In addition to adding armed guards, they are reversing their “no carry” policy. The Kansas City store had already removed their no-carry signage this weekend.

The prettiest piece of glass in the whole store is the 10 square inches where the no-carry sign used to be! It’s a noticeably empty spot, next to a row of other “no” signs for smoking, outside food/drink, pets, etc.

Senator McConnell’s office just pushed out an update saying there will be debate on the gun control bill through 4:00 PM today, April 17, at which time a vote will occur. The vote will come on 9 amendments, each of which require 60 votes to pass.

It appears that Ayotte, Baucus, Begich, Heitkamp, Landrieu, and Pryor are the undecided votes. If these are your senators, please contact them and urge them to oppose any new gun control bills or amendments.

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I am unsure when the petition results will be delivered, so sign as early as possible to be included.

Today, the Senate held a voice-vote on “cloture,” which means to end debate so that an up-or-down vote can be taken. A vote in favor is a vote to end debate and move to a vote on the issue itself, while a vote against is a vote to prolong debate or to filibuster.

Senators that voted “yea” are responsible for allowing S. 649 to move forward which if passed, will require a background check for every firearm sale, creating a defacto national gun registry, and will eliminate private sales and transfers of firearms.

S. 649 Results -- GovTrack.us

Below are the Senators that voted to allow the bill to move forward. If yours is on the list, please contact them (click their name to get their details) to let them know you do not approve of S. 649 or any new gun control laws.

Robert Hohmeier, owner of Hohmeier Auto Body welcomes gun owners with open arms. Or, he would if St. Louis allowed Open Carry. There’s a pre-emption bill on the slate this legislative session for MO that will prevent localities like St. Louis from passing ordinances contrary to state law (which allows Open Carry). For now, he encourages his customers to feel free to carry their concealed firearms into his shop with a prominent sign on his office wall, and he offers a discount to those that show their CCW permit. If the preemption bill passes, all forms of carry will be welcomed and encouraged.

Trying something new. I’d like to have a spotlight for businesses that change from an anti-freedom to a pro-freedom position.

First up on the pedestal is ALDI. I don’t believe there was a corporate policy until recently, which previously led to local managers creating their own. Now they follow state law regarding carry in their stores. If you have an ALDI nearby, stop in and show your appreciation for the new policy by becoming a new customer. Stop by their Facebook page and leave a positive comment as well.

and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 3414, to enhance the security and resiliency of the cyber and communications infrastructure of the United States; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following SEC. ll. PROHIBITION ON TRANSFER OR POSSESSION OF LARGE CAPACITY AMMUNITION FEEDING DEVICES.

(a) DEFINITION.—Section 921(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after paragraph (29) the following:
‘‘(30) The term ‘large capacity ammunition feeding device’—

‘‘(A) means a magazine, belt, drum, feed strip, or similar device that has a capacity of, or that can be readily restored or converted to accept, more than 10 rounds of ammunition; but

‘‘(B) does not include an attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with, .22 caliber rimfire ammunition.’’.

(b) PROHIBITIONS.—Section 922 of such title is amended by inserting after subsection (u) the following:
‘‘(v)(1)(A)(i) Except as provided in clause (ii), it shall be unlawful for a person to transfer or possess a large capacity ammunition feeding device.
‘‘(ii) Clause (i) shall not apply to the possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device otherwise lawfully possessed within the United States on or before the date of the enactment of this subsection.
‘‘(B) It shall be unlawful for any person to import or bring into the United States a large capacity ammunition feeding device.

‘‘(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to—
‘‘(A) a manufacture for, transfer to, or possession by the United States or a department or agency of the United States or a State or a department, agency, or political subdivision of a State, or a transfer to or possession by a law enforcement officer employed by such an entity for purposes of law enforcement (whether on or off duty);

‘‘(B) a transfer to a licensee under title I of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 for purposes of establishing and maintaining an on-site physical protection system and security organization required by Federal law, or possession by an employee or contractor of such a licensee on-site for such purposes or off- site for purposes of licensee-authorized training or transportation of nuclear materials;

‘‘(C) the possession, by an individual who is retired from service with a law enforcement agency and is not otherwise prohibited from receiving ammunition, of a large capacity ammunition feeding device transferred to the individual by the agency upon that retirement; or

‘‘(D) a manufacture, transfer, or possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer for the purposes of testing or experimentation authorized by the Attorney General.’’.

(c) PENALTIES.—Section 924(a) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(8) Whoever knowingly violates section 922(v) shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.’’.

(d) IDENTIFICATION MARKINGS.—Section 923(i) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘A large capacity ammunition feeding device manufactured after the date of the enactment of this sentence shall be identified by a serial number that clearly shows that the device was manufactured after such date of enactment, and such other identification as the Attorney General may by regulation prescribe.’’.

Contact your Senators during business hours TODAY to urge them to OPPOSE the Lautenberg amendment (S.A. 2575) to the Cybersecurity bill which would ban firearm magazines that have a capacity over 10 rounds. This ban would include all future standard capacity magazines for most modern handguns and sporting rifles.

Cybersecurity Act of 2012 is scheduled for today! Look for Order Number 470 on today’s calendar.

I thought some folks might like to see what the overall clustered country view looks like. Here’s a screenshot of the numbers of places rated around the country. Pretty impressive considering that there were only about 3,500 places rated at the first of this year (click for larger image).

Down in the bottom right corner you can now drag the map overview window to quickly pan the map. This should help with navigating a bit. More changes coming soon. Springtime activities with the family have obviously slowed them down a bit though.

I’ve updated the map page to include a Quick Jump box for those that need to search around and panning the map isn’t fast enough. Just type in a location (city, state / zip) and hit the enter key. The map will pan to the requested area. Places found that aren’t found or are out of bounds will result in an error message.