NRA-ILA GRASSROOTS ALERT: Vol. 21, No. 46 11/21/2014 Federal Investigations to Proceed on Operation Choke Point As we reported last month, a coalition of congressional representatives led by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) had requested internal investigators at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to conduct formal inquiries into Operation Choke Point, as well as any officials and staff involved in the program. Rep. Luetkemeyer is now reporting that those requests have been granted. According to his press release announcing the decisions, "The correspondence I received from the FDIC and DOJ is a great first step in ensuring that those responsible for Operation Choke Point are held accountable and that Congress and the American people receive details and answers they deserve." READ MORE >> The Doctor is In, but Privacy is Out: UK Proposes Adding Gun Ownership Records to Medical Files With warrantless home inspections and an onerous registration and licensing scheme, UK gun owners already have little refuge from the prying eyes of the state. However, some law enforcement and Home Office officials are keen to extend gun owner surveillance into the doctor's office. On November 9, The Sunday Times published an article titled, "Doctors are told to report on mental state of gun owners." The title aptly summarizes plans to enlist doctors to inform police when a patient exhibits mental or physical characteristics (including terminal illness) the doctors deem incompatible with gun ownership. In explaining why he wanted to draft physicians as informants, Chief Constable Andy Marsh of Hampshire Constabulary lamented, "Lots of things happen in people's lives which the police don't know about." READ MORE >> Ill-conceived Washington State Background Check Initiative Already Causing Absurd Outcomes Barely two weeks after Washington State voters approved Initiative 594 -- a measure the NRA warned was "deeply flawed" -- our predicted consequences are beginning to emerge. Under I-594's restrictive language, a person simply handing his or her firearm to another is presumptively required to broker this "transfer" through a gun dealer. This also necessitates the accompanying background check, fee, paperwork, taxes and, in the case of a handgun, state registration. Proponents of the initiative had assured voters that fears of this overreach were exaggerated. Prior to the vote on I-594, Geoff Potter, spokesman for 1-594 proponents Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, said I-594 "simply applies the current system of background checks to all sales." READ MORE >> School Suspends Fifth-Grader Armed with Finger, Childlike Imagination Another sad battle by the agents of political correctness in their war on childhood was waged last Friday, when 10-year-old Milford, Mass., fifth-grader Nickolas Taylor was suspended for two days following an incident in the Stacy Middle School cafeteria. The offense? Armed only with his index finger and a vivid imagination, Nickolas reportedly cut in front of two classmates in the lunch line while firing an imaginary "ray gun" and making corresponding ray gun sound effects. According to a report in the Milford Daily News, the two pupils who claimed Nickolas cut in line informed a school official of the behavior. When the matter was brought to the attention of Assistant Principal Noah Collins, the administrator deemed Nickolas' actions a threat and issued the suspension. READ MORE >> Israeli Officials Recognize Protective Benefits of Good Guys with Guns This week, Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch announced a decision to relax the rules governing the carrying of firearms and the issuance of licenses to carry. The move came shortly after the reprehensible slaughter of four Orthodox Jewish men and a police officer in a West Jerusalem Temple by terrorists armed with knives, axes and a gun. The assailants in the attack had been shot and killed at the scene by police. Aharonovitch was quoted in an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz as stating, "The decision to ease [approving gun permits] is a result of the present need to strengthen the feeling of security for the population, in light of the recent terrorist incidents befalling us." READ MORE >> Please Take Action – Ask Congress to Protect the Interests of Law-Abiding Gun Owners and Sportsmen Today As Congress considers budget legislation, the NRA respectfully urges that the interests of law-abiding gun owners and sportsmen be protected from the ongoing attacks of the anti-gun Obama Administration.  The NRA has worked hard to include numerous pro-gun provisions in the House of Representatives' budget that would protect lawful gun owners and prevent federal government harassment and overreach on your right to Keep and Bear Arms. Importantly, the House of Representatives also includes a provision to prohibit the Obama Administration from banning the trade and sale of lawfully-owned ivory, which is contained in many antique firearms. READ MORE >> LOUISIANA: Defeat Obama. Defeat Landrieu. Vote Cassidy on Saturday, December 6! PENNSYLVANIA: State Legislature Holds Leadership Elections VIRGINIA: Expanded Hunting Opportunities in Draft Plan for James River National Wildlife Refuge WEST VIRGINIA: Attorney General Patrick Morrisey Continues his Leadership on the Second Amendment