From firearms-alert-owner Tue Jan 3 20:34:57 1995 Received: (chan@localhost) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.9/8.6.5) id UAA25390 for firearms-alert-outgoing; Tue, 3 Jan 1995 20:32:53 -0800 Received: from nova.unix.portal.com (nova.unix.portal.com [156.151.1.101]) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.9/8.6.5) with ESMTP id UAA25383 for ; Tue, 3 Jan 1995 20:32:50 -0800 Received: from gatekeeper.nra.org (gatekeeper.NRA.Org [192.156.97.62]) by nova.unix.portal.com (8.6.9/8.6.5) with SMTP id UAA18019 for ; Tue, 3 Jan 1995 20:32:46 -0800 Received: by gatekeeper.nra.org (5.65/DEC-Ultrix/4.3) id AA05317; Tue, 3 Jan 1995 23:32:42 -0500 Date: Tue, 3 Jan 1995 23:32:42 -0500 Message-Id: <9501040432.AA05317@gatekeeper.nra.org> Reply-To: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org Originator: rkba-alert@nra.org From: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org (NRA Alerts) To: firearms-alert@shell.portal.com Subject: INFO: NRA-ILA Bulletin X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: NRA Alerts list Sender: firearms-alert-owner@shell.portal.com Precedence: bulk Status: RO NRA-ILA FAX NETWORK NRA-ILA Grassroots Division 11250 Waples Mill Road * Fairfax, VA 22030 No. 15 Phone: 1-800-392-8683 * Fax: 703-267-3918 12/30/94 BLACK RHINO: RUSE OR REALITY? So where's the ammo? NRA was the first to ask that question about the mysterious media-hyped "Black Rhino"--the elusive bullet that allegedly penetrates police body armor. NRA maintained from the start that the issue had all the trappings of a hoax: the company, Signature Products Corp, had no license to manufacture this ammunition, nor had the round in question ever been seen or tested by competent authorities. According to BATF's Jack Killorin, agents went to Signature Products for "Black Rhino" samples and were told there were no samples available. Experts did, however, test another Signature Products cartridge--"Rhino" ammo--which is not the subject of this debate, could not penetrate bullet proof vests, and did not perform as advertised. So just as quickly as this story broke, it was over, as the lack of evidence proved that NRA was right on the money! ABC's Nightline even went so far as to call "Black Rhino" a "mythical unicorn". Two things are crystal clear now: (1) that the shockingly biased media will march to any tune played by the anti-gun crowd, and (2) Rep. Charles Schumer (D-NY) will do whatever it takes to advance his anti-gun agenda for American -- regardless of the facts! 1994 YEAR IN REVIEW The gavel has fallen on the 103rd Congress, which was by far the most anti-gun legislative session in this nation's history. Some of the 103rd Congress's more notorious achievements included enactment of the Brady Act's national five-day waiting period on prospective handgun purchasers and the Clinton Crime bill's gun and magazine bans. One date in 1994 that won't soon be forgotten in the firearms-owning community -- November 8th -- which marked the beginning of the revolution to take back our rights. Election Day 1994 ensured that many of those lawmakers who voted against our rights will not be in office when the 104th Congress convenes. The anti-gunners in the 103rd Congress, however, didn't get everything they wanted, as gun owners successfully beat back attempts by the anti-gunners in Congress to eliminate the Director of Civilian Marksmanship program, and deleted a repressive provision of Sen. Diane Feinstein's California Desert Protection Act which would have shut off hunters' access to thousands of acres of this valuable natural resource. Moreover, in addition to the seven federal lawsuits challenging the Brady Act and the planned legal challenge to the Crime bill, we will be capitalizing on our remarkable 80% success rate at the ballot box, to see that 1995 is a banner year for this nation's 65 million gun owners in the U.S. Congress. A LOOK AT THE STATES: Despite a record number of anti-gun bills introduced in state legislatures in 1994, NRA-ILA was able to defeat all but a few and still enact a wide range of pro-Second Amendment reforms in many states. Although anti-gunners were able to pass a ban on "assault pistols" and "high capacity" magazines in Maryland and handgun licensing and registration requirements in Connecticut, they found themselves on the losing end of most battles. NRA-ILA defeated high profile attempts to ban semi-automatic firearms in California, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington State. "One gun a month" purchase limits were similarly rebuffed in California, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and New York. Attempts to overturn state firearms preemption statutes were turned back in Missouri, Minnesota, Kentucky, Delaware and California. Moreover, NRA-ILA succeeded in passing legislation strengthening our Second Amendment rights by passing legislation enabling law-abiding citizens to carry firearms for self-protection in Alaska, Arizona, Tennessee and Wyoming. Indiana and Pennsylvania adopted NRA-sponsored laws prohibiting cities and towns from enacting firearms controls more restrictive than state law. "Instant check" systems were implemented in Colorado, Idaho, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Utah, removing prospective handgun purchasers in those states from the onus of the Brady Act's five-day "waiting period." Laws protecting firearms shooting ranges from nuisance lawsuits based on local noise standards were passed in Michigan and New York. And laws protecting sportsmen from harassment and interference by animal rights extremists were enacted in Alabama, Rhode Island and Utah. NRA-ILA's success during the legislative sessions carried over into the 1994 elections. Twenty out of 25 NRA-endorsed gubernatorial candidates won on November 8, as did 74% of the candidates NRA-ILA endorsed in contested races for state legislative seats. 1995 - WE'LL WORK TO KEEP YOU INFORMED. In addition to these weekly fax alerts, all NRA- ILA Volunteers will receive our free monthly newsletter NRA Grassfire. NRA Grassfire will keep you abreast of legislative and political activities happening in Congress and across the country, as well as new studies, fact sheets and grassroots lobbying strategies. You'll receive your first copy in January. Please note: our fax alerts and newsletters are uploaded to NRA/ILA's computer bulletin board, GUNTALK, and on Internet as NRA.org. Please call us at the number listed above and let us know if you are a GUNTALK or Internet user--we don't want to duplicate our mailings, and we can put the printing and postage funds to work elsewhere! Thanks for all your help in 1994, and have a safe & happy 1995! -- This information is presented as a service to the Internet community by the NRA/ILA. Many files are available via anonymous ftp from ftp.nra.org, via WWW at http://www.nra.org, via gopher at gopher.nra.org, and via WAIS at wais.nra.org Be sure to subscribe to the NRA's lists. Send the word help as the body of a message to listproc@nra.org Information can also be obtained by connecting to the NRA-ILA GUN-TALK BBS at (703) 934-2121.