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Unfortunately, the state Senate failed to remove from the table House Bill 536, permitless carry legislation, before its May 17 deadline.   Because of this Senate inaction, residents of New Hampshire have missed an important opportunity to expand their gun rights. 

This Thursday, May 24, the Louisiana House will vote on Senate Bill 303, a constitutional amendment protecting the right to keep and bear arms.  SB 303 has already passed in the state Senate, two House Committees and has been endorsed by Governor Bobby Jindal.  This legislation, which would provide for the country’s strongest “right to keep and bear arms” constitutional amendment, still faces an uphill battle on the House floor and needs your help and support.

Yesterday, the Michigan House Judiciary Committee held a hearing to review an important and long-overdue bill that would eliminate the state handgun “permit-to-purchase” and registration requirements. This committee heard House Bill 5225 and considered amendment language that will be used as a substitute for HB 5225.  The committee will again consider HB 5225 next week with a possible vote on Thursday, May 24.  

Senate Bill 480, legislation relating to motor vehicle regulations and transportation (unrelated to Second Amendment issues), has been amended to provide for a Missouri NRA license plate to support your Second Amendment rights and activities in the Show-Me State. This amendment was successfully offered by state Representative Eric Burlison (R-136).

By now, every gun owner concerned about the future of our right to keep and bear arms is aware that the international gun eradication movement has been working for more than a decade to achieve a U.N. Arms Trade Treaty that would cover not only tanks, helicopters, and other heavy weapons, but also rifles, shotguns and handguns. 

On May 11, the Bureau of Land Management announced that it was abandoning the effort to ban recreational shooting on the Sonoran Desert National Monument in Arizona. BLM released a new proposed management plan that protects "monument objects and values" through best management practices, but does not close the monument to shooters.

As we reported last November, the ongoing effort to fully vindicate the fundamental, individual right to carry a concealed handgun for self-defense took a major step forward with House passage of H.R. 822, the "National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011."  The bill, sponsored by Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), has 245 cosponsors and was approved in the U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 272-154.

On May 18, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), joined House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) in sending a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder demanding full cooperation with the ongoing Congressional investigation into the infamous "Fast and Furious" operation, and the tragic death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

Parents preoccupied with creating a conflict-free Utopia for their kids would seem to have little to fear from a Danish toy maker, an ingenious and enterprising British youth, and a small San Francisco publishing company.  Yet this trio causes much handwringing in the May 16th edition of "The Mommy Files," an online parenting blog published by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Republicans are trying to ensure the District respects the full constitutional rights of our military personnel. The House this week is expected to take up a measure by Rep. Phil Gingrey, Georgia Republican, expressing the sense of Congress that the approximately 40,000 active-duty military personnel who live in or are stationed in Washington should be exempt from local firearms restrictions. While the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act would not be binding, it adds to the mounting pressure on the liberal D.C. Council to consider allowing carry rights.

Sioux Falls city attorneys might ask Mayor Mike Huether to change an executive order that bars firearms from city property.The order does not have the force of law, and the lawyers’ review of it has garnered particular interest from gun-rights advocates who think it violates state law and the state and U.S. constitutions.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn said Wednesday that he wants to know whether murdered Immigrations & Customs Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata “was a victim of a second Texas-based gun-walking operation similar to Fast and Furious.”

On Wednesday, May 16, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin signed into law Senate Bill 1760, the Emergency Powers legislation.  Additionally, your NRA-ILA continues our work to facilitate passage of additional legislation to expand firearm freedoms in the Sooner State, such as Senate Bill 1743, the “Landowner’s Hunting Freedom Act,” and Senate Bill 1420, legalizing the use of laser scoping devices for hunters with various physical handicaps.  The Oklahoma Legislature must complete their business by May 25, but an earlier adjournment is increasingly likely.

Time is running out and House Bill 1647 needs your help to pass in the Missouri Legislature tomorrow.  Please call your state Representative right away and urge him or her to vote in favor of the Senate amendments to this NRA-supported bill.  

Please call your state Representative today and urge him or her to vote for NRA-supported Senate Bill 760.  Time is running out and this bill needs your help to pass by THIS Friday. Since Senate Bill 489, a critical Right-to-Carry cleanup bill, has been scheduled for a House floor vote today, we need to focus on SB 760 to make sure it gets the same opportunity.

Fairfax, Va. – Congressman Denny Rehberg’s (Mont.) amendment to restrict the use of federal funds for advocating or lobbying for a United Nations Arms Trade Treaty has passed the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations by a bi-partisan vote of 30 to 20.  The amendment mandates that no taxpayer funds may be used to negotiate a United Nations Arms Trade Treaty that would restrict the Second Amendment rights of any United States citizen or regulate firearms or ammunition.

The governor and other state officials would be prohibited from banning or confiscating firearms during a state of emergency under a bill signed into law by Gov. Mary Fallin.

House Speaker John Boehner, Ohio Republican, urged President Barack Obama on Wednesday to tell Attorney General Eric Holder to cooperate with the congressional investigation relating to the now defunct Fast and Furious gun walking operation.

Legislation that would grant concealed carry rights to law-abiding gun owners could be called for a vote by the Illinois House of Representatives this month. State Representative Adam Brown (R-Decatur) is urging concerned citizens to sign a petition supporting passage of House Bill 5745, the Family and Personal Protection Act. Brown is a co-sponsor of HB 5745, which establishes statewide standards for the issuance of licenses to carry concealed firearms in Illinois.