by Dave Workman | Senior Editor
Whatever else one might say about 2014, a lot of people are glad it’s almost over.
It has been a year of wins and losses on the gun rights front, complete with in-fighting, deft legal maneuvering, small and large fortunes raised and spent, and political turmoil. From political campaigns to school shootings, grassroots gun rights efforts and an occasionally stupid gun mishap, this year had it all and then some.
Gun prohibitionists in Washington State, heavily funded by a handful of wealthy elitists and Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety lobbying group, pushed through a so-called “universal background check” measure.
Alabama voters overwhelmingly passed a state constitutional amendment strengthening their right to keep and bear arms. This amendment requires any restrictions on gun rights to be subject to strict scrutiny in the courts. The amendment was adopted by a smashing 73-27% vote, and this was clearly a victory for the Alabama Gun Rights organization, despite resistance from within the firearms community.
Nationally, with Republicans taking control of the US Senate, there is considerable hope that Barack Obama will not be able to further stack the federal courts with far left anti-gun judges, or add another anti-gunner to the Supreme Court.
The year started out with a nice check from the City of Seattle to the Second Amendment Foundation to settle a lawsuit filed in 2013 over the city’s failure to release all public records relating to a gun buyup fiasco that year. The check was for $38,000.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation’s release of a November survey that challenged anti-gunners on background checks caused something of a stir when it showed that only four out of ten Americans actually supported so-called “universal background checks.” That subject would carry through the year and play a pivotal role in the November elections in Washington State, where anti-gun billionaires bankrolled one of the most expensive citizen initiatives in the state’s history.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig (News Photo)
Detroit Police Chief James Craig launched the New Year with a comment that sent gun control proponents reeling. He candidly told the Detroit News that if more citizens were armed, criminals would be deterred from committing violent crimes. Craig was supported by rank-and-file Michigan police officers and sheriff’s deputies.
Mossberg and the Robertson family from Duck Dynasty fame teamed up on a series of firearms. The line included nine shotguns, two semi-auto rifles and a .22-caliber semi-auto pistol.
A federal judge gave anti-gun New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo a headache at the end of 2013 by ruling that a provision forbidding gunowners from loading their firearms with more than seven rounds of ammunition was an “arbitrary restriction” that violated the Second Amendment. However, other parts of Cuomo’s much-disliked SAFE Act were essentially put on hold.
There was good and bad news from federal judges elsewhere. US District Judge Edmond Chang overturned a ban on gun sales inside the city of Chicago. US District Judge Alfred Covello upheld Connecticut’s strict new gun control law adopted last year.
Gun control road show
The team of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and ex-astronaut husband Mark Kelly traveled around the country promoting gun control. They both appeared in Washington to support Initiative 594, the 18-page gun control measure, and a week later, Kelly traveled solo to neighboring Oregon to press for a gun law there.
Giffords later returned to Washington to promote gun control as part of the I-594 campaign. It was part of a seven-state tour in October that also took her to the Northeast and Midwest.
Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts also spent time on the road, showing up in Seattle and elsewhere, but one of her biggest appearances was in Indianapolis, not far from her home, where she appeared at a rally to oppose the National Rifle Association, which gathered there for its annual convention.
It was during the convention that LaPierre slammed the mainstream press and political elites, a message he had earlier delivered to the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC. It struck the right chord with gunowners when he challenged the “political dishonesty and media dishonesty” for pushing legislative agendas that erode constitutional freedoms.
Despite all the hoopla pushing for more gun control, a shooting at Maryland’s Columbia Mall proved that extremist gun laws passed in that state less than a year earlier did not prevent the crime. A 19-year-old man from College Park used a pump shotgun to gun down two employees of a Zumiez store before taking his own life.
The NRA came to the rescue of Pennsylvania outdoorsmen and women when it stepped in to help create the 2014 Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg. The show could have gone under when Reed Expositions, which had operated the old Eastern Sports Show, decided to ban modern sport utility rifles from the show, which was followed by a huge backlash. NRA, the Outdoor Channel, Cabela’s and others, according to contributing editor John Markwell’s story earlier this year, stepped in to save the show, which was a rousing success.
Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who presided over that city’s gun grab following Hurricane Katrina, was sentenced to prison for corruption. More than 1,100 guns were illegally confiscated following the devastating hurricane, and it took a joint lawsuit by SAF and NRA to stop the unconstitutional seizures.
Legal Affairs
SAF and the Calguns Foundation pulled out a legal victory in the California case of Richards v. Prieto, challenging the carry license issuing policy of the Yolo County sheriff. It was one of SAF’s significant 2014 court wins.
In the spring, a Spokane, WA, jury acquitted a local man of manslaughter for the shooting death last March of an alleged car thief. The jury ruled the shooting was justified and that defendant Gail Gerlach could seek compensation under a unique Washington law that requires state reimbursement of reasonable court costs in the event of an acquittal in a self-defense case.
A couple of anti-gun California state senators encountered some legal troubles of their own early in the year. In February, Sen. Ronald S. Calderon was indicted on corruption charges for allegedly having accepted $100,000 in bribes for supporting legislation that benefited a Long Beach hospital owner and an independent film studio. The studio owner turned out to be an undercover FBI agent.
Calderon’s brother, Thomas, a former state Assemblyman, also faces charges.
A month later, another perennial anti-gunner, state Sen. Leland Yee, was arrested on corruption charges that were ironic, if not bizarre. Among the allegations against Yee is that he engaged in a gun trafficking scheme.
Another California legal beef erupted when agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raided Ares Armor shops in Oceanside and National City. It was a flap over so-called “80 percent” unfinished AR-15 lower receivers.
The National Shooting Sports Foundation and Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute filed a motion in Superior Court in Fresno County, seeking an injunction against the Golden State’s onerous microstamping law.
Congressman Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, subpoenaed documents relating to an ATF sting operation that set up store fronts in several cities, and then botched the operations. Later in the year, the federal court cleared the way for Issa’s committee to finally get its hands on thousands of subpoenaed documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious that had been granted executive privilege by Barack Obama, thus protecting Attorney General Eric Holder.
Within days of that court ruling, Holder announced his pending resignation.
In July, the long-awaited verdict in Palmer v. District of Columbia was handed down by the federal court, and SAF won. This case has forced the District to adopt a concealed carry permitting scheme that is already open to challenge because of its restrictive nature.
In September, SAF and the NRA announced their support of a lawsuit in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas islands challenging the ban on possession and use of handguns in Guam and the Commonwealth.
Gun rights activists across the country were alarmed at the story of Pennsylvania single mom Shaneen Allen, who was arrested for inadvertently driving across a bridge into neighboring New Jersey with her legally-licensed handgun in the car. Her case gained national attention, and it appears heavy pressure on the authorities convinced the judge and prosecutor in that case to allow for Allen to enter a program to avoid prosecution for a felony and retain her freedom.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms took a rare step into the legal arena, filing a federal lawsuit against Attorney General Eric Holder, challenging the federal law prohibiting cross-state handgun purchases. CCRKBA is joined in the lawsuit by residents of Texas and Washington, DC.
Arizona activist Alan Korwin scored a major court victory against the City of Phoenix when a state Appeals Court panel ruled unanimously that he has the right to purchase advertising on city buses promoting TrainMeAZ, a firearms training program. The court ruled that the city’s 2011 advertising standards, which had allowed the city to reject Korwin’s advertisement because it was not limited to a proposed commercial transaction was unconstitutional.
In Maryland, a federal judge ruled in August that the state’s ban on 45 so-called “assault rifles” and magazines is constitutional. It was a setback for gun rights advocates and the firearms industry.
One indisputable fact emerged from all of the legal wrangling. SAF has become a legal powerhouse in the Second Amendment arena. Various cases over the past couple of years have given traction to the organization, and no small amount of credit should go to the legal “stable” of attorneys who represent SAF, including Alan Gura, David Sigale and David Jensen.
Losing Otis
Gun rights icon Otis McDonald passed away in April, leaving behind a legacy for gun rights that few others could ever achieve. He was the lead plaintiff in SAF’s landmark lawsuit that led to the elimination of Chicago’s handgun ban, and more importantly, incorporation of the Second Amendment to the states via the 14th Amendment.
McDonald was a gentle, soft-spoken man whose name will be forever linked to Second Amendment affirmation. He was remembered fondly by SAF’s Alan Gottlieb as the man who “made us all proud” with his battle. Attorney Alan Gura, who represented the plaintiffs in the Chicago case, said McDonald was “universally kind, patient and positive, and very much wanted to see his neighbors enjoying the freedom to which they are entitled.”
Not surprisingly, the nation’s firearms rights activists all mourned McDonald’s passing, and memorialized him as a hero.
At the other end of the spectrum, billionaire Michael Bloomberg established himself as something of a national villain when he established the $50 million so-called “grassroots” lobbying group Everytown for Gun Safety, which combined Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
Bloomberg began pouring money into various political campaigns in an effort to make the NRA “afraid of us,” but suffered several electoral losses.
There was another loss this year, of the man for whom one of the nation’s most controversial gun laws was named. James Brady passed away in August at the age of 73. Almost immediately, a Virginia medical examiner ruled his death a homicide, and anti-gunners pounced in an attempt to push their agenda.
Brady was seriously wounded and permanently disabled by a bullet to the head, fired from a gun used by John Hinckley, who was fixated on actress Jody Foster. Hinckley had targeted President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Pro-gun activism
While the gun rights movement could not benefit from the largesse of billionaires, it did gain traction thanks to the words and deeds of some key people, big and small, all over the map.
As noted earlier, Detroit Police Chief James Craig startled the press and many of the public officials in his state when, in January, he stood by remarks made on WJR radio that “Good Americans with CPLs translates into crime reduction.”
His advice to the public was to get a carry license, and training, because criminals would be less likely to attack someone if they think they might get lethal resistance.
Another prominent lawman, Sheriff David Clarke of Milwaukee County, WI, likewise advised his constituents to arm themselves. Clarke was able to overcome a serious effort funded by Bloomberg to unseat him in this year’s primary, demonstrating that the billionaire former New York mayor just might not be able to buy an election after all.
Out in Oregon, a victim-turned-gun rights activist gained some prominence for her appearances before the Oregon legislature. Rachel Lucas, an Oregon native who survived a brutal attack years ago, now carries a gun and is the founder of Safer Oregon—Oregon Crime Victims for Self Protection.
This past spring, world shooting champ Julie Golob launched a campaign to counter the Moms Demand Action group when she encouraged pro-gun mothers to take a “MOMent” and “talk to your kids about firearms.” She pointed to NSSF’s Project ChildSafe and the NRA’s Eddie Eagle programs as good examples for mothers to use.
High and low lights
The Second Amendment Foundation took some short-lived heat when it confirmed that Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership had merged with the Bellevue-based civil rights organization. Most of the criticism had been generated by a JPFO writer who immediately quit, but others defended the merger, including Gary Marbut at the Montana Shooting Sports Association, and Massad Ayoob, the nationally-known gun writer and trainer.
People got a lot more zing out of the departure from CNN of vehemently anti-Second Amendment commentator Piers Morgan. The bombastic Brit used his final moments on the air to blast gun ownership, a fact not lost on the many gun rights advocates, including SAF’s Alan Gottlieb, who had tangled on-air with Morgan.
The media and gun prohibitionists circled like sharks in the aftermath of a killing spree in Santa Barbara, CA. The May atrocity quickly became a cause to push for additional gun controls, but it was short-lived when multiple facts emerged about the killer, his personal journal and the fact that three of his six victims had been stabbed to death.
Add to that the fact that killer Elliot Rodger obtained three handguns legally under California’s so-called “universal background check” law, and that he had gone through three separate waiting periods, and suddenly the story did not square with the anti-gun narrative. It proved conclusively that restrictive gun laws cannot prevent such crimes, but even today, the media routinely refers to the event as the Santa Barbara shooting.
In the midst of this story, Washington CeaseFire President Ralph Fascitelli admitted on the air to Seattle talk host John Carlson that, “I don’t think that there’s any law that would have prevented the tragedy at Santa Barbara.”
Only a couple of weeks later, a disturbed man opened fire with a double-barreled shotgun at Seattle Pacific University, killing one person and wounding others before he was disarmed by a student. Once again, the incident happened at a “gun-free zone” where nobody but the shooter was armed. One thing that apparently helped the situation was that the shotgun malfunctioned and only one of the two firing pins was functional, thus turning it into a single-shot. That
suspect also bought his gun through legal channels.
Wisconsin Congressman James Sensenbrenner announced at mid-year that he was working on legislation to dissolve the ATF following a series of articles in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel about a badly botched storefront sting operation. Similar projects in other cities raised the ire of local officials, who were quickly reminded of the fiasco that was Operation Fast & Furious three years ago.
A flap over open carry in Target stores erupted because some activists paraded through the aisles of a Target
in Texas with rifles. Open carry of handguns is illegal in Texas, but not long guns. Moms Demand Action launched an effort to have guns banned altogether in Target stores, but the corporation stopped short of that, asking customers not to openly carry firearms.
United Nations
About mid-year, SAF Operations Director Julianne Versnel told the United Nations Fifth Biennial Programme of Action committee that the world organization is on a collision course with the Second Amendment.
The UN she said, turns a blind eye “to the reality that women have a right to defend themselves and are capable of doing so.” However, a roadblock to that could be the UN’s refusal to acknowledge that there is a right to have arms for self-defense. She was also critical of the UN’s apparent philosophy that self-defense is not a human right.
It was not the only time Versnel brought that message to the UN. She was there again in October, speaking on the same subject. The global organization has been pushing ahead on an international arms trade treaty and international gun control for several years.
Startling admission
This past summer, in a remarkably candid admission, the out-going head of Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns, Mark Glaze, told a reporter that the gun control movement has “a messaging problem.” He admitted to the Wall Street Journal, “Because people perceive a mismatch in the policy solutions that we have to offer and the way some of these mass shootings happened, you know, it is a messaging problem for us, I think. … Is it a messaging problem when a mass shooting happens and nothing that we have to offer would have stopped that mass shooting? Sure it’s a challenge in this issue.”
The newspaper also noted, “Mr. Glaze said the movement hasn’t solved one of its signature problems: Many mass shootings wouldn’t have been stopped by tighter regulations proposed by gun-control advocates, even if they might have prevented other gun crimes.”
Bloomberg made a couple of headlines on his own, when he insulted Colorado residents who voted against ousting a couple of anti-gun state senators by suggesting that they lived in a part of the state “where I don’t think there’s roads. It’s as far rural as you can get.”
Earlier, the former New York mayor had also told a reporter that he had already essentially bought his way into Heaven.
CNN startled a lot of people when it pulled the rug from underneath claims by anti-gunners that there have been scores of school shootings since the Sandy Hook attack. At the time, Bloomberg’s Everytown group—in an attempt to capitalize on a school shooting in Oregon—declared there had been more than 70 school shootings over the previous 18 months.
But CNN and other news agencies did some snooping and found that many of the incidents included on that list did not meet the definition of a school shooting. There were off-campus incidents and at least one possible domestic violence slaying in Tennessee that happened before the school year opened. The list also included some reported suicides.
Armed citizens
The year saw several incidents in which armed citizens played a critical role, and no more important one occurred than the shooting at a suburban Philadelphia hospital that did not become a mass incident, thanks to a gun-toting psychiatrist.
Yeadon, PA, Police Chief Donald Molineaux told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Without a doubt, I believe the doctor saved lives. Without that firearm (the suspect) could have went out in the hallway and just walked down the offices until he ran out of ammunition.”
The shooter and the psychiatrist were injured in the exchange of gun fire and the assailant taken into custody after police arrived.
Another incident that got as much media attention occurred in Oklahoma, when a recently-fired employee attacked two women, beheading one and repeatedly stabbing another before Mark Vaughan, chief operating officer of Vaughan Foods, shot and wounded the knife-wielding attacker. The fact that Vaughan serves as a reserve sheriff’s deputy did not make much difference because he was acting as a private citizen at the time of the incident.
In St. Louis, the parents of a teenage girl saved their daughter and put the hurt on two armed thugs who grabbed her outside of her home, perhaps with a home invasion robbery in mind. But the parents both pulled guns on the armed bad guys, killing one and wounding the other. The shooting left an ex-con named Terrell Johnson dead, and his partner, Cortez McClinton, had also been convicted on past drug charges.
A 76-year-old South Carolina man was cleared in the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old would-be robber who tried to rob the older man with a stun gun disguised as a cell phone. The attack occurred on the older man’s property as he was warming up his car one Sunday morning to drive to a flea market and man a booth there.
The report said the would-be robber was hit once in the chest, and it appeared to investigators that he had planned to do the robbery and shed a layer of clothing as he fled in order to disguise his appearance. He didn’t make it that far.
On the horizon
The gun control movement—and it is now clearly and unabashedly being called that by the Seattle press that had religiously referred to it as the “gun safety” movement prior to the November election—is pushing ahead with invigorated traction. Expect Bloomberg’s “Everytown” group to launch in other states citizen initiative campaigns similar to what they passed in Washington State on Nov. 4.
In Washington, they are already talking about further gun restrictions, causing rights advocates to assert anew that this is not about “gun safety” but about “gun control.”
Possible targets for new gun control initiative efforts include Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, and even Maine.
Despite political gains, there are storm clouds on the horizon, all in the shape of a dollar sign and all coming from New York.
TGM will be here to carry reports, both in print and online (thegunmag.com).
