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NEAL KNOX UPDATE
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Campaign Finance Vote Next Week
Subject: Campaign Finance Vote Next Week From: nealknox@nealknox.com (Neal Knox) Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 16:06:26 EST
February 7 Neal Knox Update -- House Speaker Dennis Hastertstartled both supporters and opponents of the so-called "CampaignFinance Reform Act" by scheduling it for debate Tuesday and a voteWednesday. He said he will actively lobby against the Shays-Meehanbill which is similar to the Senate-passed bill. The House bill was forced to a vote by a discharge petitionsigned by a bare majority 218 Congressmen, with the Enron fiascoproviding the final signatures. By calling the vote earlier thanrequired the Speaker regains a measure of control of the bill andwill have more say on amendments. The news media barely mentions the part they like best: thefact that only they and politicians will be able to report orcomment on a political candidate's voting record during the last 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election. Groups like NRA, GOAand even Handgun Control Inc. would be prohibited from placing adsduring those critical periods. The New York Times report did not even mention that flagrantviolation of the First Amendment. The Washington Post reported,well down in its story: "In addition to banning soft money, themeasure would limit political ads that independent groups often runin a campaign's final weeks." Whip Tom Delay (R-Tex.) said he expects some version of thebill to pass, but opponents haven't yet agreed on what amendmentsto offer.
Bills to broaden where licensed carriers may take their guns,to limit where they may be carried, and to reduce or increasetraining, fees and other requirements have been introduced inseveral states. And bills to authorize licensed carry are again pending inMissouri, Minnesota and Nebraska. There's a mass of evidence presented by Dr. John Lott, andother scholars, that carry laws have reduced crime, and law enforcement officials in states with liberal carry laws acknowledgethat the laws have at worst done no harm. But opponents of concealedcarry are making precisely the same hysterical arguments madebefore Georgia, Florida and other states passed early shall-issue licensing laws. None of their fearful predictions proved true. States with extensive training requirements and high fees(like Texas) show no better records than states with no trainingand minimal fees (like Pennsylvania). The record is clear thatlaw-abiding citizens who apply for carry licenses almost never commitserious crimes, while violent criminals ignore gun laws and other laws. But those demonstrable facts seem to have no influence on gunopponents.
During the past weekend's Saturday-Tuesday Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trades (SHOT) show in Las Vegas, BATF unveiled a new Form 4473 with extensive new sections and restrictions on gun purchases by aliens. The Bush Administration has adopted a temporary rule prohibiting foreign visitors, workers and students from buying guns or ammunition, with some exceptions. Illegal aliens have not been able to buy guns since 1968. The new form was extensively discussed -- and dealers pointedout a couple of minor errors and omissions -- at the annual BATFseminar. I asked when there would be another amnesty to allowregistration of full-auto war souvenirs legally returned by WorldWar II and Korean veterans. A BATF spokesman said they were "well aware that there werefamily heirlooms in the attics of people we have no desire toprosecute." But in the same breath she said that allowing anamnesty might disrupt prosecutions.
Manufacturers and dealers at SHOT were surprisingly upbeatconsidering the generally slow year many had just experienced (somecompanies had major increases). Alliant Techsystems, which makes Alliant (formerly Hercules)propellants for handloaders and ammunition and other products forthe military, held a press conference about their acquisition fromBlount of CCI-Speer, RCBS, Federal, Redfield, Weaver and otherwell-known brands. Unlike most mergers and acquisitions, I wasglad to see this one, for Blount had been strangling its gun-related companies for R&D and marketing funds. Among the truly new products, I was particularly attracted toa gas-buffered .45 M1911 conversion that results in a fixed barreland apparently reduced recoil rise and claimed higher velocity capabilities. Offered by Network Custom Guns of Marietta, Ohio, it could be themost significant real improvement since the great John Browningdesigned his pistol a century ago. If it does what the developerclaims, I suspect one of the .45 makers will make a deal toincorporate the expensive conversion in their guns. Thompson-Center showed its Omega .50 straight-line muzzle-loading rifle with a falling block action allowing a 28-inch barrelon a standard length gun. I'm going to have to have one of thosewhen they come out later in the year. Hodgdon Powder Co. introduced 777, an easy-cleaning non-corrosive version of Pyrodex that T/C used with excellent resultsin its testing of the Omega. (Disclaimer: as one of the co-developers and patenters of the original Pyrodex, I have afinancial interest as a minor Hodgdon stockholder.) These shows always cost me money. I ordered one of MariaUberti's miniatures, a Colt 1861 Navy, and the new waterproof,armored version of Bushnell's pocket-sized laser range-measuringscope. And drooled on lots of other stuff.
Subject: Campaign Finance Vote Next Week From: nealknox@nealknox.com (Neal Knox) Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 16:06:26 EST
February 7 Neal Knox Update -- House Speaker Dennis Hastertstartled both supporters and opponents of the so-called "CampaignFinance Reform Act" by scheduling it for debate Tuesday and a voteWednesday. He said he will actively lobby against the Shays-Meehanbill which is similar to the Senate-passed bill. The House bill was forced to a vote by a discharge petitionsigned by a bare majority 218 Congressmen, with the Enron fiascoproviding the final signatures. By calling the vote earlier thanrequired the Speaker regains a measure of control of the bill andwill have more say on amendments. The news media barely mentions the part they like best: thefact that only they and politicians will be able to report orcomment on a political candidate's voting record during the last 30 days of a primary or 60 days of a general election. Groups like NRA, GOAand even Handgun Control Inc. would be prohibited from placing adsduring those critical periods. The New York Times report did not even mention that flagrantviolation of the First Amendment. The Washington Post reported,well down in its story: "In addition to banning soft money, themeasure would limit political ads that independent groups often runin a campaign's final weeks." Whip Tom Delay (R-Tex.) said he expects some version of thebill to pass, but opponents haven't yet agreed on what amendmentsto offer.
Bills to broaden where licensed carriers may take their guns,to limit where they may be carried, and to reduce or increasetraining, fees and other requirements have been introduced inseveral states. And bills to authorize licensed carry are again pending inMissouri, Minnesota and Nebraska. There's a mass of evidence presented by Dr. John Lott, andother scholars, that carry laws have reduced crime, and law enforcement officials in states with liberal carry laws acknowledgethat the laws have at worst done no harm. But opponents of concealedcarry are making precisely the same hysterical arguments madebefore Georgia, Florida and other states passed early shall-issue licensing laws. None of their fearful predictions proved true. States with extensive training requirements and high fees(like Texas) show no better records than states with no trainingand minimal fees (like Pennsylvania). The record is clear thatlaw-abiding citizens who apply for carry licenses almost never commitserious crimes, while violent criminals ignore gun laws and other laws. But those demonstrable facts seem to have no influence on gunopponents.
During the past weekend's Saturday-Tuesday Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trades (SHOT) show in Las Vegas, BATF unveiled a new Form 4473 with extensive new sections and restrictions on gun purchases by aliens. The Bush Administration has adopted a temporary rule prohibiting foreign visitors, workers and students from buying guns or ammunition, with some exceptions. Illegal aliens have not been able to buy guns since 1968. The new form was extensively discussed -- and dealers pointedout a couple of minor errors and omissions -- at the annual BATFseminar. I asked when there would be another amnesty to allowregistration of full-auto war souvenirs legally returned by WorldWar II and Korean veterans. A BATF spokesman said they were "well aware that there werefamily heirlooms in the attics of people we have no desire toprosecute." But in the same breath she said that allowing anamnesty might disrupt prosecutions.
Manufacturers and dealers at SHOT were surprisingly upbeatconsidering the generally slow year many had just experienced (somecompanies had major increases). Alliant Techsystems, which makes Alliant (formerly Hercules)propellants for handloaders and ammunition and other products forthe military, held a press conference about their acquisition fromBlount of CCI-Speer, RCBS, Federal, Redfield, Weaver and otherwell-known brands. Unlike most mergers and acquisitions, I wasglad to see this one, for Blount had been strangling its gun-related companies for R&D and marketing funds. Among the truly new products, I was particularly attracted toa gas-buffered .45 M1911 conversion that results in a fixed barreland apparently reduced recoil rise and claimed higher velocity capabilities. Offered by Network Custom Guns of Marietta, Ohio, it could be themost significant real improvement since the great John Browningdesigned his pistol a century ago. If it does what the developerclaims, I suspect one of the .45 makers will make a deal toincorporate the expensive conversion in their guns. Thompson-Center showed its Omega .50 straight-line muzzle-loading rifle with a falling block action allowing a 28-inch barrelon a standard length gun. I'm going to have to have one of thosewhen they come out later in the year. Hodgdon Powder Co. introduced 777, an easy-cleaning non-corrosive version of Pyrodex that T/C used with excellent resultsin its testing of the Omega. (Disclaimer: as one of the co-developers and patenters of the original Pyrodex, I have afinancial interest as a minor Hodgdon stockholder.) These shows always cost me money. I ordered one of MariaUberti's miniatures, a Colt 1861 Navy, and the new waterproof,armored version of Bushnell's pocket-sized laser range-measuringscope. And drooled on lots of other stuff.