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Rumor Check: Did Obama Close a Lead Plant in Order to Enact ‘Backdoor’ Gun Control?

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Photo Credit: Getty ImagesDid the White House shutter the country’s last primary lead smelting plant in Herculaneum, Mo., in a sneaky attempt by to enact “backdoor” gun control and quietly take aim at the gun industry as some people, including former Rep. Allen West, have suggested?

The short answer: Not exactly.

But as is the case with many of these “fact check” stories, this requires some explanation. So let’s start at the beginning.

THE CLOSED MISSOURI FACILITY

The Doe Run Company’s primary lead smelting facility in Herculaneum, Mo., which has been in operation since 1892, will close its doors by the end of 2013, according to a report in The Southern Illinoisan, which was published in November but has gained new life recently.

The company said in a statement on its website that it decided to close the facility it would cost too much to install the “pollution control technologies” required to reduce sulfur dioxide and lead emissions as mandated by the Clean Air Act.

Read more from this story HERE.

Allen West: Backdoor Gun Control is Here, No Lead Means No Bullets

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Photo Credit: allenbwest.comI am one who steers very clear of tinfoil hat conspiracy theories. I often believe progressives plant stories in order to distract and disrupt, enabling them to pursue their true goals and objectives. That’s why I stress the importance of staying focused on the modern liberal socialist policies of the Obama administration, not the sideshow antics.

However, as a former combat commander, I have been trained to look for trends. And I believe we’ve found a very disturbing one. it seems that back door gun control is in full effect in the United States. Why? Thanks to Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), we can no longer smelt lead from ore in the United States.

The first contact the EPA made with The Doe Run Lead Smelter in Herculaneum, Missouri (population 2,800) was in 2008 but it was in 2010 that the EPA finally forced Doe Run to plan a shut down. This plant has been in operation since 1892 but will finally close its doors this month. It was the last lead smelting plant in the US.

The closedown is due to new extremely tight air quality restrictions placed on this specific plant. President Obama and his EPA raised the regulations by 10 fold and it would have cost the plant $100 million to comply.

In response to the Doe Run lead smelter shutdown, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the Doe Run Company “made a business decision” to shut down the smelter instead of installing pollution control technologies needed to reduce sulfur dioxide and lead emissions as required by the Clean Air Act.

Read more from this story HERE.

Judge Rules Colorado Sheriffs Can’t Sue Over State Gun Laws

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Photo Credit: APA federal judge ruled Wednesday that Colorado sheriffs suing the state over new firearm restrictions don’t have standing to proceed with the case as a group, but the legal battle is far from over.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger in Denver doesn’t stop the lawsuit because 21 other plaintiffs who are suing do have standing. The court will still consider whether universal background checks and a ban on ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds are constitutional, the judge said.

“At this juncture, the court is not even considering whether the challenged portions of the laws are constitutional,” Krieger said.

Sheriffs in most of Colorado’s 64 counties filed the lawsuit in May, saying the new regulations violate the Second Amendment. The sheriffs are elected and represent rural, gun-friendly parts of the state.

In her ruling, Krieger said sheriffs can still choose to join the suit in an individual capacity, and they’ll have 14 days to make that decision. But they cannot, as a group, sue the state in their official capacities.

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Obamacare Coming After Your Guns?

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Photo Credit: WND Obamacare has provided rich fodder for jokes, even if they are a little grim, because of its failed website, cancellation notices and huge premium spikes.

One used-car dealer in Denver, Colo., even boasted, “At least our website works.”

So it’s no surprise websites such as ObamaGunCare.com would appear with the promise, “If you like your gun, you can keep it, period.”

And “If you like your gun, no one is going to ban it, period. Unless … ”

The parody is the brainstorm of the Second Amendment Foundation. “With a track record like Barack Obama has on health care, we don’t want the president getting involved in gun care or firearms safety,” the organization says.

Read more from this story HERE.

Massachusetts Politician Calls For Law Allowing Police To Enter Private Homes, Ensure Guns Are Stored Safely

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Photo Credit: Opposing Views Swampscott, Mass., Selectman Barry Greenfield recently announced that state law should allow local law enforcement to enter private homes and inspect the safeguarding of guns.

Greenfield reportedly expressed concern over the Newtown, Conn., school massacre and other instances where young students have brought firearms to school. The politician reasoned that school shootings often involve children taking guns from parents who did not properly lock away their firearms.

Greenfield stated that the problem lies in the law enforcement. Police are not legally authorized to inspect the homes of gun owners to ensure that guns are being stored safely, he noted.

“We need the ability to enforce the state law,” Greenfield told Swampscott Patch. The selectman has reportedly already spoken to Swampscott Police Chief Ron Madigan about the issue.

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Bill Gates Backing Gun Control Measure

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Photo Credit: Brian Ach/Getty Images for The Lasker FoundationKPLU reported Wednesday that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda have contributed $25,000 apiece to the Initiative 594 campaign, joining a growing list of wealthy Seattle-area supporters of the 15-page gun control measure, as confirmed by Public Disclosure Commission documents obtained yesterday by Examiner and The GunMag.com.

Gates and his wife made the donations Oct. 29, according to filings with the PDC.

The PDC documents reveal a curious array of contributions from people who list their occupations as “retired” or “not employed” along with others whose occupations range from “venture capitalist” to “volunteer,” with attorneys, doctors, investors and other professionals, along with housewives and homemakers. Their contributions range upwards to the $165,000 donated by Nick Hanauer and the $50,000 from Lenore Hanauer. Many of the contributions were for $1,000 or more.

The overwhelming majority of contributors list their addresses in Seattle, with a smattering located in Medina, Woodinvile, Mercer Island, Sammamish, Kirkland, Shoreline, Bellevue, Normandy Park, Lake Forest Park and Issaquah.

KPLU said the donor list, which stretches to about 135 pages, “reads like a who’s who list.”

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Ironic: Gun Control Advocate Threatens to ‘Shoot and Kill’ Recall Activists (+video)

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Photo Credit: YouTube An apparent gun control supporter threatened to “go home and get a gun and come back and kill” a group of Second Amendment activists seeking signatures on a recall petition against Colorado Sen. Evie Hudak.

After September’s recall of Colorado Sen. Angela Giron and Senate President John Morse over their anti-gun stance, a group called Recall Hudak Too is trying to extend its success by tossing Hudak out of office, according to Capitol City Project.

While collecting signatures in front of the public library in Arvada, Colo., a man riding by on a bicycle can be heard to say, “I’m going to go home and get a gun and come back and kill you m****r f****rs. Would you like that?”

Warning: Strong language.

Read more from this story HERE.

Anti-Gun Toll Free Tip Line Rewards Citizens for Turning in Family to Police

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Photo Credit: Mario Tama/GettyIf you have a phone, and you are aware that your neighbor, your friend, or even your family member is a gun owner, you can now single-handedly launch an investigation into their activities by using a new toll free “tip line.”

The tip line was set up in New York State by Gov. Andrew Cuomo as an outgrowth of the infamous SAFE Act, reports David Codrea, who quoted from a news item published in The Niagara Falls Reporter.

The new law was initiated in response to the school shooting in Newtown, Conn. New York now has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation.

Cuomo’s tip line encourages and rewards citizens who spy on fellow citizens by offering a $500 reward if an arrest is made as a result of information provided on the tip line.

Read more from this story HERE.

California Gov. Vetoes Semi-Automatic Rifle Ban

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Photo Credit: Townhall Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill Friday that would have imposed the nation’s toughest gun ownership restrictions on Californians, saying it was too far-reaching.

The legislation would have banned future sales of most semi-automatic rifles that accept detachable magazines, part of a firearms package approved by state lawmakers in response to mass shootings in other states.

It was lawmakers’ latest attempt to close loopholes that have allowed manufacturers to work around previous assault weapon bans. Gun rights groups had threatened to sue if the semi-automatic weapons ban became law.

“I don’t believe that this bill’s blanket ban on semi-automatic rifles would reduce criminal activity or enhance public safety enough to warrant this infringement on gun owners’ rights,” the Democratic governor wrote in his veto message.

He also noted that California already has some of the nation’s strictest gun and ammunition laws.

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Why Weren’t Guns Behaving Violently 100 Years Ago?

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Photo Credit: Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious

Photo Credit: Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious

Every time there’s a shooting tragedy, there are more calls for gun control. Let’s examine a few historical facts. By 1910, the National Rifle Association had succeeded in establishing 73 NRA-affiliated high-school rifle clubs. The 1911 second edition of the Boy Scout Handbook made qualification in NRA’s junior marksmanship program a prerequisite for obtaining a BSA merit badge in marksmanship. In 1918, the Winchester Repeating Arms Co. established its own Winchester Junior Rifle Corps. The program grew to 135,000 members by 1925. In New York City, gun clubs were started at Boys, Curtis, Commercial, Manual Training and Stuyvesant high schools. With so many guns in the hands of youngsters, did we see today’s level of youth violence?

What about gun availability? Catalogs and magazines from the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s were full of gun advertisements directed to children and parents. For example, “What Every Parent Should Know When a Boy or Girl Wants a Gun” was published by the National Shooting Sports Foundation. The 1902 Sears mail-order catalog had 35 pages of firearm advertisements. People just sent in their money, and a firearm was shipped. For most of our history, a person could simply walk into a hardware store, virtually anywhere in our country, and buy a gun. Few states bothered to have even age restrictions on buying guns.

Those and other historical facts should force us to ask ourselves: Why – at a time in our history when guns were readily available, when a person could just walk into a store or order a gun through the mail, when there were no FBI background checks, no waiting periods, no licensing requirements – was there not the frequency and kind of gun violence that we sometimes see today, when access to guns is more restricted? Guns are guns. If they were capable of behavior, as some people seem to suggest, they should have been doing then what they’re doing now.

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