Required Reading
Be sure to check out our information on the rush on AR-style parts and firearms, and look in out New Products section for information on our Ti Receivers!

Court Rules On Confidential Gun Lists
The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that gun registration lists can remain confidential. The court ruled that the information is not subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. The state's highest court overturned an appeals court ruling which would have made the gun registration lists public information. The court case began in 1997 when a Redford Township man asked for the records.

OlyArms Official Mascott
Meet Cindy Lopear, our Shop Dog. She showed up out of the blue one day, and hasn't left since. Of course, with the amount of food floating about, she's well fed, and attention dosn't seem to be a problem either. :-) She's relativly harmless (unless you're a bird, a rabbit, or the garbage man), and she barks to let us know someone is here. The only thing she has against her is she smells like machine oil (very nasty when wet!). So if you come by, be sure to give her a scratch behind the ear; either one will do.

Local Judge Listed Among Nation's Worst
Readers Digest magazine includes King County, WA Superior Court Judge Janice Niemi as one of the four worst judges in the country. The magazine cites Niemi's leniency in releasing a gang member with a long criminal record, including five felony convictions. Derrick Lamont Jones had been arrested a number of times on weapons and assault charges. Even though prosecutors urged the judge to impose a hefty bail in order to keep him behind bars, Niemi reduced the bail. More than once. On one occasion she even released Jones on his own recognizance. Prosecutors say while free he killed his girlfriend and her sister. He is still awaiting trial.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is one major reason why criminals continue to break the law, and hurt/kill people - soft, liberal Judges. If you would like to contact Ms. Niemi, you can reach her office at (206)296-9275. You can also leave comments to King County here.

Military Sniper Weapon Regulation Act of 1999
Watch out! We have been predicting this for quite some time, and now it has come to pass. They are starting with .50 caliber rifles now, but it is a simple thing to change .50 to .40 then .30... Contact your Reps ASAP and let them know that this bill is totally unacceptable. You can read a copy of H.R.2127 here.

Guns on Trial
Lawyers are saying that if the politicians can’t tame the gun industry, they can. The battle has already begun. From Boston to Los Angeles, 20 municipalities have sued firearm manufacturers, dealers, distributors and industry associations, seeking to recoup the billions of dollars spent each year on gun violence. "After the incident, tragic and painful at Columbine [High School], I think public opinion has shifted permanently on this issue," says New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, who helped his city to become the first to take on the gun industry last October. "If we can’t get our lawmakers to understand, maybe we can make our point in the courtroom."

At a major gun litigation conference June 4 sponsored by the American Bar Association, participants from the gun and insurance industries, city and county governments set the scene for the legal action yet to come. The conference itself was evidence of the growing interest in filing gun cases. Although the ABA’s tort and insurance practice began planning the session late last year, the number of lawyers registering tripled to more than 300 in the last few weeks. While each state has some differences in the legal principles they are applying, the plaintiffs are generally charging that the gun industry is designing an unsafe product that is negligently distributed and deceptively marketed. "The gun industry simply doesn’t fall under the Consumer Protection Act," says Brian Siebel, a lawyer for the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence. "As a result, there is more public oversight over the manufacture of toy guns than real guns."

Siebel says the firearms industry resists low-cost trigger locks and other safety systems that could prevent the foreseeable harm of a child playing with a gun. He says their lax distribution allows for freewheeling entrepreneurs to buy weapons in one state and sell them to gang members in another. In court papers, plaintiffs’ lawyers repeatedly accuse the defendants of dumping handguns onto the black market like "toxic waste," making no effort to identify and discipline dishonest distributors. Though lawyers in different suits are sharing information, many of the suits are trying to take advantage of local state laws to curb gun sales. In the state of California, Los Angeles, San Francisco and several other cities are basing their case on a state statute prohibiting "unlawful, unfair or fraudulent business practices." The same consumer law has been used to prosecute travel agencies and telephone companies for overcharging.

The lawsuits claim the industry floods areas with more guns than the legitimate market can absorb and doesn’t place controls on distributors or dealers to ensure weapons aren’t sold through illegal purchases or via "straw buyers," people who purchase guns for others who can’t legally have them. "Basically, the gun makers supply the illegal underground market by flooding the legal market with far more guns than it can absorb," says City of Los Angeles attorney James Hahn. Hahn claims that gun manufacturers don’t want to know that their weapons are winding up in the hands of shady dealers, a claim denied by industry officials.

The gun industry says these lawyers are trying to pervert the legal system for their own benefit. “We think that litigation is not the appropriate way for public officials to make public policy,” gun maker Colt said in a written statement. "We think our democratic society provides the appropriate legislative arena to effect these changes." Gun industry lawyers argue that the suits are without merit and will be thrown out by courts across the country. However, they have also lobbied state legislatures to pass laws prohibiting the cases. Such proposed legislation is pending in more than 20 states and on last Wednesday Louisiana’s Senate passed a bill nullifying New Orleans’ suit. The bill was previously approved by the state House.

To be sure, many gun-rights advocates flat out accuse some of the lawyers of riding the crest of public outrage, hoping to land a fat settlement. "What they are doing is like trying to sue General Motors for a bank robbery simply because the getaway car was a Chevy," says Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation in Bellevue, Wash.

Other Newsworthy Items
Finger-pointing on Gun Control
Washington State "$30 License Tab" Initiative I-695
Without 9mm, girl's cougar encounter could've been tragic
Gore Aims at Bush on Gun Control
The Non-Lethal Bullet