Second Amendment Sports News

The Bakersfield store is now reducing all fly flishing items to 50% off for everything but flies! This means line, poles, reels, fly tying materials and tools!

In preparation for our annual Fall Hunting Kickoff Sale starting on the 15th, the Bakersfield store will close at 5:00 p.m.. We will quit checking clients onto the range at 4:30p.m.. All training division classes will continue as scheduled.

Please check out the new location of our course calendar in the Firearms Training post.

Alex was finally released from in-patient status a week ago. His family made some modifications on their house, to make his home safe for him. It was quite the treat for us, when Alex was discharged, becuase he came immediately to the store to surprise us! Alex is currently waiting for admission to the Center for Neuro Skills for outpatient rehab. "His scapula was fractured and his shoulder and neck area are very tender and painful due to his nerve injury sustained in his neck area. He needs nerve pain medication for this area especially. Since his head was the most important thing to work on until he became stable this area of his body was put to the side and wasn't really ever addressed ," his father in law, Ryan, wrote. Alex received an updated x-ray that showed his scapula healing very well and was released by the orthopedic doctors from KMC. He is walking with a cane very well, even with his left side weakness, under the constant supervision of his family and friends. It is still very important for him to be supervised to be sure he doesn't injure himself more. His speech now comes easily and fluidly, his memory has improved immensely over the past two weeks, although his memories still seem fairly dreamlike sometimes and foggy.

Now that his body is healed to this level, special attention is also going to be given to recharging his cognitive thinking skills.

Alex has come far from where he was last month, but the road to coming back to SAS is a long one. Juliet still has not been able to return to work at the homeless shelter full time, but has been allowed to do some work from home, due to the ongoing needs of Alex's daily living tasks, doctors appointments, and therapy needs.
Many of you continue to call in and ask how he is doing. Thank you for your concern!

Alert: Anti-gun bills in California
Bill Status: Hearings in Public Safety Committee as early as today
Action: Contact committee members to oppose these bills

Anti-gun Bills Flood CA Public Safety Committee
Three anti-gun bills are slated to be heard as early as today in the California Public Safety Committee. The National Shooting Sports Foundation – the trade association of the firearms industry – and the California Association of Firearms Retailers are encouraging all sportsmen, gun owners and firearms enthusiasts to contact members of the committee immediately, urging them to oppose these anti-gun bills.

AB 2062 would require all vendors selling handgun ammunition to get a specific handgun ammunition license that would be registered through the California Department of Justice. Purchasers of handgun ammunition would be refused access to ammunition in the store without the assistance of a "qualified" salesperson who has gone through a mandatory background check. Furthermore, the purchaser would have to submit a thumbprint at the point of purchase that would then be sent to the California Department of Justice to be stored in a database. Finally, all sales of handgun ammunition would have to take place in a face-to-face transaction –no mail orders.

Proponents of the legislation have stated that AB 2062 would require purchasers of ammunition to undergo a federal background check – despite federal law not allowing for such checks on ammunition purchasers.

This legislation was already defeated in the California Assembly Public Safety Committee, but the sponsor has chosen to circumvent legislative rules by reintroducing the bill in the same session, a move that is costing California taxpayers thousands upon thousands of dollars.

AB 2566 would override state preemption laws and allow local governments to shut down law-abiding firearms manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

AB 2948 would shut down the famous gun show at the San Francisco Cow Palace.

NSSF and the CAFR are encouraging all sportsmen, gun owners and firearms enthusiasts to contact members of the California Public Safety Committee immediately, urging them to oppose these bills.

CONTACT

Jose Solorio – Chair
Dem-69
(916) 319-2069
Assemblymember.solorio@assembly.ca.gov

Greg Aghazarian – Vice Chair
Rep-26
(916) 319-2026
Assemblymember.aghazarian@assembly.ca.gov

Joel Anderson
Rep-77
(916) 319-2077
Assemblymember.Anderson@assembly.ca.gov

Hector De La Torre
Dem-50
(916) 319-2050
Assemblymember.DeLaTorre@assembly.ca.gov

Fiona Ma
Dem-12
(916) 319-2012
Assemblymember.Ma@assembly.ca.gov

Anthony J. Portantino
Dem-44
(916) 319-2044
Assemblymember.Portantino@assembly.ca.gov

National Shooting Sports Foundation | 11 Mile Hill Road, Newtown, CT | www.nssf.org

Many of you know that Alex, the head of our Law Enforcement Division, was in a devestating traffic accident last week. Several customers have called and expressed their support, prayers, and wishes for a great recovery for Alex. We really appreciate these calls, and we pass on your encouraging words to him, as he heals. We will be keeping you updated in this blog post on Alex's progress.

Finally, since Alex's road to recovery is going to be long, we are trying to help raise some money to help offset the hospital expenses. If you can afford to contribute anything to Alex's account, he and his family will be so grateful. The details are contained in the image below.

Thank You,
Second Amendment Sports, Inc.

This article was taken from the Sacramento Bee newspaper, referred to from the NSSF newletter. This news is not CONFIRMED, but an issue of concern for shooters, nonetheless.

Wider lead ban in condor range
State commission prohibits another type of ammunition to stop poisonings.
By Matt Weiser - mweiser@sacbee.com

Published 12:00 am PST Saturday, December 8, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A4

State officials on Friday expanded a ban on toxic lead ammunition to protect the California condor, a rare bird that repeatedly has been poisoned and died after eating dead animals left behind by hunters.

Meeting in Sacramento, the California Fish and Game Commission took steps to implement AB 821, a controversial bill by Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, that was adopted in October. And the commission went further, adding more ammunition to the banned list to effectively cover more kinds of hunting.

The Nava bill restricted lead bullets in centerfire ammunition typically used for hunting big game, such as deer, elk and pig. The commission added rimfire ammunition, such as the popular .22-caliber, and bullets used in black-powder guns and calibers that are commercially obsolete.

Starting July 1, the new rules ban the use and possession of bullets in condor country containing more than 1 percent lead, a threshold that ammunition manufacturers said was realistic. A violation by a hunter is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $1,000 fine and a year in jail.

Nonlead ammo that meets the 1 percent standard is already available for centerfire calibers. It is slightly more expensive but is considered ballistically superior to lead ammunition.

No alternatives are yet available for rimfire cartridges, meaning the industry will need to develop new products.

"This issue is fundamentally about removing lead from the condor's food chain and diet, and that is why I am in support," said Commissioner Michael Sutton. "If we leave any sources of lead ammo in the condor food chain, we will be in violation of the spirit of what we're trying to do."

The commission voted 3-1 to adopt the rules. It did not expand the geographic area governed by the Nava bill, a V-shaped swath of land between San Jose and Los Angeles that covers about one-fifth of the state.

The dissenting vote came from Commissioner Jim Kellogg. He supported the overall intent, but wanted to exempt rimfire ammunition with the condition that these hunters dispose of their carcasses.

"Given the opportunity, hunters will work with us and they will pick up their carcasses," Kellogg said. "I think we just have to take smaller steps and not do it all at once."

The endangered condor was nearly driven to extinction by hunting and the effects of another man-made toxin, the pesticide DDT. With those risks diminished, a leading threat to its survival today is lead ammunition.

The condor is a scavenger that primarily feeds on dead animals. Many cases have been documented in which condors died or became ill after ingesting lead bullets or residue from carcasses left behind or lost in the wild by hunters.

The commission's ruling, unlike the Nava bill, effectively governs all rifle and pistol ammunition within condor country. It extends lead limits to the hunting of nongame animals such as rodents, coyotes and wild pigs killed as a nuisance.

Jeff Miller, a conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, said one area still unaddressed is lead pellets in shotgun shells used for hunting upland game birds. Yet he was pleased by Friday's action.

"This is significant in that it covers almost all the hunting activity that could result in lead exposure for condors," Miller said.

Several hunting and shooting groups protested the rules, claiming there is inadequate proof that a lead ban will benefit condors.

Ed Worley, a National Rifle Association lobbyist, also objected to the ban on simple possession of lead bullets in condor range.

"You're talking about opening up a huge Pandora's box for hunters who happen to inadvertently carry lead ammunition with them," said Worley.

The issue reached a flashpoint in September when Commissioner R. Judd Hanna resigned his post. He said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked him to quit after 34 Republican lawmakers complained in a letter that Hanna had distributed his own research on the lead issue to fellow commissioners.

Hanna, who supported the lead ban, claimed his ouster was a result of pressure by the NRA.

The commission gave Hanna an honorary resolution on Thursday that quotes renowned conservationist and hunter Aldo Leopold: "A thing is right when it tends to conserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it does otherwise."

Matt Janes, the owner of Second Amendment Sports, Inc. is starting his own post on all things regarding the outdoor sports industry! Check out his first blog post!

Please do this! Call the Governors office! It only take's 30 seconds to do!

916-445-2841 Call for Vetoing California Micro-Stamping.

After calling, select option 1, then 2, then option 1 for Bill 1471, then option 2 to
veto. As long as phone # is blocked you can call as many times as you
want.FYI

Also, please pass this info to others like ourselves that don't believe this law will benefit anybody except for the anti-gunners!

The following is a transcript of a letter sent to us by the US Department of the Interior, regarding the results of a survey on waterfowl populations for the US:

United States Department of the Interior
Fish and Wildlife Service
Washington, D.C. 20240

Dear Conservation Collegue:

Enclosed you will find this year's video report on the current status of waterfowl populations and habitat conditions, that is produced annually by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Overall, habitat conditions for breeding ducks in the spring of 2007 were similar or slightly improved, compared to conditions in 2006. Since the spring surveys, wetland water levels have been maintained across most of the prairies and parklands of Canada and the U.S., with some improvements observed.

The total number of estimated breeding ducks was up significantly from last year in the traditional survey area, with northern shovelers, canvasbacks, and redheads reaching all-time highs. Pintails and scaup, however, remained significantly below their long-term averages. In the East, duck numbers were mostly similar to last year. In 2007, most North American goose populations remained abundant, although the production forecast this year varied considerably, depending on spring weather conditions that dictated the onset of nesting activities. Additional details are contained in this video report and in other reports available at our web site, http://migratorybirds.fws.gov/reports/reports.html.

The annual North American waterfowl breeding ground survey samples more than 2.2 million square miles of habitat, including parts of Alaska, Canada, and the north-central and eastern United States. This survey is widely recognized as one of the most comprehensive and reliable wildlife monitoring programs in the world.

We welcome your comments on this video report. If you have any questions about the results of this year's survey, please contact our Division of Migratory Bird Management at (703) 358-1714, or our Office of Public Affairs at (202) 208-5636.

Thank you for your contributions to waterfowl conservation. Your efforts, combined with other conservationists, landowners, agencies, and organizations have helped advance our continent's waterfowl management program.

Sincerely,
Paul R. Schmidt
Assistant Director --Migratory Birds