation, run by the descendants of Hong Kong real estate tycoon T.H. Chan, for whom the school will be renamed.  Billionaire bankrolling of the anti-gun movement is perhaps the most significant new development in the gun control debate in our lifetime. Last year, anti-gun activist Michael Bloomberg donated $350 million to Johns Hopkins University's School of Public Health, already named for Bloomberg, based upon his previous donations. Bloomberg, the Washington Post reported, also "has committed to spending $50 million of his personal fortune this year to build a national grass-roots movement that will pressure lawmakers to pass more restrictive gun laws." READ MORE >> NRA Files Letter of Opposition to Harry Reid's Attempt to Silence Free Speech As we reported last week, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been aggressively pushing "Senate Joint Resolution 19," a proposed "amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to contributions and expenditures intended to affect elections."  As the title suggests, S.J.R. 19 would amend the United States Constitution to allow Congress and the states to ban certain political speech now considered protected under the First Amendment and would thereby allow anti-gunners in Congress to silence their critics, and to control the gun "debate." S.J.R. 19 would authorize burdensome federal and state regulation--or outright prohibition--of spending by corporations and other legal entities (like NRA) to do what many were created to do: protect the rights of their members at the ballot box. READ MORE >> 2014 NRA-ILA Firearms Law & The Second Amendment Symposium The 2014 NRA-ILA Firearms Law & The Second Amendment Symposium will be held on Saturday, October 11, 2014 at The University of Baltimore.  Focusing on recent developments in our nation's courts and legislatures regarding the Second Amendment, speakers at this year's event will discuss and debate current Second Amendment developments and related issues. The symposium will feature top Second Amendment scholars and attorneys discussing topics that range from the history of the Second Amendment to current Second Amendment litigation in Maryland and across the nation, to the nuts and bolts of legal practice in both defending and advancing gun owners' civil rights. READ MORE >> Busting the Top Three Myths About the Second Amendment Adherents to gun control typically respond with emotional arguments. However, on those occasions when they attempt to respond with "logic" regarding the Second Amendment itself, those arguments typically take the same tired forms.  Here's how to counter the misconceptions your friends may hold about the Second Amendment—with facts. READ MORE >> Take Action on Proposed Ban on the Sale and Trade of Ivory The NRA supports efforts to stop poaching and the illegal trade of ivory. However, banning lawfully-owned domestic ivory will have no impact on elephant poaching in Africa. On the contrary, such a ban would affect only honest, law-abiding Americans by making their possessions valueless. Please see this New York Times article highlighting the broad spectrum of people who will be harmed by the ban. READ MORE >> Ask Your U.S. Representative to Cosponsor the Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2013 The "Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2013" (H.R. 2959)--introduced in the U.S. House by Reps. Richard Nugent (R-Fla.) and Jim Matheson (D-Utah)--would allow any person who is not prohibited from possessing or receiving a firearm under federal law and who has a valid concealed firearm permit, to carry a concealed handgun in any state that issues its own residents permits to carry concealed firearms. Persons carrying a handgun in another state pursuant to H.R. 2959 would be subject to the laws of that state with respect to where concealed firearms may be carried. Similar legislation to H.R. 2959 passed the House in 2011 by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 272-154. READ MORE >> LOUISIANA: Stand and Fight with NRA for the 2014 General Elections MAINE: Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Opposes Referendum Based on Forty Years of Research MISSOURI: Gun Owners Prevail in Veto Override Session MONTANA: Election Day 2014 Will Be Here Before You Know It NEVADA: UPDATE on Concealed Handgun License Permit Recognition NEW JERSEY: Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Expanding Hunting in Great Swamp NWR NEW YORK: Sportsmen's Association for Firearms Education presents the 2014 Firearm Civil Rights Conference NORTH CAROLINA: NRA Needs You for the 2014 Elections! OREGON: Informational Hearing Scheduled to Discuss Lead Ammunition Survey on Tuesday PENNSYLVANIA: Firearms Preemption Bill Could be Considered in State House Next Week TEXAS: Alcoholic Beverage Commission Proposes New Rules that Negatively Impact Friends of NRA Events, Shooting Clubs and Gun Shows VIRGINIA: The NRA Celebrates Pro-Hunting Milestone WASHINGTON: With Election Day on the Horizon, NRA Needs You to Stand and Fight