To all our married male members, Valentine's Day is this month. A word to the wise is sufficient.

Saturday February 18th the club will have a Chili Cook-off for bragging rights. Tony Lombardi and crew are organizing this event for us. It's a fun social event and a fundraiser to help defray the expenses of the club. If you think you have an out of this world Chili recipe put it to the test at our Chili Cook-off. Contact Tony for any questions (All officers and directors are listed on the second page of the newsletter) but don't ask him for cooking advice if you value your health.

Once again I want to remind the membership the reason the indoor range is closed for a time on Monday evenings is to allow our dedicated range crew time to work their magic making improvements to the range. Those of you who use the indoor range know the improve-ments that have been made. This work will continue for the better-ment of the range and for our safety. Our Ice Fishing Derby scheduled for January 15th was cancelled because of unsafe ice conditions. The string of warm days we had I'm sure was enjoyed by all but it sure put a knife in the back of our derby. Thanks to Walter Riley for chairing this event and thanks to Mike Sorenson and Sharon Theobald who volunteered to keep us well fed. Thanks to Tony Lombardi and all who volunteered to help us that day. We will try again next year.

At our General Meeting (01/19/06) three of our members were voted into permanent membership. Congratulations to Theodore Szmyt, Norman Tremblay and Chuck Freeman. Three people were also voted Honorary Membership for 2006. They were favorably recommended by the Board of Directors. They are Christina Strickland, Robert White and Bill Bresnahan. We also welcomed twenty new members into our organization.

Also at the meeting a motion was made and passed to expend up to $5,000 to contract with a professional realtor to assess the value of our club property in preparation to file for an abatement to our Newton, NH property taxes. For those of you who might not know what is going on, the town re-assessment of our property value raised our taxes more than three times what they have been in the past couple of years.

Don't forget we have our annual Game Dinner coming up on Sunday March 5th. If you had a successful hunting season we could use whatever game meat you can spare. The greater the variety the more enjoyment our guests get out of it. We could also use salads, breads, desserts or your help in preparing and serving this meal. There is no charge for this event. Our members and their immediate families are welcome plus the residents of Newton, NH.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. It is YOUR club, it is up to YOU!

John Faro
President, CPF&GC

Federal:

George Mason University Law School in Arlington, Va., was the site of the first "Firearms Law & The Second Amendment Symposium." Before an audience of about 110 lawyers, students and other interested guests, the day's sessions covered everything from the meaning and scope of the Second Amendment to the latest developments in self-defense legislation and the impact of civil lawsuits against the firearms industry.

Early in the program, GMU Professor Nelson Lund set a logical tone, laying out the case that the term "people" as used in the Second Amendment must refer to individuals. As Lund put it, the term "people can't possibly refer to "states" any more than the term "arms" refers to the upper limbs of the human body." Virginia attorney Richard Gardiner explored what kind of "arms" the Second Amendment right does protect, and the Independence Institute's research director, David Kopel, sketched out the philosophical relationship between the First Amendment's guarantees and the Second Amendment's right to bear arms.

Although the hosts of the symposium invited a half dozen panelists who support more restrictive gun controls, only one accepted. When our opposition has to compete in a regulated forum where logical thought and historical fact are prevalent, not many can defend their anti-gun position.
(Source – NRA/ILA)

Massachusetts:

Boston – Mayor Tom Menino, in his infinite wisdom, blamed his city's rise in gun-related crime on looser gun laws in northern New England, specifically New Hampshire. Now if this kind of flawed thinking from a Massachusetts Democrat is a surprise to you I've got a bridge in Brooklyn you will be interested in.

The attitude that guns cause crime is prevalent throughout Bay State politics. The reason these people are still in public office squarely falls on the shoulders of the people of Massachusetts. You the people keep voting these folks into office and wonder why you get hassled about owning and using firearms legally. The worst offenders are the people who do not bother to vote at all. Your apathy has a lot to do with their election successes.

If your state is ever going to be friendly to law-abiding gun owners it is up to you to organize your fellow citizens into a political force and elect politicians who believe in the Constitution and your rights as law-abiding citizens.
(Source – J. Faro)

New Hampshire:

Here are some bills that have been filed for the new legislative session. HB 1390 an act relative to official oppression. This bill expands the crime of official oppression to include infringement of constitutionally guaranteed rights. Example – The incident that occurred in Salem, NH when a citizen with a concealed carry license was harassed by police when he removed his jacket while shopping in a bookstore.

HB 1369 an act relative to the posting of signs restricting the bearing of arms. This bill prohibits a public servant from posting a sign restricting the bearing of arms unless authorized by law. Example – If a store or business posts signs restricting the bearing of arms on the premises it is their prerogative. A public servant can not post a sign on public property, etc., unless authorized specifically by law.
(Source – Gun Owners of New Hampshire)

With all the gun control laws passed in the United Kingdom, some people might be surprised by the findings of a recent U.N. report on criminal violence in developed countries. That report found that Scotland is the most dangerous country in the developed world, followed closely by England and Wales. The study, based on telephone interviews with victims of crime in 21 countries, found that more than 2,000 Scots are attacked every week, 10 times the number found in official police reports. The study, which excluded homicides, found Scots were nearly three times more likely to be assaulted than Americans. England and Wales had double the American assault rate.

The study also found that while crime in much of the developed world has increased since 1988, in America it has gone down. It is no surprise that in this same period the United Kingdom, like Canada and Australia, has passed sweeping anti-gun laws.

Gun ban activists and govern-ments around the world will likely try to use this report as an excuse to impose even more restrictions on the lawful ownership of firearms (in Scotland, knives are the new target). Ownership of firearms by law-abiding citizens is a clear and unambiguous deterrent to thugs and criminals. The result of strict gun laws in Australia, Canada, England and Scotland is starkly clear: Taking away the tools of self-defense from honest people means more violent crime.
(Source -- NRA/ILA)

Federal -- Gun Crime Prosecutions

NRA has long maintained that federal gun laws that are aimed at violent criminals' misuse of firearms will reduce crime. According to data recently released by the Syracuse University based research group Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), prosecutions of federal gun law violations have increased sharply in the Bush Administration. The data obtained by TRAC from the Department of Justice, shows that federal prosecutions are up across the board in the Bush Justice Department and that cases filed on gun charges are a primary reason for the increase. In 2000, there were 5,490 such prosecutions. In 2004, there were 10,937. That increase in gun crime prosecutions- mostly felon in possession charges-makes up almost one-quarter of the total increase in federal prosecutions in that period.

Passing more gun laws targeted at lawful gun ownership will not fight crime. Only by going after criminals who possess and use firearms illegally will we have a lasting impact on crime in America. The Bush Justice Department understands this truth.
(Source -- NRA/ILA)

Thanks to your support, the NRA is the most effective gun-owner rights organization in the world. In order to serve you better, NRA/ILA has instituted an E-mail Alert service to provide valuable political and legislative information when time is critical. To receive these e-mail alerts, simply go to and sign up. It may be the most important couple of minutes you'll spend in defense of your Second Amendment rights.