Salute Your Shorts

We run.We jump.We swim and play.We row and go on trips.

But the things that last forever are our dear friendships.

Camp Anawana, we hold you in our hearts.
And when we think about you -- it makes me want to fart!!

It's "I hope we never part," now get it right or pay the price!

Now, we will share a lifetime of the fondest memories.

By the Lake of Anawana, set in the old pine trees.

Camp Anawana, we hold you in our hearts.

And when we think about you -- this thing, it came apart.

Think Anawana, speak Anawana, live Anawana, UGH!

Five Big Wins for Gun Owners in House Spending Votes

This week, the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee approved amendments blocking the use of federal funds to implement two controversial schemes by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and it rejected amendments proposing two of gun control groups’ other top priorities.  In addition, the full House adopted a provision protecting gun possession on Army Corps of Engineers land.

First, on Wed. July 13, by a vote of 25 to 16, the committee approved Rep. Denny Rehberg’s (R-Mont.) amendment to the 2012 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies appropriations bill, prohibiting the BATFE from requiring firearm dealers in states bordering Mexico to file reports on certain rifle sales. The Justice Department had announced earlier in the week that the BATFE would soon begin requiring dealers to file the reports on individuals who buy two or more detachable-magazine semi-automatic rifles larger than .22 caliber within a period of five business days.

“For more than a decade, efforts to track rifle purchases and create a national gun registry have failed to gain support in Congress, so the ATF is working to implement these regulations using rules written by unelected bureaucrats,” Rep. Rehberg said. "I'm going to keep this government accountable to the people."  

BATFE WILL TAKE STEP TOWARDS NATIONAL GUN SALES REGISTRATION; NRA WILL TAKE BATFE TO COURT:  On Monday, July 11, the Obama administration announced that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will soon begin requiring firearm dealers in the southwestern border states to file “multiple sale” reports on detachable-magazine rifles larger than .22 caliber. Under the plan, each dealer will be required to report, to the BATFE, any sale of two or more such rifles to a single individual with a period of five business days.

NRA EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT WAYNE LAPIERRE STANDS UP FOR AMERICAN GUN OWNERS AT THE UN:  NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre drew a line in sand on behalf of American gun owners at the United Nations Thursday. LaPierre spoke to the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) Preparatory Committee, the group drafting an international treaty that will supposedly control all non-nuclear arms, worldwide, including civilian firearms. He told the audience of delegates from approximately 150 UN member states that the NRA would vehemently oppose any UN treaty that in any way restricts American gun owners’ rights. (To watch the speech, please click here.)

LaPierre made the position of NRA and American gun owners clear. “The NRA will fight with all of its strength to oppose any ATT that includes civilian firearms within its scope,” he stated emphatically. 

NEW NRA LIFE OF DUTY PROGRAM HONORS AND ASSISTS THOSE WHO PUT THEMSELVES IN HARM’S WAY:  NRA recently announced the launch of a bold program created exclusively for America’s military and law enforcement personnel. Called “NRA Life of Duty,” the initiative encompasses a new class of sponsored NRA membership, a state-of-the-art on-line network and a digital magazine—designed for those who make their living defending the American way of life.

Another Way To Get Involved--Join NRA’s Facebook And Twitter Groups:  Internet social networking has exploded in recent years, and websites such as Facebook and Twitter attract millions of users.  This on-line community fosters a connection between its users, and allows distribution of user-generated content (like pictures, profiles, music, video, and text). 

STATE ROUNDUP  (Please note the only items listed below are those that have had recent action.  For other updates on state legislation, please go to the state legislation section at www.NRAILA.org, and check each week’s issue of the Grassroots Alert.)

For additional information, please click on the links provided.

 

Hunting Opportunities to be Expanded on National Wildlife Refuges in Eight States

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is proposing to open Crane Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Minnesota to deer and turkey hunting for the first time, while expanding hunting activities at nine other refuges in eight states. These states include: Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Minnesota, Iowa, Utah and Texas.  If approved, the proposal would provide additional public hunting opportunities in fulfillment of the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997.

 

Please let the Service hear your voice of support for this rulemaking.  To comment on the proposed hunting rule changes online, or to read the full text of the rule go to www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FWS-R9-NSR-2011-0038-0001  Comments can be submitted by clicking on the orange box in the upper right-hand corner of the page.  The comment period closes August 4, 2011.

 

COLORADO: U.S. Forest Service Releases Allenspark Recreational Shooting Project Environmental Assessment for Public Comment

The U.S. Forest Service has prepared an environmental assessment to address safety concerns that led to an emergency closure of approximately 132 acres of forest land located on the Boulder Ranger District of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests.  The environmental assessment provides three alternatives for the project to consider.  Alternative A would leave the land unchanged and Alternative C would close the land to all shooting. Under Alternative B, a shooting range would be constructed and then managed and supervised under a special use permit by an organization, concessionaire or club. It is imperative that you send comments to the Forest Service in support of Alternative B.  The environmental assessment is open for public comment until July 29.

 

IOWA:  Natural Resources Commission Bans Traditional Ammunition for Dove Season

On July 14, the Iowa Natural Resources Commission gave final approval to the establishment of a dove season to begin on September 1.  However, the Commission added an amendment that will now ban the use of lead shot when dove hunting. Please contact Governor Terry Branstad (R) today and urge him to once again step in and stop this attack on traditional ammunition.

Make Plans to Attend the Second Annual "Second Amendment Rally" hosted by the Iowa Firearms Coalition and the NRA

This event will take place on July 23, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., at Big Springs Range Complex, 4945 Hwy 146, in Searsboro.  The event will feature an NRA-ILA Grassroots Workshop, shooting, training, pro-Second Amendment lawmakers and speakers, and more!  The event is free to attend and range fees will be waived with IFC or NRA membership.  For more information or to RSVP, please visit www.iowafc.org/2arally.

 

MISSOURI:   Governor Jay Nixon Signs Comprehensive Gun Bill into Law!

On July 8, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon (D) signed into law a vitally important measure expanding a variety of firearm rights for Missouri gun owners!  Among the provisions in this critical bill include lowering Missouri's Right-to-Carry age from the nation’s highest, 23 years of age, to 21. House Bill 294 also addresses a number of other Right-to-Carry issues important to Missouri’s law-abiding gun owners. Please contact state Representative Jeannie Riddle (R-20), state Senator Brian Munzlinger (R-18) and Governor Jay Nixon to express your appreciation.

 

NRA-ILA Grassroots Workshop in Sedalia, Missouri on August 9th!

Join NRA-ILA staff on Tuesday, August 9th, for an evening of important grassroots education. With what has already been a very busy 2011, we must redouble our efforts to ensure we're prepared to meet the opportunities and challenges we will face in Missouri.  Please make plans to attend NRA-ILA's FREE Grassroots Workshop to learn what you can do to become a better activist in the fight to protect and promote the Second Amendment!

 

NEW HAMPSHIRE:  Governor Vetoes Self-Defense Bill

On July 13, Governor John Lynch (D) vetoed Senate Bill 88, an important self-defense reform bill that would have removed a person’s duty to retreat from an attacker/intruder.  This bill passed overwhelmingly in both chambers of the General Court and Governor Lynch’s veto is a disappointment to gun owners and a disservice to all law-abiding citizens of the Granite State.  A veto override of SB 88 is expected to take place when the General Court reconvenes in September.

 

WISCONSIN: Right-to-Carry a Reality in Wisconsin! Find Out More at Our Upcoming Briefing!  Attend a FREE Workshop to learn about the Wisconsin Right-to Carry legislation recently signed into law by Governor Scott Walker. During this workshop you will also learn about how you can support the senators who voted for Right-to-Carry during the upcoming recall elections.  Please make plans to attend one of our events and encourage your fellow NRA members and Second Amendment supporters to attend as well!

 

WYOMING: Delisting of Recovered Wolf Populations Moves Forward in U.S. House

The National Rifle Association and a coalition of sportsmen’s groups sent a letter to Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, and committee member Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) concerning the delisting of recovered wolf populations from the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The letter supports efforts in advancing Section 119 of the 2012 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill, which was approved yesterday by the House Appropriations Committee.

 

The section would eliminate the possibility of judicial review of any Department of the Interior decision to delist recovered wolf populations in Wyoming or in the Western Great Lakes region from the ESA if the relevant state enters an agreement with the Secretary of the Interior that authorizes the state to manage wolves.  This will help prevent anti-hunting extremists from continuing to abuse the judicial system in order to further their emotion-driven agenda.

 

“Delisting recovered wolf populations in Wyoming and the Great Lakes Region would restore scientific wildlife management and balance to these ecosystems,” said Chris W. Cox, NRA’s chief lobbyist.  “Hunters are the true conservationists and wolves simply need to be managed through regulated hunting like so many other species.  Americans understand that scientists, not judges, should make these critical wildlife management decisions and this is what Section 119 ensures.”

A Canadian reminds me why I'm proud to be an American

Canadian Gordon Sinclair on Americans. This reminded me why I'm proud to be an American.

Originally written for a Toronto newspaper, it was broadcast on June 5, 1973 on CFRB radio in Toronto, Canada.

"The Americans" The United States dollar took another pounding on German, French and British exchanges this morning, hitting the lowest point ever known in West Germany.

It has declined there by 41% since 1971 and this Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least-appreciated people in all the earth.

As long as sixty years ago, when I first started to read newspapers, I read of floods on the Yellow River and the Yangtse. Who rushed in with men and money to help?

The Americans did.

They have helped control floods on the Nile, the Amazon, the Ganges and the Niger. Today, the rich bottom land of the Misssissippi is under water and no foreign land has sent a dollar to help.

Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy, were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of those countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States.
When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.

When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries into help... Managua Nicaragua is one of the most recent examples. So far this spring, 59 American communities have been flattened by tornadoes. Nobody has helped. The Marshall Plan .. the Truman Policy .. all pumped billions upon billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now, newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent war-mongering Americans. I'd like to see one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplanes. Come on... let's hear it!

Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar or the Douglas 107? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all international lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or women on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy and you find men on the moon, not once, but several times ... and safely home again. You talk about scandals and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everyone to look at. Even the draft dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, most of them ... unless they are breaking Canadian laws..are getting American dollars from Ma and Pa at home to spend here. When the Americans get out of this bind ... as they will... who could blame them if they said 'the hell with the rest of the world'. Let someone else buy the Israel bonds, Let someone else build or repair foreign dams or design foreign buildings that won't shake apart in earthquakes.

When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name to you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble?

I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbours have faced it alone and I am one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of these. But there are many smug, self-righteous Canadians.

And finally, the American Red Cross was told at its 48th Annual meeting in New Orleans this morning that it was broke. This year's disasters .. with the year less than half-over… has taken it all and nobody...but nobody... has helped.

ORIGINAL SCRIPT AND AUDIO COURTESY STANDARD BROADCASTING CORPORATION LTD. (c) 1973 BY GORDON SINCLAIR