Commentary

ABC News reports what gun owners feared from Eric Holder: A statement that the Obama Administration will seek to ban currently legal semi-auto rifles and other self-defense firearms.

JUNEAU - Governor Sarah Palin encouraged U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to support recently adopted regulations allowing concealed weapons in national parks and wildlife refuges. Secretary Salazar has directed a review of the regulations that were approved by the previous administration.

WASHINGTON, D.C.–The Brady Campaign has released its annual state scorecards, which the group claims 'rate each state on the strength of its gun laws.'

Writing on SCOTUSblog, a website that reports on Supreme Court activities, Lyle Denniston said:'On a pace that very likely will put them in the Supreme Court at its next term, three significant test cases on the scope of the Second Amendment — the “gun rights” Amendment — are moving along in the lower courts. Briefing on the core question of whether state and local governments must obey the Amendment — and thus allow private ownership of handguns, for example — will be completed in the Seventh Circuit Court by mid-March. Argument and a decision by summer appear likely.

This from Alice Tripp of the Texas State Rifle Association: 'House Bill H.R. 45, introduced in Congress on 1/6/2009, aka 'Brian Holt’s Bill,' is an interesting read. Apparently, every gun owner will need to get a license [under this bill]. To get one, you’ll need the following:

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has introduced the Respecting States’ Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.

To see how the 'community activist' model of gun control is working internationally, gun owners need look no further than the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), a London-based gun group headed by notorious gun-confiscationist Rebecca Peters.

AUSTIN, Tex. -- Howard Nemerov, writing in the Austin Gun Rights Examiner, has an excellent critique of how the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence fudged its numbers to claim too-high win rates of the anti-gun group's endorsed candidates:

However, his view on guns isn't as strong as many of us would like.

The newly sworn-in President opted not to appear at what should have been one of the most important Balls on his agenda that evening - The Salute to Heroes Inaugural Ball.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This is now posted on the whitehouse.gov website under The Agenda>Urban Policy>Crime and Law Enforcement: Obama and Biden would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun-trace information, and give police officers across the nation the tools they need to solve gun crimes and fight the illegal arms trade.

Adam Winkler, Professor at UCLA School of Law, posted a sobering summary of the effect of Heller on recent lower-court rulings: In June, 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling on the Second Amendment right to bear arms, D.C. v. Heller. For over 70 years, the federal courts had read that amendment to protect only a state's right to organize militias, like the National Guard. In a long-awaited victory for the gun rights movement, the Court reversed course and held that the Second Amendment protected an individual's right to own guns for personal self-defense.