Controversial gun bills: 4 states that are fueling debate

North Dakota wants to legalize guns in your office parking lot, while South Carolina is contemplating letting weapons into places of worship

posted on April 1, 2011, at 4:06 PM

North Dakotans might soon have the right to bring their guns to work, as long as they keep their firearms locked inside a car. How does this compare to other states with proposals for loose gun laws? Here, four states — and the places their lawmakers want you to feel free to pack heat:

1. North Dakota: The office parking lotUnder the state's new gun bill, overwhelmingly approved Wednesday by the state Senate, businesses could still bar guns from the actual workplace, but couldn't prohibit employees from bringing guns onto company property — the parking lot, for instance. "This bill respects the ability for the right of property owners to say, 'No guns on premises,'" says National Rifle Association lobbyist Darin Goens, as quoted by Forbes, "but the parking lot is a different deal. What private property interests do they have in micromanaging the contents of my trunk?"

2. Texas: College campusesLawmakers in Texas are debating a proposal to allow students to carry concealed weapons on college campuses. The bill is working its way through state House and Senate committees this week. Supporters, including Gov. Rick Perry (R) and more than half the state House, say letting students carry guns would help them defend themselves in deadly school shootings like the 2007 rampage at Virginia Tech. But John Woods, a University of Texas doctoral student who lost his girlfriend in the Virginia Tech shootings, said the bill will only make universities more dangerous. "It's completely ideological," says Woods, as quoted in The Texas Tribune. "It's not about campus safety at all."

3. South Carolina: ChurchSouth Carolina is debating a bill that would allow gun owners to carry their weapons into restaurants, day-care centers, and even churches. Unsurprisingly, the idea is going over well; last fall, 89 percent of the state's voters cast ballots to make hunting a constitutional right. In fact, opponents to the new bill say it doesn't go far enough, because amendments would limit the places young adults could carry their guns. Guns-in-churches proposals are not new. Last year, Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) signed a similar law — making Louisiana the seventh state in the country to do so.

4. Arizona: NFL gamesArizona's legislature is looking at a proposal to make it legal to bring guns into any public building or public event — except places where extraordinary measures are taken to make sure nobody can carry a gun. Not impressed: The Arizona Cardinals' management, which worries that the bill would require them to let fans bring guns on game day.
http://theweek.com/article/index/213834/controversial-gun-bills-4-states-that-are-fueling-debate

Montana store resists RadioShack's demand to stop gun giveaway

Posted Thursday, Mar. 31, 2011

By Barry Shlachter

barry@star-telegram.com

An independent RadioShack store in Montana is standing firm, refusing RadioShack Corp. headquarters' demand to stop giving away a firearm with each satellite dish sale -- a 5-month-old promotion that has proved widely popular and garnered national attention.
 
"Dish sales have tripled since October," when the promotion began, store manager Fabian Levy told the Star-Telegram on Thursday. "We got a call from a man in Texas asking if we knew of a RadioShack store with the same offer where he lives." (The answer is no.)
 
"My phone has been ringing nonstop," Levy said from Hamilton, Mont., 40 miles south of Missoula. "I've received calls from an air conditioning company in West Virginia and a mattress store in, I think, Minnesota that wants to run similar gun giveaways."
Levy says his franchised Dish Network sales are separate from his store's Radio-Shack business.
 
"We've got the contract right in front of us, and it doesn't say anything about this violating any [RadioShack franchise] rules," he said.
 
RadioShack spokesman Eric Bruner acknowledged that the store, owned by Steve Strand, is an independent dealer, but the Fort Worth-based electronics retailer ordered an end to the gun giveaway, The Associated Press reported.
 
The company did not respond to Star-Telegram requests for comment.
 
Bruner told the AP, "This offer is not consistent with our recommended marketing practices for independent dealers." He said the chain is "in discussions with the dealer to end the promotion."
 
"I'm not doing anything wrong," Strand told Hamilton's Ravalli Republic.
 
"RadioShack has taken the position that we're tarnishing their brand image with the promotion," Strand told the paper. "I don't think this is a negative impact. I don't think they understand the way of life in Montana."
 
After RadioShack complained, the Montana store did replace its marquee sign, which read: "Protect yourself with Dish Network. Sign up now, get free gun." Its new sign touts the promotion website, www.getagun.net.
 
The Republic's initial story went viral on the Internet last week, but RadioShack did not react until Tuesday, the AP reported.
 
Levy said Thursday that the store has yet to receive a formal letter from RadioShack demanding the giveaway end, just a phone call. In the meantime, the publicity has won the store all kinds of new business, he said.
 
Dish buyers get a certificate redeemable for a Russian-made Baikal shotgun worth $114 or a $124 Hi-Point .380 caliber pistol, redeemable at Frontier Guns & Ammo in Victor, Mont., 12 miles from Hamilton.
 
Levy wouldn't say how many certificates the store has handed out, but Frontier Guns & Ammo's manager, Dustin Harris, says the hoopla has helped his business, too.
 
"It's absolutely increased sales," Harris said.
 
People who don't want a gun can get a $50 certificate for pizza instead.
 
The gun promotion is reminiscent of a scene in Michael Moore's 2001 documentary Bowling for Columbine, which purports to show him immediately rewarded with a free hunting rifle after opening a new bank account in Michigan. Actually, the bank arranges for customers to pick up their firearm at a gun store some distance away.

Barry Shlachter, 817-390-7718

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/03/31/v-print/2965643/montana-store-resists-radioshacks.html

RadioShack Corp. to Hamilton store: No free guns

By WHITNEY BERMES Ravalli Republic | Posted: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 11:30 am
HAMILTON - Steve Strand, owner of the Hamilton RadioShack, may be reveling in the newfound fame brought on by his free gun promotion, but those at the RadioShack corporation are none too pleased.

RadioShack officials called Strand on Tuesday afternoon, and ordered him to immediately quit the promotion that gives new Dish Network subscribers a gift card for a free gun.

"RadioShack has taken the position that we're tarnishing their brand image with the promotion," Strand said. "I don't think this is a negative impact. I don't think they understand the way of life in Montana.

"I'm not doing anything wrong."

Since October, Strand has been offering either a Hi-Point .380-caliber pistol or a .20-gauge shotgun to customers who sign up for qualifying Dish Network packages. Those not interested in the gun can opt for a $50 Pizza Hut gift card.

Until the Ravalli Republic wrote about the promotion last week, and that story went global via the Associated Press and the Internet, officials at the corporate office made no objection.

That all changed on Tuesday.

Eric Bruner, RadioShack's director of communications, emphasized that Strand's store is an independent dealer and not owned by RadioShack Corp. Nonetheless, the company ordered an end to the gun giveaway.

"This offer is not consistent with our recommended marketing practices for independent dealers," Bruner wrote in an email. "We are in discussions with the dealer to end the promotion."

But Strand isn't backing down. He said he is prepared to stand up to RadioShack. Strand argues that he is an independent dealer and believes he has followed the protocol of his contract with the corporation.

"I want some legal representation," Strand said. "I think I'm within my legal rights as an independent dealer."

"How can a corporate company come down and beat up an independent like me?" Strand continued. "I thought we were in America. Free enterprise.
"Why are they picking on us at the local level?"

Strand said he hopes a high-powered lawyer, preferably a pro-gun advocate, takes up his case and helps him take on RadioShack.

To appease the corporation, though, he has taken down his now-famous sign: "Protect yourself with Dish Network. Sign up now, get free gun."

In its place: the announcement of a new website, GetaGun.net, which Strand set up detailing his promotion.
***
Since the story broke last week, Strand's gun giveaway caught on like wildfire.
"It's created a tremendous amount of activity here," he said. "We didn't expect the national attention."
On Tuesday, Strand spent the morning with a reporter from CNN who was shooting a piece on his business.

The CNN reporter, he said, took the angle of perceptions of guns in rural areas, like the Bitterroot Valley, as opposed to urban settings.

"In these bigger cities, they have no idea you can go into a store and buy a gun," Strand said.

Strand was also interviewed by MSNBC, as well as countless other news organizations.
"It's hard for me to remember who all we've talked to," Strand said.

In fact, just while talking about the widespread reach of his giveaway, the Hamilton store received calls from radio shows in Alabama and Oregon, as well as a call from a reporter at BBC News in London.

***
Last week, Strand said he planned to do a similar promotion with DirecTV later this month. But in an email from Darris Gringeri, vice president of public relations for that company, said DirecTV will not allow any such giveaway.

"DirecTV is absolutely not following suit with the Dish Network promotion and immediately denied the request for such a promotion the moment it was brought to our attention," Gringeri wrote. "I can assure you that Mr. Strand will not be offering this deal to potential DirecTV customers."

With all the added attention to Strand's little store, business is brisk, and not just with satellite television customers. He said he's received multiple calls from people out of state wondering if they could take advantage of the gun promotion.
"The exposure's really helped us," Strand said.

Of all the calls Strand's store has received, he said only two have been negative - one angry call from someone within the RadioShack corporation and one from a RadioShack owner in New York.

"We're not looking to give RadioShack negative feedback at all," Strand said. "They feel like maybe we're spoiling their brand name. I think I'm bringing a lot of attention to their brand."

If Strand is able to continue with his promotion, he plans to lower the qualifications for the free firearms. He also said on top of the Bitterroot, he's targeting the Missoula market with his promotion.

"We want more guns out there," Strand said.

Reporter Whitney Bermes can be reached at 363-3300 or at whitney.bermes@ravallirepublic.com.

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_82edf396-5a87-11e0-888d-001cc4c03286.html?print=1

Montana Gun-With-Satellite-TV Deal Draws Criticism as Sales Soar

March 29, 2011, 2:17 PM EDT

By Alex Sherman

March 29 (Bloomberg) -- A Montana store is offering a free gun to customers who sign up for satellite-TV service, drawing criticism from an advocacy group and the dealer’s parent RadioShack Corp., which is trying to stop the promotion.

The shop, located in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana about 50 miles off the highway, has tripled the number of signups for Dish Network Corp.’s service since starting the offer in October, store manager Fabian Levy said. When customers sign a Dish contract, they get a gift certificate for a gun that can be redeemed at Frontier Guns & Ammo, about 10 miles from the store.

Assuming customers pass an FBI background check at the gun store, the coupons can be exchanged for a Hi Point 380 pistol or a 20-gauge shotgun that retail between $130 and $140. No license is needed in Montana to buy a gun.

“We pay for the guns out of our own pocket,” Levy said in a phone interview. “We’re trying to keep everything community oriented.”

RadioShack, the Fort Worth, Texas-based electronics chain, is in discussions with the franchise to end the promotion, said Eric Bruner, a spokesman. The offer isn’t consistent with RadioShack’s agreement with the store or its “recommended marketing practices for independent dealers,” he said.

Dish checked its rules and regulations and found nothing wrong with the offer, said Marc Lumpkin, a company spokesman.

“We started as a rural satellite-TV retailer ourselves many years ago,” Lumpkin said. “It appears that this promotion fits the demographic of rural Montana.”

Pizza Coupon Alternative

Levy said the promotion was an idea of a friend of Steve Strand, the independent owner of the RadioShack franchise who couldn’t be reached for comment. Strand then agreed to a partnership with Chad Ballman, the gun store’s owner.

“There’s been a definite uptick in business,” Ballman said. He said he couldn’t estimate how many coupons had been redeemed.

Offering a potentially lethal item as an incentive to buy a product is irresponsible, said Joshua Horwitz, executive director at the Washington-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. The risk of a potential lawsuit or unwittingly enabling a crime should be enough for a business owner to dismiss the idea of a gun giveaway, he said.

“The second something bad happens with one of those firearms, this gimmick is going to look really stupid,” said Horwitz. Background checks can sometimes be incomplete, he said.

Ballman said that the Federal Bureau of Investigation check, which can last anywhere from two minutes to five days, is an effective way of screening for criminals, and the store hasn’t distributed guns later used for crimes. Local businesses have recently approached him for similar promotions involving free firearms, he said.

Dish’s Lumpkin said the promotion doesn’t break company rules because RadioShack doesn’t offer the gun itself. He also noted that the store offers an alternative gift for customers who don’t want a gun -- a $50 coupon for Pizza Hut.

--Editors: Ville Heiskanen, Peter Elstrom
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-03-29/montana-gun-with-satellite-tv-deal-draws-criticism-as-sales-soar.html

Gun reforms promoted

Rhonda Bodfield Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 12:00 am
If background checks on gun purchases were stronger, dangerous people would have a harder time obtaining lethal weapons, according to speakers who gathered downtown Monday to support a congressional effort to make such checks more effective and widespread.

As attendees wore red T-shirts noting that 34 people die every day in national gun violence, front and center was the spectre of the Jan. 8 shooting that left six dead and 13 others wounded.

And in the background was a handful of counter-protesters holding signs reading, "Politicians prefer unarmed subjects" or "Keep New York Policy Out of Arizona" - a reference to the fact the national campaign by the Mayors Against Illegal Guns is spearheaded in part by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Ross Zimmerman, whose son Gabe, an aide to U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was among those killed in the January shooting, said America enjoys unparalleled individual freedoms, including the freedom to carry lethal weapons. There's a responsibility that should go along with that right, he said, adding that's where the legislation comes in.

Patricia Maisch, who grabbed the magazine away from suspect Jared Lee Loughner at the January event as he allegedly tried to reload, said that while signs were missed, nothing can be done about the past.

"We must now work to prevent such violence in the future," she said, asking "how much sorrow, how much blood, how many injuries - both physical and emotional- must we endure before taking action?"

The Fix Gun Checks Act, introduced by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., does a couple of key things. First, with advocates noting that the shooter at the Virginia Tech mass killings in 2007 was allowed to purchase weapons because relevant information was not entered into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, it requires better reporting. States that don't comply would face deep cuts in federal justice funding.

The other big piece: It would require all gun buyers to submit to a background check, including those at gun shows or working with private sellers.

The legislation would also require colleges and universities to develop a plan to improve student access to mental-health services.

"We're not talking about taking away anybody's guns. We're not talking about taking away anybody's constitutional rights," said former U.S. Sen. Dennis DeConcini.

Instead, he said, "We're talking about people having to pass a check to see whether they have mental problems, whether they have drug problems, whether they have criminal problems."

Rev. Jan Flaaten, executive director of the Arizona Ecumenical Council, said he knows critics will turn to the old adage: Guns don't kill people, people kill people. And he acknowledged that's partly true. "So let's determine which people should not get guns," he said.

Experts have long pointed to a need for making the reporting requirements more clear.
Kristen Rand at the D.C-based Violence Policy Center, who was not in attendance, has said the reporting criteria, especially regarding drug use and mental-health issues, are vague, complicated and riddled with privacy concerns. "We really need more clarity in determining what records need to be submitted under various categories," she said.

Loughner was never found by a court to be mentally ill and didn't have a criminal record to speak of, after completing diversion on a 2007 charge for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Federal law also bans the sale or transfer of a gun to someone who is "an unlawful user of, or addicted to, any controlled substance." But while Loughner admitted to marijuana use in an interview with a military recruiter, that alone didn't meet the interpretation commonly used by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI in determining who shouldn't possess guns.

The proposed new law would require federal courts to report anyone sentenced to drug treatment, even if part of a diversionary program in place of a conviction. It would also offer appeal rights to drug users or to the mentally ill who could argue they've recovered in that five-year span.

Keith Van Heyningen, a 47-year-old unemployed land surveyor, was among the counter-protesters at the event. He chalked it up to Bloomberg's trying to raise his profile for higher office and said it's an example of federal interference in people's lives.

Even if it was just about enforcing existing laws, he said, he'd still oppose it. "With people like Bloomberg, it doesn't stop at just this. It's the whole slippery-slope argument."

But Veronica Figueroa, a 22-year-old sales associate who stopped to listen to the speakers, ended up signing a petition in support of the proposal, even though her own family owns guns. If it was up to her, gun buyers would have to get a license or training, so a mere background check seemed reasonable. "It's ridiculous we don't check people's backgrounds in some of these cases before we give them a gun that can kill other people," she said.

Eleanor Goff, a 70-year-old retired teacher, said she, too, would like to see tougher laws, including a ban on extended magazines. At a minimum, she said, the checks need to be more effective. "It's very upsetting that we can't come to an agreement on something that seems so basic and so simple," she said.

Still, she said, she's optimistic that things can change. "You have to have hope. Otherwise, you're just going to give up. And we can't do that."
Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at rbodfield@azstarnet.com or 573-4243.
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_3d83702c-d570-5388-bce2-0a996c819a2f.html?print=1

The Scandal of ‘Gun-Walking’
Why did the Justice Department allow Mexican cartels to purchase 2,500 U.S.-made guns?

Jim Geraghty &Cam Edwards March 28, 2011 4:00 A.M.

Why did the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives stand by and watch as guns were transported across our southern border to Mexico, to be used by violent drug cartels?

The phenomenon of “gunwalking” appears to be a standard sting-operation tactic that in this case has gone wildly awry. The idea was that federal authorities would approve firearms purchases that seemed suspicious, and then monitor the buyers to see where the guns ended up. But the scale of the purchases was massive, and the agents on the ground kept anxiously waiting for the order to stop monitoring and intervene, according to stunning accounts from ATF agents and documentation uncovered by CBS News and other sources. As early as March 2010, ATF agents were finding the “monitored” firearms in the hands of suspected criminals in Mexico. One ATF e-mail reported,“Our subjects purchased 359 firearms during March alone,” including “numerous Barrett .50 caliber rifles.”

According to the dozen ATF agents who have come forward as whistleblowers, the concept was not the half-baked idea of a rogue manager. Reported CBS:

ATF Agent John Dodson and other sources say the gun walking strategy was approved all the way up to the Justice Department. The idea was to see where the guns ended up, build a big case and take down a cartel. And it was all kept secret from Mexico.
ATF named the case “Fast and Furious.”

Last Wednesday, President Obama said that neither he nor Attorney General Eric Holder approved the operation. But who within the Justice Department did authorize the dangerous operation? And who decided to ignore the judgment of the agents in the field? An e-mail from a group supervisor told ATF agents who were upset about the operation’s risks, “Whether you care or not, people of rank and authority at HQ are paying attention to this case and they also believe we are doing what they envisioned the Southwest Border Groups doing.”

Even the gun shops themselves were wary of selling the firearms; the purchasers were paying with cash out of paper bags. But the sellers were assured by the ATF that they should go forward with the transactions. One of the purchases was for 575 semiautomatic rifles for “personal use.” One agent estimates the total number of guns purchased by suspicious buyers under ATF monitoring at 2,500; other officials put the number closer to 2,000. Nearly 800 were recovered “as a result of criminal activity on both sides of the border.”

Worst of all, the guns that the ATF agents were ordered to let slip into Mexico were not merely used in cartel violence in Mexico, but were used against American citizens and law enforcement. CBS News noted:

On Dec. 14, 2010, Border Patrol Agent Brian Terrywas gunned down. Dodson got the bad news from a colleague. According to Dodson, “They said, ‘Did you hear about the border patrol agent?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ And they said ‘Well it was one of the Fast and Furious guns.’ There’s not really much you can say after that.” Two assault rifles ATF had let go nearly a year before were found at Terry’s murder.

Only after Terry’s death did the ATF round up and charge 34 individuals believed to be involved with moving the guns across the border.

The Department of Justice initially denied the whistleblowers’ claims. Last week, however, DOJ sent a confidential memo to U.S. Attorneys in southwestern border states, declaring, “We should not design or conduct undercover operations which include guns crossing the border. If we have knowledge that guns are about to cross the border, we must take immediate action to stop the firearms from crossing the border, even if that prematurely terminates or otherwise jeopardizes an investigation.”

So, the DOJ appears to have initially lied about the circumstances, and it is now insisting the men at the top didn’t know what was going on. The Department of Justice at first referred the allegations to its own inspector general, an unusual choice in that the whistleblowers claim they already contacted the IG and never had their phone calls returned. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) is pushing for an outside investigation. Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, wrote ATF acting director Kenneth Melson, charging that “you are not cooperating with congressional inquiries about Project Gunrunner and Operation Fast and Furious.” Issa has asked for documents about the genesis of the operation as well.

An ATF assistant director told the Center for Public Integrity that new tactics aimed to collect evidence that would help dismantle major drug-trafficking organizations in Mexico, instead of focusing on the prosecution of small-time straw buyers.
The revelations are a new wrinkle in the strange record of the Obama administration when it comes to guns. President Obama’s record in the Illinois state senate and the U.S. Senate demonstrates a hostility to the Second Amendment. He is accurately characterized as an anti-gun president, who selected an anti-gun vice president, an anti-gun secretary of state, and an anti-gun attorney general.

Shortly after he was confirmed, Attorney General Eric Holder stated that the Obama administration would seek to reinstate the assault-weapons ban that expired in 2004. But that proposal spurred quick and vehement opposition from 65 pro-gun House Democrats, making passage of a new ban all but impossible. Since then, when President Obama has mentioned the word “guns,” it has usually been in appearances with the Mexican president, talking about the need for “an enforcement strategy that slows the flow of guns into Mexico.”

With the president himself talking about the need to stop guns from crossing the border,why would the ATF allow just that to happen? Why would they take such an enormous risk of harming innocent life in both Mexico and the United States, to say nothing of risking exactly the sort of embarrassment and outrage that the current revelations are generating? What made this operation worth overruling the objections of the agents on the ground monitoring the transactions?

What we know about the “gun-walking” operation is already deeply troubling; nothing less than a full investigation to the satisfaction of the whistleblowers, Grassley, and Issa will suffice. The facts at present point to a dangerous and extraordinarily risky operation executed without the knowledge or consent of the top officials in our government, accurate claims initially falsely denied, and whisteblowers dismissed and ignored by the official watchdogs.

— Jim Geraghty writes the Campaign Spot on NRO. Cam Edwards hosts NRANews’s Cam & Company on Sirius XM from 9 p.m. to midnight weeknights.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/263117/scandal-gun-walking-jim-geraghty

Radio Shack Gun Giveaway: Montana Store Offers Free Firearm With Dish Network Purchase

The Radio Shack store in Hamilton, Montana knows how to get customers' attention.
Since October, the franchise has been offering free guns to anyone who purchases Dish Network. And the promotion has been wildly successful--proprietor Steve Strand says business has tripled since its inception.

"I think it really, really fits the Bitterroot Valley," he told Montana's Ravalli Republic.
Before claiming their firearm, customers much undergo a background check. They are then given a gift certificate to Frontier Guns & Ammo, a nearby gun supply store. Those who don't qualify or prefer to opt-out of the giveaway receive a $50 coupon to Pizza Hut.

A sign outside the store proclaims, "Protect yourself with the Dish Network. Sign up now, get a free gun." According to Strand, hundreds have come into his shop because of the advertisement, and store manager Fabian Levy told the Republic that people stop by just to take pictures of the sign.

The promotion comes amidst increased scrutiny of America's firearm industry. In the wake of the shooting massacre that rocked Arizona in January, a new poll shows key states support strengthening our country's background-check system for gun purchases. Recently, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a nationwide gun control campaign, and the Obama administration is exploring potential changes to gun laws.

Meanwhile, Strand claims his offer has been nothing less than successful. "We've received a tremendous amount of positive reactions," he told the Republic, noting that only one person has complained in the six months since he launched the campaign.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/26/radio-shack-gun-giveaway-dish-purchase_n_841083.html