:: Bersa Talk ::

“If you’ve got a gun in your house, I’m not taking it,’’ Obama said. But the Illinois senator could still see skeptics in the crowd, particularly on the faces of several men at the back of the room. So he tried again. “Even if I want to take them away, I don’t have the votes in Congress,’’ he said.

Ministers and civil society leaders from 18 African countries, U.N. disarmament officials, and arms-control advocates are meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to try to form a united position on a proposed treaty to regulate the global arms trade.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) – the trade association for the firearms industry – congratulated Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on accepting the Republican nomination for vice president of the United States. The industry`s association also reminded all hunters, sportsmen and gun-owners to register to vote and secure an absentee ballot if they plan on being in the field on Election Day, Nov. 4.

There is something ignoble about these elite, affluent, and well-connected observers in smug fashion savaging Palin, when — especially in the case of the sneering power-women — we should all at least grant that Palin is intrinsically bright, energetic, savvy, and independent to have come this far at all, given the slanted and insider rules of the game she’s in.

John McCain hoped his convention would make him the kind of maverick his party would rally around. All it took was a couple of hurricanes: first Gustav, then Sarah.

The community Barack Obama has organized is, in Plouffe`s own telling, the community of those who admire Barack Obama. He is mayor of Obamaville and aspires to be president of Barackistan. At the center of it all is a man who, like Hans Christian Andersen`s naked emperor, may or may not believe that his veneer of accomplishment is real.

District of Columbia residents will be able to buy handguns starting next Tuesday.

Sarah Palin, the Republicans' surprise choice for vice president, took direct aim at her detractors Wednesday as she reached out to a nation eager to hear her life story.

To maintain momentum gained from the Supreme Court’s ruling in June striking down the District of Columbia’s handgun ban and declaring that the Second Amendment grants individuals a right to own firearms, the gun groups have launched the most ambitious voter registration and education drives they’ve ever attempted.

By now, millions of Americans have seen photos of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin testing weapons while visiting members of the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait. But it wouldn't be surprising if millions more in battleground states get to see similar pictures soon -- plus appearances by Palin herself -- in states where gun rights are a big issue.

We cannot say farewell to the 2008 Olympics without offering a 21-gun salute to the fine U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, based at Fort Benning. The unit brought home two gold medals: Spc. Walton Eller III for the double trap competition and Pfc. Vincent Hancock for the skeet. Eller set two Olympic records with a score of 145 in the qualifying rounds and 190 in the finals.

The firearms classes he offers are not through the Kremmling Police Department, but Bob Dillon’s experience as a police officer is beneficial to his students.

Partisan Democrats and many members of the news media consider John McCain`s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate a terrible mistake. But McCain need not worry about their criticism. His unexpected selection satisfied the people he needed to please. Republican conservatives assembling in St. Paul for the party`s national convention were described as "ecstatic" over the choice.

A strong majority of likely voters disagree with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on firearms and self-defense related issues, according to a just-released ATI-News/Zogby poll.

England banned handguns, but this story shows how ineffective gun bans are at disarming criminals.

Residents here who buy a gun to keep legally at home, now that the Supreme Court has overturned the city’s ban on handguns, will find that a bureaucratic maze leads them to an unmarked door on Good Hope Road Southeast where Charles W. Sykes Jr. does business. Mr. Sykes does not sell guns, but on Tuesday he is expected to become the only federally licensed dealer in Washington to serve as the transfer agent for the carefully controlled transactions that will put guns in the hands of district resi... [read more]

Conservative Republican prayers for the November 4 presidential election may have been answered. John McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate sends a clear message to the party's conservative religious base: God and guns are on the ticket.

She hunts. She fishes. She was a beauty queen and star high-school athlete. She is the mother of five and a popular governor, but the thought of having to choose between work and family appears to have never crossed her mind.

“With Barack Obama already established as a skillful rhetorician, people keep asking me, a former White House speechwriter, about John McCain. Can he say anything -- anything at all -- that might place him in the company of Ronald Reagan, the president for whom I used to work?” asks Peter Robinson.

On what would normally be a slow summer weekday, the three employees at Gretna Gun Works Inc. frantically tended to a crush of customers admiring the racks of shotguns and rifles lined up behind the glass counter.

Although it happened in Alaska, where hunting is a rich tradition, and the proponents that tried to limit a state’s authority to manage predator species lost, similar attempts will be made in the lower 48 states and they may not fare as well. It pays to be vigilant and stop every animal rights group’s move to interfere with professional wildlife biologists and their recommendations regarding the management of wild game, including predators whenever they become too numerous.

The conventional wisdom among Republicans is that since America is a center-right country, John McCain, a center-right candidate, can win the presidency simply by stressing Barack Obama’s record as, according to National Journal, the most leftwing senator last year.

Stepping gingerly back into the thicket of gun politics, some Democrats are offering up a few proposals to make them less on the defensive on an issue that many claim cost former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the presidency.

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign just won't let the gun issue rest. Mr. Obama and his campaign surrogates continue to assure gun owners that he is on their side. Yet, despite all the Democratic claims to the contrary, Mr. Obama is undoubtedly the most anti-gun candidate ever nominated by a major party for president.