Dana Loesch To Serve As Major National Spokesperson For NRA – FAIRFAX, Va. – Dana Loesch, the conservative leader, online pioneer and nationally syndicated radio host, will serve as a major national spokesperson for the National Rifle Association. NRA Executive Vice President and CEO Wayne LaPierre named Loesch as a Special Assistant to his office for Public Communication, with direct attributable authority on NRA matters. “During the past year Dana has proven herself to be a powerful voice for the Second Amendment rights of all Americans,” LaPierre said. “It is clear that Dana has the communication skills, experience, and natural ability to serve our organization well as one its very public faces in the news media.”
Sid Miller to approve new technique for killing feral hogs: poison – “The man who gained fame for successfully allowing hunters to shoot hogs from helicopters is now championing another strategy to hasten what he calls “the feral hog apocalypse”: poison. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller will announce Tuesday that he is approving a pesticide, “Kaput Feral Hog Lure,” for statewide use. He says the product, poisoned bait food, is the first specifically designed to control the feral hog population, now estimated at more than 2.5 million in Texas.” Sounds like what we really need is more hunters out there shooting pigs.
But not everyone’s on board with the new porcine eradication strategy . . . Sellmark stands with Texas Hog Hunters Association to oppose Sid Miller – “Sellmark and its brands stand with the Texas Hog Hunters Association in helping to stop the introduction of a new Warfarin based pesticide, approved by Texas AG Sid Miller, to control the feral hog population. Sellmark and Texas Hog Hunters Association believe in hunting, trapping and aerial management to protect landowners from the millions of dollars of damage hogs cause each year, but discourage the inhumane and unsafe use of poisons. While Warfarin may kill hogs, it may also put other wildlife, humans and the entire ecosystem in harm’s way.”
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. (NYSE-RGR) announced today that for 2016 the Company reported net sales of $664.3 million and diluted earnings of $4.59 per share, compared with net sales of $551.1 million and diluted earnings of $3.21 per share in 2015. For the fourth quarter of 2016, net sales were $161.8 million and diluted earnings were $1.10 per share. For the corresponding period in 2015, net sales were $152.4 million and diluted earnings were 88¢ per share. The Company also announced today that its Board of Directors declared a dividend of 44¢ per share for the fourth quarter, for shareholders of record as of March 17, 2017, payable on March 31, 2017.
Elections have consequences . . . McAuliffe vetoes 2 concealed weapons bills – “Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed two bills Monday relating to concealed weapons – one involving handgun permits and the other pertaining to switchblade knives. The first bill, HB 1582, would have allowed members of the military over the age of 18 to apply for concealed handgun permits if they are on active duty or had an honorable discharge and had received basic training. … The second bill the governor vetoed, HB 1432, would have legalized the carrying of a concealed switchblade knife ‘when it is carried for the purpose of engaging in a lawful profession or lawful recreational activity the performance of which is aided by the knife.’”
Radical egalitarianism . . . Okaloosa (Florida) workers can now carry guns on the job – “Any of Okaloosa County’s more than 800 non-sworn employees who have concealed weapon permits now can carry firearms in county vehicles and on most county properties. In a 3-2 vote Tuesday, the County Commission reversed an old policy that prevented such employees from carrying guns on the job. The idea to change the policy came from Commissioner Graham Fountain, who is a law-enforcement officer. The change will allow the employees ‘to no longer be second-class citizens,’ Fountain said. ‘It will allow our people to do what all other residents can do.'”
Shoot With Both Eyes Open Using OFFEYE Optical Filters From Birchwood Casey – “The new OFFEYE™ Optical Filters from Birchwood Casey® help shooters with cross or middle eye dominance see targets more clearly for more effective shooting. Most experienced shooters know that shooting with both eyes open provides better depth perception, field of view and peripheral vision. When a shooter’s dominant hand and eye are not the same, this can cause problems with seeing more than one target or one that is out of focus.”
Committee sends guns in schools bill to Senate floor – “Lawmakers advanced Wednesday morning a measure that would authorize boards of education throughout Wyoming to decide whether to allow people to carry firearms in schools — a measure supporters say is a compromise gun bill and opponents criticize as exposing children to danger. House Bill 194 passed the Senate Education Committee unanimously. It now heads to the Senate floor for a series of three votes before it would go to Gov. Matt Mead’s desk for signature.”
Passing the Hearing Protection Act would improve public health . . .Why You Need Less Noise for Work and Your Health – “Being around excessive noise has been found to affect our health quite seriously. Epidemiologists have found correlations between chronic noise sources such as highways and airports and high blood pressure, something that in turn can lead to other health risks, including damage to our brains and kidneys. Other studies have found links between noise and sleep loss, heart disease, and tinnitus. People who live in consistently noisy places also commonly have elevated levels of stress hormones.”
19th century caliber wars . . . MOzarks Moments: Missouri’s Hawken brothers and their Plains rifle – “The rifle that the pioneers primarily used as they settled the Great Plains and the mountain men/fur trappers primarily used in the Rocky Mountains was made by two brothers in their gunshop in St. Louis. The famous Hawken rifles were handmade by Jacob and Samuel Hawken from 1823 to 1855. … The most common black powder, flintlock rifle of the day was the famous Kentucky rifle. However, it was not a large enough caliber to stop the grizzlies and buffalos the mountain men were encountering to the west. Samuel decided to make a shorter rifle that was a larger caliber for those men heading into the west from St. Louis.”