Moose Droppings

Charlton Heston 1924-2008
I hadn’t been on line much this weekend or seen any news so I was surprised and saddened to hear that Charlton Heston had died. In my younger years Charlton Heston was Moses’, Ben Hur, or one of the few humans to survive the destruction of the earth and the rise of Apes. In the latter years Charlton Heston was the face of the NRA and our defense of our gun rights. Charlton Heston will be missed our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.

If some law makers in Arizona get their way handgun and assault weapon ammo will have a coding system to allow authorities to trace them. Additionally this law appears to l outlaw reloading and will require gun owners to get rid of all non compliant ammo or face charges. Check Out Desert Rat’s Story on this attack on gun owners in Arizona.

Citi Merchant Services and First Data Corp will stop doing business (processing credit card transactions) with federally licensed firearms distributors, retailers, and manufactures.

CDNN Sports Inc appears to be the first company affected by this ridiculous and prejudicial decision against the gun industry.

“We were contacted recently by First Data/Citi Merchant Services by a June Rivera-Mantilla stating that we were terminated and funds were being seized for selling firearms in a non-face-to-face transaction,” said Charlie Crawford, president of CDNN Sports Inc. “Although perfectly legal, we were also informed that no transactions would be processed in the future, even for non-firearms. I find this very frightening.”

NSSF

This decision will not only impact gun sales to individuals but will certainly impact sales for law enforcement and the military. I realize for most of us we never even think about what happens when a retailer swipes are credit or debit card to complete a purchase but should the company handling that transaction be able to decide what we can and cannot buy? I think not and what a scary thing if we allow it to happen. Here is the contact information if you want to let Citi Merchant Services and First Data Corp know how you feel about their business plan.
Citi Merchant Services and First Data Corp., please contact June Rivera-Mantilla at 631-683-7734 or her supervisor Robert Tenenbaum at 631-683-6570

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Sometimes choosing between credit cards doesn’t just come down to finding a lower interest credit card than the competitors. Researching credit cards and the companies behind the various credit card deals you might find, could be of great help in choosing a business credit card for your company.

Rules that we have talked about a few times out here that would have eliminated or severely restricted small arms ammunition has been pulled and will be rewritten. OSHA has pulled down the website for comments on this rule and will post a notice in the 17 July Federal Register announcing the plans to rewrite these rules. They state that it was never their intention to eliminate or restricted the small arms ammunition business. Once again Gun Owners have demonstrated strength in speaking up to defend our rights to bear arms. NRA Press Release.

A local newspaper columnist Ruth Sheehan put down her pen and picked up a gun this week to see what it’s all about. Anyone familiar with Ms Sheehan’s column will note that she is often looking to take guns out of individuals’ hands. I’ve never met Ruth Sheehan but I’m very familiar with her work and our paths have come close to crossing a few times because of my full time job in the Mental Health arena. Although I don’t agree with her on many things I got to admit I read her stuff.
To be honest with you I support those ideas when it comes to criminals and those who have been deemed mentally ill but of course I don’t support the levels she wants to go to that will also prevent or restrict law abiding people from having access to guns. Her support for allowing anti gun groups into our public schools to pass out their propaganda is certainly something I wouldn’t support. I do agree that people need to keep guns out of young unsupervised hands.
I must admit I was a bit surprised when I opened Thursday’s paper and saw a photo of her with a gun in hand. My hats off to Mike Zlotnicki the outdoor editor for the N&O for getting Ms. Sheehan on the firing line at the Wake County Firearms Education and Training Center. I had to scan the photograph out of the paper where her eyes are firmly closed as she is discharging the weapon. How safe is that? (LOL) I know a few shooters that do that as well but I won’t name names. So what were some of her thoughts about the experience?

And though the firing underscored my fear of firearms, I also found it empowering.
The target was only five yards away, but it was thrilling to see the clusters of bullet holes appear on paper plates stapled to the cardboard.

At the end of the session her NRA Instructor Eric Shuford invited her to return to the range and to bring her sons along.

Still, I fear fueling a fascination with firearms in the boys.
I can’t shake the image of one of them at a friend’s house, finding a gun and “showing” his friends how to use it.

More the reason to teach them what to do when they find a gun or when one of their friends has a gun. But less we think that she didn’t get much out of her session at the range;

Still, I might be persuaded to go back out to the range myself. Who knows? I may end up with a concealed-carry permit.
Whatever happens, one thing is sure: I’ll be hanging my 9mm paper plate here at my desk.

I’m sure her friends at North Carolinians Against Gun Violence loved that line. I guess if our paths ever do cross will have more to talk about then her work on behalf of those with mental illness but maybe I won’t tell her I’m a blogger given her parting shot

I like the idea that bloggers — and editors — don’t know for sure whether I might be packing heat.
I think I’ll keep it that way.

The OSHA public comment period for sweeping changes in the shipping, storing, and manufacturing of small arms ammunition has been extended.

SUMMARY: OSHA is extending the comment period for its proposed standard
on Explosives for an additional sixty (60) days until September 10,
2007.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted (postmarked or sent) by
September 10, 2007.

Full Press Release

We are not out of the woods yet so join the fight to protect our 2nd amendment right.

Well I know I’m not the only one to go out this weekend and stock up on rifle ammo. Worst case scenario I bought enough to last a few hunting seasons not counting what I already had in stock. OSHA Rules will change the classification of gun powder, primers, and small arms ammo to explosives putting drastic restrictions on manufacturing, shipping and retailing them. I have written some earlier posts that you might want to check out to help you get up to speed if you’re not familiar with this Rule Change OSHA is attempting to push through.
OSHA Sets Sights on Gun Industry
More Info on the OSHA Rules

World Net Daily Reports on OSHA Rules

At Mace Sports I ran into Rick who was on an ammo shopping spree as well. Mace Sports had a fair amount of folks stopping in buying ammo, and even the workers were voicing concerns over the new OSHA rules. A common theme with many I talked with this weekend is how this rule change snuck up on us. Hopefully the public comment period will get extended so manufactures and retailers will get opportunity to weigh in on this rule.

I also stopped in Gander Mountain this weekend and nobody there was aware of how close we are to losing our 2nd amendment rights by eliminating access to ammo. This also shows us how much work we have to do to get the word out about this attack.

Despite my best search efforts until today I haven’t found any news organizations reporting on this end run OSHA is appearing to make on the 2nd Amendment by restricting small arms ammunition until today. As reported in other posts OSHA Sets Sights On Gun Industry & More Info On OSHA Rules here a rule change by OSHA to call primers & small arms ammo explosives will set off a chain of events that will basically make it impossible for anyone to purchase shells for a shotgun, rifle or handgun ammunition, or even the components to load your own.
World Net Daily appears to be the first big name news organization to be breaking the story.

The federal government is considering a series of new rules that would apply to workplaces where “explosives” are handled, giving rise to a concern that the restrictions could be used to limit – or eliminate – reasonable access to firearms ammunition.

In 5 days the public comment period will come to an end please take the time and request that the comment period be extended. The big issue with this is that because of how sneaky this attack on our rights has been made that it wasn’t until recently that it was even found out. From my conversations with folks few in the retail industry and few shooters are even aware of this. It seems that our Black Powder shooters were the first to pick up on this, as near as I can tell, and many are mistakenly thinking this will only apply to black powder. Nothing could be further from the truth, all shooters will be effected. Please educate your fellow shooters and your places you purchase your supplies from because a lot still do not know.

In addition to my story yesterday others are sounding the alarm on OSHA rule changes and what appears to be an attempt on the government’s part to shut down the small arms ammunition and in effect end our 2nd amendment rights.

At the heart of the potentially dangerous regulations is OSHA’s indiscriminate definition of ammo, powder and primers as “explosives.”
If implemented, industry representatives say the new rules could have a dramatic effect on the storage and transportation of ammo and reloading components, including primers and black and smokeless gunpowder.

News Hound Outdoor Life

Some may argue that is not their intent but that is exactly the affect these rule changes will have. I’ve learned that where there is smoke there is often fire and I figure it is only a matter of time before the anti gun angle is reveled.

The rules change cites an explosion in Texas in 1947 as part of the reason for making these changes. I haven’t read everything about it but I don’t see the connection between this industrial accident involving loading fertilizer onto a ship and the dangerous short cuts and miscalculations that were made that day that contributed the devastation this accident caused.

the 1947 explosion of two cargo ships. A fire in the hold, involving ammonium nitrate fertiliser coated with wax and stored in paper bags, caused the explosion of the first ship; the ammonium nitrate in the second ship exploded some time later, apparently as a result of a fire caused by the first explosion. This accident occured in Texas City, in Texas USA and the death toll was over 600 and more than 4,000 injuries. The accident damaged more than 90% of the city’s buildings.
As a result of such accidents and subsequent studies of the properties of ammonium nitrate, caked ammonium nitrate no longer is broken up with blasting agents, and wax coatings are no longer used for ammonium nitrate fertiliser.

United Nations

No doubt this was a horrible accident that could have been prevented if even some of the rules that were in place that day were followed. Here is a pretty good site if your interested on reading some more on this accident including photos and the impact it had on many different individuals.

The fact remains that the current rules in regards to small arms ammunition seem to be working otherwise more recent cases would have been cited. For those who argue that this is a new day and with the threat of terrorism would justify these types of restrictions I would have a few thoughts for you;
• Gasoline & Propane get used far more often then gunpowder in the construction of terrorist bombs so we better restrict those products as well.
• Disarm the general public and will be no safer and as a matter of fact this will become a very unsafe place to live.
• Ending the 2nd Amendment will the death certificate for this great land.

Please make your voices heard on this issue because it is a “rule change” our law makers will not have a vote on this change. This story is still developing so please check back here for updates.