Kentucky Firearms Foundation, Inc.
P.O. BOX 1249 Owingsville, KY 40360-1249
Phone: (866) 674-9193 Fax: (866) 674-9193Email KFFI@KYFirearms.org
Official Website of Kentucky
Firearms Foundation, Inc.
NRANews.com
I would like to draw your attention to a new source
of entertainment and information available to all of you with access to the
Internet.
Because of a piece of BAD federal legislation now
signed into law and confirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States called
the McCain-Feingold/Shays-Meehan
Campaign Finance Reform Bill the NRA will be banned from informing the public
about how candidates rate on firearm issues for 60 days before the general
election. While the news media organizations and the candidates themselves will
be able to say whatever they want the very organizations we, as members, pay to
keep us informed will be outlawed from doing so. This “law” forced the NRA to take the unusual step of creating a
news outlet of their own. This is truly ahead of is time and, I am sure, will
be copied by many other organizations.
The NRA has started a new news organization called
NRANews.com They have a three hour talk show EVERY weekday from 2:00PM to
5:00PM eastern time. This show is great. It is named Cam and Company and is
hosted by Cam Edwards. You can get it by going to www.nranews.com . It is available as a video
stream or also available as audio only for those of you with dial up accounts.
If you can’t get on the web between 2:00PM and 5:00PM the show is available in
re-broadcast the other 21 hours it isn’t live. In addition they store an
archive of interesting NRA videos including news articles, speeches from NRA
board members, past and present, and information about how gun-control has
failed in other countries.
Please, please check out this talk show. Not only
can you call into the show through a toll-free number you can send the show
both email and instant messages during the show.
The web site is first rate and user friendly. Check
out the show and enjoy the entertainment.
HB 39/FN/LM/CI (BR 39) - J. Richards, M. Cherry AN
ACT relating to crimes and punishments. HB 39
- AMENDMENTS HCA (1,
G. Lindsay) - Make technical correction. Jan
2-introduced in House KFFI has been following this bill since it’s inception.
It was originally proposed in the 2000 General Assembly. Its purpose is
clear and appears to be fast tracked for approval during this session. We support this bill and urge all Kentucky gun owners
to do the same. HB 49/CI (BR 249) - R. Damron, S. Baugh, B.
Colter, J. Gray, R. Nelson, S. Riggs, G. Tapp AN
ACT relating to crimes and punishments. Jan
2-introduced in House KFFI Position: KFFI has strongly supported this bill since it was
introduced into the House. It has not yet been called for discussion in the
House Judiciary Committee. Letters and phone calls from you to the
committee members and to your representatives could shake this bill loose
and on to the House floor. We support this bill and urge all Kentucky gun owners
to do the same. SB 81/CI (BR 1082) – J. Denton AN ACT
relating to prohibition of possession of firearms in domestic violence
cases. Feb 7-introduced in Senate
Continues on Next
Page Upcoming Bills: (Cont.) SB 81/CI (BR 1082) – J. Denton (Cont.) This is the same point that is currently under review
in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans in the case of U. S. v
Timothy Joe Emerson. We have no
need of getting Kentucky into the same problems that have been raised on
the federal level. A domestic
violence order can be issued without any finding of guilt for the offense
charged. That means that somebody
could be accused of domestic violence and be barred from possession of any
firearms. What about the individual
who is falsely accused but must rid himself of his collection of Civil War
firearms because of the accusation?
This is bad law and should never even come out of committee. HB 108/LM (BR 394) - J. Gray, B. Colter, H.
Cornett, J. Stewart, G. Tapp, Jo. Turner AN
ACT relating to gun buy-back programs. HB 108
- AMENDMENTS Jan
4-introduced in House KFFI
Position: KFFI has not been strongly supportive of this bill
since it was introduced. We had hoped that the House would have been more
interested in HB-107, which dealt with this issue in a more satisfactory
manner. The House Committee Substitute that has been added to
this bill has made this bill (unsupportable/flawed) in that it would
prevent police from possibly making an arrest of the offender at the time
of the offense. This substitute provision would make it more difficult for
police officers to apprehend those who have illegally obtained firearms and
would allow those same individuals the opportunity to rid themselves of
firearms that had been used in a crime at taxpayer expense. This bill needs to fail on the House floor. SB 114 (BR 1014) - R. Stivers AN ACT
relating to the carrying of concealed deadly weapons. Feb 9-introduced in Senate Continued on Next
Page Upcoming Bills: (Cont.) Are
Commonwealth’s attorneys or county attorneys somehow imbued with an ability
the rest of us must demonstrate? Perhaps
we can assume they are familiar with the laws of Kentucky in regard to the
use of deadly force in defense of yourself and your property. Perhaps we can be assured they will not
carry their concealed weapons where they are not permitted (although the
wording of this law gives them much wider latitude than the rest of us
common folk). But we are not at all
assured they know which end of the barrel of a firearm emits the
projectile, that they can hit what they intend to hit, nor do we know they
know how to clean and maintain their handguns or inspect their
ammunition. Let them first take the
concealed carry course from a certified instructor and get their CCDW
license, then come talk to us about where they should be permitted to carry
their concealed weapons. HB 115/CI (BR 180) - R. Damron, C. Belcher, R.
Nelson, J. Stewart AN
ACT relating to crimes and punishments. Jan
5-introduced in House KFFI
Position: KFFI has supported Project Exile since it was first
introduced in the 2000 General Assembly by Representative Damron. It has
not yet been called for discussion in the House Judiciary Committee and
time is running short to get this bill called. We support this bill and urge all Kentucky gun owners
to call their representatives and ask them to support committee discussion
of this bill. HB 153 (BR 1033) - P. Bather (Mentioned
in article on Page4) AN ACT
relating to firearms and ammunition. Feb 6-introduced in House Feb 7-to
Judiciary (H) KFFI Position: KFFI
strongly disagrees with this bill. It is another attempt to revisit the
2000 General Assembly and then HB-331 that was passed by both houses and
survived a veto, which was overridden by both houses. This
bill is another “end run” attempt to corrupt the people’s will in regards
to recovering taxpayer assets to provide for local police departments body
armor. The individual presenting this bill cannot be unaware that if these
“taxpayer assets” were to be destroyed, then taxpayer dollars would have to
be used to fund this same body armor program. “More feeding at the public
trough!” This
bill needs to languish in the committee room until the session ends. Continued on Next
Page Upcoming Bills: (Cont.) HB 298
(BR 1209) - K. Stein, M. Marzian, R. Meeks AN
ACT relating to concealed deadly weapons permits. Feb
13-introduced in House KFFI is strongly opposed to this bill and you should be
too! Think
about this. You go into the drivers’ license branch at Bowman Field
to renew your drivers’ license and you are just ducky until they ask you
for your doctors’ statement! What? They explain that
you now need a statement from your doctor, optometrist, or ophthalmologist
that your visual acuity has been tested and is 20/40 or better! After all
that two thousand pound vehicle is considered to be lethal in the wrong
hands. You’re thinking I’m kidding? Read this new proposed section that would
change the permit application section to the Concealed Carry law being
presented to the House Judiciary Committee; (i) Has,
along with the application for issuance or reissuance of a concealed deadly
weapon permit, submitted a statement that his or her visual acuity, has
tested and is 20/40 or better. The statement shall be signed by a medical
doctor, optometrist, or opthamologist. The visual acuity testing shall have
been done not more than six (6) months prior to the time that the
application for issuance or reissuance of a concealed deadly permit is
submitted. Representatives
Stein, Marzian, and Meeks are again attempting to add insignificant
regulations to a law that has worked well to date. These three legislators
have always been in the forefront of the attempts to dismantle or regulate
out of existence, Kentucky’s CCDW law. This is just another of those
attempts. If this bill is such a good idea, let’s try it in the Department
of Motor Vehicles first were it will impact a more representative sample of
the population. Then we can judge the measure on its’ own merits in regards
to safety. Think
about it then start writing your legislators and telling them to stop this
type of intentional discrimination against Kentucky voters. Let this bill
die in committee! We
make every effort to report the bills accurately. However, amendments are constantly being submitted and bills
can be changed during any committee hearing. For that reason, we can only deal with the information we have
at the time this is printed.
Upcoming
Bills:
Amend KRS 527.030, relating to defacing a firearm,
to increase the penalty from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class D felony;
clarify that there must be intent to permanently deface firearm; provide
that the fact that a laboratory can restore a number does not negate an
intent to permanently deface the firearm; amend KRS 527.050 relating to
possession of a defaced firearm to increase the penalty from a Class A
misdemeanor to a Class D felony.
Jan 3-to Judiciary (H)
Feb 6-posting waived; posted in committee
Feb 8-reported favorably, 1st reading, to
Calendar with committee amendment (1)
Feb 9-2nd reading, to Rules; posted for
passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Monday, February 12, 2001
Feb 12-3rd reading, passed 98-0 with
committee amendment (1)
Feb 13-received in Senate
Feb 15-to Judiciary (S)
KFFI Position:
Amend KRS 503.050 relating to the use of physical
force in self-protection to authorize the use of deadly force against
criminal homicide, burglary, robbery, and deviate sexual intercourse and
the attempt to commit such crimes, in addition to current authorized use of
deadly force.
Jan 3-to Judiciary (H)
Feb 12-posted in committee
Amend KRS 403.750 relating to domestic violence
orders to specify that a person against whom the order is issued cannot
possess a firearm. Create a new section of KRS Chapter 527 to define
misdemeanor crime of domestic violence and to prohibit possession of a
firearm or ammunition by a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of
domestic violence as a Class A misdemeanor for the first offense and Class
D felony for a second or subsequent offense.
Feb 9-to Judiciary (S)
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 237 to require
law enforcement agencies participating in gun buy-back programs to return
stolen firearms to lawful owners, and to take steps to preserve criminal
evidence before a firearm is destroyed; noncompliance is official
misconduct in the first degree.
HCS/LM
- Delete provision relating to arrest of person turning in stolen firearm
and in lieu require police to attempt to arrest the thief and any person
who knowingly possessed the stolen firearm; and to delete the penalty
provision.
Jan 5-to Judiciary (H)
Feb 6-posted in committee
Feb 15-reported favorably, 1st reading, to
Calendar with Committee Substitute
Feb 16-2nd reading, to Rules; posted for
passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Monday, February 19, 2001
Amend KRS 527.020, relating to carrying concealed
deadly weapons, to permit an elected Commonwealth's or county attorney to
carry a concealed deadly weapon at all times and at any location within the
state; permit an assistant Commonwealth's attorney or assistant county
attorney to do so with the written permission of the Commonwealth's or
county attorney, as appropriate.
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 527 to
establish the penalty of a Class C felony for a person who possesses a
firearm after having been convicted of a capital offense or a Class A, B,
or C felony; amend KRS 527.040 to conform; amend KRS 532.110 to provide for
consecutive sentencing of certain felons who possess firearms; amend KRS
533.060 to deny probation and other forms of early release to a Class A, B,
or C felon convicted of possessing a firearm; provide the short title of
the Project Exile Act.
Feb 6-to Judiciary (H)
Create a new section of KRS Chapter 446 to define
what constitutes "official use" when government agencies retain
firearms rather than turn them in for sale; prohibit destruction of firearm
retained for official use.
Amend KRS 237.110 relating to concealed deadly weapon permits to add a
visual acuity requirement of 20/40 correctable with glasses for issuance or reissuance
of permit.
Feb 14-to Judiciary (H)
Feb 15-posted in committee